This section lists (in alphabetical order) system error messages that can appear on the
monitor screen. These messages can help you find the source of a problem. Some of these
error messages indicate fatal errors. When a fatal error occurs, the system cannot usually
be rebooted until an appropriate hardware change has been made.
| Message |
Definition |
Probable Causes |
| Address mark not found |
BIOS found faulty disk sector or could not find particular disk sector. |
Faulty diskette/Iomega Zip drive subsystem or hard-disk drive subsystem
(defective system board), or faulty interface cable or connector. |
| Attachment failed to respond |
Diskette drive or hard-disk drive controller cannot send data to
associated drive. |
Faulty diskette/Zip drive subsystem or hard-disk drive subsystem
(defective system board), or faulty interface cable or connector. |
| Alert!
Cover was previously removed. |
Cover was previously removed. |
Cover was previously removed. |
| Alert! Hard
disk drive thermal probe failure detected. |
Hard-disk drive thermal probe has failed. |
No hard-disk drive thermal probe
installed, defective thermal probe, or thermal cable not connected to the control panel. |
| Alert! One
or more of the Memory DIMMs are out of rev. |
System detected that one or more of the DIMMs are not the correct
revision. |
DIMMs do not meet the Intel� SPD 1.2 specification or 66-MHz DIMMs are
installed. |
| Alert! Power supply fan failure detected. |
Power supply fan has failed. |
The power supply or system board is defective. |
| Alert!
Previous fan failure. |
System fan failed during the previous
operating session. |
No fan installed, defective fan, or fan
cable not connected. |
| Alert!
Previous thermal failure. |
The microprocessor exceeded its recommended operating temperature during
the previous operating session. |
Operating environment is too hot (above 35�C). The system vents may be
blocked, causing the system to overheat. |
| Alert!
Previous voltage failure. |
System voltage exceeded or fell below an acceptable threshold. |
Defective power supply. |
| Alert! Primary processor is
out of rev. |
System detected that the primary processor is not the correct revision.
If the system contains more than 512 MB of RAM, this message will be followed by a System Halted message. |
Processor is a type not supported by Dell. |
| Alert!
Processor thermal probe failure detected. |
Processor or system board has failed. |
Faulty processor or defective system board. |
| Alert!
Secondary processor is out of rev. |
System detected that the secondary processor is not the correct revision.
If the system contains more than 512 MB of RAM, this message will be followed by a System Halted message. |
Processor is a type not supported by Dell. |
| Alert!
Single-bit memory error previously detected in XXXXh. |
Single-bit ECC error was detected during the previous operating session. |
Faulty or improperly seated DIMMs or
defective system board. |
| Alert!
System fan was not detected. |
System fan was not detected. |
No fan installed, defective fan, or fan
cable not connected. |
| Alert!
Unbuffered and registered SDRAM DIMMs cannot be mixed. |
Mixing of unbuffered and registered SDRAM
DIMMs is not supported. |
Two different types (unbuffered and registered) of SDRAM DIMMs have been
installed together and may not be compatible. |
| Alert!
Uncorrectable memory error previously detected in XXXXh. |
Multibit ECC error was detected during the previous operating session. |
Faulty or improperly seated DIMMs or
defective system board. |
| Auxiliary Device failure.
Verify that mouse and keyboard are securely attached to connectors. |
System detected a mouse failure. |
Faulty mouse, or faulty mouse controller or keyboard is attached to the
mouse connector. |
| Bad command or file name |
Command entered does not exist, is faulty,
or is not in pathname specified. |
Faulty command and syntax, or incorrect
filename. |
| Bad error-correction code(ECC)on disk read |
Diskette drive or hard-disk drive controller detected uncorrectable read
error. Indicates a fatal error. |
Faulty diskette/Zip drive subsystem or hard-disk drive subsystem
(defective system board). |
| Boot:
Couldn't find NTLDR |
A nonbootable diskette formatted with
Windows NT� was detected in the diskette drive. |
A nonbootable diskette is preventing the
system from booting. Remove the diskette to boot the system from the hard-disk drive or
from a bootable diskette. |
| Controller has failed |
Hard-disk drive or associated controller is defective. Indicates a
fatal error. |
Faulty hard-disk drive subsystem or defective system board. |
| Data error |
System received unrecoverable data-read error from diskette or hard-disk
drive. Indicates a fatal error. |
Faulty diskette, diskette drive, or hard-disk drive. |
| Decreasing available memory |
Read/write failure during POST prevents system from using available
memory. |
One or more DIMMs are faulty or improperly seated. |
Diskette drive 0 seek failure
Diskette drive 1 seek failure |
Diskette/Zip drive controller could not locate specific sector or track. |
Faulty or improperly inserted diskette, incorrect settings in System
Setup program, loose diskette/Zip drive interface cable, or loose power cable. |
| Diskette read failure |
Failure occurred while system attempted to read diskette. |
Faulty diskette, faulty or improperly connected diskette/Zip drive
interface cable, or loose power cable. |
| Diskette subsystem reset failed |
System could not successfully issue reset command to diskette controller.
