[SOLVED] Do never linux distros (Ubuntu 9.10) use BIOS?

[mahela007]

Do newer ubuntu distributions use the BIOS to interact with the system hardware? I'm trying to read up and understand what BIOS is and one article said that newer Operating systems bypassed BIOS.

[coopstah13]

all system hardware is interacted with through the kernel, in all OS

BIOS is only there to tell the computer how to boot and contain configuration for hardware, etc.

[techieMoe]

Do newer ubuntu distributions use the BIOS to interact with the system hardware? I'm trying to read up and understand what BIOS is and one article said that newer Operating systems bypassed BIOS.

There is no way for an operating system to bypass the Basic Input/Output System. It's hard-coded onto your motherboard and runs before you even have access to your harddrive. In fact, the BIOS is what allows you to read from your harddrive in the first place.

Now, some newer computers (like Apple iMacs and MacBooks) use a new system that is meant to replace the BIOS, called Enhanced Firmware Interface, or EFI. This is a completely different program coded into the motherboard.

[GNU-Fan]

Do newer ubuntu distributions use the BIOS to interact with the system hardware? I'm trying to read up and understand what BIOS is and one article said that newer Operating systems bypassed BIOS.

I think what they mean is this:
25 yrs ago or so it was a custom to use the function provided by the BIOS to do tasks like reading/writing the harddrive, setting colored pixels or characters on the screen,...

The CPUs grew faster and more powerful, but the BIOS couldn't keep track. The old functions were kept for compatibility but weren't usable in the new operating mode of the processor. The new mode was introduced in the early 90's and allowed for things like multitasking, addressing more RAM etc.

As more and more operating systems relied on the new processor mode, they couldn't rely on the old BIOS functions and had to begin doing these work on their own (via device drivers), without any/much help from the BIOS.

So nowadays, BIOS is often only used to the initial POST when switching the computer on, but not much beyond that point anymore.

[asepyusuf]

Do newer ubuntu distributions use the BIOS to interact with the system hardware? I'm trying to read up and understand what BIOS is and one article said that newer Operating systems bypassed BIOS.

BIOS is used to detect important hardware in working condition or not.

BIOS can't be bypassed by operating systems, because before entering operating system, you always see that BIOS always checking for processor speed, ram capacity and etc.

[mahela007]

I think what they mean is this:
25 yrs ago or so it was a custom to use the function provided by the BIOS to do tasks like reading/writing the harddrive, setting colored pixels or characters on the screen,...

The CPUs grew faster and more powerful, but the BIOS couldn't keep track. The old functions were kept for compatibility but weren't usable in the new operating mode of the processor. The new mode was introduced in the early 90's and allowed for things like multitasking, addressing more RAM etc.

As more and more operating systems relied on the new processor mode, they couldn't rely on the old BIOS functions and had to begin doing these work on their own (via device drivers), without any/much help from the BIOS.

So nowadays, BIOS is often only used to the initial POST when switching the computer on, but not much beyond that point anymore.

Ah.. that's what I was looking for. Thanks for all the posts guys.