CN101114230A - Method for reading and selecting ROM program code from storage device - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for reading and selecting a read-only memory program code from a storage device, which comprises the following steps: reading the relevant data of the storage device from the NVRAM when a basic input/output system (BIOS) of the computer device executes a power-on self-test (POST) program; checking the OpROM stored in the special partition according to the relevant data, and loading the OpROM into a memory of the computer device after the check is correct; executing an initial program of the OpROM according to a standard specification of a BIOS Boot Specification (BBS) of the OpROM, establishing a Boot Connection Vector (BCV) table, and storing the BCV table into the NVRAM; and when the subsequent standard program of the BIOS is executed, finishing the BBS program of the OpROM, and smoothly activating the peripheral equipment connected with each adapter card. Therefore, the invention can not only make the computer device and each adapter card not need to install a memory for storing OpROM, thereby effectively reducing the hardware cost.

Description

Method for reading selected ROM program code from storage device

technical field

The present invention is a method for reading the program code of the selected read-only memory, especially when a computer device is turned on, it can automatically go to a storage device, read and execute the code stored therein to drive various switches on the computer device. Option ROM (Option ROM, hereinafter referred to as OpROM) program code required by the card to successfully activate the peripheral devices connected to each adapter card.

Background technique

The optional read-only memory (Option ROM, hereinafter referred to as OpROM) installed on computer devices (such as: desktop computers, notebook computers, servers, etc.), generally refers to the basic input/output system (Basic Input/Output System) , hereinafter referred to as BIOS) is called the resident program of firmware (firmware). Take the adapter card (adapter card or daughtercard) installed on the computer device as an example, the OpROM stored on the adapter card is in the peripheral equipment ( When the peripheral device is connected to the computer device through the adapter card, it is used to control the boot of the peripheral device, so that the BIOS of the computer device can determine which ones are connected to the computer device by interrogating the OpROM. The connected peripheral device is powered on (booted).

In order to connect various computer devices on the market with a large number of interface devices, manufacturers will install various adapter cards on the computer devices before leaving the factory. Traditionally, OpROM is resident in the adapter Therefore, each riser card must be provided with a flash memory for storing the OpROM, and a large number of flash memories will naturally increase the hardware cost. In order to save hardware costs, the design and manufacturer of computer devices choose to store OpROM and BIOS together in the flash memory (Flash ROM) set on the motherboard (system board) on the computer device, so that OpROM can be stored in the computer device. It is executed by the BIOS during the initialization process of the computer device. In principle, the storage space of OpROM (OpROM Shadow RAM) is limited to 128KB. This storage space is shared by all OpROMs, and the limitation is obviously quite strict. Therefore, the OpROM of each riser card needs to get rid of some initialization codes (initialization code) used in the initialization process, and only keep the driver code (runtime code) with a small space capacity to reduce its own space, otherwise In the case of limited storage space, the number of riser cards that can be installed on the computer device and its expandability will naturally be limited accordingly.

However, since the OpROM program developer (developer) often needs to debug the OpROM in order to test the function of the OpROM when designing and developing the OpROM, and when updating the OpROM, the content of the BIOS program ( image) or source code (source code) for reconstruction, which not only causes great inconvenience to program developers, but also easily leaks the content or source code of the BIOS program designed by the manufacturer (if the OpROM program for outsourced design developers). In addition, since the OpROM and BIOS are generally stored in the flash memory on the motherboard of the computer device, updating the contents of the OpROM or BIOS program frequently can easily lead to damage to the flash memory. The space of the flash memory is generally not large, so it is impossible to put a large amount of OpROM and BIOS into the same flash memory.

Contents of the invention

In view of the aforementioned problems, the inventor has worked hard for a long time to research and experiment, and finally developed and designed a method for reading the program code of the optional read-only memory on the self-storage device of the present invention, hoping that the computer device and the adapter card on it will not need The memory for storing the OpROM is installed to reduce the hardware cost, and achieve the functions of effectively simplifying the update and debugging procedures of the OpROM, increasing the expansion capability of the computer device, and ensuring that the BIOS program will not be leaked.

