September 1998 - OpenBIOS - mail.coreboot.org

Re: OpenBIOS (was Re: UDI and Politics (was Re: Linux, UDI and SCO.) )
by Stephen Williams Sept. 20, 1998

Sept. 20, 1998

lkd(a)tantalophile.demon.co.uk said: > So why not make up an embedded Linux kernel and load _that_ into the > FLASH-ROM? Serious overkill, I think. There are better solutions in the forms of: RTEMS http://www.rtems.army.mil/rtems.html ucr http://www.picturel.com etc. These are designed for the embedded environment and don't carry the excess baggage you'd be flashing into EEPROM. (Note that this is going to the OpenBIOS list now.) -- Steve Williams "The woods are lovely, dark and deep. steve(a)icarus.com But I have promises to keep, steve(a)picturel.com and lines to code before I sleep, http://www.picturel.com And lines to code before I sleep." --- OpenBIOS -- http://www.linkscape.net/openbios/ openbios-request(a)psychosis.com Body: un/subscribe Problems? dcinege(a)psychosis.com

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Test, list server change
by Dave Cinege Sept. 7, 1998

Sept. 7, 1998

The openbios list (which has been broken and dead) is now (alive and working) on psychosis.com. The post addy is now openbios(a)psychosis.com -- http://www.psychosis.com/emc/ Elite MicroComputers 732-541-4214 http://www.linuxrouter.org/ Linux Router Project I am a regex s/retard/student/. Pray. There is hope. --- OpenBIOS -- http://www.linkscape.net/openbios/ openbios-request(a)psychosis.com Body: un/subscribe Problems? dcinege(a)psychosis.com

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Re: Continue Development
by Stefan Reinauer Sept. 4, 1998

Sept. 4, 1998

Hi.. [about:16bit stuff in bios/compatibility to DOS/Windows] > > IMHO this is not the way to go, since many people still have Windows95 > > installed (because of the games), but would like OpenBIOS. I would leave an > > option that links a set of wrapper functions. The problem is, that the available space on a flashchip is today 128 k or 256 k, depending on the system. Because 256k chips are still too rare, I'd suggest that we try to get the most stuff into 128k and maybe only some not really needed features as the animated logo with mp3 sound at bootup into the second 128k :-)) > Would it be possible somehow to have the original bios image on the > harddisk, and then have an option on the boot console where you could > load it into memory and start it? It may very well not be possible, > but if it was, then we could concentrate on our stuff, and let the > original bioses support the win95/98/dos/other os's... Also having > the possibility to select bios at boot would be a cool feature! :) > Just a thought... Well.. This is really a good idea. I once thought about loadable bios plugins on hd or via network, but that may be very hard. The easiest way would probably be to load the bios directly from harddisk, as it can be done on the Alpha AXP boards. We could do this before the cpu is switched to protected mode or afterwards and switch back to realmode to load award or ami bios. The first would save some code, the second seems to me to be the more elegant version, because we can do the whole floppy stuff in PM (which could be necessary if we want to support ia64 some day) Stefan. -- .signature: No such file or directory

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Re: Continue Development
by Simon Richter Sept. 4, 1998

Sept. 4, 1998

Stefan Reinauer schrieb: > 1) Do we need the 16bit bios stuff in an OpenBIOS? > I'd say a clear "NO" here. This does mean, on the other hand, that we > won't support any proprietary systems like windows or DOS anymore, > but as for using DOS/Windows, Award and AMI BIOS do a good job, this is > not really needed. > People who need more features like netboot and a good console in their > BIOS very likely use Linux or any BSD flair. IMHO this is not the way to go, since many people still have Windows95 installed (because of the games), but would like OpenBIOS. I would leave an option that links a set of wrapper functions. > I'd suggest C, [...] Agree. I also have some further thoughts on this, but I'll post them tomorrow. > 3) Testing platforms Well, I've got a bunch of testing machines as well as old NE1000 cards here. If I find some time (and the manual and a NE/2 for my PS/2), I can do some testing here. Also, I think if someone just wants to run Linux and nothing else, a Linux kernel with the BIOS querying code commented out would do as well. So the main reason to use OpenBIOS should not be "It loads my Linux bigger/better/faster/more" but rather "I like to have a boot console" or "My company saves $200 on harddisks for each computer". Just my two cents. Also, the BIOS should be optimized towards minimal data storage space rather than speed. It won't harm speed that much, but the final OS has to live with all that stuff in RAM. CU Simon

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Continue Development
by Stefan Reinauer Sept. 1, 1998

Sept. 1, 1998

Dear guys :-) As you might have noticed, there's not much traffic on this list at the moment. I'd like to start a bit of discussion right now to get things proceeding again. 1) Do we need the 16bit bios stuff in an OpenBIOS? I'd say a clear "NO" here. This does mean, on the other hand, that we won't support any proprietary systems like windows or DOS anymore, but as for using DOS/Windows, Award and AMI BIOS do a good job, this is not really needed. People who need more features like netboot and a good console in their BIOS very likely use Linux or any BSD flair. 2) Which programming language should be used? We sure will have to write some init code in assembler, which is OK, if it doesn't get too much. I think writing in a higher level language is much easier because a) more people can help the project and b) the code can easily be maintained. I'd suggest C, as C++ seems to be a bit bloated for this project. (As well as other languages) To give anyone the chance to help the project, I'd like to use the GNU Compiler GCC. Every Linux/BSD user has access to it and it's available for most other platforms, too(W32 i.e.) 3) Testing platforms I had a look at bochs some days ago (which now runs fine on my Alpha AXP without segfaults) though I am not sure whether it is really good enough for testing (I expect problems with the PnP and PCI init stuff) I am sure that it's possible to get some test mainboards so that no developer has to fear to destroy his computer. You might have a look at my devbios project, a flash bios device for Linux2.1. It can be found at http://www.freiburg.linux.de/~stepan/bios/ The OpenBIOS webpage can be found at http://www.freiburg.linux.de/OpenBIOS/ I'll try to get the archive mirrors of the earlier mailinglist discussions online this week, so stay tuned and don't hesitate starting a new discussion about the above themes (or anything else) Stefan -- .signature: No such file or directory

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