[PROPOSAL] extended payload handling

[Hendricks David W.]

On Tue, 8 Jun 2004, Stefan Reinauer wrote:
> 2.) 
> LinuxBIOS can currently execute one payload. For greater flexibility and
> isolated development cycles of the firmware related code parts/projects
> LinuxBIOS should allow payload chains, ie. executing multiple payloads
> one after the other.

Sounds good. How would you suggest bringing up payloads in a certain 
order? Say you wanted a payload to boot a SCSI controller and then another 
payload to boot off a SCSI disk? You'd need a certain order, and you'd 
have to make certain one payload didn't wipe out another. 

There are also instances where one might wish to keep the payload in tact 
even after the operating system has booted, such as using OpenBIOS as a 
LinuxBIOS payload. 

Thoughts?

On Tue, 8 Jun 2004, Stefan Reinauer wrote:
> Feature plugins like "testbios" should not be merged into LinuxBIOS'
> core code. Instead they should be implemented as a payload. Since we

What about VGA, which requires testbios? If it were to be run 
strictly as a payload, we would have practically no useful BIOS 
information display on the screen before the bootloader or Linux comes up. 

(I have a feeling I missed the point, again)