Chapter 5: Troubleshooting; Supportassist Diagnostics; System Diagnostic Lights - Dell P46E Service Manual

SupportAssist diagnostics

About this task
The SupportAssist diagnostics (previously known as ePSA diagnostics) performs a complete check of your hardware. The SupportAssist
diagnostics is embedded in the BIOS and is launched by it internally. The SupportAssist diagnostics provides a set of options for particular
devices or device groups. It allows you to:
• Run tests automatically or in an interactive mode.
• Repeat tests
• Display or save test results
• Run thorough tests to introduce additional test options and provide extra information about the failed device(s)
• View status messages that indicate if the tests are completed successfully
• View error messages that indicate if problems were encountered during the test
NOTE: Some tests are meant for specific devices and require user interaction. Ensure that you are present in front of
the computer when the diagnostic tests are performed.

System diagnostic lights

Battery-status light
Indicates the power and battery-charge status.
Solid white — Power adapter is connected and the battery has more than 5 percent charge.
Amber — Computer is running on battery and the battery has less than 5 percent charge.
Off
• Power adapter is connected and the battery is fully charged.
• Computer is running on battery and the battery has more than 5 percent charge.
• Computer is in sleep state, hibernation, or turned off.
The power and battery-status light blinks amber along with beep codes indicating failures.
For example, the power and battery-status light blinks amber two times followed by a pause, and then blinks white three times followed by
a pause. This 2,3 pattern continues until the computer is turned off indicating no memory or RAM is detected.
The following table shows different power and battery-status light patterns and associated problems.
Table 20. LED codes
Diagnostic light codes
1,1
1,2
1,5
1,6
2,1
2,2
2,3
90 Troubleshooting
Problem description
TPM detection failure
Unrecoverable SPI flash failure
i-Fuse failure
EC internal failure
Processor failure
System board: BIOS or ROM (Read-Only Memory)
failure
No memory or RAM (Random-Access Memory)
detected
Troubleshooting
5