HP e-diagtools 4.0 User manual

hp
e-diagtools 4.0
user’s guide
www.hp.com/go/e-diagtools
hp compaq business pcs
hp workstations & servers
hp notebook pcs

Notice
The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice.
Hewlett-Packard makes no warranty of any kind with regard to this material, including,
but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular
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respective holders.
HP France
Business Desktop Division
38053 Grenoble Cedex 9
France
© 1998-2002 Hewlett-Packard Company
© 2002 Compaq Information Technologies Group, L.P.
May 2002 Version for e-Diagtools 4.0

3
HP e-Diagtools 4.0 User’s Guide
Who Should Read This Book?
This manual is for anyone who wants to:
•Diagnose hardware problems on an HP computer
•Understand the purpose of e-Diagtools
•Learn how to use e-Diagtools
•Know what to do when an e-Diagtools test fails
•Provide their support provider with more information for solving problems quickly
and effectively
•Learn about advanced topics for IT or MIS personnel, such as the HP Protected
Partition and the Virtual Call Assistant
•Find out where to get more information and support.
What is e-Diagtools?
The first step in solving a problem with a computer is diagnosis.
HP’s e-Diagtools helps you diagnose hardware-related problems on a HP computer.
It is a series of tools designed to help you to:
•Distinguish between software and hardware problems
•Diagnose hardware-related problems
•Provide precise information to support providers so that they can solve any problem
quickly and effectively.
e-Diagtools is not a repair tool.
Compatibility
e-Diagtools 4.0 is compatible with:
•Selected HP Compaq Business PCs released after May 2002.
•Selected HP Notebook platforms released from April 2002.
•For HP Workstation and Server platforms, this information will be announced at a
later date.
For more detailed information, refer to the HP support web sites (refer to page 7).
NOTE e-Diagtools 4.0 is not compatible with HP computers that use e-Diagtools 3.5x or earlier.
Other versions of e-Diagtools and Diagtools are available for all HP Brio, e-pc, Kayak,
Vectra and Notebook PCs via the HP support web sites (refer to page 7).

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What’s New in e-Diagtools Version 4.0
e-Diagtools 4.0 has these new features:
•On selected Business PCs, e-Diagtools is now installed in the new HP Protected
Partition. This partition is not only invisible to the user and to the standard
partitioning tools, but it is also protected from deletion. This means that e-Diagtools
is always available on all the latest Compaq Corporate PCs by restarting your PC and
pressing F8 just after startup.
(For HP Notebook PCs and HP Workstations, e-Diagtools 4.0 is still installed in the
Utility Partition, which was used for e-Diagtools 3.5x. For more information, refer to
the e-Diagtools 3.5x User’s Guide, available from the web sites described on page 7.)
•New, more efficient and accurate hardware diagnostics tests
•An improved user interface, including the use of function keys in the main menu,
simplified advanced test screen, and an improved test progress indicator
•More information than before in the Support Ticket, including a history log which
collects information every time you run e-Diagtools
•A Windows utility to retrieve the Support Ticket in HTML format so that you can save,
print or email the Support Ticket.
In addition, these previous features are still available:
•Step-by-step troubleshooting recommendations if there is a test warning or error
•Available in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Simplified
Chinese and Japanese
•Upgrades to the latest version of e-Diagtools are available from the HP support web
site (see Web Links).

