TWI626539B - Computer System Error Warning Method - Google Patents

Abstract

The computer system error warning method includes executing the device memory initialization program; executing the driver initialization program; entering the system management mode to set at least one system management interrupt condition; starting the operating system; and if at least one of the system management interrupt conditions is managed by a system The interrupt condition is triggered to control the illumination device to operate in a blinking state.

Description

Computer system error warning method

The invention describes a warning method for a computer system error, in particular a warning method for using a light-emitting device to emit a specific blinking frequency.

With the popularity of computers, a wide variety of hardware, software, and firmware have also been integrated into computers to enhance the functionality of computers. Since the computer drives a variety of different software/hardware centered on the motherboard, when some software/hardware is abnormal, the computer cannot start the operating system normally.

In order to facilitate user debugging, some computer designers will integrate hardware detection systems on the motherboard. The hardware detection system can self-detect the code of the basic input/output system (BIOS) when booting, and detect the status of various devices on the motherboard. If a component fails, the integrated hardware detection system generates an error code to the basic input/output system. Therefore, the user can determine the location and cause of the computer failure based on observing the error code on the basic input/output system.

However, the old motherboard does not have a hardware detection system integrated, and the user must purchase an additional Debug Card to achieve the above functions. And, as mentioned above, the error message of the conventional motherboard is represented by the error code on the basic input/output system. Unless you are familiar with computer programs or incorrectly coded users, you can quickly find out where and why the computer has failed. Otherwise, it is not a short time for the average user to observe the error code on the basic input/output system and find the cause of the computer failure. In other words, for the traditional computer built-in hardware detection system or the error card that the user purchases extra, the error message is not intuitive enough, so the general user or the maintenance personnel cannot solve the problem immediately.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a method for alerting a computer system error, including executing a device memory initialization program to detect and restore incorrect firmware parameters, executing a driver initialization program to identify and communicate all hardware, and performing driver initialization. After the program, enter the system management mode to set at least one system management interrupt condition, start the operating system, and after the operating system starts, start the system management interrupt monitoring program to monitor whether a system management interrupt condition in at least one system management interrupt condition is triggered. And if the system management interrupt condition is triggered, controlling the illumination device to cause the illumination device to operate in a blinking state.

1 is an architectural diagram of an embodiment of a computer system 100 of the present invention. The computer system 100 includes a computer PC and a light emitting device L. The computer PC can be a personal computer (Personal Computer) body, a work machine, a server platform, a notebook computer or a tablet computer, and the like. The illuminating device L can be any device capable of generating an optical signal, such as a light emitting diode lamp or a tungsten wire lamp or the like. The illuminating device L is coupled to the computer PC for displaying the current operating state of the computer PC. However, the light-emitting device L of the computer system 100 can also be integrated into a casing that is integrally formed with the computer PC. For example, the light-emitting device L can be a power display light or a hard disk access light disposed on the casing of the computer PC, and any reasonable hardware change is within the scope of the present invention. The computer PC contains a motherboard MB and a plurality of devices D1 to DN, where N is a positive integer. Devices D1 through DN can be hardware devices, firmware devices, or virtual software devices. For example, the device D1 may be a random access memory (RAM), the device D2 may be a hard disk, and the device D3 may be a cooling fan. The devices D1 to DN are coupled to the motherboard MB. Therefore, if the computer PC is turned on smoothly, the devices D1 to DN can be driven by the motherboard MB. The motherboard MB is coupled to the light emitting device L. In computer system 100, motherboard MB can be any form of integrated circuit. Moreover, the motherboard MB has all the software and firmware used by the computer PC to execute the booting process. For example, the motherboard MB can be a basic input/output system (Basic Input/Output System). The PC can perform pre-operations before entering the operating system (OS) through the basic input/output system in the motherboard MB. In the computer system 100, if an error occurs before the motherboard MB starts the operating system, the lighting device L will emit an optical signal of a specific frequency to alert the user of the wrong location and cause. Moreover, when the motherboard MB starts the operating system, if an error occurs during the operation of the operating system, the lighting device L will also emit an optical signal of a specific frequency to alert the user of the wrong position and cause. When the operating system returns to the normal state from the error, the lighting device L will also become a normal light number. Therefore, the user can quickly find the wrong position and cause by using the type of the light signal emitted by the light-emitting device L. The warning method of the computer system error of the present invention is described later.

