How do I download now

Angelo Fraietta afraiett at bigpond.net.au
Wed Dec 31 00:28:56 UTC 2003


I used to use GrUB but now use eXtender becuase you don't need to make 
boot floppies and the likes. You do, however, have to boot to DOS first. 
I found this extremely usefull because I was able to run it from the 
autoexec.bat, which allowed me to run a disk checking program and 
another DOS based program before starting RTEMS.

Chris Caudle wrote:

>On Tue December 23 2003 6:34 am, Chris Sparks wrote:
>  
>
>>I would like to use my Disk On Chip to load my RTEMS application or even
>>use it for my loader.
>>    
>>
>
>Not a problem.
>You still need GrUB on a floppy to get started.  There are other ways, but 
>that will be the easiest.
>Go to the GrUB web page, and check the documentation, you will need to be 
>familiar with some commands for installing the first part of GrUB onto the 
>master boot record (the first sector).
>http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/grub.html
>
>  
>
>>Since I am using the PC 686 BSP I would like to know more of how the
>>BIOS knows where to go to boot from.
>>    
>>
>
>There are two steps involved.  The first is figuring out which devices can 
>be accessed as block devices. For devices on the motherboard, that support 
>is typically included in the BIOS ROM of the motherboard.
>For added devices, there are a set of defined addresses where cards can 
>provide their own support routines to be accessed from BIOS (known as the 
>Option ROM).  
>For block devices, like hard drives, the option ROM provides a service 
>routine for interrupt 13, which is a software interrupt used by the BIOS 
>for block access.  I forget the details, but from what I remember you can 
>think of it as a wrapper around an IDE programmed I/O style interface.
>Disk-On-Chip modules provide an option ROM which contains a driver for 
>accessing the Flash ROM within the D-O-C as a block device.  The driver 
>also has additional features, like sector remapping with write wear 
>levelling, I think bad sector remapping is handled by the driver, etc.  
>That means that if you use D-O-C for more than just boot, you need the 
>driver compiled into your application.
>CompactFlash is typically connected to an IDE style controller, so I think 
>you shouldn't notice any difference between CF and a real hard drive.
>
>To get GrUB onto either, you follow the instructions in the GrUB 
>documentation for installing GrUB onto a hard drive.  That typically 
>involves booting a floppy (or some other media with GrUB on it, such as an 
>extra hard drive that you have already installed GrUB on), and issuing 
>commands at the GrUB command prompt to copy the boot sector from the media 
>you just booted onto the new media.
>I think you also need to copy some additional files to the device.  The 
>details are covered in the documentation.
>http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/html_mono/grub.html#Installation
>
>hope that helps, 
>Chris Caudle
>
>
>
>  
>

-- 
Angelo Fraietta

PO Box 859
Hamilton NSW 2303

Home Page


http://www.users.bigpond.com/angelo_f/

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