Sun Microsystems 220R service manual About Diagnostic Tools

7.1About Diagnostic Tools

The system provides both firmware-based and software-based diagnostic tools to help you identify and isolate hardware problems. These tools include:

Power-on self-test (POST) diagnostics

OpenBoot Diagnostics (OBDiag)

TM

4SunVTS software

TM

Sun Enterprise SyMON 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 Section 7.2 “About Power-On Self-Test (POST) Diagnostics” on page 187.

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 Section 7.5 “About OpenBoot Diagnostics (OBDiag)” on page 192.

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 Section 7.8 “About SunVTS Software” on page 206.

UNIX-based Sun Enterprise SyMON allows you to monitor the system hardware status and operating system performance of your server. For information about SyMON, see Section 7.11 “About Sun Enterprise SyMON Software” on page 211.

Which method or tool you use to diagnose system problems depends on the nature of those problems:

If your machine is not able to boot its operating system software, you need to run

4POST and OBDiag tests.

If your machine is “healthy” enough to start up and load its operating system software, you can use Sun Enterprise SyMON software and SunVTS software to diagnose system problems.

The following chart provides an overview of when to use the various diagnostic tools to diagnose hardware problems.

186 Sun Enterprise 220R Server Service Manual ♦ January 2000, Revision A