The DFT program offers everything you need to diagnose your hard disk drive. The menu bar at the top of the window is the gateway to the functionality of DFT. To go to the menu bar, press F10 or click anywhere on it. You can choose any of the following commands on the menu bar: ;
Drive
Fitness
Utility
contents
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Drive Menu
The Drive menu has a number of options that deal with operations like selecting drives for testing, searching for ATA devices or returning to DOS. J
Select one of the following commands if you want to learn more about it: 0
Select
Drive
Rescan
menus
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Drive
Select Drive
(Alt-S)
This command activates the
Select
Drive
dialog box.
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Drive
Rescan Bus
(Alt-R)
This command searches for all ATA drives which are installed on your system. Drives that could be found, are shown in the
Select
Drive
dialog box.
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Drive
Exit
(Alt-X)
The Exit command returns control to DOS. Alt-X is also a hot key that returns to DOS from any point while DFT is running.
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Drive Fitness Test Menu
This menu shows you the available DFT test modes. This software supports three tests: Quick Test, Advanced Test, and Exerciser. J
Select one of the following commands if you want to learn more about it: 6
Quick
Advanced
Exerciser
menus
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Fitness Test
Quick Test
This command executes the DFT
QuickTest
on the selected hard disk drive. This test will typically take up to 2 minutes to run.
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Fitness Test
Advanced Test
This command executes the DFT
Advanced
on the selected hard disk drive. This test includes a full scan of the data on the disk and can typically take up to 30 minutes to run.
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Fitness Test
Exerciser Test
This commands executes the DFT
Exerciser
on the selected hard disk drive. An Advanced Test (typically up to 30 minutes) is followed by a multiple of 30 minutes of drive Exerciser Test. The number of passes is prompted for in the dialog.
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Utility Menu
The Utility menu ~
Drive
Erase
Erase
Corrupt
Sector
Repair
ATA Functions
S.M.A.R.T.
operations
menu's
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Help Menu
The Help menu command opens a help window for a topic that you select from the menu. This menu has the following options : /
Contents
About
menu's
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Help
Help on Help
While in a help window, you may use the cursor up/down keys to scroll text a line at a time (if there is more than one window full of text). You can also use the page up/down keys to move up/down a screen full. CTRL + Page Up takes you back to the top and CTRL + Page Down goes to the bottom. You can also use the mouse to scroll the window by clicking the scroll bar. ^
When you have finished viewing the help screen, press ESC to go back to what you were doing.
This program contains commands to close, move and perform other window-management commands. Most of the windows in this program have all the standard window elements, including scroll bars, a close box, and zoom icons. :
Window-management commands
Size/Move
(Ctrl-F5)
Choose this command to change the size or position of the active window.
Size
If you press Shift while you use the arrow keys, you can change the size of the active window. Once you've adjusted its size or position, press Enter. Q
If a window has a Resize corner, you can drag that corner to resize the window.
Move
When you choose F5, the active window moves in response to the arrow keys. Once you've moved the window to where you want it, press Enter. F
You can also move a window by dragging its title bar with the mouse.
Zoom
(F5)
Choose Zoom to resize the active window to the maximum size. If the window is already zoomed, you can choose this command to restore it to its previous size. u
You can also double-click anywhere on the window's title bar (except where an icon appears) to zoom-in or zoom-out.
Close
(Alt-F3)
Choose Close to close the active window. O
You can also click the Close box in the upper right corner to close a window.
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Help
About
The About command shows useful information about this program.
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No hard disk drive detected or one drive is missing
There are a number of issues related to the integration of Hard Disk Drives. We put the most commonly known problems into the a Checklist. Please Select : _
checklist
for a ATA related problem
Checklist
for a SCSI related problem.
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ATA Checklist
There are a number of issues related to the integration of Hard Disk Drives. We put the most commonly known problems into the list below:
Configuration
If the drive is the only device on the bus,
It must be connected at the end of the cable.
It must configured as Device 0 (a "Master").
If the drive is one of two devices on the bus,
one must be configured as Device 0 ("Master"), the
other as Device 1 ("Slave").
one of the devices must be connected at the end of
the cable.
Cable
Check, whether all connectors are seated correctly.
Note: Pin 1 (coloured conductor of the ATA cable) must
be located nearest to the power connector of your Hard
Disk Drive. Pin 1 is also indicated on your mainboard's
ATA connectors.
Make sure that there are no bent or broken pins.
Try replacing the cable.
The total cable length should be kept to a minimum and
not exceed 18 inches (46 cm).
Re-Install
Try running the drive with all other devices removed.
