Understanding optimal usage of Computer System and Accessories - Week 5&6

DATE: 15^TH JUNE

General Objective: To understand the optimal usage of Computer System and Accessories.

Specific Objective: At the end of this class students should be able to know:

1.      How to Connect the Computer System and accessories correctly.

2.      How to Power the System to work.

Recommended book:

IT Essentials (2013) Cisco Networking Academy, 5th Edition http://www.ciscopress.com/store/it-essentials-9781587133084?w_ptgrevartcl=IT+Essentials%3a+Computer+Lab+Procedures+and+Tool+Use_2086239

5.1 Introduction

With all these computers being deployed for different uses, we see that the role of computers cannot be over emphasized. As an engineer-in-training, it is important for you to know safety tips in the laboratory which had been learnt in previous classes. Today, we are looking at the connection of the computer system and accessories. To start with, an example of a computer accessory is the keyboard. Others are mice, network cards or web camera. In this class, we are going to see how to do a computer assembly in stepwise format. As a rule, you should not wear clothing made of silk, polyester, or wool because these fabrics are more likely to generate a static charge.

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 Fig 1: A computer User

5.1.1 Procedures to Disassemble a PC

The need for a computer system disassembly cannot be over emphasized. Depending on the design, there are different procedures to follow. Theoretically and in the workshop, we will look at these. Note that you will disassemble a computer using safe lab procedures and the right tools.

As a rule, If you cannot locate or remove the correct component, ask your instructor for help.

As another rule, the practical does not include removing the motherboard, CPU, and cooling device from the computer because of the replacement cost of these items. Possibly, students will be allowed to remove these components from broken computers that are kept in the classroom for part identification and demonstration.

Required Tools: The following are the recommended tools for this lab:

ü  Safety glasses or goggles

ü   Antistatic wrist strap

ü  Antistatic mat

ü  Flat-head screwdrivers

ü   Phillips-head screwdrivers

ü  Torx screwdrivers

ü  Hex driver

ü  Wire cutters

ü  Plastic

ü  Part retriever (or tweezers or needle-nose pliers)Thermal compound

ü  Electronics cleaning solution

ü  Can of compressed air

ü  Cable ties

ü  Parts organizer

ü  Computer with hard drive installed

ü  Plastic tub for storing computer parts

ü  Antistatic bags for electronic parts

STEP 1

Turn off and disconnect the power to your computer.

STEP 2

Find all the screws that protect the side panels to the back of the computer. Use the proper size and type of screwdriver to remove the side panel screws. Do not remove the screws that secure the power supply to the case. Put all these screws in one place, such as a cup or a compartment in a parts organizer. Label the cup or compartment with a piece of masking tape on which you have written “side panel screws.” Remove the side panels from the case. Note the type of screwdriver did you use to remove the screws? What type of screwdriver did you use to remove the screws? Note: A Phillips screwdriver or a hex driver is the most commonly used screwdrivers to remove case panels.

Step 3

Put on an antistatic wrist strap, why?. One end of the conductor should be connected to the wrist strap. Clip

the other end of the conductor to an unpainted metal part of the case. If you have an antistatic mat, place it on the work surface and put the computer case on top of it. Ground the antistatic mat to an unpainted metal part of the case.

Step 4

Locate the hard drive. Carefully disconnect the power and data cable from the back of the hard drive.

Which type of data cable did you disconnect? SATA or EIDE.

Locate all the screws that hold the hard drive in place. Use the proper size and type of screwdriver to remove the hard drive screws. Put all these screws in one place and label them.

Caution: Do not remove the screws for the hard drive enclosure.

What type of screws secured the hard drive to the case?

Answers may vary. Normally, crosshead screws secure hard drives in place.

How many screws held the hard drive to the case?

Answers may vary. Most cases allow for up to four screws per hard drive.

Is the hard drive connected to a mounting bracket? If so, what type of screws secure the hard drive to

the mounting bracket?

Answers may vary. Most hard drive manufacturers use a flush, crosshead screw.

Step 6

Gently remove the hard drive (touching only the sides) from the case. Place the hard drive into an

antistatic bag.

Look at the jumper settings on the hard drive. Is a jumper installed?

Answers may vary.

