Performing Diagnostic Tests

C H A P T E R 3

This chapter describes how to resolve problems using the diagnostic tests provided on the Sun Ultra 40 Workstation Tools and Drivers CD for your system, and to interpret system POST BIOS error codes.

This chapter contains the following sections:

Section 3.1, PC-Check Diagnostics Overview

Section 3.2, System Information Menu

Section 3.3, Advanced Diagnostics

Section 3.4, Burn-In Testing

Section 3.5, Diagnostic Partition

Section 3.7, Show Results Summary

Section 3.8, Print Results Report

Section 3.9, About PC-Check

Section 3.10, Exit to DOS

3.1 PC-Check Diagnostics Overview

The Ultra 40 PC-Check diagnostics can test and detect problems on all motherboard components, drives, ports, and slots. This program can be accessed and executed only from the Sun Ultra 40 Workstation Tools and Drivers CD.

Normally, if you encounter any hardware-related error message (such as memory errors or hard disk errors) on your workstation, you will run one of the following selections from the Diagnostics main menu:

Use Immediate Burn-In Test to run a test script. Sun provides three diagnostic scripts designed to test a full range of system resources.

Use Advanced Diagnostics Test to test a specific hardware component, for example, a CPU or a hard disk.

Other selections on the Diagnostics main menu display information about the system, create disk partitions and display test results.

To access the PC-Check diagnostics:

1. Insert the Sun Ultra 40 Workstation Tools and Drivers CD into your DVD drive and reboot the system.

The system boots to the Ultra 40 Workstation Tools and Drivers CD main menu.

2. Type 1 to run the Hardware Diagnostics Software.

The License Agreement appears.

3. Read the License Agreement and click Y to agree.

The system information loads and the Diagnostics main menu offers the following selections:

System Information Menu

Advanced Diagnostics Tests

Immediate Burn-In Testing

Deferred Burn-In Testing

Create Diagnostic Partition

Show Results Summary

Print Results Report

About PC-CHECK

Exit to DOS

Use the arrow keys on the keyboard to navigate through the diagnostics software, the Enter key to select a menu item, and the ESC key to exit a menu. Navigation instructions appear at the bottom of each screen.

To test a specific hardware component, select “Advanced Diagnostics Test.” See Section 3.3, Advanced Diagnostics for details.

To run a test script, select “Immediate Burn-In Testing.” Sun provides three scripts that include a full test of all possible devices (full.tst), a quick test of devices (quick.tst), and a test that requires no user interaction (noinput.tst). See Section 3.4.1, Performing Immediate Burn-In Testing for details.

To create your own test script, select “Deferred Burn-In Testing.” See Section 3.4.2, Performing Deferred Burn-In Testing for details.

The following sections in this chapter describe the menu items and tests in detail.

3.2 System Information Menu

Clicking System Information in the Diagnostics main menu causes the System Information menu to appear. Select items in this menu to see detailed information.

TABLE 3-1 describes the selections in the System Information menu.

TABLE 3-1 System Information Menu Options
Option	Description
System Information Menu	Includes basic information about your system, motherboard, BIOS, processor, memory cache, drives, video, modem, network, buses, and ports.
Hardware ID Image Menu	Enables you to create an XML or `.txt` document showing your system’s hardware ID.
System Management Info	Provides information about the BIOS type, system, motherboard, enclosure, processors, memory modules, cache, slots, system event log, memory array, memory devices, memory device mapped addresses, and system boot.
PCI Bus Info	Includes details about specific devices from `pci-config` space within the system, similar to the System Management Information section.
IDE Bus Info	Displays information about the IDE bus.
PCMCIA/CardBus Info	Not relevant to the Sun Ultra 40 Workstation.
Interrupt Vectors	Displays a list of interrupt vectors.
IRQ Information	Shows hardware interrupt assignments.
Device Drivers	Shows device drivers loaded under Open DOS.
APM Information	Enables you to test and configure the Advanced Power Management (APM) capabilities of the system. You can choose to change the power state, view the power status, indicate CPU usage, get a power management event, or change the interface mode.
I/O Port Browser	Shows the I/O port assignment for the hardware devices on the system.
Memory Browser	Enables you to view the mapped memory for the entire system.
Sector Browser	Reads sector information from the hard disks and DVD disks sector by sector.
CPU Frequency Monitor	Tests the processor speed.
CMOS RAM Utilities	Shows the CMOS settings of the system.
SCSI Utilities	Not applicable for the Sun Ultra 40 Workstation.
Text File Editor	Opens a file editor.
Start-Up Options	Enables you to set up startup options for diagnostics testing.

