On Tue, 30 Nov 2004 13:34:26 +0100 (MET), Eric Auer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hi, you are not the first one who is planning FreeDOS ports for embedded x86: > > http://fd-doc.sourceforge.net/faq/cgi-bin/viewfaq.cgi?faq=incoming/277 > > This FAQ entry contains a detailled description of the needed BIOS services > for the kernel. You can remove some of them by modifying the kernel a bit. > You should not try to remove all - it is easier to keep them in the BIOS, > even if this means that you have to improve your BIOS first. > > If you want to use non-BIOS disks, you will have to load a driver which > offers simple sector read / write. You can load the kernel into RAM and > start it, but then, you need at least a very tiny and simple disk (could > be a disk image in ROM, as in ROMOS) with already active drivers to provide > files like config sys. In config sys, you can load the abovementioned driver > (if the disk is partitioned, it would have to process the MBR itself - but > the KERNEL can do all the FAT processing for you) to gain access to more > disks. I am a little bit confused here. Is non-BIOS disk an HD that the BIOS doesn't know of (through manual setting, or auto-detection)? If so, Do I need to provide a different driver for each different disk that I attach to my controller? If not so, it would be the best answer to my question below.
I did some reading and I found that a BIOS might not be difficult if I know the parameters of the HD that I am going to interface with. I want my BIOS to be small, but I also want every HD that attaches to my controller to work without manual setting. I have no idea how auto-detection is done at this point. What is the best way to solve the problem (small BIOS supports every HD)? I want the small BIOS to provide both CHS and LHA services. Well, as long as I know the HD parameters... Thanks vax, 9000 > .... > Eric ------------------------------------------------------- SF email is sponsored by - The IT Product Guide Read honest & candid reviews on hundreds of IT Products from real users. Discover which products truly live up to the hype. Start reading now. http://productguide.itmanagersjournal.com/ _______________________________________________ Freedos-kernel mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-kernel
