Method and apparatus for providing diagnosis of a processor without an operating system boot

• US 6,807,643 B2
• Filed: 12/22/1999
• Issued: 10/19/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Eckardt, Donald J., Stewart, David C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Baderman, Scott
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHU, GABRIEL L
• Application Number:
  US09/469,249
• Publication Number:
  US 20030163765A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,763 Days
• Field of Search: 714/36, 714/23, 714/29, 714/37, 713/2
• US Class Current: 714/36
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2284 by power-on test, e.g. power-on self test [POST]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4416 Network booting; Remote initial program loading [RIPL]

Abstract

A method and apparatus are provided for diagnosis of a processor in an operating system-absent environment (i.e., without or prior to an operating system boot). A boot operation of the processor is begun, and a Power-On Self test (POST) process is run. If a failure in the POST process occurs, the failure is detected and information regarding it is stored. The processor is then rebooted and the POST process is begun again. The stored information of the prior POST failure is then used for diagnosis during the reboot operation. To assist in the diagnosis, information about the state of the boot process can be displayed as a supplement to beep codes customarily used for diagnosis. In another aspect of the invention, after a boot failure is detected, a Pre-boot Diagnostic System Loader can be run. Information stored in the Pre-boot Diagnostic System Loader can then be used to boot a diagnostic partition. Also, in order to permit diagnosis and repair by establishing connection with a remote location, a voice connection and a network connection can be separately established between the processor and the remote location on separate lines. The voice connection and the network connection can then be correlated with one another by using a Lightweight-Directory-Access-Protocol (LDAP) database which stores information to permit the correlation. Once the correlation is established, diagnosis and remote repair can be achieved. All of these operations can be run in the OS-absent environment.

Claims

1. A method for providing diagnosis of a computer system comprising:

beginning a boot operation of the computer system and running a Power-On Self Test (POST) process;

detecting a failure in the POST process;

storing information regarding the failure in the POST process;

rebooting to run the POST process again;

using stored information regarding the failure in the POST process for diagnosis;

connecting to a remote location for diagnosis after rebooting wherein connection to the remote location includes;

loading pre-boot services into a volatile memory from a non-volatile memory, wherein the pre-boot services include code for a modem driver; and

using the modem driver code to establish a network connection with the remote location for diagnosis wherein the diagnosis of the computer system is performed prior to completion of an operating system boot.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the diagnosis is a self-diagnosis.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein the information about the POST failure is stored in a non-volatile memory.

4. A method according to claim 3, wherein the nonvolatile memory comprises a flash memory.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein the failure in the POST process includes problems in Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) sizing.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein the stored information regarding the failure in the POST process includes information as to a status of the boot operation at the time of the failure in the POST process.

7. A method according to claim 6, further comprising providing a visual display of information as to the status of the boot operation at the time of the failure in the POST process during rebooting.

8. A method according to claim 1, wherein the failure in the POST process is detected by determining if the POST process is completed within a predetermined time.

9. A method according to claim 8, wherein the stored information regarding the failure in the POST process includes a status of the boot operation at an expiration of the predetermined time.

10. A system comprising:

a memory to store instructions to perform a boot process and a Power-On Self-Test (POST) operation; and

a processor to execute the instructions stored in the memory to perform the following;

begin the boot process and run the Power-On Self Test (POST) operation;

detect a failure in the POST operation;

store information regarding the failure in the POST operation;

reboot and run the POST operation again;

utilize stored information regarding the failure in the POST operation for diagnosis during reboot;

connect to a remote location for diagnosis after rebooting wherein said processor is to;

load pre-boot services into a volatile memory from a non-volatile memory, wherein the pre-boot services include code for a modem driver; and

use the modem driver code to establish a network connection with the remote location for diagnosis wherein the diagnosis of the computer system is performed prior to completion of an operating system boot.

11. A machine readable medium having embodied thereon a program for execution by a computer system for providing diagnosis of the computer system, the program comprising:

beginning a boot operation of the computer system and running a Power-On Self Test (POST) process;

detecting a failure in the POST process;

storing information about the failure in the POST process;

rebooting to run the POST process again;

using stored information of the failure in the POST process for diagnosis;

connecting to a remote location for diagnosis after rebooting wherein connection to the remote location includes;

loading pre-boot services into a volatile memory from a non-volatile memory, wherein the pre-boot services include code for a modem driver; and

using the modem driver code to establish a network connection with the remote location for diagnosis, wherein the diagnosis of the computer system is performed prior to completion of an operating system boot.