Future: BIOS boot support via Limine #5

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opened 2026-10-10 18:19:55 +00:00 by muse-lantern · 0 comments
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Currently the tool only targets UEFI boot (ESP + BOOTX64.EFI). BIOS boot is explicitly out of scope for now.

For future work, BIOS support via Limine would require:

  • Add a 1MB BIOS boot partition (type EF02) to the GPT layout in buildBootImage
  • Install limine-bios.sys to the FAT32 boot partition
  • Run limine bios-install against the final image
  • Decide how Limine binaries are sourced (see #5 — Alpine limine package investigation)
  • Test with SeaBIOS in QEMU

Verified 2026-10-10: manually adding the EF02 partition + limine bios-install works against tool-generated images. The GPT layout just doesn't include it by default.


Deferred. UEFI is the supported path for now.

Currently the tool only targets UEFI boot (ESP + `BOOTX64.EFI`). BIOS boot is explicitly out of scope for now. For future work, BIOS support via Limine would require: - [ ] Add a 1MB BIOS boot partition (type EF02) to the GPT layout in `buildBootImage` - [ ] Install `limine-bios.sys` to the FAT32 boot partition - [ ] Run `limine bios-install` against the final image - [ ] Decide how Limine binaries are sourced (see #5 — Alpine `limine` package investigation) - [ ] Test with SeaBIOS in QEMU Verified 2026-10-10: manually adding the EF02 partition + `limine bios-install` works against tool-generated images. The GPT layout just doesn't include it by default. --- *Deferred. UEFI is the supported path for now.*
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residual/os#5
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