Method and apparatus for recovering from a failed I/O controller in an information handling system
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- using a first I/O controller to control a first and a second I/O slot;
using a second I/O controller to control a third and a fourth I/O slot;
providing a power on self test (POST) routine for detecting an I/O controller failure;
detecting a failure of one of the first I/O controller and the second I/O controller using the POST routine;
providing switching means, responsive to the detected I/O controller failure, for operatively coupling/decoupling the first and second I/O slot to/from the first I/O controller, for operatively coupling/decoupling the third and fourth I/O slot to/from the second I/O controller, and for operatively decoupling/coupling the first and second I/O slot from/to the third and fourth I/O slot according to an I/O failure recovery protocol, the I/O failure recovery protocol being provided for adapting one of either the first and second I/O controllers to operatively couple to the first, second, third and fourth I/O slots as a function of the detected I/O controller failure; and
wherein the first and second I/O controllers include PCI controllers and the first, second, third, and fourth I/O slots each include a PCI slot;
using the provided switching means to couple the first, second, third, and fourth I/O slots to one of the first and the second I/O controllers; and
using one of the first and second I/O controllers to control the first, second, third, and fourth I/O slots, wherein the one of the first and second I/O controllers is set to half bus speed.
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Abstract
An information handling system includes first and second I/O controllers, a detector for detecting an I/O controller failure, and an I/O recovery unit. The first I/O controller adaptively controls a first and a second I/O slot. The second I/O controller adaptively controls a third and a fourth I/O slot. Lastly, the I/O recovery unit, responsive to a detected I/O controller failure, operatively couples/decouples the first and second I/O slot to/from the first I/O controller, operatively couples/decouples the third and fourth I/O slot to/from the second I/O controller, and operatively decouples/couples the first and second I/O slot from/to the third and fourth I/O slot according to an I/O failure recovery protocol, the I/O failure recovery protocol provided for adapting one of either the first and second I/O controllers to operatively couple to the first, second, third and fourth I/O slots as a function of the detected I/O controller failure.
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Citations
3 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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using a first I/O controller to control a first and a second I/O slot; using a second I/O controller to control a third and a fourth I/O slot; providing a power on self test (POST) routine for detecting an I/O controller failure; detecting a failure of one of the first I/O controller and the second I/O controller using the POST routine; providing switching means, responsive to the detected I/O controller failure, for operatively coupling/decoupling the first and second I/O slot to/from the first I/O controller, for operatively coupling/decoupling the third and fourth I/O slot to/from the second I/O controller, and for operatively decoupling/coupling the first and second I/O slot from/to the third and fourth I/O slot according to an I/O failure recovery protocol, the I/O failure recovery protocol being provided for adapting one of either the first and second I/O controllers to operatively couple to the first, second, third and fourth I/O slots as a function of the detected I/O controller failure; and
wherein the first and second I/O controllers include PCI controllers and the first, second, third, and fourth I/O slots each include a PCI slot;using the provided switching means to couple the first, second, third, and fourth I/O slots to one of the first and the second I/O controllers; and using one of the first and second I/O controllers to control the first, second, third, and fourth I/O slots, wherein the one of the first and second I/O controllers is set to half bus speed. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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Specification