American Megatrends

Last updated
  • American Megatrends
  • International, LLC
AMI
FormerlyAmerican Megatrends, Inc.
Company type Private
Industry
Founded1985;39 years ago (1985)
FoundersSubramonian Shankar
Pat Sarma
Headquarters Gwinnett County, Georgia, U.S.
Key people
Sanjoy Maity (CEO)
Products
BrandsAMIBIOS
Aptio
AMI EC
AMIDIAG
MegaRAC
Number of employees
>1000 worldwide
Website ami.com
Footnotes /references
[1] [2]
Pat Sarma

American Megatrends International, LLC, doing business as AMI, is an international hardware and software company, specializing in PC hardware and firmware. [3] The company was founded in 1985 by Pat Sarma and Subramonian Shankar. [4] It is headquartered in Building 800 at 3095 Satellite Boulevard in unincorporated Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States, near the city of Duluth, and in the Atlanta metropolitan area. [5]

Contents

The company started as a manufacturer of complete motherboards, positioning itself in the high-end segment. Its first customer was PCs Limited, [4] later known as Dell Computer. [6]

As hardware activity moved progressively to Taiwan-based original design manufacturers, [7] AMI continued to develop BIOS firmware for major motherboard manufacturers. [8] The company produced BIOS software for motherboards (1986), server motherboards (1992), storage controllers (1995) and remote-management cards (1998). [8]

AMI integrated circuit at a MegaRAID SCSI controller American Megatrends IMG 0410 (cropped) MG9060CQFP.jpg
AMI integrated circuit at a MegaRAID SCSI controller

In 1993, AMI produced MegaRAID, a storage controller card. AMI sold its RAID assets to LSI Corporation [4] in 2001, [9] with only one employee from the RAID-division remaining with the AMI core team.[ citation needed ]

AMI continued to focus on OEM and ODM business and technology. [3] Its product line includes or has previously included AMIBIOS [10] (a BIOS), Aptio (a successor to AMIBIOS8 based on the UEFI standard), diagnostic software, AMI EC (embedded controller firmware), MG-Series SGPIO backplane controllers (for SATA, SAS and NVMe storage devices), driver/firmware development, and MegaRAC (BMC firmware). [3] [4]

Founding

Old American Megatrends logo (1985-2020) American Megatrends logo.svg
Old American Megatrends logo (1985–2020)

American Megatrends Inc. (AMI) was founded in 1985 by Subramonian Shankar and Pat Sarma with funds from a previous consulting venture, Access Methods Inc. (also AMI). [4] Access Methods was a company run by Pat Sarma and his partner. After Access Methods successfully launched the AMIBIOS, there were legal issues among the owners of the company, resulting in Sarma buying out his partners. Access Methods still owned the rights to the AMIBIOS. Sarma had already started a company called Quintessential Consultants Inc. (QCI), and later set up an equal partnership with Shankar. [12]

By this time the AMIBIOS had become established and there was a need to keep the initials AMI. The partners renamed QCI as American Megatrends Inc., with the same initials as Access Methods Inc.; the renamed company then purchased AMIBIOS from Access Methods. Shankar became the president and Sarma the executive vice-president of this company. [12] This partnership continued until 2001, when LSI Logic purchased the RAID Division of American Megatrends; American Megatrends then purchased all shares of the company owned by Sarma, making Shankar the majority owner. [4]

Products

AMIDiag

AMIDiag is a family of PC diagnostic utilities sold to OEMs only. [13] The AMIDiag Suite was introduced in 1991 and made available for MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows and Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) platforms. [13] It includes both the Windows and DOS PC diagnostics programs. Later versions of AMIDiag support UEFI, which allows diagnostics to be performed directly on the hardware components, without having to use operating system drivers or facilities. [13]

Aptio

AMI's UEFI firmware solutions. Aptio V is AMI's current main UEFI firmware product. Aptio CommunityEdition is an open source UEFI firmware product. Aptio 4 is a now-discontinued previous version that has been succeeded by Aptio V.

