A+ Guide to IT Technical Support, 9th Edition, Chapter 4 - PDF

Chapter 4 A+ Guide to IT Technical Support, 9th Edition All About Motherboards 1  Objectives Describe and contrast various types and features of motherboards Configure a motherboard using BIOS or UEFI firmware Ma...

Chapter 4 A+ Guide to IT Technical Support, 9th Edition All About Motherboards 1  Objectives Describe and contrast various types and features of motherboards Configure a motherboard using BIOS or UEFI firmware Maintain a motherboard, including updating drivers, flashing UEFI/BIOS, and replacing the CMOS battery Select, install, and replace a motherboard 2  Motherboard Types and Features Motherboard - Most complicated computer component - One of the first items to consider when building a computer Consider the following when purchasing a motherboard: - Form factor - Processor socket and chipset - Buses and number of bus slots - Other connectors, slots, and ports 3  Motherboard Form Factors Determines motherboard size, features - Compatible with power supplies, cases, processors, expansion cards Most popular - ATX, MicroATX, and Mini-ITX Mini-ITX is smaller than MicroATX and is also known as ITX The following slides show examples of form factors and comparisons of sizes and hold positions of several form factors 4 Motherboard Form Factors Figure 3-3 A Mini-ITX motherboard 5 Motherboard Form Factors Table 3-1 Motherboard form factors 6  The Chipset Chipset: set of chips on motherboard that work with processor to collectively control: - Memory, motherboard buses, some peripherals Major manufacturers - Intel and AMD Intel Chipsets - North Bridge and South Bridge - Uses hub interface All I/O buses (input/output buses) connect to hub - Hub connects to system bus North Bridge - fast end of hub South Bridge - slow end of hub 7  The Chipset Figure 3-11 The chipset’s North Bridge and South Bridge control access to the processor for all components 8  The Chipset Intel Chipsets (cont’d) - Nehalem chipset Contain memory controller within processor housing Memory connects directly to processor Has QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) technology - Has 16 lanes for data packets - Sandy Bridge chipset Memory and graphics controller in processor Second Generation Core i7 processor is an example Sandy Bridge motherboards use DDR3 memory 9  The Chipset Figure 3-12 X58 chipset architecture 10  The Chipset Intel Chipsets (cont’d) - Ivy Bridge chipset - 3rd generation processors released in 2012 Use less power More transistors in a smaller place Perform better than earlier products Uses a single Platform Controller Hub 11  The Chipset Intel Chipsets (cont’d) - Haswell and Broadwell chipsets Haswell - released in 2013 -Work with the LGA1150 and LGA2011 sockets - Work with DDR3 and DDR4 memory and use less power than previous chipsets Broadwell - released in 2015 - Faster than the Haswell chipsets - Use the LGA1150 socket 12  The Chipset AMD chipsets - AMD A-series Designed to support the AMD Accelerated Processing Unit (APU), which is a combination of a CPU and a graphics processing unit (GPU) Support AMD CrossFire technology, which uses dual video cards in the same system - AMD 9-series Designed to support AMD processors that can have up to eight cores 13  Buses and Expansion Slots Bus - System of pathways used for communication Carried by bus: - Power, control signals, memory addresses, data - These lines are sometimes called data bus Data and instructions exist in binary - Only two states: on and off Data path size: width of a data bus - Examples: 8-bit bus has eight wire (lines) to transmit 14 Buses and Expansion Slots Figure 3-17 A data bus has traces or lines that carry voltage interpreted by the CPU and other devices as bits 15  Buses and Expansion Slots System clock (system timer) - times activities on the motherboard Speed of memory, Front Side Bus, processor, or other component is measured in hertz (Hz), which is one cycle per second - Megahertz (MHz): one million cycles per second - Gigahertz (GHz): one billion cycles per second Motherboards can have more than one bus - Table 3-4 on the following slide lists many buses 16 Buses and Expansion Slots Table 3-4 Buses listed by throughput 17  Buses and Expansion Slots Conventional PCI - Improved several times - PCI Version 2.x introduced the 64-bit, 3.3 V PCI slot, doubling the data throughput of the bus - Four types of slots and six possible PCI card configurations 18  Buses and Expansion Slots PCI-X - Uses 64-bit data path - Latest revision is PCI-X 3.0 (all revisions are backward-compatible) Figure 3-20 The two long white PCI-X slots can support PCI cards 19  Buses and Expansion Slots PCI Express (PCIe) - Not backward compatible with conventional PCI or PCI-X - Expected to replace both PCI and PCI-X - Uses a serial bus, which is faster than parallel - Comes in four different slot sizes PCI Express x1, x4, x8, and x16 - Latest version is PCIe 4.0 which doubles the throughput of version 3.0 20 Buses and Expansion Slots Figure 3-21 Three types of PCIe slots and one conventional PCI slot 21  Buses and Expansion Slots MiniPCi and MiniPCIe in Laptops - Smaller versions of the PCI and PCIe slots - Mini PCIe slots have 52 or 54 pins and one notch offset from the center of the slot - Mini PCI slot is wider with 100 or 124 pins Figure 3-23 Mini PCIe slot with a wireless Mini PCIe card installed 22  Buses and Expansion Slots PCI Riser cards - Installs in a PCI slot and provides another slot at a right angle - Used to fit PCI, PCIe, and PCI-X cards