Dell Inspiron Xpi Cd Service Guide

System Overview 1-13
Environmental (Continued)
Maximum shock:4
Operating  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152.4 cm/sec (60 inches/sec) (less than or 
equal to a pulse width of 2 ms) 
Storage  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . 203.2 cm/sec (80 inches/sec)
(less than or equal to a pulse width of 2 ms)
Altitude (maximum):
Operating  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3048 m (10,000 ft)
Storage  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,600 m (35,000 ft)
4Measured with the hard-disk drive in head-parked...

1-14 Dell Latitude XPi CD Service Manual 

Initial Procedures 2-1
Chapter 2
Initial Procedures
T
his chapter describes initial procedures that can help you diagnose a com-
puter problem. These procedures can often reveal the source of a problem or 
indicate the correct starting point for troubleshooting the computer. Dell recom-
mends that you perform these procedures in the order they are presented in this 
manual.
Initial User Contact
When you first contact a user who has a computer problem, ask the user to 
describe the problem and the...

2-2 Dell Latitude XPi CD Service Manual
components, as instructed in the following procedures, see Chapter 4, “Remov-
ing and Replacing Parts.” 
To perform a visual inspection, follow these steps:
1. Turn off any attached peripherals.
2. Determine the present power state of the computer. 
Look at the indicators to determine which of the following conditions apply, 
and then turn off the computer, taking the actions listed for that condition:
•Power/suspend indicator is blinking approximately every 8...

Initial Procedures 2-3
5. If the computer is operating from battery power, remove the main bat-
tery assembly, verify that it is free of any obvious physical damage, and 
then reinsert the battery assembly into its compartment.
6. Turn off the computer. Remove the hard-disk drive, verify that it is free 
of any obvious physical damage, and then reinsert the drive into its 
compartment.
7. Remove any installed PC Cards from the PC Card slot, verify that they 
are free of any obvious physical damage, and...

2-4 Dell Latitude XPi CD Service Manual
15. Turn on any attached peripherals and then the computer.
Does the problem reoccur?
Ye s. Proceed to the next procedure, “Observing the Boot Routine.”
No. No further steps are necessary.
Observing the Boot Routine
After you perform a visual inspection as described in the previous section, boot 
the computer from a diagnostics diskette and, while the boot routine is running, 
observe the computer for any indications of problems.
NOTE: To prevent possible damage to...

Initial Procedures 2-5
5. Observe the display for the Diagnostics Menu.
Does the Diagnostics Menu display?
Ye s . See “Running the Dell Diagnostics” in Chapter 3.
No. Proceed to step 6.
6. Insert another copy of the diagnostics diskette into the diskette drive, 
and reboot the computer.
Does the Diagnostics Menu display?
Ye s . See “Running the Dell Diagnostics” in Chapter 3.
No. Proceed to the next section, “Eliminating Resource Conflicts.”
Eliminating Resource Conflicts
Devices within the computer may...

2-6 Dell Latitude XPi CD Service Manual 

Beep Codes and Error Messages 3-1
Chapter 3
Beep Codes and Error Messages
T
his chapter describes beep codes and system error messages that can occur 
during computer start-up or, in the case of some failures, during normal com-
puter operation. The tables in this chapter list faults that can cause a beep code 
or system error message to occur and the probable causes of the fault in each 
case.
If a faulty computer does not emit beep codes or display system error messages 
to indicate a failure, use the...

3-2 Dell Latitude XPi CD Service Manual
3-1-1
3-1-2Slave DMA register 
failure
Master DMA register 
failureSystem board faulty
3-1-3
3-1-4Master interrupt mask 
register failure
Slave interrupt mask 
register failureSystem board faulty
3-2-4 Keyboard controller test 
failureKeyboard assembly faulty or system 
board faulty 
3-3-4
3-4-1
3-4-2Display memory test 
failure
Display initialization 
failure
Display retrace test 
failureSystem board faulty
4-2-1
4-2-2
4-2-3
4-2-4No timer tick
Shutdown failure...