JPH04233614A - System for turning on power source of computer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically cancel an abnormal state caused when a power source is turned on by providing a power source turn-on retesting function at the control firmware of an automatic power supply controller. CONSTITUTION:A means 104 is constituted to monitor an alarm raised from each device receiving a power source turning-on instruction, and an automatic power supply unit timer monitors 105 operations from the instruction of turning-on to the completion of turning-on. Further, when an alarm signal is reported from each device and time-out is detected by the automatic power supply unit, the error information is stored 106. Then, it is checked 107 to each device having abnormality in the case of turning the power source on whether the power source can be turned on again or not, and a retest flag is set 108. Further, a power supply disconnecting means 109 is constituted to each device having abnormality, and the completion of disconnection reported from each device is monitored 110. Then, the automatic power supply controller timer monitors 111 operations from the instruction of disconnection to the completion.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to computer power-on systems.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art An example of a computer system using a conventional automatic power supply control device is shown in FIG. 2 and will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the computer power-on system includes a computer main body 3, peripheral devices 41 to 4n, and an automatic power control device 1 that controls power-on and power-off of these devices. The control firmware is located in the control firmware storage unit 2 and has the function of monitoring power on/off instructions, power on/off completion signals, and alarm signals. 5 is the power supply section of the computer main body 3, 61.
. . 6n is a power supply unit for the peripheral devices 41 to 4n.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the computer system shown in FIG. A program for performing this operation is stored in the control firmware storage section 2 shown in FIG. In each step 201 to 206 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 3, predetermined processing is executed.

Next, the operation of the automatic power supply control device will be explained. First, the computer main body 3 and peripheral devices 41
The automatic power supply control device 1 monitors whether all power-on operations of 4n to 4n have been completed (step 201). If all have been completed, the power-on operation of the entire computer system is completed. Then, if the power-on operation of each device has not been completed, an instruction is given to each device to turn on the power (step 202). Computer body 3 that received input instructions
Alternatively, the peripheral devices 41 to 4n turn on the power and report the completion of the power on to the automatic power control device 1 (step 20
3). Next, if an abnormality occurs when the power is turned on, the computer main body 3 or the peripheral devices 41 to 4n reports an alarm signal to the automatic power supply control device 1 (step 20
4). Then, the computer main body 3 or peripheral device 4
If 1 to 4n cannot report either a power-on completion or an alarm signal, a timeout is detected by the timer monitoring from the power-on instruction to the power-on completion report performed by the automatic power supply control device 1 itself (step 205). . If no time-out is detected by timer monitoring, the process returns to step 203. Then, when an alarm signal is reported from the computer main body 3 or the peripheral devices 41 to 4n (step 204), and when the automatic power control device 1 itself detects a time-out, the automatic power control device 1
Error information is stored (step 206). Thereafter, the process returns to step 201 and processes from step 201 are executed until the power-on operation for all devices is completed.

[0005]

The problem to be solved is that in the control firmware of this conventional automatic power supply control device, a device in which an abnormality has occurred is left without being powered on. Therefore, even if an intermittent abnormality occurs when the computer system is turned on, that is, an intermittent abnormality that can be recovered by turning the power on again, the device will not recover until manual intervention is performed. .

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention provides a first monitoring means for monitoring whether all power-on operations of the computer main body and peripheral devices have been completed, and a first monitoring means for monitoring whether or not all power-on operations of the computer main body and peripheral devices have been completed; an instruction means for instructing the device to turn on the power; a second monitoring means for monitoring the completion of power-on reported by each of the devices that received the power-on instruction;
a third monitoring means for monitoring alarms reported by each of the above-mentioned devices that have received a power-on instruction; a fourth monitoring means for monitoring a timer from the time of a power-on instruction to the completion of power-on in an automatic power control device; and each of the above-mentioned devices. storage means for storing error information when an alarm signal is reported by the automatic power supply controller or a timeout is detected by the automatic power supply control device; A means for checking whether the power can be turned on again, a means for setting a retry flag to determine whether it is possible to turn on the power again, a means for turning off the power to each of the above devices that had an abnormality when the power was turned on, and an instruction to turn off the power. a fifth monitoring means for monitoring the completion of power-off reported from each of the above-mentioned devices, and a sixth monitoring means for monitoring with a timer from the time of the cut-off instruction to the completion of the cut-off in the above-mentioned automatic power supply control device;
and monitoring means.

