Patent ID: 8115607

Claim:
A computer implemented method for the acoustic monitoring of an internal data processing system component, the method comprising the computer implemented steps of: selecting the internal data processing system component for diagnosis, wherein the internal data processing system component is within the data processing system, wherein the internal data processing system component has a microphone associated with the internal data processing system component, the microphone associated with the internal data processing system component being located proximate to the component; responsive to selecting an internal component for diagnosis, enabling the microphone associated with the internal data processing system component; responsive to enabling the microphone associated with the internal data processing system component, identifying an acoustic signal for the internal data processing system component; identifying an exemplar fingerprint for the internal data processing system component, wherein the exemplar fingerprint is selected from the group consisting of the exemplar fingerprint of a power-on self-test, and the exemplar fingerprint established during a running of an exerciser software for the internal data processing system component; responsive to identifying both the acoustic signal for the internal data processing system component and the exemplar fingerprint for the internal data processing system component, identifying whether the acoustic signal deviates from the exemplar fingerprint by more than a defined statistical variance; responsive to identifying that the acoustic signal deviates from the exemplar fingerprint by more than the defined statistical variance, storing the acoustic signal and an identity of the internal data processing system component in a failure log; and triggering a failure notification.