COMPUTER MAINTENANCE & TROUBLESHOOTING

EXPERIMENT:- 2
AIM :- To identify common peripheral ports, associated cables and their connectors.

Ports:-
 The point at which a peripheral device attaches to is known as a Port.
 Port can refer to either physical or virtual connection points.
 Physical network ports allow connecting cables to computers, routers, modems and
other peripheral devices. Several different types of physical ports available on
computer network hardware include: Ethernet Ports, USB ports Serial ports.

Serial Port:-

 A typical interface that connects device to the system unit by transmitting data
one bit at a time.
 The serial port has been an integral part of most computers for more than 20
years.

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 Although many of the newer systems have done away with the serial port
completely in favor of USB connections, most modems still use the serial port,
as do some printers, PDAs and digital cameras. Few computers have more than
two serial ports.

Ethernet Port:-

 An Ethernet port is an opening on computer network equipment that Ethernet cables

plug into. These ports are alternatively called jacks or sockets.
 Ethernet ports accept cables with RJ-45 connectors.

Usb Port:-

 USB connectors let you attach everything from mice to printers to your
computer quickly and easily.
 The operating system supports USB as well, so the installation of the device
drivers is quick and easy, too. They are known as Plug and Play devices.

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 Compared to other ways of connecting devices to your computer (including

parallel ports, serial ports and special cards that you install inside the
computer's case), USB devices are quite simple.

Ps/2 Port:-
 Often referred to as the mouse port or keyboard port, the PS/2 port was developed
by IBM and is used to connect a computer mouse or keyboard to an IBM compatible
computer.
 The PS/2 port is a mini DIN plug that contains six pins and is still found on all IBM
compatible computers today, however, is starting to be replaced by USB.

Serial Port:-

 An asynchronous port on the computer used to connect a serial device to the

computer and capable of transmitting one bit at a time.
 Serial ports are typically identified on IBM compatible computers as COM
(communications) ports.
 For example, a mouse might be connected to COM1 and a modem to COM2.
 With the introduction of USB, FireWire, and other faster solutions serial ports are
rarely used when compared to how often they've been used in the past.

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Parallel Port:-

 Less commonly referred to as the Centronics interface or Centronics

connector after the company that originally designed it, the port was later
developed by Epson.
 The parallel port is found on the back of IBM compatible computers and is a
25-pin (type DB-25) computer interface commonly used to connect printers
to the computer.
 Below is an example of the DB25 interface found on the back of the computer

CABLES

VGA Cable:-
 Short for Video Graphics Array, VGA is a popular display standard developed
by IBMand introduced in 1987. VGA provides 640 x 480 resolution color display
screens with a refresh rate of 60Hz and 16 colors displayed at a time. If the resolution
is lowered to 320 x 200, 256 colors are shown.

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 In the above picture is an example of what the VGA (SVGA) cable and connector
will typically look like on the monitor and on the back of the computer. The VGA
standard has been replaced by SVGA and although these cables and connectors are
still referred to as VGA they are technically SVGA.
 Although it is not uncommon to still find this type of cable and connector with
today's computers and monitors. This standard is becoming obsolete and being
replaced by the DVI connector and cable.

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Firewire:-

 Alternatively referred to as IEEE-1394, FireWire is a digitalbus with a bandwidth of

400-800 Mbps.
 It can handle up to 63 units on the same bus, and is hot swappable. It was first
developed by Apple in 1995.
 Users more familiar with USB can consider FireWire similar to USB, as they has
many similarities.
 Like USB, FireWire has dozens of different devices such as removable drives and
cameras.

Power Cable:-

 Desktop computers typically use a universal power cord for power, while laptops
use power adapters, often made to the specifications of the manufacture.
VGA and DVI
 VGA and DVI cables use a series of pins to transfer video signals between devices,
such as a monitor and the computer. VGA is analog, and DVI is digital.
IDE and SATA
 IDE and SATA cables transfer data between the computer's internal components and
the motherboard. The cables are pretty much the same as far as speed is concerned.
USB and FireWire
 USB and FireWire cables allow peripherals to connect to your computer and transfer
data at high speeds. FireWire cables can send and receive data at the same time,
while USB cables cannot.

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Ethernet
 Ethernet cables are used to join two network devices. The cable contains four thin
wires that allow data to be transferred at high speeds between the devices in the form
of a series of electrical pulses.

HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) :-

 HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is a proprietary audio/video

interface for transferring uncompressed video data and compressed or
uncompressed digital audio data from an HDMI-compliant source device, such as
a display controller, to a compatible computer monitor, video projector, digital
television, or digital audio device. HDMI is a digital replacement for analog
video standards.

Tapi Diploma Engg. College, Surat