Running the System Diagnostics 117Running the System DiagnosticsIf you experience a problem with your system, run the diagnostics before calling for technical assistance.The purpose of the diagnostics is to test your system's hardware without requiring additional equipmentor risking data loss. If you are unable to fix the problem yourself, service and support personnel can usediagnostics test results to help you solve the problem.Using Dell PowerEdge DiagnosticsTo assess a system problem, first use the online Dell™ PowerEdge™ Diagnostics. Dell PowerEdgeDiagnostics is a suite of diagnostic programs, or test modules, that include diagnostic tests on chassisand storage components such as hard drives, physical memory, communications and printer ports,NICs, CMOS, and more. If you are unable to identify the problem using the PowerEdge Diagnostics,then use the system diagnostics.The files required to run PowerEdge Diagnostics for systems running supported Microsoft Windowsand Linux operating systems are available at support.dell.com and on the CDs that came with yoursystem. For information about using diagnostics, see the Dell PowerEdge Diagnostics User's Guide.System Diagnostics FeaturesThe system diagnostics provides a series of menus and options for particular device groups or devices.The system diagnostics menus and options allow you to:• Run tests individually or collectively.• Control the sequence of tests.• Repeat tests.• Display, print, or save test results.• Temporarily suspend testing if an error is detected or terminate testing when a user-defined errorlimit is reached.• View help messages that briefly describe each test and its parameters.• View status messages that inform you if tests are completed successfully.• View error messages that inform you of problems encountered during testing.
