CN101655800B - Basic input and output system update method and its update system - Google Patents

Abstract

A method and system for updating a BIOS are provided. First, the program code of the boot block included in the main BIOS block is executed to detect whether the main BIOS block is damaged, wherein the main BIOS block stores the program code of the BIOS. When the main BIOS block is damaged, searching a BIOS mapping file from the storage device, wherein the BIOS mapping file comprises program codes of a graphical user interface and a plurality of update files. Then, the program code of the graphical user interface is executed to graphically display the information of the update files, and one of the update files is selected through a control command to update the main BIOS block. Therefore, the information of the update file is graphically displayed, and the required update file can be selected for updating, so that the updating efficiency and the use convenience are improved.

Description

Basic input and output system update method and its update system

technical field

The present invention relates to a basic input output system updating method and its updating system, and in particular to a basic input output system updating method and its system which can display information of updating files through a graphic user interface.

Background technique

The basic input/output system (BIOS) is the most basic software program code loaded in the computer system. Its main function is to perform a power on self test (POST) when the computer is turned on to test the computer system. Whether the status of the internal hardware devices is normal. The program code of the Basic Input Output System (hereinafter referred to as BIOS) is usually stored in a nonvolatile memory (nonvolatile memory), such as: flash memory (flash memory), and the memory block storing the BIOS program code is usually called the main BIOS area. block, which includes a boot block and a main program block.

When the computer system is turned on, it will execute the program code of the boot block at first, so as to verify whether other parts of the BIOS are normal through a checksum (checksum) before executing the BIOS. After passing the detection of the boot block, the program code in the main program block will be executed to perform boot self-test, initialize hardware devices, record system setting values, and the like. If an error occurs in the BIOS program code, the BIOS must be updated to complete the boot process.

Generally, when the BIOS fails to boot, the user must put in the floppy disk storing the BIOS file, and while executing the program code of the boot block, it will automatically search for a complete BIOS file. However, the update of the traditional BIOS only informs the user whether the BIOS file is found through a text interface, and then updates the BIOS, and the user cannot select the required file to update.

Contents of the invention

The present invention provides a basic input and output system update method and its update system, which is to graphically display the information of the update file, and select the required update file through the graphical user interface to update the basic input and output system. In this way, the updating efficiency of the basic input output system and the convenience in use are improved.

The invention proposes a basic input and output system update method. The program code of the BIOS is stored in the main BIOS block, and the main BIOS block includes a boot block. Firstly, the program code of the boot block is executed to detect whether the main BIOS block is damaged. When the main BIOS block is damaged, the BIOS image file is searched from the storage device. Wherein, the BIOS image file includes the program code of the GUI and multiple update files. By executing the program code of the graphical user interface, the information of the update file is graphically displayed, and according to a control instruction, an update file is selected to update the main BIOS block.

The invention proposes a BIOS update system, which includes a main BIOS block, a storage device and a memory module. The main BIOS block stores the program code of the basic input output system, and the storage device stores a BIOS image file, wherein the BIOS image file includes the program code of the graphical user interface and a plurality of update files. When the update system detects that the main BIOS block is damaged, it loads the program code of the GUI from the storage device to the memory module, and executes the program code of the GUI to graphically display the information of the update file. The update system selects an update file to update the main BIOS block according to a control command.

The present invention adopts the method of graphically displaying the information of the update file, so that the user can select the required update file to update through the graphic user interface. Compared with the previous method of notifying the user whether there is an update file through a text interface, and then updating the entire main BIOS block, the present invention not only improves the updating efficiency of the basic input and output system, but also improves the convenience of use.

In order to make the above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention more comprehensible, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below together with the accompanying drawings.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an updating system of a BIOS according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a BIOS updating method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a GUI of an embodiment of the invention.

Detailed ways

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an updating system of a BIOS according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1 , the updating system of this embodiment is a part of a computer system 100 , which includes a main BIOS block 110 , a memory module 130 and a storage device 120 . The main BIOS block 110 usually uses a non-volatile memory (such as a flash memory) to store the program code of the basic input output system, and the main BIOS block 110 includes a boot block and a main program block. The memory module 130 is the main memory in the computer system 100 , which exchanges data with the CPU 150 through the chipset 140 to temporarily store program instructions, store calculation results and data waiting to be output. The storage device 120 is, for example, an optical disc, a floppy disk, a hard disk or a universal series bus (universalseries bus, USB) device for storing a BIOS image file (image file) 121, wherein the BIOS image file 121 includes a graphical user interface (graphical user interface, GUI) ) program code and update files.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a BIOS updating method according to an embodiment of the present invention. Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, when the computer system 100 is turned on, it will first execute the program code in the boot block (step S201), and verify whether the main BIOS block 110 is damaged by a checksum (step S202) , for example: an error occurs in the BIOS program code or the computer system 100 needs to support new hardware. If the main BIOS block 110 is verified to be correct, it will begin to execute the program code in the main program block to carry out power-on self-test, initialize hardware devices and record system settings, etc., and continue the normal boot process (step S203). When the main BIOS block 110 is damaged, the update system will search whether there are other storage devices 120 in the computer system 100 (step S204), and if so, further search whether there is a BIOS image available for updating in the storage device 120 file 121 (step S205). If no other storage device 120 is found, or no BIOS image file 121 is stored in the storage device 120, the search ends (step S206), and no BIOS update is performed.

