Operating System

Assignment #1

5 , Sep. 2011

Write no more than one page about the boot sequence on standard PC (IBM-PC compatible). One of the main functions of the Basic Input Output System (BIOS) is initiating the boot sequence after hardware Reset. When you turn on the computer the CPU will initialize itself which will be triggered by a series of clock generated by the system clock. Then part of the CPU will look to the systems ROM BIOS that stores the first instructions in the startup program which is the instruction to run the Power On Self-Test (POST is reserved predetermined in the memory address location C000h). To continue initializing the CPU the POST must first check the BIOS chip, tests CMOS RAM, and check the inventoried hardware devices such as the video card, secondary storage devices such as hard drivers and other hardware devices such as keyboard to ensure they are functioning properly . After determining that all components are functioning properly and the CPU has successfully initialized by the POST, the BIOS looks for an Operating System to load. The BIOS typically looks to the CMOS chip (CMOS stores information such as boot order (the order the computer looks for information, such as A drive first, C drive second, and so on) to tell it where to find the OS. Looking to the appropriate boot drive, the BIOS will first encounter the boot record, which tells it where to find the beginning of the OS and the subsequent program file that will initialize the OS. Once the OS initializes, the BIOS copies its files into memory and the OS basically takes over control of the boot process. Now in control, the OS performs another inventory of the system's memory and memory availability (which the BIOS already checked) and loads the device drivers that it needs to control the peripheral devices, such as a printer, scanner, optical drive, mouse and keyboard. This is the final stage in the boot process, after which the user can access the systems application to perform tasks.