DELL inspiron 4100 User Manual

							Using the Dell Diagnostics: Dell Inspiron 4150 
NOTICE: Use the Dell Diagnostics to test only your Dell™ computer. Using this\
 
program with other computers may cause incorrect computer responses or 
result in error messages. 
The diagnostic test groups or subtests also have these helpful features:\
l     Options that let you perform quick checks or extensive tests on one or a\
ll 
devices
l     An option that allows you to choose the number of times a test group or \
subtest 
is repeated
l     The ability to display test results or to save them in a file
l     Options to temporarily suspend testing if an error is detected, or to te\
rminate 
testing when an adjustable error limit is reached
l     Extensive online Help screens that describe the tests and how to run the\
m
l     Status messages that inform you whether test groups or subtests were 
completed successfully
l     Error messages that appear if any problems are detected
Starting the Dell Diagnostics
The Dell Diagnostics are located on a hidden Diagnostic utility partitio\
n on your hard 
drive. 
HINT: If your computer cannot display a screen image, contact Dell. See your 
Owners Manual for contact information. 
1.  Turn off the computer. 
2.  If the computer is connected to a docking device (docked), undock it. \
See the  documentation that came with the docking device for instructions. 
3.  Connect the computer to an electrical outlet. 
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							Using the Dell Diagnostics: Dell Inspiron 4150 
4.  Press and hold down the Dell AccessDirect™ button while you turn on the 
computer. 
HINT: An alternate way of starting the Dell Diagnostics is to select Diagnostics 
from the 
one-time boot menu. 
The computer begins to run the Pre-boot System Assessment, a series of 
embedded diagnostics that perform initial testing on your system board, \
keyboard, hard drive, and display.
l     During the assessment, answer any questions that appear.
l     If a component failure is detected, the computer stops and beeps. To sto\
p 
the assessment and reboot to the operating system, press 
 ; to 
continue to the next test, press 
 ; to retest the component that 
failed, press 
 . 
l     If failures are detected during the Pre-boot System Assessment, write 
down the error code(s) and then contact Dell before continuing on to t\
he 
Dell Diagnostics. See your Owners Manual for contact information.
l     If you receive a message stating that no Diagnostics utility partition h\
as 
been found, follow the instructions on the screen to run the Dell 
Diagnostics from your Drivers and Utilities CD.
If the Pre-boot System Assessment completes successfully, you receive th\
e 
message Booting Dell Diagnostic Utility Partition. Press any key to 
continue.
5.  Press any key to start the Dell Diagnostics from the Diagnostics utility\
 partition  on your hard drive. 
6.  After the Dell Diagnostics loads, the Diagnostics Menu appears. To select an 
option, highlight the option and press 
 , or press the key that 
corresponds to the highlighted letter in the option you choose. 
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							Using the Dell Diagnostics: Dell Inspiron 4150 
7.  When you have finished running the Dell Diagnostics, press  until you 
return to the Diagnostics Menu. To exit the Dell Diagnostics and reboot the 
computer, either type 
 , or highlight Exit and press  . 
Diagnostics Menu 
Option Function
Test All Devices Performs extensive diagnostic tests or quick diagnostic 
tests on all devices.
Test One Device Performs extensive diagnostic tests or quick diagnostic 
tests on one device after you select it from a list of device 
groups. After you select Test One Device, press 
 for 
more information about a test.
Advanced Testing Allows you to modify the parameters of a test and select a 
group of tests to perform. You can access online Help for 
more information about Advanced Testing.
Information and Results Provides test results, test errors, version numbers of the 
subtests used by the Dell Diagnostics, and additional help 
on the Dell Diagnostics.
Program Options  Allows you to change the settings of the Dell Diagnostics.
Exit If the Dell Diagnostics are being run from the Diagnostics 
utility partition on the hard drive, reboots the computer.
If the Dell Diagnostics are being run from a CD or floppy 
disk, exits to the MS-DOS® prompt. 
For a quick check of your computer, select Quick Tests from the Test All Devices or 
Test One Device option. Quick Tests runs only the subtests that do not require user 
interaction and that do not take a long time to run. Dell recommends tha\
t you choose 
Quick Tests first to increase the odds of tracing the source of the problem quickly\
.
For a thorough check of your computer, select Extended Tests from the Test All 
Devices option.
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							Using the Dell Diagnostics: Dell Inspiron 4150 
To check a particular area of your computer, select Extended Tests from the Test 
One Device option, or select the Advanced Testing option to customize your 
test(s).
Advanced Testing
When you select Advanced Testing from the Diagnostics Menu, the following 
screen appears, listing the diagnostic test groups and devices of the se\
lected device 
group, and the screen allows you to select categories from a menu. Press\
 the arrow 
keys or 
  to navigate the screen.
Advanced Testing Main Screen 
HINT: The test groups reflect the configuration of your computer. 
Information in the Advanced Testing screen is presented as follows: 
l     On the left side of the screen, the Device Groups area lists the diagnostic test 
groups in the order they will run if you select All from the Run tests menu 
category. Press 
 or  to highlight a test group.
l     On the right side of the screen, the Devices for Highlighted Group area lists 
the computers currently detected hardware and some of the relevant sett\
ings.
l     Two lines at the bottom of the screen make up the menu area (see Advanced 
Testing Help Menu). The first line lists the categories you can select; press 
 or  to highlight a menu category. The second line gives information 
about the category currently highlighted.
Advanced Testing Help Menu 
For more information on using the Advanced Testing option:
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							Using the Dell Diagnostics: Dell Inspiron 4150 
1.  Press  . 
2.  Highlight the Help category and press 
 , or press the key that 
corresponds to the highlighted letter in the category you choose. 
Advanced Testing Help Categories 
Help Category Description
Menu Provides descriptions of the main menu screen area, the device 
groups, and the different diagnostic menus and commands and 
instructions on how to use them.
Keys Explains the functions of the keystrokes that you can use in the 
Dell Diagnostics.
Device Group Describes the test group that is presently highlighted in the Device 
Groups area on the main menu screen. It also provides reasoning 
for using some tests.
Device Describes the function and purpose of the highlighted device in the 
Device Groups area. For example, the following information 
appears when you select the Device Help category for Diskette in 
the Device Groups area:
Diskette
Drive A
The diskette disk drive device reads and writes data to 
and from diskettes. Diskettes are flexible recording 
media, sometimes contained in hard shells. Diskette 
recording capacities are small and access times are slow 
relative to hard disk drives, but they provide a 
convenient means of storing and transferring data.
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							Using the Dell Diagnostics: Dell Inspiron 4150 
TestProvides a thorough explanation of the test procedure of each 
highlighted test group subtest. An example of the Diskette subtest 
floppy drive Seek Test is as follows:
Diskette
Drive A - floppy drive Seek Test
This test verifies the drives ability to position its 
read/write heads. The test operates in two passes: first, 
seeking from the beginning to ending cylinders 
inclusively, and second, seeking alternately from the 
beginning to ending cylinders with convergence towards 
the middle.
Versions  Lists the version numbers of the subtests that are used by the Dell 
Diagnostics.
Confirming the System Configuration 
Information
When you boot your computer from your Drivers and Utilities CD, the diagnostics 
checks your system configuration information and displays it in the Device Groups 
area on the main screen.
The following sources supply this configuration information for the diag\
nostics: 
l     The system configuration information settings (stored in NVRAM) that y\
ou 
selected while using the system setup program
l     Identification tests of the microprocessor, the video controller, the ke\
yboard 
controller, and other key components
l     BIOS configuration information temporarily saved in RAM
Do not be concerned if the Device Groups area does not list the names of all the 
components or devices you know are part of your computer. For example, y\
ou may 
not see a printer listed, although you know one is attached to your comp\
uter. Instead, 
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							Using the Dell Diagnostics: Dell Inspiron 4150 
the printer is listed as a parallel port. The computer recognizes the pa\
rallel port as 
LPT1, which is an address that tells the computer where to send outgoing\
 information 
and where to look for incoming information. Because your printer is a pa\
rallel 
communications device, the computer recognizes the printer by its LPT1 a\
ddress and 
identifies it as a parallel port. You can test your printer connection i\
n the Parallel 
Ports tests.
Back to Contents Page
 