[0007]

[Operation] In the present invention, the control firmware of the automatic power supply control device is provided with a power-on retry function, so that if an abnormality occurs during power-on, the power is automatically turned on again.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the present invention, and shows the processing performed by the automatic power supply control device of FIG. A program for performing this operation is stored in the control firmware storage section 2. Each step 10 of the flowchart shown in FIG.
1 to 111 each execute a predetermined process. In the flowchart shown in FIG. 1, step 101 constitutes a monitoring means for monitoring whether the power-on operations of the computer main body and peripheral devices have all been completed. Further, step 102 constitutes an instructing means for instructing each of the above devices to turn on the power if the power-on operation has not been completed, and step 103 constitutes the completion of power-on reported by each device that received the power-on instruction. Step 104 constitutes a monitoring means that monitors alarms reported from each device that has received a power-on instruction, and Step 105 constitutes a monitoring means that monitors alarms reported from each device that has received a power-on instruction. Step 105 is a monitoring device that monitors alarms reported from each device that has received a power-on instruction. Step 106 constitutes a storage means that stores error information when an alarm signal is reported from each device or when a timeout is detected in the automatic power supply control device 1. Step 107 constitutes a means for checking whether or not the power can be turned on again for each device that had an abnormality when the power was turned on, and Step 108 constitutes a means for setting a retry flag to determine whether or not the power can be turned on again. and step 1
Step 09 constitutes a means for powering off each device that has an abnormality at power-on, Step 110 constitutes a monitoring means for monitoring the completion of power-off reported by each device that has received a power-off instruction, Reference numeral 111 constitutes a monitoring means for monitoring a timer in the automatic power supply control device 1 from a disconnection instruction to completion of disconnection.

Next, the operation of the automatic power supply control device will be explained with reference to FIG. First, the automatic power control device 1 monitors whether all power-on operations of the computer main body 3 and peripheral devices 41 to 4n have been completed (step 101).
). If all of the steps have been completed, the power-on operation of the entire computer system is completed. If the power-on operation of each device has not been completed, each device is instructed to turn on the power (step 102). Upon receiving the power-on instruction, the computer main body 3 or the peripheral devices 41 to 4n power on, and report the completion of power-on to the automatic power supply control device 1 (step 103). If an abnormality occurs when the power is turned on, the computer main body 3 or the peripheral devices 41 to 4n reports an alarm signal to the automatic power supply control device 1 (step 104).
). If the computer main body 3 or the peripheral devices 41 to 4n cannot report either a power-on completion or an alarm signal, a time-out is detected by the automatic power supply control device 1's own timer monitoring from the power-on instruction to the power-on completion report. (step 105). If no time-out is detected by timer monitoring, the process returns to step 103. When an alarm signal is reported from the computer main body 3 or the peripheral devices 41 to 4n (step 104), and when the automatic power supply control device 1 itself detects a time-out, error information is stored in the automatic power supply control device 1. is performed (step 106).

Next, after error information is stored in the automatic power supply control device 1 (step 106), the power supply is turned on again. First, the retry flag for this device is checked to see if this is the first power-on process (step 107). If the result of the check is that it is the second power-on process, the power-on process is ended (return to step 101). If it is the first power-on process, a retry flag is set to prevent the second power-on process from being executed (step 108).
. Next, check the computer main unit 3 that had an abnormality when the power was turned on.
Alternatively, it instructs the peripheral devices 41 to 4n to turn off the power (step 109). The computer main body 3 or the peripheral devices 41 to 4n that have received the disconnection instruction turn off the power and report the completion of the disconnection to the automatic power control device 1 (step 110). The automatic power control device 1 that receives this power-off completion report transmits information to the computer main body 3 or the peripheral device 41.
~4n is instructed to turn on the power again (step 102
).

The subsequent steps return to step 102, and the processing from step 102 onward is executed until the power-on operation for all devices is completed, and then the computer main body 3 or peripheral devices 41 to 4n reports the completion of power-off. If this is not possible, a timeout is detected by the timer monitoring from the disconnection instruction to the disconnection completion report issued by the automatic power control device 1 itself, and the power-on process ends (step 111). Here, if no time-out is detected by timer monitoring, the process returns to step 110. As a result, the error information stored in step 106 is always the error information that occurred when the power was turned on, regardless of whether the power was turned on again or not.

0012

Effects of the Invention As explained above, the computer power-on method of the present invention has a power-on retry function in the control firmware of the automatic power control device, so that if an abnormality occurs during power-on, the computer power-on method automatically turns on the power. Since the power supply is turned on again, there is an effect that an intermittent abnormality that may occur when the power is turned on is automatically cleared without human intervention.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of an embodiment of a computer power-on system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a computer system using a conventional automatic power supply control device.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the computer system shown in FIG. 2;

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Automatic power control device 2 Control firmware storage section 3　　　　Computer body 41~4n Peripheral equipment 5 Power supply section 61~6n　　　Power supply section

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A first monitoring means for monitoring whether all power-on operations of the computer main body and peripheral devices have been completed; and if the power-on operations have not been completed, instructing each of the devices to turn on the power. a second monitoring means for monitoring completion of power-on reported by each of the devices that received a power-on instruction; and a third monitoring device that monitors an alarm reported by each of the devices that received a power-on instruction. a fourth monitoring means that monitors the automatic power supply control device with a timer from the time of the power-on instruction until the power-on completion; storage means for storing error information when an error is detected; means for checking whether power can be turned on again for each of the devices that had an abnormality at power-on; and determining whether or not to turn on the power again. means for setting a retry flag; means for cutting off power to each of the devices in which an abnormality occurred during power-on; and a fifth means for monitoring completion of power-off reported by each of the devices that received a power-off instruction. 1. A computer power-on system comprising: a monitoring means; and a sixth monitoring means for monitoring the automatic power supply control device with a timer from when a disconnection instruction is issued to when the disconnection is completed.