OpenBIOS

openbios@openbios.org

4297 discussions

Re: [OpenBIOS] probably the last questions
by Ronald G. Minnich 16 Feb '00

16 Feb '00

On Wed, 16 Feb 2000, Kent Nyberg wrote: > Are you just trying to put a Linux kernel in the bios, or will you put > an advanced bootloader there? Or will you put both there (bootloader and > kernel)? I am putting linux there. I have no interest in anything else on our cluster -- linux is what we run. > How much code can you put in the bios? 1 MByte. > Since not much seem to have changed on the bios front the last 10 years > i don't think they can be that big... ? They're huge. The phoenix bios is over 1/2M. For all that size what it gets you is a not very useful piece of code. Do you want 1/2M of phoenix bios or 1/2M of linux image :-) > Oh, i have noticed that some linux mailinglist seem to NOT like if one > write alot on the mailinglists.. is it the same here? Please write a lot and ask questions. Also, if you want to help, that would be good too. ron - To unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo(a)freiburg.linux.de with 'unsubscribe openbios' in the body of the message

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Some VGA set up that seems to work on a 440BX with a PCI (Rage II I card)
by Wallace I. Kroeker 16 Feb '00

16 Feb '00

Hello, Ron was asking about this and here is the code snippets that managed to get things working for me. Of course, I had the interrupt incorrect as it is int 10h ... sorry. The following goes in boot/boot16/start.asm (I put it right after the FPU reset): ;;************* ;; set up the VGA into text mode mov ah, 0x00 mov al, 0x07 ; a MDA type mode int 10h PAUSE ; delays are always good when you are counting on other devices to set up ;; load a character set ... the card usually have a few predefined mov ah, 0x11 mov al,0x01 ; 8x14 ;; *** mov al, 0x02 ; this is for 8x8 mov bl, 0x00 ; load it into a character table (0 or 1) in this case 1 int 10h PAUSE ;; Activate the character set 0 mov ah, 0x11 mov al, 0x03 mov bl, 0x00 ;; activate character table 0 int 10h PAUSE ;;; Just for a test you can try to output a character now ;; mov ah, 0x0A ;; mov al, 0x55 ; a character ;; mov bh, 0x00 ; video page number ;; mov bl, 0x00 ; foreground color of character for graphics mode ;; mov cx, 0x01 ; repeat factor ;;********** The following changes need to be made in the VIDEO.H #define VIDEO_MDA 1 #define VIDEO_CGA 2 #define VIDEO_EGA 3 #define VIDEO_VGA 4 CONSOLE.C in the console_init: have_video = video_init( VIDEO_VGA ); VGA.H // #define VGA_FBBASE 0xb8000 #define VGA_FBBASE 0xb0000 // this is the MDA area Hope this helps getting things going for you. Wallace > -----Original Message----- > From: Ronald G. Minnich [SMTP:rminnich@lanl.gov] > Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2000 7:18 PM > To: openbios(a)elvis.informatik.uni-freiburg.de > Subject: [OpenBIOS] success on l440gx+ ram > > I forgot to put a 0x17 in reg 0x76 after the mode set command. Sheesh. > > dram is now working fine. I am actually in protected mode in the 32-bit > openbios startup, getting ready to gunzip linux and jump to it. > > Now the trick is to figure out why I have no display :-) > > All I want for now is a vga-compatible thing, very limited in scope. So I > want the absolute minimum hardware only. Any hints would be welcome. > > ron > > - > To unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo(a)freiburg.linux.de > with 'unsubscribe openbios' in the body of the message - To unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo(a)freiburg.linux.de with 'unsubscribe openbios' in the body of the message

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RE: [OpenBIOS] success on l440gx+ ram
by Wallace I. Kroeker 16 Feb '00

