CMOS-BIOS

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CMOS Battery
 Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor

 Small amount of memory on a computer motherboard that stores

the BIOS settings. Some of these BIOS settings include the system time and date, as
well as hardware settings.

 This is used to store basic information about the PC’s configuration: number and type
of hard and floppy drives, how much memory, what kind and so on.

 The other important data kept in CMOS memory is the time and date, which is
updated by a Real Time Clock (RTC).

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CMOS Battery
 The CMOS memory is usually located with the real-time clock in the motherboard
chipset or in a separate real-time clock chip.

 The PC reads the time from the RTC when it boots up, after which the CPU keeps time
– which is why system clocks are sometimes out of sync.

 Rebooting the PC causes the RTC to be reread, increasing their accuracy.

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CMOS Battery
 The CMOS RAM is used to store basic Information about the PC’s configuration for
instance:-
 Floppy disk and hard disk drive types
 Information about CPU
 RAM size
 Date and time
 Serial and parallel port information
 Plug and Play information
 Power Saving settings

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CMOS Battery

 The standard lifetime of a CMOS battery is around 10 Years. However, this can vary
depending on the use and environment in which the computer resides.

 If the CMOS battery is failing, the computer cannot keep the correct time or date on
the computer after it's turned off.

 The CMOS battery is a Lithium-ion battery about the size of a coin. If your CMOS
battery dies, your BIOS settings will reset to their defaults when your computer is
turned off.

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BIOS
 BIOS stands for Basic Input/Output System.

which is stored in nonvolatile memory like ROM (Read Only Memory)

The BIOS is stored on a ROM chip because ROM retains information even when no
power is being supplied to the computer.

 BIOS is essentially the link between the computer hardware and software in a system.

 On PCs, the BIOS contains all the code required to control the keyboard, display screen,
disk drives, serial communications, and a number of miscellaneous functions.

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 A BIOS (Basic Input/Output System)is a program that a computer uses to successfully
start operating.

 The BIOS is located on a chip inside of the computer and is designed in a way that
protects it from disk failure.

 When you turn on a PC, the BIOS first conduct a basic hardware check, called a Power-
On Self Test (POST), to determine whether all of the attachments are present and
working.

 Then it loads the operating system into your computer’s random access memory, or
RAM.

 The BIOS also manages data flow between the computer’s operating system and
attached devices such as the hard disk, video card, keyboard, mouse, and printer.

 The BIOS stores the date, the time, and your system configuration information in a
battery-powered, non-volatile memory chip, called a CMOS (Complementary Metal
Oxide Semiconductor)

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 If any of the peripherals are plug and play devices, it’s at this point that the BIOS
assigns their resources within the system. There’s also an option to enter the Setup
program, allowing the user to tell the PC what hardware is fitted.

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Steps of Booting

We can describe the boot process in six steps:

1. The Startup

It is the first step that involves switching the power ON. It supplies electricity to the main
components like BIOS and processor.

2. BIOS: Power On Self Test

It is an initial test performed by the BIOS. Further, this test performs an initial check on the
input/output devices, computer’s main memory, disk drives, etc. Moreover, if any error
occurs, the system produces a beep sound.

3. Loading of OS

In this step, the operating system is loaded into the main memory. The operating system
starts working and executes all the initial files and instructions.

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4. System Configuration
In this step, the drivers are loaded into the main memory. Drivers are programs that help in
the functioning of the peripheral devices.

5. Loading System Utilities

System utilities are basic functioning programs, for example, volume control, antivirus, etc.
In this step, system utilities are loaded into the memory.

6. User Authentication
If any password has been set up in the computer system, the system checks for
user authentication. Once the user enters the login Id and password correctly the system
finally starts.

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Motherboard-Chipset

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Chipset
 The chipset is an integral part of the motherboard and without it, a motherboard just
wouldn’t work.

 Chipsets have so far in generally been comprised of two parts, although they might go
under slight different names, but they are commonly known as the northbridge and
southbridge.

 A chipset is a group of interdependent motherboard chips or integrated circuits that

control the flow of data and instructions between the central processing unit (CPU) or
microprocessor and external devices. A chipset controls external buses, memory cache
and some peripherals.

 A chipset is a group of small circuits that coordinate the flow of data to and from a PC's
key components. These key components include the CPU itself, the main memory,
cache, and any devices situated on the buses.

 A chipset is specifically designed for a motherboard. The chipset and motherboard

must be compatible with the CPU to prevent system failover.

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 Most chipset drivers are manually updated and installed.

 A chipset and device drivers are compatible when an operating system is initially
installed. However, device drivers eventually become outdated due to subsequent
hardware and software installations.

 Outdated or incompatible device drivers create compatibility issues, lack of features

and device performance.

 A chipset has two sections – southbridge and northbridge – with specific sets of
functions that communicate between the CPU and external devices.

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North Bridge
 The northbridge is one of the two chips, or integrated circuits (ICs), within the
chipset on the motherboard.

 The other chip is called the southbridge.

 Each chip has a specific set of tasks and communicates between the CPU and
external devices through buses.

 Northbridge is located in the northern section of the motherboard. It is also

known as the host bridge. It is directly connected to the CPU

 Other names for North bridge are host bridge and Memory Controller Hub (MCH).

 It handles the faster components on the motherboard, including RAM, ROM, basic
input/output system (BIOS), accelerated graphics port (AGP), PCI Express, and the
southbridge chip as well as the CPU.

 It also controls the CPU cache, if it is located on the motherboard.

 In some instances the Northbridge and Southbridge functions were combined.

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South Bridge

 The southbridge, which is not directly connected to the CPU, is also known as the
input/output controller hub.

 Southbridge handles the motherboard's slower connections, including input/output

(I/O) devices and computer peripherals like expansion slots and hard disk drives.

 Bridge connection from Northbridge to slower devices like USB devices, PCI,
IDE(SATA/PATA), BIOS, onboard sound ,Ethernet and more .

 The southbridge connects to the northbridge via a custom high-speed interface,

although in the case of most Intel chipsets this bus is called DMI (Direct Media
Interface).

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Difference between Southbridge and Northbridge

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