pretty good, "mainboard firmware" - but then I'm back at the original problem; what to call the non-payload part. Core? Hardware init?
What about init phase? The whole pre-payload is basically just a per-subsystem init procedure. Be it CPU, memory, pci cards, or whatever.
Terribly sorry if anyone thinks I'm splitting hairs. I just want to see what ideas are out there on this.
I doubt anyone thinks that. I'm sure that most of us are just happy that someone _is_ thinking about these kind of things and actually doing something. This is exactly the type of info that a newbe needs. Attention to this type of stuff is what sets a good "Project" apart from just a pile of code.