TianoCore, UEFI and Coreboot

After a short glimpse over several mainstream BIOS binaries from several different motherboards, I came to conclusion that the move to UEFI is basically a slow incremental process. I think that most mainstream BIOS binaries at least still have the "compatibility mode code", which is a code path to "legacy BIOS" code, i.e. the BIOS code used in say Award 6.00PG or early AMIBIOS 8 base code. On the other hand TianoCore has not been much adopted outside of Intel. It's because some (if not most) relevant industry players view it as moving too fast and doesn't have stable code base. I don't think it has a stable "API" yet for others to "hook" their specific functions into it. Coreboot is in an entirely different league. I love the structure of Coreboot, only 16 machine code instructions prior to flat Protected Mode. This explains its fast boot time compared to the competition. However, for the time being Coreboot is geared more toward computing clusters and embedded industrial boards. I haven't dig too deep into Coreboot for a better judgement. More on it later.

AMI BIOS Reverse Engineering Article

My AMI BIOS Reverse Engineering article is available online now: http://sites.google.com/site/pinczakko/pinczakko-s-guide-to-ami-bios-reverse-engineering-1 Might want to read it Anyway, it's much more condensed than the Award BIOS RE article. Well, this is part of my English edition book. I decided to release it because the NDA has been lifted. Note: Some of today's AMI BIOS binary used segment 4000h instead of 2771h for the "POST entry point" in the system BIOS even though all of them use the same AMIBIOS8 code base. The BIOS dissected in my article dates back to circa 2005, some changes happened since then.

Pinczakko Official Website relocation to Google Sites Completed

Finally, I have finished moving all of the BIOS related articles which were written in English to the new site: http://sites.google.com/site/pinczakko. This is to anticipate the closing down of Geocities next month. Now, you can read the BIOS articles in the new site, including the venerable Award BIOS Reverse Engineering article. Cheers :D

Pinczakko Official Website in Geocities will be moved to Google sites

I'm in the process of moving all of the contents in my geocities website to http://sites.google.com/site/pinczakko/. It's a work in progress and hopefully completed in the end of September this year. About a month away from the goecities closing date. The website has been a corner stone of my work since 2002 and it's a very memorable learning path for me. Below is the screenshot of the opening page which will reminds where everything starts BIOS-wise My priority in the "reorganization" plan is the much read "Pinczakko's Guide to Award BIOS reverse engineering" article. Many people will recognize the title of the article as a "makeover" of the "Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy" book. Yes, indeed. I haven't read the book in it's entirety but its title inspires me somehow ;-).