[coreboot] [Patch] CMOS: Add set_option and rework get_option.

[Kevin O'Connor]

On Tue, Jun 02, 2009 at 06:49:10PM +0200, Luc Verhaegen wrote:
> On Tue, Jun 02, 2009 at 06:45:28PM +0200, Luc Verhaegen wrote:
> > How would you want to store information, and how would you want to 
> > handle parsing of this information? Do you really want to store 
> > configuration in xml and include an xml parser in a bios? Do you want to 
> > invent your own structured information storage system? If so, what is 
> > wrong with what we do now, especially, since we do not have to reprogram 
> > part of our flash every 5 seconds?

I would place a configuration file in flash (a simple one).  I would
not use xml.  I do not believe it is realistic that users will change
bootup config setting every 5 seconds.

> I cannot help but feel that this is just trying to be different for the 
> sake of trying to be different.

Try the following:

- Boot your machine with a factory bios and read the flash into a
  file.

- poweroff the machine, remove (or add) a pci device, bootup, and read
  the flash to a new file

- compare the files.

I think you'll find (as I did on my machine) that the two flash images
are different.

I'm suggesting to be different, for the sake of being better.  The
existing factory bios developers ran out of space in cmos and so they
use both cmos and flash.  I think 200 bytes of storage is not enough
space - and having two places to store things is silly.  Why use 200
bytes and 250000 bytes when you can just use the 250000 bytes?

-Kevin