• RSS
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
Basic Input/Output

Basic Input/Output

Powered by Blogger.
Menu
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Computer Chronicles
  • Jobs!
  • Patreon
Grid List
2015

History of Bootstrapping Computers

History of Bootstrapping Computers
History of Bootstrapping Computers

I ran across a great history of bootstrap firmware, BIOS, and PC architecture at the website of Lennart Benschop .  Mr. Benschop wrote a s...

Read more »
6:00 PM
William Leara
0
history
6:00 PM

The EDKII Build Data Viewer

The EDKII Build Data Viewer
The EDKII Build Data Viewer

  The EDKII Build Data Viewer is a handy (free) tool from Intel that analyzes UEFI BIOS build logs and provides the user with information...

Read more »
7:00 AM
William Leara
4
tools
7:00 AM

Microsoft Kinect…but for Nintendo…and in 1989!

Microsoft Kinect…but for Nintendo…and in 1989!
Microsoft Kinect…but for Nintendo…and in 1989!

Continuing now my exploration of The Computer Chronicles television series. It’s the end of 1989 and Stewart and crew are discussing Chris...

Read more »
6:00 AM
William Leara
0
Computer Chronicles
6:00 AM

Conversion Specifiers For Fun and Profit

Conversion Specifiers For Fun and Profit
Conversion Specifiers For Fun and Profit

You’ll never believe it, but I think I actually found something interesting to say about CONVERSION SPECIFIERS, of all things.  What is a co...

Read more »
6:00 AM
William Leara
0
EDK
6:00 AM

Dell is Hiring BIOS Developers!

Dell is Hiring BIOS Developers!
Dell is Hiring BIOS Developers!

Are you a BIOS engineer looking for a job?  Or maybe just looking for a better job?  How about a job at a better company?  I bet you want a ...

Read more »
10:02 AM
William Leara
0
jobs
10:02 AM

Spring 2015 UEFI Plugfest: Presentation Materials Now Available

Spring 2015 UEFI Plugfest: Presentation Materials Now Available
Spring 2015 UEFI Plugfest: Presentation Materials Now Available

The Spring 2015 UEFI Plugfest just completed.  This year it was held at the lovely Embassy Suites hotel in fabulous Seattle, WA, U.S.A.  ...

Read more »
6:00 AM
William Leara
0
conferences
6:00 AM

A Steve Jobs Milestone

A Steve Jobs Milestone
A Steve Jobs Milestone

I was watching the February 13, 1986 episode of The Computer Chronicles recently.  The news segment contained a brief throw-away story abou...

Read more »
6:00 AM
William Leara
0
Computer Chronicles
6:00 AM

Introduction to the EDKII C Coding Standards

Introduction to the EDKII C Coding Standards
Introduction to the EDKII C Coding Standards

You may not be aware that Intel has made publically available on Tianocore an EDKII C Coding Standards specification.  As of this writing,...

Read more »
6:00 AM
William Leara
0
coding standards, EDK
6:00 AM

The Best Movies You’ve (Probably) Never Seen

The Best Movies You’ve (Probably) Never Seen
The Best Movies You’ve (Probably) Never Seen

The nice people at Intel have put together some excellent training videos, and they’re available for free, on-demand download! I’m willing...

Read more »
6:00 AM
William Leara
1
misc
6:00 AM

Syntax Highlighting for EDKII Files: .dec, .dsc, .fdf, .inf, .uni, .vfr

Syntax Highlighting for EDKII Files: .dec, .dsc, .fdf, .inf, .uni, .vfr
Syntax Highlighting for EDKII Files: .dec, .dsc, .fdf, .inf, .uni, .vfr

UEFI requires us to work with a plethora of different BIOS-specific file types.  Among them are .dec, .dsc, .fdf, .inf, .uni, and .vfr files...

Read more »
6:00 AM
William Leara
2
EDK
6:00 AM

Government Collecting Telephone Metadata…in 1985!

Government Collecting Telephone Metadata…in 1985!
Government Collecting Telephone Metadata…in 1985!

In this classic episode of The Computer Chronicles , Stewart is reading through the news and discusses a program whereby the U.S. General Se...

