3 plan9.ini \- configuration file for PCs
7 When booting Plan 9 on a PC, the DOS program
10 containing configuration information from the boot disk.
13 looks like a shell script containing lines of the form
19 each of which defines a kernel or device parameter.
26 comments are ignored, but are only recognised if
28 appears at the start of a line.
30 For devices, the generic format of
35 type=TYPE [port=N] [irq=N] [mem=N] [size=N] [dma=N] [ea=N]
38 specifying the controller type,
39 the base I/O port of the interface, its interrupt
40 level, the physical starting address of any mapped memory,
41 the length in bytes of that memory, the DMA channel,
42 and for Ethernets an override of the physical network address.
43 Not all elements are relevant to all devices; the relevant values
44 and their defaults are defined below in the description of each device.
46 The file is used by the kernel to configure the hardware available.
47 The information it contains is also passed to the boot
48 process, and subsequently other programs,
49 as environment variables
52 However, values whose names begin with an asterisk
54 are used by the kernel and are not converted into environment variables.
56 The following sections describe how variables are used.
58 .SS \fLetherX=value\fP
59 This defines an Ethernet interface.
61 a unique monotonically increasing number beginning at 0,
62 identifies an Ethernet card to be probed at system boot.
63 Probing stops when a card is found or there is no line for
65 After probing as directed by the
67 lines, any remaining Ethernet cards that can be automatically
69 Almost all cards can be automatically detected.
70 For debugging purposes, automatic probing can
71 be disabled by specifying the line
73 This automatic probing is only done by the kernel, not by
75 Thus, if you want to load a kernel over the Ethernet, you need
80 can find the Ethernet card, even if the kernel would
81 have automatically detected it.
83 Some cards are software configurable and do not require all options.
84 Unspecified options default to the factory defaults.
94 The Intel 8254X Gigabit Ethernet controllers,
95 as found on the Intel PRO/1000 adapters for copper (not fiber).
96 Completely configurable.
99 The Intel 8256[36], 8257[12], and 82573[ev] Gigabit Ethernet
100 PCI-Express controllers.
101 Completely configurable.
104 The Realtek 8169 Gigabit Ethernet controller.
105 Completely configurable.
108 Netgear GA620 and GA620T Gigabit Ethernet cards,
109 and other cards using the Alteon Acenic chip such as the
110 Alteon Acenic fiber and copper cards,
111 the DEC DEGPA-SA and the SGI Acenic.
112 Completely configurable.
115 National Semiconductor DP83820-based Gigabit Ethernet adapters, notably
117 Completely configurable.
120 The VIA Velocity Gigabit Ethernet controller.
121 Known to drive the VIA8237 (ABIT AV8), but at 100Mb/s full-duplex only.
124 The Myricom 10-Gigabit Ethernet 10G-PCIE-8A controller.
125 Completely configurable.
126 Can't boot through these due to enormous firmware loads.
129 The Intel 8259[89] 10-Gigabit Ethernet PCI-Express controllers.
130 Completely configurable.
131 Can't boot through these due to lack of a
136 Cards using the Intel 8255[789] Fast Ethernet PCI Bus LAN Controller such as the
137 Intel EtherExpress PRO/100B.
138 Completely configurable, no options need be given.
139 If you need to force the media, specify
140 one of the options (no value)
151 Completely configurable.
154 Cards using the Digital Equipment (now Intel) 2114x PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter Controller,
155 for example the Netgear FA310.
156 Completely configurable, no options need be given.
157 Media can be specified the same was as for the
163 near-clone chips may also work.
166 National Semiconductor DP83815-based adapters, notably
167 the Netgear FA311, Netgear FA312, and various SiS built-in
168 controllers such as the SiS900.
169 On the SiS controllers, the Ethernet address is not detected properly;
173 Completely configurable.
176 The Realtek 8139 Fast Ethernet controller.
177 Completely configurable.
180 The VIA VT6102 Fast Ethernet Controller (Rhine II).
183 SMC 91cXX chip-based PCMCIA adapters, notably the SMC EtherEZ card.
186 The 3COM Etherlink III series of cards including the 5x9, 59x, and 905 and 905B.
187 Completely configurable, no options need be given.
188 The media may be specified by setting
198 If you need to force full duplex, because for example the Ethernet switch does not negotiate correctly,
199 just name the word (no value)
203 Similarly, to force 100Mbit operation, specify
205 Port 0x110 is used for the little ISA configuration dance.
208 The 3COM 3C589 series PCMCIA cards, including the
210 There is no support for the modem on the 3C562.
211 Completely configurable, no options need be given.
216 The media may be specified as
222 The Linksys Combo PCMCIA EthernetCard (EC2T),
223 EtherFast 10/100 PCMCIA cards (PCMPC100) and integrated controllers (PCM100),
224 the Netgear FA410TX 10/100 PCMCIA card
225 and the Accton EtherPair-PCMCIA (EN2216).
