An RTC reset device and a reset method

Abstract

An RTC reset device and method, wherein the device comprises: an RTC circuit configured to monitor the system power supply condition of a target system and supply power to the management engine firmware of the CPU of the target system through a power supply output terminal when the system power supply of the target system loses power; a control module, the input end of the control module is connected to the CPU of the target system, the first output end of the control module is connected to the power supply output terminal of the RTC circuit, and the control module is configured to receive a plurality of firmware monitoring signals from the CPU and control the level of the power supply output terminal of the RTC circuit to be pulled low according to the state changes of the plurality of firmware monitoring signals. The RTC reset device or method of the present invention can not only ensure that the firmware in the CPU does not lose configuration parameters due to power loss, but also attempt to automatically solve the problem by resetting the firmware when the device cannot be powered on due to firmware abnormality, thus greatly facilitating the maintenance and management work of the device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of servers, and in particular to an RTC reset device and a reset method. Background Art

[0002] RTC (Real_Time Clock), namely real-time clock, is an integrated circuit, which is often used to provide an accurate time reference for an electronic system or to continuously supply power to certain specific pins when the system is powered off or unexpectedly powered off to keep configuration parameters from disappearing, so as to facilitate a quick recovery when the system is powered on next time. In the field of servers, RTC is often used to keep the power supply of the ME (Management Engine) firmware of the CPU uninterrupted.

[0003] However, when the server is unexpectedly powered off, it may cause the ME firmware to malfunction, and it is necessary to try to recover by powering off and resetting the ME firmware. At this time, it is necessary to manually remove the battery in the RTC to forcibly cut off the power supply of the ME firmware, and then power on to automatically reset the ME firmware. This reset method requires disassembling the motherboard, which is not only cumbersome and prone to operation errors, but also time-consuming.

[0004] Therefore, an RTC power supply device that can automatically reset the CPU firmware is urgently needed in the art. Summary of the Invention

[0005] To solve the above technical problems, in one aspect of the present invention, an RTC reset device is proposed, including: an RTC circuit configured to monitor the system power supply of a target system and supply power to the management engine firmware of the CPU of the target system through a power supply output terminal when the system power supply of the target system is powered off; a control module, an input end of the control module is connected to the CPU of the target system, a first output end of the control module is connected to the power supply output terminal of the RTC circuit, and the control module is configured to receive a plurality of firmware monitoring signals from the CPU and control the level of the power supply output terminal of the RTC circuit to be pulled low according to the state changes of the plurality of firmware monitoring signals.

[0006] In one or more embodiments, the plurality of firmware monitoring signals include: a first monitoring signal for monitoring whether the management engine firmware is ready, and the ready state is a high level; a second monitoring signal and a third monitoring signal for monitoring the abnormality of the management engine firmware, and the normal state is a high level; a fourth monitoring signal for monitoring the abnormal startup of the target system, and the normal startup state is a high level.

[0007] In one or more embodiments, the control module is further configured to: in response to the first monitoring signal, the second monitoring signal, or the third monitoring signal transitioning from a high level to a low level, and the number of consecutive times the fourth monitoring signal transitions from a high level to a low level reaching a preset number of times, control to pull down the level of the power supply output terminal of the RTC circuit.

[0008] In one or more embodiments, the preset number of times is configured to be modifiable.

[0009] In one or more embodiments, the preset number of times is at least 5 times.

[0010] In one or more embodiments, the duration of the action of pulling down the level of the power supply output terminal of the RTC circuit is at least 5 seconds.

[0011] In one or more embodiments, the control module is further configured to: in response to the duration of the action of pulling down the level of the power supply output terminal of the RTC circuit reaching a preset time, release the state of pulling down the level of the power supply output terminal.

[0012] In one or more embodiments, the RTC circuit includes a battery, and the RTC circuit is configured to control to connect to the system power supply or supply power to the firmware of the CPU through the battery.

[0013] In one or more embodiments, the control module is connected to the CPU through a GPIO bus.

[0014] In a second aspect of the present invention, an RTC reset method is proposed, and the method includes: obtaining a plurality of firmware monitoring signals of the CPU; controlling to pull down the level of the power supply output terminal of the RTC circuit according to the state changes of the plurality of firmware monitoring signals; in response to the duration of the action of pulling down the level of the power supply output terminal of the RTC circuit reaching a preset time, releasing the state of pulling down the level of the power supply output terminal.

[0015] The beneficial effects of the present invention include: The RTC reset device or method of the present invention can not only ensure that the configuration parameters of the firmware in the CPU are not lost due to power failure, but also attempt to automatically solve the problem by resetting the firmware when the device cannot be powered on due to firmware anomalies, thus greatly facilitating the maintenance and management work of the device. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other embodiments can be obtained based on these drawings without creative efforts.

