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@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ CS base 0xffff0000
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The processor starts working in [real mode](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_mode). Let's back up a little and try to understand [memory segmentation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_segmentation) in this mode. Real mode is supported on all x86-compatible processors, from the [8086](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_8086) CPU all the way to the modern Intel 64-bit CPUs. The `8086` processor has a 20-bit address bus, which means that it could work with a `0-0xFFFFF` or `1 megabyte` address space. But it only has `16-bit` registers, which have a maximum address of `2^16 - 1` or `0xffff` (64 kilobytes).
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-[Memory segmentation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_segmentation) is used to make use of all the address space available. All memory is divided into small, fixed-size segments of `65536` bytes (64 KB). Since we cannot address memory above `64 KB` with 16-bit registers, an alternate method was devised.
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+[Memory segmentation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_segmentation) is used to make use of all the address space available. All memory is divided into small, fixed-size segments of `65536` bytes (64 KB). Since we cannot address memory above `64 KB` with 16-bit registers, an alternate method was devised.
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An address consists of two parts: a segment selector, which has a base address, and an offset from this base address. In real mode, the associated base address of a segment selector is `Segment Selector * 16`. Thus, to get a physical address in memory, we need to multiply the segment selector part by `16` and add the offset to it:
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@@ -73,29 +73,31 @@ The starting address is formed by adding the base address to the value in the EI
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'0xfffffff0'
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```
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-We get `0xfffffff0`, which is 16 bytes below 4GB. This point is called the [Reset vector](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reset_vector). This is the memory location at which the CPU expects to find the first instruction to execute after reset. It contains a [jump](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JMP_%28x86_instruction%29) (`jmp`) instruction that usually points to the BIOS entry point. For example, if we look in the [coreboot](http://www.coreboot.org/) source code (`src/cpu/x86/16bit/reset16.inc`), we will see:
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+We get `0xfffffff0`, which is 16 bytes below 4GB. This point is called the [Reset vector](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reset_vector). This is the memory location at which the CPU expects to find the first instruction to execute after reset. It contains a [jump](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JMP_%28x86_instruction%29) (`jmp`) instruction that usually points to the BIOS entry point. For example, if we look in the [coreboot](https://www.coreboot.org/) source code (`src/cpu/x86/16bit/reset16.inc`), we will see:
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```assembly
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- .section ".reset"
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+ .section ".reset", "ax", %progbits
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.code16
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-.globl reset_vector
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-reset_vector:
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+.globl _start
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+_start:
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.byte 0xe9
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- .int _start - ( . + 2 )
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+ .int _start16bit - ( . + 2 )
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...
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```
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-Here we can see the `jmp` instruction [opcode](http://ref.x86asm.net/coder32.html#xE9), which is `0xe9`, and its destination address at `_start - ( . + 2)`.
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+Here we can see the `jmp` instruction [opcode](http://ref.x86asm.net/coder32.html#xE9), which is `0xe9`, and its destination address at `_start16bit - ( . + 2)`.
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-We can also see that the `reset` section is `16` bytes and that is compiled to start from `0xfffffff0` address (`src/cpu/x86/16bit/reset16.lds`):
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+We can also see that the `reset` section is `16` bytes and that is compiled to start from `0xfffffff0` address (`src/cpu/x86/16bit/reset16.ld`):
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```
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SECTIONS {
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+ /* Trigger an error if I have an unuseable start address */
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+ _bogus = ASSERT(_start16bit >= 0xffff0000, "_start16bit too low. Please report.");
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_ROMTOP = 0xfffffff0;
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. = _ROMTOP;
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.reset . : {
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- *(.reset)
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- . = 15 ;
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+ *(.reset);
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+ . = 15;
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BYTE(0x00);
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}
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}
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@@ -180,7 +182,7 @@ In general, real mode's memory map is as follows:
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0x000F0000 - 0x000FFFFF - System BIOS
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```
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-In the beginning of this post, I wrote that the first instruction executed by the CPU is located at address `0xFFFFFFF0`, which is much larger than `0xFFFFF` (1MB). How can the CPU access this address in real mode? The answer is in the [coreboot](http://www.coreboot.org/Developer_Manual/Memory_map) documentation:
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+In the beginning of this post, I wrote that the first instruction executed by the CPU is located at address `0xFFFFFFF0`, which is much larger than `0xFFFFF` (1MB). How can the CPU access this address in real mode? The answer is in the [coreboot](https://www.coreboot.org/Developer_Manual/Memory_map) documentation:
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```
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0xFFFE_0000 - 0xFFFF_FFFF: 128 kilobyte ROM mapped into address space
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@@ -491,12 +493,12 @@ Links
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* [Intel 80386 programmer's reference manual 1986](http://css.csail.mit.edu/6.858/2014/readings/i386.pdf)
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* [Minimal Boot Loader for Intel® Architecture](https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~410/doc/minimal_boot.pdf)
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- * [8086](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_8086)
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- * [80386](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_80386)
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- * [Reset vector](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reset_vector)
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- * [Real mode](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_mode)
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+ * [8086](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_8086)
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+ * [80386](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_80386)
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+ * [Reset vector](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reset_vector)
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+ * [Real mode](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_mode)
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* [Linux kernel boot protocol](https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/x86/boot.txt)
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- * [CoreBoot developer manual](http://www.coreboot.org/Developer_Manual)
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+ * [coreboot developer manual](https://www.coreboot.org/Developer_Manual)
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* [Ralf Brown's Interrupt List](http://www.ctyme.com/intr/int.htm)
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- * [Power supply](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_supply)
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- * [Power good signal](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_good_signal)
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+ * [Power supply](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_supply)
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+ * [Power good signal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_good_signal)
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