FUNDAMENTAL TROUBLESHOOTING PROCEDURES COMP. ENGG.- 6 TH SEM

1. FUNDAMENTAL TROUBLESHOOTING PROCEDURESCOMP. ENGG.- 6TH SEM Prepared By: Mamta Lect. Comp. Engg. GPC Khunimajra(Mohali) PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

2. OVERVIEW OF THE LECTURE • Introduction • Fault Location • Fault Classification • Fault Finding Aids • Troubleshooting Techniques • Troubleshooting Methodologies • Hardware Troubleshooting Tools • Software Troubleshooting Tools • Measuring Instruments PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

3. INTRODUCTION Computers are good when they function well and allow you instant communications with the world and the computer systems have the ability to entertain the entire family. When a PC does not work right any longer, it creates a problem for the users. Without the right information it is extremely difficult to overcome an error or failure. Fault is concerned with detecting the problems and resolving them related to hardware and software . PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

4. FAULT LOCATION Faults occur quite often when we use our computer systems and by having the knowledge about computer system we can easily rectify the faults. Location of the fault describes the type of faults. PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

5. FAULTS CLASSIFICATION • Hardware Faults • Software Faults • Security-related Faults • Boot Time Faults PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

6. HARDWARE FAULTS One of the classifications of faults is whether the source of fault is hardware device or component. Hardware faults are easy to troubleshoot as the symptoms of the fault are obvious. For ex. if the power supply unit of the computer fails, the computer will not power up. Sometimes hardware faults can be difficult to find if the the faults and symptoms only appear intermittently i.e. the fault is not present all the times. For exmp. some hardware components only develop faults under certain conditions, such as when the temperature of the device reaches a certain threshold. PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

7. HARDWARE FAULTS Contd… Hardware Faults sometimes can be rectified quickly by replacing the failed component. Usually common Field Replaceable Units(FRUs) are simply common components that can be replaced on the field with reasonable ease . PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

8. EXAMPLES OF FRUs Examples of FRU may include: • Hard Disk drives • Floppy Disk Drives • Optical drives(CD,DVD,CDR etc.) • Memory(RAM) • Sound Cards • Video Cards • Keyboard & Mouse • Network interface Cards PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

9. SOFTWARE FAULTS Those faults that are caused by the software components. Software component may be a part of the system’s software or application software. Software faults are difficult to troubleshoot. Even though the source of the problem is found to be software and moreover it is not clear which software component is actually causing the fault. PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

10. SOFTWARE FAULTS Contd… • System software faults are those faults that are caused by System software. The Operating System is regarded as system software. Some application softwares might also install some system components that it needs to run and that can become source of faults. • Application software faults are those types of faults that are rooted in application software components. These types of faults only affect the application software in use and the rest of the system operates normally. PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

11. SOFTWARE FAULTS Contd… The source of software faults can be caused by following: • Software Component Corruption. • System incorrect configuration. • Documented and Undocumented Bugs. • Compatibility issues(hardware & software). PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

12. SECURITY-RELATED FAULTS These are the faults that develop in systems and might have their source in hardware , software, configuration or design. Mostly security-related faults occur due to the following reasons: • Improper configuration. • Un-patched software bugs. • System design flaws. • Undiscovered security holes. • Other faults e.g. a hardware fault with a firewall device might expose systems that would normally be protected by the firewall device. PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

13. BOOT-TIME FAULTS Boot time faults are the faults that occur during the start-up sequence of a computer system. These are critical as they can potentially halt the boot sequence possibly halting the system & making it unusable. They can have their source in software usually due to improper configuration, missing system files or incompatibilities usually after new software has been deployed, hardware failure usually due to boot device typically hard disk drive failure and also due to other major component failure such as RAM, Video etc. PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

14. FAULT FINDING AIDS Fault finding aids refer to finding the faults and troubleshooting them that may occur due to improper working of hardware and software. Troubleshooting is a form of problem solving often applied to repair failed products or processes. Troubleshooting is needed to develop and maintain complex systems where the symptoms of a problem can have many possible causes and is used in many fields such as engineering, system administration,electronics,automotive.In general, troubleshooting is the identification and diagnosis of “trouble” in the system caused by a failure of some kind. PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

15. FAULT FINDING AIDS Contd.. There are two major stages in troubleshooting process. The first stage is identifying the issues. The second stage is performing the actual repair. To identify the issues ,we must do the following: • Gather information. • Verify the issue. • Try quick fixes. • Use appropriate diagnostics. • Perform a split-half search. • Use additional resources to research the issues. • Escalate the issue(if necessary). PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