[0017] Figure 1 This is a circuit diagram of an RTC reset device of the present invention;

[0018] Figure 2 This is a flowchart of the operation of an RTC reset method of the present invention;

[0019] Figure 3 This is a flowchart of the specific embodiment operation of an RTC reset method of the present invention. Detailed implementation manners

[0020] To make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more clear and understandable, the following further details the embodiments of the present invention with reference to specific embodiments and the accompanying drawings.

[0021] It should be noted that all expressions using "first" and "second" in the embodiments of the present invention are used to distinguish two entities or parameters with the same name but different identities. It can be seen that "first" and "second" are only for the convenience of expression and should not be construed as a limitation on the embodiments of the present invention. This will not be elaborated one by one in the subsequent embodiments.

[0022] Figure 1 This is a circuit diagram of an RTC reset device of the present invention. The RTC reset device of the present invention can not only ensure that the firmware in the CPU does not lose configuration parameters due to power failure, but also attempt to solve the problem by automatically resetting the firmware when the system cannot be powered on due to firmware anomalies. Specifically, as Figure 1 shown, the RTC reset device of the present invention includes: an RTC circuit 100 configured to monitor the system power supply situation of the target system and supply power to the management engine firmware of the CPU of the target system through a power supply output terminal (3) when the system power supply (P3V3_AUX) of the target system loses power; a control module 200, the input end of the control module 200 is connected to the CPU of the target system, the first output end of the control module 200 is connected to the power supply output terminal (3) of the RTC circuit, and the control module 200 is configured to receive a plurality of firmware monitoring signals from the CPU and control the level of the power supply output terminal of the RTC circuit to be pulled low according to the state changes of the plurality of firmware monitoring signals.

[0023] More specifically, as Figure 1As shown, the power supply output terminal (3) of the RTC can output system power supply (P3V3_AUX) or RTC battery power supply. Which power supply to output is determined by the RTC itself. Under normal circumstances, the power supply output terminal of the RTC must have power supply output. The essence of this power supply mechanism of the RTC is to ensure that the management engine firmware in the CPU does not lose power, so as to ensure that the configuration parameters do not disappear. However, what the existing RTC systems do not consider is that when the system suddenly loses power due to a fault, it may cause the management engine firmware to malfunction. At this time, if you want to reload the firmware configuration by reset, you have to cut off the power of the firmware, so you have to spend time and effort to remove the RTC battery on the motherboard and switch the system power supply to clear the configuration in the firmware. The RTC reset device of the present invention can not only automatically cut off the power supply output of the RTC, but also automatically identify whether the fault can be restored by resetting the management engine firmware, thus greatly facilitating the maintenance and management of the device.

[0024] In one embodiment, the multiple firmware monitoring signals include: a first monitoring signal (SLP_A), which is used to monitor whether the management engine firmware is ready. When it is ready, it is at a high level. When it jumps from a high level to a low level, it indicates that there is a fault in the preparation of the management engine firmware (such as not being normally loaded); a second monitoring signal (SLP_S3#) and a third monitoring signal (SLP_S4#), which are used to monitor the abnormality of the management engine firmware. Normally, they are both at a high level. When they jump from a high level to a low level, it indicates that there is a fault in the operation of the management engine firmware; a fourth monitoring signal (CATERR), which is used to monitor the abnormal startup of the target system. When the system starts up normally, it is at a high level. When it jumps from a high level to a low level, it indicates a startup fault. When the system fails to start up normally, the system will try to start up again.

[0025] In one embodiment, the control module 200 is further configured to: in response to the first monitoring signal, the second monitoring signal or the third monitoring signal jumping from a high level to a low level, and the number of consecutive times that the fourth monitoring signal jumps from a high level to a low level reaches a preset number of times, control to pull down the level of the power supply output terminal of the RTC circuit. Among them, in order to obtain each firmware monitoring signal in real time, the control module 200 is connected to the CPU through the GPIO bus, and the preset number of times is configured to be modifiable.

[0026] Specifically, the reset method can only solve problems in software configuration. Therefore, before resetting the management engine firmware, the present invention needs to identify the cause of the failure. If the failure is caused by a hardware failure of the flash chip of the firmware, the reset will not only fail to solve the problem but may also cause the loss of important configuration parameters. And generally, when there is a problem with the firmware configuration, the most common phenomenon is that the device cannot boot normally. The present invention can determine that there is a problem with the firmware loading or operation when it continuously detects that the device cannot boot normally five times and there is a management engine firmware failure signal during the repeated boot process.

