vidmode

RDEV(8)                    Linux Programmer's Manual                   RDEV(8)



NAME
       rdev - query/set image root device, RAM disk size, or video mode

SYNOPSIS
       rdev [-Rrvh] [-o offset] [image [value [offset]]]
       rdev [-o offset] [image [root_device [offset]]]
       ramsize [-o offset] [image [size [offset]]]
       vidmode [-o offset] [image [mode [offset]]]
       rootflags [-o offset] [image [flags [offset]]]

DESCRIPTION
       With  no arguments, rdev outputs an /etc/mtab line for the current root
       file system.  With no arguments, ramsize, vidmode, and rootflags  print
       usage information.

       In  a  bootable  image  for the Linux kernel on i386, there are several
       pairs of bytes which specify the root device, the video mode,  and  the
       size  of the RAM disk.  These pairs of bytes, by default, begin at off‐
       set 504 (decimal) in the kernel image:

               498 Root flags
              (500 and 502 Reserved)
               504 RAM Disk Size
               506 VGA Mode
               508 Root Device
              (510 Boot Signature)

       rdev will change these values.

       Typical values for the image parameter, which is a bootable Linux  ker‐
       nel image, might be:

              /vmlinux
              /vmunix
              /boot/bzImage-2.4.0
              /dev/fd0
              /dev/fd1

       When  using  the rdev command, the root_device parameter might be some‐
       thing like:

              /dev/hda1
              /dev/hdf13
              /dev/sda2
              /dev/sdc4
              /dev/ida/c0d0p1

       One may also specify the device by a comma-separated  pair  of  decimal
       integers major,minor.

       For  the  ramsize command, the size parameter specifies the size of the
       RAM disk in kilobytes. 2.0.x kernels and newer dynamically allocate the
       ramdisk and do not need this setting.

       For  the rootflags command, the flags parameter contains extra informa‐
       tion used when mounting root.  Currently the only effect of these flags
       is to force the kernel to mount the root filesystem in readonly mode if
       flags is non-zero.

       For the vidmode command, the mode parameter specifies the video mode:

              -3 = Prompt
              -2 = Extended VGA
              -1 = Normal VGA
               0 = as if "0" was pressed at the prompt
               1 = as if "1" was pressed at the prompt
               2 = as if "2" was pressed at the prompt
               n = as if "n" was pressed at the prompt

       If the value is not specified, the image will be examined to  determine
       the current settings.

OPTIONS
       -r     Causes  rdev  to  act  like  ramsize (Not relevant for 2.0.x and
              newer kernels).

       -R     Causes rdev to act like rootflags.

       -v     Causes rdev to act like vidmode.

       -h     Provides help.

BUGS
       The rdev utility, when used other than to find a name for  the  current
       root  device,  is an ancient hack that works by patching a kernel image
       at a magic offset with magic numbers. It does not work on architectures
       other  than  i386.   Its use is strongly discouraged. Use a boot loader
       like SysLinux or LILO instead.

HISTORY
       At offset 502 there used to be the device number of the swap device (in
       Linux 0.12), and "rdev -s" or "swapdev" would set this.  However, since
       Linux 0.95 this constant is not used any longer, and the swap device is
       specified using the swapon(2) system call.

       At  offset  504  there used to be the size of the ramdisk in kilobytes.
       One would specify a size, and this much was grabbed off the top of mem‐
       ory.   In Linux 1.1.39 it became also possible to set this value on the
       kernel command line.  In Linux 1.3.48 the ramdisk  setup  was  changed.
       Ramdisk  memory is now taken from the buffer cache, so that the ramdisk
       can grow dynamically.  The  interpretation  of  the  ramdisk  word  was
       changed  to  a  word  of  which the high order bit is a prompt flag (1:
       prompt for ramdisk: "VFS: Insert ramdisk floppy and press ENTER" - this
       is  needed  with  a two-floppy boot), the next bit a load flag (1: load
       ramdisk), and the low order 11 bits give the starting block  number  of
       the  root filesystem image (so that one can have a single floppy boot).
       See also linux/Documentation/ramdisk.txt.

AUTHORS
       Originally by Werner Almesberger (almesber@nessie.cs.id.ethz.ch)
       Modified by Peter MacDonald (pmacdona@sanjuan.UVic.CA)
       rootflags support added by Stephen Tweedie (sct@dcs.ed.ac.uk)

AVAILABILITY
       The rdev command is part of the util-linux-ng package and is  available
       from ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux-ng/.



Linux 0.99                     20 November 1993                        RDEV(8)