BIOS Setup

Use this window to assign values to BIOS Setup fields.

NOTE: This help page may include information about BIOS features not supported by your system. Server Administrator only displays the BIOS features that are supported on your system.

User Privileges

Table 1. User Privileges
Selection View Manage
BIOS Setup Administrator, Elevated Administrator (Linux only) Administrator, Elevated Administrator (Linux only)
NOTE: For more details on user privilege levels, see Privilege levels in the Server Administrator GUI.

Reboot System Button

When you use BIOS Setup, you make changes that cannot take effect until you reboot your system. After you change to a BIOS setting, a Reboot System button appears. If you click this button, you receive more confirmation messages that you want to reboot your system. Rebooting your system gives effect to the BIOS setting changes that you have made.

BIOS Settings

When you power on your system, the system performs checks before it loads the operating system. BIOS settings allow you to control which devices must be located during a system boot, and which devices are enabled or disabled. Disabling devices that you do not plan to use can save time during the boot process.

NOTE: The BIOS Setup window for your system only displays the BIOS features that are supported on your system.

General

Set the state of each BIOS setup object by clicking it.

Table 2. General
Attribute Setting Description
Trusted Platform Module
NOTE: You cannot configure the Trusted Platform Module using Server Administrator.
NOTE: Due to the limitations of the VMware ESXi operating system, this option is not available with this release of Server Administrator.
Off Trusted Platform Module (TPM) is disabled.
On with Pre-boot Measurements During a system boot, the preboot measurements for TPM are checked.
On without Pre-boot Measurements During a system boot, only certain preboot measurements for TPM are checked.
Trusted Cryptographic Module
NOTE: You cannot configure the TCM options using Server Administrator.
NOTE: Due to the limitations of the VMware ESXi operating system, this option is not available with this release of Server Administrator.
Off The presence of the Trusted Cryptographic Module (TCM) is not reported to the operating system.
On The presence of the TCM is reported to the OS.
OS Watchdog Timer
NOTE: OS Watchdog Timer options cannot be configured by Server Administrator.
Disabled It instructs the BIOS to disable the operating system watchdog timer during system boot.
Enabled It instructs the BIOS to enable the operating system watchdog timer during system boot.
CPU Execute Disable Enabled When enabled, the Intel CPUs that support the eXecute Disable (XD) feature reports the support to the operating system.
Disabled When disabled, Intel CPUs that support the eXecute Disable (XD) feature do not report the support to the operating system.
Processor CMP
NOTE: The Processor CMP options display based on the number of cores available in the processor on your system.
<n>
NOTE: <n> is the number of cores of the processor.
It enables <n> number of cores of the processor.
Embedded Video Controller Disabled It disables the embedded video controller as the primary video device.
Enabled It enables an embedded video controller as the primary video device.
Boot Mode UEFI It enables booting to Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) capable operating systems.
BIOS It ensures compatibility with operating systems that do not support UEFI.
CPU C State Control Disabled It disables the processor to operate in all available Power C States.
Enabled It enables the processor to operate in all available Power C States.
Demand Based Power Management Disabled It disables configuration of the Demand-Based Power Management feature. This is the default setting.
Enabled It enables configuration of the Demand-Based Power Management feature.
Boot Sequence
NOTE: If you are an Elevated Administrator (Linux only) (Linux only), you can only view the first device that is enabled for the boot order sequence.
Move Up Click the Enabled check box to enable the device for the boot order sequence. Select the required device by clicking it. Clicking shows the device. Use the Move up button to move the selected device for the boot order sequence you require.
Move Down Click the Enabled check box to enable the device for the boot order sequence. Select the required device by clicking it. Clicking shows the device. Use the Move down button to move the selected device for the boot order sequence you require.
Hard-Disk Drive Sequence Move Up Select the required device by clicking it. Clicking shows the device. Use the Move up button to move the selected hard disk drive device. Define the order in which you want the hard disk device to boot using this option.
Move Down Select the required device by clicking it. Clicking shows the device. Use the Move down button to move the selected hard disk drive device. Define the order in which you want the hard disk device to boot using this option.
e-SATA Ports Off It configures the e-SATA port to off.
