JPH09237207A - Memory dump transfer system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely collect the memory dump of a terminal equipment which does not have an auxiliary storage device. SOLUTION: A memory content is copied in flash ROM (S52) in response to a dump request (S51), and the terminal equipment is initialized (S53). Whether communication with the other terminal equipment having the auxiliary storage device is possible or not is checked (S54). When it is impossible, a transfer non-completion flag is turned on (S55). When it is possible, the content of flash ROM is transferred to the other terminal equipment and the auxiliary storage device is dumped (S56). Then, the transfer non-completion flag is turned off (S57). When the transfer non-completion flag is turned on, the flag is checked by power on/off. When it is turned on, the content of flash ROM is similarly transferred.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a memory dump transfer system, and more particularly to a memory dump transfer system for memory dumping the contents of a main storage device of a terminal device having no auxiliary storage device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an example of a memory dump system, there are techniques disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-342013 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-1200088. The former JP-A-4-342013
In the publication, two memory areas are provided in the memory unit, the address area is switched between active and spare by a reset signal, the contents of the memory are retained, and the memory contents are written to an external memory device. It is carried out.

Further, in the latter Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-1200088, a method of dumping a main memory content by performing a memory dump to an auxiliary storage device at a predetermined location cannot collect a memory dump for some reason. Sometimes,
In order to avoid this, a technique has been disclosed in which an input / output device for memory dump is variably and freely designated to prevent delay in clarification of a failure due to uncollection.

[0004]

In the above-mentioned prior art, the terminal device which attempts to dump the memory and collects the contents of the main memory must always have the auxiliary storage device. System, etc.
This memory dump method cannot be applied to a client side terminal device or a protocol converter that does not have an auxiliary storage device.

Also, for the convenience of the user, when it is desired to immediately restart the terminal device by turning the power off or on, or when the power is turned off in a device that does not have a hardware reset switch, the main power is turned off. Since the memory contents are erased, you miss the chance to collect dumps.

An object of the present invention is to provide a memory dump transfer system capable of surely collecting a memory dump of a terminal device which does not have an auxiliary storage device.

Another object of the present invention is to prevent the memory contents from being erased even if the power is turned off and to immediately collect the dump after the power is turned on so that the chance of dump collection is not missed. Is to provide.

[0008]

A memory dump transfer system according to the present invention comprises a first terminal device having an auxiliary storage device and a second terminal device having a main storage device but not an auxiliary storage device. The first and second terminal devices are interconnected by a communication line, and the contents of the main storage device of the second terminal device are transferred to the auxiliary storage device of the first terminal device by memory dump transfer. A memory dump transfer system in the information processing apparatus, wherein the second terminal device is a non-volatile memory means, and means for copying the contents of the main storage device to the memory means in response to a memory dump transfer instruction. And means for determining whether or not communication with the first terminal device is possible, and when communication is possible, transfer control of the copy contents of the memory means to the auxiliary storage device of the first terminal device is made, and communication is not possible. The is characterized in that it comprises a display means for displaying a flag indicating a transfer unfinished copy the contents of the memory means when.

In another memory dump transfer system according to the present invention, in the case where the second terminal device further identifies a flag of the display means in response to power-on and the flag indicates the transfer incompletion. , And means for controlling transfer of the copy contents of the memory means to the auxiliary storage device of the first terminal device.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The operation of the present invention will be described. In the present invention, a non-volatile, for example, flash ROM for memory dump is mounted on the terminal device of the memory dump collection target, and when a memory dump request event occurs, the contents of the main storage device (RAM memory) of the terminal device are displayed. Copy all or required parts to this flash ROM. Immediately thereafter, the contents of the flash ROM are transferred to the auxiliary storage device of another terminal device using the communication line and stored as a data file.

If the other terminal device is down, the flash RO is started after the other terminal device is ready for operation.
When the contents of M can be transferred or the communication part of the terminal device which does not have the auxiliary storage device is down, the auxiliary storage device can be operated due to the characteristics of the flash ROM (the contents are retained even when the power is off). It suffices to turn off / on the power of the terminal device without the power supply once and restart it, and transfer the contents of the flash ROM.

A flash ROM is used as this control method.
A "transfer incompletion flag" is provided therein, and every time the power of this terminal device is turned on, this flag is referred to and if the transfer is not completed yet, the contents of the flash ROM are transferred to another terminal device. If the transfer is completed normally, the transfer incompletion flag is set to "completed" to prevent the transfer.

As described above, by mounting the flash ROM on a terminal device or the like having no auxiliary storage device, it is possible to reliably perform the operation regardless of the state of another terminal device to which the memory dump is transferred or the state of the own terminal device. A memory dump can be collected.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a system block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, there are a terminal device 14 connected by a communication line 11 that does not have an auxiliary storage device, and another terminal device 12 for registering a memory dump as a file. The other terminal device 12 is the auxiliary storage device 13. have.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the hardware of the terminal device 14. The flash ROM 23 is a main storage device (R).
It has a capacity capable of storing the entire capacity of the AM memory) 22 or a necessary capacity. Since the terminal device 14 does not have an auxiliary storage device, the function program that operates in this device (not related to the memory dump mechanism) is normally stored in advance in the mask ROM 24, and the mask program R
It is expanded from the OM 24 to the main storage device 22 and activated.
Further, the mask ROM 24 has an OS 33, a communication controller 3
2, a memory dump transfer processing unit 34, a memory dump activation processing unit 35, a flash ROM copy processing unit 36, and a device initialization unit 37 are stored.

