Common Laptop Repairer Interview Preparation Guide

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★ AMI BIOS beep codes
★ Award BIOS beep codes
★ Dell beep codes
★ IBM BIOS beep codes
★ Macintosh startup tones
★ Phoenix BIOS beep codes
★ Motherboard help

A battery is a hardware component that supplies power to a device, enabling that device to work without a power cord. Batteries are often capable of powering a laptop computer for several hours depending on how much power it requires. Today, many high-end devices such as computer laptops and cell phones use rechargeable batteries that allow a user to recharge the battery once depleted of energy. In the picture below, is an example of what a laptop battery may look like when removed from the laptop with a close-up of the battery rating.

Communication and Network Riser, CNR is a specification that supports Audio, Modem, USB, and LAN interfaces of core logic chipsets. This technology and the CNR slot was first introduced by Intel February 7, 2000 and was mainly developed by leading hardware and software developers who helped release the AMR (Audio Modem Riser) slot. In the picture below is an example of a CNR slot, which is labeled as "CNR_SLOT" on this motherboard.

Small Computer System Interface, SCSI is pronounced as "Scuzzy" and is one of the most commonly used interface for disk drives that was first completed in 1982. Unlike competing standards, SCSI is capable of supporting eight devices, or sixteen devices with Wide SCSI. However, with the SCSI host adapter located on ID number 07 and boots from the ID 00. This leaves the availability of six device connections. In the picture below, is an example of a SCSI adapter expansion card with an internal and external connection. Once installed in the computer this adapter would allow multiple SCSI devices to be installed in the computer. More advanced motherboard may also have available SCSI connections on the motherboard.

Alternatively abbreviated as VLB, VL Bus is short for VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association) Local Bus first introduced by VESA in 1992. The VLB is a 32-bit computer bus that had direct access to the system memory at the speed of the processor, commonly the 486 CPU (33/40 MHz). VLB 2.0 was later released in 1994 and had a 64-bit bus and a bus speed of 50 MHz. Unfortunately, because the VLB heavily relied on the 486 processor, when the Pentium processor was introduced manufacturers began switching to PCI.

Originally known as 3rd Generation I/O (3GIO), PCI Express, or PCIe, was approved as a standard on July 2002 and is a computer bus found in computers. PCI Express is a serial bus designed to replace PCI and AGP and is available in different formats: x1, x2, x4, x8, x12, x16, and x32. The data transmitted over PCI-Express is sent over wires called lanes in full duplex mode (both directions at the same time). Each lane is capable of around 250MBps and the specification can be scaled from 1 to 32 lanes. With 16 lanes PCI Express supports a bandwidth of up to 4,000MBps in both directions. Below are some graphic illustrations of what the PCI Express would look like on the motherboard.

Micro Channel Architecture, MCA was introduced by IBM in 1987 as a competitor to the ISA bus. MCA offered several additional features over the ISA such as a 32-bit bus (in addition to a 16-bit bus), it ran at 10MHz, automatically configured cards (similar to what Plug-and-Play is today), and included bus mastering for greater efficiency.

Peripheral Component Interconnect, PCI was introduced by Intel in 1992. The PCI bus came in both 32-bit (133MBps) and 64-bit versions and was used to attach hardware to a computer. Although commonly used in computers from the late 1990s to the early 2000s, PCI has since been replaced with PCI Express.

Type I:
Identical to type II, except requires extra cables for connectors like the RJ-11 and RJ-45. However, offers more flexibility to where it can be placed in the computer.
Type II:
Used when size is not important. Type II can integrate the RJ-11 and RJ-45 connectors and did away with extra cables.
Type III:
SO-DIMM style connector that can be installed with a mere 5 mm overall height above the system board. Cabling to the I/O connectors also allow type III cards to be placed anywhere in the system.

Mini PCI is a standard used by leading notebook manufacturers that measures 2.75-inches x 1.81-inches x 0.22-inches. This technology could allow manufacturers to lower their prices, as the motherboards would be simpler to design.

Industry Standard Architecture, ISA was introduced by IBM and headed by Mark Dean. ISA was originally an 8-bit computer bus that was later expanded to a 16-bit bus in 1984. When this bus was originally released it was a proprietary bus, which allowed only IBM to create peripherals and the actual interface. However, in the early 1980's other manufacturers were creating the bus.
In 1993, Intel and Microsoft introduced a PnP ISA bus that allowed the computer to automatically detect and setup computer ISA peripherals, such as a modem or sound card. Using the PnP technology, an end-user would have the capability of connecting a device and not having to configure the device using jumpers or dip switches.
All recent computers today no longer included the ISA slots and instead are using more PCI, AGP, and other slots. Below is a graphic of what an ISA expansion card may look like as well as the slot it connects into on the motherboard.

