Table of Contents
Advertisement
Chapter 3. Diagnostics
This chapter provides basic troubleshooting information to help solve some common
problems that might occur with the server.
If you cannot locate and correct the problem using the information in this chapter,
see Appendix A, "Getting help and technical assistance," on page 145 for more
information.
General checkout
Follow the checkout procedure for diagnosing hardware problems. Review the
following information before performing the checkout procedure:
v Read the safety information beginning on page 147.
v The diagnostics programs provide the primary methods of testing the major
v When you run the diagnostics programs, a single problem might cause several
v Before running the diagnostics programs, you must determine whether the failing
v Important:
© Copyright IBM Corp. 2003
components of the server, including the I/O board, Ethernet controller, RAM,
keyboard, mouse (pointing device), serial ports, hard disk drives, and parallel
port. You can also use them to test some external devices. If you are not sure
whether a problem is caused by the hardware or by the software, you can use
the diagnostics programs to confirm that the hardware is working correctly. The
diagnostic programs (see "Starting the diagnostic programs" on page 23) are in
the system flash erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) on the I/O
board.
error messages. If you receive several error messages, correct the cause of the
first error message. The other error messages might not occur the next time you
run the diagnostics programs.
server is part of a shared hard disk drive cluster (two or more servers sharing
external storage devices). If you suspect that it is part of a cluster, you can run
all diagnostics programs except the ones that test the storage unit (that is, a hard
disk drive in the storage unit) or the storage adapter that is attached to the
storage unit. The failing server might be part of a cluster if any of the following
conditions 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 at
least one of the attached storage units is also attached to another server or
unidentifiable device.
– One or more servers are located near the failing server.
1. When testing a server that is part of a shared hard disk drive cluster, run only
one test at a time, in looped mode. Do not run all tests in looped mode,
because the hard disk drive tests might run.
2. If more than one error code is displayed, correct the first error. The other
error codes might not occur the next time you run the diagnostics programs.
3. If the server is suspended and a POST error code is displayed, see "POST
error logs" on page 17.
4. If the server is suspended and no error message is displayed, see "Error
symptoms" on page 121 and "Undetermined problems" on page 136.
5. For information about power-supply problems, see "Power checkout" on page
27.
15
Advertisement
Table of Contents
