.\"
-.\" Copyright (c) 2000 Apple Computer, Inc. All rights reserved.
+.\" Copyright (c) 2000-2003 Apple Computer, Inc. All rights reserved.
.\"
-.TH nvram 8 "December 12, 2000"
+.TH nvram 8 "October 28, 2003"
.SH NAME
nvram \- manipulate Open Firmware NVRAM variables
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B -f
.IR filename
] [
+.B -d
.IR name
-] [=
+] [
+.IR name
+[=
.IR value
-] ...
+]] ...
.SH DESCRIPTION
The
.I nvram
command allows manipulation of Open Firmware NVRAM variables. It
can be used to get or set a variable. It can also be used to print
all of the variables or set a list of variables from a file.
+Changes to NVRAM variables are only saved by clean restart or shutdown.
.LP
In principle,
.IR name
can be any string. In practice, not all strings will be accepted.
-Old world machines have a fixed set of Open Firmware variables.
-New World machines can create new varibles as desired. Some variables
-require adminstrator privilege to get or set.
+New World machines can create new variables as desired. Some variables
+require administrator privilege to get or set.
.LP
The given
.IR value
Binary data can be set using the %xx notation, where xx is the hex
value of the byte. The type for new variables is always binary
data.
-.LP
-Two Open Firmware variables have special treatment on old world
-machines:
-.IR boot-command
-and
-.IR boot-args .
-As long as
-.IR boot-command
-starts with "# bootr," the
-.IR boot-args
-variable will be present. Getting or setting
-.IR boot-args
-will get or set the
-.IR boot-command
-while preserving the "# bootr". In most cases when setting boot arguments
-for the kernel, there is no need to test for old world and set
-.IR boot-command .
-Instead set
-.IR boot-args
-with the desired arguments.
.SH OPTIONS
.TP
.B \-p
Set Open Firmware variables from a text file. The file must be a
list name=value statements. If the last character of a line is
\\, the value will be continued to the next line.
+.TP
+.BI \-d " name"
+Deletes the named Open Firmware variable.
.SH EXAMPLES
.LP
.RS
example% nvram boot-args="-s rd=*hd:10"
.RE
.LP
-Set the boot-args variable to "-s rd=*hd:10". This would specifiy
+Set the boot-args variable to "-s rd=*hd:10". This would specify
single user mode with the root device in hard drive partition 10.
.LP
.RS
example% nvram my-variable="String One%00String Two%00%00"
.RE
.LP
-Create a new variable, my-variable, containging a list of two
+Create a new variable, my-variable, containing a list of two
C-strings that is terminated by a NUL.
-.SH FILES
-.PD 0
-.TP 30
-.B /usr/share/nvram
-Files containing patches for old world machines.
+.LP
+.RS
+example% nvram -d my-variable
+.RE
+.LP
+Deletes the variable named my-variable.
.PD