25 February 2011, 10:16

Intel releases GRUB-based BIOS test suite

Processor manufacturer Intel has introduced a motherboard BIOS Implementation Test Suite (BITS) that is based on the open source GRUB 2 boot loader. BITS checks whether the BIOS has correctly initialised a system's processors and motherboard chip-set, allowing BIOS developers to find out whether their motherboard complies with the Intel standards.

The suite also enables developers to modify the BIOS configuration. For instance, a new ACPI table can be loaded if the power management is disabled completely in the motherboard's BIOS. The required operating system can subsequently be booted with the modified settings via the familiar GRUB boot functions.

Intel currently offers the BIOS Test Suite to download as a zip archive only, along with install, news and read me files. The archive includes the sources. Alternatively it can be downloaded from biosbits.org. The code is distributed under its own BITS Open Source license. Previously, in autumn 2006, Intel released the Linux-ready Firmware Developer Kit, a software package that also allowed developers to check the motherboard's BIOS compatibility.

(ehe)

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