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To
save some cost and to learn computer from inside out, it’s a good idea that every one should
build a PC. It is a requirement at Digital Computing System for all levels of
employment. The following is a parts list that you can use to start with.
Depends on the integration technology, some of the functions may be
integrated into the main board. So you may not need to purchase them
separately.
Most new main-boards have integrated Sound chip, Modem, Video
chip and Ethernet IC's. If that's the board you bought, then you don't need
to buy those components. DVD needs MPEG decoder, so try to buy a kit, not
just a DVD drive. It can save you lots of hassle later. If you plan to use
high speed Internet connection, such as DSL, Cable Mode, ISDN then you may
not need modem, but you’d need an Ethernet card. Open the chassis and use a packing tape to cover all the
sharp edges and metal blurs before cutting yourself. Before you curiously unpack the parts, you should discharge
static electricity by grounding yourself first, either by wearing a grounding
strap or touching a metal plumbing pipe. Or you may have to prepare to go
back to the store for parts replacement several times during the course. A
lot of stores would not let you return CPU or memory 3 or 5 days after purchase.
So, you need to build it as soon as you have the CPU and RAM. Now it is safe to remove the main board from the static
bag, after you have grounded yourself. Place the main board on top the
chassis. Align the keyboard connector with the round hole on the back of
chassis. Match the mounting holes on the board to the chassis. Not all the
holes will matched up. Screw in at least one brass post on the chassis as a
grounding path for the board. Make sure the brass post is screwed-in tight.
The rest holes can be filled with plastic posts. These posts use to hold the
board up so the circuit won't short to the chassis. Also they provide
mechanical support for the board when you insert the cards later. Once the brass post and plastic ones are in place, place
the main board over to see if they fit. One post matches one hole on the
board. If they match, then push the board through the tip of the plastic
posts. The hook on the post will latch the board . If you need to remove the
main board, you can pinch the hook with a pair of long nose pliers and then
release the board. Use a small screw on the brass post to secure the board to
the chassis, this is also the grounding path for the board's chassis ground. There are two power connectors connecting the power supply
to the main board. They carry 12V, 5V, -12V, -5V and grounds to the board.
The rule of thumb is when these two connectors are plugged into the main
board; all the black wires would be located in the center of the connector
block. If they are apart, then you may have plug in wrong. There is no key to
these connectors, so check, double check and triple check if you are not
sure. Read the book carefully to set the right CPU clock speed,
clock divider ratio, and CPU voltage. If the main board uses Socket7, then there
may have extra holes for different CPU. Make sure the cut-corner of the CPU
is aligned with the cut-corner of the socket. Apply thermal grease, if you
have, to the back of CPU. Make it as thin as possible. Then put the cooling
fan over the CPU. The bracket on the fan, which usually has two holes at the
end, should be clipped to the hooks on the socket to secure the fan. Use a
flat screwdriver to latch the bracket, if it is too tight. Different CPU uses
different fan. Pentium-II CPU has a built-in fan. Connect the fan power
connector to the little red/black pigtails to complete the CPU installation. Notice
that some mainboard does not have jumpers for CPU speed selection. These type
of mainboard use software to configure after power up. If you are using SIMM type RAM, then insert the RAM module
to the socket at an 45 degrees angle. SIMM module is keyed, if they do not go
in easily, do not force them. Check the orientation; make sure the notch
matches the bump at the socket. After the module is fully inserted into the
socket, then lift is up right. If you are using DIMM module, they are hard to
go into the socket. Push one end in first, and wiggle the other end to make
it go in. This may turn out to be a very laborious task. You may experience
the ripping sound that comes from the stress of the main board. There are
also several types of DIMM. IBM server uses a unique DIMM, which has a
different outline. Match the keys on the DIMM to the ones on the socket
first. SIMM modules must be used in an identical pair. Use a flat screwdriver to punch out the bay cover on the
chassis bezel. Do this from inside the chassis and push the cover out. Slide
the CD-ROM drive from the outside into the bay. Slide the Hard-drive from the
inside with circuit board facing down. CD-Drive uses smaller screws.
Hard-drive uses larger one. Do not use the smaller screws on the larger
holes. You'd find out the mistake, when the computer is making airplane
engine's noise later. Not an easy job to apply all 4 screws to Hard-drive or
Floppy drive, do as many as you could. Make sure the CD-ROM faceplate is awash with the chassis
bezel before you tie down the screws. The two IDE connectors are used for CD-ROM and Hard-drives.
You can have up to 4 IDE devices on a typical PC. Connect the main hard-drive
to IDE1 and configure the hard-drive as Master. Configure the CD-ROM to
Slave, and connect it to the same cable as the hard-drive. If there is only
two connectors on the IDE cable, then set the jumper on the CD-ROM to Master,
and connect the CD-ROM to IDE2. The cable has a red-stripe on the end. Match
the red wire to pin one on both the hard-drive, CD-ROM, and the connectors on
the main board. Pin1 on floppy drive and hard-drive is usually in the center
of the device. Plug in the 4-pin power connectors to the both devices. Floppy drive has its own connector and cable, which is
thinner than IDE's. The power cable and connector is also smaller. Again make
sure the faceplate of floppy drive is aligned with the chassis bezel. The
cable has four connectors. Use the one on the very end for Drive A, the one in
the middle for Drive B. Insert Video adapter, Sound card, Modem, and other cards
into the edge connectors. Make sure all the boards are fully inserted into
the socket, or the computer may not boot. Connect the wires from the chassis speaker to the connector
on the main board. Usually it is a 4-position connector with only two wires,
a red and a black one. Red end goes to + side on the connector. Black goes to
GND end. Power LED and keylock use the same connector. You can see
the LED On/off State to check if it is plugged in the right way. **** Important *****: Do not connect Reset switch wires or
Turbo switch wires to an LED connector. Do so; it would cause the wires to
burn when the switch is depressed. Leave the wire disconnected if you are not
sure. Connect the monitor, keyboard, mouse to the computer and
turn the power on. If you see the screen displays BIOS information, that is a
successful sign. Press DEL key while it is booting up to setup the timer,
disk drives, password, and power saving features. Leave other setting at
default value. If the computer does not boot:
Select Hard-drive auto detect option from a list of
hard-drive type. Run Auto Detect from the menu. If no hard-drive detected:
Reboot the PC, you would be prompted for insert a system
disk. Insert a DOS disk to continue, but do not install DOS yet. Break it out
to DOS prompt. Type A:fdisk to partition the harddrive. Make as many
partitions as it allows. Allocate 2GB per each partition, if there is enough
space. If this is a File Server, then you may want to use NTFS format instead
of FAT16 or FAT32 format. In this case allocate only 1GB for FAT16 and leave
the rest to the NT disk manager. Assign a driver letter to each partition and
save the changes. Reboot to DOS installation, you'd be prompt to format the
harddrive. Continue the DOS installation. Install CD-ROM DOS driver with OEM's disk Windows NT Workstation: You can setup bios to boot from
CDROM, and use Windows NT WS CD only to continue the rest of setup Install Windows from the CD-ROM Windows 95/98 will detect the new hardware and prompt for
the proper drivers. Simply follow the steps to complete the installation. Network: Please check out our network installation guide
for more detail Network
Installation Upgrading
a Compaq, Gateway, IBM, or Dell PC: Not recommended for home users, you would
most likely run into hardware not detected, driver not found problems. Call
us for a quote is my suggestion. |
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Last modified:Thursday September 20 2001 © 1999 Digital Computing System -
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