Beyond BIOS


Book Description

This book provides an overview of modern boot firmware, including the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) and its associated EFI Developer Kit II (EDKII) firmware. The authors have each made significant contributions to developments in these areas. The reader will learn to use the latest developments in UEFI on modern hardware, including open source firmware and open hardware designs. The book begins with an exploration of interfaces exposed to higher-level software and operating systems, and commences to the left of the boot timeline, describing the flow of typical systems, beginning with the machine restart event. Software engineers working with UEFI will benefit greatly from this book, while specific sections of the book address topics relevant for a general audience: system architects, pre-operating-system application developers, operating system vendors (loader, kernel), independent hardware vendors (such as for plug-in adapters), and developers of end-user applications. As a secondary audience, project technical leaders or managers may be interested in this book to get a feel for what their engineers are doing. The reader will find: An overview of UEFI and underlying Platform Initialization (PI) specifications How to create UEFI applications and drivers Workflow to design the firmware solution for a modern platform Advanced usages of UEFI firmware for security and manageability




Harnessing the UEFI Shell


Book Description

Focusing on the use of the UEFI Shell and its recently released formal specification, this book unlocks a wide range of usage models which can help people best utilize the shell solutions. This text also expands on the obvious intended utilization of the shell and explains how it can be used in various areas such as security, networking, configuration, and other anticipated uses such as manufacturing, diagnostics, etc. Among other topics, Harnessing the UEFI Shell demonstrates how to write Shell scripts, how to write a Shell application, how to use provisioning options and more. Since the Shell is also a UEFI component, the book will make clear how the two things interoperate and how both Shell developers as well as UEFI developers can dip into the other's field to further expand the power of their solutions. Harnessing the UEFI Shell is authored by the three chairs of the UEFI working sub-teams, Michael Rothman (Intel, chair of the UEFI Configuration and UEFI Shell sub-teams), Vincent Zimmer (Intel, chair of the UEFI networking sub-team and security sub-team), and Tim Lewis (Insyde Software, chair of the UEFI security sub-team). This book is perfect for any OEMs that ship UEFI-based solutions (which is all of the MNCs such as IBM, Dell, HP, Apple, etc.), software developers who are focused on delivering solutions targeted to manufacturing, diagnostics, hobbyists, or stand-alone kiosk environments.




Beyond BIOS


Book Description

Chapter 4 - Protocols You Should Know ; EFI OS Loaders ; Device Path and Image Information of the OS Loader ; Accessing Files in the Device Path of the OS Loader ; Finding the OS Partition ; Getting the Current System Configuration ; Getting the Current Memory Map.




Bios


Book Description

Bursting with ideas, replete with human insight, Bios is science fiction in the grand tradition: a novel of bravery, exploration, and discovery in a universe charged with awe. In the 22nd century, humankind has colonized the solar system. Starflight is possible but hugely expensive, so humakind's efforts are focussed on Isis, the one nearby Earthlike world. Isis is verdant, Edenic, rich with complex DNA-based plant and animal life. And every molecule of Isian life is spectacularly toxic to human beings. The entire planet is a permanent Level Four Hot Zone. Despite that, Isis is the most interesting discovery of the millennium: a parallel biology with lessons to teach us about our own nature. It's also the hardest of hardship posts, the loneliest place in the universe. Zoe Fisher was born to explore Isis. Literally. Cloned and genetically engineered by a faction within the hothouse politics of Earth, Zoe is optimized to face Isis's terrors. Now at last Zoe has arrived on Isis. But there are secrets implanted within her that not even she suspects--and the planet itself has secrets that will change our understanding of life in the universe. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.




Bios: A Study Of Creation (With Cd-rom)


Book Description

This book focuses on a prototype of creative causal processes termed BIOS and how the concept can be applied to the physical world, in medicine and in social science. This book presents methods for identifying creative features in empirical data; studies showing biotic patterns in physical, biological, and economic processes; mathematical models of bipolar (positive and negative) feedback that generate biotic patterns. These studies support the hypothesis that natural processes are creative (not determined) and causal (not random) and that bipolar feedback plays a major role in their evolution. Simple processes precede, coexist, constitute and surround the complex systems they generate (priority of the simple). In turn, complex processes feedback and transform simpler ones (supremacy of the complex).




Cosmos, Bios, Theos


Book Description

Stranger and more momentous than the strangest of scientific theories is the appearance of God on the intellectual horizon of contemporary science. From Einstein, Planck, and Heisenberg, to Margenau, Hawking, and Eccles, some of the most penetrating modern minds have needed God in order to make sense of the cosmos.




Pocket Bios: Isaac Newton


Book Description

A colorfully illustrated, pocket-size picture book biography of mathematician and physicist Isaac Newton. Best known for "discovering gravity" and formulating the laws of motion, Isaac Newton is often hailed as one of the most influential physicists of all time. From the apple incident that lead to his famous mathematical description of gravity, to the invention of the first reflecting telescope, and beyond, follow this extraordinary man's life and accomplishments. Pocket Bios are full of personality, introducing readers to fascinating figures from history with simple storytelling and cheerful illustrations. Titles include men and women from history, exploration, the sciences, the arts, the ancient world, and more.




Energy Efficient Servers


Book Description

Energy Efficient Servers: Blueprints for Data Center Optimization introduces engineers and IT professionals to the power management technologies and techniques used in energy efficient servers. The book includes a deep examination of different features used in processors, memory, interconnects, I/O devices, and other platform components. It outlines the power and performance impact of these features and the role firmware and software play in initialization and control. Using examples from cloud, HPC, and enterprise environments, the book demonstrates how various power management technologies are utilized across a range of server utilization. It teaches the reader how to monitor, analyze, and optimize their environment to best suit their needs. It shares optimization techniques used by data center administrators and system optimization experts at the world’s most advanced data centers.




Hardware-dependent Software


Book Description

Despite its importance, the role of HdS is most often underestimated and the topic is not well represented in literature and education. To address this, Hardware-dependent Software brings together experts from different HdS areas. By providing a comprehensive overview of general HdS principles, tools, and applications, this book provides adequate insight into the current technology and upcoming developments in the domain of HdS. The reader will find an interesting text book with self-contained introductions to the principles of Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS), the emerging BIOS successor UEFI, and the Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL). Other chapters cover industrial applications, verification, and tool environments. Tool introductions cover the application of tools in the ASIP software tool chain (i.e. Tensilica) and the generation of drivers and OS components from C-based languages. Applications focus on telecommunication and automotive systems.




Beyond Glory


Book Description

In Stephen Lang’s theatrical adaptation of Larry Smith’s book Beyond Glory: Medal of Honor Heroes in Their Own Words, Lang presents the stories of eight veterans from World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, rendering firsthand accounts of the actions which resulted in each of them receiving the nation’s highest military award, the Medal of Honor. BEYOND GLORY gathers these men together in the present to look back on the defining moments of their lives and to examine the meaning of courage, duty, and, ultimately, humility.