Gentoo Archives: gentoo-user

From: eroen <eroen@××××××××××××.eu>
To: gentoo-user@l.g.o
Subject: [gentoo-user] Re: EFI-based bootloader for BIOS-based computers (?)
Date: Thu, 20 Feb 2014 01:22:48
Message-Id: 20140220022224.6feb8020@falcon.eroen.eu
In Reply to: [gentoo-user] EFI-based bootloader for BIOS-based computers (?) by walt
1 On Wed, 19 Feb 2014 15:39:51 -0800, walt <w41ter@×××××.com> wrote:
2 > I just spotted that phrase in the sourceforge newsletter:
3 >
4 > http://sourceforge.net/projects/cloverefiboot/
5 >
6 > and it seems to me like an oxymoron. If that phrase makes
7 > logical sense then my definitions of 'BIOS' and 'EFI' need
8 > the latest updates :)
9 >
10 > Until now I thought that EFI is a recent replacement for
11 > "BIOS" based machines.
12 >
13 > Can anyone clarify the linguistics involved here?
14
15 The scope of UEFI is somewhat greater than that of traditional BIOSes.
16 Both do various hardware initialization and such, but UEFIs (can) have
17 a number of additional features, including more flexibility in what it
18 can launch from where (eg. network booting without iPXE) and even an
19 interactive shell. See [1] for a less organized list of features.
20
21 I'm unfamiliar with this project in specific, but I'm going by the line
22
23 This is EFI-based bootloader for BIOS-based computers created as a
24 replacement to EDK2/Duet bootloader http://www.tianocore.org.
25
26 I have a box running Duet, which is an UEFI implementation that can be
27 launched by (eg.) the extlinux boot loader on a legacy BIOS system.
28 Once Duet is launched, the system is mostly indistinguishable from a
29 native UEFI system that has booted into it's UEFI firmware.
30
31 From here, Duet can let the user go through menus to select an EFI
32 executable to launch (a EFI-stub enabled kernel or some sort of boot
33 loader), or it can automatically launch something based on existing
34 configuration.
35
36 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFI#Features
37
38 --
39 eroen

Attachments

File name MIME type
signature.asc application/pgp-signature

Replies

Subject Author
Re: [gentoo-user] Re: EFI-based bootloader for BIOS-based computers (?) Mick <michaelkintzios@×××××.com>