Patent Application
20050223373
The present disclosure relates generally to the field of computer systems or information handling systems, and, more particularly, to a system and method for providing a firmware update to a target device of a system.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses continually seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users of information is an information handling system. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Many information handling systems include one or more devices that process instructions from and operate on the basis of firmware embedded in or near the device. Firmware is program code embedded in a device and maintained within or near the device. The firmware for a device most often comprises the operational code for the device. Firmware is often stored in flash memory, which is a class of memory that is rewritable and is able to hold its content without power. From time to time, it may be necessary or desirable to update or upgrade the firmware of a device. A firmware upgrade may be necessary to correct errors in or improve the performance of the device. The process of updating the firmware of a device is sometimes referred to as “flashing” the device, as the firmware update program will replace the current firmware stored in the flash memory of the device with a firmware update. One example of devices that include firmware are optical drives, which are characterized by the ability to read or write by laser beams from optical media.
A developer and manufacturer of computer systems may use optical drives from several suppliers in its computer systems. Each optical drive supplier often may employ a different technique for flashing or updating the firmware of the drive. As an example, the interface for the flash utility for each drive may be differ among optical drives, and the steps required to update the drive may differ among optical drives. Thus, if a user has multiple optical drives in a computer system, the user may, depending on the supplier and model of the drives, employ two different techniques for updating the firmware of the drives. The lack of uniformity in the process of updating the firmware presents challenges for both the computer manufacturer and the user. For the computer manufacturer, having a number of different methodologies for updating the firmware of an optical drive forces the computer manufacturer to support each of these methodologies. For the user, the existence of a number of different methodologies for updating the firmware of an optical drive leads to confusion in the use of the computer system and may cause the use to consult customer support for assistance. The difficulty of non-uniformity among firmware update methodologies is not limited to optical drives. Other devices in a computer system may present similar difficulties with respect to updating the firmware of the drive.
In accordance with the present disclosure, a firmware update methodology is disclosed in which a universal firmware update application is used to save or flash a firmware update to a target device of a computer system or information handling system.
A technical advantage of the present disclosure is the use of a universal firmware update application for updating or flashing the firmware of each target device of the system. The firmware update application is universal in its use, as it can be used with a range of potential devices in the system and without reference to the supplier of the device. Another technical advantage of the firmware update method disclosed herein is its ease of use for users or administrators of the system. Because the user or administrator is presented with a single application for flashing the firmware of all devices of the system, the user need not learn to use a separate flash utility for each device of the system. The ease of the firmware update application improves the experience of the user with respect to the operation of the computer system. In addition, because the firmware update application functions with any number of devices, a new firmware update to a target device can be accomplished by downloading only the firmware itself. Because the firmware update application is in place and operational with respect to the target device, the user need not download a separate utility for flashing the target device, thereby reducing the size and time required for the download of files required for a firmware update.
Another technical advantage of the method disclosed herein is the firmware update application may be programmed to operated as a Windows®-based application, thereby eliminating the need to run drive-specific DOS-based applications. The firmware update method disclosed herein is also advantageous in that it includes controls for verifying that the only authorized firmware updates are flashed to the target device and for verifying that the firmware update was performed successfully. Another technical advantage of the firmware update method disclosed herein is that the method is not dependent on the booting of a system from a floppy drive. The firmware update application may be initiated while the system is in an operational mode. The firmware update method described herein may be used in computer systems or information handling systems that do not include a floppy disk drive. Other technical advantages will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of the following specification, claims, and drawings.
A more complete understanding of the present embodiments and advantages thereof may be acquired by referring to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numbers indicate like features, and wherein:
For purposes of this disclosure, an information handling system may include any instrumentality or aggregate of instrumentalities operable to compute, classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate, switch, store, display, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, or utilize any form of information, intelligence, or data for business, scientific, control, or other purposes. For example, an information handling system may be a personal computer, a network storage device, or any other suitable device and may vary in size, shape, performance, functionality, and price. The information handling system may include random access memory (RAM), one or more processing resources such as a central processing unit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic, ROM, and/or other types of nonvolatile memory. Additional components of the information handling system may include one or more disk drives, one or more network ports for communicating with external devices as well as various input and output (I/O) devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a video display. The information handling system may also include one or more buses operable to transmit communications between the various hardware components. An information handling system, including a computer system, will typically include a number of devices that include firmware.
The architecture of a computer system, which is indicated generally at 17, is shown in
Shown in
The operation of the universal firmware update application 44 to perform an update of the firmware of a target device is shown in
With reference to
At step 62, a target device identifier associated with the target device is compared with a target device identifier of the firmware update file. If it is determined at step 64 that the target device identifiers match, the user is prompted at step 66 to trigger the update of the firmware of the target device. If it is determined at step 64 that the target device identifiers of the target device and the firmware update file do not match, an error is reported to the user at step 68. At step 69, following the user's initiation of the flashing of the firmware update, the firmware update is applied or flashed to the target device.
Firmware update 74 of the firmware update file 70 is flashed to the target device by the executable firmware flash program 72. Executable firmware flash program 72 may be designed specifically for the target device and is typically provided by the supplier of the target device. The executable firmware flash program 72 is initiated by the firmware update application to cause the firmware update to be saved or flashed to the target device. Because the executable firmware flash program is provided by the supplier of the target device, the executable firmware flash program can be specifically designed to interact with the target device to flash the firmware update to the target device. Even though the executable firmware flash program of the firmware update file is specific to the target the device, the universal firmware update application 44 serves as the means by the which the user initiates the update of a target device with firmware. The user interacts only with the universal firmware update application. The firmware update application in turn initiates a supplier-provided firmware executable application, which executes in the background relative to the view of the user or administrator of the computer system to update or flash the firmware update to the target device of the computer system.
Following the application of the firmware update to the target device, the firmware update application may perform a comparison of the firmware of the target device with the firmware update that is stored in the storage of the computer system to verify that the update was successful. Following the application of the firmware update to the target device, the target device, the computer system, or both may be reset or booted.
The firmware update application described herein operates universally with respect to the target devices of the computer system. The firmware update application is not written such that it will function for any one target device. In this way, the firmware update application is not specific or exclusive to any target device in the computer system. Rather, the firmware update application will function with a wide range of target devices by operating with the configuration files and programming inputs of the target devices. It should also be understood that the system and method disclosed herein is not limited to the precise architecture disclosed in the figures of the present disclosure. It should also be understood that the system and method disclosed herein is not limited in its application to updating the firmware of a specific device. Rather, the system and method disclosed herein may be used to update the firmware of any number of devices. Finally, it should be recognized that the firmware update technique disclosed herein may be used to update target devices in a number of information handling systems, including routers, switches, and gateway devices. Although the present disclosure has been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions, and alterations can be made hereto without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
