International Business Machines Corporation

Salim Ahmed Agha

Brent Robert Tiefenthaler

Peter Joseph Heyrman

Fraser Allan Syme

Chetan Mehta

Gary Dean Anderson

Brent William Jacobs

Maulin Ishwarbhai Patel

David A Larson Stanton

Wayne Allan Britson

David Henry Sandifer

Allan Henry Trautman

Mark Fernando Diez

William Thomas Truskowski

A program operating to test a computer has a limit to the number of certain components that it can utilize, less than the number of those components included in the computer. A resource allocator program receives a signal to modify allocation of resources to the programs executing in the computer. The resource allocator detects that the computer is operating in a mode for testing and selects a subset of the components not allocated to the program to swap for those presently allocated. The resource allocator can receive the signal repeatedly to complete testing the computer.

Comprehensive testing of computer hardware configurations

Systems and articles of manufacture for preserving error data on a computing platform that lacks non-volatile storage (e.g., a 'diskless' platform) are provided. In response to detecting a platform error (e.g., automatically by hardware, software, or manually by a user when a wait or loop condition is suspected), platform error data may be gathered and temporarily stored in volatile storage accessible on the platform. In order to preserve the platform error data in the event power is lost after the error, the platform error data is transferred to a target system with access to non-volatile storage. Once the target system indicates the platform error data has been stored in non-volatile storage, the volatile storage used to temporarily store the platform error data may be freed-up.

Preservation of error data on a diskless platform

In response to the start of an initialization sequence at a service processor, if power to a main processor was interrupted at a most-recent time that an operating system executed on the main processor, power to the main processor is turned on, the operating system is started executing on the main processor, data from the non-volatile memory of the service processor is provided to the operating system, and the service processor is reset, which restarts the initialization sequence. If the power to the main processor was not interrupted at the most-recent time that the operating system executed on the main processor, and if the operating system is currently executing on the main processor, a monitoring function is started in the service processor, which monitors for errors at a computer system.

Initialization after a power interruption

A method for preserving error data on a computing platform that lacks non-volatile storage (e.g., a 'diskless' platform) is provided. In response to detecting a platform error (e.g., automatically by hardware, software, or manually by a user when a wait or loop condition is suspected), platform error data may be gathered and temporarily stored in volatile storage accessible on the platform. In order to preserve the platform error data in the event power is lost after the error, the platform error data is transferred to a target system with access to non-volatile storage. Once the target system indicates the platform error data has been stored in non-volatile storage, the volatile storage used to temporarily store the platform error data may be freed-up.

Methods, systems, and articles of manufacture for preserving error data on a computing platform that lacks non-volatile storage (e.g., a 'diskless' platform) are provided. In response to detecting a platform error (e.g., automatically by hardware, software, or manually by a user when a wait or loop condition is suspected), platform error data may be gathered and temporarily stored in volatile storage accessible on the platform. In order to preserve the platform error data in the event power is lost after the error, the platform error data is transferred to a target system with access to non-volatile storage. Once the target system indicates the platform error data has been stored in non-volatile storage, the volatile storage used to temporarily store the platform error data may be freed-up.

A method and system for faster initial program loads by normally booting a data processing system without extended diagnostic tests is disclosed. A service processor is provided and located within the data processing system to monitor the data processing system during runtime operations for a system failure. When a system failure occurs, the service processor enables a diagnostic flag located in non-volatile memory. On the first or next boot of the data processing system after repair of the system failure, the diagnostic flag indicates to the service processor to perform an extended diagnostics test. Upon completion of the extended diagnostics test, the diagnostic flag is disabled and the service processor once again monitors the data processing system for a system failure.

Method and system for dynamically selecting a boot process within a data processing system

A computer system and method restart only affected system program code levels of a computer system in response to a program code update to one or more system program code levels in the computer system. An affected system program code level may be a system program code level that is modified by a program code update, as well as a system program code level that otherwise must be restarted in response to an update to another system program code level. By restarting only affected system program code levels in response to a program code update, the time required to perform many program code updates may be reduced. As a result, the downtime for the computer system may be minimized, thereby maximizing user access to enterprise-critical computer systems.

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Rochester, MN, United States of America

Salim Ahmed Agha