Hard Drive Recognition

[ShaneHanlon]

Hi..
I'd basically like to know how the BIOS recognizes Hard Drives on boot-up. Does it access a descriptor table on the drive to find out what kind of media it is (size etc).
Can I too access this table (if it exists) using assembly or other language?

Any info would be appreciated.
THNX

[steves1728]

I hope you find these pages useful.Just grab a shovel and start diggin'... http://members.iweb.net.au/~pstorr/pcbook/book5/cmos.htm http://www.atlguide2000.com/eng/info/bios.htm http://www.techextreme.com/display.asp?ID=57&Page=1