Information processing device, its log control method, and program

Abstract

To provide an information processing device, a log control method therefor, and a program capable of identifying shutdowns caused by temperature. [Solution] The information processing device includes an OS 30 and a BIOS 31, which is firmware for controlling the motherboard. When a shutdown event is notified, the BIOS 31 stores temperature-related information in the RTCRAM 32. The log acquisition unit 35 acquires the temperature information stored in the RTCRAM 32 when the system starts up.

Description

Technical Field

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[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a log control method thereof, and a program.

Background Art

[0002] Information processing apparatuses such as notebook PCs and desktop PCs are provided with temperature sensors and are managed by an embedded controller (EC) so as not to reach a certain temperature or higher (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In general, an information processing apparatus is provided with a thermal shutdown function that forcibly shuts down when the temperature exceeds a predetermined threshold.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] When a forced shutdown is performed by a system, for some factors, it is possible to grasp the factors for which the shutdown was executed by referring to the event log of the OS. However, since this event log depends on the build of the OS, temperature information may not be recorded in the event log. Therefore, only the event log cannot stably acquire the thermal shutdown log, and when a shutdown due to temperature occurs, the factors may not be specified.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an information processing apparatus, a log control method thereof, and a program capable of specifying the factors when a shutdown due to temperature is performed. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] One aspect of the present invention is an information processing device comprising an OS and system firmware which is firmware for controlling a motherboard, wherein the system firmware stores information regarding temperature in a predetermined storage means when a shutdown event is notified.

[0007] One aspect of the present invention is a log control method for an information processing device comprising an OS and system firmware which is firmware for controlling a motherboard, wherein the system firmware stores information regarding temperature in a predetermined storage means when a shutdown event is notified.

[0008] One aspect of the present invention is a program for causing a computer to execute the log control method of the above-mentioned information processing device. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the present invention, when a shutdown occurs due to temperature, the cause can be identified. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0010] [Figure 1] This is a schematic diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of an information processing device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] This is a functional configuration diagram showing an example of the functions provided by the information processing device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] This flowchart shows an example of a log control method executed by the information processing device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] This is a functional configuration diagram showing an example of the functions provided by the information processing device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5]This flowchart shows an example of a log control method executed by an information processing device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0011] [First Embodiment] Below, an embodiment of the information processing device, its log control method, and program according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0012] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the information processing device 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 1, the information processing device 1 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit: processor) 11, main memory 12, secondary storage (memory) 13, flash memory 14, chipset 15, embedded controller 16, power supply circuit 17, input unit 18, video subsystem 19, and display unit 22, among others. Furthermore, the information processing device 1 may also include an audio system equipped with a microphone and speaker, a camera, various communication interfaces for communication (e.g., WLAN: Wireless Local Area Network), and an external interface for connecting external devices (e.g., a USB connector).

[0013] The CPU 11 controls the entire information processing device 1 using an OS (Operating System) stored in a secondary storage device 13 connected via a chipset 15, and performs various processes by executing various programs stored in the secondary storage device 13. One or more CPUs 11 may be provided and may cooperate with each other to achieve processing.

[0014] The main memory 12 is composed of volatile memory such as RAM (Random Access Memory), and is used as a workspace for temporarily storing the CPU 11's executable program and for reading and writing processing data by the executable program.

[0015] The secondary storage device 13 is a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Examples of secondary storage devices 13 include magnetic disks, magneto-optical disks, CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, and semiconductor memory. More specifically, examples of secondary storage devices 13 include HDDs (Hard Disk Drives), SSDs (Solid State Drives), and flash memory. The secondary storage device 13 stores, for example, an OS for controlling the entire information processing device such as Windows®, iOS®, and Android®, various device drivers for hardware operation of peripheral devices, various application software, and various data and files. The secondary storage device 13 also stores programs for implementing various processes and various data necessary for implementing those processes. Multiple secondary storage devices 13 may be provided, and the programs and data described above may be divided and stored in each secondary storage device 13.

[0016] The flash memory 14 is an electrically rewritable non-volatile memory, such as an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) or flash ROM. The flash memory 14 stores, for example, system firmware. The system firmware is the firmware that controls the motherboard. Examples of system firmware include BIOS (Basic Input Output System), UEFI firmware, and firmware for controlling the embedded controller 16.

