Use of service processor to retrieve hardware information

Abstract

Various techniques and hardware are described for retrieving information in a processing system. In one embodiment, a method is provided for retrieving information in a processing system that includes a central processing unit and a service processor. Here, the service processor retrieves central processing unit information from the central processing unit and resets the processing system after the retrieval of the central processing unit information.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A processing system comprising:
 a central processing unit;   a debug connection logic coupled to the central processing unit; and   a service processor coupled to the debug connection logic, the service processor to:
 determine that the central processing unit is stalled; 
 in response to determining that the central processing unit is stalled for a period of time, transmit a first signal to the debug connection logic in order to access the central processing unit for information; and 
 in response to the debug connection logic enabling the service processor to access the central processing unit for information, retrieve central processing unit information from the central processing unit. 
   
     
     
         2 . The processing system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a non-volatile memory resource; and   wherein the service processor further stores the retrieved central processing unit information in the non-volatile memory resource.   
     
     
         3 . The processing system of  claim 1 , wherein the service processor further analyzes the retrieved central processing unit information. 
     
     
         4 . The processing system of  claim 3 , wherein the service processor further resets the processing system based on analyzing the central processing unit information. 
     
     
         5 . The processing system of  claim 1 , wherein the service processor further transmits a second signal to the debug connection logic in response to completing retrieval of the central processing unit information, and wherein the second signal causes the debug connection logic to disable the service processor from accessing the central processing unit for information. 
     
     
         6 . The processing system of  claim 1 , wherein the debug connection logic includes a timer, the timer being set for a predefined time period once the first signal is received by the debug connection logic, and wherein upon expiration of the predefined time period, the debug connection logic disables the service processor from accessing the central processing unit for information. 
     
     
         7 . The processing system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 one or more sensors to detect one or more parameters of the processing system; and   wherein the service processor further receives information corresponding to the one or more parameters from the one or more sensors and determines whether a parameter of the one or more parameters has fallen below or has exceeded a corresponding threshold level.   
     
     
         8 . The processing system of  claim 7 , wherein when a parameter of the one or more parameters has fallen below or has exceeded a corresponding threshold level, the service processor records an event log corresponding to the parameter. 
     
     
         9 . The processing system of  claim 7 , wherein the one or more parameters corresponds to a temperature, a voltage, a current, or a fan speed associated with the processing system. 
     
     
         10 . A processing system comprising:
 a central processing unit;   a debug connection logic coupled to the central processing unit; and   a service processor coupled to the debug connection logic, the service processor to:
 detect that the central processing unit is stalled; 
 transmit an interrupt signal to the central processing unit; 
 determine that the central processing unit is still stalled for a period of time after transmitting the interrupt signal; 
 in response to determining that the central processing unit is still stalled, transmit a first signal to the debug connection logic in order to access the central processing unit for information; and 
 in response to the debug connection logic enabling the service processor to access the central processing unit for information, retrieve central processing unit information from the central processing unit. 
   
     
     
         11 . The processing system of  claim 10 , wherein the central processing unit comprises a test access interface and the service processor comprises a general purpose port different than the test access interface, and wherein the service processor retrieves the central processing unit information via the test access interface and the general purpose port. 
     
     
         12 . The processing system of  claim 10 , wherein the service processor further transmits a second signal to the debug connection logic in response to completing retrieval of the central processing unit information, and wherein the second signal causes the debug connection logic to disable the service processor from accessing the central processing unit for information. 
     
     
         13 . The processing system of  claim 10 , wherein the debug connection logic includes a timer, the timer being set for a predefined time period once the first signal is received by the debug connection logic, and wherein upon expiration of the predefined time period, the debug connection logic disables the service processor from accessing the central processing unit for information. 
     
     
         14 . The processing system of  claim 10 , wherein the service processor further resets the central processing unit after completing retrieval of the central processing unit information. 
     
     
         15 . A method of retrieving information in a processing system, the method being performed by a service processor and comprising:
 determining, by the service processor, that a central processing unit of the processing system is stalled;   in response to determining that the central processing unit is stalled for a period of time, transmitting a first signal from the service processor to a debug connection logic of the processing system in order to access the central processing unit for information, the debug connection logic being connected between the central processing unit and the service processor; and   in response to the debug connection logic enabling the service processor to access the central processing unit for information, retrieving central processing unit information from the central processing unit.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 storing the retrieved central processing unit information in a non-volatile memory resource of the processing system; and   analyzing the retrieved central processing unit information.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 storing the retrieved central processing unit information in a non-volatile memory resource of the processing system; and   transmitting the retrieved central processing unit information to another processing system.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 transmitting the retrieved central processing unit information to an administrative console as part of a message.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 transmitting a second signal to the debug connection logic in response to completing retrieval of the central processing unit information, wherein the second signal causes the debug connection logic to disable the service processor from accessing the central processing unit for information.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 resetting the central processing unit after completing retrieval of the central processing unit information.