dec-multia: make netboot possible, add aboot bootloader

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+This is release 0.9 of aboot, the Linux/Alpha loader for SRM.
+
+Aboot is based on the standard Linux/Alpha bootloader, with extensions
+by David Mosberger and Michael Schwingen (prompt for arguments, kernel
+argument mapping using /etc/aboot.conf file). It is currently maintained
+by Will Woods.
+
+For more information about aboot and SRM, see the SRM Firmware HOWTO, in 
+doc/faq/srm.html, or at http://www.alphalinux.org/faq/srm.html
+
+Good luck and enjoy...
+
+-Will Woods <will.woods@compaq.com>  Oct 25, 2001
+
+---
+
+New with version 0.9:
+
+ - new and (hopefully) improved man pages
+ - Crash when booting from a path containing a long filename on isofs fixed
+ - listing directories on isofs works
+ - symlinks on isofs work
+ - Failure to boot when kernel was past the 2GB boundary on ext2 fs fixed
+ - cylinder-counting bug in sdisklabel fixed
+
+[Note: there was no (official) version 0.8.]
+
+New with version 0.7:
+
+ - aboot now supports an initial ramdisk, which can be loaded from an
+   arbitrary file on any supported filesystem.  To use this, pass an
+   'initrd=/path/to/file' argument in the boot flags, or use the 'i'
+   command from the interactive menu.
+
+ - a.out support has been removed.
+
+ - (as of 0.7a) "raw" booting no longer is - you must use an
+   uncompressed ELF kernel.
+
+ - Many bugs in the ISO filesystem code have been found and fixed.
+
+ - swriteboot incorporates the functionality of abootconf.
+
+New with version 0.6:
+
+ - The various patches from the Red Hat, Debian, and SuSE packages
+   have been merged back in.
+
+ - ext2 partitions with >1024 byte block sizes and sparse superblocks
+   are now (hopefully) supported. (from Red Hat?)
+
+ - aboot can now follow symbolic links on ext2 filesystems.
+
+ - aboot no longer passes the bootdevice= and bootfile= flags to the
+   kernel, as the code for guessing the boot device was completely
+   broken, and these options are not used at all by current kernels.
+
+ - aboot is now built as an ELF image (since that's what the current
+   toolchain supports), and code to strip it accordingly has been
+   added (from Richard Henderson)
+
+ - isomarkboot now has an option to specify the root filesystem image
+   to be loaded (from Debian)
+
+ - swriteboot tries to preserve the boot partition setting from a
+   previous aboot installation.
+
+New with version 0.5:
+
+ - IMPORTANT: e2writeboot now expects a _raw_ file, not an ECOFF
+   object file.  So be sure to write aboot using the command:
+
+	e2writeboot /dev/fd0 bootlx
+
+   This change has been made so e2writeboot and s2writeboot are more
+   consistent.  It also makes it easier to support multiple object
+   file formats.
+
+ - The location the partition containing /etc/aboot.conf can now be
+   specified on the commandline: -fl 3:0 selects the aboot.conf line
+   0 on partition 3.
+ 
+ - Booting of ELF object files is now supported.  In the process of
+   adding ELF suport, the build tool has been rewritten from scratch
+   (it's now a lot simpler despite supporting two object file
+   formats).
+
+ - Booting from an ext2fs partition that starts at an offset >= 2GB
+   now works.
+
+ - If the kernel load fails, aboot now drops into interactive mode
+   instead of 
+
+ - swriteboot now supports an option to force installation of aboot even
+   if there is an overlap between the aboot image and some partition. E.g.,
+   if partition 1 and 3 start at sector 0 (as is commonly the case for disks
+   partitioned under OSF/1), you can specify:
+
+	swriteboot -f1 -f3 /dev/sdc bootlx
+
+   WARNING: Using -f will obviously destroy any filesystem that may be
+	    present on the specified partition.  Use at your own risk.
+
+ - NOTE: I'd like to remove sdisklabel in future distributions (minlabel
+   should be all you need).  Let me know if you feel strongly about this
+   (one way or the other).
+
+New with version 0.4:
+
+ - abootconf allows to set (or query) the number of the partition that
+   aboot will use to lookup /etc/aboot.conf.
+ - support for net boot added (thanks to Dave Larson <dlarson@cs.arizona.edu>)
+ - iso9660 filesystem support added (based on Dave Rusling's MILO sources)
+
+New with version 0.31:
+
+ - e2writeboot is now included in the distribution.
+ - started with writing man pages for e2writeboot and swriteboot; pretty
+   cryptic, I believe, but heck, it's the best there is! :-)
+
+New with version 0.3:
+
+ - The commandline prompt changed to "aboot>".
+
+ - The contents of /etc/aboot.conf can be displayed with a commandline
+   argument consisting of a single 'h'.  After displaying the configuration
+   file, aboot will prompt for a commandline just like for the 'i' option.
+
+ - At the "aboot>" prompt, the user can enter a single 'h' to display
+   the configuration file.  Entering an empty line or a line consisting
+   of a single 'i' will keep the user in the "aboot>" prompt loop.
+
+ - Booting of raw (headerless) kernels is now supported again.  A raw
+   boot is requested by specifying a filename consisting of a single
+   '-' character only.  Booting ECOFF kernels off a disk without filesystem
+   is now supported via partition number 0 (in aboot-0.2, this was incorrectly
+   called a "raw boot").  For example, to boot a compressed ECOFF file,
+   one could specify the filename "0/-" (filename "-" on the zeroth
+   partition).  You can use the swriteboot command to write the kernel
+   for a filesystem-less boot.
+
+ - Booting from floppy disks now works again.
+
+New with version 0.2:
+
+ - If the kernel commandline consists of a single 'i', aboot prompts for
+   kernel file and commandline arguments (useful on machines such as
+   the Jensen, where the SRM limits commandline arguments to 1 argument).
+
+ - If the kernel commandline consists of a single digit, aboot looks up
+   the default configuration with that number in the file /etc/aboot.conf
+   on a compile-time defined partition of the bootdrive, and uses the
+   parameters given there as commandline arguments for the kernel (useful
+   where the SRM limits default commandline arguments to 8 characters,
+   and does not support setting a default filename).
+
+ - If the kernel filename consists of a single '-' or is empty, aboot
+   will perform a raw boot.  This involves loading a kernel starting at
+   the disk sector after the aboot code (currently, 162).  This kernel
+   must be a header-less ("raw") binary without any ECOFF header.
+
+New with version 0.1:
+
+ - Compressed kernels (using gzip) are supported (faster loading, less
+   disk usage).
+
+ - You can load the kernel from an UFS or EXT2 filesystem on any partition
+   of the boot disk.
+