Upgrading and Repairing PCs

Take the new motherboard out of the antistatic bag it was supplied in and set it on the bag or the antistatic mat, if you have one.

Install the processor. There are two procedures—one for socketed processors and the other for slot-based processors. Slot-based processors are outdated, but you might need to install one in an older system.

Follow the appropriate instructions for the type you are installing:

• For socketed processors, the procedure is as follows: Find pin 1 on the processor; it usually is denoted by a corner of the chip that is marked by a dot or bevel. Next, find the corresponding pin 1 of the ZIF socket for the CPU on the motherboard; it also is usually marked on the board or with a bevel in one corner of the socket. Be sure the pins on the processor are straight and not bent; if they are bent, the chip won't insert properly into the socket. If necessary, use small needle-nose pliers or a hemostat to carefully straighten any pins. Don't bend them too much—they might break off, ruining the chip. Insert the CPU into the ZIF socket by lifting the release lever until it is vertical. Then, align the pins on the processor with the holes in the socket and drop it down into place. If the processor does not seem to want to drop in all the way, remove it to check for proper alignment and any possibly bent pins. When the processor is fully seated in the socket, push the locking lever on the socket down until it latches to secure the processor (see Figure 22.5).

  Figure 22.5. The lever on a ZIF socket locks the processor into the socket when lowered. Note the triangle on the corner of the processor, denoting pin 1.

  

• For slot-based processors, the procedure is different. You need the processor, the universal retention mechanism brackets with included fasteners, and the heatsink supports. Most slot-based processors come with either an active or a passive heatsink already installed. Start by positioning the two universal retention mechanism brackets on either side of the processor slot so that the holes in the brackets line up with the holes in the motherboard (see Figure 22.6).

  Figure 22.6. Universal retention mechanism for slot-based processors. Illustration used by permission of Intel Corporation.

  

  Push the included fasteners through the mounting holes in the retention bracket and the motherboard until you feel them snap into place. Insert the fastener retainer pins through the holes in the fastener to lock them into place. Then, slide the processor/heatsink down between the brackets until it is firmly seated in the slot. The latches on the top sides of the processor lock into place when the processor is fully seated. Install the heatsink supports into the holes provided in the motherboard and processor.

Most heatsinks clip to the socket with one or more retainer clips (see Figure 22.7). Be careful when attaching the clip to the socket; you don't want it to scrape against the motherboard, which can damage circuit traces or components. You also need to keep the heatsink steady on the chip while attaching the clips, so do not move, tilt, or slide the heatsink while you attach it. Most heatsinks have a preapplied thermal pad; otherwise, you will need to put a dab of heatsink thermal transfer compound (normally a white-colored grease) on the CPU before installing the heatsink. This prevents any air gaps and enables the heatsink to work more efficiently. If the CPU has an active heatsink (with a fan), plug the fan power connector into one of the fan connectors supplied on the motherboard (see Figure 22.8). Optionally, some heatsinks use a disk drive power connector for fan power.

Refer to the motherboard manufacturer's manual to set the jumpers, if any, to match the CPU you are going to install. Look for the diagram of the motherboard to find the jumper location, and look for the tables for the correct settings for your CPU. If the CPU supplied was already installed on the motherboard, the jumpers should already be correctly set for you, but it is still a good idea to check them.

Find the holes in the new motherboard for the metal spacers and plastic standoffs. You should use metal spacers wherever there is a ring of solder around the hole. Use plastic standoffs where there is no ring of solder (see Figure 22.10).

Screw any metal spacers into the new case in the proper positions to align with the screw holes in the motherboard (see Figure 22.11).

Most motherboards today attach directly to the chassis or to a removable motherboard tray with screws that thread into brass standoffs attached to the chassis or tray. Figure 22.12 shows three types of standoffs, including two brass types and one plastic. One screws directly to the chassis or tray, whereas the others attach to the motherboard and then slide into notches in the case or tray.

If the board uses the type of standoff that fits into slots in the chassis or tray, rather than screwing directly in, insert the standoffs directly into the new motherboard from underneath until they snap into place (see Figure 22.13). Or attach them to the board with a screw if necessary. Figure 22.14 shows a typical ATX-style motherboard with arrows indicating the typical location of the screw holes for mounting the motherboard to the case (see your motherboard manual for the exact location of these screw holes).

After you have inserted the standoffs and lined them up with the screw holes on the motherboard, carefully attach the screws to secure the motherboard to the motherboard tray or case, depending on your chassis design. Figure 22.15 shows a motherboard attached to a tray. Note the use of the thumb and forefinger to stabilize the screwdriver tip. This prevents accidental slippage of the screwdriver tip off of the screw, which is one of the biggest causes of new board failures.

