SCREEN DIAGNOSTICS MENU
The Diagnostic menu contains tests for the System Board, Memory, Floppy and Fixed disks, SCSI and IDE devices, Sound Cards, CD-ROMs, Serial Ports, Parallel Ports, Video Adapter and Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse, Joystick and Printer. Low level formatting of Floppy and Fixed Disks may also be performed.
SCREEN SYSTEMBOARD TESTS
The System Board Tests window runs a series of routines to test the CPU, NPU, DMAs, PICs, RTC/CMOS, 8042 (Keyboard controller) and the speaker. XTs will only have one DMA and one programmable interrupt controller. AT systems will have two DMAs and two PICs. Newer systems will usually use an integrated peripheral controller. This one chip contains two 8237 DMAs, two 8259 PICs, two PITs and RTC/CMOS.
Microprocessor Test The Microprocessor Test will run a series of routines to test the CPU chip, from the 8088 to the latest Pentium III, AMD or Cyrix processor. The CPU chip performs all the system's logical operations. The tests include a test for the registers (both 16 and 32 bit), logical instructions, arithmetic functions and the instruction set for each type of CPU. Multi-processor systems are also tested and failures are assigned to a particular CPU.
NOTE: The arithmetic test includes a routine to detect the 386 divide bug.
Coprocessor The NPU Test will run a series of routines to test the numeric processor. The coprocessor can do mathematical operations 10 to 100 times faster than the CPU. This takes the strain off the CPU. Most modern programs can detect and use a coprocessor. Programs that cannot detect and use a coprocessor will do all the mathematical operations through the CPU.
RTC/CMOS Test This tests the RTC against the CTC to ensure the RTC is keeping proper time and the CMOS RAM is tested for any failing bits.
CTC Controller Test The CTC test will run a series of routines to test the Clock Timer Circuitry chip or chips.
DMA Controllers Test The DMA test will run a series of routines to test the Direct Memory Access chip or chips. The 16 bit functions are tested where appropriate. DMA chips allow direct transfer of data from memory to memory or device to memory without the CPU. This allows the CPU to do other tasks while the DMAs handle certain transfers. Each DMA has four channels.
NOTE: If two devices try to use the same DMA channel at one time, one or both devices will not work.
PC's and XT's use one DMA chip and the standard setup is: Channel 0 Refresh, Channel 2 Floppy. Channel 3 and Channel 1 are available for use by fixed disks, CD ROMs etc. ATs, ATXs and other modern form factors use two DMAs and the standard setup is:
Channel 0 Available 16-Bit, Channel 1 Available, Channel 2 Floppy, Channel 3 Available, Channel 4 Cascades lower 4 channels to upper 4 channels. Channel 5 Available 16-Bit, Channel 6 Available 16-Bit, Channel 7 Available 16-Bit.
Interrupt Controllers Test The Interrupt Controller test will run a series of routines to test the 8259 PIC chip or chips. PIC chips allow interrupt requests to be sent to the CPU by devices needing service. This test ensures that the IRQ lines are toggling correctly within the PIC.
Speaker Test This sends a pattern of distinguishable tones to the speaker. If a tone is not heard when the test is in progress, the test failed.
PS/2 Mouse Controller Test This tests the ability of the PS/2 mouse controller portion of the keyboard controller to communicate properly with the device.
Keyboard Controller Test This tests the keyboard controllers ability to communicate with the keyboard and tests the ability of the keyboard controller to toggle the A20 line correctly.
SCREEN MEMORY TESTS
The Memory Tests menu provides a series of basic routines to test Cache, Expanded and Extended memory. Expanded Memory should be tested while booted to DOS, but the others should be run after cold-booting to the Micro-Scope operating system.
Note: If base memory (below 640KB) needs to be tested, boot to Micro-Scope and use: Option 2 Run Base Memory.
Cache Memory Testing Cache Memory uses the same selection menu and the same battery of tests that are used by the Extended and Expanded Memory Tests. See the test descriptions below in the section for Extended Memory. The difference between the Extended and Cache Memory Tests is that when testing extended memory, the cache must be flushed after each cycle to ensure that reads are performed from system RAM and not from the Cache. For this reason, each of the Cache tests will run much faster than the same test for Extended Memory. To ensure that the cache is controlled by Micro-Scope rather than by the Windows operating system, Micro-Scope must be booted to its own OS rather than run in a Windows DOS box when performing the Cache tests.
