Phoenix's BIOS Roadmap

An anonymous reader writes "Phoenix Technologies Ltd. unveiled a vision and roadmap for a next generation of system BIOS firmware that the company calls "core system software" today, at its Strategy 2004 conference. As defined by Phoenix, CSS is a new category of core system firmware that transcends the boundaries of traditional BIOSes and to deliver "extensible firmware that provides the critical foundation of trust, manageability, and connectivity required for networked computing," in a broad range of devices including desktop and laptop PCs, servers, and handhelds gadgets. Specific technologies that Phoenix is integrating into its d-NA CSS firmware include: support for the Trusted Computing Group (TCG) specification, remote diagnostics and error-checking, intelligent configuration checking and integrated system policy management, automated provisioning of servers and server virtualization, "radically enhanced" device power management, embedded TCP/IP, remote management functions including dynamic provisioning, load balancing and software resource control, and an XML and SOAP standards-based interface to CSS functions."

Comments

Thanks but no thanks Phoenix..

[grub]

Trust -- [...] In addition, Phoenix d-NA will incorporate a new class of Windows-advantaged components that leverage the Microsoft CryptoAPI (CAPI) to provide unprecedented trust and intrinsic security for systems running Windows and .NET applications.

If this crap cannot be disabled then I guess I won't be using Phoenix BIOSes in the future. This whole "trust" nonsense is a thinly veiled attempt at shifting some of the security-onus from the OS to the hardware with the blessing of Microsoft along with the side "benefit" of Digital Rights Management.

This may start a whole new style of hacking; releasing BIOSes for flashing which have the DRM/Trust shite removed.

Re:Thanks but no thanks Phoenix..

[dslbrian]

This whole "trust" nonsense is a thinly veiled attempt at shifting some of the security-onus from the OS to the hardware with the blessing of Microsoft along with the side "benefit" of Digital Rights Management.

I agree with you. This sounds like a lock-in to MS compliant hardware, and forced DRM. I'll cast my vote by giving my money to a different BIOS vendor...

Interestingly this might give a boost to the open BIOS movement. When MS started locking people in with "authentication" of their OS and office products, there was a discernable jump in the popularity of OpenOffice.

Re:Thanks but no thanks Phoenix..

[drinkypoo]

This is certainly where LinuxBIOS comes in. One day those who wish to run a 100% DRM-free system may be forced to purchase hardware for its LinuxBIOS compliance :) I should think there would be an easier way to make sure you're not using anything that requires DRM, however, if that's your objection.

Re:Thanks but no thanks Phoenix..

[Usquebaugh]

FPGA Yes it's not real silicon but it's the best we can do at present. So fscking use it instead of bitching about no fab. We are never going to have a fab, get over, move sideways and continue. Once upon a time there was no GNU C compiler did people sit around wringing their hands, or did they use the tools they had and write one? People moan about no open source 3D support in Linux, well pick up an AGP based FPGA and implement one. DVD encoding, Factoring, etc PCI based FPGA. FPGA are cheap enough that any hardware hacker should have at least one installed in his PC. The more people that have them the cheaper they become. The more apps that are written for them, the more people will want them. So stop whining and go get yourself a FPGA.

Re:Thanks but no thanks Phoenix..

[vigilology]

This whole "trust" nonsense is a thinly veiled attempt at shifting some of the security-onus from the OS to the hardware with the blessing of Microsoft along with the side "benefit" of Digital Rights Management.

If this keeps up, the meaning of the word 'trust' is going to change, more so than 'gay' has.

Re:Thanks but no thanks Phoenix..

[Mattcelt]

Nope, unfortunately. Phoenix, IIRC, is the largest provider of BIOS hardware out there. They specialize in OEM BIOS sales - nearly every Gateway or Dell computer I've ever seen had a Phoenix BIOS. I have already refused to purchase Phoenix-brand BIOSes for years because they lack functionality which is present it nearly every other mfg's BIOS.

Ironically, they also own the brand Award (my favorite BIOS), which is more fully-functioned than most (if not all) other mfgs. But when Phoenix DRM creeps its way into AWARD_SW, I will be sure to purchase another, unencumbered brand.

Re:Thanks but no thanks Phoenix..

[kisielk]

Sorry man, but FPGA's are not cheap at all. Even a small to mid density FPGA on an evaluation board costs $500-$700 USD. If you want an FPGA with enough performance and a high enough clock rate to do something like 3D graphics, you're looking at that same price, but just for the chip alone, nevermind memory etc. If you were to purchase an entire board, or build one yourself, you're looking at a $1600-$3000 investment, depenind on the features you want.

Additionally, an AGP interface is not exactly a trivial thing to implement, and getting a license for a PCI or AGP core costs several thousand dollars as well.

I think we can safely say that open source FPGA hardware is well out of the reach of the vast majority of Linux / other OSS operating system users. Even if someone managed to implement all these devices, paying for the boards for all of them would costs 5-10x as much as a PC does now, a premium I'm sure most people are not willing to pay just to get open hardware.

Re:Thanks but no thanks Phoenix..

[Uma Thurman]

A long time ago I have a pentium-133 that would not boot from a CD-ROM. I bought a Mr. Bios upgrade and that fixed the problem. It looks like they are in the same business, and you can still buy new BIOS chips for your computer. The brand then and now is "Unicore".

BTW, the Mr. Bios had about 3 times as many configuration options as the old AMI bios that I replaced. And the manual it came with explained them quite well. For $70 I thought it was a good product, and it extended my use of my motherboard for 3 years.

Linux BIOS

[cbrese]

Maybe it's time to start helping out/using LinuxBIOS. I went to SCALE over the weekend and saw a interesting presentaion on LinuxBIOS, it has lots of benifits over other commercial BIOS's.

Useless layer of crap.

[aardvaark]

This is braindead. Introducing a huge layer of complexity between the OS and hardware etc. Really the job of the BIOS should be to do as little as necessary and then hand things off to the OS. Does a BIOS truly need a TCP/IP stack? Perhaps it is time to put a bit more effort in to linuxBIOS.

great, more viruses!

[Saint Stephen]

Most of the viruses lately have been of the email-you-are-dumb variety. I'd been wondering where all the excellent boot sector and hardware level viruses of the 1980s and early 1990s had gotten to.

I couldn't stand yet-another I-love-you clone. I want some real destruction!

Where is the Kitchen Sink?

[Kindaian]

I want a kitchen sink included in the BIOS!!!

Really... why not scrap all that and add a JVM instead... That at least would be usefull...

I'm waiting for... the real McCoy

[fruey]

I'm just waiting for the article where someone hacks one of these BIOSes to be a self contained web server serving off a ramdisk using just low level BIOS calls and the inbuilt TCP/IP stack.

Seeing that take a slashdotting is what we're really interested in... totally in the spirit of slash (TM)