Single system board with automatic feature selection based on installed configuration selection unit

1. A method of automatically configuring a circuit board assembly based on installed configuration selection unit, comprising:

reading a feature detection input signal representing a machine model from said installed configuration selection unit;

enabling the feature selected by the installed configuration selection unit, responsive to reading an enabling signal within the feature detection input signal;

reading a machine type number from a vital product data (VPD) device; and

configuring said system board assembly in response to determining whether the machine model represented by the feature detection input signal matches the machine type number.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein a system board assembly connects to a baseboard management controller (BMC) with a revision ID.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the revision ID of said BMC is provided for further determining whether the revision ID of said BMC matches the machine type number.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the revision ID of said BMC is provided for further determining whether the revision ID of said BMC matches the machine model represented by the feature detection input signal.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the machine type number is stored in the VPD device along with a second machine type number, the VPD device physically attached to the circuit board assembly.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 5 , wherein the machine type is one selected from the group consisting of 7973, 7974, 7975, 7976, and 7977.

7. The firmware with a program embedded thereon, the program comprising program code means causing a data processing system to execute a method for automatically configuring a circuit board assembly according to claim 1 .

8. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

initial reading the machine type number, prior to the reading of the machine type number; and

initial configuring the system by directing a user to re-configure the system board assembly.

9. A circuit board assembly, comprising:

a bus coupled to a configuration selection unit, when said configuration selection unit is installed, generating a feature detection input signal to at least two general purpose inputs from a baseboard management controller (BMC) to enable a feature selected by the configuration selection unit, and said configuration selection unit being connected to a south bridge to provide said feature detection input signal for power-on self test of a system to determine whether a machine model represented by the feature detection input signal matches a machine type number stored in a memory, wherein the BMC stores a revision ID.

10. The circuit board assembly of claim 9 , wherein the revision ID of said BMC is provided for further determining whether the revision ID of said BMC matches the machine type number.

11. The circuit board assembly of claim 9 , wherein the revision ID of said BMC is provided for further determining whether the revision ID of said BMC matches the machine model represented by the feature detection input signal.

12. The circuit board assembly of claim 9 , wherein the machine type number is stored in a vital product data (VPD) device.

13. A computer system, comprising:

a processor;

a north bridge;

a south bridge; and

a bus coupled to a configuration selection unit,

when said configuration selection unit is installed, generating a feature detection input signal from at least two general purpose inputs to enable a feature selected by the configuration selection unit, and said configuration selection unit being connected to said south bridge to provide said feature detection input signal for power-on self-test during system initialization to determine whether a machine model represented by the feature detection input signal matches a machine type number stored in a memory.

14. The computer system of claim 13 , further comprising a baseboard management controller (BMC) with a revision ID.

15. The computer system of claim 14 , wherein the revision ID of said BMC is provided for further determining whether the revision ID of said BMC matches the machine type number.

16. The computer system of claim 14 , wherein the revision ID of said BMC is provided for further determining whether the revision ID of said BMC matches the machine model represented by the feature detection input signal.

17. The computer system of claim 13 , wherein the machine type number is stored in a vital product data (VPD) device.