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							Specifications: Dell Inspiron 4150 
Back to Contents Page 
Specifications 
Dell™ Inspiron™ 4150 
  Microprocessor 
  System Information 
  PC Card 
  Memory 
  Ports and Connectors 
  Communications 
  Video 
  Audio 
  Display 
  Keyboard 
  Touch Pad 
  Track Stick 
  Battery 
  AC Adapter 
  Physical 
  Environmental 
Microprocessor 
Microprocessor type Intel® Mobile Pentium® 4M 
microprocessor that runs at 
1.6, 1.7, 1.9, or 2.0 GHz
L1 cache 8KB (internal)
L2 cache 512 KB (on die)
External bus frequency 400 MHz
System Information 
System chip set Intel 845MP
Data bus width 64 bits
DRAM bus width 64 bits
Microprocessor address bus 
width 32 bits
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							Specifications: Dell Inspiron 4150 
PC Card 
CardBus controllerTexas Instruments PCI 1420 
CardBus controller
PC Card connector two (supports two Type I or 
Type II cards or one 
Type III card)
Cards supported 3.3 V and 5 V
PC Card connector size 68 pins
Data width (maximum) PCMCIA 16 bits
CardBus 32 bits
Memory 
Memory module connector two user-accessible 
SODIMM sockets
Memory module capacities 128, 256, and 512 MB
Memory type 266-MHz DDR SDRAM
Standard memory 128 MB
Maximum memory 1 GB
Ports and Connectors 
Serial 9-pin connector; 16550C-
compatible,
16-byte buffer connector
Parallel 25-hole connector; 
unidirectional, bidirectional, 
or ECP
Video 15-hole connector
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							Specifications: Dell Inspiron 4150 
Audiomicrophone connector, 
stereo headphone/speakers 
connector
PS/2 keyboard/mouse 6-pin mini-DIN connector
USB 4-pin USB-compliant 
connector
Infrared sensor compatible with IrDA 
Standard 1.1 (Fast IR) and 
IrDA Standard 1.0 (Slow IR)
Docking 200-pin connector for a 
Dell™ docking device
S-video TV-out 7-pin mini-DIN connector 
(optional S-video to 
composite video adapter 
cable)
Mini PCI Type IIIA Mini PCI card slot 
with Wi-Fi (802.11b) 
wireless support
Modem RJ-11 port
Network adapter RJ-45 port
Communications 
Modem:  
Type v.92 56K MDC
Controller softmodem
Interface internal AC 97 bus
Network adapter 10/100 Ethernet LOM
Video 
Video type 64-bit hardware accelerated
Data bus 4X AGP
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