<s>
The	O
SRM	B-General_Concept
firmware	I-General_Concept
(	O
also	O
called	O
the	O
SRM	B-General_Concept
console	I-General_Concept
)	O
is	O
the	O
boot	O
firmware	B-Application
written	O
by	O
Digital	O
Equipment	O
Corporation	O
(	O
DEC	O
)	O
for	O
computer	O
systems	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
DEC	B-Device
Alpha	I-Device
microprocessor	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
SRM	O
are	O
the	O
initials	O
of	O
(	O
Alpha	B-Device
)	O
System	B-General_Concept
Reference	I-General_Concept
Manual	I-General_Concept
,	O
the	O
publication	O
detailing	O
the	O
Alpha	B-Device
AXP	I-Device
architecture	O
and	O
which	O
specified	O
various	O
features	O
of	O
the	O
SRM	B-General_Concept
firmware	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
SRM	B-General_Concept
console	I-General_Concept
was	O
initially	O
designed	O
to	O
boot	O
DEC	O
's	O
OSF/1	B-Operating_System
AXP	I-Operating_System
(	O
later	O
called	O
Digital	B-Operating_System
UNIX	I-Operating_System
and	O
finally	O
Tru64	B-Operating_System
UNIX	I-Operating_System
)	O
and	O
OpenVMS	B-Operating_System
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
,	O
although	O
various	O
other	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
(	O
such	O
as	O
Linux	B-Application
,	O
NetBSD	B-Device
,	O
OpenBSD	B-Operating_System
,	O
and	O
FreeBSD	B-Operating_System
,	O
for	O
example	O
)	O
were	O
also	O
written	O
to	O
boot	O
from	O
the	O
SRM	B-General_Concept
console	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
third	O
proprietary	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
published	O
for	O
the	O
Alpha	B-Device
AXP	I-Device
architecture	O
–	O
Microsoft	B-Device
Windows	I-Device
NT	I-Device
–	O
did	O
not	O
boot	O
from	O
SRM	O
;	O
instead	O
,	O
Windows	O
booted	O
from	O
the	O
ARC	B-Device
(	O
multi	O
platform	O
"	O
Advanced	B-Device
RISC	I-Device
Computing	I-Device
"	O
)	O
boot	O
firmware	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
(	O
ARC	B-Device
is	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
AlphaBIOS	B-Device
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
many	O
Alpha	B-Device
computer	O
systems	O
–	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
the	O
Digital	B-Device
Personal	I-Device
Workstation	I-Device
–	O
both	O
SRM	O
and	O
ARC	B-Device
could	O
be	O
loaded	O
onto	O
the	O
EEPROM	B-General_Concept
which	O
held	O
the	O
boot	O
firmware	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
on	O
some	O
smaller	O
systems	O
(	O
or	O
large	O
systems	O
which	O
were	O
never	O
intended	O
to	O
boot	O
Windows	O
)	O
,	O
only	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
two	O
boot	O
firmware	B-Application
variants	O
could	O
fit	O
onto	O
the	O
EEPROM	B-General_Concept
at	O
one	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
the	O
flash	O
EEPROM	B-General_Concept
of	O
certain	O
models	O
of	O
the	O
DEC	B-Device
Multia	I-Device
,	O
which	O
was	O
a	O
small	O
,	O
personal	O
Alpha	B-Device
AXP	I-Device
workstation	O
designed	O
to	O
run	O
Windows	B-Device
NT	I-Device
,	O
was	O
only	O
large	O
enough	O
to	O
hold	O
a	O
single	O
firmware	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
SRM	B-General_Concept
console	I-General_Concept
is	O
capable	O
of	O
display	O
on	O
either	O
a	O
graphical	O
adapter	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
a	O
PCI	B-Protocol
VGA	B-Protocol
card	I-Protocol
)	O
or	O
,	O
if	O
no	O
graphical	O
console	O
and/or	O
local	O
keyboard	O
is	O
detected	O
,	O
on	O
a	O
serial	O
connection	O
to	O
a	O
VT100-compatible	O
terminal	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
this	O
way	O
the	O
SRM	B-General_Concept
console	I-General_Concept
is	O
similar	O
to	O
the	O
Open	B-Architecture
Firmware	I-Architecture
used	O
in	O
SPARC	B-Architecture
and	O
Apple	B-Device
PowerMac	I-Device
computers	O
,	O
for	O
example	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Upon	O
system	O
initialization	O
,	O
an	O
Alpha	B-Device
AXP	I-Device
computer	O
set	O
to	O
boot	O
from	O
the	O
SRM	B-General_Concept
console	I-General_Concept
displays	O
a	O
short	O
report	O
of	O
the	O
software	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
firmware	B-Application
,	O
and	O
presents	O
the	O
"	O
three	O
chevron	O
prompt	O
"	O
consisting	O
of	O
three	O
greater-than	O
signs	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Various	O
system	O
variables	O
for	O
establishing	O
automatic	O
boot	O
settings	O
,	O
parameter	O
strings	O
to	O
be	O
passed	O
to	O
an	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
and	O
the	O
like	O
may	O
also	O
be	O
set	O
from	O
the	O
SRM	O
prompt	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
SRM	B-General_Concept
firmware	I-General_Concept
contains	O
drivers	O
for	O
booting	O
from	O
boot	O
media	O
including	O
SCSI	O
hard	O
disks	O
and	O
CD-ROM	O
drives	O
attached	O
to	O
a	O
supported	O
SCSI	O
adapter	O
,	O
various	O
IDE	O
ATA	O
and	O
ATAPI	O
devices	O
,	O
and	O
network	O
booting	O
via	O
BOOTP	B-Device
or	O
DHCP	B-Protocol
is	O
possible	O
with	O
supported	O
network	O
adapters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
an	O
appropriate	O
disk	O
boot	O
device	O
is	O
available	O
,	O
the	O
SRM	B-General_Concept
console	I-General_Concept
locates	O
and	O
loads	O
the	O
target	O
primary	O
bootstrap	O
image	O
using	O
information	O
written	O
in	O
the	O
target	O
disk	O
boot	O
block	O
;	O
in	O
logical	O
block	O
zero	O
.	O
</s>
