JP3098437B2 - Collection method of IPL program execution information - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system for collecting execution information of an IPL program in an information processing apparatus for performing an initial hardware diagnosis based on an IPL program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional technique, a method of collecting execution information of this kind of information processing apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-223932.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H10-207, the execution information of program instructions is collected by adding a circuit having an execution information collection function to the CPU.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 01-320547 discloses that an address of a main memory output to an address bus is monitored, and when the address matches a pre-registered address, data of a collection range is obtained by using an interrupt. A technique is described in which an external device is prepared for reading and writing to a memory and performing processing.

[0004]

The first problem of the above-mentioned conventional execution information collecting method is that the CPU has an execution information collecting function to collect execution information of program instructions. It is necessary to add a hardware circuit such as a temporary collection memory. As a result, there is a problem that a hardware circuit to be added to the main body is required, which leads to an increase in cost.

The second problem is that the execution information is stored in a memory in order to collect the execution information of the program instructions without using an external device, and when the CPU is not operating normally, the stored information is stored. Cannot be taken out. As a result, once the CPU itself runs away from the program, there is a problem that the information stored in the temporary collection memory cannot be retrieved.

A third problem is that the data in the collection range is written into the memory using an interrupt. Immediately after power-on, the hardware is unstable. Using an interrupt by an IPL program, such as a memory or an interrupt controller, that has the role of stabilizing the hardware, uses the unstable hardware to output execution information. Contains the danger of doing. As a result, there is a problem that the reliability of the IPL program that operates immediately after the power is turned on is reduced.

A fourth problem is that the address of the main memory output to the address bus is monitored, and execution information is collected only when the address matches a previously registered address. When a failure occurs, the address is often unknown, and as a result, there is a problem that a trial-and-error repetitive operation is required at the time of debugging, which takes time.

[0008]

According to the present invention, as a technical means for solving the above-mentioned problem, a system for collecting execution information of an IPL program is constituted as follows.

That is, in an execution information collection method for isolating a module in which a processing error has occurred, an I / O
It is characterized by having a processing procedure for outputting to a port, a memory for storing execution information output to an I / O port, and a function of displaying the stored execution information.

[Operation] The thus constructed I of the present invention
According to the method of collecting the execution information of the PL program, the IPL
Even when the CPU runs out of control in the main unit during execution of the program, the progress of the IPL module can be grasped by the information storage device.

The output I / O port is a printer port, which is an I / O port provided as a standard equipment in the information processing apparatus main body.
Since / O is used, initialization can be easily performed, and since no interrupt or main memory is used, IPL execution information can be stably collected. Also, if one information storage and display device is created,
Since it can be connected to the I / O port of the target information processing device, it can be operated easily in terms of cost.

[0012]

Next, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

In the present invention, the collection of the IPL program execution information is performed in the IPL program shown in the flowchart of FIG. 1, and in the apparatus shown in FIG.
It is executed by storing and displaying execution information.

More specifically, FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of an IPL program 101, and processes 111, 121, and 191 for outputting execution information to a conventional IPL program.
Has been added. The execution information output processing 111 corresponds to each module 122, and there are as many as the number of modules.

Each execution information output process 111 outputs the execution information to the I / O every time the corresponding module 122 is executed, so that the progress of the module can be observed.

FIG. 2 shows an execution information collection processing unit, which is a target information processing apparatus 201 and IPL program 20.
3, a main memory 202 for storing an I / O
An O205, an execution information collection unit 206, and an execution information display unit 207 are provided. As explained with reference to FIG.
By executing the IPL program 203, the CPU 204
, Information is output to the I / O 205. I /
A part for observing the execution information output to O205 and collecting the information is an execution information collection unit 206, and a part for displaying the information is an execution information display unit 207.

Next, the operation will be described. First, IP
The operation during the processing of the L program 101 will be described based on the flowchart shown in FIG. When the power is turned on or reset in the information processing apparatus 201 as a target, the IP
When the processing of the L program is started, processing 111 for outputting execution information of the module 1 to the I / O port is performed. The information output here is collected by the execution information collecting unit 206. When the information output process is completed, the module 1
Is started.

The processing from module 2 to module n is continued in the same manner as in module 1, and is sequentially stored in the execution information collecting unit 206.

Next, a block diagram of a processing operation for storing and displaying execution information will be described with reference to the block diagram shown in FIG.

Execution information is output from the I / O 205 by execution information output processing in the IPL program 101, and is sequentially stored in the execution information collection unit 206.

The execution information display unit 207 is a device for displaying the contents of the execution information collection unit 206, and sequentially displays the stored execution information.

