JP2013140519A - Computer device, and diagnostic method of computer device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a computer device with a diagnostic function capable of reducing examination man-hour of operators and reducing cost (development cost and operation cost), when failure in the computer device occurs.SOLUTION: The computer device according to the invention comprises: a control part; a device connector; an electric power supply switching device for supplying electric power to the device connector; a WDT circuit for, when there is no response from the control part for a certain period, transmitting a timer overflow flag output signal to the control part and the electric power supply switching device; and a storage device in which a diagnostic program that is bootable is stored. The storage device is connected to the device connector. The electric power supply switching device starts electric power supply to the device connector, when receiving the timer overflow flag output signal. The control part reboots and starts the diagnostic program, when receiving the timer overflow flag output signal.

Description

  The present invention relates to a computer apparatus, and more particularly to a computer apparatus capable of diagnosing the cause of a malfunction of the computer apparatus.

  When a malfunction such as a stall occurs in the computer device, it is necessary to analyze the cause and resolve the malfunction. In addition, when the same trouble occurs frequently, it is necessary to perform more detailed analysis to eliminate the root cause. Generally, in order to find the cause of various problems, dedicated hardware and software for realizing a detailed diagnosis function are required. However, in the development of a computer device, it is difficult to secure the development man-hour for incorporating a dedicated function for identifying the cause in addition to the development man-hour of the original function of the computer device. Further, when a dedicated function for identifying the cause of the malfunction of the computer device is incorporated as hardware, the power consumption of the computer device increases.

  On the other hand, when a dedicated function for identifying the cause is not incorporated, a load is imposed on the operator who identifies the cause. In such a case, it is necessary to depend on the operator's work based on a complicated manual for cause analysis and the operator's own skill. There is a need for a computer device having a diagnostic function that can reduce the operator's investigation man-hours and reduce costs (development cost and operation cost) when a malfunction of the computer device occurs.

  Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2009-37448 (Patent Document 1) is a known literature related to the field of the present invention. Patent Document 1 discloses an invention of a failure detection device, a failure detection method, and a failure detection program. The invention of Patent Document 1 is an invention related to failure detection in a computer system having a plurality of functional units. Each functional unit has a failure notification means for notifying the diagnosis means of the occurrence of a failure, a notification monitoring means for monitoring the notification of the occurrence of the failure to the diagnosis means, and the notification means. Data transfer means is provided for generating predetermined failure information data and transferring the failure information data to another functional unit when no failure is detected. The failure notification means of the other functional unit notifies the diagnosis means of the occurrence of the failure based on the failure information data.

JP 2009-37448 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide a computer device having a diagnostic function that can reduce the number of investigation steps of an operator and reduce the cost (development cost and operation cost) when a malfunction of the computer device occurs. There is.

  The computer apparatus of the present invention includes a control unit, a device connector, a power supply switching device that supplies power to the device connector, and a timer overflow flag output signal when there is no response from the control unit for a certain period of time. And a storage device in which a bootable diagnostic program is stored. The storage device is connected to the device connector. When the power supply switching device receives the timer overflow flag output signal, it starts power supply to the device connector. When the control unit receives the timer overflow flag output signal, it reboots and diagnoses. Start the program.

  The computer apparatus diagnosis method of the present invention is implemented by a computer apparatus that includes a device connector, a power supply switching device that supplies power to the device connector, and a storage device that stores a bootable diagnostic program. The computer device diagnosis method according to the present invention includes a step in which the WDT circuit transmits a timer overflow flag output signal to the control unit and the power supply switching device when there is no response from the control unit for a certain period of time. When the timer overflow flag output signal is received, the step of starting power supply to the device connector, the step of rebooting when the control unit receives the timer overflow flag output signal, and the control unit starts the diagnostic program Including the step of.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a computer apparatus having a diagnostic function that can reduce the number of operator investigation steps and reduce costs (development costs and operation costs) when a malfunction of the computer apparatus occurs. be able to.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a computer apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the diagnosis method of the computer apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  A computer apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[Description of configuration]
First, the configuration of the computer apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a computer apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of this invention. The computer device 1 according to the present embodiment includes a storage device 2, a power supply switching device 10, a control unit 11, a device connector 12, and a WDT (watchdog timer) circuit 13.

  The storage device 2 stores a diagnostic program 15. The diagnostic program 15 is a program for analyzing the cause of the malfunction that has occurred in the computer apparatus 1. The diagnostic program 15 includes a bootable OS, and the storage device 2 can be used as a boot device of the computer apparatus 1.

  The power supply switching device 10 supplies power to the device connector 12. The power supply switching device 10 includes a storage unit 14. The storage unit 14 stores flag information indicating whether a timer overflow flag output signal has been received from the WDT circuit 13.

  The control unit 11 is a central processing unit that controls the computer apparatus 1. The device connector 12 is a connector for connecting the storage device 2. The WDT circuit 13 is a circuit for detecting a malfunction of the computer device 1 by transmitting a timer overflow flag output signal to the power supply switching device 10 and the control unit 11 when there is no response from the control unit 11 for a certain time. is there. The computer apparatus 1 is a WDT that detects such a case as one of safety designs in case of a malfunction such as when the control of the control unit 11 becomes an infinite loop or malfunctions. A circuit 13 is provided.

