User guide

support.dell.com Glossary 5
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A comprehensive set of diagnostic tests
for your Dell computer. To use the dis-
kette-based diagnostics, you must boot
your computer from the Dell Diagnostics
Diskette. Refer to your Installation and
Troubleshooting Guide for a complete
discussion about how to use the diskette-
based diagnostics.
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See video adapter.
(
Abbreviation for direct memory access. A
DMA channel allows certain types of data
transfer between RAM and a device to
bypass the microprocessor.
 
Abbreviation for Department of Commu-
nications (in Canada).

Abbreviation for dots per inch.
(
Abbreviation for Display Power Manage-
ment Signaling. A standard developed by
the Video Electronics Standards Associa-
tion that defines the hardware signals
sent by a video controller to activate pow-
er management states in a video display
or monitor. A monitor is said to be DPMS-
compliant when it is designed to enter a
power management state after receiving
the appropriate signal from a computer's
video controller.
'
Acronym for Dell OpenManage Remote
Assistant Card.
'(
Abbreviation for dynamic random-access
memory. A computer's RAM is usually
made up entirely of DRAM chips. Be-
cause DRAM chips cannot store an
electrical charge indefinitely, your com-
puter continually refreshes each DRAM
chip in the computer.
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Your computer can recognize a number of
specific hard-disk drives. Each is assigned
a drive-type number that is stored in
NVRAM. The hard-disk drive(s) specified
in your computer's System Setup pro-
gram must match the actual drive(s)
installed in the computer. The System
Setup program also allows you to specify
physical parameters (cylinders, heads,
write precomp, landing zone, and capaci-
ty) for drives not included in the table of
drive types stored in NVRAM.
",
Abbreviation for data terminal equipment.
Any device (such as a computer system)
that can send data in digital form by
means of a cable or communications line.
The DTE is connected to the cable or com-
munications line through a data
communications equipment (DCE) device
such as a modem.
,
Abbreviation for error checking and
correction.
,
Abbreviation for Extended Capabilities
Port.
,
Abbreviation for extended-data out. A
type of RAM chip that holds data on the
chip's output data lines for a longer period
of time than fast-page mode RAM chips.
The EDO RAM chips are also faster than
fast-page mode RAM chips.