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Date: Sun, 3 Aug 1997 20:17:57 +1000
From: Bruce Evans <bde@zeta.org.au>
Message-Id: <199708031017.UAA11947@godzilla.zeta.org.au>
To: bde@zeta.org.au, msmith@atrad.adelaide.edu.au
Subject: Re: cvs commit: src/sys/i386/boot/biosboot Makefile
Cc: cvs-all@FreeBSD.ORG, cvs-committers@FreeBSD.ORG, cvs-sys@FreeBSD.ORG,
        peter@spinner.dialix.com.au, phk@FreeBSD.ORG
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>> Enlarging the existing boot would be much simpler.
>
>I disagree.
>
>> New features are missing from cdboot, dosboot and netboot.
>
>And this is why.  biosboot/cdboot/dosboot/netboot should be as small
>as is feasible to allow them to fetch the single, common third-stage
>bootstrap.

The third stage can't really be simpler or common, since it would need to
contain most of the i/o code from the second stage or talk to the second
stage using software interrupts or far calls.  Dosboot would need a lot
more code to run common code, since the common mode would have to be
protected.  Dosboot currently only switches to protected mode for copying
pieces of the kernel to high memory and just for starting the kernel.

Bruce