Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
you notice that the display isn't plugged in. After you exhaust the easy/likely
possibilities, check the easy/unlikely ones, followed by the hard/likely ones
and finally the hard/unlikely possibilities.
Cables Are Commonplace
Fortunately, most problems with
defective cables involve data cables,
and those are pretty easy to come by.
For example, when we recently as-
sembled a new PC, the motherboard
came with two SATA data cables. The
hard drive came with another SATA
data cable, and the optical drive with
still another SATA data cable. That
gave us four SATA data cables, only
two of which we needed. The two
extra cables went into our spares
kit, where they'll be available if we
need to swap cables to troubleshoot
another system. This, incidentally, is
another good reason to buy retail-
boxed drives, at least until you ac-
cumulate some spare cables.
Other than sheer carelessness—to which experienced system builders are
more prone than novices—most problems with new systems result from one
or more of the following:
Cable problems
Disconnected, misconnected, and defective cables cause more problems
than anything else. The plethora of cables inside a PC makes it very easy
to overlook a disconnected data cable or to forget to connect power to a
drive. And the cables themselves cannot always be trusted, even if they
are new. If you have a problem that seems inexplicable, always suspect a
cable problem first.
Configuration errors
Years ago, motherboards required a lot more manual configuration than
modern motherboards do. There were many switches and jumpers, all of
which had to be set correctly or the system wouldn't boot. Modern moth-
erboards autoconfigure most of their required settings, but they may still
require some manual configuration, either by setting physical jumpers on
the motherboard or by changing settings in BIOS Setup. Motherboards
use silkscreened labels near jumpers and connectors to document their
purposes and to list valid configuration settings. These settings are also
listed in the motherboard manual. Always check both the motherboard
labels and the manual to verify configuration settings. If the motherboard
maker posts updated manuals on the Web, check those as well.
Incompatible components
In general, you can mix and match modern PC components without wor-
rying much about compatibility. For example, any SATA hard drive or opti-
cal drive works with any SATA interface, and any ATX12V power supply
is compatible with any ATX12V motherboard (although a cheap or older
power supply may not provide adequate power). Most component com-
patibility issues are subtle. For example, if you install a 4 GB memory mod-
ule in your system, when you power it up the system may see only 2 GB
because the motherboard doesn't recognize 4 GB memory modules prop-
erly. It's worth checking the detailed documentation on the manufactur-
ers' websites to verify compatibility.
Dead-on-arrival components
Modern PC components are extremely reliable, but if you're unlucky one
of your components may be DOA. This is the least likely cause of a prob-
lem, however. Many novices think they have a DOA component, but the
true cause is almost always something else—usually a cable or configura-
tion problem. Before you return a suspect component, go through the
detailed troubleshooting steps described next. Chances are the compo-
nent is just fine.
Here are the problems you are most likely to encounter, and what to do about
them: