man pages section 1M: System Administration Commands

monitor(1M)

Name

monitor– SPARC system PROM monitor

Synopsis

STOP-A

BREAK

initial system power-on

exit from a client program, e.g., the Operating System

Description

The CPU board of a workstation contains one or more EPROMs or EEPROMs. The program which executes from the PROMs is referred to as “the monitor”. Among other things, the monitor performs system initialization at power-on and provides a user interface.

Monitor Prompt

The monitor of earlier workstations was known as the SunMON monitor and displayed the > for its prompt. See the SunMON MONITOR USAGE section for further details.

Existing workstations use a monitor which is known as the OpenBoot monitor. The OpenBoot monitor typically displays ok as its prompt, but it may also display the > prompt under certain circumstances.

If the 'auto-boot?' NVRAM parameter is set to 'false' when the workstation is powered on, the system does not attempt to boot and the monitor issues its prompt. If 'auto-boot' is set to 'true', the system initiates the boot sequence. The boot sequence can be aborted by simultaneously pressing two keys on the system's keyboard: L1 and A (on older keyboards), or Stop and A (on newer keyboards). Either a lower case a or an upper case A works for the keyboard abort sequence. If a console has been attached by way of one of the system's serial ports then the abort sequence can be accomplished by sending a BREAK. See tip(1).

When the NVRAM 'security-mode' parameter has been turned on, or when the value of the 'sunmon-compat?' parameter is true, then the OpenBoot monitor displays the message: Type b (boot), c (continue), or n (new command mode)

and the > prompt appears.

OPENBOOT PROM USAGE

Some of the more useful commands that can be issued from OpenBoot's ok prompt are described here. Refer to the OpenBoot 2.x Command Reference Manual book for a complete list of commands.

Help

Help for various functional areas of the OpenBoot monitor can be obtained by typing help. The help listing provides a number of other key words which can then be used in the help command to provide further details.

NVRAM Parameters

Each workstation contains one or more NVRAM devices which contains unique system ID information, as well as a set of user-configurable parameters. The NVRAM parameters allow the user a certain level of flexibility in configuring the system to act in a given manner under a specific set of circumstances.

See eeprom(1M) for a description of the parameters and information regarding setting the parameters from the OS level.

The following commands can be used at the OpenBoot monitor to access the NVRAM parameters.

printenv: Used to list the NVRAM parameters, along with their default values and current values.
setenv pn pv: Used to set or modify a parameter. The pn represents the parameter name, and pv represents the parameter value.
set-default pn: Used to set an individual parameter back to its default value.
set-defaults: Used to reset all parameters to their default values. (Note that 'set-defaults' only affects parameters that have assigned default values.)

Security Parameters

Newer OpenBoot monitors contain user interfaces that support the storage and listing of keys for later use by client programs.

list-security-keys: Lists the names of keys currently stored on a machine.
set-security-key keyname [ keydata ]: Stores key data keydata in a key named keyname. Actual key data can be up to 32 bytes in length. The maximum length of keyname is 64 bytes, which allows for the hex-formatted ASCII used to present the key data. If keydata is not present, keyname and its corresponding data is deleted.

Hardware Checks and Diagnostics

The following commands are available for testing or checking the system's hardware. If the 'diag-switch?' NVRAM parameter is set to true when the system is powered on, then a Power-On Self Test (POST) diagnostic is run, if present, sending its results messages to the system's serial port A. Not all of the commands shown are available on all workstations.

test-all: Run the diagnostic tests on each device which has provided a self-test.
test floppy: Run diagnostics on the system's floppy device.
test /memory: Run the main memory tests. If the NVRAM parameter 'diag-switch?' is set to true, then all of main memory is tested. If the parameter is false then only the amount of memory specified in the 'selftest-#megs' NVRAM parameter is tested.
test net: Test the network connection for the on-board network controller.
watch-net: Monitor the network attached to the on-board net controller.
watch-net-all: Monitor the network attached to the on-board net controller, as well as the network controllers installed in SBus slots.
watch-clock: Test the system's clock function.

System Information

The following commands are available for displaying information about the system. Not all commands are available on all workstations.

banner: Display the power-on banner.
.enet-addr: Display the system's Ethernet address.
.idprom: Display the formatted contents of the IDPROM.
module-info: Display information about the system's processor(s).
probe-scsi: Identify the devices attached to the on-board SCSI controller.
probe-scsi-all: Identify the devices attached to the on-board SCSI controller as well as those devices which are attached to SBus SCSI controllers.
show-disks: Display a list of the device paths for installed SCSI disk controllers.
show-displays: Display a list of the device paths for installed display devices.
show-nets: Display a list of the device paths for installed Ethernet controllers.
show-sbus: Display list of installed SBus devices.
show-tapes: Display a list of the device paths for installed SCSI tape controllers.
show-ttys: Display a list of the device paths for tty devices.
.traps: Display a list of the SPARC trap types.
.version: Display the version and date of the OpenBoot PROM.

