1. Field of The Invention
The present invention relates to debug cards, and more particularly to a debug card for debugging a computer system.
2. Description of Related Art
During a design phase, newly designed computer systems are not stable and reliable for mass-production, and include many firmware and software bugs. The newly designed computer systems require testing and debugging to improve their performance. A debug card is a very useful tool in the process of testing and debugging.
A typical debug card includes a microcontroller, a storage device connected to the microcontroller, and means for connecting the debug card to a bus of a computer system. The debug card receives information via the bus, and records the information in the storage device. The debug card also includes a plurality of seven-segment light emitting diodes (LEDs) to represent the captured information. However, the seven-segment LEDs often are limited in how much information they can convey, which may cause an operator performing the testing to be unclear regarding the debug information.
It is therefore desirable to find a new debug card to indicate the debug information clearly.
A debug card includes a controlling chipset and a VGA connector. The controlling chipset includes a data storage module, a data transforming module, and a VGA controller. The data storage module stores data received from the computer system, which represents the status of the computer system. The data transforming module transforms the data and transmits the transformed data to the VGA controller. The VGA connector interconnects the VGA controller and a VGA display to display the data.
Other advantages and novel features will be drawn from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments with attached drawings, in which:
Referring to
Referring to
When the computer system is on, a BIOS chipset in the computer system runs a power-on self-test (POST). The computer system outputs codes, which represent the status of the computer system, to port 80 or some other port during POST. The debug card 20 captures the codes during POST.
When the FRAME# signal is low, it shows a PCI packet is initiated;
Referring to
In the present embodiment of the invention, the debug card 20 retains the seven-segment LEDs 28 for back-up.
Further, the BIOS chipset 24 of the debug card 20 is able to serve as a back-up BIOS chipset if a BIOS chipset of the computer system breaks down. For example, when the computer system is powered on, the processor sends a memory read command. The BIOS chipset of the computer system will get this command and send corresponding data back. If the BIOS chipset of the computer system crashes or has bugs, the processor can't get the corresponding data to go on with a booting up process. In this case, the debug card 20 is inserted into a PCI slot of the motherboard, and the BIOS chipset 24 works. The memory read command is gotten and responded to by the BIOS chipset 24 instead of the BIOS chipset of the computer system, and the computer system boots up normally.
It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages have been set forth in the foregoing description of preferred embodiments, together with details of the structures and functions of the preferred embodiments, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.