Free Computer Hardware and Electronics Ebooks & Reviews

Programming the Z80

2009-12-05T09:58:00.000-08:00

This book has been designed as a complete self-contained text for learning programming, using the Z80. It can be used by a person who has never programmed before, and should also be of value to anyone using the Z80.

For the person who has already programmed, this book will teach specific programming techniques using (or working around) the specific characteristics of the Z80. This text covers the elementary to intermediate techniques required to start programming effectively.

This text aims at providing a true level of competence to the person who wishes to program using this microprocessor. Naturally, no book will effectively teach how to program, unless one actually practices. However, it is hoped that this book will take the reader to the point where he feels that he can start programming by himself and can solve simple or even moderately complex problems using a microcomputer.

This book is based on the author's experience in teaching more thatn 1000 persons how to program microcomputers. As a result, it is strongly structured. Chapters normally go from the simple to the complex. For readers who have already learned elementary programming, the introductory chapter may be skipped. For others who have never programmed, the final sections of some chapters may require a second reading.

The book has been designed to take the reader systematically through all the basic concepts and techniques required to build increasingly complex programs. It is, therefore, strongly suggested that the ordering of the chapters be followed. In addition, for effective results, it is important that the reader attempt to solve as many exercises as possible. The difficulty within the exercises has been carefully graduated. They are designed to verify that the material which has been presented is really understood. Without doing the programming exercises, it will not be possible to realize the full value of this book as an educational medium. Several of the exercises may require time, such as the multiplication exercise. However, by doing them, you will actually program and learn by doing. This is indispensable.

For those who hav acquired a taste for programming when reaching the end of this volume, a companion volume is planned: the Z80 application book. Other books in this series cover programming for other popular microprocessors.

For those who wish to develop their hardware knowledge, it is suggested that the reference books "From Chips to systems: an introduction to microprocessors (ref. c201A) and microprocessor interfacing techniques be consulted.

The contents of this book have been checked carefully and are believed to be reliable. However, inevitably, some typographical or other errors will be found. The author will be grateful for any comments by alert readers so that future editions may benefit from their experience. Any other suggestions for improvements, such as other programs desired, developed or found of value by readers, will be appreciated.

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The Second Book Of Machine Language

2009-12-05T09:53:00.000-08:00

by Richard Mansfield

This book shows how to put together a large machine language program. All of the fundamentals were covered in my first book, Machine Language for Beginners. What remains is to put the rules to use by constructing a working program, to take the theory into the field and show how machine language is done.

Showing how to construct an assembler-written entirely in machine language would serve two useful purposes. It would illustrate advanced programming technique and also provide the reader with a powerful assembler to use in other ML programming.

This book, then, offers the reader both a detailed description of a sophisticated machine language program (the LADS assembler) and an efficient tool, a complete language with which to write other machine language programs. Every line in the LADS assembler program is described. All the subroutines are picked apart and explained. Each major routine is examined in depth.

LADS, the Label Assembler Development System, is a fast, feature-laden assembler-it compares favorably with the best assemblers available commercially. And not the least of its virtues is the fact that few programs you will ever use will be as thoroughly documented and therefore as accessible to your understanding, modification, and customization.

LADS is a learning device too. By exploring the assembler, you will learn how to go about writing your own large machine language (ML) programs. You will see how a data base is created and maintained, how to communicate with peripherals, and how to accomplish many other ML tasks. Also, because you can study the creation of a computer language, the LADS assembler, you will gain an in-depth knowledge of the intimate details of direct communication with your computer.
Most programming involves a tradeoff between three possible objectives: speed, brevity, or clarity. You can program with the goal of creating the fastest running program possible. Or you can try to write a program which uses up as little memory as possible. Or you can try to make the program as understandable as possible, maximizing the readability of the program listing with REMarks.

LADS emphasizes clarity so that its source code will serve as a learning tool and as the focus of this book. It's designed so that important events in the program can be easily explained and understood. Virtually every ML instruction, every tiny step, is commented within the source code listings following each chapter.

