Trouble with remote resert to BIOS

[vpolli]

Hi all,

I'm having three problems with remote BIOS access:

1) If I attempt to use "Remoted Reboot to BIOS Setup", AMT Commander returns a message saying "NOT_PERMMITED";

2) When I try to enter BIOS using "DEL" key, remote computer and SOL freezes.

3) Sometimes when I send a command to reboot remote computer, IAMTTERM freezes too.

Is there any know problem with this configuration or someone have ever seen this?

Environment Details:

- Motherboard: Gigabyte 965QM-DS2

- BIOS: Award D9

- AMT Version: 2.1

- Using IAmtTerm in AMT Commander V0.48

Thanks,

Valria Villaverde

[Ajith_I_Intel]

Hi Valria,

Did you provision your AMT system in Small-Medium Business (SMB) mode or enterprise mode? During the provisioning in either modes, please make sure that you have enabled SOL and IDE-R.

Hope this helps. Let us know your findings.

Thanks.

[vpolli]

Hi Ajith,

The AMT system is provisioned in Enterprise Mode, with SOL and IDE-R enabled. Sometimes IAmtTerm shows information from remote computer, sometimes not. I don`t understand the pattern of this error.

AMT system answers to "Power Up", "Power Down" and "Remoted Reboot", but still returns "NOT_PERMMITED" error message when trying "Remoted Reboot to BIOS Setup".

Thanks.

Valria Villaverde

[Ajith_I_Intel]

Hi Valria,

Can you please make sure that you have the latest version of FW and BIOS on your system? You can obtain these from our OEM. Sometimes the latest version of software has most of these problems resolved.

Regarding the not supported error message, SOL/IDE-R feature has a dependency with BIOS implementers. If the BIOS version does not support this, you need to work with your BIOS vendor to see if they have any updates regarding it.

Out of curiosity, do you see the same set of issues if you configure the system in Small Medium Business mode?

Thanks.

[Ajith_I_Intel]

Hi Valria,

Like I mentioned in my last post about the dependency of "Boot into BIOS" with the BIOS implementation, you can use the GetCapabilities API in RemoteControl realm to check if this is supported by the BIOS on your AMT client machine. If this is not supported no matter how the AMT client is provisioned, you will not have the ability to remotely boot into BIOS. You will need to work with your BIOS vendor to get more updates on the support for this feature.

Hope this helps.

[vpolli]

Hi Ajith,

First of all, thanks for attention in this case.

Well, I've asked for GigaBit MB Manufacturer for BIOS firmware uptades, and we're already using latest version.

Also, GetCapabilities method returns that SOL and IDE-R are supported.

The AMT Version (2.1.0.1028) could be the problem?

Thanks.

[Ajith_I_Intel]

Hi,

AMT version is fine and its not the problem. As I mentioned before in order for you to remotely boot into BIOS, it has to be one of the capabilities enabled by the BIOS vendor.

When you call GetRemoteControlCapabilities API, please look at the OemDefinedCapabilities field. I grabbed this from the NetworkInterface Guide document in the SDK. In your case, BiosSetup needs to be enabled. If the bit is not enabled, you will not be able to remotely boot into BIOS. For more details of other fields, please look into the Netowrk Interface Guide in the SDK. You will need to work with your BIOS vendor to enable this capability.

Intel AMT Release 2.0 and later:

typedef struct _OemDefinedCapabilitiesType

{

uint32 IDER : 1;

uint32 SOL : 1;

uint32 BiosReflash : 1;

uint32 BiosSetup : 1;

uint32 BiosPause : 1;

uint32 Reserved1 : 3;

uint32 Reserved2 : 24;

} OemDefinedCapabilitiesType;

Hope this helps. Please let me know if you have more questions.

Thanks.

[Ylian_S_Intel]

By the way, if a BIOS vendor does not support remoted boot to BIOS, try doing a normal redirected boot (Normal boot with serial-over-LAN redirection enabled) and the, hit the F2 or DEL key to try to enter the BIOS. Sometimes it works. Since there are different ways to map F1 to F12 keys to VT100 escape codes, you may need to try different escape codes. Intel AMT Commander supports 3 different mappings for the Fx keys, you can change it in the Terminal menu of the serial terminal.

Ylian (Intel AMT Blog)