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C H A P T E R  3
Troubleshooting

This chapter describes visual inspection and troubleshooting procedures and provides contact information if you require technical assistance. The following sections are included in this chapter:

Troubleshooting Overview

Before troubleshooting your specific workstation problem, collect the following information:

What events occurred prior to the failure?

Was any hardware or software modified or installed?

Was the workstation recently installed or moved?

How long has the workstation exhibited symptoms?

What is the duration or frequency of the problem?

After you assess the problem and note your current configuration and environment, you can choose from several ways to troubleshoot your workstation.

If you are not able to resolve the problem, contact Sun technical support. Support numbers and web sites are listed in Obtaining Technical Assistance.

Visual Inspection

Improperly set controls and loose or improperly connected cables are common causes of problems with hardware components. When investigating a system problem, first check all external switches, controls, and cable connections.

If an external visual inspection does not resolve your problem, visually inspect the system’s interior hardware for problems such as a loose card, cable connector, or mounting screw.


procedure icon  To Perform an External Visual Inspection

1. Shut down the operating system, if necessary, power off the platform power on the front of the workstation and power off attached peripherals (if applicable).

2. Verify that all power cables are properly connected to the system, the monitor and the peripherals and check that the power source for each is functional.

3. Inspect connections to any attached devices, including network cables, keyboard, monitor, and mouse.


procedure icon  To Perform an Internal Visual Inspection

1. Shut down the operating system, if necessary, and turn off the platform power on the front of the workstation.

2. Turn off the AC power on the back of the workstation.

3. Turn off any attached peripherals, but do not disconnect the power cables.

4. Remove the left side access panel, following the procedures in Opening the Workstation.


caution icon Caution - Some components, such as the heatsink, can become extremely hot during system operations. Allow these components to cool before handling them.

5. Verify that the components are fully seated in their sockets or connectors and that the sockets are clean.

6. Verify that all cables inside the system are firmly attached to their appropriate connectors.

7. Replace the left side access panel.

8. Reconnect the system and any attached peripherals to their power sources and then power them on.

Troubleshooting Procedures

TABLE 3-1 lists possible problems that might arise during the use of your workstation. Possible solutions are listed for each problem. If the solutions listed here do not fix the problem, run the appropriate diagnostic test (see Chapter 4).

As you work, keep notes in case you need to call Sun technical support:


TABLE 3-1 Troubleshooting Procedures

Problem

Possible Solution

Workstation does not power on when the front panel Power button is pressed.

  • Is the Power LED illuminated on the front of the system? Ensure that the power cord is connected to the system and to a grounded power receptacle.
  • Does the wall outlet have power?
    Test by connecting another device.
  • Does the system beep when the system is powered on?
    The system beeps when no keyboard or a malfunctioning keyboard is plugged in.
  • Does the monitor sync within 5 minutes after the power-on?
    The green LED on the monitor stops flashing and remains illuminated.
  • Is the monitor connected to the onboard video connector or PCI Express video card? Connect the monitor to the active video connector.

Workstation halts during POST without displaying error messages.

Check the BIOS POST LED display on the motherboard. See Appendix B for detailed information about the POST codes.

Workstation powers on, but the monitor does not.

  • Is the Power button for the monitor turned on?
  • Is the monitor power cord connected to a wall outlet?
  • Does the wall outlet have power? Test by connecting another device.
  • Is the monitor connected to the onboard video connector or PCI Express video connector?

Workstation does not power off when the front panel Power button is pressed.

  • Try all of the power-off options described in Powering Off the Workstation.
  • If the workstation still does not power off, disconnect the power cable from the back of the chassis.

Workstation appears to be in low-power mode, but the Power LED does not blink.

The Power LED blinks only when all workstation components are in low-power mode. A tape drive might be connected to your workstation. Because tape drives do not enter low-power mode, the power LED does not blink.

Unable to access the network.

  • Check the cabling and network equipment to make sure that all cables are correctly seated.
  • Reinstall the network drivers.

Newly installed memory is not detected.

  • Make sure that the memory is properly seated on the DIMM sockets.
  • Move the memory to the other DIMM socket to determine whether the socket is defective.
  • Make sure that you are using 512 MB, 1 GB, or 2 GB registered DDR2 667 SDRAM modules with 3.05 cm maximum height.
  • Make sure that the memory is installed in pairs.