16. FAULT FINDING AIDS Contd.. After we have identified the issues, we must do the following: • Repair or replace the faulty item. • Verify the repair by testing the product thoroughly. • Inform the user of what you have done. • Complete administrative tasks. PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

17. TROUBLESHOOTING TECHNIQUES TESTING Tests are standardized to guarantee safety. Software testing is an investigation conducted to provide users with information about the quality of the product and service under test.Software testing also provides an objective, independent view of the software to allow the business to appreciate and understand the risk at implementation of the software. Test techniques are not limited to the process of executing a program or application with the intent of finding bugs. PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

18. TROUBLESHOOTING TECHNIQUES TESTING CONTD… Software testing can also be stated as the process of validating and verifying that a software program : • Meets the business and technical requirements that guided its design & development; • Works as expected; • Can be implemented with the same characteristics. Software testing can be implemented at any time in the development process. PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

19. TROUBLESHOOTING TECHNIQUES DIAGNOSTIC SOFTWARES The use of diagnostic software tools is very useful in saving time. These tools are not used to identify the cause of system problems but they often provide valuable information about what is in the system and how it is working. Some of these are free or are included with common operating systems at no additional charge, while others are commercial products that are quite expensive. Computer diagnostic software can take many forms. Some focuses on diagnosing hardware while other allows you to improve a computer’s performance. PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

20. TROUBLESHOOTING TECHNIQUES DIAGNOSTIC SOFTWARES TOOLS: Most common diagnostic software tools are described as under: 1. MICROSOFT DIAGNOSTICS: It is well known as “MSD.EXE” and this is a small DOS utility that takes a brief inventory of the contents of your PC and Shows them to us in a text based format. This tool is very useful for seeing what disks are in the system , how much memory is installed and also for checking the system resource usage.it will show us what type of BIOS we are using. PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

21. DIAGNOSTIC SOFTWARES TOOLS 2. WINDOW 95 DEVICE MANAGER :This is the most useful tool for identifying systems configuration and resource usage information under window 95. to access it ,open Control panel and select “System ” Icon then select “Device manager” tab.We will see a graphical tree like structure showing us all of our PC hardware. This tool is very useful for resolving resource conflicts. PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

22. DIAGNOSTIC SOFTWARES TOOLS 3. POWER ON SELF TEST(POST) :It is not a separate diagnostic tool and it is built into our system BIOS and it runs every time we start up our PC automatically. It is often the best indicator of system problems and always make us sure that we pay attention to its audio and video messages. 4. NORTON SYSTEM INFORMATION : This utility shows a great deal of information about what is in the PC,but it is an information utilities opposed to a true diagnostic. PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

23. TROUBLESHOOTING METHODOLOGY • Identify the symptoms. • Identify the scope of the problem. • Establish what has changed on the network. • Determine the most probable cause of the problem. PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

24. TROUBLESHOOTING METHODOLOGY • Determine the most probable cause of the problem (cont.) • Verify user competency. • Re-create the problem. • Verify the physical integrity of the network connection. • Verify the logical integrity of the network connection. PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

25. TROUBLESHOOTING METHODOLOGY • Implement a solution. • Testthesolution. • Recognize the potential effects of the solution. • Document the solution. PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

26. IDENTIFY THE SYMPTOMS • Questions to help you identify symptoms of a network problem:- • Is access to the network affected? • Is network performance affected? • Are data or programs (or both) affected? • Are only certain network services affected? PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

27. IDENTIFY THE SYMPTOMS • Questions to help you identify symptoms of a network problem (cont.):- • If programs are affected, does the problem include one local application, one networked application, or multiple networked applications? • What specific error messages do users report? • Is one or multiple users affected? • Do the symptoms manifest themselves consistently? PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

28. IDENTIFY THE SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM • Identify the scope of the problem:- • How many users or network segments are affected? • When did the problem begin? • If a problem is universal—if it affects the entire LAN or WAN—you will naturally want to answer these questions very quickly. PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

29. ESTABLISH WHAT HAS CHANGED • Did the operating system or configuration on a server, workstation or connectivity device change? • Were new components added to a server, workstation or connectivity device? • Were old components removed from a server, workstation or connectivity device? PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

30. ESTABLISH WHAT HAS CHANGED • Was a server, workstation, or connectivity device moved from its previous location to a new location? • Was a server, workstation, or connectivity device replaced? • Was new software installed on a server, workstations, or connectivity device? • Was old software removed from a server, workstation, or connectivity device? PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

