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Custom Services System Test Utility Version 4.0 GGeenneerraall IInnffoorrmmaattiioonn SSeeccttiioonn 11..11 PPoolliiccyy This program was originally a commercial software package that sold for $29.95 via mail order. This program is now being release as shareware due to the extreme costs of marketing. This is not a public domain utility. If you like it please send in the registration form and the required fee. If you do not, please send in the registration form anyway and tell me why! The programs and documetation are provided "as is" without any expressed or implied warranty including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The entire risk as to the results and performance of any program is assumed by you. Custom Services has a limited liability which shall not in any event include damages for loss of use, anticipated profits, benefits, or any other incidental or consequential costs, expenses, or damages, including with limitation any data or information which may be lost or rendered inaccurate. Your usage of this program signifies your agreement to these terms and conditions. SSeeccttiioonn 11..22 CCooppyyrriigghhtt These programs and the related documentation are copyrighted. You may not use, copy, modify, or transfer the programs, documentation, or any copy except as expressly provided for in this document. SSeeccttiioonn 11..33 LLiicceennssee You have the non-exclusive right to use any enclosed program. You may not decompile, disassemble, or in any way reverse engineer the program. You are not allowed to modify the serial numbers imbedded on the disk for any reason. All other rights and uses not specifically granted in this license are reserved by Custom Services. If you transfer the program you must at the same time transfer the documentation and all files included in this archive. This program may be distributed to any electronic BBS or thru Public domain disks so long as a files are User's Manual Chapter 1 Page 1 Custom Services System Test Utility Version 4.0 included intact. All copyright notices must be preserved in any distribution. This distribution in no way gives up Custom Services rights to this software. This product may be distributed with any commercial product so long as prior notification is made to Custom Services and the distributor has paid the registration fee. Basically, this means you are only allowed to transfer the original archive with out changes. SSeeccttiioonn 11..44 RReeggiissttrraattiioonn aanndd RReewwaarrdd The registration fees and the required form in in the appendix. You will receive one upgrade with your registration fee. Future upgrades will be supplied to registered users only. A delay of a minimum of 4 - 6 months will occur before any versions are released as shareware to the public. The Registration fee for this product is .00. Please direct all questions and comments to: Custom Services P. O. Box 254 Moorestown, NJ., 08057 User's Manual Chapter 1 Page 2 Custom Services System Test Utility Version 4.0 PPrrooggrraamm OOppeerraattiioonn SSeeccttiioonn 22..11 GGeenneerraall STU is a system diagnostic. It will test your disk drives and memory using the operating system functions. This not only gives you a "confidence" test on the hardware, it also checks the basic operating system I/O functions. This program is designed to test the basic I/O functions of the system. It will read, write, test, and verify all system I/O. The user has the ability to test individual drives for errors. The tests performed may be random or serial in nature. All I/O is performed in an asynchronous manner allowing the system to schedule each drive as needed. This will allow faster drives to get ahead of the slower ones and create the best test possible. SSeeccttiioonn 22..22 LLiimmiittaattiioonnss To use STU, please set the preferences to 80 column. You do not need external memory to run STU, it will test whatever memory you have. The address and data displayed on errors will be in Hexidecimal. This program is designed to handle up to four 3 1/2 inch Amiga Dos drives. The IBM 5 1/4 drives are not supported and will be ignored during the testing. There is little difference between media errors and device errors except that errors will not usually go away if you switch diskettes. Errors from the device can cause media problems(such as a head scratching the diskette surface). It is important that disks which have errors be used only after you have visually inspected the surface. In any case, do not use a diskette which has scratches or indentations on the surface. It is also important to only use Double Sided, Double Density diskettes in your drives. Timings performed during tests are accurate only to the accuracy of the system clock(plus or minus 0.02 seconds). Other tasks running during a test will cause errors in the form of increased run times to occur. This program is designed to run from either the CLI or the WorkBench. The procedure for running from cli is to type in the command STU, From the Workbench just double click on the STU icon. All operations are identical irregardless of how you start up STU. Due to the nature of the tests performed, multitasking while not disabled, will User's Manual Chapter 2 Page 3 Custom Services System Test Utility Version 4.0 be limited to programs running from RAM: or drives not under test. This program will effectively