2 and 3 are flow charts of a warning method for a computer system error in the computer system 100. The warning method of the computer system error includes steps S201 to S214. However, reasonable variations in the content or order of any steps are within the scope of the present invention. Steps S201 to S214 are described below.  <TABLE border="1" borderColor="#000000" width="85%"><TBODY><tr><td> Step S201: </td><td> Power on; </td></tr>< Tr><td> Step S202: </td><td> Execute the device memory initialization program; </td></tr><tr><td> Step S203: </td><td> If yes, go to step S204; if no, go to step S205; </td></tr><tr><td> Step S204: </td><td> Control the light-emitting device L to operate the light-emitting device L The second flashing state and stop the boot process. </td></tr><tr><td> Step S205: </td><td> Execute the driver initialization program; </td></tr><tr><td> Step S206: </td ><td> Enter system management mode to set at least one system management interrupt condition; </td></tr><tr><td> Step S207: </td><td> Execute the boot device selection program; </td ></tr><tr><td> Step S208: </td><td> Start the operating system; </td></tr><tr><td> Step S209: </td><td> Start The system management interrupt monitor program to monitor whether a system management interrupt condition of at least one system management interrupt condition is triggered? If not, re-execute step S209 to continue monitoring the system management interrupt condition; if yes, execute step S210; </td>< /tr><tr><td> Step S210: </td><td> After the predetermined time has elapsed, check whether the system management interrupt condition is triggered again? If not, go to step S211; if yes, go to step S212; </td ></tr><tr><td> Step S211: </td><td> Changes the state of the system management interrupt condition to the initialized state, and returns to step S209 to continue monitoring the system management interrupt condition. </td></tr><tr><td> Step S212: </td><td> Set the system management interrupt condition to the triggered state; </td></tr><tr><td> S213: </td><td> controls the illuminating device L to drive the illuminating device L to operate in a corresponding light state according to the triggering result of the interrupt condition; </td></tr><tr><td> Step S214: </td><td> Resets the updated system management interrupt condition and returns to step S209 to continue monitoring the system management interrupt condition. </td></tr></TBODY></TABLE>

The steps are detailed below. In step S201, the computer PC will be turned on. The definition of the boot can be used to power the computer PC using the power button. Next, in step S202, the computer PC executes a device memory initialization process to detect and restore the wrong firmware parameters. For example, the motherboard MB on the computer PC will execute the PEI program (the PEI program in the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) after booting, and the PEI program can be regarded as the pre-step of the driver initialization program described later, the main As the memory is initialized, according to step S203, an error is detected for some main devices. In step S203, the computer PC detects whether the device is wrong. If some devices have errors, such as random memory and memory RAM cannot be recognized, the computer PC controls the light-emitting device L by using the basic input/output system according to step S204. The light-emitting device L is operated in the second blinking state, and the booting process is stopped. For example, when the components of the motherboard MB are initialized, if an error occurs (the central processor may generate an error), and the computer PC cannot enter the operating system, the computer PC uses the basic input/output system to control the illumination. The device L is such that the light-emitting device L emits three short and one long flashes of light. Moreover, due to an error in the central processing unit, the basic input/output system will stop the boot process to avoid irreversible damage to the components of the motherboard MB. If there is no error in the device, according to step S205, the computer PC executes the driver initialization program to identify and communicate all the hardware. For example, the motherboard MB on the PC will execute the DXE program (the DXE program in the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface), and the DXE program will recognize all the hardware and generate the Extensible Firmware Interface table to provide Various services are used in later stages. The DXE program also passes control of the computer PC to the BDS program described later to start the operating system. Moreover, the computer PC may perform step S206 at the same time as step S206, and enter a system management mode (SMM) to set at least one System Management Interrupt (SMI) condition. However, the present invention does not limit the execution of the drive device initialization procedure of step S205 to the simultaneous entry of the system management mode of step S206, and the execution of step S206 after step S205 is also within the scope of the present invention. In step S206, the at least one system management interrupt condition may be manually set by the user or a preset condition of the system, such as an abnormal condition of a fan duty cycle (Duty Cycle), an abnormal condition of a central processor temperature, and/or a voltage state. The exception conditions can be set to different system management interrupt conditions. Then, according to step S207, the computer PC executes the boot device selection process. For example, the motherboard MB on the PC will execute the BDS program (the BDS program in the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface), and the BDS program will validate the recognized hardware. This effective step is generally called a link. ). The BDS program also controls the Host Controller to connect to devices in the Extensible Firmware Interface Table. The BDS program also generates parameters such as initializing the parameters of a particular keyboard, mouse, etc. (such as ConIn, ConOut, StdErr) and generating parameters (such as DriverOrder) that link the order of the devices. A parameter (such as BootOrder) that initiates the sequence of the boot device of the operating system is generated to select the boot device to activate the operating system. After the foregoing steps are successfully performed, according to step S208, the operating system of the computer PC will be started. In this embodiment, the operating system of the computer PC is not limited to a specific operating system. For example, the operating system of the computer PC may be a Microsoft Windows operating system.

After the operating system is started, according to step S209, the computer PC enters a program for monitoring the system management interrupt condition. The motherboard MB monitors whether a system management interrupt condition of at least one of the previously set system management interrupt conditions is triggered, and the monitoring mode may be to sequentially check each system management interrupt condition. For example, the first system management interrupt condition may be that the fan speed is lower than X rpm, and the second system management interrupt condition may be that the motherboard MB temperature is higher than Y degrees Celsius. The computer PC first checks whether the condition that the fan speed is lower than X revolutions/minute is established according to step S209. If not, it indicates that the fan is in a normal state, so the computer PC will re-execute step S209 to continue monitoring the system management interruption condition (for example, monitoring) The second system management interrupt condition: the motherboard MB temperature is higher than the Y degree Celsius). If yes, according to step S210, after a predetermined time elapses, it is checked again whether the previously triggered system management interrupt condition is still triggered. For example, the condition that the fan speed is lower than X revolutions/minute is established at the first time point, indicating The fan speed of the computer PC is abnormal at the first time. However, in order to avoid abnormal speed caused by false alarm or temporary human error, the computer PC will check again whether the condition that the fan speed is lower than X revolutions/minute is established after a few seconds. If not, it indicates that the previously triggered system management interrupt condition may be only a temporary system abnormality. Therefore, according to step S211, the computer PC changes the state of the system management interrupt condition to the initialized state, and returns to step S209 to continue monitoring system management. Interrupt conditions (such as monitoring the second system management interrupt condition: the motherboard MB temperature is higher than Y degrees Celsius). If it is established, it indicates that the system management interrupt condition is not triggered temporarily, and the computer PC does operate in an abnormal state. For example, if the fan fails, the condition that the rotation speed is lower than X rpm is always established. At this time, according to step S212, the computer PC sets the system management interrupt condition to the triggered state. Moreover, according to step S213, the basic input/output system in the motherboard MB sets an input/output chip (for example, a wafer of Super I/O) to control the operation of the light-emitting device L in the first blinking state. For example, if the operating system is in operation, if a system warning occurs, the motherboard MB will use the set system management interrupt condition to trigger the system to write to the specified register of the input and output chips, so that it can be controlled. The light-emitting device L emits an optical signal of a specific flicker frequency. Then, according to step S214, the computer PC can reset the updated system management interrupt condition. As described herein, when the error of the first computer PC occurs, the system management interrupt condition in step S209 is triggered, and in step S210, it is confirmed again whether or not the trigger is triggered. If the system management interrupt condition is still triggered, the process proceeds to step S212 and step S213, and the light-emitting device L is controlled to drive the light-emitting device L to operate in the corresponding light state according to the trigger result of the interrupt condition. The system will drive the illumination device L to begin blinking to alert the user. For example, the illumination device L can alert the user to the blinking state of the first frequency. At this time, the computer PC proceeds to step S214 to reset the updated system management interrupt condition. For example, a computer PC can set an interrupt condition that restores the system to normal. When the system management interruption condition is updated in step S214, the computer PC returns to step S209 to continue the system monitoring. Since the system management interrupt condition has been set to return the system to a normal interrupt condition, the interrupt condition is triggered again when the computer PC returns from the error to the normal state.

When the computer PC returns to the normal state from the error, the system mentioned above is triggered to resume the normal interrupt condition (in step S209), and in step S210, it is confirmed again whether the system resumes normal interrupt condition. If it is still triggered, the computer PC proceeds to step S212 and step S213, determines the blinking state of the light emitting device, and drives the light emitting device L to operate in the corresponding light state. For example, the computer PC can control the lighting device L to operate in a normal light state to inform the user that the computer PC system has returned to normal. At this time, the computer PC proceeds to step S214 to reset the updated system management interrupt condition. For example, the computer PC can set the interrupt condition for the system to be wrong again. And returning to step S209, the computer PC continues to monitor whether its system has an error.

In other words, the computer PC resets the updated system management interrupt condition in step S214, which may include whether the system has an error and whether the system returns to a normal system management interrupt condition. When the system resumes normal interrupt condition, it indicates that the system returns from the error to the normal state. The illuminating device L emits a specific optical signal (for example, a steady-state normal state signal). When the system management interrupt condition of the system error is triggered, it indicates that the system is operating in an abnormal state, and the illumination device L emits a specific optical signal (for example, the first blinking state) to alert the user of the location and cause of the error.

