Computer Repair With Diagnostic Flowcharts

Computer Repair with DiagnosticFlowcharts Free Download PDF

Eight flowcharts from published available through the FonerBooks.com website. The full revised eBook with 17 f l o wc h arts and t r oub les h o o ti n g te x t is availa b le fo r

$ 9 .9 5 .

The linked website versions of the flowcharts are interactive, ie, click on the diamond decision symbols and the browser shows the relevant text. The linked flowcharts also include the text for each chapter. I had to remove the text from this eBook due to possible duplicate content issues with Google.

Six laptop troubleshooting flowcharts online at:w w w.d a i l e y i n t. c o m /hmdpc/r e pair.h t m

Copyright 2011 by Morris Rosenthal

This eBook may be shared online and printed for personal use only, on the condition that any electronically transmitted or printed copy include this copyright notice and statement. This eBook may not be used for commercial purposes or modified in any way without the prior written consent of the copyright owner.

Flowcharts produced with Microsoft Visio Standard

http://www.fonerbooks.com/errbook.htm

http://www.daileyint.com/hmdpc/repair.htm



Power SupplyFailure Yes

Powercomes

No

on?

No

Proceed to Video Failure

chart.

Live screen?

Yes

New build?

No

YesCheck power

requirement vs rating.

Good AC power

source?

No

Use live outlet.

Yes

YesIs

110/220 Vset?

NoNo

No Hear any beeps?

Boot on2nd try?

Yes

Yes

Premature power_ok signal. Try

different power supply. Yes

Installed motherboard

Select proper voltage on rear of

power supply.

No

Newhardware

No

installed?

Yes

Proceed to Motherboard

Failurechart. Yes

Power switch fail?

lead?

No

Check manual and motherboard

silkscreen. Connect lead from front panel

switch.

Remove latest addition and retry. Test,

replace power

Replace switch or substitute front

panel reset switch, if available.

Yes

Powersupply

connections to motherboard

correct?

No

Remakesupply.

Either you have a short

circuit in the case

Harddrive spin No

up?

Yes

motherboard power supply connections.

Spinor a geometry

problem placing an unacceptablestress on the

motherboard. It’s also possible that the video adapter was never seated,

Yes Powers motherboard on bench?

No

NoBad

adapter onbus?

Yes

up on otherNo

lead?

Yes

Defective power supply

lead orconnector.

due the bracket position.

Replace power supply.

Strip system downto video adapter only. See Box A, on Conflict

Resolution chart.

Try drive in test PC.

You can open the interactive version of this flowchart in your browser on the fonerbooks.com website by clicking on the chapter heading below. The interactive version allows you to get the text for each decision symbol without paging ahead.

Pow er Suppl y Fail ur e

Or cut and paste h tt p : / / ww w . f on e r b oo ks . c o m / p o w e r . h tm

http://www.fonerbooks.com/power.htm



Video Failure

No Live screen?

YesDoes

system power No

up?

Yes

Proceed to Power Supply Failure

No

Check monitor

Monitor power on?

Yes

Connect video card

Yes “No power” No displayed?

power source. Makesure cord is fully

seated in the Controls

power insidePC

Hear

“No Signal” No displayed?

monitor socket. Noin middle of

range?

Yes a string ofNo

beeps? Yes

Adjust brightness and contrast.

Yes

NoVideo cable

secure?Yes Adapter No

seated?Check both

ends of video cable.

Yes

No RAMseated?

Yes

Cable

Reseat video adapter, secure.

Reseat RAM on

Motherboard.

Yes damaged, pins bent?

No

Yes Monitortested?

No

Repair or replace video cable.

Any

Test monitor on good PC or

laptop.

FreezesTesting with a different

technology video adapter (PCI vs PCI

Express) doesn’t prove the card slot is good

NoLive with

new video adapter?

No other adapters installed?

Yes

NoLive with lone videoadapter?

Yes

Yes on BIOS Screen?

No

Proceed to Video

Performance chart.

Proceed to Motherboard

Failurechart.

Yes

Try old adapter in other system before

chucking.

Proceed to Conflict

Resolution chart.


Vi deo Fail ur e

Or copy and paste:http:/ /www.foner books. com/ vi deo. htm

http://www.fonerbooks.com/video.htm

http://www.fonerbooks.com/video.htm

Motherboard, CPU, RAM

FailureNo Live

Screen?Yes

No

Proceed to Power Supply

Failure.

No

Power diagnostic

done?

Yes

RAM matched, seated?

Yes

Video diagnostic

done?

Yes

No

Proceed to Video Failure

diagnostic chart

Freezes bare

bones?

