IBM(R) Enhanced Diagnostics program Version 2.0.1150 T3GT88A with FDAT 1.12 README This package creates a self-starting, DOS diagnostic utility you can use to detect failing hardware components. Print this file so that you can refer to it during the installation. Downloading the update ---------------------- 1. Click the file link to download the file from the web page. 2. When prompted, select a drive and directory in which to save the downloaded file. Extracting the update --------------------- Installing this update involves creating a bootable diskette and running the diagnostics program from the diskette. Before you begin, have a blank 1.44 MB diskette ready. 1. Click Start, select Find or Search, then click Files and Folders. 2. Insert a blank 1.44MB floppy diskette into the diskette drive. 3. Type t3gt88a.exe in the search field, then click Find Now. This will locate the t3gt88a.exe file you just downloaded. 4. Double-click the t3gt88a.exe icon. 5. Follow the onscreen prompts. The necessary files will be extracted to the diskette. Starting the IBM enhanced diagnostics program --------------------------------------------- 1. Shut down and turn off the computer. 2. Wait 10 seconds. 3. Insert the IBM Enhanced Diagnostics diskette into diskette drive A. 4. Turn on the computer. The main menu is displayed. 5. Highlight Run IBM Enhanced Diagnostics, and press Enter. Navigating the IBM enhanced diagnostics program ----------------------------------------------- You can use either the mouse or the keyboard to navigate the IBM Enhanced Diagnostics program. To select an item with the mouse, click the item. To use the keyboard: o Use the cursor-movement keys to highlight an item. o Press the Enter key to select a highlighted item. o Press the Esc key to return to the previous screen or menu. o Press the F1 key to display online help. Running diagnostic tests ------------------------ To run the diagnostic tests, you select items from a list of test categories. The first two items in the list are Run Normal Test and Run Quick Test. Run Normal Test runs a predefined set of tests from the list of categories; Run Quick Test runs a subset of those tests and takes less time to run. To run diagnostic tests, do the following: 1. From the toolbar, select Diagnostics. A list of all the test categories appears. 2. Select and run diagnostic tests in any of the following ways: o Select Run Normal Test or Run Quick Test to run a predefined set of tests. o Select any category from the list. In the list of tests that appears, selected tests are indicated by chevrons (>>). To select or deselect a test, click beside the test, or highlight the test and press the Spacebar. Press Ctrl+Enter to run all the selected tests in the category, or exit from that category and display another category to make additional selections. When you have finished making your selections, press F5 to run all selected tests in all categories. o Select any category from the list. In the list of tests that appears, select one test. This runs only that test. To stop a test at any time, press Esc. As each test runs, the test results (N/A, PASSED, FAILED, ABORTED, or USER QUIT) are displayed on the screen, beside each test name. Test results are also entered into a test log file. IBM advanced memory diagnostics ------------------------------- You can use the IBM Advanced Memory Diagnostics to identify a particular memory module (SIMM or DIMM) that fails during testing. You can perform either a full memory test or a quick memory test on all memory in the computer or on a single memory socket. o The full memory test detects marginal, intermittent, and solid (stuck) memory failures. It takes approximately 80 seconds per 1 MB of memory. o The quick memory test detects solid (stuck) memory failures only. It takes approximately 20 seconds per 1 MB of memory. Only populated sockets can be selected for testing. An unpopulated socket is indicated by "........" beside the socket-test name. To run the IBM Advanced Memory Diagnostics, do the following: 1. From the toolbar, select Diagnostics. 2. Select Memory Test-Full or Memory Test-Quick. Hard disk formatting utilities ------------------------------ The IBM PC Enhanced Diagnostics program has two hard-disk formatting utilities: Quick Erase Hard Drive and Full Erase Hard Drive. ATTENTION: Make sure that all data is backed up before you use either of these programs. Quick Erase Hard Drive is a DOS utility that does the following: o Destroys the master boot record (MBR) on the hard disk o Destroys all copies of the FAT table on all partitions (both the master and the backup) o Destroys the partition table o Provides messages that warn the user that this is an irrecoverable process Full Erase Hard Drive is a DOS utility that performs all the functions of Quick Erase Hard Drive plus the following: o Writes random data to all sectors of the hard disk o Provides an estimate of the time to completion and a visual representation of completion status To run the Quick Erase Hard Drive or Full Erase Hard Drive utility, do the following: 1. From the toolbar, select Utility. 2. Select Quick Erase Hard Drive or Full Erase Hard Drive, and follow the instructions. Viewing the test log -------------------- To view a list of test results and details of failures, do the following: 1. From any test-category screen, press F3 to display the test log. 2. Press F3 again to save the test log to a diskette, or press F2 to print the test log. Trademarks ---------- IBM, Aptiva, and NetVista are trademarks of the IBM Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. Microsoft and Windows are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. Other company, product, and service names may be trademarks or service marks of others. THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. IBM DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND MERCHANTABILITY WITH RESPECT TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT. BY FURNISHING THIS DOCUMENT, IBM GRANTS NO LICENSES TO ANY PATENTS OR COPYRIGHTS. (C) Copyright IBM Corporation 2002. All rights reserved.