3.3 Advanced Diagnostics

Advanced diagnostics are used to test an individual device on the system. Most of the selections on this menu display information about the corresponding device(s), then offer a menu of testing options. For example, to test CPU 0, you can select Advanced Diagnostics -> Processor -> CPU0.

Note - If you do not know which device to test, see Section 3.4, Burn-In Testing.

TABLE 3-2 gives the name and a brief description of the selections in the Advanced Diagnostics Tests Menu.

TABLE 3-2 Advanced Diagnostics Test Menu Options
Option	Description
Processor	Displays information about the processor(s), and includes a Processor Tests menu.
Memory	Displays information about the memory, and includes tests for the different types of system memory.
Motherboard	Displays information about the motherboard, and includes a Motherboard Tests menu.
Floppy Disks	Not relevant to the Sun Ultra 40 Workstation.
Hard Disks	Displays information about the hard disk and includes a Hard Disk Tests menu. Refer to Section 3.3.1, Hard Disk Testing, for detailed information about scripts and about testing hard disks.
CD-ROM/DVD	Displays a CD-ROM/DVD menu to test DVD devices on the system.
ATAPI Devices	Displays information about devices attached to the IDE controllers on the system other than a DVD or hard disks (for example, zip drives).
Serial Ports	Not applicable for the Sun Ultra 40 Workstation.
Parallel Ports	Not applicable for the Sun Ultra 40 Workstation.
Modems	Not applicable for the Sun Ultra 40 Workstation.
ATA	Includes an ATA test menu. Select the parallel ATA driver to test.
USB	Displays information about the USB devices on the system and includes a USB Tests menu.
FireWire	Displays information about FireWire devices and includes a FireWire tests menu.
Network	Performs network register controller tests.
System Stress Test	Exercises and checks the CPU, memory, hard drive and CD/DVD.
Keyboard	Includes a Keyboard Test menu with options for performing different tests on the keyboard.
Mouse	Displays information about the mouse and includes a menu to test the mouse on the system.
Joystick	Displays information about the joystick and includes a menu to test the joystick.
Audio	Displays information about the audio devices on the system and includes an Audio Tests menu to test audio device information. A PCI audio card is required to run this test.
Video	Displays information about the video card. Initially, the monitor might flicker, but then it brings up a Video Test Options menu that enables you to perform various video tests.
Printers	Printers are not available for the Sun Ultra 40 Workstation.
Firmware -ACPI	Displays information about Advanced Configurable Power Interface (ACPI) and includes an ACPI Tests menu.

3.3.1 Hard Disk Testing

Use these tests to select and test a hard drive. Before starting the test, you can set the parameters using the Test Settings option.

1. From the main menu, choose Advanced Diagnostics Tests.

2. From the Advanced Diagnostics Tests menu, choose Hard Disks.

3. From the Select Drive menu, choose the hard disk you need to test.

The Hard Disk Diagnostics window opens. It displays information about the selected hard drive and the Hard Disk Tests menu, which includes the following options:

Select Drive

Test Settings

Read Test

Read Verify Test

Non-Destructive Write Test

Destructive Write Test

Mechanics Stress Test

Internal Cache Test

SMART Immediate Test

View Error Log

Utilities Menu

Exit

4. Click Select Drive to select a hard drive to test.

5. Click Test Settings, if desired, to select options for that test.

This enables you to change the following parameters:

Number of Retries

Selects the number of times to retry testing a device before terminating the test.

Maximum Errors

Selects the number of errors allowed before terminating the test.

Check SMART First

Selects Smart Monitoring Analysis Reporting Test (SMART).

