TWI413934B - Booting method - Google Patents

Abstract

A booting method is adapted to boot a computer. The computer includes a BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) memory, a RAM (Random Access Memory), and a display device. The BIOS memory includes a BIOS to access a boot device sequence including a first booting pointer. The booting method includes steps below: initialing the RAM; reading the boot device sequence; initialing a VGA (Video Graphics Array); loading a first booting icon corresponding with the first booting pointer into the RAM; displaying the first booting icon loaded in the RAM onto the display device; loading a booting procedure depending on the boot device sequence; and starting the computer by the booting procedure.

Description

Boot method

The present invention relates to a booting method, and more particularly to a method of displaying a first booting pattern during a booting phase.

With the development of information technology, processor-based electronic devices, such as various computers (computers, also known as computers) have been widely used by enterprises and individuals. The general computer boot process is as follows. After turning on the power, the computer first performs Power On Self Test (POST). The computer loads the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) to determine the most basic hardware architecture and performs the necessary initialization operations on the hardware. The BIOS then executes the Boot Loader to load the boot program, such as the core program of the computer's operating system, based on the boot device sequence (also known as the boot order). When the startup program is loaded, the control of the computer is handled by the startup program to complete the booting of the entire computer.

The aforementioned boot device refers to a hardware device, such as a hard disk, a CD player, or a flash device, in which an boot program may be stored. The boot device sequence is directed to at least one boot device by at least one boot indicator and arranged in a prioritized sequence. The BIOS finds the startup program in each boot device in order according to the boot device sequence to load and start the computer. The boot device sequence allows the user to change the settings freely. The user can enter the setup menu by pressing a hotkey (such as the F2 button of the keyboard) to change the settings when the BIOS is booted from the computer system.

However, when the BIOS is executed, the time that the user can enter the setting menu is not only very short, but also the timing is difficult to grasp. In order to enter the setup menu to change the boot sequence, the user may continually press the preset hotkey after turning on the power, wasting a lot of unnecessary effort. In addition, the user cannot know the contents of the boot device sequence other than entering the setup menu. Therefore, even if the user only wants to confirm the sequence of the boot device at the time, it is necessary to enter the setting menu to confirm at the time of booting, which is very inconvenient. After entering the setup menu, the computer will restart again, regardless of whether there is a change in the boot sequence, which is also a waste of time.

In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a booting method capable of displaying a first booting icon when the BIOS is executed, so that the user can effortlessly know the booting device set as the first priority when booting. At the same time, the user can easily change a first booting indicator pointing to the first booting device by pressing a hotkey before the launching program is loaded and executed.

The invention provides a booting method suitable for a computer. The computer has a basic input/output system memory, a random access memory and a display device, and the BIOS memory has a BIOS. The BIOS accesses a boot device sequence, and the boot device sequence has a first boot indicator. The booting method comprises: initializing the random access memory; reading the booting device sequence; initializing a video graphics array; loading a first booting icon into the random access memory; and storing the random graphics by the video graphics array The first boot icon for accessing the memory is displayed on the display device; loading a boot program according to the boot device sequence; and starting the computer according to the boot program. The first boot icon is stored in the BIOS memory and corresponds to the first boot indicator.

According to the present invention, after the first boot icon stored in the random access memory is displayed on the display device by the video graphics array, and before loading the boot program according to the boot device sequence, the method further includes: initializing an input device The input device is configured to receive an instruction input by the user; to initialize an interrupt, the interrupt includes a setting program; to determine whether the command is input; when the command is input, determine whether the command is a predetermined value; and when the command is predetermined When the value is set, the setting program is executed.

The setting program may include: changing the first booting indicator according to the preset value; changing the first booting icon according to the changed first booting indicator, and loading the changed first booting icon into the random access memory Displaying the modified first boot icon stored in the random access memory on the display device by the video graphics array. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the BIOS memory can be a read-only memory. The device sequence is stored in a complementary metal oxide layer conductor memory. The first booting icon can be a bitmap, the input device can be a keyboard, and the booting program can be an operating system.

