kernel-parameters.txt

                          Kernel Parameters
                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The following is a consolidated list of the kernel parameters as implemented
(mostly) by the __setup() macro 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.

Module parameters for loadable modules are specified only as the
parameter name with optional '=' and value as appropriate, such as:

	modprobe usbcore blinkenlights=1

Module parameters for modules that are built into the kernel image
are specified on the kernel command line with the module name plus
'.' plus parameter name, with '=' and value if appropriate, such as:

	usbcore.blinkenlights=1

This document may not be entirely up to date and comprehensive. The command
"modinfo -p ${modulename}" shows a current list of all parameters of a loadable
module. Loadable modules, after being loaded into the running kernel, also
reveal their parameters in /sys/module/${modulename}/parameters/. Some of these
parameters may be changed at runtime by the command
"echo -n ${value} > /sys/module/${modulename}/parameters/${parm}".

The parameters listed below are only valid if certain kernel build options were
enabled and if respective hardware is present. The text in square brackets at
the beginning of each description states the restrictions within which a
parameter is applicable:

	ACPI	ACPI support is enabled.
	ALSA	ALSA sound support is enabled.
	APIC	APIC support is enabled.
	APM	Advanced Power Management support is enabled.
	AX25	Appropriate AX.25 support is enabled.
	CD	Appropriate CD support is enabled.
	DRM	Direct Rendering Management support is enabled.
	EDD	BIOS Enhanced Disk Drive Services (EDD) is enabled
	EFI	EFI Partitioning (GPT) is enabled
	EIDE	EIDE/ATAPI support is enabled.
	FB	The frame buffer device is enabled.
	HW	Appropriate hardware is enabled.
	IA-32	IA-32 aka i386 architecture is enabled.
	IA-64	IA-64 architecture is enabled.
	IOSCHED	More than one I/O scheduler is enabled.
	IP_PNP	IP DHCP, BOOTP, or RARP is enabled.
	ISAPNP	ISA PnP code is enabled.
	ISDN	Appropriate ISDN support is enabled.
	JOY	Appropriate joystick support is enabled.
	LP	Printer support is enabled.
	LOOP	Loopback device support is enabled.
	M68k	M68k architecture is enabled.
			These options have more detailed description inside of
			Documentation/m68k/kernel-options.txt.
	MCA	MCA bus support is enabled.
	MDA	MDA console support is enabled.
	MOUSE	Appropriate mouse support is enabled.
	MSI	Message Signaled Interrupts (PCI).
	MTD	MTD support is enabled.
	NET	Appropriate network support is enabled.
	NUMA	NUMA support is enabled.
	GENERIC_TIME The generic timeofday code is enabled.
	NFS	Appropriate NFS support is enabled.
	OSS	OSS sound support is enabled.
	PARIDE	The ParIDE subsystem is enabled.
	PARISC	The PA-RISC architecture is enabled.
	PCI	PCI bus support is enabled.
	PCMCIA	The PCMCIA subsystem is enabled.
	PNP	Plug & Play support is enabled.
	PPC	PowerPC architecture is enabled.
	PPT	Parallel port support is enabled.
	PS2	Appropriate PS/2 support is enabled.
	RAM	RAM disk support is enabled.
	S390	S390 architecture is enabled.
	SCSI	Appropriate SCSI support is enabled.
			A lot of drivers has their options described inside of
			Documentation/scsi/.
	SELINUX SELinux support is enabled.
	SERIAL	Serial support is enabled.
	SMP	The kernel is an SMP kernel.
	SPARC	Sparc architecture is enabled.
	SWSUSP	Software suspend is enabled.
	TS	Appropriate touchscreen support is enabled.
	USB	USB support is enabled.
	USBHID	USB Human Interface Device support is enabled.
	V4L	Video For Linux support is enabled.
	VGA	The VGA console has been enabled.
	VT	Virtual terminal support is enabled.
	WDT	Watchdog support is enabled.
	XT	IBM PC/XT MFM hard disk support is enabled.
	X86-64	X86-64 architecture is enabled.
			More X86-64 boot options can be found in
			Documentation/x86_64/boot-options.txt .