If your Hard Disk Drive is attached through a removable
carrier, try removing it from the carrier and attaching
it directly to the bus.
Try to connect the Hard Disk Drive to another PC.
If your drive is still not recognized by DFT, it is probably defective.
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SCSI Checklist
There are a number of issues related to integrating a new drive to your system. Some of the most commonly known problems have been put in a checklist, below. Please confirm that that your system conforms to the following guidelines first :
SCSI ID's
All devices, including the initiator, on a bus must be unique.
It is advisable to have the boot device as ID 0.
Termination
Both ends of the bus (cable) must be terminated using active
terminators.
No other devices on the bus, between the two terminated ends
should be terminated.
If only the internal or external cable are being used then the
end of that cable and the controller should be terminated.
If the external and internal bus are being used then the end of
each cable should terminated and the controllers termination
should be disabled.
Check that the controller has terminated the unused lines on
the wide channel. Refer to the suppliers manual for instructions.
Configuration
Ensure drive is enabled to auto spin when power is applied.
Does the SCSI controller recognize the drive during boot up ?
Check all connectors are seated correctly
Check that there are no bent pins
Try replacing the cable and terminators if possible, make use
of the drives on board termination.
Try low level formatting the drive and verifying the data area
Check that the cable lengths are within the ANSI specification
for the interface transfer rate used and the number of devices
installed on the bus.
If attached through a removable carrier, try removing the drive
from the carrier and attaching direct to the bus.
If running a wide (68 pin) device from a wide controller
through a narrow bus, try disabling wide negotiation in the
controller.
Controller
Try resetting controller defaults
Enable Reset IC Initialization
Disable plug and play SCAM support
Multi channel controllers
On multi-channel SCSI controllers, if using one SCSI controller,
one must only use two channels off each controller.
LVD devices are backwardly compatible to Single Ended controllers
as long as the system and drive(s) are configured correctly. When
attaching LVD devices to Single Ended, Wide or Narrow controllers
one should consider the following:
LVD hard disk drives have no termination on board. This must be
provided for externally, either from another device or from a
separate termination block.
Depending on how the controller handles the "Diff Sense" line on
the interface you may need to "Force Single Ended" on the drive,
this is a jumper able option. t
RAID
In RAID environments it is important to disable SCAM at the host.
If possible, at the drive too.
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Drive Manufacturer Not Supported
You are trying to test either 1) a non-IBM Hard Disk Drive,
or 2) an IBM Hard Disk Drive that is not supported by DFT.
See below for details.
1) Only drives manufactured by IBM Storage Systems Division
are supported by Drive Fitness Test.
2) DFT is capable of testing IBM ATA Hard Disk Drives with
production date after November 1995. The production date
is printed on the drive label.
IBM DFT is a fast and reliable tool to measure the fitness
of your IBM Hard Disk Drive, using IBM developed skills
and technologies to provide the highest confidence in the
pass / fail results which are presented.
These exceed the coverage of other generic hard disk test
utilities.
IBM branded personal computers may be shipped with IBM SSD
or other branded disk drives. IBM DFT will only support IBM
SSD branded disk drives in these computers.
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Product Not Supported
You tried to test an Hard Disk Drive that is not supported by DFT.
DFT is capable of testing IBM ATA Hard Disk Drives with production date after November 1995. The production date is printed on the drive label.
Your version of DFT may also precede support for a newer model type of IBM Hard Disk Drive. Please try downloading the latest version from our World Wide Web site
http://www.hgst.com/
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PCI IDE Adapter found
A PROMISE PCI IDE Adapter was found.
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Old version
The version of this software you are using is older than three months. B
Please download the latest version from our World Wide Web site: $
http://www.ibm.com/harddrive
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OS not supported
You are trying to run this program on a Operating System which is not supported. You must run this software under a DOS including the following versions:
MS-DOS levels up to 6.22
PC-DOS levels up to 7.0 and PC-DOS 2000
Windows 95 MS-DOS - not a DOS box
Windows 98 MS-DOS - not a DOS box
Contents
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Select Drive
Please use the tab-Key or shift-tab-key to select the Device
Box. In this List Box you should find all devices (ATA and ATAPI) which are attached to the primary and secondary ATA Controller.
If no drives are detected or one drive is missing in the list, then press the
Rescan
Button
. This can take some seconds. After that, the Device List will be updated. If still no drives are detected or one drive is missing then please select the : =
Drives
Detected
chapter and follow the instructions.
If you have more than one device in the list, then use the arrow keys to select the drive that you want to test. The selected device will be highlighted and displayed in the 'Selected Device' window. In this window you will find some additional information about the drive.
