Service manual

Running the Dell Diagnostics: Dell Latitude CP
because most hard-disk drives have a small amount of space that is not usable. The hard-disk
drive keeps a record of this space so that the computer will not attempt to use it. Identification
of unusable disk space, unless it is an unusually large amount (over five percent of the
possible total), should not be regarded as a cause for testing the hard-disk drive.
These are the most common symptoms that might prompt you to test the hard-disk drive:
● The hard-disk drive fails during the boot routine.
● Seek errors are reported by the operating system or application programs.
● An error message appears on the screen stating that the computer cannot read from or
write to the hard-disk drive.
● Data on the hard-disk drive is corrupted or lost; these problems may be intermittent.
Once saved by a program, files cannot be properly recalled.
Subtests
The five subtests in the Hard-Disk Drives (Non-SCSI) test group confirm the following drive
functions:
● Disk Controller Test
Checks the internal microcode of the hard-disk drive controller
● Forced Error-Correction-Code Test
Checks the ability of the hard-disk drive to identify and correct errors
● Seek Test
Checks the drive's ability to search for a specified track on the drive and to position the
read/write heads of the drive to all tracks
● Read Test
Positions the read/write heads at each cylinder of the drive and verifies that all tracks on
the drive can be read correctly
● Write Test
Positions the read/write heads at each cylinder of the drive and verifies that all tracks on
the drive can be written to correctly
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