take over the system due to the testing performed. For best results, this program should be run with no other tasks running. SSeeccttiioonn 22..33 FFuunnccttiioonnss STU will perform single or combined drive tests. Testing may be sequential or random in nature. Random testing will jump all over the disk selecting random blocks to read/write(depending on the tests selected). Sequential testing will start at track zero and cycle up to the last track on the device. The tests are based on the functions available to the drives which are: 1) Formatting(always sequential), 2) Seeks, 3) writes, and reads. You are allowed to select the type of testing on an individual drive basis. Each drive is independent of others. All tests are controlled by command options. Invalid options will be ignored. All I/O operations are fully checked for errors. Options are toggled(except for "G" which runs the test). User's Manual Chapter 2 Page 4 Custom Services System Test Utility Version 4.0 OOppeerraattiioonn SSeeccttiioonn 33..11 GGeettttiinngg SSttaarrtteedd To Start with you will need to backup the disks supplied with the normal system command DISKCOPY. Make several backups of the original disk to save you from accidental writing on the program disk. After you have make your backups then proceed to create your data disks. Warning, STU can and will write on your disks. Even with the requesters warning you that you are about to write on the disk you may make mistakes. Please be careful! You CANNOT recover data from an STU written disk. STU will write over all information(in sequential testing, and most during random testing). SSeeccttiioonn 33..22 GGeenneerraall IInnssttrruuccttiioonnss When you startup STU(either from workbench or CLI) you will get a window which contains the copyright notice. You are obligated to read this and then hit any character to continue. After STU starts up it will wait for you to enter a command "G" to indicate to start testing. Before you use the "G" command you should select the tests you desire(see later sections) first. STU will first test memory and then test the disks. You must enable the memory tests, the default is to only test the disks. STU will wait at the completion of memory testing for you to enter a character to continue. When disk testing is done and you hit a character the display window will close. The purpose of this is so you can see what happened before continuing. You may enter a Control-C, Q, or q to quit during the testing. STU will still require you to enter a character before proceeding. The result is that you must hit two character to stop testing, a "Q" for example and any other character. You may select to have errors held until you hit a character. The "E" option will allow you to toggle whether or not STU should pause or just continue when an error is detected. SSeeccttiioonn 33..33 MMaakkiinngg aa BBoooottaabbllee DDiiaaggnnoossttiicc DDiisskk STU is not distributed as a bootable disk. You can make a diagnostic testing disk by making a copy of your WorkBench disk and copying the STU disk over the Workbench disk with the command: User's Manual Chapter 3 Page 5 Custom Services System Test Utility Version 4.0 COPY STU: all SYS: This assumes that you booted the workbench copy and you have the STU disk in the drive. Note, your startup file(STARTUP-SEQUENCE) will be replaced with the one on the STU disk. This startup file will run only the STU program. The command STU will be added to this disk(and icon). This disk will not bring up the workbench and will exit to CLI after you are done with STU. SSeeccttiioonn 33..44 DDaattaa DDiisskkss Taking a backup of your STU program disk insert it into a drive and double click the STU Icon. To create the special Data Disks STU will use in testing your drives you will need to first do a STU version of the FORMAT command. This is done by selecting the "D" class from either the menu or the keyboard. The "D" class selects the disk drives. Toggle the testing option with the "T" command(or the menu) until you see a test with the option "FORMAT" in front of it. This should appear for all you drives. This option will take any disk and convert it into the special STU data disk format. This disk will no longer be usable by AmigaDos until you reformat it with the system command "FORMAT" or the workbench menu item to Initialize the disk. It is recommended that you create a data disk for each drive and keep them separate from your regular AmigaDos disks. AmigaDos will think the drive is empty when an STU disk is present in the drive. After setting all drives to format, you must enable the testing by using the "X" command. All drives will be labeled as "Yes" under the enabled column. When you enter the "G" option to start the creation of the special data disks. STU will ask with system requesters to 1) place a DS/DD disk in each drive(or you can abort). Click on the "CONTINUE" box after you have the disks in each drive. Now you will get a requester which will warn you that you are about to write on each Drive. For each of these you must click on the "CONTINUE" box to proceed. If you have a WRITE PROTECTED disk you will be asked to un-write protect it, try it so you will see how the program will act! You can't hurt things by trying them. After you have started up each drive the program will write the special test patterns to each disk. These disks will all be identical, and may