SystemOverview

Before attempting any troubleshootinganalysis

on a system,you must first understandthe system
configurationand how the systemworks. In this
chapter,you will approachthe IBM PC from the
systemslevel and becomeacquaintedwith each
functionalelementin the microcomputer.From
IN PU T
U NIT
I OUTPUT
U NIT

your introductory computer instruction, ]ou

learnedthat everycomputersystemhas five basic
parts(Fig. 1-1):
r An arithmeticlogic unit
r A control unit R AM ROM

r A memoryunit M EM O F Y U N IT

r An input unit
r An output unit
The arithmetic logic unit (ALU) does the
adding,subtracting,multiplying, dividing, com-
paring, and logic operations.A control unit regu-
lates the operationof the completemachine. It
fetchesand interpretsinstructions,and it causes
certain parts of the circuitry to respondaccording
to those instructions. The ALU and control unit
can be consideredthe nerve elementsof the
computer'sbrain. Important to the computeris
adequatepower and a good systemclock.
Fig.1-1.Basicpartsof theIBM PCcomputer.
The memory unit is the rememberingpart
of the machine. It stores programs,data, calcu-
lations, and results. Two types of memory are
included in the PC: temporary memory called
random-access memory (RAM) and permanent
memory called read-only memory (ROM). The
ROM chips are permanently programmed or
written into during manufacturewith computer
instructionsand specialdata. Since one of the
 2 ChapterI
IBM ROMs has an operatingsystemprogram
permanently stored in it (hardware),we call it
ttfirmware.tt
RAM is sometimescalled "main memory."
Information stored in RAM existsonly as long as
power is applied to the computer. When power
is removed,the programsand data storedin the
RAM are lost unless transferred (copied) to
externalpermanentmemory. External memory
can be attachedto the PC by connectingfloppy
disk drivesor hard disk drives.
Communicationwith the computer occurs
through the input and output units. These
person-machineinterfaces are called "peri-
pherals." A peripheral can be just about any
type of deviceconnectedto the basicPC.
An input unit allowscommands,programs,
and data to enter the computer-It'show the user
"talks" to the computer. Keyboards,joysticks,
game paddles, graphics tablets, light pens,
microphones,and analog-to-digitalconverters
(ADCs) are examplesof input devices.
The computer communicateswith our
environmentand us via an output unit. Mono-
chrome and color displays,printers,plotters,a
speaker,and digital-to-analogconverters(DACs)
are examplesof output devices.
Some devicesare usedfor both input and
output. Theseincludethe massstoragedevices
(the floppy disk drives,the hard disk drives,and
archival storagetape systems)and MOdulator-
DEModulators (MODEMs) which enablecom-
puter to computer communicationsover long
distances.
The arithmetic logic unit and control unit
can be combinedinto a singleintegratedcircuit
called a "central processingunit" as shownin
Fig. l-2. Microprocessorsare also called central
processingunits (CPUs) becausethey can be
designedto do the samefunctionsas the central
processingunit in a large computer. In the IBM
PC, an 8088integratedcircuit (IC) is the systems
central processingunit. It accessesmemory
(fetches an instruction), interprets what the
instruction means,and does the actionsrequired
by the instruction, and then fetchesthe next
instruction in the program and repeats the
sequence.This sequentialprocesswas described
by mathematicianJohn Von Neumannin the late
1940s. Today, every desktop or laptop personal
computer operates as a sequential "Von
Neumann" machine. In the future, microcom-
puter systemswill include multiple processors
and operate on many instructionsat the same
time in a parallel "non Von Neumann" archi-
tecture.
IN P U T
U N IT
I OUTP U T
U N IT
MEI.4ORY
Fig. 1-2. The control unit and arithmeticunit
togetherform the centralprocessingunit CPU.
THEBASICIBM PC
INTEGRATEDINTOA SYSTEM
Taken as a whole,an IBM PC systemcould look
like the configuration shownin Fig. 1-3.
A typical PC systemis comprisedof the
systemunit with keyboard,a displayunit, two
disk drives, and a printer. The next few pages
will describeeachof theseunits.
SystemUnit
The systemunit shownin Fig. 1-4 is the main
component of the computer. It houses the
systemboard (motherboard)with its expansion
slots for external interface peripheral devices,the
switchingpower supply,and two standard-height,
double-densitydisk drives. On the right side,
near the back of the systemunit, is the on-off
power switch.

