Dell Products Inc.

Dell USA L P

Jim Walker

Ricardo Luis Martinez

John J Pearce

Todd Martin

Craig S Jones

Alok Pant

Kendall C Witte

Charles P Zeller

Anthony L Overfield

A method for relocating system management interface code in an information handling system which includes extracting a relocation table from the system management interface code, inserting a relocation identifier in each entry of the system management interface code having an address, searching the system management code for the relocation identifier during execution of the information handling system, and inserting an address based upon a relocation address for each entry in the system management interface code having a relocation identifier.

Relocating of system management interface code within an information handling system

An information handling system (IHS) includes a processor, a memory coupled to the processor, a basic input/output system (BIOS) stored as instructions on a portion of the memory, an event handler component operable to receive notification of an occurrence of at least one event in the IHS, a first device configuration component operable to configure at least one device from a first group of devices of the IHS, a second device configuration component operable to configure at least one device from a second group of devices of the IHS, a time delay component operable to introduce a predefined time delay and a control transfer component operable to transfer control between the BIOS and an operating system of the IHS responsive to the at least one event.

Method for using a timer based SMI for system configuration after a resume event

A method and system for an improved wake mechanism of an information handling system (IHS) includes an event handler component (EHC) for handling an event in the IHS. A first device configuration component (DCC) receives a first input from the EHC. In response to the first input, it configures a device having a wakeup latency time (WLT) less than or equal to a predefined transition time. A second DCC receives a second input from the EHC. In response to the second input, it configures a device having a WLT greater than the predefined transition time. A time delay component introduces a predefined time delay in the configuration of the device having the WLT greater than the predefined transition time. A control transfer component transfers control between a BIOS and an operating system of the IHS responsive to the event.

A system and method for maintaining data integrity in computer systems which have removable hard drives. The system and method of the present invention ensures that a disk drive which is reinserted into the computer system is the drive used to boot the operating system. When the computer system boots, the system reads the unique drive identification information from the hard drive and stores this identification information in memory for later use. Later, the computer system may be powered down or placed in a suspend state where the hard drive may be removed and a new drive inserted. When the computer system resumes and first requires access to the hard drive, the system and reads the drive identification information from the drive and compares the drive identification obtained from the drive with the drive identification information stored in memory at boot time. If the two sets of identification information are identical, then control is returned to the native operating system and access is allowed to the drive. In this case, since the two sets of drive identification information are identical, the same drive is comprised in or has been reinserted in the computer system, and thus operation can proceed. If the two sets of drive identification are not identical, then the system powers off the drive and reports to the user that the drive installed in the computer system is not the expected drive, i.e., is not the drive used to boot the system.

System and method for ensuring data integrity on a removable hard drive

A system for reducing the amount of power consumed by a battery operated computer device is disclosed. A microcontroller continuously monitors the activity of at least one I/O device and sets an activity state variable (ASV) associated with the I/O device accordingly. Upon each the expiration of a preselected time period, the microcontroller examines the state of the ASV to determine whether the I/O device was active during the expired time period. If so, the I/O device is caused to operate in a full power mode; otherwise, the I/O device is caused to operate in a reduced power consumption mode. In one embodiment, the I/O device is capable of operating in more than one reduced power consumption mode, in which case, responsive to a determination that the I/O device was not active during the expired time period, the I/O device is caused to operate in the next lowest power consumption mode. In an alternative embodiment, the frequency with which timer interrupts are generated is automatically adjusted after the expiration of each time period.

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Cedar Park, TX, United States of America

Jim Walker