shadowing video

[Gary Woodman]

--- Conrad Canterford <conrad at mail.watersprite.com.au> wrote:

> This doesn't apply to Linux boxen, 'cos we're sensible and don't use
> BIOS routines to achieve anything beyond the initial bootstrap.
> 
> I was under the (mis?)aprehension that Linux boxen still used video
> BIOS routines, and that therefore a RAM shadow of video BIOS was
still
> a speed-up for linux. Debian obviously don't think so.

IIRC, part of the reason Linux doesn't use the video BIOS, or any other
BIOS, is that it can't; the vast majority of BIOS code is still
real-mode (18 years after 80286-based PCs hit the market). I suppose
that's adequate for a setup utility and boot loader; and no one is
going back now to fit new PCs with a decent BIOS.

Thinking back, I've never heard of a protected-mode BIOS for
Intel-based PCs, except the late (un)lamented ABIOS for IBM's MCA
family, so NT/2000/XP (not to mention OS/2, Netware, *BSD, BeOS) can't
benefit from BIOS shadowing either.

Gary

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