JP2001175477A - Computer system and copying method for system bios - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prepare plural exclusive BIOS modules corresponding to the kinds of various devices in a system ROM without restrictions on the size of an RAM area at the destination of copy. SOLUTION: Plural exclusive BIOS modules, respectively corresponding to plural devices exclusively loadable as an LAN controller 15 are stored in a BIOS-ROM 19, and at copying of the system BIOS from the BIOS-ROM 19 to an RAM area, not all the plural exclusive BIOS modules but only the exclusive BIOS module corresponding to the kind of the device actually loaded as the LAN controller 15 is selected and copied to the RAM area.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a computer system for performing ROM / RAM copying of a system BIOS and a method of copying the system BIOS used in the system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a computer system such as a personal computer has a system ROM (BIOS) for storing a system BIOS (basic input / output program).
OSROM). The system BIOS is a program for performing initialization and operation control of various hardware.

In general, the system BIOS is copied from a low-speed system ROM to a high-speed RAM area for high-speed execution of the system BIOS. This R
The OM / RAM copy is performed when the power of the system is turned on. In this case, all the contents in the system ROM are stored in the ROM.
It is usually copied to the AM area.

In order to support various devices having different specifications, the system ROM includes dedicated BIOS modules corresponding to all types of devices that may be exclusively mounted as specific hardware. It is preferable to prepare them. For example, a device used for bootstrap processing of an operating system cannot be started unless the system BIOS can initialize the device.
It is necessary to prepare the IOS module in the system ROM in advance.

In particular, recently, not only booting from a device whose specification has been standardized such as a floppy disk drive, HDD drive, and CD-ROM drive, but also booting from a LAN has become possible. It is required that the BIOS be able to support various types of devices that may be mounted as a device.

[0006]

However, conventionally, since all the contents in the system ROM are copied to the RAM area, when the number of dedicated BIOS modules to be prepared is increased, the size of the system ROM becomes larger than that of the RAM area. The size of the conventional RAM area cannot be dealt with, or the time required for ROM / RAM copy becomes longer, which causes a problem such as a reduction in the system startup processing speed.

Therefore, in practice, only a dedicated BIOS module corresponding to a limited type of device can be prepared, and it has been difficult to support various devices having different specifications.

[0008] The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and is intended to provide a large number of dedicated BIs corresponding to various types of devices without being limited by the size of a RAM area to be copied.
An object of the present invention is to provide a computer system and a method of copying a system BIOS which can prepare an OS module in a system ROM and can cope with various types of devices.

[0009]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the present invention copies a system BIOS from a system ROM to a predetermined RAM area on a main memory in response to power-on, and In a computer system operating using a system BIOS, a system RO storing a system BIOS including a plurality of BIOS modules respectively corresponding to a plurality of types of devices that can be exclusively mounted as hardware for realizing a predetermined function.
M, and copying means for copying the contents of the system ROM to the predetermined RAM area in response to power-on of the computer system, wherein the copying means is provided as hardware for realizing the predetermined function. Detecting means for detecting the type of device mounted on the computer system; and a BIOS corresponding to the type of device detected by the detecting means from among the plurality of BIOS modules stored in the system ROM.
Means for selecting an OS module and copying it to the RAM area.

In this computer system, a plurality of BIOS modules respectively corresponding to a plurality of types of devices which can be mounted exclusively are stored in a system ROM, and the system BIOS is transferred from the system ROM to the RAM.
When copying to the area, instead of copying all of the plurality of BIOS modules, only the BIOS module corresponding to the type of device detected by the detection unit is selected and copied to the RAM area. Therefore, RA
A large number of dedicated BIOS modules corresponding to various types of devices can be prepared in the system ROM without being restricted by the size of the M area and the like, so that various types of devices can be supported. Also, many BIO
Even if the S module is prepared, the time required for ROM / RAM copy is not increased, and the shortage of the RAM area is not caused.

The plurality of types of devices that can be exclusively mounted are used for operating system startup processing. In this case, the BIOS module corresponding to the type of the device detected by the detection unit is copied to the RAM area, thereby performing device initialization processing,
And the processing required to start the operating system via the device is executed, so that no matter what kind of device is mounted as the boot device, the normal operation is performed under the control of the system BIOS. System startup processing can be performed.

