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Dell Diagnostics: Dell Latitude C600/C500 User's Guide
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Dell™ Diagnostics: Dell Latitude™ C600/C500 User's Guide
Whenever a major component or device in your computer does not
function properly, you may have a component failure. If you are experiencing a problem
with your computer, Dell recommends that you perform the checks in "Finding Solutions" and run the Dell Diagnostics before
you call Dell for technical assistance.
As long as the microprocessor and the input and
output components of your computer (the display, keyboard, and diskette drive) are
working, you can use the Dell Diagnostics. Running the Dell Diagnostics may help you to
resolve the problem yourself quickly without having to contact Dell for assistance.
If you
are experienced with computers and know what component(s) you need to test, simply select
the appropriate diagnostic test group(s) or subtest(s). If you are unsure about how to
begin diagnosing a problem, see "Starting
the Dell Diagnostics" and "Advanced Testing."
The Dell Diagnostics helps you check your computer's hardware
without any additional equipment and without destroying any data. By using the
diagnostics, you can have confidence in your computer's operation. And if you find a
problem you cannot solve by yourself, the diagnostic tests can provide you with important
information you will need when talking to Dell's service and support personnel. If you are
experiencing a problem with your computer, Dell recommends that you perform the checks in
"Finding Solutions" and run the Dell Diagnostics before
you call Dell for technical assistance.
NOTICE: Use the Dell Diagnostics to test only your Dell computer. Using this program
with other computers may cause incorrect computer responses or result in error messages.
The diagnostic test groups or subtests also have these helpful features:
- Options that let you perform quick checks or extensive tests on one or all devices
- An option that allows you to choose the number of times a test group or subtest is
repeated
- The ability to display test results or to save them in a file
- Options to temporarily suspend testing if an error is detected, or to terminate testing
when an adjustable error limit is reached
- Extensive online Help screens that describe the tests and how to run them
- Status messages that inform you whether test groups or subtests were completed
successfully
- Error messages that appear if any problems are detected
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NOTE: Dell recommends that you print
these procedures before you begin. |
- Turn off the computer.
- Undock the computer if you have it docked.
- Turn on the computer.
- Press <F2> at the start of the boot routine to access the system setup menu.
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NOTE: Write down your current boot
sequence in the event you want to restore it after running the Dell Diagnostics.
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- Select the following boot sequence:
- Boot First Device: Diskette Drive
- Boot Second Device: CD/DVD/CD-RW Drive
- Boot Third Device: Internal HDD
- Insert the Dell ResourceCD into the CD-ROM drive.
- Turn the computer off.
- Turn the computer on. The computer starts and automatically begins to
run the Dell Diagnostics.
- When you have completed running diagnostics, remove the ResourceCD
from the CD-ROM drive.
To change the boot sequence, repeat steps 1 through 6, customizing
the boot sequence to fit your needs. Then restart your computer.
When you start the diagnostics, the Dell logo screen appears,
followed by a message telling you that the diagnostics is loading. After the diagnostics
loads, the Diagnostics Menu appears.
To select an option from this menu, highlight the option and press <Enter>, or
press the key that corresponds to the highlighted letter in the option you choose (see
Table 1).
Table 1. Diagnostics Menu
 |
Option |
Function |
| Test All Devices |
Performs extensive diagnostic tests or
quick diagnostic tests on all devices. |
| Test One Device |
Performs extensive diagnostic tests or
quick diagnostic tests on one device after you select it from a list of device groups.
After you select Test One Device, press <F1> for more information about a
test. |
| Advanced Testing |
Allows you to modify the parameters of a
test and select a group of tests to perform. You can access online Help for more
information about Advanced Testing. |
| Information and Results |
Provides test results, test errors,
version numbers of the subtests used by the Dell Diagnostics, and additional help on the
Dell Diagnostics. |
| Program Options |
Allows you to change the settings of the
Dell Diagnostics. |
| Exit to MS-DOS |
Exits to the MS-DOS® prompt. |
For a quick check of your computer, select Quick Tests from the Test All
Devices or Test One Device option. Quick Tests runs only the subtests
that do not require user interaction and that do not take a long time to run. Dell
recommends that you choose Quick Tests first to increase the odds of tracing the
source of the problem quickly.
