COMBOOT is a simple bootloader that loads kernels & modules over the serial port. I made it because I wanted an easy way to test my kernel on a physical machine without having to swap USB sticks, hard disks, floppies, or burn CDs every time. I figured I'd post it here because maybe someone might have the same need
. Please note that the quality of the code isn't anywhere near perfect, and that there are a lot of loose ends at the moment. But hey, it works. Basically, the boot sector requests a stage2 binary over the serial port. This stage2 binary enables A20, switches to protected mode, and then it requests the kernel and module files. The protocol features a "high-speed" transfer mode, which temporarily switches the baud rate from 9600 bauds to a whopping 115200 bauds.
The source code can be found here: https://github.com/dseller/comboot. It contains the source code of the boot sector, stage2 binary, and the C# windows application that hosts the files.
I would love to hear about it if you are using it!