Fig.1-3.Example
of an IBM
IB M P E R S ON A LC OMP U TE R
PC svstem.
Fig. 1-4. The systemunit sitsbehind
a detachablekevboard.
Keyboard
The detachablekeyboardhas 83 keys that can
generateall 128American StandardCode for
Information Interchange(ASCII) characters.It
can also generatespecialsymbolsand graphic
shapes. In all, the keyboard can cause the
machine to generateand display (or print) 256
characters,shapes,or symbols.
The numeric keypadon the right side of the
keyboardhas some keys that doubleas cursor-
control keys. Ten programmablefunction keys
are mounted on the left side of the keyboardto
executespecificprograms or to initiate special
software routines. The functions can be
programmedby the softwaredesigner. Many
specialkeys are provided includingShift, Up-
SystemOverview 3
D A IS Y -
COLOR WHEEL
D IS P LA Y P R IN TE R
(64-640K )
S Y S TE MU N IT
A SS E TTE
V OIC E
IN P U T
Down-Right-Left arrow keys, Caps Lock,
Number Lock, Scroll Lock, Backspace,Enter (or
Re t u rn ), Ho me , P a g e Do wn , P a g e U p , E n d ,
Delete,Insert, Print Screen,Tab, Control, and
Alternate. The functionsof these keys and key
combinationsare describedin the IBM Guideto
Operationsmanual.
All83 keyshaveautomaticrepeatand a 10-
charactertype-aheadbuffer to let you type at
rapid speedwithout getting ahead of the com-
puter processingof eachkey stroke.
Each of the 83 concavekeys have a tactile
feel with an audible click to provide positive
feedbackthat key action has been completed.
Inside the keyboardare electroniccircuits that
enhancekey operation and permit keys to be
redefined for increasedprogramming flexibility.
On the bottom sideof the keyboardare two
plastic feet that allow the keyboardto be tilted in
two positionsfor best typing comfort. A plastic
ridge abovethe top row of keyscan hold a book
or report betweenthe keyboardand the display
screen. It can also hold templatesfor special
application software. A 6-foot coiled cable
connectsthe keyboardto the rear of the system
unit.
OutputUnit
Two output units that make the computersystem
completeare the displayunit and a printer.
 4 ChapterI

