> This is not a point. The BIOS setup is done by you with your hands. You
> can decide to enable/disable the NMIs and enable/disable Parity or ECC
> checks. Since this configuration is alredy done by the BIOS, which tests
> the machine before booting it, you should be confident that when the "Now
> booting the kernel" message is displayed, the machine is reasonably set
> up. No kernel initialization is needed, and forcing some initialization
> not done at BIOS stage can be very dangerous (See my PATCH3 e-mail
> about NMI tests with non-NMI memory).
>
Again, this is only true if the BIOS completely understands the current
hardware. I wouldn't bet the mortgage money on that. There are plenty of BIOSes
that are just plain buggy.
John