toolstar*testOS

Manual
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ing manuals.
No reproduction of any kind, in part or whole is allowed without the express and
prior written approval of the company, its authors and publishers.
ToolHouse has endeavoured to meet all technical areas associated with the products
with this manual. Any changes, amissions or errors are of no liable consequence, ac-
tual or otherwise to the company, its authors or publishers. Further, any changes to
the products or documentation may take place at any time without obligation of
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Products mentioned or noted in this document are for identification purposes only
and may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies or
owners.
toolstar* is a Registered Trademark of ToolHouse Entwicklungs KG
Copyright of toolstar*testWIN, toolstar*testOS, toolstar*shredder,
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Design & Copyright © 2000-2009 ToolHouse Entwicklungs-KG.

Published by ToolHouse Entwicklungs-KG Mai 2008.
All rights reserved.

Page 2
 Contents

General Notes
For current issues that showed up after printing this manual, please refer to the file
README.TXT on the disk.

The online documentation of the programs that can be accessed at any time by pressing
the F1 key or click the according button often contains several detailed further informa-
tion that is not included in this printed version.

Due to the multitude of possible system configurations, it cannot be guaranteed that the
software works 100% correctly in all circumstances; in this case, please contact our sup-
port at support@toolhouse.de to help you.

All trademarks and registered trademarks belong to their respective owners.

Registered users get for all ToolHouse products free technical support via fax, email or
phone. The support is limited to the current version.

ToolStar* software is permanently updated and enhanced, so that you can always work on
the current state of the art.

You received steady released updates for the software, via ToolHouse or your ToolStar*
vendor.

Optimal results received by the current version.

Page 3
Contents
GENERAL NOTES .......................................................................................................................................... 3
CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................................... 4

II. TOOLSTAR*TESTOS .................................................................................................................................. 5

1. USING THE PROGRAM................................................................................................................................ 6
System Requirements .......................................................................................................................... 6
Installation, Starting:........................................................................................................................... 6
Start Log: ............................................................................................................................................ 7
Boot Menu: ......................................................................................................................................... 7
Command Line: ................................................................................................................................... 8
Important notes for using the program: ................................................................................................ 9
General Usage: .................................................................................................................................... 9
Mouse availability ............................................................................................................................. 10
The Help System ................................................................................................................................ 11
2. THE MENU STRUCTURE ............................................................................................................................ 12
3. MISCELLANEOUS .................................................................................................................................... 20
INI File tooltest.ini ............................................................................................................................. 20
DOS Exit Codes (Errorlevels) / Port80 Codes ........................................................................................ 20
Others .............................................................................................................................................. 23
HELP AT TECHNICAL PROBLEMS ..................................................................................................................... 24
YOUR WISHES AND SUGGESTIONS ................................................................................................................. 25

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 II. toolstar*testOS

II. toolstar*testOS
Professional
Hardware Tests
with its own operating system

PC Diagnostics of an Elite Class!

Test for all important components

Self booting, own operating system
Batch capable, continuous tests, protocol and lots more
Regular updates
Extensive online help
Optional Loop back plugs COM/LPT
Optional USB testplugs
toolstar*shredder optional integrable

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1. Using the Program

1. Using the Program

System Requirements

Minimum:
- an "IBM-compatible" computer with 80386 processor or better
- 8 MB total memory
For self-booting operation:
- needs a bootable floppy disk drive or a bootable copy on CD or similar medium; for the
USB stick a compatible bootable USB port is needed.
To run under DOS:
- MS-DOS 3.3 should do, or compatible
- can run from floppy or (faster) from hard disk

Installation, Starting:
toolstar*testOS runs directly from the floppy disk, an USB stick or a CD-ROM with its own oper-
ating system (recommended mode of operation); In particular for the program start form USB stick
the BIOS of the PC has to support this. Unfortunately it don’t works on any system because every
manufacture has its own procedures. The ToolHouse USB stick has to be plugged on the PC. You can
also start it under DOS or Windows (and for this, you can copy the files to a new directory on the
hard disk), but some functions (particular under Windows) are not available then.
The program is not existing on the optional test CD-ROM or test DVD. The test CD/DVD only contains
test data!
In self-booting start from disk, a boot menu is available (see below), press and hold the Ctrl key to
access it. Starting from command line, you can enter some command line options (see below). You
can also enter a command line in self-booting operation, select the according option in the boot
menu or hold the Alt key to do so. In either case, the currently running hardware detection step is
displayed in the bottom line; if this is finished, the main menu appears. The current step is stored
on disk.

