Specifications

BIOS Role in Server Management QSSC-S4R Technical Product Specification
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features and then take control of the system reset or power using the Channel Mode features. If a failure occurs during
POST, a watchdog time-out feature in the BMC automatically takes control of the COM2 port.
The character sequence that switches the multiplexer to the BMC serial port is “ESC O 9” (denoted as ^[O9). This key
sequence is above the normal ANSI function keys and is not used by an ANSI terminal.
20.3.3 Multi-Core Intel® Xeon® Processor-based Server SOL, EMP and Console Redirection
Use Case Model
The IBMC‘s integrated Super I/O is used for serial port sharing. SOL and Console Redirection on the Serial B port are
mutually exclusive features. At any given time, only one of them works. SOL has the highest priority followed by
Console Redirection.
Console Redirection is available via the Serial A or Serial B port.
Console Redirection on Serial A and Serial B are mutually exclusive features. The end user is able to configure only
one of them at any given time.
Case I:
Console Redirection is enabled on Serial B with Baud = 115200, Flow Control=CTS-RTS, Terminal Type =VT100
SOL Not Active: The BIOS sends data on Serial B port with 115200 Baud, flow control CTS-RTS enabled and
emulates the terminal Type as VT100. In summary, the BIOS uses the setup settings and performs Console
Redirection on Serial B.
SOL Found Active: The BIOS prioritizes SOL over Serial B Console Redirection. The BIOS queries the BMC for
SOL Baud Rate and overrides the setup Serial B Console Redirection Baud with SOL Baud Rate.
The BIOS also enables Hardware Flow control between the BIOS and BMC and forces terminal emulation type as
PC-ANSI.
Since Serial B is a shared port between the BIOS and BMC, if SOL is found active, the user sees no data on
Serial B port.
Note: The SOL override settings are only valid for the current BIOS boot. On next boot, if SOL is not found active, the BIOS uses
the Console Redirection settings set by the user and performs Console Redirection either on Serial A or Serial B port.
Case II:
Console Redirection is enabled on Serial A with Baud = 115200, Flow Control=CTS-RTS, Terminal Type =VT100.
The BIOS sends data on Serial A port with 115200 Baud, flow control CTS-RTS enabled and emulates the terminal
Type as VT100. In summary, the BIOS uses the setup settings and perform Console Redirection on Serial A.
Legacy Console Redirection:
The BIOS enables Legacy OS redirection on Serial A or Serial B, depending upon the BIOS settings. Legacy OS
redirection happens at the same Baud, Flow Control and Terminal Type set by the user.
SOL Found Active: If SOL is found active, then the BIOS overrides the BIOS settings and AUTO enables Legacy
OS redirection on the SOL console.
20.4 Wired For Management (WFM)
Wired for Management is an industry-wide initiative to increase overall manageability and reduce total cost of
ownership. WFM allows a server to be managed over a network. The system BIOS supports the System Management
BIOS Reference Specification, Version 2.5 to help higher-level instrumentation software meet the Wired For
Management Baseline Specification, Revision 2.0 requirements.
20.4.1 Preboot eXecution Environment (PXE) BIOS Support
The BIOS supports the EFI PXE implementation as specified in Chapter 15 of the Extensible Firmware Interface
Reference Specification, Version 1.1. To utilize this, the user must load EFI Simple Network Protocol driver and the
UNDI driver that is specific for the network interface card being used. The UNDI driver should be included with the
network interface card. The Simple Network Protocol driver can be obtained from
http://developer.intel.com/technology/framework
.
The BIOS supports legacy PXE option ROMs in legacy mode and includes the necessary PXE ROMs in the BIOS
image for the on-board controllers. The legacy PXE ROM is required to boot a non-EFI OS over the network.