Exercise 2, “PC Troubleshooting“
Instructions and preparatory questions
Administration of Computer Systems, Fall 2008
This document is available online at:
http://www.hh.se/te2003/
Lab2, Administration of Computer Systems, Fall 2008
Exercise 2 - PC Troubleshooting
Practical information – Read this first!
This exercise consists of two parts:
1. Preparatory questions in this document that should be answered before coming to
the exercise session (before starting the exercise session the assistant will ask you
to show and explain your answers)
2. A practical exercise session where you will work with actual equipment in order
to answer the remaining questions in this document.
The work on preparatory questions as well as practical exercise work is to be carried out
together with your assigned partner.
Before starting the practical part show the assistant that you have finished the preparatory
questions, when you are done with the practical part you must notify the assistant so that
he/she can check and sign your work. No signature = no credits for the exercise.
If you get stuck on the practical part the assistant is there to assist you, however in order
to learn you are of course expected to come up with solutions mainly on your own.
Information necessary to complete both the preparatory and practical part of the exercise
will be given at the lectures. Lecture slides are available at the course webpage
http://www.hh.se/te2003/
Good luck and have fun!
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Lab2, Administration of Computer Systems, Fall 2008
Troubleshooting the PC
Your task in this exercise is to identify a number of problems that have been introduced
in a lab system. One of the most important objectives of this exercise is to practice a
methodical and structured troubleshooting technique.
Some of the problems will have apparent solutions, in these cases it is still important that
you practice creating test cases and possible solutions before you apply a specific
solution.
For each major problem use a new page and 1) fill out the problem description, 2) draw a
diagnostic flowchart and 3) record the results of each test as well as the solution to the
problem. Also fill out the service log at the end of the page to document your changes.
When you have identified and fixed all problems, validate the results by re-running the
benchmarks from exercise 1.
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Lab2, Administration of Computer Systems, Fall 2008
Preparatory question 1
Continue drawing the diagnostic flowchart of actions to take when the PC does not
start. For different troubleshooting actions to include in your chart see chapter 21 of
“The PC technician’s bench book”. Add at least 10 test cases.
PC does not start
Yes
No
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Lab2, Administration of Computer Systems, Fall 2008
Preparatory question 2
Copy over your benchmark results from exercise 1 so that you can use them when
validating the performance of the repaired system.
CPU benchmark results: ___________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Memory benchmark results: ________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
HD benchmark (without UDMA) results: ______________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
HD benchmark (with UDMA) results: ________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
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Lab2, Administration of Computer Systems, Fall 2008
Problem description: _____________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Steps to reproduce: ______________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Diagnostic flowchart:
Solution: _______________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Service log:
Date and time
Serviced component Notes
5
Signature
Lab2, Administration of Computer Systems, Fall 2008
Problem description: _____________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Steps to reproduce: ______________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Diagnostic flowchart:
Solution: _______________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Service log:
Date and time
Serviced component Notes
6
Signature
Lab2, Administration of Computer Systems, Fall 2008
Problem description: _____________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Steps to reproduce: ______________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Diagnostic flowchart:
Solution: _______________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Service log:
Date and time
Serviced component Notes
7
Signature
Lab2, Administration of Computer Systems, Fall 2008
Problem description: _____________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Steps to reproduce: ______________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Diagnostic flowchart:
Solution: _______________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Service log:
Date and time
Serviced component Notes
8
Signature
Lab2, Administration of Computer Systems, Fall 2008
Validate the system
Rerun the benchmarks from lab 1 and compare the results.
CPU benchmark results: ___________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Memory benchmark results: ________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
HD benchmark (without UDMA) results: ______________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
HD benchmark (with UDMA) results: ________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Are there any differences between the benchmark results, why? ____________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
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Lab2, Administration of Computer Systems, Fall 2008
Exercise 2 report sheet – Fill out in ink
Group member 1
First name
Last name
Personal number
Group member 2
First name
Last name
Personal number
Exercise 2 assistant signatures
Preparatory questions OK: ________________________________________
Exercise session OK:
________________________________________
Date:
________________________________________
LAB ASSISTANT DETACHES AND KEEPS THIS PART
Your signatures below indicate that you have completed the preparatory
questions and exercise 2 session on your own. Sharing code, answers etc.
between groups is not allowed.
______________________________________________________________________
Signature group member 1
Personal number
Date
______________________________________________________________________
Signature group member 2
Personal number
Date
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