TABLE OF CONTENTS Logical/analytical troubleshooting frameworks
Specific troubleshooting frameworks
How a specific troubleshooting framework works
General or generic logical/analytical frameworks
How a general or generic troubleshooting framework works
Vendor assistance advantages and pitfalls
Why troubleshooting fails
A framework underlies a structure. Logical frameworks provide the basis for structured methods to troubleshoot problems. But following a step-by-step method without first thinking through the problem is often ineffective. We need to couple logical procedures with analytical thinking. To analyze information and determine how to proceed, we combine logical deduction and induction with knowledge of the system and then sort through the information we have gathered regarding the problem.
Often a logical/analytical framework does not produce the solution to a troubleshooting problem in just one pass. We usually have to return to a previous step and go forward again. We may have to do this several times.
Even after we have gathered a large amount of information, this iterative process can tell us that we need more. Sometimes a single measurement can send us back up the framework to a previous step. We can thus systematically eliminate possible solutions to our problem until we find the true solution. For example, we might think that a blown fuse is causing a problem, but when we replace the fuse it blows again. This means that we will have return to a previous step in the troubleshooting process and investigate further.
Logical/analytical frameworks can be divided into two types:
Specific frameworks
General or generic...
