Pre-boot self-healing and adaptive fault isolation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016378602-A1
Application number	US-201514747827-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 23, 2015
Priority date	Jun 23, 2015
Publication date	Dec 29, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Systems and methods for providing pre-boot providing pre-boot self-healing and adaptive fault isolation. In some embodiments, an Information Handling System (IHS) includes a processor and a Basic I/O System (BIOS) coupled to the processor, the BIOS firmware having program instructions that, upon execution by the processor, cause the IHS to: initiate the booting of devices within the IHS following a predetermined boot order, wherein the predetermined boot order includes a first device followed by a second device; determine that the first device has been marked for bypass; bypass the booting of the first device; and boot the second device.

First claim

1 . An Information Handling System (IHS), comprising:
a processor; and a Basic I/O System (BIOS) coupled to the processor, the BIOS having program instructions that, upon execution by the processor, cause the IHS to:
initiate the booting of devices within the IHS following a predetermined boot order, wherein the predetermined boot order includes a first device followed by a second device;
determine that the first device has been marked for bypass;
bypass the booting of the first device; and
boot the second device.

2 . The IHS of claim 1 , wherein the first device includes a Universal Serial Bus (USB) device, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) device, a Hard Disk Drive (HDD), or a Network Interface Card (NIC).

3 . The IHS of claim 1 , wherein the first device has been marked for bypass by the BIOS due to a previous attempt to boot the first device resulting in a failure.

4 . The IHS of claim 3 , wherein the previous attempt to boot the first device includes performing a failed firmware initialization operation for the first device.

5 . The IHS of claim 3 , wherein the previous attempt to boot the first device includes performing a failed device configuration operation for the first device.

6 . The IHS of claim 3 , wherein the program instructions, upon execution by the processor, further cause the IHS to:
store a configuration setting for a first device that results in a successful boot; flag the first device in response to the configuration setting being modified; and in response to the first device failing to boot after the modification, restore the original configuration setting without input from any user.

7 . The IHS of claim 6 , wherein the flagging of the device occurs in response to the configuration setting being modified by a user within an Operating System (OS) environment.

8 . The IHS of claim 3 , wherein the program instructions, upon execution by the processor, further cause the IHS to:
tag the first device as a malfunctioning device in response to a successful boot of subsequent devices; identify a Field Replaceable Unit (FRU) associated with the first device; and provide an indication of the FRU to a support service.

9 . The IHS of claim 3 , wherein the program instructions, upon execution by the processor, further cause the IHS to:
store a first boot order of the devices that results in a successful boot; and in response to the predetermined boot order resulting in a no-boot condition, restore the first boot order without input from any user.

10 . The IHS of claim 1 , wherein the program instructions, upon execution by the processor, further cause the IHS to associate a strike count with the devices, the strike count for each device representing a number of previous boot failures associated with that device.

11 . The IHS of claim 10 , wherein the program instructions, upon execution by the processor, further cause the IHS to make the strike count available to a primary Operating System.

12 . The IHS of claim 10 , wherein the program instructions, upon execution by the processor, further cause the IHS to make the strike count available to a service Operating System.

13 . A method, comprising:
determining, by a Basic I/O System (BIOS) without any input from any user, that a given device in a boot order of an Information Handling System (IHS) has been marked for bypass as result of a previous, failed boot attempt; bypassing the given device in a current boot attempt; and in response to the current boot attempt being successful, tagging the given device as a potentially malfunctioning device.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein bypassing the given device includes autonomously modifying the boot order by the BIOS without any input from any user.

15 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
determining that an original configuration of the given device was changed between the previous, failed boot attempt, and an earlier successful boot attempt; and returning a current configuration of the given device to the original configuration.

16 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising associating a strike count with the given device, the strike count representing a number of boot failures caused by the given device, and providing the strike count to an Operating System (OS)-based recovery environment.

17 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising identifying a Field Replaceable Unit (FRU) associated with the given device and providing an indication of the FRU to a support service.

18 . A Basic I/O System (BIOS) having program instructions stored thereon that, upon execution by an Information Handling System (IHS), cause the IHS to:
determine that a device in a boot order of the IHS has been marked for bypass as result of a previous, failed boot attempt; bypassing the device in a boot attempt; and in response to the boot attempt being successful, tag the given device as a potentially malfunctioning device.

19 . The BIOS of claim 18 , wherein the program instructions, upon execution by the IHS, further cause the IHS to:
determine that an original configuration of the device was changed between an earlier successful boot attempt and the failed boot attempt; return the given device to its original configuration; and initiate another boot attempt.

20 . The BIOS of claim 18 , wherein the program instructions, upon execution by the IHS, further cause the IHS to:
determine that an original boot order was changed between an earlier successful boot attempt and the failed boot attempt; return the boot order to the original boot order; and initiate another boot attempt.

Assignees

• Dell Products Lp

Inventors

• Herzi Dirie N
• Teshome Abeye

Classifications

• G06F11/1417 Primary

  Boot up procedures · CPC title

• G06F9/4408

  Boot device selection · CPC title

• G06F2201/85

  Active fault masking without idle spares · CPC title

• G06F2201/805

  Real-time · CPC title

• G06F9/4401 Primary

  Bootstrapping (security arrangements therefor G06F21/57) · CPC title