Re: [Etherboot-developers] references for booting a PC

[<ke...@et...>]

>However, there is still much I do not understand about booting a PC. For
>example, I still don't quite understand why it's necessary to relocate to the
>top of the memory, just below the 4Gb limit.

The main reason is it gives Etherboot more room to work in so we can use
the larger drivers that recent NICs require, and also put in the
features users ask for but I keep resisting :-). Low memory is already
crowded.

>My question is: are there any books, online references or manufacturer
>specifications I could read in order to have a better understanding of bootin
>g a PC?

Etherboot is not a first stage booter. Your PC is already booted when
Etherboot gains control via the industry standard hooks provided by the
BIOS. Etherboot is a kernel loader, kernel being loosely defined as the
initial program.  It's in the same family of software as LILO, GRUB,
SYSLINUX, etc, only it boots from a network connection, not from
rotating media.

To learn how to initialise a PC's hardware you should look for documents
that explain how a BIOS works.  Initialising hardware is usually chipset
specific and done by the BIOS. Perhaps you might get something out of
reading LinuxBIOS.