Hewlett-packard Development Company, L.p.

Stephen Patrick Hack

Ken Gary Pomaranski

Guy Lowell Kuntz

Howard Calkin

Jeff Barlow

Jeff Brauch

Lacey Joyal

Michael Christopher Sedmak

Raymond Gratias

Michael S Allison

John A Morrison

Nathan Jared Hughes

Stephen J Silva

Ray Gratias

Michael Sedmark

In one embodiment, a multiprocessor computer system comprises at least a first partition having a first operating system and a second partition having a second operating system, comprising logic in the first operating system to generate a request to remove a device from the first partition, logic in a firmware module in the computer system to invoke an ACPI interface eject method for the device in response to the request to remove the device, determine whether the device has memory spaced allocated to it by firmware in the computer system, and reject the ACPI interface eject method when the device has memory spaced allocated to it by firmware in the computer system.

Resource ejectability in multiprocessor systems

In one embodiment, a cache element allocation method is provided. Each cache element on a CPU is assigned a quality rank based on the error rate of the cache element. If an allocated cache element is deemed to be faulty, the quality rank of the faulty allocated cache element is compared with the quality rank of the non-allocated cache elements. If a non-allocated cache element has a lower quality rank than the allocated cache element, the non-allocated cache element is swapped in for the allocated cache element.

Systems and methods for CPU repair

In one embodiment, a CPU cache management system is provided. The CPU management system includes, for example, a CPU chip and cache management logic. The CPU chip include cache elements that are initially in use and spare cache elements that not initially in use. The cache management logic determines whether currently-used cache elements are faulty. If a cache element is determined to be faulty, the cache management logic schedules a reboot of the computer and swaps in a spare cache element for the faulty currently-used cache element during the reboot.

A method of allocating a resource in a computer system having a plurality of operating systems, and related system, are disclosed. In at least one embodiment, the method includes providing an advanced configuration and power interface (ACPI) operating to facilitate interactions between at least one of the plurality of the operating systems and one or more of the resource, a hardware device, and firmware, and determining whether the resource is allocated to a first of the plurality of operating systems. The method further includes ejecting the resource from the first operating system, and allocating the resource to a second of the plurality of operating systems.

Method and system for dynamically reallocating a resource among operating systems without rebooting of the computer system

In one embodiment, a multiprocessor computer system comprises at least a first partition having a first operating system comprising logic to initiate a request to add a first cell to the first partition, open a communication interface between the first operating system and a firmware module on the first cell, and transmit from the first partition to the first cell a compatibility command, logic in the first cell to determine whether the first cell is compatible with the first partition, and logic in the first partition to add the first cell to the first partition in response to a determination that the first cell is compatible with the first partition.

Cell compatibilty in multiprocessor systems

Provided is a method for restarting a computing platform to a state in which applications run in less time than an initial start, including powering on a computing platform having a plurality of devices; identifying one or more of the devices which are not critical to running applications; storing information about the non-critical devices; restarting the computing platform; retrieving the information about the non-critical devices; disabling the non-critical devices; performing at least one of testing and initialization of at least one device of the plurality of devices that are critical to running the applications before the restart is completed; offloading at least one of testing and initialization of at least one of the non-critical devices; enabling devices which are not non-critical; and enabling the non-critical devices after the restart is completed.

Method of restarting a computer platform

Systems and methods for repairing a processor are provided. In one embodiment, a method for repairing a processor is provided that includes, for example, the steps of initializing and executing an operating system, determining that a cache element is faulty, and swapping in a spare cache element for said faulty cache element while the operating system is executing.

Systems and methods for conducting processor health-checks are provided. In one embodiment, a method for evaluating the status of a processor is provided. The method includes, for example, initializing and executing an operating system, de-allocating the processor from the available pool or system resources and performing a health-check on the processor while the operating system is executing.

Methods and systems for conducting processor health-checks

In one embodiment, a method for repairing a faulty cache element is provided. Once a monitored cache element is determined to be faulty, the system stores the repair information, and cache configuration in an EEPROM or non-volatile memory on the CPU module. Then the computer is rebooted. During the reboot, the faulty cache element is repaired by being swapped out for a spare cache element based on the information stored in the EEPROM or the non-volatile memory.

Implementations of speedy boot for computer systems are disclosed. In an exemplary embodiment, a method of speedy boot for a computer system may include invoking a platform management interrupt (PMI) to soft reset a processor without resetting hardware for the processor. The method may also include bypassing at least some initialization procedures and tests to speed recovery of the computer system to a usable state. The method may also include resetting operating system interfaces and loading the operating system.

Growing community of inventors

Livermore, CO, United States of America

Stephen Patrick Hack