Read more »
6:00 AM
William Leara
0
Computer Chronicles
6:00 AM

You SHALL NOT Skip This REQUIRED Blog Post

You SHALL NOT Skip This REQUIRED Blog Post
You SHALL NOT Skip This REQUIRED Blog Post

Do you read specifications?  If you’re a BIOS developer, the answer to that question is YES! Specs often need to convey to the reader a lis...

Read more »
6:00 AM
William Leara
0
misc
6:00 AM

Prof. Metcalfe in Youthful 1985!

Prof. Metcalfe in Youthful 1985!
Prof. Metcalfe in Youthful 1985!

In my continuing exploration of The Computer Chronicles , the date is 24 October 1985 and the subject is Local Area Networks (LANs).  The ma...

Read more »
6:00 AM
William Leara
0
Computer Chronicles
6:00 AM

“Understanding and Using C Pointers”

“Understanding and Using C Pointers”
“Understanding and Using C Pointers”

In an article several years ago that struck a bit of a nerve in the industry, Joel Spolsky discussed the phenomenon he called a “ JavaSchoo...

Read more »
6:00 AM
William Leara
0
books
6:00 AM

OS/2—The Outlook is Quite Rosy!

OS/2—The Outlook is Quite Rosy!
OS/2—The Outlook is Quite Rosy!

With this post I continue my exploration of The Computer Chronicles !  This gem from the show is taken from 1987.  It’s the news segment fro...

Read more »
6:00 AM
William Leara
0
Computer Chronicles
6:00 AM

SMBIOS 3.0 Release Overview Webinar

SMBIOS 3.0 Release Overview Webinar
SMBIOS 3.0 Release Overview Webinar

The Distributed (or Desktop) Management Task Force ( DMTF ) is sponsoring a live webinar to discuss the recently announced SMBIOS 3.0 speci...

Read more »
7:00 AM
William Leara
1
smbios
7:00 AM

NIST 800-155: BIOS Integrity Measurement Guidelines

NIST 800-155: BIOS Integrity Measurement Guidelines
NIST 800-155: BIOS Integrity Measurement Guidelines

In an article last week , I talked about NIST document 800-147, a set of guidelines for BIOS developers to create a secure BIOS flash update...

Read more »
6:00 AM
William Leara
0
security
6:00 AM

NIST 800-147: BIOS Protection Guidelines

NIST 800-147: BIOS Protection Guidelines
NIST 800-147: BIOS Protection Guidelines

Introducing NIST The U.S. Federal Government operates the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). NIST’s mission is to “Pro...

Read more »
6:00 AM
William Leara
2
security
6:00 AM

Copernicus for BIOS Security

Copernicus for BIOS Security
Copernicus for BIOS Security

The Mitre corporation is a non-profit organization doing security research for the U.S. Federal Government.  Lucky for BIOS engineers, Mitr...

Read more »
6:00 AM
William Leara
0
security
6:00 AM
 
Newer Posts Older Posts Home
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

welcome

Welcome to the Basic Input/Output website! Here I share things pertaining to the arcane art of PC BIOS development. For spice, I add material about software development in general and some interesting computer history vignettes. Please, try to contain your excitement!
—William Leara
  • Populars
  • Comments
  • Archive

popular

  • Reverse Engineering UEFI with Ghidra
    Ghidra is a free and open-source tool for software reverse engineering.  It is extensible, and allows for application-specific capabilities...
  • JEDEC Manufacturer IDs Are a Mess
    The Vendor ID .  Seems like a pretty prosaic topic.  What's to say?  Every vendor has a numeric identifier that is globally unique so th...
  • UEFI Forum Updates All Specs, Dec 2024
    The UEFI Forum updated all three of its specifications in December, 2024:  ACPI, UEFI, and PI. As a refresher: Advanced Configuration and P...
  • EDID and DisplayID
    In " The Before Times" (think: 1980s), there was no way for graphics adapters and monitors to negotiate a common set of supported...
  • RWEverything. Yes, Everything.
    I’ve done many tools reviews in the history of this web site, so it would be unthinkable to neglect to talk about what may be the biggest a...
  • Guide to the SWEBOK v4.0 Has Been Released
    The Guide to the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge (SWEBOK) v4.0 was released on October 15, 2024. The Guide is a publication of the ...