[0027] In one embodiment, to ensure that all configuration parameters are cleared during reset, the duration of the action of pulling down the level of the power supply output terminal of the RTC circuit is at least 5 seconds.

[0028] In one embodiment, in response to the duration of the action of pulling down the level of the power supply output terminal of the RTC circuit reaching the preset time, the state of pulling down the level of the power supply output terminal is released. After that, the firmware will be powered on again and automatically obtain the initial configuration from the system and attempt to restart with the initial configuration.

[0029] In the second aspect of the present invention, an RTC reset method is also proposed. As Figure 2 shown, the RTC reset method of the present invention includes: Step S1, obtaining multiple firmware monitoring signals of the CPU; Step S2, controlling the pulling down of the level of the power supply output terminal of the RTC circuit according to the state changes of the multiple firmware monitoring signals; and Step S3, in response to the duration of the action of pulling down the level of the power supply output terminal of the RTC circuit reaching the preset time, releasing the state of pulling down the level of the power supply output terminal. Among them, Figure 2 is the working process of the RTC reset method of the present invention.

[0030] In one embodiment, Step S2 further includes: S2.1 determining whether the system boots normally; otherwise, determining whether the fourth signal has an automatic jump from high level to low level (i.e., determining whether the system is attempting to restart); if yes, then executing Step S2.2 to determine whether there is a failure signal of the first monitoring signal, the second monitoring signal, or the third monitoring signal during the boot process, specifically manifested as a jump from high level to low level; where the first monitoring signal is used to monitor whether the management engine firmware is ready, and high level indicates readiness; the second monitoring signal and the third monitoring signal are used to monitor the abnormality of the management engine firmware, and high level indicates that the management engine firmware is running normally; then executing Step S2.3 to determine whether S2.1 and S2.2 occur continuously 5 times; if yes, then controlling the pulling down of the level of the power supply output terminal of the RTC circuit and executing Step S3. Please refer to the above process Figure 3 , Figure 3 is the specific embodiment working flowchart of an RTC reset method of the present invention.

[0031] The RTC reset method of the present invention can not only ensure that the firmware in the CPU does not lose configuration parameters due to power failure, but also attempt to automatically solve the problem by resetting the firmware when the device cannot be powered on due to firmware anomalies, thus greatly facilitating the maintenance and management of the device.

[0032] In a third aspect of the present invention, a control device is further proposed. An executable computer program is stored in the memory of the control device, and when the computer program is executed, it is used to implement the steps of the following method:

[0033] Step S1, obtaining a plurality of firmware monitoring signals of the CPU; Step S2, controlling the level of the power supply output terminal of the RTC circuit to be pulled low according to the state changes of the plurality of firmware monitoring signals; and Step S3, in response to the duration of the action of pulling low the level of the power supply output terminal of the RTC circuit reaching a preset time, releasing the state of pulling low the level of the power supply output terminal. Among them, Figure 2 This is the working process of the RTC reset method of the present invention.

[0034] In one embodiment, Step S2 further includes: S2.1 determining whether the system boots up normally; otherwise, determining whether there is an automatic jump from a high level to a low level of the fourth signal (i.e., determining whether the system is attempting to reboot); if yes, then executing Step S2.2 to determine whether there are fault signals of the first monitoring signal, the second monitoring signal, or the third monitoring signal during the boot process, specifically manifested as a jump from a high level to a low level; among them, the first monitoring signal is used to monitor whether the management engine firmware is ready, and a high level indicates readiness; the second monitoring signal and the third monitoring signal are used to monitor anomalies of the management engine firmware, and a high level indicates that the management engine firmware is running normally; then executing Step S2.3 to determine whether S2.1 and S2.2 occur continuously 5 times; if yes, then controlling the level of the power supply output terminal of the RTC circuit to be pulled low, and executing Step S3.

[0035] The RTC reset method of the present invention can not only ensure that the firmware in the CPU does not lose configuration parameters due to power failure, but also attempt to automatically solve the problem by resetting the firmware when the device cannot be powered on due to firmware anomalies, thus greatly facilitating the maintenance and management of the device.

[0036] In a fourth aspect of the present invention, a readable storage medium is further proposed. An executable computer program is stored in the readable storage medium, and when the computer program is executed, it is used to implement the steps of the following method:

[0037] Step S1: Obtain multiple firmware monitoring signals of the CPU; Step S2: Control the level of the power supply output terminal of the RTC circuit to be pulled low according to the state changes of the multiple firmware monitoring signals; and Step S3: In response to the duration of the action of pulling low the level of the power supply output terminal of the RTC circuit reaching a preset time, release the state of pulling low the level of the power supply output terminal. Among them, Figure 2 This is the working process of the RTC reset method of the present invention.