Look for a jumper reference chart on the hard drive. If a jumper is installed on the hard drive, use the

jumper reference chart to see whether the hard drive is set for a Master, Slave, or Cable Select (CS) drive.

Answers may vary.

Step 7

Locate the floppy disk drive. Carefully disconnect the power and data cable.

Step 8

Locate all the screws that secure the floppy drive to the case. Use the proper size and type of screwdriver

to remove the floppy drive screws. Put all these screws in one place and label them.

Place the floppy drive into an antistatic bag.

How many screws secured the floppy drive to the case?

Answers may vary.

Step 9

Locate the optical drive (CD-ROM, DVD, and the like). Carefully disconnect the power and data cable from the optical drive. Remove the audio cable from the optical drive.

What kind of data cable did you disconnect?

Answers may vary (EIDE, SATA).

Is there a jumper on the optical drive? What is the jumper setting?

Answers may vary: Master, Slave, or Cable Select (CS) drive.

Step 10

Locate all the screws that secure the optical drive to the case. Use the proper size and type of screwdriver

to remove the optical drive screws. Put all these screws in one place and label them.

Place the optical drive into an antistatic bag.

How many screws secured the optical drive to the case? Answers may vary.

Step 11

Locate the power supply. Find the power connection(s) to the motherboard.

Gently remove the power connection(s) from the motherboard. How many pins are in the motherboard

connector?

Answers may vary (20-pin, 24-pin).

Does the power supply provide power to a CPU fan or case fan? If so, disconnect the power cable.

Does the power supply provide auxiliary power to the video card in the PCI, AGP or PCI-E slot? If so,

disconnect the power cable.

Step 12

Locate all the screws that secure the power supply to the case. Use the proper size and type of screwdriver

to remove the power supply screws. Put all these screws in one place and label them.

How many screws secure the power supply to the case?

Answers may vary.

Carefully remove the power supply from the case. Place           the power supply with the other computer

components.

Step 13

Locate any adapter cards that are installed in the computer, such as a video card, NIC, or modem adapter.

Locate the screw that secures the adapter card to the case. Use the proper size and type of screwdriver to remove the adapter card screw. Repeat this process for all adapter cards that are installed in the computer. Put the adapter card screws in one place and label them.

Carefully remove the adapter card from the slot. Be sure to hold the adapter card by the mounting bracket or by the edges. Place the adapter card in an antistatic bag.

Repeat this process for all the adapter cards. Place each card in an antistatic bag.

List the adapter cards and the slot types in table 5.1.

 

Table 5.1 : Adapter card vs Slot types  

Step 14

Locate the memory modules on the motherboard.

What type of memory modules are installed on the motherboard?

Answers may vary.

How many memory modules are installed on the motherboard?

Answers may vary.

Remove the memory modules from the motherboard. Be sure to release any locking tabs that may be

securing the memory module. Hold the memory module by the edges and gently lift it out of the slot.

Put the memory modules into an antistatic bag.

Step 15

Remove all data cables from the motherboard. Make sure to note the connection location of any cable

you unplug.

What types of cables were disconnected?

Answers may vary: SATA, Floppy, EIDE.

At this point, the computer case should contain the motherboard, the CPU, and any cooling devices.

Please ask your instructor for help in removing any additional components.

5.1.2 How to Assemble a PC

Pre-requisites:

1.      Identification of the various parts of a computer

2.      Electrostatic Discharge prevention (ESD)

3.      How is electrostatic electricity generated? - Friction and separation of attractive charges, such as walking across a carpet on a cool, dry day.

4.      What are the four ESD protection recommendations for preventing ESD? - Keeping all components in antistatic bags until you are ready to install them; Using grounded mats on workbenches; Using grounded floor mats in work areas; Using antistatic wrist straps when working on computers

   Installing a Processor

The microprocessor or processor  is considered the brain of the computer, you will eventually need to install the processor and its thermal solution onto the motherboard.

When installing a processor, the chip must be oriented properly on the motherboard. If a processor is

off by 90 degrees or inserted backward, it may damage the processor or the motherboard.

Pin A1 on the processor is often used to identify one corner of the processor and to help you properly insert the processor into the motherboard. These are designated by a slightly clipped corner, a small dot or triangle on one corner, or a missing pin on one or two of its corners.

