Patent ID: 7568061

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of initializing expansion adapters installed in a computer system having similar expansion adapters, the method comprising: detecting an expansion adapter installed in a computer system having a plurality of expansion adapters, the detected expansion adapter having an option ROM containing initialization code, and each of the plurality of expansion adapters having a vendor identifier and a device identifier; identifying similar expansion adapters installed in the computer system that correspond to the detected expansion adapter, wherein the similar expansion adapter is produced by the same manufacturer as the detected expansion adapter, each of the identified similar expansion adapters having an option ROM containing initialization code, further comprising: retrieving values for the vendor identifier and the device identifier of the detected expansion adapter; and detecting another expansion adapter having the same values for the vendor identifier and the device identifier as the retrieved values; disabling the option ROM of each of the identified similar expansion adapters; and initializing the plurality of expansion adapters installed in the computer system without executing the initialization code of the identified similar expansion adapters, further comprising: identifying option ROM characteristics for each of the plurality of expansion adapters installed in the computer system, wherein the option ROM characteristics further comprise an initialization code size and a runtime code size for an option ROM of an expansion adapter; determining an adapter initialization order for each of the plurality of expansion adapters in dependence upon the option ROM characteristics; initializing the plurality of expansion adapters in dependence upon the adapter initialization order for each of the plurality of expansion adapters; and storing, in non-volatile computer memory, the option ROM characteristics for each expansion adapter installed in the computer system.