System using an OS inaccessible interrupt handler to reset the OS when a device driver failed to set a register bit indicating OS hang condition
US6505298B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 25, 1999 |
| Grant date | Jan 7, 2003 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 25, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F11/0766
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
The present invention provides a method and system for providing a reset after an operating system (OS) hang condition in a computer system, the computer system including an interrupt handler not accessible by the OS. The method includes determining if an interrupt has been generated by a watchdog timer; monitoring for an OS hang condition by the interrupt handler if the interrupt has been generated and after it is known that the OS is operating; and resetting the OS if a device driver within the OS has not set a bit in a register, the bit for indicating that the OS is operating. The method and system in accordance with the present invention uses existing hardware and software within a computer system to reset the OS. The present invention uses a method by which a critical hardware watchdog periodically wakes a critical interrupt handler of the computer system. The critical interrupt handler determines if the OS is in a hang condition by polling a share hardware register that a device driver, running under the OS, will set periodically. If the critical interrupt handler does not see that the device driver has set the register bit, it will assume the OS has hung and will reset the s…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.