------------------------------------------------------------------------

    LOADLIN 1.6 ((C) 1994..1995 lermen@elserv.ffm.fgan.de)
     and
    Linux version: 0.99.14, 0.99.15, 1.0, 1.1.47, 1.3.97

------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE:

The below list of Linux commandline parameters is quite out of date,
though most of it will be still valid at this time (1.3.97).
I only edited a few new things into it.
A much better list of boot parameters can be found in Paul Gortmakers
BootPrompt-HOWTO, which can be accessed via WWW:

    http://sunsite.unc.edu/mdw/HOWTO/BootPrompt-HOWTO.html
or
    http://rsphy1.anu.edu/~gpg109/BootPrompt-HOWTO.html

------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is a list of command line parameters recognized and interpreted by:
========================================================================

  1. LOADLIN
       initrd=file      file name of the initial ramdisk to be loaded
                        by LAODLIN. See initrd.txt for more information
       vga=mode

  2. The Linux kernel
       mem=number       (for > 0.99.15,  number = end of physical memory in bytes)
       root=device
       ro
       rw
       no387
       debug            sets console_loglevel = 10
       no-hlt           disables check of HLT isntruction at startup
       load_ramdisk=N   N=0 or 1
       prompt_ramdisk=N N=0 or 1

  3. init
       single
       auto

  4. Some drivers
       reserve=port1,num1,...,port5,num5 #reserves 80x86 ioports
       ether=irq,base_addr,mem_start,mem_end,dev_name
       hd=cyl,head,sect                  # for 2 drives you need this twice
                                         # first relates to drive 0
       bmouse=irq
       max_scsi_luns=n                          # (n should be between 1 and 8)
       st0x=base_address,irq                    # SEAGATE controller ST01/ST02
       tmc8xx=base_address,irq                  # Future Domain TMC-885,TMC-950
       t128=address,irq                         # Trantor T128/T128F/T228
       ncr5380=port,irq,dma                     # Generic NCR5380 driver
       aha152x=portbase,irq,scsiid,reconnect    # Adaptec AHA-152x driver
       xd=type,irq,iobase,dma
       mcd=port,irq
       sound=0x0TTPPPID, ..
       sbpcd=sbport,SoundBlaster
       sbpcd=LMport,LaserMate
       sbpcd=SpeaFXport,SPEA


  5. Environment
       All parameters of format  name=xxxx  which are not recogized by
       the kernel or a driver are put onto the environment.

       LOADLIN itself always puts  BOOT_IMAGE=imagefile  onto the environ-
       ment.  The user may put additional values onto the environment in
       order to allow  /etc/rc  to behave differently for a given condition.


==============================================================================

Following are detailed descriptions:


Parameters recognized by LOADLIN:
=================================

  ramdisk=size
  ------------
        size      number of Kbytes for the RAMDISK device.
                  The image for the ramdisk is loaded by the
                  kernel at startup from a floppy drive, if
                  root=/dev/fdx  is also given.
                  After loading the image, the kernel then makes
                  the ramdisk the root device (NOT the floppy).
                  In addition to this, LOADLIN prompts for inserting
                  the ramdisk image into the floppy drive if it no
                  longer needs the drive (i.e. after loading the kernel).

  vga=mode
  --------
        mode      -3  the user is asked to specify the VGA mode
                 ask  equal to -3
                  -2  80x50 extended VGA mode
            extended  equal to -2
                  -1  80x25 normal mode
              normal  equal to -1
                   0  as if "0" was entered at the boot prompt
                   .
                   .
                   n  as if the number "n" was entered at the boot prompt

  ro
  --
        "ro" forces the root device to be mounted read-only (Not for UMSDOS!)

  rw
  --
        "rw" forces the root device to be mounted read/write.

  initrd=file
  -----------
        file name of the initial ramdisk to be loaded
        by LAODLIN. See initrd.txt for more information

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Parameters recognized only by the kernel:
=========================================

  root=device
  -----------
        device     may be a symbolic device name such as "/dev/hda2"
                   or the numeric device number (hex)
                   (highbyte=major, lowbyte=minor)
                   recognized symbolic devices (with their partitions) are:
                   "hda", "hdb", "hdc", "hdd",
                   "sda", "sdb", "sdc", "sdd", "sde",
                   "fd", "xda", "xdb"


        Examples:
        root=302
        root=/dev/hda2
        root=/dev/sda10


  mem=number
  ----------
        number     End of physical RAM, this is recognized by kernels
                   of 0.99.15 and higher and is useful if the exact
                   installed RAM size cannot be determined automatically.
                   may be 0x1000000, 16M, 4096K or some thing like that.
                   mem=nopentium disables 4M page tables.



  no387
  -----
        "no387" disables use of the hardware math coprocessor.

  since 1.1.47 (or perhaps earlier) the following options are no more
  passed to init:

  ro,rw,no387
  -----------


  debug  sets console_loglevel high enough to dispay all
  -----

  no-hlt
  ------
         disables check of HLT instruction at startup.
         If you have a clone 486, this option is *very* usefull.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Option Parameters recognized by "init":
=======================================

  single
  ------
        Enter "single user mode" on boot


  auto
  ----

  ro,rw,no387   (forwarded from kernels < 1.1.47).   (see !!comment!! above)
  -----------


