UEFI BIOS

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The Sun Server X4-4 contains a Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI)-compatible BIOS that provides more boot options and configuration capability for adapter cards than previous versions of the BIOS.

Two boot modes are available for BIOS (described in the table below): Legacy BIOS Boot Mode and UEFI BIOS Boot Mode. UEFI BIOS can be configured to support either boot mode. However, some devices and operating systems do not yet support UEFI BIOS and can boot only with the server configured for Legacy BIOS Boot Mode.

The boot mode can be changed in the BIOS Setup Utility. The new mode is configured after you make the appropriate selection in the BIOS Setup Utility and then Save Changes and Reset. Afterwards, you can configure your boot candidates (such as disk drives) with a supported operating system.

Note - Note that If you change boot modes, any boot candidates (such as disk drives) configured when the server was in the previous mode will no longer be available. The only way to make them available is to either go back to the previous boot mode or to reconfigure them while in the new boot mode (which would wipe out any data on them).

Before changing boot modes, use the Oracle ILOM BIOS Backup and Restore function to preserve the previous configuration in case you want to switch back.

Boot Mode

Description

Legacy BIOS Boot Mode

Legacy BIOS Boot Mode is the default setting in the BIOS Setup Utility. Choose Legacy BIOS Boot Mode to allow host bus adapters (HBAs) to use adapter option ROMs. Select Legacy BIOS Boot Mode when software or adapters do not have UEFI drivers, or the system is using option ROM.

In Legacy BIOS Boot Mode, only boot candidates that support Legacy BIOS Boot Mode appear in the BIOS Setup Utility screens in the Boot Options Priority list.

Note - Once you choose a boot mode and install an operating system, if you reboot the server and select a different boot mode in BIOS, the OS will no longer be accessible and cannot be used. You will need to switch back to the previous boot mode setting to boot the OS.

UEFI BIOS Boot Mode

Choose UEFI BIOS Boot Mode from the BIOS Setup Utility to use UEFI drivers when software and adapters have UEFI drivers. For instructions for making the selection, refer to the Oracle X4 Series Servers Administration Guide (http://www.oracle.com/goto/x86AdminDiag/docs).

In UEFI BIOS Boot Mode, only boot candidates that support UEFI BIOS Boot Mode appear on the BIOS Setup Utility screens in the Boot Options Priority list.

Currently, the following operating systems supported for the Sun Server X4-4 support UEFI BIOS Boot Mode:

Oracle Solaris 11.1 and later
Oracle Linux 6.5
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.5
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP3
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 and Microsoft Windows Server 2012

All other operating systems (including factory preinstalled OS images) must use Legacy BIOS Boot Mode.

For an up-to-date list, refer to the Sun Server X4-4 Product Notes at http://www.oracle.com/goto/x4-4/docs.

See Also

For more details on UEFI BIOS, refer to Oracle X4 Series Servers Administration Guide (http://www.oracle.com/goto/x86AdminDiag/docs).
For information about Oracle ILOM, refer to the documentation for your supported version of Oracle Integrated Lights Out Manager (ILOM) at: http://www.oracle.com/goto/ILOM/docs.