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On 9/24/23 17:37, Computer Nerd Kev wrote:
> Modern CPUs have a backstage cast
> by Hugo Landau, 2023-05-30
> -
https://www.devever.net/~hl/backstage-cast
>
> "If you take someone with intermediate knowledge of computing in the
> right areas, and ask them how an x86 machine boots, they`ll
> probably start telling you about how the CPU first comes up in real
> mode and starts executing code from the 8086 reset vector of
> FFFF:FFF0. This understanding of how an x86 machine boots has
> remained remarkably persistent, as far as I can tell because this
> basic narrative about the boot process has been handed down from
> website to website, generation to generation, largely unchanged.
>
> It`s also a pack of lies and hasn`t reflected the true nature of
> the boot process for some time. It`s true the 8086 reset vector is
> still used, but only because it`s a standard "ABI" for the CPU to
> transfer control to the BIOS (whether legacy PC BIOS or UEFI BIOS).
> In reality an awful lot happens before this reset vector starts
> executing.1 Aside from people having vaguely heard about the Intel
> Management Engine, this modern reality of the boot process remains
> largely unknown. It doesn`t help that neither Intel nor AMD have
> really gone out of their way to actually document what the modern
> boot process looks like, and large parts of this process are
> handled by vendor-supplied mystery firmware blobs, which may as
> well be boxes with "???" written in them. Mainly we have the
> substantial assistance of assorted reverse engineers and security
> researchers to thank for the fact that we even have a decent
> picture of what the modoern x86 boot process actually looks like
> for both Intel and AMD. I could write a whole article about that
> process -- but instead, I`d like to focus on something else.
>
> Basically any multiprocessor CPU chip of reasonable sophistication
> produced today -- i.e., desktop and server CPUs, and probably
> smartphone SoCs for that matter, also has an entire "backstage
> cast" of ancillary support cores keeping things running correctly.
> Some of these mainly handle the boot process, and we`re more likely
> to know about these (e.g. Intel ME/AMD PSP), but even less known
> are "backstage" cores which don`t participate in the boot process
> but which are instead involved in things like power and thermal
> regulation." ...
>
Company secrecy is so frustrating sometimes.
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