Patent ID: 9697155
Date: 2017-07-04
CPC Classifications: G06F

Claim:
1. A computer system for detecting and configuring an external input/output (IO) enclosure, comprising: a processor; a PCI host bridge (PHB); said PHB connected to said processor and a plurality of PCIE add-in card slots connected to the PHB; one or more cables connecting between the PHB and the external enclosure, each cable including high and low cable; system firmware including detecting and configuring functions; said processor using said system firmware and sideband structure for detecting a PCIE cable card and configuring the external input/output (IO) enclosure; said processor using said system firmware and sideband structure responsive to detecting said PCIE cable card, determine a type cable card; read predefined registers and determine if cables are connected to said PCIE cable card; determine if cables are connected to an IO drawer by verifying sideband signals are trained and communication is successful; read modules Vital Product Data (VPD) through each of the high and low cables to identify matching serial numbers; determine an identity of an IO drawer to which each cable of the cables is connected and verify the connection of each cable of the cables is correct; determine if the one or more cables form an operable PCIE link; and responsive to detecting a degraded signal, performing a health check of the operable PCIE link.