JPH09237198A - Method for testing extended device at the time of starting computer system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten system starting time and to improve reliability by testing an extended device having no testing function only at the time of newly connecting the extended device to a computer system. SOLUTION: A body starting means 201 checks the resources of an extended board 50 by a constitutional information comparing means 202 to prepare constitutional information 204. When the information 204 is the same as constitutional information 301 for preceding start which is stored in a RAM 30 as the result of their comparison, the computer system is started in accordance with the contents of the information 301. When the contents of both the information 301, 204 are different as the compared result, the means 201 applies a test program 401 previously installed in a flash memory 40 to the extended board 50 connected to the computer system, and when the test program 401 is normally ended, updates the contents of the information 301 to the contents of the information 204 through a constitutional information storing means 203 and then starts the system.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a test method for starting up an information processing apparatus, and more particularly to a failure detection method for an expansion device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a computer system to which an expansion device can be connected, when the expansion device is connected to the computer system for use, a control storage means such as a ROM (read-only memory) is provided as the expansion device, and this ROM is stored in this ROM. The expansion device has been tested by storing a test program or the like, or by allowing the expansion device itself to have a hardware-like test function.

Further, when the expansion device is provided with a control storage means such as a ROM and the test program is stored in the ROM, the test program matches the architecture (design method) of the CPU of the computer system to be connected. If not, the extended Deheiss test could not be performed without emulating the test program.

Furthermore, executing the test program for all expansion devices each time the system is started up, such as when the computer system is powered on, causes a delay in the startup time of the computer system. .

Incidentally, as a conventional technique of an initial test system of hardware at the time of power-on of an information processing device such as a computer, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-13347 discloses that it is included in an initial program included in an initial program loader. Performing an initial hardware test immediately after the system is powered on by the hardware test program. In the initial hardware test, another hardware test program is stored in the external storage device of the system, and immediately after the power is turned on, the initial program is stored in the initial program. The second hardware test program is loaded from the external storage device to the system by the initial program, and the hardware test program at the time of loading the initial program is executed by the initial program. After test the hardware which could not have been examined in the attest, the initial test method has been proposed which is characterized in that transfer control to the system program. However, when this initial test method is applied to a computer system in which an expansion device can be mounted, the expansion device test is performed each time in the second stage initial test, and the start-up time of the computer system is increased. There is a problem that it becomes slower in proportion to the number of connections.

[0006]

As described above, in the conventional system startup test method, the expansion device connected to the computer system may not be tested when the computer system is booted. , Even if you can test additional expansion devices,
Due to this test, there is a problem that the startup time of the computer system is delayed in proportion to the number of expansion devices connected to the system.

Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is to newly add an expansion device to a computer system, which has the highest probability of finding a failure of the expansion device. A test is performed only when connecting to avoid an increase in system startup time, and if an expansion device has a failure, ensure that the computer system can be disconnected from the computer system before starting the operating system. To provide.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a computer system to which an expansion device can be connected, which stores configuration information of the expansion device at the last startup of the computer system and stores a power supply. The configuration information of the first storage device capable of holding the stored contents even when it is turned off and the expansion device at the time of starting the computer system is created, and the configuration information is stored in the first storage device. The configuration information stored in the first storage device is updated with the contents of the configuration information at the time of start-up when the means for comparing the configuration information and the comparison result by the means are different. Means and a second storage device for storing a test program for the expansion device, and an expansion device at startup of a computer system. To provide a test method.

In the present invention, preferably the first
The storage device is composed of an electrically rewritable nonvolatile memory. Further, the present invention is preferably characterized in that the second storage device is an electrically rewritable batch erasable memory.

[0010]

According to the present invention, at the previous startup,
The configuration information of the expansion device (configuration information) is preferably stored in the non-volatile RAM, and when the computer system is newly started up, the result of the configuration check of the expansion device connected to the computer system and the non-volatile By comparing the contents of the configuration information stored in the memory RAM with the contents of the configuration information stored in the RAM, it is possible to recognize the newly connected expansion device since the last startup, and test the newly connected expansion device. It is the one.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the computer system is
A nonvolatile RAM (random access memory) 30 having a main body startup means 201, a configuration information creation / comparison means 202, and a configuration information storage means 203 on the main memory 20.
It has configuration information 301 on it, has a test program 401 on a flash memory 40 which is an electrically rewritable batch erasable non-volatile memory, and has an expansion board 50 connected to the bus 100.

