IP Library › Granted Patent US 8,838,948
Granted Patent B2
US 8,838,948 · App. 13/799,069 · Granted Sep 16, 2014

Remote management of UEFI BIOS settings and configuration

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 8,838,948
App. No.
13/799,069
Granted
Sep 16, 2014
Kind
B2
Abstract

In an information handling system (IHS), remote management of basic input/output system (BIOS) settings and configuration includes maintaining a BIOS setting/configuration database, providing an application to communicate a BIOS setting/configuration from the database to a BIOS system, determining whether the BIOS setting/configuration communicated from the database to the BIOS system is a special BIOS configuration capsule packet, and validating BIOS setting/configuration.

Claims (44)

1. A method for updating basic input/output system (BIOS) settings and configuration on an Information Handling System (IHS), comprising:

providing an IHS including at least one processor and at least one non-transitory memory that stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to provide a BIOS and an operating system (OS) including an OS application;

receiving BIOS setting/configuration change data for the BIOS by the OS application and providing the BIOS setting/configuration change data in a special BIOS configuration capsule packet;

communicating the special BIOS configuration capsule packet by the OS application to an OS device driver while running in an environment of the OS;

passing the special BIOS configuration capsule packet from the OS device driver to a capsule runtime service driver as a special capsule data packet;

determining, by the capsule runtime service driver, that the special capsule data packet is a special BIOS configuration capsule packet; and

validating the BIOS setting/configuration change data for the BIOS in the special BIOS configuration capsule packet against currently used BIOS setting/configuration data being used by the BIOS.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the BIOS is a unified extensible firmware interface (UEFI) BIOS, a legacy BIOS, or an extensible firmware interface (EFI) BIOS.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

updating the currently used BIOS setting configuration data being used by the BIOS with the BIOS setting/configuration change data.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

initiating a restart mechanism subsequent to the updating.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the restart mechanism is a special S 3 resume mechanism.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein the currently used BIOS setting configuration data being used by the BIOS is updated with the BIOS setting/configuration change data without initiating a restart mechanism.

7. A method for updating basic input/output system (BIOS) settings and configuration on an Information Handling System (IHS), comprising:

providing an IHS including at least one processor and at least one non-transitory memory that stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least processor to provide a BIOS and an operating system (OS) including an OS application and an OS device driver;

receiving BIOS setting/configuration change data for the BIOS by the OS application and providing the BIOS setting/configuration change data in a special BIOS configuration capsule packet;

communicating the special BIOS configuration capsule packet by the OS application to the OS device driver while running in an environment of the OS;

passing the special BIOS configuration capsule packet from the OS device driver to a capsule runtime service driver as a special capsule data packet;

determining, by the capsule runtime service driver, that the special capsule data packet is a special BIOS configuration capsule packet; and

validating the BIOS setting/configuration change data for the BIOS in the special BIOS configuration capsule packet against currently used BIOS setting/configuration data being used by the BIOS.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the BIOS is a unified extensible firmware interface (UEFI) BIOS, a legacy BIOS, or an extensible firmware interface (EFI) BIOS.

9. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

updating the currently used BIOS setting configuration data being used by the BIOS with the BIOS setting/configuration change data.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

initiating a restart mechanism subsequent to the updating.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the restart mechanism is a special S 3 resume mechanism.

12. The method of claim 7 , wherein the currently used BIOS setting configuration data used by the BIOS is updated with the BIOS setting/configuration change data without initiating a restart mechanism.

13. A method for updating basic input/output system (BIOS) settings and configuration on Information Handling Systems (IHSs), comprising:

providing an HIS including at least one processor and at least one non-transitory memory that stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to provide a BIOS and an operating system (OS) that runs an OS user application that is coupled to a kernel mode device driver through an input/output control interface;

receiving BIOS setting/configuration change data for the BIOS by the OS user application from a user and creating a special BIOS configuration capsule packet by the OS user application that includes the BIOS setting/configuration change data;

communicating the special BIOS configuration capsule packet by the OS application over the input/output control interface to the kernel mode device driver while running in an environment of the OS;

passing the special BIOS configuration capsule packet from the kernel mode device driver to a capsule runtime service driver as a special capsule data packet;

determining, by the capsule runtime service driver, that the special capsule data packet is a special BIOS configuration capsule packet; and

validating the BIOS setting/configuration change data for the BIOS in the special BIOS configuration capsule packet against currently used BIOS setting/configuration data being used by the BIOS.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the BIOS is a unified extensible firmware interface (UEFI) BIOS, a legacy BIOS, or an extensible firmware interface (EFI) BIOS.

