Re: How to tell whether a new computer uses EFI or BIOS?

Well, it looks like I stuck both feet in my mouth at the same time here... I will now try to pull them out, one at a time!

It appears that almost any run of the mill Intel board is EFI capable:

Intel® Desktop Board D945PLRN
http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/d945plrn/sb/cs-021641.htm

Intel® Desktop Board D915PDT
http://www.intel.com/products/motherboard/d915pdt/

Intel® Desktop Board D865PCK
http://www.intel.com/products/motherboard/d865pck/

I found no Core-Duo board documentation that specifically states EFI compatibility but if the above are, I would think that the newer Core2 boards must also be EFI capable.

However, having an EFI capable board and actually using it is another matter. Reminds me of computers shiping with USB ports when the newest Windows was Windows 95A or Windows NT4. More on that later in another post, when I will attempt to remove my other foot from my mouth and post my other findings on EFI.

John


John John wrote:
Mark Conrad wrote:

In article <uFGGRgDtHHA.1728@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
John John <audetweld@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


Extensible Firmware Interface



Ah, so that is what EFI stands for. Just shows how clueless I am about anything pertaining to EFI.

What little I have read about it when I did Google searches was that it is supposed to be the 'Next Great Thing'.

Didn't Microsoft originate EFI about 8 years ago, seems I read that somewhere.

Another 'tale' I read somewhere is the the PC hardware manufacturers would not tolerate switching their hardware to support EFI.

Yet another tale is that those PC manufacturers would relent "in a few years" and support EFI after all.

Wonder how many of these tales one can believe.


Supposedly, Apple already runs EFI in their new computers.


Oh well, guess I will 'wonder' about something else, this EFI seems to be a blind alley as far as PCs are concerned.

Mark-


Like someone else said in another post, find another vendor for your needs! This is not the kind of thing that you can walk in to a big box store or a Geeks-R-Us store and expect high school kids with part time jobs to help you with! Even experienced and knowledgeable computer sales people have little to no information on this because it is so new and at this time it is generally only used on expensive high end multi-processor server boards. Why do you *absolutely* need this?

Yes, the Intel Mac are supposed to have EFI, but that is as much as I know about EFI and Macs, you would have to ask on a Mac newsgroup for more help with that. EFI was developed by Intel, not Microsoft, Intel initially developed it for their Itanium processor. The type of motherboard that will most likely have EFI will be high end server boards. If you really want to be sure get an Itanium board, I am 99.99% sure that these are EFI boards, they can only be booted with EFI and you will need an Operating System capable of running on Itanium, like Microsoft's IA64 Server products. The thing (Itanium board) is going to cost a small fortune.

Other than that you should email Intel and ask them for advice and recommendations. They do sell high end server boards that use EFI. Another vendor that would almost certainly be able to advise you would be HP, their high end server products would probably have something to suit you. Other than that you can try the high end motherboard manufacturers like Tyan or Supermicro, they may be able to offer something that would fit your budget and needs. And when I say "budget" don't expect "budget" priced boards, even the cheapest of these boards will be pricey!

As I said earlier, you will need good vendor support to properly select and use these boards. These are not the kind of products where you can rely on some guy in a call centre half way around the world to help you with when things don't work, the problems you are likely to run in will not be on their scripted answer sheets! You will need to have a close working relationship with reliable partners for your project to be successful, you will need to work with support engineers and sales staff at a higher level than the ones you get when you dial published sales and support phone numbers.

John
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