16 Feb '00

The trick is to setup the VGA BIOS. One of the links off the OpenBIOS site has a list of Interrupts and Ports. You need to look at kicking the VGA BIOS via Interrupt 11h (I think that is the correct one). There was a complete section that described the VGA BIOS. I will put the code up here a little later today (I am out of the office and the code right now). You need to set the mode (07 is MDA mode) and then get it to load one of the VGA BIOS character tables and then activate that character set. I put this code into the boot16/start.asm right after the MDA and CDA init code. The basic form is: ;; set up register (I think AX was used) for init int 11h ;; set up for character set load int 11h ... Now the only other trick is that the MDA address range is different than the typical VGA so you need to change this in firmware/init/VGA.h . Also, call video_init in firmware/init/main.c (or is it console.c? ...). The MDA is 0 and VGA is 4 (I set up some defines). So now you should get the OpenBIOS logo to print out. Sorry for not giving you the code snippets but I will get them to you later. > -----Original Message----- > From: Ronald G. Minnich [SMTP:rminnich@lanl.gov] > Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2000 7:18 PM > To: openbios(a)elvis.informatik.uni-freiburg.de > Subject: [OpenBIOS] success on l440gx+ ram > > I forgot to put a 0x17 in reg 0x76 after the mode set command. Sheesh. > > dram is now working fine. I am actually in protected mode in the 32-bit > openbios startup, getting ready to gunzip linux and jump to it. > > Now the trick is to figure out why I have no display :-) > > All I want for now is a vga-compatible thing, very limited in scope. So I > want the absolute minimum hardware only. Any hints would be welcome. > > ron > > - > To unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo(a)freiburg.linux.de > with 'unsubscribe openbios' in the body of the message - To unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo(a)freiburg.linux.de with 'unsubscribe openbios' in the body of the message

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Re: [OpenBIOS] success on l440gx+ ram
by James 15 Feb '00

15 Feb '00

> Now the trick is to figure out why I have no display :-) > > All I want for now is a vga-compatible thing, very limited in scope. Ron, I bet you need to initialize the hardware with a call to the video bios, so the card knows to display what is on B800. I don't know exactly what happens, but I know that in the display functions I wrote for you we display by writing straight to B800. I think the video bios resides somewhere between A000 and C800 (but not in the areas it uses for scratch space, like B800-C000 for color displays or B000-B800 (I think) for monochrome -- there may be more). Could you step through until it does that call? > getting ready to gunzip linux and jump to it. Also, why doesn't it gunzip linux and jump to it? - James - To unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo(a)freiburg.linux.de with 'unsubscribe openbios' in the body of the message

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RE: [OpenBIOS] Starting linux aint much easy ?
by Attarian, Gary 15 Feb '00

15 Feb '00

Oops, this was my bad. after looking back at your previous posts, Jörg, I think Ronald is correct. Which brings me back to an earlier question. Namely are you loading a zImage or a bzImage? If you carefully look through the head.S code, you will notice it deciding whether the kernel is loaded high or low. I believe it does this by checking a value generated at compile time. Anyway, my understanding is that the big (bzImage) kernels are loaded high 0x101000 and the smaller (zImage) kernels are loaded into low memory at 0x1000. Assuming OpenBIOS puts the processor into protected mode with a 4g address space (a good bet as Ronald has already confirmed this), all you should have to do is jump to the kernel. If you already have access to the 4g address space while you are loading the kernel from flash this should be the case. One last question though, did you say you were loading a vmlinux image (uncompressed) into memory? If so, head.S assumes the image is compressed and trys to uncompress it. Gary > -----Original Message----- > From: Ronald G. Minnich [SMTP:rminnich@lanl.gov] > Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2000 12:56 PM > To: openbios(a)elvis.informatik.uni-freiburg.de > Subject: Re: [OpenBIOS] Starting linux aint much easy ? > > I don't think you should fall back into real mode. There's no good reason > to. I think you should look at how LOBOS does its thing, which is to boot > linux entirely in protected mode, and emulate that in your bios. > > Falling into real mode is a mess. Also, once you drop to real mode, you > can't address 0x100000 any more. This is probably not what you want, since > your code is at 0x101000. > > ron > > - > To unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo(a)freiburg.linux.de > with 'unsubscribe openbios' in the body of the message

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Re: [OpenBIOS] good question.
by Ronald G. Minnich 15 Feb '00

15 Feb '00

On Tue, 15 Feb 2000, Stefan Reinauer wrote: > Niklas Ekstr�m wrote a program some time ago, loadbios, which loads a bios > from a file to the memory from 0xe0000 to 0xfffff on some intel pcisets. > It can easily be adopted to other chipsets and it's quite small. > we used this invaluable program in the early stages. At some point we found a need to write the nvram, since we need a completely dead environment to make sure we can get things to work. But loadbios is a great help. ron - To unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo(a)freiburg.linux.de with 'unsubscribe openbios' in the body of the message