In addition, the step of loading the first boot icon into the random access memory according to the boot device sequence may further include: decompressing the first boot icon; and loading the decompressed first boot icon into the random save Take the memory.

Based on the above, according to the illustration of the corresponding booting device, the booting device pointed by the first booting indicator is displayed during the booting, so that the user can know what the currently booting device is. Secondly, according to an embodiment of the present invention, when the user wants to change the booting device, the user can reset the first booting indicator before the startup program (which can be the operating system of the computer) is loaded by the hotkey. In the above embodiment, the user can easily know the first booting device that is pointed, and can change the first booting indicator in real time by using the hot key during the first booting icon display.

The detailed features and advantages of the present invention are set forth in the Detailed Description of the Detailed Description of the <RTIgt; </ RTI> <RTIgt; </ RTI> </ RTI> </ RTI> <RTIgt; The objects and advantages associated with the present invention can be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

The detailed features and advantages of the present invention are described in the following detailed description of the present invention, which is to be understood by those skilled in the art to understand the technical contents of the present invention, and in accordance with the disclosure, the scope of the application, and the drawings, The related objects and advantages of the present invention will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

Please refer to "FIG. 1", which is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a computer according to the present invention. The computer 20 includes a processor 30, a BIOS memory 50, a random access memory (RAM) 40, a video graphics array (VGA) 42, a display device 44, and at least one boot device 46. The BIOS memory stores a BIOS 52, a boot device sequence 54, a first boot icon 56, and a first boot indicator 58.

The processor 30 can be a Central Processing Unit (CPU) for processing the operations of the computer 20. After the power of the computer 20 is turned on, the processor 30 performs a power-on self-test (POST) and loads the BIOS 52. The processor 30 then initializes the basic hardware of the computer 20, such as the random access memory 40, the video graphics array 42, and the display device 44.

The random access memory 40 can exchange data directly with the processor 30. Since the random access memory 40 can be read and written at any time and is fast, it will be initialized as early as possible for subsequent use in the boot process. During the boot process, the code stored in the BIOS memory 50 and the like are also copied to the random access memory 40 for execution.

The video graphics array 42 is a computer display standard that uses analog signals. A device such as a personal computer must support the standard of the video graphics array 42 before loading its own unique driver. The video graphics array 42 is typically fixed to use a location in the random access memory 40 that is addressed between 0xA0000 and 0xC0000 at power up. Although the resolution and the number of colors are insufficient, the computer can display information on the display device 44 after the video graphics array 42 and the random access memory 40 are initialized.

The boot device 46 can be a basic hardware of a computer, or a peripheral device connected to the computer 20, or even a remote computer connected by a network. A boot program for fully booting the computer 20 can be stored in the boot device 46. For example, the boot device 46 can be a hard disk, a CD player, or a flash device. The startup program can be, but is not limited to, the operating system or the core program of the operating system.

The BIOS memory 50 is usually a memory that does not lose data contents after power-off, such as a read only memory (ROM) or a read-only flash memory. The program contents of the BIOS 52 are stored in the BIOS memory 50 for controlling the program between the power of the computer 20 and the startup program to completely start the computer 20.

The boot device sequence 54 can have at least one boot indicator, and when there are multiple boot indicators, the boot indicators point to different boot devices 46 in order of priority. The sequence in the boot device sequence 54 can be in the built-in order or can be changed by the user. Furthermore, the content of the boot device sequence 54 can be, for example, a CD-hard drive-flash device.

The BIOS 52 accesses the boot device sequence 54 and looks up the boot program in each boot device 46 in accordance with the priority order in which the boot indicators in the boot device sequence 54 are recorded to load and start the computer 20. The boot device sequence 54 has a first power-on indicator 58 for pointing to the boot device 46 (ie, the first boot device) with the first priority being set to the first. When the processor 30 wants to load the booting program, it first searches for the booting program in the first booting device to load and execute.

