HOTSWAP(1)						      General Commands Manual							HOTSWAP(1)

NAME

       hotswap - register and unregister hotswappable  IDE hardware

SYNOPSIS

       hotswap [ -c | --ide-controller N] [-h | --help] [-n | --nocheck] [-v | --verbose] [-V | --version] [ACTION]

DESCRIPTION

       hotswap allows you to register and unregister hotswappable IDE devices, for example notebook computer modules, with the Linux kernel.

       It has been developed on and for a Dell Latitude C600, but does not rely on any specific properties of that machine.

       By  default,  the  command line utility guides you through the hotswapping process interactively. It is also possible to specify an ACTION,
       for example unregistering the current device, rescanning the IDE bus, &c. This feature is primarily intended for use with scripts  and  GUI
       frontends such as xhotswap(1).

       By  using  an  XML configuration file, system administrators can specify arbitrary shell scripts to be run before and after registering and
       unregistering devices. This is particularly helpful for automatic configuration of CD-RW drives, which require SCSI  emulation  and  bypass
       normal  access  via  the  IDE  subsystem.  By  default,	the  configuration  file  is located at /etc/hotswaprc; its syntax is described in
       hotswaprc(5).

OPTIONS

       The program follows the usual GNU command line syntax, with long options starting with two dashes (`-').

       -c, --ide-controller N
	      Use IDE controller N.

       -h, --help
	      Print a brief help text and exit successfully.

       -n, --nocheck
	      Do not perform sanity checks before attempting an action. Use with care, as this option may cause some steps to fail silently.

       -v, --verbose
	      Print more information.

       -V ,--version
	      Print version information and exit successfully.

ACTIONS

       Besides the above options, the program allows you to specify one of the following actions on the command line:

       probe-ide
	      Detect the currently configured IDE device.

       mounted-ide
	      Detect whether a file system on the currently configured IDE device is mounted.

       unregister-ide
	      Unregister the currently configured IDE device.

       rescan-ide
	      Scan the IDE bus for a new device.  If a device has been found, register it with the kernel.

       If no ACTION is specified, interactive mode is entered. In this mode the program guides you through the hotswapping process as  appropriate
       for the current configuration.

NOTES

       There  is  generally no need to manage floppy disk devices.  The FDC is always present and configured. Floppy disk drives do not connect to
       the IDE controller, even if they come in the same modules as IDE devices and use the same connector.

       The Linux kernel requires hotswappable devices to be the only device connected to their IDE controller.

       The mounted-ide action assumes file systems have been mounted as /dev/hdc. If this is not the case (i.e., you've used a symbolic link  such
       as /dev/cdrom) the command will not work.

FILES

       /etc/hotswaprc
	      The default location for the XML configuration file.

REPORT BUGS

       Report bugs to t.stadelmann1@physics.ox.ac.uk.

AUTHOR

       Written by Tim Stadelmann.

       This manual page is based on an earlier version kindly contributed by Wouter Verhelst.

SEE ALSO

       xhotswap(1), hdparm(8), hotswaprc(5).

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (c) 2002-2003 Wouter Verhelst, Tim Stadelmann.

       Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL), Version 2 or
       any later version published by the Free Software Foundation.

								 4th November 2002							HOTSWAP(1)