Mac EKG! Tell me, where does it hurt?

Mac EKG! Tell me, where does it hurt?



Author: Rick Baggott

Date: April, 1993

Keywords: UTILITY PROGRAM SOFTWARE REVIEW maintenance troubleshooting
hardware

Text:
     MacEKG is a control panel device (CDEV), or extension, that
analyzes your Mac at startup and or at shutdown, and reports any
hardware problems it finds.  It keeps a record of pass tests and
compares these results with the most recent test to alert you of
potential problems.
     MacEKG is published by MicroMat Computer Systems in Navato,
California.  Their sales information number is (415) 898-6227, and
technical support number is (415) 898-2935.  The three disks, manual,
registration card and any notices come packaged in a convenient durable
bookshelf binder.  The manual is complete, legible, indexed and has
instructions for a quick install and startup for those of us who can't
stand to, "read the doc."
     This diagnostic package is System 7 savvy, complete with balloon
help and a healthy vocal prompt sound file.  I rather look forward to
booting my Mac just to hear a pleasant female voice tell me everything
is okay.  MacEKG will also run under a minimum System 6.0.7, however
System 7 is recommended to take full advantage of the programs
capabilities.  The retail price is $150.00 but I found it in the latest
Mac Warehouse mail catalog for $99.00.  A reasonable $3.00 shipping and
handling charge includes overnight delivery.  Upgrades from MicroMat
are $40.00 and if you're on America On-line you can download the
upgrade for $25.00.
     Installing MacEKG on the hard drive of my Mac SE was fast and
painless.  The majority of the program comes in self-extracting
compacted files.  After unpacking, drag the "MacEKG" file (CDEV) to the
system folder.  Drag the unpacked "MacEKG folder" to the system folder,
or if using System 7, drag it to your Preferences folder inside the
system folder.  All ancillary items, such as the graphic and sound
files are stored inside the MacEKG folder.  If disk space is limited,
the only file required in the MacEKG folder is the "MacEKG Prefs" file.
 Three sound files come with MacEKG.  Collectively they take up a fair
amount of disk space, but you may install only sound file #1 if you
wish to conserve.  Should you decide to install all possible MacEKG
files, you'll need about 2,400K of disk space.  If you don't have a
color Mac and use only one of the sound files, you'll use about 794K.
     MacEKG loads last at startup along with the other INITs and CDEVs.
The full (longest) test took a minute and seventeen seconds on my Mac
SE with the DOVE Marathon accelerator active.  It obviously wouldn't
take as long on the newer Macs and would take longer on an older Mac
Plus.  Considering all the tests that are run, it seems to be very fast
at completing these tasks.  There isn't anything to do after installing
MacEKG, except re-booting, to run MacEKG in its default configuration. 
If you like to tinker with things like I do, you can go to the control
panel, open the MacEKG icon and custom configure to your hearts
content.  There, you can also review the history of MacEKG tests on
your machine or export the logs for your favorite word processing
program.
     MacEKG is replete with sounds and graphics.  It is definitely a
Mac program.  It's the most involved diagnostic program I've seen.  For
those who have downloaded Ken McLeod's MacEnvy (public domain) and
Scott Berfield's Speedometer (shareware, $25), these programs give you
an idea of the kind of thing MacEKG does, only MacEKG's process is much
more extensive.
     Service technicians will find MacEKG indispensable for testing
critical computer components and providing a standardized benchmark for
complete testing of the Macintosh.
     While MacEKG provides the everyday user with a powerful set of
diagnostic tools for testing and watching over their system, it is also
quite useful to the service technician.  MacEKG features advanced
chip-level diagnostics previously available only to Authorized Apple
Technicians.  Network managers will find EKG useful for monitoring
individual computer configuration and overall system health.
     Using MacEKG and its ReActivator feature, you can set up the
machine to continually run MacEKG and repeatedly reboot.  By setting
MacEKG's sound preference control (see Control Panel) to Warnings Only,
you can set up your computer to run MacEKG both continuously and
silently until it finds a problem and calls your attention with a
warning message.  This allows the machine to be tested automatically
without attendance; freeing you for other things while waiting for a
problem to be caught.  Once the machine has reported a failure, EKG's
warning message and logs will point you in the direction of the
problem.

COMPONENT TESTS:
MacEKG utilizes a bit-to-bit component test on five important
integrated circuits:  VIA1, VIA2, SCC, SCSI and PRAM.  These tests not
only verify that the component is operational, but determines the
degree of operation based on several performance tests.