The object of the present invention is to provide a method for reading program codes of selected ROMs from a storage device, the method is applied to a computer device with at least one storage device installed, including establishing a dedicated partition in the storage device (reserved partition), which is used to store the OpROM program codes required to drive various adapter cards on the computer device, and store the relevant data of the storage device (such as: PFA, hard disk number and access channel, etc.) to the computer In the non-volatile random access memory (Non-Volatile Random Access Memory, hereinafter referred to as NVRAM) set on the device, the method is in the basic input/output system (Basic Input Output System, hereinafter referred to as BIOS) of the computer device When executing the power-on self-test (PoWer-On-Self Test, hereinafter referred to as POST) program, read the relevant data of the storage device from the NVRAM, and then check the OpROM stored in the dedicated partition according to the relevant data. After confirming that it is correct, load the OpROM into the memory of the computer device, execute the initial program of the OpROM according to the standard specifications of the OpROM's BIOS boot specification (BIOS Boot Specification, hereinafter referred to as BBS), and establish a boot connection vector table (BootConnection Vector table, hereinafter referred to as BCV table), and store the BCV table in the NVRAM. When executing the follow-up standard program of the BIOS, the BIOS boot specification program of the OpROM is completed, so that the peripheral devices connected to each adapter card can be successfully activated.

In this way, the present invention eliminates the need to install a memory for storing OpROM on the computer device and each of the adapter cards, effectively reducing hardware costs, and effectively simplifying the procedures for updating and debugging the OpROM, greatly reducing the cost of the OpROM. Waste manpower and time, and increase the expansion capability of the computer device, and ensure that the BIOS program will not be leaked.

Description of drawings

1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a dedicated partition pre-established in the storage device of the computer device according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 is the block diagram of the firmware that comprises OpROM in the dedicated partition of the present invention;

Fig. 3 is the block diagram of the firmware that does not contain OpROM in the dedicated partition of the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a schematic flow sheet of the inventive method;

Fig. 5 is the schematic diagram of BCV table among the present invention; And

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of priority pointers of items in the BCV table in the present invention.

Detailed ways

In order to make the purpose of the present invention, technical features and effects thereof clearer, an embodiment is given hereby, and in conjunction with the drawings, the detailed description is as follows:

The present invention is a method for reading program codes of a selected read-only memory from a storage device. The method is applied to a computer device (such as a desktop computer, a notebook computer, a server, etc.) equipped with at least one storage device. This method provides a user tool (tool), which is similar to the Fdisk.exe function (utility) provided in the Disk Operating System (DOS for short), including the following function options for the user to choose :

(1) Select a storage device;

(2) Create a dedicated partition on the selected storage device, the size of the dedicated partition is specified by the user;

(3) Remove the dedicated partition;

(4) store the OpROM program code to which the peripheral device belongs in the dedicated partition;

(5) remove the OpROM program code from the dedicated partition; and

(6) During the POST period of the BIOS, select which storage device is activated to activate the OpROM program code stored therein.

In this way, the user can choose to pre-create the dedicated partition in the storage device of the computer device through the user tool to store the OpROM program codes required to drive the adapter cards of various peripheral devices on the computer device .

In the present invention, the storage device can be a hard disk, and the type (type) of the dedicated partition can be 23, and its space size is specified by the user through the function provided by the user tool on the hard disk. For example 4MB, the dedicated partition includes a partition header (Partition Header) and a plurality of modules (module), as shown in Figure 1, wherein the partition header is used to store the following data:

(1) Signature: stored in byte 0~byte 19, such as: $OPROM_PARTITION_SN$;

(2) Partition Size: Store the space occupied by the dedicated partition in bytes 20 to 23, such as: 00400000h (4MB);

(3) OpROM Partition Checksum (OpROM Partition Checksum): The checksum used to check the OpROM partition, including the header, is stored in byte 24; and

(4) Partition header Checksum: The checksum used to check the header of the dedicated partition is stored in byte 25.

