The Power-On Error Detect service receives error messages from LAN-attached, Power-On Error Detect-enabled IBM microchannel systems that have encountered system start-up errors during their power-on self test (POST). When a POST error is encountered by a Power-On Error Detect-enabled remote system, the system sends an "SOS"-style message out onto the LAN.
The Power-On Error Detect service enables you to receive these messages, determine the identity of the system that generated the message, and diagnose the POST problem that caused the error to begin with, before you have even left your desk, minimizing system downtime and loss of productivity with rapid problem determination and recovery. All information received by the Power-On Error Detect service is kept in the Power-On Error Detect Log. For information about an individual error message, select the message from this log.
The Power-On Error Detect Error Log contains a list of all remote POST Errors that Power-On Error Detect has received.
Each entry in the Power-On Error Detect Error Log consists of a Date, Time, and Originator value. To view more detailed information about an entry, select the entry from the Power-On Error Detect Error Log. This will invoke the Power-On Error Detect Entry Contents screen. You can then scroll through a variety of sub-entries, each of which provides extensive and detailed information regarding the POST Error code that was received, the adapter and memory configuration of the system that generated the POST Error, the system's hardware error log, and more. You can use this information to diagnose and resolve the problem that caused the POST Error quickly and efficiently.
To clear all entries from the Power-On Error Detect Error Log, select the Clear Log button. Note that if the log is empty the Clear Log button is not displayed.
After you have selected an entry from the Power-On Error Detect Log, the Power-On Error Detect Entry Contents screen will be displayed. From this screen, you can access detailed information about the remote POST Error message that you received and the configuration of the system that sent it.
Information topics may include:
When Power-On Error Detect determines that there is a discrepancy between
actual and configured values in one of these topics, it will alert you
to this by displaying a red arrow beside
the appropriate topic.
The Power-On Error Detect Details screen contains detailed information regarding the remote POST Error message and the system that generated it.
The Settings Screen may be accessed from any Power-On Error Detect Screen by selecting the Settings button. There are two parameters on the Settings Screen:
The default setting for each of these parameters is No. After changing either of these settings, you may select one of the following action buttons:
Selecting the Save button changes the settings as indicated.
Selecting the Reset button returns the settings on the screen to their positions when the screen was accessed. No changes are made to the Power on Error Detect settings.
Selecting the Return to Log button accesses the Power on Error Detect Log screen without changing any Power on Error Detect settings.
Select the Alert on Error: Yes option and then select the Save button to generate a Netfinity alert when a remote POST Error is received. The generated alert will be received by the Netfinity Alert Manager, and will contain the following Alert Information:
For information on how to configure a response to generated alerts, see the Netfinity Alert Manager on-line documentation or the Netfinity Manager User's Guide.
If the Log Access Entries: Yes option is selected and the Save button is selected, then the Power-On Error Detect service will log any Power-On Error Detect messages generated by remote systems if the system's user has accessed its System Partition during start-up (for example, some systems enable the user to do this by pressing Control-Alt-Insert during start-up). If the Log Access Entries: No option is selected and the Save button is selected, then, these access messages are ignored.
This is the Date that the remote POST Error message was received by the Power-On Error Detect Service.
This is the Time that the remote POST Error message was received by the Power-On Error Detect Service.
The Originator value is the MAC address of the network adapter card of the system that sent the remote POST Error message.
This is the POST Error code and message that were generated and reported by the system that sent the remote POST Error message.
To exit the Power-On Error Detect service, select the "Netfinity" image on the top or bottom of the Power-On Error Detect service to return to the Netfinity services screen.