Chpt8 Troubleshooting Fundamental

8/9/2019 Chpt8 Troubleshooting Fundamental

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Chapter 8Troubleshooting Fundamental


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Slide 2Ver 1.0 12 April 2001

Basic ToolsBasic Tools

What are the basic tools used during PC assembly and troubleshooting?

1. Hardware tools

Philips-head screw driver

Flat-head screw driver

Ground bracelet

Tweezers

Chip extractor Extractor

2. Software Tools

Startup Disk

Windows CD-ROM

Drivers for peripherals eg printer, scanner

Virus Cleaner Disk


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Other Useful Diagnostic ToolsOther Useful Diagnostic Tools

What other useful Tools are available?1. Diagnostic Cards

Discover and reports computer errors at POST

2. Diagnostic Software

Diagnostic & Utilities

PC-Technician Mcafee First Aid

Norton Utilities

CheckIt 98

EasyRestore

Disk Partition

PartitionMagic Disk Cloning

Drive Image, Norton Ghost

POSTmorton Diagnostic Card


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TroubleshootingTroubleshooting Fundamental RulesFundamental Rules (page 408(page 408--409)409)

What is the Systematic Approach to Troubleshooting?

1. Divide and conquer

isolate the problem eg boot from a diskette

2. Dont overlook the obvious

Ask simple question eg is the monitor plugged in

3. Check the simple things first

No display means problem with Video card or monitor. Choose easiest, exchange

the monitor and try4. Make no assumptions

5. Research

Read, ask, surf the net, look through documentations

6. Write things down

Writes notes of the problem. Draw diagram.

7. Reboot and start over

8. Establish your priorities Data? Backup it up.

9. Keep your cool

10. Dont assume the worse

11. Know you starting point


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Power Supply UnitPower Supply Unit

What are the common failure with PowerSupply Unit (PSU)?

total failure

fan failure

loss of voltage regulation

What is the symptoms of total failure?

No beeps or blinking lights when the switch isturned on.

Fan on the powers supply doesn't rotate. Youneed to replace the PSU.

What is the symptoms of fan failure?

Fan fails if the PC is working and the fan is

Not Turning. A working PSU fan producesaudible noise. A steady squeal or loud hum iscaused by failing fan bearings. You need toreplace the PSU.

What is the symptoms for loss of voltageregulation?

You have odd-ball failures:

PC reboots itself when the table isjarred, or when someone walks acrossthe room

PC occasionally freeze up

PC does not power up for a few minutesafter being shut off may have a powersupply problem

PC boots and runs for a very shortperiod of time before freezing

What if the Power supply appears Dead ?

One of the main system components hasdeveloped a short circuit. This may bedetermined by alternately isolatingcomponents from the power supply. Unplug allof the power leads to the drives, and try toboot the system.


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Main Memory

What is the common symptoms of MainMemory problem?

1. PC system does not boot-up

2. Intermittent lockups, especially whenthose lockups occur only in specificprograms

3. Getting constant amount of corruptedfiles including executables

4. HIMEM.SYS does not load

5. Fail to install Win95 and Win98

6. Windows program is unstable

7. Continuous beeping sound emitted bysystem during power up

8. Continuous RAM count during boot-up ,without loading Windows program

9. No display other than blue screen on themonitor during boot-up

10. Totally no video display on the monitor

11. System hang or rebooting after prolongusage.

How to isolate/test memory problem?

1. Shut system down

2. Try and reseat memory if they seem loose

3. If this does not help simply take onemodule out that you suspect

4. Run system and see if errors occur. If noerror occurs the problem may be with theSIMM or DIMM you took out. Try takingthe other memory slot out and replacing inthe now open slot of the suspected badSIMM. Boot up and see if you run with noerrors

5. If you did get an error this may be withthe slot and not the memory

This is simply just a process of

elimination. If all fails, take memoryback if under warranty and replace.If your are still having troubledouble check and make sure you havethe right memory. If that is okaymaybe a new motherboard isnecessary.


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Main Memory

What are t

he recognisable Error BeepCodes?

Award BIOS:

1 Long Beep tone - Memory Problem

1 Long Beep and 2 Short Beeps -DRAM Parity failure

1 LongB

eep and 3 ShortB

eeps -Video error

Continuous Beep tone - Memory orVideo memory failures

AMI:

2 Beep tone - DRAM Parity failure

3 Beep tone - Base 64K RAM failure

Continuous Beep tone - Memory orVideo memory failures

Is there any RAM testing utility?Yes. Two free software are:

1.Memtest

http://www.memtest86.com/

2. MemoryDOC

http://www.simmtester.com/pa

ge/products/doc/docinfo.asp


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KeyboardKeyboard

What are the common problems forKeyboards?

