UEFI BIOS
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.
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Legacy BIOS Boot Mode
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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.
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UEFI BIOS Boot Mode
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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:
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Oracle Solaris 11.1 and later
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Oracle Linux 6.5
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Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.5
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SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP3
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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.
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.
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See Also