into a low- Figure 3-25 PCI riser card provides a 3.3-V slot or 5-V slot depending on which direction the card is profile or slimline inserted in the PCI slot case 23  Onboard Ports and Connectors Onboard ports (integrated components) - Ports coming directly off the motherboard USB, sound, network, FireWire, video, eSATA ports Older motherboards might have mouse and keyboard ports, parallel and serial ports I/O shield - Plate installed in computer case providing holes for on-board ports Internal connectors - SATA, USB or FireWire (IEEE 1394) connectors 24  Configuring a Motherboard Motherboard settings - Enable or disable connector or port - Set CPU frequency, system bus, other buses - Control security features - Control what happens when PC first boots Motherboards may use these types of firmware: - BIOS - used on older motherboards - UEFI - replacing BIOS : Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI): - UEFI with BIOS - for backward compatibility 25  Using BIOS Setup To Configure a Motherboard Access the BIOS Setup Program - Press a key or combination of keys during the boot process Varies from one manufacturer to another See documentation for your motherboard or watch the screen near the beginning of the boot - Setup screen appears with menus and Help features 26  Access BIOS setup program  Setup screen appears with menus and Help features  Change system features Table 3-9 How to access BIOS setup 27 Using BIOS Setup To Configure a Motherboard Figure 3-31 BIOS setup main menu 28  Using Setup BIOS To Configure a Motherboard Change the boot sequence - Might need to change boot sequence from hard drive to DVD for a new Windows install - After the OS is installed, change setup BIOS to boot first from the hard drive To prevent accidental boots from a DVD or other media - If troubleshooting a boot problem, be sure to set BIOS to perform a full POST 29  Using Setup BIOS To Configure a Motherboard Configure onboard devices - Enable/disable a port or group of ports View hard drive and optical drive information Processor and clock speeds - Some motherboards allow changing the processor speed and/or the memory multiplier (overclocking) Monitor temperatures, fan speeds, and voltages Intrusion detection - Can enable event logging (logs when case is opened) 30  Using Setup BIOS To Configure a Motherboard Power-on passwords - Assigned in BIOS setup to prevent unauthorized access to the computer and/or BIOS setup utility - May be possible to set a supervisor and user password If both passwords are set, must enter a valid password to boot the system - How to set passwords varies depending on motherboard and BIOS 31  Using Setup BIOS To Configure a Motherboard BIOS Support for Virtualization - Virtualization is when one physical machine hosts activities that are normally done on multiple machines -Virtual machine (VM) is software that simulates the hardware of a physical computer Each VM works like a physical computer and is assigned virtual devices such as virtual motherboard and virtual hard drive - Virtualization must be enabled in BIOS setup 32  Using Setup BIOS To Configure a Motherboard LoJack for Laptops Technology - Technology embedded in the BIOS of many laptops to protect a system against theft - Must subscribe to service - Software and BIOS work together to locate a laptop whenever it connects to the Internet Drive Encryption and Drive Password Protection - Some motherboards allow you to set a password in order to access the hard drive - Password is kept on drive so that it still works even if drive is moved to another computer 33  Using Setup BIOS To Configure a Motherboard TPM chip - Trusted Platform Module chip - BitLocker Encryption in Windows 8/7/Vista works with this chip - Encryption key is kept on chip - Assures that a drive cannot be used in another computer - Can be used with other encryption software that may be installed on the hard drive other than BitLocker - If the motherboard fails and is replaced, you’ll need a backup copy of the startup key to access data on the hard drive 34  Using Setup BIOS To Configure a Motherboard Exiting the BIOS setup menus - Most exit screens give several options Figure 3-40 BIOS setup Exit menu 35  Using UEFI Setup to Configure a Motherboard Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI), original version first developed by Intel Improves on BIOS in these ways: - Faster and better booting - Mouse-enabled interface - Secure boot - Support for hard drives larger than 2 TB Provides a BIOS boot through its Compatibility Support Module (CSM) 36  Maintaining a Motherboard Motherboard is considered a field replaceable unit - Need to know how to: Update motherboard drivers Update flash BIOS or UEFI Replace CMOS battery 37  Updating Motherboard Drivers Device drivers are small programs that allow software to interact with certain hardware Use Windows internal drivers, bundled CD drivers, or download drivers from manufacturer site Always use 32-bit drivers with a 32-bit OS and 64-bit drivers with a 64-bit OS 38  Flashing BIOS Flashing BIOS is the process of upgrading or refreshing the programming stored on the firmware chip - BIOS updates are downloaded from motherboard manufacturer’s Web site or third party site - Performed if: System hangs at odd times or during boot Motherboard becomes unstable Incorporating new feature, or component 39  Flashing BIOS Methods of installing BIOS updates - Express BIOS update - Update from a USB flash drive using setup BIOS - Update using a bootable CD - Recovery from a failed update “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it” - only update if you’re having trouble with a motherboard Don’t update unless the update is a later version than the one installed Update should not be interrupted while in progress 40  Flashing UEFI UEFI updates are more secure than BIOS updates - Require digital signatures for update to be verified UEFI firmware, drivers, and databases can be updated by way of a USB flash drive or from within Windows Windows updates sometimes include UEFI updates - When Windows receives a UEFI update, it hands off the update to UEFI - Firmware is responsible for applying the update and displays a screen letting user know not to disturb the system while the update is in progress 41 Using Jumpers to Clear BIOS Settings Jumper - two small posts or metal pins that stick up off the motherboard that is open or closed - Open jumper has no cover and a closed jumper has a cover on the two pins Jumpers can be used to clear a forgotten supervisor or power-on password If flashing BIOS fails, a jumper can be set to undo the update 42 Figure 3-27 DIP switches used to store setup data on older Figure 3-28 Setup information about the motherboards motherboard can be stored by setting a jumper on (closed) or off (open). A jumper is closed if the cover is in place, connecting the two pins that make up the jumper; a jumper is open if the cover is not in place 43  Replacing the CMOS Battery CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) RAM is a small amount of memory stored on the motherboard that retains data - Even when computer is turned off - If the CMOS battery is disconnected or fails, setup information is lost To replace the CMOS battery: - Choose correct replacement battery - Power down system, unplug it, press power button to drain the power, remove case cover - Use ESD strap, remove old battery using a flat-head screwdriver, pop new battery into place 44  Installing or Replacing a Motherboard A motherboard is considered a field replaceable unit A technician needs to know how to: - Select an appropriate motherboard - Install or replace one in a desktop or laptop computer 45 How to Select a Desktop Motherboard Three approaches to selecting a motherboard: - Select the board that provides the most room for expansion, so you can upgrade and exchange components and add devices easily - Select the board that best suits the needs of the computer’s current configuration - Select a motherboard that meets your present needs with moderate room for expansion 46 How to Select a Desktop Motherboard Consider the following when selecting a motherboard: -Form factor: - - The specifications for its general shape and size. - What type of case and power supply will be supported. - The placement of mounting holes, and the physical layout and organization of the board. - The brand (Intel or AMD) and model processors the board supports - Chipset and memory speeds the board supports - Expansion slots (type and how many needed) - Hard drive controllers - Case - Price and warranty - Support 47  How to Install or Replace a Motherboard General process for replacing a motherboard: -1. Verify right motherboard is selected -2. Get familiar with documentation, features, settings -3. Remove components to reach old motherboard -4. Install the I/O shield (metal plate) -5. Install motherboard -6. Install processor and processor cooler -7. Install RAM -8. Attach cabling (case switches, power supply, drives) 48  How to Install or Replace a Motherboard General process for replacing motherboard (cont’d.) - 9. Install video card on motherboard -10. Plug in PC, attach monitor, keyboard -11. Boot system, enter UEFI/BIOS setup -12. Observe POST, verify no errors -13. Verify Windows starts with no errors -14. Install the motherboard drivers -15. Install other expansion cards and drivers -16. Verify system operating properly, make final OS and UEFI/BIOS adjustments setting power-on passwords 49  Replacing a Laptop System Board May need to fully disassemble the entire notebook - Consider alternatives before proceeding General procedure for replacing the motherboard: - Remove the keyboard, optical drive, and mini PCIe card - Remove the notebook lid and keyboard bezel assembly - Lift up the assembly and disconnect two cables connecting it to the motherboard - Remove CPU and DVD drive - Remove screw that hold motherboard in place 50  Summary The motherboard is the most complicated of all components inside a computer Most popular motherboard form factors are ATX, MicroATX and Mini-ITX Motherboard will have one or more processor sockets Chipset embedded on the motherboard determines what kind of processor/memory are supported Major advancements in Intel: Accelerated Hub Architecture, Nehalem chipsets, and Sandy Bridge 51  Summary Buses include conventional PCI, PIC-X, and PCI Express Some components can be built into the motherboard, called on-board components Firmware that controls a motherboard and the boot is the older BIOS and the newer UEFI Settings that can be changed include: changing boot order, enabling or disabling onboard devices, support for virtualization, and security settings 52  Summary Motherboard drivers and/or BIOS might need updating to fix a problem CMOS battery might need replacing When selecting a motherboard pay attention to the form factor, chipset, expansion slots, memory slots, and processors supported Study motherboard manual before installing it For laptops, it’s usually more cost effective to replace the laptop than to replace a failed system board 53