Dell Inspiron 3000 User Manual
Page 35
Beep Codes and Error Messages
3-5
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Mouse — Tests the mouse/touch pad subsystem
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Diskette Drives — Tests the diskette drive subsystem
•
Hard-Disk Drives (Non-SCSI) — Tests the IDE hard-disk drive subsystem
•
IDE CD ROM Drives — Tests a CD-ROM drive subsystem
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Serial/Infrared Ports — Tests the serial communications port
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Parallel Ports — Tests the parallel communications port
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Audio — Tests the operation of the audio chip set
•
SCSI Devices — Tests a SCSI hard-disk drive subsystem
NOTE: This test does not apply to Dell Inspiron 3000 computers.
•
Network Interface — Tests a network controller and its associated interface
NOTE: This test does not apply to Dell Inspiron 3000 computers.
Before starting the Dell Diagnostics, you must configure the computer cor-
rectly. For more information, see “Before You Start Testing” in Chapter 4 of the
Reference and Troubleshooting Guide.
To run the Dell Diagnostics completely, you must have an external diskette
drive with a diskette drive cable attached.
Follow these steps to start the diagnostics:
1. Install a CD-ROM drive in the options bay.
2. Attach the external diskette drive cable to the parallel port connector on the
back of the computer.
3. Turn off the computer.
4. Place a copy of the Dell Diagnostics Diskette in the diskette drive, and boot
the computer.
Starting the diagnostics causes the Dell logo screen to appear, followed by a
message indicating that the diagnostics is loading. Before the diagnostics loads,
a program tests the portion of main memory (RAM) required for loading the
diagnostics. If a main memory error is detected, a message appears on the
screen telling you a memory module has failed.
If no errors are found in main memory, the diagnostics loads, and the Diagnos-
tics Menu appears. This menu lets you choose the following options or exit to
the MS-DOS
®
prompt:
•
Run Quick Tests — Runs preselected tests to quickly locate a computer fail-
ure or to indicate where further testing is needed to isolate a failure
•
Run All Tests
— Runs all tests for a thorough test of the computer
•
Run Specific Tests
— Tests a particular area or subsystem of the computer