System and method for managing the boot sequence of an information handling system

• US 7,174,446 B2
• Filed: 04/25/2003
• Issued: 02/06/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 04/25/2003
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Dennis, Lowell B., Woytovech, Peter A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Cao; Chun
• Application Number:
  US10/424,131
• Publication Number:
  US 20040215949A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,383 Days
• Field of Search: 713/1, 713/2, 713/100
• US Class Current: 713/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4408 Boot device selection

Abstract

A method and system for maintaining a boot sequence in bootable devices is disclosed. The method includes receiving a bootable device configuration for one or more bootable devices in an information handling system, comparing the bootable device configuration to a configuration history of one or more bootable devices; and updating the configuration history.

Claims

1. A method for maintaining a boot sequence in an information handling system, the information handling system including one or more bootable devices and a memory for storing a previous configuration of the one or more bootable devices, the previous configuration including a first list of one or more elements, each element of the previous configuration including a device type and a device discriminator, wherein the device discriminator uniquely identifies the device among devices of the same type, the method comprising:

receiving a current configuration for one or more bootable devices in an information handling system, the current configuration including a second list, each element of the second list including a device type and a device discriminator, wherein the device discriminator uniquely identifies the device among devices of the same type;

comparing the previous configuration to the current configuration of one or more bootable devices; and

updating the previous configuration.

2. The method for maintaining a boot sequence of claim 1, wherein updating the configuration history further comprises:

marking all elements in the previous configuration list as dormant;

for each element in the previous configuration list having a device type and device discriminator that match the device type and device discriminator of an element in the current configuration list;

removing the dormant marker from the element in the previous configuration list; and

removing the matching entry from the current configuration list;

for each element in the previous configuration list having a dormant marker and having a device type that matches the device type of an element in the current configuration list;

replacing the element in the previous configuration list with the element in the current configuration list; and

removing the matching element from the current configuration list; and

adding any elements remaining in the current configuration list to the previous configuration list.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the memory is a nonvolatile storage component.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the nonvolatile storage component is Flash ROM, EPROM, CMOS, or nonvolatile random access memory (NVRAM).

5. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more bootable devices is an Initial Program Load (IPL) device, a Plug and Play (PnP) device, or a BIOS Aware Initial Program Load Device (BAID).

6. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more bootable devices is associated with a Boot Connection Vector (BCV) or with a Bootstrap Entry Vector (BEV).

7. The method of claim 1, wherein:

each element of the first list further includes an address associated with a bootable device; and

each element of the second list further includes an address associated with a bootable device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the device discriminator is a serial number associated with the device.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the device discriminator is a function of a memory address.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the bootable device discriminator is a MAC address.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the function is selected from the group consisting of:

identifying the contents of the address,

identifying a checksum of the address; and

identifying a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of the contents of the address.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the device discriminator includes one or more parameters.

13. A method for maintaining a boot sequence in an information handling system, the information handling system including one or more bootable devices and a memory for storing a previous configuration of the one or more bootable devices, the previous configuration including a first list of one or more elements, each element of the previous configuration including a device type and a device discriminator, the device discriminator uniquely identifying a device having a device type, comprising:

receiving a current configuration for one or more bootable devices in an information handling system, the current configuration including a second list, each element of the second list including a device type and a device discriminator, a device discriminator uniquely identifying a device having a device type;

comparing the previous configuration to the current configuration of one or more bootable devices; and

updating the previous configuration, comprising,

marking all elements in the previous configuration list as dormant;

for each element in the previous configuration list having a device type and device discriminator that match the device type and device discriminator of an element in the current configuration list;

removing the dormant marker from the element in the previous configuration list; and

removing the matching entry from the current configuration list;

for each element in the previous configuration list having a dormant marker and having a device type that matches the device type of an element in the current configuration list;

replacing the element in the previous configuration list with the element in the current configuration list; and

removing the matching element from the current configuration list; and

adding any elements remaining in the current configuration list to the previous configuration list.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the memory is a nonvolatile storage component.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the nonvolatile storage component is Flash ROM, EPROM, CMOS, or nonvolatile random access memory (NVRAM).

16. The method of claim 13, wherein one or more bootable devices is an Initial Program Load (IPL) device, a Plug and Play (PnP) device, or a BIOS Aware Initial Program Load Device (BAID).

17. The method of claim 13, wherein one or more bootable devices is associated with a Boot Connection Vector (BCV) or with a Bootstrap Entry Vector (BEV).

18. The method of claim 13, wherein:

each element of the first list further includes an address associated with a bootable device; and

each element of the second list further includes an address associated with a bootable device.

19. The method of claim 13, wherein the device discriminator is a serial number associated with the device.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein the device discriminator is a function of a memory address.

21. The method of claim 13, wherein the bootable device discriminator is a MAC address.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the function is selected from the group consisting of

identifying the contents of the address,

identifying a checksum of the address;

and

identifying a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of the contents of the address.

23. The method of claim 20, wherein the device discriminator includes one or more parameters.