[ltp] Making backup of BIOS settings?

[FeRD]

On 8/23/06, Ryan Underwood <nemesis-lists@icequake.net> wrote:
>
> On Fri, Aug 18, 2006 at 08:40:55AM +0200, Felix E. Klee wrote:
> > Is it possible to read the BIOS settings of a T41 from within LINUX in
> > order to get some kind of backup.
>
> You can read/write CMOS with a simple C program:
> [...]
>
> Unfortunately, this will not include data that are stored in the
> Thinkpad's serial EEPROM.  Access to it is disabled by the BIOS
> so it is impossible for software to dump.

That was my basic understanding (going back to my original reply) --
that without special BIOS calls that can't be made from within a
protected-mode OS, you can't get acess to all of the information in
the BIOS. So there's no real, complete backup solution without
rebooting to a CD and using a tool that issues one of those real-mode
routines.

Given that, I don't think I'd feel safe trusting any backups taken
with a tool running from inside the OS -- it'd most likely just be a
"fooling oneself" sort of protection. Better to use a boot CD to take
a reliable, trustworthy backup every once in a while. (How often do
BIOS settings change, once they're settled upon? I doubt I've made any
adjustments on my T22 in well over 2 years.)

-FeRD