According to the present invention, the BIOS memory 50 can be, but is not limited to, a read-only memory, and the boot device sequence can be stored in a Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS), or Other data will not disappear after power-off and are not read-only memory devices, such as flash memory. In addition, the BIOS memory 50 can store a plurality of boot icons, and each boot icon corresponds to and represents a boot device 46, such as a hard disk or a CD player. The boot icon corresponding to the first boot device is referred to as a first boot icon 56. The format of the first boot icon 56 and other boot icons may be a bitmap (also referred to as BMP). By displaying the first boot icon 56 to the user, the user can know from the displayed first boot icon 56 which boot device 46 the currently set first boot device is.

Please refer to FIG. 2, which is a schematic diagram of a process of starting up according to an embodiment of the present invention. As can be seen from the figure, the step of booting in the display method of the boot device sequence includes step S60: initializing the random access memory 40; step S70: reading the boot device sequence 54; step S80: initializing the video graphics array 42; step S90: Loading the first boot icon 56 into the random access memory 40; step S100: displaying the first boot icon 56 stored in the random access memory 40 on the display device 44; step S180: according to the boot device sequence 54 Loading the startup program; and step S190: starting the computer 20.

At step S60, the random access memory 40 is initialized. Taking a general computer as an example, after the power of the computer 20 is turned on, the processor 30, the north bridge (not shown), the random access memory 40, and the south bridge (not shown) are sequentially initialized. After the random access memory 40 is initialized, the processor 30 can perform the execution and calculation of the subsequent program by the random access memory 40.

The processor 30 reads the boot device sequence 54 at step S70, and initializes the video graphics array 42 at step S80. In the initialization sequence of the above-mentioned general computer booting, the processor 30 initializes the south bridge chip, and then initializes the keyboard controller (KBC) (not shown), the video graphics array 42 and the peripheral component interconnect (Peripheral Component Interconnect, PCI) device (not shown) and the like. After the video graphics array 42 is initialized, the display device 44 displays the data of the address in the random access memory 40 of 0xA0000 to 0xC0000 on the display device 44. That is to say, if the user sees the screen after booting, it means that the video graphics array 42 has been initialized.

Next, in step S90, the first boot icon 56 corresponding to the first booting device is loaded into the random access memory 40. Please refer to FIG. 3 at the same time, which is a schematic flowchart of step S90 according to an embodiment of the present invention. According to the present invention, loading the first boot icon 56 into the random access memory 40 may further include step S92: decompressing the first boot icon 56; and step S94: decompressing the first boot icon 56 is loaded into the random access memory 40.

In order to save space in the BIOS memory 50, the first boot icon 56 may be a file that is stored in the BIOS memory 50 after being compressed. When the first boot icon 56 is to be loaded into the random access memory 40, the compressed image stored in the BIOS memory 50 must be decompressed and then loaded into the random access memory 40. The foregoing steps S90, S92, and S94 are performed by decompressing the compressed first boot icon 56 and then storing the address in the random access memory 40 at 0xA0000 to 0xC0000. The video graphics array 42 is usually fixed at the position where the address position in the random access memory 40 is between 0xA0000 and 0xC0000, so that the first boot icon 56 can be loaded into the address to wait for the video graphics array. 42 is displayed on display device 44. In addition, the location in which the first boot icon 56 is loaded into the random access memory 40 corresponds to the memory address used by the video graphics array 42. According to the present invention, the loaded location is not limited to the 0xA0000 to 0xC0000 address in the random access memory 40, but may vary depending on the setting of the video graphics array 42.

After the first boot icon 56 is loaded into the random access memory 40, the processor 30 displays the first boot icon 56 on the display device 44 for reference by the user in step S100. The processor 30 loads the first boot icon 56 into the random access memory 40 according to the first boot indicator 58 of the boot device sequence 54 and causes the video graphics array 42 to display the loaded first boot icon 56. . The user can know the content of the first boot indicator 58 from the displayed first boot icon 56 without entering the setup menu. Please refer to FIG. 4, which is a schematic diagram of a display according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the first boot icon 56 indicates the boot device 46 to which the first boot indicator 58 is directed and is displayed on the display device 44.

