Method and apparatus to support independent systems in partitions of a processing system

An apparatus, comprising:

• a preboot manager to manage a process for initializing a processing system that has multiple processing units, the preboot manager to perform operations during the initialization process comprising:
• copying software to a sequestered area of memory in the processing system;
• configuring the processing system to prevent a first partition of the processing system from accessing the sequestered area of memory;
• using a first processing unit in the processing system to boot an operating system (OS) on the first partition;
• transmitting a boot trigger from the first processing unit to a second processing unit in the processing system, the boot trigger to cause the second processing unit to use the software in the sequestered area of memory to boot a second partition of the processing system;
• creating a first basic input/output system (BIOS) region for the first partition;
• creating a second BIOS region for the second partition;
• storing substantially matching copies of BIOS code in the first and second BIOS regions;
• and
• when executing the BIOS code in the second partition, automatically determining an execution path, based on an attribute of the second processing unit, wherein the operation of automatically determining the execution path comprises:
• automatically determining whether the BIOS code is executing on an application processor;
• and
• if the BIOS code is executing on the application processor, skipping instructions for enumerating devices.

A manufacture, comprising:

• a machine-accessible storage medium;
• and
• instructions in the machine-accessible storage medium, wherein the instructions, when executed in a processing system, cause the processing system to perform operations comprising:
• copying software to a sequestered area of memory in the processing system;
• configuring the processing system to prevent a first partition of the processing system from accessing the sequestered area of memory;
• using the software in the sequestered area of memory and a second processing unit of the processing system to boot a second partition of the processing system;
• using an operating system (OS) and a first processing unit of the processing system to boot the first partition of the processing system;
• creating a first basic input/output system (BIOS) region for the first partition;
• creating a second BIOS region for the second partition;
• storing substantially matching copies of BIOS code in the first and second BIOS regions;
• and
• when executing the BIOS code in the second partition, automatically determining an execution path, based on an attribute of the second processing unit, wherein the operation of automatically determining the execution path comprises:
• automatically determining whether the BIOS code is executing on an application processor;
• and
• if the BIOS code is executing on the application processor, skipping instructions for enumerating devices.