Abstract: The present invention is a pair of counters associated with the control elements in a complex control system, in particular, counters associated with the intelligent processors in a multiprocessor control. Preferably, the counters are maintained in nonvolatile memory and one of the counters for each remote records software crashes experienced in both standby and run mode. The other counter records total software crashes during normal machine operation. These counters provide information on the location and type of software crashes.In another aspect of the invention, a procedure is provided for the Tech Rep to force the machine into a software crash. The Tech Rep can then interrogate the content of RAM locations before the RAM locations are initialized by the machine reset. The contents of various RAM locations can be selectively displayed for diagnosis.