Initiating an operating system boot from firmware
AssigneeAmerican Megatrends, Inc.
InventorsStefano Righi, Natalya Kalistratova
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A computer system firmware stores an operating system boot loader along with accompanying firmware boot driver and a service option ROM. A firmware boot enables the computer system to initiate an operating system boot without necessarily utilizing a hard drive or other peripheral. The service option ROM is installed, indicating to the firmware that a firmware boot is available. When selected the firmware boot copies the operating system boot loader from firmware to main memory and then initiates the operating system boot loader.
Claims10
A method for booting an operating system utilizing a firmware in a computer system, the method comprising:
- installing a service option read-only memory (ROM) in a memory of the computer system, wherein the service option ROM includes program code for booting an operating system utilizing the firmware;
- retrieving a boot loader driver for the operating system from the firmware, wherein the boot loader driver is associated with an operating system boot loader stored in the firmware;
- copying the boot loader driver to the memory of the computer system;
- executing the operating system boot loader;
- locating the service option ROM in the memory;
- utilizing the service option ROM to add identifying information for the boot loader driver to a list of initial program load (IPL) devices;
- displaying a list of available IPL devices on a display, wherein the list of available IPL devices includes the identifying information for the boot loader driver;
- and
- receiving a selection of the boot loader driver from a user.
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon for booting an operating system from a firmware which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:
- load a service option read-only memory (ROM) from the firmware to a memory of a computer system, wherein the service option ROM indicates that a firmware boot is available;
- in response to determining that a firmware boot is requested, copy an operating system boot loader from the firmware to the memory of the computer system;
- execute the operating system boot loader;
- locate the service option ROM in the memory, wherein the service option ROM comprises a Plug and Play expansion header including a boot entry vector;
- execute program code stored at a location indicated by the boot entry vector upon determining that the firmware boot is needed;
- display a list of available initial program load (IPL) devices on a display, wherein the list of available IPL devices includes a firmware boot;
- and
- receive a selection of the firmware boot from a user.
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon for booting an operating system on a computer system from a firmware, the computer-readable medium storing modules comprising:
- a service option ROM comprising a Plug and Play (PnP) expansion header, a boot entry vector indicating a location for initiating a firmware boot, and a text identifier for a firmware boot;
- a firmware boot driver including a first plurality of instructions that creates a firmware boot event and a second plurality of instructions that copies an operating system boot loader from the firmware to a memory in the computer system, wherein the firmware boot event is triggered when a firmware boot is requested by a user and wherein the firmware boot selection is made from a list of initial program load (IPL) devices;
- an operating system boot loader;
- and
- instructions for copying a signature from the firmware to the memory.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.