IBM xSeries 346 Hardware Maintenance Manual And Troubleshooting Manual

Also see for xSeries 346: Installation guide User guide Configuration and options guide Option installation guide User guide

Contents

Chapter 3. DiagnosticsThis section provides basic troubleshooting information to help you resolve somecommon problems that might occur with your server.If you cannot locate and correct the problem using the information in this section,see Appendix A, “Getting help and technical assistance,” on page 111 for moreinformation.General checkoutFollow the checkout procedure for diagnosing hardware problems. Review thefollowing information before performing the checkout procedure:v Read Appendix B, “Safety information,” on page 113.v The server diagnostic programs are stored in upgradeable read-only memory(ROM) on the system board. These programs provide the primary methods oftesting the major components of the server. If you are not sure whether aproblem is caused by the hardware or by the software, you can run thediagnostic programs (see “Diagnostic programs and error messages” on page14) to confirm that the hardware is working correctly.v When you run the diagnostic programs, a single problem might cause severalerror messages. If you receive several error messages, correct the cause of thefirst error message. The other error messages might not occur the next time yourun the diagnostic programs.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 you suspect that it is part of a cluster, you can runall diagnostic programs except the ones that test the storage unit (that is, a harddisk drive in the storage unit) or the storage adapter that is attached to thestorage unit. The failing server might be part of a cluster if any of the followingconditions is true:– The customer identifies the failing server as part of a cluster.– 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.v Important:1. For servers that are part of a shared hard disk drive cluster, run one test at atime. Do not run any suite of tests, such as “quick” or “normal” tests, becausethis could enable the hard disk drive diagnostic tests.2. If more than one error code is displayed, correct the first error. The othererror codes might not occur the next time you run the diagnostic programs.3. If the server is suspended and a POST error code is displayed, see “POSTerror logs” on page 13.4. If the server is suspended and no error message is displayed, see “Errorsymptoms” on page 89 and “Undetermined problems” on page 102.5. For information about power-supply problems, see “Power checkout” on page19.6. For intermittent problems, check the error logs; see “Diagnostic programs anderror messages” on page 14.© Copyright IBM Corp. 2004 11