MegaRAC

MegaRAC is a product line of baseboard management controller firmware packages and formerly Service Processors providing Out-of-band, or Lights-out remote management of computer systems. These baseboard management controllers running MegaRAC firmware packages or service processors operate independently of the Operating System status or location, to manage and troubleshoot computers.

Former products

AMIBIOS

A chip containing AMI ROM BIOS firmware on a Gigabyte GA-486TA Baby AT motherboard from 1992 AMI 486DX EISA BIOS 20051109.jpg
A chip containing AMI ROM BIOS firmware on a Gigabyte GA-486TA Baby AT motherboard from 1992
Table of diagnostic beep codes compiled by AMI BIOS during power-on self test [14] [15]
Number of beepsMeaning
1Power-on self test successful
2Parity error in the first 64  KB of RAM
3Memory failure in the first 64 KB of RAM
4Same as 3, but also including a non-functional timer 1
5CPU error
6Error in the A20 line on the 8042 keyboard controller chip
7Generation of a CPU virtual mode exception signifying an error
8Read/write error when accessing system video RAM
9Mismatch between the calculated checksum of the ROM firmware and the expected value hardcoded into the firmware.
10Read/write error for the CMOS NVRAM shutdown register
11A fault in the L2 cache

AMIBIOS (also written as AMI BIOS) is the IBM PC-compatible BIOS that was formerly developed and sold by American Megatrends since 1986. [10] In 1994, the company claimed that 75% of PC clones used AMIBIOS. [16] It is used on motherboards made by AMI and by other companies. [3]

A chip containing an old version AMIBIOS image, pulled from an ECS motherboard AMIBIOS in PCChips M925LR Pentium 4.jpg
A chip containing an old version AMIBIOS image, pulled from an ECS motherboard

American Megatrends had a strict OEM business model for AMIBIOS: it sold source code to motherboard manufacturers or customized AMIBIOS for each OEM individually, whichever business model they require. [10] AMI does not sell to end users, and itself produces no end-user documentation or technical support for its BIOS firmware, leaving that to licensees. [10] However, the company published two books on its BIOS in 1993 and 1994, written by its engineers. [17]

During powerup, the BIOS firmware displays an ID string in the lower-left-hand corner of the screen. [18] This ID string comprises various pieces of information about the firmware, including when it was compiled, what configuration options were selected, the OEM license code, and the targeted chipset and motherboard. [18] There are 3 ID string formats, the first for older AMIBIOS, and the second and third for the newer AMI Hi-Flex ("high flexibility") BIOS. [17] These latter are displayed when the Insert key is pressed during power-on self-test. [17]

The original AMI BIOS did not encrypt the machine startup password, which it stored in non-volatile RAM. [18] Therefore, any utility capable of reading a PC's NVRAM was able to read and to alter the password. [17] The AMI WinBIOS encrypts the stored password, using a simple substitution cipher. [19]

By pressing the Delete key during power-on self-test when a prompt is displayed, the BIOS setup utility program is invoked. [17] Some earlier AMIBIOS versions also included a cut-down version of the AMIDIAG utility that AMI also sold separately, but most later AMI BIOSes do not include this program as the BIOS DMI already incorporates detailed diagnostics. [17]

AMIBIOS was formerly sold through distributors, not directly available from the manufacturer or from eSupport. [20]

AMI supplies both DOS and Windows firmware upgrade utilities for its own motherboards. eSupport only supplies a Windows upgrade utility. [17] [20] [21]

StorTrends/ManageTrends

The StorTrends family of network-based backup and storage management software and hardware includes several NAS and iSCSI-based SAN servers with 4, 12, or 16 drive bays. [22]

AMI couples off-the-shelf hardware with the StorTrends iTX storage management firmware platform. [23] StorTrends offers synchronous, asynchronous and snap-assisted replication, thin provisioning, high-availability grouping and advanced caching. [22]

Reliability and performance is the key for any storage server. StorTrends iTX 2.8 is designed to support Storage Bridge Bay specification that provide Auto-Failover capability to ensure that any interruption is handled without affecting data. [22] It supports High-availability cluster, redundancy, scalability, replication, disaster recovery and multiple site backups. [24] [23]

