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Network interface test group – Dell Latitude CPi A User Manual

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Causes the drive to begin playing the first audio track on an audio CD. (To determine if the test passed,
listen to the audio output of the drive.)

NOTE: The Audio Output Test does not run automatically as part of the SCSI Devices test
group; you must select this subtest individually.

Eject Removable Media Test

Causes a CD-ROM drive to eject its CD, or a SCSI tape drive to eject its tape cartridge.

Display Information Test

Displays information about the SCSI controller in an expansion device, the resources allocated to the
controller, and a list of target devices attached to it.

Network Interface Test Group

The subtests in the Network Interface test group verify the basic operation of the network interface controller
in the Dell Latitude C/Port APR or C/Dock Expansion Station. They test the controller's internal functions,
including read and write access to its registers and internal transmit and receive (loopback) capability. These
tests run only if the computer is docked.

Why Run a Network Interface Test?

Running a subtest in the Network Interface test group helps diagnose problems that may occur while using
the computer in a network environment. Most network failures are caused by one of the following:

Poor network connections
Failure in the network controller
Interrupt conflict (the controller trying to use the same IRQ line as another device)
Software configuration error

If a problem occurs while using the computer in a network environment, the network connection should be
inspected. If the connection is good, run the Network Interface test group to determine if the network
interface controller is functioning. If the test group is run in a loop, it can be used to detect intermittent
failures.

Subtests

The four subtests in the Network Interface test group confirm the following functions:

Registers Test

Checks the interrupt generation capability of the controller by writing patterns to the writeable registers
in the controller and by reading the patterns back to verify whether they are accessible and able to
retain data.

Loopback Test

Places the controller into its various loopback modes and tests its ability to transmit and receive data.