Back to Contents Page

omdiag: Using the Diagnostic Service

Dell OpenManage™ Server Administrator Version 1.4 Command Line Interface User's Guide

  omdiag about

  omdiag about details=true

  omdiag chassis

  omdiag storage

  omdiag system


The omdiag command allows you to test system and chassis components. Examples of diagnostic capabilities include tests for components such as processors, hard drives, physical memory, communications and printer ports, network interface controllers, CMOS, and more.

Most tests described in this section take less than one minute. Tests that take longer depend on the device being tested. For example, the duration of the memory test depends on the amount of memory installed on the system. You cannot abort tests you start through the command line interface.

NOTICE: If you try to abort a diagnostic test (by closing the command window or terminating the omdiag process) the attempt will either fail or produce unexpected results.
NOTE: If the Secure Port Server is not running when you type an omdiag command, there will be a noticeable delay before the command executes, because the system must check the hardware to determine the diagnostic information to display.
NOTE: Running an omdiag command while the Server Administrator Web server is running can cause the command line interface's JVM to stop. The Web server's JVM continues running (and the diagnostic completes successfully), so subsequent commands are not affected. The stopped JVM produces a log file. This issue will be fixed in a future release.
NOTE: If you run omdiag commands from more than one command window, an omdiag command might complete but display no output or results. If this occurs, you can view the results of the test from the Server Administrator home page. Click the Diagnostics action tab and then click the Result History link.

Table 3-1 is a high-level summary of the omdiag command. The columns titled "Command level 2" and "Command level 3" list the major arguments that can be used with omdiag. The "Use" column provides a very general statement about the actions that can be performed using omdiag. More details about syntax and use of the command appear later in this section.

Table 3-1. omdiag Command Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 

Command level 1

Command level 2

Command level 3

Command level 4

Use

omdiag

 

 

 

 

 

about

 

 

Display version number and properties for the systems management program installed on your server.

 

 

details=true

 

Display information for all of the Server Administrator programs that are installed.

 

system

any level 3 command for chassis or storage

 

Run the test for specified chassis or storage component.

 

 

 

passes=<n>

Run this test n times.

 

 

 

mintime=<minutes>

Run this test for at least number of minutes.

 

 

 

maxtime=<minutes>

Run this test no longer than number of minutes.

 

chassis

cmos

cpu

memory

modem

network

parallelport

pci

serialport

usb

video

 

Run CMOS test.

Run microprocessor test.

Run memory test.

Run modem test.

Run NIC test.

Run parallel port test.

Run PCI test.

Run serial port test.

Run USB test.

Run video test.

 

 

 

passes=<number>

Run this test n times.

 

 

 

mintime=<minutes>

Run this test for at least number of minutes.

 

 

 

maxtime=<minutes>

Run this test no longer than number of minutes.

 

storage

adaptecraidctr

cddrive

cdrw

dvddrive

floppy

harddrive

idehd

ideraidctr

ideraidhd

lsdrive

lsiraidctr

lsiraidbattery

raidhd

scsictr

scsihd

smart

tapeautomation

tapedrive

 

Run Adaptec RAID controller test.

Run CD drive test.

Run CD-RW (read/write) drive test.

Run DVD drive test.

Run diskette drive test.

Run hard drive test for Red Hat Linux.

Run IDE hard drive test for Microsoft® Windows®.

Run LSI Logic IDE RAID controller test.

Run hard drive test on IDE RAID-attached disks for Microsoft Windows.

Run LS 120 or LS 240 drive test.

Run LSI Logic SCSI RAID controller test.

Runs LSI SCSI RAID controller battery diagnostics.

Run hard drive test on RAID-attached disks.

Run SCSI controller test.

Run hard drive test on SCSI-attached disks.

Run SMART test for Linux.

Run tape automation library diagnostics.

Run tape drive test.

 

 

 

passes=<n>

Run this test n times.

 

 

 

mintime=<minutes>

Run this test for at least number of minutes.

