SeaBios

SeaBios: Open Source 16-bit x86 BIOS

SeaBios provides low-level firmware needed to boot operating systems like Linux, Windows, BSD and others on x86 systems, offering a lightweight, compatible, and easy-to-configure solution.

What is SeaBios?

SeaBIOS is an open source implementation of a 16-bit x86 BIOS (Basic Input/Output System). It provides the core firmware code required to initialize the hardware and boot an operating system when a computer is powered on.

Unlike proprietary commercial BIOS solutions, SeaBIOS is designed to be small, lightweight, portable and compatible across various hardware. It is written in the C programming language and released under the GNU General Public License.

SeaBIOS essentially replaces the traditional BIOS found on x86-based PCs and provides the low-level firmware functions needed to initialize hardware like the CPU, memory, graphics card, storage devices and more during the booting process. It also allows booting from various devices like optical drives, USB drives and provides legacy BIOS compatibility.

A key capability SeaBIOS provides is booting various operating systems like Linux, Windows, BSD, etc on standard x86 PC hardware. It initializes the hardware to a state where it can then load bootloaders like GRUB, which can then boot various OSes. This makes it popular in virtualization platforms like QEMU and VirtualBox.

Compared to classic proprietary BIOS, SeaBIOS focuses on hardware compatibility and minimalism over flashy graphical interfaces. It's modular design makes it easy to configure for different needs. Overall, SeaBIOS fills a small but important firmware layer in the software stack and enables booting on commodity x86 hardware.

SeaBios Features

Official Links