DuOS-M

Dual OS Environment for Microsoft Windows
Developer(s) American Megatrends
Initial releaseJuly 2014
Stable release
1.0.4.5135
Operating system Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1
License Trialware
Website http://www.amiduos.com/ (archived)

DuOS-M was commercial software developed by American Megatrends for Intel x86-based computers [25] using the Microsoft Windows operating system to provide a "dual operating system" environment in which the user can simultaneously deploy the Android operating system in tandem with Microsoft Windows. [26]

Because DuOS-M has the capability to run both Windows and Android simultaneously, the user can switch [27] between the two operating systems without having to dual boot or suspend operation of one operating system in order to utilize the other. [26]

DuOS-M supports key hardware peripherals [28] in Windows including cameras, audio, microphone and sensors such as ambient light sensor, accelerometer, gyrometer, compass and orientation sensors. [26] It also supports various screen sizes, resolutions, and screen orientation (portrait and landscape) along with 3D acceleration and HD video playback. [26]

The first version of DuOS-M was released in June 2014. [26] The software is available for download for a free 30-day trial, [29] and is available for purchase for a complete license.

On March 7, 2018, American Megatrends officially announced that it ceased development of DuOS-M. [26] [30] No further updates were being released at this time, including bug fixes and security patches.

Technical problems

On November 13, 1993, some PCs with AMIBIOS firmware began bootup playing the tune to "Happy Birthday". The PC would remain halted, and the song would continue playing until a key was pressed, after which bootup would resume. [31] The problem was caused by a virus-free Trojan, which was later resolved with firmware updates. [31]

The AMI WinBIOS was a 1994 update to AMIBIOS, with a graphical user interface setup screen that mimicked the appearance of Windows 3.1 and supported mouse navigation, unusual at the time. WinBIOS was viewed favorably by Anand Lal Shimpi at AnandTech, [32] but described by Thomas Pabst at Tom's Hardware as a "big disappointment", in part because of problems with distributing IRQ signals to every PCI and ISA expansion slot. [33]

In July 2008 Linux developers discovered issues with ACPI tables on certain AMIBIOS BIOSes supplied by Foxconn, ASUS, and MSI. [34] The problem was related to the ACPI _OSI method, which is used by ACPI to determine the OS version (in case an ACPI patch only applies to one specific OS). In some cases, the OSI method caused problems on Linux systems, skipping code that was only executed on Windows systems. Foxconn and AMI worked together to develop a solution, which was included in later revisions of AMIBIOS. [34] The issue affected motherboards with Intel Socket 775. Actual system behavior differed based on BIOS version, system hardware and Linux distribution. [34]

In October 2021 an issue was discovered where some Baseboard Management Controllers were shipped with a license/royalty sticker that had the company name misspelled as "American Megatrands". [35]

Worldwide offices

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BIOS</span> Firmware for hardware initialization and OS runtime services

In computing, BIOS is firmware used to provide runtime services for operating systems and programs and to perform hardware initialization during the booting process. The BIOS firmware comes pre-installed on an IBM PC or IBM PC compatible's system board and exists in some UEFI-based systems to maintain compatibility with operating systems that do not support UEFI native operation. The name originates from the Basic Input/Output System used in the CP/M operating system in 1975. The BIOS originally proprietary to the IBM PC has been reverse engineered by some companies looking to create compatible systems. The interface of that original system serves as a de facto standard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Motherboard</span> Main printed circuit board (PCB) for a computing device

A motherboard is the main printed circuit board (PCB) in general-purpose computers and other expandable systems. It holds and allows communication between many of the crucial electronic components of a system, such as the central processing unit (CPU) and memory, and provides connectors for other peripherals. Unlike a backplane, a motherboard usually contains significant sub-systems, such as the central processor, the chipset's input/output and memory controllers, interface connectors, and other components integrated for general use.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wake-on-LAN</span> Mechanism to wake up computers via a network

Wake-on-LAN is an Ethernet or Token Ring computer networking standard that allows a computer to be turned on or awakened from sleep mode by a network message.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IBM PC compatible</span> Computers similar to the IBM PC and its derivatives

