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Motherboards & their Components |
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Motherboards - Types - CPU Slots SS7, S370,Slot1, Slot 2, SlotA
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Sound Cards Intermittent sound/video quality. |
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One of the fastest technologically changing components, so much so, it's
difficult to keep this info up-to-date, but basically at the moment these come
in various standards:
- AT
- ATX (has now
superseded AT)
ATX motherboards have an external PS2 Mouse port in addition to the 2
serial ports also present on AT boards. ATX also has an external USB connector
where this is usually internal to the AT board.
In appearance, the ATX is also larger and thus requires an ATX case to
accommodate the extra size and the additional external port/ USB connector.
ATX boards are designed for a specific CPU (processor) and have the one
of the following sockets/slots for them:
- Socket 7 (or
otherwise known as SS7) - AMD still make processors for these.
- Socket S370 (used
with Cerelon - cut-down, lower grade Intel Pentium chips)
- Intel Pentium11
(Slot 1)
- Intel Dual Pentium
11 (Slot 1)
- Intel Pentium 111
(Slot 2)
- AMD Athlon (Slot A)
- equivalent in performance to Intel Pentium3
Boards also come in a capability range
- KX
- BX
- Previous earlier
Pentium AT boards also came in various capabilties
VX, HT, TX and LX
Without going into the differences it can be said that prices rise as
follows
VX, then HT, then TX, then LX
BX
Then higher grade boards for:
Dual Processor (2 processor board)
Dual / SCSI (2 processor board with SCSI
interface)
Dual / SCSI / Lan (2 processor board with SCSI
and Local Area Network interfaces)
One thing to note is the difference between LX/HX..and TX/ATX.
The AT TX and ATX have programs to configure
the board, these are:
- Bridges between various
motherboard components and power management.
For Windows95, this is usually configured by a
SETUP program on CD or a floppy disk, run from Windows, but be careful to use
the Windows95 version on the floppy/CD as there may be different folders containing
other Setups e.g: Win3.1, etc.
Windows98 and onwards, detects and installs the
bridges automatically, in this case you cam miss 2. Under.
- PCI Bridge
Usually an Inf file e.g: Inf.exe and usually run
from Windows.
If one or both of these are NOT used on a TX or
ATX board then in Control Panel, System, Device Manger, yellow question-mark
icons will appear under the Other Devices section. The PC will still work in
Windows but NOT efficiently and future problems may develop unless the
motherboard components/PCI Bridge are configured - once configured no entries
should appear in the Other Devices section.
Note: That Windows98 may detect and configure
the PCI bridge automatically.
- AGP (Advance Graphic
Port) support
Most ATX boards have an AGP slot for AGP
VGA/graphic accelerator cards.
On many boards this capability cannot be evoked
unless the vxd drivers on the CD provided are installed.
Installing an AT motherboard
- Motherboard Power Connections.
On AT Cases, the two power cables from the
Power Unit to the motherboard should always be arranged so that the black
cables on one connector are opposite the black cables on the second connector:
If you are installing an AT motherboard and you
do not match black to black then it is almost certain that you will blow the
motherboard - an expensive mistake.
If you are installing a new ATX motherboard
then there is no chance of this occurring because the two connectors are
combined into one connector which has a clip on one side ensuring it can only
fit the correct way.
Installing a new motherboard - CPU Speed and Power Ratings.
Refer to your motherboard manual provided when
you bought the board. If you have no manual - never attampt to guess jumper
settings or other configurations, refer back to the source or manufacturer for
the correct manual. Board configuration can often be found on the Internet art
the manufacturer's site.
CPU Power Rating: This is usually indicted on the
CPU chip eg: 2.2, 3.3v or 2.8v, set jumpers for this voltage, according to
manual.
CPU Base/Frequency - refer to the manual for
jumper settings
The Base Clock is the base speed. E.g: 100
The Frequency is a multiplier. E.g: 4
Or for an older board/processor:
Base: 66
Multiplier: 2.5
The result of Base x Frequency (multiplier)
should equal the Pentium speed e.g: with the above examples this will be: 400
for an AMD400 or Pentium2 400mhz processor, or 166 for a Pentium 166Mhz CPU.
