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Coreboot
coreboot, formerly known as LinuxBIOS, is a software project aimed at replacing proprietary firmware (BIOS or UEFI) found in most computers with a lightweight firmware designed to perform only the minimum number of tasks necessary to load and run a modern 32-bit or 64-bit operating system. Since coreboot initializes the bare hardware, it must be ported to every chipset and motherboard that it supports. As a result, coreboot is available only for a limited number of hardware platforms and motherboard models. One of the coreboot variants is Libreboot, a software distribution partly free of proprietary blobs, aimed at end users. History The coreboot project began with the goal of creating a BIOS that would start fast and handle errors intelligently. It is licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 (GPLv2). Main contributors include LANL, SiS, AMD, Coresystems and Linux Networx, Inc, as well as motherboard vendors MSI, Gigabyte and Tyan, which of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Libreboot
Libreboot (briefly known as GNU Libreboot) is a free and open-source software project based on coreboot, aimed at replacing some of the proprietary BIOS or UEFI firmware on supported x86-64 and AArch64 computers. Libreboot performs the basic machine setup such as CPU initialization or memory controller initialization necessary to load and run a 32-bit or 64-bit operating system, such as Linux or FreeBSD. Characteristics Libreboot is established as a distribution of coreboot, but with some proprietary binary blobs removed from coreboot. Libreboot makes coreboot easy to use by automating the build and installation processes. On some devices, Libreboot developers have reverse engineered the firmware from Intel and created a utility to create a free firmware that meets the specifications from Intel. Hardware support includes but is not limited to the ASUS KGPE-D16, ThinkPad T400, X60 and X200. Libreboot is officially endorsed by the upstream coreboot project. Hist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
UEFI
Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI, as an acronym) is a Specification (technical standard), specification for the firmware Software architecture, architecture of a computing platform. When a computer booting, is powered on, the UEFI implementation is typically the first that runs, before starting the operating system. Examples include AMI Aptio, Phoenix Technologies, Phoenix SecureCore, TianoCore EDK II, and InsydeH2O. UEFI replaces the BIOS that was present in the boot ROM of all personal computers that are IBM PC compatible, although it can provide Backward compatibility, backwards compatibility with the BIOS using #CSM booting, CSM booting. Unlike its predecessor, BIOS, which is a de facto standard originally created by IBM as proprietary software, UEFI is an open standard maintained by an industry consortium. Like BIOS, most UEFI implementations are proprietary. Intel developed the original ''Extensible Firmware Interface'' (''EFI'') specification. The last Inte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory (often shortened as Los Alamos and LANL) is one of the sixteen research and development Laboratory, laboratories of the United States Department of Energy National Laboratories, United States Department of Energy (DOE), located a short distance northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico, in the Southwestern United States, American southwest. Best known for its central role in helping develop the First Atomic bomb, first atomic bomb, LANL is one of the world's largest and most advanced scientific institutions. Los Alamos was established in 1943 as Project Y, a top-secret site for designing nuclear weapons under the Manhattan Project during World War II.The site was variously called Los Alamos Laboratory and Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory. Chosen for its remote yet relatively accessible location, it served as the main hub for conducting and coordinating nuclear research, bringing together some of the world's most famous scientists, among them numerous Nobel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Binary Blob
In the context of free and open-source software, proprietary software only available as a binary executable is referred to as a blob or binary blob. The term usually refers to a device driver module loaded into the kernel of an open-source operating system, and is sometimes also applied to code running outside the kernel, such as system firmware images, microcode updates, or userland programs. The term '' blob'' was first used in database management systems to describe a collection of binary data stored as a single entity. When computer hardware vendors provide complete technical documentation for their products, operating system developers are able to write hardware device drivers to be included in the operating system kernels. However, some vendors, such as Nvidia, do not provide complete documentation for some of their products and instead provide binary-only drivers. This practice is most common for accelerated graphics drivers, wireless networking devices, and ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BIOS
In computing, BIOS (, ; Basic Input/Output System, also known as the System BIOS, ROM BIOS, BIOS ROM or PC BIOS) is a type of firmware used to provide runtime services for operating systems and programs and to perform hardware initialization during the booting process (power-on startup). The firmware comes pre-installed on the computer's motherboard. The name originates from the Basic Input/Output System used in the CP/M operating system in 1975. The BIOS firmware was originally proprietary to the IBM PC; it was reverse engineered by some companies (such as Phoenix Technologies) looking to create compatible systems. The interface of that original system serves as a ''de facto'' standard. The BIOS in older PCs initializes and tests the system hardware components ( power-on self-test or POST for short), and loads a boot loader from a mass storage device which then initializes a kernel. In the era of DOS, the BIOS provided BIOS interrupt calls for the keyboard, display, st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Das U-Boot
