Hmm, would it be possible to put EEPROM card into my NIC and erase/program it
from there? Ie without need for a eraser/burner?
->> What is boils down to, is that I would like to see bios concentrate on
->> the thing which it is desinted to: a) init device from which it is
->> to load kernel b) load kernel c) _optionally_ provide some basic Input
->> output.
->Unfortunatly BIOS stand very close to the hardware. PeCes are not the case
->of Alphas were you have 1 architecture. BIOSs are made in some degree to fit
->the hardware they are running on.
Well, as I see it, nowdays, most MB are just few VLSIC (sp?), CPU and few
isa/pci slots and other ports. Meaning once you have hold on specs for the
chipset and cpu you have most of the questions answered.
Most of the functions being handled by BIOS are handled by Linux nowdays.
So all what we need is just basic init of device to boot from. After all,
BIOS nowdays does a lot of things which it does not belong to BIOS.
->> What I mean here is that I don't see my my BIOS need to have "Virus
->> Protection" or "date setup". But I would like to see my BIOS to provide
->> a) serial console support
->
->the serial is pretty much standard i think. except for the "fish the irq/io
->port" issue.
I would assume that we try to detect first seral port, and then to try
redirect output to it, especially if there is no gfx card.
->> b) support for netbooting.
->
->ouch . have you seen the zillions of network cards out there ?
->this can be very hard to achieve. of course you could just compile the
->firmware for your PeCe yourself :)
My idea was something like linux kernel. You compile your own BIOS, and
just include what you want to actually have (it could try auto-probe
your MB).
I suspect it is what AMI, Award and other does. They give sources to MB
manufactuers. And there at compile time they have options like "Choose
your Chipset (A) VIA, (B) ALI, (C) Intel..", then you can select specific
chipset. Select if they support APM etc. They also have option to fix few
screw-ups on their part when disigning motherboard too :)
->> c) booting over parallel port ;P
->
->IDE paralell device ? seems simple enough :)
I choose parallel port since it is a) standard, b) relatively fast
(50kB/sec), c) integrated into ATX mb, d) parallel null modem is easy
to get and cheap.
->ZIP drive ?
->and about ZIP ide booting ?
It is actually supported nowdays by standard BIOSes; mine does :)
Another idea, booting/console(input/output) over USB :)
->> d) IR booting (variation of netbooting)
->>
->IR ? humm .. like in the laptops ?
yes.
<sacrasm>
In fact if TV can display IR spectrum then you could save
your kernel on HVS tape, just along your copy of TITANIC :)
</sacrasm>
->and what about paper tape and serial port booting ? :)
serial port is not as fast as parallel port. Though, from reading
specs on latest Winbond chips, it seems they increased speed of
clock up to 24mhz, and thus speed of serial line up to 4mbit/sec.
->This would be fun except for the pain it would to be to make firmware for
->all the motherboards out there. (or wouldn't this be needed ?)
Well, I would tend to think it could starts just like Linux. First few
motherboards, others could be added as time goes on. I'll be perfectly
happy to have just basic bios which does what bios should to do -- ie
boot.
Finally, the most important thing of all: We could replace that EPA logo
with Penguin logo :)
Adam
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