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skiselev / 8088_bios

BIOS for Intel 8088 based computers
GNU General Public License v3.0
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Doubt: XT-IDE Bios vs. XT-IDE card #61

Closed giobbino closed 6 months ago

giobbino commented 6 months ago

Hi, just a silly doubt, actually...

I'm waiting for PCB and parts for the Micro8088 and I was planning the further steps.

I've seen that there are two BIOS versions I would use:

bios-micro8088-noide.rom -- BIOS image for Micro 8088 Version 1.1 bios-micro8088-xtide.rom -- BIOS image for Micro 8088 Version 1.1 with XT-IDE

I'm going to use an XT-IDE card, so I suppose I should use the "bios-micro8088-xtide.rom" file. BUT: does it replace the actual XT-IDE on-board Bios? Or it is just a matter of compatibility/optimization?

---> If it replaces the XT-IDE actual Bios, should I forget the XT-IDE "xtidecfg.com" BIOS configuration step?

ONE MORE QUESTION: I've seen in the Micro8088 there's a 0.9 release; should I use the 1.1 or the 0.9 ?

thank you!

explit7 commented 6 months ago

Hi. Personally i use normal micro8088 rom file, without xtide rom. I use the XTIDE ROM of my XTIDE Card. The Micro8088 ROM which include XTIDE ROM is for system, which alredy have CF Slot or ide controller, like NuXT or Book8088 etc. Micro 8088 BIOS 1.0 is the actual one.

giobbino commented 6 months ago

Thank you, it's all clear to me now :-)

TzOk83 commented 6 months ago

You can have XT-IDE BIOS in either a system ROM or a controller ROM it doesn't matter, yet you should have it on only one of them. In my Micro8088 I have a Monotech XT-CF-Mini card with its own ROM, and I have XT-IDE BIOS in the controller ROM, and the "noide" system BIOS.

skiselev commented 6 months ago

I don't think I ever published version 1.1. The latest official version is 1.0.0.

The difference between XT-IDE version and no XT-IDE, is that it has the XT-IDE Universal BIOS (XUB) image in integrated in it. That allows you to save the EPROM/EEPROM on your XT-IDE or XT-CF-Lite card. It also makes the memory typically used for the extension BIOS ROM on these cards available for other uses, e.g. UMBs.

The XT-IDE image included is configured in XT-CF-LITE mode, port 0x300 (if I recall correctly). In case you want to reconfigure it with XTIDECFG.COM, the best course of action would be downloading the XUB BIOS extension, configuring it the way you want it, and then making your own BIOS image, by combining configured XUB BIOS and 8088 system BIOS.

giobbino commented 6 months ago

I mentioned the 1.1 release because the BIOS releases table (see: https://github.com/skiselev/8088_bios/tree/master#bios-images) says:

bios-micro8088.bin | BIOS image for Micro 8088 Version 1.1 to use with xiflash utility bios-micro8088-noide.rom | BIOS image for Micro 8088 Version 1.1 bios-micro8088-xtide.rom | BIOS image for Micro 8088 Version 1.1 with XT-IDE

Now I understand the 1.1 is about the Micro 8088 version and not the BIOS version. My fault, sorry.

At first, I think I will use the no-ide version, and then the xt-ide bios on the xt-ide card. It seems to me the straightest way to begin..

thank you all for the explanations! :-)