Item drop inside the keyboards egpapers, staple, paper clips

Keys that just do not work at all

Total failure mode, which occurswhen the system hangs on bootingand displays a keyboard errormessage

How remove items inside the keyboard?

Remove the keyboard, turn it upsidedown and shake the item out. It need,

you may need to used compress air anda brush to remove the items. Do not usevacuum cleaner, it create staticcharges.

What can you do if you spill liquid ontothe keyboard?

Remove one key at a time and cleanunderneath them. If liquid is soda orsomething with sugar in it and the keyis sticking you can pry key off withsome finesse and clean with alcohol or

distilled water.

Keyboard has no response?

Cable behind the casing may have cameloose. Try the keyboard on another PCand if the problem remains, change the

keyboard.


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Monitor

What are the possible problems? No Display Image is reduced to a single

horizontal/vertical line Screen goes blank after some time Screen shaking Display garbage

What must be done beforetroubleshooting?1.Always make sure that the correctand updated drivers for the video cardand monitor are used

What you MUST NOT do?Warning: Never open up a monitor!There are high voltages present insidethe case that can injure or kill you. Onlya trained professional should work on amonitor.

Monitor appears to have no power?1. Ensure the electrical outlet is working

properly by plugging another applianceinto it

2. Plug the monitor directly into theelectrical outlet

3. Try another outlet

4. If none of these options works, themonitor is and need to decide whetherto replace it or repair it.

Monitor has power but no display?1. Check that the brightness and

contrast controls are not turned down

too low2. Try a different monitor3. Check that the video card is seated

properly and that the monitor's cablesare securely attached. Make sure thecable is damaged.

4. If these do not works, the monitor is

bad


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Monitor

Screen goes blank after a period ofinactivity?

1. The most common cause of this behavioris that power management features havebeen enabled in the system BIOS. Gointo your CMOS BIOS and look forPower Management Settings and disablethem.

Screen is shaking?

1. Move all objects that emit a magneticfield, such as a motor or transformer,away from the monitor

2. Check if the specified voltage is applied

Image is reduced to a single horizontal/vertical line?

1. Vertical/horizontal output has goneentirely, and it is unlikely that adjustingthe "vertical/vertical size" will have anyeffect. Send out for repair

Display garbage?

1. Updates driver for your video card

2. Resolution or refresh rate may be set toohigh for the video driver

Boot into Safe Mode by hitting F8 atstart-up and see if the video isimproved with the standard driver'slower resolution and refresh rate

settings.3. Make sure the video card is tightly

inserted into its slot. Try removing it andreinserting and then rebooting

4. Make sure the monitor's cables aresecurely attached and free from anycrimps or damage


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Video AdapterVideo Adapter

Computer refuses to boot and you suspectthat the video card is the problem:

1. Ensure video card is tightly inserted intoits slot. Try removing it and reinsertingand then rebooting.

2. If there are chips on the video card, trypressing down on them gently

3. Check for resource conflicts using

Device Manager4. If you have an onboard (integrated)

video card on your motherboard that youhave replaced with a new video adapterboard, you must go into the CMOS BIOSand disable the integrated video card.

5. Try swapping the suspect card with

another identical card, if possible. If theproblem is resolved, replaced the card.

6. Try placing the suspect video card inanother system. If it do not work, thecard is bad. If it works, it is likely thatthere is a resource conflict in theoriginal system.

What should be done if two or more beeps atstart-up is heard, but there is no video?

1. Open your computer and make sure yourvideo board is seated properly it itsexpansion slot.

(Award BIOS: 1 long 3 short beeps;AMI BIOS: 8 beeps)


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Hard Disk DriveHard Disk Drive

What are the symptoms of problemcause by Hard Disk failure? A dead drive (cant even hear it spin

up) Frequent errors during reads

and/or writes A "No Fixed Disk Present" error

Numeric errors 1701, 1780, 1781,1790 or 1791 on start up "Hard Disk Controller Failure"

message

What are the symptoms of problemcaused by corruption of boot record or

MB

R? Non-system disk or disk error Bad or missing command

interpreter Disk boot failure - system halted Track 0 not found (can also occur

on non-bootable hard drives)

How to correct MB

R problems?1. Boot from Startup Disk and checksystem for viruses. Most MBRproblems in particular are causedby boot sector viruses.

2. Verify that the partition table iscorrect by running fdisk. should see

a listing of all partitions for thedisk. If the partition table isincorrect, repair it with fdisk/MBR. Doing so will likely cost youdata.

What other 3rd

party software isavailable?

You can also use third party utility likePC Tools' DiskFix, Norton's Disk Doctoror Partition Magic, without losing datain other partitions.


