[LinuxBIOS] LinuxBIOS, VMWare & CMOS

[Joe Pub]

Hi All,

I am getting closer to having VMWare working with a LinuxBIOS BIOS.  I
had an issue which I was unsure of, where certain compile options
would just not work with VMWare.  I have finnaly figured out why that
is.

By enabling CONFIG_PCI_ROM_RUN for instance, includes extra object
files within the resulting binary, hence making the used part of the
ROM image greater.  Here lies my problem.  VMWare seems to load the
LinuxBIOS rom, but then overwrite the address at 0xFA000 with 8K of
NVRAM data, basically overwriting portions of the LinuxBIOS code.

So what I was wondering, what would be the best approach to reserve
that area of memory to that it does not corrupt any of the LinuxBIOS
code.

Thanks guys.

[LinuxBIOS] VIA/EPIA -Stops after "Jumping to LinuxBIOS"

[sanjay tiwary]

Hi,
  We are trying to boot our board with LinuxBIOS.

When we are trying to start the processor, It stops after debug message "Jumping to LinuxBIOS".

We are using Northbridge/Via/vt8606. It was origninally taken from vt8601.

Can anybody pls see the two log and tell why not i am able to go beyound "Jumping to the LinuxBIOS". In the 2nd log, we have also tried to dump north. We have also captured first 70 byte from Serial EEPROM through read_spd mean for SDRAM.
  I see lots of differences in ouput of lspci and dumpnorth output. Only the first row is matching all other are different.

We have the output of command from runnung machine with vendor BIOS: 
  # lspci -xxx -s 0:0.0
  00: 06 11 05 06 06 00 10 22 00 00 00 06 00 00 00 00
  10: 08 00 00 ec 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
  20: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
  30: 00 00 00 00 a0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
  40: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
  50: fd db c8 fe 02 00 20 20 e0 00 10 20 20 20 20 20
  60: 3f 2a 00 a0 e6 00 00 00 41 7c 43 0f 08 21 00 00
  70: c4 80 cc 0c 0e a1 d2 00 01 b4 09 00 00 00 00 00
  80: 0f 40 00 00 c0 00 00 00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
  90: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
  a0: 02 c0 20 00 01 02 00 1f 00 00 00 00 27 12 00 00
  b0: c0 ff 10 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
  c0: 01 00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
  d0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
  e0: 32 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
  f0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 04 00 32 42 00 b0 00 00 00 00
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Below is the log captured when try to boot the board with LinuxBIOS:
  ---------------------------------------------------
  LinuxBIOS-2.0.0.Fallback Fri Mar  9 20:02:10 IST 2007 starting...
  01 is the comm register
  SMBus controller enabled
  vt8606  init starting
  00000000 is the north
1106 0605
  0120Serial EPROM dump
80 80 80 80 80 80 80 80 
08 08 08 08 08 08 08 08 
04 04 04 04 04 04 04 04 
0d 0d 0d 0d 0d 0d 0d 0d 
09 09 09 09 09 09 09 09 
02 02 02 02 02 02 02 02 
40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 
75 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 
54 54 54 54 54 54 54 54 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
82 82 82 82 82 82 82 82 
10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 
8f 8f 8f 8f 8f 8f 8f 8f 
04 04 04 04 04 04 04 04 
04 04 04 04 04 04 04 04 
01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 
01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
0e 0e 0e 0e 0e 0e 0e 0e 
a0 a0 a0 a0 a0 a0 a0 a0 
60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 
0f 0f 0f 0f 0f 0f 0f 0f 
14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 
2d 2d 2d 2d 2d 2d 2d 2d 
20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 
15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 
08 08 08 08 08 08 08 08 
15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 
08 08 08 08 08 08 08 08 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
02 02 02 02 02 02 02 02 
a8 a8 a8 a8 a8 a8 a8 a8 
ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff 
ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff 
ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff 
ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff 
ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff 
ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff 
Serial EPROM dump end
d4 is the computed timing
NOP
  PRECHARGE
  DUMMY READS
  CBR
  MRS
  NORMAL
  set ref. rate
  enable multi-page open
  Slot 00 is SDRAM 08000000 bytes x2
  0100 is the chip size
  000e is the MA type
  Slot 01 is empty
  Slot 02 is empty
  Slot 03 is empty
  00:06 11 05 06 06 00 10 22 00 00 00 06 00 00 00 00 
  10:08 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
  20:00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
  30:00 00 00 00 a0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
  40:00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
  50:ac 08 80 03 00 00 20 20 e0 00 10 20 20 20 20 20 
  60:3f 00 00 30 e4 e4 e4 00 41 ac 65 0d 08 7f 00 00 
  70:00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 f0 00 02 00 00 00 00 
  80:00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
  90:00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
  a0:02 c0 20 00 01 02 00 1f 00 00 00 00 00 02 00 00 
  b0:80 63 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
  c0:01 00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
  d0:00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
  e0:00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
  f0:00 00 00 00 00 00 04 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Joe Pub  wrote:
  Hi All,

I am getting closer to having VMWare working with a LinuxBIOS BIOS. I
had an issue which I was unsure of, where certain compile options
would just not work with VMWare. I have finnaly figured out why that
is.