PRE-TEST

Answer the following questions about installing a processor:

Before installing a motherboard, processor, RAM, or expansion card (MR-PE), you should be wearing what? Electrostatic wrist strap

When installing a processor, how do you know how to insert the processor so that is not off 90 degrees or inserted backward? Processors are keyed so that they will go in only one way.

When you insert the processor, the processor does not slide into the socket. What should you do?  Before beginning, make sure the processor locking lever or arm is not locked in its down position. You should then check to make sure that the processor is aligned properly. You should not push or force the processor into the socket because this may damage the processor, including bending the pins. If the processor is aligned properly, you should check for bent pins on the processor.

After the processor is installed onto the motherboard, what is the next component or components that

you should install? You should install the heat sink and fan.

Before you install the heat sink, what should you apply directly on the processor? Thermal compound See table 5.2 for details of socket vs pins numbers vs processor used

                Table 5.2: Showing socket type vs pins number vs processors used 

 From the table above, one can see different types of processors, pins and equivalent sockets. The student is expected to view these critically in the laboratory for familiarity.

·       Installing RAM

Immediately after the processor is installed, you are ready to install RAM onto the motherboard. Much like the processor, you must make sure that you follow the same ESD prevention and safety procedures that you follow for the installation of the processor.

PRE-TEST

Answer the following questions about installing RAM:

Describe the basic steps in inserting DIMMs or RIMMs onto the motherboard.

Line up the notches on the DIMM or RIMM with the plastic tabs located in the socket. When the notches are lined up, apply pressure to the module by pushing it into the socket until it is firmly seated.

Describe the basic steps in removing a DIMM or RIMM.

Push down the ejector tabs gently and pull the DIMM or RIMM out of the socket.

·       Installing the Motherboard

After the processor and RAM are installed onto the motherboard, you are ready to slide the motherboard

into the case. Again, be sure to follow basic ESD prevention and safety procedures.

Concept Questions

Answer the following questions about installing the motherboard:

What is used to physically separate the motherboard so that metal contacts do not make contact with

the metal case? Standoffs

What are the basic steps when installing a motherboard?

Step 1. Install the standoff onto the motherboard. Only install standoffs that align with the holes in

the motherboard because extra standoffs may interfere with the seating of the motherboard

in the computer case.

Step 2. Carefully place the motherboard inside the computer case.

Step 3. Align the I/O connectors on the back of the motherboard with the holes in the I/O shield

on the back of the computer case. Use gentle pressure to compress the contacts of the

motherboard on the I/O shield.

Step 4. When the motherboard is properly in place, align the screw holes of the motherboard with

the case.

Step 5. Insert all the screws and align the motherboard.

Step 6. After the motherboard is in place, tighten the screws. Never overtighten the screws,

because you can damage the motherboard.

What type of power connector does an ATX motherboard use, and how many pins does the main connector

have?

It is known as the ATX power connector and it has 20 or 24 pins.

·       Installing a Power Supply

Because the power supply contains a fan to help cool the entire system, the power supply is a half

electronic, half mechanical component. Because it is partly mechanical, it is a high failure item.

(Mechanical components fail more often then electronic components.) If a power supply fails, it is best

to replace it because the power supply contains high voltage; a repair will take an electronics technician

instead of a PC technician, and the cost of labor will usually exceed the cost of the power supply.

Concept Questions

Answer the following power supply questions:

Is the power supply a high failure item in a computer? If it is, why is it considered a high failure item?

Yes, the power supply has a high failure rate because it is a half-mechanical device that consists of

fans to help keep the system cooler.

When you remove the power supply from the case, how many screws usually hold the power supply

in the case?

Four to eight screws

·       Installing Optical Drives

Just about every system today has an optical drive. Therefore, you will eventually have to install or replace

one. Like other computer components, be sure to follow basic ESD prevention and safety procedures.

Concept Questions

Answer the following questions about installing optical drives:

What are the main steps in physically installing an optical drive?

Open the external bay. From the front, slide the optical drive until the face plate is in line with the

front of the computer. Use four screws, two on each side, to tightly secure the optical drive. If the

drive is not secured, it may vibrate during normal operation.

