Upgrading and Repairing PCs

1190 Pages·1998·6.575 MB·English

by  Scott Mueller

Contents i
Upgrading
Repairing
and

PC
S
Eighth Edition
p3v4q13 Access/Upgrading #1295-4 Mary Ellen 2/3/98 FM LP#2
ii Contents
p3v4q13 Access/Upgrading #1295-4 Mary Ellen 2/3/98 FM LP#2
Contents iii
Upgrading
Repairing
and

PC
S
Eighth Edition
Scott Mueller
p3v4q13 Access/Upgrading #1295-4 Mary Ellen 2/3/98 FM LP#2
iv Contents
Upgrading and Repairing PCs, Eighth Edition
Copyright© 1998 by Que® Corporation
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this
book may be used or reproduced in any form or by any means, or stored in a
database or retrieval system, without prior written permission of the pub-
lisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and
reviews. Making copies of any part of this book for any purpose other than
your own personal use is a violation of United States copyright laws. For in-
formation, address Que Corporation, 201 W. 103rd Street, Indianapolis, IN,
46290. You may reach Que’s direct sales line by calling 1-800-428-5331.
Library of Congress Catalog No.: 97-68686
ISBN: 0-7897-1295-4
This book is sold as is, without warranty of any kind, either express or
implied, respecting the contents of this book, including but not limited to
implied warranties for the book’s quality, performance, merchantability, or
fitness for any particular purpose. Neither Que Corporation nor its dealers or
distributors shall be liable to the purchaser or any other person or entity with
respect to any liability, loss, or damage caused or alleged to have been caused
directly or indirectly by this book.
99 98 9 8 7 6 5 4 3
Interpretation of the printing code: The rightmost double-digit number is the
year of the book’s printing; the rightmost single-digit number, the number of
the book’s printing. For example, a printing code of 98-8 shows that the
eighth printing of the book occurred in 1998.
All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be trademarks or service
marks have been appropriately capitalized. Que cannot attest to the accuracy
of this information. Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as
affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark.
Screen reproductions in this book were created using Collage Plus from Inner
Media, Inc., Hollis, NH.
Back cover photograph Copyright© 1997 Black/Toby Photography
Composed in Stone Serif and MCPdigital by Que Corporation
p3v4q13 Access/Upgrading #1295-4 Mary Ellen 2/3/98 FM LP#2
Contents v
Contents at a Glance
Introduction 1 Input/Output Hardware 333 In
Introduction 7 9 Input Devices 335 pu
1 Personal Computer Background 9 In 10 Video Display Hardware 385 t/
t O
2 Overview of System Features and ro 11 Communications and u
Components 15 du Networking 429 tp
c u
3 System Teardown and t 12 Audio Hardware 489 t
Inspection 27 io H
n a
r
d
w
a
r
e
Primary System Components 77 Mass Storage 517
P
4 Motherboards 79 r 13 Floppy Disk Drives 519
i
m
5 Bus Slots and I/O Cards 105 a 14 Hard Disk Drives 567 M
r a
6 Microprossor Types and y 15 Hard Disk Interfaces 627 s
s
Specifications 159 Co 16 Hard Disk Drive Installation 687 St
7 Memory 223 m o
p 17 CD-ROM Drives 723 ra
8 The Power Supply 291 o g
n 18 Tape and Other Mass-Storage e
en Drives 759
t
s
p3v4q13 Access/Upgrading #1295-4 Mary Ellen 2/3/98 FM LP#2
vi Contents
System Assembly Appendixes 987
Maintenance 791 Sy A Vendor List 989
19 Building a System 793 st B Glossary 1039 A
20 Portable Systems 809 em pp
M e
Index 1101 n
a d
in ix
t e
e s
n
a
n
c
e
Troubleshooting and
Diagnostics 835
T
21 Software and Hardware Diagnostic r
o
Tools 837 u
b
22 Operating Systems Software and l
e
Troubleshooting 873 sh
o
23 IBM Personal Computer Family o
t
Hardware 925 i
n
24 A Final Word 979 g
p3v4q13 Access/Upgrading #1295-4 Mary Ellen 2/3/98 FM LP#2
Contents vii
Contents
Introduction 1
What Are the Main Objectives
of This Book?............................................................................3
Who Should Use This Book? ........................................................3
What Is in This Book?...................................................................4
I Introduction 7
1 Personal Computer Background 9
Personal Computing History........................................................9
The IBM Personal Computer ......................................................11
The IBM-Compatible Marketplace
16 Years Later.........................................................................13
2 Overview of System Features and Components 15
Types of Systems.........................................................................15
Documentation...........................................................................17
Basic System Documentation.............................................18
Component and Peripheral Documentation.....................19
Chip and Chipset Documentation.....................................21
Manufacturer-Specific Documentation......................................23
Warranties and Service Contracts ..............................................23
3 System Teardown and Inspection 27
Using the Proper Tools ...............................................................27
Hand Tools..........................................................................28
Soldering and Desoldering Tools........................................30
Using Proper Test Equipment.....................................................33
Wrap Plugs (Loopback Connectors)...................................33
Meters .................................................................................34
Logic Probes and Logic Pulsers...........................................35
Outlet Testers......................................................................35
SIMM Testers ......................................................................36
Chemicals ...................................................................................37
A Word About Hardware ............................................................39
Types of Hardware..............................................................39
English versus Metric..........................................................40
p3v4q13 Access/Upgrading #1295-4 Mary Ellen 2/3/98 FM LP#2
viii Contents
Disassembly and Reassembly Procedures...................................40
Disassembly Preparation ....................................................41
System Disassembly............................................................45
Motherboard Installation...................................................52
Preventive Maintenance and Backups........................................57
Developing a Preventive Maintenance Program........................58
Active Preventive Maintenance Procedures.......................58
Hard Disk Maintenance......................................................67
Passive Preventive Maintenance Procedures......................69
II Primary System Components 77
4 Motherboards 79
Replacement Motherboards........................................................79
Knowing What to Look For (Selection Criteria).........................79
Documentation...................................................................83
ROM BIOS Compatibility...................................................84
Using Correct Speed-Rated Parts ........................................89
Motherboard Form Factors.........................................................90
Backplane Systems..............................................................91
Full-Size AT.........................................................................92
Baby-AT...............................................................................92
LPX......................................................................................93
ATX.....................................................................................94
NLX.....................................................................................97
Motherboard Interface Connectors............................................98
Motherboard CMOS RAM Addresses........................................101
5 Bus Slots and I/O Cards 105
What Is a Bus?...........................................................................105
The Processor Bus.............................................................105
The Memory Bus...............................................................107