System cannot read the disk information.

Check to see that the disk is properly seated. If that does not resolve the issue, do the following:

1. Turn off the workstation by pressing the Power button.

2. Remove the left side access panel.

3. Check to make sure that the power and data cables are connected to the backplane of the disk drive and that the pins in the cable and connector are not bent.

4. Replace the left side access panel.

5. Turn on the workstation.

DVD does not eject from the drive the Eject button is pressed.

  • Move the mouse or press any key on the keyboard. The drive might be in the low-power mode.
  • Use the utility software installed on your workstation to eject the DVD.

System cannot read DVD information.

Check the following:

  • Are you using the correct type of DVD?
  • Do other DVDs work in this drive?
  • Is the DVD properly inserted in the drive?
  • Is the DVD clean and unscratched?
  • Are the cables connected to the DVD drive?

Keyboard or mouse does not respond to actions.

  • Are the keyboard and mouse Type 7? Verify the model on the underside of the keyboard.
  • Verify that the mouse and keyboard cables are connected to the onboard USB 2.0 connectors on the workstation.
  • Verify that the workstation is powered on and that the front Power LED is illuminated.

Hung or frozen workstation: no response from mouse or keyboard or any application.

Are the keyboard and mouse Type 7? Verify the model on the underside of the keyboard.

Try to access your system from a different workstation on the network.

  1. From a terminal window, enter ping hostname
  2. If there is no response, remotely log in from another system, using telnet or rlogin and ping the system again.
  3. Attempt to kill processes until the system responds.

If the above procedures do not work:

  1. Press the Power button to power off the system.
  2. Wait 20 to 30 seconds and power on the system.

See Powering On the Workstation for more detailed information.

There is no video display on the monitor screen.

Check the following:

Try to access your system from a different workstation on the network.

  1. From a terminal window, enter ping hostname
  2. If there is no response, remotely log in from another system, using telnet or rlogin and ping the system again.
  3. Attempt to kill processes until the system responds.

If these procedures do not work:

  1. Press the Power button to power off the system.
  2. Wait 20 to 30 seconds and power on the system.
    See Powering On the Workstation for more detailed information.

 

  • Is the monitor power cord connected to the power outlet?
  • Does the wall outlet have power? Test it by connecting another device.
  • Is the video card seated correctly in its connector?
  • Are the internal cables properly connected to the video card?
  • Does the monitor work when connected to another system?
  • If you have another monitor, does it work when connected to the original system?
  • Verify that the BIOS settings are correct.

An external device connected to a USB connector does not work.

  • Reduce the number of external devices connected to a USB hub.
  • Connect the device to a USB hub and connect the hub to the USB ports on the workstation.
  • Refer to the documentation that is packaged with the device.

External device is not working.

  • Check the documentation packaged with the device to determine whether you must install device drivers.
  • Ensure that the cables for the external device are firmly connected and that the pins in the cable and connector are not bent.
  • Power off the system, reattach the external device, and power on the system.

Obtaining Technical Assistance

If the troubleshooting procedures in this chapter fail to solve your problem, you can receive additional technical support at the Sun web sites and telephone numbers listed in TABLE 3-2.


TABLE 3-2 Sun Web Sites and Telephone Numbers

Workstation Documents and Support Resources

URL or Telephone Number

PDF files for all the current Sun Ultra 24 workstation documents.

http://docs.sun.com/app/docs/prod/ultra24

Solaris OS and other software documents. This web site has full search capabilities.

http://docs.sun.com/documentation/

Discussion and troubleshooting forums.

http://supportforum.sun.com/

Support, diagnostic tools, and alerts for all Sun products.

http://www.sun.com/bigadmin/

Links to software patches. Lists some system specifications, troubleshooting and maintenance information, and other tools.

http://www.sunsolve.sun.com/handbook_pub/

Sun service program phone numbers.

1-800-872-4786 (1-800-USA-4Sun); Select Option 1

International telephone numbers for Sun service support.

http://www.sun.com/service/contacting/
solution.html

Warranty and contract support contacts. Links to other service tools.

http://www.sun.com/service/warrantiescontracts/index.html

Warranties for every Sun product.

http://www.sun.com/service/support/warranty




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