Install the I/O shield (if used) into the chassis by snapping it into place (see Figure 22.16).

Install the new motherboard into the case or motherboard tray. Either screw it directly to the standoffs or slide the standoffs already attached to the board by sliding the entire board into position. Be sure you align the I/O shield with the case or the ports on the back of the board with the I/O shield already in the case. Often, you will have to set the board into the case and slide it sideways to engage the standoffs into the slots in the case. When the board is in the proper position, the screw holes in the board should be aligned with all the metal spacers or screw holes in the case. Figure 22.17 shows a motherboard attached to a motherboard tray being installed in the chassis.

Some cases and boards, particularly ATX types, don't use any plastic spacers. Instead they use up to seven screws into metal standoffs that are installed in the case (refer to Figure 22.11). These are somewhat easier to install because the board drops into place and doesn't require that it be moved to the side to engage any standoffs.

Take the screws and any plastic washers that were supplied with the new motherboard and screw the board into the case (see Figure 22.18).

If the system uses a single ATX-style power connector, plug it in; it can go on only one way. Some ATX systems also use a 6-pin auxiliary connector as well as a 4-pin ATX12V connector. These are also keyed and plug in only one way. If the system is not ATX and two separate six-wire connectors are used instead, the two black ground wires on the ends of the connectors must meet in the middle. Align the power connectors such that the black ground wires are adjacent to each other and plug in the connectors. Consult the documentation with your board to ensure that the power supply connection is correct. Incorrectly connecting the power connectors can destroy the motherboard.

Plug in the power lead for the CPU fan if one is used. The fan will either connect to the power supply via a disk drive power connector or connect directly to a fan power connector on the motherboard.

Connect the floppy cable between the floppy drives and the 34-pin floppy controller connector on the motherboard.

Connect the IDE cables between the hard disk, IDE CD-ROM, and 40-pin primary and secondary IDE connectors on the motherboard (see Figure 22.22). Typically, you will use the primary IDE channel connector for hard disks only and the secondary IDE channel connector to attach an IDE CD-ROM or other device, such as a tape drive. If you have a Serial ATA hard disk and a Serial ATA host adapter on the motherboard, connect the Serial ATA cable from the hard disk to the host adapter connection on the motherboard.

On non-ATX boards, a 25-pin female cable port bracket is used for the parallel port. Usually two serial ports exist: a 9-pin and either another 9-pin or a 25-pin male connector port. Align pin 1 on the serial and parallel port cables with pin 1 on the motherboard connector, and then plug them in.

If the ports don't have card slot-type brackets or if you need all your expansion slots, the back of the case might have port knockouts you can use instead. Find ones that fit the ports, and push them out, removing the metal piece covering the hole. Unscrew the hex nuts on each side of the port connector, and position the connector in the hole. Install the hex nuts back in through the case to hold the port connector in place.

Most newer motherboards also include a built-in mouse port. If the connector for this port is not built into the back of the motherboard (typically next to the keyboard connector), you probably have a card bracket-type connector to install. In that case, plug the cable into the motherboard mouse connector and then attach the external mouse connector bracket to the case.

Attach the front-panel switch, LED, internal speaker wires, and front-mounted ports such as USB and IEEE-1394 from the case front panel to the motherboard. If they are not marked on the board, check where each one is on the diagram in the motherboard manual. Figure 22.23 shows the front-panel connectors.

Remove the drive bay plates (if needed). Simply bend or knock the plate out of the way.

To install a CD drive, simply slide the drive into the chassis. Note that it is easier to connect the IDE cable to the rear of the drive and make jumper selections before mounting the drive. See Chapters 7 and 14 for more about IDE jumpers and drive installation. Note that some cases come with rails that must be added to 5 1/4'' wide drives, such as the CD. In such cases, use the screws from step 3 for the drive rails.

After the drive is in the bay, line up the drive mounting screw holes on the drive with the holes in the case chassis. Secure the drive with four screws, using the ones that came with your case or the drive you are installing (see Figure 22.24). If the drive uses rails, the rails hold the drive in place.

Connect the other end of the IDE cable to your motherboard's IDE connector or to the back of another IDE device if you are chaining drives.

If your system has a removable drive cage, for floppy and hard disk drives, you should remove the cage.

To install floppy and hard drives, slide your drives into the drive cage and secure them with the screws that came with your case or with the drive you are installing (see Figure 22.25). As with the CD drive, it's easier to connect the floppy and IDE cables to the rear of the drives and make any jumper selections prior to placing the drives or the drive cage into the chassis.