------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Configuration of ethernet cards:
================================

  ether=irq,base_addr,mem_start,mem_end,dev_name
  ---------------------------------------------
        irq        number, IRQ-number (3..15)
        base_addr  number, IO-base (0x280,...)
        mem_start  number, shared mem start
        mem_end    number, shared mem end
        dev_name   string,
                        eth0..3     all configured ethernetcards
                        dl0         D-Link DE600 pocket adaptor
                        atp0        AT-LAN-TEC (RealTek) pocket adaptor
                        plip0..2    parallel IP (PLIP)
                        sl0..3      serial IP (SLIP)
        example:
                ether=10,0x280,0xc8000,0xcbfff,eth0

  related files: net/inet/eth.c, drivers/net/Space.c

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reserving I/O port space:
=========================

  reserve=port1,num1,...,port5,num5
  ---------------------------------

        portn     first IOport-address in range
        numn      number of addresses in this range to reserve
                  (there will be bits set to "1" in "ioport_register")

  related files:  kernel/ioport.c


------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Setting hard disk parameters for the root device:
=================================================

  hd=cyl,head,sect
  ---------------
         # NOTE: if you have two drives, you must put
         #       two hd= params into the commandline
         #       the first for drive 1, the second for drive 2
         #       eg.
         #       loadlin zimage hd=1001,15,17 hd=989,15,56 root=/dev/hdb2 ro
         #       (this example from my machine however is not needed,
         #       you need it only, if Linux can't get the drive params properly
         #       from the BIOS).
  related files: drivers/block/hd.c
  config:        CONFIG_BLK_DEV_HD

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Setting IDE CDrom support (ATAPI)
=================================

  hdX=cdrom
  ---------

  Where X may be a,b,c,d.
  Example:
    hdc=cdrom

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Setting the IRQ for the bus-mouse:
==================================

  bmouse=irq
  ----------
  related files: drivers/char/busmouse.c
  config:        CONFIG_BUSMOUSE



------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Parameters for SCSI controllers:
================================

  max_scsi_luns=n                           (n should be between 1 and 8)

  st0x=base_address,irq                     SEAGATE controller ST01/ST02

  tmc8xx=base_address,irq                   Future Domain TMC-885,TMC-950

  t128=address,irq                          Trantor T128/T128F/T228

  ncr5380=port,irq,dma                      Generic NCR5380 driver

  aha152x=portbase,irq,scsiid,reconnect     Adaptec AHA-152x driver



  related files: drivers/scsi/seagate.c, t128.c, g_NCR5380.c, aha152x.c

  config:        CONFIG_SCSI_SEAGATE, CONFIG_SCSI_T128,
                 CONFIG_SCSI_GENERIC_NCR5380, CONFIG_SCSI_AHA152X


------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Parameters for SCSI Tapes:
=========================

  st=buffer_size,write_threshould,max_buffers

     buffer_size       Size of tape buffer in Kbyte (i.e. ST_BLOCK_SIZE)
     write_threshould  Number of Kbytes to buffer before write.
                       (must be < buffer_size)
     max_buffers       Number of buffers to reserve

  related files: drivers/scsi/st.c
  config:        CONFIG_CHR_DEV_ST

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Parameter for XT hard disk controller (DTC 5150X):
==================================================

  xd=type,irq,iobase,dma
  ----------------------

  related files: drivers/block/xd.c
  config:        CONFIG_BLK_DEV_XD

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Parameter for Mitsumi CDROM driver:
===================================

  mcd=port,irq
  ------------

  related files: drivers/block/mcd.c
  config:        CONFIG_MCD


------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Parameter for sound cards:
==========================

  sound=0x0TTPPPID, ..
  ----------------
     all values are enbedded in one longint, the above format
     shows a hex number, each place is a hex-digit

     TT         Supported card type.
                This is the index into the list of configured cards
                If all cards are configured (which normally is not the case)
                the following order is kept:
                        Roland MPU-401
                        Gravis Ultrasound
                        ProAudio Spectrum
                        SoundBlaster
                        SoundBlaster 16
                        SB16 MPU-401 (SB16-MIDI port)
                        AdLib

     PPP        Port Address

     I          IRQ

     D          DMA Channel


  related files: drivers/sound/dev_table.h,dev_table.c
  config:        CONFIG_SOUND

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Parameter for IDE-style CD-ROM device driver (Kotobuki/Matsushita/Panasonic):
=============================================================================

  sbpcd=sbport,SoundBlaster
  ------------------------
  sbpcd=LMport,LaserMate
  ----------------------
  sbpcd=SpeaFXport,SPEA
  ----------------------

        sbport     soundblaster base port +0x10 (i.e 0x230 = 0x220+0x10)
        LMport     MPU-type port at 0x300 or equivalent
        SpeaFXport base port on SpeaFX card

  related files: drivers/block/sbpcd.c
  config:        CONFIG_SBPCD



------------------------------------------------------------------------------