In particular, in a system for performing a boot process from a network environment using a network interface device, a floppy disk drive, an HDD
Unlike a drive and a CD-ROM drive, various network interface devices having different specifications may be used. Therefore, BIOS modules corresponding to the various network interface devices are prepared, and the BIOS modules corresponding to the detected network interface devices are prepared.
By using the method of selecting a module, it is possible to flexibly cope with a boot process from a network environment.

[0013] Further, means for judging the presence or absence of hardware for realizing the predetermined function is provided, and if not present, all the plurality of BIOS modules are excluded from the copy target and the copy is prohibited. Or, when hardware for realizing a predetermined function is set to be not used, a function for prohibiting copying of all of a plurality of BIOS modules even if the hardware exists. Is added, it is possible to prevent a decrease in system performance due to execution of useless copy processing.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a computer system according to an embodiment of the present invention. This computer system is a notebook-type personal computer (hereinafter, referred to as a PC), which boots an operating system from a floppy disk drive (FDD) 22 and a hard disk drive (HD).
D) In addition to booting from the CD-ROM drive 21 and booting from the CD-ROM drive 21, booting from a network environment via the LAN controller 15 is supported.

As shown, the computer system includes a PCI bus 1, an ISA bus 2, a CPU 11, a host-PCI bridge 12, a main memory 13, a display controller 14, a LAN controller 15, a PCI-I
SA bridge 16, I / O controller 17, keyboard controller (KBC) 18, BIOS-ROM1
9, Hard disk drive (HDD) 20, CD-R
An OM drive 21 and a floppy disk drive (FDD) 22 are provided.

The CPU 11 controls the entire computer system, and executes an operating system and application programs loaded on a main memory 13 composed of a DRAM or the like, and further executes a system BIOS. The system BIOS systematizes a group of programs for hardware control.
In the present embodiment, when the power is turned on, the system BIOS is stored in an 8-bit or 16-bit BIOS-ROM
BIO on main memory 13 of 2 bits or 64 bits width
The ROM / RAM copy processing is performed on the S copy area, and thereafter, the system B is copied on the BIOS copy area.
IOS is executed at high speed.

The host-PCI bridge 12 is connected to the CPU 11
Is a bus bridge for connecting the processor bus and the PCI bus 1 in two directions, and also has a built-in memory controller for controlling access to the main memory 13. After copying the system BIOS to the BIOS copy area, access to the BIOS-ROM 19 is switched to access to the BIOS copy area on the main memory 13, and this access destination is switched by the CPU 11 within the host-PCI bridge 12. This is realized by switching the memory address from the BIOS-ROM 19 to the BIOS copy area.

A display controller 14, a LAN controller 15, a PCI-I
When the SA bridge 16 and the I / O controller 17
It is connected as a CI device.

The LAN controller 15 is a device for a network interface for connecting the computer system to a LAN. As described above, network interface devices are FDD, HD
Different from other boot devices such as D and CD-ROM, there are devices with various specifications, and various devices with different specifications are exclusively mounted as the LAN controller 15. When booting the operating system from the network environment, first, the initialization process of the LAN controller 15 is performed by the system BIOS, and the operating system is booted from the network environment via the LAN controller 15 under the control of the system BIOS. For this purpose, necessary communication processing and the like are executed.

The PCI-ISA bridge 16 is a bridge device for bidirectional connection between the PCI bus 1 and the ISA bus 2 and controls IDE / ATAPI devices such as the HDD 20 and the CD-ROM drive 21. IDE controller for performing the operation. Also,
The control of the FDD 22 is performed by the I / O controller 17.