RAM TESTS:
MacEKG's RAM test differs from the Macintosh self-test in two ways.
When the Macintosh tests its RAM, there is no system software present,
so every bit of RAM is tested.  Every portion of the RAM is tested
twice to verify that all bits of the memory are addressable.  Since EKG
runs its RAM test after the system and all the extensions have loaded, 
only the portions of RAM remaining after the system software has loaded
can be tested.  Since MacEKG runs before the Finder and any
applications are loaded, it can access more RAM than application-based
testers, because it can test the RAM space that the Finder and these
applications would normally be occupying.  Though only a portion of RAM
is tested by EKG, the RAM that is checked is tested much more
thoroughly than the self-test.

PRAM TESTS:
MacEKG tests this chip by requesting a series of time calculations,
loading its entire contents into RAM, clearing out the chip, and then
reloading the data.  This is repeated 25 times and the differences in
timing compared.  If the timing discrepancy is below 5% (normal), then
a "Pass" symbol is displayed, and EKG moves to the RAM test.  Should
the PRAM test experience a timing discrepancy above 5%, or the PRAM
refuses to accept the return of its data, the PRAM test will display a
"Poor" flag and issue a component warning at the completion of
diagnostics.

LOGIC TESTS:
The first test MacEKG performs is the logic test.  This test is
comprised of eight high-level mathematical formulas and is measured by
the time it takes to complete each formula.  Each individual test
addresses a unique aspect of the Macintosh's computational abilities.

VIDEO TESTS:
MacEKG tests external video device performance as well as internal
video circuitry for abnormalities in functionality and performance. The
test involves a 25-step test which performs both QuickDraw and
direct-addressing video command tests.  This test will measure video
performance in any monitor setting.  In a multiple monitor environment,
only the main screen (the one which contains the Finder menubar) will
be tested.

HISTOGRAM:
This histogram is a twenty-five entry self-scaling bar-graph which
represents EKG's last 25 tests.  Its purpose is to provide the user
with a visual indication of the systems performance and operational
trends without the need to interpret individual log entries.  This is
much like a month-at-a-glance health report for the system being
tested.

MEDIA TESTS:
MacEKG tests all read-capable devices on the SCSI bus.  It does not
perform write tests, so it won't damage any data on your drives. 
MacEKG's media test measures information-access times by seeking to a
particular track, reading a contiguous series of blocks, and then
returning the drive heads to their ready positions.  The time taken to
perform this routine is reported in milliseconds and stored for each
device on the bus.
CONCLUSION
     MacEKG didn't find any problems with my Mac SE.  It operated
without any noticeable incompatibilities with all my other INITs and
CDEVs.  With System 6.0.7 and Multifinder, the SE froze when I clicked
on an item under "Log Display" in the CDEV window of the control panel.
 It functioned without a hitch by using just the Finder alone.  The
only complaint I have is that the on-screen read-out of values and text
is extremely small and very difficult to read.  Of course, by exporting
the report to a word processing program, it would be very readable and
you could print the results of the tests.
     MacEKG tests 35 different attributes of your system in three major
areas: logic functions, QuickDraw performance, and SCSI I/O.  As each
section is tested, MacEKG displays the results for the individual tests
performed for that particular section.  At the conclusion of a section
test, it gives you an MPR number, i.e., a MicroMat Performance Rating. 
The higher the number the better your system's performance. (By way of
comparison, a Mac Plus normally gives a number around 500, a Mac IIFX
running with few or no INITs may return a number in the high 9000s, and
a Quadra [with cache on] returns a number around 13,000.)  When
finished, it displays a bar graph of the current, first, and last test
results.
     Overall, MacEKG logs and compares 250 different parameters to make
sure your Mac is operating at peak performance.  Once installed, it
learns your machine and how it should behave.  If a significant change
occurs, MacEKG sounds a warning.  It is an excellent tool in
determining if a system crash or other persistent or sporadic glitch is
hardware or software oriented.  Once you're satisfied that you don't
have a hardware problem, then you can start your search for that pesky
INIT incompatibility.
     MicroMat has included a couple of extra goodies on the disks.
"System Errors 7.0.1" and "Sad Mac Error Codes 3.82" are both stand
alone applications that list and describe a myriad of error codes you
may or may not ever see on your Mac.
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