Configuring a Kernel

Configuring a Kernel

Once you have placed the binary in /var/sysgen/boot and the master file in /var/sysgen/master.d, you can configure and generate a new kernel. This is done using the autoconfig command, which in turn calls lboot to actually create a new bootable file.

The lboot program only loads modules that are specified in a file in /var/sysgen/system. One command is required to specify the new driver; the command is one of the following:

VECTOR To specify hardware details, to request a hardware probe at boot time, to load the driver and invoke pfxedtinit().
INCLUDE To load the driver and invoke pfxinit().
USE To load the driver and invoke pfxinit() only if the master file exists in master.d.

The form of these commands is detailed in the system(4) reference page. In addition, you should examine the distributed files in /var/sysgen/system, especial irix.sm, which contains many comments on the meaning and use of different entries. Specific uses of the VECTOR statement are discussed in the following topics:

The form of VECTOR lines for VME devices is discussed under "Configuring the System Files".
The form of VECTOR lines for EISA devices is discussed under "Configuring IRIX".
The form of VECTOR lines for GIO devices is discussed under "Configuring a GIO Device".

You could place the VECTOR, USE, or INCLUDE line for your driver in irix.sm. However, since lboot treats all files in /var/sysgen/system as a single file, you can create a small file unique to your driver. The name of this file is not significant, but a good name is the driver name with the suffix .sm.

VECTOR	To specify hardware details, to request a hardware probe at boot time, to load the driver and invoke pfxedtinit().
INCLUDE	To load the driver and invoke pfxinit().
USE	To load the driver and invoke pfxinit() only if the master file exists in master.d.