Messages in this thread | | | Subject | Re: NO ROM BASIC | Date | Fri, 04 Dec 1998 18:14:46 -0500 | From | "Brandon S. Allbery KF8NH" <> |
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In message <Pine.LNX.3.96.981204010439.1703A-100000@fire.fireplace>, Gerhard Ma ck writes: +----- | The early XTS would looks for basic in rom if they couldn't find a | bootable device, if none then that error came up. some of the bios | maufacturers still keep that message for some unknown reason. +--->8
Actually, the BIOS boot sequence tries the floppy, then the hard drive, then does INT 18H (IIRC). On an original IBM PC or PC/XT, this invokes ROM BASIC; on some clone XTs it invokes BIOS diagnostics; on most machines these days it invokes a stub that prints the "NO ROM BASIC" message.
Note that this happens only if the MBR is unreadable (drive 0 not present, not low level formatted, or track 0 bad) and possibly if the magic number in the partition table (0x55AA IIRC) isn't there. Garbage in the MBR usually leads to a hang, however, as opposed to the INT 18 trap.
-- brandon s. allbery [os/2][linux][solaris][japh] allbery@kf8nh.apk.net system administrator [WAY too many hats] allbery@ece.cmu.edu carnegie mellon / electrical and computer engineering KF8NH Kiss my bits, Billy-boy.
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