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4-14 Dell Inspiron 3000 Reference and Troubleshooting Guide
an external monitor, some of the test screens may flicker
and appear to malfunction. This condition does not affect
the accuracy of the video subtests or indicate a hardware
problem.
Why Run a Video Test?
Many of the symptoms that would prompt you to run a
subtest in the Video test group are obvious, because the
display is the visual component of the computer. Before
you run the Video test group or any of its subtests, you
should make sure that the problem is not occurring in the
software or caused by a hardware change.
If the following symptoms still occur, run the appropriate
test(s) as follows:
•
If your display or external monitor shows a partially
formed or distorted image, run all of the subtests in the
Video test group.
•
If the alignment of text or images is off, regardless of
the program you are running, run the Text Mode
Character Test, Text Mode Pages Test, and Graphics
Mode Test.
•
If the color on the display or external monitor is
intermittent or not displayed at all, run the Text
Mode Color Test, Color Palettes Test, and Solid
Colors Test.
•
If your display or external monitor malfunctions in
one mode but works fine in another (for example,
text is displayed correctly, but graphics are not), run
the Text Mode Character Test, Text Mode Color
Test, Text Mode Pages Test, and Graphics Mode
Test.
Subtests
The eight subtests in the Video test group confirm the fol-
lowing video functions:
•
Video Memory Test
Checks the read/write capability of the video mem-
ory in various video modes
•
Video Hardware Test
Checks the cursor registers and the horizontal and
vertical retrace bit registers in the video controller
•
Text Mode Character Test
Checks the video subsystem’s ability to present data
in text modes
•
Text Mode Color Test
Checks the video subsystem’s ability to present color
in text modes
•
Text Mode Pages Test
Checks the video subsystem’s ability to map and
present all available video pages on the screen, one
page at a time
•
Graphics Mode Test
Checks the video subsystem’s ability to present data
and color in graphics modes
•
Color Palettes Test
Checks the video subsystem’s ability to display all of
the available colors
•
Solid Colors Test
Checks the video subsystem’s ability to show
screens full of solid colors, and allows you to check
for missing color pixels
Many of these tests display characters or graphics on the
screen for you to verify. Samples of these screens are
shown in Appendix B, “Diagnostic Video Tests.”
NOTE: The default limit for testing SVGA modes is No. If
you are testing an external monitor, change the default to Yes.
K
eyboard Test Group
The subtests in the Keyboard test group verify the correct
operation of your keyboard and the keyboard controller
chip.
NOTE: If you test the <Fn> key, use either the Microsoft
Windows logo or the menu keys near the spacebar when
prompted to press the <----> key.
Why Run a Keyboard Test?
Keyboard problems are not always caused by the key-
board. For example, a complete lockup of the computer,
rendering the keyboard inoperable, is probably not
caused by a problem with the keyboard. There are two
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