This doesn't mean that LADS is flabby or slow. Assembling roughly 1000 bytes a minute and taking up 5K in memory, LADS is considerably faster and more compact than most commercial assemblers. That's because, in ML, you can have the best of both worlds: You can comment as heavily as you want, but the assembler will strip off the comments when it creates the object code. In this way, clarity does not sacrifice memory or speed.

The frequent comments contribute considerably to the educational value of this assembler. Exploring LADS is a way to learn how to achieve many common programming goals and how to construct a large, significant program entirely in ML. An additional advantage of this comprehensibility is that you'll be able to modify LADS to suit yourself: Add your own pseudo-ops, define defaults, format output. All this is referred to as a language's extensibility. We'll get to this in a minute.

What BASIC is to BASIC programming, an assembler is to ML programming. LADS is a complete language. You write programs (source code) which LADS translates into the finished, executable ML (object code). Unlike less advanced assemblers, however, symbolic assemblers such as LADS can be as easy to use as higher level languages like BASIC. The source code is very simple to modify. Variables and subroutines have names. The program can be internally commented with REM-like explanations. Strings are automatic via the BYTE command. There are a variety of other built-in features, the pseudo-ops, which make it easy to save object programs, control the screen and printer listings, choose hex or decimal disassembly, and service other common programming needs.

Perhaps the best feature of LADS, though, is its extensibility. Because you have the entire source code along with detailed explanations of all the routines, you can customize LADS to suit yourself. Add as many pseudo-ops as you want. Redesign your ML programming language anytime and for any reason. Using an extensible programming language gives you control not only over the programs you design, but also over the way that they are created. You can adjust your tools to fit your own work style.

Do you often need to subtract hex numbers during assembly? It's easy to stick in a - command. Would you rather that LADS read source programs from RAM memory instead of disk files? (This makes it possible to assemble using a tape drive. It can also be a bit faster.) In Chapter 11 we'll go through the steps necessary to make this and other modifications. You'll be surprised at how easy it is.

Finally, studying the language (the LADS assembler) which produces machine language will significantly deepen your understanding of ML programming.

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Machine Language For Beginners

2009-12-05T09:46:00.000-08:00

by Richard Mansfield

Introduction
Why Machine Language?

Sooner or later, many programmers find that they want to learn machine language. BASIC is a fine general-purpose tool, but it has its limitations. Machine language (often called assembly language) performs much faster. BASIC is fairly easy to learn, but most beginners do not realize that machine language can also be easy. And, just as learning Italian goes faster if you already know Spanish, if a programmer already knows BASIC, much of this knowledge will make learning machine language easier. There are many similarities.

This book is designed to teach machine language to those who have a working knowledge of BASIC. For example, Chapter 9 is a list of BASIC statements. Following each is a machine language routine which accomplishes the same task. In this way, if you know what you want to do in BASIC, you can find out how to do it in machine language.

To make it easier to write programs in machine language (called "ML" from here on), most programmers use a special program called an assembler. This is where the term "assembly language" comes from. ML and assembly language programs are both essentially the same thing. Using an assembler to create ML programs is far easier than being forced to look up and then POKE each byte into RAM memory. That's the way it used to be done, when there was too little memory in computers to hold languages (like BASIC or Assemblers) at the same time as programs created by those languages. That old style hand-programming was very laborious.

There is an assembler (in BASIC) at the end of this book which will work on most computers which use Microsoft BASIC, including the Apple, PET/CBM, VIC, and the Commodore 64. There is also a separate version for the Atari. It will let you type in ML instructions (like INC 2) and will translate them into the right numbers and POKE them for you wherever in memory you decide you want your ML program. Instructions are like BASIC commands; you build an ML program using the ML "instruction set." A complete table of all the 6502 ML instructions can be found in Appendix A.

It's a little premature, but if you're curious, INC 2 will increase the number in your computer's second memory cell by one. If the number in cell 2 is 15, it will become a 16 after INC 2. Think of it as "increment address two."

