JP2014170306A - Information processing device, automatic recovery method from startup fault, and automatic recovery program from startup fault - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically recover from a startup fault due to a BIOS.SOLUTION: An information processing device 100 comprises a BMC 110 including a startup monitoring timer 111 for detecting failure in startup of the information processing device 100. When detecting failure in startup of the information processing device 100 by the startup monitoring timer 111, the BMC 110 switches a ROM fetch path of a processor to a path to which the BMC 110 is connected.

Description

  The present invention relates to a BIOS, and more particularly to a recovery method from a startup failure caused by a BIOS.

  Information processing devices that use the current Intel architecture are equipped with expansion cards (for example, PCI Express cards) provided by various manufacturers, but these expansion cards fully support new standards depending on the time of sale. Many products are not ready. In addition, there is an information processing apparatus in which an expansion card that does not support the new standard is mounted because the firmware of the expansion card is not updated.

  When the system BIOS corresponding to the new standard is applied to the information processing apparatus on which such an expansion card that does not support the new standard is mounted, the information processing apparatus is not activated normally. There is a case.

  In order to recover from such a situation, it is necessary to remove the expansion card incorporated in the information processing device, and to recover by once downgrading from the state where the information processing device is activated to the old system BIOS, Since it is necessary to manually change the hardware configuration, there is a problem that takes time to recover.

  In an information processing apparatus in which the system BIOS is duplicated, it can be temporarily started from the backup ROM, but a plurality of BIOSes after the BIOS version applied to the operating information processing apparatus are operated. When the version is released, to apply a new BIOS version that can be operated with the hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus operated by the user, it is necessary to repeatedly carry out the BIOS version upgrade manually. There are problems that require time for the restraint and application work.

JP 2011-253408 A JP 2011-128795 A Japanese Patent No. 4873703 JP 2000-207681 A

  When the system BIOS is updated, if the system BIOS corresponding to the newer generation specifications is applied to an information processing apparatus that is operated by adding an expansion card made by a third party, the information processing apparatus cannot be started. There is. In such a case, it is necessary to perform recovery work by removing the expansion card made by the third party company incorporated in the information processing apparatus and updating the system to the old BIOS version once the system is activated. Restoration requires a hardware configuration change by a system administrator and takes time to restore. When the BIOS update operation of the information processing apparatus scheduled at night is performed, there is a problem that it becomes a system administrator operation the next day and affects the business.

  Similarly, when the BIOS ROM fails or when the BIOS data stored in the BIOS ROM becomes invalid, there is a startup failure in the operation mode in which the information processing apparatus is restarted by the schedule operation at night. If this occurs, the next day maintenance personnel will need to replace the motherboard, which will take a long time to recover.

  In addition, hardware with a duplicated system BIOS can be automatically restored by booting from the backup flash ROM, but multiple system BIOS versions have been released after the BIOS version applied to the information processing device. In such a case, in order to apply the optimal BIOS version, it is necessary to update the BIOS by the system administrator, and it takes time to restrain the worker until the work is completed and to resume the operation.

(Object of invention)
An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems and to provide an automatic recovery from a startup failure caused by a BIOS.

  The first information processing apparatus of the present invention includes a BMC including a start monitoring timer that detects that the start of the information processing apparatus has failed. When the BMC detects a start failure of the information processing apparatus by the start monitoring timer, The ROM fetch path of the processor is switched to the path to which the BMC is connected.

  An automatic recovery method from a startup failure according to a first aspect of the present invention is an automatic recovery method from a startup failure in an information processing device, and a BMC including a startup monitoring timer that detects that the startup of the information processing device has failed. When the activation monitoring timer detects the activation failure of the information processing apparatus, the processor has a switching step of switching the ROM fetch path of the processor to the path to which the BMC is connected.

