To perform certain procedures in this document, you must remove the system cover and work inside the system. While working inside the system, do not attempt to service the system except as explained in this guide and elsewhere in your system documentation.
CAUTION: Only trained service technicians are authorized to remove the system cover and access any of the components inside the system. Before performing any procedure, see your Product Information Guide for complete information about safety precautions, working inside the computer and protecting against electrostatic discharge.
Start-Up Routine
Look and listen during the system's start-up routine for the indications described in Table 4-1.
Table 4-1. Start-Up Routine Indications
Look/listen for:
Action
A code displayed on the system diagnostic indicators.
This section provides troubleshooting procedures for external devices attached to the system, such as the monitor, keyboard, or mouse. Before you perform any of the procedures, see "Troubleshooting External Connections" on page 80.
Troubleshooting IRQ Assignment Conflicts
Most PCI devices can share an IRQ with another device, but they cannot use an IRQ simultaneously. To avoid this type of conflict, see the documentation for each PCI device for specific IRQ requirements. Table 4-2 lists the IRQ assignments.
Table 4-2. IRQ Assignment Defaults
IRQ Line
Assignment
IRQ0
System timer
IRQ1
Keyboard controller
IRQ2
Interrupt controller 1 to enable IRQ8 through IRQ15
IRQ3
Serial port 2 (COM2 and COM4)
IRQ4
Serial port 1 (COM1 and COM3)
IRQ5
Remote access controller
IRQ6
Diskette drive (optional) controller
IRQ8
Real-time clock
IRQ9
ACPI functions (used for power management)
IRQ10
Available
IRQ11
Available
IRQ13
Math coprocessor
IRQ14
IDE CD drive controller
IRQ15
Available
Troubleshooting External Connections
Loose or improperly connected cables are the most likely source of problems for the system, monitor, and other peripherals (such as a printer, keyboard, mouse, or other external device). Ensure that all external cables are securely attached to the external connectors on your system. See Figure 1-2 for the back-panel connectors on your system.
Troubleshooting the Video Subsystem
Problem
Monitor is not working properly.
Action
Check the system and power connections to the monitor.
If the problem is confined to a particular application, see the application documentation for specific
port configuration requirements that the program may require.
CAUTION: Only trained service technicians are authorized to remove the system cover and access any of the components inside the system. Before performing any procedure, see your Product Information Guide for complete information about safety precautions, working inside the computer and protecting against electrostatic discharge.
Turn off the system and attached peripherals, and disconnect the system from the electrical outlet.
CAUTION: Only trained service technicians are authorized to remove the system cover and access any of the components inside the system. Before performing any procedure, see your Product Information Guide for complete information about safety precautions, working inside the computer and protecting against electrostatic discharge.
System message indicates a problem with the battery.
System Setup program loses system configuration information.
System date and time do not remain current.
NOTE: If the system is turned off for long periods of time (for weeks or months), the NVRAM may lose its system configuration information. This situation is caused by a defective battery.
NOTE: Some software may cause the system time to speed up or slow down. If the system seems to operate normally except for the time kept in the System Setup program, the problem may be caused by software rather than by a defective battery.
Troubleshooting Power Supply
Problem
Power-supply fault indicator is blinking amber.
Action
CAUTION: Only trained service technicians are authorized to remove the system cover and access any of the components inside the system. Before performing any procedure, see your Product Information Guide for complete information about safety precautions, working inside the computer and protecting against electrostatic discharge.
Turn off the system and attached peripherals, and disconnect the system from the electrical outlet.
NOTE: After installing a power supply, allow several seconds for the system to recognize the power supply and to determine if it is working properly. The power indicator turns green to signify that the power supply is functioning properly.
System message indicates a fan-related error message.
Action
CAUTION: Only trained service technicians are authorized to remove the system cover and access any of the components inside the system. Before performing any procedure, see your Product Information Guide for complete information about safety precautions, working inside the computer and protecting against electrostatic discharge.
Diagnostic indicator code indicates a problem with system memory.
Action
CAUTION: Only trained service technicians are authorized to remove the system cover and access any of the components inside the system. Before performing any procedure, see your Product Information Guide for complete information about safety precautions, working inside the computer and protecting against electrostatic discharge.
Reconnect the system to its electrical outlet, and turn on the system and attached peripherals.
Enter the System Setup program and check the system memory setting. See "Using the System Setup
Program" on page 27. If the amount of memory installed still does not match the system memory
setting, proceed to the next step.
Turn off the system and attached peripherals, and disconnect the system from its electrical outlet.
