SNI Monitor - Revision history

Ralf: /* IdProm recovery */

2006-05-17T11:03:13Z

‎IdProm recovery

Alec v: reorder

2006-03-27T08:19:48Z

reorder

Alec v: DVH on hdd

2006-01-16T21:04:02Z

DVH on hdd

Ralf at 11:09, 4 January 2006

2006-01-04T11:09:26Z

Ralf: /* Boot CD-ROM */

2006-01-04T10:51:22Z

‎Boot CD-ROM

Alec v: details

2006-01-04T00:23:50Z

details

Alec v: Boot CD

2005-12-12T11:06:47Z

Boot CD

Alec v: Boot CD

2005-12-11T20:06:28Z

Boot CD

Alec v: Boot

2005-12-11T01:19:56Z

Boot

Alec v at 20:41, 26 November 2005

2005-11-26T20:41:45Z

New page

SNI Monitor is a big-endian firmware for the Siemens Nixdorf [[RM_400|RM-400]] server (and others).

== Boot process ==

SNI Monitor loads a secondary bootloader ''dkncr(0,0,10)sash'' which loads SINIX's ''dkncr(0,0,0)unix'' file.

SINIX uses [[Wikipedia:System V|System V]] slices :

* Slice 1 - root file system
* Slice 2 - swap
* ...
* Slice 10 - boot slice with BFS (Boot File System)

== API ==

== Bootlog ==

SNI Monitor Version 2.0018 SNI_R4000 OPT Wed May 25 11:39:36 WET 1994 liva20r
Memory size: 128 MBytes (0x8000000 bytes)
Bank #0: 64 MBytes Bank #1: 64 MBytes
Bank #2: 0 MBytes Bank #3: 0 MBytes
CPU : R4400 SC, Revision 5.0
Primary I-cache size: 16384 (0x4000) bytes
Primary D-cache size: 16384 (0x4000) bytes
Secondary cache size: 128 Kbytes (0x20000 bytes)
>> dkncr(0,0,10)sash
297872+130048+628272 entry: 0xa0600000
SNI Standalone Shell Version 3.0003 SNI_R4000 OPT Thu Jun 23 13:30:39 WET 1994 livsa542

Loading dkncr(0,0,0)unix
2128236+873536+557808 entry: 0x80021000

SNI RM400
UNIX(R) SINIX-N Release 5.42 Version A0007

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 SNI Monitor maintains a call vector at 0xbfc00000. This calls are similar to the API calls used in the MIPS [[wikipedia:MIPS_Magnum|Magnum 3000]] (a.k.a mipsco) monitor (see [http://www.linux-mips.org/git?p=linux.git;a=blob;f=include/asm-mips/mipsprom.h include/asm/mipsprom.h] for details).
-== IdProm recovery ==
+== System ID recovery ==
+Some old SNI RM-x00 machines store their system ID in battery backed memory.  Newer systems store this information in a EEPROM and there is the faint chance of this information getting destroyed by an accident.  This ID can be restored using the ''init_e2prom'' command.
-Some old SNI RM-x00 machines comes with broken IdProm backup battery. There is a hidden command ''init_e2prom'' which allows to recover IdProm content.
 == Boot process ==

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 The '''SNI Monitor''' is a big-endian [[firmware]] for MIPS-based Siemens-Nixdorf systems.  It's a close relative to the firmware used in pre-[[ARC]] systems by [[SGI]] and [[wikipedia:MIPS Computer Systems|MIPS Computer Systems]] Magnum.
 == Boot process ==
@@ Line 62: / Line 70: @@
 : miniroot   sector63320 size 6291456
 : systest    sector79304 size 1916032
 == Bootlog ==

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-The '''SNI Monitor''' is a big-endian [[firmware]] for MIPS-based Siemens-Nixdorf systems.  It's a close relative to the firmware used in pre-[[ARC]] systems by [[SGI]] and MIPS Computer Systems.
+The '''SNI Monitor''' is a big-endian [[firmware]] for MIPS-based Siemens-Nixdorf systems.  It's a close relative to the firmware used in pre-[[ARC]] systems by [[SGI]] and [[wikipedia:MIPS Computer Systems|MIPS Computer Systems]] Magnum.
 == Boot process ==
@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
   sash: MIPSEB ECOFF executable (impure) stripped - version 2.11
-SINIX uses [[Wikipedia:System V|System V]] slices :
+SINIX uses [[Disk Volume Header]] partition table, but partition nubers are different from the IRIX:
 * Slice 1 - root file system
 * Slice 2 - swap
 * ...
 * Slice 10 - boot slice with BFS (Boot File System)
 http://penguin.cz/~mhi/fs/bfs/

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-SNI Monitor is a big-endian firmware for the Siemens Nixdorf [[RM_400|RM-400]] server (and others).
+The '''SNI Monitor''' is a big-endian [[firmware]] for MIPS-based Siemens-Nixdorf systems.  It's a close relative to the firmware used in pre-[[ARC]] systems by [[SGI]] and MIPS Computer Systems.
 == Boot process ==
@@ Line 17: / Line 17: @@
 http://penguin.cz/~mhi/fs/bfs/
-== Boot CD-ROM ==
+== Bootable CD-ROMs ==
 SINIX bootable CD-ROM contains [[Wikipedia:ISO_9660|ISO-9660]] filesystem '''and''' [[Disk Volume Header]]. Note! There is only one record in the DVH partition table pointing to itself (sector 0).  The DVH resides in the CR-ROM System Area and doesn't overlap with ISO-9660 Primary Volume Descriptor starting at logical sector 16 (0x8000). DVH directory entries are pointing to the first sector of the apprpriate files in the ISO-9660 area (in the /BOOT directory).

@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 == Boot CD-ROM ==
-SINIX bootable CD-ROM contains [[Wikipedia:ISO_9660|ISO-9660]] filesystem '''and''' IRIX Volume Header. Note! There is only one record in the DVH partition table pointing to itself (sector 0). Volume Header resides in the CR-ROM System Area and doesn't interfere with ISO-9660 Primary Volume Descriptor starting at logical sector 16 (0x8000). DVH's directory entries are pointing directly to the first sector of the apprpriate files in the ISO-9660 area (in the /BOOT directory).
+SINIX bootable CD-ROM contains [[Wikipedia:ISO_9660|ISO-9660]] filesystem '''and''' [[Disk Volume Header]]. Note! There is only one record in the DVH partition table pointing to itself (sector 0).  The DVH resides in the CR-ROM System Area and doesn't overlap with ISO-9660 Primary Volume Descriptor starting at logical sector 16 (0x8000). DVH directory entries are pointing to the first sector of the apprpriate files in the ISO-9660 area (in the /BOOT directory).
   # dvhtool --device /dev/hdc --print-all

@@ Line 63: / Line 63: @@
 == API ==
-SNI Monitor maintains a call vector at 0xbfc00000. Some calls are similar to the API calls used in the [[DECstation]] monitor.
+SNI Monitor maintains a call vector at 0xbfc00000. This calls are similar to the API calls used in the MIPS [[wikipedia:MIPS_Magnum|Magnum 3000]] (a.k.a mipsco) monitor (see ''include/asm/mipsprom.h'' for details).
 == Bootlog ==