Re: multiboot information structure flags are confusing me

[Yoshinori K. Okuji]

At Thu, 14 Feb 2002 08:46:37 +0100,
Christoph Plattner wrote:
> What is VBE in GRUB ?

VBE stands for VESA BIOS EXTENSION which provides a simple interface
for graphics, video, and audio devices. When we are talking about VBE
in GRUB, we mean only the graphics part of the specification. Because
VBE requires real mode environment to get/set some information, the
Multiboot Specification 0.6.9x defines how a boot loader should
supports VBE and how such information should be passed to an OS image.

This is a bit similar to the video mode selection support in Linux,
but the main difference is that a boot loader changes graphics mode
and an OS image can request a preferred resolution/depth in a more
fuzzy way instead of just specifying a magic number.

Okuji