Method and apparatus for providing improved diagnostic functions in a computer system

Claim 2

In a computer system in which a system boot failure occurs, a method comprising: invoking a diagnostic setup process in response to the system boot failure; performing the diagnostics setup process, the diagnostics setup process being performed by a software system stored in the flash memory of the computer system, the diagnostic setup process including: basic input/ouput processes stored in a main memory of the computer system; a system test process stored in a flash memory of the computer system; a device driver stored in a flash memory of the computer system; wherein said system test process and said device driver are adapted to function even though the operating system of the computer cannot be booted, wherein the main memory is coupled to a memory bus, and wherein the flash memory is coupled to one of the memory bus and a local bus; polling said device driver for available commands; determining a cause of the system boot failure; and providing an indication to a user that a problem exists.

Claim 3

The method of claim 1 , wherein the flash memory is a flash electrically erasable read only memory (EEPROM) memory array.

Claim 4

The method of claim 1 , wherein performing the diagnostics setup process further comprises: invoking the system test process to diagnose and correct functions of the computer system, the system test process to also determine system resource needs; establishing data structures defining hardware elements of the computer system; determining an address of a dispatcher process associated with the device driver; and initializing the device driver.

Claim 5

The method of claim 1 , wherein determining a cause of the system boot failure further comprises: invoking additional processes which attempt to correct detected problems.

Claim 6

The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the main memory is coupled to a memory bus.

Claim 7

The computer system of claim 1 wherein the flash memory is coupled to one of the memory bus or a local bus.

Claim 8

The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises: providing an indication to a user that a problem exists.

Claim 9

A machine-readable medium having stored thereon a set of instructions, said set of instructions, when executed by a processor in a computer system in which a system boot failure occurs, to cause said processor to perform a method, comprising: invoking a diagnostic setup process in response to the system boot failure; performing the diagnostics setup process, the diagnostics setup process being performed by a software system stored in the flash memory of the computer system, the diagnostic setup process including basic input/ouput processes stored in a main memory of the computer system, a system test process stored in a flash memory of the computer system, and a device driver stored in a flash memory of the computer system, wherein said system test process and said device driver are adapted to function even though the operating system of the computer cannot be booted, wherein the main memory is coupled to a memory bus, and wherein the flash memory is coupled to one of the memory bus or a local bus; polling said device driver for available commands; determining a cause of the system boot failure; and providing an indication to a user that a problem exists.

Claim 10

A machine-readable medium having stored thereon a set of instructions, said set of instructions, when executed by a processor in a computer system in which a system boot failure occurs, to cause said processor to perform a method, comprising: invoking a diagnostic setup process in response to the system boot failure; performing the diagnostics setup process, the diagnostics setup process being performed by a software system stored in the flash memory of the computer system, the diagnostic setup process including basic input/ouput processes stored in a main memory of the computer system, a system test process stored in a flash memory of the computer system, and a device driver stored in a flash memory of the computer system, wherein said system test process and said device driver are adapted to function even though the operating system of the computer cannot be booted, wherein the main memory is coupled to a memory bus, and wherein the flash memory is coupled to one of the memory bus or a local bus; polling said device driver for available commands; determining a cause of the system boot failure; and providing an indication to a user that a problem exists.

Claim 11

The machine-readable medium of claim 8 , further comprising instructions, which when executed by the processor in response to a system boot failure, cause the processor to perform a method further comprising: invoking the system test process to diagnose and correct functions of the computer system, the system test process to determine system resource needs; establishing data structures defining hardware elements of the computer system; determining an address of a dispatcher process associated with the device driver; and initializing the device driver.

Claim 12

A computer system, comprising: a processor; a memory bus coupled with the processor; an input device coupled with the processor; a main memory coupled to the memory bus, the main memory to store a diagnostic setup process, the diagnostic setup process including basic input/output (BIOS) processes; and a flash memory coupled to the memory bus, the flash memory to store a system test process and a device driver, the system test process and the device driver enabled to be executed from said flash memory in response to a system boot failure of the computer system, wherein the system test process and the device driver are adapted to function even though the operating system of the computer cannot be booted.

Claim 13

A computer system, comprising: a processor; a memory bus coupled with the processor; an input device coupled with the processor; a main memory coupled to the memory bus, the main memory to store a diagnostic setup process, the diagnostic setup process including basic input/output (BIOS) processes; and a flash memory coupled to the memory bus, the flash memory to store a system test process and a device driver, the system test process and the device driver enabled to be executed from said flash memory in response to a system boot failure of the computer system, wherein the system test process and the device driver are adapted to function even though the operating system of the computer cannot be booted.

Claim 14

The computer system of claim 10 , further comprising: a display device coupled with the processor to display an indication to a user that a problem has been detected.

Claim 15

The computer system of claim 10 , wherein the system test process is in communication with the device driver.

Claim 16

A computer system, comprising: a processor coupled to a bus bridge through a processor bus within the computer system; a main memory to store basic input/output processes, the main memory coupled to the bus bridge through the memory bus; a local bus coupled to the bus bridge; a plurality of bus master components coupled to the local bus; a flash memory coupled to the local bus, flash memory including a system test process enabled to executed from said flash memory in response to a system boot failure within the computer system; a device driver to control an operation of a first component device coupled to the computer system, the device driver to be stored in the flash memory and enabled to be executed from the flash memory in response to a system boot failure within the computer system, wherein the device driver provides communication with the first component device; a kernel process to provide communication with the device driver, the kernel process to be stored in the flash memory and enabled to be executed from the flash memory in response to a system boot failure within the computer system; wherein the system test process and the device driver are adapted to function even though an operating system of the computer cannot be booted.

Claim 17

A computer system, comprising: a processor coupled to a bus bridge through a processor bus within the computer system; a main memory to store basic input/output processes, the main memory coupled to the bus bridge through the memory bus; a local bus coupled to the bus bridge; a plurality of bus master components coupled to the local bus; a flash memory coupled to the local bus, flash memory including a system test process enabled to executed from said flash memory in response to a system boot failure within the computer system; a device driver to control an operation of a first component device coupled to the computer system, the device driver to be stored in the flash memory and enabled to be executed from the flash memory in response to a system boot failure within the computer system, wherein the device driver provides communication with the first component device; a kernel process to provide communication with the device driver, the kernel process to be stored in the flash memory and enabled to be executed from the flash memory in response to a system boot failure within the computer system; wherein the system test process and the device driver are adapted to function even though an operating system of the computer cannot be booted.

Claim 18

The computer system of claim 13 , wherein the local bus is a peripheral component interface (PCI) bus.

Claim 19

The computer system of claim 13 , wherein the flash memory is a flash electrically erasable read only memory (EEPROM) array.