firmware(1M) manual page
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firmware - bootable firmware programs and firmware commands
SPARC
Between the time most computers are turned on and the boot
program is loaded to bootstrap the machine, the computer is in an operating
state known as the firmware state. In the firmware state, a small program
in non-volatile memory is running on the machine, and the user can perform
certain system operations usually unavailable from single- or multi-user
operating states.
There are two basic kinds of firmware operations:
- Running
firmware commands.
- These commands might include commands for displaying
the Equipped Device Table, performing a system memory dump, displaying
the firmware version, creating a floppy key, etc. These commands are executed
by the firmware program.
- Running bootable programs.
- These include the operating
system and other bootable programs (such as a program to fill the Equipped
Device Table). These programs are located in the /stand file system. When
a bootable program is requested from firmware, the firmware program loads
and executes the program, passing control of the system to the bootable
program.
Some firmware programs, allow you to request the configuration
of a new bootable operating system from firmware by specifying the name
of a configuration file (usually /stand/system) as the name of the program
to boot; see system(4)
.
See the hardware guide that accompanies your computer
for descriptions of the firmware commands and programs available with your
machine.
system(4)
The firmware program typically does
not know if a requested program is bootable or not; requesting a program
that is not bootable from firmware can lead to unpredictable results.
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