Talk:BIOS

Thats not NPOV1

Read-Only Memory (ROM) chips are much slower to read than Random Access Memory (RAM). True. See later.

The storage capability of a ROM is also an issue, computer programs placed in ROM must be small and limited in features. In addition, BIOS code is a guarded trade secret, and the handful of vendors are often obfuscated their BIOS code to protect it from reverse-engineering. As technology advances, the features and functionalities built into the BIOS code begin to remove most of the limitations, or provide a workaround for them.

Most systems these days copy the BIOS code from the slow ROM into the faster RAM. Known as shadow RAM... done to speed up the BIOS routines.

The latest BIOS code support Plug and Play hardware components and Operating Systems, making system configuration much easier. Also, more and more manufacturer's license BIOS technology and optimize it to work with their components or systems.

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My main reservation about the bits I cut out are: a) It views BIOS just a the PC BIOS everyone initially thinks of b) I'm not sure of its NPOV c) BIOS'es (in the PC ROM sense) are more like bootstrap roms than anything else, as most OS'es don't even use low level BIOS routines anymore.

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Made several additions based on coding BIOSs for Phoenix Technologies. Though most people today equate BIOS = firmware = PC BIOS = boot, the first time I saw the term 'BIOS' was in 1981 source code from IBM's Technical Reference Manual. Thus, BIOS may be specific to the IBM PC, though it's meaning may have expanded in the last 20 years. Robert Keller

BIOS as 'life' in Greek?

Is "While the name BIOS is an acronym, it is also a play on the Greek word βιος (bios) life. " intentional, or not? Dysprosia 08:15, 22 Mar 2004 (UTC)

It seems plausible to me, though of course I can't say for certain, that they thought of the meaning of the Greek word when they called the BIOS that. — Timwi 09:49, 22 Mar 2004 (UTC)

I had thought that the greek bios represented the connection that bonds your soul to your physical self. In a sense, that could be comparable to the computer bios, I guess. -Wisestfool, added July 30th

Actually to be more accurate.. the greek bios is the connection between the spirit and the body. Much like electricity (spirit) is applied to the element (body) in a light bulb, and the result is light (life,soul,bios). Life and soul are interchangable words for the greek bios. Spirit, soul and body are what make up our triune nature. - added November 17th, 2004

This is interesting, but still doesn't answer the question of intentionality? Suggest removing the sentence or changing unless a reference can be found? Chris Wood 03:27, 26 Jan 2005 (UTC)

I've changed the sentence to "may be" a play on the word Chris Wood 01:02, 5 Apr 2005 (UTC)

EFI?

Can we please get some mention of the new EFI BIOS?

INT link wrong

The link to INT appears to be incorrect. The author was probably referring to the CPU 'interrupt' instruction. (Example interrupt table.)

--Bobbymcr 15:58, 20 Sep 2004 (UTC)

BBS? Are we serious?

I think the whole BBS section needs to go. Its more of a suggestion than a specification. As far as I know the "BBS API" is just the PnP and PCI config space which the BBS suggests a BIOS read to get device information. Granted, its been 5 years since I read this "specification", but it was no specification the last time I saw it. It pointed out issues and problems but didn't have hard-line solutions for most of them. Furthermore, the issues it did try to solve, if implemented, no one would use/buy the result. Has there been an update since the original? If so, I haven't seen it. In short, BBS should not be taken seriously.

Some comments about the article: “which at a minimum drives the keyboard and provides primitive output to a display. ” This is incorrect. There is no need for keyboard support and the output to a display is misleading (especially on the primitive note). For example, A server BIOS has no need for keyboard support and for USB keyboard, the BIOS needs only to support USB HID’s and not act as a driver for the KBC. Rather, at a minimum, the BIOS initializes memory and programs the memory controller. Also, it discovers and initializes buses on the system (be it PCI, ISA, PCI-E or whatnot).

As for the primitive output display – it seems this “primitive” aspect should be something more about ASCII which could be on a local display or sent out say a serial port to a remote display. In the latter case, the display function, strictly speaking, is not supported. Maybe it would be better to say it would support ASCII console (at a minimum). That could be local or remote.

