User guide

5: Freeway Boot and Operation
DC 900-1333Q 145
whitespace character are taken as comments and have no effect on any boot parameters.
Boot parameters without a corresponding line in the
bootparm.txt file will remain
unchanged.
Below are a few examples of why you would want to use the
bootparm.txt file:
• If you maintain two (or more) alternate boot configuration files (example: bootcfg1
and bootcfg2) on the Freeway disk drive, then you can use bootparm.txt to quickly
modify the boot parameters to change which boot configuration file is used. This
allows you to completely alter the configuration of the Freeway (it could have dif-
ferent protocols loaded into the ICP boards, for instance) by simply rebooting
with a different CDROM.
• If you maintain multiple Freeway systems with the same configuration, but with
different IP addresses, you could use the
bootparm.txt file to quickly program a pre-
configured cold spare Freeway unit to replace an active unit. You would create sev-
eral CDROM disks containing the
bootparm.txt file with only the Freeway name and
IP address changed in each of the files.
If no
bootparm.txt file is found, the Freeway will use the existing boot parameters in
nvram.txt and proceed with the boot.
5.1.5 Read Boot Parameters
At this point of the boot, the user is given one more chance to change the boot param-
eters before the Freeway continues with the boot. If a serial console is connected, the
user will be presented with a prompt to stop the boot process within 7 seconds by hit-
ting
ENTER at the keyboard. If the user hits ENTER before the time is up, the boot process
is paused and the user is presented with the 3-item menu shown in Figure 2–2 on
page 36. The user now has the opportunity to display and/or change the current boot
parameters before continuing the boot process.