Auto It configures the e-SATA port to auto.
Processor C1-E Disabled It instructs the BIOS to disable the processor C1-E State.
Enabled It instructs the BIOS to enable the processor C1-E State.
Numlock On It allows the keypad to be used as number keys at boot time.
Off It allows the keypad to be used as arrow keys at boot time.
Diskette Off It disables the diskette drive during system boot.
Auto It autoenables the diskette drive during system boot.
Write Protect Does not allow writing during system boot. Makes the diskette drive read-only during system boot.
Dual NIC An optional feature in some systems, the Dual NIC card adds two additional network ports to the server blade modules. For embedded NICs (network interface cards) that have this feature, both NICs are either enabled or disabled. The NICs cannot be enabled or disabled independently of each other. If the NICs are enabled, PXE or iSCSI can be enabled or disabled independently for each NIC.
Configuration of Dual NIC Disabled (OS) This field disables the OS interface of the embedded NIC 1 and NIC 2 controller.
NOTE:  If set to Disabled (OS), the embedded NIC could still be available for shared network access by the embedded management controller. Configure this function by using the NIC management utilities provided with your system.
Enabled This field enables the OS interface of the embedded NIC 1 and NIC 2 controller.
Configuration of First NIC Enabled with PXE It instructs the BIOS to enable the NIC PXE during system boot.
Enabled with iSCSI It instructs the BIOS to enable the NIC iSCSI during system boot. This option appears only if iSCSI is present in your system.
Configuration of Second NIC Enabled with PXE It instructs the BIOS to enable the NIC PXE during system boot.
Enabled with iSCSI It instructs the BIOS to enable the NIC iSCSI during system boot. This option appears only if iSCSI is present in your system.
NIC (number) Disabled It instructs the BIOS to disable the NIC during system boot.
Enabled It instructs the BIOS to enable NIC (number) without PXE or iSCSI during system boot.
Enabled with PXE It instructs the BIOS to enable the NIC (number) PXE during system boot.
Enabled with iSCSI It instructs the BIOS to enable the NIC (number) iSCSI during system boot. This option appears only if iSCSI is present in your system.
Mouse On It instructs the BIOS to enable the mouse during system boot.
Off It instructs the BIOS to disable the mouse during system boot.
Speaker On It instructs the BIOS to enable the speaker during system boot.
Off It instructs the BIOS to disable the speaker during system boot.
USB Enabled It instructs the BIOS to enable the Universal Serial Bus (USB) during system boot.
Disabled It disables the USB during system boot.
Enabled with BIOS support It enables the USB during system boot with BIOS support.
Internal USB Port (number)
NOTE: Server Administrator may not display the USB sequence number if there is only one USB port on the system.
NOTE: On some systems, the configuration of the internal USB port has been disabled because of the current setting of the User Accessible USB Ports option. To configure the internal USB port, the User Accessible USB Ports option must be set to All Ports On.
Disabled It disables configuration of the Internal USB port. This is the default setting.
Enabled It enables configuration of the Internal USB port.
IDE Auto It instructs the BIOS to enable the integrated device electronics (IDE) drive during system boot.
Off It instructs the BIOS to disable the IDE drive during system boot.
ROMB Channel A RAID It indicates whether the redundant array of independent disks (RAID) on Motherboard (ROMB) on channel A is set to type RAID.
Off It instructs the BIOS to disable ROMB on channel A during system boot.
SCSI It indicates whether the ROMB on channel A is set to type Small Computer System Interface (SCSI.)
ROMB Channel B RAID It indicates whether the ROMB on channel B is set to type RAID.
Off It instructs the BIOS to disable ROMB on channel B during system boot.
SCSI It indicates whether the ROMB on channel B is set to type SCSI.
Primary SCSI On It instructs the BIOS to enable the primary SCSI device during system boot.
Off It instructs the BIOS to disable the primary SCSI device during system boot.
Secondary SCSI On It instructs the BIOS to enable the secondary SCSI device during system boot.
Off It instructs the BIOS to disable the secondary SCSI device during system boot.
Boot Sequence
NOTE: Irrespective of the browser language, the Boot Sequence options display in English only.
NOTE: Due to the limitations of the VMware ESXi operating system, this option is not available with this release of Server Administrator.
NOTE:  If you are an Elevated Administrator (Linux only) (Linux only), you can only view the first device that is enabled for the boot order sequence.
Device List It instructs the BIOS which device is used to boot the system. The bootable devices vary depending upon the platform. Few options are SATA Optical Drive, Hard drive, and IDE CD drive. Begin the boot sequence with the device list. This option is disabled on the PowerEdge servers.
NOTE: Setting the boot sequence to Device List results in the following boot sequence: diskette, IDE CD drive, hard drive, option ROMs (if the devices are available.)
Parallel Port Off It instructs the BIOS to disable the device.
LPT1 It instructs the BIOS to find the device on LPT1.
LPT2 It instructs the BIOS to find the device on LPT2.
LPT3 It instructs the BIOS to find the device on LPT3.
Parallel Mode AT It enables parallel port mode AT.
PS/2 It enables parallel port mode PS/2.
Speaker On It instructs the BIOS to enable the speaker during system boot.
Off It instructs the BIOS to disable the speaker during system boot.
Processor Core Based Turbo Mode Enabled It instructs the BIOS to enable the Processor Core Based Turbo mode during system boot.
Disabled It instructs the BIOS to disable the Processor Core Based Turbo mode during system boot.
AC Power Recovery Mode Configuration of AC Power Recovery Mode
Off The system will remain switched off after power is restored.
Last The system turns on if the system was on when the power was lost. The system remains off, if the system was off when power was lost.
On The system will turn on after power is restored.
Recovery Time
Immediate The system turns on immediately.
Random The system turns on with a random delay if the last state is on.
Time delay The system turns on with a user specified time delay if the last state is on. This value can be configured in seconds.
Embedded SATA Controller Off It disables the SATA controller.
ATA It sets the onboard SATA controller to ATA mode.
RAID It sets the onboard SATA controller to RAID mode.
QDMA It sets the onboard SATA controller to QDMA mode.
SATA Port (number) Off It disables the SATA port.
Auto Automatically enables the SATA port.
IDE Primary Drive (number) Off It disables the IDE primary drive.
Auto Automatically enables the IDE primary drive.
Node Interleaving Disabled It instructs the BIOS to disable Node Interleaving during system boot.
Enabled It instructs the BIOS to enable Node Interleaving during system boot.
NOTE: When node interleaving is enabled, NUMA (Non-uniform memory architecture) is disabled and when node interleaving is disabled NUMA is enabled.
Console Redirection
NOTE: Serial ports are not present on all systems.
Off It turns off BIOS console redirection.
Serial Port 1 It redirects the BIOS screen over serial port 1. Keyboard and text output are redirected over serial port 1. The current settings of Serial Port 1 determine the ultimate target for the redirected output.
Serial Port 2 It redirects the BIOS screen over serial port 2.
User Accessible USB Ports
NOTE: While configuring this option, ensure that the DRAC is still functioning correctly, because the DRAC uses other USB ports that should not be turned off.
All Ports On It enables all user accessible Universal Serial Bus (USB) ports.
Only Back Ports On It disables the front user accessible USB ports.
All Ports Off It disables both front and back user accessible USB ports.
CPU Virtualization Technology
NOTE: Changing the option to Enabled or Disabled will result in a system power off of approximately 3-5 seconds during the next reboot.
Disabled It disables the additional hardware capabilities that are provided by Virtualization Technology.
Enabled It enables the additional hardware capabilities that are provided by Virtualization Technology.
CPU HyperThreading (Logical Processor) Enabled Each processor core supports up to two logical processors. When set to this option (which is the default option), the BIOS reports all logical processors.
Disabled The BIOS reports only one logical processor per core.
HT Assist Enabled It enables the Probe Filter chipset option.
Disabled It disables the Probe Filter chipset option.
Embedded Hypervisor Disabled It disables configuration of the embedded hypervisor. This is the default setting.
Enabled It enables configuration of the embedded hypervisor.
Optical Drive Controller Disabled It disables the optical SATA CD-ROM drive.
Enabled It enables the optical SATA CD-ROM drive.
Serial Port 1 Off It instructs the BIOS to disable the device.
NOTE: This option is not available when Console Redirection is enabled.
Auto It instructs the BIOS to automap the device to a COM port.
COM 1 It instructs the BIOS to map the device to COM port 1.
COM 3 It instructs the BIOS to map the device to COM port 3.
NOTE: This option is not available when Console Redirection is enabled.
BMC Serial If enabled, BMC controls traffic between the operating system and the BMC.
BMC NIC If enabled, this integrated serial port is connected to the BMC which transfers the data over the shared NIC.
RAC If enabled, this integrated serial port is connected to the RAC.
NOTE: This option is only available when RAC is present in the system.
BMC COM 1 If enabled, makes BMC snoop the data stream going from the DB9 connector to COM 1.
Serial Port 2 Off It instructs the BIOS to disable the device.
Auto It instructs the BIOS to automap the device to a COM port.
COM 2 It instructs the BIOS to map the device to COM port 2.
COM 4 It instructs the BIOS to map the device to COM port 4.

