HP Compaq 6730b Notebook PC User guide

Type
User guide
HP Business Notebook
HP TOOLS Partition
Guidelines
V1.6
November 2009
Table of Contents:
1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 2
2. Supported Platforms ............................................................................................................ 2
3. Location of HP EFI and Preboot applications- the HP TOOLS Fat32 Partition ............................ 3
Volume Name ................................................................................................................. 3
HP_TOOLS Partition Size .................................................................................................. 3
4. HP_TOOLS Partition Directories and Descriptions ................................................................... 3
5. EFI Power Management ........................................................................................................ 4
6. How BIOS Launches EFI and other preboot Applications: ....................................................... 4
7. Preboot Security Requirements ............................................................................................. 5
Signed preboot applications ............................................................................................. 5
Additional F10 Policies for Preboot Environment ............................................................... 5
8. Additional References .......................................................................................................... 6
2
1. Introduction
Ascomputertechnologyhasadvanced,theBIOS(BasicInput/OutputSystem)has
expandedinanefforttohandlenewcomponents,largerandmorecomplex
chipsets,addincards,andsoon.ThisexpansionoftheBIOShasmadeit
increasinglyintricate.
Thecomputerindustry’sanswertoaddressBIOSlimitationsisthedevelopment
oftheExtensibleFirmwareInterface(EFI).EFIisasetofmodularinterfacesthat
replacesthesetoftraditionalBIOSinterfacesbetweentheoperatingsystemand
platformfirmware.
EFIisbasedonthehighlevelClanguageandisdriverbased,scalable,andeasyto
debugandupgrade.EFIusesamodular,platformindependentarchitecturethat
canperformbootandotherBIOSfunctions.
Tappingintothistechnology,HPhasimplementedaprebootpartitiononallofits
commercialnotebookcomputers.
1
AlongwithreplacingthetraditionalBIOS
interface,theHPpartitionaddstoolstotheprebootsystemenvironment.The
partitionisviewableontheharddriveandislabeledasHP_TOOLS.On2008and
latercommercialnotebookplatformswiththeEFIBIOS,HPcreatedthepartition
asaFAT32partition,duetoEFIBIOSlimitationswithaccessingotherpartition
formats.
FormoreinformationaboutEFI,gotohttp://www.hp.com/go/techcenter
2. Supported Platforms
TheHP_Toolspartitionfeaturedescribedinthisdocumentissupportedby2008
and2009HPbusinessnotebooks.
3. Location of HP EFI and Preboot Applications- the
HP_TOOLS Fat32 Partition
3
HPEFIapplicationsandprebootapplicationsprovideextensiveprebootfunctions
tothesystemBIOSresidingintheflashrom.TheseHPprebootapplicationsare
placedonaHPspecificpartition.On2008andlatercommercialnotebook
platformswithEFIBIOS,theprebootpartitionHP_TOOLSiscreatedbythe
preinstallteamasaFat32partition.
Warning
DonotencryptHP_TOOLSpartitionusingsoftwareencryptionprogramssuchas
WindowsBitLockerorFullVolumeEncryptionforHPProtectTools.Whenthe
partitionisencrypted,HPprebootapplicationscannotfunction.
Volume Name
HP_TOOLS
Note:QuickWebisaLinuxbasedapplicationandLinuxdirectoryiscasesensitive.
(SoisNTFS.Fat32isnot).WhenVolumenameandHewlettPackarddirectoryis
created,pleasemakesurethatit’sallcapitalized.
HP_TOOLS Partition Size
Thetotalpartitionsizeis2GB.
4. HP_TOOLS Partition Directories and Descriptions
TheHP_TOOLSpartitionstructureshouldmirrorwhatwealreadyhaveforNTFS
filesystem.AndtheEFIapplicationandprebootapplicationinstallationshould
followtherulesforotherHPsoftware.