  An automatic recovery program from a first startup failure according to the present invention is an automatic recovery program from a startup failure that operates on a computer constituting the information processing apparatus, and detects that the information processing apparatus has failed to start. When the activation monitoring timer detects a failure in starting the information processing apparatus, the BMC including the monitoring timer is caused to execute a switching process for switching the ROM fetch path of the processor to the path to which the BMC is connected.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to automatically recover from a startup failure caused by the BIOS.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the information processing apparatus by the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the automatic recovery from the starting failure by the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of BIOS management information by the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of BIOS management information by the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the hardware structural example of the information processing apparatus of this invention.

  In order to clarify the above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition to the above-described object of the present invention, other technical problems, means for solving the technical problems, and operational effects thereof will become apparent from the disclosure of the following embodiments. In all the drawings, the same reference numerals are given to the same components, and the description will be omitted as appropriate.

(First embodiment)

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an information processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment. Referring to FIG. 1, the information processing apparatus 100 has a function of switching a ROM fetch path of a processor / chipset by hardware strap control by the BMC 110 (1).

  Further, the BMC 110 has a function of downloading data (BIOS image and BIOS management information) from the remote PC 200 via the network (2).

  The BMC 110 has a function of storing and managing the BIOS image and BIOS management information acquired in (2) in the internal memory 112 managed by the BMC 110 (3).

  A plurality of versions of BIOS are stored in the remote PC 200, and a BIOS management table is held (4).

  With the function (2), the BMC 110 acquires BIOS management information from the remote PC 200, and downloads various versions of BIOS based on the BIOS management information acquired from the remote PC 200.

  In the present invention, when the BIOS of the information processing apparatus 100 is updated, the information processing apparatus 100 does not start up due to the influence of an expansion card manufactured by a third party incorporated in the information processing apparatus 100, a BIOS ROM failure, When the startup monitoring timer 111 owned by the Baseboard Management Controller (hereinafter referred to as BMC) detects that the information processing apparatus 100 cannot be started due to illegal BIOS data stored in the BIOS ROM or the like, the BMC 110 determines the ROM fetch path of the processor. Switch to the path to which the BMC 110 is connected.

  The BMC 110 can download system BIOS data and BIOS management information via a network, and the downloaded data is stored in the internal memory 112 of the BMC 110.

  The BMC 110 selects BIOS data to be next fetched from the BIOS management information stored in the internal memory 112, and restarts the information processing apparatus 100.

  If the activation monitoring timer 111 of the BMC 110 again detects that the information processing apparatus 100 cannot be activated, the BMC 110 similarly selects the BIOS data to be ROM fetched next and restarts the information processing apparatus 100.

  Similarly, when the information processing apparatus 100 cannot be activated, the BIOS data is sequentially switched so that the information processing apparatus 100 operated by the user can be activated and a newer version of BIOS is applied to automatically recover from the failure. Realize that.

That is, the present invention has the following functions.
(1) When a startup failure of the information processing apparatus 100 is detected, the processor has a function of switching the ROM fetch path of the processor to the BMC 110.
(2) When a startup failure of the information processing apparatus 100 is detected, it has a function of acquiring BIOS management information and BIOS data via the network.
[BIOS management information]: (FIG. 3: BIOS management information 1)
(3) When the information processing apparatus 100 fails to start, the BMC 110 has a function of managing a BIOS version that cannot be started by writing a flag indicating the start failure in the BIOS management information stored in the internal memory 112 of the BMC 110. Have.
[BIOS management information in BMC]: (FIG. 4: BIOS management information 2)
(4) The BIOS management information (FIG. 3) for the information processing apparatus 100 and the plurality of BIOS data are stored in the remote PC 200 existing on the network to which the information processing apparatus 100 is connected, and delivered to the information processing apparatus 100. It has a function that can be done.
(5) When a plurality of BIOS versions exist, the BMC 110 has a function of automatically applying the latest BIOS version that can be started by the user-operated information processing apparatus 100 based on the BIOS management information (FIG. 4) inside the BMC. Have.

