JP2661447B2 - Testing methods for input/output devices - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

This invention relates to a method for testing input/output devices (I/O) of a computer system. In recent years, computer systems have been required to operate non-stop, and active maintenance is required for maintenance. This requires that hardware tests be performed in parallel with general jobs under the control of an operating system (OS).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Fig. 4 is a diagram for explaining a conventional method for testing an input/output device. A conventional RAS test, for example a test on an input/output device (I/O) 4, is carried out by transmitting a signal from a test machine, for example a service processor (SVP) 3 to a test target device (input/output device (I/O) 4).
In the past, a central processing unit (CPU) 1 executed a stand-alone test program 400 under the control of a test monitor 40 to test an input/output device (I/O) 4 .

[0003]

[Problem to be solved by the invention] Generally, when performing RAS testing under an operating system (OS) 20, problems arise such as the general job 21 affecting the test job; specifically, for example, collisions occurring over a common area on the main storage unit (MSU) 2, or, if an absolute address is specified in a test job, there is a possibility that the area is being used by a general job, usually resulting in an exception interrupt. For these reasons, RAS testing under the operating system (OS) 20 has not been performed up until now.

Therefore, to execute the RAS test, as described above, the test subject device {input/output device (I/O)} 4 is tested from the service processor (SVP) 3, or the test monitor 4 is used.
To perform a test using a standalone test program 400 under the control of the operating system (OS) 20, the execution of a general job 21 is stopped, a test monitor 40 is loaded, and the test program 400 is started.
When you run 00, the operating system (OS) 2
There was a problem in that the stopping of the test system 0 and the initial program loading (IPL of the OS) of the operating system (OS) 20 after the test ended took time, and business under the operating system (OS) 20 was temporarily interrupted.

In view of the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, the present invention provides a method for testing an input/output device (I/O) using an operating system (OS).
S), in parallel with the general job, the I/O device (I/
O)

[0006]

1 is a diagram showing the principle of the present invention. The above problems are solved by a test method for an input/output device (I/O) configured as follows.

(1) A test job 22 of the same rank as a normal job 21 is placed under an operating system (OS) 20 of a computer system.
In the operating system (OS) 20, an input/output device testing section 201 having the same interface as a device driver 200 that accesses an input/output device (I/O) 4 is provided, and the test job 22 issues a single test execution command to the input/output device testing section 201 provided in the operating system (OS) 20. The input/output device testing section 201 that receives the test execution command performs a test on the device driver 200.
The input/output device (I/O) 4 is configured to be accessed and tested via an interface to the input/output device (I/O) 4 of the tester.

(2) A test job 22 of the same rank as a normal job 21 is placed under an operating system (OS) 20 of a computer system.
0, an input/output device test section 201a for testing an input/output device (I/O) is provided, and the input/output device test section 201a tests a device driver 20 under an operating system (OS) 20.
0 and accesses the input/output device (I/O) 4, the test job 22 issues a single test execution instruction command to an input/output device testing section 201a provided in the operating system (OS) 20, and the input/output device testing section 201a receiving the test execution instruction command starts the device driver 200 and accesses and tests the input/output device (I/O) 4.

[0009]

[Function] In other words, in the present invention, 1) a general job is,
In order to prevent the test job from being affected or the test job from being affected by the general job, and to enable the test job to be executed by absolute address specification, the job is executed as a normal job under the operating system (OS).
Testing should be done on the operating system kernel itself.

In an operating system (OS) kernel, multiple jobs do not run simultaneously, so that a general job does not affect a test job, and vice versa.

[0011] In addition, in the operating system (OS), absolute addresses are specified.
S) is not recognized as an exception, so absolute addressing is possible, making it easier to build test programs.

2) Specifically, a test job under the control of an operating system (OS)
The functionality of the (OS) kernel itself, e.g., input/output devices
Because the conditions for directly starting an input/output device (I/O) are not publicly available, it is not possible to directly access the input/output device (I/O) under the control of the operating system (OS).

[0013] Therefore, in the present invention, taking into consideration the fact that the interface (activation conditions) of a device driver that accesses an input/output device (I/O) under the control of an operating system (OS) is made public, the present invention is configured to test the input/output device (I/O) using the interface of the device driver.

That is, a test job is provided at the same level as a general job, and the operating system (OS)
In the kernel, for example,
A device driver for RAS testing (input/output device testing section) is provided, and a test execution command is issued from the test job to an operating system (OS).

[0015] The input/output management mechanism in the kernel of the operating system (OS) that receives the test execution instruction command calls the RAS test device driver in the same way as when it receives an instruction to execute a normal input/output command from a general job, and tests the input/output device (I/O) using the RAS test device driver.

