Abstract: Examples herein disclose establishing a connection from a controller in a computing device to a management server over a network. The examples retrieve a command from the management server.

Abstract: Securely sending a complete initialization package in one example implementation can include adding a resource identifier that includes a mapping of a driver to a hardware component included in a physical machine hosting VMs to an initial random-access memory (RAM) file system (INITRAMFS) stored in memory of the physical machine to form a complete initialization package, sending the complete initialization package from read-only memory (ROM) of the physical machine to a location in RAM of the physical machine accessible by a hypervisor, and authenticating that the complete initialization package is secure.

Abstract: According to one example, to access at least one computer device from a virtual machine, a control domain accesses a list of at least one device. For each device in the list of devices, a determination is made as to whether the device is to be exposed to a virtual machine, and a table of devices determined to be exposed to the virtual machine is created and provided to the virtual machine. Determining whether a device is to be exposed to a virtual machine is based on at least one device attribute.

Abstract: Methods, systems, apparatuses and program products are disclosed for managing, activating and controlling file systems sharing among two or more O/S (Operating Systems) and/or the like within a computing apparatus or within a single computer operational session or context. Provision is made for journaling and resynchronization of file systems even where at least one of the O/Ses has no features for taking account of the presence of the other O/S.

Abstract: Methods, systems, apparatuses and program products are disclosed for managing device virtualization in hypervisor and hypervisor-related environment which include both pass-thru I/O and emulated I/O. This may include setting up a page table entry so an instruction may execute untrapped in an unprivileged domain such as by creating a new entry in a page table with requisite read or write permissions set. Later the page table may be edited (or an entry deleted) so the same I/O instruction is trapped and responsively emulated. In another embodiment of the invention, an electronic device may be provided with at least one controller; and one non-volatile memory having instructions encoded therein which, when executed, implement the context-based virtualization An advantage provided by the present invention is that performance of the device may be traded off against resource consumed dynamically responsive to system operating conditions.

Abstract: Methods, systems, apparatuses and program products are disclosed for context sensitive selective control of usage of connection(s) to telecommunications networks, especially Internet and the like. Provision is made for allowing certain resource(s) to exploit Internet while disallowing other resource(s) from doing the same, and making the implementation hardened against attack or compromise. An exemplary implementation is to allow anti-malware products to update over Internet while preventing malware from interfering or using the same communications resource simultaneously. Previously developed implementations have shortcoming that are overcome by the present invention.

Abstract: Methods, systems, apparatuses and program products are disclosed for managing interrupt services in hypervisor and hypervisor-related environments in Message Signaled Interrupts are emulated as other type(s) of interrupt. According to an aspect of the present invention, a method of executing a program includes receiving a MSI (message signaled interrupt). Responsively, a virtual interrupt is generated and an ISR (interrupt service routine) is invoked that handles a line-based virtual interrupt transaction. A surrogate or virtual peripheral device status may also be provided and may be associated with the virtual interrupt. A single device interrupt event may, in certain circumstances, be serviced both as a line-based interrupt and also as an MSI, or as either responsive to run-time context. Embodiments of the present invention enable superior tradeoffs in regards to the interrupt sharing to a greater and more flexible extent than with previous implementations.

Abstract: Methods, systems, apparatuses and program products are disclosed for managing, activating and controlling file systems sharing among two or more O/S (Operating Systems) and/or the like within a computing apparatus or within a single computer operational session or context. Provision is made for journaling and resynchronization of file systems even where at least one of the O/Ses has no features for taking account of the presence of the other O/S.

Abstract: A device operating method includes saving initial state information of an electronic device. Next, transferring control of the electronic device to a principal operating system. After transferring control and upon receiving an operating system shut down indication signal, transferring control of the electronic device to an alternate operating system without performing a power on self test. An electronic device includes a processor and at least one memory. The memory maintains instructions, in the form of program code, that when executed by the processor causes the processor to save the initial state information of the electronic device. Next, control of the electronic device is transferred to a principal operating system. After the principal operating system has been launched and upon receiving an operating system shut down indication signal, transfer control of the electronic device to an alternate operating system without performing a power on self test.

Abstract: Methods, systems, apparatuses and program products are disclosed for context sensitive selective control of usage of connection(s) to telecommunications networks, especially Internet and the like. Provision is made for allowing certain resource(s) to exploit Internet while disallowing other resource(s) from doing the same, and making the implementation hardened against attack or compromise. An exemplary implementation is to allow anti-malware products to update over Internet while preventing malware from interfering or using the same communications resource simultaneously. Previously developed implementations have shortcoming that are overcome by the present invention.

Abstract: Methods, systems, apparatuses and program products are disclosed for managing device virtualization in hypervisor and hypervisor-related environment which include both pass-thru I/O and emulated I/O. This may include setting up a page table entry so an instruction may execute untrapped in an unprivileged domain such as by creating a new entry in a page table with requisite read or write permissions set. Later the page table may be edited (or an entry deleted) so the same I/O instruction is trapped and responsively emulated. In another embodiment of the invention, an electronic device may be provided with at least one controller; and one non-volatile memory having instructions encoded therein which, when executed, implement the context-based virtualization An advantage provided by the present invention is that performance of the device may be traded off against resource consumed dynamically responsive to system operating conditions.