 

 

 

maxtime=<minutes>

Run this test no longer than number of minutes.


omdiag about

Use the omdiag about command to learn the product name and version number of the systems management application installed on your system. The following is example output from the omdiag about command:

Product name : Server Administrator

Version : 1.x.x

Copyright : Copyright (C) Dell Computer Corporation
1995-2003. All rights reserved.

Company : Dell Computer Corporation


omdiag about details=true

Use the omdiag about details=true command to see information about all of the Server Administrator programs that are installed. The following is example output from the omdiag about details=true command:

Product name : Server Administrator

Version : 1.x.x

Copyright : Copyright (C) Dell Computer Corporation
1995-2003. All rights reserved.

Company : Dell Computer Corporation

Contains:

Instrumentation Service 4.x

Storage Management Service 3.x.x

Update Service 1.x.x

Diagnostic Service 2.x.x

Sun JRE - OEM Installed Version 3.x.x

Secure Port Server 1.x.x

Dell OpenManage Core Service 1.x.x

Instrumentation Service Integration Layer 1.x.x

Storage Management Service Integration Layer 1.x.x

Server Administrator 1.x.x

Dell OpenManage 1.x.x


omdiag chassis

Use the omdiag chassis commands to perform tests on nonstorage components of a system, such as the processor, memory, video, NICs, PCI, and ports.

NOTE: When you issue CLI commands to a server module in a modular system, chassis refers only to the server module.

omdiag chassis -?

Use the omdiag chassis -? command to see a list of all chassis components on the system.

omdiag chassis cmos

Use the omdiag chassis cmos command to test system configuration information in the CMOS settings. The following are the tests performed by the CMOS test:

omdiag chassis cpu

Use the omdiag chassis cpu command to test the CPU, which executes instructions, processes data, and assigns memory addresses. The CPU test performs the following tests:

NOTE: When running under Red Hat Linux, the Diagnostic Service uses the operating system to determine the number of CPUs in the system. Only CPUs that are visible to the operating system can be diagnosed. The number of CPUs listed by the Diagnostic Service equals the number of CPUs listed in the /proc/cpuinfo file. The Diagnostic Service lists twice the number of physical microprocessors installed in a system if that system has Hyper-Threading enabled. The Diagnostic Service utilizes the operating system to diagnose the microprocessor. The "Processors Information Page" on the Server Administrator home page lists the actual number of physical microprocessors present on the system. If your system has Hyper-Threading Technology enabled when you test all microprocessors, the Diagnostic Service runs diagnostics on each microprocessor twice.

omdiag chassis memory

Use the omdiag chassis memory command to test the system's RAM.

The memory test checks your system's memory with a data patterns test. These patterns test the memory's storage integrity and its ability to store data accurately. Before running this test, ensure that all other programs are shut down. This test uses several test patterns to test memory locations. If this test detects errors, it reports the name of the DIMM that had the error (for example, DIMM_A). The name reported corresponds to the name printed on the system board or card that contains the DIMM slots. This test also detects when ECC error events are generated. If a memory DIMM has an ECC error, the name of the DIMM that produced the error is reported.

This test checks only memory seen by the operating system on systems that have redundant memory support (spare bank or mirroring), but the status is reported for all installed DIMMS.

NOTE: The memory diagnostic allocates only 2 GB of memory to perform the Memory Pattern Test. ECC events are still detected on all memory modules.

omdiag chassis modem

Use the omdiag chassis modem command to send a series of AT command set commands to your modem to see if it is working. The AT command set is a series of industry-standard instructions for the modem to perform operations such as automatically dialing numbers, controlling the telephone connection, and telling the computer what it is doing.

NOTE: This test is designed to run on analog communication lines (regular telephone lines) and will not test a cable or Digital Subscriber Link (DSL) modem. Currently, no test is provided for testing cable or DSL modems; you can, however, test cable or DSL Internet connections. To test an Internet connection that uses a cable or DSL modem, you must use the network test.
NOTE: When you run the modem test, ensure that no other programs use the modem during the test. If other programs use the modem, the test does not run and you see a result "Cannot Run" in the Results window.

The modem test performs the following tests:

omdiag chassis network

Use the omdiag chassis network command to test the NIC.