[0016] In a normal device driver, multiple commands are prepared and the device driver operates according to those commands, but the RAS test device driver of the present invention has only one command, and is configured so that pre-processing, testing, and post-processing of the test are all performed by that one command (a test execution command).

If multiple commands were provided, as in the case of normal device drivers, the input/output management mechanism in the kernel of the operating system (OS) would start up the RAS test device driver each time it received the multiple commands, which could result in the test of the input/output device (I/O) being tested being interrupted.

In the present invention, as described above, a single test execution command is prepared, and the RAS test device driver is started by the test execution command. Thereafter, the RAS test device driver inputs, as a parameter of a hardware command for an input/output device (I/O), for example, an address register (AR)
The start address of the area to be used in the main memory unit (MSU) is written to the ROM 111, and a hard command (read, write, seek, etc.) is written to the command register (CR), allowing any hard command to be executed.

In the following description, the kernel of the operating system (OS) may be referred to as the operating system (OS) for the sake of convenience. By configuring the above to test an input/output device (I/O), it becomes possible to perform RAS testing of the input/output device (I/O) under the control of the operating system (OS).
Stopping general jobs and the operating system (OS)
Stop and operating system (OS) after testing
This has the effect of eliminating the time-consuming initial program loading (IPL) and temporary interruption of operations under the operating system (OS).

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows the principle of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 shows the operation flow of a test job, and FIG. 3 shows the operation flow of an input/output device test section in an operating system (OS).

In the present invention, a general job is executed under the control of an operating system (OS) 20 of a computer system.
A test job 22 of the same level as the device driver 21 is placed, and an input/output device test section 201 having the same interface as a device driver 200 that accesses an input/output device (I/O) 4 is provided in an operating system (OS) 20.
a means for issuing a single test execution command to an input/output device testing unit 201 provided in the operating system (OS) 20, and the input/output device testing unit 201 receiving the test execution command accesses and tests the input/output device (I/O) 4 via an interface for the input/output device (I/O) 4 of the device driver 200; or
In the computer system, an input/output device test section 201a for testing an input/output device (I/O) is provided, and the input/output device test section 201a tests a device driver 20 under an operating system (OS) 20.
00 and testing the input/output device (I/O) 4
These are means necessary for carrying out the present invention. Note that the same reference numerals denote the same objects throughout the drawings.

[0022] The input/output device (I/O) testing method of the present invention will be explained below with reference to Figures 2 and 3, while also referring to Figure 1. First, in the present invention, as shown in Figure 1, a test job 22 of the same rank as a general job 21 is placed under an operating system (OS) 20 of a computer system, and an input/output device testing section 201 having the same interface as a device driver 200 for an input/output device (I/O) 4 is provided within the operating system (OS) 20.

Therefore, when the test job 22 is started under the control of the operating system (OS) 20,
The test job 22 operates according to the operation flow shown in FIG.

Processing step 100: A message for starting a test is displayed on a display screen (not shown). Processing step 101: The input/output device test section (RAS) of the present invention
A test device driver 201 is loaded into the kernel 20 of an operating system (OS).

Processing step 102: The input/output device test section
A test execution command is issued to the (RAS test device driver) 201. In the present invention, as described above, only one test execution command is provided.

[0026] By consolidating test instructions for the input/output device (I/O) 4 in the test execution command, it becomes possible to test the input/output device (I/O) 4 efficiently under the control of the kernel 20 (specifically, without interrupting the test instructions from the kernel 20).

Processing step 103: Check whether the return value (condition code) of the test execution command is "0". If it is "0" indicating normal termination,
The process proceeds to step 104, but if it is not "0", this means that an error has been detected, so the process jumps to step 105.

Processing step 104: Since the process is completed normally,
A message indicating that the test has ended is displayed on the display screen, and the test of the input/output device (I/O) 4 is terminated. Processing steps 105 and 106: Since an error has occurred, the main memory device for interfacing with the input/output device test unit 201 is reset.
(MSU) 2 {see FIG. 4} area is read, an error message is edited, it is displayed on the display screen, and the process proceeds to the processing step 104.

The above is the operation of the test job 22, which is placed on the same level as the general job 21.
The operation of the I/O device test section 201 operating under the control of the kernel 20 and started by a single test execution command issued from the tester will be described with reference to FIG.

Processing step 300: The initial state of the device under test, here the input/output unit (I/O) 4, is read and saved in a specific area of the main storage unit (MSU) 2. Processing step 301: The top address of the area of the main storage unit (MSU) 2 used for each test item of the input/output unit (I/O) 4 is used as a command parameter and the address register (A
Write to R).

Processing step 302: A hard command (e.g., read,
The command (write, seek, etc.) is written as a command parameter to the command register (CR).