Serial Communications

Set the state of each BIOS setup object by clicking it.

Table 3. Serial Communications
Attribute Setting Description
Serial Communications On with Console Redirection It instructs the BIOS to enable COM port 1 and COM port 2. These ports are made available for use by the operating system or applications. BIOS Console Redirection is enabled.
NOTE: This option is applicable only on nonmodular systems.
On without Console Redirection It instructs the BIOS to enable COM port 1 and COM port 2. These ports are made available for use by the operating system or applications. BIOS Console Redirection is disabled.
On with Console Redirection via COM1 It instructs the BIOS to enable COM port 1 and COM port 2. These ports are made available for use by the operating system or applications. BIOS Console Redirection is using COM port 1.
On with Console Redirection via COM2 It instructs the BIOS to enable COM port 1 and COM port 2. These ports are made available for use by the operating system or applications. BIOS Console Redirection is using COM port 2.
Off It instructs the BIOS to disable COM port 1 and COM port 2.
Serial Address Select Click the serial address select link to configure the serial port address.
Serial Device1=COM1 Serial Device2=COM2 This option sets Serial Device 1 to COM1 and Serial Device 2 to COM2.
NOTE: This option is available only on the PowerEdge servers nonmodular systems.
Serial Device1=COM2, Serial Device2=COM1 This option sets Serial Device 1 to COM2 and Serial Device 2 to COM1.
NOTE: This option is available only on the PowerEdge servers nonmodular systems.
COM1 This option sets the Serial Device to COM1.
NOTE: This option is available only on the PowerEdge servers modular systems.
COM2 This option sets the Serial Device to COM2.
NOTE: This option is available only on the PowerEdge servers modular systems.
Console Redirection After Boot Enabled It enables BIOS console redirection after system reboot.
Disabled It disables BIOS console redirection.
Console Redirection Failsafe BAUD Rate 115200 It sets the failsafe baud rate, in bits per second (bps.)
57600 It sets the failsafe baud rate, in bits per second (bps.)
19200 It sets the failsafe baud rate, in bits per second (bps.)
9600 It sets the failsafe baud rate, in bits per second (bps.)
External Serial Connector COM1 It instructs the BIOS to map the external serial connector to COM port 1.
NOTE: This option is available only prior to the PowerEdge servers.
COM2 It instructs the BIOS to map the external serial connector to COM port 2.
NOTE: This option is available only prior to the PowerEdge servers.
Serial Device 1 It instructs the BIOS to map the external serial connector to Serial Device 1.
NOTE: This option is available only on the PowerEdge servers.
Serial Device 2 It instructs the BIOS to map the external serial connector to Serial Device 2.
NOTE: This option is available only on the PowerEdge servers.
Remote Access Device BIOS maps the external serial connector to the Remote Access Management interface. This is the default setting. Terminal escape sequences can switch the external connector between the system (COM ports 1 and 2) and the Remote Access device.
Not Connected The external connector is not mapped to any device.
For more information on the other buttons present in the Server Administrator Action pages, see Server Administrator Window Buttons.