Date: Mon, 20 Oct 1997 11:27:06 +0930 From: Mike Smith <mike@smith.net.au> To: Steve <support@mailbox.intel.com> Cc: chat@freebsd.org, filo@yahoo.com Subject: Re: BIOS Bootstrap incompatability; AL440LX at A4LL0X0.86A.0013.P03 Message-ID: <199710200157.LAA00509@word.smith.net.au> In-Reply-To: Your message of "Sun, 19 Oct 1997 18:35:52 MST." <199710200143.SAA25579@mailbox.intel.com>
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As this represents an official communication from Intel, rather than a private communication, I am copying my reply (containing the entire text of your response) to a number of interested parties, who may find your attitude enlightening. Please excuse the liberties I have taken in reformatting the following text in order to present it in a generally acceptable form. > >There is an apparent fault with the above BIOS which prevents FreeBSD > >(and other operating systems conforming to the BIOS Boot Specification > >1.01) from correctly bootstrapping. > > > >Section D.1 of the BBS 1.01 advises that the bootstrap should consult > >the value in the DL register in order to determine the BIOS unit > >number of the boot device. > > > >Unfortunately, the above BIOS revision is reported to pass DL in as > >zero, regardless of the boot device. Further details are available if > >required. > > Further details will not be necessary as FreeBDS is not one of the > tested operating system and is not supported. Please note that the above report is not a request for support for FreeBSD; it is notification that the referenced BIOS revision is in violation of the published Phoenix/Compaq/Intel BIOS Boot Specification, revision 1.01. A copy of this standard is available from Phoenix Technologies, via their online technical reference library. Any operating system conforming to this standard will not be able to boot correctly under this BIOS revision. This is a major flaw, and it seemed to be appropriate to notify Intel promptly so that it could be corrected. > It is in a similar catagory as Linix, there is a cost of media form of > this OS. Past experience with any of these operating systems is that > they do not support Plug and Play and have limited ability to support > all of the features of PCI cards. The user must choose OS supported > devices carefully, and must extend considerable effort in configuring > systems. I am not entirely sure what your point is here. Plug and Play and PCI issues have nothing whatsoever to do with a basic bug in the current AL440LX BIOS. I would also suggest that, at your convenience, you contact a consultant familiar with FreeBSD in order to remedy your obvious shortcomings in appreciation of the system. It is, after all, in your interest as a support representative to cater to the needs of your customers. > Please contact your operating system vendor for system > support. I would ask you to look again at the return address and affiliation on my original posting. I *represent* the operating system vendor. If there is a more appropriate channel through which technical issues may reach competent attention, I would appreciate a reference in order to resolve this issue. > Steve > Intel Internet Technical Support Regards, Mike Smith
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