15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

updating the currently used BIOS setting configuration data being used by the BIOS with the BIOS setting/configuration change data.

16. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

initiating a restart mechanism subsequent to the updating.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the restart mechanism is a special S 3 resume mechanism.

18. The method of claim 15 , wherein the currently used BIOS setting configuration data used by the BIOS is updated with the BIOS setting/configuration change data without initiating a restart mechanism.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the capsule runtime service driver is a UEFI capsule driver execution environment (DXE) device driver.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the validating is performed by a special DXE driver that is separate from the UEFI capsule DXE device driver.

Assignments (14)
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL/FRAME (053546/0001) Recorded Jun 23, 2022
From: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: DELL MARKETING L.P. (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.); DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL USA L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; DELL MARKETING CORPORATION (SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC. AND WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.); EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC
Reel/Frame 071642/0001 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL/FRAME (045455/0001) Recorded May 20, 2022
From: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: DELL MARKETING CORPORATION (SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.); DELL MARKETING L.P. (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.); DELL USA L.P.; DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL MARKETING CORPORATION (SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC. AND WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.); EMC CORPORATION (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO MAGINATICS LLC); EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO MOZY, INC.); SCALEIO LLC
Reel/Frame 061753/0001 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL/FRAME (040136/0001) Recorded Apr 26, 2022
From: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: DELL MARKETING CORPORATION (SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.); DELL MARKETING L.P. (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.); DELL USA L.P.; DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL MARKETING CORPORATION (SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC. AND WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.); EMC CORPORATION (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO MAGINATICS LLC); EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO MOZY, INC.); SCALEIO LLC
Reel/Frame 061324/0001 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Nov 3, 2021
From: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH
To: DELL USA L.P.; ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.; AVENTAIL LLC; CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DELL INTERNATIONAL, L.L.C.; DELL MARKETING L.P.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; DELL SYSTEMS CORPORATION; EMC CORPORATION; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; MAGINATICS LLC; MOZY, INC.; SCALEIO LLC; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
Reel/Frame 058216/0001 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Apr 22, 2020
From: CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES INC.; DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL MARKETING L.P.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL USA L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC
To: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A.
Reel/Frame 053546/0001 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Mar 21, 2019
From: CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL MARKETING L.P.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL USA L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC
To: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A.
Reel/Frame 049452/0223 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Sep 21, 2016
From: ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.; AVENTAIL LLC; CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DELL USA L.P.; DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL MARKETING L.P.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; DELL SYSTEMS CORPORATION; EMC CORPORATION; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; MAGINATICS LLC; MOZY, INC.; SCALEIO LLC; SPANNING CLOUD APPS LLC; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
To: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 040134/0001 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Sep 21, 2016
From: ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.; AVENTAIL LLC; CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DELL USA L.P.; DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL MARKETING L.P.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; DELL SYSTEMS CORPORATION; EMC CORPORATION; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; MAGINATICS LLC; MOZY, INC.; SCALEIO LLC; SPANNING CLOUD APPS LLC; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
To: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
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RELEASE OF REEL 034590 FRAME 0731 (NOTE) Recorded Sep 14, 2016
From: BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
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RELEASE OF REEL 034591 FRAME 0391 (TL) Recorded Sep 14, 2016
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RELEASE OF REEL 034590 FRAME 0696 (ABL) Recorded Sep 13, 2016
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SUPPLEMENT TO PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT (TERM LOAN) Recorded Dec 10, 2014
From: DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
To: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
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SUPPLEMENT TO PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT (NOTES) Recorded Dec 10, 2014
From: DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
To: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 034590/0731 →
SUPPLEMENT TO PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT (ABL) Recorded Dec 10, 2014
From: DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
To: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
Reel/Frame 034590/0696 →