It is possible to run a CPU under speed, but
nearly always fatal (without extra fans) to set it for a higher speed than it
is designed for (called 'over-clocking').
A Note about matching the processor base and
motherboard speed.
Most new motherboards are designed to run at
100mhz or more, and so is the DIMM memory which can be attached. The best
processor/board match to suit this, is one with a base of 100Mhz
(300,350,400,450) as these can be produced by using multipliers of 3, 3.5,4 and
4.5.
Placing a 266, 366..etc processor on a new
board will mean that the motherboard must be reduced to 66Mhz for the
multiplier x base to match these speeds, a poor trade off when the board can
run at 100Mhz.
SIMMS (Single-in-line-memory-modules)
On a 386 PC - arranged in banks
On a 486 PC - could be mixed.
On a Pentium - arranged in banks.
A Bank is usually two slots, thus if you
have four slots for the memory:
Slots 1 & 2 - Bank 0
Slots 2 & 3 - Bank 1
You must use the same type of memory in a bank
e.g: Slot 1 - 16MG 60ns, Slot 2 - 16MB 60ns.
DIMMS (Dual-in-line-memory-modules)
These can come in 16MB, 32MB, 64MB..etc.
They are not banked so that you can have
different memory in each slot.
They are fast using 32bit Motherboard/CPU
access.
In most cases DIMMS cannot be used with SIMMS
present.
Refer to motherboard manual for maximum memory
the board can take.
Note that the current DIMM chips are PCI SDRAM and
different from the original DIMMs. The clip cut out in much higher on the newer
DIMM and thus will not fit/or run, on older motherboards.
Connections | Detecting HDD | Detection Problems
- Ontrack | Disk Thrashing
Most Hard Drives are IDE
* and connect directly to the motherboard via IDE 1 and IDE 2 (or 0 and 1) sets
of pins.
* SCSI drives have a slightly better
performance but cost more. These drives are not detected by the BIOS setup and
unlike IDE are not connected directly to the motherboard but to a SCSI
interface card. This card also has the capability of giving up to 8 ports but
the card does take up a valuable slot on your motherboard. The cost of the
drives & cards set against the now vastly improved IDE Drive and IDE lower
prices has made the IDE the most popular drive.
Pin 1 on IDE 1 or IDE 2 must match with the red
side of the cable to the drive. Many boards have a surround on the IDE pins so
that you can only place them the correct way. (see diagram below).
Each IDE set of pins can usually accommodate 2
drives, either Hard Drive + Hard Drive or Hard Drive + IDE CDRom.
If you have more than one drive on a set of
pins, then on the dual cable, the Master (primary for IDE 0 or1, secondary for
IDE 1 or2) must use the first connector on the cable from the mother board.
Note: On Floppy Disk cables if two drives are
attached then the opposite occurs, the A Drive will be the last connector from
the motherboard.
Master/Slave configurations:
Pins on the hard drive determine if the Hard
Drive is a master or a slave (a second drive controlled through the master). On
most drives one can be set as a master, the other as a slave, but some drives
need a 'master - slave present' setting, Modern Hard Drives have pin-out
settings on the drive. If you have no leaflet or manual for the drive and
settings are not displayed, then use the Internet to get the settings:
Internet Sources for HDD
Info:
For Conner or Seagate drives: http://www.seagate.com
For other drives try the manufacturer's name
followed by .com e.g: Quantum - http://www.quantum.com
Once on line look for products, or technical
support...until finally select the drive number display on your drive and
download, print or view the diagrams and tech info.
Hard Drive power connectors:
Hard drive power connectors on an AT case from
the power supply to the drive are the larger connectors (the small connectors
are for the floppy drive). The connectors are keyed so that they can only fit
one way. Should the key be damaged or worn down, then connection the wrong way round will immediately destroy the hard
drive (if you have a damaged connector - generally speaking the red wire
on the connector should be opposite the red side of the IDE cable). ATX case
power units have these 2 connectors combined and the combined connector can
only fit one way.