be used in any drive. Save these disks for future testing after STU informs you that each drive is done(it will display a "CLOSED" message and turn off the drive light). Do not remove the disks until the light on the drive goes off! Removing a disk while the motor is on may damage the disk and the drive! You may want to label each disk with the drive that wrote it for future reference, see the section about test User's Manual Chapter 3 Page 6 Custom Services System Test Utility Version 4.0 scenarios. SSeeccttiioonn 33..55 IInnppuuttss The testing requires you to define the type of test to perform. Testing is specified with the command line options. The options available are: Option Tells STU to: ------ ------------- G Start the Testing, Q Quit the Testing, or Quit STU, Control-D, Control-C also work. P Log results to the printer(PRT:), V Be more verbose with output, E Toggle pause on errors during testing ? Display a little bit about Custom Services, ! Display a little bit about STU, + Display a little bit about the Future, 0 Test only Unit 0, 1 Test only Unit 1, 2 Test only Unit 2, 3 Test only Unit 3, C Toggle verify data on reads, T Toggle test selection option(enables memory test) X Toggle the enable flag for current units and class B Toggle the buffer size for current units and class I Toggle the I/O ordering for current units and class A Test All Classes D Select the Disk test class M Select the Memory test class User's Manual Chapter 3 Page 7 Custom Services System Test Utility Version 4.0 S Select the Audio test class(currently not available) The options selected are locked in when you use the "G" option. You are allowed to toggle the "P", "V", "E", and "C" options during the testing. The "Q, Control-D, or Control-C option will cause STU to stop testing and shut down. STU may not stop immediately since it will complete the current test operation before stopping. STU will display the options selected prior to the start of the testing. During the testing the current system status will be displayed. Note, If you do not have enough memory on your system to support the buffer size you requested for the disks, STU will exit without performing any test. If this occurs just restart STU and select a smaller buffer option. User's Manual Chapter 3 Page 8 Custom Services System Test Utility Version 4.0 TTeesstt SScceennaarriiooss All of these tests require that you first create the STU Data Disks before running any test not using the "FORMAT" option. SSeeccttiioonn 44..11 BBaassiicc DDrriivvee TTeesstt A basic Drive test would be the "WRITE/READ/SEEK" test with random I/O. This will give a general test of all the basic functions of each drive. Make sure the drives are enables! SSeeccttiioonn 44..22 RRaannddoomm SSeeeekkss aanndd RReeaaddss By using the Random I/O option you create I/O that will jump around over the disk in a random manner. Drives will operate at different speeds due to the randomness of the seeks(some drives will get shorter seeks than others). SSeeccttiioonn 44..33 WWrriitteess Writing occurs when either the FORMAT or WRITE option is selected during the testing. The FORMAT option will always recreate the STU data Disk and may be applied to any disk. This option always performs sequential I/O. The WRITE option will allow either sequential or random I/O. SSeeccttiioonn 44..44 IInnddiivviidduuaall TTeessttiinngg Individual units may be tested with any of the tests described in this chapter by using the unit number as a command option. DF0: is 0, DF1: is 1 and so on. All units may be selected either by default or by using the "A" option. You can vary the tests from unit to unit by changing each drive individually. SSeeccttiioonn 44..55 RRaannddoomm SSeeeekkss aanndd HHeeaadd CClleeaanniinngg When a problem occurs the first defense, before you attempt to service the disk drive is to clean the heads with a good double sided cleaner. STU will actually help you clean your drive by moving the heads around. This has the effect of extending the life of the cleaning disk and User's Manual Chapter 4 Page 9 Custom Services System Test Utility Version 4.0 your drives. A cleaning type operation may be done with the command options: "D", "C", and the drive number. The drive will cycle with random seeks for 256 seeks. The "C" option will allow STU to ignore the data on the disk(or the lack of it!). This is enough to completely clean the head on the selected drive. Enter a Q at any time after the Seeks stop and the sequential Read test starts. It is a good idea to clean the heads on all drives on a regular schedule. While cleaning is important it normally is not needed more than once a month. Any time read or write errors occur it is a good idea to clean the drive just to be sure. If errors occur on a regular basis you may need to either change the types of diskettes you are using or replace the drive. Drives do wear out, even the best ones will eventually have to be replaced. SSeeccttiioonn 44..66 FFaasstt II//OO TTeessttss For quick tests of your drives the options specifying a larger buffer can be used to decrease the time taken for the test. When a particular drive shows errors it is a good idea to rerun the test with the smallest buffer size to obtain an accurate idea of where the error is. Note, certain forms of copy protection will deliberately place bad tracks or sectors on the disk to prevent coping of the disk. These disks will