The following should be a guide on how to handle most trap (and IPE) errors. Please realize that this will not cover every possible instance of trap errors, there are over 4200 cases in Retain about them. This is to assist in some of the more routine cases that you will encounter.
The first step in problem resolution is to run CHKDSK C: /F after booting to diskette (use the /F:3 parameter if the drive is formatted HPFS). This may sound like a simplistic answer to a complex problem, but a lot of trap errors occur because of file corruption, and CHKDSK should take care of most of these problems. Make sure to run CHKDSK after booting and not while in an OS/2 window or full screen. The system won't allow the /F parameter on a drive that it is using.
It may also be helpful to copy the default CONFIG.SYS from the \OS2\INSTALL directory to the root directory. Some Trap errors can be caused by problems in the CONFIG.SYS file. In particular, a faulty device driver loading in CONFIG.SYS could cause the system to trap.
The next step is to ensure the most current CSD installed on the system. If they're running 1.3, make sure they have the latest CSDs installed (SYSLEVEL XR05150 for SE, WR05200 for EE). If they're running 2.0 or 2.1, make sure the Service Pack (SYSLEVEL XR06100 for OS/2 2.0, XR06200 for OS/2 2.1, XR06300 for OS/2 2.1 for Windows) is installed. Some trap errors that occurred previously can be corrected by just updating the CSD level.
If these steps don't correct the problem, search on RETAIN for similar cases. To effectively use RETAIN, it is important to have the register information from the customer's error, particularly the CS:EIP and CSLIM registers from a TRAP, as well as any IPE locations. Many known problems are specific to the CS:EIP and CSLIM locations, so searching on these values could greatly reduce the time spent on trouble shooting. The following is an example of an OS/2 2.1 32-bit TRAP error, with the most important registers highlighted:
TRAP =000D ERRCD=0000 ERACC=**** ERLIM=********
EAX =000004A0 EBX =00000498 ECX =FCA60000 EDX =FCA6000
ESI =00000086 EDI =FCA65A4D EBP =00004F18 FLG =00013217
CS:EIP=0F00:00008063 CSACC=009B CSLIM=0000AD5B
SS:EIP=0030:00004F0E SSACC=1097 SSLIM=00003FFF
DS =0130 DSACC=00F3 DSLIM=00004A55 CR0 =80010013
ES =0498 ESACC=00F3 ESLIM=000000CB CR2 =FFE5E000
FS =0000 FSACC=**** FSLIM=********
GS =0000 GSACC=**** GSLIM=********
ERROR AT LOCATION ## 0160:FFF5FBD5-000D:9BD5
60000, 9084
048600B4
INTERNAL REVISION 6.514 93/04/12
If that doesn't fix the error, the following is a list of some of the previously encountered problems and solutions.