Expanded Memory This routine will test the Expanded Memory Driver's ability to correctly page the extended memory into base memory. In order to test expanded memory, it is necessary to load the driver with a Warm Boot, using the following steps.
1. Boot to DOS with EMS driver loaded. 2. Load Micro-Scope under DOS (A: MS), 3. Select Diagnostics, Memory Tests, Expanded Memory.
If the test is attempted after a cold boot to the Micro-Scope operating system, a message will appear stating that the Expanded Memory Driver is not loaded.
SCREEN EXPANDED MEMORY
The Extended Memory Tests are for system RAM above 1024k. Select the desired test and press Enter to start. The screen displays the test in use, area being tested, offset and segment being tested, and pass count. You may abort the tests at any time by pressing the Escape key. By default, the amount of memory detected by CMOS and by Micro-Scope is displayed in the test window. You may enter the amount of memory you wish to test, including those portions of memory which cannot be detected by the BIOS. The area between 640k and 1024k is reserved for BIOS ROM. If the BIOS is shadowed into extended memory or the 640k-1024k area is relocated, then that memory also will not be tested since it is in use by a ROM.
All Tests This will run the entire battery of tests, except for the long versions of the Bit and Grid tests.
Pattern Test The patterns include Walking Ones, Inverse Walking Ones and Checkerboard.
Pseudo-Random Test Memory is filled with semi-random data and checked. Then, each address is given new data, and checked along with the previous address.
Xor'ed Address Test The bytes of each address are Xor'ed together with a test byte, which is then stored at that address. The test makes eight passes with different test bytes.
Bit Test Sequentially changes each bit of each word in memory. Detects one bit changing another bit in memory. The long version includes an extra toggle with a cache flush in between.
Grid Test Checks for mislinked bits that are physically adjacent.
NOTES:
1. Incorrect setting of the DMA and Read/Write cycles may render a system non-bootable. If this occurs, and all other attempts to correct the problem fail, drain the CMOS Battery. 2. On 386 systems, it is advisable to manually disable cache during extended memory testing, to ensure that the data being tested is actually in RAM and not in cache. In 486 and later systems, Micro-Scope will do this automatically.
The Floppy Tests menu allows drive selection, media selection, formatting, Butterfly, read and write tests to be performed on the various floppy drives and floppy diskettes. Place a DOS formatted diskette in the drive to be tested. A blank diskette can be used but the format option will have to be executed before any other tests are performed.
SCREEN MEDIA SELECT
Drive Select The Drive Select menu allows the selection of floppy drive 0, 1, 2, and 3. A PC can have a maximum of 4 hardware-configured floppy drives. Press Enter with the cursor on the selected drive to be tested.
Media Select The Media Select window allows the selection of 5.25 360K, 5.25 1.2M, 3.5 720K, 3.5 1.44M, and 3.5 2.88M media types. The predefined drive settings are for standard AT drive types that are directly supported by the BIOS on the motherboard. Press Enter with the cursor on the selected media type to be tested.
User Defined This option allows the user to define the media type manually, for testing of non-standard floppy drives. Selecting this option will highlight the media area to be manually set on the left side of the window. Press the character and number keys to change area. Use the cursor key to move to the different media areas. Press Enter when finished.
Format Diskette The Format Diskette window will do a low-level format on the floppy diskette. The Format Entire option will format the entire floppy diskette. A warning message will be displayed. Press Y (Yes) to low-level format the floppy diskette and destroy all data. Press N (No) to cancel operation.
Format Partial Will format the selected area of the floppy diskette. Use the number keys to select Start Cylinder, End Cylinder, Start Head and End Head. Press Enter to execute. Press Y (Yes) to low-level format floppy diskette and destroy selected data. Press N (No) to cancel.
NOTE: This is not a DOS format. The Diskette will have to be reformatted with DOS to be used on a DOS system.
Butterfly Seek Test The Butterfly Seek Test will read the first sector, the last sector, the second sector, the second from last sector, and proceed to read inward in this pattern. The test pattern will continue until the heads reach the middle of the drive. The test will then start reading outward using a reverse pattern.
The advantage of the Butterfly Seek Test is that it will cause the head and electronics on the floppy drive to work vigorously. while doing all the functions of a read test. The increased activity will help in detecting alignment problems and intermittent electronic failures.
Read Test The Read Test window will read the floppy drive in a sequential pattern. This will test the read functionality of the floppy drive and find errors on the floppy diskette.