By enabling CONFIG_PCI_ROM_RUN for instance, includes extra object
files within the resulting binary, hence making the used part of the
ROM image greater. Here lies my problem. VMWare seems to load the
LinuxBIOS rom, but then overwrite the address at 0xFA000 with 8K of
NVRAM data, basically overwriting portions of the LinuxBIOS code.

So what I was wondering, what would be the best approach to reserve
that area of memory to that it does not corrupt any of the LinuxBIOS
code.

Thanks guys.

[ron minnich]

On 3/9/07, Joe Pub  wrote:
> By enabling CONFIG_PCI_ROM_RUN for instance, includes extra object
> files within the resulting binary, hence making the used part of the
> ROM image greater.  Here lies my problem.  VMWare seems to load the
> LinuxBIOS rom, but then overwrite the address at 0xFA000 with 8K of
> NVRAM data, basically overwriting portions of the LinuxBIOS code.

One possibility that comes to mind is an ldscript. They can be
unreliable but this is one case where it might be very helpful.

Just set up the script to tear a hole in memory at a certain address.

This might work, I have not tried it :-)

ron

[Jamie Gavahan]

On 3/9/07, Joe Pub  wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> I am getting closer to having VMWare working with a LinuxBIOS BIOS.  I
> had an issue which I was unsure of, where certain compile options
> would just not work with VMWare.  I have finnaly figured out why that
> is.
>
> By enabling CONFIG_PCI_ROM_RUN for instance, includes extra object
> files within the resulting binary, hence making the used part of the
> ROM image greater.  Here lies my problem.  VMWare seems to load the
> LinuxBIOS rom, but then overwrite the address at 0xFA000 with 8K of
> NVRAM data, basically overwriting portions of the LinuxBIOS code.
>
> So what I was wondering, what would be the best approach to reserve
> that area of memory to that it does not corrupt any of the LinuxBIOS
> code.

Have you figured out what VMWare is overwriting part of linuxBIOS with?
Is linuxBIOS loaded into VMWare with the bios440.filename parameter?

I think that VMWare is overwriting that part of memory with updated
NVRAM information, loading video BIOS, or loading ethernet card ROM
to that address. I'm not sure what you've tried already, but I've found some
configuration file parameters that might help figure out what's going on.

nvram.mode = "nonpersistent"
This prevents changes to NVRAM; maybe this is what you are looking for?

nvram = "/path/file"
This defines a custom NVRAM to be loaded.

vlance.noOprom = "true"
vmxnet.noOprom = "true"
These disable the ROM on ethernet cards, freeing up some memory;
notice there is no parameter for e1000 cards.

e1000bios.filename = "/path/file"
nbios.filename = "/path/file"
The former is the path to a ROM file for the Intel ethernet card; the latter
is the path to a ROM file for the AMD PCnet and VMXnet ethernet adapters.

These have unknown values:
svga.noOprom
ethernet%u.opromsize

I'm going to start looking into linuxBIOS in VMWare, both as a replacement
BIOS for guest OSs, and to develop with linuxBIOS easier. I haven't tested
any of the parameters above, but plan to soon; now you can tinker with them
too!

jgav

[Borg No. One]

Hi all,

it is great to see that the topic: "LinuxBIOS in VMware" is current again* and that there are new advances.

*="again" means following:

-- http://www.google.de/search?q=bios440+linuxbios
-- http://www.mail-archive.com/[e-mail]/msg09993.html
-- http://www.mail-archive.com/[e-mail]/msg10054.html
-- http://linuxbios.org/pipermail/linuxbios/2006-January/013288.html
-- ...

Well, because it would really interessting to use an open source BIOS in VMware soon, here are some further information and notes which may be helpful for running experiments with:
-- VMware and LinuxBIOS
-- different VMware Option ROMs
-- VMware Option ROM related switches in the VMware configuration file

1.)
bios440.filename = ""
--> it is the magic switch to avoid that VMware uses the built-in BIOS and that it uses an external BIOS file instead.

2.)
Jamie Gavahan wrote:
> notice there is no parameter for e1000 cards.

In contrast to the emulated devices: "AMD Am79C970A - PCnet LANCE PCI Ethernet Controller" and: "VMXNET - VMware PCI Ethernet Adapter",
there seems to be no parameter for disabling the emulated "Intel E1000" Option ROM / for "removing" the virtual e1000 Option ROM FlashROM .

But there is a switch to set the Option ROM size: ".opromsize"
If you set the size to zero, then no e1000 Option ROM will be loaded.

Example for an emulated e1000 NIC without OPROM:

ethernet0.present = "True"
ethernet0.virtualDev = "e1000"
ethernet0.startConnected = "TRUE"
ethernet0.connectionType = "custom"
ethernet0.flashWriteable = "True"
ethernet0.opromsize = "0" # ( "4294967295" = max. size without getting an VMware error message ;-) .)

3.)
Jamie Gavahan wrote:
> These have unknown values:
> svga.noOprom
> ethernet%u.opromsize

svga.noOprom = "True" # (default= "False")
... means that the emulated VMware VGA device will be used, but will not have an Option ROM.
If you start VMware with: "svga.noOprom = "True"" then the VMware Phoenix BIOS will output the typical PC speaker sounds ;-) .

Hints:
a) svga.vramSize = "xxx" # ( "16777216" = max value)
... can change the video memory size

b)
vbios.filename= "path to video BIOS file"
... forces VMware to uses an external Video BIOS filename

4.)
To simply get/extract the VMware VGABIOS file and the other VMware Option ROMs / BIOS files from the VMware executable(without starting VMware and without building a bootdisk that would contain a VGABIOS dumping tool), you can use:
a) "objdump" and "objcopy"
http://www.vmware.com/community/thread.jspa?threadID=28149&tstart=0

b) "resource hacker"/"reshack" (or other resource editors) --> for Windows users / for VMware Windows version

5.)
Interesting links:
http://www.google.de/search?q=bios440+linuxbios
http://www.google.de/search?q=vmware+linuxbios
http://www.etherboot.org/wiki/vmwarebios

-------- Original-Nachricht --------
Datum: Sun, 11 Mar 2007 04:32:49 -0600
Von: "Jamie Gavahan" 
An: "Joe Pub" 
CC: [e-mail]
Betreff: Re: [LinuxBIOS] LinuxBIOS, VMWare & CMOS
> On 3/9/07, Joe Pub  wrote:
> > Hi All,
> >
> > I am getting closer to having VMWare working with a LinuxBIOS BIOS.  I
> > had an issue which I was unsure of, where certain compile options
> > would just not work with VMWare.  I have finnaly figured out why that
> > is.
> >
> > By enabling CONFIG_PCI_ROM_RUN for instance, includes extra object
> > files within the resulting binary, hence making the used part of the
> > ROM image greater.  Here lies my problem.  VMWare seems to load the
> > LinuxBIOS rom, but then overwrite the address at 0xFA000 with 8K of
> > NVRAM data, basically overwriting portions of the LinuxBIOS code.
> >
> > So what I was wondering, what would be the best approach to reserve
> > that area of memory to that it does not corrupt any of the LinuxBIOS
> > code.
>
> Have you figured out what VMWare is overwriting part of linuxBIOS with?
> Is linuxBIOS loaded into VMWare with the bios440.filename parameter?
>
> I think that VMWare is overwriting that part of memory with updated
> NVRAM information, loading video BIOS, or loading ethernet card ROM
> to that address. I'm not sure what you've tried already, but I've found
> some
> configuration file parameters that might help figure out what's going on.
>
> nvram.mode = "nonpersistent"
> This prevents changes to NVRAM; maybe this is what you are looking for?
>
> nvram = "/path/file"
> This defines a custom NVRAM to be loaded.
>
> vlance.noOprom = "true"
> vmxnet.noOprom = "true"
> These disable the ROM on ethernet cards, freeing up some memory;
> notice there is no parameter for e1000 cards.
>
> e1000bios.filename = "/path/file"
> nbios.filename = "/path/file"
> The former is the path to a ROM file for the Intel ethernet card; the
> latter
> is the path to a ROM file for the AMD PCnet and VMXnet ethernet adapters.
>
> These have unknown values:
> svga.noOprom
> ethernet%u.opromsize
>
> I'm going to start looking into linuxBIOS in VMWare, both as a replacement
> BIOS for guest OSs, and to develop with linuxBIOS easier. I haven't tested
> any of the parameters above, but plan to soon; now you can tinker with
> them
> too!
>
> jgav