[0017] The chipset 15 includes a controller that manages a plurality of bus interfaces such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus), SATA (Serial ATA), SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) bus, PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus, PCI-Express (PCIe) bus, and LPC (Low Pin Count) bus. Through these interfaces, storage devices such as the flash memory 14 and the secondary storage device 13, a network card (not shown), a video subsystem such as a GPU, and a plurality of devices such as USB peripheral devices are connected, and data transfer is performed.

[0018] The embedded controller 16 is, for example, a microcomputer, and controls the power circuit 17, controls the input unit 18 such as a keyboard, and performs cooling control by a fan (not shown).

[0019] The power circuit 17 supplies power to each part of the information processing device 1 based on a command from the embedded controller 16, for example.

[0020] The video subsystem 19 includes, for example, a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) and the like, receives a command from the CPU 11, and generates and controls the display content to the display unit 22.

[0021] The above-described CPU 11, flash memory 14, chipset 15, embedded controller 16, and power circuit 17 are mounted on, for example, the motherboard 25.

[0022] FIG. 2 is a functional configuration diagram showing an example of the functions provided in the information processing device 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the information processing device 1 includes an OS 30, a BIOS 31, and an RTCRAM (Real-Time Clock Random Access Memory) 32. Further, the information processing device 1 may include a log acquisition unit 35. As mentioned above, BIOS31 is the firmware (system firmware) that controls the motherboard 25.

[0023] For example, when a shutdown event occurs, OS30 notifies BIOS31 of a system shutdown command (event). This notification is carried out according to ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) methods (for example, the PTS (Prepare to Sleep) method).

[0024] A shutdown event occurs when certain shutdown conditions are met. One of these conditions is that "the system temperature exceeds a predetermined threshold CRT (Critical Temperature)." For example, the information processing device 1 is equipped with one or more temperature sensors. The OS 30 acquires the detected values ​​(temperature information) from the temperature sensors via the embedded controller 16. For example, if the temperature exceeds a predetermined threshold CRT, the OS 30 notifies the BIOS 31 of a system shutdown command.

[0025] The BIOS31 includes a log control unit33. When the log control unit 33 of the BIOS 31 receives a system shutdown command from the OS 30, it obtains temperature information from the OS 30 and stores the obtained temperature information in a predetermined storage unit. For example, when the log control unit 33 of BIOS31 receives a notification of system shutdown, it retrieves the temperature information held by OS30 using the ACPI_TMP method and stores it in RTCRAM32, which is accessible to BIOS31. After the temperature information is stored by the log control unit 33, BIOS31 shuts down the system.

[0026] The log acquisition unit 35 acquires temperature information stored in the RTCRAM 32 when the system starts up. This temperature information is acquired, for example, via the OS 30 and BIOS 31. The log acquisition unit 35 compares the acquired temperature information with a predetermined threshold CRT and determines that a shutdown caused by temperature has occurred if the temperature information exceeds the threshold CRT. The log acquisition unit 35 may, for example, display this determination result on the display unit 22 (Figure 1) and notify the user. Alternatively, the log acquisition unit 35 may transmit the determination result to an external server (for example, a server managed by the PC manufacturer) via the network. The log acquisition unit 35 is a function implemented, for example, by application software running on the OS 30.

[0027] Next, the log control method of the information processing device 1 will be explained with reference to the diagram. Figure 3 is a flowchart showing an example of a log control method performed by the information processing device 1.

[0028] First, when a shutdown event occurs in OS30, BIOS31 receives a shutdown event notification from OS30 (SA1).

[0029] When BIOS31 receives a shutdown event notification, it obtains temperature information from OS30 using the ACPI_TMP method (SA2), stores the obtained temperature information in RTCRAM32 (SA3), and then shuts down the system (SA4).

[0030] As described above, according to this embodiment, when a shutdown event is notified, the BIOS (system firmware) 31 stores temperature information in a predetermined storage unit (storage means) such as the RTCRAM 32. This makes it easy to determine whether or not a thermal shutdown has been performed by reading the information stored in the RTCRAM 32 during the next startup or fault analysis.

[0031] This will enable a reduction in analysis man-hours and time, for example, during the repair of the information processing device 1, thereby reducing development costs. Furthermore, it is expected to reduce maintenance service costs and shorten repair lead times. Furthermore, according to this embodiment, since BIOS31 conforms to the ACPI specification, it can be implemented regardless of the type of OS30.