In step S180, the processor 30 sequentially searches the booting device 46 for the booting program according to the booting device sequence 54 to completely boot the computer 20. When the bootable program that can be used is not found in the boot device 46 pointed to by the first boot indicator 58, the processor 30 will go to the second boot device 46 to find the boot program. If the boot program that can be used is still not found, it continues to search for the next boot device 46 according to the boot device sequence 54.

After the startup program is found, the processor 30 loads the startup program in step S190, and transfers the control of the computer 20 from the BIOS 52 to the startup program, thereby completing the booting operation of the entire computer 20.

Referring again to FIG. 1, in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, computer 20 may further include input device 47 and an interrupt 48. The input device 47 is configured to receive an instruction input by a user, and the input device 47 can be, but is not limited to, a keyboard. The interrupt 48 is a module that receives signals from hardware other than the processor 30 or from a software and performs corresponding processing, and the interrupt 48 includes a setting program. The input device 47 can include at least one hot key, each of which is set to correspond to a boot device 46. Each hotkey can trigger a setting procedure by interrupt 48 to change the first boot indicator 58 to the boot device 46 corresponding to the hotkey.

Please refer to FIG. 5, which is a schematic diagram of a process of booting according to another embodiment of the present invention. Please refer to "Fig. 2" and "5th figure" at the same time, wherein the same reference numerals denote similar steps.

As can be seen from "Fig. 5", the booting method includes the step S60: initializing the random access memory 40; the step S70: reading the booting device sequence 54; the step S80: initializing the video graphics array 42; and the step S90: turning the first booting The figure 56 is loaded in the random access memory 40; step S100: displaying the first boot icon 56 stored in the random access memory 40 on the display device 44; step S110: initializing the input device 47; step S120: initializing Interrupt 48; Step S130: determining whether the instruction is input; Step S140: determining whether the instruction is a predetermined value; Step S150: Changing the first power-on indicator 58; Step S160: Changing the first power-on icon 56, and changing the first The boot icon 56 is loaded into the random access memory 40; step S170: the modified first boot icon 56 stored in the random access memory 40 is displayed on the display device 44; step S180: according to the boot device sequence 54 Loading the startup program; and step S190: starting the computer 20.

The contents of step S60 to step S100 are substantially as described in the previous embodiment. In the normal computer, after the video graphics array 42 is initialized, the keyboard is initialized in step S110 (which can be regarded as one of the input devices 47), and the interrupt 48 is initialized in step S120.

After the user sees the first boot icon 56, it can decide whether to change the first boot indicator 58 according to the requirements. Then, it is determined in step S130 whether or not the designation is input via the input device 47. If so, it is determined in step S140 whether the input command is a preset value corresponding to each boot device 46. For example, when the input device 47 is a keyboard and the preset value (ie, hot key) indicating that the first boot indicator 58 is changed to the optical disk drive is set to F2, the processor 30 determines whether the user has pressed F2 to turn the first boot. Indicator 58 points to the disc player.

When the command input by the user is the same as the preset value, it indicates that the user wants to change the first booting device represented by the first booting indicator 58 by the hotkey. Therefore, in step S150, the first power-on indicator 58 is changed to point to the boot device 46 to which the command corresponds. Next, step S160 is performed to change the first boot icon 56 according to the changed first boot indicator 58 and load the modified first boot icon 56 into the random access memory 40. Then, in step S170, the first boot icon 56 reloaded in the random access memory 40 is displayed on the display device 44. In this way, the user can know whether the first boot indicator 48 is successfully changed or not by the redisplayed first boot icon 56.

Please refer to FIG. 4 and FIG. 6 simultaneously. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing changes according to another embodiment of the present invention. For example, when the original first power-on indicator 58 points to a hard disk, as shown in FIG. 4, the display device 44 displays a first boot icon 56 corresponding to the hard disk. When the user changes the first power-on indicator 58 to the optical disk drive by inputting a hot key, as shown in FIG. 6, the display result is also changed to the first power-on icon representing the optical disk drive. .