The following are the tests performed by the network test:

Take note of the following special cases when using this command:

The network device must be configured to use TCP/IP and the IP address for the network card must be obtained through a DHCP server or you must assign a static IP address. If the IP address is assigned statically, a gateway must be present. Configure the network accordingly and run this test again.

However, this configuration is not currently supported.

Invalid Device Reference: Cannot determine the configuration of the device. Verify the device driver is installed properly and the device is enabled in the Operating System. The test cannot continue.

check the Server Administrator home page. Click the Network Properties tab. If the IP address value is Not obtained, run the ipconfig command in Windows or the ifconfig command in Linux. If an IP address is assigned, then the driver is not the latest available. You must install the latest driver for the NIC from the Server Assistant CD before you can run diagnostics on this NIC.

The network device is set up as part of a network team. You cannot run the test on this network adapter.

omdiag chassis parallelport

Use the omdiag chassis parallelport command to test the parallel port, which is a high-speed communications port for attaching certain devices to your computer.

The parallel port test writes a series of characters to the port and then reads it back again. If this test detects differences between the written and read character series, it logs an error message and the test result is FAILED.

omdiag chassis pci

Use the omdiag chassis pci command to test the PCI bus and check all PCI devices.

The PCI test includes the boards configuration test, which checks for the presence of PCI capability and then scans all PCI devices for proper communication. This test first checks the BIOS version number for invalidity. If the version number is invalid, or the number of PCI busses is determined to be zero, an error is logged. The test then scans for PCI cards in the system. If an error is encountered reading the configuration data of a card, an error is logged. If more than 10 errors are encountered, the test stops.

omdiag chassis serialport

Use the omdiag chassis serialport command to test the serial port.

The serial port test:

The following tests are performed by the serial port test:

omdiag chassis usb

Use the omdiag chassis usb command to test that the USB controller is communicating with all USB devices.

The USB test runs a status test to locate all USB controllers, hubs, and devices attached to the system and verify that the system is detecting them correctly. The devices are detected by directly accessing each physical device. If any devices are present but disabled or configured incorrectly, the test result is FAILED.

omdiag chassis video

Use the omdiag chassis video command to test the video memory. The memory test fills the video memory and AGP memory with test patterns, which are designed specifically to discover memory errors. The data is then transferred back to the system memory and checked to make sure that every pixel contains the correct data. If a pixel reports different data than what the pixel is supposed to contain, the video memory test result is FAILED.


omdiag storage

Use the omdiag storage commands to perform tests on storage components of a system, such as the CD drive, diskette drive, hard drive, tape drive, and SCSI or RAID controller.

omdiag storage -?

Use the omdiag storage -? command to see a list of all storage components on the system.

omdiag storage adaptecraidctr

Use the omdiag storage adaptecraidctr command to validate normal operations of Adaptec RAID controllers and host bus adapters. This command enumerates all the Adaptec SCSI RAID controllers present in the system and allows a user to test a specific controller.

The test retrieves and verifies the status information of the main components of the controller and performs basic and advanced operations to verify the working status of the controller. The test is nondestructive in nature; no data is written to the storage devices managed by the controller.

The Adaptec RAID controller operations test performs the following tests:

You must stop an application that reserves the RAID controller before you attempt to run the Adaptec RAID controller diagnostic test or the hard disk diagnostic test. If you do not, the diagnostic reports a failure with the following message:

An application or service that manipulates RAID such as Array Manager, FAST, or PERC Console has reserved the controller and must be stopped before running this test. See the Server Administrator online context-sensitive help or the "Server Administrator CLI User's Guide" for more information.

To stop the Array Manager service, go to the Control Panel, select Services, right-click the Disk Management Service, and select Stop. To stop FAST or the PERC Console, exit the application.

omdiag storage lsiraidctr

Use the omdiag storage lsiraidctr command to validate normal operations of LSI Logic SCSI RAID controllers and host bus adapters. This command enumerates all of the LSI Logic SCSI RAID controllers present in the system and allows a user to selectively test a specific controller.