Throughout the book we'll be learning how to handle a variety of ML instructions, and the "Simple Assembler" program will be of great help. You might want to familiarize yourself with it. Knowing what it does (and using it to try the examples in this book), you will gradually build your understanding of ML, hexadecimal numbers, and the new possibilities open to the computerist who knows ML.

Seeing It Work
Chapters 2 through 8 each examine a major aspect of ML where it differs from the way BASIC works. In each chapter, examples and exercises lead the programmer to a greater understanding of the methods of ML programming. By the end of the book, you should be able to write, in ML, most of the programs and subroutines you will want or need.

Let's examine some advantages of ML, starting with the main one - ML runs extremely fast.
Here are two programs which accomplish the same thing. The first is in ML, and the second is in BASIC. They get results at very different speeds indeed, as you'll see:

Machine Language
169 1 160 0 153 0 128 153 0 129 153 130 153 0 131 200 208 241 96

BASIC
5 FOR I=1 TO 1000: PRINT "A";: NEXT I

These two programs both print the letter "A" 1000 times on the screen. The ML version takes up 28 bytes of Random Access Memory (RAM). The BASIC version takes up 45 bytes and takes about 30 times as long to finish the job. If you want to see how quickly the ML works, you can POKE those numbers somewhere into RAM and run the ML program with a SYS (Commodore computers) or USR (Atari) or CALL (Apple). In both BASIC and ML, many instructions are followed by an argument. The instructions SYS and CALL have numbers as their arguments. In these cases, the instruction is going to turn control of the computer over to the address given as the argument. There would be an ML program waiting there. To make it easy to see this ML program's speed, we'll load it into memory without yet knowing much about it.

A disassembly is like a BASIC program's LISTing. You can give the starting address of an ML program to a disassembler and it will translate the numbers in the computer's memory into a readable series of ML instructions. See Appendix D for a disassembler that you can use to examine and study ML programs.

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MMIXware

2009-12-05T09:37:00.000-08:00

by Donald E. Knuth

MMIX is a computer intended to illustrate machine-level aspects of programming. MMIX's so called RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer") architecture is much better able to represent the computers being built at the turn of the millennium.

This book is a collection of programs that make MMIX a virtual reality. One of the programs is an assembler, MMIXAL, which converts MMIX symbolic les to MMIX object files. There also are two simulators, which execute the programs in given object files.

The first simulator, called MMIX-SIM or simply MMIX, executes a program one instruction at a time and allows convenient debugging. The second simulator, MMMIX, simulates a high-performance pipeline in which many aspects of the computation are overlapped in time. MMMIX is in fact a highly configurable meta-simulator," capable of simulating an enormous variety of dierent kinds of pipelines with any number of functional units and with many possible strategies for caching, virtual address translation, branch prediction, super-scalar instruction issue, etc., etc.

The programs in this book are somewhat primitive, because they all are based on a simple terminal interface: Users type commands and the computer types out a reply. Still, these programs are adequate to provide a basis for future developments. I'm hoping that at least one reader of this book will discover how much fun MMIX programming can be and will be motivated to create a nice graphical interface, so that other people will more easily be able to join in the fun. I don't have the time or talent to construct a good GUI myself, but I've tried to write the programs in such a way that modications and enhancements will be easy to make.

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Assemblers and Loaders

2009-12-05T09:28:00.000-08:00

This book differs from the typical assembler text in that it is not a programming manual, and it is not concerned with any specific assembler language.Instead it concentrates on the design and implementation of assemblers and loaders. It assumes that the reader has some knowledge of computers and programming, and it aims to explain how assemblers and loaders work. Most of the discussion is general, and most of the examples are in a hypothetical, simple, assembler language. Certain examples are in the assembler languages of actual machines, and those are always specified.

This is mostly a professional book, intended for computer professionals in general, and especially for systems programmers.Ho wever, it can be used as a supplementary text in a systems programming or computer organization class at any level.

Chapter 1 introduces the one-pass and two-pass assemblers, discusses other important concepts—such as absolute- and relocatable object files—and describes assembler features such as local labels and multiple location counters. Data structures for implementing the symbol table are discussed in chapter 2.

