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LinuxBIOS is a free software project, endorsed by the Free Software Foundation,[1] aimed at replacing the proprietary BIOS firmware found in most computers with a lightweight firmware system designed to perform only the minimum of tasks necessary to load and run a modern 32-bit operating system. The LinuxBIOS project was started in the winter of 1999 in the Advanced Computing Laboratory at Los Alamos National Laboratory.[2] It is licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License. Main contributors have been LANL, AMD, coresystems GmbH and Linux Networx, Inc, as well as motherboard vendors MSI, Gigabyte and Tyan, by offering LinuxBIOS next to the standard proprietary BIOS or providing specifications of the hardware interfaces for some of their recent motherboards. However, Tyan seems to have dropped support of LinuxBIOS. Software design is the process that starts from a problem for which there is currently no acceptable (software) solution, and ends when such a solution has been created. ...
In computing, a platform describes some sort of framework, either in hardware or software, which allows software to run. ...
It has been suggested that x86 assembly language be merged into this article or section. ...
Computer software can be organized into categories based on common function, type, or field of use. ...
In computing, firmware is software that is embedded in a hardware device. ...
This article does not cite any references or sources. ...
A software license is a legal agreement which may take the form of a proprietary or gratuitous license as well as a memorandum of contract between a producer and a user of computer software. ...
The GNU logo The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a widely-used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU project. ...
A website (alternatively, Web site or web site) is a collection of Web pages, images, videos and other digital assets that is hosted on one or several Web server(s), usually accessible via the Internet, cell phone or a LAN. A Web page is a document, typically written in HTML...
Clockwise from top: The logo of the GNU Project (the GNU head), the Linux kernel mascot Tux the Penguin, and the FreeBSD daemon Free software is a term coined by Richard Stallman and the Free Software Foundation[1] to refer to software that can be used, studied, and modified without...
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a non-profit corporation founded in October 1985 by Richard Stallman to support the free software movement (free as in freedom), and in particular the GNU project. ...
This article does not cite any references or sources. ...
32-bit is a term applied to processors, and computer architectures which manipulate the address and data in 32-bit chunks. ...
It has been suggested that Maintenance OS be merged into this article or section. ...
Year 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar). ...
Los Alamos National Laboratory, aerial view from 1995. ...
The GNU logo The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a widely-used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU project. ...
Los Alamos National Laboratory, aerial view from 1995. ...
AMD headquarters in Sunnyvale Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. ...
MSI logo used as a BIOS load screen Micro-Star International (MSI) is a Taiwanese computer and components manufacturer. ...
Best known for its motherboards, Gigabyte Technology is a Japan/Taiwan -based manufacturer of computer hardware products. ...
This article needs to be wikified. ...
LinuxBIOS support also exists for the AMD Geode. The development of this code is a good example of the collaborative spirit that Free Software fosters: it started as Geode GX support developed by AMD for the OLPC, to which Artec Group added Geode LX support for its model DBE61 ThinCan. Recently, that code was adopted by AMD and further polished for the OLPC after it upgraded to the Geode LX platform. That code is now being further developed by the LinuxBIOS community to support other Geode -based products. National Semiconductor Geode GX1, 233 MHz Geode is a series of x86-compatible microprocessors and I/O companions produced by AMD targeted at the embedded computing market. ...
First working prototype of $100 laptop One Laptop Per Child is a non-profit organization set up to oversee the $100 laptop project. ...
ThinCan is the name for a thin client manufactured by Estonian electronic design start-up Artec Group. ...
Google sponsors the LinuxBIOS project.[3] Not to be confused with googol or Barney Google. ...
General information
LinuxBIOS usually loads a Linux kernel, but it can load any other stand-alone ELF executable, such as etherboot which can boot Linux from a boot server or ADLO which loads Microsoft Windows 2000/XP and OpenBSD. LinuxBIOS can also load almost any operating system from any supported device, such as Myrinet, Quadrics, or SCI cluster interconnects. Some OS's require legacy BIOS functions (such as Windows 2000/XP/Vista) which are provided by ADLO. However, Windows Vista additionally depends on specific subsets of ACPI which are not implemented completely yet. The Linux kernel is a Unix-like operating system kernel. ...
Stand-alone is a loosely defined term used to sort computer programs. ...
In computing, the Executable and Linking Format (ELF, formerly called Extensible Linking Format) is a common standard file format for executables, object code, shared libraries, and core dumps. ...
Linux (IPA pronunciation: ) is a Unix-like computer operating system. ...
Windows redirects here. ...
OpenBSD is a Unix-like computer operating system descended from Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD), a Unix derivative developed at the University of California, Berkeley. ...
It has been suggested that Maintenance OS be merged into this article or section. ...
An example of a Computer cluster A computer cluster is a group of tightly coupled computers that work together closely so that in many respects they can be viewed as though they are a single computer. ...
The Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) specification is an open industry standard first released in December 1996 developed by HP, Intel, Microsoft, Phoenix and Toshiba that defines common interfaces for hardware recognition, motherboard and device configuration and power management. ...
