System and method for hosting multiple recovery operating systems in memory

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10061651-B2
Application number	US-201514738430-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 12, 2015
Priority date	Jun 12, 2015
Publication date	Aug 28, 2018
Grant date	Aug 28, 2018

Abstract

A failure to load a primary operating system at a data processing device is identified. A partition in a volatile random access memory is allocated to store a second operating system. The second OS is stored at the partition. Information identifying the partition is stored at a first location accessible to a basic input output system executing at the data processing device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
executing a basic input output system (BIOS), the BIOS initially stored at a non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM), the BIOS to initialize components of a data processing device and to load a primary operating system (OS), the primary OS stored at a storage device other than the NVRAM;
identifying a failure to load the primary OS at the data processing device;
allocating a partition in a volatile random access memory to store a second OS;
storing the second OS at the partition; and
storing information identifying the partition at a first location accessible to a basic input output system (BIOS) executing at the data processing device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first location is in the NVRAM.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first location is in the volatile random access memory.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
preserving storage of the second OS at the volatile memory during a re-boot operation;
booting the second OS;
executing first diagnostic tools available to the second OS; and
storing diagnostic information at the first location.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
accessing the information from the first location during a hardware initialization re-boot operation; and
determining which OS to load based on the accessed information.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
allocating a second partition in volatile memory to store a third OS;
storing the third OS in the second partition; and
storing information identifying the second partition at the first location.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
preserving storage of the second OS and the third OS at the volatile memory during a re-boot operation;
booting the third OS;
executing second diagnostic tools available to the third OS; and
storing diagnostic information at the first location.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
retrieving the second OS over a network from a remote system.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
in response to booting the primary OS successfully,
updating the stored information to include further diagnostic results; and
returning space at the volatile memory allocated to the second OS partition for use by the primary OS.

10. A system comprising:
a processor;
a volatile memory coupled to the processor; and
a non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM) coupled to the processor, the NVRAM storing firmware instruction executable by the processor to initialize components of the system and to load a primary operating system (OS), the primary OS stored at a storage device other than the NVRAM, the firmware instructions further to:
identify a failure to load the primary OS at the system;
allocate a partition in the volatile random access memory to store a second OS;
store the second OS at the partition; and
store information identifying the partition at a first location accessible to a basic input output system executing at the system.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the first location is in the NVRAM.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the first location is in the volatile memory.

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the processor is further to:
preserve storage of the second OS at the volatile memory during a first hardware initialization re-boot operation;
boot the second OS;
execute first diagnostic tools available to the second OS; and
store diagnostic information at the first location.

14. The system of claim 10 , wherein the processor is further to:
access the information from the first location during a hardware initialization re-boot operation; and
determine which OS to load based on the accessed information.

15. The system of claim 10 , wherein the processor is further to:
allocate a second partition in volatile memory to store a third OS;
store the third OS in the second partition; and
store information identifying the second partition at the first location.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the processor is further to:
preserve storage of the second OS and the third OS at the volatile memory during a re-boot operation;
boot the third OS;
execute second diagnostic tools available to the third OS; and
store diagnostic information at the first location.

17. The system of claim 10 , wherein the processor is further to retrieve the second OS over a network from a remote system.

18. The system of claim 10 , wherein in response to booting the primary OS successfully, the processor is further to:
update the stored information to include diagnostic results; and
return space at the volatile memory allocated to the second OS partition for use by the primary OS.

19. A non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM) storing instructions executable by a processor to:
initialize components of a data processing device and to load a primary operating system (OS), the primary OS stored at a storage device other than the NVRAM;
identify a failure to load the primary OS at the data processing device;
allocate a partition in a volatile random access memory to store a second OS;
store the second OS in the partition; and
store information identifying the partition at a first location accessible to a basic input output system executing at the data processing device.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 19 , further comprising instructions executable by the processor to:
preserve storage of the second OS at the volatile memory during a re-boot operation;
boot the second OS;
execute first diagnostic tools available to the second OS; and
store diagnostic information at the first location.

Assignees

• Dell Products Lp

Inventors

• Lo Yuan-Chang
• Swierk Todd E
• Andrews Carlton A
• Boyapalle Anantha

Classifications

• G06F2201/805

  Real-time · CPC title

• G06F9/441

  Multiboot arrangements, i.e. selecting an operating system to be loaded · CPC title

• G06F11/1417 Primary

  Boot up procedures · CPC title

• G06F2201/85

  Active fault masking without idle spares · CPC title

• G06F8/63

  Image based installation; Cloning; Build to order · CPC title