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Q99249: Boot Block Configuration File Format

Article: Q99249
Product(s): Microsoft LAN Manager
Version(s): 
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): 
Last Modified: 30-JUL-2001

SUMMARY
=======

The boot block configuration file specifies the contents of the boot block sent
to the workstation by the RPL service. For MS-DOS, the boot block is named
dosbb.cnf.

For OS/2 1.21 and OS/2 1.3, the boot block configuration file is named
os2121bb.cnf and os213bb.cnf respectively. The files can be found under:

<lanroot>\RPL\BBLOCK\NETBEUI\<network card>\

The file normally contains rplboot, and the real mode network drivers and support
programs. For MS-DOS it also contains rplstart and rpldisk; for OS/2 it also
contains os2ldr, os2krnl, and rplmfsd.sys.

MORE INFORMATION
================

Typically, you will never need to edit a boot block configuration file. However,
you may need to allocate more memory for a specific driver, or for OEM's, make
changes so that their network drivers work with RPL.

The general format of a line in a boot block configuration file consists of four
fields: TYPE, FILENAME, PARAMETER(s), and MOVEABLE. All valid TYPES are
described below, along with their expected FILENAMEs and PARAMETERs (where
applicable).

Fields are separated with spaces; spaces within a field are represented with
tilde (~). The maximum line length is 512 characters. Comments are given by
lines where the first non-space character is ';'. The MOVEABLE field is only
valid for device drivers, and M indicates that the device driver can be moved
after initialization to reclaim memory it doesn't need; ~, M indicates the
device driver cannot be moved. The MOVEABLE field is new with LAN Manager 2.1.

RPL Type

The RPL entry specifes the first (initialization) program that runs on the
workstation. The filename specified is relative to rpldir. There are no
parameters. There may be only a single RPL entry. The initialization program for
both DOS and OS/2 is rplboot.

ORG Type

ORG entries bind files to specific addresses in memory. Since all files are in a
continuous memory block, there can be only one ORG entry. For ORG entries, the
filename field has a special meaning; it specifies the hexadecimal segment
number used as the address to bind to. There are no parameters.

DAT Type

DAT entries specify data files which are included in the boot block. The filename
specified is relative to rpldir. There are no parameters.

LDR Type

The LDR entry specifies the loader to use on the workstation, which is the
program that rplboot will pass control to. There can be only one LDR entry. The
filename specified is relative to rpldir.

The parameters specified depend on the operating system being booted.

For MS-DOS the filename and parameters are:

    BBLOCK\RPLSTART.COM ~

For OS/2 1.21 the filename and parameters are:

    BBLOCK\OS2121\OS2LDR ~ OS2LDR OS2KRNL RPLMFSD.SYS

For OS/2 1.3 the filename and parameters are:

    BBLOCK\OS213\OS2LDR ~ OS2LDR OS2KRNL RPLMFSD.SYS

DRV Type

DRV entries specify which device drivers should be used to form the boot block.
The filename field specifies the name of the device driver; it is relative to
rpldir. The first parameter field specifies parameters used by the device
driver. The second parameter field specifies any additional memory used by the
device driver (in decimal K).

The MOVEABLE field must be either M or ~. M indicates that the driver is moveable
after initialization. If the driver can be moved after initialization, and its
memory requirements are less than for the original driver image, rplboot moves
the driver to reclaim the unused memory, and adjusts all interrupt vectors that
point into the driver's memory area. Some drivers cannot be moved, because they
record segment addresses that are correct during initialization, but not after
the driver has been moved. This field is new in LAN Manager 2.1.

EXE Type

EXE entries specify executables (.EXEs and .COMs) that are run during the boot
process. The filename is the name of the executable, and the parameters field
specifies arguments passed to the executable. As mentioned above, EXEs must be
specified in reverse order (the last one listed in the boot block configuration
file is the first one executed). The DRVs and EXEs of boot block configuration
files must be specified in the reverse of the order they would normally occur in
config.sys.

BASE Type

The BASE entry specifies the base address of the boot block. The filename is
actually a hexadecimal segment number (paragraph). There are no parameter
fields. There can be only one BASE entry; if none is specified, 00C0h is used as
the default base address.