The test retrieves and verifies status information about the main components of the controller and performs operations to verify the working status of the controller. The test is nondestructive, because it does not write data to the storage devices managed by the controller.

The LSI Logic controller test performs the following tests:

omdiag storage cddrive

Use the omdiag storage cddrive command to test CD drives.

The CD drive test runs several tests on a CD drive to make sure that the drive works properly. It determines how many CD drives are in your system and tests only those drives that support CD media. To run this test, you must place a CD such as a program disc or your system's recovery CD into the drive to be tested. You cannot use music CDs for testing.

The CD drive test performs the following tests:

NOTE: Windows may take a while to recognize a newly inserted CD disc. Therefore, it is recommended that you wait a few seconds after inserting a disc into the drive before you run the CD test.
NOTE: Red Hat Linux operating systems may lock up when running the CD/DVD/CDRW diagnostics on IDE drives. When running the diagnostic through CLI you may see the message
Serverworks OSB4 in impossible state. Disable UDMA...
Direct Memory Access (DMA) must be disabled to run the diagnostics successfully. Refer to the Red Hat documentation for instructions on disabling DMA.

omdiag storage dvddrive

Use the omdiag storage dvddrive command to test DVD drives. The DVD test runs various read tests on DVD drives to determine if the drive is working. The test determines how many DVD drives are in your system and then tests those drives.

To run this test, you must have a DVD disc in the DVD drive. The DVD test performs the following tests:

NOTE: Microsoft Windows may take a while to recognize a newly inserted DVD disc. Therefore, it is recommended that you wait a few seconds after inserting a disc into the drive before you run the DVD test.
NOTE: Red Hat Linux operating systems may lock up when running the CD/DVD/CDRW diagnostics on IDE drives. When running the diagnostic through CLI you may see the message
Serverworks OSB4 in impossible state. Disable UDMA...
Direct Memory Access (DMA) must be disabled to run the diagnostics successfully. Refer to the Red Hat documentation for instructions on disabling DMA.

omdiag storage floppy

Use the omdiag storage floppy command to test the diskette drive.

The test examines your diskette drive by using a series of seek and read tests to see if your drive is working correctly. You must insert a diskette into your diskette drive to run this test. The diskette test performs the following tests:

NOTE: False diagnostic errors may occur when you simultaneously run the omdiag storage floppy command and the diskette formatting application on Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003.

omdiag storage harddrive (Red Hat Linux only)

Use the omdiag storage harddrive command to run a series of tests to see if your drive is working correctly.

NOTE: The hard drive test takes approximately 1 minute per gigabyte of storage.

The hard drive test performs the following tests:

The hard-drive diagnostics run as a low-priority background task to limit the effect on other disk I/O activity. It is recommended that you limit drive activity while running the hard-drive diagnostics because the diagnostics may run slowly or even halt while other drive I/O activity is running simultaneously. The diagnostics resume when the drive I/O activity has decreased.

omdiag storage idehd (Windows only)

Use the omdiag storage idehd command to test hard drives attached to a server through a qualified IDE adapter and determine if the drive has failed.

The IDE test includes an extended SMART self-test. The quick version of the test runs a shortened SMART test which verifies a subset of the entire disk.

The hard-drive diagnostics run as a low-priority background task to limit the effect on other disk I/O activity. It is recommended that you limit drive activity while running the hard-drive diagnostics because the diagnostics may run slowly or even halt while other drive I/O activity is running simultaneously. The diagnostics resume when the drive I/O activity has decreased.

For the IDE hard drive diagnostics, the hardware location of the hard drive is listed as Port x: Master Device or Port x: Slave Device.

The port number for an IDE drive generally maps to the IDE channel as follows:

Port 0 = Primary Channel

Port 1 = Secondary Channel

Port 2 = Tertiary Channel

Port 3 = Quaternary Channel

However, when more than two channels are present, the port number and channel may not map as shown. If you have a drive failure, try to identify the failing drive by its size and/or brand name as displayed in the diagnostic output. If you have trouble identifying which physical drive is failing, you can remove drives from the tertiary and/or quaternary channel and run the tests again, so that the mapping is reliable. If all the drives pass, then one of the removed drives is the one that is failing; you may have to remove drives one at a time to determine the failed drive.

