What's the way netboot and etherboot ROMs start?

[Tamas Pusztai <pusztai@szfki.hu>]

Dear etherboot/netboot users,


  I'm interested in the difference between the way netboot
and etherboot ROM images start.

  I have a 3c905b card, for which I succesfully generated
a ROM image.  This image was then succesfully transferred
to my motherboard's system BIOS (Asus a7v, BIOS version
1004a, using cbrom v2.01a.)

  The image seems to work using int19, i.e., the network
boot starts before even attempting to boot from local disks.
Local boot is only possible if I answer "L" to the question
"Network or Local" asked by the etherboot driver.  In the
BIOS boot sequence I can fiddle with "INT18 device (Network)",
but without any effect on the above way the system boots.

  This is exactly the way a real boot ROM works.  I tried
it with a vendor supplied RPL ROM for a KTI kf221tx/3 NIC.


  But what I really would like is to get this KTI kf221tx/3
card (Intel 21143 chipset) boot my Linux system.  Sadly, all
tulip drivers from the etherboot distribution fail to
initialize this card.  However, the packet driver used in
netboot seems to understand the card, the created floppy
image boots the system well.

  The problem is that when netboot's ROM image is added to
my system BIOS (the same way already worked with the 3c905b
etherboot image), the netboot process never starts.  Local
boot only.  I tried images built by makerom using both the
int18 and int19 methods.  I also tried yes and no answers to
the question sounds something like "Will the ROM put in a
NIC?".  No success.


  I'm open to explanations, suggestions and ideas.

  Thanks and regards:

				Tamas



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