Write Test The Write Test window will write to the floppy diskette in a sequential pattern. This will test the write functionality of the floppy drive and find errors on the floppy diskette.
Safe Write Test This procedure will copy the diskette contents into the system RAM, perform a write test on the diskette, and then read the original data back onto the diskette. This option is useful for testing the write functions of the floppy drive when a blank diskette is not available.
SCREEN FIXED DISK DRIVE SELECTION
The Fixed Disk Test menu contains routines for drive selection, setting interleave (MFM and RLL drives), determining parameters (MFM and RLL drives), mapping bad sectors manually, formatting, and diagnostic tests for butterfly seek, read, write, safe write and controller tests. The Fixed Disk Selected window will display the drive type set in CMOS, the type of drive (MFM, RLL, IDE, ESDI, and SCSI), the BIOS parameters (the parameters used by the interrupt 13 functions), the Native settings (the parameters stored on the drive), and the BIOS settings (the parameters used by the BIOS on controller card for the drive). IDE drives will also display information specific to IDE drives.
Drive Select (0 through 6) The Drive Select option will allow the selection of Fixed disk 0 through 6. It may be necessary to load a software driver in order to gain access to the drives beyond the first two.
Set Interleave (MFM/RLL) The Set Interleave option will highlight the Interleave area in the Fixed Disk Selected window. Press the number keys to change the interleave. Press Enter to exit out of Set Interleave option. Low-level format the drive to change the interleave. If the interleave for an MFM or RLL drive is set incorrectly the drive will operate at a reduced speed.
NOTE: Formatting a drive to change the interleave will destroy all data on the drive. IDE drives always have an interleave of 1. ESDI and SCSI are set through the controller BIOS.
Bad Sector Map (MFM/RLL/IDE) The Bad Sector Map window will allow the mapping of bad sectors. Each sector to be mapped must be entered individually. The Read Test has an automatic mapping feature. Most IDE drives will automatically map out bad sectors during a low-level format. There will be instances where the bad sectors will have to be manually mapped out. A low-level format must be performed to map out bad sectors that were entered into the Bad Sector Map. Press Left and Right cursor keys to select Cylinder, Sector, Head and BFI (automatically calculated by Micro-scope). Press the number keys to set Cylinder, Sector, Head and BFI in bad sector map. Press Up and Down keys to select entry (1, 2, 3, etc.).
SCREEN FORMAT FIXED DISK
Format Fixed Disk The Format Fixed Disk option will run a specific routine to low level format each of the 5 drive types (MFM, RLL, ESDI, SCSI and IDE drives).
Format Entire The Format Entire Disk option will low level format the entire hard disk for MFM, RLL and IDE drives. The Micro-Scope will run the proper routine for each drive type. A warning message will be displayed. Press Y (Yes) to low-level format and destroy selected data on the hard disk. Press any other key to cancel operation.
Format Partial The Format Partial Disk option will low-level format the selected area on MFM, RLL and IDE drives. Use the number keys to select Start Cylinder, End Cylinder, Start Head and End Head. Press Enter to execute. A warning message will be displayed. Press Y (Yes) to low-level format selected area and destroy selected data. Press any other key to cancel the operation.
Warning:
All of the format options are destructive. No data will remain on a drive, which is low-level formatted.
Use Controller BIOS Use Controller BIOS option will jump to the setup/low-level format routine located on the BIOS on the controller adapter card for ESDI and SCSI drives. Enter the Segment Address and Offset Address for the location of the jump byte. Go to Section IV, Memory Examine, ESDI/SCSI Setup Routine Segment and Offset to find segment and offset address. Use the character and number keys to set segment and offset. Press Enter to execute. The BIOS setup low-level format routine will now be displayed.
Note: Not all ESDI and SCSI controllers have a setup and low-level format routine to access. Future Domain SCSI controllers do not have a controller setup/format routine. Use the format entire option for Future Domain SCSI controller cards.
Butterfly Test The Butterfly Test window will read the first sector, the last sector, the second sector, the second from last sector and proceed to read inward with this pattern until the test reaches the middle of the drive. The test will then start reading outward using a reverse pattern. The Butterfly Test will cause the heads and electronics on the hard disk to work vigorously. The increased activity will help in detecting intermittent, alignment and electronic failures. This test will do all the functions of a read test.
SCREEN READ TEST
Read Test The Read Test window will read the hard disk in a sequential pattern. This will test the read functionality of the hard disk and detect bad sectors.