[0038] In one embodiment, Step S2 further includes: S2.1 Determine whether the system boots up normally; otherwise, determine whether there is an automatic jump from high level to low level of the fourth signal (i.e., determine whether the system is attempting to reboot); if so, execute Step S2.2 to determine whether there are fault signals of the first monitoring signal, the second monitoring signal, or the third monitoring signal during the boot process, specifically manifested as a jump from high level to low level; among them, the first monitoring signal is used to monitor whether the management engine firmware is ready, and high level indicates readiness; the second monitoring signal and the third monitoring signal are used to monitor the abnormality of the management engine firmware, and high level indicates that the management engine firmware is running normally; then execute Step S2.3 to determine whether S2.1 and S2.2 occur continuously for 5 times; if so, control the level of the power supply output terminal of the RTC circuit to be pulled low, and execute Step S3.

[0039] The RTC reset method of the present invention can not only ensure that the firmware in the CPU does not lose configuration parameters due to power failure, but also attempt to automatically solve the problem by resetting the firmware when it cannot boot due to firmware abnormality, thus greatly facilitating the maintenance and management work of the device.

[0040] The above are exemplary embodiments disclosed by the present invention. However, it should be noted that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the embodiments disclosed by the present invention as defined by the claims. The functions, steps, and / or actions of the method claims according to the disclosed embodiments herein do not need to be executed in any specific order. In addition, although the elements disclosed by the embodiments of the present invention can be described or claimed in individual form, they can also be understood as multiple unless explicitly limited to the singular.

[0041] It should be understood that, as used herein, unless the context clearly supports an exception, the singular form "a" is also intended to include the plural form. It should also be understood that the "and / or" used herein refers to any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

[0042] The above serial numbers of the disclosed embodiments of the present invention are only for description and do not represent the superiority or inferiority of the embodiments.

[0043] Those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that any discussion of the above embodiments is merely exemplary and is not intended to imply that the scope (including the claims) of the disclosure of the embodiments of the present invention is limited to these examples; under the concept of the embodiments of the present invention, the technical features in the above embodiments or different embodiments can also be combined, and there are many other variations in different aspects of the embodiments of the present invention as above, which are not provided in detail for the sake of brevity. Therefore, any omission, modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the embodiments of the present invention shall be included within the protection scope of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. An RTC reset device, characterized in that, include: An RTC circuit is configured to monitor the system power supply of the target system and to supply power to the management engine firmware of the CPU of the target system through a power supply output terminal when the system power supply of the target system is powered off; A control module, wherein an input end of the control module is connected to a CPU of the target system, a first output end of the control module is connected to a power supply output end of the RTC circuit, and the control module is configured to receive a plurality of firmware monitoring signals from the CPU, and control the power supply output end of the RTC circuit to be pulled down according to state changes of the plurality of firmware monitoring signals; The plurality of firmware monitoring signals include: A first monitoring signal, used to monitor whether the management engine firmware is ready, and a high level is displayed when it is ready; The second monitoring signal and the third monitoring signal are used to monitor the abnormality of the management engine firmware, and are normally at high level; A fourth monitoring signal, used to monitor the abnormal startup of the target system, and a high level for normal startup; The control module is also configured to: In response to the first monitoring signal, the second monitoring signal or the third monitoring signal jumping from a high level to a low level, and the fourth monitoring signal jumping from a high level to a low level for a consecutive number of times reaching a preset number, the power supply output terminal of the RTC circuit is controlled to be pulled down.

2. The RTC reset device according to claim 1, wherein The preset number of times is configured to be modifiable.

3. The RTC reset device according to claim 1, wherein The preset number of times is at least 5 times.

4. The RTC reset device according to claim 1, wherein The duration of the action of lowering the level of the power supply output terminal of the RTC circuit is at least 5 seconds.

5. The RTC reset device according to claim 4, characterized in that, The control module is also configured to: In response to the duration of the action of pulling down the level of the power supply output terminal of the RTC circuit reaching a preset time, the state of pulling down the level of the power supply output terminal is released.

6. The RTC reset device according to claim 1, wherein The RTC circuit includes a battery, and is configured to control access to a system power source or to power the firmware of the CPU through the battery.

7. The RTC reset device according to claim 1, wherein The control module is connected to the CPU via a GPIO bus.

8. An RTC reset method, characterized in that, The RTC reset method is implemented based on the RTC reset device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, and the method includes: Get multiple firmware monitoring signals of the CPU; Controlling to lower the level of the power supply output terminal of the RTC circuit according to the state changes of the multiple firmware monitoring signals; In response to the duration of the action of pulling down the level of the power supply output terminal of the RTC circuit reaching a preset time, the state of pulling down the level of the power supply output terminal is released.

Images