Return to BSD News archive
Path: sserve!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!news.mira.net.au!news.netspace.net.au!serval.net.wsu.edu!netnews.nwnet.net!oracle.pnl.gov!osi-east2.es.net!lll-winken.llnl.gov!uwm.edu!news.moneng.mei.com!hookup!news.mathworks.com!zombie.ncsc.mil!admii!cmcl2!yale.edu!news.ycc.yale.edu!remote1-line1.cis.yale.edu!mrami From: Marc Ramirez <mrami@remote1-line1.cis.yale.edu> Newsgroups: comp.os.386bsd.questions Subject: Re: Why no std BIOS INT 13 HD support for crappy HD's? Date: Sun, 15 Jan 1995 22:49:55 -0500 Organization: Yale University Lines: 20 Message-ID: <Pine.BSI.3.91.950115224407.14612A-100000@remote1-line1.cis.yale.edu> References: <3fbrnf$7bd@utrhcs.cs.utwente.nl> NNTP-Posting-Host: remote1-line1.cis.yale.edu Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII In-Reply-To: <3fbrnf$7bd@utrhcs.cs.utwente.nl> On 15 Jan 1995, V.O.F. Roana Technologies wrote: > Folks, > > Please correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it possible to write > a generic Hard disk driver that uses interrupt 13 from the PC BIOS? Most PC BIOS's expect the processor to be in real mode when they are called (the only exception I know of being IBM's ABIOS for the PS/2's). Therefore, protected mode OS's (*BSD, Linux, OS/2, etc., you get my drift) must do special processor machinations to get it into the correct mode before making the call. The *BSD's do not do this because no one has written the code. I'm sure Terry Lambert will chime in on this eventually. :) So to answer your question, yes it is. Marc. -- DeForrest Gump - "Dammit, Jim! Life is like a box of chocolates!"