Boot toolstar*testOS from USB stick:

The on the USB stick (64 MB) stored version is self booting. To boot a PC from USB stick it hast to
set in the BIOS. Dependent on your BIOS manufacture it’s different.
Alternative some system shows a choice of boot devices by pressing a key during startup. Then it’s
not needed to use the BIOS setup

General procedure:
Enter after starting the PC the BIOS setup. Change to the section that’s set the boot order. Swap
the boot order: first entry has to be “USB stick” or poss. “ThumbDrive”, the second one “hard drive”.
If this setting is not present please select “USB-HDD”. If it’s still not possible to boot from USB stick
please try the setting “USB-FDD” or “USB-ZIP”.

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 II. toolstar*testOS

Special procedure by following BIOSes:

Award 6.0 (resp. Phoenix-Award 6.0):
Call “Advanced BIOS Features”, and select under “Boot Order” “USB-HDD” alternative “USB-FDD”.

Phoenix (in particular older Notebooks)

Select “Boot Options”/”Boot Order” at the first page; (newer ones has an one page “Boot”). Now you
can change the boot order of the existing boot devices. The stick is present under “Hard Disks”.

AMI:
It’s recommended to select “USB-LS120” (if present) or “USB-HDD” alternative “USB-FDD” in the
boot order.

On other BIOSes please use corresponding settings.

If your PC still don’t boots from USB-Stick please start toolstar*testOS from floppy disk. A self ex-
tracting floppy image (floppy.exe) is stored on the USB stick in the folder “Floppy-Image”. After
creating the floppy, simply plug the stick into a free USB port, and restart your PC.
toolstar*testOS is running complete.

Start Log:
toolstar*testOS saves during start-up, including the hardware detection process, which step is
currently done, in the file startlog.bin. Should toolstar*testOS crash or hang (e.g. due to malfunc-
tioning or exotic hardware), that step is skipped at the next start. (For this, the disk must not be
write-protected, of course.)
If this has occured and you want to test another computer, you should reset the start-up log - us-
ing the command line options, the boot menu, or the option in the Settings menu in the program
itself.
toolstar*testOS saves for each of the possible operating environments (self booting, DOS, with
DPMI/Windows etc.) a separate log.

Boot Menu:
Right at the beginning of toolstar*testOS ´s start (in self-booting mode) you can, similar to Win-
dows 98, bring up a start menu (boot menu) that offers some basic options for the start of the pro-
gram.
To do so, press and hold the Ctrl key while the message "Starting ToolStar OS..." is displayed.
Then the following menu options show up - press the number key at the beginning of each line, or
use the cursor and enter keys.

The first options start toolstar*testOS right away:

Start normal (Start without)

starts toolstar*testOS (with options below)

Start with step-by-step confirmation

starts with asking for confirmation for (almost) each step
(with options below)

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1. Using the Program

These options are yes/no switches; each execution toggles:

Clear startup log [self-boot section]
Show graphical logo
Enter command line
Load files in any case in realmode (e.g. during boot problems with USB floppys)
Load floppy image in any case (e.g. at USB-CD boot problems)

Submenu USB – and further diagnostic options:

Debug mode – particularly for extended output at the start

Forbid checking CD boot for loading the floppy image.
USBOptions= 0 to 5
Default is 2, if it´s not changed in tooltest.ini. If the USB initialization hangs up during the
start of toolstar*testOS at “OHCI…”, try USBOptions=1. At hang up on “UHCI…” try 0, 1, 3, 4
and 5 please.

Further options not directly connected to ToolStar:

Continue boot from hard disk
Quick reset (floppy disk changed?)
(bypassing the POST test of the BIOS)

Command Line:
The command line options can (but need not) start with a slash '/' or a dash '-', and is not case-
sensitive.

Under DOS, you can use these arguments:

?/H/HELP Gives a brief list of these options.

CLEARLOG Clear Start Log
DONTLOG Don’t use Start-Log.
NOLOGO Don't display the graphical start image, use text-mode instead
D Debug mode (more information at startup and in the program, to lo-
cate errors).
1 SINGLESTEP Confirm each step at startup.

You can also enter any INI file setting (s. Ch. 3) at the command line to override the setting in the
INI file (no need to specify the [INI section]), plus these simplifying arguments useful for batch op-
eration:

Script=scriptfile starts specified burn-in test script

Report=outputfile sets output file name
(Default extensions .tts and .txt are appended automatically unless other extension specified.)

This can be done in DOS and in self-booting mode – in self-booting mode, enter the boot menu and
select the option to get prompted for a command line (or press and hold the Alt key instead of Ctrl
to get the command line prompt directly).

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 II. toolstar*testOS
Example (in one line):
tooltest script=myscr report=myout pcname=Server1
pcsn="123-4/5" testername="John Doe"

As you can see, enclose strings with spaces, dashes or slashes in quotes.
Note that under DOS, the length of the command line is usually limited to 127 characters.

Exit codes (error levels) are also shown. You find a list in the appendix.