Many displayunits can connectto the IBM at the same time-dot_matrix for drafts and
includingmonochromeand color monitors.
A workingcopies,and letter quality for documents.
display unit connectsto the computer at the rear
A final output devicethat is part of the pC
of the systemunit. If a radio irequency(RF) .
is a small (2-inch) 8-ohm speakermounted at the
modulatoris connectedto the video adapter'card
left side of the systemboard inside the system
inside the systemunit, a standardtelevisioncan
unit chassis. This device can produce the
be usedfor a monitor.
familiar beep,arcade,and music sounds. It can
Two video adaptersare availablefor the
alsoproducecrudespeech.
PC: a monochromedisplayadapterthat supports
types of bidirectional data storage
text, and a colorfgraphics adapter that supports
devicesare usedwith the IBM pC: tape casserre
text and color graphics.
and minifloppy drives. While cassettestorageis
The monochrome adapter enables the
slow, magnetictapesprovide an excellentwav to
systemto generateand display25 rows of g0
provide archival storage for the large
characterseachin white on btc[ (greenon black -and
amountsof data that are generatedevery diy.
with the IBM monochromemonilor), black
on Many more files or pagesof information ian be
white (or black on green), blinking, in high
stored on a good audio cassettetape than can be
intensity,or underlined. This adaptercard also
stored on a 5r/z inch floppy disk. In fact, one
hasa connectionfor the IBM dot_matrixprinter.
form oftape archival storageusesvideo tape for
Color is availableusing the color_graphics
long term computer-generated data.
adaptercard. This interfaceprovidesopiion, fo.
The typical syst"emuses minifloppy disks
two typesof text (25 rows of 40 characters,or
25 that operatein a disk drive unit as the massstor-
rows of 80 characters) and three types of
agemedium for the pC. Up to six disk drivescan
graphics(low resolution,mediumresolution,
and be connectedto the pC using non_IBM hard_
high resolution). Only medium resolutionand
ware.
high resolution are supportedby the ROM. The
Each 40-trackdisk can be single_or double_
6845CRT controller IC on the adapter board
sided, double-densitydepending-onthe drive
must be directly addressedby customsoftwareto
used. The disksare magneticallysectoredduring
enablelow-resolutiongraphics.
formatting into 512-byte ,"ttorc providin!
Low-resolutiongraphicsrefers to 100rows
163,840bytes of storagefor single_sided, doublel
of 160-pixels (picture elements)or dots each,
in disks (184,320 byteswitfipc_ooS
any of 16 standardcolors. Medium_resolution 9:5llt 2.x)or
3.27,680 bytesof storagefor double_sided, douLle_
graphicscan produce 200 rows of 320 pixelsper
densitydisk drivessystems(36g,640bytesfor pC_
row in any of four colors. Additional colorscan
DoS 2.x).
be generatedwhen dots of different colors
are
juxtaposed. High-resolutiongraphics
produces Connections
200 rows of 640 pixelspe. .ow1n black and white
(or.black and green). Text can be positioned
Figure 1-5 showsthe connectionson the rear of
within graphic shapesenablingwinjow opera_
the PC. A female connectorprovidespower
tions. to
an externalmonochromedisplay. The male con_
Many types of printers can connect and
n€ctor to the right is for the power cord. To the
function with the pC. Both dot-matrix and
full right of the round fan air exhaustport is a 5_pin
characterprinters are commonlyconnected
to circular connectorfor the keyboard cable. Next
this machine. The recent introiuction of con_
is a 5-pin circular connectorfor cassettedata
sumer laser printers has given very high quality
input/output. The five slots align with five
hard copy output capability to pC users. AII
of expansionsocketson the systemboard inside.
theseinterconnectionsare achievedusinga
spe_ These slots are for connectingother display
cial expansionslot adapterboard as the inierface.
outputs,disk drives,plotters,printers,and other
Some usershaveboth typesof printers connected
peripherals.