5
Overview of e-Diagtools
e-Diagtools has four main components:
Other e-Diagtools Documentation
Apart from this User’s Guide, the following documentation is also available:
•e-Diagtools 4.0 Quick Tour
This HTML tour provides a useful online introduction and overview of e-Diagtools 4.0.
It is available on the e-Diagtools web site www.hp.com/go/e-diagtools.
•Virtual Call Assistant User’s Guide
This document explains how to install, configure and use the Virtual Call Assistant,
an e-Diagtools diagnostic aid that is capable of detecting and recognizing audio error
signals from remote computers. It is available on your HP computer’s support web site
(refer to page 7 for web addresses).
Pre-boot diagnostics
on selected HP Compaq Business PCs
and HP Workstations
(not supported on HP Notebook PCs)
A dedicated micro-controller on the system board tests the computer’s hardware
and peripherals during boot.
The pre-boot diagnostics device issues a sequence of audible beeps that helps
diagnose a problem when the computer cannot boot.
Core tests The e-Diagtools core tests provide hardware detection, basic and advanced
system tests, and a Support Ticket that contains a complete record of the test
results and the computer’s configuration.
Support Ticket The Support Ticket is a full diagnostic report that allows your authorized support
organization to analyze hardware problems and provides solutions.
In e-Diagtools, you can save the Support Ticket on a floppy disk. (If you do not
have a floppy disk, you can use the utilities described below).
e-Diagtools for Windows
(Notebook PCs)
or
Get Support Ticket utility
(Other HP computers)
These utilities are useful for computers that have no floppy drive.
Notebook PCs:
You can retrieve the Support Ticket to save, view, print or email it using
e-Diagtools for Windows.
All other HP computers:
Using the Get Support Ticket utility in Windows, you can retrieve the Support
Ticket in HTML format to save, view, print or email it. This utility is available at
www.hp.com/go/e-diagtools.

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Media for HP Compaq Business PCs
e-Diagtools 4.0 is supplied on the following media:
•The hard disk partition for e-Diagtools pre-installed on your computer
(supplied on some Business PCs released after May 2002).
This is the recommended version of e-Diagtools to use for Business PCs.
An upgrade to the latest version of e-Diagtools for the hard disk partition is available
from the HP support web (see Web Links).
•The HP Image Library & Diagnostics CD-ROM
(supplied with some Business PCs released after May 2002).
This CD-ROM cannot run e-Diagtools but allows you to re-install e-Diagtools on your
hard disk during a full system or advanced recovery.
•The HP e-Diagtools CD-ROM
(supplied with some Windows and Linux HP computers released after May 2002.)
Boot from this CD-ROM to run e-Diagtools.
For more detailed information, refer to the HP support web sites (refer to page 7).
Media for HP Notebook PCs and HP Workstations
e-Diagtools 4.0 is supplied on the following media:
•The HP Utility Partition for e-Diagtools pre-installed on your computer's hard disk
(supplied on new HP computers released from April 2002).
An upgrade to the latest version of e-Diagtools for the hard disk partition is available
from the HP support web (see Web Links).
•The Recovery CD-ROM for HP Notebook PCs (supplied with most new HP Notebook
PCs released from April 2002).
For more detailed information, refer to the HP support web sites (refer to page 7).
Upgrading e-Diagtools on your computer’s hard disk partition
HP Compaq Business
PCs
You can download the latest version of e-Diagtools from the support web site (refer to
page 7 for web addresses).
HP Notebook PCs You can upgrade e-Diagtools using e-Diagtools for Windows, described in chapter 7,
“e-Diagtools for Windows (Notebook PCs only)“.
HP Instant Support
For selected HP computers, e-Diagtools can also be run as part of the HP Instant
Support framework.
This e-Diagtools capability is not described in this manual. For more information on HP
Instant Support, refer to: www.hp.com/go/instantsupport.

7
More Information and HP Support Web Sites
For more information about e-Diagtools, refer to the e-Diagtools web site:
www.hp.com/go/e-diagtools
For more information about support for your HP computer, including e-Diagtools
information, refer to the HP Support web sites:
For more information about HP Customer Care Service and Support, refer to chapter
11, “HP Customer Care Service and Support“.
HP Support www.hp.com/go/support
Business PC Support www.hp.com/go/support
HP Workstation Support www.hp.com/workstations/support
HP Notebook Support www.hp.com/go/support
(select Notebook PCs)