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.
	BOOT	Is a boot loader parameter.

Parameters denoted with BOOT are actually interpreted by the boot
loader, and have no meaning to the kernel directly.
Do not modify the syntax of boot loader parameters without extreme
need or coordination with <Documentation/i386/boot.txt>.

There are also arch-specific kernel-parameters not documented here.
See for example <Documentation/x86_64/boot-options.txt>.

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.

The number of kernel parameters is not limited, but the length of the
complete command line (parameters including spaces etc.) is limited to
a fixed number of characters. This limit depends on the architecture
and is between 256 and 4096 characters. It is defined in the file
./include/asm/setup.h as COMMAND_LINE_SIZE.


	53c7xx=		[HW,SCSI] Amiga SCSI controllers
			See header of drivers/scsi/53c7xx.c.
			See also Documentation/scsi/ncr53c7xx.txt.

	acpi=		[HW,ACPI] Advanced Configuration and Power Interface
			Format: { force | off | ht | strict | noirq }
			force -- enable ACPI if default was off
			off -- disable ACPI if default was on
			noirq -- do not use ACPI for IRQ routing
			ht -- run only enough ACPI to enable Hyper Threading
			strict -- Be less tolerant of platforms that are not
				strictly ACPI specification compliant.

			See also Documentation/pm.txt, pci=noacpi

	acpi_sleep=	[HW,ACPI] Sleep options
			Format: { s3_bios, s3_mode }
			See Documentation/power/video.txt

	acpi_sci=	[HW,ACPI] ACPI System Control Interrupt trigger mode
			Format: { level | edge | high | low }

	acpi_irq_balance [HW,ACPI]
			ACPI will balance active IRQs
			default in APIC mode

	acpi_irq_nobalance [HW,ACPI]
			ACPI will not move active IRQs (default)
			default in PIC mode

	acpi_irq_pci=	[HW,ACPI] If irq_balance, clear listed IRQs for
			use by PCI
			Format: <irq>,<irq>...

	acpi_irq_isa=	[HW,ACPI] If irq_balance, mark listed IRQs used by ISA
			Format: <irq>,<irq>...

	acpi_os_name=	[HW,ACPI] Tell ACPI BIOS the name of the OS
			Format: To spoof as Windows 98: ="Microsoft Windows"

	acpi_osi=	[HW,ACPI] empty param disables _OSI

	acpi_serialize	[HW,ACPI] force serialization of AML methods

	acpi_skip_timer_override [HW,ACPI]
			Recognize and ignore IRQ0/pin2 Interrupt Override.
			For broken nForce2 BIOS resulting in XT-PIC timer.
	acpi_use_timer_override [HW,ACPI}
			Use timer override. For some broken Nvidia NF5 boards
			that require a timer override, but don't have
			HPET

	acpi_dbg_layer=	[HW,ACPI]
			Format: <int>
			Each bit of the <int> indicates an ACPI debug layer,
			1: enable, 0: disable. It is useful for boot time
			debugging. After system has booted up, it can be set
			via /proc/acpi/debug_layer.

	acpi_dbg_level=	[HW,ACPI]
			Format: <int>
			Each bit of the <int> indicates an ACPI debug level,
			1: enable, 0: disable. It is useful for boot time
			debugging. After system has booted up, it can be set
			via /proc/acpi/debug_level.

	acpi_fake_ecdt	[HW,ACPI] Workaround failure due to BIOS lacking ECDT

	acpi_generic_hotkey [HW,ACPI]
			Allow consolidated generic hotkey driver to
			override platform specific driver.
			See also Documentation/acpi-hotkey.txt.

	acpi_pm_good	[IA-32,X86-64]
			Override the pmtimer bug detection: force the kernel
			to assume that this machine's pmtimer latches its value
			and always returns good values.