Important notes for using the program:

- The main menu contains sections for the different parts of the system which combine both in-
formation pages and test options.
- The results of the tests that have been performed can be viewed in the Result Report menu in
different detail levels.
- For Burn-In testing (tests that can run a long time over night, non-interactively), there is a
separate menu option where you can edit and run a list of the tests you would like to perform.
- You can enter the tester's name, the PC's designation, comments etc. in the Settings menu.
- To save a window’s content (info or reports) to a file, or send it to a printer, press the F2 key in
such a window (you can then select the target).

General Usage:
Using toolstar*testOS is pretty straight-forward; also, you see hints on which keys to use in the
status line (the bottom line on the screen). A mouse can also be used if available.
Following is an overview for the different situations:

Menus
Use cursor up, cursor down, Home, End to highlight an option (move the orange bar); press Space or
Enter to execute the option. A gray option is disabled and cannot be selected. A yellow triangle to
the right indicates a submenu.
You can also press a letter key to directly invoke the option with that letter highlighted (such as G
for Graphics).
Press Esc to leave the current menu and go back.
With the mouse, just left-click on the desired option; right-click to go back (similar to “Esc”).
In menus that contain several tests, you can press the F9 key to execute all the tests in a row.
Some options show a (yellow) hint in the status line.

!!!Many menus have an info page as first option, which is automatically displayed when entering
the menu, and below the test items (the first of which is automatically focused in the menu).

Windows
Windows with lists of info or test reports can be scrolled the usual way with the cursor keys (if they
contain more info than can be seen on one page on screen, which is indicated by a scrollbar at the
right). If at the same time a menu is active, hold the Shift key to scroll the window contents in-
stead. You can also use the mouse to operate the scrollbar, of course.

Press F2 to open a dialog to save the window contents to a file or send them to a printer.

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1. Using the Program
Messages, Questions
Message boxes display a message or question with one or more buttons below it. You see the keys
you can use in the status line, and some buttons have highlighted shortcut keys. (You can use the
Tab key to focus a button and press Space or Enter to execute that; but please note that on ques-
tions “Enter” always means “Yes” and not the focused button.) Or left-click with the mouse.

Dialogs
Use Tab to navigate through the dialog elements. In groups of radiobuttons and checkboxes, Arrow
key high/down also works. Press Space or Enter to activate/select the current element. Some ele-
ments also have shortcut keys.
Note about the Enter key: When a button is focused, the button is pressed; when something else,
such as a checkbox is focused, in many dialogs it means OK (see the status line).
Press Esc to cancel the dialog.
Or you can use the mouse to select an element.

Help
See below.

Mouse availability
When a mouse is connected that can be used in the current environment, it can be used to operate
this program:
- When self-booting, toolstar*testOS first searches for a PS/2 mouse that is supported by the
system BIOS, then it scans all known (standard) serial ports for serial mice (Microsoft or Logitech
compatible).
- When running under DOS, Windows, etc.: If a mouse driver (DOS driver, or in Windows DOS box)
is already installed, it is used; otherwise, serial mice are searched.
- Self booting and DOS: an USB mouse can be used likewise (also parallel to others)

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 II. toolstar*testOS

The Help System

toolstar*testOS 's help system is also rather easy to use, using keyboard or mouse (if available,
see above).

When pressing F1, a help window appears, displaying help on the current active part of this pro-
gram. In this help window, you may use the following keys:

- Cursor up/down to highlight (focus) the previous/next cross-reference; if there is no cross-

reference visible, the screen will be scrolled up/down one line.
- Tab/Shift-Tab to move the focus to the next/previous cross-reference, including scrolling the
screen as necessary and wrapping around the end.
- any letter to focus the next cross-reference that starts with this letter.
- Enter,Space to switch to the highlighted topic.
- F1 inside a help window to get to the »help on help«-screen.
- Alt-F1 to bring up the topic you had before this. Up to 30 topics are recorded, together with the
last position and focused cross-reference in the topic.
- Shift-F1 for the alphabetical help index.
- Ctrl-F1 to show the contents page of this help system.
- Esc close the help window.

The following mouse operations can be done:

- Click on the scroll bar arrows to scroll the help window up/down one line, above/below the but-
ton to scroll up/down one page, or drag the button. (If the focused cross-reference moves off the
screen, the previous/next cross-reference will be focused).
- Click on a cross-reference once to focus it. Click again on the focused cross-reference to switch
to the linked topic.
- Right-click to go back to the last topic, or close the help window if none.

Note:
Some contexts or cross-references point to a line inside a help topic, i.e. there's also something
standing above the initial point.

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2. The Menu Structure

2. The Menu Structure

toolstar*testOS combines information and diagnostic functions for the different components in
respective submenus. Following is an overview about the menu options, some have a special note;
for further notes use the online help, please.

