Checkout procedureThe checkout procedure is the sequence of tasks that you should follow todiagnose a problem in the server.About the checkout procedureBefore performing the checkout procedure for diagnosing hardware problems,review the following information:v Read the safety information that begins on page vii.v The diagnostic programs provide the primary methods of testing the majorcomponents of the server, such as the system board, ethernet controller,keyboard, mouse (pointing device), serial ports, and hard disk drives. You canalso use them to test some external devices. If you are not sure whether aproblem is caused by the hardware or by the software, you can use thediagnostic programs to confirm that the hardware is working correctly.v When you run the diagnostic programs, a single problem might cause more thanone error message. When this happens, correct the cause of the first errormessage. The other error messages usually will not occur the next time you runthe diagnostic programs.Exception: If there are multiple error codes or LEDs that indicate amicroprocessor error, the error might be in a microprocessor or in amicroprocessor socket. See “Microprocessor problems” on page 47 forinformation about diagnosing microprocessor problems.v Before running the diagnostic programs, you must determine whether the failingserver is part of a shared hard disk drive cluster (two or more servers sharingexternal storage devices). If it is part of a cluster, you can run all diagnosticprograms except the ones that test the storage unit (that is, a hard disk drive inthe storage unit) or the storage adapter that is attached to the storage unit. Thefailing server might be part of a cluster if any of the following conditions is true:– You have identified the failing server as part of a cluster (two or more serverssharing external storage devices).– One or more external storage units are attached to the failing server and atleast one of the attached storage units is also attached to another server orunidentifiable device.– One or more servers are located near the failing server.Important: If the server is part of a shared hard disk drive cluster, run one testat a time. Do not run any suite of tests, such as “quick” or “normal” tests,because this might enable the hard disk drive diagnostic tests.v If the server is halted and a POST error code is displayed, see “Error logs” onpage 22. If the server is halted and no error message is displayed, see“Troubleshooting tables” on page 41 and “Solving undetermined problems” onpage 84.v For information about power-supply problems, see “Solving power problems” onpage 82.v For intermittent problems, check the error log; see “Error logs” on page 22 and“Diagnostic programs, messages, and error codes” on page 58.Chapter 2. Diagnostics 39
