Patent Publication Number: US-2011055537-A1

Title: Electronic device and booting method therefor

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present disclosure relates to an electronic device having multiple operating systems (OSs) and a booting method for the electronic device. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Nowadays, a user of an electronic device (such as a computer) is free to purchase and install an operating system that differs from the one installed on the device when it was purchased. There are numerous commercially available operating systems to choose from including, but not limited, to MS-DOS, UNIX, LINUX, OS/2, WINDOWS 3.x, WINDOWS NT, and WINDOWS 95. 
     Although these operating systems perform similar tasks, and many are capable of running the same application programs, each operating system has its own strengths. Sometimes a user wishing to capitalize on the strengths of these operating systems will install more than one OS on the same computer. Commercially available software utilities aid a user in installing additional operating systems on their computers. These utilities also allow a user to choose which operating system to boot while a computer is being powered-on or reset. The capability to boot different operating systems on the same computer is often referred to as an OS multi boot or multi booting. Despite the fact that many attempts have been made in the art, this kind of technology still has much room for improvement. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  a schematic block diagram of an electronic device in accordance with one embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is a flow chart of a booting method for an electronic device in accordance with one embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The disclosure is illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like references indicate similar elements. It should be noted that references to “an” or “one” embodiment in this disclosure are not necessarily to the same embodiment, and such references mean at least one. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , an electronic device  100  in accordance with one embodiment includes a boot loader module  10 , a mode selecting module  20 , an operating system (OS) selecting module  30 , a device driver selecting module  40 , and a man-machine interface (MMI) selecting module  50 . The electronic device  100  stores programs and data of different OSs (e.g., WINDOWS 2000, WINDOWS XP, WINDOWS VISTA, LINUX, etc), different device drivers (e.g., WINDOWS device drivers, LINUX device drivers, etc), and different MMIS (e.g., WINDOWS MMIS, LINUX MMI, etc). The device drivers and the MMIS are respectively compatible and matched with the corresponding operating systems. 
     A memory space of the electronic device  100  can be divided into several areas. Each of the areas is configured to store the programs and data of the OS, the device driver, and the MMI of a same type. For instance, programs of WINDOWS XP OS, WINDOWS XP device drivers, and WINDOWS XP MMI are stored in one of the areas; programs of LINUX OS, LINUX device driver, and LINUX MMI are stored in another one of the areas. 
     The boot loader module  10  includes a small program that can load the operating system programs and data which are then executed from Random Access Memory (RAM). 
     The mode selecting module  20  is capable of selecting Mode 1 , Mode 2 , Mode 3 , or Mode 4 . Mode 1  is a manufacture booting mode applicable during manufacturing the electronic device  100 . Mode 2  is a normal booting mode applicable to a common user of the electronic device  100 . Mode 3  is a rescue booting mode applicable during repairing the electronic device  100 . Mode 4  is a recover booting mode applicable during restoring the electronic device  100  to factory settings. Mode 2  is set as the default booting mode. If the electronic device  100  does not receive any command to interrupt its booting process, the default booting mode is automatically selected. If the electronic device  100  receives a specified command during the booting process, another booting mode other than the default booting mode can be selected according to the user&#39;s selection. 
     The OS selecting module  30  is capable of selecting OS 1  (e.g., WINDOWS 2000), OS 2  (e.g., WINDOWS XP), OS 3  (e.g., WINDOWS VISTA), or OS 4  (e.g., LINUX). The OS 1 , OS 2 , OS 3 , and OS 4  are respectively corresponding to the Mode 1 , Mode 2 , Mode 3 , and Mode 4 . For instance, if Mode 1  is selected by the mode selecting module  20 , the OS selecting module  30  will select OS 1 . 
     The device driver selecting module  40  is capable of selecting one kind of device driver (Driver 1 , Driver 2 , Driver 3 , or Driver 4 ) matched with the selected operating system. For instance, if OS 1  (e.g., WINDOWS 2000) is selected by the OS selecting module  30 , the device driver selecting module  40  will select Driver 1  (WINDOWS 2000 device drivers) correspondingly. 
     The MMI selecting module  50  is capable of selecting one kind of MMI (MMI 1 , MMI 2 , MMI 3 , or MMI 4 ) matched with the selected operating system. For instance, if OS 1  (e.g., WINDOWS XP operating system) is selected by the OS selecting module  30 , the MMI selecting module  50  will correspondingly select MMI 1  (WINDOWS XP MMI) to be implemented. 
     In one embodiment, the electronic device  100  can be a personal computer or other consumer electronic devices, such as a digital photo frame, a mobile phone, etc. If a common consumer uses the electronic device  100 , the mode selecting module  20  can automatically select the normal booting mode applicable to the common user. During manufacturing the electronic device  100 , a manipulator can input a command (e.g., pressing F 8  to input a command) to select the manufacture booting mode. If the electronic device  100  is being repaired, the mode selecting module  20  can select the rescue booting mode according to user&#39;s selection. If the electronic device  100  needs to be restored to factory settings, the mode selecting module  20  can select the recover booting mode according to user&#39;s selection. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , one embodiment of a booting method for the electronic device  100  includes following blocks. 
     In block S 01 , a power button of the electronic device  100  is actuated to power on the electronic device  100 . 
     In block S 02 , the mode selecting module  20  runs and selects a desired booting mode. If the mode selecting module  20  does not receive any input command during running, the mode selecting module  20  automatically selects the default booting mode (e.g. normal booting mode). If the mode selecting module  20  receives an input command during running, the mode selecting module  20  can select another booting mode (e.g. the manufacture booting mode, the rescue booting mode, or the recover booting mode) according to the input command. 
     In block S 03 , the OS selecting module  30  selects one of the operating systems (OS 1 , OS 2 , OS 3 , or OS 4 ) according to the selected mode. For example, if the mode selecting module  20  selects Mode 2  (normal booting mode), the OS selecting module  30  correspondingly selects OS 2  (e.g., WINDOWS XP). 
     In block S 04 , the boot loader module  10  loads the selected OS to RAM. 
     In block S 05 , the device driver selecting module  40  selects one kind of device driver that is compatible and matched with the selected OS. Then the selected device driver is installed automatically. 
     In block S 06 , the MMI selecting module  50  selects a program of a MMI that is matched with the selected operating system. 
     In block S 07 , the selected MMI is implemented. 
     While the present disclosure has been illustrated by the description of preferred embodiments thereof, and while the preferred embodiments have been described in considerable detail, it is not intended to restrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such details. Additional advantages and modifications within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure will readily appear to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited to the specific details and illustrative examples shown and described. 
     It is also to be understood that the above description and the claims drawn to a method may include some indication in reference to certain steps. However, the indication used is only to be viewed for identification purposes and not as a suggestion as to an order for the steps.