[SeaBIOS] A20: ahci_process_op is called with A20 off

[Kevin O'Connor]

On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 11:22:02PM +0000, Xu, Anthony wrote:
> > SeaBIOS has a couple of different methods to accomplish this mode
> > switching - it can directly switch modes (C16_BIG switch) or it can
> > use a helper in SMM mode to perform the switch (C16_SMM).  The
> > preferred method is C16_SMM as C16_BIG isn't available in VM86 mode
> > and it also clobbers the 16bit segment registers.
> 
> Hi Kevin,
> 
> Why does SeaBios use VM86 mode?

As Paolo mentioned, SeaBIOS doesn't use it, but it must support
callers that use it.

> vtx supports real mode long time ago.
> 
> C16_SMM is slow because it causes several extra switches between VM and QEMU.
> I would prefer C16_BIG for better performance.
> Does SeaBios know if it runs in real mode or VM86 mode?
> Can SeaBios choose C16_SMM/C16_BIG based on VCPU mode?

Yes, SeaBIOS could use the smsw instruction (see x86.h:cr0_vm86_read)
to check if it is in VM86 mode.  Using C16_BIG would still clobber the
segment registers, but it might be worth that risk to avoid the extra
overhead of C16_SMM.

-Kevin