[Description of operation method]
Next, a diagnosis method for the computer apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the diagnosis method of the computer apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

(Step S11)
When there is no response from the control unit 11 for a certain period, the WDT circuit 13 transmits a timer overflow flag output signal to the control unit 11 and the power supply switching device 10.

(Step S12)
The power supply switching device 10 stores flag information indicating that the timer overflow flag output signal has been received in the storage unit 14.

(Step S13)
Since the control unit 11 has received the timer overflow flag output signal in step S11, the computer unit 1 is rebooted.

(Step S14)
The power supply switching device 10 recognizes that the timer overflow flag output signal has been received with reference to the flag information stored in step S12. The power supply switching device 10 starts power supply to the device connector 12.

  The computer apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment can save power in the computer apparatus 1 because the power supply switching apparatus 10 does not supply power to the device connector 12 during normal operation. This also prevents unauthorized access to the computer device 1 even if an unauthorized program such as a computer virus is mixed in the storage device 2 for some reason. That is, there is a security advantage that an unauthorized program is not executed through the storage device 2 during normal operation of the computer apparatus 1.

(Step S15)
The BIOS of the computer apparatus 1 recognizes the storage device 2 as a boot device because the device connector 12 is powered in step S14. As the device connector 12 and the storage device 2, for example, a USB connector or a USB device can be used. In this case, the power supply switching device 10 may be connected to the USB connector via the USB power bus, and power may be supplied to the USB connector via the USB power bus.

(Step S16)
The diagnostic program 15 stored in the storage device 2 is read into the memory of the computer apparatus 1. The control unit 11 starts executing the diagnostic program 15.

(Step S17)
The control unit 11 executes a diagnostic program 15 to perform predetermined diagnostic processing for the computer device 1.

  Note that the contents of the diagnostic processing executed by the diagnostic program 15 may be changed as appropriate by those skilled in the art. Since the computer apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment uses the removable storage device 2, the diagnostic contents can be easily changed as compared with the case where hardware or software dedicated to diagnostic processing is installed in the computer apparatus 1. . In other words, in the computer apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the operator and the person in charge of defect analysis can change the diagnosis contents by changing the storage device 2.

(Step S18)
The control unit 11 erases the flag information in the storage unit 14 of the power supply switching device 10 after the diagnosis program ends. As a result, the power supply switching device 10 of the computer apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment stops power supply to the device connector 12 and shifts to a normal state in which power is not supplied to the device connector 12.

(Step S19)
The control unit 11 stops the computer device 1. Since the power supply switching device 10 of the computer apparatus 1 has returned to the normal state in which power is not supplied to the device connector 12, the storage device 2 is not selected as the boot device at the next startup. That is, the BIOS of the computer device 1 starts up the OS stored in the hard disk or the like of the computer device 1.

  The computer apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment adds a power supply switching apparatus that switches whether or not to supply power to a computer apparatus that does not have a diagnostic function according to a timer overflow flag output signal of the WDT circuit, and a storage device that stores a diagnostic program It can be realized just by doing. Therefore, there is an advantage in terms of cost (development cost and operation cost) compared to the case where a dedicated diagnostic function is incorporated in the computer apparatus 1. The computer device 1 of the present embodiment can reduce the operator's investigation man-hours.

  The embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be appropriately changed by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention.

1: Computer device 2: Storage device 10: Power supply switching device 11: Control unit 12: Device connector 13: WDT circuit 14: Storage unit 15: Diagnostic program

Claims (6)

A control unit;
A device connector;
A power supply switching device for supplying power to the device connector;
A WDT circuit that transmits a timer overflow flag output signal to the control unit and the power supply switching device when there is no response from the control unit for a certain period of time;
A storage device storing a bootable diagnostic program,
The storage device is connected to the device connector;
When the power supply switching device receives the timer overflow flag output signal, the power supply switching device starts power supply to the device connector,
When the control unit receives the timer overflow flag output signal, the control unit reboots and starts the diagnostic program. The power supply switching device is
A storage unit for storing flag information indicating reception of the timer overflow flag output signal;
The power supply switching device supplies power to the device connector when the flag information is stored,
The computer apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit deletes the flag information from the storage unit when the diagnostic program ends. The device connector is a USB connector;
The computer apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the storage device is a USB device. A device connector;
A power supply switching device for supplying power to the device connector;
In a computer apparatus comprising a storage device storing a bootable diagnostic program,
The WDT circuit transmits a timer overflow flag output signal to the control unit and the power supply switching device when there is no response from the control unit for a certain period of time;
When the power supply switching device receives the timer overflow flag output signal, starting power supply to the device connector;
A step of rebooting when the control unit receives the timer overflow flag output signal;
And a controller that starts the diagnostic program. The power supply switching device is
A storage unit for storing flag information indicating reception of the timer overflow flag output signal;
The step of starting the power supply includes:
When the power supply switching device stores the flag information, it starts power supply to the device connector,
The diagnosis method for a computer apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a step of deleting the flag information from the storage unit when the control unit ends the diagnostic program. The device connector is a USB connector;
The computer device diagnosis method according to claim 4, wherein the storage device is a USB device.

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