No

YesFreezes on boot screen?

Yes

No

Proceed to Motherboard Performance

chart.

Reseat RAM, positive lever

lock. Install pairs if required.

No

Yes

Fan on heatsink active?

CPU seated

flat?

Yes

No

Reseat CPUand heatsink.

Proceed to conflict

resolution chart

NoFreezes on swapped

RAM?

Yes

Check fan power point, (fan1),

replace.

No

Default

Hear beeps?

Yes

Replace RAM

YesCMOS settings default?

Nomotherboard

settings?

Yes with type listed in

motherboardNo documentation.

Restore default motherboard settings

with jumpers or switches. Yes Runs on

bench?Yes Heatsink

active?

Load defaults from BIOS.

No

Locate short, binding, or swap

case.

No

YesCPUswap

No

work?

Install new heatsink, connect fan. May be too

late for CPU.

Bad CPU, watch voltage and heatsink

on replacement.

Motherboard bad.


M other boar d, R AM , CPU Fail ur e

Or copy and paste h tt p : / / ww w . f on e r b oo ks . c o m / c pu _ r a m . h tm

http://www.fonerbooks.com/cpu_ram.htm



ATA DriveFailure

BIOS No registerdrive?

Yes

DriveNo seek, spin

up?Yes

CD orDVD No

drive?

Try swapping power cables

and test in other PC or external

USB shell beforetrashing.

No SATAdrive?

Yes

Yes

300 MB/sSATA2?

Yes

Proceed to CD / DVD

chart.

No

DriveNo cycles up,

down?

Yes

Check on-drive compatibility

jumper if old 150MB/s controller. Yes

Data connection

good?

Swap power lead, try isolating

on IDE cable, check power

SetNo Master/

Slave?

Yes BIOS on old motherboard may No

fail to detect Mode,

management.

Set cable select Yes

Cables seated,

SATA when present.

NoCheck data

cable seated

X-fer speed correct?

No

PATA hard

(CS)? new?both ends, test

cable.

Yes drives require 80conductor cable,

No Yes Reseat IDE and power cables.

check mode inCMOS.

Select Master/Slave orCS. CS requires 80

conductor IDE cable or custom 40 wire cable.

Replace IDE cables if in doubt. Does

No FDISK seedrive?

Yes

YesIDE

ribbon cable No

keyed?

Isolate drive on primary IDE

controller. If FDISK still doesn’t see

drive, the MBR may have been trashed

by a virus.

Proceed to Hard Drive Boot and Performance

chart.

Replace IDE cable. If BIOS still doesn’t

register drive, either motherboard controller

or drive is bad or incompatible.

Match pin 1 on all connectors.


A T A D ri v e F a il ur e

Or copy and paste h tt p : / / ww w . f on e r b oo ks . c o m / i d e_ hd.h tm

http://www.fonerbooks.com/ide_hd.htm



CD or DVD Playback

Yes

No

BIOSregister No

drive?

Tray ejects?

Yes

YesDrive

vibrates, No

noisy?

Yes

Try ejecting before boot.

Locked in software?

Yes

No

Pinhole on drive

face?

Proceed to ATA Drive

Failure

No

Pull drive,

Eject and re-mount. Try another disc. Check drive

mounted level with4 screws.

Yes

Yes

Plays movies?

Plays music CDs?

No

Unplug power, insert straightened

paper-clip, pull tray.

faceplate, pry and pray. No Burner

problem?

No

CheckCODECs,Make sure

you didn’t use any long

mounting screws.

ReadNo data

disc?

Yes

Yes

Proceed toRecordingProblem.

recent update of media player

DAE settings or audio patch

Yes

Reading right drive?

No

Two drivesinstalled?

Yes

No

Readother No

discs?

Yes

Yes BootsOS?

cable from drive to sound card.

No

Laugh at self, pick right

drive.

Clean disc with flannel, check for

scratches.

Yes

Proceed to

Device Manager problem?

Try otherdiagnostic

chart.

No

No DVD SATA?

Change CMOS boot sequence,

pre-spin drive, try CD in test PC.

Yes

ConflictResolution. No

Replace IDE cable,

Drive shares IDE

cable?

Yes

Replace datacable, test drive in USB enclosure or

other PC.

change BIOS mode, try drive in test PC.

Isolate on secondary IDE.


CD or DVD Pl a yba ck

Or copy and paste h tt p : / / ww w . f on e r b oo ks . c o m / i d e_c d.h tm

http://www.fonerbooks.com/ide_cd.htm



Modem FailureYes

LED may say

DSL orcable No

modem?

Yes InternetLED lit?