A keyboard controller (KBC) 18 and the aforementioned BIOS-ROM 19 are connected to the ISA bus 2. In the system BIOS stored in the BIOS-ROM 19, a BIOS module for controlling each device provided in the present system is stored in a systematized manner. Since a variety of different devices may be used, a plurality of dedicated BIOS modules corresponding to the types of the devices are stored. Here, device types a, b, c, and
5 types of dedicated BIOS modules corresponding to d and e (device a dedicated BIOS module, device b
It is assumed that a dedicated BIOS module, a dedicated BIOS module for device c, a dedicated BIOS module for device d, and a dedicated BIOS module for device e are prepared.

These five types of dedicated BIOS modules correspond to the type of device actually mounted as the LAN controller 15 instead of copying all of them to the BIOS copy area when copying the system BIOS ROM / RAM. Only the dedicated BIOS module is copied to the BIOS copy area. For example, L
When the device c is mounted as the AN controller 15, the BIOS module dedicated to the device c corresponding to the device c is selected and copied to the BIOS copy area. Then, the copied dedicated BIOS module performs initialization of the LAN controller 15 and control processing for booting the OS from the network environment.

The ROM / RAM copy of the system BIOS is executed by a ROM / RAM copy routine included in the system BIOS. Also, the system BI
The OS includes a POST processing routine, a boot processing routine for booting the operating system, and a setup routine for setting / changing a hardware environment in accordance with a user operation.

By using this setup routine, the user can set the use / non-use of each device and set / change the boot priority. The boot priority is information indicating from which boot device the operating system is preferentially started, and usually, FDD → HDD → CD
-ROM is set in the order of LAN, but can be changed according to a user operation.

The LAN controller 15 is mounted not only in the case where the LAN controller 15 is mounted in the computer main body but also in the LAN docker 200 used for expanding the functions of the computer main body 100 as shown in FIG. In some cases.

(ROM / RAM copy process # 1)
Referring to the flowchart of FIG. 3, the BIO corresponding to the type of device mounted as LAN controller 15
A procedure of a process of selectively copying the S module to the RAM will be described.

First, when the power of the computer system is turned on (including the system reset) (step S)
11), the system BIOS starts ROM / RAM copy using the above-described ROM / RAM copy routine. In the ROM / RAM copy process, when copying a dedicated BIOS module corresponding to the LAN controller 15, the system BIOS first executes the LA
The configuration register of the N controller 15 is read, and the type of the device mounted as the LAN controller 15 is determined (step S12). Since information for identifying various devices such as a vendor ID and a device ID is stored in the configuration register, the type of the device mounted as the LAN controller 15 can be determined.

Then, based on the information read from the configuration register, the system BIOS
It is determined whether the device mounted as the N controller 15 is the aforementioned “device a” (step S13). For "device a", BI0S-ROM
19, a dedicated BIOS module (device a dedicated BIOS) corresponding to “device a” is selected from the five types of dedicated BIOS modules for the LAN controller stored in
S module), and select it from the BIOS-ROM 19
Is copied to the RAM (step S14).

If the device mounted as the LAN controller 15 is not “device a”, then the system BIOS determines whether the device mounted as the LAN controller 15 is “device b”. Is determined (step S15). "Device b"
Then, the LA stored in the BIOS-ROM 19
A dedicated BIOS module (device b dedicated BIOS module) corresponding to “device b” is selected from among five types of dedicated BIOS modules for N controllers,
It is copied from the BI0S-ROM 19 to the RAM (step S16).

Similarly, if the device mounted as the LAN controller 15 is "device c" (YES in step S17), the BIOS dedicated to device c is used.
The module is copied (step S18),
If it is "device d", the device d dedicated BIOS module is copied, and if it is "device e", the device e dedicated BIOS module is copied (steps S19 to S22).

Next, the dedicated BIOS module for the LAN controller 15 copied to the RAM causes the LA
The initialization processing of the device mounted as the N controller 15 is executed (step 23), and the boot processing of the operating system from the boot device is executed according to a predetermined boot priority (step S24). RAM to boot from LAN
Dedicated BIO for LAN controller 15 copied to
Under the control of the S module, processing for booting the operating system from the network environment via the LAN controller 15 is executed.

(ROM / RAM copy process # 2)
Referring to the flowchart of FIG. 4, the BIO corresponding to the type of device mounted as the LAN controller 15
Second of the process of selectively copying the S module to the RAM
Will be described.

