Table of Contents
AoE boot firmware table
Introduction
The AoE Boot Firmware Table (aBFT) is a block of information containing various parameters useful to the AoE boot process. It is the mechanism whereby the boot firmware conveys information about the boot device to the loaded operating system.
Location
The aBFT can be located by scanning through base memory (address 0x00000 to address 0x09FFFF) for the table header signature. The table must be aligned on a 16-byte boundary, and the checksum must be correct.
Conventions
The aBFT follows the structure of an ACPI table.
All quantities are little-endian.
All fields marked as reserved must be filled with zeroes.
Structure
| Field | Byte Offset | Byte Length |
|---|---|---|
| Signature | 0 | 4 |
| Length | 4 | 4 |
| Revision | 8 | 1 |
| Checksum | 9 | 1 |
| OEMID | 10 | 6 |
| OEM Table ID | 16 | 8 |
| Reserved | 24 | 12 |
| AoE Shelf | 36 | 2 |
| AoE Slot | 38 | 1 |
| Reserved | 39 | 1 |
| MAC Address | 40 | 6 |
Signature
'aBFT' signature for the AoE Boot Firmware Table.
Length
Length in bytes of the entire aBFT, including the signature.
Revision
Must be set to 1.
Checksum
Entire table must sum to zero.
OEMID
ACPI OEM ID. All unused trailing bytes must be zero.
OEM Table ID
For the aBFT the Table ID is the Manufacturer's Model ID. All unused trailing bytes must be zero.
AoE Shelf
Shelf number of the AoE disk used for boot.
AoE Slot
Slot number of the AoE disk used for boot.
MAC Address
Ethernet MAC address of the network card used for boot.
