Instruction Manual

 Configuration data for non-native ISA devices area
Additionally, NVRAM contains a header that describes the location and length of
these areas.
Figure 20. NVRAM Layout
GEArea Contains definitions of global environment variables which can be
updated and used by different operating systems. Global variables are
used mainly by the firmware for cached data or by operating systems to
communicate with the firmware.
OSArea The data in this area is preserved between boots of the same operating
system only; otherwise the data can be overwritten.
Configuration data for non-native devices area Stores data for ISA devices
which are not integrated on the system board. The data must be
represented in the format of the compressed Plug and Play configuration
packet. Data in this area is stored and used by the operating system.
The firmware passes this configuration data to the operating system by
using residual data. This area is located at the tail of NVRAM and
grows toward lower addresses.
4.3 Boot Image
The AIX boot image is loaded by the Software ROS. It consists of the following
components:
 An AIX kernel
 The RAM file system
 Base customized device information
AIX Version 4 provides support for the following three different RS/6000 platforms:
Table 12 (Page 1 of 2). Platform Types
Name Description
rs6k Microchannel-Based RS/6000 Systems
rs6ksmp Symmetric Multi-Processor RS/6000
systems
58 Introduction to PCI-Based RS/6000 Servers