System Overview
Three types of system overview are available:

One-page Overview
A brief summary on about one screen page, showing the most important
contents of the system.
- The names of system and mainboard are acquired from SMBios/DMI. These
are unfortunately often not set extensively or even incorrect by the
manufacturer, or contain meaningless reservations (which could be ignored optionally).
- In the Options dialog you can specify if you want non-present elements
to be displayed (e.g. "Sound: ---"), which may simplify a possible
automated processing of the output.

User-definable Standard Overview

Configurable in the Options dialog; this may be accessed directly with
the menu option below.

More extensive Overview

Shows virtually everything that you can select. Use this output when you
have a technical support request.

Processor
Information
Shows some information’s about the CPU (in the window next to the menu)
Extended information’s
Shows some features of the processor, e.g. SSE, SpeedStep, VMX, 64 bit extensions.
Stress tests
A special designed test for high load which uses all function units together (FPU, MMX,
3DNow, SSE). On multi core/multi CPU systems it runs on all cores/CPUs at the same time.
You can also select the used CPUs/cores separately.
Choose CPUs/cores
At a multi core/multi CPU system you can select the cores/CPUs you want to test with the
listed quick and cache tests below (it tests one after one).
Quick tests
In subgroups divided quick tests of the different function units. Core (general functions), FPU
(conventional floating point unit), MMX (Multimedia Extensions), 3DNow (from AMD) and
SSE (Streaming SIMD Extensions, incl. SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3). By pressing the F9 key, all tests
run automatically, without choosing the menu items separately.
The detailed test results (for every core/processor separate) are listed in the result report (at
the main menu).
Cache test
Tests the level 2 and (if existing) the level 3 cache of the CPU(s) with the same methods as
the memory tests.

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 II. toolstar*testOS
MHZ Monitor
The MHz Monitor displays the clock frequency of the CPU, continuously updated in a bar
graph. This is intended for systems that can change the speed dynamically, such as Intel's
SpeedStep in their mobile Pentium III processors that run at a higher speed when running
from an external power supply. (This test is not available on older systems (386/486) due to
exactness.)

Basic Mainboard Components

Board & BIOS info
Shows the BIOS manufacturer, the identification string of the BIOS, the BIOS date, and the
chipset (as far as known).
A more detailed chipset device listing can be found in the PCI Devices list.
The information’s acquired from SMBios/DMI are unfortunately often not set extensively or
even incorrect by the manufacturer, or contain meaningless reservations (which could be ig-
nored optionally).
PCI Device List
This menu option shows a brief list (with a section for each bus number) of the devices.
PCI Details
This second menu option shows comprehensive info about each device.
Plug&Play
This list shows the system device nodes, if a PnP BIOS is present.
Interrupts (IRQs)
Note that some devices that use interrupts cannot be found here.
DMA Channels
Note that some devices that use DMA-Channels cannot be found here.
Hardware-Monitoring
This page displays the data from temperature, voltage, and fan speed sensors, as far as sup-
ported by the motherboard and if the particular chips are known to toolstar*testOS.
The chips are searched in this order:
1) chipset-integrated;
2) on the SMBus, as far as present and supported;
3) on I/O ports.
CMOS & RTC
Here the functions of the so-called CMOS-RAM are being tested, which stores the BIOS's
configuration settings and also contains the real-time clock (RTC).
PC Speaker
This test plays a little melody to test the function of the standard PC sound generator. A
Speaker in the PC case or on the mainboard is required, or if the output is routed through a
sound card, it must be initialized and its volume must be set high enough.
Other Components
This tests these components:
Interrupt Controller, System timer, DMA Controller, Keyboard Controller
Since these are not divided in sub-tests, they are combined here.

Memory
The (automatically displayed) info page in the memory menu shows a list of the memory ranges as
reported by the system - those labeled "available" are normal working memory ranges that can be
tested; "reserved" are BIOS ROM ranges (which of course cannot be tested, like the few KB that
have a special usage on ACPI systems).

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2. The Menu Structure
Optional module information’s from the SMBios/DMI are displayed. Unfortunately it is often not set
extensively or even incorrect by the manufacturer, or contains meaningless reservations (which
could be ignored optionally).

Memory Speed displays the throughput in MB/s for read, write, and random access for up to four
different access methods.

The next four options start a test of the entire system memory with certain single test methods, or
select All for all seven. (The blocks/dashes are to indicate how they supplement each other.) You
can pick your own methods, and specify a memory range, by selecting User-defined. These seven
test methods are available:

Menu item Tests performed

Quick 1: Adressing
2: Chessboard pattern
Additional 3: Windows mode
4: Complementary bits
Further 5: Left-&right-walking bits
6: Large complements
Deep 7: Distributed accesses

When the test starts, in the upper left window of the test status screen, the single different tests
are displayed. Below you see the percentage of the completion of the current test and the total
runs (note that the test speeds are different and the total completion bar won't be updated linear-
ly.)
In the lower right corner, there's a 'map' of the memory, with blocks representing a certain block of
memory - a green block means no error found yet, a red X indicates one (or more) error, R
means reserved area; a similar display is found later in the Result Report (with a higher resolution).
The wandering white block indicates the beginning of the range of memory that is currently being
tested.
The entire low memory (0 to 640K), as well as the area occupied by toolstar*testOS itself, are also
tested, after necessary copying/mapping.