First, when the computer system is turned on (including system reset) (step S)
31), the system BIOS starts ROM / RAM copy using a ROM / RAM copy routine. When copying the dedicated BIOS module corresponding to the LAN controller 15 in the ROM / RAM copy processing, the system BIOS first searches the configuration space of the present system to determine the device functioning as the LAN controller 15. The existence of the LAN controller 15 is checked to determine whether the LAN controller 15 is mounted on the system (steps S32 and S33).

If there is no device functioning as the LAN controller 15 (N in step S33)
O), the system BIOS excludes all the dedicated BIOS modules for the LAN controller from the copy target,
And BIOS for controlling other functions and other devices
After copying only the module to the RAM, the boot process is executed (step S46).

On the other hand, if there is a device functioning as the LAN controller 15 (Y in step S33)
ES), the system BIOS performs the same procedure as in FIG.
A dedicated BIOS module corresponding to the type of device that functions as the AN controller 15 is selected, and
Copy to AM (steps S34 to S44). After that, the LAN controller 1 is copied to the RAM by the dedicated BIOS module for the LAN controller 15.
5 is executed (step S45), and when booting from the LAN, the LAN controller 15 copied to the RAM is executed.
Under the control of the dedicated BIOS module, a process for booting the operating system from the network environment via the LAN controller 15 is executed (step S46).

As described above, when there is no device functioning as the LAN controller 15, all the dedicated BIOS modules prepared for the LAN controller are prohibited from copying, thereby preventing unnecessary copy processing from being performed. This can be prevented.

(ROM / RAM copy processing # 3)
Referring to the flowchart of FIG. 5, the BIO corresponding to the type of device mounted as the LAN controller 15
Third process of copying S module selectively to RAM
Will be described.

First, when the power of the computer system is turned on (including the system reset) (step S)
51), the system BIOS starts ROM / RAM copy using a ROM / RAM copy routine. In copying the dedicated BIOS module corresponding to the LAN controller 15 in the ROM / RAM copy processing, the system BIOS first refers to the hardware setup information of the present system and performs a setting to use the LAN controller 15. Is determined or the setting is not used (steps S52 and S5).
3).

If the non-use of the LAN controller 15 is selected (NO in step S53), the system BIOS sends all the dedicated BIOS for the LAN controller.
After excluding the S module from the copy target and copying only the BIOS module for controlling other functions and other devices to the RAM, the boot process is executed (step S66).

On the other hand, if the setting is to use the LAN controller 15 (YES in step S53), the system BIOS executes the dedicated BIOS corresponding to the type of device functioning as the LAN controller 15 in the same procedure as in FIG. A module is selected and copied to the RAM (steps S54 to S64). Thereafter, the dedicated BIOS module for the LAN controller 15 copied to the RAM executes the initialization processing of the device mounted as the LAN controller 15 (step S6).
5) And when booting from LAN, RAM
Dedicated BIO for LAN controller 15 copied to
Under the control of the S module, processing for booting the operating system from the network environment via the LAN controller 15 is executed (step S66).

It should be noted that the processing of FIG. 5 is combined with the processing of FIG. 4, and before confirming the existence of a device functioning as the LAN controller 15 in FIG. The processing after step S32 in FIG. 4 may be performed only when the condition is satisfied.

As described above, in this embodiment, L
Since only the dedicated BIOS module corresponding to the type of the device actually mounted is copied from the plurality of dedicated BIOS modules corresponding to the plurality of types of devices that can be exclusively mounted as the AN controller 15, the RAM is copied. A large number of dedicated BIOS modules corresponding to various types of devices can be prepared in the BIOS-ROM 19 in advance without being limited by the size of the RAM area and the like.

In this embodiment, the LAN controller is exemplified as the hardware on which a plurality of devices can be exclusively mounted. However, the ROM / RAM copy of the dedicated BIOS module can be copied in the same manner for other hardware. It can be carried out. For example, even if the CD-ROM drive has an IDE / ATAPI interface,
CD-RO connected via C (PCMCIA) card
In the case of the M drive, a dedicated BIOS module is prepared for each type of device that is likely to be used as a PC card for the IDE / ATAPI interface, and only the corresponding dedicated BIOS module is selected.
It is preferable to copy to AM. This makes it possible to support booting of the operating system from the CD-ROM for PC cards of various uses.

