HP Business Desktop BIOS

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HP BIOS Philosophy............................................................................................................................. 3

HP Business Desktop BIOS Features ....................................................................................................... 3

Deployment and Manageability......................................................................................................... 4

Installing a new computer.............................................................................................................. 4

Remote computer configuration ...................................................................................................... 4

Remote problem alerts and reaction................................................................................................ 5

Remote computer inventory............................................................................................................ 5

Remote computer control ............................................................................................................... 5

Multilanguage support .................................................................................................................. 6

Booting from various media........................................................................................................... 6

Stability .......................................................................................................................................... 6

Minimizing changes to stable products ...........................................................................................6

BIOS change notification in advance .............................................................................................. 7

Security........................................................................................................................................... 7

Securing trust ............................................................................................................................... 8

Preboot security is vital to OS security............................................................................................. 9

User authentication....................................................................................................................... 9

Securing the Trusted Platform State (TPS) ......................................................................................... 9

Securing the BIOS flash............................................................................................................... 10

Securing startup ......................................................................................................................... 10

Securing portable data ............................................................................................................... 10

Smart cards ............................................................................................................................... 11

Preventing unauthorized data removal .......................................................................................... 11

Physically securing the platform hardware ..................................................................................... 12

Overall BIOS security picture ....................................................................................................... 12

Thermal and Power Management..................................................................................................... 13

Balancing thermal and acoustic requirements................................................................................. 13

Saving power and money ........................................................................................................... 13

Enabling future power savings ..................................................................................................... 14

Serviceability................................................................................................................................. 14

Problem diagnosis and resolution ................................................................................................. 14

Detailed service information......................................................................................................... 16

Upgrades and Recovery ................................................................................................................. 16

Local BIOS update...................................................................................................................... 16

Summary of content (21 pages)

