Users Guide

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Diagnostic Video Tests: Dell
®
PowerEdge
®
1300 Systems Installation and
Troubleshooting Guide
Overview | Video Memory Test | Video Hardware Test | Text Mode Character Test | Text Mode Color Test | Text Mode
Pages Test | Graphics Mode Test | Color Palettes Test | Solid Colors Test
Overview
The Video test group of the system diagnostics consists of the following eight tests, each of which verifies a particular
video function or group of functions:
Video Memory Test — Checks the integrity of characters generated from data in the video memory.
Video Hardware Test — Checks the functions of the cursor register and the horizontal and vertical retrace bit
registers.
Text Mode Character Test — Checks the video subsystem's ability to present text mode data.
Text Mode Color Test — Checks the video subsystem's ability to present color in text modes.
Text Mode Pages Test — Checks the video subsystem's ability to map and present all available video text pages
on the monitor screen, one page at a time.
Graphics Mode Test — Checks the video subsystem's ability to present graphics mode data and colors.
Color Palettes Test — Checks the video subsystem's ability to display all available colors.
Solid Colors Test — Checks the video subsystem's ability to show screens full of solid colors. Allows you to
check for missing color subpixels.
All of these tests, except the Video Memory Test and the Video Hardware Test, are interactive. These interactive tests
display images on the monitor screen and require the user to respond as follows:
1. Examine a displayed image for correctness.
2. If an image is correct, type y.
3. If an image is incorrect, type n.
The following sections describe each of the tests in the Video test group.
Video Memory Test
The Video Memory Test verifies the integrity of the video memory either on the system board or on a video expansion
card. As the test runs, it describes which 64-kilobyte (KB) block of video memory is being tested. When a test is
complete, a message indicates whether the video memory has passed or failed the test. This test does not require any
interaction on your part.
Video Hardware Test
The Video Hardware Test verifies the operation of the cursor registers and the horizontal and vertical retrace bit
registers. When a test is complete, a message indicates whether these registers have passed or failed the test. This test
does not require any interaction on your part.