A computer's
firmware is low-level software, with an associated data area, that comes pre-installed in flash memory on the motherboard. The first software to be run when the computer is booted, firmware is generally customised to be motherboard-specific and designed to communicate with other hardware in the system. The two main firmware types used nowadays are
BIOS and the more recent
UEFI. This article does not cover other firmware interfaces such as libreboot and coreboot.
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