Re: [Xen-devel] [PATCH] [Firmware] TCG BIOS extensions for the Bochs BIOS

[Stefan Berger <stefanb@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Keir Fraser <keir@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote on 12/08/2006
08:36:05 AM:

> On 8/12/06 13:30, "Stefan Berger" <stefanb@xxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

> > Is there a good reason for it being implemented
almost entirely in assembly
> > language? 
> 
> The compiled TCG extension code adds approximately 0x2500 bytes to
> the BIOS and would add more to it if it was written in 'C'. 
> 
> Presumably only those who want TPM functionality will run with the
> TPM-enabled BIOS, and they are unlikely to care whether the 
> implementation is e.g., 10kB or 15kB. Even people not using the TPM
> capabilities are not really going to care about a few kilobytes. It’
> s not like you’re constrained to 64kB (0xF0000-0xFFFFF) — you can
> stick the 32-bit code below 4GB.

Someone who wants to add new functionality to the
Bochs BIOS might care about the amount of free space in that 64kb segment.
Currently there's enough room left even with the TPM extensions.
Even if we move these extensions to some 32bit area,
the hook into the 1Ah interrupt and all those other function calls surrounded
by #if BX_TCGBIOS in rombios.c are needed as well as later on some code
that switches into protected mode and jumps up into the 32 bit area. The
BIOS code should at some point be compiled with those TPM extensions independent
of whether a TPM is available in the VM or not. The extensions don't influence
the BIOS if a TPM is not available.

How would you connect the two code areas and the functions?
Would hvmloader write the 32 bit address somewhere into the Bochs BIOS
and the to reach the 32 bit area one uses a jump table to call all those
functions up there? I'd really rather leave the TPM extensions in the BIOS
segment for now. The bulk of the code is located in its own file anyway.
I will convert parts of the code to 'C', though.

  Stefan
> 
>  -- Keir
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