Before Coming to Lab
Read Parsons and Oja (Text), Chapter 5, Computer Architecture before
attending lab.
What You Will Learn
This assignment is designed to help you become familiar with
the internal components of a personal computer. You will open a computer system unit to
remove a few of the components and answer questions about them.
You will learn what's inside the box. You will learn to
distinguish the major parts of a computer, their functions, and how they work by
themselves or with other components. You won't learn everything, but you should come out
of this assignment with a firm grasp of the inner workings of a microcomputer.
What, Where, and When
This is a GROUP assignment. All tools will be supplied, no
need to bring yours. However, you will need to bring this handout, your text book, and a
pencil. Some questions can be answered before the lab if you have read
Chapter 5. I recommend that you and your group answer these questions before lab. The rest
of the questions will be hands-on type questions that can only be completed while in lab.
During the week of September 28, we will be going to a
special lab for this assignment. This lab has many older computers which are in
retirement. The lab will be held in RVR (Engineering/Computer Science) building room 5029
during the lab session of class--NOT the lecture session. We will have lecture as usual.
Since there is a limited number of computer systems, the class will be broken into two
groups. One group will go on Monday (the rest of the class will proceed to the regularly
scheduled lab in MND 2008) and the other group will go on Wednesday (while the Monday
group will go to MND 2008 at that time). Try not to miss class during this week!
What to Expect
When you get to the lab, you will notice that each of the
computer's components are labeled with a sticker. Each sticker has a number on it. Many of
the questions have to do with locating a component and indicating the where it is located.
Use the number on the label to identify the appropriate component. Other questions will be
based specifically on the components. If the computer you are working on has a missing
component, please indicate that in your answer. However, you should look at another
computer and try to locate the component and information. Or you can wait until another
group finishes and use their computer. Please do not disturb the other groups. You are
under a time constraint.
Safety
Make sure the computer is unplugged! Do NOT
plug the computer in at any time. Use care when handling the components. And please place
all components back in their appropriate locations for the next lab, including screws,
cables, etc.
Before you open any computer system unit, you need to be
aware of static electricity. Static electricity can damage internal
computer components. As you move about a room static electricity can build up on you and
if you touch a component you can damage it. To prevent sparks of static electricity, you
must prevent the charging process. To do this most people in industry will remove all
jewelry and attach a ground (wrist) strap to ground themselves before toching any internal
computer components. You can also ground yourself by touching a large metal object (such
as a metal desk, file cabinet, and the metal housing of the computer itself). Then again,
you can always discharge your static on a friend!
Please use care when handling the equipment. When you remove
any component that directly connects to the main system board, you will notice a series of
contact pins. These pins are gold or aluminum plated. Please do not touch them. Touching
them can corrode and damage them.
OK, that's all the general information. What follows are
the lab questions. Please remember, "Reading is fundamental!"
Read the questions and answer as many as you can before you go to lab. This way, you will
not be rushed and you can have more fun poking around inside of a computer!
Good Luck!
The Questions
- The computer itself has a metal housing that keeps the
internal parts safe and secure. These housings come into main types: desktop and tower.
a. What type of housing are you working with? ___________________________________
b. What is this housing called? ________________________________________________
Slide the metal housing off. You may need to unscrew it. If you do remove the screws,
please make sure you put them back when you are finished examining the computer.
- The computer is electrically powered. A plug from the wall
attaches to the
a. __________________________________ . It is labeled as # ___________ .
b. This device has a fan. It is labeled as # ___________ . What is the purpose of
the fan?
__________________________________________________________________________
- The main, and most expensive, part of a computer is the CPU.
a. Locate the CPU. It is labeled as # ___________ .
b. What does the microprocessor do? ___________________________________________________ .
c. The microprocessor sits on the _________________________________________ board.
- Computer memory was once very expensive, not it is
reasonably prices. Although memory has significantly improved over the years, they still
pretty much all look the same.
a. Locate the computer's memory. It is labeled as # ___________ .
Memory chips are on a small circuit board called a SIMM. These sockets are located on the
main board. Older computers may have these sockets on an expansion card.
b. Where is the memory located on your computer? ______________________________________
c. What does SIMM stand for? ________________________________________________________
On each end of the SIMM, you will see small clips. Using your fingers, carefully open both
clips. Push away from the ends of the SIMM. Then wiggle the SIMM out. Some computers may
have you angle the SIMM at a 45 degrees from the original position of the SIMM.
d. How many contact pins are on this SIMM? _________________________
e. How many memory chips are on this SIMM? ________________________
Memory chips can be on one side or on both sides.
f. Is this SIMM a single-sided or double-sided SIMM? ___________________________________
Carefully put the SIMM back. It only goes in one way. Hold it by the ends and push it
until it snaps in place. You can wiggle it first to make sure it's seated properly before
pushing it back. Be careful not to break the tabs.
- Locate the hard disk drive. A hard disk drive has a power
plug and an I/O cable. The cable has a red stripe on pin #1. Pin #1 on most hard disk
drives is next to the power plug. Remove this cable from the hard drive, or follow the
cable and remove the other end. Note: Older hard disk drives, pre IDE, may have two I/O
cables.
a. How many pins are on the hard disk drive? ____________________
b. The hard drive is labeled # ___________ .
An IDE hard disk drive has 40 pins, as SCSI hard disk drive has 50, pre-IDE hard disk
drives have 44.
c. What type of hard disk drive is this one? ______________________
- Locate the floppy drive.
a. It's labeled # ___________
b. Why do we call a floppy drive "floppy"?
_________________________________________________
c. How many pins are on the floppy cable? ________________
- Locate the main board.
a. How many expansion slots are on this main board? ________________
b. Are they all the same size? ________________
- A video card is an circuit board that plugs into an
expansion slot. This card allows the computer to communicate to a monitor.
a. Locate the video card. It's labeled as # ___________ .
Remove the video card. Unscrew the card from the case; the card is secured with one screw
on top of a silver bracket. Grab the card and pull it straight out. Be careful not to pull
it out at an angle.
b. How many contact points are there? ____________
Put the card back. Align the contact pins into the expansion sockets on the main board.
Using the palm of your hand firmly press straight down. Be aware that the silver metal
bracket may poke the main board. Use your finger to push it away from the main board.
- This computer does not have a CD-ROM drive. If you were to
install a CD-ROM drive in this computer, where would it go?
a. Location # ___________ .
Let's say you buy and IDE CD-ROM drive.
b. How many pins will the I/O cable have? _______________
- Suppose you want to add a sound card.
a. Is a sound card an I/O device? _________________
b. If you wanted to install a sound card it could be installed at label #
___________ .
- On the back of the computer's case, you will see a variety
of ports.
a. What is the function of a port? ______________________________________________________
b. How many ports are on this computer? ____________________
c. Locate the printer port. How many pins are there? ___________________
d. Is a printer a serial or parallel device? _______________________________
e. Is a mouse a serial or parallel device? _______________________________
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