Giving the BIOS the boot

Asher · February 21, 2003, 19:55

http://news.com.com/2100-1001-985600.html?tag=fd_top

Quote:

The end of the old PC as we know it?

By Rupert Goodwins
Special to CNET News.com
February 21, 2003, 3:33 PM PT

One of the last and least-loved remnants of the original IBM PC is about to get its marching orders, Intel predicted at its Developer Forum in San Jose, Calif., this week.
For more than 20 years, the PC has relied on the BIOS (Basic Input Output System), a small set of fixed software routines normally built into a chip on the motherboard. This hangover from a distant past is causing more and more problems, said Mark Doran, Intel's principal engineer behind the Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) that aims to humanely kill the antique technology.

"When I started, I got senior managers together from across Intel and asked them what would happen if we had a blank sheet of paper to replace the BIOS," Doran said. "It turned into a three-day ***** session." He said that the original designers of the IBM PC BIOS had no idea that it would survive this long. "They thought that 250,000 machines would see it through to the end of its life," he said.

Most people only know the BIOS as the mysterious source of arcane configuration and test messages that appear when a PC is first switched on. Although its job is to connect the various bits of hardware in a PC to the operating system in a standard fashion, there are no standards for how it is created or configured--and it's not uncommon for extension boards from different manufacturers to clash in their use of the BIOS.

And if people do use the BIOS to change configurations or diagnose a problem, there's often not much help and few similarities among different PCs. "Even experienced support staff often end up in 'Now what?' mode with the BIOS," Doran said.

EFI promises to change all that. EFI is a tiny operating system in its own right, freed from the constraints of the BIOS. The first difference people will see is in the splash screen, the display the PC shows when first turned on. Unlike the BIOS, EFI supports high-resolution displays. Likewise, it can run with a proper graphical user interface, rather than the blocky text-only interface. EFI also has its own networking, so it can be used for remote diagnostics.

The differences are much more than just the interface, Doran said. "The BIOS is the last place on the PC where people have to write in low-level assembler code, and we want to end that," he said. Instead, EFI is almost entirely written in C and allows additions to be created using standard programming tools. Such additions can include much more detailed and useful diagnostics, self-configuration programs, and ways to sort out problems even if the operating system has died.

"We even have a concept of the afterlife, so if your OS freezes you can go in and look at the state of the machine, change the configuration, load a different driver, and do a sensible restart," Doran said.

As part of the demonstration, he showed a network driver being replaced on a live machine, as well as multiple reconfigurations of various USB (universal serial bus) devices. Because EFI has its own filing system that lives on a reserved part of the hard disk, it can become the standard home for a whole set of utilities that have always had an awkward fit with the BIOS. Digital rights management and security designers also have an interest in EFI because it gives them a new level of control over the hardware.

Finally, EFI can pretend to be a BIOS. "We're not expecting people to throw out the BIOS overnight, so EFI can support legacy systems by running on top of an existing BIOS and handing over control when appropriate," Doran said.

So a year after we start phasing out floppies, we start phasing out the BIOS.

Felch · February 21, 2003, 19:58

SpencerH · February 21, 2003, 20:17

I love my BIOS.

KrazyHorse · February 21, 2003, 20:44

Quote:

Giving the BIOS the boot

If this was meant as a pun then your days on this Earth are numbered.

Urban Ranger · February 21, 2003, 21:09

Replace a small simple bit with a large complicated bit. My idea of progress.

Asher · February 21, 2003, 21:15

Quote:

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
Replace a small simple bit with a large complicated bit. My idea of progress.

EFI's been in use since the early 90s in many devices, including automobiles.

The BIOS is simple -- too simple. Its simplicity makes our lives more difficult than they need to be, since they can't do much of anything.

monkspider · February 21, 2003, 21:20

Good riddance to BIOS. It is good to know that you aren't a BIOS fanboy at least, Ashie.

Urban Ranger · February 21, 2003, 21:21

Why would cars or any other thing with embedded controllers need a silly thing called "embedded firmware interface" (not that firmware is not embedded

)?

They are just putting the horse before the cart.

Asher · February 21, 2003, 21:22

Quote:

Originally posted by Frogger
If this was meant as a pun then your days on this Earth are numbered.

I was placing my bets on a compsci geek getting it first.

Asher · February 21, 2003, 21:22

Quote:

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
Why would cars or any other thing with embedded controllers need a silly thing called "embedded firmware interface" (not that firmware is not embedded

)?

Is this a trick question?

General Ludd · February 21, 2003, 21:24

Good, I've always been too afraid of all the dire warnings about messing with the BIOS to update it or anything. Hopefully whatever takes it's place won't be as scary.

Asher · February 21, 2003, 21:29

*sigh*
Nobody ever gets my jokes.
I'll repeat:

Quote:

EFI's been in use since the early 90s in many devices, including automobiles.

Please...somebody here has to get it?

alva · February 21, 2003, 21:31

It's about time, the only thing I am hesistant to do is to flash a bios, so good riddance.

I did read in an other article about this, that it could still take awhile before this is implemented in MB's though.

Asher · February 21, 2003, 21:32

Intel is aiming at 2004 to implement it on their motherboards.

St Leo · February 21, 2003, 21:41

Slashdot Discussion

Fve Crathva · February 22, 2003, 00:32

Dammit, they're taking away everything that can make us geeks feel better than everybody else.

SP

Asher · February 22, 2003, 00:33

Quote:

Originally posted by Fve Crathva
Dammit, they're taking away everything that can make us geeks feel better than everybody else.

SP

Sir Penguin Sighting++

Ted Striker · February 22, 2003, 00:36

Annoying geek phrases that should carry a penalty of death upon being spoken:

1. *nix
2. boxen
3. Let's do it for shits and giggles

Who the **** shits and giggles anyway?!?!!

Richelieu · February 22, 2003, 00:37

What about the old crowd (you know: the ones that are going to be hiring you guys...)

Asher · February 22, 2003, 00:39

Hey, what's wrong with *nix?

Richelieu · February 22, 2003, 00:54

Quote:

Originally posted by Asher
Hey, what's wrong with *nix?

Nothing!

Richelieu · February 22, 2003, 00:56

Never forget : you are working with PC's... but you are dealing with (old) people....

SpencerH · February 22, 2003, 09:07

By far, this is the best bios page I ever found. You can get answers to stuff most people dont know happens.

http://www.wimsbios.com/. I dont why he's added the skanky music though.

Skanky Burns · February 22, 2003, 11:17

Whats that about my music?

chequita guevara · February 22, 2003, 11:48

Seems like a good enough idea.

I don't get the joke though.

Mercator · February 22, 2003, 16:03

Let me spoil the fun then...
EFI = Electronic Fuel Injection

Provost Harrison · February 22, 2003, 18:25

I thought it meant the same as Mercator actually

Now personally I think it is time that rather than replace it with another OS equivalent is just to completely eliminate it. Surely a lot of these functions should be turned over to the operating system and that the BIOS should be further diminished, ie, all the configuration takes place through Windows, with some kind of provision for a 'safe mode'...

Asher · February 22, 2003, 18:40

Provost: The BIOS exists in hardware, on chips in the motherboard, which tells the OS how to load.

OSes are stored on harddrives, and you can't access the harddrive until some firmware (ie, EFI, BIOS) tells the OS how to access the harddrive and prepares the HD for use.

Provost Harrison · February 22, 2003, 18:43

Well as I said, there should be a bare minimum of BIOS equivalent, enough to be able to hand over to the OS and then the OS takes over rather than go through this layer...just my thought anyway.

Drake Tungsten · February 22, 2003, 19:16

I guess this must be exciting for PC users...