EXTIPL(8)

NAME
extipl - a partition-selectable boot loader/installer for IBM-PC compatible computers.

SYNOPSIS
extipl command arguments ...

DESCRIPTION
This manual page documents briefly the extipl command.

extipl stands for "Extended IPL". That is an IBM's HD-IPL compatible boot strap code for IBM-PC compatible computers. But it allows to select one of partitions, or one of several BIOS supported HDDs. extipl is the installer of ExtIPL.

COMMANDS

save device-filename-of-HD [file]
    Store the current content of MBR in the specified HDD to a file "filename". Saved content of MBR can be restored by "extipl restore" described below. If you omit the filename, the default value "./master.ipl" is used. Back up file is set to be read-only.

restore device-filename-of-HD file
    MBR contains partition information and OS booter.
    You are asked as: C)ode: restore ipl code only
    T)able: restore partition table only
    A)ll: restore ipl code and partition table
    restore (c/t/a)? Reply 'c', 't', or 'a'. It is not examined whether specified file is valid copy of MBR. Filename cannot be omitted.

install device-filename-of-HD
    Install Extended-IPL boot code to MBR in the hard disk specified with the argument device-filename-of-HD. Before installation, you are forced to back up MBR to a file, and are prompted: Enter file name to save: If you press <Enter> key only, MBR will be saved into "./fdiskIPL.<count>", where <count> is a number from 001 to 999. That number is incremented automatically if that file exists already.

fdtest device-filename-of-FD
    Install Extended-IPL boot code to a floppy disk specified with the argument "device-filename-of-FD." You cannot use Extended-IPL installed floppy for any other purpose. This is for testing or trying Extended-IPL, but you can use a floppy with Extended-IPL to boot your PC if it doesn't boot from hard disk.

show device-filename-of-HD
    Display the content of the partition tables in a hard disk specified with the argument "device-filename-of-HD". The content of an extended partition is also displayed. [Example]
    # extipl show /dev/hda
    =========
    Partition TABLE on "/dev/hda"
    =========
     [1] 83: Linux native // 177MB
     [2] 06: FAT16(>32MB) // 236MB
    A[3] 85: Linux extended
        -->A[1] 83: Linux native // 1498MB
        --> [2] 05: Extended DOS
            --> [1] 83: Linux native // 996MB
            --> [2] 05: Extended DOS
                --> [1] 83: Linux native // 2222MB
                --> [2] 05: Extended DOS
                    --> [1] 82: Linux swap // 59MB
     [4] A5: FreeBSD/NetBSD/386BSD // 996MB

chgboot device-filename-of-HD
    Change the bootable partition in the specified device interactively. If you mark an extended partition bootable, you can also mark a partition in the bootable extended partition bootable. The follwing keys are understood: 1 .. 4 : mark the selected partition bootable. w : write back the modified parition table to the device. q : quit without any modification to the device c : clear the bootable mark. b : back to the parent partition when you are in an extended partition. If you are in the top level partition, quit without any modification. Please read the documantation for more details.

clrboot device-filename-of-HD
    marks all partition to be not bootable in a hard disk specified with the argument "device-filename-of-HD". This force Extended-IPL to enter partition selection even if shift key is not pressed down. Original booter in MBR cannot boot OS if all partition is marked non-bootable. You have to use Extended-IPL to boot something. If BIOS loader of MBR checks the validity of MBR strictly, it consider the MBR invalid. In such a case, YOU BECOME UNABLE TO BOOT ANY OS IN YOUR HARDDISK. BE extremely CAREFUL. Please read the documantation for more details.

OPTION
extipl command accepts some option flags for speciallized purpose. Please read the documentation and the source code for more details. Options includes:

-d  : debug Option flag for debugging boot code. If you specify this option, extipl does not install the specified boot code, but writes out the binary image of boot sector into the file named "./_BootSec.<sector_offset>". You can check the content of that image using dump tool or ndisasm, disassembler for i8086. It may be usefull to improve the boot code for Extended-IPL or to develop your own IPL code.

-f  : force install This option affects only the subcommand "install". If you specify this option, extipl does not prompt for the name of backup file and does not prompt for confirmation of install, but do write it's IPL boot code into MBR in the specified hard disk silently, and save the contents of the original MBR into "./fdiskIPL.<count>", where <count> is a number from 001 to 999. That number is incremented automatically if that file exists already. If you don't need that back up file, please remove it manually.

KEYS
These are keys to command installed Extended-IPL boot code.

<Shift>
    Extended-IPL loads and runs the boot sector of the first bootable partition on the first HDD. If shift key is pressed when extended-IPL booting, it displays a boot selection menu.

<0> Select the other HDD.

<1>,<2>,<3>,<4>
    Select one of primary/extended/logical partitions of current HDD to load and run the boot sector in that partition.

<Enter>
    Load and run the boot sector of selected partition.

<End>
    Change the bootable flag of selected partition and load and run that boot sector.

SEE ALSO
The programs are documented fully at /usr/local/share/doc/extipl/English/extipl.txt in English, or /usr/local/share/doc/extipl/Japanese/extipl.txt in Japanese.

AUTHOR
The author of Extended-IPL is Takamiti Kimura <takamiti@tsden.org>, English documentation is written by Ryutaroh Matsumoto <ryutaroh@tsden.org> and distributed as the part of the original source archive. This manual page was originally written by Akira YOSHIYAMA <yosshy@debian.or.jp>, for the Debian GNU/Linux system. Then Taketoshi Sano <kgh12351@nifty.ne.jp> update the information to match the new upstream release. This man page can be freely used by anyone.