After the first power-on indicator 58 is changed, the processor 30 executes the aforementioned steps S170 and S180 to search for the startup program and execute it on the changed first boot device.

When the user does not input an instruction, or the input instruction is not to change the preset value of the first power-on indicator 58, the processor 30 performs the foregoing steps S180 and S190. The processor 30 sequentially searches the booting device 46 for the booting program according to the booting device sequence 54 and loads the booting program to completely boot the computer 20.

According to the booting method of the present invention, the first booting icon stored in the BIOS is displayed according to the booting device sequence. Even if the user does not enter the setting menu, the content of the first power-on indicator at that time can be known by displaying the first power-on icon. In addition, the first boot icon can be displayed from the initialization of the video graphics array to the start of loading the boot program, and a hotkey is provided to change the first boot indicator. Therefore, when the user needs to change the first booting indicator, the hotkey corresponding to each booting device can be input and changed within the time indicated by the first booting icon. Since the first boot indicator is changed before the boot program is loaded, the new first boot device pointed to can be directly searched for the boot program and the computer can be started without restarting the computer after changing the settings.

While the present invention has been described above in terms of the preferred embodiments thereof, it is not intended to limit the invention, and the invention may be modified and modified without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The patent protection scope of the invention is subject to the definition of the scope of the patent application attached to the specification.

20. . . computer

30. . . processor

40. . . Random access memory

42. . . Video graphics array

44. . . Display device

46. . . Boot device

47. . . Input device

48. . . Interrupt

50. . . BIOS memory

52. . . BIOS

54. . . Boot device sequence

56. . . First boot icon

58. . . First boot indicator

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a computer in accordance with the present invention;

2 is a schematic flow chart of booting according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a schematic flow chart of step S90 according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 4 is a schematic view showing a display according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 5 is a flow chart showing the process of starting up according to another embodiment of the present invention;

as well as

Figure 6 is a schematic diagram showing the modification of another embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (8)

A booting method is applicable to a computer having a basic input/output system (BIOS) memory, a random access memory, and a display device, and the BIOS memory has a BIOS, and The BIOS accesses a boot device sequence, the boot method includes: initializing the random access memory; reading the boot device sequence, the boot device sequence having a first boot indicator; initializing a video graphics array; The boot icon is loaded in the random access memory, wherein the first boot icon is stored in the BIOS memory and corresponds to the first boot indicator; and the video graphics array is stored in the random The first boot icon for accessing the memory is displayed on the display device; loading a boot program according to the boot device sequence; and booting the computer according to the boot program. The booting method of claim 1, wherein the first booting icon stored in the random access memory is displayed after the display device by the video graphics array, and is loaded according to the booting device sequence Before starting the program, the method further includes: initializing an input device, the input device is configured to receive an instruction input by the user; initializing an interrupt, the interrupt includes a setting program; determining whether the command is input; when the command is When inputting, determining whether the instruction is a predetermined value; and when the instruction is the predetermined value, executing the setting procedure. The booting method of claim 2, wherein the input device is a keyboard. The booting method of claim 2, wherein the setting program comprises: changing the first booting indicator according to the predetermined value; changing the first booting icon according to the changed first booting indicator, and changing the The first boot icon is loaded in the random access memory; and the modified first boot image stored in the random access memory is displayed on the display device by the video graphics array. The booting method of claim 1, wherein the BIOS memory is a read-only memory, and the boot device sequence is stored in a complementary metal oxide layer conductor memory. The booting method of claim 1, wherein the step of loading at least one boot icon into the random access memory according to the booting device sequence comprises: decompressing the boot icon; and decompressing the boot image The boot icon loads the random access memory. The booting method of claim 1, wherein the first booting icon is a bitmap. The booting method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the booting program is an operating system.