On Thu, 2006-04-20 at 09:17 -0400, William Case wrote: > Everything that I had read about BIOS including the Intel Data Sheets > left me with the impression that the BIOS (Firmware Hub) was like a > minor CPU that fired up everything else. The Basic Input Output System is a program. A minature operating system, if you like. It's stored on non-volatile memory (could be permanant, could be battery powered, could be memory that needs deliberately erasing to be volatile, etc). Your CPU runs it. It gives your system access to the basic hardware on the main board. It may interact with other firmware on cards plugged into them mainboard. It then kicks off whatever software you want to run (generally an operating system, though you could have it run dedicated custom software that doesn't really fit the description of an operating system). Once your operating system is running, it may continue to use the BIOS for whatever it does with the mainboard, or the OS may use itself, instead. It's also often erroneously referred to as the CMOS. CMOS is a type of electronic circuitry, named after the chemistry involved, that a BIOS could be stored on. It was, and may still be, the commonly used types of componentry for where the BIOS, or its settings, are stored, but it doesn't have to be. It's only one type of electronic componentry. -- (Currently running FC4, occasionally trying FC5.) Don't send private replies to my address, the mailbox is ignored. I read messages from the public lists.
