Running the System Diagnostics 117
Running the System Diagnostics
If you experience a problem with your system, run the diagnostics before calling
for technical assistance. The purpose of the diagnostics is to test your system's
hardware without requiring additional equipment or risking data loss. If you are
unable to fix the problem yourself, service and support personnel can use
diagnostics test results to help you solve the problem.

Using Dell PowerEdge Diagnostics

To assess a system problem, first use the online Dell
®
PowerEdge
®
Diagnostics.
Dell PowerEdge Diagnostics is a suite of diagnostic programs, or test modules,
that include diagnostic tests on chassis and storage components such as hard
drives, physical memory, communications and printer ports, NICs, CMOS, and
more. If you are unable to identify the problem using the PowerEdge
Diagnostics, then use the system diagnostics.
The files required to run PowerEdge Diagnostics for systems running supported
Microsoft
®
Windows
®
and Linux operating systems are available at
support.dell.com
and on the CDs that came with your system. For information
about using diagnostics, see the
Dell PowerEdge Diagnostics User's Guide
.

System Diagnostics Features

The system diagnostics provides a series of menus and options for particular
device groups or devices. The system diagnostics menus and options allow you
to:
• Run tests individually or collectively.
• Control the sequence of tests.
• Repeat tests.
• Display, print, or save test results.
• Temporarily suspend testing if an error is detected or terminate testing
when a user-defined error limit is reached.
• View help messages that briefly describe each test and its parameters.
book.book Page 117 Thursday, August 30, 2007 3:30 PM