  The present invention has the above-described configuration and functions, and the information processing apparatus 100 is activated due to the influence of an expansion card manufactured by a third party incorporated in the information processing apparatus 100 by updating the BIOS of the information processing apparatus 100. In the event of failure, BIOS ROM failure, or destruction of BIOS data stored in the BIOS ROM, the latest BIOS version that can start the information processing apparatus 100 without operator intervention is automatically selected. It is characterized by performing failure recovery by applying. That is, the present invention switches the ROM fetch path of the processor to the BMC 110 when the information processing apparatus 100 cannot be activated from the BIOS ROM. The BMC 110 downloads BIOS management information and BIOS data from the remote PC 200 via the network, and stores them in the BMC. The processor 120 fetches the BIOS data stored in the BMC and attempts to start from the BIOS data in the BMC 110. When the activation is impossible, the BMC 110 acquires the next BIOS data from the remote PC 200 via the network based on the BIOS management information in the BMC, and tries to activate the information processing apparatus 100 again. In this manner, the BIOS is switched to the version of the BIOS that can be activated by the information processing apparatus 100 and the information processing apparatus 100 is restarted, so that the optimum BIOS is applied without the intervention of the system administrator. Recover from failure.

(Description of the operation of the first embodiment)
Next, the operation of the information processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  When the BIOS update is performed, the latest BIOS (N) is written in the BIOS ROM on the motherboard, and at the next activation, the latest BIOS (N) written in the BIOS ROM is activated.

When the BIOS (N) cannot be activated, it hangs up in the middle of POST and becomes unable to be activated.

  The BMC 110 monitors the activation of the information processing apparatus 100 according to the algorithm shown in FIG. 2, and restarts the information processing apparatus 100 if it does not activate within a specified time.

  When the BMC 110 does not start up after the specified number of restarts, the BMC 110 determines that the cause is BIOS (N) and switches the ROM fetch path. In addition, the BMC 110 acquires BIOS management information from the remote PC 200 on the network, stores the BIOS management information in the BMC 110, and sets a flag indicating that activation is impossible in the BIOS (N) of the BIOS management information.

  Next, the BMC 110 downloads the BIOS management information and the previous version of BIOS (N-1) from the remote PC 200 on the network, and restarts the information processing apparatus 100. The information processing apparatus 100 attempts to start up with the BIOS (N-1) held by the BMC 110.

  If the BMC 110 does not start within the specified time and does not start after the specified number of restarts, the BMC 110 downloads the BIOS (N-2) that is one older version in which the flag indicating that the start is impossible is not set. At the same time as restarting the information processing apparatus 100, a flag indicating that activation is impossible is set in the BIOS (N-1). The information processing apparatus 100 attempts to start up with the BIOS (N-2) held by the BMC.

  Thereafter, the BIOS version is sequentially lowered, and the information processing apparatus 100 is repeatedly activated until the information processing apparatus 100 can be activated, so that the latest BIOS that can be activated by the information processing apparatus 100 is automatically applied.

(Effects of the first embodiment)
According to the present embodiment, when the information processing apparatus cannot be activated due to a failure related to the BIOS, the latest BIOS that can be activated can be automatically applied without manual intervention.

  Next, a hardware configuration example of the information processing apparatus 100 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  Referring to FIG. 5, an information processing apparatus 100 according to the present invention has a hardware configuration similar to that of a general computer apparatus, and includes data such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 401 and a RAM (Random Access Memory). The main storage unit 402 used for the work area and data temporary save area, the communication unit 403 that transmits and receives data via the network, the input device 405, the output device 406, and the storage device 407 are connected to transmit and receive data. An input / output interface unit 404 and a system bus 408 for interconnecting the above-described components are provided. The storage device 407 is realized by, for example, a hard disk device including a non-volatile memory such as a ROM (Read Only Memory), a magnetic disk, and a semiconductor memory.