comments

archive

  • ►  2025 (5)
    • ►  May (2)
    • ►  April (1)
    • ►  February (1)
    • ►  January (1)
  • ►  2024 (12)
    • ►  December (1)
    • ►  November (2)
    • ►  October (2)
    • ►  September (1)
    • ►  July (1)
    • ►  May (1)
    • ►  April (1)
    • ►  March (1)
    • ►  February (1)
    • ►  January (1)
  • ►  2023 (9)
    • ►  December (1)
    • ►  November (1)
    • ►  October (2)
    • ►  August (1)
    • ►  May (1)
    • ►  April (2)
    • ►  March (1)
  • ►  2022 (4)
    • ►  September (1)
    • ►  June (1)
    • ►  April (2)
  • ►  2021 (6)
    • ►  October (1)
    • ►  September (2)
    • ►  August (2)
    • ►  July (1)
  • ►  2020 (2)
    • ►  April (1)
    • ►  January (1)
  • ►  2019 (15)
    • ►  November (1)
    • ►  October (5)
    • ►  September (1)
    • ►  July (1)
    • ►  June (2)
    • ►  May (2)
    • ►  March (1)
    • ►  February (1)
    • ►  January (1)
  • ►  2018 (11)
    • ►  December (2)
    • ►  November (3)
    • ►  October (2)
    • ►  June (1)
    • ►  April (2)
    • ►  March (1)
  • ►  2017 (13)
    • ►  November (1)
    • ►  September (2)
    • ►  August (3)
    • ►  July (2)
    • ►  June (3)
    • ►  May (1)
    • ►  April (1)
  • ►  2016 (23)
    • ►  November (1)
    • ►  October (2)
    • ►  September (1)
    • ►  August (2)
    • ►  July (3)
    • ►  June (2)
    • ►  May (2)
    • ►  April (3)
    • ►  March (4)
    • ►  February (1)
    • ►  January (2)
  • ▼  2015 (20)
    • ▼  December (2)
      • History of Bootstrapping Computers
      • The EDKII Build Data Viewer
    • ►  June (4)
      • Microsoft Kinect…but for Nintendo…and in 1989!
      • Conversion Specifiers For Fun and Profit
      • Dell is Hiring BIOS Developers!
      • Spring 2015 UEFI Plugfest: Presentation Materials ...
    • ►  May (4)
      • A Steve Jobs Milestone
      • Introduction to the EDKII C Coding Standards
      • The Best Movies You’ve (Probably) Never Seen
      • Syntax Highlighting for EDKII Files: .dec, .dsc, ....
    • ►  April (3)
      • Government Collecting Telephone Metadata…in 1985!
      • You SHALL NOT Skip This REQUIRED Blog Post
      • Prof. Metcalfe in Youthful 1985!
    • ►  March (4)
      • “Understanding and Using C Pointers”
      • OS/2—The Outlook is Quite Rosy!
      • SMBIOS 3.0 Release Overview Webinar
      • NIST 800-155: BIOS Integrity Measurement Guidelines
    • ►  February (3)
      • NIST 800-147: BIOS Protection Guidelines
      • Copernicus for BIOS Security
  • ►  2014 (17)
    • ►  December (1)
    • ►  October (4)
    • ►  September (3)
    • ►  August (9)

subscribe via email

tags

ACPI (1) AMD (2) ANTLR (1) Apple (3) ARM (1) books (3) C64 (1) coding standards (2) Commodore (2) Computer Chronicles (11) conferences (12) CP/M (1) CPU (2) Data General (1) EC (3) EDK (15) GaryKildall (1) graphics (1) HII (1) history (6) IBM (2) Intel (10) jobs (1) Linux (1) M.2 (1) manageability (4) memory (2) Microsoft (5) misc (17) networking (1) PCI (4) pretty print (1) Redfish (1) RTOS (2) security (11) setup (1) smbios (6) specifications (18) storage (3) testing (5) tools (18) USB (1) VCS (2) VFR (1) Windows (3) Zephyr (2)
 

latest UEFI specs

  • UEFI Spec 2.11
  • UEFI PI Spec 1.9
  • ACPI 6.5a

UEFI resources

  • presentations, podcasts, videos
  • white papers

UEFI blog roll

  • BIOS on StackOverflow
    cannot do anything after disabled VMD [closed]
  • Vincent Zimmer's blog
    big money, open source, papers

translate

© Copyright 2025 William Leara. All Rights Reserved.