LinuxBIOS does whatever hardware initialization Linux doesn't do and lets Linux finish the hardware initialization.
A unique feature of LinuxBIOS is that the x86 version runs in 32-bit mode after executing only sixteen instructions (almost all other x86 BIOSes run exclusively in 16-bit mode). It has been suggested that x86 assembly language be merged into this article or section. ...
In computer science, 16-bit is an adjective used to describe integers that are at most two bytes wide, or to describe CPU architectures based on registers, address buses, or data buses of that size. ...
Although "Linux" is in the name, LinuxBIOS can boot other kernels, or pass control to a boot loader to boot a kernel/image instead. It can also boot a Plan 9 from Bell Labs kernel directly. A LinuxBIOS capable version of GNU GRUB 2 is still in development. Plan 9 from Bell Labs is a distributed operating system, primarily used as a research vehicle. ...
This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...
Developing and debugging LinuxBIOS Since LinuxBIOS must initialize the bare hardware, it must be ported to every chipset and motherboard that it supports. Before initializing RAM, LinuxBIOS initializes the serial port (addressing Cache and Registers only), so it can send out debug text to a connected terminal emulator. It can also send byte codes to port 0x80 that are displayed on a two-hex-digit display of a connected POST card. Another aid is the BIOS Savior, which is a combination of two BIOS devices that plugs into the BIOS socket and has a manual switch to select between them. A more expensive alternative is an EPROM/flash programmer. There are also CPU emulators that either replace the CPU or connect via a JTAG port. Code can be built on, or downloaded to, BIOS emulators rather than flashing the BIOS device. A chipset is a group of integrated circuits (chips) that are designed to work together, and are usually marketed as a single product. ...
A motherboard is the central or primary circuit board making up a complex electronic system, such as a modern computer. ...
Random access memory (usually known by its acronym, RAM) is a type of data storage used in computers. ...
A male DE-9 connector used for a serial port on a PC style computer. ...
Apple Terminal. ...
For the computer diagnostic tool, see Postcard (computing). ...
A socket generally designates a cavity or region used for fitting and connecting some specific device. ...
EPROM. The small quartz window admits UV light during erasure. ...
A USB flash drive. ...
DosBox emulates the familiar command line interface of DOS. An emulator duplicates (provide an emulation of) the functions of one system with a different system, so that the second system behaves like (and appears to be) the first system. ...
Die of an Intel 80486DX2 microprocessor (actual size: 12×6. ...
Joint Test Action Group (JTAG) is the usual name used for the IEEE 1149. ...
Initializing DRAM The most difficult hardware that LinuxBIOS initializes is the DRAM controllers and DRAM. In some cases, technical documentation how to do this is NDA protected or unavailable—rendering it impossible to build a LinuxBIOS. RAM setup is particularly difficult because until the RAM is initialized, there is no RAM available for use. The way to initialize DRAM controllers and DRAM without using RAM is to use the CPU's general purpose registers. To make this hard task easy, a C compiler that uses registers instead of RAM, called romcc, was built. Using romcc, it is relatively easy to make SMBus accesses to the SPD ROMs of the DRAM DIMMs, that allows the RAM to be used. With newer x86 processors, the processor cache can be used as RAM until DRAM is initialized. The processor cache has to be initialized into Cache-as-RAM mode as well, but this needs fewer instructions than initializing DRAM. Dynamic random access memory (DRAM) is a type of random access memory that stores each bit of data in a separate capacitor within an integrated circuit. ...
A non-disclosure agreement (NDA), also called a confidential disclosure agreement (CDA), confidentiality agreement or secrecy agreement, is a legal contract between at least two parties which outlines confidential materials or knowledge the parties wish to share with one another for certain purposes, but wish to restrict from generalized use. ...
In computer architecture, a processor register is a small amount of very fast computer memory used to speed the execution of computer programs by providing quick access to commonly used values—typically, the values being in the midst of a calculation at a given point in time. ...
C is a general-purpose, block structured, procedural, imperative computer programming language developed in 1972 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system. ...
The System Management Bus (abbreviated to SMBus or SMB) is a simple two-wire bus used for communication with low-bandwidth devices on a motherboard, especially power related chips such as a laptops rechargeable battery subsystem (see Smart Battery Data). ...
Serial Presence Detect (SPD) refers to a standardized way to access manufacturer information from a computer memory module. ...
Two types of DIMMs: a 168-pin SDRAM module (top) and a 184-pin DDR SDRAM module (bottom). ...
See also Image File history File links Portal. ...
OpenBIOS is a free software, portable Open Firmware implementation which is licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License. ...
OpenBook is an open source hardware and software project which goal is to start a light tablet movement by designing a computer tablet that suits most users needs and design an all-round (probably Linux powered) tablet. ...
ThinCan is the name for a thin client manufactured by Estonian electronic design start-up Artec Group. ...
References
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