Kernel parameters
Revision as of 15:41, 1 August 2005 by 84.191.152.242 (Talk)
Some aspects of the Linux kernels behaviour are controllable via so called kernel parameters. These are parameters similar to the ones that you would provide for a command like ls or cp in a shell, only that they are appended to the kernel/image line in your bootmanagers config file (for lilo this would typically be /etc/lilo.conf, for grub it would be /boot/grub/menu.lst).
An example line from grub could look like this:
kernel /lfskernel-2.6.9 root=/dev/hda6 rw idebus=66 vga=791 splash=silent acpi_sleep=s3_bios
For a complete overview of all available parameters see /lib/modules/`uname -r`/source/Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt.
Typical parameters used on ThinkPads
The following table gives an overview of the kernel parameters typically needed on ThinkPads.
| parameter | description |
|---|---|
| acpi=off | disables ACPI (keeps it from overriding APM) |
| acpi_sleep=s3_bios | makes the system call the video BIOS to reenable video on resume from suspend-to-ram (use this if you experience a blank display after resume while your system seems elsewise awake) |
| idebus=66 | set IDE bus speed to 66 MHz (66 is maximum supported) |
| nolapic | tells the kernel not to use the local APIC (use if you have problems with ACPI) |
| noresume | boots without resuming after a suspend-to-disk |
| resume=/dev/hdaX | tells the kernel where to find the suspend-to-disk image to resume from |
| root=/dev/hdaX | tells the kernel where to find the root filesystem |
| speedstep_coppermine=??? | supposed to tell the kernel that you have a speedstep capable coppermine processor, but could possibly not work anymore with newer kernels |
| vga=835 | for 1400x1050 framebuffer resolution |
| video=radeonfb:vesa:1400x1050-32@60 | for using accelerated radeonfb framebuffer |