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code for starting up 440gx memory
by Ronald G. Minnich 15 Feb '00

15 Feb '00

here we go. caveats: this was generated by a script, using a linux system, to dump register values. Except for register 76, which was done from the programming manuals. I need to get a macro in here, I know. If you find this useless let me know and I'll try to do the macro. here goes. First, though: 1) set reg 76 to 30 (power + nop), delay 200 us 2) set up the other regs 3) set up reg 76 to 50, then the other values as shown. generic_init: PORT_80 0xd0 ; now the fun begins. ; turn on the dram and wait a while (this from the intel book) mov dx, 0xcf8 mov eax, 0x80000074 out dx, eax mov dx, 0xcfe ; turn power and and set the nop bit too. mov al, 0x30 out dx, al ; delay 200 us mov ecx, 0x20000 .loop: loop .loop ; First, set registers we can set once to reasonable values ; note -- this code auto-generated ... ; note -- we need to grab the nice macro from the other chipset file. ; set it for sdram, 31 microsecond refresh (? ok? ) ; should we be doing this just yet? who knows? mov dx, 0xcf8 mov eax, 0x80000054 out dx, eax mov dx, 0xcff mov al, 0x12 out dx, al mov dx, 0xcf8 mov eax, 0x80000058 out dx, eax mov dx, 0xcfd mov al, 0x0 out dx, al mov dx, 0xcf8 mov eax, 0x80000060 out dx, eax mov dx, 0xcfc mov al, 0x10 out dx, al mov dx, 0xcf8 mov eax, 0x80000060 out dx, eax mov dx, 0xcfd mov al, 0x20 out dx, al mov dx, 0xcf8 mov eax, 0x80000060 out dx, eax mov dx, 0xcfe mov al, 0x30 out dx, al mov dx, 0xcf8 mov eax, 0x80000060 out dx, eax mov dx, 0xcff mov al, 0x40 out dx, al mov dx, 0xcf8 mov eax, 0x80000064 out dx, eax mov dx, 0xcfc mov al, 0x50 out dx, al mov dx, 0xcf8 mov eax, 0x80000064 out dx, eax mov dx, 0xcfd mov al, 0x60 out dx, al mov dx, 0xcf8 mov eax, 0x80000064 out dx, eax mov dx, 0xcfe mov al, 0x70 out dx, al mov dx, 0xcf8 mov eax, 0x80000064 out dx, eax mov dx, 0xcff mov al, 0x80 out dx, al mov dx, 0xcf8 mov eax, 0x80000068 out dx, eax mov dx, 0xcfd mov al, 0x0 out dx, al mov dx, 0xcf8 mov eax, 0x80000068 out dx, eax mov dx, 0xcfe mov al, 0x0 out dx, al mov dx, 0xcf8 mov eax, 0x80000068 out dx, eax mov dx, 0xcff mov al, 0x0 out dx, al mov dx, 0xcf8 mov eax, 0x8000006c mov dx, 0xcfc mov al, 0x0 out dx, al mov dx, 0xcf8 mov eax, 0x8000006c out dx, eax mov dx, 0xcfd mov al, 0x0 out dx, al mov dx, 0xcf8 mov eax, 0x8000006c out dx, eax mov dx, 0xcfe mov al, 0x0 out dx, al mov dx, 0xcf8 mov eax, 0x80000074 out dx, eax mov dx, 0xcfc mov al, 0x22 out dx, al mov dx, 0xcf8 mov eax, 0x80000074 out dx, eax mov dx, 0xcfd mov al, 0x22 out dx, al mov dx, 0xcf8 mov eax, 0x80000078 out dx, eax mov dx, 0xcfc mov al, 0x7 out dx, al mov dx, 0xcf8 mov eax, 0x80000078 out dx, eax mov dx, 0xcfd mov al, 0x55 out dx, al mov dx, 0xcf8 mov eax, 0x800000c8 out dx, eax mov dx, 0xcfe mov al, 0x0 out dx, al mov dx, 0xcf8 mov eax, 0x800000c8 out dx, eax mov dx, 0xcff mov al, 0x0 out dx, al mov dx, 0xcf8 mov eax, 0x800000c8 out dx, eax mov dx, 0xcff mov al, 0x0 out dx, al mov dx, 0xcf8 mov eax, 0x800000cc out dx, eax mov dx, 0xcfc mov al, 0x1e out dx, al ; standard init of sdram at this point: ; it is on and the bridge is configured for 256M dimms. ; now we have to do a precharge all (see the pc100 sdram book mov dx, 0xcf8 mov eax, 0x80000074 out dx, eax ; now we stick to reg 76, so no more of that mov dx, 0xcfe ; we're going to use es to ref dram xor eax, eax mov es, eax ; do the nop cycle mov eax, [es:0x400] ; now we have to kick the dram to do this? so what, I guess we hit it, ; but we're not in bigreal, wonder what will happen. Just to bank 0 for ; now. A10 has to be high. (pc100 sdram book) ; this should be a Precharge all mov al, 0x50 out dx, al ; meaningless delay PORT_80 0xdf mov [es:0x400], eax ; now we do the eight CBRs mov al, 0x90 out dx, al PORT_80 0xdf mov eax, [es:0x400] mov eax, [es:0x400] mov eax, [es:0x400] mov eax, [es:0x400] mov eax, [es:0x400] mov eax, [es:0x400] mov eax, [es:0x400] mov eax, [es:0x400] ; now a mode register set mov al, 0x70 out dx, al PORT_80 0xdf ; we have to do a memory reference that sets things up. ; ok -- we go with burst length 4 (?) wrap type 0, ltmode 3 ; ltmod 3 matches the other mode in the bridge. This is slow, ; we fix later if possible ; now we reference the dram to issue the mrs mov eax, 0x32 mov [es:0x00], eax ; well, maybe it is working now. mov ax, cs mov ss, ax mov sp, .stack --------------------- anyways, i can store and load, but I'm only seeing an 8-byte memory. ron - To unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo(a)freiburg.linux.de with 'unsubscribe openbios' in the body of the message

