4 Summary of the HP/Phoenix BIOS

Power Saving and Ergonometry

The time-out period is the delay during which the power-down command can be cancelled (whilst the About to shut down Windows message is displayed on the screen). If the user cancels, the computer is returned to normal operation; otherwise, the computer goes on to check if there are any unsaved files. If there are, it offers three choices: yes (to saving the unsaved changes, followed by shutdown), no (thereby shutting down without saving the changes), and cancel (to return to normal operation).

Remote Power-On (RPO)

Remote power-on(RPO) provides a way to turn on the computer from a communication channel, such as a Network or Modem, using facilities that have been incorporated in the Little Ben chip and the ExtStart connector. It allows system administrators, and authorized users, switch on the computer from anywhere over an Ethernet network, perform remote administration or other tasks, and return it to Off or Suspend mode afterwards.

Magic Packet

Magic packet is a standard for remote power-on and remote wake-up developed by HP and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). The standard defines a Magic Packet frame as the computer’s unique Ethernet Media Access Control (MAC) address (which it has stored in an EEPROM on the network board), repeated 16 times and encoded in a valid network packet.

Any Magic Packet-compatible management application (such as HP Open- View Workgroup Node Manager) can send a Magic Packet frame. An administrator can do this manually, or can incorporate it into a management script.

The packet travels over any type of Ethernet LAN to the target PC.

The only component not completely off in the computer is the network chip, which rests in a special low power mode. Power is supplied by a line called VStandby, on the ExtStart connector, whose pin layout is shown in the table on page 58, as long as the power cord is plugged in. The independent mini power supply provides the power necessary to keep one part of the network chip ready to receive a wake-up signal (see page 15 for electrical specifications). This is the only signal it can respond to in this state.

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