Dell Latitude Xpi CD - Manual (Page 88)

4-18 Dell Latitude XPi CD Reference and Troubleshooting Guide
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 pro-
gram, 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
I
DE CD ROM Drives Test Group
The subtests in the IDE CD ROM Drives Test Group
check the functionality of the integrated drive electronics
(IDE) CD-ROM drive. Before conducting an IDE CD
ROM test, insert into the CD-ROM drive a CD with
audio and data tracks (such as a multimedia CD).
NOTE: The Audio Output Test requires a CD with audio
tracks; all other subtests in this test group require a CD
with data tracks. If the CD-ROM drive contains a CD
that does not have the required data or audio tracks, the
subtest fails.
Why Run an IDE CD ROM Drives Test?
If you encounter a problem while using an application
program on a CD, the problem could result from the disc
or from the drive. When you encounter problems, first try
using a different CD. If the problem recurs, run the IDE
CD ROM Drives Test Group.
These are the most common symptoms that might prompt
you to test an IDE CD-ROM drive:
• 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 an IDE CD-ROM
drive.
Subtests
The five subtests in the IDE CD ROM Drives Test Group
confirm the following drive functions:
• Drive Controller Test
Causes the drive to execute its internal self-test.
• Seek Test
Checks the drive’s ability to search for each block on
the device.
• Read Test
Positions the read heads at each block of the device
for reading data and verifies that all blocks on the
device can be read correctly.