APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR BOOTING A COMPUTER OPERATING SYSTEM FROM AN INTELLIGENT INPUT/OUTPUT DEVICE HAVING NO OPTION FROM WITH A VIRTUAL OPTION ROM STORED IN A COMPUTER SYSTEM

A computer systems implemented with I2O devices having no Option ROM associated therewith needs to boot an OS from such an I2O device without restricting the arrangement of the system BIOS boot sequence. A Virtual Option ROM is integrated into the system BIOS boot sequence code so that the BIOS can detect an I2O device, and then get instructions from the Virtual Option ROM to initialize an I2O Platform of an I2O subsystem, wherein the I2O device resides. Once the communication between the I2O subsystem and the BIOS is subsequently achieved, the OS can be booted from the I2O device. Further, by implementing the Virtual ROM, an I2O device having no real Option ROM attached thereto can also be identified and used as a system boot device in a selective boot process. The initialization process of an IOP is skipped if a non-I2O bootable device has been found before the detection of an I2O device during the Power On Self Test.