If a diagnostic test or error message indicates a specific memory module as faulty, swap or replace the
module. Otherwise, swap the memory module in socket 1 with a module of the same type and capacity
that is known to be good. See "Installing a Memory Module" on page 60.
CAUTION: Only trained service technicians are authorized to remove the system cover and access any of the components inside the system. Before performing any procedure, see your Product Information Guide for complete information about safety precautions, working inside the computer and protecting against electrostatic discharge.
Reconnect the system to the electrical outlet, and turn on the system and attached peripherals.
Run the appropriate online diagnostic test to see whether the diskette drive works correctly.
If the tests run successfully, an expansion card may be conflicting with the diskette drive logic, or an expansion card may be faulty. Continue to the next step.
System cannot read data from a CD or DVD in an optical drive.
Optical drive indicator does not blink during boot.
Action
CAUTION: Only trained service technicians are authorized to remove the system cover and access any of the components inside the system. Before performing any procedure, see your Product Information Guide for complete information about safety precautions, working inside the computer and protecting against electrostatic discharge.
Try using a different CD or DVD that you know works properly.
System cannot read data from a tape in an IDE tape drive.
Diagnostic indicators or system messages indicate a tape drive-related failure.
Tape drive indicator (if applicable) does not blink during boot.
Action
CAUTION: Only trained service technicians are authorized to remove the system cover and access any of the components inside the system. Before performing any procedure, see your Product Information Guide for complete information about safety precautions, working inside the computer and protecting against electrostatic discharge.
Try using a different tape that you know works properly.
If the problem persists, continue with the following steps.
One or more hard drives not recognized by the system.
Action
CAUTION: Only trained service technicians are authorized to remove the system cover and access any of the components inside the system. Before performing any procedure, see your Product Information Guide for complete information about safety precautions, working inside the computer and protecting against electrostatic discharge.
NOTICE: This troubleshooting procedure can destroy data stored on the hard drive. Before you proceed, back up all files on the hard drive.
Depending on the results of the diagnostics test, proceed as needed through the following steps.
If you are experiencing problems with multiple hard drives, skip to step 5. For a problem with a single
hard drive, continue to the next step.
If your system has a SAS RAID controller, perform the following steps.
Restart the system and press <Ctrl><R> to enter the host adapter configuration utility program.
See the documentation supplied with the host adapter for information about the configuration utility.
Ensure that the hard drive has been configured correctly for the RAID.
Exit the configuration utility and allow the system to boot to the operating system.
Ensure that the required device drivers for your SAS controller card or SAS RAID controller are
installed and are configured correctly. See the operating system documentation for more information.
Check the cable connections inside the system:
Turn off the system, including any attached peripherals, and disconnect the system from the
electrical outlet.
Verify that the cable connections between the hard drive(s) and the drive controller are correct,
whether the connections are to the SATA connectors on the system board, a SAS expansion card,
or a SAS RAID controller. See "Hard Drives" on page 51.
Verify that the SAS or SATA cables are securely seated in their connectors.
NOTE: When troubleshooting a SAS RAID controller, also see the documentation for your operating system and the controller.
Problem
Error message indicates a problem with the SAS RAID controller.
SAS RAID controller performs incorrectly or not at all.
Action
CAUTION: Only trained service technicians are authorized to remove the system cover and access any of the components inside the system. Before performing any procedure, see your Product Information Guide for complete information about safety precautions, working inside the computer and protecting against electrostatic discharge.
Reconnect the system to its electrical outlet, and turn on the system and attached peripherals. If the
problem persists, see "Getting Help" on page 107.
Troubleshooting Expansion Cards
NOTE: When troubleshooting an expansion card, see the documentation for your operating system and the expansion card.
Problem
Error message indicates a problem with an expansion card.
Expansion card performs incorrectly or not at all.
Action
CAUTION: Only trained service technicians are authorized to remove the system cover and access any of the components inside the system. Before performing any procedure, see your Product Information Guide for complete information about safety precautions, working inside the computer and protecting against electrostatic discharge.
Run the appropriate online diagnostic test for the expansion card which is exhibiting issues. See "Using
Dell PowerEdge Diagnostics" on page 97. Follow any recommended actions provided by the
diagnostics. If the problem persists, go to the next step.
Turn off the system and attached peripherals, and disconnect the system from the electrical outlet.
Diagnostic indicator code indicates a problem with the processor or system board.
A heat sink is not installed for the processor.
Action
CAUTION: Only trained service technicians are authorized to remove the system cover and access any of the components inside the system. Before performing any procedure, see your Product Information Guide for complete information about safety precautions, working inside the computer and protecting against electrostatic discharge.