  Each function of the information processing apparatus 100 according to the present invention is implemented by hardware by mounting circuit components, which are hardware components such as LSI (Large Scale Integration), incorporating a program. As another example, a program that provides the function may be stored in the storage device 407, loaded into the main storage unit 402, and executed by the CPU 401 to be realized in software.

  The present invention has been described above with reference to preferred embodiments. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the technical idea. it can.

  It should be noted that any combination of the above-described constituent elements and a conversion of the expression of the present invention between a method, an apparatus, a system, a recording medium, a computer program, and the like are also effective as an aspect of the present invention.

  The various components of the present invention do not necessarily have to be independent of each other. A plurality of components are formed as a single member, and a single component is formed of a plurality of members. It may be that a certain component is a part of another component, a part of a certain component overlaps with a part of another component, or the like.

  Moreover, although the several procedure is described in order in the method and computer program of this invention, the order of the description does not limit the order which performs a several procedure. For this reason, when implementing the method and computer program of this invention, the order of the several procedure can be changed in the range which does not interfere in content.

  The plurality of procedures of the method and the computer program of the present invention are not limited to being executed at different timings. For this reason, another procedure may occur during the execution of a certain procedure, or some or all of the execution timing of a certain procedure and the execution timing of another procedure may overlap.

  Further, a part or all of the above-described embodiment can be described as in the following supplementary notes, but is not limited thereto.

(Appendix 1)
A BMC including an activation monitoring timer for detecting that the activation of the information processing apparatus has failed;
The BMC is
The information processing apparatus characterized by switching a ROM fetch path of a processor to a path to which the BMC is connected when an activation failure of the information processing apparatus is detected by the activation monitoring timer.

(Appendix 2)
The BMC is
The information processing apparatus according to appendix 1, wherein when an activation failure of the information processing apparatus is detected, BIOS management information and BIOS data are acquired via a network and stored in an internal memory.

(Appendix 3)
The BMC is
From the acquired BIOS management information, select the BIOS data to be ROM fetched, restart the information processing device,
3. The information processing apparatus according to appendix 2, wherein when there are a plurality of BIOS versions, the latest version of the BIOS that can be activated by the information processing apparatus is selected based on BIOS management information in the BMC.

(Appendix 4)
The BMC is
When the restart of the information processing apparatus fails, the BIOS version that cannot be started is managed by writing a flag indicating the start failure in the BIOS version that has failed to start in the BIOS management information. Alternatively, the information processing apparatus according to attachment 3.

(Appendix 5)
An automatic recovery method from a startup failure in an information processing device,
When the BMC including the activation monitoring timer that detects that the activation of the information processing apparatus has failed, the activation monitoring timer detects the activation failure of the information processing apparatus, the processor ROM fetch path is changed to the path to which the BMC is connected. A method for automatically recovering from a startup failure, comprising a switching step for switching.

(Appendix 6)
6. The startup according to appendix 5, wherein the BMC has a BIOS information acquisition step of acquiring BIOS management information and BIOS data via a network and storing the BIOS management information and BIOS data when the BMC detects a startup failure of the information processing apparatus. Automatic recovery method from failure.

(Appendix 7)
The BMC has a restart execution step of selecting BIOS data to be ROM fetched from the acquired BIOS management information and restarting the information processing apparatus,
In the restart execution step,
When there are a plurality of BIOS versions, the latest BIOS version that can be started by the information processing device is selected based on the BIOS management information in the BMC. Recovery method.

(Appendix 8)
When the BMC fails to restart the information processing apparatus, the BIOS version management for managing the BIOS version that cannot be started is written in the BIOS management information by writing a flag indicating the start failure in the BIOS version that has failed to start. An automatic recovery method from a startup failure according to appendix 6 or appendix 7, characterized by comprising steps.

(Appendix 9)
An automatic recovery program from a startup failure that operates on a computer constituting the information processing apparatus,
When the information processing device activation failure is detected by the activation monitoring timer in the BMC including the activation monitoring timer that detects that the information processing device activation has failed, the processor ROM fetch path is changed to the path to which the BMC is connected. An automatic recovery program from a startup failure characterized by executing a switching process for switching.

