Interactive firmware recovery
View Patent ↗Firmware is interactively recoverable prior to loading an operating system on a computer. Rather than proceeding through a recovery without user input, user input about a recovery is solicited after determining that an update is needed. Prior to recovering the firmware, users may be able to, for example, specify configuration options about the recovery, cancel the update altogether, and specify a firmware image location. Once input is received, the firmware recovery proceeds.
1. A computer-implemented method for recovering a plurality of firmware instructions, the method comprising:
determining whether the plurality of firmware instructions need recovery prior to loading an operating system on a computer;
in response to determining that the plurality of firmware instructions need recovery, determining whether recovery of the firmware instructions is to be conducted in an interactive fashion;
in response to determining that recovery of the firmware instructions is to be conducted in an interactive fashion, soliciting a user to supply an input regarding the recovery prior to loading the operating system, receiving the input from the user, and updating the plurality of firmware instructions in accordance with the input; and
in response to determining that recovery of the firmware instructions is not to be conducted in an interactive fashion, updating the plurality of firmware instructions without receiving user input.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein soliciting a user to supply an input regarding the update prior to loading the operating system comprises displaying an option for modification.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the option comprises a parameter for specifying whether a plurality of options should be reset to default values during the updating of the plurality of firmware instructions.
4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the option comprises a parameter for specifying whether contents of a boot block should be updated during the updating of the plurality of firmware instructions.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
launching a firmware setup utility prior to loading the operating system; and
displaying a recovery page using the setup utility prior to solicit the user to provide an input.
6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
displaying a repeatedly updated visual indicator of progress while updating the plurality of firmware instructions.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining whether recovery of the firmware instructions is to be conducted in an interactive fashion comprises:
determining whether a user powered up the computer; and
conducting the recovery of the firmware instructions in an interactive fashion if the user powered up the computer.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining whether recovery of the firmware instructions is to be conducted in an interactive fashion comprises:
determining whether a remote computer initiated the recovery; and
conducting the recovery of the firmware instructions without receiving user input if the remote computer initiated the recovery.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining whether recovery of the firmware instructions is to be conducted in an interactive fashion comprises:
determining a level of corruption of the firmware instructions;
conducting the recovery of the firmware instructions without interactivity if the level of corruption of the firmware instructions is severe; and
conducting the recovery of the firmware instructions with interactivity if the level of corruption of the firmware instructions is minimal.
10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:
determine whether a recovery of a computer firmware of the computer is needed; and
in response to determining that a recovery of the computer firmware is needed, to determine whether recovery of the firmware is to be conducted in an interactive fashion, to display a recovery page for soliciting input regarding the recovery from a user in response to determining that recovery of the firmware is to be conducted in an interactive fashion, to receive input from the user by way of the recovery page, to recover the computer firmware in accordance with the input, and to recover the computer firmware without soliciting input from the user in response to determining that the recovery of the firmware is not to be conducted in an interactive fashion.
11. The computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein displaying the recovery page comprises displaying a configuration option for configuring the recovery.
12. The computer-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the configuration option comprises a parameter for specifying whether configuration data stored in non-volatile memory should be reset.
13. The computer-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the configuration option comprises a parameter for specifying whether a boot block should be updated.
14. The computer-readable medium of claim 10 , having further computer-executable instructions stored thereupon which, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to:
display a repeatedly updated visual indicator of progress while proceeding with the recovery of the computer firmware.
15. The computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the instructions are all executed prior to the loading of an operating system.
16. The computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein determine whether recovery of the firmware instructions is to be conducted in an interactive fashion comprises:
determining whether a user powered up the computer; and
conducting the recovery of the firmware instructions in an interactive fashion if the user powered up the computer.
17. The computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein determine whether recovery of the firmware instructions is to be conducted in an interactive fashion comprises:
determining whether a remote computer initiated the recovery; and
conducting the recovery of the firmware instructions without receiving user input if the remote computer initiated the recovery.
18. The computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein determine whether recovery of the firmware instructions is to be conducted in an interactive fashion comprises:
determining a level of corruption of the firmware instructions;
conducting the recovery of the firmware instructions without interactivity if the level of corruption of the firmware instructions is severe; and
conducting the recovery of the firmware instructions with interactivity if the level of corruption of the firmware instructions is minimal.
19. A computer system configured for interactive recovery of a firmware, the computer system comprising:
one or more central processing units; and
a non-volatile memory device having instructions stored thereupon which, when executed on the one or more central processing units, cause the computer system
to determine whether the firmware needs recovery prior to loading an operating system on the computer system,
to determine whether recovery of the firmware is to be conducted in an interactive fashion in response to determining that the firmware needs recovery,
in response to determining that recovery of the firmware is to be conducted in an interactive fashion, to solicit a user to supply an input regarding the recovery prior to loading the operating system, to receive the input from the user, to update the firmware in accordance with the input, and
to update the firmware without receiving user input in response to determining that recovery of the firmware is not to be conducted in an interactive fashion.
20. The computer system of claim 19 , wherein the non-volatile memory device has further computer-executable instructions stored thereupon which, when executed by the one or more central processing units, causes the computer system to repeatedly update a display of a progress message while performing recovery of the firmware.