`startup-bios`

Startup for PC-compatible systems with a BIOS (QNX Neutrino)

Syntax:

startup-bios [-A] [-b] [-D channel[.channel_opts]] 
    [-f [cpu_freq][,[cycles_freq][,timer_freq]]] 
    [-j addr] [-K channel[.channel_opts]] 
    [-N hostname] [-P max_cpus] 
    [-R size] [-r addr,size[,flag]]
    [-S [~]section] [-s size] [-v[v]...] [-x]

Options:

-A

Reboot the system on any abnormal termination of the kernel. The default is to display information about the crash and halt.

-b

Don't reserve the bottom 4K of memory for virtual 8086 mode. This provides an extra 4K of memory for system use.

-D channel[.channel_opts]

Specify an output channel for debugging information. See below for details.

-f [cpu_freq][,[cycles_freq][,timer_freq]]

Specify CPU frequencies. All frequencies can be followed by H for hertz, K for kilohertz, or M for megahertz (these suffixes aren't case-sensitive). If no suffix is given, the library assumes megahertz if the number is less than 1000; otherwise it assumes hertz.

If they're specified, cpu_freq, cycles_freq, and timer_freq are used to set the corresponding variables in the startup code:

cpu_freq -- the CPU clock frequency. It's also used to set the speed field in the cpuinfo section of the system page.
cycles_freq -- the frequency at which the value returned by ClockCycles() increments. It's also used to set the cycles_per_sec field in the qtime section of the system page.
timer_freq -- the frequency at which the timer chip input runs. It's also used to set the timer_rate and timer_scale values of the qtime section of the system page.

If a variable is zero when it comes time to set the field(s) on the system page, the library code attempts to deduce the proper value by using one of the other frequency variables. Which one it uses depends on the particular CPU and hardware.

-j addr

For use with JTAG/hardware debuggers.

Reserve 4 bytes of RAM at the physical address specified by addr, and copy the physical address of the location of the system page to addr in RAM so that it can be retrieved by a hardware debugger.

-K channel[.channel_opts]

Specify an output channel for kernel debugger information. See below for details.

-N hostname

Specify the node name. The default is the local host.

-P max_cpus

Specify the maximum number of processors to activate in an SMP system. This is useful for testing how well your application runs on a system with fewer CPUs. This option requires procnto-smp instead of procnto to have an effect.

-R size

Remove size memory from system use. This is useful for testing in a restricted-memory environment. The size is in bytes, unless followed by one of K (kilobytes), M (megabytes), or G (gigabytes).

-r addr,size[,flag]

Remove size memory from system use starting at addr.

The flag is an optional argument used to specify if the memory should be cleared:

If the value of the flag passed is:	Memory:
None	Clears to 0
0	Clears to 0
1	Does not clear

-S [~]section

Turn on (or, if you use ~section, off) output of the specified syspage section's information. Use this to restrict the amount of syspage information. For more information, see the description of print_syspage() in the Customizing Image Startup Programs chapter of Building Embedded Systems.

-s size

Copy the given amount of video card ROM into RAM, and set the x86 page tables to refer to the RAM copy rather than the ROM. The size is in bytes, unless followed by one of K (kilobytes), M (megabytes), or G (gigabytes). Specifying the -s option causes the following call:

x86_pcbios_shadow_rom( 0xc0000, size );

For more information, see "The startup library" in the Customizing Image Startup Programs chapter of Building Embedded Systems.

-v[v]...

Be verbose. More v characters cause even more verbosity.

-x

Enable extended addressing. This lets you access physical addresses above 4G.

This option has an effect only if the CPU supports more than 32 address lines. On x86 CPUs, extended addressing is supported if the X86_CPU_PAE bit is on in the SYSPAGE_ENTRY(cpuinfo)->flags. For more information, see "Structure of the system page" in the Customizing Image Startup Programs chapter of Building Embedded Systems.

Debug channels

The debug channel specified with the -D and -K options can be:

8250[.port[^shift][.baud[.clock[.divisor]]]]

Use a generic 8250-compatible serial chip, with:

port: Specify the I/O port base address for the 8250, in hexadecimal. The default is 3f8.
shift: Specify the spacing between the I/O registers, in 2^shift bytes. The default is 0.
baud: Specify the baud rate for the debug channel. The default is 57600.
clock: Specify the clock rate (in Hz) input to the chip. The default is 1843200.
divisor: Specify the divisor used on the clock rate by the chip. The default is 16.

console

Use the PC console.

You can skip options by leaving out the data associated with that part. For example, if you want to send the debugging output to an 8250 chip using 9600 baud, use:

-D 8250..9600

The default -D and -K settings are:

-D console
-K 8250.3f8^0.57600.1843200.16

Description:

The startup-bios program is responsible for probing PC hardware resources using the BIOS.

Examples:

Direct debug output to the console:

startup-bios -Nnode120 -vvvv -Dconsole

Direct debug output to the first serial port (making sure the baud rate was set to 115200 on the receiving side):

startup-bios -Nnode120 -vvvv -D8250..115200

Direct debug output to the serial port at 2f8:

startup-bios -Nnode120 -vvvv -D8250.2f8.115200

For more examples, see ${QNX_TARGET}/x86/build.