IBM RS/6000 - Manual (Page 83)

The AIX boot image used in each of the above platforms is platform-specific. To
create platform-specific boot images, AIX provides support for the following two
issues:
Recognition of the platform type -
The given platform is specified in the IPL control block built by Software ROS.
The boot utility command,
bootinfo -T , inspects the IPL control block and
prints the platform type to the standard output.
Specifying the platform type -
With the command bosboot -T , you can generate the boot image for the target
platform. If the platform type is not specified, this command defaults to the
current platform type that the system is running on.
Table 12 (Page 2 of 2). Platform Types
Name Description
rspc PCI-based RS/6000 systems
4.3.1 Platform-Specific Components
The AIX boot image is created using the bosboot command. In AIX Version 4.1,
however, this boot image is specific to one of the supported platform types.
The following platform-specific components are required to create the AIX boot
image.
Base Proto and Proto Extension Files
RAM Filesystem
Object Data Manager (ODM) Predefined Database
4.3.1.1 Base Proto and Proto Extension Files
Base Proto and Proto Extension files are used to create the prototype files needed
for building the RAM file system used during the boot. The prototype files include
device configuration methods and device drivers that are specific to a given
machine's device configuration.
The bosboot command builds the prototype file by dynamically combining the Base
Proto file with proto extensions to include the installation methods and drivers.
Chapter 4. Boot Support and Firmware 59