router prompts ( R1> vs. R1(boot)> ) Whats the difference?

[kmcguinn]

What is the difference between btwn these 2 types of prompts

R1>

R1(boot)>

I had a dead 2501 with 16meg of flash in it and swapped it out to another

2501 that only had 8meg. I put both of the flash simms from the dead

2501 into the workong one. After I powered up the working router i then did a write erase and reloaded the router and I noticed that the prompt changed

from R1> to R1(boot)> The (boot) part is also present in privileged

mode. The router seems to be working fine but I was wondering what the

(boot) part in the router promt is telling me.

[Prashanth Krishnappa]

R1(boot)> tells that the router has not loaded the regular IOS image and is running boot loader. With boot loader, the router can only do minimal functions. Do a sh flash and see if you have regular IOS image. If you do, set the correct boot variables/config-register and reload. If not, TFTP a regular IOS image