Hardware errors are stored in an error buffer for processing by one or more
system partitions within a computer system. When errors are first placed
in the buffer, an Already Reported Flag (ARF) is initialized to indicate
that the error has not yet been reported to any of the system partitions.
When one of the system partitions receives the corresponding error
information by running a diagnostics routine, the ARF is set indicating
that the error has been reported to at least one system partition. The
system partition, in turn, uses the ARF information to determine how to
handle the corresponding error. In an environment using a remote hardware
service provider, the ARF determines whether to transmit the error
information to the service provider. In environments without remote
service providers, the ARF information is used to highlight newly reported
errors to the user.