generate various errors when tested. See the section on testing other disks for information on checking non-stu data disks in your drives. SSeeccttiioonn 44..77 TTeessttiinngg ootthheerr ddiisskkss You may test any disk not just the data disks written by STU. What this will tell you is where a disk has bad spots. STU may be used in this manner with the command option "C" and the unit number of the drive. This command will cause STU to read every sector in the drive, displaying all sectors it cannot read. Just because STU can read a sector does not indicate that it is correct, it just says that it is a readable sector. Disks with deliberate bad spots will generate read errors during this test. Make sure you have the "READ ONLY" option showing when testing a non STU disk. If you accidentally select the "WRITE" option you will get a requester making sure you want to write on the disk. Any disk written on by STU will TOTALLY lose the original data, not even DiskDoctor can recover it. User's Manual Chapter 4 Page 10 Custom Services System Test Utility Version 4.0 OOtthheerr iitteemmss ooff iinntteerreesstt SSeeccttiioonn 55..11 FFuuttuurree EEnnhhaanncceemmeennttss This program will not remain static. Just as new devices are added to the system for you to use, Custom Services will be adding new capabilities to STU help you find problems. Future enhancements planned are: o Support for Hard Drive Testing, and o Support for Generic Device Testing. The areas which will be addressed will depend on what is asked for from you the user. Please fill out the warranty registration and suggestion form found in Appendix A. SSeeccttiioonn 55..22 PPaasstt VVeerrssiioonnss 1.0 - Basic STU - CLI Only 2.0 - Bugs fixed, Printer Logging 3.0 - Bugs fixed, WorkBench Interface 4.0 - Separate testing, Advanced Setup display 4.1 - This version! 5.0 - Who Knows! - You decide!! User's Manual Chapter 5 Page 11 Custom Services System Test Utility Version 4.0 AAppppeennddiixx AA -- RReeggiissttrraattiioonn PRODUCT: STU REGISTRATION: [yes] [no] (check one) DATE RECEIVED:____/____/____ RECEIVED FROM:_______________________ ______________________________ ______________________________ Your Name:____________________________ Address:_______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ Who told you about this product:___________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ What improvements would you like:___________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ User's Manual Chapter 6 Page 12 Custom Services System Test Utility Version 4.0 AAppppeennddiixx EE -- EErrrroorrss SSeeccttiioonn 77..11 SSTTUU MMeessssaaggeess Error Text Unable to allocate a buffer Not enough memory Observed xxxxx Expected at offset ddd data error, disk read problem or was not a data disk. Closed, finished The drive has finished the requested tests. SSeeccttiioonn 77..22 SSYYSSTTEEMM eerrrroorrss Unable to get a Port System problem getting started Unable to get a pointer System problem getting started Unable to set break control System problem getting started I/O request Aborted Control C was used to abort ***These are the various disk errors which may occur*** Error couldn't be determined Couldn't find sector header Error in sector preamble Error in sector identifier Header field has bad checksum Sector data field has bad checksum Incorrect number of sectors on track Bad sector header Disk is write-protected Disk has been changed or not in drive Seek error verifying position User's Manual Chapter 7 Page 13 Custom Services System Test Utility Version 4.0 Out of Memory for this operation Bad Unit number for drive Bad drive type, not an AMIGA drive! Drive is busy, another task has it ***Drive: dd Unknown Error Code=dd*** With any of the above errors the general procedure would be to clean the drive, retest, switch media, retest before suspecting a hardware problem! User's Manual Chapter 7 Page 14 T a b l e o f C o n t e n t s Chapter 1 General Information .................. 1 Section 1.1 Policy ......................... 1 Section 1.2 Copyright ...................... 1 Section 1.3 License ........................ 1 Section 1.4 Registration and Reward .......... 2 Chapter 2 Program Operation .................... 3 Section 2.1 General ........................ 3 Section 2.2 Limitations .................... 3 Section 2.3 Functions ...................... 4 Chapter 3 Operation ........................... 5 Section 3.1 Getting Started ................. 5 Section 3.2 General Instructions ............ 5 Section 3.3 Making a Bootable Diagnostic Disk .. 5 Section 3.4 Data Disks ...................... 6 Section 3.5 Inputs ......................... 7 Chapter 4 Test Scenarios ....................... 9 Section 4.1 Basic Drive Test ................. 9 Section 4.2 Random Seeks and Reads ............ 9 Section 4.3 Writes ......................... 9 Section 4.4 Individual Testing .............. 9 Section 4.5 Random Seeks and Head Cleaning ..... 9 Section 4.6 Fast I/O Tests ................... 10 Section 4.7 Testing other disks .............. 10 Chapter 5 Other items of interest ................ 11 Section 5.1 Future Enhancements ............. 11 Section 5.2 Past Versions ................... 11 Chapter 6 Appendix A - Registration .............. 12 Chapter 7 Appendix E - Errors .................... 13 Section 7.1 STU Messages .................... 13 Section 7.2 SYSTEM errors ................... 13 -XV-