What is this PC hardware book

What is this PC hardware book

[Michael David Crawford]

A while ago I read a post where someone recommended a book about PC 
hardware, and looked it up at Amazon.  It sounded quite good, so I 
thought I would buy it someday, but it's been a long time so I have 
forgotten both the title and author.

The best I can remember is that the author was European, possibly 
German, and that the book was originally written in his native tongue.

Unfortunately, all of my searches for PC hardware just turn up books 
that explain how to build your own box from standard components.

This book explained what all the standard chips in a PC are, and what 
their electrical and programmatic interfaces are.

I'd like to read the book to better understand how to hack on Xen.  From 
the description I read, it could help any Xen developer, quite likely 
even experienced ones.

Thanks,

Mike
-- 
Michael David Crawford
mdc@prgmr.com

    prgmr.com - We Don't Assume You Are Stupid.

       Xen-Powered Virtual Private Servers: http://prgmr.com/xen

Re: What is this PC hardware book

[Keir Fraser]

The Indispensable PC Hardware Book by Hans Peter Messmer. The last edition
was published in 2001 I think, and I'm not sure how up to date it was even
then. It's probably still the best all-in-one general reference for all the
bits and pieces that make up the 'legacy' PC-compatible hardware platform.
The usefulness of that is fading however, and could even lead you down the
wrong path through omission of newer superceding interfaces.

 -- Keir

On 30/05/2009 12:40, "Michael David Crawford" <mdc@prgmr.com> wrote:

> A while ago I read a post where someone recommended a book about PC
> hardware, and looked it up at Amazon.  It sounded quite good, so I
> thought I would buy it someday, but it's been a long time so I have
> forgotten both the title and author.
> 
> The best I can remember is that the author was European, possibly
> German, and that the book was originally written in his native tongue.
> 
> Unfortunately, all of my searches for PC hardware just turn up books
> that explain how to build your own box from standard components.
> 
> This book explained what all the standard chips in a PC are, and what
> their electrical and programmatic interfaces are.
> 
> I'd like to read the book to better understand how to hack on Xen.  From
> the description I read, it could help any Xen developer, quite likely
> even experienced ones.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Mike

Re: What is this PC hardware book

[Michael David Crawford]

Keir Fraser wrote:
> The Indispensable PC Hardware Book by Hans Peter Messmer. 

Yes, that's the book.

The US Amazon has it for new $139.90, or used for as little as $70. 
It's 1200 page.

> The last edition
> was published in 2001 I think, and I'm not sure how up to date it was even
> then. It's probably still the best all-in-one general reference for all the
> bits and pieces that make up the 'legacy' PC-compatible hardware platform.
> The usefulness of that is fading however, and could even lead you down the
> wrong path through omission of newer superceding interfaces.

Ah, thanks that's good to know.

Is there a better book that's current?

Or given that I actually know very little about PC hardware, would it be 
a good way to start, if I knew that I had to look elsewhere for current 
info?

Mike
-- 
Michael David Crawford
mdc@prgmr.com

    prgmr.com - We Don't Assume You Are Stupid.

       Xen-Powered Virtual Private Servers: http://prgmr.com/xen

Re: What is this PC hardware book

[Keir Fraser]

On 30/05/2009 13:21, "Michael David Crawford" <mdc@prgmr.com> wrote:

>> The last edition
>> was published in 2001 I think, and I'm not sure how up to date it was even
>> then. It's probably still the best all-in-one general reference for all the
>> bits and pieces that make up the 'legacy' PC-compatible hardware platform.
>> The usefulness of that is fading however, and could even lead you down the
>> wrong path through omission of newer superceding interfaces.
> 
> Ah, thanks that's good to know.
> 
> Is there a better book that's current?
> 
> Or given that I actually know very little about PC hardware, would it be
> a good way to start, if I knew that I had to look elsewhere for current
> info?

I think the PC as a whole is too complex to describe in a single book these
days. I would still recommend this book, and fill in details on newer
technologies from (usually freely available) specification documents and
existing code.

 -- Keir