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A IR KE CASSETTE
P OWE R E X HA UST CONNECTOR INPUT/OUTPUT OPT IO N SLOT S
Fig. f -5. The connections
foundon the
backof the PC svstemunit.
InternalGomponents
Figure 1-6 shows the position of subsystems
in sid e th e 5.5 inch by 19.6inch by 1 6 . 1in c h
systemunit. On the left is the systemboard, or
motherboard. At the top of this board are the
five expansion slots to connect peripheral
devices.On the lower left of the systemboard
are the memorychips.
Fig. 1{. Inside view of systemunit
SvstemOveruiew 5
The top right portion of the systemunit is
the switchingpower supply. The lower two-thirds
of the systemunit housestwo floppy disk drives.
Figure 1-7 is a block diagram of the IBM
PC system. Dashed lines allocate the system
elementsinto the basicparts of any computer.
Each part of this diagramwill be coveredin
detail in the next chapter.
SystemBoard
The most important part of the computer is the
CPU and the circuitrysurroundingthe CPU. On
the PC, the CPU and its associatedcircuitry are
PER IPH ER AL mounted on a denselypacked printed-circuit
board called the systemboard, or motherboard.
Two systemboardshave been producedfor the
IBM PC. The board shown in Fig. 1-8 was
designedfor systemsthat containedbetween16k
and 64K of RAM.
A photographof the systemboard usedin
newer 64K to 256K RAM systemsis shown in
Fig. 1-9. Theseparametersdefinethe amountof
RAM that can be installedin the systemboard
before expansion memories can be used.
COMPUTERFACTS pages27 and 34 provide
anotherview of the newerPC systemboard. The
tracesideis shownon CF pages26 and35.
As noted,most of the ICs on theseboards
are mountedin a commondirectionwith pin 1 of
SWITCHING
POWERSUPPLY
each chip facing the same direction. This is
imp o rt a n t wh e n t h e s e b o a rd s a re r e p a i r e d
becauseit helps to prevent you from mounting
the chip backwards.Chips are marked with the
sil
rJ)
packagepositioned in the same way. If you
inadvertentlysoldera replacementIC into the
board with pin 1 facing the wrong way, you can
quickly tell by the upside down lettering and
numberingthat it's mountedincorrectly.
Each componentIC has a corresponding
code (U23, U36, and so forth) stampedon the
systemboard. In addition, the chip locationsare
marked in increasingorder from top to bottom
and right to left. This is helpful in quickly
locatingICs.
OISK ORIVE
ANALOG CARD
In Chapter 2, all systemboard chips will
be discussedin detail. For consistency, only the
 6 Chapter1
PERIPHERAL
INT ERF ACE
Fig. 1-7. IBM PC systemblockdiagram.
64K-256K board will be described. The 8088
CPU is plainly visible on the lower right side of
the board. In all, 99 chips are mountedon the
systemboard. Thesechipscomprisethe CPU,
memory, timer, controllers,and input/output
(r/o).
l/O Interfaces
Five 62-contactexpansionslots are mounted at
the upper right in Fig. 1-9. Theseslotsconnect
peripheral devicesto the systemboard. Besides
the address and data buses, an extensive
selectionof control, power, and ground signals
available on each slot allow PC system inter-
facing with many external devices. Each
peripheral exceptthe keyboardconnectsto the
systemboard via an adapterboard that plugsinto
one of the expansionslots. These slots are
numbered J1 (slot 1) to J5 (slot 5) from left to
right.
Slot 1 is allocated for the disk controller
interface board. Up to four disk drives (two
internal and two external)can be connectedto
the PC. Third party hardware can expand the
massstorageto six double-sided,double-density
drives.
Slot 2 is used for the displayadaptercard.
Slot 3 is allocatedto the asynchronous/synch-
ronous communicationcard. Other interface
devicesinclude modems, additional printers,
graphicstablets,and voice-recognitionand voice-
generationboards. Expandedmemory can also
be connectedusing the expansionslots.
SystemBoardGhip Layout
Figure 1-10 shows the layout for the chips
mountedon the newerIBM PC svstemboard.
8088CPU
Just to the left of the cassetteI/O port (J6) on
the far right side of Fig. 1-10is the 8088CPU