HPA Protection

Selects Host Protected Area (HPA) protection.

Media Test Settings

Selects the test time duration, the percentage of the hard disk to test, and the sectors to be tested on the hard disk.

Device Test Settings

Selects the test time durations of the devices and the test level.

6. Select a test to begin execution.

The Read Test, Read Verify Test, the Non-Destructive Write Test, and the Destructive Write Test test the actual media on the physical disk drive.

The Mechanics Stress Test and the Internal Cache Test test non media-related parts of the hard drive hardware.

Caution - Running the Destructive Write Test destroys any data on the disk.

3.4 Burn-In Testing

Burn-In testing enables you to run test scripts and to create new scripts.

The Diagnostics main menu provides two burn-in selections, Immediate Burn-In Testing and Deferred Burn-In Testing.

Immediate Burn-In enables you to run an existing script and to select configuration options.

Deferred Burn-In enables you to create a new script.

Sun provides three ready-made scripts designed to test the general health of the devices on your system. These scripts include:

quick.tst-This script performs a series of tests that require the user to interact with the test software. When they require a user interaction, they stop and do not time out. These tests are faster than the full.tst but they are less thorough. For example, they do not run all the tests associated with a DIMM.

noinput.tst-This script performs a non-detailed test of most hardware components, excluding those components that require user input (keyboard, mouse, sound, and video). This test does not require user input. It is normally the first test performed for hardware-related problems.

full.tst-This script performs a detailed and comprehensive test on all hardware components, including those that require user input. It includes external port tests and requires loopback connectors on COM ports, parallel ports and USB ports. You must interact with the test utility to progress through these interactive tests.

Tip - Each of these scripts tests the operating status of your entire system. To test specific disk drives independently of the rest of the system, use the procedures in Section 3.3.1, Hard Disk Testing.

3.4.1 Performing Immediate Burn-In Testing

Use Immediate Burn-In Testing to run test scripts.

To perform immediate burn-in testing:

1. From the Diagnostics main menu, select Immediate Burn-In Testing.

The screen displays a list of settings shown in TABLE 3-3 and a Burn-In menu.

2. From the menu, select Load Burn-In Script.

A text box appears.

3. Type the name of the script you want to run.

quick.tst, noinput.tst, or full.tst

If you have created and saved your own script, tupe d:\testname.tst

Where testname is the name of the script that you have created.

4. To change any of the options, at the bottom of the screen, select Change Options.

This opens the Burn-In Options menu, which enables you to modify the options listed in TABLE 3-3 for the currently loaded test script.

5. Select Perform Burn-In Tests.

The diagnostics software executes the test script as configured.

TABLE 3-3 Continuous Burn-In Testing Options
Option	Default - General	Default Using `quick.tst, noinput.tst,` or `full.tst` Script	All Possible Choices
Pass Control	Overall Time	Overall Passes	Individual Passes, Overall Passes, or Overall Time
Duration	01:00	1	Enter any number to choose the time duration of the test
Script File	N/A	quick.tst, noinput.tst, or full.tst	quick.tst, noiniput.tst, or full.tst
Report File	None	None	User defined
Journal File	None	`D:\noinput.jrl,` `D:\quick.jrl,` or `D:\full.jrl`	User defined
Journal Options	Failed Tests	All Tests, Absent Devices, and Test Summary	Failed Tests, All Tests, Absent Devices, and Test Summary
Pause on Error	N	N	Y or N
Screen Display	Control Panel	Control Panel	Control Panel or Running Tests
POST Card	N	N	Y or N
Beep Codes	N	N	Y or N
Maximum Fails	Disabled	Disabled	1-9999

3.4.2 Performing Deferred Burn-In Testing

Use Deferred Burn-In Testing to create scripts. To perform deferred burn-in testing:

1. From the Diagnostics main menu, select Deferred Burn-In Testing.

The screen displays a list of settings shown in TABLE 3-3 and a Burn-In menu.

2. Use the menu to configure the following selections:

Change Options

Opens the Burn-In Options menu, which enables you to modify the options listed in TABLE 3-3 for the currently loaded test script.