The main body start-up means 201 is a means for creating and comparing configuration information 202 when the computer system is started up.
By performing a resource check of the extension board 50 connected to the bus 100 (as a resource check, for example, a register (not shown) of the extension board 50 is read, and if it can be read, the connection state is set), and the current configuration information 204 Created, stored and held in the non-volatile RAM 30,
Configuration information at the last computer system startup 30
1 and the current configuration information 204 are compared.

The configuration information 301 when the computer system was started up last time by the configuration information creation / comparison means 202
And the current configuration information 204 have the same comparison result, the computer system is started up according to the content of the configuration information 301.

On the other hand, if the comparison result is different, the main body startup means 201 causes the test program 401, which is pre-installed in the flash memory 40, to the expansion board 50 newly connected to the computer system. Run.

If the execution result of the test program 401 is normal termination, the main body startup means 201 updates the content of the configuration information 301 with the content of the configuration information 204 via the configuration information storage means 203, and then the configuration The computer system is started up according to the contents of the information 301.

On the other hand, when the result of the test program 401 is abnormal termination, the main body startup means 201 disconnects the expansion board 50 from the computer system, and
That is, after making the extension board 50 electrically inaccessible, the computer system is started up in accordance with the contents of the original configuration information 301. As a result, even if the expansion board 50 has a defect such as a defect or a failure, the computer system can be operated after the operating system is started without causing any trouble.

The operation of this embodiment will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. At system startup (step S1)
In, the configuration information creation / comparison means checks the configuration of the expansion device (board) to create new configuration information (step S2), compares this with the previous configuration information (step S3), and the comparison result is different. In this case, the newly connected expansion board is tested (steps S4 and S5),
If the test result is normal, the configuration information storage unit updates the configuration information 301 to the contents of the configuration to which the expansion board 50 is added (step S6), while the test result is defective (abnormal).
In this case, after disconnecting the expansion board from the system (step S7), the operating system is activated (step S8). In the comparison in step S3, if the comparison results match, the expansion board is not basically tested, and the operating system is started as it is.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the above embodiment, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment and includes various embodiments in accordance with the principle of the present invention. Non-volatile RAM, for example
Instead of 30, SRA that is battery-operated and retains stored contents when the computer system is powered off
The same effect can be obtained even if it is configured by M (static random access memory) or the like.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In a computer system to which an expansion device can be connected, only when a new expansion device is connected to the computer system, a test is performed on an expansion device that does not have a test function, thus starting up the computer system. This reduces the time required for the operation of the expansion system and ensures that the expansion device is disconnected from the computer system itself before the operating system is started up when the expansion device has a failure, thus ensuring the reliability of the computer system. Has the effect of improving.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of one embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 central processing unit 20 main memory 30 non-volatile RAM 40 flash memory 50 expansion board 201 main body startup means 202 configuration information creation comparison means 203 configuration information storage means 204 configuration information 301 configuration information 401 test program

Claims (5)

[Claims] In a computer system to which an expansion device can be connected, a first storage capable of storing the configuration information of the expansion device at the previous startup of the computer system and storing and holding the configuration information even when the power is turned off. An apparatus and a comparison unit that creates configuration information of the expansion device when the computer system is started up and compares the configuration information with the configuration information stored in the first storage device; When the comparison result by the means is different, a means for updating the configuration information stored in the first storage device with the contents of the configuration information at the time of this startup, and a test program for the expansion device are stored. A second storage device to be stored, and an extended device test method at startup of a computer system. 2. When the test result of the expansion device by the test program of the expansion device is defective, the expansion device is disconnected, and when the test result of the expansion device is normal, the updating means stores in the first storage device. The extended device test at startup of the computer system according to claim 1, characterized in that the stored configuration information is updated with the contents of the configuration information at this startup, and then the operating system is started. method. 3. The extended device test method for booting a computer system according to claim 1, wherein the first storage device comprises an electrically rewritable nonvolatile memory. 4. The extended device test method at startup of a computer system according to claim 1, wherein the second storage device is an electrically rewritable batch erasable memory. 5. The expansion device test method at startup of a computer system according to claim 1, wherein the newly connected expansion board is tested when the comparison result of said comparison means is different.