Each of the modules can be divided into two different modules as shown in Figure 2 and Figure 3 according to whether the dedicated partition contains the OpROM firmware (firmware) part, and each of the modules includes a module body and a module table respectively Header (module header), where the module body is used to store the OpROM program code (and its firmware, if the firmware exists, as shown in Figure 2), and the module header is used to store the following data:

(1) Module ID: stored in byte 0 (byte 0) ~ byte 3, including vendor ID (Vendor ID) and device ID (Device ID), such as: 8086h/2682h;

(2) Module Size: Store the space occupied by the module, including the header, in byte 4 to byte 7;

(3) Flag (Flag): stored in byte 8, used to indicate whether the firmware exists;

(4) Firmware offset value (FirmwaTe Offset): stored in byte 9~byte 10, used to indicate the address where the firmware in the module is located in the module; and

(5) Checksum in module: The checksum used to check the module, including the header, is stored in byte 11.

When the present invention is implemented, the relevant data of the hard disk needs to be earlier, such as: the PCI device address (Peripheral Component Interconnect Function Address, hereinafter referred to as PFA) of the hard disk controller, the hard disk serial number and the access channel (via INT 13 to access the hard disk) channel), etc., are stored in a non-volatile random access memory (Non-Volatile Random Access Memory, hereinafter referred to as NVRAM) set on the computer device; in the following description of the present invention, the relevant The data is called extended PFA (Extended PFA, hereinafter referred to as EPFA) to distinguish it from PFA.

In this way, after the computer device is activated, the OpROM can be loaded from the dedicated partition into the memory of the computer device according to the following steps, as shown in FIG. peripheral equipment:

(101) During the POST program of the BIOS executed by the computer device, that is, after the program of Plug and Play (hereinafter referred to as PnP) is executed, and before the initialization program of the OpROM program code, read from the NVRAM Take EPFA;

(102) According to the PFA in the EPFA, find the storage location of the OpROM program code corresponding to each of the peripheral devices (such as: being located on the SCSI on the motherboard or being located on the SCSI on the adapter card or the ATA on the motherboard) out, and execute its initialization program code (initial code); if the OpROM program code contains the program entry point of the boot connection vector (Boot Connection Vector, hereinafter referred to as BCV), then execute the corresponding part of the OpROM program code according to the hard disk number in the EPFA The corresponding BCV program is used to complete the initialization operation (initialization) of the peripheral equipment by means of the initialization program code, and detect whether the peripheral equipment has been correctly connected to the computer device, and according to the hard disk number, through the access channel (such as: in CHS mode is INT 13h or in LBA mode is INT 13h extention), read the host boot record (Master Boot Record, hereinafter referred to as MBR) to the specified sector (sector) in the hard disk.

What needs to be specially explained here is that the BCV item is placed in the expansion header (Expansion Header) of the PnP OpROM. Here is an example of an OpROM containing BCV. The BCV table of the BBS is created during POST , using the name string of the hard disk as a pointer, as shown in Figure 5, including the following three types:

(1) BIOS processing program (handler): the present invention refers to it as an advanced technology attachment (Advanced Technology Attachment, hereinafter referred to as ATA) device (device), such as: the ATA driver interface on the main board (onboard), providing main and The secondary channel (Primary/secondarychannel), and the program code required for accessing the channel INT 13h on the hook (Hook) is provided by the BIOS;

(2) BCV items set on the Plug and Play (PnP) adapter card: each BCV item corresponds to a hard disk, such as: BCV#1 and BCV#2, and the OpROM initialization program is executed Afterwards, the BIOS call (call) executes BCV to hook up the access channel INT 13h; and

(3) Other standard ISA/PCI adapter cards that do not contain PnP compatible settings (compatible configurability) and expansion headers (Expansion Header): the present invention refers to them as traditional adapter cards (Legacy Cards), so The traditional riser card provided with OpROM is directly connected to the access channel INT 13h by the initialization program code therein.