“Online”, green isusually good.

YesDoes

modem No

dial?

No

Power off PC and modem, retry.

Line unplugged, modem failure, or

service out.Yes

No

Busy or ringing?

ISPpick up?

No

Yes

No Gets online?

Yes

Confirm ISP’s phone number, area code and

prefix for

Try dialing on pulse

NoISP

Cable? No

Yes

outside line.

Get valid user name, password

from ISP.

confirm userinfo?

Yes

Proceed toFilters

installed?

Yes

Friend w/same?

No

Install onALL lines!

Yes

Connect to different

ISP?

No

Yes

Connect at lowered

speed?

YesModemPerform-

ance

NoNo Try borrowed

DSL modem.

Check modemstandards and

brands supported with ISP.

No “No dial tone”?

Yes

Multi-port No modem?

Try direct line or new modem.

Yes Best driver No installed?

Connect line jack on

modem.

Yes

Try networking cable on different

Likely PC networking, network adapter or software, especially firewall.

No

Pass

Device Manger report

problem?

Yes Download latest driver from web.

modem port, USB, or test wireless function with

laptop.

No OS modemtest?

Yes

Reboot, try

Proceed to Conflict

Resolution.

Try new modem.again.


M od em F a il u r e

Or copy and paste h tt p : / / ww w . f on e r b oo ks . c o m / m od e m . h tm

http://www.fonerbooks.com/modem.htm



SoundFailure

AnyNo

non-beepaudio?

Yes

No

Enable

Sound enabled in

O.S.?

YesProceed to

Sound Performance

sound (Control Panel for Windows PCs) and test clips for Windows

actions.

No

Yes

External volume dials

up?

Externalspeakers No

powered?

Yes

Best

Plug in speaker brick (transformer),

except for USB powered or old

battery speakers.

Turn upexternal

controls onspeakers, old Device

Yes driver loaded?

No

Download latestsound cards. Yes Manager register

No

card?driver from Internet.

Any “!” orNo

“?” in DeviceManager?

Yes

Proceed to Conflict

ResolutionYes

USBsound?

No

Register with video

only?

Yes

No

Try different USB port,

cable. Try on other PC or

laptop.

Checked all jacks?

Yes Yes

Disable motherboard

Built-in motherboard No

sound?

No

Confirm speaker jack connected

correct port (non- USB only). If 3D sound card, use

HuntedNo down every

software volume?

sound in CMOS and install sound card.

Yes

Problem

Replace sound card.

Use USB speaker or USB sound card if noexpansionfront speakers.

Sound capable devices, and 3rd partysoftware may all have

Yes

Proceed toCD or DVD

with musicCDs only?

No

Hardware failure.

slots.

individual volume controls. Watch for “mute” boxes

checked.

Playback Check speakers, patchcables, sound card on

test-bed system.


Sound Fail ur e

Or copy and paste h tt p : / / ww w . f on e r b oo ks . c o m / s ound.h tm

http://www.fonerbooks.com/sound.htm



Network Hardware

Diagnostics

YesNew hub added to

LAN?

PCNo sees other

network units?

No

Yes

No Random problems?

Yes

Check crossover(X) port wiring.

Yes Link light lit?

Software limits, user settings.

NoNo Shielded

cable?

Yes

YesCopied network config?

No Physical layer (cables,

devices)Yes

Check proper ground (one end)

WithinNo physical layer

Yes

Proceed Conflict

Resolution.

DeviceManager problem?

Yes

No

Tried known good cable?

Clone setupfrom good

workstation.

No

No

Tried different port on hub?

limits?

Yes

Add repeaters, re-route cables.

Yes PCNo works at new

location?

Swap cable or check pairs,

ends.

Yes Fails on traffic, # of

users?

No

FlakyIn-wall cabling

failure, limits, or hub port.

Problem is unlikely

Reboot, improper software

configuration or bad network

adapter.

Swap hub for switch,

check server utilization.

If connection stable on new port, prior port

is failing.

Nooff network

also?

Yes

Proceed to Motherboard Performance.

network hardware if only this workstation

has intermittentfailures. Try eliminatingall other non-essential

No

New

Cable bypass to hub fix?

Yes

software tasks for testing purposes.

No

Most likely

network card works?

Yes Bad patch or in-wall cabling.

software conflicts, virus.

Throw out oldadapter, $10 new.


N e t w o r k H a r d w a r e D i a gno st i cs

Or copy and paste h tt p : / / ww w . f on e r b oo ks . c o m / n e t w o r k . h tm

http://www.fonerbooks.com/network.htm



Documents

Computer Repair With Diagnostic Flowcharts