When the command parameters are set, the input/output device (I/O) 4 of the test target device is set to the above-mentioned input/output device
The hardware command is issued to the input/output device (I/O) 4 via an interface provided by the device driver 200 for the input/output device (I/O) 4, and tests such as read and write are performed, and the results of the tests are set in the status register (SR).

Processing steps 303, 304: The contents of the status register (SR) are read to judge whether the process has ended normally or not.
If the value is "0", the process is completed normally.
The process proceeds to step 305, but if the value is not "0", it is determined that the process has ended abnormally and the process jumps to step 306.

Processing step 305: Assuming that the test has ended normally, the state of the test target device {input/output device (I/O)} 4 is returned to the initial state before the test, and the test is terminated.
06: As an abnormal termination, details of the error are written to the area on the main storage unit (MSU) 2 for interfacing with the test job 22 mentioned above.

In the above embodiment, the I/O device test unit 201 under the kernel 20 is configured to have the same interface as a normal device driver 200 (in this case, both the designer of the operating system (OS) 20 and the test user can control the I/O device test unit 201).
It is necessary to design the I/O device 4.} However, it is possible to build an I/O device testing section 201a having no interface for the I/O device 4 of the device driver 200 by focusing on the existence of the device driver 200 for accessing the I/O device 4 under the control of the kernel 20, and to start the device driver 200 whose start conditions are made public from the I/O device testing section 201a to test the I/O device 4 {in this case, the I/O device testing section 201a can be designed only by the test user}.

Thus, the present invention relates to an input/output device (I/O
In order to test the above, a test job of the same rank as a general job is placed under the control of an operating system (OS) of a computer system, and an input/output device test section is provided in the operating system (OS) with an interface for accessing an input/output device (I/O) that is the same as that of a device driver, or the input/output device test section is provided with an interface for accessing an input/output device (I/O) that is the same as that of a device driver.
a device driver in the test job, and a single test execution command is issued from the test job to an input/output device testing section under the control of the operating system (OS), and based on the test execution command, the input/output device testing section accesses an input/output device (I/O) through an interface of the device driver, and tests the input/output device (I/O) in parallel with a general job.

[0037]

As described above in detail, the method for testing an input/output device (I/O) of the present invention places a test job of the same rank as a general job under the control of the operating system (OS) of a computer system,
In the above, an input/output device testing section is provided in which an interface for accessing an input/output device (I/O) is the same as that of a device driver, or the input/output device testing section is configured to start a device driver in the operating system (OS), and only one test execution command is issued from the test job to the input/output device testing section under the operating system (OS), and based on the test execution command, the input/output device testing section accesses the input/output device (I/O) through the interface of the device driver.
/O) and tests the input/output device (I/O) in parallel with general jobs.
It is now possible to perform RAS testing on input/output devices (I/O), and it is no longer necessary to stop the operating system (OS) and stop general jobs in order to test the input/output devices (I/O), or it is no longer necessary to take time to stop the operating system (OS) and perform initial program loading (IPL) of the operating system (OS) after the test is completed, which would cause temporary interruption of business under the operating system (OS). This makes it possible to efficiently test the input/output devices (I/O).
This has the effect of allowing the testing of (I/O).

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the principle of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing one embodiment of the present invention (part 1).

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing an embodiment of the present invention (part 2).

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a conventional method for testing an input/output device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Central Processing Unit (CPU) 2 Main Memory Unit
(MSU) 20 Operating system (OS), or kernel 21 General job 22 Test job 200 Device driver 201, 201a I/O device test section, or RAS test device driver 3 Service processor (SVP) 4 I/O device
(I/O) 40 Test monitor 400 Standalone test program Test execution command Interface with device driver's input/output device (I/O) 100 to 106, 300 to 306 Processing steps

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] [Claim 1] A test job (22) of the same rank as a normal job (21) is placed under an operating system (OS) (20) of a computer system, and an input/output device test section (201) having the same interface as a device driver (200) that accesses an input/output device (I/O) (4) is provided in the operating system (OS) (20), and the test job (22) is
The input/output device test unit (2) provided in the (OS) (20)
a test section (201) which receives the test execution command () accesses and tests the input/output device (I/O) (4) through an interface () for the input/output device (I/O) (4) of the device driver (200). A test job (22) of the same rank as a normal job (21) is placed under an operating system (OS) (20) of a computer system, and an input/output device test section for testing an input/output device (I/O) (4) is included in the operating system (OS) (20).
The input/output device test unit (201a) is provided, and the input/output device test unit (201a) tests a device driver (20) under an operating system (OS) (20).
0) and configure it to access an input/output device (I/O) (4), and the test job (22) executes the test job (22) on the operating system (100).
An input/output device testing section (201a) provided in the (OS) (20)
Then, issue a single test execution command (
an input/output device testing section (201a) receiving the test execution instruction command () starts the device driver (200) and accesses and tests the input/output device (I/O) (4).