[0044]

As described above, according to the present invention,
A large number of dedicated BIOS modules corresponding to the types of various devices can be prepared in the system ROM without being limited by the size of the RAM area and the like, and it is possible to support various types of devices. In particular, by preparing a plurality of dedicated BIOS modules related to the boot device, even if a device of any specification is used, it is possible to normally perform a boot process from the device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exemplary block diagram showing the configuration of a computer system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary block diagram showing another example of the configuration of the computer system of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary ROM / RAM copy process of a system BIOS executed by the computer system according to the embodiment;
5 is a flowchart showing an example of the above.

FIG. 4 is a second ROM / RAM copy process of the system BIOS executed by the computer system according to the embodiment;
5 is a flowchart showing an example of the above.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary ROM / RAM copy process of a system BIOS executed by the computer system according to the first embodiment;
5 is a flowchart showing an example of the above.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... CPU 13 ... Main memory 15 ... LAN controller 19 ... BIOS-ROM 20 ... HDD 21 ... CD-ROM drive 22 ... FDD

Claims (7)

[Claims] In response to power-on, a system BIOS is copied from a system ROM to a predetermined RAM area on a main memory, and a predetermined function is realized in a computer system that operates using the system BIOS in the RAM area. ROM storing a system BIOS including a plurality of BIOS modules respectively corresponding to a plurality of types of devices that can be exclusively mounted as hardware for the computer, and contents of the system ROM in response to power-on of the computer system And copying means for copying the device into the predetermined RAM area, wherein the copying means detects a type of a device mounted on the computer system as hardware for realizing the predetermined function, The plurality of the plurality stored in the system ROM IO
Means for selecting a BIOS module corresponding to the type of device detected by the detection means from among the S modules, and copying the selected BIOS module to the RAM area. 2. The device according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of types of devices that can be exclusively mounted are used to start an operating system, and the BIOS module corresponding to the type of device detected by the detection unit includes the detection unit. 2. The computer system according to claim 1, wherein the computer system executes an initialization process of the device detected by the device and a process required to start an operating system via the device. 3. The plurality of types of devices that can be exclusively mounted are network interface devices for connecting the computer system to a network, and a BIOS module corresponding to the type of device detected by the detection unit. Executing a process for initializing the network interface device detected by the detection unit and a process for starting an operating system from a network environment via the network interface device. 2. The computer system according to 1. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: means for determining whether hardware for realizing the predetermined function is present. If the hardware is not present, the means corresponding to each of the plurality of types of devices that can be exclusively mounted is provided. 2. The computer system according to claim 1, wherein copying of all of the plurality of BIOS modules is prohibited. 5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: means for setting use / non-use of hardware for realizing the predetermined function, wherein the exclusive use is possible when the use of the hardware is set. 2. The computer system according to claim 1, wherein copying of all of the plurality of BIOS modules corresponding to each of the plurality of types of devices is prohibited. 6. A system BIOS stored in a system ROM in response to power-on of a computer system.
B that copies data to a predetermined RAM area on the main memory
An IOS copying method, wherein a system BIOS including a plurality of BIOS modules respectively corresponding to a plurality of types of devices that can be exclusively mounted as hardware for realizing a predetermined function is stored in the system ROM. Responding to power-on of the computer system, detecting a type of device mounted as hardware for implementing the predetermined function in the computer system, and detecting the plurality of devices stored in the system ROM. BIO
A method of copying a system BIOS, wherein a BIOS module corresponding to a device type detected by the detection means is selected from S modules and copied to the RAM area. 7. The plurality of kinds of devices that can be exclusively mounted are used for booting an operating system, and the BIOS module copied to the RAM area is used to execute the detection of the detected device. 7. The system BIOS copying method according to claim 6, further comprising executing an initialization process and a process required to start an operating system via the device.