JPS5918741B2 - Automatic diagnosis method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to automatic diagnostics of hardware in data processing systems.

Conventionally, in a data processing system, in order to diagnose a failure that occurs in a device that is a component of the system, software receives failure information transmitted from hardware, and the software outputs the failure information and the results are visible. The conventional method has been to output a message to a suitable output device, then visually judge the message, select a diagnostic program to be executed, and manually start the diagnostic program.

Therefore, the above-mentioned method has a drawback in that it always requires human intervention during the process from when a hardware failure occurs to locating the failure location. The present invention has been made in order to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional technology, and an object of the present invention is to execute a diagnostic program at the time a failure occurs, regardless of the operation of software, to diagnose a device in which a failure has occurred. Another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic diagnosis method capable of automatically diagnosing a device in which a failure has occurred without human intervention.

The automatic hardware diagnosis method according to the present invention has a function of managing a managed device (for example, a device whose status is managed by a management device, such as a magnetic disk device) and the managed device in a system manner. A management device (for example, a configuration control device), a diagnostic device with the function of executing a diagnostic program, and a storage device with the function of storing the diagnostic program (
(for example, a magnetic tape device), and constitutes a data processing system.

The management device and the managed device are connected by an access bus (for example, a bus cable), a data transfer means is provided between the management device and the diagnostic device, and the diagnostic device has a function of executing a diagnostic program of the storage device, The management device has a function of storing a logical representation of the access path from the management device to the managed device (for example, a channel number), an identification number that represents the type of managed device that is unique in the system, and an access path and data transfer means. When the management device recognizes that the managed device is in a failure state, the diagnostic device receives the logical display and identification number of the access path from the management device, and The device connects the access path and the data transfer means.

The diagnostic device is based (keyed) on the above identification number.
A diagnostic program for the storage device is selected, and the failed managed device is diagnosed using the access path and data transfer means between the management device and the diagnostic device.

Next, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be specifically explained with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram used to explain one embodiment of the automatic diagnosis method according to the present invention.

In the figure, reference numbers 11 and 12 are managed devices such as magnetic disk devices whose status is managed by a management device, 13 is a central processing unit, and 14 is a function for systemically managing the managed devices. 15 is a bus cable, 16 is a diagnostic device having a function of executing a diagnostic program, and 17 is, for example, an external device having a function of storing a diagnostic program. 2 storage devices such as storage devices (magnetic tape devices, magnetic disk devices, etc.); 18, 19, and 20 indicate bus cables, respectively; The management device 14 is the managed device 1
This is a function that maintains a unique identification number within the system corresponding to types 1 and 12.
9) and a data transfer means (bus cable 20) as necessary, a function to store the logical representation of the access path, and a function to monitor the status of the managed devices 11 and 12. This can be easily realized by adding, for example, a memory circuit, a 5-check circuit, and a data transfer circuit to the configuration control device. The diagnostic device 16 has a function of receiving keywords transferred from the management device 14 in addition to the functions of a normal digital computer.For example, the diagnostic device 16 is equipped with an interrupt detection circuit and a data register for detecting an interrupt signal in a small digital computer. It can be configured by adding . Referring to FIG. 1A, the first managed device 11 and the second managed device 12 are connected to the central processing unit 13 via the data bus 19 and the management device 14, and the management device 1st by 14
The managed device 14 controls the first managed device 11 and the second managed device 11.
This shows that the managed device 12 is operating normally while being monitored.

Referring to FIG. 1B, this will be used to explain the operation when a failure occurs in one or more of the first managed device 11 and the second managed device 12.

When the management device 14 recognizes this failure, the management device 14 uses the bus cable 15 to send the identification number and the management device 1
4 to the managed devices 11 and 12, and the device address are passed to the diagnostic device 16. Upon receiving this information, the diagnostic device 16 selects a diagnostic program in the storage device 17 using the identification number as a key. On the other hand, the management device 14 uses the bus cable (
By connecting the data transfer buses 19 and 20 within the management device, the diagnostic device 16 is connected to the first managed device 11 and the second managed device 12. By activating the selected diagnostic program, the first managed device 11 or the second managed device 12 in a failure state is diagnosed. As can be seen from the description of FIG. 1B above, the diagnostic device 16 can diagnose the first managed device 11 or the second managed device 12 regardless of the software of the system.

FIG. 2 is a concrete example of the logical display of the identification number and access path.

The ET byte consists of one byte, bits 3 to 7.
The first five bits are the only identification number in the system that indicates the type of managed device. For example, the magnetic disk control device is assigned 01001, and the magnetic disk device is assigned 11001. The CA byte and the UA byte each consist of one byte and indicate an access bus from the management device to the managed device. For example, CA represents the channel address in FIG. 1, and UA represents the device address in FIG. The diagnostic device uses the aforementioned access bus to diagnose the managed device when the managed device is in a failure state. In this embodiment, the case where there are two managed devices is shown, but it is clear that the number of managed devices may be one or two or more.

Furthermore, the management device 14 and the diagnostic device 16 are connected to the central processing unit 13.
Of course, it may also be included within. According to the present invention, as described above, there is an effect that a failed managed device can be automatically diagnosed regardless of the software that controls the system.

Although one preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, this is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described here.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining one embodiment of the method according to the present invention, and is a diagram showing that the managed device has transitioned from a normal state (FIG. 1 A) to a failure state (FIG. 1 B). FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a format for reporting the identification number of the type of managed device and the access bus according to the present invention. 11, 12... Failure managed device, 13...
...Central processing unit, 14...Management device, 16.
...Diagnostic device, 17... Storage device, 15
, 18, 19, 20... bus cable.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A device comprising a managed device, a management device having a function of managing the state of the managed device, a storage device that stores a diagnostic program for diagnosing the managed device, and a diagnostic device that executes the diagnostic program. The managed device is connected to the management device by an access path, the management device is connected to the diagnostic device by a data transfer means, and the management device is connected to the management device by a data transfer means, and the management device is connected to the management device by a data transfer means, and the management device is connected to the management device by a data transfer means. a function of holding a unique identification number in the access path; a function of connecting the access path and the data transfer means as necessary; a function of storing a logical representation of the access path;
and a function of monitoring the state of the managed device,
After the management device recognizes the occurrence of a failure in the managed device, it transfers the identification number and the logical representation of the access path to the diagnostic device, connects the access path to the data transfer means, and connects the access path to the data transfer means. The automatic diagnosis method is characterized in that the device selects the diagnostic program based on the identification number and diagnoses a malfunctioning managed device using the access path and the data transfer means.