4.1 Given a scenario, explain the troubleshooting theory.
1. For effective communication, you need to spend roughly 50 percent of time for listening to your customer
2. The customer was obviously concerned when he reported the matter to you. Appropriate action would be to apologize to the customer, and assure him that it would not happen again. You need to report this to the manager, so that necessary action is taken to educate the technician that misused the office time.
3. The customer would be expecting you at the specified time. It is appropriate to call the customer over phone, and inform him that you would be late. Sending an email may not be the best option, since the customer may not see his/her email often. Your colleague may not convey the message to your customer appropriately.
4. When attending to the computer maintenance or repair (other than the monitor), ensure that you work in a static free environment. Always wear wrist strap. You should not wear clothes/shoes that produce static charges.
5. When working on computers, use special ESD wrist strap. Do not directly ground yourself with a piece of wire. An ESD wrist strap has built-in resistor to prevent electric shock. Use specially designed grounded ESD mats. Do not wear synthetic clothing. Place all electronic components into anti static bags. Anti static bags can be reused. Keep your workplace clean.
6. While doing any hardware up gradation on a laptop (such as adding more memory, etc), remember to remove the battery in addition to unplugging of AC mains.
7. You need to take the customer in to confidence, and apologize to him/her for having lost some important files/folders.
8. You should not give away your login information to anybody over email. Usually, such emails are not genuine, and intended for malicious use.
4.2 Given a scenario, troubleshoot common problems related to motherboards, RAM, CPU and power with appropriate tools
1. On a personal computer, the general errors and the corresponding failures are shown below:
General errors |
failures |
100-199 |
System board failures |
200-299 |
Memory failures |
300-399 |
Key board failures |
400-499 |
Monochrome video problems |
500-599 |
Color video problems |
600-699 |
Floppy disk errors |
1700-1799 |
Hard disk problems |
2. Some of the frequently encountered error codes and their corresponding error messages on a PC are given below:
Error Code |
Error Message |
161 |
CMOS battery failure: Replace the CMOS battery |
164 |
Memory size error : If the error occurs after memory upgrade, run SETUP program. |
201 |
Memory test failed : RAM chips failed, one or more may need to be replace. |
301 |
Keyboard error: You may have to check the key board |
3. The IRQ numbers and relevant Standard Device Assignment are given below. It is important to memorize these values before going to the exam, as there would be 5-10 questions on IRQs, and conflicts.
IRQ |
Standard Device Assignment |
0 |
System timer |
1 |
Keyboard |
2 |
Cascade to IRQ9. Can't be used |
3 |
COM ports 2 and 4 |
4 |
COM ports 1 and 3 |
5 |
Parallel Port LPT2. Very often used for sound cards. |
6 |
Floppy drive controller |
7 |
Parallel Port, LPT1 |
8 |
Real time clock |
9 |
Unassigned (Also redirected from IRQ2) |
10 |
Available |
11 |
Available. SCSI adapter will usually use this IRQ. |
12 |
Mouse or touch pads |
13 |
Math co-processor. |
14 |
Primary hard-disk IDE controller |
15 |
Secondary hard-disk IDE controller. |
4. If you are getting a keyboard error, you need to do one of the following things:
Check if the keyboard needs to be cleaned
Check if the keyboard cable has become loose
Check if one or more of the keys are stuck
If required, replace the keyboard.
5.Various POST (Power On Self Test) error codes and their description is as below:
Error Code |
Description |
Code 01 |
Undetermined problem |
Code 02 |
Power Supply error |
Code 1xx |
System board errors |
Code 2xx |
Memory (RAM) errors |
Code 3xx |
Keyboard errors |
Code 6xx |
Diskette Drive errors |
x is any single digit integer.
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