Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!crdgw1!sixhub!davidsen
From: davidsen@sixhub.UUCP (Wm E. Davidsen Jr)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.xenix
Subject: Re: Does Xenix use the BIOS for anything?
Keywords: xenix bios
Message-ID: <598@sixhub.UUCP>
Date: 6 Mar 90 02:10:55 GMT
References: <115@melpar.UUCP>
Reply-To: davidsen@sixhub.UUCP (bill davidsen)
Distribution: usa
Organization: *IX Public Access UNIX, Schenectady NY
Lines: 19

In article <115@melpar.UUCP> toppin@melpar.UUCP (Doug Toppin   X2075) writes:
| This is a question that I believe I know the answer to but would
| like to get a confirmation: "Does Xenix use the BIOS in the
| [23]86 at all?" My boss has always been convinced that it does
| and I believe that it does not.  

  Your boss is right. Xenix used the BIOS to read the boot sectors off
the hard disk at system startup. After that, no. I have run Xenix on a
system with such a messed up BIOS that stock MS-DOS didn't run reliably,
hanging on keyboard in, etc. Xenix booted and ran beautifully, and stuff
runs under VP/ix which can't run on DOS on this machine.

  Bear in mind I'm cheap, and wouldn't replace the BIOS for $30 when I
have a way around it...
-- 
bill davidsen - davidsen@sixhub.uucp (uunet!crdgw1!sixhub!davidsen)
    sysop *IX BBS and Public Access UNIX
    moderator of comp.binaries.ibm.pc
"Getting old is bad, but it beats the hell out of the alternative" -anon