Hi, On Fri, Mar 09, 2007 at 01:58:38AM +0100, Michal Pomorski wrote: > Take for instance nForce2 chipset and please correct me if i am wrong. > Linux have full hardware support for it right ? (it should since i use one) > Linux doesnt use bios functions because it controlls all the hardware on > the motherboard right? > So if there is a way for linux to controll the hardware why is it > impossible to implement it in a free bios? > > What is so special about linux bios that needs special vendor support > that linux os doesnt?
One important thing is RAM initialization. When Linux takes over, the BIOS has already programmed the northbridge/chipset to properly set up and enable the RAM of your computer. So Linux doesn't have to care about setting up RAM... In the BIOS, we must do just that, and that requires totally different code than what is in Linux itself. And special knowledge from datasheets which are probably not so common and easily available than data sheets for the "higher level" stuff... Uwe. -- http://www.hermann-uwe.de | http://www.holsham-traders.de http://www.crazy-hacks.org | http://www.unmaintained-free-software.org
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