Compaq 6000 - ProLiant - 128 MB RAM, 8000 - Elite Convertible Minitower PC, 8100 - Elite Convertible Minitower PC, 6005 - Pro Microtower PC User Manual
November 2009
Table of Contents:
Introduction ....................................................................................... 1
Importance of Desktop Testing ............................................................. 2
Test Tool Development ........................................................................ 2
Hardware Evaluation Test Development ....................................................... 2
Hardware and Software design evaluation tools .................................. 2
ETD ............................................................................................... 3
Software Image Development ................................................................... 3
Types of Testing ................................................................................. 3
System Board Validation Testing ............................................................... 3
Platform Validation Testing ....................................................................... 4
Mechanical Validation Testing .................................................................. 4
Module Functional Testing ........................................................................ 5
System Integration Testing ........................................................................ 6
Performance Testing ................................................................................ 6
Desktop Certifications .............................................................................. 7
Tested Configurations ......................................................................... 7
Hours of Testing ................................................................................. 8
Observations during Testing ................................................................ 8
On-going Qualifications ...................................................................... 8
For More Information .......................................................................... 9
Introduction
Testing is an important part of the value supplied by HP to our customers. Many companies can
assemble personal computers. HP has the engineering expertise and resources to perform the tens of
thousands of hours testing for every desktop platform we develop. This testing provides our customers
with peace of mind, knowing that hundreds of different tests have been performed to provide a stable
and reliable experience.
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In our quest to continuously improve the customer experience, HP uses a disciplined and methodical
development and test process. We verify that each new desktop platform meets or exceeds HP quality
standards for structural integrity, reliability, and compatibility. This white paper describes the various
forms of testing performed by HP engineering when developing a new HP Business Desktop PC
platform.
Importance of Desktop Testing
Business Desktop PCs represent a large portion of the worldwide computer shipments and are often the
workhorses of business. As such, it is critical that they be durable and able to support a vast array of
operating systems, languages, applications, and add-in options. Helping to ensure this compatibility
and flexibility requires extensive, well-engineered testing.
In this industry, quality is a differentiator. Business customers recognize the value of a more reliable PC,
and that is a major factor in their purchase selection. The time and resources we invest in our testing
yield benefits to them and to HP. A well-tested product can lead to a more efficient factory, lower costs,
fewer failures in the field, and more satisfied customers.
The PC business is a dynamic industry in which new technologies are created and adopted. It is
imperative that we have a robust test process that can react to new technologies, verify their quality,
integrate them into our product lines, and get them to market quickly.
The following sections provide more details of the HP test tool development and capability and the
types of testing performed. These sections also provide a closer look at the investment of time in our
test process and how we track the results of tests conducted on HP Business Desktop PCs.
Test Tool Development
An essential element of the HP test process is our attention and dedication to continuously improving
the tests and processes used during product development. Two such areas of concentration are
Hardware Evaluation Test Development and Software Image Development. Hardware Evaluation Test
Development designs tests to help ensure that hardware components conform to published functional
engineering design specifications. Software Image Development architects image databases,
processes, and tools used to test and deliver software images on business desktop products.
Hardware Evaluation Test Development
HP’s Evaluation Test Development (ETD) team designs and builds specialized hardware and software
used to ensure that PCs meet HP’s high standards for design quality and functionality. These tools test
the hardware components for conformance to published functional engineering design specifications.
This engineering organization, established in 1988, is shared across other business units at HP. The
ETD tools have evolved over years of development, and are available to all HP design teams,
manufacturing sites, development partners, and HP field engineers for use exclusively on HP products.
This test capability is unique in the PC industry and enables HP to thoroughly evaluate computer
designs from firmware to silicon, as well as improve quality and reduce manufacturing costs.
Hardware and Software design evaluation tools
ETD validation tools include both low level functional tests which target particular subsystems in
isolation, and system stress tests which test nearly every subsystem in combination in order to discover
any undesirable interactions. The test tools are designed to support identification, isolation, and
debugging of issues so that the final system designs are verified to meet HP’s required functional,
electrical and mechanical standards.
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ETD
Hardware and software tools are used to validate the following PC subsystems:
Microprocessors and chipsets, including cache memory, interrupts, and timers
System memory
Internal expansion interfaces: PCI, PCI-Express, mini-PCI-Express
Hard Drive and Removable Storage (Blu-ray, DVD, CD-RW) interfaces
Network adapters, Bluetooth and 802.11a/b/n Wireless adapters and Modems
Parallel, Serial, USB 1.1/2.0 and Firewire (IEEE 1394) ports
Trusted Platform (TPM) hardware
Flash memory readers / devices
PC Card / Express Card interfaces
Software Image Development
Software Image Development is optimized for time-to-market delivery, quality, and release integrity. A
dedicated tool development team was formed in 1998. Their charter was to design software image
databases, processes, and tools that encompass the following elements:
Test Management—Database tools enable test teams to generate and manage test plans and test
procedures in a centralized, repeatable environment with assurances that the test configurations
conform to product definition and requirements.
Comprehensive test procedures within test plans contain pass/fail criteria that can be
leveraged by any workgroup. Rigorous database rules help verify that each test procedure
criteria is executed only when certain conditions are met.
Test configurations are tracked at the hardware revision level of each device, including
firmware (FW)/BIOS revisions, and at the software versions level for each component used
during software image download and test.
Automated Test Environment—This enables test teams to download a products software image,
automatically install the software to replicate the manner in which a typical customer might install
it, automatically run test scripts, and then log results into the database. For a given product
configuration, hundreds of different software downloads, installations, and tests can be logged
with minimal time and effort.
Quality Assurance—Software image development databases and tools enable a complete, end-to-
end, repeatable image test process. All HW, FW, and SW changes are systematically managed.
System checks are in place to help make sure that what gets built in any factory worldwide and
sent to the customer is the same as what was tested and qualified in engineering.
Types of Testing
HP executes a vast array of testing on Business Desktop PCs to help ensure that systems meet important
industry standards. Multiple engineering teams conduct various types of testing throughout the product
development cycle. This helps mitigate risk by providing needed checks and balances and it helps to
ensure a high HP standard of quality. These tests include, but are not limited to:
System Board Validation Testing
This testing focuses on the signal quality of high-speed interfaces, power delivery to system
components, and ACPI power management. The System board is put through stress testing to help
ensure that it will operate normally while running under the range of operating conditions. Testing
includes:
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