The following special cases can affect these tests:

Device Inquiry command failed.

then it is likely that the hard drive is not connected properly. Check the cables to ensure that the hard drive is properly connected to the controller.

The test could not be executed because the master device on the same channel as this device is not SMART-enabled. See the Server Administrator online context-sensitive help or "Server Administrator CLI User's Guide" for instructions on applying the fix for this issue.

For Windows 2000, this issue is corrected in Service Pack 3. See the Microsoft Knowledge Base Article ID: Q304572 at support.microsoft.com to get a hotfix for this issue. You can also find the hotfix on the Systems Management CD at support\Windows\Hotfix\MSFT_q304572_win2k.zip.

omdiag storage ideraidctr

Use the omdiag storage ideraidctr command (the LSI IDE RAID controller test) to validate normal operations of LSI integrated device electronics (IDE) redundant array of independent disks (RAID) controllers or host bus adapters. It lists all LSI IDE RAID controllers present in the system and allows a user to selectively test a specific controller. The test retrieves and verifies the status information of the main components of the controller and performs operations to verify the working status of the controller. The test is nondestructive in nature because it does not write data to the storage devices managed by the controller. The LSI IDE RAID controller test runs the following tests:

omdiag storage ideraidhd

Use the omdiag storage ideraidhd command to test IDE RAID-attached disks to determine if the IDE disk has failed.

The IDE test includes an extended SMART self-test. The quick version of the test runs a shortened SMART test that verifies a subset of the entire disk.

For managed systems with hard drives attached to a Dell-supported RAID controller, if the system does not list ideraidhd as one of the available tests when you issue an omdiag storage -? command, you may need to start the Server Administrator Web server with the omconfig system webserver action=start command to enable the ideraidhd test.

The hard-drive diagnostics run as a low-priority background task to limit the effect on other disk I/O activity. It is recommended that you limit drive activity while running the hard-drive diagnostics because the diagnostics may run slowly or even halt while other drive I/O activity is running simultaneously. The diagnostics resume when the drive I/O activity has decreased.

If the following message appears:

Device Inquiry command failed.

then it is likely that the hard drive is not connected properly. Check the cables to ensure that the hard drive is properly connected to the controller.

omdiag storage lsdrive

Use the omdiag storage lsdrive command to run a series of seek tests that check whether the LS drive is working correctly. To run this test, you must have a standard 3.5-inch diskette, LS-120 diskette, or LS-240 diskette in the LS drive. The LS drive test performs the following tests:

NOTE: Defective diskettes may cause LS drive test failures. If an error occurs, insert a different diskette and run the test again.
NOTE: Defective diskettes may cause LS-120 drive test failures. If an error occurs, insert a different diskette and run the test again.

omdiag storage raidhd (Windows only)

Use the omdiag storage raidhd command to test RAID-attached hard drives and verify that they are functional. You can test hard drives attached to a server through either a Dell-qualified SCSI adapter or RAID adapter and determine if the drives have failed. See the Dell OpenManage Server Administrator Compatibility Guide for the supported RAID adapters.

You can run the following tests:

The following special cases can affect these tests:

Device Inquiry command failed.

then it is likely that the hard drive is not connected properly. Check the cables to ensure that the hard drive is properly connected to the controller.

Device failed a send diagnostic command: Check SCSI cable connections and termination and run this test again. If this error still occurs, it may indicate a hardware problem.

To avoid this message, run the diagnostic again when the system is not running heavy disk I/O activity.

An application or service that manipulates RAID such as Array Manager, FAST, or PERC Console has reserved the controller and must be stopped before running this test. See the Server Administrator online context-sensitive help or the "Server Administrator CLI User's Guide" for more information.

To stop the Array Manager service, go to the Control Panel, select Services, right-click the Disk Management Service, and select Stop. To stop FAST or the PERC Console, exit the application.

omdiag storage scsictr

Use the omdiag storage scsictr command to test the SCSI, which is a standard computer interface for peripheral hardware.

