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List:       freebsd-hackers
Subject:    Re: SMBIOS/DMI etc
From:       Michael Smith <msmith () atrad ! adelaide ! edu ! au>
Date:       1997-07-31 2:50:16
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Terry Lambert stands accused of saying:
> > 
> > Fair enough.  How do other platforms (PReP, Alpha, etc) handle PCI
> > autoconfig?  Does the BIOS on those platforms provide the same set
> > of management primitives?  
> 
> There is not necessarily ROM code for doing the autoconfiguration;
> some of the Alpha boxes actually have an x86 emulation in software...
> they use it for video card ROMs, and booting from disk controllers,
> and so on.

OK, but the PCI spec doesn't require the bootstrap firmware to do it.
I think in that case that PCI BIOS support is probably a waste of
time.

> > I would have assumed so, from my reading of PCI-spec-derived documents.
> > (I don't have the "real thing", obviously)
> 
> Why not?  They are cheap... all specs go down in price to 10% of
> their former cost days after I buy them.  It's a law of nature.

Uhh, define "cheap". Especially define "cheap" including airfreight to
the antipodes.

> 					Terry Lambert

-- 
]] Mike Smith, Software Engineer        msmith@gsoft.com.au             [[
]] Genesis Software                     genesis@gsoft.com.au            [[
]] High-speed data acquisition and      (GSM mobile)     0411-222-496   [[
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]] Unix hardware collector.             "Where are your PEZ?" The Tick  [[

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