Diagnostic Aids  73
Power-On Self Test
Each time you power-on the system, the power-on 
self test (POST) is initiated. Several items are tested 
during POST, but are for the most part transparent to 
the user.
POST checks the following: 
To start POST, turn on the monitor and then the 
system unit. The following will happen:
1. The IBM Personal Computer logo will appear on 
the screen.
2.  At this time one of two hot-keys may be used. The 
F1 key will cause the system Configuration/Setup 
Utility menu to appear. The Esc key will switch the 
graphical IBM logo screen to the traditional text-
based system startup screen, which displays 
information of BIOS version, CPU, Hard Diskette 
Drive(s), CD-ROM, Mouse and system memory. 
3. If an error is detected during POST, the IBM logo 
screen will automatically switch to the text-based 
screen and display the error message or code with 
a beep. Depending on the criticality of the POST 
error, the system may halt and/or display the 
message “Press 
<F1>
 to enter to the Setup or 
<Esc>
 to continue...” 
4. During the POST, press <
F12
>, a Boot Menu will 
appear.  You can decide Boot options here or in 
system Configuration/Setup Utility menu, Boot 
sub-menu.
If this message appears, pressing the 
Esc
 key will 
allow the system to attempt to proceed despite the 
reported error; pressing 
F1 
will cause the system 
Configuration/Setup Utility menu to appear.
•  
CPU
•  
Memory Size
•  
Cache Memory
•  
Memory Speed
•  
Hard Diskette Drive(s)
•  
CD-ROM
•  
Mouse
•  
BIOS Version