Select Tests

Opens a listing of the tests available for your workstation configuration and the currently loaded test script.

3. When you are done, select Save Burn-In Script and type the name for the new script.

Enter d:\testname.tst

Where testname is the name of the script that you have created.

4. To run the newly created script, go to Immediate Burn-In Testing in Section 3.4.1, Performing Immediate Burn-In Testing, and run the script testname.tst.

3.5 Diagnostic Partition

A diagnostic partition is required for the test scripts to write their log files. Without a diagnostic partition, the only output is the display on the diagnostic screens.

The diagnostic partition is preinstalled on the Sun Ultra 40 Workstation. You do not need to reinstall the diagnostic partition unless you have removed it.

If you have removed the diagnostic partition, you can re-create it using the Create Diagnostic Partition option.

If you wish to remove all partitions on the primary drive except for the diagnostic partition, you can use the Wipedisk utility on the Tools and Drivers CD.

Note - To create a diagnostic partition with a RAID configuration, see the Ultra 40 Workstation Operating System Installation Guide, part number 819-7577.

The following sections describe how to create and access the diagnostic partition:

Section 3.5.1, Removing Existing Partitions From a Hard Disk

Section 3.5.2, Adding a Diagnostic Partition to the First Bootable Disk

Section 3.6.3, Accessing the Diagnostic Partition Under Red Hat Linux

Section 3.6.2, Accessing the Diagnostic Partition Under the Solaris 10 Operating System

Section 3.6.4, Accessing the Diagnostic Partition Under Windows XP

3.5.1 Removing Existing Partitions From a Hard Disk

Use this procedure to remove the partitions from a disk prior to installing a diagnostic partition, as described in Section 3.5.2, Adding a Diagnostic Partition to the First Bootable Disk.

If the disk has any existing partitions, you must remove them before creating a diagnostic partition.

Caution - Removing all hard disk partitions destroys all data on the disk.

There are two ways to remove existing partitions from the hard disk:

Use the Wipedisk utility. It removes all partitions except the diagnostic partition. If you do this, you should not have to create a diagnostic partition.

Use the following procedure, which removes all partitions including the diagnostic partition. If you do this, you will need to create a diagnostic partition, as described in Section 3.5.2, Adding a Diagnostic Partition to the First Bootable Disk.

To remove existing partitions from a hard disk:

1. Insert the Tools and Drivers CD into the DVD tray.

2. Reboot the workstation.

3. From the Tools and Drivers CD main menu, type 4 to exit to DOS.

4. Type fdisk at the command prompt and press the Enter key.

5. Type 4 to select an alternate fixed disk.

The second hard disk as seen from fdisk is the first bootable disk of the system. The first hard disk as seen from fdisk is the bootable Tools and Drivers CD.

Caution - When performing the following procedures, be careful not to delete any disk partition that contains data that you want to keep. Removing hard disk partitions destroys all data on the removed partition.

6. Type 1 or 2 depending on what type of partition you want to delete.

Disks can include two types of partitions: DOS and non-DOS.

If the disk only contains DOS partitions, then 1 = DOS.

If the disk contains both DOS and non-DOS partitions, then
1 = DOS and 2 = non-DOS.

If the disk only contains non-DOS partitions, then 1 = non-DOS.

7. Type the number of the partition you want to delete.

8. Type Y to erase the data and the partition.

9. Repeat Step 6 through Step 8 until all partitions have been removed.

10. Press the Esc key to exit, then press any key to reboot the workstation.

3.5.2 Adding a Diagnostic Partition to the First Bootable Disk

Use this procedure to install a diagnostic partition on a disk that has no partitions on it.

PC-Check can access only the first or second hard disk on the system from the boot loader. It automatically installs the diagnostic partition on the first bootable disk.

To add the diagnostic partition to the first bootable disk:

1. Insert the Tools and Drivers CD into the DVD tray.

2. Reboot the workstation.

3. At the Tools and Drivers CD main menu, type 1 to run Hardware Diagnostics.

4. From the main menu, choose Create Diagnostic Partition.

If the first bootable disk is clear of partitions, the Sun Microsystems Partitioning Utility window appears. It states: “Your primary hard disk is not partitioned. Would you like to partition it now?”