In this embodiment, if there is an updateable BIOS image file 121 in the storage device 120, the update system will detect whether there is a compatible graphics card in the computer system 100, for example: video graphics array (video graphics array, VGA ) graphics card, and drive the function of the graphics card (step S207) to display the GUI. After successfully driving the function of the graphics card, the update system loads the program code of the GUI to the memory module 130 (step S208), and executes the program code of the GUI to graphically display the information of the updated file, for example: the file of the updated file name or its storage path. Through the graphical user interface, the update system can interact with the user to select the required update file to update the main BIOS block 110 according to a control command (such as a mouse or keyboard input command) (step S209).

In addition, as shown in step S207, if there is no compatible graphics card, or when the function driver of the graphics card fails, the update system will automatically capture the update file in the BIOS image file 121 to update the entire main BIOS block (step S209) . After the update of the main BIOS block is completed, the update system restarts the BIOS (step S210).

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a GUI of an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 3 , in the graphical user interface 300 , block 301 displays the version information of the utility provided by this embodiment, and block 302 displays the type of the flash memory storing the program code of the BIOS. Block 303 displays the motherboard model, firmware version and update date to which the current firmware is applicable. The user operates the keyboard (that is, generates a control command) according to the instructions in the block 307, selects the storage device displayed in the block 305, such as: floppy disk A or hard disk D, and the storage device stored in the block 306 can be displayed. Some update files. Moreover, the user can also select the desired update file in the block 306 according to the above method. At this point, block 304 displays the mainboard to which the selected update file applies, its version and update date. The user can confirm whether the current firmware is the latest version by comparing the information in block 303 and block 304 , or further update it.

It is worth mentioning that in the past, the main program block in the main BIOS block 110 stores the program code of the graphical user interface of the BIOS setting, and the user can set the computer system 100 through the graphical user interface of the BIOS setting. Operating frequency and system time, etc. However, when the main BIOS block is damaged, the program code of the graphical user interface set by the BIOS will not be executed. The graphical user interface of this embodiment is different from the conventional BIOS setting graphical user interface, which graphically displays the update files contained in the BIOS image file 121 for the user to select the required update files to update the main BIOS block.

To sum up, the above embodiment detects whether the main BIOS block is damaged by executing the program code of the boot block. When the main BIOS block is damaged, for example, the BIOS program code is wrong, then a backup BIOS image file is loaded from the storage device. In particular, the BIOS image file includes the program code of the graphical user interface and the update file. By executing the program code of the graphical user interface, the information of the updated file can be graphically displayed on the graphical user interface. Therefore, according to the control command, the required update file can be selected on the GUI for updating. In this way, not only the convenience of use is improved, but also the parts that need to be repaired in the basic input and output system can be updated, which greatly improves the update efficiency.

Although the present invention has been described above with preferred embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Anyone with ordinary knowledge in the art can make some changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. modification, so the scope of protection of the present invention should be determined by the content defined in the claims.

Claims (9)

1. the update method of a Basic Input or Output System (BIOS) is characterized in that, above-mentioned update method comprises:

Whether carry out the program code of start block, damage to detect main BIOS block, wherein above-mentioned main BIOS block comprises above-mentioned start block, and stores the program code of above-mentioned Basic Input or Output System (BIOS);

When above-mentioned main BIOS block is damaged, then search the BIOS image file from memory storage, wherein above-mentioned BIOS image file comprises program code and a plurality of updating file of graphical user's interface;

Carry out the program code of above-mentioned graphical user's interface, with the information of above-mentioned these updating files of graphical demonstration; And

According to steering order, select above-mentioned these updating files one of them, to upgrade above-mentioned main BIOS block.

2. update method according to claim 1 is characterized in that, above-mentioned update method comprises:

Whether detecting exists compatible video card; And

When above-mentioned video card exists, then drive the function of above-mentioned video card, to show above-mentioned graphical user's interface.

3. update method according to claim 1 is characterized in that, above-mentioned update method comprises:

When accomplishing the renewal of above-mentioned main BIOS block, then restart above-mentioned Basic Input or Output System (BIOS).

4. update method according to claim 1 is characterized in that, wherein the information of above-mentioned these updating files is the filename of above-mentioned these updating files or deposits the path.

5. update method according to claim 1 is characterized in that, wherein above-mentioned memory storage is the arbitrary of CD, floppy disk, hard disk or universal sequence bus unit or its combination.

6. the update system of a Basic Input or Output System (BIOS) is characterized in that, update system comprises:

Main BIOS block stores the program code of above-mentioned Basic Input or Output System (BIOS);

Memory storage stores the BIOS image file, and wherein above-mentioned BIOS image file comprises program code and a plurality of updating file of graphical user's interface; And

Memory modules; Wherein when above-mentioned main BIOS block is damaged; Above-mentioned update system loads program code to the above-mentioned memory modules of above-mentioned graphical user's interface and carries out, with the information of above-mentioned these updating files of graphical demonstration, and according to control command; Select above-mentioned these updating files one of them, to upgrade above-mentioned main BIOS block.

7. whether update system according to claim 6 is characterized in that, wherein above-mentioned main BIOS block comprises the start block, and above-mentioned update system is carried out the program code of above-mentioned start block, damage to detect above-mentioned main BIOS block.

8. update system according to claim 6 is characterized in that, wherein the information of above-mentioned these updating files is the filename of above-mentioned these updating files or deposits the path.

9. update system according to claim 6 is characterized in that, wherein above-mentioned memory storage is the arbitrary of CD, floppy disk, hard disk or universal sequence bus unit or its combination.

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