Talk:Power-on self-test

Happy Mac and Sad Mac part of POST?
So, umm, is the Happy Mac, Sad Mac symbols part of a POST operation (or equivalent)? If so, that deserves mention here. There is also a Sad Ipod message. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.102.189.169 (talk) 04:39, 23 October 2006 (UTC)

False information
Containing a lot of false information and blaming on another editor. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.66.52.210 (talk) 13:17, 4 May 2007 (UTC)

Definition of POST messages
There is a list of examples of beeps from some BIOSes. It should be enough to state that beeps are used, and then reference to other places, not to expand this article to cover all BIOSes. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.82.17.182 (talk) 20:50, 8 May 2008 (UTC)


 * The "definition" of a "POST message" is merely "any means of communicating the result of a POST". Kernel.package (talk) 23:32, 30 September 2010 (UTC)


 * The term "POST" was used long before there were "computing devices" or "embedded devices". What a POST includes is specified as needed by whomever produces the given device.  There is no such thing as a "standard" POST.  Even a motherboard's POST is subject to whether or not the manufacturer wants to comply with the ATA spec or not, and whether or not it wants to be more robust.  The term was used at least as early as the 1980s although design documents including the term (that I know of) were proprietary. So, POST existed long before computers became personal. Kernel.package (talk) 23:32, 30 September 2010 (UTC)

BIOS and POST mixture
The article currently mixes the responsibility between the BIOS and POST a lot. As I understand it, POST is a part of the BIOS. Everything not part of the POST should be cross referenced the the BIOS article instead? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.82.17.182 (talk) 20:50, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
 * POST, if it exists as firmware and not as hardware, is part of BIOS. BIOS too, can be either firm or hard but is (usually, anyway) too crucial to be soft.  FPGAs, and PLAs allow POST (and BIOS) to exist as hardware.  Before either one existed state machines existed in hardware.  Most implemented a power-on self test -- imagine trying to debug one of these things without knowing if the machine was able to provide reliable debug information. Kernel.package (talk) 23:37, 30 September 2010 (UTC)


 * The way this article mixes between BIOS and POST is pure false information.
 * I am an experienced technician(also IT guy) that teaches a pc technician/helpdesk course...
 * my students got a question on a test about the thing that POST does,
 * one of the right answers was "initiate OS boot sequence" (according to the people who wrote the test),
 * which i know to be wrong.
 * POST is a "small piece of software" which is a part of the BIOS and its only task is checking that the *cpu, *chipset, *ram, *video(?) and all that is between them are good to go, the essentials for running a machine. (the time between the "turn on button" to one, short, good Beep from the internal speaker)
 * after the beep the POSTs job is done and the BIOS takes control, detecting storage and all the other southbridge stuff,
 * only than the BIOS!!! initiates the OS Boot sequence.
 * after i saw the test i got somewhat confused and went a head to check myself, while calming myself with this (http://www.pcguide.com/ref/mbsys/bios/bootPOST-c.html, http://computer.howstuffworks.com/bios1.htm)
 * i got to see where the author of the test got his false information from.
 * This needs to be fixed. this article is wildly in accurate. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.172.188.103 (talk • contribs) 14:03, 23 November 2014‎
 * This needs to be fixed. this article is wildly in accurate. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.172.188.103 (talk • contribs) 14:03, 23 November 2014‎


 * WP:SOFIXIT. "Be Bold!" used to be a motto around here. --Wtshymanski (talk) 16:39, 24 November 2014 (UTC)

Vandalism
Has anyone else seen this? Look at this page; this is what I see.

"The original IBM BIOS reported errors detected during POST by outputting a number to a fixed I/O port address, 80. Using a logic analyzer or a dedicated POST card, an interface card that shows port 80 output on a small display, a technician could determine the origin of the problem. (Note that once an operating system is running on the computer, the code displayed by such a board is often meaningless, since some OSes, e.g. Linux, use port 80 for I/O timing operations.) In later years, BIOS vendors used a sequence of beeps from the motherboard-attached loudspeaker to signal error codes. haha"

I've checked the entire article's wiki code, as well as the raw HTML source, but I can't find "haha" anywhere.

IlliterateSage 00:53, 21 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Thats because they removed it.....silly. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.229.71.113 (talk) 10:17, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

Virus link alert
Removed this link as it contains a Trojan detected by avast! AntiVirus. Wikipedians, be on the lookout for whoever reposts this link. Cid SilverWing


 * The Last Link in the article leads to reported attack site- perhaps it should be removed, I have placed a warning next it for now. Xlphos (talk) 15:28, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

Many issues with this article

 * 1) Article is too technical
 * 2) What does POST actually do? The article talks about POST on so many devices that it doesn't even describe it properly. Which leads me to my next issue:
 * 3) Why do we have so much detail about POST on specific devices? This is only interesting to a set audience, and Wikipedia is not set up to be that way.

Mseingth2133444 ( talk / contribs ) 01:43, 8 March 2024 (UTC)