Select Yes and press Enter.

A window appears, stating, “Partitioning complete. Your machine will now be restarted.”

If the first bootable disk is not clear of partitions, a window appears stating that the software is unable to create a hardware diagnostic partition because there are already partitions on the disk.

If this happens, go to Section 3.5.1, Removing Existing Partitions From a Hard Disk to clear the partitions from the disk.

Repeat Step 1 through Step 4 of this procedure.

5. Press Enter to reboot your workstation.

3.6 Accessing the Diagnostic Partition

The following sections provide procedures for accessing the diagnostic partition to read the log files under DOS, Solaris, Linux and Windows software.

3.6.1 Accessing the Diagnostic Partition Under DOS

All the diagnostic scripts on PC-Check create log entries in the diagnostic partition. The files are called name.jrl, where name is the prefix of the script. For example, noinput.tst creates a log file named noinput.jrl.

The following procedure shows an example of how to access a log file on the diagnostic partition. The test script noinput.tst is used as an example.

To access the diagnostic partition under DOS:

1. To create a log file, use the procedures in Section 3.4.1, Performing Immediate Burn-In Testing.

2. When the tests are complete, press the Esc key to exit the Display Results window.

3. Select Exit to DOS and press Enter.

The Supplemental Disk menu appears.

4. Type 4 to exit to DOS.

The DOS prompt appears.

5. At the DOS prompt, type the following:

C:> d:

6. Type the following to list the contents of the diagnostic partition.

D:> dir

The system displays a list of log files (*.jrl), including the file created when you ran Immediate Burn-In Testing. The file for that test should be titled name.jrl, where name is the name of the script you ran.

3.6.2 Accessing the Diagnostic Partition Under the Solaris 10 Operating System

To access the diagnostic partition when you are running the Solaris 10 operating system:

1. Remove the Tools and Drivers CD from the DVD tray.

2. Reboot the machine and start Solaris x86.

3. Log in as superuser.

4. Type the following command to determine whether your diagnostic partition has been configured to be mounted:

# ls /diagpart

If this command fails to list the log files created by the hardware diagnostics software, then the operating system has never been configured to mount the diagnostic partition. Continue to Step 5.

If this command succeeds in listing the log files created by the hardware diagnostics software, then the operating system has already been configured to mount the diagnostic partition. All users have read access to this partition. Only the superuser has read/write access to this partition. You do not need to continue this procedure.

5. Insert the Tools and Drivers CD into the DVD tray.

6. When the CD is mounted, open a terminal window.

7. Type the following:

# cd /cdrom/cdrom0/drivers/sx86

8. Type the following to mount the diagnostic partition:

# ./install.sh

9. Press the Enter key.

The following lines appear if the diagnostic partition is mounted successfully:

Mounting Diagnostic Partition
Installation Successful

10. Type the following command:

# ls /diagpart

The system displays a list of diagnostic log files.

3.6.3 Accessing the Diagnostic Partition Under Red Hat Linux

To access the diagnostic partition when you are running a Linux Red HatTM operating system:

1. Remove the Tools and Drivers CD from the DVD tray.

2. Reboot the workstation and start the Linux Red Hat operating system.

3. Become superuser.

4. Type the following command to determine whether your diagnostic partition has been configured to be mounted:

# ls /diagpart

If this command fails to list the log files created by the hardware diagnostics software, then the operating system has never been configured to mount the diagnostic partition. Continue to Step 5.

If this command succeeds in listing the log files created by the hardware diagnostics software, then the operating system has already been configured to mount the diagnostic partition. All users have read access to this partition. Only the superuser has read/write access to this partition. You do not need to continue this procedure.

5. Insert the Tools and Drivers CD into the DVD tray.

6. When the CD is mounted, open a terminal window.

7. Type the following command:

# cd mountpoint/drivers/linux/linux_version

Where mountpoint is the CD mountpoint and linux_version is the version of Linux that you have installed. For example:

# cd /mnt/cdrom/drivers/linux/red_hat

8. Type the following to mount the diagnostic partition:

# ./install.sh

9. Press Enter.

The following lines appear if the diagnostic partition is mounted successfully:

Mounting Diagnostic Partition
Installation Successful

10. Type the following command:

# ls /diagpart

The system displays a list of diagnostic log files.

