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firmware
Firmware is the low-level software that runs first at power-on and prepares the machine before the operating system takes over.
When a computer boots, firmware initializes the hardware — memory, buses, basic devices — and then hands control to a bootloader and eventually the kernel. It sits conceptually 'below' the operating system, closer to the metal. In this stack, components like mzBoot, mzBIOS, and mzDTB play this early-boot role.
See also
- GRUBGRUB is a widely used bootloader — the program that loads and starts an operating system kernel at boot.
- GPTGPT here means GUID Partition Table, the modern scheme for describing how a disk is divided into partitions.
- GICThe GIC is ARM's Generic Interrupt Controller, the hardware that routes device interrupts to CPU cores.
Referenced by
freestanding · GIC · GPT · GRUB · i386