This chapter describes how to diagnose hardware problems. It also includes information on running diagnostics. The following topics are covered:
If you suspect there is a problem with your hardware, use the flowchart (Figure 4-1) to help isolate and solve the problem. To view the flowchart, resize the window by placing the cursor on the border. When you see the resize cursor, drag the mouse to the size you need. See also “Running Diagnostic Tests”.
There are three types of software diagnostics tests provided on the O2 workstation. Each is described below:
These run automatically on the major hardware components of the workstation each time it is turned on. If the tests find a faulty part, the LED on the front of the system will be red and there will probably be an error message. See also “Diagnosing the Problem”.
There are confidence tests for the mouse, keyboard, monitor, audio subsystem, external SCSI devices (excluding hard disks), Presenter, and ISDN connection.
To run the Confidence Tests, choose Toolchest > System > Confidence Tests. Double click the icon for the part you believe is faulty, and follow the online instructions.
The Interactive Diagnostic Environment (IDE) tests are more comprehensive than the Confidence Tests, and take longer (as long as 30-45 minutes) to run. Follow these steps:
Turn off the workstation, wait a few seconds, and then turn it on again.
When you see the System Startup notifier, click Stop for Maintenance, or press Esc.
When you see the System Maintenance Menu, choose Run Diagnostics, or type 3 on the keyboard.
Tip: You can stop the tests at any time by pressing Esc. 
Note: If you cannot reach the System Maintenance Menu, your system is faulty. If you cannot run the diagnostics, you may have a faulty disk drive or other problem. Contact your service provider. At the end of the tests you see a message with the results of the tests. Press Enter and then Esc to return to the System Maintenance Menu, from where you can restart the system.
In most cases, your system will recover from a system crash automatically if you reboot the system. If, however, you have lost data on your system disk, and you cannot communicate with your system using the mouse or keyboard, or over the network, follow these instructions. The instructions assume you have a backup tape of your system that has been made using the System Manager backup tool, or with the /usr/sbin/Backup script. You also need a CD with your current IRIX operating system level. If you are recovering data from a tape on a remote tape device, you need to know the hostname, tape device name, and IP address of the remote system.
Use a pen tip or an large, straightened paper clip to press the Reset button located on the front panel (Figure 4-5).
When you see the System Startup notifier (Figure 4-6), click Stop for Maintenance or press Esc.
From the System Maintenance menu, choose Recover System, or type 4 on the keyboard.
The System Recovery Menu appears (Figure 4-7).
If you have a CD-ROM drive connected to your system and the IRIX CD, click Local CD-ROM. Then click Accept to start. Insert the CD when prompted. The system takes five minutes or more to copy the information.
If you don't have a CD-ROM drive, use a drive that is connected to another system on the network. Click Remote Directory.
When a notifier appears asking you for the remote hostname, type the system's name, a colon (:), and the full pathname of the CD-ROM drive, followed by /dist. For example, to access a CD-ROM drive on the system mars, you would type
mars:/CDROM/dist
After everything is copied from the CD to the system disk, you can restore your data from a recent full backup tape. The backup must be one that has been made using the System Manager backup tool, or with the /usr/sbin/Backup script.
Tip: If you need to check something on your system during the restore process, you can get a shell prompt by typing sh at most question prompts. If you have a local tape device, you see this message:
Restore will be from <tapename> OK? ([Y]es, [N]o): [Y]
tapename is the name of the local tape device.
If you have a remote (network) tape device, when no tape device is found, or when you answered “No” to the question in the previous step, you see this message:
Remote or local restore ([r]emote, [l]ocal):
If you answer “remote,” you have chosen to restore from the network, and you must know the hostname, tape device name, and IP address of the remote system. You also need to know the IP address of your system. The IP address, such as 192.0.2.1, always has four components separated by periods.
If you answer “local,” you have chosen a tape device that is connected to your system, and you are prompted to enter the name of the tape device.
When you see the following message, remove the CD-ROM, insert your most recent full backup tape, then press Enter.
Insert the first backup tape in the drive, then press <Enter>, [q]uit (from recovery), [r]estart:
There is a pause while the program retrieves several files from the tape describing the system state at the time the backup was made. Then you see this message:
Erase /x filesystem and make new one (y,n)? [n]
It prompts you for every filesystem that was known at the time of the backup.
Read the following to decide whether to answer y or n.
If you answer n for no, the system tries to salvage as many files as possible. Then it uses your backup tape to replace the files it could not salvage. Usually you should answer no, especially if your backup tape is not very recent. If the file systems were badly damaged, or the backup was from a different level operating system, you may need to answer yes.
If you answer y for yes, the system erases the filesystem and copies everything from your backup tape to the disk. The system loses any information on that filesystem that you created between now and when you made your backup tape.
You see this message:
Starting recovery from tape.
After two or three minutes, the names of the files that the system is copying to the disk start scrolling. When the recovery is complete, you see this message:
Recovery complete, restarting system.
Note: If your backup tapes were old, or you were changing your operating system level, you should reinstall the operating system from the IRIX CD that came with your system after system recovery is complete. When you see the Startup System notifier, press Esc, or click Stop for Maintenance. Then click Install System Software. For more information on installing the operating system, see “Installing Software” in the Personal System Administration Guide or the Appendix of the hardcopy O2 Workstation Owner's Guide.
If you are in the System Maintenance menu, and you choose Install System Software, Run Diagnostics, Recover System, or Enter Command Monitor, you may be prompted for a password.
If you do not know the password, you can disable it by installing a jumper (a small cap that connects two pins) on the system board inside the workstation. The system board is located in the system module. To install the jumper, you must first remove the system module and the PCI tray. Follow these steps:
Turn off the workstation by pressing the power button on the front (Figure 4-8).
Remove the system module by releasing the lever on the extreme left as you face the rear of the workstation and sliding the module out. (See “Removing the System Module” in Chapter 2.)
Release and remove the PCI tray.
R5000 workstations, see “Removing a PCI Board: R5000 Workstation” in Chapter 2.
R10000 workstations, see “Removing a PCI Board: R10000 Workstation” in Chapter 2.
Before touching any of the components, attach the wrist strap to your wrist and to a metal part of the chassis (Figure 4-9).
Remove the jumper from the system board in the location shown in Figure 4-10.
Note: You must remove the jumper if you choose to reset the PROM password. Reinstall the jumper in the location shown in Figure 4-11.
Note: The illustration shows an R5000 CPU. If you have an R10000 CPU, the pin location on the system board is the same. Remove the wrist strap.
Reinstall the PCI tray in the system module:
R5000 workstations, see “Reinstalling the PCI Tray: R5000 Workstation” in Chapter 2.
R10000 workstations, see “Reinstalling the PCI Tray: R10000 Workstation” in Chapter 2.
Reinstall the system module by sliding it into the chassis. See “Replacing the System Module” in Chapter 5.
Silicon Graphics provides a comprehensive product support and maintenance program for its products. If you are in North America and would like support for your Silicon Graphics supported products, contact the Technical Assistance Center at 1-800-800-4SGI or your authorized service provider. If you are outside North America, contact the Silicon Graphics subsidiary or authorized distributor in your country.