226 Completely configurable, no options need be given.
231 These cards are NE2000 clones.
232 Other NE2000 compatible PCMCIA cards may be tried
239 is a unique identifier string contained in the attribute
240 memory of the card (see
242 unlike most options in
244 this string is case-sensitive.
247 can be used to turn off (0) or on (1) a dummy remote read in the driver
249 depending on how NE2000 compatible they are.
252 Not software configurable iff ISA;
253 PCI clones or supersets are software configurable;
254 includes the Realtek 8029 clone used by Parallels.
258 port=0x300 irq=2 mem=0x04000 size=0x4000
260 The option (no value)
262 is needed on some (near) clones to turn off a dummy remote read in the driver.
265 The AMD PCnet PCI Ethernet Adapter (AM79C970).
266 (This is the Ethernet adapter used by VMware.)
267 Completely configurable, no options need be given.
270 Includes WD8013 and SMC Elite and Elite Ultra cards. There are varying degrees
271 of software configurability. Cards may be in either 8-bit or 16-bit slots.
274 port=0x280 irq=3 mem=0xD0000 size=0x2000
276 BUG: On many machines only the 16 bit card works.
281 for Ethernet packets \(em the interface discards sent
282 packets and never receives any.
283 This is used to provide a test bed for
284 some experimental Ethernet bridging software.
287 Lucent Wavelan (Orinoco) IEEE 802.11b
288 and compatible PCMCIA cards.
289 Compatible cards include the Dell TrueMobile 1150
290 and the Linksys Instant Wireless Network PC Card.
291 Port and IRQ defaults are 0x180 and 3 respectively.
293 These cards take a number of unique options to aid in
294 identifying the card correctly on the 802.11b network.
299 (i.e. use an access point):
301 mode=[adhoc, managed]
305 The 802.11b network to attach to
315 and defaults to a null string.
316 The card station name is given by
322 The channel to use is given by
328 lies in the range 1 to 16 inclusive;
329 the channel is normally negotiated automatically.
331 If the card is capable of encryption,
332 the following options may be used:
341 sets the encryption key
345 is in the range 1 to 4 inclusive) to
347 this will also set the transmit key to
350 There are two formats for
352 which depend on the length of the string.
353 If it is exactly 5 or 13 characters long it is assumed
354 to be an alphanumeric key; if it is exactly 10 or 26 characters
355 long the key is assumed to be in hex format (without a leading
357 The lengths are checked,
358 as is the format of a hex key.
362 sets the transmit key to use to be
364 in the range 1 to 4 inclusive.
365 If it is desired to exclude or include unencrypted packets
369 configures reception and defaults to inclusion.
371 The defaults are intended to match the common case of
372 a managed network with encryption and a typical entry would
373 only require, for example
375 essid=left-armpit key1=afish key2=calledraawaru
377 if the port and IRQ defaults are used.
378 These options may be set after boot by writing to the device's
380 file using a space as the separator between option and value, e.g.
382 echo 'key2 1d8f65c9a52d83c8e4b43f94af' >/net/ether0/0/ctl
385 Card-specific power management may be enabled/disabled by
391 PCI Ethernet adapters that use the same Wavelan
392 programming interface.
393 Currently the only tested cards are those based on the
394 Intersil Prism 2.5 chipset.
397 (S)ATA controllers are autodetected.
399 disable DMA on ata devices.
400 .SS \fLusbX=type=uhci\fP
401 .SS \fLusbX=type=ohci\fP
402 This specifies the settings for a USB UHCI or OHCI controller.
403 Like the Ethernet controllers, USB controllers are autodetected
404 after scanning for the ones listed in
406 Thus, most systems will not need a
409 Also like the Ethernet controllers, USB autoprobing can be
410 disabled by specifying the line
412 .SS \fLscsiX=value\fP
413 This defines a SCSI interface which cannot be automatically detected
421 Adaptec 154x series of controllers (and clones).
422 Almost completely configurable, only the
426 option need be given.
