86Box BIOS Tools ================ A toolkit for extracting and analyzing x86 BIOS ROM images (mostly) within the context of the 86Box project. ## Test drive **86Bot** on the [86Box Discord](https://86box.net/#social) has a BIOS analysis feature which uses BIOS Tools behind the scenes. Go to the `#bot-spam` channel and use the `!bios` command with an attached file or an URL. Other commands which work the same way and also leverage these tools are `!acpi` for extracting and decompiling ACPI tables, and `!epa` for extracting logo images. ## Quick usage through Docker 1. Build the Docker image from this repository: ```sudo docker build -t biostools "https://github.com/86Box/bios-tools.git#main"``` 2. Create a destination directory, which will be called `roms` here. 3. Create a `1` directory within `roms`. 4. Place BIOS ROM images, archives, disk images, flasher executables and what have you in the `1` directory. Subdirectories will also be checked. **These files will be deleted during the extraction process.** 5. Run the container, binding `/bios` to the directory created in step 2: ```sudo docker run --rm -v /path/to/roms:/bios biostools | tee bioslist.csv``` 6. Import the resulting `bioslist.csv` file to Excel, or do whatever else you want to do with it. Other output formats can be selected through arguments to the container (after `biostools`); run `sudo docker run --rm biostools` to see a full list of supported arguments. ## Manual usage ### System requirements * **Linux**. Unfortunately, we rely on tools which contain non-portable code and generate filenames that are invalid for Windows, as well as GNU-specific extensions to shell commands. WSL should work for Windows users. * **Python 3.5** or newer. * **Standard gcc toolchain** for building the essential `bios_extract` tool. * **7-Zip** command line utility installed as `7z`. * **QEMU** (`qemu-system-i386`) for optionally extracting files which need to be executed. ### Installation 1. Clone this repository. 2. Build the `bios_extract` tool: ``` cd bios_extract make cd .. ``` 3. Download the `UEFIExtract` tool from its [GitHub repository](https://github.com/LongSoft/UEFITool/releases) and place its executable on the repository's root directory. Prebuilt versions are only available for `x86_64`, but this tool is optional, and only required for UEFI extraction. 4. Optionally install a dependency required for BIOS logo extraction: ``` pip install -r requirements.txt ``` ### Usage 1. Create a destination directory, which will be called `roms` here. 2. Create a `1` directory within `roms`. 3. Place BIOS ROM images, archives, disk images, flasher executables and what have you in the `1` directory. Subdirectories will also be checked. **These files will be deleted during the extraction process.** 4. Run the extractor, pointing it to the directory created in step 1: ``` python3 -m biostools -x roms ``` 5. The extracted file structure will be located in `roms/0`. Individual files are extracted to directories named after the original file's name followed by `:`. 6. Run the analyzer, pointing it to the `0` directory and redirecting its output to a `bioslist.csv` file: ``` python3 -m biostools -a roms/0 | tee bioslist.csv ``` 7. Import the resulting `bioslist.csv` file to Excel, or do whatever else you want to do with it. Other output formats can be selected through arguments to `-a`; run `python3 -m biostools` to see a full list of supported arguments. ## Extraction notes * Many common file types known not to be useful, such as images, PDFs, Office documents and hardware information tool reports, are automatically discarded. * Interleaved ROMs are merged through a heuristic filename and string detection, which may lead to incorrect merging if the chunks to different interleaved ROMs are present in the same directory. * The FAT filesystem extractor relies on assumptions which may not hold true for all disk images. * EPA (Award), PCX (AMI) and other image formats are automatically converted to PNG if the aforementioned optional dependency is installed. * Some Intel motherboard BIOSes (particularly from the AMIBIOS 6 era) will not be extracted properly due to a different address line inversion mechanism. This is a known issue with the Intel update format concatenator which may eventually be solved. * Extraction of the following BIOS distribution formats is **not implemented** due to the use of unknown compression methods: * ICL `.LDB` ## Analysis notes ### AMI * The string on **UEFI** is a hidden string located within the AMIBIOS 8-based Compatibility Support Module (CSM). A missing string may indicate a missing CSM. ### Award * The core version can be followed by `(Phoenix)` on BIOSes which identify as **Phoenix AwardBIOS**, or `(Workstation)` on ones which identify as **Award WorkstationBIOS**. * OEM modifications which may interfere with detection: **Sukjung** (string) ### IBM * The FRU codes contained in PC or PS/2 ROMs are interpreted as the string. ### Phoenix * Identification is **not perfect**, as the location of identification data varies from version to version, and a lot of OEMs mess with it. * Phoenix has no concept of a string. Any date or time found in the BIOS is interpreted as the string. ### SystemSoft * Insyde-compressed modules (identified by magic bytes `FF 88`) cannot be decompressed, limiting the analyzer's ability to identify Insyde-branded SystemSoft BIOSes. ## Add-on reference Depending on the contents of each BIOS, the following tags may be displayed on the analyzer output's "Add-ons" column: * **ACPI**: Appears to contain an ACPI table. Does not necessarily indicate ACPI actually works. * **Adaptec**: Adaptec ISA or PCI SCSI option ROM. * **NCR3/4**: NCR/Symbios PCI SCSI option ROM with SDMS version 3 or 4 (respectively). * **PXE**: PXE-compliant network boot ROM, usually associated with on-board Ethernet. * **RPL**: Novell NetWare RPL-compliant network boot ROM, usually associated with on-board Ethernet. * **SLI**: NVIDIA SLI license for non-nForce motherboards. * **UEFI**: The BIOS core is UEFI-compliant. Does not necessarily indicate UEFI support is available. * **VGA**: Video BIOS, usually associated with on-board video. ### BIOS-specific add-ons * AMIBIOS (Color through 7) setup types: **Color**, **EasySetup**, **HiFlex**, **NewSetup**, **SimpleSetup**, **WinBIOS**. * Award: **PhoenixNet** indicates the presence of PhoenixNet features, even if those were disabled by the OEM. **UEFI** indicates Gigabyte Hybrid EFI.