UEFI or BIOS Legacy boot (Win10 2004)

[FreeBeing]

Hi,

Since Windows 10 version 2004, DllCall with GetFirmwareEnvironmentVariable() or GetFirmwareEnvironmentVariableW() don't work anymore to detect UEFI or BIOS Legacy boot.

To find another solution, I found GetFirmwareType() (for Windows 8 and 10, not 7) can do the job, but I don't have skill to use that correctly.

I found PowerShell script that do the job with GetFirmwareType() :

# Windows 8/Server 2012 or above:


Function Get-BiosType {

<#
.Synopsis
   Determines underlying firmware (BIOS) type and returns an integer indicating UEFI, Legacy BIOS or Unknown.
   Supported on Windows 8/Server 2012 or later
.DESCRIPTION
   This function uses a complied Win32 API call to determine the underlying system firmware type.
.EXAMPLE
   If (Get-BiosType -eq 1) { # System is running BIOS firmware... }
.EXAMPLE
    Switch (Get-BiosType) {
        1       {"Legacy BIOS"}
        2       {"UEFI"}
        Default {"Unknown"}
    }
.OUTPUTS
   Integer indicating firmware type (1 = Legacy BIOS, 2 = UEFI, Other = Unknown)
.FUNCTIONALITY
   Determines underlying system firmware type
#>

[OutputType([UInt32])]
Param()

Add-Type -Language CSharp -TypeDefinition @'

    using System;
    using System.Runtime.InteropServices;

    public class FirmwareType
    {
        [DllImport("kernel32.dll")]
        static extern bool GetFirmwareType(ref uint FirmwareType);

        public static uint GetFirmwareType()
        {
            uint firmwaretype = 0;
            if (GetFirmwareType(ref firmwaretype))
                return firmwaretype;
            else
                return 0;   // API call failed, just return 'unknown'
        }
    }
'@


    [FirmwareType]::GetFirmwareType()
}



# An electron is pulled-up for speeding. The policeman says, “Sir, do you realise you were travelling at 130mph?” The electron says, “Oh great, now I’m lost.”

Get-BiosType

I tried this PowerShell script, everything is OK (I obtain "1" with Legacy BIOS and "2" with UEFI).

Please, anyone can help me to use GetFirmwareType() DllCall directly into AutoIt ?

 

Thank you so much.

[Earthshine]

Why not just use power shell

Edited June 13, 2020 by Earthshine

[Danyfirex]

Hello. Maybe This

 

Global Enum $FirmwareTypeUnknown, _
        $FirmwareTypeBios, _
        $FirmwareTypeUefi, _
        $FirmwareTypeMax


ConsoleWrite("FirmwareType: " & _GetFirmwareType() & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("FirmwareType: " & _GetFirmwareTypeString() & @CRLF)


Func _GetFirmwareType()
    Local $aCall = DllCall("Kernel32.dll", "int", "GetFirmwareType", "int*", 0)
    If Not @error And $aCall[0] Then Return $aCall[1]
    Return SetError(1, 0, 0)
EndFunc   ;==>_GetFirmwareType

Func _GetFirmwareTypeString()
    Local $iType = _GetFirmwareType()
    Local $asTypes[] = ["Unknown", "Bios", "Uefi", "Max"]
    Return $asTypes[$iType]
EndFunc   ;==>_GetFirmwareTypeString

Saludos

[FreeBeing]

3 hours ago, Earthshine said:

Why not just use power shell

Because I have a lot of AutoIt scripts that need this feature (I already use the old GetFirmwareEnvironmentVariable() function), and I don't want to mix AutoIt and Powershell if not really needed.

[FreeBeing]

2 hours ago, Danyfirex said:

Hello. Maybe This

 

Global Enum $FirmwareTypeUnknown, _
        $FirmwareTypeBios, _
        $FirmwareTypeUefi, _
        $FirmwareTypeMax


ConsoleWrite("FirmwareType: " & _GetFirmwareType() & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("FirmwareType: " & _GetFirmwareTypeString() & @CRLF)


Func _GetFirmwareType()
    Local $aCall = DllCall("Kernel32.dll", "int", "GetFirmwareType", "int*", 0)
    If Not @error And $aCall[0] Then Return $aCall[1]
    Return SetError(1, 0, 0)
EndFunc   ;==>_GetFirmwareType

Func _GetFirmwareTypeString()
    Local $iType = _GetFirmwareType()
    Local $asTypes[] = ["Unknown", "Bios", "Uefi", "Max"]
    Return $asTypes[$iType]
EndFunc   ;==>_GetFirmwareTypeString

Saludos

Thanks god, your script is working

Juste one thing, if it can help people for ConsoleWrite(), I quote AutoIt help :

"The purpose for this function is to write to the STDOUT stream. Many popular text editors can read this stream. Scripts compiled as Console applications also have a STDOUT stream.
This does not write to a DOS console unless the script is compiled as a console application."

 

I tried your script into many Virtual Machines to be sure :

- Windows 10 2004 x64 UEFI
- Windows 10 2004 x64 BIOS
- Windows 10 (older) x64 UEFI
- Windows 10 (older) x64 BIOS
- Windows 8.1 x64 UEFI
- Windows 8.1 x64 BIOS
- Windows 7 x64 BIOS

As expected, everything is working except for Windows 7, so I will mix solutions :
If Windows 7 --> the old GetFirmwareEnvironmentVariable()
If Windows 8 or newer --> the "new" GetFirmwareType()

Thanks a lot, again

[drummerdp]

This function works properly and has been tested for all versions of Windows from XP to Win 11.

It returns a string, either "UEFI" or "BIOS"

_getfirmwaretype.au3