CHAPTER 1:

COMPUTER HARDWARE
1.1.1 Identify basic cable & connector types
1.1.2 Identify features and their purposes
1.1.3 Identify external ports
 COMPONENTS OF MOTHERBOARD

External Ports and Cables

• There are standard connectors for on board I/O components that don’t
require expansion cards. These connectors typically include the following:
• PS/2 mouse and keyboard ports
• USB ports
• Serial ports (COM 1, 2, 3, and 4) – DB9(male)
• Parallel ports (LPT 1 and 2) – DB25(female)
COMPONENTS OF MOTHERBOARD

External Ports
External Ports
External Connections
Plugs, Ports, Jacks, and Connectors
 USB Connectors
• Universal serial bus (USB)
• Many different devices, such as mouse, keyboards, scanners,cameras, and printers.
• USB connections come in three different sizes:
• A (very common),
• B, and mini-B (less common).
• The USB A connector’s distinctive rectangular shape
makes it easily recognizable
USB Connectors
 USB Connectors
• 2 Features :
• Hot-Swappable
• Can insert or remove them without restarting your PC
• Almost every other type of connector requires you to turn the system off, insert or
remove the connector, and then turn the system back on
• Many USB devices get their electrical power through the USB connection, so they
don’t need batteries or a plug for an electrical outlet
FireWire Connectors
• Known as IEEE 1394,
• Moves data at incredibly high speeds,
• Perfect connection for highly specialized
applications, such as streaming video from a digital
video camera onto a hard drive.
• FireWire consists of a special 6-wire connector
• There’s also a smaller, 4-pin version, usually seen
on peripherals.
• Like USB, FireWire devices are hot-
swappable.
DB Connectors
• Have a slight D shape,
• Only one proper way to insert a plug into
the socket and makes it easier to remember
• What they’re called
• Technically, they’re known as D-sub or D-
subminiature connectors,
• Most techs call them DB
• Usually for a printer or video
RJ Connectors
• Plastic plug used to connect your telephone cord
to the jack is a classic example of an RJ plug
• Only two types of RJ jacks: the RJ-11 and the
RJ-45
• The phone jack is an RJ-11. It is used almost
exclusively for modems
• The slightly wider RJ-45 jack is used for your
network connection
 Audio Connectors
• Speakers and microphones connect to audio jacks on the system unit
 Using Ports and Expansion Slots
for Add-on Device

• Ports
• Serial
• Parallel
• USB
• IEEE 1394
• SCSI

• Expansion slots
Port Comparison
USB Ports
• developed in the USB
mid-1990s
port - Universal Serial Bus (USB)
USB Host Controller
IEEE 1394 interface (FireWire)
• a serial bus interface standard for high-speed communications and
real-time data transfer
• 1394 interface is comparable to USB though USB has more market
share
• IEEE 1394 is the High-Definition Audio-Video Network Alliance
(HANA) standard connection interface for A/V (audio/visual)
component communication and control
IEEE 1394 Cable Connections
Using IEEE 1394 Ports
 Keyboard Connectors
• PS/2 connector (or mini-DIN)
• Small, round, with six pins
• DIN (Deutsche Industrie Norm) connector
• Round with five pins
• USB port
• Wireless connection
• Requires a driver
Keyboard Connectors (continued)
 A Keyboard Adapter

Since the signals are the same for the two types of connector--they just use different
pins. This means that simple mechanical adapters can be made to convert between
the two. These adapters let a keyboard that terminates in a large connector work on a
system that requires a small connector, and vice-versa.
PORTS
PORTS
PORTS
IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics)
• interface is used for connecting hard drives, CD-ROMs, and
other devices to the motherboard
 PATA - Parallel ATA
• originally AT Attachment, is an interface standard for the connection of storage devices
such as hard disks, floppy drives, and optical disc drives in computers

ATA on mainboard

ATA cables
 SATA - Serial advanced technology attachment
two basic versions of SATA, with SATA-150 and
SATA-300, SATA uses a small seven-pin connector and
a thin cable

SATA cables

SATA on mainboard
•SCSI - Small
storage computer system interface
interfaces
 HDMI - High-Definition Multimedia Interface

• A Digital audio/video/data connector, was design on 2002

HDMI type A plug HDMI socket/ HDMI

(male) connector type A receptacle
(female) connector
 Composite (RCA cable)
• RCA Plugs for composite video (yellow) and stereo audio (white and red),
used to carry audio and video signals, "RCA" derives from the Radio
Corporation of America, designed in early 1940s

RCA cables
RCA sockets/jacks
 PS/2 connector
• 6-pin Mini-DIN connector used for connecting some keyboards
and mice to a computer system
• Its name comes from the IBM Personal System/2
• was introduced in 1987
 MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface)

• MIDI technology was standardized in 1983

A MIDI connector
 VGA - Video Graphics Array
• VGA connector is a three-row 15-pin, the 15-pin VGA connector is found
on many video cards, computer monitors, and high definition television
sets, was designed in 1987

A female VGA output in a A VGA cable male connector

laptop computer
 Ethernet
• An Ethernet modem is a device used to connect a computer to the Internet.
Created in the 1970s. Use broadband technology that operates at far
higher speeds than older, dial-up methods