Rebootless display driver upgrades
First Claim
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1. A method comprising:
- loading an upgraded display driver on to a host computing system;
halting execution of a current display driver without releasing all resources allocated to the current display driver;
starting an interim display driver located in the host computing system, the interim display driver using at least some of the resources that were not released when the current display driver was halted; and
starting the upgraded display driver without having rebooted the host computing system since the time of loading the upgraded display driver on to the host computing system.
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Abstract
Systems and methods for rebootless updating of a IHV display driver are disclosed. According to such a method, first, the operating system stops the driver from running Second, the system switches over to an interim or temporary display driver, which be a default driver provided with the operating system. Third, the new hardware-specific driver is started. Thus, a hardware-specific display driver may be updated without rebooting.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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loading an upgraded display driver on to a host computing system; halting execution of a current display driver without releasing all resources allocated to the current display driver; starting an interim display driver located in the host computing system, the interim display driver using at least some of the resources that were not released when the current display driver was halted; and starting the upgraded display driver without having rebooted the host computing system since the time of loading the upgraded display driver on to the host computing system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A computer readable storage medium comprising computer executable instructions that when executed by a processor cause the processor to perform a rebootless method for transitioning to a second display driver on a host computing system, the method comprising:
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loading the second display driver on to the host computing system; stopping a first display driver that is currently running on the host computing system; receiving a call from an application to perform a graphics operation associated with the first display driver; informing the application that the first display driver is unavailable and directing the application to release any resources that the application had allocated for use with the first display driver; starting an interim display driver located in the host computing system, the interim display driver using at least some of the resources that were not released when the current display driver was halted; and starting the second display driver on the host computing system without rebooting the host computing system since the time of loading the second display driver on to the host computing system; and executing the call from the application by using the second display driver. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
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15. A system comprising:
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an upgraded display driver; a first display driver; an interim display driver; and a processor configured to; stop the first display driver running on a host computing system; start the interim display driver; and upon receiving a request from an application, running the first display driver, stopping the interim display driver, and starting the upgraded display driver without rebooting the host computing system, wherein starting the upgraded display driver comprises sending a notification to commence routines to add and start a new device to initiate using the upgraded display driver. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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Specification