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Firmware. Firmware is commonly stored in an EEPROM, which makes use of an I/O protocol such as SPI. In computing, firmware is software that provides low-level control of computing device hardware. For a relatively simple device, firmware may perform all control, monitoring and data manipulation functionality. For a more complex device, firmware ...
They can use different I/O protocols, but SPI is the most common. Unified Extensible Firmware Interface ( UEFI, / ˈjuːɪfaɪ / or as an acronym) [ b] is a specification that defines the architecture of the platform firmware used for booting the computer hardware and its interface for interaction with the operating system.
UEFI. In computing, BIOS ( / ˈbaɪɒs, - oʊs /, BY-oss, -ohss; Basic Input/Output System, also known as the System BIOS, ROM BIOS, BIOS ROM or PC BIOS) is firmware used to provide runtime services for operating systems and programs and to perform hardware initialization during the booting process (power-on startup). [ 1]
v. t. e. An operating system ( OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common services for computer programs . Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also include accounting software for cost allocation of processor time, mass storage, peripherals ...
Embedded software is computer software, written to control machines or devices that are not typically thought of as computers, commonly known as embedded systems. It is typically specialized for the particular hardware that it runs on and has time and memory constraints. [ 1] This term is sometimes used interchangeably with firmware.
GNU GRUB, a popular open source bootloader. Windows bootloader. A bootloader, also spelled as boot loader[ 1][ 2] or called bootstrap loader, is a computer program that is responsible for booting a computer. If it also provides an interactive menu with multiple boot choices then it's often called a boot manager. [ 2]
Power-on self-test. A power-on self-test ( POST) is a process performed by firmware or software routines immediately after a computer or other digital electronic device is powered on. [ 1] POST processes may set the initial state of the device from firmware and detect if any hardware components are non-functional.
Kernel (operating system) The kernel is a computer program at the core of a computer 's operating system and generally has complete control over everything in the system. The kernel is also responsible for preventing and mitigating conflicts between different processes. [ 1] It is the portion of the operating system code that is always resident ...