RouterBOARD 711 Series User's Manual
Booting options
First, RouterBOOT loader is started. The loader may be configured to boot the system from the onboard
NAND module or from Ethernet network. See the respective section of this manual for how to configure
booting sequence and other boot loader parameters.
To reset RouterOS, or start booting from network, use the reset button. See
Onboard NAND Storage Device
The RouterBOARD may be started from the onboard NAND storage chip. As there is no partition table on the
device, the boot loader assumes the first 4MiB form a YAFFS filesystem, and executes the file called “kernel”
stored in the root directory on that partition.
Booting from network
Network boot works similarly to PXE or EtherBoot protocol, and allows you to boot a RouterBOARD 711
series device from an executable image stored on a TFTP server. It uses BOOTP or DHCP (configurable in
boot loader) protocol to get a valid IP address, and TFTP protocol to download an executable (ELF) kernel
image combined with the initial RAM disk (inserted as an ELF section) to boot from (the TFTP server's IP
address and the image name must be sent by the BOOTP/DHCP server).
To boot the RouterBOARD computer from Ethernet network you need the following:
●
An ELF kernel image for the loader to boot from (you can embed the kernel parameters and initrd
image as ELF sections called
kernparm
and
initrd
respectively)
●
A TFTP server which to download the image from
●
A BOOTP/DHCP server (may be installed on the same machine as the TFTP server) to give an IP
address, TFTP server address and boot image name
section on how to configure loader to boot from network.
Note that you must connect the RouterBOARD you want to boot, and the BOOTP/DHCP and TFTP servers to
the same broadcast domain (i.e., there must not be any routers between them).
RouterBOOT
The RouterBOOT firmware (also referred as “boot loader” here) provides minimal functionality to boot an
Operating System. RouterBOOT can be configured from the RouterOS “/system routerboard” menu. The
loader supports booting from the onboard NAND device and from a network server (see the respective
section for details on this protocol).
Boot Loader Configuration
As this device doesn't have a serial port, the Bootloader parameters may be configured through RouterOS
“/system routerboard” menu.
Boot Loader Upgrading
The boot loader is needed to initialize all the hardware and boot the system up. Newer loader versions might
have support for more hardware, so it's generally a good idea to upgrade the loader once a newer version is
available.
The boot loader upgrading is supported from MikroTik RouterOS. Upload the FWF file to RouterOS files
menu, and run the “/system routerboard upgrade” command. The procedure is described in detail in the
MikroTik RouterOS manual.
Operating System Support
Currently tested operating system is MikroTik RouterOS (starting from version v4.11). Downgrading the
device to older RouterOS versions can cause malfunction and License issues.
6
