CF-54 EC Update Released.

I found this on the Canadian Toughbook page on Sunday. No clue why it's not on the .US site. It states that it improves stability issues while running on battery power. It applies to the MK1 and MK2.
What is the difference between the Embedded Controller and the BIOS?

http://pc-dl.panasonic.co.jp/dl/docs/063256?dc[]=002003&no=1&p1=211&score=1.0&sri=10322996&trn_org=2

 

It's for a CF54.
Blair could you change the thread title to include CF 54?

Stolen from the interwebs

BIOS/CMOS is related to holding configuration preferences such as what order to boot devices in, power back up after a power loss etc, and many other features which can include if supported advanced features like configuring a system to run over-clocked etc.

According to the EC from AMI, the Embedded Controller is a chip that handles multiple functions such as keyboard input via PS2 slots etc, battery life monitoring etc.

The BIOS is really a program used to service the hardware.
An EC, embedded controller is a bit of hardware that does specific operations on an external device.
Example: PC. Upon power up, the BIOS program looks for the floppy drive by asking the controller to return the head to the home position. The on-board controller itself monitors the limit switch and when it indicates the head is at home, it raises a flag that is read by the BIOS.
In the above you have BIOS working with an embedded controller.

It is possible to control a floppy drive, or even a hard drive, without a controller. But that is only done with minimal machine were low-cost is more important that performance. An example is the Apple ][ with had no floppy controller.

A generic embedded controller often has the following tasks:

• 
  
  
  • Receiving and processing signals from the keyboard[1] and other buttons and switches (e.g., power button, laptop lid switch)[2]
  • Turning the computer on and off
  • Controlling access to the A20 line[3]
  • Thermal measurement and response including fan control, CPU throttling, and emergency shutdown in response to rising temperatures
  • Controlling indicator LEDs
  • Managing the battery charger and the battery[2]
  • Allowing remote diagnostics and remediation over the network
  • Performing software-requested CPU reset[1]
  • Controlling the watchdog timer[2]

As a core system component, the embedded controller is always on when power is supplied to the mainboard. To communicate with the main computer system, several forms of communication can be used, including ACPI, SMBus, or shared memory.

The embedded controller has its own RAM, independent of that used by the main computer system, and almost always its own flash ROM on which the controller's software is stored. Many BIOS updates also include upgrades for the embedded controller firmware.

An embedded controller is sometimes known as a "Keyboard Controller BIOS", which comes from the fact that the embedded controller evolved from the keyboard controller and often still is used as a keyboard controller. Even today, an ACPI embedded controller communicates with the CPU by using the same I/O ports that keyboard controllers used in the past.

A Trusted Platform Module contains an embedded controller that performs cryptographic functions and nothing else.

 

Oops. Sorry man!

 

Thanks Shawn for the education. We can always depend upon you to perform your Ninja skills.

 

No problem

HTH