A transfer incomplete flag 41 and a transfer area table are stored in the flash ROM and retain their contents even when the power is turned off.

Next, the operation will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart thereof, and when the terminal device 14 has some trouble and an event for which a memory dump is desired to be taken occurs,
When the operator presses the dump switch 27 (step S51), the memory dump activation processing unit in the mask ROM is activated, and the hardware contents including the CPU 25 are stopped in order to retain the memory contents at that time. Then, the flash ROM copy processing unit 36 is activated to copy all or part of the contents of the main storage device 22 to the flash ROM (step S52).

When copying a part of the contents of the main storage device 22, the transfer area table 42 is referred to so that the length (length) is sequentially copied from the transfer start address.

When the transfer to the flash ROM 23 is completed, control is passed to the device initialization unit 37 to initialize the hardware including the memory (step S53), and then the OS.
Control is passed to the communication controller 33, the communication controller 32, and the memory dump transfer processor 34.

The memory dump transfer processor 34 controls the communication controller 32 and confirms with the terminal device 12 whether the auxiliary storage device 13 of the terminal device 12 can be accessed (step S54). If access is not possible, the transfer incomplete flag 41 is turned on, and control is passed to the OS 33 without doing anything (step S55).

Flash ROM if accessible
The contents are sequentially read from 23 and transferred to the terminal device 12 connected by the communication line 11, and written as a file in the auxiliary storage device 13 of this terminal device 12 (step S5).
6). Then, the transfer incompletion flag 41 is turned off (step S57), and control is passed to the OS 33 to complete the process.

In step S55, if the transfer end flag 41 is on, that is, if communication with the terminal device 12 is impossible in step S54, this terminal device 12
The terminal device 14 may be powered off because it is not known when it will be restored.

In this case, the operation when the power of the terminal device 14 is turned on again will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When the power is turned on again (step S61), O
S33 initializes the terminal device 14 (step S6).
2) The memory dump transfer processing unit 34 is activated, the communication control unit 32 is controlled in the same manner as before, and it is confirmed to the terminal device 12 whether the auxiliary storage device of the terminal device 12 can be accessed (step S63). If access is not possible yet, control is passed to the OS 33 without doing anything.

If it is accessible, it is confirmed that the transfer incompletion flag is turned on (step S64), the contents thereof are sequentially read from the flash ROM as in the previous case, and the auxiliary storage device 13 of the terminal device 12 connected by the communication line 11 is read. Is written in as a file (step S65). When the writing process is completed, the transfer incompletion flag is turned off (step S66),
The control is passed to the OS 33 to end the processing.

Incidentally, as the flash ROM 23, generally a non-volatile memory can be used.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention, even if the terminal device does not have an auxiliary storage device, the dump contents are copied to the non-volatile memory, so that the memory dump of the terminal device is obtained. Since the contents of the memory are held in the non-volatile memory even if the data is not immediately transferred to the terminal device having another auxiliary storage device, the power can be turned off / on.
It also has the effect of shortening the recovery time.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system schematic diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a terminal device.

FIG. 3 is a program related diagram for the operation of the terminal device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing respective configurations of a transfer incomplete flag and a transfer area table.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a startup processing procedure by a dump switch.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a startup processing procedure when the power is turned on.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Communication Line 12, 14 Terminal Device 13 Auxiliary Storage Device 22 Main Storage Device 23 Flash ROM 24 Mask ROM 25 CPU 26 Bus 27 Dump Switch 32 Communication Control Program 33 OS 34 Memory Dump Transfer Processing Unit 35 Memory Dump Startup Processing Unit 36 Flash ROM Copy processing unit 37 Device initialization unit 41 Transfer incomplete flag 42 Transfer area table

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A first terminal device having an auxiliary storage device, and a second terminal device having a main storage device but not an auxiliary storage device.
The first and second terminal devices are interconnected by a communication line, and the contents of the main storage device of the second terminal device are stored in the auxiliary storage device of the first terminal device. A memory dump transfer system in an information processing device adapted to perform a dump transfer, wherein the second terminal device is a non-volatile memory means, and stores the contents of the main storage device in the memory in response to a memory dump transfer instruction. Means for copying to the first terminal device, means for determining whether communication with the first terminal device is possible, and transfer control of the copy content of the memory device to the auxiliary storage device of the first terminal device when communication is possible. ,
A memory dump transfer system, comprising: a display unit that displays a flag indicating that transfer of the copy contents of the memory unit is incomplete when communication is impossible. 2. The second terminal device further identifies a flag of the display means in response to power-on, and when the flag indicates that the transfer is not completed, the copy content of the memory means is written. The memory dump transfer system according to claim 1, further comprising means for controlling transfer to the auxiliary storage device of the first terminal device. 3. The memory dump transfer system according to claim 1, wherein the memory means is a flash memory.