Running stand-alone diagnostics from a USB flash drive

If you have an installation of the AIX® operating system but it cannot be started, or if you have an installation of the Linux® operating system, you can run diagnostics from a USB flash drive.

About this task

Diagnostics, which are available for systems and logical partitions that are running in the AIX or Linux environments, can help you to perform hardware analysis. If a problem is found, a service request number (SRN) is presented. You can use the SRN to identify the problem and determine a corrective action. Diagnostics can also be used to configure RAID storage devices before installing an operating system.

A client system can boot stand-alone diagnostics from a USB flash drive.

Downloading and writing stand-alone diagnostics to a USB flash drive

Download the AIX stand-alone diagnostics ISO image from the Standalone Diagnostics CD website.

For instructions about copying an ISO image to a USB flash drive, see the IBM® Support website.

Running stand-alone diagnostics from a USB flash drive

To run stand-alone diagnostics from a USB flash drive, complete the following steps:

1. Inform the system administrator and the users of the system that the system might be shut down.
2. Stop all programs including the AIX or Linux operating system. If you need help, contact the system administrator.
3. Remove all tapes, diskettes, and CDs.
4. Choose from the following options:
   • If you are running stand-alone diagnostics on a full system partition profile, use the shutdown command to inform the system administrator and system users that the system will shut down. Then, power down the system.
   • If you are running stand-alone diagnostics on a logical partition, ensure that the USB flash drive is available to the partition that is used to run stand-alone diagnostics. Inform the system administrator and users of the system that all applications on that logical partition must be stopped, and that the partition will be restarted. Stop all programs on that logical partition, including the operating system.
5. Choose from the following options:
   • If you are running stand-alone diagnostics on a full system partition, power on the system to run stand-alone diagnostics.
   • If you are running stand-alone diagnostics on a logical partition, restart the logical partition to run stand-alone diagnostics.
6. When the keyboard indicator (the word keyboard on a Hardware Management Console (HMC) virtual terminal window or the keyboard icon on a graphical display) is displayed, type 1 to display the system management services (SMS) menus.
7. Choose Select Boot Options > Install or Boot a Device > Hard Drive > USB.
8. Choose the USB flash drive on your system and then select Normal Mode Boot. The system starts booting from the USB flash drive.
9. Follow the on-screen instructions.
   • If Diagnostic Operating Instructions Version x.x.x is displayed, stand-alone diagnostics has booted successfully. Continue with step 11.
   • If the AIX login prompt is displayed, stand-alone diagnostics did not load. Continue with step 10.
10. If stand-alone diagnostics did not load, check the following items:
    • If you are running stand-alone diagnostics on a logical partition, ensure that the USB controller to which the USB flash drive is connected is assigned to the logical partition.
    • Ensure that the version of stand-alone diagnostics that is written to the USB flash drive supports the system on which you are attempting to boot it on. For information about downloading the AIX standalone diagnostics ISO image, see the Standalone Diagnostics CD website.
    • Ensure that the stand-alone diagnostics image was written to the USB flash drive correctly. For information about how to copy an ISO image to a USB flash drive, see the IBM Support website.
11. Perform diagnostics or configuration tasks. After running diagnostics, exit diagnostics and follow the on-screen prompts to restart the system. Then, you can remove the USB flash drive from the system after the system shuts down.