PCI BIOS extension on a controller card

Only for programmers and BIOS gurus with technical questions.
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bobturwilliger
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Joined: Wed Jan 28, 2009 7:15 pm

Hi, i have a problem that i can't quite begin to wrap my head around. I have a small card that uses the l2C protocol to communicate with a device. What i'd like to do is to "build" a pci card that, at bootup asks me for some user input, and transmits the info via the l2C protocol to the little card i've already mentioned.

(probably via cable)

So essentially, i'm looking for a PCI controller with a boot rom extension that i could place a small micron that emulates l2c... then wire up a cable to it that would let me talk to the card i've already got.

so... yea... any advice?
cp
BIOS Guru
Posts: 1914
Joined: Mon Oct 21, 2002 9:07 pm
Location: Germany

you could use the build-in i2c of the mainboard chipset which can be found in the southbridge. to have code executed at bootup you could inject a self-written program into the bios as pci/isa module.

more very useful information:
http://www.geocities.com/mamanzip/

module injection is also used by:
http://www.fitzenreiter.de/ata/ata.htm
If you email me include [WIMSBIOS] in the subject.
bobturwilliger
New visitors - please read the rules.
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Jan 28, 2009 7:15 pm

thank you for the help. i guess i'll have to digest the reading material.

say, you wouldn't happen to want to participate in this project ... for a fee.. would you?
cp
BIOS Guru
Posts: 1914
Joined: Mon Oct 21, 2002 9:07 pm
Location: Germany

to start with i recommend to get a rather old mainboard with Intel LX/BX chipset which should be available for no money. the BIOS chip is DIP and socketed and there are free official datasheets for the Intel 82371 southbridge ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_82371 ) available.
say, you wouldn't happen to want to participate in this project ... for a fee.. would you?
sorry, i've already my regular work as a project engineer and i'm working on coreboot which is already eating up all of my spare time.
If you email me include [WIMSBIOS] in the subject.
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