|
Faulty diskette/Zip drive controller (defective system board). |
| Diskette write protected |
Diskette write-protect feature was activated. |
Diskette write-protected. |
| Drive not ready |
Diskette is missing from or is improperly inserted in diskette drive. |
Missing, defective, unformatted, or improperly inserted diskette. |
| ECC memory error |
Uncorrectable multibit ECC memory error is detected. |
Faulty or improperly seated DIMMs or
defective system board. |
| Gate A20 failure |
Gate A20 of the keyboard controller malfunctioned. Indicates a fatal
error. |
Faulty keyboard controller (defective system board). |
| General failure |
Operating system cannot execute command. |
Corrupted or improperly installed operating system. |
Hard disk controller failure
Hard disk drive read failure
Hard disk failure |
Hard-disk drive failed to initialize. Indicates a fatal error. |
Incorrect configuration settings in System Setup program, improperly
connected hard-disk drive cable, faulty hard-disk controller subsystem (defective system
board), or loose power cable. |
| Invalid configuration information - please run SETUP
program |
System Setup program contains incorrect system configuration settings. |
Incorrect configuration settings in System Setup program or faulty
battery. |
| Keyboard clock line failure Keyboard failure
Keyboard data line failure
Keyboard stuck key failure |
System cannot communicate with keyboard. Indicates a fatal error. |
Keyboard cable connector loose or improperly connected, defective
keyboard, or defective keyboard/mouse controller (defective system board). |
| Keyboard controller failure |
Keyboard/mouse controller failed. Indicates a fatal error. |
Defective keyboard/mouse controller (defective system board). |
| Memory address line failure at address, read value
expecting value Memory data line failure at address, read value
expecting value
Memory double word logic failure at address, read value expecting
value
Memory odd/even logic failure at address, read value expecting value
Memory write/read failure at address, read value expecting value
|
During memory test, value read at address
was incorrect. |
Faulty or improperly seated DIMMs or defective system board. |
| Memory allocation error |
Software in use conflicts with operating system, application program, or
utility. |
Faulty application program or utility. |
| Memory tests terminated by keystroke |
Memory test did not complete. |
POST memory test terminated by user pressing spacebar. |
| Network card is not present in the system. |
System does not detect NIC. |
Incorrect NIC drivers installed. |
| No boot device available |
System does not recognize diskette drive or hard-disk drive from which it
is trying to boot. |
Faulty diskette, diskette/Zip drive subsystem, hard-disk drive, hard-disk
drive subsystem, or no boot diskette in drive A. |
| No boot sector on hard-disk drive |
Incorrect configuration settings in System Setup program, or corrupted
operating system. |
Incorrect configuration settings in System
Setup program, or no operating system on hard-disk drive. |
| No timer tick interrupt |
Timer on system board malfunctioning. Indicates a fatal error. |
Defective system board. |
| Non-system disk or disk error |
Diskette in drive A or hard-disk drive does not have bootable operating
system installed on it. |
Faulty diskette, diskette/Zip drive subsystem, or hard-disk drive
subsystem (defective system board). |
| Not a boot diskette |
No operating system on diskette. |
No operating system on diskette. |
| Plug and Play Configuration Error |
System encountered a problem in trying to configure one or more expansion
cards. |
System resource conflict. |
| Read fault |
MS-DOS� cannot read from diskette or hard-disk drive. |
Faulty diskette, diskette/Zip drive subsystem, or hard-disk drive
subsystem (defective system board). |
| Requested sector not found |
System could not find particular sector on disk, or requested sector
defective. |
Faulty diskette, diskette/Zip drive subsystem, or hard-disk drive
subsystem (defective system board). |
| Reset failed |
Disk reset operation failed. |
Improperly connected diskette/tape drive, hard-disk drive interface
cable, or power cable. |
| Sector not found |
MS-DOS is unable to locate sector on diskette or hard-disk drive. |
Defective sectors on diskette or hard-disk drive. |
| Seek error |
MS-DOS is unable to locate specific track on diskette or hard-disk drive.
|
Defective diskette or hard-disk drive. |
| Seek operation failed |
System could not find particular address mark on disk. |
Faulty diskette or hard-disk drive. |
| Shutdown failure |
System board is faulty. Indicates a fatal error. |
Defective system board. |
| System halted |
System locked up because the microprocessor is not the correct revision. |
System microprocessor is not a type supported by Dell and more than 512
MB of RAM is installed. |
| Terminator/processor card not installed! System halted! |
System does not have terminator card or secondary microprocessor. Indicates
a fatal error. |
Terminator card or secondary microprocessor is improperly installed or is
not installed. |
| Time-of-day clock stopped |
System battery low. |
Defective battery or faulty chip (defective system board). |
| Time-of-day not set |
Time or Date settings in System Setup
program are incorrect, or the system battery does not work. |
Incorrect Time or Date setting, or
defective system battery. |
| Timer chip counter 2 failed |
Timer circuit on system board malfunctioning. Indicates a fatal
error. |
Defective system board. |
| Unexpected interrupt in protected mode |
Keyboard/mouse controller malfunctioning, or one or more DIMMs improperly
seated. Indicates a fatal error. |
Improperly seated DIMMs or faulty keyboard/mouse controller chip
(defective system board). |
| WARNING: Dell's Disk Monitoring System has detected that
drive [0/1] on the [0/1] EIDE controller is operating outside of normal specifications. It
is advisable to immediately back up your data and replace your hard-disk drive by calling
your support desk or Dell Computer Corporation. |
POST queried EIDE drive for status. Drive detected possible error
conditions. |
Unreliable or defective drive. |
| Write fault Write fault on selected drive
|
MS-DOS cannot write to diskette or hard-disk drive. |
Faulty diskette or hard-disk drive. |
