PNPBIOS(4) | Device Drivers Manual (i386) | PNPBIOS(4)

# NAME

`pnpbios` —
introduction to PnP BIOS support

# SYNOPSIS

`pnpbios0 at mainbus?`
`XX* at pnpbios0 index ?`

`options PNPBIOSVERBOSE`
`options PNPBIOSDEBUG`

# INTRODUCTION

`pnpbios` provides support for finding and attaching devices by extracting information from the PnP BIOS of a machine.

# SUPPORTED DEVICES

NetBSD includes the following `pnpbios` drivers, sorted by driver name:

com
  serial communications interface
ess
  ESS Technology AudioDrive family audio device driver
fdc
  floppy controller
joy
  game controller
lpt
  parallel port driver
pciide
  PCI IDE controllers driver
pckbc
  PC keyboard/mouse controller
sb
  SoundBlaster family audio device driver
wss
  Windows Sound System hardware driver
ym
  Yamaha OPL3-SA3 sound driver

# SEE ALSO

com(4), ess(4), fdc(4), i386/intro(4), isa(4), joy(4), lpt(4), pci(4), pciide(4), pckbc(4), sb(4), wss(4), ym(4)

# HISTORY

The `pnpbios` driver appeared in NetBSD 1.5.

# BUGS

The `pnpbios` bus provides a different way to attach devices than the real buses (e.g., isa(4)). The reason to use `pnpbios` instead of the real bus is that some machines have weird routings of, e.g., interrupts. The exact information about these things can be found in the BIOS, which is why the `pnpbios` bus has a better chance of succeeding with getting it right.

Many older BIOS implementations do not support PnP, and some newer ones do not follow the standards.

February 17, 2017 | NetBSD 9.5