Booting a printer

• US 9,367,333 B2
• Filed: 07/30/2012
• Issued: 06/14/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/30/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Wen, Xiang-Qin, Nelson, Marvin D.
• Primary Examiner(s): BARNES, TED W
• Application Number:
  US14/397,575
• Publication Number:
  US 20150124287A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,415 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/441 Multiboot arrangements, i.e. selecting an operating system to be loaded
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4416 Network booting; Remote initial program loading [RIPL]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00204 with a digital computer or a digital computer system, e.g. an internet server programmed control between transmitter and receiver or between image input and image output device H04N1/32561
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0094 Multifunctional device, i.e. a device capable of all of reading, reproducing, copying, facsimile transception, file transception

Abstract

A method for booting a printer includes storing a configuration image of the printer on a network storage device. The configuration image includes an input/output (I/O) initialization sequence for at least one component of the printer and I/O flow control steps and timing. The method further includes downloading the configuration image from the network storage device to the printer and playing back the initialization sequence and flow control based on the configuration image.

Claims

1. A method for booting a printer, the method comprising:

storing a current configuration image of the printer on a network storage device, the current configuration image indicating a current state of the printer and including an input/output (I/O) initialization sequence for at least one component of the printer, and I/O flow control steps and timing;

during a reboot of the printer;

presenting on a user interface of the printer, a plurality of configuration images including the current configuration image, each of the plurality of configuration images indicating a different state of the printer and including an I/O initialization sequence and I/O flow control steps and timing;

receiving via the user interface, a user-selected configuration image from the plurality of configuration images;

downloading the user-selected configuration image from the network storage device to the printer; and

playing back the I/O initialization sequence and the I/O flow control steps and timing of the user-selected configuration image to restore the state of the printer indicated by the user-selected configuration image.

2. The method as defined in claim 1, further comprising:

causing an I/O initialization sequence to be recorded for each of the at least one component of the printer during the reboot; and

causing I/O flow control steps and timing to be recorded.

3. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein each configuration image includes:

a memory data stored in a first portion of memory of the printer; and

a register data stored in processor registers of the printer.

4. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein a configuration image is stored on the network storage device in response to a save request entered on the user interface of the printer.

5. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein each configuration image is stored in a database or other sequencing file format on the network storage device.

6. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein the plurality of configuration images includes a standard configuration image and a customized configuration image.

7. The method as defined in claim, 1 further comprising:

identifying and authenticating a user via the user interface of the printer; and

authenticating the user as a condition for allowing the printer access to the user-selected configuration image stored on the network storage device.

8. The method as defined in claim 1, further comprising:

causing component initialization to begin before an operating system initialization is complete; and

causing the component initialization to proceed in parallel via hyperthreading.

9. The method as defined in claim 1, further comprising causing the printer to revert to a conventional bootup if the printer is not capable of attaining a state corresponding to a configuration image.

10. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein the at least one component of the printer is chosen from a scanner, a print engine, an input device, an output device, a memory card reader, an image capture device interface, an automatic document feeder, a sheet feed mechanism, a collator, a display, a user interface, a hard disk drive, and combinations thereof.

11. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the current state of the printer is selected from the group consisting of a previous state stored as a result of a user save request, and a predetermined state stored as a result of the printer reaching the predetermined state.

12. A non-transitory, tangible computer readable medium having instructions embedded thereon that, when executed, implement a method for booting a printer, the instructions to:

cause an input/output (I/O) initialization sequence to be recorded for at least one component of the printer during a bootup;

cause I/O flow control steps and timing to be recorded;

store a configuration image of the printer on a network storage device, the configuration image indicating a state of the printer and including the I/O initialization sequence for each of the at least one component of the printer and the I/O flow control steps and timing;

during the bootup;

present on a user interface of the printer, a plurality of configuration images including the configuration image, each of the plurality of configuration images indicating a different state of the printer and including an I/O initialization sequence and I/O flow control steps and timing;

receive via the user interface, a user-selected configuration image from the plurality of configuration images;

download the user-selected configuration image from the network storage device to the printer; and

play back the I/O initialization sequence and the I/O flow control steps and timing of the user-selected configuration image to restore the state of the printer indicated by the user-selected configuration image.

13. The non-transitory, tangible computer readable medium as defined in claim 12 wherein the configuration image is stored in a database or other sequencing file format on the network storage device;

and wherein the configuration image is stored on the network storage device in response to the printer reaching a predetermined state.

14. The non-transitory, tangible computer readable medium as defined in claim 12 wherein the configuration image is chosen via a user interface from a plurality of configuration images, the plurality of configuration images including a standard configuration image and a customized configuration image;

and wherein the at least one component of the printer is chosen from a scanner, a print engine, an input device, an output device, a memory card reader, an image capture device interface, an automatic document feeder, a sheet feed mechanism, a collator, a display, a user interface, a hard disk drive and combinations thereof.

15. The non-transitory, tangible computer readable medium as defined in claim 12, the instructions further to:

cause hardware initialization to begin before an operating system initialization is complete;

cause the hardware initialization to proceed in parallel via hyperthreading; and

cause the printer to revert to a conventional boot if the printer is not capable of attaining a state corresponding to the configuration image.