The pointer of its BCV priority (priority) is stored in the non-volatile memory (NV memory) of the computer device, as shown in Figure 6, used to index (index) a certain specific value stored in the BCV table. Device, the number of devices in the BCV table is also stored in the non-volatile memory, and each time POST is executed, check whether there is a change. If the number changes, the BIOS will automatically adjust the priority of the device in the BCV table. Referring back to Figure 5, when the devices in the BCV table are installed, the BIOS will adjust the BCV priority order, as shown in Figure 6, the order is BCV#1, ATA Drives, Legacy Cards and BCV#2;

(103) According to the content of MBR, search for the special-purpose partition in the hard disk hidden (hidden), and after finding the special-purpose partition, check the signature and partition header check code (Partition header) in the special-purpose partition Checksum) to check, if the signature and the check code are checked correctly, all the OpROM program codes stored in the dedicated partition will be loaded (load) into the memory (memory), and the OpROM special partition check code (OpROM Partition Checksum )Check;

(104) After completing the work of loading all OpROM program codes into the memory, restore (restore) to the original state (original state), that is, unhook (unhook) the access channel, and set the BIOS data area (BIOS Data Area, Hereinafter referred to as BDA) from 40:70h to restore (restore) to 0; what needs to be specially explained here is that BDA refers to the area used to store BIOS data in random access memory (RAM), and is used by BIOS to manage computer devices For various peripheral devices and resources connected, the starting position of the segment of BDA is 0040h, and the address 40:75h is used to record the number of hard disks;

(105) carry out the initial procedure of OpROM according to BBS standard specification, and in the process of setting up a BCV table, set up the so-called boot connection vector (Extended BCV) table of an expansion of the present invention, and deposit this EBCV table in the NVRAM ; What needs to be specially mentioned here is that in the process of loading all OpROM program codes into the memory, all OpROM program codes stored in the dedicated partition of the hard disk are preferentially used; and

(106) When the follow-up BIOS standard program is executed, the BBS of the OpROM is completed, so that the peripheral devices connected to each adapter card can be successfully activated.

According to the above, it can be seen that the present invention stores the OpROM in the dedicated partition, and after the computer device is activated, the OpROM is loaded into the memory of the computer device, so as to successfully activate the peripheral devices connected to the riser card approach has the following advantages:

(1) When the OpROM program code is updated, the dedicated partition in the hard disk is updated, so the security of the flash memory can be ensured;

(2) For BIOS program developers, it provides great convenience, that is, when updating the OpROM program code, there is no need to rebuild the BIOS program content, only by replacing the OpROM in the original dedicated partition. , Therefore, if the BIOS program developer has any new OpROM, he only needs to use the present invention to replace the old OpROM with the new OpROM. For OpROM developers, it also provides a very convenient tool, so that they can test the new OpROM at any time without rebuilding the program content of BIOS, which can effectively prevent the BIOS source code from being seen by OpROM developers, and ensure the BIOS program The function that the content will not be leaked;

(3) The new OpROM is stored in a large storage device (mass storage), such as a hard disk, so it can store a large amount of OpROM program codes without space restrictions. When the storage space of the BIOS flash memory is insufficient, it can be Store the remaining OpROM program codes in the large storage device to effectively solve the problem that the BIOS flash memory storage space is not enough to store all the OpROM program codes. Not only that, the present invention can also choose to store all the OpROM program codes (except the OpROM program codes of VGA) They are all stored in a large storage device, and only a ROM with a small storage space is required to store the program content of the BIOS. This will effectively reduce the construction cost of the BIOS flash memory;

(4) Because, each computer device is generally all equipped with at least one hard disk, and the driver program that drives this hard disk (such as: SATA hard disk) is generally all stored in the BIOS flash memory that is set on the motherboard, or drives this hard disk (such as: : SCSI hard disk) OpROM program codes are generally stored in the flash memory set on the adapter card, so there is no need to add additional costs to use a hard disk as a storage device, and the total space occupied by all OpROM program codes is compared to the hard disk space Insignificant, so for all OpROM program code, there is no problem of insufficient space;

(5) The large amount of storage space provided by the hard disk can be used to store a large number of OpROM firmware programs. Therefore, there is no need to design or reserve a memory space for storing OpROM program codes on each adapter card, so the memory usage can be greatly reduced. construction cost;

(6) If you want to support (support) a new adapter card, but when the flash memory space of the BIOS is insufficient, you only need to store the OpROM program code in the hard disk, which effectively increases the expansion capability of the computer device.

