PC Assembling and

Troubleshooting TIPS
P.RAMASUBRAMANIAN
B-17 Sri Krishna Nagar,
Manakkadu Road, MelaTiruchendur 628205.
Mobile: +91 - 9994848764

What is PC?
Personal Computer used only one person
at a time
Variation depends upon

Size
Memory
Speed of the CPU
Number and type of peripheral devices
connected to the computer systems.

Functional Blocks
Made of several components (units).
1. Power Supply unit
3. Processors
5. Hard disk
7. CDROM drive
9. Keyboard

2. Motherboard
4. Memory
6. Floppy drive
8. Monitor
10. Mouse

11. Printer

12. Other Devices

PARTS OF PC
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

System Unit (Box)

Monitor
Keyboard
Printer
UPS

PARTS OF SYSTEM UNIT

PARTS OF SYSTEM
MACHINE
1.
2.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Motherboard
FDD 3. HDD
Power Supply Unit
Display Card
IDE card
RAM Package
Cables
Speaker 10. Cabinet

What is a Motherboard ?
- It Consists of CPU,
Display Card,
IDE Card, I/O slots,
BIOS ROM,
CMOS Battery,
Ports etc.

Floppy Disk Drive (FDD)

STORAGE CAPACITY FORMULA

Storage capacity = No. of sides or Surface x
Tracks per side or Cylinder x
Sectors per track x Bytes per Sector
360 KB = 40 Track, 9 Sectors per Track
1.2 MB = 80 Tracks, 15 Sectors per Track
1.44 MB = 80 Tracks, 18 Sectors per Track
2.88 MB = 80 Tracks, 26 Sectors per Track
Bytes per Sector 512 (common)

HARD DISK DRIVE

- Also called Fixed Disk
Drive or NonRemovable Disk
- Identification
- Type Number (Shows
No. of Cylinder and
Sector).

SMPS
-

Convert AC DC
+5, -5, +12, -12V
Red (+5V)
Orange (+5V)
(Power Good)
Yellow (+12V)
White (-5V)
Blue (-12V)
Block (Ground)

COMPUTER CABLES
1. FDD Cable
2. HDD Cable
3. Mouse Cable
4. Printer Cable
5. Power Cable

CABINETS
1. Mini Tower
(Vertical)
2. Desk Top
(Horizontal)

STEP BY STEP
ASSEMBLING OF
COMPUTER

Step 1: To Fit SMPS in Cabinet

Check all DC
voltages
Screw the PSU in
Cabinet

Step 2: Wiring of Panel ON/OFF switch

and Fit into the Cabinet
- Four Wires (2 are Red
and 2 are White Color)
- RED wires - Heads of
first switch
- WHITE wires Heads
of Second switch

Step 3: FIT RAM CHIPS IN

MOTHERBOARD
Fitted in the direction
of lock
Fit from Bank 0 ,
Bank 1 and so on.

Step 4: Fit Motherboard in the

cabinet & Supply connector
in Motherboard

Note that the black wires of

both socket should be close
to each other.

Step 5: Fit Hard Disk in Cabinet

- Component should be
down side and Label
should be top side.
- Sockets available on
the Hard disk should
be at the side of the
Motherboard.

Step 6: Fit IDE and Power Cable

in Hard disk
40 Wires. Pin No. 1
should be RHS.
If one fit the cable
reversely, then it will not
fit in the Hard Disk.
For Power cable
connector, the corner
should be matched with
the corner of the power
supply connector of Hard
Disk.

Step 7: Fit FDD and FDD cable

Cover side Up
Component side Down
For Power cord, end of
RED wire should come at
Right Side.
34 Pin Female Connector
used and RED wire (Pin
No.1) must be towards pin
No. 1 of Floppy Drive
Socket.

Step 8: To Fit Add-on Cards in

Motherboard
The card should be
fitted into the
appropriate I/O slot.

Step 9: Connection
- is a 3 pin Female socket
- 15 pin signal cable is
connected to Display
adapter card.
- 5/6 Pin Keyboard
connector should be
connected.
- A printer cable of 25 pin
(male) should be
connected on the MB and
36 pin (female) should be
connected with printer.

Step 10: To fit Back Cover of the

System Box
After fitting all the connectors to the CPU,
Monitor, UPS and Printer and fit the back
cover of the cabinet.
While fixing if one should remember that
the wires of ON/OFF switch should
properly get inside the cabinet.

TROUBLESHOOTING STEPS
Before trouble shooting the computer under test, the
following checks may properly practiced.
1. Check whether the SMPS main power cable and DC
voltage cables are connected properly.
2. Check whether the keyboard cable is connected
properly.
3. Check whether the monitor power cable and signal
cables are connected properly.

TROUBLESHOOTING STEPS
(Contd)
4. Check whether the DIP switch setting or BIOS
settings in the motherboards are set for proper
configuration.
5. Check whether the floppy drive power cable and
data cable or connected properly.
6. Check whether all the daughter boards are inserted
in the I/O slot properly.
7. Check whether the RESET switch is connected
properly.

TROUBLESHOOTING STEPS
(Contd)
8.

Check whether the keyboard lock is positioned

properly.
9. Check whether all the ICs are inserted in the bases
properly.
10. Check whether a good boot disk is available in
drive A or HDD.
11. Check whether the speaker connector is connected
properly.

TROUBLESHOOTING STEPS
(Contd)
After all the above checks are carried out,
switch ON the system and observe the
POST error messages. From the POST
message localize the area of problem and
troubleshoot it. When POST itself is not
started, the problem will be the
motherboard and related circuits.