Re: Video, real and protected mode.

[Kevin Forge <forgeltd@pop.netaddress.usa.net>]

Jeffrey wrote:
> 
> Ok, I'm far from a kernel hacker but it looks like
> Linux is in real mode before it's in protected mode
> and reads the video bios before going into
> protected mode. So can we get what we need off the
> video card at this point?
>
To try and do it at that point would essentially mean stopping the 
Kernel load very early and running some all new detection routines.
If this is even possible I don't know ... What I do know is that
the effect would be the same as booting DOS doing the detection 
and then booting Linux.  I.e. This program would be run during the 
boot up process and before the Linux Kernel kicks the system into
protected mode.  I may be wrong but the only thing written to run
on the 1/2 loaded kernel is the rest of the Kernel ( badly phrased
I must admit ).  It would logically be easier to write a program to 
run on DOS and do this work in an environment where many such 
programs have already bean written.
>
> http://www.redhat.com:8080/HyperNews/get/tour/tour.html

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