Note: Memory tests are only available in self-booting mode or under pure DOS.
Tests above the 4 GB address space run only self-booting.

Memory: SPD-EEPROMs
Not-too-old SDRAM memory modules (DIMMs; since PC100 standard) must have a small
memory that contains the timing specification to access the module (maybe for different fre-
quencies); there the module manufacturer can also store data about himself and the module.
(SPD = Serial Presence Detect).
This menu item tries to read the SPDs via the SMBus.

Ports
Serial Ports
The information page shows the configuration of the port and the test result summary.
In the lower left window, you see the current pin values of the port.
The internal loopback test does not require the test plug on the port, it tests the internal
communication inside/up to the UART.
Handshake and Transmit/Receive test require the optional obtainable test plug on the port;
they test the connection between the outputs of the UART up to the plug.

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 II. toolstar*testOS
Parallel Ports
The information page shows the configuration of the port and the test result summary.
In the lower left window, you see the current pin values of the port.
The controller test tests the port's controller and does not requite the test plug on the port.
The status port test requires the optional obtainable test plug on the port; it tests the con-
nection between the outputs of the controller up to the plug.
Modem
If a modem is connected to one of the serial ports, it can be tested automatically or interac-
tively. Also it is possible to change the baud rate.
USB
This submenu offers the following information and tests for the Universal Serial Bus:

Information about the Host Controllers:

Device Overview
Here you see a brief summary of all connected USB devices and controllers, with the most
important information about type, vendor, etc.
The tree-like display also shows you which device is connected to which port or hub.

Device Details & Basic Tests

This list displays some more details of the devices and their configuration options, as well as
notes if errors have occurred when detecting or accessing the devices.
A deeper test that is specially tailored to the respective device classes or even the vendor-
specific device itself is not performed. For some standard classes, however, you find tests in
the corresponding other menus of toolstar*testOS, such as keyboard, mouse and mass sto-
rage.
Tests with Test Plugs
When you have connected the special (optional obtainable) USB test plug to a port, you can
perform special tests with this menu item; these tests specifically can verify the correctness
of data transfers, including any possible USB hubs and cables in between.

The middle, red LED shows whether the test plug receives power (independently of the test
above) – if connected directly to the host controller (to the PC), this is usually always the
case; otherwise, when connected to a hub, this depends on the correct function of that hub.
The green and yellow LED shows the sending resp. receiving of data.

The plug can be used on both USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 controllers. It tests full speed transfers
with up to 12 Mb/s.

General Notes about USB:

toolstar*testOS automatically detects USB device attachment/removal and configures
them. But please make sure to attach or remove devices only when there is no test currently
running, in order to not disturb that test, rather only when you are inside a menu or dialog.
Network cards
If a network card is installed in the PC, its specific data are shown.

Graphics
Information
Select Modes for Testing
Warning: select only modes that can be displayed by your monitor! (The standard modes with
numbers below 20h should be run without problems, as well as all 640x480 modes.) Selected
by default are standard text mode 3 and the 640x480 mode with the highest color depth.

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2. The Menu Structure
Test Image, Primary Colors, Gray levels, Color levels, Grid
Visible memory
Test the memory that is used from the graphic card in the selected modes. During the tests,
you see random characters/pixels and colors on the screen. (This test ends automatically and
shows the result in a message box.)
Video memory test
Tests the whole memory (or a selected range) of almost all conventional graphic cards. It
uses the same seven tests as a comparable main memory test.
It could be, that this test need more time as a comparable main memory test, because the
data rate particular in the back channel of AGP cards are slower.
Additional card
If more then one graphic card installed (two ports of one graphic card are waived), you can
initialize the second one here and toggle between both cards for all graphic tests. There is no
standard to handle two graphic cards and share the resources between both, so it’s possible
that this tests do not work with all graphic card mainboard combinations.