3.6.4 Accessing the Diagnostic Partition Under Windows XP

The Windows XP operating system does not allow the mounting of a diagnostic partition. There is no way to view or gain access to the diagnostic partition if you are running Windows XP on a Sun Ultra 40 Workstation.

The only way to retrieve the contents (log files) on the diagnostic partition is to attach a USB diskette drive to the workstation and complete the following procedure.

To retrieve the log files on the diagnostic partition:

1. Connect the USB diskette drive to any USB port on the workstation.

2. Insert the Tools and Drivers CD into the DVD tray.

3. Reboot the workstation.

4. At the Tools and Drivers CD main menu, type 3 to exit to DOS.

5. Type the following at the DOS command prompt:

C:> d:tgld

6. To copy a file named noinput.jrl to the USB floppy diskette, type:

D:> copy d:\noinput.jrl a:\

The journal file is now saved to the diskette in the USB diskette drive.

3.7 Show Results Summary

Selecting Show Results Summary on the Diagnostics main menu displays the tests that have been run and lists the results, which can be Pass, Fail, or N/A.

The following list describes all the tests that are available with the Tools and Drivers CD. If your system does not have the corresponding option, the results will show as N/A in the Show Results Summary list.

Processor

This section shows the following tests conducted against the processor: Core Processor Tests, AMD 64-Bit Core Tests, Math Co-Processor Tests - Pentium Class FDIV and Pentium Class FIST, MMX Operation, 3DNow! Operation, SSE Instruction Set, SSE2 Instruction Set, and MP Symmetry.

Motherboard

This section shows the following tests conducted against the motherboard: DMA Controller Tests, System Timer Tests, Interrupt Test, Keyboard Controller Tests, PCI Bus Tests, and CMOS RAM/Clock Tests.

Memory, Cache Memory, and Video Memory

This section shows the following tests conducted against the various types of memory: Inversion Test Tree, Progressive Inv. Test, Chaotic Addressing Test, and Block Rotation Test.

Input Device

This section shows the following tests conducted against the input device: Verify Device, Keyboard Repeat, and Keyboard LEDs.

Mouse

This section shows the following tests conducted against the mouse: Buttons, Ballistics, Text Mode Positioning, Text Mode Area Redefine, Graphics Mode Positions, Graphics Area Redefine, and Graphics Cursor Redefine.

Video

This section shows the following tests conducted against the video: Color Purity Test, True Color Test, Alignment Test, LCD Test, and Test Cord Test.

Multimedia

This section shows the following tests conducted against the multimedia components: Internal Speaker Test, FM Synthesizer Test, PCM Sample Test, CD/DVD Drive Read Test, CD/DVD Transfer (KB/Sec), CD/DVD Transfer Rating, CD/DVD Drive Seek Test, CD/DVD Seek Time (ms), CD/DVD Test Disk Read, and CD/DVD Tray Test.

ATAPI Devices

This section shows the following tests conducted against ATAPI devices: Linear Read Test, Non-Destructive Write, and Random Read/Write Test.

Hard Disk

This section shows the following tests conducted against the hard disk: Read Test, Read Verify Test, Non-Destructive Write Test, Destructive Write Test, Mechanics Stress Test, and Internal Cache Test.

USB

This section shows the following tests conducted against the USB: Controller Tests and Functional Tests.

Hardware ID

The compare test is used to determine the machine ID for the system. This test is not available for the Sun Ultra 40 Workstation.

3.8 Print Results Report

The Print Results Report option enables you to print results of the diagnosis of your system.

Ensure that your workstation is connected to a printer, and then enter the required information to print the results.

3.9 About PC-Check

The About PC-Check window includes general information about the PC-Check software, including resident and nonresident components, such as mouse devices.

3.10 Exit to DOS

The Exit to DOS option exits the PC-Check software and returns you to the DOS prompt.