Short for Extended Industry Standard Architecture, EISA or Extended ISA is a standard first announced in September of 1988 for IBM compatible computers that competed with the MCA bus. The EISA bus is found on Intel 80386, 80486 and early Pentium computers and was designed by nine competitors. These competitors were AST Research, Compaq, Epson, Hewlett Packard, NEC, Olivetti, Tandy, WYSE, and Zenith Data Systems.
The EISA bus provided 32-bit slots at an 8.33 MHz cycle rate for use with 386DX or higher processors. EISA can also accommodate a 16-bit ISA card in the first row.

Released September 8, 1998, AMR is short for Audio/Modem Riser and allows OEMs to make one card that has the functionality of either Modem or Audio or both Audio and Modem on one card. This specification allows for the motherboard to be manufactured at a lower cost and free up industry standard expansion slots in the system for other additional plug-in peripherals. The picture an example of what the AMR slot looks like on the Motherboard. This slot is often on the far edge of the motherboard, next to a PCI slot.

AGP Pro is an AGP interface extension specification for advanced workstations. This specification delivers additional power to video cards, includes extended connector, thermal envelope, mechanical specifications, I/O bracket, and motherboard layout requirements.

The AGP channel is 32-bits wide and runs at 66 MHz, which is a total bandwidth of 266 MBps and much greater than the PCI bandwidth of up to 133 MBps. AGP also supports two optional faster modes, with a throughput of 533 MBps and 1.07 GBps. It also allows 3-D textures to be stored in main memory rather than video memory.
Each computer with AGP support will either have one AGP slot or on-board AGP video. If you needed more than one video card in the computer, you can have one AGP video card and one PCI video card or use a motherboard that supports SLI.
AGP is available in three different versions, the original AGP version mentioned above, AGP 2.0 that was introduced in May of 1998, and AGP 3.0 (AGP 8x) that was introduced in November of 2000. AGP 2.0 added 4x signaling and was capable of operating at 1.5V and AGP 3.0 was capable of double the transfer speeds.

When referring to a computer, the bus also known as the address bus, data bus, or local bus is a data connection between two or more devices connected to the computer. For example, a bus enables a computer processor to communicate with the memory or a video card to communicate with the memory.

The bus contains multiple wires (signal lines) that contain addressing information that describes the memory location of where the data is being sent or where it is being retrieved. Each wire in the bus carries a single bit of information, which means the more wires a bus has the more information it can address. For example, a computer with a 32-bit address bus can address 4GB of memory, and a computer with a 36-bit bus can address 64GB of memory.

Short for Accelerated Graphics Port, AGP is an advanced port designed for Video cards and 3D accelerators. Designed by Intel and introduced in August of 1997, AGP introduces a dedicated point-to-point channel that allows the graphics controller direct access to the system memory. Below is an illustration of what the AGP slot may look like on your motherboard.

The computer POST (power-on self-test) checks a computer's internal hardware for compatibility and connection before starting the remainder of the boot process. If the computer passes the POST, the computer may give a single beep (some computers may beep twice) as it starts and continue to boot. However, if the computer fails the POST, the computer will either not beep or generate a beep code that tells the user the source of the problem.

There are different battery technologies that allow a battery to work. Below is a listing of some of the major types you're most likely to encounter.
★ LI-ION (Lithium Ion)
★ Li-polymer (Lithium Polymer)
★ NICAD (Nickel-Cadmium)
★ NIMH (Nickel-Metal Hydride)

Short for advanced power management, APM is an Application Program Interface (API) developed by Microsoft and Intel to allow computer and BIOS manufacturers to include Power Management.

It is possible for a faulty screen electronics to result in the backlight failing to illuminate. This is rare but can happen and if you have eradicated the previous items is the only possibility left.

The motherboard sends a signal to the inverter board telling it when to switch the backlight on. If there is a fault on the motherboard then the inverter board will not receive a signal and therefore not switch the backlight on. It may be possible to check the input voltages to the inverter board with a multimeter but if you have eliminated the previous items I have found this to be quite a commom fault. NB If you connect your laptop to an external monitor and get a good picture this only proves that the video card is OK, there could still be a fault on the motherboard which is preventing your screen from illuminating.

Check this cable carefully for damage especially in the hinge area and make sure the connectors have not worked loose. It is possible for the wires to break internally with no obvious signs of damage so check the continuity of the cables. A faulty LCD cable can even result in your laptop not switching on