Re: How is LOADPARM obtained?
Interesting question that now has my curiosity up. Before I never cared enough to wonder about it. Are you talking about a virtual IPL ? or maybe the real IPL of VM ? Does it really matter ? My first guess is that the LOADPARM data is stored in low memory and a register is passed to the OS similar to when you CALL a sub-program. I'm curious to see the responses ! Thanks, Bubba
Re: How is LOADPARM obtained?
HCLSAL is indeed provided and maintained with source code (ASSEMBLE), on MAINT's 194 disk. It obtains the LOADPARM from a call to HCPGLPRM (HCPGLP), for which source code is not readily available. It is possible that if one spent the time (on my To Do list) to download the Restricted Source Code (as documented in the z/VM installation materials), some form of HCPGLP source code may be available, perhaps in PL/X or another restricted language. So it depends more on the reason you need to know from where you can get the LOADPARM. If you can call HCPGLP the way that HCPSAL does, you're good to go. Mike Walter Hewitt Associates The opinions expressed herein are mine alone, not my employer's. Jeff Gribbin jeff.grib...@gmail.com Sent by: The IBM z/VM Operating System IBMVM@LISTSERV.UARK.EDU 09/28/2010 08:48 AM Please respond to The IBM z/VM Operating System IBMVM@LISTSERV.UARK.EDU To IBMVM@LISTSERV.UARK.EDU cc Subject How is LOADPARM obtained? Academic question that does not appear to be answered in Principles of Operation - can anyone help? Principles of Operation doesn't seem to mention how a program (operating system), 'reads' the loadparm - and CP Commands and Utilities (IPL command) isn't very helpful either ... snip The load parameter may be retrieved by the guest operating system during its IPL sequence. snip Of course, by asking if anyone knows, I realise that I've leaving myself open to fully justified, 'RTFC' (Read The Code) comments (is SAPL source-maintained?) but ... does anyone know? (A pointer to the relevant documentation would be ideal, but I'll settle for any reasonable explanation.) With thanks (again) in anticipation. Jeff The information contained in this e-mail and any accompanying documents may contain information that is confidential or otherwise protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, or if this message has been addressed to you in error, please immediately alert the sender by reply e-mail and then delete this message, including any attachments. Any dissemination, distribution or other use of the contents of this message by anyone other than the intended recipient is strictly prohibited. All messages sent to and from this e-mail address may be monitored as permitted by applicable law and regulations to ensure compliance with our internal policies and to protect our business. E-mails are not secure and cannot be guaranteed to be error free as they can be intercepted, amended, lost or destroyed, or contain viruses. You are deemed to have accepted these risks if you communicate with us by e-mail.
Re: How is LOADPARM obtained?
On Tuesday, 09/28/2010 at 09:49 EDT, Jeff Gribbin jeff.grib...@gmail.com wrote: Academic question that does not appear to be answered in Principles of Operation - can anyone help? Principles of Operation doesn't seem to mention how a program (operating system), 'reads' the loadparm - and CP Commands and Utilities (IPL comman d) isn't very helpful either ... It is obtained using a mechanism that is not published beyond its use in Linux. The best you can do is RTFC, and it is not a trivial process. Alan Altmark z/VM and Linux on System z Consultant IBM System Lab Services and Training ibm.com/systems/services/labservices office: 607.429.3323 alan_altm...@us.ibm.com IBM Endicott
Re: How is LOADPARM obtained?
On Tuesday, 09/28/2010 at 10:07 EDT, Mike Walter mike.wal...@hewitt.com wrote: HCLSAL is indeed provided and maintained with source code (ASSEMBLE), on MAINT's 194 disk. It obtains the LOADPARM from a call to HCPGLPRM (HCPGLP), for which source code is not readily available. It is possible that if one spent the time (on my To Do list) to download the Restricted Source Code (as documented in the z/VM installation materials), some form of HCPGLP source code may be available, perhaps in PL/X or another restricted language Don't bother. HCPGLP is OCO. Alan Altmark z/VM and Linux on System z Consultant IBM System Lab Services and Training ibm.com/systems/services/labservices office: 607.429.3323 alan_altm...@us.ibm.com IBM Endicott
Re: How is LOADPARM obtained?
Mike, It falls into the category of, 'Just curious'. I suspect that along with you and many (most?) others on this list I'm from a generation that's allergic to, 'smoke and mirrors'. I'd always assumed that the answer was simple, obvious and documented in Principles of Operation. I had occasion this morning to be looking at IPL (in P-o-O) (I'm doing some teaching soon and wanted to be sure of the sequence) and that made me think to look to find out how LOADPARM works (in case somebody asks the question) ... but I couldn't find it! (Possibly I've missed it but I did do quite a thorough search.) I have no actual immediate requirement to access the LOADPARM myself, and I doubt if anybody will ask, but ... I just like to know these things! :-)
Re: How is LOADPARM obtained?
