About Diagnostic Tools - Sun Microsystems Enterprise 250 Owner's Manual

About Diagnostic Tools

The system provides both firmware-based and software-based diagnostic tools to
help you identify and isolate hardware problems. These tools include:
4 Power-on self-test (POST) diagnostics
4 OpenBoot Diagnostics (OBDiag)
4 SunVTS
4 Solstice SyMON software
4 Remote System Control (RSC) software
POST diagnostics verify the core functionality of the system, including the main logic
board, system memory, and any on-board I/O devices. You can run POST even if the
system is unable to boot. For more information about POST, see "About Power-On
Self-Test (POST) Diagnostics" on page 235 and "How to Use POST Diagnostics" on
page 236.
OBDiag tests focus on system I/O and peripheral devices. Like POST, you can run
OBDiag even if the system is unable to boot. For more information about OBDiag,
see "About OpenBoot Diagnostics (OBDiag)" on page 239 and "How to Use
OpenBoot Diagnostics (OBDiag)" on page 248.
The SunVTS system exerciser is a graphics-oriented UNIX application that permits
the continuous exercising of system resources and internal and external peripheral
equipment. For more information about SunVTS, see "About SunVTS Software" on
page 251.
Solstice SyMON allows you to monitor system hardware status and operating system
performance of your server. For information about SyMON, see "About Solstice
SyMON Software" on page 255.
Remote System Control (RSC) is a server management tool that provides remote
system administration for geographically distributed or physically inaccessible
systems. The RSC software works with the System Service Processor (SSP) on the
Enterprise 250 main logic board. For more information about RSC and SSP,
see "About Remote System Control (RSC)" on page 256.
Which method or tool you use to diagnose system problems depends on the nature
of those problems:
4 If your machine isn't able to boot its operating system software, you need to run
POST and OBDiag tests.
4 If your machine is "healthy" enough to start up and load its operating system
software, you can use Solstice SyMON software and SunVTS software to diagnose
system problems.
4 If your machine is at a remote location, use RSC to diagnose problems remotely.
Sun Enterprise 250 Server Owner's Guide ♦ Revision A, June 1998
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