31. SELECT THE MOST PROBABLE CAUSE • Verify user competency. • Re-create the problem • Can you make the symptoms recur every time? • Can you make the symptoms recur some of the time? • Do the symptoms happen only under certain circumstances? • Do the symptoms ever happen when you try to repeat them? PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

32. SELECT THE MOST PROBABLE CAUSE • Verify physical connectivity:- • Is the device turned on? • Is the NIC properly inserted? • Is a device’s network cable properly connected to both its NIC and the wall jack? • Do patch cables properly connect punch-down blocks to patch panels and patch panels to hubs or switches? PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

33. SELECT THE MOST PROBABLE CAUSE • Verify physical connectivity (cont.):- • Is the hub, router, or switch properly connected to the backbone? • Are all cables in good condition? • Are all connectors in good condition and properly seated? • Do network segment lengths conform to the IEEE 802 specifications? PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

34. VERIFY LOGICAL CONNECTIVITY • Questions to help you identify a problem with logical connectivity:- • Do error messages reference damaged or missing files or device drivers? • Do error messages reference malfunctioning or insufficient resources? • Has an operating system, configuration, or application been recently changed, introduced or deleted? PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

35. VERIFY LOGICAL CONNECTIVITY • Questions to help you identify a problem with logical connectivity (cont.):- • Does the problem occur with only one application or a few, similar applications? • Does the problem happen consistently? • Does the problem affect a single user or one group of users? PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

36. IMPLEMENT A SOLUTION • Steps to help you implement a safe and reliable solution:- • Collect all the documentation you have about a problem’s symptoms. • If you are reinstalling software on a device, make a backup of the device’s existing software installation. • Perform the change, replacement, move or add that you believe will solve the problem. • Test your solution. PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

37. TEST THE SOLUTION • After implementing the solution, it must be tested to verify that it works properly. • Type of testing performed depends on the solution. • Often good to enlist the user who reported the problem in testing your solution too. PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

38. RECOGNIZE THE POTENTIAL EFFECTS OF THE SOLUTION • When implementing a solutions, consider the: • Scope • Tradeoffs • Security • Scalability • Cost PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

39. DOCUMENT THE PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS • Name, department, and phone number of the problem originator. • Information regarding whether the problem is software- or hardware-related. • If software-related, the package to which it pertains. • If hardware related, the device or components to which it pertains. PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

40. DOCUMENT THE PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS • Symptoms of the problem including when it was first noticed. • Name and telephone number of the network support contact. • Amount of time spent in troubleshooting the problem. • Resolution of the problem. PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

41. HARDWARE TROUBLESHOOTING TOOLS • CROSSOVER CABLE • Cable in which the transmit and receive wire pairs in one of the connectors are reversed. • TONE GENERATOR AND TONE LOCATOR • A tone generator is a small electronic device that issues a signal on a wire pair. • A tone locator is a device that emits a tone when it detects electrical activity on a wire pair. • Combination of these devices is known as a fox and hound. PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

42. TONE GENERATOR AND TONE LOCATOR Use of a tone generator and tone locator PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

43. MULTIMETER • Multimeter • Simple instrument that can measure multiple characteristics of an electric circuit. • Voltmeter • Device used to measure voltage of an electric current. PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

44. MULTIMETER • Resistance • Opposition to electric current. • Resistance is measured in ohms. • The device used to measure resistance is an ohmmeter. A multimeter PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

45. USES FOR A MULTIMETER • Verify that a cable is properly conducting electricity. • Check for the presence of noise on a wire. • Verify that amount of resistance generated by terminators on coaxial cable networks is appropriate or whether terminators are actually present and functional. • Test for short or open circuits. PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

46. CABLE CHECKERS CABLE CHECKERS Determine whether your cabling can provide connectivity. Basic cable checker PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

47. CABLE TESTERS • A cable tester performs the same continuity and fault tests as a cable checker, but also provides the following functions:- • Ensures that cable is not too long. • Measure the distance to a cable fault. • Measures attenuation along a cable. PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

48. CABLE TESTERS • Additional functions provided by a cable tester (cont.) • Measures near-end crosstalk between wires. • Measures termination resistance and impedance for Thinnet cabling. • Issues pass/fail ratings for CAT3, CAT5, CAT6, or even CAT7 standards. • Stores and prints cable testing results. PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

49. CABLE TESTERS A high-end cable tester PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH

50. TIME DOMAIN REFLECTORS (TDRS) • High-end instrument for testing qualities of a cable. • Optical time domain reflectors (OTDRs) • TDRs made of fiber-optic cable. • Baseline • Record of how well a network operates under normal conditions. PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY,CHANDIGARH