From 13b5a755eceb2d1e6ed99401b3edb606acfe258c Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Scott Long <scottl@FreeBSD.org>
Date: Sat, 7 Dec 2002 15:34:23 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] Flesh out the section on device hints a bit more and add
 explicit text on adding hints from the boot loader.

Reviewed by:	trhodes
---
 .../books/handbook/boot/chapter.sgml          | 37 ++++++++++++-------
 1 file changed, 24 insertions(+), 13 deletions(-)

diff --git a/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/boot/chapter.sgml b/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/boot/chapter.sgml
index e648206b99..6536a464f1 100644
--- a/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/boot/chapter.sgml
+++ b/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/boot/chapter.sgml
@@ -582,27 +582,38 @@ boot:</screen>
     </indexterm>
     <title>Device Hints</title>
 
+    <note><para>This is a FreeBSD&nbsp;5.0 and later feature which does not
+      exist in earlier versions.</para></note>
+
     <para>During initial system startup, the boot &man.loader.8; will read the
       &man.device.hints.5; file.  This file stores kernel boot information
-      known as variables, sometimes referred to as <quote>device hints</quote>.</para>
+      known as variables, sometimes referred to as <quote>device hints</quote>.
+      These <quote>device hints</quote> are used by device drivers for device
+      configuration.</para>
       
-      <note><para>This is a FreeBSD&nbsp;5.0 and later feature which does not exist in earlier
-        versions.</para></note>
+    <para>Device hints may also be specified at the <link linkend="boot-loader">
+      Stage 3 boot loader</link> prompt.  Variables can be added using
+      <command>set</command>, removed with <command>unset</command>, and viewed
+      with the <command>show</command> commands.  Variables set in the
+      device.hints file can be overridden here also.  Device hints entered at
+      the boot loader are not permanent and will be forgotten on the next
+      reboot.</para>
 
-    <para>Setup of this file is one variable per line, using the standard hash
-      <quote>#</quote> as comment markers.  After system initialization, new
-      variables can be added using <command>set</command>, removed with
-      <command>unset</command>, and viewed with the <command>show</command>
-      commands.  Using the &man.kenv.1; command, you can dump all of these
-      variables.</para>
+    <para>Once the system is booted, the &man.kenv.1; command can be used to
+      dump all of the variables.</para>
 
-    <para>These <quote>device hints</quote> are used by device drivers for device
-      control.  Syntax works as follows:</para>
+    <para>The syntax for the device.hints file is one variable per line, using
+      the standard hash <quote>#</quote> as comment markers.  Lines are
+      constructed as follows:</para>
 
     <screen><userinput>hint.driver.unit.keyword="value"</userinput></screen>
 
-    <para>where driver is the device driver, unit is the unit number and keyword
-      is the hint keyword.  The keyword may consist of the following options:</para>
+    <para>The syntax for the Stage 3 boot loader is:</para>
+    <screen><userinput>set hint.driver.unit.keyword=value</userinput></screen>
+
+    <para><quote>driver</quote> is the device driver name, <quote>unit</quote>
+      is the device driver unit number, and <quote>keyword</quote> is the hint
+      keyword.  The keyword may consist of the following options:</para>
 
     <itemizedlist>
       <listitem>