The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and the features of the present invention are not limited thereto. Any changes or modifications that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art in the field of the present invention should be covered. In the patent scope of the present invention.

Claims (12)

1. A method for reading the program code of the selected read-only memory from the storage device, applied to a computer device equipped with at least one storage device, and a dedicated partition is pre-established in the storage device for storing and driving the computer device The optional read-only memory required by various adapter cards on the computer, and the relevant data of the storage device are stored in the non-volatile random access memory provided on the computer device. The method includes: Reading relevant data of the storage device from a non-volatile random access memory when the BIOS of the computer device executes a power-on self-test procedure; According to the relevant data, check the selection ROM stored in the dedicated partition, and load the selection ROM into the memory of the computer device after confirming that it is correct; Execute the initial program of selecting the ROM according to the standard specification of the BIOS boot specification for selecting the ROM, and establish a boot connection vector table, and store the boot connection vector table into the non-volatile random access memory in; and When executing the follow-up standard program of the basic input/output system, the boot specification program for selecting the read-only memory is completed, and the peripheral devices connected with each of the riser cards are successfully activated. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the relevant data of the storage device at least includes a PCI device address of a hard disk controller, a hard disk serial number, and an access channel. 3. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein when the computer device executes the boot self-test program of the basic input/output system, after the plug-and-play driver is executed, and in the selection ROM before the initialization procedure. 4. The method according to claim 3, further comprising finding out the storage location of the program code of the selected ROM program corresponding to each of the peripheral devices according to the PFA in the relevant data of the storage device, and executing its initialization program code . 5. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein if the selected ROM contains the program entry point of the boot connection vector, according to the hard disk number in the relevant data of the storage device, the corresponding program code in the selected ROM program code is executed. The boot connection vector program is used to complete the initialization operation of the peripheral equipment by means of the initialization program code, and to detect whether the peripheral equipment has been correctly connected to the computer device, and to go to the designated area of the hard disk through the access channel according to the hard disk number The section reads the host boot record. 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the dedicated partition hidden in the hard disk is found according to the contents of the boot record of the host. 7. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein checking the selected ROM stored in the special-purpose partition means that after finding the special-purpose partition, the signature and the partition header in the special-purpose partition are checked. The check code is checked, and if the signature and the check code are checked correctly, all the program codes of the optional ROM stored in the special partition are loaded into the memory. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein after the work of loading all selected ROM program codes into the memory is completed, the initial state is restored, the access channel is decoupled, and the BIOS data area Reverted to 0 from 40:70h. 9. The method according to claim 8, wherein in the process of establishing a boot connection vector table, an expanded boot connection vector table is established, and the expanded boot connection vector table is stored in the non-volatile random access In the memory, during the process of loading all the program codes of the optional ROM into the memory, all the program codes of the optional ROM stored in the dedicated partition of the hard disk are preferentially used. 10. The method according to any one of claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9, further comprising a user tool to provide the following function options for the user to select: select a storage device; Create a dedicated partition on the selected storage device, the size of the dedicated partition is specified by the user; remove the dedicated partition created on the storage device; storing the program code of the selected ROM to which the peripheral device belongs in the dedicated partition created on the storage device; removing selected ROM program code from the dedicated partition created on the storage device; and During POST of the BIOS, which storage device is selected to be activated to activate the selected ROM program code stored therein. 11. The method of any one of claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9, wherein the dedicated partition includes a partition header, wherein the partition header is Used to store the following data: signature; Partition size, the space occupied by the dedicated partition; Dedicated partition check code, a check code used to check the dedicated partition; and The header check code of the dedicated partition is a check code used to check the header of the dedicated partition. 12. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the dedicated partition further includes a plurality of modules, each of which includes a module body and a module header, wherein the module body is used to store the program code of the optional ROM, and the module header is Used to store the following data: Module identification code, storing manufacturer identification code and device identification code; Module size, the space occupied by the storage module; A flag to indicate whether the firmware exists; The firmware offset value is used to indicate the address in the module where the firmware in the module is located; and Module check code, the check code used to check the module.

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