Emergency Commands

These commands must be typed from the keyboard, they do not work from a console which is attached by way of the serial ports. With the exception of the Stop-A command, these commands are issued by pressing and holding down the indicated keys on the keyboard immediately after the system has been powered on. The keys must be held down until the monitor has checked their status. The Stop-A command can be issued at any time after the console display begins, and the keys do not need to be held down once they've been pressed. The Stop-D, Stop-F and Stop-N commands are not allowed when one of the security modes has been set. Not all commands are available on all workstations.

Stop (L1): Bypass the Power-On Self Test (POST). This is only effective if the system has been placed into the diagnostic mode.
Stop-A (L1-A): Abort the current operation and return to the monitor's default prompt.
Stop-D (L1-D): Set the system's 'diag-switch?' NVRAM parameter to 'true', which places the system in diagnostic mode. POST diagnostics, if present, are run, and the messages are displayed by way of the system's serial port A.
Stop-F (L1-F): Enter the OpenBoot monitor before the monitor has probed the system for devices. Issue the 'fexit' command to continue with system initialization.
Stop-N (L1-N): Causes the NVRAM parameters to be reset to their default values. Note that not all parameters have default values.

Line Editor Commands

The following commands can be used while the monitor is displaying the ok prompt. Not all of these editing commands are available on all workstations.

CTRL-A: Place the cursor at the start of line.
CTRL-B: Move the cursor backward one character.
ESC-B: Move the cursor backward one word.
CTRL-D: Erase the character that the cursor is currently highlighting.
ESC-D: Erase the portion of word from the cursor's present position to the end of the word.
CTRL-E: Place the cursor at the end of line.
CTRL-F: Move the cursor forward one character.
ESC-F: Move the cursor forward one word.
CTRL-H: Erase the character preceding the cursor (also use Delete or Back Space)
ESC-H: Erase the portion of the word which precedes the cursor (use also CTRL-W)
CTRL-K: Erase from the cursor's present position to the end of the line.
CTRL-L: Show the command history list.
CTRL-N: Recall the next command from the command history list
CTRL-P: Recall a previous command from the command history list.
CTRL-Q: Quote the next character (used to type a control character).
CTRL-R: Retype the current line.
CTRL-U: Erase from the cursor's present position to the beginning of the line.
CTRL-Y: Insert the contents of the memory buffer into the line, in front (to the left) of the cursor.

nvramrc

The nvramrc is an area of the system's NVRAM where users may store Forth programs. The programs which are stored in the nvramrc are executed each time the system is reset, provided that the 'use-nvramrc?' NVRAM parameter has been set to 'true'. Refer to the OpenBoot 2.x Command Reference Manualbook for information on how to edit and use the nvramrc.

Restricted Monitor

The command 'old-mode' is used to move OpenBoot into a restricted monitor mode, causing the > prompt to be displayed. Only three commands are allowed while in the restricted monitor; the 'go' command (to resume a program which was interrupted with the Stop-A command), the 'n' command (to return to the normal OpenBoot monitor), and boot commands. The restricted monitor's boot commands approximate the older SunMON monitor's boot command syntax. If a 'security-mode' has been turned on then the restricted monitor becomes the default monitor environment. The restricted monitor may also become the default environment if the 'sunmon-compat?' NVRAM parameter is set to true. Not all workstations have the 'sunmon-compat?' parameter.

SunMON PROM USAGE

The following commands are available systems with older SunMON-based PROM:

+|-

Increment or decrement the current address and display the contents of the new location.

^C source destination n

(caret-C) Copy, byte-by-byte, a block of length n from the source address to the destination address.

^I program

(caret-I) Display the compilation date and location of program.

^T virtual_address

(caret-T) Display the physical address to which virtual_address is mapped.

b [ ! ] [ device [ (c,u,p ) ] ] [ pathname ] [ arguments_list ]

b[?]