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Hard Disk DriveHard Disk Drive

How to correctB

ooting Problem?1. If the partition has no problem, typeDIR C: /A to check for IO.SYS andMSDOS.SYS.

2. If one of the files is missing, typeSYS A: to restore them to C: drive.Note that the data in C: drive may be

lost.3. Run SCANDISK C: to correct the

FAT table if the hard disk stillcannot be booted.

4. If the hard disk still has problem,re-partition and format the hard

disk.

What need to be done if symptoms ofhard disk failure appear?

Change a new hard disk


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Windows/Software

What are the common error messages inWindows?

Invalid page fault

Windows protection error

General protection fault

Fatal exception

Kernell32.dll

What causes Invalid Page Fault?

1. Virtual memory becomes unstable due toa shortage of physical memory (RAM)

2. Virtual memory becomes unstable due toa shortage of free disk space

3. Virtual memory area is damaged by a

program4. Program attempts to access data that isbeing modified by another runningprogram

What causes Windows Protection Error?

Problem with software

Need to update a device driver installed inthe computer

Using Dr Watson to identify the problem ofWPE?

Dr. Watson logs your computer whenever afault occurs. It intercepts software faults,identifies the software that faulted, andoffers a detailed description of the cause. Itcan also offer a suggested course of action.

What can Dr Watson log file be found?

C:\WINDOWS\DRWATSON folder. Has file

extension .WLG


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Windows/SoftwareWindows/Software

What is General Protection Error?

Occur when your computer attempts to loador unload a virtual device driver (VxD) and isa problem with it.

When would you see the Error Message?

Message receive when you start Windows:

While initializing device device nameWindows Protection Error

Windows Protection Error

What are the cause of problems of GPE?

Real-mode driver and a protected-modedriver are in conflict

Registry is damaged

Either the Win.com file or theCommand.com file are infected with avirus, or damaged

If a protected-mode driver is loadedfrom the System.ini file and the driveris already initialized

Input/output (I/O) address conflict or arandom access memory (RAM) addressconflict

Plug and Play feature of the BIOS notworking correctly

Malfunctioning cache or memory Motherboard is not working properly


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Windows/Software

What is Fatal Exception?Fatal exception error messages arecodes that are returned by a program inthe following situations:

Accessing an illegal instruction

Invalid data or code has beenaccessed

Privilege level of an operation isinvalid

What is the common message display?

A fatal exception has occurred atxxxx.xxxxxxxx

XY range from 00 to OF

Is Fatal Exception Recoverable?In many situations, the exception isnon-recoverable and you must eitherrestart or shut down the computer,depending on the severity of the error.

What are the common causes?

Programs incompatibility, not writtenproperly and heat related issues.Others include hardware/softwareissues eg out dated or damaged videodisplay adapter drivers, and out datedmultimedia software.

What is Fatal Exception 0E?A Page Fault occurs when the operatingsystem tries to access virtual memoryon a demand-paged basis and that"page" is missing or damaged.


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Windows/SoftwareWindows/Software

What is kernel.dll?

A 32-bit dynamic link library file, Found inWindows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me.

What is its job?Manages the memory, IO operations, andinterrupts.

When is it loaded?When Windows starts. Loaded into aprotected memory so that other programs donot take over that memory space.

What causes kernel.dll error messages?If you get an invalid page fault (IPF) errormessage, it is likely that a program tries to

access the Kernel32.dll protected memory.

If the problem is cause by one program,replaced the program. If the problem occurswhen you access multiple files and programs,the damage is likely caused by damagedhardware.

When Kernel32.dll error messages can occur? Damaged swap file File allocation damage Damaged or incorrect version of the

Kernel32.dll file Damaged registry Third-party software that is damaged or

incorrectly installed

.dll files that are saved to the desktop Non-existent or broken Temp folder A control panel (.cpl) file is damaged Incorrect or damaged hardware driver Incorrectly installed printer drivers or

HP Jetadmin drivers Damaged entries in the History folder Incompatible or damaged dynamic link

library files Viruses Low disk space Other problems that depend on the

Kernel file


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Application Software

What are the common cause of softwareproblems?

Program may be corrupted

Backup data if unsure that data may beerased

Copy the config file (eg .cfg) & put itback after re-installing

Note: may need 2rd party s/w eg

Norton Uninstaller to removecorrupted program

Files (.dll, .ocx. oca, .vbx, etc) arereplaced with new version

Most common - DLL been replaced

S/W does not work with newer versionof DLL

What can be done if Application Softwaredeveloped problems?Reinstall the program, if it worked in the past

Documents

Chpt8 Troubleshooting Fundamental