Patent ID: 6128731
Filing Date: 2000-10-03
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
An .times.86 based computer system that implements a firmware based boot process without an .times.86 BIOS that supports expansion devices coupled to the computer system, wherein the expansion devices include their own respective BIOS extensions, comprising:a computer system including an .times.86 processor coupled to a volatile memory and a non-volatile memory via a bus, the non-volatile memory including firmware which when executed by the processor cause the computer system to implement the steps of:a) initializing device drivers for the computer system using the firmware;b) initializing an application programming interface for the device drivers by using the firmware;c) initializing a compatibility component for interfacing with the device drivers, wherein the compatibility component is operable for translating accesses by a first software application to an .times.86 BIOS into corresponding accesses to the device drivers, such the first software application is able to execute on the computer system by using the compatibility component while a second software application is able to execute on the computer system by accessing the application programming interface directly; andd) running an expansion device BIOS extension from an expansion device coupled to the computer system to initialize a memory area in volatile memory, wherein the memory area is configured by the BIOS extension to interface with the expansion device, such that the expansion device is available to the first application and the second application.