June 1999		  Kernel Parameters			v2.2.9
			  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The following is a consolidated list of the kernel parameters as defined
in the file init/main.c and sorted into English Dictionary order (defined
as ignoring all punctuation and sorting digits before letters in a case
insensitive manner), and with descriptions where known.

The text in square brackets at the beginning of the description state the
restrictions on the kernel for the said kernel parameter to be valid. The
restrictions referred to are that the relevant option is valid if:

    APIC	APIC support is enabled.
    APM 	Advanced Power Management support is enabled.
    AX25	Appropriate AX.25 support is enabled.
    CD		Appropriate CD support is enabled.
    EIDE	EIDE/ATAPI support is enabled.
    FB		The frame buffer device is enabled.
    HW		Appropriate hardware is enabled.
    ISDN	Appropriate ISDN support is enabled.
    JOY 	Appropriate joystick support is enabled.
    LP		Printer support is enabled.
    LOOP	Loopback device support is enabled.
    MCA 	MCA bus support is enabled.
    MDA 	The MDA console is enabled.
    MOUSE	Appropriate mouse support is enabled.
    NET 	Appropriate network support is enabled.
    NFS 	Appropriate NFS support is enabled.
    PARIDE	The ParIDE subsystem is enabled.
    PCI 	PCI bus support is enabled.
    PCMCIA	The PCMCIA subsystem is enabled.
    PNP 	Plug & Play support is enabled.
    PPT		Parallel port support is enabled.
    PS2 	Appropriate PS/2 support is enabled.
    RAM 	RAMdisc support is enabled.
    SCSI	Appropriate SCSI support is enabled.
    SERIAL	Serial support is enabled.
    SMP 	The kernel is an SMP kernel.
    SOUND	Appropriate sound system support is enabled.
    VGA 	The VGA console has been enabled.
    VT		Virtual terminal support is enabled.
    XT		IBM PC/XT MFM hard disk support is enabled.

In addition, the following text indicates that the option:

    BUGS=	Relates to possible processor bugs on the said processor.
    KNL 	Is a kernel start-up parameter.

Note that ALL kernel parameters listed below are CASE SENSITIVE, and that
a trailing = on the name of any parameter states that that parameter will
be entered as an environment variable, whereas its absence indicates that
it will appear as a kernel argument readable via /proc/cmdline by programs
running once the system is up.

    53c7xx=		[HW,SCSI] Amiga SCSI controllers

    adb_buttons=	[HW,MOUSE]

    advansys=		[HW,SCSI]

    aha152x=		[HW,SCSI]

    aha1542=		[HW,SCSI]

    aic7xxx=		[HW,SCSI]

    AM53C974=		[HW,SCSI]

    apm=		[APM] Advanced Power Management.

    arcrimi=		[HW,NET]

	ataflop=		[HW, M68k]

    atamouse=		[HW,MOUSE] Atari Mouse.

    atascsi=		[HW,SCSI] Atari SCSI.

    aztcd=		[HW,CD] Aztec CD driver.

    baycom_par= 	[HW,AX25] BayCom Parallel Port AX.25 Modem.

    baycom_ser_fdx=	[HW,AX25] BayCom Serial Port AX.25 Modem in Full
			Duplex Mode.

    baycom_ser_hdx=	[HW,AX25] BayCom Serial Port AX.25 Modem in Half
			Duplex Mode.

    bmouse=		[HW,MOUSE,PS2] Bus mouse.

