Installing and Troubleshooting Hardware Tutorial 12

Hardware Devices Hardware manufacturers now design their devices using a set of standards called Plug and Play (PnP) OS can automatically detect a hardware device, install device drivers for that device, and configure the device during booting Legacy devices (not support PnP) require manual installation

Legacy devices may be auto detected But may be configured as a generic device Configuration might work, but you may not have access to all of the features of the particular model By manually configuring the device—specifying manufacturer, model, and make, Win XP installs the proper device drivers

Manually Configure Non-PnP Read documentation if available, may be difficulty to understand (less user friendly in the past) Set switches and jumpers instructions will indicate if you need to set a DIP (Dual In-Line Package) switch or jumper on an adapter or add-in card Install software and device drivers May need to contract manufacturer if not available on disk or CD or download from the Microsoft Windows Update Web site

Assign resources using Device Manager Use the XP tool Device Manager to assign or change resources (IRQ or I/O address) assigned to the hardware by XP to properly configure it Troubleshoot hardware configuration problems and conflicts Use Device Manager or the Help Troubleshooters to address a problem with a legacy device

Boot Process XP checks for any new hardware each time you boot your system. If a new device is detected, it auto installs and loads the device drivers for that component and configures the device to work properly. If XP has not device driver for that PnP component, it prompts you to insert a disk containing the software with the driver.

Features of a PnP System ACPI BIOS BIOS performs power-on self test and locates and loads the OS from disk BIOS enables devices to boot your computer and handles I/O (Input/Output) A legacy BIOS enables devices but DOES NOT identify and initially configure them

A PnP BIOS and ACPI BIOS A ACPI BIOS identify and activate hardware devices determine their resource requirements create a nonconflicting hardware configuration Load device drivers Pass configuration information to the OS Notify the OS of any configuration changes A ACPI BIOS Also determines the power management capabilities of hardware devices The Win XP OS, not the BIOS, is now responsible for configuring the system and managing power

PnP Hardware Devices and Device Drivers Win XP supports PnP using the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) Part of the OnNow initiative for managing power in your computer OnNow—a PC is always on but appears off and responds immediately to user or other requests PnP Hardware Devices and Device Drivers For a device to be auto detected and configures with appropriate device drivers, it must be a PnP device Check product labeling May have to manually adjust a jumper to XP will treat it as PnP A PnP device driver must be available Always purchase PnP compatible devices

PnP Operating System XP Professional and Home Edition are PnP operating systems XP stores configuration info on PnP devices in it Registry When installing a PnP device, it checks resources used by other PnP devices in the Registry and configures the new device without introducing conflicts between hardware devices Win XP also uses Universal PnP (UPnP) for auto detection and configuration of devices in a networking environment Consumer electronics equipment Internet gateways

Other Hardware Support in XP Human Interface Devices (HID) Broad category of devices supported for interacting with the computer, including typical devices such as keyboard, mouse, joystick, wireless pointing devices for presentations to new devices such as those controlling home entertainment systems, smart appliances, and virtual reality simulations (head-mounted devices)

Universal Serial Bus (USB) External, bidirectional, PnP bus for connecting 127 high-speed serial devices via just one port on your computer In past each type of device required a separate port, an installed adapter for each device and resources assigned to each device. With USB and IEEE 1394 you no longer deal with DIP switches, jumpers, and limited resources (IRQ settings, DMA channels, I/O addresses) USB supports PnP, power management, and hot swapping (hot plugging)—can connect or disconnect a USB device while the computer is running (check documentation)

Purchase USB devices for Next generation of computers will have one or more USB ports, including keyboards, mice, monitors, joysticks, speakers, CD and DVD drives, modems, printers, hard disk drives, scanners, digital cameras, tape drives, audio players, telephones, telephone networks (PBXs), and ISDN adapters Purchase USB devices for Easy installation Auto configuration Speed Support for greater number of devices

IEEE 1394 (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) High speed, PnP bus with data transfer rates of 100, 200, 400 Mbps Supports the connection of up to 63 devices via one bus Can link 1,023 buses to create a network of approximately 64,000 IEEE 1394 devices; each device supporting up to 256 TB of memory

Supports high bandwidth devices Digital imaging Video teleconferences Connect consumer electronics—VCRs to computers Digital VCRs, camcorders, and satellite receivers now available with IEEE 1394 ports Supports PnP, power management, and hot swapping USB and IEEE 1394 are expected to eventually replace use of parallel and serial ports

Examining Hardware Using Device Manager (pg. 12.07) Source of info about hardware components on a computer and shows configuration settings that Win XP uses for PnP and legacy devices Used to Document hardware settings Verify installation of a hardware device Check for hardware conflicts Troubleshoot problems Change the configuration of a hardware device Update device drivers for a hardware device

Do not change configuration settings before first having a printed record of the current settings and knowing how a change will affect the computer operations Changing one setting could cause a hardware conflict with another device A hardware conflict, device conflict, or resource conflict occurs when two hardware devices attempt to share the same resource Open Device Manger by viewing properties of My Computer, by using System tool in the Control Panel, or via a Help Troubleshooter

Complete Tutorial pp. 12.08-12.15

Resource Assignments Interrupt Request (IRQ) Resources An interrupt is a signal transmitted by hardware or software to the processor or OS for some type of service To perform a function, handle an error condition, or move data When you press a key on the keyboard, you generate a hardware interrupt; the OS interprets the scan code generated by the keystroke Saving a document generates a software interrupt for recording file on disk

An interrupt request from a hardware device is transmitted to the processor via an IRQ line Today’s computers have 24 IRQ lines (0-23) Some lines are dedicated to specific functions or devices (keyboard = IRQ 1) Each device that requires an IRQ line is assigned its own line; two devices can share a line if they will not be used at the same time They invariably become a limited resource—thus the need for USB/IEEE 1394 ports and devices

Input/Output (I/O) Resources Each hardware device that handles I/O, such as ports and disk drives, must have a unique address in memory—an I/O address The address uniquely identifies a hardware device and serves as a channel for communicating with the device

Direct Memory Access (DMA) Resources A channel for transferring data between two devices without the intervention of the processor Via a DMA channel, your computer can transfer data from a hard disk drive into RAM without the processor If the processor handles the transfer, the overall process is much slower than a direct transfer to memory DMA channels important for transfer of video, audio, and graphics data Computers have 4 or 8 DMA channels (0-7)

Memory Resources Specific regions of memory allocated to a hardware device For example, one or more regions of memory might be designated for the video display adapter that generates the image you see on the monitor Identified as a range of memory addresses assigned to a device

Complete Tutorial pp. 12.16-12.24

Troubleshooting a Disabled Device See example pg. 12.26 relating to how XP indicates that a device has been disabled for some reason You can use the Troubleshooting Wizard to resolve problem; pp. 12.29+ illustrate how to troubleshoot a resource conflict You may have to manually change resource allocations to eliminate conflicts

System Information Utility Provides additional information about system components and configurations Complete pp. 12.34-12.36

XP’s Networking Capability Last section of chapter discusses XP’s networking capabilities How to network up to 10 computers on a peer-to-peer network We will not cover this section