necessary to keep the network chip half awake (see "Electrical Specification" in chapter 1 for
more details), and ready to receive a wake-up signal. This is the only signal it can respond to in
this state.
The network chip sends a signal over the HP external start connector, where it is received by
the special network remote power chip. This in turn switches on the main power supply.
The
HP Vectra XM 5/xx series 4 PC boots normally from whatever operating system is
installed, just as if the power supply had been switched on from the external power switch. The
console does not itself need to have RPO. If a password has been set, the Start with
keyboard locked option must be enabled, to allow the operating system to boot.
At the end of the session, the
HP Vectra XM 5/xx series 4 PC needs to be shut down again.
This can be achieved remotely if it is running Windows 95. If, on the other hand, it is running
Windows for Workgroups, using remote DMI, it can be configured to go back to
Suspend
mode.
Activity within Setup
Since the user is not physically present, the level of security must be tighter. There must be a
distinction between the user-boot process, and the RPO-boot process. HP provides all the
necessary
Setup options to keep users from interfering with the PC during the remote session.
Administrators can easily set the management package to toggle on options like:
•
Keyboard lock mode: This offers the same suite of security features as the keyboard lock
button on the front of every Vectra PC (keyboard, mouse, reset and power button
disabled).
•
Floppy disable: this makes sure the PC cannot be disrupted by re-booting from a diskette.
Some RPO hardware are extensions from existing designs that have not been designed for
functioning under RPO. This implies that hardware has to be initialized by software before RPO
is enabled. RPO is available when the POST routines have finished executing. It is initialized
by an SMI which is triggered from the mains power button. A power failure when the PC is in
RPO mode will deactivate the RPO feature.
RPO is intended for resource management (such as virus cleaners, nightly backups, etc.), not
for crisis management (thunderstorm recovery, etc.).
Advanced Power Management (APM)
APM is incorporated in Windows for Workgroups 3.11, Windows 95 andOS/2. A file called
power.exe is needed for APM under DOS.
APM is a standard, defined by Intel and Microsoft, for a power-saving mode that is applicable
under a wide range of operating systems. It consists of the following modes:
Fully-on, Standby,
Suspend, Hibernation, Off. Of these, APM 1.1 supports: Fully-on, Standby, Suspend, Off.
The
Suspend mode, which used also to be known as Sleep, is now managed at the operating
system level only, and by pressing the “sleep” icon. There is no longer the inter-activity
between BIOS
Setup and operating systems, and no longer a “sleep at” item in the desktop
configuration menus, to avoid the BIOS from shutting down the system at the wrong moment.
RPO defines a variation from the standard Off state. In RPO mode, the main CPU hardware is
off while a RPO function is powered by a power supply called VStandby. VStandby is active as