8English

Contents
9
1 Pre-Boot Diagnostics and BIOS Errors
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Pre-Boot Audio Signal and Beeps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
BIOS Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
What to Do if You Get a Pre-boot, BIOS, or e-Diagtools Error . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Calling Your Support Provider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Troubleshooting the Error Yourself . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
e-Diagtools Online Troubleshooting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2 Starting e-Diagtools
Before Starting e-Diagtools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Starting e-Diagtools from the Hard Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Option 1: Starting e-Diagtools on HP Compaq Business PCs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Option 2: Starting e-Diagtools on HP Notebook PCs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Starting e-Diagtools from CD-ROM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Which CD-ROM to Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
How to Start e-Diagtools from CD-ROM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
The e-Diagtools Main Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
F1 ? (Help). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Run e-Diagtools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Hot Key for Advanced System Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Exit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Support Ticket (when available) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Select Language. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3 e-Diagtools Hardware Detection
Overview of Hardware Detection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Hardware Detection Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
If a Component is Not Detected . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
4 e-Diagtools Basic System Test
Overview of the Basic System Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Contents
10 English
How to Run the Basic System Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Test Result: PASSED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Test Result: WARNING or FAILED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Important Recommendation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
What is Tested . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
5 Advanced System Tests
Overview of the Advanced System Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
How to Enter the Advanced System Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
How to Run an Advanced System Test. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Test Result: PASSED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Test Result: WARNING or FAILED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Important Recommendation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
6 The Support Ticket
What is the Support Ticket? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Some Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
The e-Diagtools Support Ticket Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Accessing the Support Ticket Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Performing Actions in the e-Diagtools Support Ticket Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Retrieving the Support Ticket from Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
7 e-Diagtools for Windows (Notebook PCs only)
What is e-Diagtools for Windows?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
“e-Diagtools for Windows” Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Support Ticket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
BIOS Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Download and Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Connection Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Info. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
8 The HP Protected Partition
What is the HP Protected Partition? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Properties of the HP Protected Partition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Contents
11
Benefits of the HP Protected Partition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Updating the HP Protected Partition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Recreating the Protected Partition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
9 Support Solutions and Troubleshooting
Software Components in and around the e-Diagtools Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
10 Virtual Call Assistant
What is the Virtual Call Assistant? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
How it Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
How to Use the VCA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
VCA Availability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
11 HP Customer Care Service and Support
Your HP Authorized Reseller. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Hewlett-Packard Support and Information Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
HP Customer Care Center Phone Numbers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Contents
12 English

this chapter applies to
hp compaq business pcs ✔
hp workstations ✔
hp notebook pcs ✘
1
Pre-Boot Diagnostics and BIOS Errors
This chapter describes Pre-boot Diagnostics and BIOS errors, which help you
troubleshoot hardware problems when your Business PC or HP Workstation cannot boot
(start) properly. Pre-boot diagnostics are not provided on all HP computers.
It also describes a web-based troubleshooting tool related to pre-boot diagnostics, BIOS
EMU errors, and e-Diagtools for HP Compaq Business PCs or HP Workstations.

1 Pre-Boot Diagnostics and BIOS Errors
Overview
14 English
Overview
What do you do if your computer does not start properly and you cannot run e-Diagtools
to diagnose the problem? The answer is to use e-Diagtools’ pre-boot diagnostic
capabilities or BIOS error messages.
If your computer powers on but does not start properly, it attempts to report the error
in two ways:
•It emits a modulated audio signal followed by one or more distinct beeps – this is
pre-boot diagnostics
•It displays an error message on the screen – this is a BIOS error.
Pre-Boot Audio Signal and Beeps
NOTE Pre-boot diagnostics are not provided on all HP computers.
The pre-boot audio signal can be used to identify the hardware component that needs
troubleshooting or replacement:
•The modulated audio signal can be interpreted by a support provider equipped with
the Virtual Call Assistant. (For more information about the Virtual Call Assistant,
refer to the Virtual Call Assistant User’s Guide, available on your HP computer’s
support web site – refer to page 7 for web addresses).
•The distinct beeps form a beep code that you can interpret using the following table:
Problem Number of beeps
If there is a buzzing sound:
•If you pushed the power button for more than 5 seconds, this is
normal; there is no error
•The power button may be stuck.
If there is no buzzing sound, the computer has no power. This could
mean:
•Computer is not plugged in
•Power supply failure
•System board failure.
0
Absent or incorrectly connected processor 1
Power supply in protected mode 2
Memory failure 3
Video controller failure 4
PCI device initialization failure 5
Corrupted BIOS 6
BIOS terminal error 7