If the optical drive is using a parallel IDE interface, how should you configure the optical drive?

If you have only one drive on a ribbon, set the drive as the master. If you have the optical drive on the

same ribbon as the hard drive, set the optical drive as a slave and set the hard drive as the master.

Installing Floppy Disk Drives

Although many newer systems do not have a floppy disk drive, a large number of older systems do.

Therefore, you might need to install or replace one. Like other computer components, be sure to

follow basic ESD prevention and safety procedures.

Concept Questions

Answer the following questions about installing floppy disk drives:

What are the main steps in physically installing a floppy disk drive?

From the front, slide the floppy drive in so that the front plate is in line with the front of the computer.

Use four screws, two on each side, to tightly secure the floppy drive. Attach the floppy drive ribbon to

the drive and to the motherboard. For power to the floppy drive, insert a Berg power connector that is

provided with the computer power supply.

If you insert the floppy drive cable incorrectly, what would happen?

The drive activity light may come on and stay on. Depending on the BIOS, you may get a floppy

drive error message when you boot the computer.

To help you insert the ribbon cable properly, how do you know which pin on the cable is pin 1?

It is indicated with a red or blue stripe.

As a general rule concerning the power connector, where should the red line be when connecting the

floppy with the ribbon cable?

The red line should be closest to the power connection.

Installing a Hard Drive

Today, every system has at least one hard drive. Therefore, you will eventually have to install or replace

one. Like other computer components, be sure to follow basic ESD prevention and safety procedures.

Vocabulary Exercise: Completion

Fill in the blanks with the appropriate terms about installing a hard drive.

IDE ribbon cables have a colored line on one side of the ribbon that indicates which edge of the cable

connects to pin 1 on the socket.

Modern IDE ribbons are notched so that they can be inserted only one way on the motherboard and

IDE drive.

Each IDE ribbon cable can support up to 2 devices.

An EIDE controller supports up to 4 devices.

When you have one device connected to the ribbon cable, it is configured as a standalone device or

master device if the standalone option is not available.

When you have two devices connected to the ribbon cable, one is configured as the master and the

other is configured as the slave.

To configure a drive to be a master, a slave, or a standalone drive, you use jumpers.

The original 40-pin conductor ribbon cable could not handle the faster data rates (66 MB/s or higher).

Therefore, starting with DMA/66, a 40-pin conductor with 80 wire ribbon cable was introduced.

The serial ATA data connector uses 7 pins.

The older SCSI interfaces (including SCSI-1) supported up to 8 SCSI devices (including the host

adapter) connected to the host adapter, whereas newer SCSI interfaces (including Wide SCSI) support

up to 16 devices (including the host adapter) connected to the host adapter.

Different from the IDE interface, the two ends of the SCSI chain must be terminated.

Each SCSI device, including the adapter/controller card, is numbered with a SCSI ID from 0 to 7

or 0 to 15.

Although SCSI devices can be configured to use any free SCSI ID number, ID #2 is usually set aside

for the floppy drive; it is recommended that optical drives such as CD and DVD drives are set to ID #3.

The SCSI adapter is usually set to ID #7, and the primary SCSI hard drive or any other boot device is

set to ID #0.

To configure the SCSI ID numbers for SCSI hard drives, you typically use jumpers

BIOS and the BIOS Setup Program

The BIOS setup program is stored in the system ROM chip. It varies greatly from computer to computer.

Today’s BIOS setup programs include many options. To organize them, they are often grouped

together. Most BIOS setup programs are menu based, including standard CMOS setup, advanced

chipset setup, power management, PCI configuration, and peripheral configuration.

The standard CMOS setup includes the information for the date, time, floppy drives, hard drives, keyboard,

and video card. The advanced chipset is used to fine-tune the hardware setup of the system,

such as fine-tuning the processor (including enabling or disabling Hyper-Threading), cache system,

memory system, or I/O system. The peripherals setup options include onboard floppy disk drives,

parallel ports, and serial ports that can be disabled or configured using the BIOS setup program.

Power management includes several options to extend the battery life of notebook computers and to

conserve power on desktop computers.

