BIOS provides a low-level system
configuration interface, allowing the user to choose such things as boot
devices and resource assignments. Quite a few BIOS firmware vendors
provide customized versions of their products for various PC system
architectures. Exams do require an understanding of the basics. For
example, a laptop BIOS may differ significantly from a desktop system of
similar capability from the same manufacturer. Due to these vari ations, it’s impossible to test
specifics, but the LPIC Level 1 exams do require an understanding of the
basics.
Atboot time, most PCs display a method of entering the BIOS
configuration utility, usually by entering a specific keystroke during
startup. Once the utility is started, a menu-based screen in which
system settings can be configured appears. Depending on the BIOS vendor,
these will include settings for disks, memory behavior, on-board ports
(such as serial and parallel ports), and the clock, as well as many
others.
Date and time
One of the basic functions of the BIOS is to manage the
on-board hardwareclock. This clock is initially set in the BIOS
configuration by entering the date and time in the appropriate fields.
Once set, theinternal clock keeps track of time and makes the time
available to the operating system. The operating system can also set
the hardware clock, which is often useful if an accurate external time
reference, such as an NTPD server (see Chapter 16 ), is available
on the network while the system is running.
Disks and boot devices
Another fundamental configuration item required in BIOS settings
is the selection of storage devices. Newer systems are able to detect
and properly configure much of this hardware automatically. However,
older BIOS versions requiremanual configuration. This may include the selection of
floppy disk sizes anddisk drive parameters .
Most PCs have at least threebootable media types: an internal hard disk (IDE or
SCSI, or perhaps both), a CD-ROM drive (again IDE or SCSI), and afloppy disk. After initialization, the BIOS seeks an
operating system (or an operating system loader, such as theLinux Loader [LILO]) on one or more of these media. By
default, many BIOS configurations enable booting from the floppy or
CD-ROM first, then the hard disk, but the order is configurable in the
BIOS settings.
In addition to these default media types, manyserver motherboard BIOS (as well as high-end system
motherboards) support booting from a network device such as a NIC with
a bootable ROM. This is often used when bootingdiskless workstations such as Linux-based
terminals.
On the Exam
You should be familiar with the general configuration
requirements and layout of the BIOS configuration screens for a
typical PC.
Using the /proc filesystem
When adding new hardware to an existing Linux system,
you may wish to verify which resources the existing devices are using.
The /proc filesystem, the kernel’s status
repository, contains this information. The proc files, interrupts , dma , and ioports , show how system resources are currently
utilized. (These files may not show devices unless their device
files/drivers are open/active. This may make the problem harder to
find if you’re experiencing resource conflicts.) The following is an
example of /proc/interrupts from a dual-CPU
system with an Adaptec dual-AIC7895 SCSI controller:
# cat /proc/interrupts CPU0 CPU1
0: 98663989 0 XT-PIC timer
1: 34698 34858 IO-APIC-edge keyboard
2: 0 0 XT-PIC cascade
5: 7141 7908 IO-APIC-edge MS Sound System
6: 6 7 IO-APIC-edge floppy
8: 18098274 18140354 IO-APIC-edge rtc
10: 3234867 3237313 IO-APIC-level aic7xxx, eth0
11: 36 35 IO-APIC-level aic7xxx
12: 233140 216205 IO-APIC-edge PS/2 Mouse
13: 1 0 XT-PIC fpu
15: 44118 43935 IO-APIC-edge ide1
NMI: 0
ERR: 0
In this example, you can see that interrupt 5 is used for the
sound system, so it isn’t available for a second
configuration interface, allowing the user to choose such things as boot
devices and resource assignments. Quite a few BIOS firmware vendors
provide customized versions of their products for various PC system
architectures. Exams do require an understanding of the basics. For
example, a laptop BIOS may differ significantly from a desktop system of
similar capability from the same manufacturer. Due to these vari ations, it’s impossible to test
specifics, but the LPIC Level 1 exams do require an understanding of the
basics.
Atboot time, most PCs display a method of entering the BIOS
configuration utility, usually by entering a specific keystroke during
startup. Once the utility is started, a menu-based screen in which
system settings can be configured appears. Depending on the BIOS vendor,
these will include settings for disks, memory behavior, on-board ports
(such as serial and parallel ports), and the clock, as well as many
others.
Date and time
One of the basic functions of the BIOS is to manage the
on-board hardwareclock. This clock is initially set in the BIOS
configuration by entering the date and time in the appropriate fields.
Once set, theinternal clock keeps track of time and makes the time
available to the operating system. The operating system can also set
the hardware clock, which is often useful if an accurate external time
reference, such as an NTPD server (see Chapter 16 ), is available
on the network while the system is running.
Disks and boot devices
Another fundamental configuration item required in BIOS settings
is the selection of storage devices. Newer systems are able to detect
and properly configure much of this hardware automatically. However,
older BIOS versions requiremanual configuration. This may include the selection of
floppy disk sizes anddisk drive parameters .
Most PCs have at least threebootable media types: an internal hard disk (IDE or
SCSI, or perhaps both), a CD-ROM drive (again IDE or SCSI), and afloppy disk. After initialization, the BIOS seeks an
operating system (or an operating system loader, such as theLinux Loader [LILO]) on one or more of these media. By
default, many BIOS configurations enable booting from the floppy or
CD-ROM first, then the hard disk, but the order is configurable in the
BIOS settings.
In addition to these default media types, manyserver motherboard BIOS (as well as high-end system
motherboards) support booting from a network device such as a NIC with
a bootable ROM. This is often used when bootingdiskless workstations such as Linux-based
terminals.
On the Exam
You should be familiar with the general configuration
requirements and layout of the BIOS configuration screens for a
typical PC.
Using the /proc filesystem
When adding new hardware to an existing Linux system,
you may wish to verify which resources the existing devices are using.
The /proc filesystem, the kernel’s status
repository, contains this information. The proc files, interrupts , dma , and ioports , show how system resources are currently
utilized. (These files may not show devices unless their device
files/drivers are open/active. This may make the problem harder to
find if you’re experiencing resource conflicts.) The following is an
example of /proc/interrupts from a dual-CPU
system with an Adaptec dual-AIC7895 SCSI controller:
# cat /proc/interrupts CPU0 CPU1
0: 98663989 0 XT-PIC timer
1: 34698 34858 IO-APIC-edge keyboard
2: 0 0 XT-PIC cascade
5: 7141 7908 IO-APIC-edge MS Sound System
6: 6 7 IO-APIC-edge floppy
8: 18098274 18140354 IO-APIC-edge rtc
10: 3234867 3237313 IO-APIC-level aic7xxx, eth0
11: 36 35 IO-APIC-level aic7xxx
12: 233140 216205 IO-APIC-edge PS/2 Mouse
13: 1 0 XT-PIC fpu
15: 44118 43935 IO-APIC-edge ide1
NMI: 0
ERR: 0
In this example, you can see that interrupt 5 is used for the
sound system, so it isn’t available for a second
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