Chapter 3 presents many directives and discusses their formats, meaning, and implementation.These directives are supported by many actual assemblers and, while not complete, this collection of directives is quite extensive.

The two important topics of macros and conditional assembly are introduced in chapter 4. The treatment of macros is as complete as practically possible. Features of the listing file are outlined, with examples, in chapter 5, while

chapter 6 is a general description of the properties of disassembler, and of three special types of assemblers.Those topics, especially meta-assemblers and high-level assemblers, are of special interest to the advanced reader.They are not new, but even experienced programmers are not always familiar with them.

Chapter 7 covers loaders.There is a very detailed example of the basic operation of a one pass linking loader, followed by features and concepts such as dynamic loading, bootstrap loader, overlays, and others.

Finally, chapter 8 contains a survey of four modern, state of the art, assemblers. Their main characteristics are described, as well as features that distinguish them from their older counterparts.

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The Art of Assembly Language

2009-12-05T06:52:00.000-08:00

Why would anyone learn this stuff?

Your major requires a course in assembly language; i.e., you’re here against your will.
A programmer where you work quit. Most of the source code left behind was written in assembly language and you were elected to maintain it.
Your boss has the audacity to insist that you write your code in assembly against your strongest wishes.
Your programs run just a little too slow, or are a little too large and you think assembly language might help you get your project under control.
You want to understand how computers actually work.
You’re interested in learning how to write efficient code.
You want to try something new.

This is a book which teaches assembly language programming, written for college level students, written by someone who appears to know what he’s talking about, your natural tendency is to believe something if it appears in print. Having just read the above, you’re starting to assume that assembly must be pretty bad. And that, dear friend, is eighty percent of what’s wrong with assembly language. That is, people develop some very strong misconceptions about assembly language based on what they’ve heard from friends, instructors, articles, and books. Oh, assembly language is certainly not perfect. It does have many real faults. Those faults, however, are blown completely out of proportion by those unfamiliar with assembly language. The next time someone starts preaching about the evils of assembly language, ask, “how many years of assembly language programming experience do you have?” Of course assembly is hard to understand if you don’t know it.

It is surprising how many people are willing to speak out against assembly language based only on conversations they’ve had or articles they’ve read. Assembly language users also use high level languages (HLLs); assembly’s most outspoken opponents rarely use anything but HLLs. Who would you believe, an expert well versed in both types of programming languages or someone who has never taken the time to learn assembly language and develop an honest opinion of its capabilities?

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Programming from the Ground Up (Using Assembly Language)

2009-12-04T14:03:00.000-08:00

By Jonathan Bartlett

This book is not a reference book, it is an introductory book. It is therefore not suitable by itself to learn how to professionally program in x86 assembly language, as some details have been left out to make the learning process smoother. The point of the book is to help the student understand how assembly language and computer programming works, not to be a reference to the subject. Reference information about a particular processor can be obtained by contacting the company which makes it.

This book teaches assembly language for x86 processors and the GNU/Linux operating system. In this book, all examples are using the GNU/Linux standard GCC tool set. You will learn computer architecture, structure of comptuer memory, CPU, data accessig methods, assembly language functions, file system, error handling, intermediate memory topics, high level lanugautes, optimization, etc and more.

In this book we will learn assembly language, although we will cover a bit of high-level languages. Hopefully by learning assembly language, your understanding of how programming and computers work will put you a step ahead.

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ARM Assembly Language Programming

2009-12-04T14:00:00.000-08:00

By Peter Knaggs and Stephen Welsh

Broadly speaking, you can divide the history of computers into four periods: the mainframe, the mini, the microprocessor, and the modern post-micoprocessor. The Mainframe era was chaterrized by computers that required large buildings and teams of technicians and operators to keep them going. More often than not, both academics and students had little direct contact with the mainframe - you handed a deck of punched cards to an operator and waited for the ouput to appear hours later. During the mainframe era, academics concentrated on languages and compilers, algorithms, and operating systems.

