HP 2230s - Compaq Business Notebook Instruction Manual

HP Business Notebook
HP TOOLS Partition
Guidelines V1.6
November 2009
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Table of Contents:
1. Introduction .........................................................................................................................2
2. Supported Platforms ............................................................................................................2
3. Location of HP EFI and Preboot applications- the HP TOOLS Fat32 Partition............................3
Volume Name .................................................................................................................3
HP_TOOLS Partition Size ..................................................................................................3
4. HP_TOOLS Partition Directories and Descriptions...................................................................3
5. EFI Power Management........................................................................................................4
6. How BIOS Launches EFI and other preboot Applications: .......................................................4
7. Preboot Security Requirements .............................................................................................5
Signed preboot applications.............................................................................................5
Additional F10 Policies for Preboot Environment ...............................................................5
8. Additional References ..........................................................................................................6
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2
1. Introduction
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Ascomputertechnologyhasadvanced,theBIOS(BasicInput/OutputSystem)has
expandedinanefforttohandlenewcomponents,largerandmorecomplex
chipsets,add‐incards,andsoon.ThisexpansionoftheBIOShasmadeit
increasinglyintricate.
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Thecomputerindustry’sanswertoaddressBIOSlimitationsisthedevelopment
oftheExtensibleFirmwareInterface(EFI).EFIisasetofmodularinterfacesthat
replacesthesetoftraditionalBIOSinterfacesbetweentheoperatingsystemand
platformfirmware.
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EFIisbasedonthehigh‐levelClanguageandisdriver‐based,scalable,andeasyto
debugandupgrade.EFIusesamodular,platform‐independentarchitecturethat
canperformbootandotherBIOSfunctions.
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Tappingintothistechnology,HPhasimplementedaprebootpartitiononallofits
commercialnotebookcomputers.1AlongwithreplacingthetraditionalBIOS
interface,theHPpartitionaddstoolstotheprebootsystemenvironment.The
partitionisviewableontheharddriveandislabeledasHP_TOOLS.On2008and
latercommercialnotebookplatformswiththeEFIBIOS,HPcreatedthepartition
asaFAT32partition,duetoEFIBIOSlimitationswithaccessingotherpartition
formats.
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FormoreinformationaboutEFI,gotohttp://www.hp.com/go/techcenter
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2. Supported Platforms
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TheHP_Toolspartitionfeaturedescribedinthisdocumentissupportedby2008
and2009HPbusinessnotebooks.
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3. Location of HP EFI and Preboot Applications- the
HP_TOOLS Fat32 Partition
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3
HPEFIapplicationsandprebootapplicationsprovideextensiveprebootfunctions
tothesystemBIOSresidingintheflashrom.TheseHPprebootapplicationsare
placedonaHPspecificpartition.On2008andlatercommercialnotebook
platformswithEFIBIOS,theprebootpartitionHP_TOOLSiscreatedbythe
preinstallteamasaFat32partition.
Warning
DonotencryptHP_TOOLSpartitionusingsoftwareencryptionprogramssuchas
WindowsBitLockerorFullVolumeEncryptionforHPProtectTools.Whenthe
partitionisencrypted,HPprebootapplicationscannotfunction.
Volume Name
HP_TOOLS
Note:QuickWebisaLinuxbasedapplicationandLinuxdirectoryiscasesensitive.
(SoisNTFS.Fat32isnot).WhenVolumenameandHewlett‐Packarddirectoryis
created,pleasemakesurethatit’sallcapitalized.
HP_TOOLS Partition Size
Thetotalpartitionsizeis2GB.
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4. HP_TOOLS Partition Directories and Descriptions
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TheHP_TOOLSpartitionstructureshouldmirrorwhatwealreadyhaveforNTFS
filesystem.AndtheEFIapplicationandprebootapplicationinstallationshould
followtherulesforotherHPsoftware.
Forthoseprebootdeliverablesthatarewebreleased,theyneedtobeinstalled
usingSoftpaq.
WhenaSoftpaqisrun,itwillextractintotheC:\swsetupdirectoryjustasother
Softpaqs.ThentheprebootsoftwareinstallationshouldsearchfortheFat32
partitionwiththe“HP_TOOLS”labelandinstallitselfunderthedirectory:
:\HEWLETT‐PACKARD\softwarename
e.g.Quicklook.efianditsdigitalsignatureshouldbeplacedunder
:\HEWLETT‐PACKARD\QUICKLOOK\quicklook.efi

