ANNOUNCE: Collecting OpenBIOS patches

[Jeff Garzik]

I've been on this mailing list for about a year, and very little
movement has occurred during that time.

Since there is still interest in this project, I would like to start
collecting patches against OpenBIOS 0.0.2-pre1, hopefully leading up to
a new [unofficial] release.

I am currently working on getting the Intel 430TX (Triton I) low-end
Pentium chipset working with OpenBIOS.  My goal is to be able to boot
either an MS-DOS or Linux OS, just like a regular BIOS.

After that, I will probably tackle the Intel 430FX chipset, or a newer
Via-based chipset like the VT82C686A.

So if you have patched to OpenBIOS, please "diff" them against the
current release on the Web site, 0.0.2-pre1, and post them to the
mailing list.  (or e-mail directly me to if the patches are large)

I will integrate all these patches and roll a new tarball, probably
sometime around Valentine's Day (Feb 14th).

Input, comments, and/or patches are greatly appreciated!  I think
OpenBIOS is a great project, especially for all the older PCs out there
with no BIOS updates since 1995 or so....

Jeff

[Jens Dreger]

On Wed, Jan 19, 2000 at 02:47:38AM -0500, Jeff Garzik wrote:
> I've been on this mailing list for about a year, and very little
> movement has occurred during that time.
>
> Since there is still interest in this project, I would like to start
> collecting patches against OpenBIOS 0.0.2-pre1, hopefully leading up to
> a new [unofficial] release.
>
> I am currently working on getting the Intel 430TX (Triton I) low-end
> Pentium chipset working with OpenBIOS.  My goal is to be able to boot
> either an MS-DOS or Linux OS, just like a regular BIOS.
>
> After that, I will probably tackle the Intel 430FX chipset, or a newer
> Via-based chipset like the VT82C686A.
>
> So if you have patched to OpenBIOS, please "diff" them against the
> current release on the Web site, 0.0.2-pre1, and post them to the
> mailing list.  (or e-mail directly me to if the patches are large)
>
> I will integrate all these patches and roll a new tarball, probably
> sometime around Valentine's Day (Feb 14th).
>
> Input, comments, and/or patches are greatly appreciated!  I think
> OpenBIOS is a great project, especially for all the older PCs out there
> with no BIOS updates since 1995 or so....

Hi Jeff !

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?

Thanks in advance !

Jens.
>

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[Jeff Garzik]

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!

[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!
>
> To unsubscribe: send mail to [e-mail]
> with 'unsubscribe openbios' in the body of the message

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ROM image parser available?

[Jeff Garzik]

The PCI 2.2 spec describes the format of expansion ROMs found on
expansion boards.

Does anybody have a dump program which will read an expansion ROM off
the board, or at least dump the header of the expansion ROM?

I'm interested in finding out what's on the expansion ROM of my RTL-8139
ethernet card...

AW: ROM image parser available?

[Stephan Müller]

-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: [e-mail]
[mailto:[e-mail]]Im Auftrag von
Jeff Garzik
Gesendet: Mittwoch, 26. Januar 2000 20:51
An: [e-mail]
Cc: [e-mail]
Betreff: [OpenBIOS] ROM image parser available?
> The PCI 2.2 spec describes the format of expansion ROMs found on
> expansion boards.
> Does anybody have a dump program which will read an expansion ROM off
> the board, or at least dump the header of the expansion ROM?
> I'm interested in finding out what's on the expansion ROM of my RTL-8139
> ethernet card...

This isn't a expansion ROM, this is an EEPROM for storing the configuration
data and some extra things like MAC-Address. If you have a socket for a
bootrom, then this is mapped to the expansion rom...

I've once written a program to change the mac-adress of 3c509-series cards
from 3com :-)
> To unsubscribe: send mail to [e-mail]
> with 'unsubscribe openbios' in the body of the message

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AW: ROM image parser available?

[Jeff Garzik]

On Thu, 27 Jan 2000, [iso-8859-1] Stephan M�ller wrote:
> > I'm interested in finding out what's on the expansion ROM of my RTL-8139
> > ethernet card...
> This isn't a expansion ROM, this is an EEPROM for storing the configuration
> data and some extra things like MAC-Address. If you have a socket for a
> bootrom, then this is mapped to the expansion rom...

I know the difference between an expansion ROM and EEPROM -- and I am
looking for something which deals with expansion ROMs.  (thanks Tigran)

Regards,

Jeff

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ROM image parser available?

[Dave Jones]

On Wed, 26 Jan 2000, Jeff Garzik wrote:
> The PCI 2.2 spec describes the format of expansion ROMs found on
> expansion boards.
> Does anybody have a dump program which will read an expansion ROM off
> the board, or at least dump the header of the expansion ROM?
> I'm interested in finding out what's on the expansion ROM of my RTL-8139
> ethernet card...

I was working on a GTK based PCI exploring program, with various
features for ROMS (Save to disk, extended analysis of known ROMs etc..)
I'll finish it off sometime soon, but I'm a little busy with the next
release of Powertweak right now..

regards,