It is obtained using a mechanism that is not published beyond its use in Linux. The best you can do is RTFC, and it is not a trivial process. Alan Altmark Thankyou, Alan, for a definitive reply. What a strange thing to keep secret! Regards Jeff
Re: How is LOADPARM obtained?
It uses the SERVC opcode which does things like read/write to the HMC, set masks to enable/disable signals like powerdown (how Linux intercepts the signal shutdown command), get loadparm, get configuration information etc. While some of the function is generic, I believe some is model specific. Neale On 9/28/10 11:11 AM, Jeff Gribbin jeff.grib...@gmail.com wrote: It is obtained using a mechanism that is not published beyond its use in Linux. The best you can do is RTFC, and it is not a trivial process. Alan Altmark Thankyou, Alan, for a definitive reply. What a strange thing to keep secret! Regards Jeff
Re: How is LOADPARM obtained?
On Tue, 28 Sep 2010 16:11:22 +0100, Jeff Gribbin jeff.grib...@gmail.com wrote: It is obtained using a mechanism that is not published beyond its use in Linux. The best you can do is RTFC, and it is not a trivial process . Alan Altmark Thankyou, Alan, for a definitive reply. What a strange thing to keep secret! In Dec 2009 Jan 2010 I was creating some standalone IPL'able code a nd needed to retrieve the Loadparm. A Google search turned up a Linux multiboot patch written by Lucias Leland and announced on the linux-390 list in Mar 2003. The site he posted the source on has gone 404, but it may be available elsewhere. In any case, I was able to use his example and grab the loadparm from my standalone code. Brian Nielsen
Re: How is LOADPARM obtained?
Look here, Brian: http://homerow.net/zlinux/ On 09/28/2010 12:18 PM, Brian Nielsen wrote: On Tue, 28 Sep 2010 16:11:22 +0100, Jeff Gribbin jeff.grib...@gmail.com wrote: It is obtained using a mechanism that is not published beyond its use in Linux. The best you can do is RTFC, and it is not a trivial process. Alan Altmark Thankyou, Alan, for a definitive reply. What a strange thing to keep secret! In Dec 2009 Jan 2010 I was creating some standalone IPL'able code and needed to retrieve the Loadparm. A Google search turned up a Linux multiboot patch written by Lucias Leland and announced on the linux-390 list in Mar 2003. The site he posted the source on has gone 404, but it may be available elsewhere. In any case, I was able to use his example and grab the loadparm from my standalone code. Brian Nielsen -- Dave Jones V/Soft Software www.vsoft-software.com Houston, TX 281.578.7544
Re: How is LOADPARM obtained?
On Tuesday, 09/28/2010 at 01:25 EDT, Dave Jones d...@vsoft-software.com wrote: Look here, Brian: http://homerow.net/zlinux/ Dave, those updates deal only with the PARM, not the LOADPARM. Alan Altmark z/VM and Linux on System z Consultant IBM System Lab Services and Training ibm.com/systems/services/labservices office: 607.429.3323 alan_altm...@us.ibm.com IBM Endicott
Re: How is LOADPARM obtained?
aHHthanks for the clarification, Alan.I didn't actually look at the code, but since he seemed to be keying off of a LOAPARM vm specification, I thought that he must have a way of getting the LOADPARM value somehow. Have a good one. On 09/28/2010 12:57 PM, Alan Altmark wrote: On Tuesday, 09/28/2010 at 01:25 EDT, Dave Jones d...@vsoft-software.com wrote: Look here, Brian: http://homerow.net/zlinux/ Dave, those updates deal only with the PARM, not the LOADPARM. Alan Altmark z/VM and Linux on System z Consultant IBM System Lab Services and Training ibm.com/systems/services/labservices office: 607.429.3323 alan_altm...@us.ibm.com IBM Endicott -- Dave Jones V/Soft Software www.vsoft-software.com Houston, TX 281.578.7544
Re: How is LOADPARM obtained?
Some light reading regarding SERVC (but LOADPARM in particular): http://www.docstoc.com/docs/55135658/Method-And-System-For-Providing-A-Hardware-Machine-Function-In-A-Protected-Virtual-Machine---Patent-6681238 http://www.patentmine.com/grant/06253224_desc.html http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/5386512/description.html http://www.patentvest.com/console/reports/docs/grant/05386512.html This one was interesting: ISX/390 - I remember this one from the early days on Linux on z but heard not much since: http://ip.com/patent/US6530078
Re: How is LOADPARM obtained?
