From owner-freebsd-small Fri May 22 18:22:23 1998 Return-Path: Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) id SAA06983 for freebsd-small-outgoing; Fri, 22 May 1998 18:22:23 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from owner-freebsd-small@FreeBSD.ORG) Received: from oldyeller.comtest.com (comtest.hits.net [206.127.244.117]) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id SAA06962 for ; Fri, 22 May 1998 18:22:14 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from randal@comtest.com) Received: from graphics.comtest.com (graphics.comtest.com [206.127.245.194]) by oldyeller.comtest.com (8.8.8/8.8.8) with SMTP id PAA07832; Fri, 22 May 1998 15:12:53 -1000 (HST) (envelope-from randal@comtest.com) Message-Id: <199805230112.PAA07832@oldyeller.comtest.com> Comments: Authenticated sender is From: "Randal S. Masutani" Organization: ComTest Technologies, Inc. To: Marc Nicholas Date: Fri, 22 May 1998 15:31:18 -1000 Subject: Re: BIOS bootstrap? Reply-to: randal@comtest.com CC: freebsd-small@FreeBSD.ORG In-reply-to: X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Windows (v2.54) Sender: owner-freebsd-small@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG On 22 May 98 at 20:16, Marc Nicholas wrote: > This is a tiny bit off-topic for the list, but I thought I'd throw it out > there... > > My embedded system supports BIOS extension and includes it's own local > Flash memory to do so. Basically what I'd like to do is build some sort of > (EE)ROM bootstrap to load my custom FreeBSD operating system. HOWEVER... > > All input/output must be done via COM1. I've never done much low level PC > programming...has anyone attempted something like this? In an ideal world, > I'd also be looking to front-end the BIOS setup screen over COM1. > > And, no, I can't just get a BIOS kit and re-write the BIOS :-p > > > -marc The input/output through COM1 must be done with BIOS support. If you do not have BIOS support for this then I am not sure what else you can do. I have an embedded controller which has bios support for this. If the BIOS doesn't detect a video card installed it will assume that there is a terminal on COM1,9600,8,n,1. Also you need to boot the kernel with the -h option, which redirects console output to the serial port during booting. Then set up /etc/ttys with getty enabled on the COM1 ttyd1 device, so you can login afterwards. This works from me and it really neat. I am currently doing this on a PC/104 board from Mesa Electronics www.mesanet.com, Model 4c27 386SX-40MHz, 8MB RAM, 8MB Flash, Ethernet, and the usual PC AT ports. Its a great little board. What kind of board are you using? Randal Masutani ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ComTest Technologies, Inc. 3049 Ualena St., Suite 1005 Honolulu, Hawaii 96819 To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-small" in the body of the message