Abstract: Methods, systems, apparatuses and program products are disclosed for managing interrupt services in hypervisor and hypervisor-related environments in Message Signaled Interrupts are emulated as other type(s) of interrupt. According to an aspect of the present invention, a method of executing a program includes receiving a MSI (message signaled interrupt). Responsively, a virtual interrupt is generated and an ISR (interrupt service routine) is invoked that handles a line-based virtual interrupt transaction. A surrogate or virtual peripheral device status may also be provided and may be associated with the virtual interrupt. A single device interrupt event may, in certain circumstances, be serviced both as a line-based interrupt and also as an MSI, or as either responsive to run-time context. Embodiments of the present invention enable superior tradeoffs in regards to the interrupt sharing to a greater and more flexible extent than with previous implementations.

Abstract: Methods, systems, apparatuses and program products are disclosed for managing device virtualization in hypervisor and hypervisor-related environment which include both pass-thru I/O and emulated I/O.

Abstract: Techniques related to personal computers and devices sharing similar architectures are disclosed. Particularly shown is a system and method for enabling improved computer initialization speed achieved by methods including causing apparently premature timeouts when fruitlessly waiting for human intervention.

Abstract: A disk drive is equipped with an electronic chip that includes a main processor capable of decoding data compressed according to a first compression standard and an input/output interface, for example an external memory interface with a predetermined maximum data transfer rate. When encountering data compressed according to a second compression standard having a compressed data rate less than the maximum transfer rate of the generic interface and having a decoded data rate greater than the maximum data transfer rate, the compressed data are transferred to an auxiliary processor through the generic external memory interface. The compressed data are decoded within the auxiliary processor, and the decoded data are then re-encoded according to the first compression standard, which are then transferred to the main processor for decoding according to the first compression standard.

Abstract: A device operating method includes saving initial state information of an electronic device. Next, transferring control of the electronic device to a principal operating system. After transferring control and upon receiving an operating system shut down indication signal, transferring control of the electronic device to an alternate operating system without performing a power on self test. An electronic device includes a processor and at least one memory. The memory maintains instructions, in the form of program code, that when executed by the processor causes the processor to save the initial state information of the electronic device. Next, control of the electronic device is transferred to a principal operating system. After the principal operating system has been launched and upon receiving an operating system shut down indication signal, transfer control of the electronic device to an alternate operating system without performing a power on self test.

Abstract: A disk drive is equipped with an electronic chip that includes a main processor capable of decoding data compressed according to a first compression standard and an input/output interface, for example an external memory interface with a predetermined maximum data transfer rate. When encountering data compressed according to a second compression standard having a compressed data rate less than the maximum transfer rate of the generic interface and having a decoded data rate greater than the maximum data transfer rate, the compressed data are transferred to an auxiliary processor through the generic external memory interface. The compressed data are decoded within the auxiliary processor, and the decoded data are then re-encoded according to the first compression standard, which are then transferred to the main processor for decoding according to the first compression standard.

Abstract: A secure method for implementing virus protection on a computer system including an Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI), a hard disk, a nonvolatile memory and a BIOS is disclosed. A command is added to the command shell of the EFI which results in the automatic copying of the boot sector of the hard disk to the nonvolatile memory when the computer system is initialized. The boot sector of the hard disk is automatically read back from the nonvolatile memory on each boot, which bypasses the boot sector access of the hard disk during system initialization; thereby, protecting the computer system from and eliminating potential viruses. The command shell of the EFI may also be modified to include a command to include a security signature input field. The required signature is provided by the user prior to updating the stored boot sector.

Abstract: A method 20 and computer apparatus for using available firmware flash ROM space as a diagnostic drive. The computer apparatus has a nonvolatile random access memory, an Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) and a basic input and output system (BIOS). To implement the functionality provided by the present invention, a command shell of the EFI is modified to include the EFI driver and operates to configure available flash space normally reserved for firmware (BIOS) as a diagnostic disk drive. The modified EFI and the EFI driver are stored in the flash memory. When the computer system 10 is initialized (booted), the EFI driver configures the available space in the flash memory that is not allocated to the firmware as the diagnostic disk drive. Diagnostic programs are loaded into the diagnostic disk drive, which are selectively run by a user, such as by using the command shell.

Abstract: A method and device decode compressed images, and in particular, images compressed according to the MPEG standards, and especially bidirectional images. The time period during which the memory is accessed by the decoder is minimized by extracting a predictor macroblock of a size greater than or equal to that of the macroblocks of the image stored in memory, from the memory. This extraction comprises accessing pages of the memory so as to simultaneously open with each page access, two pages situated respectively in two memory banks and respectively containing two macroblocks belonging respectively to two consecutive rows of macroblocks and to the same column of macroblocks of the stored image. A columnwise reading of some of the pixels of the two macroblocks accessed during the page access is then performed, so as to obtain some of the corresponding pixels of the predictor macroblock.