Dell PowerEdge 4200 Installation And Troubleshooting Manual

Also see for PowerEdge 4200 Series: Rack installation Rack installation Installation guide User guide Service manual

Contents

Dell PowerEdge 4200 Installation And Troubleshooting Manual Manual pdf 53 page image

Running the System Diagnostics 5-15SubtestsThe four diskette drive subtests in the Diskette DrivesTest Group and the drive functions they test follow:• Change Line TestChecks for bent pins on the diskette drive controllerand for defective lines on the diskette cable• Seek TestChecks the drive’s ability to search for a specifiedtrack on the diskette and to position its read/writeheads to all tracks• Read TestPositions the read/write heads at each cylinder of thediskette for reading data and verifies that all trackson the diskette can be read correctly• Write TestPositions the read/write heads at each cylinder of thediskette and verifies that all tracks on the diskettecan be written to correctlyWhy Run a Diskette Drives Test?Very often, a diskette drive problem may first appear tobe a diskette problem. A box of defective diskettes mightproduce faulty-drive error messages. The test results canbe confusing, so Dell suggests running the subtests in theDiskette Drives Test Group more than once using dis-kettes from different sources.A command that is typed in an incorrect form (usuallycalled a syntax error) is another possible cause of diskettedrive problems. Be sure you have entered the commandin the proper form.If the diskette(s) and command syntax are eliminated ascauses, the following symptoms usually suggest a driveproblem and warrant running a subtest in the DisketteDrives Test Group:• An error message appears on the screen stating thatthe computer cannot read from or write to a diskette.• A diskette cannot be properly formatted, or formaterror messages appear on the screen.• Data on diskettes is corrupted or lost; these problemsmay be intermittent.Serial/Infrared Ports Test GroupThe subtests in the Serial/Infrared Ports Test Groupcheck the computer’s interface with external devices,such as a printer and a mouse, that are connected to thecomputer through a serial or infrared port. The subtests inthis test group are not intended as a diagnostic test for theactual peripheral attached to each port.NOTES: With certain modems installed, the subtests inthe Serial/Infrared Ports Test Group may fail because themodem appears to the diagnostics as a serial or infraredport, but it cannot be tested as a serial or infrared port. Ifa modem is installed and one of the subtests in the Serial/Infrared Ports Test Group fails, remove the modem andrun the diagnostic tests again.If an external loopback connector is not attached to aserial or infrared port, the Serial External TransmissionTest will fail for that port and the results of this testshould be ignored. An external modem connected to theport does not substitute for an external loopbackconnector.SubtestsThe four subtests in the Serial/Infrared Ports Test Groupand the port functions they test follow:• Serial/Infrared Baud Rate TestChecks the baud rate generator in each serial com-munications chip against the computer’s clock• Serial/Infrared Interrupt TestChecks the serial port’s ability to send IRQs to themicroprocessor• Serial/Infrared Internal Transmission TestChecks several internal functions of the serial portusing the internal loopback mode of the serial com-munications chip• Serial External Transmission TestIf a loopback device is attached, checks the line con-trol bits of the serial port and sends a test pattern atseveral baud rates, checking the returned values