MSI to Offer Free EFI BIOS Update in July

malware · May 18, 2008

Micro Star International (MSI) is going to be the next manufacturer to try and replace the old BIOS chips on our motherboards with something new called (EFI) or otherwise known as Extensible Firmware Interface. EFI is intended as a significantly improved replacement of the old legacy BIOS firmware interface used by almost every motherboard today. According to the guys over at bit.tech.net MSI will deliver a free upgrade to EFI on its MSI P45 motherboards (it wasn't specified which models) in July. Upgrading to the EFI BIOS will be optional, users who prefer the old BIOS can always choose not to upgrade.

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WarEagleAU · May 18, 2008

Id love to see this for all mobos personally. Not just certain ones.

selway89 · May 18, 2008

Is this the same as that used on Macs? If so what are the benefits and or changes to the standard BIOS?

InnocentCriminal · May 18, 2008

I keep forgetting to submit news.

Darknova · May 18, 2008

I'd love to see EFI rolled out across all current boards, but I think we all know that won't happen

jocksteeluk · May 18, 2008

Will these EFI bios allow you to install mac os without the need for software manipulation?

panchoman · May 19, 2008

@jock, Nope.. the reason macs wont install on pc's is because the mac os x only supports intel based hardware (this is also why it is 500 billion times more stable in windows, where the causes of many problems and crashs are due to drivers). current osx86 (mac on pcs) are very :ohwell:

because it requires people to develop drivers, the only part thats needed to really get os x on a pc.. of course thats gone preety far and you can install it any recent intel machine and some amd machines.. how to do this.. i will not say.. but you may feel free to pm me.

i wonder if this efi will allow oc'ing? if it does i wonder if this efi can be implemented into macs to make those far-superior-os-supporting machines overclockable? also, since efi eliminates the need for a bootloader, i wonder if porting efi to the windows platform will allow people to easily bootload windows mac sun/sparc and linux without the need for using things like grub, lilo, ntldr, vista bootloader, etc.

of course, kudos to msi for being the first to bring efi to pc's, and good luck!

i really like the fact that mobo companies are going above and beyond, you see the companies trying daring things, like asus's northbridge hs that generated electricity or asus's embedded linux or something like msi trying to bring efi to pcs

hat · May 19, 2008

What's wrong with BIOS? Oh well, technology can only progress. I hope it supports overclocking like BIOS did... maybe even more.

flashstar · May 19, 2008

I'm not exactly sure what advantages EFI brings (Wikipedia said that it is more or less just a more complex bios). After reading more, it appears that EFI is more or less a basic operating system.

I bet that it would slow down your computer more than anything with the fancy boot screen and shell. Meh, I'd just stick with the BIOS.

eidairaman1 · May 19, 2008

any idea what EFI will bring to the table, hope it doesnt impede us from doing Performance tweaking.

tkpenalty · May 19, 2008

It allows for more detailed summaries etc, and more data to be displayed due to its higher resolution, moreover allows for tuning to be less confusing as a result of that.

Well I think thats about it.

Wile E · May 19, 2008

EFI can also enable mouse usage in the bios.

As far as OSX, it wont run on these, not technically because of the hardware used, but because it doesn't have the TPM (trusted platform module) that the OS X install disk looks for.

qubit · May 19, 2008

EFI = DRM = screwed customers

EFI will allow DRM consumer control to be implemented more effectively, so that the customer can get screwed more effectively.

I remember reading about this when EFI was first brought out, but this issue has now gone remarkably quiet...

REVHEAD · May 19, 2008

qubit said:
EFI will allow DRM consumer control to be implemented more effectively, so that the customer can get screwed more effectively.

I remember reading about this when EFI was first brought out, but this issue has now gone remarkably quiet...

Exactly , DRM at the hardware level, the death of the Pc is getting closer, the reasons to love a PC is we have total control, it seems were are beginning to lose this control.

qubit · May 19, 2008

REVHEAD said:
Exactly , DRM at the hardware level, the death of the Pc is getting closer, the reasons to love a PC is we have total control, it seems were are beginning to lose this control.

Exactly. You know all that DRM-free music from iTunes, Amazon etc? Well, the f* RIAA want to bring the DRM back!! :mad:

p2pnet has covered the story here:

"DRM isn’t dead. It only smells that way.

But seriously, “At a time when the top recording companies appear to be phasing out digital rights management,” RIAA technology unit boss David Hughes (right) is predicting its return, says CNET News.

It will, however, be a softer, gentler Digital Restrictions Management [aka consumer control] —- a good cop instead of a bad one.

Hughes is the guy who said during a trip to Canada, recently, “Raising awareness of the morality of free downloading doesn’t work, nor does litigation.”

Rather, “If you make the hassle factor high enough, people will pay.”

Beat them up, in other words. Sue ‘em into becoming good little corporate consumers.

Or try to."

"softer & gentler" - yeah, right.

Get the full dirt here: http://www.p2pnet.net/story/15874

spud107 · May 19, 2008

even then, how long before a drm free modded bios would be released?

Wile E · May 20, 2008

spud107 said:
even then, how long before a drm free modded bios would be released?

Not long at all. I took no time at all to defeat the HD DRM built into Vista. Besides, I seriously doubt DRM will be an in-built feature with EFI.

flashstar · May 20, 2008

Putting DRM in EFI would be like licensing your motherboard from the manufacturer! :shadedshu

panchoman · May 20, 2008

The Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) is a set of interfaces that defines how software will interface with future firmware. Intel developed EFI as a part of the Intel Boot Initiative program that began in 1998. This program was designed to modernize firmware technology in today's computers in order to move past the limitations of a legacy BIOS. It offers features similar to the Open Firmware used on older PowerPC-based Macs. Beyond that, it is extensible and quite flexible. (Note: HP Itanium systems have been using EFI for several years)

Drivers, pre-boot applications and OS loaders for EFI are written in C, not assembly. The EFI specification includes clean APIs for text and graphical screen output, keyboard and mouse input, and access to file systems and block devices. EFI allows settings to be stored in NVRAM in the form of named variables, i.e. key-value pairs.

-osx86 wiki

lemonadesoda · May 20, 2008

Remember that installing EFI over BIOS will require a rebuild of your windows system, IIRC.

And will result in hardware based DRM, software license keys, no more keygens, only patches will work now, etc. etc.

Wile E · May 21, 2008

EFI has nothing to do with DRM. First off, it was never said DRM is automatically in EFI, secondly, it wouldn't be hardware based at all. It's still software, just like a BIOS.

Besides, the DRM in BR and (the now extinct) HD-DVD is already hardware based, and that was easily cracked.

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MSI to Offer Free EFI BIOS Update in July

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