Concept Questions

Answer the following questions about BIOS and the BIOS setup:

What is POST short for? Power On Self Test

Define what the POST does. POST is a basic electronic test that ensures that the basic hardware in the computer is connected properly and running correctly. When the BIOS detects a problem with any hardware in the computer, it sends a warning to the technician. It is designed to emit a series of beeps that a technician can use to determine which piece of hardware is faulty when the display system has not yet been activated during boot.

What is the problem when you hear a single beep? If the display system has been activated and information is being displayed on the screen, a single beep indicates that the POST completed with no problem. If nothing is displayed on the screen, you will need to identify the manufacturer of the system ROM BIOS and look up the meaning of the beep code. Most likely the problem is with the RAM or the video card.

How do you enter the BIOS setup program?

To configure BIOS settings, you need to enter the proper key sequence. The sequence can be read on the screen while the computer is booting. The key sequence may be different on different computers, depending on the manufacturer of the BIOS. Some BIOS chips require you to press the Delete key within the first four or five seconds after booting the computer. Other BIOS chips require you to press the F2 key within the same time period.

Checklist

1. If an IDE ribbon cable is not keyed, how do you know how to connect the cable?

A. Pin 1 of the cable will be indicated with a red or blue stripe. Connect the red or blue stripe

lining up to pin 1.

B. Attach the cable any way that fits.

C. Purchase a new cable.

D. Purchase a new drive.

2. You have an IDE hard drive and an IDE DVD drive on the same ribbon cable. What do you

need to do so that both drives will function properly?

A. Select the hard drive to be the master and the DVD drive to be the slave.

B. Connect the hard drive at the end of the cable and the DVD drive into the middle connector.

Be sure that the ribbon cable has a twist in it.

C. Select the hard drive and the DVD drive to be the master so that you can get the best

performance.

D. Select the hard drive to IDE #1 and the DVD drive to IDE #2.

3. Which of the following determines master or slave on an IDE ribbon cable?

A. A twist in the cable

B. Which device was installed first

C. The jumper settings

D. The BIOS

4. If you connect a new IDE hard drive and the drive is not recognized, what should you check first?

A. The cable

B. The jumper settings

C. The BIOS

D. The drive

5. You just installed a second hard drive onto the ribbon cable that hosts the first hard drive. The

second hard drive is not being recognized. You therefore verify that the ribbon cable is connected

properly and that the jumper settings are configured properly. What else should you do?

A. Make sure that the hard drive has been partitioned and formatted.

B. Run the FDISK /MBR to repair the master boot record.

C. Verify that the partition is active.

D. Verify that the BIOS has been configured to detect a second hard drive.

6. Which of the following is a task that you have to perform when installing SCSI devices?

(Choose two answers.)

A. Set the jumpers for master/slave.

B. Perform a low-level format on the SCSI drive.

C. Assign each SCSI device a unique ID number.

D. Set the drive type in the CMOS setup.

E. Make sure that the two ends on the SCSI chain are terminated.

7. If a power supply fails, what should you do?

A. Send it to an electrical technician.

B. Try to fix it yourself.

C. Replace the power supply.

D. Replace the computer.

8. When installing a new processor, what should you apply directly to the processor?

A. Cooling liquid

B. Thermal compound

C. A heat sink

D. A fan

9. When connecting a floppy drive ribbon cable, how should the ribbon cable be connected?

A. Attach cable any way that fits.

B. Typically, the red or blue line should be farthest from the power connection.

C. Typically, the red or blue line should be closest to the power connection.

D. If the cable does not have a red or blue line, you are using the wrong cable, so it has

to be replaced.

10. On an AT power supply, how should you connect the P8 and P9 power connectors?

A. The green wires have to be together.

B. The white wires have to be together.

C. The brown wires have to be together.

D. The black wires have to be together.

11. How do I know if I have an ATX power supply instead of an AT power supply?

A. An AT power supply will have two power connectors that connect to the motherboard. The

ATX power supply will have either a 20- or 24-pin power connector that connects to the

motherboard.

B. An ATX power supply will have two power connectors that connect to the motherboard.

The AT power supply will have either a 20- or 24-pin power connector that connects to the

motherboard.