[0032] Furthermore, according to the information processing device 1 of this embodiment, a log acquisition unit 35 is provided that reads temperature information stored in the RTCRAM 32 when the system starts up, so if a shutdown caused by temperature occurs, it is possible to notify the user or manufacturer of this fact.

[0033] In the embodiments described above, BIOS31 was given as an example of system firmware, but it is not limited to this. For example, similar processing could be performed using UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface). Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, temperature information is written to the RTCRAM32, but the information written to the RTCRAM32 is not limited to this. For example, the BIOS31 may compare the temperature information with a threshold CRT, and if the temperature information exceeds the threshold CRT, it may store information (for example, a predetermined code) indicating that the shutdown is due to temperature in a predetermined storage unit such as the RTCRAM32.

[0034] [Second Embodiment] Next, an information processing device, its log control method, and program according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. Figure 4 is a functional configuration diagram showing an example of the functions of the information processing device 1a according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the first embodiment described above, the BIOS 31 served as the system firmware and included the functions of the log control unit 33, which performed tasks such as writing temperature information. However, in this embodiment, the embedded controller 16a replaces the BIOS 31 and includes the functions of the log control unit 42. The hardware configuration in this embodiment is the same as that shown in Figure 1, so its description will be omitted, and the functions of the embedded controller 16a will be described in detail.

[0035] As shown in Figure 4, the embedded controller 16a includes a temperature control unit 41, a log control unit 42, and an ECRAM 43. The temperature control unit 41 acquires detected values ​​from the temperature sensor 50 and manages the temperature within the system. In Figure 4, only one temperature sensor 50 is shown, but multiple temperature sensors 50 may be provided within the system.

[0036] The temperature management unit 41 has thermal zones (multiple thresholds) for temperature management and manages the temperature within the system based on the thermal zones and temperature information. The temperature management unit 41 also notifies the OS 30 when the temperature exceeds a predetermined threshold CRT. For example, the temperature management unit 41 notifies the OS 30 of a "Thermal zone Event" via an SCI (System Control Interrupt) event interrupt.

[0037] The log control unit 42 stores temperature information in a predetermined storage unit when the temperature exceeds a predetermined threshold CRT. An example of such a storage unit is the ECRAM 43. The ECRAM 43 is assumed to have the function of retaining information even when the power is turned off.

[0038] Furthermore, after notifying the OS 30 of a "Thermal zone Event," the log control unit 42 stores information indicating that the shutdown was caused by temperature (for example, a thermal shutdown code) in a predetermined storage unit (for example, ECRAM 43) if the OS 30 performs a system shutdown within a predetermined period.

[0039] The log acquisition unit 35a acquires information stored in the ECRAM 43 of the embedded controller 16a when the system starts up. If the acquired information is a code for thermal shutdown, it determines that a shutdown caused by temperature has occurred. The log acquisition unit 35a may, for example, display this determination result on the display unit 22 (Figure 1) and notify the user. Alternatively, the log acquisition unit 35a may transmit the determination result via the network to an external server (for example, a server managed by the PC manufacturer). The log acquisition unit 35a is a function implemented, for example, by application software running on the OS 30.

[0040] Next, the log control method of the information processing device 1a will be explained with reference to the drawings. Figure 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a log control method performed by the information processing device 1.

[0041] First, the embedded controller 16a determines whether the temperature obtained from the temperature sensor 50 exceeds a predetermined value (SB1). If the result is that the temperature does not exceed a predetermined threshold CRT (SB1: NO), the embedded controller 16a repeats this process. On the other hand, if the temperature exceeds a predetermined threshold CRT, the embedded controller 16a notifies the OS 30 of a "Thermal zone Event" (SB2) and stores the temperature information at the time the event was notified in the ECRAM 43 (SB3).

[0042] Next, the embedded controller 16a determines whether a shutdown event was output from the OS 30 within a predetermined period after notifying the OS 30 of the "Thermal zone Event" (SB4). If, as a result, no shutdown event was output from the OS 30 within the predetermined period after notifying the OS 30 of the "Thermal zone Event" (SB4: NO), the process returns to step SB1. On the other hand, if a shutdown event was output from the OS 30 within the predetermined period after notifying the OS 30 of the "Thermal zone Event", the embedded controller 16a stores the thermal shutdown code in the ECRAM 43 (SB5).