Fig. 1-8. Photoof the 16K-64KIBM PC systemboard.
(socketU3). A closerview is providedin Fig.
1- 1 1 . The 8 088 is an Intel designe dmic ro -
processorthat operateson a 4.77MHz clock as a
16-bit machine internally, using the same
instruction set as the 16-bit Intel 8086micro-
processor,but with an 8-bit data bus. It supports
16-bit operationsincluding multiply and divide
and has a 20-bit addressbus so it can accessover
a million memorylocations.
Internally,the 8088handles16-bitformats
so the CPU expandsits internal addressword to
20 bits at its output usinga segmentationscheme.
Memory addressesare logicallysubdividedinto
special segmentsof 64K bytes each. Each
segmentcan be allocatedto specialregistersin
the 8088. Then bytes within a segmentare
addressedusing a 16-bitoffset addresswhich is
SvstemOveniew 7
addedto a 16-bitsegmentaddressto generatea
physicaladdress.This addressingschemewill be
describedin detail in Chapter2.
8087NUMERICDATA
PROCESSOR(COPROCESSOR)
The 8088 can also operate in maximum mode
with an optional 8087numeric data processor
functioningas a coprocessor.This configuration
greatly increasescomputational speed. The
socketjust below U3 is for the 8087 (Ua). The
8087 is a high-speed,two-channelI/O control-
ler/coprocessorthat extendsthe 8088instruction
set to include arithmetic and logic operations. It
doesn'tchangethe way the systemoperates,but
 I Chapter1
Fig. 1-9. Photoof the 64K-256KIBM PC systemboard.
it does greatly reduce the time required for
certain mathematicalfunctions. This IC can
operate on floating point and multiple digit BCD
numbersup to 18 digits in length.
The 8087numeric data processorhandles
the data transfers between it and the 8088.
Permanently stored in the 8087 are micro
instructionsfor add, subtract,multiply, divide,
absolutevalue,arctangent,tangent,squareroot,
and other operations. Its unique "number-
crunching" architectureenablescalculations100
times faster than the 8088. When installed,a
switch on the systemboard enablesthe 8087
CPU to quickly download mathematicopera-
tions to its 8088 coprocessor,dramatically
reducingexecutiontimes of thesealgorithms.
8259PROGRAMMABLE
TNTERRUPT (PrC)
CONTROLLER
Just abovethe 8088shownin the layout diagram
of Fig. 1-11is the 8259PIC (U2) that produces
specialsignalsthat are used for externaldevice
communicationwith the CPU. The PC is an
interrupt driven machine in which peripheral
devicescommunicatewith the CPU by interrupt
signalsthat causethe CPU to stop what it was
doing and service their request. Up to eight
externaldevicescan requestPIC U2 to producea
CPU interrupt signal. By knowing which device
is requestingthe interrupt, U2 puts a special
code out on the data bus for CPU recoqnition
and action.
 SystentOveniew 9

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Fig.1-10.The systemboardchiplayout