“most modern BIOS implementations” I would say all BIOSes are modern, maybe contemporary would put a finer point on it.

“My main reservation about the bits I cut out are: a) It views BIOS just a the PC BIOS everyone initially thinks of b) I'm not sure of its NPOV c) BIOS'es (in the PC ROM sense) are more like bootstrap roms than anything else, as most OS'es don't even use low level BIOS routines anymore.”

I am not sure what this is referencing, but it has an inaccurate characterization in it. That is to say, sure contemporary OSes no longer use the runtime services provided by the BIOS, but they are still provided. It is still a useful thing to be able to boot to DOS. If we are talking about this stuff, then it seems fair to mention ACPI as well.

As to EFI, I can draft up something if you would like. It is going to be the new PC standard. Starting with longhorn, and theoretically afterwards the only MS supported firmware interface. There are some introductory things about it on Intels website.

Reversion

I reverted the changes made to the article by 217.43.173.223. Moron. 68.9.205.10 03:02, 29 Dec 2004 (UTC)

BIOS disambiguation ....

BIOS is also the Greek word for "life".

Would be a good idear, especially a new page for the changes made by 80.222.200.41 (talk • contribs), which by the way seems like some kind of hidden advertising to me, would be nice. RoceKiller 12:01, 30 May 2005 (UTC)

Business In Open Source

Pulled this paragraph. I was going to stick this on its own page and link it with a disambig message, but on second though I don't think this is really notable enough to bother.

BIOS - active in the country of origin to the creators of Linux and MySQL - is dedicated to accelerating the growth and adoption of Open Source applications in local SME:s. Founded in 2003 by the project IT Sparring Partners and owned by the Vaasa Polytechnic. BIOS is a non-profit EU project that provides cutting edge know-how to develop Open Source Code for common business applications. The BIOS project received ESF 3.4.3. funding 01.07.2004 from the local Employment and Economic Development Centre ( TE-keskus in Finish). Our partners are Ostrobothnia Chamber of Commerce and Österbottens Företagarförening. BIOS

I'm recording this here anyway, just in case someone does think it is notable. AlistairMcMillan 03:19, Jun 7, 2005 (UTC)

redundancy

A bit of redundancy can increase clarity.

e.g. CD-ROM Disc (Compact Disc Read Only Memory Disc), DVD Video (Digital Versatile/Video Disc Video), SAT Test (Standardized Achievment Test Test), and BIOS System (Basic Input-Output System System).

Can the article retain "BIOS systems"? - Brewthatistrue 6 July 2005 20:50 (UTC)

BIOS for Disk Access

I was researching on the net, and I found bunch of stuff that says that the BIOS is also used to simply talk to the hard drive.

That is: Beyond it's use as a boot device, it also hosts code that is used to read and write data to and from the disk.

I am not an expert at computer hardware, so I hesitate to edit the article.

But if this is true, or even if it was just historically true, I think that the article should mention this kind of thing.

It should perhaps say something like, "Historically, the BIOS was used for low-level disk drive access. The operating system running on the CPU didn't directly talk with the disk drive; instead, it would send signals to the BIOS by way of interrupts, and the BIOS would then perform the low-level disk drive manipulations."

That said: Maybe this is still true! I really don't know how it works. I turned to this article for help, but it seems to be purely about bootstrapping the system.

I see that there is a wikipedia page BIOS interrupt call, but I think it should be worked into the article, rather than just left as a link at the bottom. Just reading the BIOS page and not following the links at the end, it appears that the BIOS is purely for bootstrapping.

LionKimbro

How to enter the BIOS

We should have a section listing different BIOS'es. I know it's very different from computer to computer, but if we start a list, i'm sure it'll grow pretty fast. It would be very handy to alot of people. Maybe this site will help with the initial list.

Yeah, this would also help on the sysadmin wiki. Cause being a sysadmin, you sometimes need to tell the user over the phone how to enter the BIOS and it ain't easy when you're not sure if it's F2, DEL or ESC this time.