Das U-Boot (subtitled "the Universal Boot Loader" and often shortened to U-Boot; see ''#History, History'' for more about the name) is an open-source software, open-source Bootloader, boot loader used in Embedded system, embedded devices to perform various low-level hardware initialization tasks and boot the device's operating system kernel. It is available for a number of computer architectures, including Motorola 68000 series, M68000, ARM architecture, ARM, Blackfin, MicroBlaze, AArch64, MIPS architecture, MIPS, Nios II, SuperH, PowerPC, PPC, Power ISA, RISC-V, LoongArch and x86 architecture, x86. Functionality U-Boot is both a first-stage and second-stage bootloader. It is loaded by the system's ROM (e.g. on-chip ROM of an ARM CPU) from a supported boot device, such as an SD card, SATA drive, NOR flash (e.g. using Serial Peripheral Interface Bus, SPI or I²C), or NAND flash. If there are size constraints, U-Boot may be split into two stages: the platform would load a small ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Advanced Micro Devices
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California and maintains significant operations in Austin, Texas. AMD is a Information technology, hardware and Fabless manufacturing, fabless company that designs and develops List of AMD processors, central processing units (CPUs), List of AMD graphics processing units, graphics processing units (GPUs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), System on a chip, system-on-chip (SoC), and high-performance computing, high-performance computer solutions. AMD serves a wide range of business and consumer markets, including gaming, data centers, artificial intelligence (AI), and embedded systems. AMD's main products include List of AMD microprocessors, microprocessors, motherboard chipsets, embedded processors, and List of AMD graphics processing units, graphics processors for Server (computing), servers, workstations, personal computers, and embedded syst ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chromebook
Chromebook (sometimes stylized in lowercase as chromebook) is a line of laptops, desktops, tablets and all-in-one computers that run ChromeOS, a proprietary operating system developed by Google. Chromebooks are optimised for web access. They also run Android (operating system), Android apps, Linux applications, and Progressive web app, Progressive web apps which do not require an Internet connection. They are manufactured and offered by various OEMs. The first Chromebooks shipped on June 15, 2011. As of 2020, Chromebook's market share is 10.8%, placing it above the Mac (computer), Mac platform; it has mainly found success in education markets. Since 2021, all Chromebooks receive 10 years of regular automatic updates with security patches from Google, previously it was 8 years. Chromebooks can be repurposed with other operating systems and/or used for other purposes if required. History The first Chromebooks for sale, by Acer Inc. and Samsung Electronics, Samsung, were anno ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Micro-Star International
Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. (commonly known as MSI; ) is a Taiwanese multinational corporation, multinational information technology corporation headquartered in New Taipei City, Taiwan. It designs, develops and provides computer hardware as well as related products and services, including laptops, desktops, motherboards, graphics cards, all-in-one PCs, server (computing), servers, industrial computers, PC peripherals, and car infotainment products, among other products. The company has a primary listing on the Taiwan Stock Exchange and was established on August 4, 1986, by five founders – Hsu Hsiang (a.k.a. Joseph Hsu), Huang Chin-Ching (a.k.a. Jeans Huang), Lin Wen-Tung (a.k.a. Frank Lin), Yu Hsien-Neng (a.k.a. Kenny Yu), and Lu Chi-Lung (a.k.a. Henry Lu). Operations First starting its business in New Taipei City, Taiwan, MSI later expanded into Mainland China, China, setting up its Bao'an District, Bao'an plant in Shenzhen in 2000 and establishing research and deve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gigabyte Technology
GIGA-BYTE Technology Co., Ltd. (commonly referred to as Gigabyte Technology or simply Gigabyte) is a Taiwanese manufacturer and distributor of computer hardware. Gigabyte's principal business is motherboards, It shipped 4.8 million motherboards in the first quarter of 2015, which allowed it to become the leading motherboard vendor. Gigabyte also manufactures custom Video card, graphics cards and laptop computers (including thin and light laptops under its ''Aero'' sub-brand). In 2010, Gigabyte was ranked 17th in "Taiwan's Top 20 Global Brands" by the TAITRA, Taiwan External Trade Development Council. The company is publicly held and traded on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, stock ID number . History Gigabyte Technology was established in 1986 by Pei-Cheng Yeh. One of Gigabyte's key advertised features on its motherboards is its "Ultra Durable" construction, advertised with "all solid capacitors". On 8 August 2006 Gigabyte announced a joint venture with Asus. Gigabyte developed the w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silicon Integrated Systems
Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS; ) is a company that manufactures, among other things, motherboard chipsets. The company was founded in 1987 in Hsinchu Science Park, Taiwan. Business In the late 1990s, SiS made the decision to invest in their own chip fabrication facilities. At the end of 1999, SiS acquired Rise Technology and its mP6 x86 core technology.Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS) acquired Hycon Technology on January 1, 2025. The acquisition involved SiS issuing 0.8713 shares for every Hycon share, totaling 27,755,080 shares. Mainboard chipsets One of the most famous chipsets produced by SiS was the late 486-age chipset 496/497 which supported PCI bus among older ISA- and VLB-buses. Mainboards using this chipset and equipped with CPUs such as the Intel 80486DX4, AMD 5x86 or Cyrix Cx5x86 processors had performance and compatibility comparable with early Intel Pentium systems in addition to a lower price. After this late success, SiS continued positioning itself as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tyan
Tyan Computer Corporation (泰安電腦科技股份有限公司; also known as Tyan Business Unit, or TBU) is a subsidiary of MiTAC International, and a manufacturer of computer motherboards, including models for both AMD and Intel processors. They develop and produce high-end server, SMP, and desktop barebones systems as well as provide design and production services to tier 1 global OEMs, and a number of other regional OEMs. Founding The company was founded in 1989 by Dr. T. Symon Chang, a veteran of IBM and Intel. At that time, Dr. Chang saw an empty space in the market in which there were no strong players for the SMP server space, and as such he founded Tyan in order to develop, produce and deliver such products, starting with a dual Intel Pentium-series motherboard as well as a number of other single processor motherboards all geared towards server applications. Since then, Tyan has produced a number of single and multi-processor (as well as multi-core) products using ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
