Motherboard schematic

BIOS Questions that don't belong in the other forums. Read them!
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logicman112
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Is it possible to write BIOS code which controls all the hardware components of a motherboard without having the schematic of that motherboard?
edwin
The Hardware Archivist
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Nope, otherwise there would be one universal bios for all boards.
edwin/evasive

Do not assume anything

System error, strike any user to continue...
cp
BIOS Guru
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Joined: Mon Oct 21, 2002 9:07 pm
Location: Germany

well, the answer isn't a simple yes or no.

if you still have the board up and running with its original bios, you can extract a lot of information from the running board without having access the the actual schematics. to the extend a lot of manufacturers used the chipset maker's advice on motherboard layout. so infact a lot of boards have a very very similar design. however they vary very much in details.

anyway: go and check coreboot. there you'll find plenty of sourcecode for initializing motherboard components (and ways to configure it to make it work despite those differences).
If you email me include [WIMSBIOS] in the subject.
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