In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Phoebus Dokos
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes
Wrong. The firmware is what is on the chip that does the controlling.
That firmware is, these days, often flash memory so it can be updated
to support new media (as happens often in CD Writers etc.) The
hardware and O/S has to interface with the onboard firmware in order
to control the device. I thought you went to college to learn this
stuff!! (He he)
I am sorry but you are wrong. By Firmware we mean software (specific to
a CPU unless someone has created JAVA bytecode firmware that I don't
know about) that is put on a hardware add on for ANY number of
reasons. There are kinds of firmware of course and some are completely
foreign to the platform (good example is the old Turtle beach firmware
that was in two parts. One was the PC code that was used as a loader
for the 68000 that was on board that had a different firmware
altogether (that was being downloaded) and which happened to be 68K code.
What are you talking about ? Firmware is what is on the board itself.
Each Chip has a set of instructions built into it and you have to
interface with the controller to talk to the hardware. How else could
you do it. Really this is silly. Every device has to be able to talk to
the controlling software. On the SGC there was a standard device to talk
to the floppy drives and the 'glue' chip on the SGC talked to that.
Both of these were firmware in a s much as they were written to the chip
itself . In the case of the ISA controller there is only one kind of
firmware and that is the code on teh chips which talks to the hardware.
They do have different modules added in to support the various
hardware differences but the core code is, I have been informed,
always the same. I do not think anyone has changed the Cache modes
which were written by TT at Peter's behest.
I think they were changed right after SMSQ/e's license was changed but
I am not sure.
Not as far as I know.
--
Roy Wood
Q Branch. 20 Locks Hill, Portslade, Sussex.BN41 2LB
Tel: +44 (0) 1273 386030 fax: +44 (0) 1273 430501
web : www.qbranch.demon.co.uk
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