Gathering Diagnostic Data from Industrial PCs
Technical Note 1141
Applicable Model(s)
Windows PCs
Title
Gathering Diagnostic Data from Industrial PCs
Date
01/06/2020
Rev
00
P/N
0907-1141
Summary
Diagnostic data is critical for troubleshooting and resolving issues on any computer hardware system. This Technical Note describes how to gather relevant troubleshooting data from Maple Systems Industrial PCs with a Windows operating system. Sharing this data with our Technical Support Engineers may reduce the time-to-resolution for issues such as those outlined in the “Scope” section below.
Scope
The diagnostic steps outlined in the “Solutions” section below are most likely to pertain to you if you have observed one or more of the following behaviors or ‘symptoms’ in your Industrial PC product:
- Intermittent reboots, freezing, “hangs”, or “lock ups”
- A BSOD (“Blue Screen of Death”)
- Failure to load system libraries, DLL files, or system modules
- Errors reading/writing data to hard drives (HDD) or solid-state drives (SSD)
- Markedly slower performance during boot up or normal task execution
- Higher than normal resource utilization (CPU, Memory, Disk)
NOTE: The diagnostic tests and utilities outlined in this Technical Note are not intended to be used for Performance Tuning.
NOTE: If your Industrial PC does not power on, or if it cannot boot into either Safe Mode or Normal Mode, then most likely it will need to be repaired. To request an RMA or Repair, contact our Technical Support team through our website, maplesystems.com.
Solution 1 – Winscout
Maple Systems Winscout is a non-invasive diagnostic script that gathers all the most relevant data for troubleshooting. The results are saved in plain-text format in the same folder in which you run the script. Please email or share the results (.txt file) with your Tech Support Representative, along with a brief description of the issues you’ve observed, in order to assist in the troubleshooting process.
Instructions for running Winscout:
1.
Download the compressed .ZIP file containing the diagnostic script using the link below:
2.
Navigate to the folder where you downloaded the .ZIP file. Right-Click on it and select ‘Extract All’.
3.
Within the uncompressed Folder, locate the diagnostic script and helper files, named ‘winscout-full.bat’, ‘winscout-main.bat’, and ‘tee.bat’.
4.
Copy the PATH to the Folder containing these diagnostic script files (files listed above):
Method 1
a.
Right-Click on the Folder in the Address Bar in Windows Explorer
b.
Select ‘Copy address as text’
Method 2
a.
Navigate up one level to show only the Folder itself in Windows Explorer
b.
While holding down the SHIFT key, Right-Click on the Folder
c.
Select ‘Copy as path’
Example: C:\Users\user\Downloads\winscout-master\winscout-master
5.
Run CMD (Windows Command Prompt) as an Administrator:
Method 1
a.
On your keyboard, hit: WINDOWS-KEY+R
b.
Type: “cmd”
c.
Hit: CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER
Method 2
a.
On your keyboard, hit: WINDOWS-KEY
b.
Type: “cmd”
c.
Right-Click on “Command Prompt” and select “Run as administrator”
You should now see a prompt that looks like that shown in the screenshot below:
6.
Use the cd command (Change Directory) to navigate to the Folder PATH copied in Step 4 (above):
a.
Type: “cd”, followed by a SPACE
b.
Right-Click on the black area of the Command Prompt window to paste in the Folder PATH
c.
Hit: ENTER
d.
Your Command Prompt should now include the full PATH
e.
Example prompt: C:\Users\user\Downloads\winscout-master\winscout-master>
7.
Run the Winscout Diagnostic Utility:
a.
Type winscout-full.bat and hit ENTER
b.
Read the End-User License Agreement. Type Y and hit ENTER to agree and run the script.
c.
Allow the script to run to completion. Example of script running:
d.
There are two optional tests which the script will prompt you to either Run (Y) or Skip (N):
i.
System File Check: sfc /verifynow
This verifies the integrity of system files, modules, and libraries. May take some time to run.
ii.
Memory Check: mdsched.exe
This performs a RAM memory check. Requires a reboot. If you opt to Run (Y) the memory check, you will be prompted to reboot and begin the test as shown below:
While the test is running, the following screen will be displayed:
8.
Save and share the results:
a.
Once complete, the script will save all diagnostic outputs to a plain-text file in the same folder from which the utility was run. You will be notified when it has run to completion.
Example notification upon successful completion:
b.
Attach this file to your email or Tech Support Request and provide a brief description of the issues you’ve observed.
Solution 2 – Individual Diagnostic Tests
If you feel you already have an idea of what the problem may be, or you wish to run tests one at a time for some other reason, you can select from any of the recommended tests listed below.
Disk Drive Tests:
- Fragmentation Check: defrag C: /A
- Check Disk (CHKDSK): chkdsk /scan
- S.M.A.R.T. Failure Prediction Check:
wmic /namespace:\\root\wmi path MSStorageDriver_FailurePredictStatus
System File Tests:
- System File Check [Verify Only]: sfc /verifyonly
- System File Check [Scan & Attempt Repair]: sfc /scannow
- Create a copy of SFC Scan logs in case of any Errors or Warnings occurring during scans (saved to current user’s Desktop):
findstr /c:”[SR]” %windir%\Logs\CBS\CBS.log > “%userprofile%\Desktop\sfcdetails.txt”
System Event Logs:
- System Event Logs [Critical]:
WEVTUtil qe System /c:10 /rd:true /f:text /q:”Event[System[(Level=1)]]” - System Event Logs [Error]:
WEVTUtil qe System /c:10 /rd:true /f:text /q:”Event[System[(Level=2)]]”
Windows Memory Diagnostics:
- Memory Check [Reboot Required]: mdsched.exe
- Check Windows Memory Diagnostic Results:
WEVTUtil qe System /c:10 /rd:true /f:text /q:”Event[System[Provider[@Name=’Microsoft-Windows-MemoryDiagnostics-Results’]]]”
Network Interfaces: Ping, Tracert, Latency Tests:
- List All Network Interfaces: ipconfig /all
- Ping & Trace Route to Google (5 Hops Max., 5 Pings Max.): pathping /h 5 google.com /q 5