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HP Business Desktop BIOS HP BIOS Philosophy ............................................................................................................................. 3 HP Business Desktop BIOS Features ....................................................................................................... 3 Deployment and Manageability......................................................................................................... 4 Installing a new computer......................................
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BIOS update while in Windows ................................................................................................... 17 Remote BIOS update................................................................................................................... 17 Fail-safe flash recovery ................................................................................................................ 17 Industry Standards ...................................................................................
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HP BIOS Philosophy While many computers contain the same processor, chipset, operating systems, and software choices, the BIOS (Basic Input Output System) is one critical computer component that varies significantly in quality and features between competing vendors.
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Deployment and Manageability The HP BIOS provides several technologies that help integrate the HP Business Desktop computer into a corporate enterprise. More detailed information, including customer success stories, can be found at the http://h18000.www1.hp.com/im. Installing a new computer The HP BIOS supports Preboot Execution Environment (PXE).
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Remote problem alerts and reaction The HP BIOS adheres to the Alert Standard Format (see ASF standards at http://www.dmtf.org/standards/asf/) specification to provide advanced warning and system failure alerts from managed clients to remote consoles. ASF provides methods for sending failure/status information to remote consoles and receiving instructions from remote consoles in Pre-Boot, Boot, and OS unavailable states.
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system when adverse power conditions are resolved. HP Business Desktop computer systems can continue to respond to remote wakeup LAN messages once power has been restored. Multilanguage support The HP BIOS computer setup utility, F10 Setup, provides robust localization support for global enterprise computing (see the Computer Setup (F10) Utility Guide on the Documentation CD that shipped with the computer).
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are only updated for critical changes. Strict rules govern the BIOS changes that are approved and introduced into production versions. Normal problem fixes and updates are made available on www.hp.com and can be tested and deployed by customers when they deem it appropriate. In some cases, processor changes initiate BIOS revisions. Many processor technologies require the addition of microcode updates (sometimes called ‘patches’) to the BIOS for proper functionality.
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Thus, both the administrator and the user must trust the platform to be secure. The HP BIOS security features work equally well to assure trust in the platform for both the user and the administrator. The following table lists possible attacks on a computer and how the HP BIOS security features help protect the system. Computer Attacks Attack Subversion of OS security by booting rogue OS. BIOS Enabled Security Features Removable media boot disable.
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Preboot security is vital to OS security Since the computer BIOS is the first operation to run at startup (pre-OS boot or preboot) and ultimately controls which operating system software is loaded, BIOS preboot security is a vital link in total computer security. Without BIOS preboot security, it is not difficult to subvert the security of the installed operating system by booting to a different OS on removable media (such as CD, diskette, USB key, etc).
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Administrator authentication also protects BIOS flash upgrades. If the setup password is set, the BIOS cannot be upgraded without providing that setup password or an administrator smart card. This helps the administrator maintain a common BIOS image and prevent undesired upgrades. All other BIOS configuration settings, including security policies, are also protected by administrator authentication. This includes all settings in F10 setup, except the time and date.
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the user DriveLock password, if it is forgotten. Otherwise, the drive is rendered useless and all data will be lost. As a convenience to the user, the DriveLock password and power-on passwords (or smart card credentials) can be set to match. In this case, the BIOS will use the Power-on password or smart card credential to unlock the drive for the user without additional prompts. For the sake of security, there is no copy of the DriveLock password permanently stored in any fashion in the BIOS.
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Physically securing the platform hardware The BIOS provides control with two types of physical security: hood latch and hood sensor. The hood latch is an electronically controlled mechanism that locks the chassis hood. The hood sensor is a device that detects if the chassis hood has been opened or removed.
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Thermal and Power Management The HP BIOS provides and enables thermal and power management technologies to assist in operating the HP Business Desktop computer in any enterprise environment. Balancing thermal and acoustic requirements HP designs thermal solutions to help assure that the computer performs optimally in the customer environment. The HP BIOS actively controls the environment of the computer by balancing the thermal requirements of the configuration and the acoustic levels of the computer.
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• S5—This state is often referred to as Soft Off. The computer is off. This state offers the slowest wakeup time and the greatest power savings (typically <2W). To understand the cost savings, consider an example using the power difference between enabling Suspend to RAM (power dissipation is 3W) versus simply allowing a system to idle (power dissipation is 40W in a mainstream Pentium IV). In this scenario, assume users simply let their system idle when they are not working.
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Troubleshooting Guide on the Documentation CD that shipped with the computer for more information. Problem alerts are provided for the following failures: HP BIOS Diagnostic Codes Problem Computer Reaction Processor Thermal Protection Activated Power LED blinks RED 2 times, one every second, followed by a 2-second pause. Processor not installed (not an indicator for a bad processor). Power LED blinks RED 3 times, one every second, followed by a 2-second pause.
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Detailed service information The HP BIOS computer setup utility, F10 setup, is an extremely valuable service tool (see the Computer Setup (F10) Utility Guide on the Documentation CD that shipped with the computer). The System Information option provides detailed information including: product name, processor type/speed/stepping, memory configuration, integrated MAC address for enabled or embedded NIC, and asset tracking number. The F10 Setup Storage menu lists all storage devices controlled by the HP BIOS.
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To flash the computer BIOS locally, the SoftPaq provides a DOS Flash folder that can be copied to the media. As with the ROMPAQ BIOS upgrades, administrator security is available through the use of the setup password. BIOS update while in Windows HPQFLASH is a utility that is designed to flash the HP BIOS within a Windows environment. If the computer has a setup password enabled, then HPQFLASH will prompt for the password to be entered before completing the flash process.
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Industry Standards The HP BIOS is fully industry-standard compliant. In many situations, the HP BIOS has led in the formation of various standards. The following table shows some of the more common standards supported by the HP BIOS and HP’s contributions: HP BIOS Compatibility Technology/ Standard Web Site Standard’s value to the product Advanced Configuration Power Interface (ACPI)* http://www.acpi.info /spec.htm ACPI allows operating system controlled configuration and Power Management.
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HP BIOS Compatibility Technology/ Standard Web Site Desktop Management Interface (DMI) Standard’s value to the product This specification defines how computers present management information so that management applications can obtain detailed configuration input without resorting to errorprone probing methods. HP is a founding member of DMTF (see http://www.dmtf.
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HP BIOS Compatibility Technology/ Standard Web Site Standard’s value to the product Post Memory Manager http://www.phoenix. com/resources/specspmm101.pdf Defines a method for allocating RAM buffers to be used by option ROM configuration needs during POST. Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) ftp://download.intel. com/labs/manage/w fm/download/pxespe c.pdf Allows the BIOS to boot a system that has no operating system installed on its hard drive and to download the software from a server.
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For More Information For more information about HP Business Desktop computers, visit our website at www.hp.com. For the HP sales office nearest you, refer to your local phone directory, or call the HP regional office listed below.