Drives
The overview page shows a brief listing of the floppy disk drives, hard
disks, IDE devices (Legacy- as well as PCI-EIDE, IDE-RAID- and Serial-ATA-controller), SCSI
(via ASPI) and CD/DVD drives via MSCDEX (under DOS).
Beneath follow sections for the drive types Floppy/Removable, Hard Disk, CD-ROM/DVD, Oth-
er, that also tell which interface is used. These offer submenus with the following items (not
all available for all drive types):
Information
Select range for testing
Applies to all following tests of this drive
Mechanics test
Strains the drive's mechanics by randomly reading single sectors spread over the entire me-
dia; also measures the average access time (for positioning and reading).
Quick read benchmark
Performs some reading accesses on the whole medium and investigate the maximum, the
average and the minimum transfer rate.
Read test
Reads the entire disk or the range selected above (and showing continuously updated status
information). If an error occurs, it is displayed in the bottom window; the test stops after a
certain number of errors have been encountered. The data transmitting rate is shown, too.
Read test with Test CD-ROM
Requires the special (optional obtainable) Test CD or test DVD and can thus additionally veri-
fy if the data is being read correctly. (Of course only available for CD/DVD drives.)
Write test
For each block, the data is first read (multiple times, to be safe), then a pattern is written and
read back, then the original data is written back and verified - hence this test does NOT de-
stroy any data on the disk. (Not available for CD/DVD drives.)
Controller test
Executes some diagnostic functions of the controller/BIOS; not all of these, however, are
supported on all systems. (BIOS hard disks only.)
View sectors
Here you can look at arbitrary sectors of the media, especially to verify if a previous format-
ting/deletion (conducted otherwise) have been successful. For this purpose, you can also set
the test result (pass/fail).

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 II. toolstar*testOS
Complete erasing / shredder (optional)
Erases hard disks finally and irreversibly using german or international standards or personal
guidelines. See also toolstar*shredder (chapter III).

Input Devices
Keyboard: Check Keys
You can press any key for which the numbers and values are then displayed. Press the Esc key
twice to end this test.
toolstar*testOS shows a standard keyboard layout, on which the pressed keys are hig-
hlighted; since toolstar*testOS cannot know which keyboard with possible special keys you
are actually using, you are asked whether the test was successful. The difference key colors
are only for an easy use and have no meaning.
LEDs
Tests the functionality of the 3 standard lights on the keyboard. Of course you are asked
whether it worked correctly, since a program cannot see that.
Mouse
The mouse test consists of having to move the mouse to the corners of the screen and click
there; you also see a simple "graphical" representation of the mouse.
Notes on mouse availability can be found at the end of chapter 1.
Depending on mouse connection and type, usually no more than two or three buttons can be
detected, neither special functions such as a scroll wheel.
toolstar*info
If toolstar*info is stored in the same directory as toolstar*testOS, you can start it with
this menu option (otherwise it fails) without exiting toolstar*testOS. After exiting
toolstar*info you automatically came back to toolstar*testOS.

Settings
PC and Tester Info
In this dialog, you can enter lines of text that will be added to the output of the reports: de-
signation of the PC, serial number, name of tester, and comments.
You can select for each of these lines whether they should be stored as default on the tools-
tar*testOS floppy / stick (e.g. the tester's name) or should just apply to the current session
(e.g. PC's serial number).

HTML:

For HTML output format, you can specify a URL to an image file with your company's logo,
and also specify how you want it to be aligned on the page. The logo file does not need to be
on the disk with toolstar*testOS, it must just be accessible when you view/print the output
file in your web browser.

- Simplest way is when you put it where you store the output files, then you can simply
specify
the name: mylogo.jpg.
- You can also specify a full path name, such as d:\myimages\mylogo.jpg. But note
that, while it works fine this way with Microsoft Internet Explorer, other browsers re-
quire it
this way: file:///d:\myimages\mylogo.jpg. Since this works with MSIE too, you
should always prefer the latter version.
- A web URL works too, of course, as long as you have internet access when you view
the output: e.g. http://www.mycompany.com/images/logo.jpg.

Page 17
2. The Menu Structure

General and special options

In this two dialogs you find a number of options for the general settings of
toolstar*testOS and for the settings of single, special components. An extended description
is in the online help.

Start-Log
See chapter 1.

Results Report
The first option shows a hierarchical display of the test results; the detail level can be ad-
justed, as you can see in the status line. The second option is only available when a burn-in
test has already been performed, and re-displays its protocol.
You can (as for all info windows) print these reports or save them to a file by pressing the F2
key.
Note: If an error occurs since the last start of toolstar*testOS (or the last reset of the
events) this windows has a red margin (even if no error occur during the last burn-in-test).
You can reset all events in the hierarchically report with the last menu option.

Burn-In Tests
Burn-in tests are used to let some (non-interactive) tests run automatically and for a longer
time.

In the menu are besides the first option for defining own test tree predefined tests of differ-
ent thoroughness and length.
Quick test starts a test which tests all components one time for its basic functions.
Profi test is more thorough, takes more time, the single test run several times
Extended test is at least as thorough as the profi test and runs optional 1, 2, 8 or 24 hours.