The Read Entire option will read the entire hard disk. The Read Partial option will read the selected area of the hard disk. Use the number keys to select the Start Cylinder, End Cylinder, Start Head and End Cylinder. Write Test The Write Test window will write to the hard disk in a sequential pattern. This will test the write functionality of the hard disk and detect bad sectors.
The Write Entire option will write to the entire hard disk. A warning message will be displayed. The Write Partial option will write to the selected area of the hard disk. Use the number keys to select the Start Cylinder, End Cylinder, Start Head and End Head. Press Enter to execute. A warning message will be displayed. Press Y (Yes) to write to the selected area of the hard disk and destroy selected data. Press N (No) to cancel operation. Be aware that this is an extremely detailed, accurate, and time consuming test.
Safe Write Test This test will read the hard drive contents into system RAM one portion at a time, perform a Write test on that portion of the drive, restore the contents to the drive, and then go to the next portion. Just as with the destructive write test, there is a choice of Safe Write Entire or Safe Write Partial. Be aware that data can still be lost if there is a malfunction of the read or write heads.
Controller Test The Controller Test will test the hard disk controller for MFM, RLL, ESDI and SCSI drives, which all have a separate controller adapter card. Four tests are run. Controller Diags is a self test run by the controller on the drive. Write/Read Buffer test will write to the controller buffer then read what was written then compare the two. Recalibrate Drive will retract all the heads of the drive. Reset Drive will reset all registers on the controller.
Notes 1. If the buffer on the fixed disk becomes filled with errors, this test will clear the buffer for further testing. 2. IDE drives have the controller built onto the drive and mostly inaccessible to this test. The IDE adapter card is tested but it contains only a line buffer (amplifier), and passing the Controller Test does not confirm that an IDE controller is error-free.
This group of tests is actually useful on a variety of removable media, including Zip and LS-120 drives. The tests require that a copy of the media is inserted in the drive. The media cant be defective or test failures will result. When testing a CD-ROM drive, Autoplay must be disabled to run the tests in a Windows DOS box. If the Micro-Scope is booted to its own operating system, autoplay is not an issue.
SCREEN CD-ROM / ATAPI / SCSI TESTS
This provides a choice between IDE/ATAPI Device and SCSI/ASPI Device. If the wrong one is selected, the program will inform you there is no such device installed, and its a simple matter to hit the Esc key and make the other choice.
IDE/ATAPI Device If the device is an IDE type, it will be in one of 4 positions: Primary Master, Primary Slave, Secondary Master and Secondary Slave. Again, if an incorrect choice is made the program will say so. Most often the CD-ROM drive will be installed as a secondary master, or as primary master if no IDE hard drive is installed. A CD-ROM will seldom be installed on the same channel as a hard drive because of throughput problems.
SCSI/ASPI Device Select any of up to 16 devices by entering the device number, from 0 to 15. The System Information Screen #2 will tell you which SCSI devices are installed on the system, and their Device Number. If no device is present corresponding to the selected number, or if the appropriate driver has not been loaded, the program will report "No ASPI Driver Loaded". After selecting an IDE or SCSI drive, Escape back to the SCSI/IDE submenu and select the test to run.
Determine Parameters This selection will query the drive to determine the number of sectors and the sector size. If run after one of the tests, it will also display the error code, if any, from the test.
Device Tests Regardless of whether the drive is an IDE or SCSI device, the same three tests are available.
Butterfly Seek Test This test performs a Read function, combined with vigorous accordion-pattern exercising of the heads. It is useful for diagnosing alignment and intermittent problems. Partial or Entire testing of the drive is available.
Read Test The choices are Read Entire Drive and Read Partial Drive. If the partial test is selected, you will be prompted to enter a Starting and Ending sector.
Write Test Like the Read test, the Write test offers Entire or Partial. The Write test cannot be used on CD-ROMs, but is useful for other removable-media devices.
Note: Be aware that if these tests are run in a Windows DOS box, some IDE-type CD-ROM drives, ZIP drives and other removable drives may appear to Micro-Scope as SCSI devices.
Multimedia Menu This menu has two selections, one for Sound Cards and one for Record/Playback functions.