[0043] As described above, according to this embodiment, when the temperature exceeds a predetermined threshold CRT, the embedded controller 16a notifies the OS 30 of a "Thermal zone Event" and stores the temperature at that time in the ECRAM 43. Then, if a system shutdown event is output from the OS 30 within a predetermined period after the notification of the "Thermal zone Event", a thermal shutdown code is stored in the ECRAM 43. This makes it easy to determine whether or not a thermal shutdown has been performed by reading the information stored in the ECRAM 43 during the next startup or failure analysis.

[0044] This will enable a reduction in analysis man-hours and time, for example, during the repair of the information processing device 1, thereby reducing development costs. Furthermore, it is expected to reduce maintenance service costs and shorten repair lead times.

[0045] Furthermore, since logs are recorded by the embedded controller 16a, the functions of the log control unit 42 can be easily implemented.

[0046] Furthermore, the information processing device 1a according to this embodiment includes a log acquisition unit 35a that reads temperature information stored in the ECRAM 43 when the system starts up, so if a shutdown caused by temperature occurs, it is possible to notify the user or manufacturer of this fact.

[0047] Although the present invention has been described above using embodiments, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments. Various modifications or improvements can be made to the above embodiments without departing from the spirit of the invention, and such modified or improved forms are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. Furthermore, the processing flow described in the above embodiment is merely an example, and unnecessary steps may be deleted, new steps added, or the processing order rearranged without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0048] For example, the log acquisition units 35 and 35a may not only determine thermal shutdowns but also provide appropriate support to the user based on factors such as the frequency of thermal shutdowns. For instance, if the frequency of thermal shutdowns is higher than a predetermined value, it may indicate that the information processing devices 1 and 1a are being used in an environment prone to thermal shutdowns. Therefore, if the frequency of thermal shutdowns is higher than a predetermined value, the log acquisition units 35 and 35a may provide useful information to avoid thermal shutdowns (for example, guidance to the user to avoid dust clogging of air intake and exhaust vents or use outside of guaranteed temperatures). This can improve the customer experience. [Explanation of symbols]

[0049] 1: Information Processing Device 1a: Information processing device 11: CPU 12: Main memory 13:Secondary storage device 14: Flash memory 15: Chipset 16: Embedded Controllers 16a: Embedded controller (system firmware) 17: Power supply circuit 18: Input section 19: Video Subsystem 22:Display section 25: Motherboard 30: OS 31: BIOS (System Firmware) 32:RTCRAM (memory section) 33: Log Control Unit 35: Log acquisition unit 35a: Log acquisition unit 41:Temperature control section 42: Log Control Unit 43:ECRAM (memory section) 50: Temperature sensor

Claims

1. OS and, System firmware, which is the firmware that controls the motherboard, and Equipped with, The system firmware is an information processing device that stores temperature-related information in a predetermined storage means when a shutdown event is notified.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the system firmware, when notified of the shutdown event, obtains temperature information from the OS and stores it in a predetermined storage means.

3. The system firmware, upon notification of the shutdown event, obtains temperature information from the OS. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, when the temperature information is above a predetermined value, information indicating that the shutdown is due to temperature is stored in a predetermined storage means.

4. The aforementioned system firmware is the BIOS, The information processing device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the BIOS obtains temperature information from the OS via ACPI when the shutdown event is notified.

5. The aforementioned system firmware is an embedded controller, The aforementioned embedded controller is When an event indicating that the system temperature has exceeded a predetermined threshold is notified to the OS, the temperature information is stored in the predetermined storage means. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein if the shutdown event is notified within a predetermined period from the notification of the event, information indicating that the shutdown is due to temperature is stored in a predetermined storage means.

6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, comprising a log acquisition unit that acquires temperature information from the predetermined storage means when the system is started.

7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3 or 5, comprising a log acquisition unit that acquires information from the predetermined storage means indicating that the shutdown is due to temperature when the system is started.

8. A log control method for an information processing device comprising an OS and system firmware which is firmware that controls the motherboard, The system firmware is a log control method for an information processing device that stores temperature-related information in a predetermined storage means when a shutdown event is notified.

9. A program for causing a computer to execute the log control method for the information processing device described in claim 8.

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