The SCSI controller test performs tests on the SCSI interface and all attached SCSI devices. The SCSI's integrated self-diagnostic test performs these tests by using standard SCSI commands to detect SCSI devices. All SCSI devices are tested with the SCSI self-test function using the SEND DIAGNOSTIC command. These tests ensure that the SCSI subsystem is intact and that the devices are responding correctly.

omdiag storage scsihd (Windows only)

Use the omdiag storage scsihd command to test SCSI-attached hard drives and verify that they are functional.

You can run the following test for SCSI-attached drives:

The hard-drive diagnostics run as a low-priority background task to limit the effect on other disk I/O activity. It is recommended that you limit drive activity while running the hard-drive diagnostics because the diagnostics may run slowly or even halt while other drive I/O activity is running simultaneously. The diagnostics resume when the drive I/O activity has decreased.

If the following message appears:

Device Inquiry command failed.

then it is likely that the hard drive is not connected properly. Check the cables to ensure that the hard drive is properly connected to the controller.

The hard drive may also fail and display the following message:

Device failed a send diagnostic command: Check SCSI cable connections and termination and run this test again. If this error still occurs, it may indicate a hardware problem.

To avoid this message, run the diagnostic again when the system is not running heavy disk I/O activity.

omdiag storage smart (Red Hat Linux only)

Use the omdiag storage smart command to test the SMART functionality for both IDE and SCSI drives. The test scans your system for each available hard drive and determines whether your hard drives have a SMART system implemented. The SMART tests are not supported on RAID-configured systems.

After the test determines that the SMART system is functional, the test checks the drive for predictive failures. The SMART test includes the following tests:

omdiag storage tapedrive (Red Hat Linux only)

Use the omdiag storage tapedrive command to test the tape drive by verifying the read, write, and seek capabilities of the drive. This test also checks the "prepare tape functions," which include lock, unlock, and rewind.

The length of the test depends on how much data is on the tape media and if the data is compressed. Test duration may last well over 30 minutes if the tape is full and the data is compressed.

The tape drive test includes the following tests:

omdiag storage tapedrive (Windows only)

Use the omdiag storage tapedrive command to test the tape drive by verifying the read, write, and seek capabilities of the drive.

The tape drive test includes the following tests:

NOTE: This test does not require a tape. The diagnostic might vary depending on the manufacturer of the tape drive.
NOTE: The data transfer test requires a formatted diagnostic tape. The tape must be formatted by running the format diagnostic tape test.
NOTE: The tape can be completely erased by degaussing it. Using backup software to erase a tape might not remove all of the data from the tape. All data must be removed to create the diagnostic tape.

omdiag storage tapeautomation (Windows only)

The tape automation test includes the following tests:

NOTE: The slot-to-slot exercise is not supported on all devices.

omdiag storage lsiraidbattery

Use the omdiag storage lsiraidbattery command to run diagnostics that validate normal operations of the battery on LSI SCSI RAID controllers and host bus adapters.

The LSI SCSI RAID controller battery test includes the following tests:

omdiag storage cdrw

Use the omdiag storage cdrw command to ensure that your CD-RW (read/write) drive writes and reads data correctly. This test determines how many CD-RW drives are on your system and tests only those drives that support CD-RW media.

NOTE: Red Hat Linux operating systems may lock up when running the CD/DVD/CDRW diagnostics on IDE drives. When running the diagnostic through CLI you may see the message
Serverworks OSB4 in impossible state. Disable UDMA...
Direct Memory Access (DMA) must be disabled to run the diagnostics successfully. Refer to the Red Hat documentation for instructions on disabling DMA.

The CD-RW drive test includes the following test:


omdiag system

You can use the omdiag system command to test any of the components for the system, regardless of whether they are part of the chassis or the storage. For example, omdiag system memory tests the memory just the same as if you run omdiag chassis memory.

omdiag system -?

Use the omdiag system -? command to see a list of all components on the system.


Back to Contents Page