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US-20260127130-A1 - DISABLED PORT SUPPORT SYSTEM

US20260127130A1US 20260127130 A1US20260127130 A1US 20260127130A1US-20260127130-A1

Abstract

A disabled port support system includes a computing device including a port. A port management subsystem in the computing device is coupled to the port. During initialization of the computing device, the port management subsystem determines that the port is configured to be disabled to provide a disabled port. When the port management subsystem detects that a human interface device has been connected to the disabled port, it enables a disabled port support protocol for the human interface device that is connected to the disabled port. The port management subsystem may then use the disabled port support protocol to detect if an input signal has been generated by the human interface device that is connected to the disabled port and, if so, provide a disabled port support alert.

Inventors

  • Wei Liu
  • PO-YU CHENG

Assignees

  • DELL PRODUCTS L.P.

Dates

Publication Date
20260507
Application Date
20241106

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . A disabled port support system, comprising: a computing device; a port that is included on the computing device; and a port management subsystem that is included in the computing device, coupled to the port, and configured, during initialization of the computing device, to: determine that the port is configured to be disabled to provide a disabled port; detect that a human interface device has been connected to the disabled port; enable a disabled port support protocol for the human interface device that is connected to the disabled port; detect, using the disabled port support protocol, an input signal generated by the human interface device that is connected to the disabled port; and provide, in response to detecting the input signal generated by the human interface device that is connected to the disabled port using the disabled port support protocol, a disabled port support alert.
  2. 2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the port management subsystem is provided by a Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) for the computing device.
  3. 3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the human interface device is a keyboard device and the input signal is generated by the keyboard device in response to selection of a key on the keyboard device.
  4. 4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the port management subsystem is configured to: prevent the installation of a simple text input protocol and a simple text output protocol following the detection of the human interface device to the disabled port.
  5. 5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the port is a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port such that the disabled port is a disabled USB port.
  6. 6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the providing the disabled port support alert includes: displaying a disabled port support alert message that identifies that the port was disabled to provide the disabled port, and that includes instructions for enabling the disabled port.
  7. 7 . An Information Handling System (IHS), comprising: a processing system; and a memory system that is coupled to the processing system and that includes instructions that, when executed by the processing system, cause the processing system to provide a port management engine that is configured, during Information Handling System (IHS) initialization operations, to: determine that a port that is coupled to the processing system is configured to be disabled to provide a disabled port; detect that a human interface device has been connected to the disabled port; enable a disabled port support protocol for the human interface device that is connected to the disabled port; detect, using the disabled port support protocol, an input signal generated by the human interface device that is connected to the disabled port; and provide, in response to detecting the input signal generated by the human interface device that is connected to the disabled port using the disabled port support protocol, a disabled port support alert.
  8. 8 . The IHS of claim 7 , wherein the port management engine is provided by a Basic Input/Output System (BIOS).
  9. 9 . The IHS of claim 7 , wherein the human interface device is a keyboard device and the input signal is generated by the keyboard device in response to selection of a key on the keyboard device.
  10. 10 . The IHS of claim 9 , wherein the port management engine is configured to: prevent the installation of a simple text input protocol and a simple text output protocol following the detection of the human interface device to the disabled port.
  11. 11 . The IHS of claim 7 , wherein the port is a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port such that the disabled port is a disabled USB port.
  12. 12 . The IHS of claim 7 , wherein the providing the disabled port support alert includes: displaying a disabled port support alert message that identifies that the port was disabled to provide the disabled port, and that includes instructions for enabling the disabled port.
  13. 13 . The IHS of claim 7 , wherein the providing the disabled port support alert includes: activating an audio device to produce disabled port support alert audio.
  14. 14 . A method for providing disabled port support, comprising: determining, by a port management subsystem during initialization of a computing device, that a port is configured to be disabled to provide a disabled port; detecting, by the port management subsystem during the initialization of the computing device, that a human interface device has been connected to the disabled port; enabling, by the port management subsystem during the initialization of the computing device, a disabled port support protocol for the human interface device that is connected to the disabled port; detecting, by the port management subsystem during the initialization of the computing device using the disabled port support protocol, an input signal generated by the human interface device that is connected to the disabled port; and providing, by the port management subsystem during the initialization of the computing device in response to detecting the input signal generated by the human interface device that is connected to the disabled port using the disabled port support protocol, a disabled port support alert.
  15. 15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the port management subsystem is provided by a Basic Input/Output System (BIOS).
  16. 16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the human interface device is a keyboard device and the input signal is generated by the keyboard device in response to selection of a key on the keyboard device.
  17. 17 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising: preventing, by the port management subsystem, the installation of a simple text input protocol and a simple text output protocol following the detection of the human interface device to the disabled port.
  18. 18 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the port is a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port such that the disabled port is a disabled USB port.
  19. 19 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the providing the disabled port support alert includes: displaying a disabled port support alert message that identifies that the port was disabled to provide the disabled port, and that includes instructions for enabling the disabled port.
  20. 20 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the providing the disabled port support alert includes: activating an audio device to produce disabled port support alert audio.