Reset appropriate parts of the system and bootstrap a program. A `!' (preceding the device argument) prevents the system reset from occurring. Programs can be loaded from various devices (such as a disk, tape, or Ethernet). `b' with no arguments causes a default boot, either from a disk, or from an Ethernet controller. `b?' displays all boot devices and their devices.

device

one of

le: Lance Ethernet
ie: Intel Ethernet
sd: SCSI disk, CDROM
st: SCSI 1/4" or 1/2" tape
fd: Diskette
id: IPI disk
mt: Tape Master 9-track 1/2" tape
xd: Xylogics 7053 disk
xt: Xylogics 1/2" tape
xy: Xylogics 440/450 disk

c

A controller number (0 if only one controller),

u

A unit number (0 if only one driver), and

p

A partition.

pathname

A pathname for a program such as /stand/diag.

arguments_list

A list of up to seven arguments to pass to the program being booted.

c [virtual_address]

Resume execution of a program. When given, virtual_address is the address at which execution resumes. The default is the current PC. Registers are restored to the values shown by the d, and r commands.

d [window_number]

Display (dump) the state of the processor. The processor state is observable only after:

An unexpected trap was encountered.
A user program dropped into the monitor (by calling abortent).
The user manually entered the monitor by typing L1-A or BREAK.

The display consists of the following:

The special registers: PSR, PC, nPC, TBR, WIM, and Y
Eight global registers
24 window registers (8 in, 8 local, and 8 out), corresponding to one of the 7 available windows. If a Floating-Point Unit is on board, its status register along with 32 floating-point registers are also shown.

window_number: Display the indicated window_number, which can be any value between 0 and 6, inclusive. If no window is specified and the PSR's current window pointer contains a valid window number, registers from the window that was active just prior to entry into the monitor are displayed. Otherwise, registers from window 0 are displayed.

e [virtual_address] [action] . . .

Open the 16-bit word at virtual_address (default zero). The address is interpreted in the address space defined by the s command. See the a command for a description of action.

f virtual_address1 virtual_address2 pattern [size ]

Fill the bytes, words, or long words from virtual_address1 (lower) to virtual_address2 (higher) with the constant, pattern. The size argument can take one of the following values:

b: byte format (the default)
w: word format
l: long word format

For example, the following command fills the address block from 0x1000 to 0x2000 with the word pattern, 0xABCD:

f 1000 2000 ABCD W

g [vector ] [argument ] g [virtual_address ] [argument ]

Goto (jump to) a predetermined or default routine (first form), or to a user-specified routine (second form). The value of argument is passed to the routine. If the vector or virtual_address argument is omitted, the value in the PC is used as the address to jump to.

To set up a predetermined routine to jump to, a user program must, prior to executing the monitor's g command, set the variable *romp->v_vector_cmd to be equal to the virtual address of the desired routine. Predetermined routines need not necessarily return control to the monitor.

The default routine, defined by the monitor, prints the user-supplied vector according to the format supplied in argument. This format can be one of:

%x: hexadecimal
%d: decimal

g0

Force a panic and produce a crash dump when the monitor is running as a result of the system being interrupted,

g4

(Sun-4 systems only) Force a kernel stack trace when the monitor is running as a result of the system being interrupted,

h

Display the help menu for monitor commands and their descriptions. To return to the monitor's basic command level, press ESCAPE or q before pressing RETURN.

i [cache_data_offset ] [action ] . . .

Modify cache data RAM command. Display and/or modify one or more of the cache data addresses. See the a command for a description of action.

j [cache_tag_offset ] [action ] . . .

Modify cache tag RAM command. Display and/or modify the contents of one or more of the cache tag addresses. See the a command for a description of action.

k [reset_level]

Reset the system, where reset_level is:

0: Reset VMEbus, interrupt registers, video monitor (Sun-4 systems). This is the default.
1: Software reset.
2: Power-on reset. Resets and clears the memory. Runs the EPROM-based diagnostic self test, which can take several minutes, depending upon how much memory is being tested.

kb

Display the system banner.

l [virtual_address ] [action] . . .

Open the long word (32 bit) at memory address virtual_address (default zero). The address is interpreted in the address space defined by the s command (below). See the a command for a description of action.

m [virtual_address ] [action ] . . .

Open the segment map entry that maps virtual_address (default zero). The address is interpreted in the address space defined by the s command. See the a command for a description of action.

ne

ni

Disable, enable, or invalidate the cache, respectively.

o [virtual_address ] [action] . . .

Open the byte location specified by virtual_address (default zero). The address is interpreted in the address space defined by the s command. See the a command for a description of action.

p [virtual_address ] [action]. . .

Open the page map entry that maps virtual_address (default zero) in the address space defined by the s command. See the a command for a description of action.

q [eeprom_offset ] [action ]. . .