[0022]

A description will now be given of an embodiment in which the method for collecting execution information of an IPL program according to the present invention is configured to be executed using a printer port.

The execution information collecting method of the IPL program in this case is mainly composed of two blocks.
One is a block showing the processing performed in the IPL program shown in the flowchart of FIG. 3, and the other is a block for storing and displaying the execution information shown in the configuration diagram of FIG.

First, the operation during the processing of the IPL program 101 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

When the processing of the IPL program is started by turning on the power or resetting the information processing apparatus 401 as a target, first, a module 1 entry processing 311 is performed in step 311, and then the execution information of the module 1 is stored. Execution information output processing 312 for outputting to the printer port 409 is performed. The information output here is collected by the execution information collection device 402 later.

When the execution information output processing 312 ends, the main processing 313 of the module 1 starts. Module 1
The process 313 is the same as the process of the conventional IPL program module.

The processes from module 2 to module n are continuously executed in the same manner as in module 1.

Next, the processing operation inside the execution information collecting device 402 will be described with reference to the configuration diagram shown in FIG.

The information output to the printer port 409 by the execution information output processing in the IPL program 411 is input to the printer signal connection port 403. Information from the printer signal connection port 403 is temporarily stored in the execution information temporary storage mechanism 404. At the same time, it is also transmitted to the execution information change detection mechanism 405 to detect a change in the execution information and create a trigger for storing the temporarily stored information in the storage memory.
The execution information storage memory 406 stores the execution information change detection mechanism 4
In response to the trigger signal from step 05, it is determined that the execution step has moved to the next step, and the execution steps are sequentially stored.

The execution information initialization mechanism 407 is a mechanism for initializing the execution information storage memory 406 before starting to collect information. The execution information display device 408 is a device that displays the contents of the execution information storage memory 406.

Since only the data is output to the printer port and no strobe signal is used, no malfunction occurs even when the printer is connected to the printer port.

[0032]

[0033]

As described above, the IPL of the present invention
According to the method of collecting execution information of a program, it is not necessary to newly add a hardware circuit such as a temporary collection memory by using the I / O provided as a standard equipment of the main body. This eliminates the necessity and achieves an effect that cost reduction can be realized.

Further, since the execution information of the program instruction is collected by using an external device, the stored information can be displayed even if the CPU cannot operate normally. Even so, the stored information can be taken out.

Further, since the system does not use an interrupt, it is not necessary to use unstable hardware (interrupt controller, memory, etc.) immediately after the power is turned on. It can be operated without dropping.

In addition, since there is no need for trial and error repetitive operations at the time of debugging, the time for failure analysis can be reduced. This is because there is no need to register an address for collecting execution information, and there is no need for a trial-and-error repetitive operation even in a failure analysis in which the address is often unknown.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing execution information collection processing in an IPL program execution information collection method according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing execution information collection processing in a method for collecting execution information of an IPL program according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of an IPL program processing procedure in a method for collecting execution information of an IPL program according to the present invention; FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an execution information collection device for collecting execution information of an IPL program according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an execution information collecting method disclosed in JP-A-63-223932.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an execution information collection method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 01-320547.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101 IPL program 111 module 1 execution information output processing 112 module 1 111 module 2 execution information output processing 112 module 2 111 module n execution information output processing 112 module n 201 information processing device 202 main memory 203 IPL program 204 CPU 205 I / O 206 Execution information collection unit 207 Execution information teaching unit 301 IPL program 311 Module 1 entry processing 312 Module 1 execution information output processing 313 Module 1 main processing 321 Module 2 entry processing 322 Module 2 execution information output processing 323 Module 2 main processing 391 Module n entry Processing 392 Module n execution information output processing 393 Module n main processing 401 Information processing device 402 Execution information collection device 403 Printer port connection port 404 Execution information temporary storage device 405 Execution information change detection device 406 Execution information storage memory 407 Execution information initialization mechanism 408 Execution information display device 409 Printer port 410 CPU 411 IPL program

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An information processing apparatus for clarifying the extent to which processing in an IPL program has been executed normally and isolating a module in which a processing error has occurred.
In the method of collecting execution information of an L program, a processing unit that outputs execution information to a printer port when an IPL program is executed, a unit that stores execution information output to a printer port, and a unit that displays the stored execution information A method for collecting execution information of an IPL program, comprising: 2. The IPL program according to claim 1, wherein after the processing of the IPL program is started, processing for outputting execution information of the module to a printer port is performed, and similar processing is performed for each module. Collection method for execution information