It's in the multiple configuration boot support link: http://homerow.net/zlinux/multiboot/ The multiboot-03.077.diff file has what you need in it. Look for the cod e labeled Retrieve Load Parm. Brian Nielsen On Tue, 28 Sep 2010 13:11:46 -0500, Dave Jones d...@vsoft-software.com wrote: aHHthanks for the clarification, Alan.I didn't actually look at the code, but since he seemed to be keying off of a LOAPARM vm specification, I thought that he must have a way of getting the LOADPARM value somehow. Have a good one. On 09/28/2010 12:57 PM, Alan Altmark wrote: On Tuesday, 09/28/2010 at 01:25 EDT, Dave Jones d...@vsoft- software.com wrote: Look here, Brian: http://homerow.net/zlinux/ Dave, those updates deal only with the PARM, not the LOADPARM. Alan Altmark z/VM and Linux on System z Consultant IBM System Lab Services and Training ibm.com/systems/services/labservices office: 607.429.3323 alan_altm...@us.ibm.com IBM Endicott -- Dave Jones V/Soft Software www.vsoft-software.com Houston, TX 281.578.7544 =
Re: How is LOADPARM obtained?
Not what you asked, but here is the source code for the boot strap loader in 3CARD LOADER. It's kind of fun to look at. And quite beautiful in its own right. http://lilliana.eu/downloads/3card.loader.txt Lindy -Original Message- From: The IBM z/VM Operating System [mailto:ib...@listserv.uark.edu] On Behalf Of Jeff Gribbin Sent: Tuesday, September 28, 2010 6:11 PM To: IBMVM@LISTSERV.UARK.EDU Subject: Re: How is LOADPARM obtained? It is obtained using a mechanism that is not published beyond its use in Linux. The best you can do is RTFC, and it is not a trivial process. Alan Altmark Thankyou, Alan, for a definitive reply. What a strange thing to keep secret! Regards Jeff
Re: How is LOADPARM obtained?
Actually it's Leland Lucius and he's at homerow.net (has a website as well). Frank M. Ramaekers Jr. -Original Message- From: The IBM z/VM Operating System [mailto:ib...@listserv.uark.edu] On Behalf Of Brian Nielsen Sent: Tuesday, September 28, 2010 12:19 PM To: IBMVM@LISTSERV.UARK.EDU Subject: Re: How is LOADPARM obtained? On Tue, 28 Sep 2010 16:11:22 +0100, Jeff Gribbin jeff.grib...@gmail.com wrote: It is obtained using a mechanism that is not published beyond its use in Linux. The best you can do is RTFC, and it is not a trivial process. Alan Altmark Thankyou, Alan, for a definitive reply. What a strange thing to keep secret! In Dec 2009 Jan 2010 I was creating some standalone IPL'able code and needed to retrieve the Loadparm. A Google search turned up a Linux multiboot patch written by Lucias Leland and announced on the linux-390 list in Mar 2003. The site he posted the source on has gone 404, but it may be available elsewhere. In any case, I was able to use his example and grab the loadparm from my standalone code. Brian Nielsen _ This message contains information which is privileged and confidential and is solely for the use of the intended recipient. If you are not the intended recipient, be aware that any review, disclosure, copying, distribution, or use of the contents of this message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this in error, please destroy it immediately and notify us at privacy...@ailife.com.
Re: How is LOADPARM obtained?
Hmmmfrom the website: Multiple Configuration Boot Support The multiboot patch adds the ability to IPL different configurations from the same device using the LOADPARM parameter on VMs IPL command or the Load Parameter field on the Hardware Management Console. It is especially useful when IPLing zLinux in an LPAR. You may setup several configs in /etc/zipl.conf, like a known good one, a test one, and one that IPLs into single user mode. Then, if something untoward happens while testing, you have alternatives to get zLinux back up. You can even maintain 1 zipl.conf to be used by several LPARs and/or VM guests. Frank M. Ramaekers Jr. -Original Message- From: The IBM z/VM Operating System [mailto:ib...@listserv.uark.edu] On Behalf Of Alan Altmark Sent: Tuesday, September 28, 2010 12:58 PM To: IBMVM@LISTSERV.UARK.EDU Subject: Re: How is LOADPARM obtained? On Tuesday, 09/28/2010 at 01:25 EDT, Dave Jones d...@vsoft-software.com wrote: Look here, Brian: http://homerow.net/zlinux/ Dave, those updates deal only with the PARM, not the LOADPARM. Alan Altmark z/VM and Linux on System z Consultant IBM System Lab Services and Training ibm.com/systems/services/labservices office: 607.429.3323 alan_altm...@us.ibm.com IBM Endicott _ This message contains information which is privileged and confidential and is solely for the use of the intended recipient. If you are not the intended recipient, be aware that any review, disclosure, copying, distribution, or use of the contents of this message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this in error, please destroy it immediately and notify us at privacy...@ailife.com.
