here is my slightly tired and foggy recolection of what happens. BIOS
is custom for each motherboard so boundry between what it detects and
what it knows is variable. MY wifes machine for example is an HP, and
we could not shut off the LAN card with the BIOS menu -- HP probaly
provided their own WIndows utility which we never saw as we bought the
machine with a blank hard drive and the logos covered as a "debranded"
computer.
Computer powers on, and does a CPU reset (hardware)
Processer goes to rom and starts running BIOS.
BIOS finds Video card and jumps to video init routine, then returns.
At this point generaly gives first beep.
BIOS is more or less customised to the Motherboard so it has in rom some
idea of where to look for built in hardware. (keyboard etc.
BIOS does memory check and finds memory boundries.
BIOS looks for Periferals in common places and makes a list for its own use.
BIOS checked NVRAM to see boot order.
Issues second Beep, calls boot loader in hard disk controler ROM. (or
BIOS routine if hardware integrated.
Hard Disk loads first few sectors and runs LILO/GRUB or MS dos loader.
GRub dicovers where it loaded from and continues to load rest of boot
package. - much calulation and movement of binary chunks into memeory
to get loader in and out of way.
GRUB now in memory, proceeds to load Kernal or whatever it is asked to boot.
Kernal comes in - more shufling of memory, many messages to screen.
Kernal starts INIT
Charles MacDonald Stittsville Ontario
cmacd [ at ] TelecomOttawa [ dot ] net Just Beyond the Fringe
http://www.TelecomOttawa.net/~cmacd/
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