jgb@prism.gatech.EDU (James G. Baker) (01/29/91)
Any suggestions for books on the PS/2 ABIOS and CBIOS? I assume the CBIOS
is same as the PC/XT type but the ABIOS is definately a horse of a different
color.
Thanks.
--
BAKER,JAMES G - Undergraduate Lab Instructor, School of Electrical Engineering
____ _ _ Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332
| | _ |_) uucp: ...!{decvax,hplabs,ncar,purdue,rutgers}!gatech!prism!jgb
(_|. |_). |_). Internet: jgb@prism.gatech.eduU39648@uicvm.uic.edu (Darius Vaskelis) (01/29/91)
In article <20607@hydra.gatech.EDU>, jgb@prism.gatech.EDU (James G. Baker) says: > >Any suggestions for books on the PS/2 ABIOS and CBIOS? I assume the CBIOS >is same as the PC/XT type but the ABIOS is definately a horse of a different >color. Why not get it right from the horse's mouth? IBM Personal System/2 and Personal Computer BIOS Interface Technical Reference Part Number 68X2341 Knowing Big Blue, the retail price is probably huge beyond belief, but I have it and it's pretty damn good. No BIOS source code anymore like the original IBM PC BIOS Tech. Ref., but just about damn near everything else. For reference, in the manual, they are referred to as BIOS (Basic Input/Ouput System) and ABIOS (Advanced BIOS). Internally at IBM, most engineers tend to call them ABIOS (Advanced BIOS) and BBIOS (Basic BIOS). - Darius ========================================================================= BITNET: U39648@UICVM | "Don't set fire to strangers." Internet: u39648@uicvm.uic.edu | - Mr. Zarniwoop
ballard@cheddar.ucs.ubc.ca (Alan Ballard) (01/30/91)
In article <20607@hydra.gatech.EDU> jgb@prism.gatech.EDU (James G. Baker) writes: >Any suggestions for books on the PS/2 ABIOS and CBIOS? I assume the CBIOS >is same as the PC/XT type but the ABIOS is definately a horse of a different >color. Phoenix Technologies have produced references on the "System Bios" (PC/XT), "Compatibilitiy Bios" (PS/2) and "Advanced Bios" (PS/2). They're published by Addison Wesley. I've only read the ABIOS one; it is rather more complete and rather cheaper than the IBM Tech Ref. (About $30 US). The ISBN for the ABIOS is 0-201-51805-8. Alan Ballard | Internet: ballard@ucs.ubc.ca University Computing Services | Bitnet: USERAB1@UBCMTSG University of British Columbia | Phone: 604-228-3074 Vancouver B.C. Canada V6R 1W5 | Fax: 604-228-5116
cur022%cluster@ukc.ac.uk (Bob Eager) (01/30/91)
In article <20607@hydra.gatech.EDU>, jgb@prism.gatech.EDU (James G. Baker) writes: > Any suggestions for books on the PS/2 ABIOS and CBIOS? I assume the CBIOS > is same as the PC/XT type but the ABIOS is definately a horse of a different > color. There are three books in a series from Addison-Wesley; all by Phoenix (of BIOS fame). They are pretty good. I think they are about 25$ each in the US. One book is the old BIOS; not very useful now. Another is the CBIOS (the old BIOS but extended a bit, e.g. extra keyboard support). This is the Compatibility BIOS. The last is the ABIOS (the multitasking one). This is the Advanced BIOS. In addition, there is an IBM BIOS Tech ref which is about 40 pounds over here. It has CBIOS and ABIOS stuff in it, but a little less discussion. -------------------------+------------------------------------------------- Bob Eager | University of Kent at Canterbury | +44 227 764000 ext 7589 -------------------------+-------------------------------------------------
qintar@agora.rain.com (Jim Seymour) (02/02/91)
In article <1991Jan29.163613.27017@unixg.ubc.ca> ballard@cheddar.ucs.ubc.ca (Alan Ballard) writes: >In article <20607@hydra.gatech.EDU> jgb@prism.gatech.EDU (James G. Baker) writes: >>Any suggestions for books on the PS/2 ABIOS and CBIOS? I assume the CBIOS >>is same as the PC/XT type but the ABIOS is definately a horse of a different >>color. > >Phoenix Technologies have produced references on the "System Bios" (PC/XT), >"Compatibilitiy Bios" (PS/2) and "Advanced Bios" (PS/2). They're >published by Addison Wesley. I've only read the ABIOS one; it is rather more >complete and rather cheaper than the IBM Tech Ref. (About $30 US). >The ISBN for the ABIOS is 0-201-51805-8. > >Alan Ballard | Internet: ballard@ucs.ubc.ca >University Computing Services | Bitnet: USERAB1@UBCMTSG >University of British Columbia | Phone: 604-228-3074 >Vancouver B.C. Canada V6R 1W5 | Fax: 604-228-5116 A word of caution about the Phoenix book: There are a significant number of typos in the book (especially in the tables). We used the Phoenix book to *learn* ABIOS, but the IBM Tech Reference to *use* it. On the subject, has anybody had any trouble with specific ABIOS functions? We've found at least one bug (in the Reset Disk service) and have had some poor luck with one other function (switch back to Real mode). -Jim Seymour qintar@agora.UUCP ================================================================= Cipher Systems, Inc., P.O. Box 329, North Plains, OR 97133