Detecting & Setup-up
of the Hard Drive for Win95/98:
Specifications are needed by the BIOS (Basic
Input Output System) in order that a Hard Drive is recognised by the
motherboard. Fortunately from the 486 onwards, the BIOS has an auto-detect
function.
As soon as the PC is powered up a Power On Self
Test (POST) occurs and just after memory is detected and counted, you will be
given an opportunity to enter SETUP, usually by pressing the Delete key, of
F10, or Enter. (on older Amstrads it was Alt + S, on others it may be any
combination e.g: Alt+Insert...etc).
Once in setup use the Auto-detect which will
detect the master and slave (if present) and give the drive details: Drive
Type, No of Cylinders, No of Heads, No of Tracks per Sector, Size..etc.
If you don't have an autodetect, or your system
is not capable of detecting the drive, you can type in the relevant data - if
you don't have this get it from the Internet. (see Internet
Sources above).
If your autodetect can detect other drives but
cannot detect a particular drive, it may be that the HDD is faulty. However
before assuming this, try a separate detection process, not by the BIOS but by
a third party detection program such as Ontrack
Ontrack is a Disk Management program which can detect and then configure the
hard drive for you. Each HDD manufacturer may have their own version.
Seagate drives often come with a CD Rom with
Ontrack on it, but you can download it from their website:
http://www.seagate.com. Fujitsu also have their version which can be found at: http://www.ontrack.com/fujitsu/ Download
and use Ontrack as per instructions given, to detect and configure your drive -
If Ontrack can't detect it either, than the drive is faulty.
back to Hard Drive submenu
Once the drive(s) is/are set, then in the basic
settings, ensure that the floppy is 1.45MB, and place your Start-up diskette ( Critical Problems Start-up Disk )
into the A Drive and finally use Exit and Save the Settings.
Next Win98 users can have their drive preparaed
and Windows Set up in one operation by using the method below, OR Win95 user
click <here>
WINDOWS98
Windows98 will boot from the CDRom and FDISK
and format a new hard drive, then after reboot it will bring in an Oak
Technology CDRom driver, . To use this facility, set the boot up sequence in
your BIOS Setup to 'CDRom' as the first device in the string. After Windows98
is installed fully don't forget to put the setting back to A,C,CDRom.
WINDOWS95 ver 1 ONLY
The PC will start Win95
from the Start-up disk and return to DOS (DOS 7). At the A:> prompt type
Fdisk. In Fdisk create a Primary Partition at a point when creating this you
will be asked to create a Large Partition (Win95 ver 1) and Large Drive capabilities
(Win95 Ver 2, or Win95 Ver 4.00 B), repond yes to this question and then
complete Fdisk.
After re-booting the PC (with the floppy disk
still in the A Drive) you next Format the drive, this is usually be using the
command Format c:/s (where the drive will be the one having the Windows system
on it), or Format c: (where the drive will be a secondary master or slave to
the Win95 drive).
Once formatting is completed give a volume name
e.g: Hdd01, or Hdd02 - this will appear in Window's95 My Computer window, so a
simple short name like the above is preferable. Remove the diskette and reboot.
The next stage before you can install Windows
from a CD is to install or setup the CD Rom Drive. If you don't have a setup
disk, get the CD drive no. And get the driver from the manufactuer's web site
on the internet. If you can't find the manufacture, try http://www.panasonic.com
On many CD Setups you may need to copy
Mscdex.exe from your Start-up disk or other source, to the root directory (copy
mscdex.exe c:\).
After re-booting you should have your CD Drive
specified (usually D Drive), change to the drive (D:), place the Win95 CD into
the CDRom Drive and type: setup
If you get a message that Scandisk cannot be
run, then providing the drive formatted correctly then continue.
Screen Cards:
On standard or custom PCs, these are
usually:
ISA cards - 486 PCs - fit into a black slot
PCI cards - Early pentiums - fit into a white
slot
AGP cards - Later Socket7, 370 or Pentium
11/111 boards - fit into a brown slot
Tip: If the PC sounds a series (usually 3) of
long beeps when powering up, it is likely that the screen card as come slightly
out of it's slot (usually at one side). Note this can happen on some AT boards
when the screen data cable (3 rows of pins) has detached from the VGA card.
