Service manual

35
4 Diagnostics
Diagnostics
Two types of diagnostics support the LH 3000:
• Boot Diagnostics
These are routines that are executed automatically when the LH 3000 is booted on, and before
loading of the Network Operating System (NOS) begins.
• DiagTools
This is a functional test suite that comes with the LH 3000 and other HP NetServers.
Boot Diagnostics
Boot diagnostics include a number of types of tests:
• Built-in Self-Tests
These are tests that execute within specific components such as the processors or controllers
(for example, the front panel controller).
• Power-On Self-Test
This is a set of test routines executed by the boot processor. Faults detected in this testing are
reported as POST error codes. These codes will appear on the display monitor and the front
panel LCD while POST executes. These messages will also be recorded in the System Event
Log (SEL) which is accessible through the front panel LCD display and Event Log Reporting
Utility (Navigator CD-ROM). The POST routines can display an error message on the video
display screen, the speaker beeps twice as the message appears.
• Initialization and Configuration Routines
Before the network operating system (NOS) is loaded, the system will move applicable pieces
of firmware into main memory (for example the PCI Video BIOS or the SCSI BIOS) and initialize
peripheral channels (for example the SCSI channels). If the display reports a particular
procedure is underway and the system simply stops, you may infer that the displayed procedure
has crashed the system. For example, if the boot process stops while the SCSI firmware is
loading and initializing the SCSI channels, then there may be problems with the SCSI cables or
components. Use the Setup utility or the SCSI Configuration utility to make any changes to the
configuration. If you cannot correct an error, refer to General System Problems.
• Beep codes occur when errors cannot be viewed on the screen. Typically these signal fatal test
errors that occur before the video BIOS is loaded and messages can appear on the display.
These errors may generate a message to the System Event Log (SEL) which may be accessed
through the front panel LCD display or the Event Log Reporting Utility.
Minimum Requirements for Boot Diagnostics
As a minimum, in order to start running boot diagnostics the NetServer must find a working processor with
which to boot, and data path to the ROM BIOS which supplies the bootstrap firmware. The system soon
needs space in main memory into which firmware will be moved to support NOS operations after booting.
HP NetServer DiagTools
The purpose of hardware diagnostic software is to provide tools for checking for serious hardware problems.
By design, diagnostic software executes simple tests of each hardware component in turn. Usually, such