Intel SE7501WV2 User Manual

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Intel® Server Board SE7501WV2 TPS 
BIOS 
Revision 1.0 
 
 
Intel reference number C25653-001 
71
 
6. BIOS 
This section describes the BIOS-embedded software for the SE7501WV2 server board. This 
section also describes BIOS support utilities that are required for system configuration (ROM 
resident) and flash ROM update (not ROM resident). The BIOS contains standard PC-
compatible basic input/output (I/O) services and standard Intel
®
 server features.  
The BIOS is implemented as firmware that resides in the flash ROMSupport for applicable 
baseboard peripheral devices (SCSI, NIC, video adapters, etc.) that are also loaded into the 
baseboard flash ROM are not specified in this documentHooks are provided to support adding 
BIOS code for these adapters. The binaries for these must be obtained from the peripheral 
device manufacturers and loaded into the appropriate locations. 
6.1  System Flash ROM Layout 
The flash ROM contains system initialization routines, the BIOS Setup Utility, and runtime 
support routines. The exact layout is subject to change, as determined by Intel. A 16 KB user 
block is available for user ROM code or custom logos. A 96 KB area is used to store the string 
database. The flash ROM also contains initialization code in compressed form for on-board 
peripherals, like SCSI and video controllers.  
The complete ROM is visible, starting at physical address 4 GB minus the size of the flash ROM 
device. Only the BIOS needs to know the exact map. The BIOS image contains all of the BIOS 
components at appropriate locations. The Flash Memory Update utility loads the BIOS image 
minus the recovery block to the flash. 
Because of shadowing, none of the flash blocks is visible at the aliased addresses below 1 MB.  
A 16 KB parameter block in the flash ROM is dedicated to storing configuration data that 
controls the system configuration (ESCD) and the on-board SCSI configuration. Application 
software must use standard APIs to access these areas; application software cannot access the 
data directly. 
6.2  BIOS Boot Specification Compliance 
The BIOS conforms to the BIOS Boot Specification (BBS), Revision 1.01, which describes the 
method used to identify all initial program load (IPL) devices in the system, prioritizes them in 
the order selected in Setup, and then sequentially attempts to boot from each device.  
If more than one non-BBS compliant device exists in the system, the boot device is determined 
by the option ROM scan order. Option ROMs residing lower in memory are scanned first. In 
some instances, control of which non-BBS compliant device from which the system is booted 
may be achieved by moving the adapter cards to different slots in the system. The BIOS may 
include special code and may be able to selectively boot from one of several non-BBS 
compliant devices in the system. Such techniques do not always work and are outside the 
scope of this document.  
BIOS Setup provides boot order options including: CD-ROM, hard drive, removable device, and 
other bootable devices such as a network card or a SCSI CD-ROM. The system BIOS tries to