HP EliteBook 8730w Mobile Workstation 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



Ascomputertechnologyhasadvanced,theBIOS(BasicInput/OutputSystem)has

expandedinanefforttohandlenewcomponents,largerandmorecomplex

chipsets,add‐incards,andsoon.ThisexpansionoftheBIOShasmadeit

increasinglyintricate.



Thecomputerindustry’sanswertoaddressBIOSlimitationsisthedevelopment

oftheExtensibleFirmwareInterface(EFI).EFIisasetofmodularinterfacesthat

replacesthesetoftraditionalBIOSinterfacesbetweentheoperatingsystemand

platformfirmware.



EFIisbasedonthehigh‐levelClanguageandisdriver‐based,scalable,andeasyto

debugandupgrade.EFIusesamodular,platform‐independentarchitecturethat

canperformbootandotherBIOSfunctions.



Tappingintothistechnology,HPhasimplementedaprebootpartitiononallofits

commercialnotebookcomputers.

AlongwithreplacingthetraditionalBIOS

interface,theHPpartitionaddstoolstotheprebootsystemenvironment.The

partitionisviewableontheharddriveandislabeledasHP_TOOLS.On2008and

latercommercialnotebookplatformswiththeEFIBIOS,HPcreatedthepartition

asaFAT32partition,duetoEFIBIOSlimitationswithaccessingotherpartition

formats.



FormoreinformationaboutEFI,gotohttp://www.hp.com/go/techcenter



2. Supported Platforms



TheHP_Toolspartitionfeaturedescribedinthisdocumentissupportedby2008

and2009HPbusinessnotebooks.



3. Location of HP EFI and Preboot Applications- the

HP_TOOLS Fat32 Partition



3

HPEFIapplicationsandprebootapplicationsprovideextensiveprebootfunctions

tothesystemBIOSresidingintheflashrom.TheseHPprebootapplicationsare

placedonaHPspecificpartition.On2008andlatercommercialnotebook

platformswithEFIBIOS,theprebootpartitionHP_TOOLSiscreatedbythe

preinstallteamasaFat32partition.

Warning

DonotencryptHP_TOOLSpartitionusingsoftwareencryptionprogramssuchas

WindowsBitLockerorFullVolumeEncryptionforHPProtectTools.Whenthe

partitionisencrypted,HPprebootapplicationscannotfunction.

Volume Name

HP_TOOLS

Note:QuickWebisaLinuxbasedapplicationandLinuxdirectoryiscasesensitive.

(SoisNTFS.Fat32isnot).WhenVolumenameandHewlett‐Packarddirectoryis

created,pleasemakesurethatit’sallcapitalized.

HP_TOOLS Partition Size

Thetotalpartitionsizeis2GB.



4. HP_TOOLS Partition Directories and Descriptions



TheHP_TOOLSpartitionstructureshouldmirrorwhatwealreadyhaveforNTFS

filesystem.AndtheEFIapplicationandprebootapplicationinstallationshould

followtherulesforotherHPsoftware.

Forthoseprebootdeliverablesthatarewebreleased,theyneedtobeinstalled

usingSoftpaq.

WhenaSoftpaqisrun,

itwillextractintotheC:\swsetupdirectoryjustasother

Softpaqs.ThentheprebootsoftwareinstallationshouldsearchfortheFat32

partitionwiththe“HP_TOOLS”labelandinstallitselfunderthedirectory:

:\HEWLETT‐PACKARD\softwarename

e.g.Quicklook.efianditsdigitalsignatureshouldbeplacedunder

:\HEWLETT‐PACKARD\QUICKLOOK\quicklook.efi

4



5. EFI Power Management



ThereisnopowermanagementunderEFIshell.Therewillbesomethermal

management.



6. How BIOS Launches EFI and Other Preboot

Applications



For HP Signed Preboot Applications

TheHPsignedprebootapplications;theexecutablefileandthe

“filename.sig”signaturefilearestoredinthesamesubdirectory.

Incurrentimplementation,therearehotkeys(notedbelow)definedforHP

certainprebootapplications.



isusedtolaunchtheQuickLookEFIapplication.Thisbuttoncanlaunch

QuickLookfromS5,S4.BIOShasanoptiontodisabletheQuickLook

launch.Ifdisabled,pressingthebuttondoesnothing.



F2 isusedtolaunchtheDiagnosticEFIapplicationduringPOST.F2willnot

wakethesystemfromS5orS4.ItcanonlybepressedduringPOST

whentheBIOShotkeysareondisplay.

 isusedtolaunchtheQuickWeb.ThisbuttoncanlaunchQuickWebfrom

S5andS4.BIOShasanoptiontodisabletheQuickWeblaunch.If

disabled,pressingthebuttondoesnothing.



Note:

ThesehotkeyswillonlylaunchthedesignatedsignedHPEFIandpreboot

applications.PleasecontacttheBusinessNotebookBIOSteamtodefineand

assignahotkeyforaspecificEFIapplication.



5

7. Preboot Security Requirements



Signed Preboot Applications



Whenaprebootapplicationislaunched,ithasasmuchcontrolofthesystem

resourceastheBIOS.Sincetheseapplicationsresideonthepublicharddrive

partitionwhichareeasilyaccessibleandthushacked,it’snecessaryforBIOSto

onlylaunchHPsignedprebootapplications.

Additional F10 Policies for Preboot Environment



BIOSF10providesseveralpoliciestocontroltheavailabilityofBootfromEFIFile

optionintheBootManagerwhenF9ispressed(fordetails,seeHowEFILaunches

EFIApplications)

SystemConfiguration‐>DeviceConfigurations

UEFIBootModeEnable/DisableDefault:Disable

ThispolicycontrolswhethertheBIOSallowstoboottoanEFIfile.Forsecurity,

it’srecommendedtobedisabled.

WhenUEFIBootModeisdisabled,the“BootfromEFIFile”optionwillnotshow

upintheBootManagerwhenF9ispressed.Insuchacase,theonlywayto

launchHPEFIapplicationsistousethehotkey.

CustomizedLogo Enable/Disable Default:Disable

TheEFIBIOSprovidesthenicefeaturefortheusertocustomizethelogo

displayingduringtheboot.Thelogoisabitmapfilethatacustomercan

add/changeontheHP_TOOLSpartition.

SinceBIOScan’tcheckthesignatureofthecustomized

logobitmapfiles,itmay

beusedasanattacktooloftheBIOSpostprocess.Thusanoptionisneededto

disablethiscapabilityforthehighlysensitivesecurityenvironment.

HPQuickLookEnable/Disable Default:Enable

TheEFIBIOSprovidesthefollowingpolicytocontroltheavailabilityofthe

QuickLookapplication

option.

HPQuickWebEnable/Disable Default:Enable

6

TheEFIBIOSprovidesthefollowingpolicytocontroltheavailabilityofthe

QuickWebapplicationoption.



8. Additional References



Foradditionalinformation,refertotheresourceslistedbelow:

HPTechnologyCenterhttp://www.hp.com/go/techcenter

HPtechnicalsupporthttp://www.hp.com/support

Intel’sExtensibleFirmwareInterface(HomePage)

http://www.intel.com/technology/efi/

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]

HP EliteBook 8730w Mobile Workstation User guide

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