Here is an example : |
Selected Device
Device
Model
Serial No
Cache
Capacity
ATA
IBM-DJNA-371800
GRA20075
1966 KB
18.04 GB
After you have selected the desired device, you can next choose the function that you wish to execute on this drive, from the following options:
Quick
by pressing the
Quick
Button
Advanced
by pressing the
Advanced
Button
Exerciser
by pressing Alt-E key
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Select Device List Box
In this Device List Box you should find all devices (ATA and ATAPI) that are attached to the primary and secondary ATA Controller. @
Further information can be found in the
Select
Drive
Dialog
Here is an example of a Device List Box:
No Device Address Device Name
00 ATA Primary Master IBM-DJNA-371800
01 ATA Secondary Master IBM-DCYA-21400
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Quick Test
Quick
will be started when you push this button.
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Advanced Test
Advanced
will be started when you push this button.
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Micocode Update
The Microcode Download process will be started when you push this button.
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Rescan Bus
When you press this button, this program will search for all ATA drives which are installed on your system. All drives that could be found are shown in the
Select
Drive
dialog box.
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Test Status
After you have selected the test method (Quick Test, Advanced Test or Exerciser) you will see the Test Status Dialog on your screen. &
Here an example for the Quick Test :
Quick Test
Device
Model
Serial No
Cache
Capacity
ATA
IBM-DJNA-371800
GRA20075
1966 KB
18.04 GB
Function
Start Cancel Help
Now You must press the Start Button to execute the test. Or you may press Cancel to return to the previous screen. The Help key sends you into the current screen set.
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Quick Test
This test runs to completion in less than two minutes and can accurately diagnose status in more than 90 percent of problem situations. This mode is typically run while a computer user is online with telephone support staff working in response to some doubts about the condition of the hard disk drive. E
The Quick Test verifies functionality, reads and analyzes the error history of the drive, checks the S.M.A.R.T. function for impending failure, performs detailed mechanical analysis using the head positioning system, reads with every head, scans the drive's first 500K sectors, which often contain vital programs and data.
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Advanced Test
The Advanced Test performs the Quick Test functions, and also reads every data sector to verify full media data integrity. This test typically runs to completion in about 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the hard drive capacity. It may be run by a PC manufacturer during system build to verify the media surface. The Advanced Test can also be run by an end user who suspects that defective media sectors might exist. However, media scanning is not required to determine the current condition of the locations of previous errors, as these are managed by error logging microcode, which is supported by all tests, including the Quick Test. This can determine in less than two minutes whether there has been error-free operation during the history of the drive.
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Exerciser Test
The Exerciser Test performs the Advanced Test and some random reads with a random number of blocks for a user-specified length of time. This test simulates intensive but normal drive use. o
Exerciser test is intended to examine the small class of intermittent problems that may appear and disappear.
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0x00 - No Error
The Test completed successfully. No problems were found during this test.
DFT
error
codes
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0x10 - Aborted
The current test was aborted by user and cannot be completed.
DFT
error
codes
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0x20 - Device Not Present
The selected device could not be found on the selected port.
DFT
error
codes
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0x22 - Password Protected
The selected device is protected by an password. The drive is write and read protected and cannot be tested.
DFT
error
codes
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0x23 - Format Degraded
DFT
error
codes
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0x30 - Out of memory
There is not enough free memory to run this software.
DFT
error
codes
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0x31 - Wrong Parameter
You have selected a non defined command line parameter.
DFT
error
codes
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0x32 - Illegal Parameter
You have selected a known parameter, but the content is incorrect.
DFT
error
codes
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0x33 - Function not supported
The selected function can not be executed on this device.
DFT
error
codes
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0x34 - Invalid INI File
DFT
error
codes
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0x40 - System Error
The System has interrupted the current operation, and the function was aborted.
Please exit this program and check if any Power Saving Modes or Cache Programs (like SMARTDRV.EXE) are active. Disable those features and start this program again. If the error still exists, then please contact Technical Support.
DFT
error
codes
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0x41 - Bad Cable
A Bad Cable was detected. Please replace the ATA cable and run this test again.
DFT
error
codes
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0x42 - Temperature Warning
DFT
error
codes
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0x43 - Pending SRB
DFT
error
codes
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0x44 - System Vibration
Your hard disk drive is designed to operate in an environment where it is subjected to a limited amount of vibration. Excessive amount of vibration will cause the drives ability to write and read data to degrade. If DFT indicates that your drive is experiencing vibration ( error code 0x44 ) then you should check how your drive is mounted in you system. You may wish to change its location to a position where it can be more firmly mounted.
