Methods and device and system for collecting data

Methods and arrangements to collect data related to the state or conditions of a system are described herein. Embodiments may comprise a data identifier to identify data to collect in response to an event and a data collector to collect the identified data. The data collector may comprise firmware, code in ROM, a state machine, and/or other logic, and the data identifier may also comprise firmware, code in ROM, a state machine, and/or other logic that may access information and/or code in a file or other data storage to identify the data to collect. The data storage may comprise information and/or code to identify the location of data to collect and, in some embodiments, the sequence with which to collect the data. For example, such a file may comprise an address or address range within memory of a specific component of the system such as a memory controller.