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General problem determination procedures

Use the information in this section to resolve problems if the event log does not contain specific errors or the system is inoperative.

If you are not sure about the cause of a problem and the power supplies are working correctly, complete the following steps to attempt to resolve the problem:

  1. Power off the system.

  2. Make sure that the system is cabled correctly.

  3. Remove or disconnect the following devices if applicable, one at a time, until you find the failure. Power on and configure the system each time you remove or disconnect a device.
    • Any external devices.
    • Surge-suppressor device (on the system).
    • Printer, mouse, and non-Lenovo devices.
    • Each adapter.
    • Hard disk drives.
    • Memory modules until you reach the minimum configuration that is supported for the system.
    Note
    To determine the minimal configuration for your system, see Minimal configuration for debugging in Node technical specifications.

  4. Power on the system.

If the problem is solved when you remove an adapter from the node, but the problem recurs when you install the same adapter again, suspect the adapter. If the problem recurs when you replace the adapter with a different one, try a different PCIe slot.

If the problem appears to be a networking problem and the compute node passes all system tests, suspect a network cabling problem that is external to the node.

  • Resolving suspected power problems
    Power problems can be difficult to solve. For example, a short circuit can exist anywhere on any of the power distribution buses. Usually, a short circuit will cause the power subsystem to shut down because of an overcurrent condition.
  • Resolving suspected Ethernet controller problems
    The method that you use to test the Ethernet controller depends on which operating system you are using. See the operating-system documentation for information about Ethernet controllers, and see the Ethernet controller device-driver readme file.