Re: [OpenBIOS] ANNOUNCE: Collecting OpenBIOS patches

[James Logan]

Mr. Garzik-

Your explanation on how to get started is what I have been looking
    for (even though I did not initially inquire). I would like to 
    ask the list if someone could add to this mail some pointers on
    how to actually test the code changes that one makes (ie. flashing
        etc). I would like to help, but need a little more help in getting
        started.

Regards,
James
On Mon, 24 Jan 2000, Jeff Garzik wrote:
> Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2000 10:43:11 -0500
> From: Jeff Garzik 
> Reply-To: [e-mail]
> To: Jens Dreger 
> Cc: [e-mail]
> Subject: Re: [OpenBIOS] ANNOUNCE:  Collecting OpenBIOS patches
>
> Jens Dreger wrote:
> > I absolutely agree. Unfortunately I have no experience with
> > programming Bioses whatsoever, but I'm very interested to learn more
> > about this. I do have all kinds of Pentium-based Mainboards. Could you
> > give me some hints on where to start looking into this topic ? Is
> > there any kind of HOWTO or any introductory material freely available?
>
> Jens,
>
> If you have a bunch of main boards you are off to an excellent start. 
> You need to find out what motherboard chipset is used on each mainboard
> you have.  Sometimes all you have to do is look for the largest chipset
> on the motherboard that is not the CPU.  Sometimes you will have to take
> the motherboard model, go to the OEM's website, and look up the
> motherboard chipset from there.
>
> Once you have the motherboard chipset, you need to obtain the
> motherboard datasheet.  This lists the registers on the mainboard which
> you will need to set in order to have OpenBIOS boot that motherboard.
>
> After you know the chipset and have its datasheet, you can begin coding.
>
> Your best reference is the existing source code in
> openbios/drivers/chipset.  Newcomers often want a document instead of
> the source code, but don't worry... the source code is easy to read. 
> You just have to take your time, and have an assembly language reference
> on hand.  Following the logic -- motherboard initialization is actually
> really easy!
>
> Since there are no real docs about this stuff, here is a short
> introduction.  Please pass this along, or ask questions.  Ask plenty of
> questions!  We may not be able to respond in the same day, or even same
> week :), but you will get a response generally.
> Talking to your motherboard
>
> Your motherboard's core logic chipset, also called a "northbridge",
> controls everything in the computer.  It controls the CPU timings, RAM
> timings, cache timing and setup.  Basically everything you see in your
> BIOS setup screen, and more.
>
> Most modern PCI motherboards are controlled by setting up the PCI
> configuration registers.  This makes things easy, because your
> motherboard code looks like this:
> module to read/write PCI configuration registers
> chipset init module, which can be as simple as writing a list of
>
> constant values to the motherboard's PCI configuration registers
> memory init module.  You gotta figure out how obtain the amount of RAM
>
> and cache RAM installed on the motherboard.
>
> Typically writing to the PCI configuration registers means sending a
> 8/16/32-bit value to a PIO port.  (A PIO port is accessed like your
> printer data port, or serial data port...)
>
> To make things even easier, you can write a small program to read your
> motherboard's current PCI configuration.  For testing and initial setup,
> you can simply plug these values straight into the chipset init code
> (the "register value table").
> Memory sizing
>
> This is probably the most difficult part of adding motherboard chipset
> support to OpenBIOS.  The standard method of finding out the amount of
> memory installed is to write a value to a memory location, such as
> 0x1A1A2D2D, and then reading that value back.  If the value read back is
> the same, and not 0 or 0xFFFFFFF or another bogus value, that memory is
> valid and addressable.
>
> You might have to go to protected mode to size memory beyond 64MB in
> this manner.
>
> Most chipsets provide a better way to size RAM.  The Intel i430FX
> chipset, for example, provides a set of registers which allow you to
> determine the total memory installed in each DRAM bank.  This makes
> memory sizing really easy.
> Configuring the motherboard
>
> Motherboard chipsets, after power-on, are reset to a default state which
> is generally sane.  It is your task to take the chipset from the
> power-on default state to the fully-initialized state.  To do this you
> must configure DRAM setup, cache setup, and peripheral setup.  Power
> management or other advanced features might need to be set up as well.
>
> As mentioned above, the easiest way is to read your motherboard's
> existing configuration, and store that in an assembly language data
> table.  This data represents a list of registers and register values
> which are written to the motherboard when it boots your BIOS.  Be aware
> that you may need to play around with the ordering of the register
> settings, or simply omit some register settings, in order to get things
> working.
>
> In general, you want to start out with the most conservative (ie.
> SLOWEST) settings for your cache, DRAM, etc.  Be warned that your system
> will be very slow with all caching turned off.  After you get things
> working, slowly begin to turn on and tune the motherboard configuration
> the way you want.
> Configuring the peripherals
>
> In addition to the motherboard init code in openbios/drivers/chipset,
> there is the peripheral init code in openbios/drivers/superio.
>
> Most modern motherboards contains built-in facilities for parallel
> ports, serial ports, and similar features.  You need to initalize the
> super I/O chip.  Look at the source code for the existing motherboard
> super I/O chipsets for guidance.  The source code is always your best
> documentation.  (don't forget to ask questions, though!)
>
> It can be intimidating to add support for your motherboard to OpenBIOS,
> but it is really a straightforward task.  The key is your motherboard's
> datasheet or specification.  If you don't have that, you will be lost...
>
> Post all questions to the OpenBIOS list please!
>
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