4
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5. EFI Power Management
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ThereisnopowermanagementunderEFIshell.Therewillbesomethermal
management.
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6. How BIOS Launches EFI and Other Preboot
Applications
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For HP Signed Preboot Applications
TheHPsignedprebootapplications;theexecutablefileandthe
“filename.sig”signaturefilearestoredinthesamesubdirectory.
Incurrentimplementation,therearehotkeys(notedbelow)definedforHP
certainprebootapplications.
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isusedtolaunchtheQuickLookEFIapplication.Thisbuttoncanlaunch
QuickLookfromS5,S4.BIOShasanoptiontodisabletheQuickLook
launch.Ifdisabled,pressingthebuttondoesnothing.
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F2 isusedtolaunchtheDiagnosticEFIapplicationduringPOST.F2willnot
wakethesystemfromS5orS4.ItcanonlybepressedduringPOST
whentheBIOShotkeysareondisplay.
 isusedtolaunchtheQuickWeb.ThisbuttoncanlaunchQuickWebfrom
S5andS4.BIOShasanoptiontodisabletheQuickWeblaunch.If
disabled,pressingthebuttondoesnothing.
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Note:ThesehotkeyswillonlylaunchthedesignatedsignedHPEFIandpreboot
applications.PleasecontacttheBusinessNotebookBIOSteamtodefineand
assignahotkeyforaspecificEFIapplication.
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5
7. Preboot Security Requirements
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Signed Preboot Applications
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Whenaprebootapplicationislaunched,ithasasmuchcontrolofthesystem
resourceastheBIOS.Sincetheseapplicationsresideonthepublicharddrive
partitionwhichareeasilyaccessibleandthushacked,it’snecessaryforBIOSto
onlylaunchHPsignedprebootapplications.
Additional F10 Policies for Preboot Environment
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BIOSF10providesseveralpoliciestocontroltheavailabilityofBootfromEFIFile
optionintheBootManagerwhenF9ispressed(fordetails,seeHowEFILaunches
EFIApplications)
SystemConfiguration‐>DeviceConfigurations
UEFIBootModeEnable/DisableDefault:Disable
ThispolicycontrolswhethertheBIOSallowstoboottoanEFIfile.Forsecurity,
it’srecommendedtobedisabled.
WhenUEFIBootModeisdisabled,the“BootfromEFIFile”optionwillnotshow
upintheBootManagerwhenF9ispressed.Insuchacase,theonlywayto
launchHPEFIapplicationsistousethehotkey.
CustomizedLogoEnable/DisableDefault:Disable
TheEFIBIOSprovidesthenicefeaturefortheusertocustomizethelogo
displayingduringtheboot.Thelogoisabitmapfilethatacustomercan
add/changeontheHP_TOOLSpartition.
SinceBIOScan’tcheckthesignatureofthecustomizedlogobitmapfiles,itmay
beusedasanattacktooloftheBIOSpostprocess.Thusanoptionisneededto
disablethiscapabilityforthehighlysensitivesecurityenvironment.
HPQuickLookEnable/DisableDefault:Enable
TheEFIBIOSprovidesthefollowingpolicytocontroltheavailabilityofthe
QuickLookapplicationoption.
HPQuickWebEnable/DisableDefault:Enable

6
TheEFIBIOSprovidesthefollowingpolicytocontroltheavailabilityofthe
QuickWebapplicationoption.
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8. Additional References
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Foradditionalinformation,refertotheresourceslistedbelow:
HPTechnologyCenterhttp://www.hp.com/go/techcenter
HPtechnicalsupporthttp://www.hp.com/support
Intel’sExtensibleFirmwareInterface(HomePage)
http://www.intel.com/technology/efi/
© 2009 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein
is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services
are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and
services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP
shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein. Itanium
is a trademark or registered trademark of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the
United States and other countries.
[November 2009]