A+ Certification

Defining Ports and Connectors In the life of the PC repair technician, the really fun stuff (such as replacing the motherboard, upgrading the processor, or tracking down a transient error in memory) is only a small part of the job. The real ...

Understanding Serial DevicesSerial communications, which are conducted through serial ports, involve sending bits in a serial fashion, one bit a time. Serial means that the bits are sent in a series, a single-file stream. This contrasts to pa...

Looking at Parallel DevicesFor the exam, know how parallel data is transmitted (eight bits at a time), the standard covering parallel port technologies (IEEE 1284 — see the section “Keeping up to standard”), and that paralle...

Making High-Speed Serial Connections When the standard PC only connected a printer and a modem to its ports, a serial port or two and a parallel port or two were enough. In today’s PC world, standard serial and parallel ports aren̵...

Working with Infrared PortsThe infrared (IR) port uses an invisible band of light at the low end of the electromagnetic spectrum. You’ll never see this PC connection unless you have super powers. IR light stops just short of the beginni...

Configuring PC PortsIf trouble arises with a PC’s port, whether it’s a serial, parallel, USB, IEEE 1394, or IrDA port, the problem probably is with the system resource settings. This usually happens when you add new devices to a P...

Input/Output Ports Prep Test A parallel port transmits data One data bit at a time Four data bits at a time One sector at a time Eight data bits at a time A UART chip is used to control The Plug and...