Troubleshooting The Serial And Parallel Ports; Troubleshooting The Basic I/O Functions - Dell Latitude LM Reference And Troubleshooting Manual

7. Turn off the computer and any attached periph-
erals. Disconnect all peripherals from the
computer. Attach another external monitor to the
computer.
If you do not have another external monitor, call Dell
for technical assistance. (See Chapter 5, "Getting
Help," for instructions.)
8. Reboot the computer, and adjust the monitor's
brightness and contrast. Is the monitor readable?
Allow one minute for the computer to initialize its
components.
Yes. The original monitor is defective. Call Dell for
technical assistance. (See Chapter 5, "Getting Help,"
for instructions.)
No. Call Dell for technical assistance. (See Chap-
ter 5, "Getting Help," for instructions.)
Troubleshooting the Serial and Parallel
Ports
This section provides a procedure for troubleshooting the
computer's serial and parallel ports (shown in Figure 3-4)
and any attached peripheral devices.
If a system error message indicates a port problem or if
equipment connected to a port seems to perform in-
correctly or not at all, the source of the problem may be
any of the following:
•
A faulty connection between the I/O port and the
peripheral device
•
Incorrect settings for system setup options
•
Incorrect settings in the operating system's configu-
ration files
•
A faulty cable between the I/O port and the periph-
eral device
•
A faulty peripheral device
•
Faulty I/O port logic on the system board
•
Conflicting COM port settings
•
Lack of device drivers

Troubleshooting the Basic I/O Functions

Make a copy of the Diagnostics Checklist found in Chap-
ter 5, and fill it out as you complete the following
procedure:
1. Check the settings for the
options in the Peripherals menu
PARALLEL MODE
of the Setup program.
For information on the Setup program, see the topic
titled "Setup Program" in the online System User's
Guide. Are the communication port options set cor-
rectly for the peripheral devices connected to the
computer?
Yes. Go to step 3.
No. Go to step 2.
2. Change the
SERIAL PORT
options to the appropriate settings, and then
reboot the system.
Is the problem resolved?
Yes. The problem is resolved.
No. Go to step 3.
3. Check the contents of your initialization and
start-up files. (See "Installing and Configuring
Software" found earlier in this chapter.)
Are the port configuration commands correct?
Yes. Go to step 5.
No. Go to step 4.
4. Change the necessary statements in the start-up
files.
If the port problem is confined to a particular appli-
cation program, see the application program's
documentation for specific port configuration
requirements.
Is the problem resolved?
Yes. The problem is resolved.
No. Go to step 5.
Troubleshooting Your Computer
and
SERIAL PORT
and
PARALLEL MODE
3-19