Systems and methods for cross operating environment diagnostic operations with context resume

1 . An Information Handling System (IHS), comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor, the memory having program instructions stored thereon that, upon execution, cause the IHS to:

receive a command over a mailbox interface, at a Basic Input/Output System (BIOS), from an Embedded Controller (EC), to perform a deep scan diagnostic operation, wherein the command is received in response to a request by a host Operating System (OS) application;

execute the deep scan diagnostic operation; and

store a result of the deep scan diagnostic operation in an Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) table;

wherein prior to execution of the deep scan diagnostic operation, save a context of the host OS application and to reboot to transition from a host OS environment to a BIOS environment;

wherein after diagnostics are completed, an auto-resume service restores the context of the host OS application using a registry; and

wherein the host OS validates a BIOS signature in the ACPI table and retrieve the result of the deep scan diagnostic operation from the ACPI table.

2 . The IHS of claim 1 , wherein the deep scan diagnostics comprise at least one of: a Power-On Self-Test (POST), a memory test, a processor test, a storage device test, a peripheral device check, a graphics card test, a network interface check, fan and temperature monitoring, power supply diagnostics, an integrated component test, a Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) battery check, an I/O controller test, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) controller test, a system clock check, or a PCIe device test.

3 . The IHS of claim 1 , wherein the program instructions, upon execution, cause the IHS to request a user's consent before execution of the deep scan diagnostic operation.

4 . The IHS of claim 1 , wherein the program instructions, upon execution, further cause the BIOS to notify the EC of the result.

5 . The IHS of claim 4 , wherein the host OS is configured to retrieve an indication of the real-time progress or status of the deep scan diagnostic operation from the EC.

6 . The IHS of claim 1 , wherein the program instructions, upon execution, further cause the BIOS to notify the EC of a real-time progress or status of the deep scan diagnostic operation.

7 . The IHS of claim 6 , wherein the host OS is configured to retrieve an indication of the real-time progress or status of the deep scan diagnostic operation from the EC.

8 . A method by an Embedded Controller (EC) of an Information Handling System (IHS), the method comprising:

in response to a request, from a host Operating System (OS) application, sending a command to a Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) over a mailbox interface to trigger a deep scan diagnostic operation by the BIOS, the BIOS storing a result of the deep scan operation in an Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) table;

receiving an indication of a result of the deep scan diagnostic operation from the BIOS; and

providing the indication to the host OS application;

wherein prior to execution of the deep scan diagnostic operation, saving a context of the host OS application and to reboot to transition from a host OS environment to a BIOS environment;

wherein after diagnostics are completed, restoring the context of the host OS application using a registry; and

wherein the host OS validates a BIOS signature in the ACPI table and retrieves the result of the deep scan diagnostic operation from the ACPI table.

9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising requesting a user's consent before execution of the deep scan diagnostic operation.

10 . A hardware memory device having program instructions stored thereon that, upon execution by a processor of an Information Handling System (IHS), cause the IHS to:

send a request, by a host Operating System (OS) application to an Embedded Controller (EC), to trigger a deep scan diagnostic operation by a Basic Input/Output System (BIOS), wherein the BIOS receives a command from the EC using a mailbox interface; and

receive an indication of a result of the deep scan diagnostic operation from the EC, wherein the result is stored by the BIOS in an Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) table;

wherein prior to execution of the deep scan diagnostic operation, save a context of the host OS application and to reboot to transition from a host OS environment to a BIOS environment;

wherein after diagnostics are completed, an auto-resume service restores the context of the host OS application using a registry; and

wherein the host OS application retrieves the result upon validation of the ACPI table with a BIOS signature.

11 . The hardware memory device of claim 10 , wherein the processor is part of a heterogeneous computing platform selected from the group consisting of: a System-On-Chip (SoC), a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), and an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC).

12 . The hardware memory device of claim 11 , wherein the heterogeneous computing platform comprises a Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC) processor coupled to the EC via an interconnect, and wherein the interconnect comprises at least one of: an Advanced Microcontroller Bus Architecture (AMBA) bus, a QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) bus, or a HyperTransport (HT) bus.