If script files already exist on the floppy / stick / CD, it’s (the first 10) shown direct on this
menu inclusive its description (if exist). Stored scripts are also show here (if there is still
enough space). With “load script” you can load further script from the current floppy.

Dependence if “run script immediately” is selected, the predefined and loaded test runs im-
mediately or are shown in a dialog first, where its contend can be visited or edited.

In the dialog window, you can create/edit a list of the tests that will be performed in the giv-
en order. So, the buttons Add, Remove, Edit, arrows (to rearrange) work for the currently se-
lected line; the Defaults button sets some standard tests.

The options menu offers settings for the total processing including a description for the
script; with Load/Save you can load the script from or save it to disk.

“Run!” finally starts the tests; “Close” closes the dialog window.

After completion of the tests a result report is shown. If an error occurs since the last start of
toolstar*testOS (or the last reset of the events) this windows has a red margin.

Exit
When you have performed some tests and have not viewed the results summary, you are
asked if you want to do so now (the menu selection is set to the appropriate menu).

Page 18
 II. toolstar*testOS
In self-booting mode, you are also asked if you really want to exit; in the goodbye-screen,
you have the option to reset or turn off your system (if supported). Under DOS/Windows, the
program just exits.

Page 19
3. Miscellaneous

3. Miscellaneous

INI File tooltest.ini

In the INI file that looks like those used by other programs and Windows – sections in brackets with
assorted settings – program preferences are stored.

[General]
SaveDestination=0..7 (Last used) output destination
SaveFileName=OUTPUT.TXT (Last used) file name for saving the output.
AppendToFile=0/1 (Last used) setting whether to append to the output file.

[Ports]
For the port tests:
Additional serial and parallel ports (that are not detected by the BIOS, also more than 4 resp. 3) can
be specified here: Create a line (as often as needed)
UserComPort=3E0h
etc. for the needed addresses (here 3E0 hexadecimal, equivalent to $3e0, 0x3e0 and 992); if the
program is supposed to check if there are really ports on the particular PC, set
VerifyUserComPorts=1
(default is 0=off, applies to all UserComPort specifications).
Similarly, use UserLptPort and VerifyUserLptPorts for parallel ports.

[Options]
These options correspond to those in the Options dialog. There are further rarely needed settings,
who are not shown in the dialog; the description to theses options is in the online help.

[TestInfo]
Corresponding to the PC and Tester Info dialog

DOS Exit Codes (Errorlevels) / Port80 Codes

toolstar*testOS returns under DOS exit codes (errorlevels) to the calling program or batch file;
also optionally to port 80h for POST boards. For the separate error specifications, only the error
that occurred last will be output.

Error- Port80-
level code
(dez.) (hex) Meaning
------------------------------------------------------------------------
0 no error occured
1 general start error (main program missing, damaged, etc.)
10 0A aborted by user, no error occured so far
14 0E aborted by used, at least one error occured.
(Overwrites specified single value above 64=40h)
15 0F all tests performed, at least one error without further
specification occured

self-booting only:
00-1F exception (displayed on screen)
20-2F operating system initialization

Page 20
 II. toolstar*testOS
30-3F reserved

CPU:
64 40 general
65 41 core
66 42 FPU
67 43 MMX
68 44 3DNow!
69 45 SSE
71 47 Burn-In-Test
105 69 CPU cache test

Mainboard:
96 60 PCI
97 61 CMOS-RAM/Real-time clock
98 62 PC Speaker
99 63 Interrupt controller
100 64 DMA controller
101 65 System timer
102 66 Keyboard controller

Memory:
104 68 Main memory
108 6C SPD-EEPROM **

Serial Ports: *
113 71 COM1 Internal Loopback
114 72 COM1 Handshake
115 73 COM1 Transmit
117 75 COM2 Internal Loopback
118 76 COM2 Handshake
119 77 COM2 Transmit
121 79 COM3 Internal Loopback
122 7A COM3 Handshake
123 7b COM3 Transmit
125 7d COM4.. Internal Loopback
126 7E COM4.. Handshake
127 7F COM4.. Transmit

Parallel Ports: *
129 81 LPT1 Controller
130 82 LPT1 Status port
133 85 LPT2 Controller
134 86 LPT2 Status port
137 89 LPT3 Controller
138 8A LPT3 Status port
141 8d LPT4 Controller
142 8E LPT4 Status port

USB:
144 90 general
145 91 Host Controller
146 92 Test plug: Handshake
147 93 Test plug: Transfer

Graphics:
161 A1 Test image: grid
162 A2 Test image: color levels
163 A3 Test image: gray
164 A4 Test image: primary colors
165 A5 Test image: test image