SCREEN SOUND CARD TEST
This selection tests for the presence of a SoundBlaster-compatible sound card or cards. If one is detected, the type of card and I/O port setting for the card will be displayed. The testing will toggle the registers in the card to determine the functional state of the card. This will cause tones to be produced by the sound card(s). If a card is not detected, a message will appear designating the absence of the card. In addition, pass/fail results will be shown for the Register Test, Interrupt Test and DMA Test.
Record/Playback Test This selection tests the recording and playback functions of the sound card.
SCREEN RECORD/PLAYBACK TEST
The Serial Port Tests will allow testing of the internal and external line status of modems and serial ports. The Serial Port Tests window will allow the selection and/or display of the port, I/O address, IRQ, baud rate and UART type. Micro-Scope will query the I/O port(s) and determine the actual IRQ usage of the installed devices.
Select Port The Select Port option will allow the selection of port 0, 1, 2 and 3. Press enter with the cursor on the desired port to select the port for testing.
Set Parameters The Set Parameters option will allow the setting of Port Configuration, Baud rate, Parity, Data Bits, Stop Bits and Loopback.
Set Port Configuration This will allow the setting of the I/O Address. Use the character and number keys to set I/O Address. Press Enter to execute.
Set Baud Rate Allows the setting of the baud rate for a modem. The maximum baud rate setting is 115200. The baud rate defaults to 57600 if not set. Press Enter with the cursor on the selected baud rate. The Set Parity option will allow the setting of parity for a modem. None is for no parity set. Odd is for a parity check that equals an odd number. Even is for a parity check that equals an even number. Press Enter with the cursor on the selected parity.
SCREEN SERIAL PORT LOOPBACK TEST
Set Data Bits This option will allow the setting of the Data Bits for a modem. The Data Bits are the number of bits (7 or 8) sent through the modem. Press Enter with the cursor on the selected Data Bits.
Set Stop Bits Will allow the setting of the stop bits for a modem. The Stop Bits are bits (0 or 1) telling the modem when to stop. Press Enter with the cursor on the selected stop bit.
Set Loopback Determines whether the Internal or External Loopback test will be done. The External loopback test requires the proper loopback plug to be installed on the selected serial port.
The Run Loopback option will run a series of routines to test the selected serial port. The test data being sent to test the serial port will be displayed in the data window. The results of the test will be displayed in the Internal/External Line Status window, Modem Status window and Error Count window. The bottom line will display information for the selected Port, IRQ, I/O, Baud and UART.
Keyboard to Port The Keyboard to Port option will allow testing of the keyboard, modem, and mouse hardware without the software driver being loaded. The test will begin as soon as the Enter key is pressed with Keyboard-to-Port highlighted, so the setup to determine which device is tested must be done first.
Keyboard The keyboard can be tested by selecting a port with a loopback plug. The keyboard will now be able to type to the data window.
Mouse The mouse can be tested by selecting the port used by the mouse, then selecting the Keyboard to Port test. The data window will now display characters and numbers when the mouse is moved.
Modem For the most complete test of the modem, do a warm boot to load the modem driver, and use the suite of Modem Connect Tests described in Section H. To use the Serial Port tests for a basic test of the modem, select the port used by the modem, then use the Set Parameters feature to set the Port Configuration (I/O Address), rate, Parity, Data Bits and Stop Bits for the modem, and then start the Keyboard to Port Test. The data window is now a modem terminal that does not require the modem software driver, and can be tested by .typing in ATDT, International Code (1 for U.S.A.), area code and phone number (Example: ATDT18185551212).
Note: The example phone number is not a valid modem data line.
Internal/External Line Status The Line Status window will state Internal or External depending on the type of loopback test that was selected. The left column describes the circuit being tested and the connected circuit. The right column displays the active or error status of the test.
Modem Status The Modem Status window will display the modem test for selected port. The left column describes the circuit being tested. The right column displays the active or error status of the test.
Error Count The Error Count window will display the test being done and the count of the test. The left column describes the test being done. The right column displays the test in process, count of the test and pass or error.
Data Window The Data Window displays the Run Loopback test and Keyboard to Port test.
Port, IRQ, I/O, Baud and UART The Port, IRQ, I/O, Baud and UART line will display the present setting for the window. The UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transceiver) chip number for the serial device is displayed.
SCREEN MODEM CONNECT TESTS MENU
Although the modem is a specialized serial port device and the basic functions can be tested using the Serial Port test, the routines listed below allow a more comprehensive on-and-off line check of the modem circuitry and the phone line.
Only hardware modems will be tested. WinModems or other software modem simulators will not be detected even if their drivers are loaded.