For a thorough check of your computer, select Extended Tests from the Test
All Devices option.
To check a particular area of your computer, select Extended Tests from the Test
One Device option, or select the Advanced Testing option to customize your
test(s).
When you select Advanced Testing from the Diagnostics Menu, the
following screen appears listing the diagnostic test device groups and devices of the
selected device group, and it allows you to select categories from a menu (see Figure 1). Press the arrow
keys or <Page Up> and <Page Down> keys to navigate the screen.
Figure 1. Advanced Testing Main Screen
Information in the Advanced Testing screen is presented as follows:
- On the left side of the screen, the Device Groups
area lists the diagnostic test groups in the order they will run if you select All
from the Run tests menu category. Press the up- or
down-arrow key to highlight a test device group.
- On the right side of the screen, the Devices for Highlighted
Group area lists the computer's currently detected hardware and some of the
relevant settings.
- Two lines at the bottom of the screen make up the menu area (see
"Advanced Testing Help Menu"). The first line lists the categories you can
select; press the left- or right-arrow key to highlight a menu category. The second line
gives information about the category currently highlighted.
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NOTE: The options displayed on your screen should
reflect the hardware configuration of your computer. |
Advanced Testing Help Menu
For more information on using the Advanced Testing option:
- Press <h>.
- Highlight the Help category and press <Enter>, or press the key that corresponds
to the highlighted letter in the category you choose (see Table 2).
Table 2. Advanced Testing Help Categories
| Help Category |
Description |
| Menu |
Provides descriptions of the main menu
screen area, the Device Groups, and the different diagnostic menus and commands and
instructions on how to use them. |
| Keys |
Explains the functions of the all of the
keystrokes that can be used in Dell Diagnostics. |
| Device Group |
Describes the test group that is
presently highlighted in the Device Groups list on the main menu screen. It also provides
reasoning for using some tests. |
| Device |
Describes the function and purpose of the
highlighted device in the Device Groups. For
example, the following information appears when you select the Device
Help category for Diskette in the Device Groups
list:
Diskette Drive A
The diskette disk drive device reads and writes data to and
from diskettes. Diskettes are flexible recording media, sometimes contained in hard
shells. Diskette recording capacities are small and access times are slow relative to hard
disk drives, but they provide a convenient means of storing and transferring data. |
| Test |
Provides a thorough explanation of the
test procedure of each highlighted test group subtest. An example of the Diskette
subtest Diskette Drive Seek Test is as follows:
Diskette Drive A -
Diskette Drive Seek Test
This test verifies the drive's ability to
position its read/write heads. The test operates in two passes: first, seeking from the
beginning to ending cylinders inclusively, and second, seeking alternately from the
beginning to ending cylinders with convergence towards the middle. |
| Versions |
Lists the version numbers of the subtests
that are used by the Dell Diagnostics. |
When you boot your computer from your ResourceCD, the
diagnostics checks your system configuration information and displays it in the Device
Groups area on the main screen.
The following sources supply this configuration information for the
diagnostics:
- The system configuration information settings (stored in nonvolatile
random-access memory [NVRAM]) that you selected while using the system setup program
- Identification tests of the microprocessor, the video controller, the
keyboard controller, and other key components
- Basic input/output system (BIOS) configuration information
temporarily saved in RAM
Do not be concerned if the Device Groups area does
not list the names of all the components or devices you know are part of your computer.
For example, you may not see a printer listed, although you know one is attached to your
computer. Instead, the printer is listed as a parallel port. The computer recognizes the
parallel port as LPT1, which is an address that tells the computer where to send outgoing
information and where to look for incoming information. Because your printer is a parallel
communications device, the computer recognizes the printer by its LPT1 address and
identifies it as a parallel port. You can test your printer connection in the Parallel
Ports tests.
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