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 Automatic 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.
LPT Printer 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.
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]
adb_buttons= [HW,MOUSE]
advansys= [HW,SCSI]
aha152x= [HW,SCSI]
aha1542= [HW,SCSI]
aic7xxx= [HW,SCSI]
AM53C974= [HW,SCSI]
apm= [APM] Automatic Power Management.
arcrimi= [HW,NET]
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=
cyclades= [HW,SERIAL] Cyclades multi-serial port adapter.
debug [KNL] Enable kernel debugging.
decnet= [HW,NET]
digi= [HW,SERIAL]
digiepca= [HW,SERIAL]
dmascc= [HW,AX25,SERIAL] AX.25 Z80SCC driver with DMA
support available.
dmasound= [HW,SOUND]
dtc3181e= [HW,SCSI]
eata= [HW,SCSI]
eda= [HW,PS2]
edb= [HW,PS2]
ether= [HW,NET] Ethernet.
fd_mcs= [HW,SCSI]
fdomain= [HW,SCSI]
floppy= [HW]
ftape= [HW] Floppy Tape subsystem.
gdth= [HW,SCSI]
gscd= [HW,CD]
gvp11= [HW,SCSI]
hd= [EIDE] IDE and EIDE hard drive subsystem.
hfmodem= [HW,AX25]
HiSax= [HW,ISDN]
hisax= [HW,ISDN]
ibmmcascsi= [HW,MCA,SCSI] IBM MicroChannel SCSI adapter.
icn= [HW,ISDN]
in2000= [HW,SCSI]
init= [KNL]
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]
lp= [LPT] Parallel Printer.
ltpc= [HW]
mac5380= [HW,SCSI]
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]
mdacon= [MDA]
msmouse= [HW,MOUSE] Microsoft Mouse.
ncr5380= [HW,SCSI]
ncr53c400= [HW,SCSI]
ncr53c400a= [HW,SCSI]
ncr53c406a= [HW,SCSI]
ncr53c8xx= [HW,SCSI]
nfsaddrs= [NFS]
nfsroot= [NFS]
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.
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.
optcd= [HW,CD]
panic=
parport= [HW,LP]
pas16= [HW,SCSI]
pcbit= [HW,ISDN]
pcd. [PARIDE]
pci= [PCI]
pd. [PARIDE]
pf. [PARIDE]
pg. [PARIDE]
pirq= [SMP,APIC]
plip= [LP,NET] Parallel port network link.
profile=
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=
riscom8= [HW,SERIAL]
ro [KNL] Mount root device read-only on boot.
root=
rw [KNL] Mount root device read-write on boot.
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]
st0x= [HW,SCSI]
stram_swap= [HW]
sym53c416= [HW,SCSI]
sym53c8xx= [HW,SCSI]
t128= [HW,SCSI]
tmc8xx= [HW,SCSI]
tmscsim= [HW,SCSI]
tp720= [HW,PS2]
u14-34f= [HW,SCSI]
video= [FB]
wd33c93= [HW,SCSI]
wd7000= [HW,SCSI]
wdt= [HW]
xd= [HW,XT]
xd_geo= [HW,XT]