Forthoseprebootdeliverablesthatarewebreleased,theyneedtobeinstalled
usingSoftpaq.
WhenaSoftpaqisrun,
itwillextractintotheC:\swsetupdirectoryjustasother
Softpaqs.ThentheprebootsoftwareinstallationshouldsearchfortheFat32
partitionwiththe“HP_TOOLS”labelandinstallitselfunderthedirectory:
:\HEWLETT‐PACKARD\softwarename
e.g.Quicklook.efianditsdigitalsignatureshouldbeplacedunder
:\HEWLETT‐PACKARD\QUICKLOOK\quicklook.efi
4
5. EFI Power Management
ThereisnopowermanagementunderEFIshell.Therewillbesomethermal
management.
6. How BIOS Launches EFI and Other Preboot
Applications
For HP Signed Preboot Applications
TheHPsignedprebootapplications;theexecutablefileandthe
“filename.sig”signaturefilearestoredinthesamesubdirectory.
Incurrentimplementation,therearehotkeys(notedbelow)definedforHP
certainprebootapplications.
isusedtolaunchtheQuickLookEFIapplication.Thisbuttoncanlaunch
QuickLookfromS5,S4.BIOShasanoptiontodisabletheQuickLook
launch.Ifdisabled,pressingthebuttondoesnothing.
F2 isusedtolaunchtheDiagnosticEFIapplicationduringPOST.F2willnot
wakethesystemfromS5orS4.ItcanonlybepressedduringPOST
whentheBIOShotkeysareondisplay.
 isusedtolaunchtheQuickWeb.ThisbuttoncanlaunchQuickWebfrom
S5andS4.BIOShasanoptiontodisabletheQuickWeblaunch.If
disabled,pressingthebuttondoesnothing.
Note:
ThesehotkeyswillonlylaunchthedesignatedsignedHPEFIandpreboot
applications.PleasecontacttheBusinessNotebookBIOSteamtodefineand
assignahotkeyforaspecificEFIapplication.
5
7. Preboot Security Requirements
Signed Preboot Applications
Whenaprebootapplicationislaunched,ithasasmuchcontrolofthesystem
resourceastheBIOS.Sincetheseapplicationsresideonthepublicharddrive
partitionwhichareeasilyaccessibleandthushacked,it’snecessaryforBIOSto
onlylaunchHPsignedprebootapplications.
Additional F10 Policies for Preboot Environment
BIOSF10providesseveralpoliciestocontroltheavailabilityofBootfromEFIFile
optionintheBootManagerwhenF9ispressed(fordetails,seeHowEFILaunches
EFIApplications)
SystemConfiguration‐>DeviceConfigurations
UEFIBootModeEnable/DisableDefault:Disable
ThispolicycontrolswhethertheBIOSallowstoboottoanEFIfile.Forsecurity,
it’srecommendedtobedisabled.
WhenUEFIBootModeisdisabled,the“BootfromEFIFile”optionwillnotshow
upintheBootManagerwhenF9ispressed.Insuchacase,theonlywayto
launchHPEFIapplicationsistousethehotkey.
CustomizedLogo Enable/Disable Default:Disable
TheEFIBIOSprovidesthenicefeaturefortheusertocustomizethelogo
displayingduringtheboot.Thelogoisabitmapfilethatacustomercan
add/changeontheHP_TOOLSpartition.
SinceBIOScan’tcheckthesignatureofthecustomized
logobitmapfiles,itmay
beusedasanattacktooloftheBIOSpostprocess.Thusanoptionisneededto
disablethiscapabilityforthehighlysensitivesecurityenvironment.
HPQuickLookEnable/Disable Default:Enable
TheEFIBIOSprovidesthefollowingpolicytocontroltheavailabilityofthe
QuickLookapplication
option.
HPQuickWebEnable/Disable Default:Enable
6
TheEFIBIOSprovidesthefollowingpolicytocontroltheavailabilityofthe
QuickWebapplicationoption.
8. Additional References
Foradditionalinformation,refertotheresourceslistedbelow:
HPTechnologyCenterhttp://www.hp.com/go/techcenter
HPtechnicalsupporthttp://www.hp.com/support
Intel’sExtensibleFirmwareInterface(HomePage)
http://www.intel.com/technology/efi/
© 2009 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein
is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services
are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and
services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP
shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein. Itanium
is a trademark or registered trademark of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the
United States and other countries.
[November 2009]
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HP Compaq 6730b Notebook PC User guide

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User guide

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