DFT
error
codes
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0x45 - Low System Performance
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0x70 - Sector Read Error
One or more errors were detected whilst reading the data on the drive under test. Please run the Corrupt Sector Repair or the Erase Disk options to repair the drive. :
Note: Corrupt Sector Repair will initialize all sectors |
DFT identifies as corrupted on the selected drive.
Erase Disk will delete all the data on the selected drive
One or more defective sectors are found. Please run Erase disk to repair this drive. G
Note: Erase Disk will delete all the data on this
disk drive.
DFT
error
codes
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0x71 - Device Not Ready
The selected drive is not ready for any operation. The drive is defective and should be replaced.
DFT
error
codes
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0x72 - Device S.M.A.R.T. Error
The Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology (S.M.A.R.T.) has detected a drive problem. The drive may fail soon, and it should be replaced as soon as possible.
DFT
error
codes
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0x73 - Device Damaged By Shock
The device was damaged by an excessive shock.
DFT
error
codes
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0x74 - S.M.A.R.T. Self Test Error
S.M.A.R.T. Self Test failed. The Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology (S.M.A.R.T.) Self Test has detected a drive problem.
DFT
error
codes
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0x75 - Device Defective
Defective HDD Compoment Detected.
DFT
error
codes
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Help Contents
The following help information is available. Please select the sections to proceed to more detailed information. f
menus
functions
options
error
codes
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This section provides information about the Select Drive Dialog and about the information which is shown during a test: 4
Drive
Select
Dialog
Drive
Information
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These are the warning messages which can be displayed during the normal usage of this program: q
Drives
Found
Manufacturer
Supported
Product
Supported
Operating
System
Supported
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DFT Test description : ;
DFT-Quick
DFT-Advanced
DFT-Exerciser
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DFT Error Codes (Return codes)
These are the DFT error codes (Return codes). The value is hex-decimal and the range is 0x00 - 0x7f. Here are all valid return codes :
- No Error
- Aborted
- Device Not Present
- Password Protected
- Out of memory
- Wrong Parameter
- Illegal Parameter
- Function not supported
- System Error
- Bad Cable
- Temperature Limit exceeded
- Pending SCSI Request
- System Vibration
- Low System Performance
- Defective Device
- Device Not Ready
- Device S.M.A.R.T. Error
- Device Damaged By Shock
- S.M.A.R.T Self Test Error
- Defective Device
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Drive Information
This dialog shows you some important drive information. Here an example for a ATA hard disk drive: )
The master boot record (MBR) of a disk contains the start-up programs for your operating system, it also contains information about how your disk is partitioned. If this record becomes corrupted in any way and this is your boot drive you may not be able to start your system or access data on the drive.
Re-installation of your operating system in a small number of cases may not fix the problem, for these cases you will need to erase the boot record and re-partition/install your operating system.
This utility will erase the boot record by over write the original information in this sector with zeroes. It can be used with both IDE and SCSI drives.
Utility
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Erase Disk
This utility will write zeroes to every sector of your hard drive including the boot sector, and can be used with both IDE and SCSI drives. This utility is meant to be used to clean-up disk which have errors written to the media ( e.g. where a system has been powered off whilst writing data out to the drive ), it can take a long time to run ( more than a hour ) depending on the capacity of the drive and the system configuration.
Utility
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Corrupt Sector Repair
This utility will perform a repair action on all corrupt sectors that are found on the disk drive under test. The repair action is NOT a data recovery action but a sector recovery. The data that was originally written to the sector will be overwritten with zeros. DFT will identify which file(s) the corrupted sector(s) belong, these should be noted so that on completion of the repair activity the affected file(s) can be reinstalled or copied to your hard drive. ^
The sector repair option is supported for the following partition types, FAT16, FAT32, NTFS P
NOTE : Only sectors that DFT has identified as corrupt will be initialized.
Utility
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S.M.A.R.T. Operations
The intent of Self-monitoring, analysis and reporting technology (S.M.A.R.T.) is to protect user data and prevent unscheduled system downtime that may be caused by predictable degradation and/or fault of the device. By monitoring and storing critical performance and calibration parameters, S.M.A.R.T. devices employ sophisticated data analysis algorithms to predict the likelihood of near-term degradation or fault condition.
The following dialog allows you to enable or disable the S.M.A.R.T. operations. The current S.M.A.R.T. status will be displayed in the status field. n
S.M.A.R.T.
Operations
Status
Disabled
Enable Disable OK
This feature is currently supported for ATA devices. SCSI devices will be covered in future releases.
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