Method for switching between boot devices in information processing unit
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorsKifumi Numata, Kazunobu Umeda, Yohichi Miwa
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for switching between boot devices in an information processing unit devoid of a human machine interface for inputting, the steps of short-circuiting an output port and an input port, outputting a verification signal from the output port at the time of powering on or restarting the information processing unit, determining whether or not the verification signal is input to the input port, switching the OS boot source to a second boot device if the verification signal is input to the input port, and switching the OS boot source to a first boot device if the verification signal is not input to the input port, is provided for.
Claims17
A method for switching between a plurality of boot devices in an information processing unit provided with an external device connector including at least one output port and at least one input port, in which an operating system (OS) is booted from a first boot device for normal operation or is booted from a second boot device for a special operation, said method comprising the steps of:
- outputting a verification signal from said output port at the time of powering on or restarting said information processing unit;
- determining whether or not said verification signal is input to said input port;
- switching an OS boot source to said second boot device when said verification signal is input to said input port;
- and
- switching the OS boot source to said first boot device when said verification signal is not input to said input port.
A method for switching between boot devices in an information processing unit, comprising a plug attachable to an external device connector provided in the information processing unit and having a plurality of input/output pins is used as a key device for determining whether to boot an OS from a first boot device for a normal operation or from a second boot device for a special operation at the time of power on, wherein the OS boot source is switched from the first boot device to the second boot device by directly connecting at least one output of said plug with at least one input thereof.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.