Modem Test This checks the basic command response of the modem unit. The available speeds and modes will be listed. Some ATI commands are unique to each brand of modem, so the test may show a failure if the modem uses an ATI command that Micro-Scope is not familiar with. This would not indicate a failure of the modem.
Line Test Tests the connection to the phone line, and the receipt of dial tone.
Note: This test expects a standard dial tone. Connecting to a hotel PBX or other non-standard switchboard can cause the test to fail, and may risk damage to the modem.
Connect Test Put in the phone number of a remote modem and start the test. This will verify the ability to connect to a remote site and receive an acknowledgement. The modems on each end must be in compatible modes and able to match speed.
Send ASCII Test This sends a packet of ASCII data to the remote modem, to verify transmission.
Send File Test This sends a file called Sample.txt to the remote computer. Accuracy of transmission can be verified at the remote end.
The Parallel Port Tests will run a series of routines to test signal, pin, status, port, interrupt, I/O port, internal, external, data latches, control latches, status latches and interrupt level.
Select Port Choose from Port 0, 1 and 2. Press Enter with cursor on selected port.
Set Port Configuration Use character and number keys to set the I/O address of the port. Press Enter to execute.
Micro-Scope will test the selected I/O port and determine the actual IRQ usage for that port.
Set Loopback Determines the selection of either the internal or external loopback test. Press Enter with cursor on selected loopback test. The External test requires the parallel loopback plug to be set on the selected parallel port.
The Run Loopback Test will perform a series of routines with the selected port. The Status Latches Test and the Interrupt Level Test will only be performed with the External Loopback option. The results of these tests will be displayed in the lower right window.
SCREEN RUN PARALLEL LOOPBACK TEST
Data Latches Test Checks the ports Data Bit Registers.
Control Latches Test Shows that the port can latch the control byte.
Status Latches Test Checks signals being returned from the device attached to the port (or from the loopback plug).
Interrupt Level Test Tests that an interrupt coming from an attached device will be properly handled by the port.
Signal Status Window The window on the left lists each of the signal lines of the port, down the lefthand column. The middle column lists the pin number for each line, and the right-hand column shows the status of each line during the test. The status will read either Active, Inactive, or Error. If the Internal Loopback option was selected, five of the control lines should be listed as inactive: Acknowledge, Device Busy, Paper End, Select and Error Signals.
This test of the network interface controller displays a box in the upper left corner showing the Node Address of the network card and separate pass/fail results of testing the NIC registers and EEPROM. The test supports a variety of NIC chipsets, including Intel, National Semiconductor, Realtek and some SMC and 3COM cards. In addition to the tests listed above, Intel, 3COM and national cards also have an internal self-test which is activated and reported by Micro-Scope.
The tests for the USB controller will identify, first of all, whether the controller is the Open Host Controller Interface (OHCI), Universal type (UHCI) or Enhanced (EHCI). This information will be displayed across the top of the Test Results window. Then, the test will exercise the basic controller commands and make sure these are functional. The commands tested are: Reset, Restart, Run/Stop, Suspend and Resume. The pass/fail results for each command will be posted in the window.
SCREEN VIDEO TESTS
The Video Tests will check video memory, attributes, character set, screen alignment, text modes, graphics modes and screen paging. A visual inspection will be required for all tests except video memory.
Page Memory Test This will test all the video memory on the 1st video adapter that can be accessed using standard BIOS calls. During the test, broad bands of color will appear as the video memory is filled with various test data.
Linear Memory Test This uses the Extended Memory Tests routines to check all mapped video memory that can be accessed with VESA calls. A greater variety of patterns will be seen as the tests cycle through, and if the system is VESA compatible, the amount of memory tested will also be greater than with the page memory test.
SCREEN VIDEO PAGE MEMORY TEST
The static RAMDAC chip on a video card used for Digital to Analog Conversion is scanned for both addressing and data bit failure in this test.
SCREEN DISPLAY ATTRIBUTES
Display Attributes The Display Attributes window will display the attribute bits (0 through 7), hex, results, descriptions and foreground colors for the video adapter.