Description

BACKGROUND The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems, and more particularly to providing support for information handling systems that have had one or more of their ports disabled. As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems. Information handling systems such as, for example, servers, switches, and/or other computing devices known in the art, include ports (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB) ports) that may be used to connect devices (e.g., USB devices) to the computing device. In some situations, the security of such computing devices may be enhanced by disabling ports on that computing device, which can raise some issues. To provide a specific example, servers available from DELL® Inc. of Round Rock, Texas, United States provide four Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) port setup options in their BIOS for “user-accessible” USB ports included on the server (e.g., USB ports that are accessible to a user via an outer surface of that server). Those four BIOS port setup options include 1) an “all ports on” BIOS port setup option in which all of the user-accessible USB ports on the server are enabled, 2) an “only back ports on” BIOS port setup option in which only the user-accessible USB ports on the “back” of the server (e.g., user-accessible USB ports on a back surface of the server that one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure will appreciate are relatively inaccessible when that server is positioned in a rack) are enabled while the user-accessible USB ports on the “front” of the server (e.g., user-accessible USB ports on a front surface of the server that one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure will appreciate are relatively accessible when that server is positioned in a rack as compared to the user-accessible USB ports on the back surface of that server) are disabled, and 3) an “all ports off” BIOS port setup option in which all of the user-accessible USB ports on the server are disabled. When any of the “all ports on”, “only back ports on”, or “all ports off” BIOS port setup options described above are enabled, a Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) in the server has no independent control over the user-accessible USB ports on the “front” of the server that would allow that BIOS port setup option for those user-accessible USB ports to be modified during runtime of the server. As such, the four BIOS port setup options discussed above also include an “all ports off (dynamic)” BIOS port setup option in which all of the user-accessible USB ports on the server are disabled, and the BMC in the server has independent control over the user-accessible USB ports on the “front” of the server that allows the “all ports off (dynamic)” BIOS port setup option for those user-accessible USB ports to be modified during runtime of the server (e.g., via a settings in a BMC Graphical User Interface (GUI), Remote Access Controller ADMinistrator (RACADM) commands, etc.), which is often used to temporarily enable those user-accessible USB ports during runtime of the server in order to perform trouble shooting. However, when the “all ports off” BIOS port setup option or the “all ports off (dynamic)” BIOS port setup option described above are enabled, USB keyboard devices and USB mouse devices that are connected to user-accessible USB ports on the server during initialization of the server are allowed to operate to ensure that a user can access the BIOS (e.g., by selecting an “F2” key on the USB keyboard device during the initialization of the server) and modify the BIOS port setup option if desired in order to enable the disabled ports, while other classes of USB devices (e.g., other than USB