Abstract: An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for accessing system information. The apparatus includes an observation module, a monitoring module, and an action module. The observation module receives input device signals. The monitoring module recognizes selected inputs from among input data. The action module, working independently of the local system, selectively or automatically causes system information or action to be conveyed to a user.

Abstract: A computer system includes a look-up table implemented in a memory controller which includes a processor which manipulates data and look-up-table entries so as to make an unused and in-use memory available for testing in a manner which is alien to and aims to minimize impact to the operating system and the main system processor. In-use memory is made available by moving in-use data to an unused area of memory within a bank, by moving in-use data to another bank having an unused area, or by compressing in-use data within a bank and moving the data to an area within the bank made available through such compression, and updating the look-up table to point to the moved areas so that memory references can continue to be serviced during the testing process. Areas made available can be tested by a non-system processor such as a service processor, although other processors can be used.

Abstract: A method and system for booting up multiple PCI peripheral devices, such that the number of bootable PCI peripheral devices is not limited by the amount of computer system memory that is dedicated to storing executable boot code for the peripheral devices. The executable boot code is stored on a Read Only Memory (ROM) on each peripheral device. When a new PCI peripheral device begins to boot up, a check for available memory space in a ROM scan memory address space is performed. If there is not enough available room in the ROM scan memory address space for the new device's executable boot code, then a ROM scan detection logic pages an image of another peripheral device's executable boot code out of the ROM scan memory address space before storing the new device's executable boot code into the ROM scan memory address space.