Troubleshooting Tools

There are several troubleshooting tools available. Some tools test and exercise the system, whereas others gather and format information. Many of these diagnostic tools can be found on the backup CD-ROM shipped with the Compaq AlphaStation XP1000 System.

VET
The Verifier and Exerciser Tool (VET) is an online tool for verifying system installations and acceptance. It is also used to maintain and troubleshoot systems, and perform load and stress tests on single devices, systems, and networks. There are versions of VET for different operating systems (OS). For more information, see the following:

1 The DIGITAL UNIX operating system is now owned by Compaq Computer Corporation.

The Release Notes Firmware Update CD-ROM contains information for downloading VET information and manuals.

Error Logs
Each operating system has a specific mechanism for capturing and logging error information. To access an operating system error log, click on one of the following buttons:

Tru64 UNIX
OpenVMS
Windows NT

Accessing the Tru64 UNIX Error Log

The event report formatter for Tru64 UNIX is uerf (In the future, DECevent, a new tool, will replace uerf.) The syntax of the command is: /usr/sbin/uerf [ options ... ]

The uerf command uses the uerf.bin, uerf.hlp, and uerf.err data files. The uerf.bin file is the event information database. The uerf.hlp file is the help file. The uerf.err file is the event message file. The uerf command expects to find the data files in the /usr/sbin directory. By default, the uerf command outputs the contents of the event log file specified by the *.* entry in the /etc/binlog.conf configuration file. To report on any other event log file or if there is no *.* entry, you must use the uerf command with the -f option.

Note: For further information, see the uerf man pages. (Type "man uerf" at the prompt.)

Accessing the OpenVMS Error Log

Access the OpenVMS Errorlog Report Formatter (ERF) with the ANALYZE/ERROR_LOG command.(In the future, DECevent, a new tool, will replace ERF.) The syntax is:
ANALYZE/ERROR_LOG [filespec[,...]]
For more information, see the VMS Error Log Utility Reference Manual.

EXAMPLES The following example uses all of the defaults:
$ ANALYZE/ERROR_LOG
The next example limits the entry range generated from the file ERRLOG.SYS to entries from 1 to 18:
$ ANALYZE/ERROR_LOG/ENTRY=(START:1,END:18) ERRLOG.SYS
This example shows how to exclude a given class of event information (disk information, in this case):
$ ANALYZE/ERROR_LOG/EXCLUDE=(DISK)
The following example will furnish a report containing only disk-related information:
$ ANALYZE/ERROR_LOG/INCLUDE=(DISK)

Accessing the Windows NT Error Log

Access the Windows NT Error Log by following this path: 

c:\Dec\Vet\Tool_Logs\err_xxxxx

where xxxxx is the error you are researching.

Windows NT Diagnostic Tools
Every Windows NT Workstation includes these facilities.

Event Viewer

Event Viewer is a tool to monitor significant events which occur while Windows NT is running. Some useful information which Event Viewer provides:

MSD Diagnostics

MSD diagnostics are useful for listing machine software and hardware configuration information. Some useful things listed:

Blue Screen Crash

When NT encounters an unrecoverable error, it will crash and display a blue screen with some information as to the nature of the crash. This crash information is not stored anywhere, and is lost when the system is reset or power cycled. Users can enable memory dump if disk space available. Some reasons for a blue screen crash: