Troubleshooting
Enhanced Pre-Boot System Assessment (ePSA)
diagnostics
The ePSA diagnostics (also known as system diagnostics) performs a complete check of your hardware. The ePSA is embedded with the
BIOS and is launched by the BIOS internally. The embedded system diagnostics provides a set of options for particular devices or device
groups allowing you to:
•
Run tests automatically or in an interactive mode
•
Repeat tests
•
Display or save test results
•
Run thorough tests to introduce additional test options to provide extra information about the failed device(s)
•
View status messages that inform you if tests are completed successfully
•
View error messages that inform you of problems encountered during testing
NOTE:
Some tests for specific devices require user interaction. Always ensure that you are present at the computer
terminal when the diagnostic tests are performed.
Running the ePSA diagnostics
1. Turn on your computer.
2. As the computer boots, press the F12 key as the Dell logo appears.
3. On the boot menu screen, select the
Diagnostics
option.
4. Click the arrow at the bottom left corner.
Diagnostics front page is displayed.
5. Click the arrow in the lower-right corner to go to the page listing.
The items detected are listed.
6. To run a diagnostic test on a specific device, press Esc and click
Yes
to stop the diagnostic test.
7. Select the device from the left pane and click
Run Tests
.
8. If there are any issues, error codes are displayed.
Note the error code and validation number and contact Dell.
System diagnostic lights
Power and battery-status light/hard-drive activity light
Indicates the battery-charge status or the hard-drive activity.
NOTE:
Press Fn+H to toggle this light between power and battery-status light and hard-drive activity light.
Hard-drive activity light
Turns on when the computer reads from or writes to the hard drive.
NOTE:
Hard-drive activity light is supported only on computers shipped with hard drive.
Power and battery-status light
Indicates the power and battery-charge status
Solid white
— Power adapter is connected and the battery has more than 5 percent charge.
Amber
— Computer is running on battery and the battery has less than 5 percent charge.
5
76
Troubleshooting