The minicomputer era put computers in the hands of students and academics, because university departments could now buy their own minis. As minicomputers were not as complex as mainframes and because students could get direct hands-on experience, many departments of computer science and electronic engineering taught students how to program in the native language of the computer - assembly language. In those days, the mid 1970s, assembly language programming was used to teach both the control of I/O devices, and the writing of programs. The explosion of computer software had not taken place, and if you wanted software you had to write it yourself.

The late 1970s saw the introduction of the Microprocessor. For the first time, each student was able to access a real computer. Unfortunately, microprocessors appeared before the introduction of low-cost memory (both primary and secondary). Students had to program microprocessors in assembly langauge because the only storage mechanicsm was often a ROM with just enough capacity to hold a simple single pass assembler.

The advent of the low-cost microprocessor system ensured that virtually every student took a course on assembly language. Even today, most courses in computer science include a module on computer architecture and organization, and teaching students to write programs in assembly language forces them to understand the computer's architecture. However, some computer scientist who had been educated during the mainframe era were unhappy with the microprocessor, because they felt that the 8 bit microprocessor was a retrograde step - its architecture was far more primitive that the mainframes they had studied in the 1960s....

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Embedded System Design: A Unified Hardware/Software Introduction

2009-12-04T10:23:00.000-08:00

By Frank Vahid and Tony Givargis

Embedded computing systems have grown tremendously in recent years, not only in their popularity, but also in their complexity. This complexity demands a new type of designer, one who can easily cross the traditional border between hardware design and software design. After investigating the availability of courses and textbooks, we felt a new course and accompanying textbook were necessary to introduce embedded computing system design using a unified view of software and hardware. This textbook portrays hardware and software not as different domains, but rather as two implementation options along a continuum of options varying in their design metrics, like cost, performance, power, size, and flexibility. Three important trends have made such a unified view possible. First, integrated circuit (IC) capacities have increased to the point that both software processors and custom hardware processors now commonly coexist on a single IC. Second, quality compilers and program size increases have led to the common use of processor-independent C, C++, and Java compilers and integrated design environments (IDEs) in embedded system design, significantly decreasing the importance of the focus on microprocessor internals and assembly language programming that dominate most existing embedded system courses and textbooks. Third, synthesis technology has advanced to the point that synthesis tools have become commonplace in the design of digital hardware. Synthesis tools achieve nearly the same for hardware design as compilers achieve in software design: They allow the designer to describe desired functionality in a high-level programming language, and they then automatically generate an efficient custom-hardware processor implementation. The first trend makes the past separation of software and hardware design nearly impossible. Fortunately, the second and third trends enable their unified design, by turning embedded system design, at its highest level, into the problem of selecting and programming (for software), designing (for hardware), and integrating “processors.”

The first four chapters of this book strive to achieve the goal of presenting hardware and software in a unified way. These chapters stress that computations are carried out by processors. Many types of processors are available, including general-purpose processors (software), custom single-purpose processors (hardware), standard single-purpose processors
(peripherals), and so on. But nevertheless, they are all just processors, differing in their cost, power, performance, design time, flexibility, and so on, but essentially doing the same thing. Chapter 1 provides an overview of embedded systems and their design challenges. We introduce custom single-purpose processors in Chapter 2, emphasizing a top-down technique to digital design amenable to synthesis, picking up where many textbooks on digital design leave off. We introduce general-purpose processors and their use in Chapter 3, expecting this chapter to be mostly review for many readers, and ending by showing how to design a general-purpose processor using the techniques of Chapter 2. Chapter 4 describes numerous
standard single-purpose processors (peripherals) common in embedded systems. Chapters 5 and 6 introduce memories and interfacing concepts, respectively, to complete the fundamental knowledge necessary to build basic embedded systems. Chapter 7 provides a digital camera example, showing how we can trade off among hardware, software, and peripherals to achieve implementations that vary in their power, performance, and size. These seven chapters form the core of this book.