IBM PC compatible computers are similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT, all from computer giant IBM, that are able to use the same software and expansion cards. Such computers were referred to as PC clones, IBM clones or IBM PC clones. The term "IBM PC compatible" is now a historical description only, since IBM no longer sells personal computers after it sold its personal computer division in 2005 to Chinese technology company Lenovo. The designation "PC", as used in much of personal computer history, has not meant "personal computer" generally, but rather an x86 computer capable of running the same software that a contemporary IBM PC could. The term was initially in contrast to the variety of home computer systems available in the early 1980s, such as the Apple II, TRS-80, and Commodore 64. Later, the term was primarily used in contrast to Apple's Macintosh computers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UEFI</span> Operating system and firmware specification

Unified Extensible Firmware Interface is a specification that defines the architecture of the platform firmware used for booting the computer hardware and its interface for interaction with the operating system. Examples of firmware that implement the specification are AMI Aptio, Phoenix SecureCore, TianoCore EDK II, InsydeH2O. UEFI replaces the BIOS which was present in the boot ROM of all personal computers that are IBM PC compatible, although it can provide backwards compatibility with the BIOS using CSM booting. Intel developed the original Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) specification. Some of the EFI's practices and data formats mirror those of Microsoft Windows. In 2005, UEFI deprecated EFI 1.10.

The Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) is a technical standard defined by Intel that specifies the register-level interface of Serial ATA (SATA) host controllers in a non-implementation-specific manner in its motherboard chipsets.

coreboot Open-source computer firmware

coreboot, formerly known as LinuxBIOS, is a software project aimed at replacing proprietary firmware found in most computers with a lightweight firmware designed to perform only the minimum number of tasks necessary to load and run a modern 32-bit or 64-bit operating system.

In computing, the System Management BIOS (SMBIOS) specification defines data structures that can be used to read management information produced by the BIOS of a computer. This eliminates the need for the operating system to probe hardware directly to discover what devices are present in the computer. The SMBIOS specification is produced by the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF), a non-profit standards development organization. The DMTF estimates that two billion client and server systems implement SMBIOS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nonvolatile BIOS memory</span> Small, battery-backed memory component for storing a computers BIOS settings

Nonvolatile BIOS memory refers to a small memory on PC motherboards that is used to store BIOS settings. It is traditionally called CMOS RAM because it uses a volatile, low-power complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) SRAM powered by a small "CMOS" battery when system and standby power is off. It is referred to as non-volatile memory or NVRAM because, after the system loses power, it does retain state by virtue of the CMOS battery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UEFI Forum</span> Non-profit corporation based in Oregon

UEFI Forum, Inc. is an alliance between technology companies to coordinate the development of the UEFI specifications. The board of directors includes representatives from twelve promoter companies: AMD, American Megatrends, ARM, Apple, Dell, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HP Inc., Insyde Software, Intel, Lenovo, Microsoft, and Phoenix Technologies.

Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) is an open standard that operating systems can use to discover and configure computer hardware components, to perform power management, auto configuration, and status monitoring. It was first released in December 1996. ACPI aims to replace Advanced Power Management (APM), the MultiProcessor Specification, and the Plug and Play BIOS (PnP) Specification. ACPI brings power management under the control of the operating system, as opposed to the previous BIOS-centric system that relied on platform-specific firmware to determine power management and configuration policies. The specification is central to the Operating System-directed configuration and Power Management (OSPM) system. ACPI defines hardware abstraction interfaces between the device's firmware, the computer hardware components, and the operating systems.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intel Active Management Technology</span> Out-of-band management platform by Intel

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intel Rapid Storage Technology</span> Computer storage device

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Award Software</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">SeaBIOS</span> Open-source implementation of x86 BIOS

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References

  1. Corporate Information Archived 2008-05-12 at the Wayback Machine . American Megatrends.
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  35. Patrick Kennedy (2021-12-14). "Dude this should NOT be in a Dell Switch… or HPE Supercomputer".
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Further reading