6

Troubleshooting

Solving Power Problems

If you press the power button(s) and nothing happens:

• Check the back of the network computer and separate logic module (if you have one) to verify the power cord is firmly attached.
• Check the electrical outlet to make sure the power cord is firmly plugged in.
• Try a different electrical outlet, or try plugging something else into the outlet to verify the outlet has power.

If keyboard lights flash or a bell sounds but nothing is displayed on the screen:

• On the network computer, check to see if the video cable is connected to the video port.
• On the monitor, check to see if the video cable is connected to the correct video inputs (video in).

Solving Boot Problems

If the network computer powers up, but the boot fails, there are various options to try. After each option, try to boot the network computer from the BOOT> prompt by typing b or boot and then pressing Enter.

• Verify that the network computer keyboard, mouse and network cables are all firmly attached.

For advanced users who have access to the NCBridge Reference Manual, refer to Chapter 4, Boot Monitor and do the following:

• Verify the boot method. It typically is TFTP or NFS for UNIX computers, MOP for DEC computers, or ROM if you have an optional Flash or ROM option.
• Verify host and gateway communications from the boot monitor with ping. If ping does not find the host, verify the host and network computer subnet masks are correctly set.
• If an error message says the boot file is not found:
• Verify that the expected information was obtained from the network.
• Verify that the boot path is correct. It should contain both the path and the boot file name.
• Verify that all the files have world read permissions.
• If the configuration files are not found:
• Verify the messages to determine which host is being polled for the files.
• Verify that the primary and secondary paths are correctly set.
• Verify the paths and read permissions on the files.

Solving Log in Problems

If your network computer boots, but you are unable to log in:

• If the mouse or keyboard does not respond, check the cables and then reboot.
• If an error message is generated saying that the log in failed:
• Retry entering your username and password.
• Verify you are connected to a host where you have a login account.
• If a message is displayed saying that a connection timed out, restart the connection as detailed in the Logging In to the Network Computer topic on page 2-3.
• Check the Console window for error messages. Refer to the next topic, The Console Window.

The Console Window

The Console window is a valuable tool for determining what is happening on the network computer. It enables you to see messages the network computer generates, such as a confirmation that a file was located or that a command generated an error. You must explicitly open and close the Console window through the Client Launcher.

Opening the Console Window

You can display the Console window at any time. To open the Console window:

Select Console from the Client Launcher. If you need a refresher on the terminology used in these procedures, refer back to the Mouse Operations topic on page 1-5.

The Console window shown in Figure 6-1 appears on your screen.

Figure 6-1 Console Window

This window is updated each time the network computer receives a confirmation or error message. You cannot delete or add to the information that appears in the Console window. The network computer's address and name (if defined) appear on the title bar of this window.

Using the Console Window

Often there is more information available than will fit in the Console window. Since the Console window cannot be resized, use the methods listed below to view additional information. You can also copy and paste information from the Console to a command window.

• To display the previous screen of messages:

Position the mouse pointer in the scroll bar anywhere above the slider box and click the Select (left) button.

• To display the next screen of messages:

Position the mouse pointer in the scroll bar anywhere below the slider box and click the Select (left) button.

• To scroll through the messages one line at a time:

Position the mouse pointer on the up or down arrow (on the scroll bar) and click the Select (left) button once for each line.

• To clear the contents of the Console window:

Click on the Erase icon. The Console scrolls to just below the last line of information. Drag the slider box up to view the Console information.

• To copy information from the Console window and place it in the Console buffer:

Position the mouse pointer on the first character to copy and click the Select (left) button. Drag the mouse to the last character to copy. The selected text is highlighted.

• To paste information from the Console buffer into a window:

Position the mouse pointer in the window where you want to paste the information and click the Menu (middle) button. Information can be pasted in Telnet, Cterm, Lat, and xterm windows.

Closing the Console Window

Select Console from the Client Launcher.

The Console Window will disappear from your screen.

Remote Diagnostics

NCBridge offers two different methods for a system administrator to remotely troubleshoot a problem a user is having with a network computer.

In the first method, administrators use the Web-Based Administrator (see the Web-Based Administrator topic on page 5-89) to view and change the parameter settings of a remote NC.

The second method provides a way for administrators to display the remote NC's Setup Screen on their own X terminal device. The command in the following example shows how to display the NC's setup screen on another NC:

xpsh -display 10.2.2.1:0 -xpenv "TEKSETUP_DISPLAY=10.2.2.3:0 setup"

In this example, the -display device is the device where the setup client is running. For the xpsh command to work, the X terminal must not be already running the setup client.

The TEKSETUP_DISPLAY device is where the user wants the setup client to be displayed. The device where setup is displayed must first be running an X server and secondly, it must allow other devices to access its X server. (On workstations, use the command xhost + to allow other devices to access the X server.)