Dell 4100/180, 4100/200 Hard-Disk Drives Non-SCSI Test Group, Serial/Infrared Ports Test Group

•A diskette cannot be properly formatted, or format error messages appear on the screen.

•Data on diskettes is corrupted or lost; these problems may be intermittent.

Hard-Disk Drives (Non-SCSI) Test Group

The subtests in the Hard-Disk Drives (Non-SCSI) Test Group check the functionality of up to two hard-disk drives of any capacity. The subtests check the storage capability of a drive as well as the hard-disk drive con- troller (which affects the ability to read from and write to the drive). The subtests are for all hard-disk drive types except for SCSI drives.

NOTE: Because the Dell PowerEdge 4100 system sup- ports only SCSI hard-disk drives, use the SCSI Devices Test Group (described in “SCSI Devices Test Group” found later in this chapter) to test any hard-disk drive installed in the computer.

Serial/Infrared Ports Test Group

The subtests in the Serial/Infrared Ports Test Group check the computer’s interface with external devices, such as a printer and a mouse, that are connected to the computer through a serial or infrared port. The subtests in this test group are not intended as a diagnostic test for the actual peripheral attached to each port.

NOTES: With certain modems installed, the subtests in the Serial/Infrared Ports Test Group may fail because the modem appears to the diagnostics as a serial or infrared port, but it cannot be tested as a serial or infrared port. If a modem is installed and one of the subtests in the Serial/ Infrared Ports Test Group fails, remove the modem and run the diagnostic tests again.

If an external loopback connector is not attached to a serial or infrared port, the Serial External Transmission Test will fail for that port and the results of this test should therefore be ignored. An external modem con- nected to the port does not substitute for an external loopback connector.

Subtests

The four subtests in the Serial/Infrared Ports Test Group and the port functions they confirm follow:

•Serial/Infrared Baud Rate Test

Checks the baud rate generator in each serial com- munications chip against the computer’s clock

•Serial/Infrared Interrupt Test

Checks the serial port’s ability to send IRQs to the microprocessor

•Serial/Infrared Internal Transmission Test

Checks several internal functions of the serial port using the internal loopback mode of the serial com- munications chip

•Serial External Transmission Test

If a loopback device is attached, checks the line con- trol bits of the serial port and sends a test pattern at several baud rates, checking the returned values

Why Run a Serial/Infrared Ports Test?

If the diagnostics does not recognize the computer’s serial or infrared ports, enter the System Setup program and check the SERIAL/INFRARED PORT category to see whether the port has been disabled. The subtests in the Serial/Infrared Ports Test Group cannot test a port unless it is enabled.

When a port is faulty, it may not be immediately evident that the port, and not the device connected to the port, is faulty. Instead, the peripheral (such as a printer or mouse) might behave erratically or not operate at all. If the ex- ternal device is not properly installed through the software, it also may not function properly. Try operating the peripheral from different programs or through the operating system. If it still does not work, you can elimi- nate the software configuration as the cause of the problem.

Another possible cause for errors is the external device. Use the documentation that came with the peripheral to troubleshoot it and confirm that it is working properly. (Most printers have a self-test.)

After you eliminate incorrect system configuration information settings, peripheral malfunctions, and soft- ware errors as potential causes of port problems, you can

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