# US 2018/0322016 A1 · System and method to capture stored data following system crash > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2018/0322016 A1 - Document ID: US20180322016A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 15/587,904 - Filed: 2017-05-05 - Published: 2018-11-08 - Earliest claimed: 2017-05-05 - Assignees: Dell Products L.P. - Applicants: Dell Products L.P. - Inventors: Smruti Ranjan DEBATA; K. N. Ravishankar - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20180322016A1 ## CPC - G06F 11/1441: {Resetting or repowering} - G06F 11/0778: {Dumping, i.e. gathering error/state information after a fault for later diagnosis} - G06F 11/0757: {by exceeding a time limit, i.e. time-out, e.g. watchdogs} - G06F 2201/86: Event-based monitoring - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) ## Abstract A method and system respond to a system reset by executing a BIOS that establishes pre-OS communication with a baseboard management controller (BMC) and determines the state of a flag maintained by the BMC. The flag indicates whether the system reset was part of a crash event or a controlled shutdown. If the flag indicated a crash event, contents of the server cache are copied to a persistent secondary memory. The content of the secondary memory may then be sent to a management resource and/or to a remote management system. Before booting to an operating system and resuming normal operation, the flag may be SET. When a subsequent system resent occurs, the flag is cleared if the system reset is part of a controlled shutdown. Otherwise, the flag will remain set to indicate the crash event when the boot sequence is initiated. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method of operating an information handling system, the method comprising: initiating a boot sequence responsive to detecting a system reset, wherein the boot sequence includes: establishing pre-operating system communication with a management controller of the information handling system; detecting a state of a crash flag of the management controller; responsive to detecting the crash flag in a SET state, performing crash dump operations, comprising: saving a crash snapshot, comprising at least a portion of system memory contents, to a persistent secondary memory; and booting to the operating system and setting the crash flag to the SET state; and responsive to detecting a controlled shutdown of the information handling system, causing the management controller to set the crash flag to a RESET state. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the boot sequence includes basic input/output system (BIOS) operations corresponding to instructions stored in a BIOS storage device and wherein detecting the state of the crash flag comprises a BIOS operation. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the persistent secondary memory comprises a persistent storage selected from: a solid state drive (SSD), a non-volatile dual in-line memory module (NVDIMM), and a hard disk drive (HDD). ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The method of claim 3, further comprising: copying the crash snapshot to the management controller. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, further comprising: storing, by the management controller, the crash snapshot to a portable flash memory device via a universal serial bus. ### Claim 6 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, further comprising: forwarding, by the management controller, the crash snapshot to a remotely located management resource via an out of band interface coupled to a management network. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the crash snapshot includes a crash timestamp indicative of when the crash occurred. ### Claim 8 An information handling system comprising: a central processing unit; a BIOS storage device including BIOS instructions; a baseboard management controller (BMC); a computer readable medium including processor executable instruction's that, when executed, cause the information handling system to perform operations comprising: initiating a boot sequence responsive to detecting a system reset, wherein the boot sequence includes: establishing pre-operating system communication with the BMC; detecting a state of a crash flag of the BMC; responsive to detecting the crash flag in a SET state, performing crash dump operations, comprising: saving a crash snapshot, comprising at least a portion of system memory contents, to a persistent secondary memory; and booting to the operating system and setting the crash flag to the SET state; and responsive to detecting a controlled shutdown of the information handling system, causing the BMC to set the crash flag to a RESET state. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The information handling system of claim 8, wherein the boot sequence includes BIOS operations corresponding to the BIOS instructions and wherein detecting the state of the crash flag comprises a BIOS operation. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The information handling system of claim 8, wherein the persistent secondary memory comprises a solid state drive (SSD). ### Claim 11 (depends on 8) The information handling system of claim 8, further comprising: copying the crash snapshot to the management controller. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The information handling system of claim 11, further comprising: storing, by the management controller, the crash snapshot to a portable flash memory device via a universal serial bus. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The information handling system of claim 11, further comprising: forwarding, by the management controller, the crash snapshot to a remotely located management resource via an out of band interface coupled to a management network. ### Claim 14 (depends on 8) The information handling system of claim 8, wherein the crash snapshot includes a crash timestamp indicative of when the crash occurred. ### Claim 15 (depends on 8) The information handling system of claim 8, wherein the persistent secondary memory comprises a non-volatile dual in-line memory module (NVDIMM). ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The information handling system of claim 15, wherein saving the crash snapshot includes configuring the NVDIMM in an asynchronous DRAM save (ADR) state and asserting an NVDIMM save signal provided to a save pin of the NVDIMM. ### Claim 17 (depends on 8) The information handling system of claim 8, wherein the persistent secondary memory comprises hard disk drive (HDD) storage.