Method and apparatus for updating device driver control data

Abstract

A method and apparatus for updating control data for a device driver that is stored on a first non-volatile memory. New driver control data is written to a second non-volatile memory.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method of updating control data for a device driver that is stored on a first nonvolatile memory, comprising writing new driver control data to a second nonvolatile memory.  
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the device driver is a video driver and the control data is video driver mode data.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the driver control data is stored on the second non-volatile memory in a structure that comprises one or more tables, wherein the tables have n entries, and wherein a video driver mode is specified by a set of parameters comprising of the nth entry in each of the tables.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein a new type of video driver control data may be provided by adding a new table to the structure, and wherein a new video driver mode may be added by adding a new entry to each of the tables.  
     
     
         5 . A method of updating device driver control data for a computer system having a non-volatile disk storage device and a second non-volatile memory, comprising: 
 storing new device driver control data in the second non-volatile memory without modifying data stored in the non-volatile disk storage device.    
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein a new device driver mode may be provided by storing a set of mode parameters in the second non-volatile memory.  
     
     
         7 . An apparatus for updating the driver control data for a device driver that is stored in a first non-volatile memory, the apparatus comprising: 
 a first non-volatile memory to store a device driver;    a processor which executes instructions to perform storing new driver control data on a second non-volatile memory.    
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the device driver is a video driver and the control data is video driver mode data.  
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the second non-volatile memory is a flash memory.  
     
     
         10 . A method of obtaining supplemental device driver control data for a device driver stored in a first non-volatile memory, comprising: 
 reading a set of driver control data from the first non-volatile memory into a system memory;    reading supplemental driver control data from a second non-volatile memory; and    updating the set of driver control data in the system memory based on the supplemental driver control data.    
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the device driver is a video device driver.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the driver control data comprises at least one of dot clock, control register, and watermark data.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the first non-volatile memory is a disk memory and the second non-volatile memory is a flash memory.  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein updating the set of driver control data in system memory comprises: 
 determining whether an item of supplemental driver control data corresponds to an item of driver control data in system memory;    if the item of supplemental data corresponds to an item of driver control data in system memory, replacing the item of driver control data in system memory with the corresponding supplemental driver control data; and    if the item of supplemental data does not correspond to any item of driver control data in system memory, adding the item of supplemental driver control data to the set of driver control data in system memory.    
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the method of obtaining device driver supplemental control data is performed each time that the device driver is initiated.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising: 
 determining if the second non-volatile memory contains supplemental driver control data; and    using the set of driver control data read from the first non-volatile memory as the driver control data if the second non-volatile memory does not contain supplemental driver control data.    
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the supplemental driver control data is stored on the second non-volatile memory in a structure comprising one or more tables, wherein the tables have n entries, and wherein a mode is specified by a set parameters comprising the nth entry in each of the tables.  
     
     
         18 . A computer system, comprising: 
 a central processing unit;    a system memory;    a first non-volatile memory which stores a device driver; and    a second non-volatile memory which stores device driver control data.    
     
     
         19 . The computer system of  claim 18 , wherein the computer system further comprises a display device, and wherein the device driver is a video driver.  
     
     
         20 . The computer system of  claim 19 , wherein the first non-volatile memory is a disk memory and the second non-volatile memory is a flash memory.  
     
     
         21 . A computer-readable medium having stored thereon a device driver and instructions adapted to be executed by a processor, the instructions which, when executed, cause the processor to update the control data for the device driver by: 
 reading a set of driver control data from a first non-volatile memory into a system memory;    reading supplemental driver control data from a second non-volatile memory; and    updating the set of driver control data in the system memory based on the supplemental driver control data.    
     
     
         22 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the device driver is a video device driver.  
     
     
         23 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the driver control data comprises at least one of dot clock, control register, and watermark data.  
     
     
         24 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the first non-volatile memory is a disk memory and the second non-volatile memory is a flash memory.  
     
     
         25 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein updating the driver control data in system memory comprises: 
 determining whether an item of supplemental driver control data corresponds to an item of driver control data in system memory;    if the item of supplemental data corresponds to an item of driver control data in system memory, replacing the item of driver control data in system memory with the corresponding supplemental driver control data; and    if the item of supplemental data does not correspond to any item of driver control data is system memory, adding the item of supplemental driver control data to the set of driver control data in system memory.    
     
     
         26 . The computer readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the updating the control data is performed each time that the device driver is initiated.  
     
     
         27 . The computer readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor further to update the control data for the device driver by: 
 determining if the second non-volatile memory contains supplemental driver control data; and    using the set of driver control data from the first non-volatile memory as the driver control data if the second non-volatile memory does not contain supplemental driver control data.    
     
     
         28 . The computer readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the supplemental driver control data is stored on the second non-volatile memory in a structure comprising tables, wherein the tables have n entries, and wherein a mode is specified by a set of parameters comprising the nth entry in each of the tables.