Method and apparatus for detecting and isolating failures in equipment connected to a data bus

摘要

In a first aspect, a computer system includes a storage adapter, a disk drive and a SCSI bus interconnecting the storage adapter and the disk drive. The storage adapter is connected to the SCSI bus via a first active termination circuit and the disk drive is connected to the SCSI bus via a second active termination circuit. The first active termination circuit is disabled and diagnostic signals are coupled to the bus. The frequency of errors in the diagnostic signals is detected to determine whether the second active termination circuit is in a failing condition.