(Appendix 10)
The supplementary note 9 is characterized in that when the information processing device activation failure is detected by the BMC, BIOS management information and BIOS data are obtained via the network and stored in the internal memory. Automatic recovery program from startup failure.

(Appendix 11)
The BMC selects BIOS data to be ROM fetched from the acquired BIOS management information, and executes a restart execution process for restarting the information processing apparatus,
In the restart execution process,
When there are a plurality of BIOS versions, the latest BIOS version that can be started by the information processing device is selected based on the BIOS management information in the BMC. Recovery program.

(Appendix 12)
If the information processing apparatus fails to restart in the BMC, the BIOS version management for managing the BIOS version that cannot be started is written in the BIOS management information by writing a flag indicating the start failure in the BIOS version that has failed to start. The automatic recovery program from the startup failure according to appendix 10 or appendix 11, wherein the process is executed.

100: Information processing apparatus 110: BMC
111: Startup monitoring timer 112: Internal memory 120: Processor 130: Chipset 140: BIOS ROM
200: Remote PC
401: CPU
402: Main storage unit 403: Communication unit 404: Input / output interface unit 405: Input device 406: Output device 407: Storage device 408: System bus

Claims (10)

A BMC including an activation monitoring timer for detecting that the activation of the information processing apparatus has failed;
The BMC is
The information processing apparatus characterized by switching a ROM fetch path of a processor to a path to which the BMC is connected when an activation failure of the information processing apparatus is detected by the activation monitoring timer. The BMC is
2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, when an activation failure of the information processing apparatus is detected, BIOS management information and BIOS data are acquired via a network and stored in the built-in memory. The BMC is
From the acquired BIOS management information, select the BIOS data to be ROM fetched, restart the information processing device,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein when there are a plurality of BIOS versions, the latest version of the BIOS that can be activated by the information processing apparatus is selected based on BIOS management information in the BMC. The BMC is
The BIOS version that cannot be started is managed by writing a flag indicating a start failure in the BIOS version that has failed to start in the BIOS management information when the information processing apparatus fails to restart. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2 or claim 3. An automatic recovery method from a startup failure in an information processing device,
When the BMC including the activation monitoring timer that detects that the activation of the information processing apparatus has failed, the activation monitoring timer detects the activation failure of the information processing apparatus, the processor ROM fetch path is changed to the path to which the BMC is connected. A method for automatically recovering from a startup failure, comprising a switching step for switching. 6. The BIOS information acquisition step according to claim 5, further comprising a BIOS information acquisition step of acquiring BIOS management information and BIOS data via a network and storing them in an internal memory when the BMC detects a startup failure of the information processing apparatus. Automatic recovery method from startup failure. The BMC has a restart execution step of selecting BIOS data to be ROM fetched from the acquired BIOS management information and restarting the information processing apparatus,
In the restart execution step,
When there are a plurality of BIOS versions, the most recent version of the BIOS that can be started by the information processing apparatus is selected based on the BIOS management information in the BMC. Automatic recovery method. When the BMC fails to restart the information processing apparatus, the BIOS version management for managing the BIOS version that cannot be started is written in the BIOS management information by writing a flag indicating the start failure in the BIOS version that has failed to start. An automatic recovery method from a startup failure according to claim 6 or 7, further comprising steps. An automatic recovery program from a startup failure that operates on a computer constituting the information processing apparatus,
When the information processing device activation failure is detected by the activation monitoring timer in the BMC including the activation monitoring timer that detects that the information processing device activation has failed, the processor ROM fetch path is changed to the path to which the BMC is connected. An automatic recovery program from a startup failure characterized by executing a switching process for switching. 10. The BIOS information acquisition process of acquiring BIOS management information and BIOS data via a network and storing the information in a built-in memory when the BMC detects a startup failure of the information processing apparatus. Automatic recovery program from startup failure.

Images