15
1 Pre-Boot Diagnostics and BIOS Errors
BIOS Error Messages
If you miss the beep code, press and hold the power button for at least five seconds
until the modulated sound is emitted again. This “playback” of the memorized code can
also be used to diagnose an intermittent fault on a computer that appears to be working
again.
NOTE Avoid disconnecting the computer’s power cord as this will delete some of the
computer’s error diagnostic information encoded in the modulated audio signal.
BIOS Error Messages
Error Message on
Screen
If your computer encounters a BIOS error, it will display a BIOS error message on the
screen, such as:
Error message 1 of 1: Error code 0103
Keyboard not detected - Keyboard error
Sometimes, recommendations for troubleshooting are also displayed below the error
message, or you need to press Enter to get the recommendations.
The error message and recommendations (if provided) can be used to troubleshoot the
problem.
Audio Error Signal For many errors, some HP computers can also emit the modulated audio signal that
corresponds to the displayed error. This can be especially useful when you call your
support provider (this feature is described below in “Calling Your Support Provider”).
To emit the audio error signal, press Enter then F11.

1 Pre-Boot Diagnostics and BIOS Errors
What to Do if You Get a Pre-boot, BIOS, or e-Diagtools Error
16 English
What to Do if You Get a Pre-boot, BIOS, or e-Diagtools Error
There are two ways to deal with the error. You can call your support provider or
troubleshoot the error yourself.
Calling Your Support Provider
A service provider equipped with the Virtual Call Assistant kit can interpret modulated
audio error signals to determine the source of the error, whether from pre-boot
diagnostics (beep errors), from the BIOS (BIOS error messages), or from e-Diagtools.
The audio signal should contain all the necessary information, including computer
model and serial number.
To do this, simply call your service provider and, when prompted, play the audio error
signal into the telephone handset. To play the audio error signal:
•For BIOS error messages, press Enter then F11
•For pre-boot errors (beep errors), press the computer’s power button for at least five
seconds
•For e-Diagtools errors, press F11 when indicated on the screen.
The support provider can then decode the signal and provide a solution.
For more information about Virtual Call Assistant, refer to the Virtual Call Assistant
User’s Guide, available in PDF format on your HP computer’s support web site (refer to
page 7 for web addresses).
Troubleshooting the Error Yourself
If you got a pre-boot error, you can count the number of beeps then determine the
problem by referring to the table on page 14.
For extensive web-based troubleshooting, use e-Diagtools online troubleshooting,
described on page 17.
NOTE Ensure you are using the most recent BIOS version for your computer. This will help to
ensure that you have full BIOS error message reporting.

17
1 Pre-Boot Diagnostics and BIOS Errors
e-Diagtools Online Troubleshooting
e-Diagtools Online Troubleshooting
You can use the e-Diagtools web-based troubleshooting tools if your computer has:
•Pre-boot diagnostic errors (beep errors)
•BIOS EMU error messages (also called “configuration diagnostics”)
•e-Diagtools hardware diagnostic errors (described on page 37 and page 43).
These web-based troubleshooting tools can provide valuable support information and
help you solve your problem.
The tools are available for HP e-pc, HP Vectra, and HP Kayak computers.
You can access e-Diagtools online troubleshooting by connecting to the web site
www.hp.com/go/e-diagtools.

1 Pre-Boot Diagnostics and BIOS Errors
e-Diagtools Online Troubleshooting
18 English

2
Starting e-Diagtools
This chapter describes how to start and run e-Diagtools from the hard disk or from
CD-ROM.
this chapter applies to
hp compaq business pcs ✔
hp workstations ✔
hp notebook pcs ✔

2 Starting e-Diagtools
Before Starting e-Diagtools
20 English
Before Starting e-Diagtools
This section applies to Business PCs and Workstations. If you have an HP Notebook PC,
skip this section and go directly to “Option 2: Starting e-Diagtools on HP Notebook PCs”
on page 23.
Before you start e-Diagtools, do the following:
1Enter the computer’s BIOS Setup program.
•To enter the Setup program on new Business PCs, restart the computer, press F8,
then select the option to enter the Setup program.
•To enter the Setup program on other HP computers, restart the computer and
press F2 when the HP logo appears.
2If present, ensure all Hardware Protection items in the Security menu are set to
Enabled or Unlocked.
3If you are using a CD-ROM to run e-Diagtools, ensure the option to start from the
CD-ROM is enabled and the CD-ROM is configured to be the first device to boot from.
After running e-Diagtools, you can restore the original Setup values.