    BusLogic=		[HW,SCSI]

    cdu31a=		[HW,CD]

    cm206=		[HW,CD]

    com20020=		[HW,NET]

    com90io=		[HW,NET]

    com90xx=		[HW,NET]

    console=		[KNL] output console + comm spec (speed, control, parity)

    cyclades=		[HW,SERIAL] Cyclades multi-serial port adapter.

    debug		[KNL] Enable kernel debugging (events log level).

    decnet=		[HW,NET]

    digi=		[HW,SERIAL] io parameters + enable/disable command

    digiepca=		[HW,SERIAL]

    dmascc=		[HW,AX25,SERIAL] AX.25 Z80SCC driver with DMA
			support available.

    dmasound=		[HW,SOUND] (sound subsystem buffers)

    dtc3181e=		[HW,SCSI]

    eata=		[HW,SCSI]

    eda=		[HW,PS2]

    edb=		[HW,PS2]

    ether=		[HW,NET] Ethernet cards parameters (iomem,irq,dev_name).

    fd_mcs=		[HW,SCSI]

    fdomain=		[HW,SCSI]

    floppy=		[HW]

    ftape=		[HW] Floppy Tape subsystem debugging options.

    gdth=		[HW,SCSI]

    gscd=		[HW,CD]

    gvp11=		[HW,SCSI]

    hd= 		[EIDE] (E)IDE hard drive subsystem
                geometry (Cyl/heads/sectors) or tune parameters.

    hfmodem=		[HW,AX25]

    HiSax=		[HW,ISDN]

    hisax=		[HW,ISDN]

      in2000=       [HW,SCSI]

      init=     [KNL]



    ibmmcascsi= 	[HW,MCA,SCSI] IBM MicroChannel SCSI adapter.

    icn=		[HW,ISDN]

	ide?=		[HW] (E)IDE subsystem : config (iomem/irq), tuning or
				debugging (serialize,reset,no{dma,tune,probe}) or
				chipset specific parameters
	
	idebus=		[HW] (E)IDE subsystem : VLB/PCI bus speed

    in2000=		[HW,SCSI]

    init=		[KNL] default init level

	initrd=		[KNL] initial ramdisk path

    ip= 		[PNP]

    isp16=		[HW,CD]

    js_14=		[HW,JOY]

    js_am=		[HW,JOY]

    js_an=		[HW,JOY]

    js_as=		[HW.JOY]

    js_console= 	[HW,JOY]

    js_console2=	[HW,JOY]

    js_console3=	[HW,JOY]

    js_db9=		[HW,JOY]

    js_db9_2=		[HW,JOY]

    js_db9_3=		[HW,JOY]

    js_tg=		[HW,JOY]

    js_tg_2=		[HW,JOY]

    js_tg_3=		[HW,JOY]

    kbd-reset		[VT]

    load_ramdisk=	[RAM] initrd loading boolean

    lp=0 		[LP] Specify parallel ports to use, e.g,
or  lp=port[,port...]	lp=none,parport0 (lp0 not configured, lp1 uses
or  lp=reset		first parallel port).  'lp=0' disables the printer
or  lp=auto		driver.  'lp=reset' (which can be specified in
			addition to the ports) causes attached
			printers to be reset.  Using
			lp=port1,port2,... specifies the parallel
			ports to associate lp devices with, starting
			with lp0.  A port specification may be 'none'
			to skip that lp device, or a parport name such
			as 'parport0'.  Specifying 'lp=auto' instead
			of a port specification list means that device
			IDs from each port should be examined, to see
			if an IEEE 1284-compliant printer is attached;
			if so, the driver will manage that printer.

    ltpc=		[HW]

    mac5380=		[HW,SCSI]

    max_loop=[0-255]	[LOOP] States the maximum number of loopback devices
    			that can be mounted.

    maxcpus=		[SMP] States the maximum number of processors that
			an SMP kernel should make use of.

    max_scsi_luns=	[SCSI]

    mca-pentium 	[BUGS=ix86]

    mcd=		[HW,CD]

    mcdx=		[HW,CD]

    md= 		[HW] RAID subsystems devices and level

    mdacon=		[MDA]

    mem=		[KNL] force use XX Mb of memory when the kernel is not able
                      to see the whole system memory or for test

    msmouse=		[HW,MOUSE] Microsoft Mouse.

