Firmware
BIOS and CMOS
BIOS == Basic Input Output System: A non-volatile memory chip holds firmware instructions for the lowest-level hardware operations. Motherboard BIOS is universal for a particular model of motherboard.
Check out this excellent online Phoenix BIOS simulator:
https://www.grs-software.de/sims/bios/phoenix/pages/
CMOS == Complimentary Metal Oxide Substrate: A type of volatile memory chip that holds customized configuration for a particular installation, including the date and time. On older systems a battery preserved these settings – until the battery died, causing the PC to revert back to a truly ancient date.
Boot Option Keys for Windows
These vary by manufacturer.
F2 – Startup check
F10, Escape or Delete (among others) – Enter classic BIOS (this won’t work on most UEFI systems)
F8 – On Windows 7 and earlier, this got you to a Windows Boot Options screen where you could select Safe Mode, etc. Boot Options are available through UEFI on later OSs.
F12 – Boot device selection (boot from USB, CD, DVD etc.)
Getting to BIOS in Windows 7 and Older OSs
Getting to UEFI in Windows 10
Why UEFI instead of BIOS? For One Thing, Bigger Disks
GPT drives vs MBR drives
BIOS vs UEFI Booting, In Depth
ROM
Generically, Read Only Memory is non-volatile memory used for BIOS/UEFI and a whole lot of stored-instructions chips.
Motherboards
AT – hard power switch, AT keyboard plug and serial mouse, P8 and P9 mobo power connectors
Google Images
ATX – soft power switch, PS/2 (mini-DIN) keyboard and mouse plugs, 20- or 24-pin block power connectors
Google Images
BTX – parallel slots, processor on the diagonal
Google Images
ITX – Not a single form factor, but a standard for multiple size/form factor motherboards
Google Images
NLX – New Low-Profile Extended, for half-height desktops.
Motherboards and Riser Cards:
Google Images
Slots
ISA –https://www.google.com/search?q=isa+slots
PCI
PCI was the “new” bus that replaced the ISA bus.
It functions like a network switch: every device gets full bus speed, a totally separate communication bus, and “plug and play” auto-configuration.
PCI slots run at 33mhz, 32bits bandwidth, for a total bandwidth (per device) of 133MBps.
There ARE 66mhz PCI buses, though these are rare.
And there ARE 5v and 3.3v PCI slots (which accounts for the different frequencies).
There are also 64bit PCI buses, which use a longer slot: PCI-X.
https://www.google.com/search?q=pci+slots,
AGP – https://www.google.com/search?q=agp+slot
PCI-X – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI-X ,
Google Search: PCI-X ,
Google Images: Closeup of PCI-X
PCIe
Lanes: x1, x2, x4, x8, x16
v1, v2, v3, v4
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_Express
–> Note that some PCIe lanes may be built into the CPU. Some of these may be used for core interconnects. Other PCIe lanes may be provided externally from the frontside bus (IO) controller.
https://www.google.com/search?q=pcie ,
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pcie-definition,5754.html
Old IO: serial, parallel, PCI, old USB, IDE, SATA, ethernet, audio, CMOS
New, fast IO: PCIe (PCI Express), HyperTransport, Infinity Fabric
How Memory Controllers Used to Work
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Front-side_bus
How Memory Controller Buses Work Now
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HyperTransport
https://wccftech.com/amds-infinity-fabric-detailed/
IDE/ATA and SATA
Old ribbon-cable IDE (ATA) drives ran at 33MBps, and used a 40-wire cable.
Later generations ran at 66, 100 and 133 MBps, and required an 80-wire cable (to prevent cross-talk).
First-gen SATA ran at 150MBps, so it wasn’t much of an increase, though management was much easier. You can have SATA RAID, but not IDE RAID.
SATA-2 runs at 300MBps, and
SATA-3 runs at 600MBps.
M.2 Slot Drives
M.2 slots can be used for SSDs, wifi or wireless cards, or any accessory that needs big bandwidth.
M.2 slots can be EITHER:
SATA
or
NVME
–> A SATA SSD in an M.2 slot will max out at SATA speeds, i.e. 600MBps maximum.
M.2 slots connect on the back end to either 2 or 4 PCIe lanes (obviously 4 is better).
–> An NVME SSD in an M.2 slot will be hugely faster than SATA, i.e. up to 3500MBps!
https://www.velocitymicro.com/blog/nvme-vs-m-2-vs-sata-whats-the-difference/
https://www.pcguide.com/tips/nvme-vs-m-2-vs-sata/
Connectors
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/itdojo/pop-quiz-computer-ports-and-connectors/2340
Power Supplies
Switching, motherboard interfaces, plugs and maintenance
12v, 5v, 3.3v, 12v ground, 5v ground
P8 and P9 motherboard power jacks for AT mobos
Google Images
20-pin and 24-pin mobo power jacks for ATX and later mobos
Google Images
Dual-legged or multi-legged
Google Images
Modular power supplies
Google Images
Molex plug
SATA plug
Berg plug
PCIe power plugs (6 and 8 wire)
Textbook Time
Chapters 5, 6 and 7