The Attribute bits are broken down into four groups, listed on the left portion of the screen. Bits 0, 1 and 2 set the foreground. Bit 3 sets the intensity. Bits 4, 5 and 6 set the background. Bit 7 sets the blink. The Hex column gives the hexadecimal value of the eight attribute bits. The Results column in the center of the screen shows what the attribute looks like for each combination of bits. This can be compared visually with the description line in the right-hand column. The foreground colors along the bottom display the 16 different colors and the bit set for that color. Combined with the background colors (16 different colors) there are a total of 256 combinations of colors. Be aware that some tonal values in the screen shot on the next page have been reversed for print clarity. Display Character Set The Display Character Set will write the 256 character ASCII character set to video memory. The video adapter will display this set on the screen. A visual inspection is necessary to determine if the characters are being displayed correctly.
SCREEN DISPLAY CHARACTER SET
Screen Alignment The Screen Alignment test displays a grid pattern for visual inspection. Look at the edges and see if there is one line, which is correct, or a divergence, which is incorrect. The left and right arrows keys will change the foreground attribute. The up and down arrow keys will change the background attribute, and the plus or minus keys will change the character displayed.
Note: To check alignment of the electron guns, use a background attribute of 5 (magenta). If the convergence is off center a red line (lower left of screen) a blue line (upper right of screen) or both will appear at the screen edge.
SCREEN SCREEN ALIGNMENT
Screen Focus A series of three test patterns (not shown) can cycled through by pressing any key. At the end of the series the program is returned to the Video Tests menu.
SCREEN TEXT MODES TEST
Text Modes Test The Text Modes Test will display the 80 x 25 and 40 x 25 text modes. If it is determined that the video hardware will support the 132x25 text mode this mode will also be displayed. Press any key to advance from one mode to the next, or the Escape key to leave the test.
SVGA Graphics Modes Test The Graphics Modes Test will display various different graphics modes. The pixels (640 X 480), color (16 colors), mode (12h) and type (VGA) will be displayed in the windows. The High, Medium and Low intensity will also be displayed in a window. If it is determined that the video hardware will support 1024x768x16 or 256 colors, and 1280x1024x16 or 256 colors, these modes will be implemented and displayed. Press Enter to move from one display to the next.
SCREEN SVGA GRAPHICS MODE
Screen Paging Test The Screen Page Test will display a window filled with 0s, 1s, 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s, etc. Each page is a different page of video memory. Press Enter to page to the second window filled with 2s. Press Enter again to continue paging.
SCREEN PAGING TEST (2s)
The Other Device Tests Menu has four selections: Joystick Test, Keyboard Test, Mouse Test and Printer Test.
SCREEN KEYBOARD TEST
Keyboard Test The Keyboard Test opens a window on the left of the screen that will contain a box displaying the name of any key pressed, the scan code representing any key pressed and the corresponding ASCII character for any key pressed. If the name displayed in the box does not match the key pressed, the key in question has failed, or the keyboard controller has failed.
Note: When the escape key is pressed during the keyboard test, it will not be displayed if it is functioning properly. Pressing the Escape key will exit the test.
Joystick Test The Joystick Test will detect if a control device is presently attached to the game port in the system. A window will appear in the left portion of the screen with an inner box for each button and an X and Y coordinate for the current screen cursor position. Moving the joystick will affect the X and Y coordinate displayed in the window. Pressing either button will cause the appropriate box status to state "Active". If these displays do not occur, the joystick is failing.
Mouse Test This will test any mouse detected by the mouse driver. Starting with Version 11, Micro-Scope includes a generic mouse driver so the manufacturers driver does not need to be loaded. In earlier versions of Micro-Scope, if a mouse driver was not loaded an error message would appear stating "No Mouse Was Detected or No Driver Installed". If a mouse is detected, a window will appear in the left portion of the screen showing the X and Y coordinates for the current screen cursor position. These should vary as the mouse is moved. There are three inner boxes corresponding to the Left, Right and Center mouse buttons. These should say "Inactive", changing to "Active "while the mouse button is being pressed. If the screen coordinates do not track with the mouse movement or if the button status does not change, the mouse is failing.
SCREEN MOUSE TEST
Printer Test Pressing enter on the Printer Test will display a menu which allows for the selection of the parallel port to which the printer is attached. The printer cannot be a network printer but must be local to the system running Micro-Scope.
Place the cursor on the appropriate port and press enter to select the port for the printer test. The IRQ, Port and I/O address will be displayed for the current selection. Press "P" to begin the printer test. If any printer lines are failing, an error message will display on the screen. Otherwise, the on-screen message will state "Printer Status Passed". The printer test will send an ASCII string to the printer. Any discrepancies or breaks in the string printed by the printer is indicative of a failure.