For example, in RT11 the bootstrap is 2 blocks long
(block 2 is the
rest). It reads the directory to find the kernel and loads that, then
jumps to it. (Give or take some handwaving; Megan can improve on this
in her sleep...)
:-)
Actually, the primary boot is the first block (block 0). It has enough
knowledge to pull in the second bootstrap, which is in blocks 2-5. Once
the secondary boot is in, it knows how to locate and load the rest of
the system, build the handler table, setup interrupts and finally start
the keyboard monitor (KMON), which is what you type your commands to.
Megan Gentry
Former RT-11 Developer
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| Megan Gentry, EMT/B, PP-ASEL,ST| email: mbg at
world.std.com |
| Member of Technical Staff | megan at
savaje.com |
| SavaJe Technologies, Inc. | (s/ at /@/) |
| 100 Apollo Drive | URL:
http://world.std.com/~mbg/ |
| Chelmsford, MA 01824 | "pdp-11 programmer - some assembler |
| (978) 256 6521 (DEC '77-'98) | required." - mbg KB1FCA |
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+