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Date:      Fri, 17 Oct 1997 12:40:08 +0930
From:      Mike Smith <mike@smith.net.au>
To:        filo@yahoo.com
Cc:        freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: biosboot/start.S needs fix for Intel AL440LX motherboard 
Message-ID:  <199710170310.MAA00386@word.smith.net.au>
In-Reply-To: Your message of "Thu, 16 Oct 1997 19:12:19 MST." <199710170212.TAA22643@ns2.yahoo.com> 

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> > > Forcing %dl to $0x80 (which is what bteasy appears to do) solves the
> > > problem for me.  I assume the real solution is a bit more complex than
> > > this.  I suppose this could be due to some weird BIOS setting, but I
> > > think I pretty much tried everything.  This board will be popular, so
> > > would be nice to get this fixed.
> > 
> > Unless Intel are angling for compatability with some other standard, I 
> > think the correct fix will be a BIOS upgrade.  If they are, it'd be 
> > handy to know which one, so that we can detect and support it.

I should point out that, having just checked, their practice of passing 
0 in %dl to the bootstrap is in direct violation of the BIOS Boot 
Specification version 1.01, 11 Jan 1997.  Quoting:

D.1 Use DL for Drive Number

Use the drive number passed in the DL register by the BIOS when control 
is transferred to the boot sector for INT 13h access to load the O/S, 
instead of having the drive number hard-coded.  ...

(http://www.ptltd.com/desktop/bbs101.pdf)

Do you have any idea who is responsible for this BIOS? (ie. is it an 
Intel in-house job, or a third party like Phoenix or Award?)

mike




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