    ncr5380=		[HW,SCSI]

    ncr53c400=		[HW,SCSI]

    ncr53c400a= 	[HW,SCSI]

    ncr53c406a= 	[HW,SCSI]

    ncr53c8xx=		[HW,SCSI]

    nfsaddrs=		[NFS]

    nfsroot=		[NFS] nfs root filesystem for disk-less boxes

	nmi_watchdog=	[KNL, BUGS=ix86] debugging features for SMP kernels

    no387		[BUGS=ix86] Tells the kernel to use the 387 maths
			emulation library even if a 387 maths coprocessor
			is present.

    noapic		[SMP,APIC] Tells the kernel not to make use of any
			APIC that may be present on the system.

    noasync		[HW, M68K] Disables async and sync negotiation for all devices.

    nodisconnect	[HW,SCSI, M68K] Disables SCSI disconnects.

    no-halt		[BUGS=ix86]

    noinitrd		[RAM] Tells the kernel not to load any configured
			initial ramdisc.

    no-scroll		[VGA]

    nosmp		[SMP] Tells an SMP kernel to act as a UP kernel.

    nosync		[HW, M68K] Disables sync negotiation for all devices.

    optcd=		[HW,CD]

    panic=		[KNL] kernel behaviour on panic

    parport=0			[HW,PPT] Specify parallel ports.  0
or  parport=auto		disables.  Use 'auto' to force the driver
or  parport=0xBBB[,IRQ[,DMA]]	to use any IRQ/DMA settings detected
				(the default is to ignore detected
				IRQ/DMA settings because of possible
				conflicts).  You can specify the base
				address, IRQ, and DMA settings; IRQ
				and DMA should be numbers, or 'auto'
				(for using detected settings on that
				particular port), or 'nofifo' (to
				avoid using a FIFO even if it is
				detected).  Parallel ports are
				assigned in the order they are
				specified on the command line,
				starting with parport0.

    pas16=		[HW,SCSI]

    pcbit=		[HW,ISDN]

    pcd.		[PARIDE]

    pci=		[PCI]

    pd. 		[PARIDE]

    pf. 		[PARIDE]

    pg. 		[PARIDE]

    pirq=		[SMP,APIC] mp-table

    plip=		[PPT,NET] Parallel port network link.

    profile=	[KNL] enable kernel profiling via /proc/profile (param:log level)

    prompt_ramdisk=	[RAM] Whether to prompt for ramdisk before loading
			its contents into memory.

    pt. 		[PARIDE]

    ramdisk=		[RAM]

    ramdisk_size=	[RAM]

    ramdisk_start=	[RAM]

    reboot=		[BUGS=ix86]

    reserve=	[KNL,BUGS] force the kernel to ignore some iomem area

    riscom8=		[HW,SERIAL]

    ro			[KNL] Mount root device read-only on boot.

    root=		[KNL] root filesystem

    rw			[KNL] Mount root device read-write on boot.

    S			[KNL] run init in single mode

    sbpcd=		[HW,CD] Soundblaster CD adapter.

    scsi_logging=	[SCSI]

    sjcd=		[HW,CD]

    sonycd535=		[HW,CD]

    sound=		[SOUND]

    soundmodem= 	[HW,AX25,SOUND] Sound cards used as AX.25 modems.

    specialix=		[HW,SERIAL] Specialix multi-serial port adapter.

    st= 		[HW] SCSI tape parameters (buffers, ..)

    st0x=		[HW,SCSI]

    stram_swap= 	[HW]

    switches=		[HW, M68K]

    sym53c416=		[HW,SCSI]

    sym53c8xx=		[HW,SCSI]

    t128=		[HW,SCSI]

    tmc8xx=		[HW,SCSI]

    tmscsim=		[HW,SCSI]

    tp720=		[HW,PS2]

    u14-34f=		[HW,SCSI]

    video=		[FB]  frame buffer configuration

    vga=		[KNL]  on ix386, enable to choose a peculiar video mode
                       vga=ask

    wd33c93=		[HW,SCSI]

    wd7000=		[HW,SCSI]

    wdt=		[HW]

    xd= 		[HW,XT] Original XT pre-IDE (RLL encoded) disks

    xd_geo=		[HW,XT]