428 NCR/Symbios/LSI-Logic 53c8xx-based adapters
429 and Mylex MultiMaster (Buslogic BT-*) adapters are
430 automatically detected and need no entries.
432 By default, the NCR 53c8xx driver searches for up to 32 controllers.
433 This can be changed by setting the variable
436 By default the Mylex driver resets SCSI cards by using
437 both the hard reset and SCSI bus reset flags in the driver interface.
440 is defined, the SCSI bus reset flag is omitted.
441 .SS \fLaoeif=\fP\fIlist\fP
442 This specifies a space-separated
444 of Ethernet interfaces to be bound at boot to the ATA-over-Ethernet driver,
447 .LR "aoeif=ether0 ether1" .
448 Only interfaces on this list will initially be accessible via AoE.
449 .SS \fLaoedev=e!#æ/aoe/\fIshelf\fL.\fIslot\fR
450 This specifies an ATA-over-Ethernet device accessible via the interfaces
457 to use as a root device for bootstrapping.
459 .SS \fLaudioX=value\fP
460 This defines a sound interface.
470 A Sound Blaster clone.
472 The DMA channel may be any of 5, 6, or 7.
476 port=0x220 irq=7 dma=5
479 Plan 9 automatically configures COM1 and COM2, if found,
487 These devices can be disabled by adding a line:
493 This is typically done in order to reuse the IRQ for
496 Plan 9 used to support various serial concentrators,
497 including the TTC 8 serial line card and various models
498 in the Star Gate Avanstar series of intelligent serial boards.
499 These are no longer supported; the much simpler
500 Perle PCI-Fast4, PCI-Fast8, and PCI-Fast16 controllers
501 have taken their places.
502 These latter cards are automatically detected
503 and need no configuration lines.
507 can be used to specify settings for a PCMCIA modem.
508 .SS \fLmouseport=value\fP
509 This specifies where the mouse is attached.
514 the PS2 mouse/keyboard port. The BIOS setup procedure
515 should be used to configure the machine appropriately.
518 an Intellimouse on the PS2 port.
525 .SS \fLmodemport=value\fP
526 Picks the UART line to call out on.
527 This is used when connecting to a file server over
530 is the number of the port.
531 .SS \fLconsole=value params\fP
532 This is used to specify the console device.
545 A serial console is initially configured with the
552 specifying 9600 baud,
553 8 bit bytes, no parity, and one stop bit.
556 is given, it will be used to further
558 Notice that there is no
569 would use COM1 at 19,200 baud
572 .SS \fLpccard0=disabled\fP
573 Disable probing for and automatic configuration of PC card controllers.
574 .SS \fLpcmciaX=type=XXX irq=value\fP
575 If the default IRQ for the
577 is correct, this entry can be omitted. The value of
580 .SS \fLpcmcia0=disabled\fP
581 Disable probing for and automatic configuration of PCMCIA controllers.
583 .SS \fLbootfile=value\fP
584 This is used to direct the actions of
586 by naming the file from which to load the kernel in
587 the current BIOS boot device.
588 .SS \fLbootargs=value\fP
589 The value of this variable is passed to
591 by the kernel as the name of the root file system.
592 It is typically used to specify additional arguments to
597 For example, if the system is to run from a local
599 partition, the definition might read
600 .BR bootargs=local!#S/sdC0/fs .
604 .SS \fLnobootprompt=value\fP
609 as the answer instead.
615 as the answer instead.
616 .SS \fLdebugfactotum=\fP
623 option, so that it can be debugged.
624 .SS \fLfactotumopts=options\fP
631 which must be a single word (i.e., contain no whitespace).
632 .SS \fLventi=value\fP
633 When booting from a local server backed by a local
634 or remote venti server,
635 this variable specifies how to establish the connection to the
641 This gives the name of the file holding the disk partition
642 for the cache file system,
646 example, one would write
647 .BR cfs=#S/sdC0/cache .
648 .SS \fLbootdisk=value\fP
649 This deprecated variable was used to specify the disk used by
650 the cache file system and other disk-resident services.
655 .SS \fLpartition=value\fP
656 This defines the partition table
658 will examine to find disk partitioning information.
659 By default, a partition table in a Plan 9 partition
660 is consulted; if no such table is found, an old-Plan 9
661 partition table on the next-to-last or last sector
662 of the disk is consulted.
