The first argument,
boot-device, actually designates the primary bootloader location and its name in the form:
boot-device:[partition-num],[bootloader-filename]
A typical example, from a PowerBook (FireWire), is
/pci@f2000000/mac-io@17/ata-4@1f000/@0:9,ofwboot.xcf
Note that colon (`:') delimits the device to the left, and comma (`,') separates the boot loader filename from the first part. For Open Firmware versions before 3, the primary bootloader is installed in partition “zero”, and it is not necessary to specify the bootloader-filename. For Open Firmware version 3, you must specify the bootloader-filename.
Open Firmware stores aliases to common devices in NVRAM. In the example above,
/pci@f2000000/mac-io@17/ata-4@1f000/@0 is the path on a PowerBook (FireWire) to the built-in ATA/100 hard drive. Use the
devalias command in Open Firmware to print out a list of common device names on a particular model. The command above could then be simplified to:
hd:9,ofwboot.xcf
boot-loader-file-name is usually
ofwboot.xcf. (See also the
FILES section for further discussion.)
If omitted, the Open Firmware variable
boot-device is used.