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memory is on
by Ronald G. Minnich 15 Feb '00

15 Feb '00

memory appears to be working on my 440gx. Next step is gunzipping linux to high memory ... then jump to it. ron - To unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo(a)freiburg.linux.de with 'unsubscribe openbios' in the body of the message

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RE: [OpenBIOS] Starting linux aint much easy ?
by Attarian, Gary 15 Feb '00

15 Feb '00

Well, I still think you are almost there. I went through this same frustration a few months ago so I feel your pain :) >From the code you sent, I gather that you get the "i" out the serial port. But that it fails to get to the start_kernel routine. This is just what I encountered. I spent several days pulling out my hair until I discovered that I did not have the protected mode of the processor set up correctly. The problem I found was that I had not set the code segment to the proper value. Well after all that hair pulling (of course) I found the kernel/arch/i386/boot/setup.S file. This is the code which jumps to Linux from a floppy boot. Take a look in there especially the code preceding the code32: label. Your jump to 0x101000 has to have the 0x66 prefix or the last bit of protected mode will not truly be set up. What that means essentially, is that the code segment register will not be pointing to the appropriate location in the GDT. While some of the code may run, as soon as head.S trys to jump to another segment the processor will generate a GPF. I hope this helps. The explanation in the setup.S file is more eloquent that I. There is also a book "Protected Mode Software Architecture" by Tom Shanley published by Addison Wesley. I don't own a copy yet, but I have heard it contains much information about this issue. Most importantly, don't panic I still think you are 3/4 of the way there! Good luck. Gary P.S. I don't want to panic you, but does your system use the PCI bus? Have you properly set that up yet?

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RE: [OpenBIOS] ram on l440gx+
by Stawnyczy, Evan 15 Feb '00

15 Feb '00

please do forward your code... -----Original Message----- From: Ronald G. Minnich [mailto:rminnich@lanl.gov] Sent: February 15, 2000 2:38 Pm To: openbios(a)elvis.informatik.uni-freiburg.de Subject: [OpenBIOS] ram on l440gx+ oops. While I am powering it up I'm doing something write. Writes always fail. I think it may be a refresh problem but ... who knows. I'm looking. All ideas welcome. I can forward my code to this list if anyone wants a look. ron - To unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo(a)freiburg.linux.de with 'unsubscribe openbios' in the body of the message - To unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo(a)freiburg.linux.de with 'unsubscribe openbios' in the body of the message

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