In the foregoing steps S201 to S214, any reasonable change or content change is within the scope of the present invention. For example, steps S210 to S212 are steps to prevent erroneous determination or false alarm, and may be omitted in a more simplified embodiment. That is, when the computer PC detects that a certain system management interrupt condition is established, the light-emitting device L is controlled to operate the light-emitting device L in the first blinking state according to step S213. Moreover, the aforementioned system management interrupt condition has a higher interrupt authority in the system of the computer PC. Therefore, as long as a preset system management interrupt condition is triggered, regardless of the operating state of the system, the program that the system management interrupt condition is triggered must be executed. In other words, the present invention utilizes a high priority System Management Mode (SMM) to set at least one System Management Interrupt (SMI) condition, thus, when an error or warning occurs in the system (eg, software/firmware conflict, or The hardware has an exception. The effect of the error does not interfere with the high-privilege SMI mechanism. Therefore, unless an extremely serious hardware error occurs (such as a central processor disable), monitoring of system management interrupt conditions and triggering procedures will not be easily interrupted. Further, the light-emitting device L mentioned above can also be handled in a customized manner. For example, a light-emitting diode on an input/output wafer (Super I/O wafer) can be regarded as a light-emitting device L, and can be processed in a customized manner, and can exhibit a combination of changes in various light-emitting frequencies to correspond to different triggered system management interrupts. condition.

In summary, the present invention describes a method of alerting a computer system error. There are two possibilities when the computer has an error. The first is that the motherboard has an error during the initialization process before entering the operating system. At this point, the motherboard controls the illumination device to emit an optical signal of a specific frequency. When the user observes the light signal of a specific frequency, the user can immediately understand the wrong position and cause the problem. The second is that an error occurs when the operating system is running after entering the operating system. At this time, the motherboard controls the illuminating device to emit an optical signal of a specific frequency according to the previously set system management interrupt condition. Therefore, when the operating system is running, if the user finds that the light emitting device emits a light signal of a specific frequency, the position and cause of the current error of the computer can be known, and can be processed immediately. Therefore, the error warning method of the computer system of the present invention can present the operating state of the computer in real time without affecting the system performance without complicated additional hardware devices (such as a debugging card). The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and all changes and modifications made to the scope of the present invention should be within the scope of the present invention.

100‧‧‧ computer system

PC‧‧‧ computer

L‧‧‧Lighting device

D1 to DN‧‧‧ device

MB‧‧‧ motherboard

Steps S201 to S214‧‧

Figure 1 is an architectural diagram of an embodiment of a computer system of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a flow chart showing the warning method of the computer system error in the computer system of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a flow chart showing the warning method of the computer system error in the computer system of Fig. 1.

Claims (10)

A computer system error warning method includes: executing a device memory initialization program to detect and restore incorrect firmware parameters; executing a driver initialization program to identify and communicate all hardware; performing the driver initialization After the program, enter a system management mode (System Management M0de) to set at least one system management interrupt (System Management Interrupt) condition; start a working system; after the operating system starts, start a system management interrupt monitoring program to monitor Whether the system management interrupt condition is triggered by one of the at least one system management interrupt condition; if the system management interrupt condition is triggered, controlling an illumination device to operate the illumination device in a first blinking state, and after a predetermined time, Check again whether the system management interrupt condition is triggered; and after checking the system management interrupt condition again, set a state of the system management interrupt condition. The method of claim 1, further comprising: after performing the driver initialization procedure, if at least one error hardware is detected, controlling the illumination device to operate the illumination device in a second blinking state. The method of claim 2, wherein the illuminating device is a light-emitting diode lamp, and the light-emitting diode lamp emits a light signal of a first blinking frequency in the first blinking state, the light-emitting diode The body lamp emits an optical signal of a second blinking frequency in the second blinking state, and the first blinking frequency is different from the second blinking frequency. The method of claim 1, further comprising: After the system management interrupt condition is triggered, an updated system management interrupt condition is reset. The method of claim 1, wherein after the system management interrupt condition is checked again, the state of the system management interrupt condition is set, after the system management interrupt condition is checked again, if the system management interrupt condition is still Trigger, set the system management interrupt condition to a triggered state. The method of claim 1, wherein after the system management interrupt condition is checked again, the state of the system management interrupt condition is set, after the system management interrupt condition is checked again, if the system management interrupt condition is not Trigger, changing the state of the system management interrupt condition to an initialized state. The method of claim 1, further comprising: after the driver initialization program is executed, executing a boot device selection program to select a boot device to activate the operating system. The method of claim 1, wherein after the system management interrupt condition is triggered, a basic input/output system (BIOS) sets an input/output chip to control the blinking state of the illumination device. The method of claim 1, wherein initiating the system management interrupt monitoring program comprises sequentially checking the at least one system management interrupt condition. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one system management interrupt condition comprises an abnormal condition of a fan duty cycle, an abnormal condition of a central processor temperature, and/or a Abnormal condition of the voltage state.