Motorola ATCA-717 - Manual (Page 82)

BIOS Introduction
82 PENT/ATCA−717
Introduction
BIOS (Basic Input Output System) provides an interface between the operating system
and the hardware of the blade. It is used for hardware configuration. Before loading the
operating system, BIOS performs basic hardware tests and prepares the blade for the
initial boot−up procedure.
During blade production, identical BIOS images are programmed into the blade ′s boot
and user flash. By default the blade boots from the boot flash. It is possible to select
between boot and user flash as device to boot from. This is done via a OEM IPMI
command. For further details refer to the
a PENT/ATCA−715/717/7105/7107: Control via
IPMI Programmer’s Guide a which can be downloaded from the Motorola literature catalog.
The presence of two redundant flash devices also allows for updating the BIOS image
without affecting running processes.
aaa
The BIOS used on the blade is based on the Phoenix 4.0 Release 6.0 BIOS with several
Motorola extensions integrated. Its main functions are:
S Hardware set−up utility for setting configuration data
S Multiboot for a flexible boot order
S Serial console redirection for remote blade configuration
S Software upgrade utility
Note: a The BIOS contains on−line documentation which provides detailed description
of all BIOS functions. Therefore the description in this manual is restricted to the main
BIOS functions.
a
The BIOS set−up program is required to configure the hardware of the blade. This
configuration is necessary for operating the blade and connected peripherals. It is stored
in the battery backed−up CMOS memory as well as in the blade’s boot flash.
a
Whenever you are not sure about configuration settings, restore the default values. They
are provided in case a value has been changed and you wish to reset settings. To restore
the default values, press <F9> in setup.
Note: a
S Loading the BIOS default values will affect all set−up items and will reset options
previously altered.
a
S If you set the default values, the displayed default values are not yet stored to be
effective for the next boot. They are just loaded to be displayed. However, they
become effective if the BIOS setup is exited after changes have been saved.