launch(8) launch(8)NAME launch - launch an A/UX kernel from the A/UX Startup environment SYNOPSIS launch [-a] [-d] [-f] [-m] [-r] [-v] [-s] [pathname] launch [-n] [-d] [-f] [-m] [-r] [-v] [-s] [pathname] DESCRIPTION launch loads an A/UX kernel into memory and transfers con- trol to the kernel. launch can only be run from the A/UX Startup application shell (see StartupShell(8)). As launch transfers control to the kernel, it passes a SCSI ID, a log- ical unit number, and slice zero as parameters. The kernel uses these parameters to locate the root file system (ROOT- DEV). When no pathname is specified, launch uses the filename on the first line of the ASCII file /nextunix. The specified kernel (from the command line or from /nextunix) is then checked for an autoconfiguration match. autoconfig(1M) is run when a software module is present in the kernel, but the required hardware is missing. (Note that autoconfig will NOT be run when hardware is present and the software is missing.) If autoconfig needs to be run, then the kernel newunix is launched instead and a flag is set indicating that autocon- fig is needed. The format of pathname can vary. If you wish to include a device specification the format is: (device-spec)path device-spec is described in detail in StartupShell(8). It consists of three comma-separated numbers enclosed in parentheses. The first number is the SCSI ID for a disk, the second is the logical unit (usually zero), and the final number is a slice number. To illustrate, the following com- mand line launches the sunix kernel located within the file system in slice 2 of the disk that is assigned SCSI ID 1: launch (1,0,2)/src/sys/psu/sunix In this example, the kernel would use slice 0 of the disk with SCSI ID 1 as the location for the root partition. So even though the kernel is loaded from a file system in slice 2, the root file system is still presumed to be in slice zero of the same disk. When the device specification is not April, 1990 1
launch(8) launch(8)provided the values passed to the kernel for the root disk device are taken from the ROOT shell variable. This shell variable is changed using the menu options of the A/UX Startup application shell (see StartupShell(8)). Once set, its value is retained even when the system is shut down. To allow the kernel to reside in a different location from the root disk device, you can use the -r flag option while setting the ROOT shell variable as desired for the location of the root disk device. The parameters for SCSI ID and log- ical disk number supplied in the launch command line will be used to locate the kernel, but will not be passed to the kernel as the parameters identifying the root disk device. Instead the parameters passed to identify the root disk dev- ice (SCSI ID and logical unit number) will be those stored in the ROOT shell variable. FLAG OPTIONS The following flag options are interpreted by launch: -a Always run autoconfig. That is, run autoconfig even if the kernel appears to match the hardware. Launching newunix turns this option on automatically. -d Print debugging output. Displays the contents of the auto_data structure. Obscure to anyone not familiar with the kernel. -f Forces all floppy disks to be ejected and waits for the insertion of a floppy containing an A/UX file system. Note: No checks are made to ensure the inserted floppy actually has an A/UX file system on it.) -m The kernel file is on a Macintosh file system. -n Never run autoconfig. That is, don't run autoconfig even if the kernel and the hardware are mismatched. -r Use the root partition on the device specified by the $ROOT variable, rather than the device specified by the kernel pathname. -v Selects a more verbose way of booting the system. The progress bar is not displayed during the process of booting. Instead of routing boot messages to the nor- mally hidden A/UX console window, they are routed directly to a solitary console emulator window. The console emulator window disappears if the boot reaches multiuser mode successfully, at which time the Macin- tosh login dialog box appears to replace the console 2 April, 1990
launch(8) launch(8)emulator window. -s Load a symbol table along with the kernel, so that a kernel containing the debugger driver module can offer text descriptions of execution addresses when it is ac- tivated. EXAMPLES launch Launches the default kernel on the current root disk device. launch /unix Launches the A/UX kernel located in /unix on the current root disk device. FILES /nextunix Contains name of A/UX kernel to launch /newunix A/UX kernel to launch if autoconfiguration is needed /unix The usual name of the current kernel SEE ALSO kconfig(1M), StartupShell(8). WARNINGS launch will not start a kernel if a PMMU (MC68851) is not present. April, 1990 3