Tip: If the PC powers up to a black or green
screen, the card is almost out at both ends.
On factory built/Store sold PCs, these
are usually not cards but the relevent VGA chips welded to the motherboard -
unfortunately if this is the case, to upgrade the VGA you must replace the
whole motherboard.
Common Video Card Problems:
- Lines on screen, distortion of icons/text
There could be several reasons for this:
- The card is not
seated properly in it's slot. With the PC turned off, remove and
reinstall the card into it's slot, restart the PC. Note on PCI cards, if
you place the card back into a different white PCI slot, then the PC may
well need to re-detect the card and install the driver again.
- It is possible
that other devices with problems can indirectly effect the video card.
This is possible when you consider that a video card is a multimedia device and to Windows, a modern
fax/modem is a also multimedia
device (it has MMX technology, sound output..etc) - and obviously a sound
card is also a multimedia
device.
An
incompatible sound card could for instance confuse Windows enough to cause the
system to mis-detect the video card e.g:
An Intel i740 AGP card could be detected as a
Chips Technology video card, which after being detected would probably work -
but could result in speckling or breaking up of text.
The key here is to look further afield than the
video card, especially if it shows no conflicts and reports it is working
correctly in the Device Manager's, Screen Adapter, Properties general tab
(Device Manager is available via the Control Panel, System icon.)
- The video RAM on
the chip may be faulty and the card will need replacing by your supplier.
- The screen colours have gone to 16 colours from
a higher setting (e.g: 16 bit high colour)
This may be due to software corruption or
settings changes made by yourself:
- Use Start,
Settings, Control Panel, System Device Manager, Display adapter. If no yellow
conflict mark is present then the device is working correctly (See 2.
below for further action).
If you are showing more than one device both
with conflict marks then remove the adapter (select the device and click the
Remove button) which is not correctly named as your adapter, or if the 2
adapters are both named as the correct adapter, then remove the first.
If there is only one device with a conflict
mark, use the Properties button, Resources tab to set the device back to
automatic settings or to a different basic configuration which shows no
conflicts with other devices.
- If there are no
conflicts marks and the device shows as working correctly when the
Properties button is clicked, then it is likely that the virtual driver
or the routine which handles that driver is corrupted.
- You can check this
out by using a right-click on a blank area of the Desktop, then left
click Properties, then Settings (or Start, Control Panel, Display,
Settings).
Try changing the colours up to the original
high setting. Most cards today will allow the change without re-starting (this
is the Advanced button, General section). If the PC will not allow ' no
re-start and/or the colours remain as 16 colours after re-start, then it is
likely that the software is corrupted.
In this case, remove the device (In Control
Panel, System Device Manager: select the adapter name and click the Remove
button), then restart the PC. Windows98 will re-locate and install the original
driver and the colours may increase back to 256 colours. Reset the colour
settings back up to high colour and re-start - the problem should now be fixed
and the screen display back to normal.
Other Cards:
There are thousands of other types of cards,
most still fit in the ISA slots (long black slots), but increasingly, screen,
network and sounds cards come in the PCI version.
A recent problem emerges in the use of sound
with video use. If video and sound will not work synchronously giving
interrupted sound and video then it is likely that the sound card is not
accepting FULL DUPLEX. In this case you must upgrade your sound card. If you
have bad quality when using Microsoft Netmeeting or other audio/video
Internet/local services e.g: Vdophone, then check your settings for Full
Duplex.
General Fitting Tips:
Tip: Always make sure that all static from your
hands has been removed before handling cards. Use an anti-static wrist band or
clean your hands and touch them to the running tap (to earth static away) and
touch the case cover to remove any lingering static.
Tip: Before closing a case, always make sure
the card is firmly seated and the holding screw is in as tight as possible (a
turn past hand-tight) - don't overtighted as you may destroy the screw
thread/head and have terrible trouble if ever you want to remove it - a torqued
screwdriver is best for tightening).
A badly fitted card can cause windows to
re-allocate resources causing problems/conflicts which you then have to resolve
- make sure the card is fitted properly and safe all this trouble.