Note If your chassis does not include a removable drive cage, as shown in Figure 22.25, you'll simply have to mount the drives in the chassis. This is a little more difficult because there's not much working room inside a PC.

If your system has a removable drive cage, slide the drive cage back into the PC and secure it to the chassis using the screws provided with your case (see Figure 22.26).

Connect the drive cables to the appropriate locations on your motherboard. See Chapters 7 and 14 for more about jumper settings and cable connections for hard drives and floppy drives.

Shut down and unplug both the system and monitor.

Disconnect the video cable running from the monitor to the card.

Open the system.

If you are not using an ESD ground wire, touch the side of the power supply to avoid ESD damage to your hardware.

Remove the screw holding the video card in place.

If there are any cables running from your video card to other devices (such as a sound card or DVD decoding board), note their locations and then remove them.

Remove the video card from the slot.

If necessary, remove the screw and slot cover behind the expansion slot you want to use for the new video card.

Slide the video card straight down into the slot where it will be installed.

Push the card down into the slot, using a front-to-back rocking motion if necessary to get the edge connector to slide into the slot.

Use either the screw you removed during removal of the old card or the screw used in step 1 to fasten the card into place.

Attach the video cable from the monitor to the proper connector at the rear of the monitor. If the new card uses a DVI-I connector and the monitor uses the standard 15-pin VGA connector, use a DVI-to-VGA adapter (usually provided with the video card or available separately from stores that stock computer parts).

Insert each card by holding it carefully by the edges, being sure not to touch the chips and circuitry. Put the bottom-edge finger connector into a slot that fits. Firmly press down on the top of the card, exerting even pressure, until it snaps into place (see Figure 22.27).

Secure each card bracket with a screw (see Figure 22.28).

Attach any internal cables you might have removed earlier from the cards.

Slide the cover onto the case.

Before powering up the system, connect any external cables. Most of the connectors are D-shaped and go in only one way.

Plug the 15-pin monitor cable into the video card female connector.

Attach the phone cord to the modem, if any.

Plug the round keyboard cable into the keyboard connector, and plug the mouse into the mouse port or serial port (if you are using a serial mouse).

If you have any other external cabling, such as joystick or audio jacks to a sound card, attach them now.

Power on the monitor first and then the system unit. Observe the operation via the screen and listen for any beeps from the system speaker.

The system should automatically go through a power on self test (POST) consisting of video BIOS checking, a RAM test, and usually an installed component report. If a fatal error occurs during the POST, you might not see anything onscreen and the system might beep several times, indicating a specific problem. Check the motherboard or BIOS documentation to determine what the beep codes mean.

If there are no fatal errors, you should see the POST display onscreen. Depending on the type of motherboard BIOS, such as Phoenix, AMI, Award, or others, you have to press a key or series of keys to interrupt the normal boot sequence and get to the Setup program screens that enable you to enter important system information. Normally, the system indicates via the onscreen display which key to press to activate the BIOS Setup program during the POST, but if not, check the motherboard manual for the key(s) to press to enter the BIOS Setup. Common keys used to enter BIOS Setup are F1, F2, F10, Esc, Ins, and Del.

After the Setup program is running, use the Setup program menus to enter the current date and time, your hard drive settings, floppy drive types, video cards, keyboard settings, and so on.

Entering the hard drive information is most critical when building a new system. Most modern BIOSs feature an autodetect or auto-type setting for the drive; I recommend you choose that if it is available. This causes the BIOS to read the parameters directly from the drive, which eliminates a chance for errors—especially if the builder is less experienced. These parameters include CHS (cylinder head sector) specifications and transfer speed and translation settings such as LBA. Most systems also let you set a user-definable type, which means that the cylinder, head, and sector counts for this type were entered manually and are not constant. If you set a user-definable type (not normally recommended unless you don't have "auto" as a choice), it is especially important to write down the exact settings you use if you don't use Auto because this information might be very difficult to figure out if it is ever lost.

Modern ATA drives also have additional configuration items you should record if you set them manually. These include the translation mode and transfer speed setting. With drives larger than 528MB, you should record the translation mode, which is expressed differently in different BIOS versions. Look for settings such as CHS, ECHS (Extended CHS), Large (which equals ECHS), or LBA (logical block addressing). Typically, you set LBA or Large for any drive over 528MB. Whatever you set, it should be recorded because changing this setting after the drive has been formatted can cause problems.

After you have checked all the settings in the BIOS Setup, follow the instructions onscreen or in the motherboard manual to save the settings and exit the Setup menu.