665 consults only the first table,
669 .SS \fLauth=a.b.c.d\fP
670 These specify the IP address of the file and authentication server
671 to use when mounting a network-provided root file system.
672 They are used only if the addresses cannot be determined via DHCP.
674 .SS \fL*norealmode=\fP
675 The PC kernel switches the processor to 16-bit real mode
676 to run BIOS interrupts, for example to find the memory map or to enable VESA.
677 This variable disables such switches.
678 .SS \fL*noe820scan=\fP
679 When available, the PC kernel uses the BIOS E820 memory map
680 to size memory. This variable disables the scan.
681 .SS \fL*maxmem=value\fP
682 This defines the maximum physical address that the system will scan when sizing memory.
683 By default the PC operating system will scan up to 3.75 gigabytes
684 (0xF0000000, the base of kernel virtual address space), but setting
688 must be less than 3.75 gigabytes.
689 This variable is not consulted if using the E820 memory map.
690 .SS \fL*kernelpercent=value\fP
691 This defines what percentage of available memory is reserved for the kernel allocation pool.
692 The remainder is left for user processes. The default
698 on terminals with less than 16MB of memory,
701 on terminals with memories of 16MB or more.
702 Terminals use more kernel memory because
704 maintains its graphic images in kernel memory.
705 This deprecated option is rarely necessary in newer kernels.
706 .SS \fL*nomce=value\fP
707 If machine check exceptions are supported by the processor,
708 then they are enabled by default.
709 Setting this variable to
711 causes them to be disabled even when available.
713 A multiprocessor machine will enable all processors by default.
716 restricts the kernel to starting only one processor and using the
717 traditional interrupt controller.
718 .SS \fL*ncpu=value\fP
721 restricts the kernel to starting at most
724 .SS \fL*pcimaxbno=value\fP
725 This puts a limit on the maximum bus number probed
726 on a PCI bus (default 7).
729 of 1 should suffice on a 'standard' motherboard with an AGP slot.
732 below are rarely used and only on troublesome or suspect hardware.
733 .SS \fL*pcimaxdno=value\fP
734 This puts a limit on the maximum device number probed
735 on a PCI bus (default 31).
736 .SS \fL*nopcirouting=\fP
737 Disable pci routing during boot. May solve interrupt routing
738 problems on certain machines.
739 .SS \fL*nodumpstack=\fP
740 Disable printing a stack dump on panic.
741 Useful if there is only a limited cga screen available,
742 otherwise the textual information about the panic may scroll off.
743 .\" .SS \fL*nobios=\fP
744 .\" what does this do? something with pci
745 .SS \fLioexclude=value\fP
746 Specifies a list of ranges of I/O ports to exclude from use by drivers.
747 Ranges are inclusive on both ends and separated by commas.
750 ioexclude=0x330-0x337,0x430-0x43F
752 .SS \fLumbexclude=value\fP
753 Specifies a list of ranges of UMB to exclude from use by drivers.
754 Ranges are inclusive on both ends and separated by commas.
757 umbexclude=0xD1800-0xD3FFF
760 This enables the ``advanced power management'' interface
765 The main feature of the interface is the ability to watch
768 It is not on by default because it causes problems on some laptops.
770 .SS \fLmonitor=value\fP
771 .SS \fLvgasize=value\fP
772 These are used not by the kernel but by
778 .SS \fL*dpms=value\fP
779 This is used to specify the screen blanking behavior of the MGA4xx
786 The first two specify differing levels of power saving;
787 the third turns the monitor off completely.
790 .SS \fLnvrlen=length\fP
791 .SS \fLnvroff=offset\fP
792 This is used to specify an nvram device and optionally the length of the ram
793 and read/write offset to use.
794 These values are consulted by
798 The most common use of the nvram is to hold a
803 This is used by the WORM file server kernel to locate a file holding information
804 to configure the file system.
805 The file cannot live on a SCSI disk.
811 is set, in which case it is
821 is the numeric unit id.
822 This variant syntax is a vestige of the file server kernel's origins.
829 % cat /n/9fat:/plan9.ini
833 serial0=type=generic port=0x3E8 irq=5
844 Being able to set the console device to other than a
845 display is marginally useful on file servers; MS-DOS
846 and the programs which run under it are so tightly bound
847 to the display that it is necessary to have a display if any
848 setup or reconfiguration programs need to be run.
849 Also, the delay before any messages appear at boot time
850 is disconcerting, as any error messages from the BIOS
853 This idea is at best an interesting experiment that needs another iteration.
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