Page 21
3. Miscellaneous
168 A8 Graphics memory test

Floppy/Removable: *
176 b0 #1 no media **
177 b1 #1 read test
178 b2 #1 write test
180 b4 #2 no media **
181 b5 #2 read test
182 b6 #2 write test
184 b8 #3 no media **
185 b9 #3 read test
186 bA #3 write test
188 bC #4.. no media **
189 bd #4.. read test
190 bE #4.. write test

Hard Disks: *
193 C1 #1 read test
194 C2 #1 write test
195 C3 #1 controller
197 C5 #2 read test
198 C6 #2 write test
199 C7 #2 controller
201 C9 #3 read test
202 CA #3 write test
203 Cb #3 controller
205 Cd #4.. read test
206 CE #4.. write test
207 CF #4.. controller

CD/DVD: *
208 d0 #1 no media **
209 d1 #1 read test
210 d2 #1 read test with test CD
212 d4 #2 no media **
213 d5 #2 read test
214 d6 #2 read test with test CD
216 d8 #3 no media **
217 d9 #3 read test
218 dA #3 read test with test CD
220 dC #4.. no media **
221 dd #4.. read test
222 dE #4.. read test with test CD

Input Devices:
225 E1 Keyboard: Keys check
226 E2 Keyboard: LEDs
232 E8 Mouse

Other:
238 EE external program wanted abortion (DOS)

F0-FE reserved
FF normal execution (no error so far)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
* internal numbering as in menu order; numbers of 5 and above have
same codes as no. 4
** if to be treated as error according to option

Page 22
 Example in Batch File without checking for single errors:

tooltest (parameters)
if errorlevel 15 goto Error
if errorlevel 14 goto UserAbort_after_Error
if errorlevel 10 goto UserAbort_without_Error
if errorlevel 1 goto Starterror
echo everything okay
goto End
:StartError
...etc...
:UserAbort_without_Error
...etc...
:UserAbort_after_Error
...etc...
:Error
...etc...
:End

Others
BackBitmap Name of a bitmap file as background for menu and toolbar (MSIE
3 and higher)
UseCyrixCPUID enable CPUID command on Cyrix/IBM processors
NoExtraThread 0/1, default 0; if 1, for information gathering (+output), no sepa-
rate thread will be used
OutputDebugString 0/1: if in debug mode (/d in command line),
log file outputs and additional info will be written to the debug
terminal (view it e.g. with the "DebugView" tool from
www.sysinternals.com (http://www.sysinternals.com)).

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Page 23
Help at technical problems

Help at technical problems

Effective support with exact information

In order to provide a quick response to any technical enquiries you may have with toolstar* products,
ToolHouse has taken specific steps to help you report problems to our technical staff. An important
procedure in tracking and processing suspected problems is the use of Technical Problem Report
forms or TPR’s. It’s available as form and as program.
It’s already on your USB stick/floppy, or you receive it via e-mail direct by ToolHouse or at
http://www.toolhouse.de
The program TPB.exe (technical problem report)
you already received together with your toolstar* product.

The program for technical support / TPR form

Both help you to give exact information about the problems to our developers. The missing of single
information’s makes it maybe impossible to solve your problem. For these reasons it’s in your and in
your interest to fill in all fields correctly. Please give a full description of the problem and where it is
occuring along with any other useful information you may have. Please also state any additional re-
quirements Hardware/Software that may be needed to reconstruct the problem here by our engi-
neers.

Help us to help you

Please describe as exactly as possible in which context the problem occur. Additional give us further
information about special hardware and software combinations. This is necessary to solve your prob-
lem as fast as possible.

Enhanced system information

With the toolstar* products it’s possible to store and print extensive information about your system.
Please add it to the TBR!
(If possible, created by the program, in which the problem occurs.)
toolstar*testWIN: System overview (in the menu tree) → extended overview → select high
details → file → save as… → only text (prefer RTF) –> OK

toolstar*testOS: System overview → extended overview → F2 save

toolstar*info: File → general overview → F2 save → OK

toolstar*win: File → save as… → selected pages → select (at least general overview) pre-
ferred format: text → add to file

ToolHouse, Türltorstr. 16-20, D-85276 Pfaffenhofen/Ilm, Germany

Tel.: +49-82441-5044-0 Fax: -23 eMail: support@toolhouse.de

Page 24
Your Wishes and Suggestions
The products of the toolstar* family are developed in cooperation with PC manufacturers, administra-
tors and service technicians to ease your work.
The products being developed further continuously for you.
If you are missing some functions, would prefer present functions differently or expanded, or are en-
tirely satisfies, please notify us of it.
This way you help us continue to ease your work with the products of the
toolstar* family
We are looking forward to hear from you.

ToolHouse, Türltorstr. 16-20, D-85276 Pfaffenhofen/Ilm Germany

Tel.: +49 (0)8441/5044-0 Fax: -23
www.toolhouse.de E-Mail: info@toolhouse.de

___________________________________
For your notes:

__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________

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