4 Summary of the HP/Phoenix BIOS
Power Saving and Ergonometry
The network chip sends a signal over the External Start connector, where it is received by the special network remote power chip. This in turn switches on the main power supply.
The PC starts normally from whatever operating system is installed, just as if the power supply had been switched on from the external power switch. The display does not itself need to have RPO. If a password has been set, the Start with keyboard locked option must be enabled, to allow the oper- ating system to boot.
Activity within the Setup Program
Since the user is not physically present, the level of security must be tighter. There must be a distinction between the
•Keyboard lock mode: This offers the same suite of security features as the external “keyboard lock” button (keyboard, mouse, reset and power but- ton disabled).
•Floppy disable: this makes sure the computer cannot be disrupted by re- booting from a diskette.
RPO is available when the POST routines have finished executing. It is initialized by an SMI signal which is triggered from the mains power button.
A power failure when the computer is in RPO mode will deactivate the RPO feature. RPO is intended for resource management (such as virus cleaners, nightly backups, etc.), not for crisis management (thunderstorm recovery, power failure, etc.).
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