8288CLOCKGENERATOR
In the lower right of Fig. 1-10is an 8288clock
generator (U11) that receivesa power good
si gn a l fr om the power supply and a 14 . 3 1 8 1 8
MHz signal from an attached crystal and
producestheresetpulse and clock signalsto start
the CPU operating and awakenthe circuitry of
the systemboard into electroniclife.
Once powered,this IC continuouslypro-
ducesseveralclock signalsthat pulse throughout
the PC. A 4.772727MHz signalis passedto the
8088CPU and out onto the systemboard as the
systemclock. The clock generatoralso produces
a 2.386MHz signalthat is divided by two and
used to refresh the dynamic RAM on the system
board, and to update the time-of-dayinternal PC
clock. It alsois usedto activatethe speaker. Fig 1-11. The 8088centralprocessingunit.
 10 Chapter I
8253 PROGRAMMABLE
TNTERVAL
TTMER(PtT)
The 8253PIT (U34) near the lower middle of the
systemboard (Fig. 1-11) receivesthe divided
2.386MHz clock signaland developsspecialtime
of day and date signalswhich are maintainedas
long as power is applied to the machine. These
time and date signalscan alsobe storedin mass
memory with a file you have developedso you
know which version of a program you are
accessingwhen you reload the file into temporary
memory on the systemboard. It also produces
speakerpulsesfor generatingsound.
8237DIRECTMEMORY
ACCESS(DMA)CONTROLLER
Below U34 in Fig. 1-11 is an 8237 Dl./.A
Controller (U35). This specialpurposemicro-
processor enables large data block transfers
betweenmassstorage(disk drivesor other I/O)
and the internal memory on the systemunit
board without CPU involvement. It can handle
data blocksup to 64K bytesin length.
One of the four DMA channelsof U35
combineswith one of the three counter/timer
channelsof U34 to produce a refresh signalfor
the temporarymemory chips and any additional
memory mounted on expansionboards and
pluggedinto one of the five expansionsockets.
8255PROGRAMMABLE
PERTPHERAL
TNTERFACE
(PPt)
The IC below U35 in Fig. 1-11is the 8255PPI
(U36). This smart peripheral device allows
externalcommunicationwith the CPU. It is a
parallel I/O chip with three ports that can be
configuredby a softrvarecommandto function as
either input or output. The PPI is used to read
the system board configuration switches to
determine how much memory is installed,the
number of disk drives,and the type of display
screenbeing used. It also acceptsdata input
from the keyboard.
READONLYMEMORY(ROM)
The column of large chips beginningwith the
empty socketfor U28 holds 40K bytes of ROM.
The empty socketwas originally designedto hold
cassetteBASIC but wasn't required in the final
configuration. Four 8K ROMs contain a large
cassetteBASIC high level languageinterpreter
program. A fifth 8K ROM chip below U28
containsthe ROM basic input/output system
(BIOS) that enablesCPU communicationwith
the systemcircuitry. It handlesvideo display
graphics,a time-of-dayclock, printing to the
screen cassetteoperations, and printer and
asynchronous devicecommunications.Included
in this chip is a self-testprogram that checksthe
functionalityof the PC during power-up. It also
containsa minifloppy disk bootstrap loader to
cause a floppy drive to load mass storage
programsonto the temporary memory on the
systemboard.
RANDOMACCESS
MEMORY(RAM)
The temporarymemory is the RAM mountedin
four columnsof nine chipseachat the far left top
of Fig. 1-11.Eight chipsin eachcolumnmake up
the 8-bit data word. Early versionsof the PC
containedfour columnsof 16K x 1-bit ICs with a
singlecolumn of chips providing the minimum
16K systemand four columns of chips providing
the maximum configurationof 64K RAM. After
late spring of 1983,eachPC was designedto hold
64K x l-bit RAM chips providing working
memoryof between64K and 256K.
In both cases,the ninth chip in eachcolumn
is a specialRAM used to store the parity value
for each byte of stored data. During storage,
parity circuitry determinesthe number of logic ls
in the word and addsenough(1 or 0) to make the
numberof ls an evennumber. Thus 10010001 in

the storedword would causethe circuitry to store
a I in the parity RAM thus ensuring that the
total number of 1sis even. When a word is read
from RAM memory, parity check circuitry
computes what the parity should be and
comparesits value (1 or 0) with the value stored
in the parity RAM. If the two valuesare not the
same, a non-maskableinterrupt called parity
error occurs causing the CPU to produce a
display that readsPARITY CHECK and then
haltssystemoperation.
POWERSUPPLY
The switchingpower supply inside the system
unit providesup to 64 watts of energyto operate
the computer,its internal disk drives,and the
adapter cards plugged into the systemboard
expansionslots. It can also pass 120 VAC
SvstemOverview 11
through to a socketon the rear of the systemunit
for powering a monochromedisplay.
The supplyreceives120VAC at 50/60H2
throughthe line cord and generates+5, -5, +72,
and -12volts as output. It is fused and includesa
power sensingdevice that automaticallycuts off
power to the PC if too much or too little voltage
is detected. It also shutsdown if an overvoltage
or overcurrentcondition occursbecauseof a
short on the systemboard, on an expansion
board,or in the disk drives.
Two 6-pin connectorsprovide power to the
systemboard, and two connectorsprovide power
to eachinternal disk drive assembly.
In the next chapter,you will read about the
role of eachof the previouslydescribedchips in
the PC system and gain an in-depth under-
standingof how the IBM personal computer
systemoperates. Chapter 2 takesyou deep into
the circuitry to gain a detailedunderstandingof
the systemyou are about to repair and maintain.