Open the EEPROM eeprom_offset (default zero) in the EEPROM address space. All addresses are referenced from the beginning or base of the EEPROM in physical address space, and a limit check is performed to insure that no address beyond the EEPROM physical space is accessed. This command is used to display or modify configuration parameters, such as: the amount of memory to test during self test, whether to display a standard or custom banner, if a serial port (A or B) is to be the system console, etc. See the a command for a description of action.

r [register_number ] r [register_type ] r [w window_number ]

Display and/or modify one or more of the IU or FPU registers. A hexadecimal register_number can be one of:

0x00-0x0f: window(0,i0)-window(0,i7), window(0,i0)—window(0,i7)
0x16-0x1f: window(1,i0)-window(1,i7), window(1,i0)—window(1,i7)
0x20-0x2f: window(2,i0)-window(2,i7), window(2,i0)—window(2,i7)
0x30-0x3f: window(3,i0)-window(3,i7), window(3,i0)—window(3,i7)
0x40-0x4f: window(4,i0)-window(4,i7), window(4,i0)—window(4,i7)
0x50-0x5f: window(5,i0)-window(5,i7), window(5,i0)—window(5,i7)
0x60-0x6f: window(6,i0)-window(6,i7), window(6,i0)—window(6,i7)
0x70-0x77: g0, g1, g2, g3, g4, g5, g6, g7
0x78-0x7d: PSR, PC, nPC, WIM, TBR, Y.
0x7e-0x9e: FSR, f0-f31

Register numbers can only be displayed after an unexpected trap, a user program has entered the monitor using the abortent function, or the user has entered the monitor by manually typing L1-A or BREAK.

If a register_type is given, the first register of the indicated type is displayed. register_type can be one of:

f: floating-point
g: global
s: special

If w and a window_number (0—6) are given, the first in-register within the indicated window is displayed. If window_number is omitted, the window that was active just prior to entering the monitor is used. If the PSR's current window pointer is invalid, window 0 is used.

s [asi])

Set or display the Address Space Identifier. With no argument, s displays the current Address Space Identifier. The asi value can be one of:

0x2: control space
0x3: segment table
0x4: Page table
0x8: user instruction
0x9: supervisor instruction
0xa: user data
0xb: supervisor data
0xc: flush segment
0xd: flush page
0xe: flush context
0xf: cache data

u [ echo ]

u [ port ] [ options ] [ baud_rate ]

u [ u ] [ virtual_address ]

With no arguments, display the current I/O device characteristics including: current input device, current output device, baud rates for serial ports A and B, an input-to-output echo indicator, and virtual addresses of mapped UART devices. With arguments, set or configure the current I/O device. With the u argument (uu. . .), set the I/O device to be the virtual_address of a UART device currently mapped.

echo

Can be either e to enable input to be echoed to the output device, or ne, to indicate that input is not echoed.

port

Assign the indicated port to be the current I/O device. port can be one of:

a: serial port A
b: serial port B
k: the workstation keyboard
s: the workstation screen

baud_rate

Any legal baud rate.

options

can be any combination of:

i: input
o: output
u: UART
e: echo input to output
ne: do not echo input
r: reset indicated serial port (a and b ports only)

If either a or b is supplied, and no options are given, the serial port is assigned for both input and output. If k is supplied with no options, it is assigned for input only. If s is supplied with no options, it is assigned for output only.

v virtual_address1 virtual_address2 [size]

Display the contents of virtual_address1 (lower) virtual_address2 (higher) in the format specified by size:

b: byte format (the default)
w: word format
l: long word format

Enter return to pause for viewing; enter another return character to resume the display. To terminate the display at any time, press the space bar.

For example, the following command displays the contents of virtual address space from address 0x1000 to 0x2000 in word format:

v 1000 2000 W

w [virtual_address ] [argument ]

Set the execution vector to a predetermined or default routine. Pass virtual_address and argument to that routine.

To set up a predetermined routine to jump to, a user program must, prior to executing the monitor's w command, set the variable *romp->v_vector_cmd to be equal to the virtual address of the desired routine. Predetermined routines need not necessarily return control to the monitor.

The default routine, defined by the monitor, prints the user-supplied vector according to the format supplied in argument. This format can be one of:

%x: hexadecimal
%d: decimal

x

Display a menu of extended tests. These diagnostics permit additional testing of such things as the I/O port connectors, video memory, workstation memory and keyboard, and boot device paths.

y c context_number

y p|s context_number virtual_address

Flush the indicated context, context page, or context segment.

c: flush context context_number
p: flush the page beginning at virtual_address within context context_number
s: flush the segment beginning at virtual_address within context context_number

Attributes

See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:

ATTRIBUTE TYPE	ATTRIBUTE VALUE
Architecture	SPARC