HP OpenVMS Systems

Enabling automatic reset on boot?

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The Question is:

 
I am working on a device driver and need to reboot my development Alpha (an
 AlphaStation 200 4/233) quite often.  I need to have the hardware in a known
 state and I have been shutting down, halting and >>> INITing the Alpha to do so.
 
My question is:
 
Is there a way to issue a VMS "REBOOT"  and have the equivalent of the console
 INIT command be issued prior to the system bootstrapping itself?   If I could
 do this, I could walk away or work on other tasks while awaiting the reboot.
 Now, I have to wait
for the shutdown, INIT manually, and then boot.
 
 

The Answer is :

 
  The console variable "boot_reset" may do what you want.  When this variable
  is set to "ON", the system will automatically perform a reset during the
  bootstrap process.
 
  Note that if the kernel code sufficiently disrupts the state of the PCI bus
  hardware, there are cases where you may well be left with a manual reset (via
  the front panel switch or via power-cycle of the system), as certain Alpha
  systems use a particular chipset tied to the PCI reset signal, and this
  chipset will react to a PCI reset signal assertion by disconnecting the
  memory, BCache and PCI from the Alpha microprocessor.  This will obviously
  leave the Alpha microprocessor with no ability to recover from the PCI reset.
 
  Products that will not automatically reset the PCI bus via software -- without
  the use of a button (or the power plug) -- include:
 
        AlphaStation 200
        AlphaStation 205
        AlphaStation 255
        AlphaStation 400
        AlphaStation 500
        AlphaStation 600
        AlphaServer 300
        AlphaServer 400
        Most (all?) Personal Workstation -au series systems
 

  

     

     
answer written or last revised on ( 14-AUG-2000 )
     
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