What you're referring to is the BIOS setup program, not the BIOS itself. As is stated by the article, BIOS is a program that is initially run by IBM PC compatibles. -- mattb @ 2006-12-01T13:28Z

Bios screenshot

I think the image of a BIOS on a payphone is not good enough for this article. It could be replaced by a screenshot (probably taken with a camera), clear, sharp, glare-free and only showing the BIOS screen (not the border of the monitor for example). An exact reproduction would be good as well. --Bernard François 16:22, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, I agree. Does the PrtScrn/SysRq button work outside of the Windows operating system? If so, that would be great. If not, just use a camera to focus in on a monitor (preferably a large one with good resolution) and take a picture that way. --CanesOL79 17:36, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

No, it doesn't, and someone has posted a picture. It's not the best, but what someone could do is make a BIOS mock-up using Paint. Considering the limited graphics capabilities and extremely limited palette of the BIOS, it shouldn't be too hard. --SheeEttin 23:02, 23 March 2006 (UTC)

I think this is a better picrure: http://deepthought.ena.si/logo/bios/award.png - AWARD BIOS

http://www.ellak.gr/pub/OpenGuides/Debian/pics/app1/bios.png - PhoenixBIOS

or http://cdn.mirror.garr.it/mirrors/AppuntiLinux/immagini/bios-borg/ - many "screenshots"

PC bias

All microprocessor-based systems have the equivalent of the BIOS (some non-PC examples - mainframe computers, Tivo, television set-top boxes, network routers). But BIOS is an IBM Personal Computer term. I believe more generic terms are boot rom, boot monitor, boot loader. This article ought to be say that the name BIOS is for PCs. The article booting is a more generic introduction to this subject. Dyl 17:11, 7 February 2006 (UTC)

Eh - I would say no not at all. The BIOS as introduced on the original PC provided system analysis, configuration, boot strapping AND an OS/Hardware interface. Most mainframes have different facilities for doing these things - that is, the main frame equivalent would really ONLY do a bootstrap. On mosy mainframes, system analysis is done by a 3rd agent - diagnostic software, configuration is done with direct hardware manipulation, and the OS is writen specifically for the computer in question and doesn't require the abstraction layer of the PC BIOS.

Older routers may have a bootstrap and Hardware Abstraction layer, but the actual need is more dependant upon the OS being used and not the hardware as suggested by the assertion that all micro-procprocessor based systems have the equivalent of the BIOS. It would be relatively simple (and is basically common) to create an OS that performs all fundamental BIOS operations completely to increase efficiency. So there definately is no "need" for a BIOS.

Additionally, most set-top boxes and contemporary routers actually have a full blown BIOS inside not disimilar to a desktop BIOS, but usually with the ability to enter BIOS configuration disabled or secured. This is especially attractive when the OS in question would like to make use of an industry standard interface such as ACPI or SMBIOS.

Well, in summary, like I said in length - no.

--Riluve 06:09, 8 March 2006 (UTC)

Top HAT an alternative to Dual Bios.

I have top hat and was looking for some info. None here though.

Anyone know of this subject please give us your two cents. http://www.wimsbios.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=7385&

IBMBIO.COM

When I click on the link "IBMBIO.COM", I get this:

High security alert!!!

You are not permitted to download the file "IBMBIO.COM".

URL = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBMBIO.COM

Eh?

why would you need that? http://www.freedos.org

Address

The BIOS is located on address FFFF:0000 ? -- Frap 12:17, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Quad bios?

Isn't that a little redundant? I mean, if I can break one bios, I can just as easily break the other three. I could understand two in case one is wiped out, but a quad bios sounds excessive. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 69.161.80.217 (talk) 23:57, 28 April 2007 (UTC).

BASIC Input/Output System

I can't find *any* references for the claim that the page makes that BIOS stands for "Binary Input/Output System." Even the disambiguation page for BIOS identifies it as "Basic Input/Output System." All the articles we link to off of the page call it a Basic Input/Output System as well. Unless someone can come up with a concrete reference that somehow "disproves" what is clearly the majority opinion on this issue, it seems to me the article needed to be edited. Arathon 14:23, 13 August 2007 (UTC)