Configuration/Setup Utility menu

The following menu items are on the Configuration/Setup Utility main menu. Depending on the version of the BIOS, some menu items might differ slightly from these descriptions.

• System Summary

  Select this menu item to view configuration information, including the type, speed, and cache sizes of the microprocessors and the amount of installed memory. When you make configuration changes through other choices in the Configuration/Setup Utility program, the changes are reflected in the system summary; you cannot change settings directly in the system summary.

  • Processor Summary

    Select this menu item to view information about the microprocessor in the blade server.

  • USB Device Summary

    Select this menu item to view information about the USB devices in the blade server.

• System Information

  Select this menu item to view information about the blade server. When you make configuration changes through other options in the Configuration/Setup Utility program, some of those choices are reflected in the system information; you cannot change settings directly in the system information.

  • Product Data

    Select this menu item to view the machine type and model of the blade server, the serial number, and the revision level or issue date of the BIOS and diagnostics code that are stored in electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM).

• Devices and I/O Ports

  Select this menu item to view or change assignments for devices and input/output (I/O) ports.

  You can also enable or disable the integrated SAS and Ethernet controllers, all standard ports (such as serial), and the I/O-expansion card. Enable is the default setting for all controllers. If you disable a device, it cannot be configured, and the operating system will not be able to detect it (this is equivalent to disconnecting the device). If you disable the Ethernet controller, the blade server will have no Ethernet capability.

  • Remote Console Redirection

    Select this menu item to enable Serial over LAN (SOL) and to set remote console communication parameters.

  • Video

    Select this menu item to view information about the integrated video controller.

  • System MAC Addresses

    Select this menu item to set and view the MAC addresses for the Ethernet controllers on the blade server.

  Note

  MAC addresses are displayed only for those devices with PXE enabled
• Date and Time

  Select this menu item to set the system date and time, in 24-hour format (hour:minute:second).

• System Security

  Select this menu item to set a power-on password. See Using passwords for more information about passwords.

• Start Options
  Select this menu item to view or change the start options. Changes in the start options take effect when you start the blade server.

  • Startup Sequence Options

    Select this menu item to view the startup device sequence that is set for the blade server.

  You can set keyboard operating characteristics, such as whether the blade server starts with the keyboard number lock on or off. You can enable the blade server to run without a diskette drive or keyboard.

  You can enable or disable the PXE option for all of the Ethernet controllers in the blade server. The default settings enable the PXE option for the two Ethernet controllers on the system board.

  If you enable the boot fail count, the BIOS default settings will be restored after three consecutive failures to find a boot record.

  You can enable a virus-detection test that checks for changes in the boot record when the blade server starts.

• Advanced Setup

  Select this menu item to change settings for advanced hardware features.

  Important: The blade server might malfunction if these settings are incorrectly configured. Follow the instructions on the screen carefully.

  • Memory Settings

    Select this menu item to manually enable a pair of memory connectors.

    If a memory error is detected during POST or memory configuration, the blade server automatically disables the failing pair of memory connectors and continues operating with reduced memory. After the problem is corrected, you must enable the memory connectors. Use the arrow keys to highlight the pair of memory connectors that you want to enable, and use the arrow keys to select Enable.

    To maintain optimum system operation in the event of a memory failure, you can set memory configuration to mirroring or sparing. Memory mirroring stores duplicate data on two DIMMs to prevent data loss if a DIMM fails. Memory sparing removes the failed memory from the system configuration and activates a hot spare pair of DIMMs to replace the failed pair of DIMMs. Before you can enable memory mirroring or sparing, at least two pairs of DIMMs must be installed in the blade server that adhere to the special requirements that are described in Installing a memory module. Set Memory Configuration to Flat to disable memory mirroring and sparing.

  • Microprocessor Options

    Select this menu item to disable the microprocessor cache or to set the microprocessor cache to use the write-back or write-through method. Write-back caching generally provides better system performance.

    You can also select this menu item to enable or disable hyper-threading and adjust microprocessor performance settings. If hyper-threading is enabled, it is active only if it is supported by your operating system.

  • PCI Bus Control

    Select this menu item to view and set interrupts for PCI devices and to configure the master-latency-timer value for the blade server.

  • Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) Settings

    You can select this menu item to enable or disable and set the timeouts for the POST and OS loader watchdog timers and view BMC version information.

    • BMC Network Configuration

      Select this menu item to set the network addresses of the BMC.

    • BMC System Event Log

      Select this menu item to view and clear BMC event log entries.

• Save Settings

  Select this menu item to save the changes that you have made in the settings.

• Restore Settings

  Select this menu item to cancel the changes that you have made in the settings and restore the previous settings.

• Load Default Settings

  Select this menu item to cancel the changes that you have made in the settings and restore the factory settings.

• Exit Setup

  Select this menu item to exit from the Configuration/Setup Utility program. If you have not saved the changes that you have made in the settings, you are asked whether you want to save the changes or exit without saving them.