Patent ID: 8332839

Claim:
A method for modifying firmware settings within a data storage controller, wherein the data storage controller has stored therein at least one firmware image that includes a plurality of sub-modules, and wherein each sub-module includes a sub-module header and a compressed image, the method comprising the steps of: extracting at least one of the sub-modules from the firmware image; stripping the sub-module header from the extracted sub-module; decompressing the compressed image of the extracted sub-module, using a decompression-enabling extended image header, to generate a decompressed image, wherein the decompressed image includes executable code including a code header and at least one settings group having at least one settings group value therein; separating the executable code and the at least one settings group; reinitializing the executable code in such a way that the executable code becomes a valid image; modifying at least one value of at least one settings group to form a modified version of the original settings group; creating a modified sub-module using the reinitialized executable code and the modified version of the original settings group by concatenating the modified version of the original settings group to the reinitialized executable code to form a new decompressed image and compressing the new decompressed image to form the modified sub-module; and inserting the modified version of the original settings group into the firmware image in such a way that the original settings group extracted from the firmware image is replaced by the modified version of the original settings group to form a modified firmware image, wherein the modified firmware image represents a modification of the firmware settings within the data storage controller.