C. The AT power supply will have eight power connectors for drives and other devices.

D. The ATX power supply will have eight power connectors for drives and other devices

12. Which of the following sockets are used for a 3.8 GHz Pentium 4 processor?

A. Socket 423

B. Socket 426

C. Socket 478

D. Socket 754

E. Socket A

13. You are looking at a processor socket that has 462 pins. Which processors can be inserted into it?

A. Intel Pentium 4 processor

B. AMD Athlon processor

C. AMD Athlon 64 processor

D. Intel Core2 processor

14. If you wanted to disable Hyper-Threading on a 3.6 MHz Pentium 4 system, what would you use?

A. Windows Device Manager.

B. Jumpers on the motherboard.

C. The BIOS setup program.

D. The Pentium 4 running at 3.6 MHz does not support Hyper-Threading.

Lab Exercises

Installing the Power Supply

The following is the recommended equipment for this lab:

n Power supply with the same form factor as the computer case

n Computer case

n Tool kit

n Power supply screws

Step 1

Remove the screws that hold the side panels in place.

Remove the side panels.

Step 2

Align the screw holes in the power supply with the screw holes in the case.

Secure the power supply to the case using the proper screws.

Step 3

If the power supply has a voltage selection switch, set this switch to match the voltage in your area.

What is the voltage in your area?

Answers may vary. Either 110/115v or 220/230v.

How many screws hold the power supply in place?

Answers may vary. Usually four.

What is the total wattage of the power supply?

Answers may vary.

Installing the Motherboard?

Here, you will install a CPU, a heat sink/fan assembly, and a RAM module on the motherboard.

You will then install the motherboard in the computer case.

The following is the recommended equipment for this lab:

n Computer case with power supply installed

n Motherboard

n CPU

Heat sink/fan assembly

n Thermal compound

n RAM module(s)

n Motherboard standoffs and screws

n Antistatic wrist strap and antistatic mat

n Tool kit

n Motherboard manual

Instructor Note: If you do not want

Step 1

Place the motherboard, CPU, RAM, and the heat sink/fan assembly on the antistatic mat.

Step 2

Instructor Note: These are general instructions for an LGA775 socket. Your motherboard may be different.

Follow all instructions provided by your CPU and motherboard manufacturers.

Put on your antistatic wrist strap and attach the grounding cable to the antistatic mat.

Locate pin 1 on the CPU. Locate pin 1 on the socket.

Note: The CPU may be damaged if it is installed incorrectly.

Align pin 1 on the CPU with pin 1 on the socket.

Place the CPU into the CPU socket.

Close the CPU load plate and secure it in place by closing the load lever and moving it under the load

lever retention tab.

Step 3

Apply a small amount of thermal compound to the CPU, and then spread it evenly.

Note: Thermal compound is necessary only when not factory applied on the heat sink assembly. Follow all

instructions provided by the manufacturer for specific application details.

Step 4

Align the heat sink/fan assembly retainers with the holes on the motherboard around the CPU socket.

Place the heat sink/fan assembly onto the CPU and the retainers through the holes on the motherboard.

Tighten the heat sink/fan assembly retainers to secure it.

Plug the fan connector into the motherboard. Refer to the motherboard manual to determine which set

of fan header pins to use.

Step 5

Locate the RAM slots on the motherboard.

In what type of slot(s) will the RAM module(s) be installed?

Answers may vary.

How many notches are found on the bottom edge of the RAM module?

Answers may vary.

Align the notch(es) on the bottom edge of the RAM module to the notches in the slot.

Press down until the side tabs secure the RAM module.

Ensure that none of the RAM module contacts are visible. Reseat the RAM module if necessary.

Check the latches to verify that the RAM module is secure.

Install any additional RAM modules using the same procedures.

Step 6

Install the motherboard standoffs.

Align the connectors on the back of the motherboard with the openings in the back of the computer case.

Place the motherboard into the case and align the holes for the screws and the standoffs. You may

need to adjust the motherboard to line up the holes for the screws.

Attach the motherboard to the case using the appropriate screws.

Step 7

Connect the wires from the case link lights and buttons to the motherboard connectors.

Other lab Installations:

Installing the Drives

Install Adapter Cards

Install Internal Cables

Complete the Computer Assembly

Boot the Computer