Boot Block Config File Examples

Example DOS boot block config files:

; DOS on IBM Token Ring
BASE D0H
RPL BBLOCK\RPLBOOT.SYS
LDR BBLOCK\RPLSTART.COM ~
DAT BBLOCK\NETBEUI\IBMTOK\PROTOCOL.INI
DRV BBLOCK\RPLDISK.SYS ~ 4 M
EXE BBLOCK\RPLPRO1.COM ~ 2 ~
EXE BBLOCK\RPLBIND2.EXE ~ ~
EXE BBLOCK\PROTMAN.EXE ~ ~
EXE BBLOCK\RPLBIND1.EXE ~ ~
DRV BBLOCK\TCPDRV.DOS /I:C:\LANMAN.DOS ~ ~
EXE BBLOCK\NETBEUI\NETBEUI.EXE ~ 10 ~
DRV BBLOCK\NDIS\IBMTOK.DOS ~ 2 M
DRV BBLOCK\PROTMAN.DOS /I:C:\LANMAN.DOS ~ M

; DOS on Western Digital Ethernet
BASE D0H
RPL BBLOCK\RPLBOOT.SYS
LDR BBLOCK\RPLSTART.COM ~
DAT BBLOCK\NETBEUI\MACWD\PROTOCOL.INI
DRV BBLOCK\RPLDISK.SYS ~ 4 M
EXE BBLOCK\RPLPRO1.COM ~ 2 ~
EXE BBLOCK\RPLBIND2.EXE ~ ~
EXE BBLOCK\PROTMAN.EXE ~ ~
EXE BBLOCK\RPLBIND1.EXE ~ ~
DRV BBLOCK\TCPDRV.DOS /I:C:\LANMAN.DOS ~ ~
EXE BBLOCK\NETBEUI\NETBEUI.EXE ~ 10 ~
DRV BBLOCK\NDIS\MACWD.DOS ~ 4 ~
DRV BBLOCK\PROTMAN.DOS /I:C:\LANMAN.DOS ~ M

Example OS/2 1.3 boot block config files:

; OS/2 1.3 on IBM Token Ring
RPL BBLOCK\RPLBOOT.SYS
DAT BBLOCK\RPLMFSD.SYS
ORG 1000H
DAT BBLOCK\OS213\OS2KRNL
LDR BBLOCK\OS213\OS2LDR ~ OS2LDR OS2KRNL RPLMFSD.SYS
DAT BBLOCK\NETBEUI\IBMTOK\PROTOCOL.INI
EXE BBLOCK\RPLBIND2.EXE ~ ~
EXE BBLOCK\PROTMAN.EXE ~ ~
EXE BBLOCK\RPLBIND1.EXE ~ ~
EXE BBLOCK\NETBEUI\NETBEUI.EXE ~ 10 ~
DRV BBLOCK\NDIS\IBMTOK.DOS ~ 2 M
DRV BBLOCK\PROTMAN.DOS /I: ~ M

; OS/2 1.3 on Western Digital Ethernet
RPL BBLOCK\RPLBOOT.SYS
DAT BBLOCK\RPLMFSD.SYS
ORG 1000H
DAT BBLOCK\OS213\OS2KRNL
LDR BBLOCK\OS213\OS2LDR ~ OS2LDR OS2KRNL RPLMFSD.SYS
DAT BBLOCK\NETBEUI\MACWD\OS2\PROTOCOL.INI
EXE BBLOCK\RPLBIND2.EXE ~ ~
EXE BBLOCK\PROTMAN.EXE ~ ~
EXE BBLOCK\RPLBIND1.EXE ~ ~
EXE BBLOCK\NETBEUI\NETBEUI.EXE ~ 10 ~
DRV BBLOCK\NDIS\MACWD.DOS ~ 4 ~
DRV BBLOCK\PROTMAN.DOS /I: ~ M

OS/2 1.21 boot block config files are almost exactly the same as OS/2 1.3 boot
block config files. The only difference is that they specify bblock\os121 as the
location to find os2ldr and os2krnl. They even use the same rplmfsd.sys.


Additional query words: 2.10 rpl remoteboot boot block dosbb.cnf

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Keywords          :  

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