The Address Bus................................................................108
The Need for Expansion Slots...................................................108
Bus Mastering............................................................................109
Types of I/O Buses ....................................................................109
The ISA Bus.......................................................................110
The Micro Channel Bus....................................................115
The EISA Bus.....................................................................117
Automated Setup..............................................................120
Local Buses........................................................................120
FireWire (IEEE-1394).........................................................138
Universal Serial Bus (USB)................................................139
System Resources......................................................................140
Interrupts (IRQs)...............................................................140
DMA Channels.................................................................145
I/O Port Addresses ............................................................147
p3v4q13 Access/Upgrading #1295-4 Mary Ellen 2/3/98 FM LP#2
Contents ix
Resolving Resource Conflicts....................................................148
Resolving Conflicts Manually ..........................................149
Using a System-Configuration Template.........................150
Heading Off Problems: Special Boards.............................154
Plug and Play Systems ......................................................156
6 Microprocessor Types and Specifications 159
Processor Specifications............................................................159
Data Bus............................................................................159
Internal Registers..............................................................162
Address Bus.......................................................................162
Processor Speed Ratings....................................................163
Intel Processors .........................................................................166
8088 and 8086 Processors.................................................166
80186 and 80188 Processors.............................................167
286 Processors...................................................................167
386 Processors...................................................................168
386DX Processors .............................................................169
386SX Processors ..............................................................170
386SL Processors...............................................................170
486 Processors...................................................................171
OverDrive Processors and Sockets....................................182
Pentium ............................................................................193
Pentium Pro Processor......................................................201
Pentium II.........................................................................203
Intel-Compatible Processors.....................................................204
AMD Processors ................................................................205
Cyrix .................................................................................205
Math Coprocessors ...................................................................206
8087 Coprocessor .............................................................208
80287 Coprocessor ...........................................................209
80387 Coprocessor ...........................................................209
Weitek Coprocessors.........................................................210
80487 Upgrade..................................................................210
Processor Tests ..........................................................................210
Known Defective Chips....................................................211
Pentium Processor Models and Steppings........................215
Other Processor Problems.................................................222
Heating and Cooling Problems........................................222
7 Memory 223
The System Logical Memory Layout ........................................223
Conventional (Base) Memory...........................................224
Upper Memory Area (UMA) .............................................224
Extended Memory ............................................................242
Expanded Memory ...........................................................244
Preventing ROM BIOS Memory Conflicts and Overlap...246
p3v4q13 Access/Upgrading #1295-4 Mary Ellen 2/3/98 FM LP#2
x Contents
ROM Shadowing...............................................................246
Total Installed Memory versus Total Usable Memory .....248
Adapter Memory Configuration and Optimization.........250
Taking Advantage of Unused Upper Memory..................252
Physical Memory ......................................................................256
RAM Chips........................................................................257
Physical Storage and Organization...................................257
Memory Banks..................................................................259
Parity Checking ................................................................261
SIMMs and DIMMs...........................................................264
SIMM Pinouts...................................................................269
RAM Chip Speed...............................................................271
EDO RAM..........................................................................272
SDRAM..............................................................................272
Upgrading by Increasing System Memory ...............................273
Upgrade Strategies............................................................273
Adding Motherboard Memory .................................................274
Selecting and Installing Memory Chips, SIMMs,
or DIMMs.....................................................................274
Adding Adapter Boards.....................................................280
Installing Memory............................................................281
Upgrading the ROM BIOS.........................................................283
Keyboard-Controller Chips ..............................................286
BIOS Manufacturers and Vendors....................................286
Special ROM BIOS-Related Problems................................287
Changes to an Existing BIOS............................................288
8 The Power Supply 291
Power Supply Function and Operation....................................291
Power Supply Form Factors..............................................293
Power Supply Connectors ................................................299
The Power_Good Signal....................................................303
Power Supply Loading......................................................304
Power-Supply Ratings.......................................................305
Power Supply Specifications.............................................307
Power-Use Calculations....................................................308
Leave It On or Turn It Off?.......................................................310
Energy Star Systems..................................................................312
Power Supply Problems ............................................................313
Power Supply Troubleshooting ................................................314
Digital Multi-Meters.........................................................316
Specialized Test Equipment..............................................318
Repairing the Power Supply......................................................319
Obtaining Replacement Units..................................................321
Deciding on a Power Supply ............................................321
Sources for Replacement Power Supplies.........................322
p3v4q13 Access/Upgrading #1295-4 Mary Ellen 2/3/98 FM LP#2