Andrew Roazen

Member since: Jan 30th, 2006

Andrew Roazen's Latest Comments

Blog Activity

Blog	# of Comments
Engadget	3 Comments
Download Squad	1 Comment

Recent Comments:

CodeWeavers brings Chromium to OS X and Linux (Download Squad)

Oct 6th 2008 3:25PM This also allows you to run most .EXE files as well once it's installed, but I can see why Codeweavers wouldn't want to mention this.

TiVo Series3 and HD FINALLY get TiVoToGo, MRV, eSATA drive, other new features (Engadget)

Oct 23rd 2007 4:40PM My point's the same. While your set-top box probably cost less than my homebrew, you have to wait for someone else to decide you get an upgrade or not.

TiVo Series3 and HD FINALLY get TiVoToGo, MRV, eSATA drive, other new features (Engadget)

Oct 23rd 2007 1:46PM i'M enjoYing THese feaTures already: stream Videos froM mY living room's masTer backend to tHe bedroom seT's slaVe backend and MY lapTop, watcH downloads in progress, Tune into internet audio/Video, MerelY paying abouT $2/montH for my TV listings.

How to dual-boot XP on an Intel Mac (in theory) (Engadget)

Jan 30th 2006 2:33PM For the record:

EFI does *not* come with BIOS emulation. It merely provides an empty space for a vendor to add it if they care to. Apple has no incentive right now to do so.

Because there's no BIOS, bootable CDs meant for legacy PCs will not do squat.

EFI is typically configured by an application run AFTER booting, not a key-mash at startup. Intel's docs on EFI make it clear that vendors can alter this at their discretion. The experiments which have killed Intel Macs relied on running EFI configurators designed for other platforms.

Just because something runs on an x86 does NOT mean that it necessarily behaves the same as a Dell at startup.

In order for this idea to work, you have to reconfigure EFI after booting OS X to install a BIOS emulator. Since Apple isn't talking on how EFI's configured on MacIntels, you're on your own. Plus, Intel's own documentation on how these emulators work or are installed is deliberately sketchy. EFI's supposed to make BIOS irrelevant, not support its limitations into the next century.

Key mashing is pointless: on a PPC Mac, the command keys which control boot devices are controlled by Open Firmware before anything else loads. On an Intel Mac, this is not the case. EFI loads first and the key mashing is handled by the Mac's own bootloader. In other words, it's software, not firmware.

Apple has no vested interest in making their machines vulnerable to hacking from removable media, and Intel has no vested interest in sustaining BIOS (which makes that possible).

Will EFI be hacked eventually? Yes. Will Apple support Intel Macs which have been compromised by having BIOS emulation added to their EFI? No.