Freed from the necessity of covering the nitty-gritty details of a particular microprocessor’s internals and assembly language programming, this book includes coverage of some additional embedded systems topics. Chapter 8 describes advanced state machine computation models that are becoming popular when describing complex embedded system behavior. It also introduces the concurrent process model and real-time systems. Chapter 9 gives a basic introduction to control systems, enough to make students aware that a rich theory exists for control systems, and to enable students to determine when an embedded system is an example of a control system. Chapter 10 introduces a variety of popular IC technologies, from which a designer may choose for system implementation. Finally, Chapter 11 highlights various design technologies for building embedded systems, including discussion of hardware/software codesign, a user's introduction to synthesis (from behavioral down to logic levels), and the major trend toward design based on intellectual property (IP).

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The Prehistory of the Digital Computer, From Relays to the Stored Program Concept, 1935-1945

2008-12-27T10:20:00.000-08:00

The Prehistory of the Digital Computer, From Relays to the Stored Program Concept, 1935-1945 is written by Paul E. Ceruzzi.

Preface of this Book

The modern digital computer was invented between 1935 and 1945. That was the decade when the first machines that could be called true digital computers were put together. This book tells the story of that invention by looking at specific events of the 1930's and 1940's that show the computer taking its modern form.

Before 1935 there were machines that could perform calculations or otherwise manipulate information, but they were neither automatic nor general in capabilities. They were not computers. In the 1930's the word computer meant a human being who calculated with the aid of a calculating machine. After 1945 the word meant a machine which did that. From that time on computers have continued to evolve and improve, becoming dramatically cheaper and smaller, but their de- sign has not really changed. So the story of what happened in that ten-year period will reveal quite a bit of the entire history of the computer as it is known today.

I have chosen four projects from that era that best illustrate how the computer was invented. These are by no means all that happened, but they are representative of the kinds of activities going on.

The first is the set of electromechanical computers built in Germany by Konrad Zuse, who because of the war had no knowledge of similar activities in America and England. His independent line of work makes for an interesting and self- contained case study of just how one goes about building a computer from scratch.

The second is the Harvard Mark I, built by Professor Howard Aiken and first shown to the public in 1944. This machine was one of the first truly large-scale projects, and because it was well publicized it served notice to the world that the computer age had dawned.

The third project is the series of relay computers built by George Stibitz of the Bell Telephone Laboratories between 1939 and 1946. These machines represented the best that could be done with electromechanical devices (telephone relays), and as such mark the end of that phase of invention and the beginning of another.

The final project is the ENIAC, the world's first working electronic numerical computer, using vacuum tubes for its computing elements, and operating at the speed of light. With its completion in late 1945 all of the pieces of the modern computer were present:

automatic control,
internal storage of information,
and very high speed.

What remained to be done after 1945 was to put those pieces together in a practical and coherent way. From the experience of building and using those machines there came a notion of what a computer ought to look like. The old definition of a computer gave way to the modern one: a machine capable of manipulating and storing many types of information at high speeds and in a general and flexible way. How this notion came about, and especially why the notion of storing the computer's program of instructions in the same internal memory as its data gained favor, are also examined.

This book has a dual purpose. The first is to recount the history of the computer, emphasizing the crucial decade between 1935 and 1945 but including earlier events and more recent trends as well. The second is to explain in simple terms the fundamentals of how those computers worked. Computing has certainly changed since 1945, but the basic concepts have not; I feel that it is easier to grasp these concepts as they were present in earlier, slower, and much simpler computers. I have included brief explanations of some of these concepts in the text of the book; a glossary at the end gives short definitions of many terms of modern computing jargon.

That the computer is having a profound effect on modern life is hardly at issue. Just how and why such a profound change in our society is happening because of computers can better be understood with a grasp of how this technology emerged.

I wish to thank the following persons and institutions for their help with the researching and writing of this book: the Society for Mathematics and Data Processing, Bonn; the Charles Babbage Institute, Minneapolis; the Linda Hall Library, Kansas City, Mo.; the Baker Library, Dartmouth College; and Professors Jerry Stannard, Walter Sedelow, and Forrest Berghom of the University of Kansas. Konrad Zuse, Helmut Schreyer, and George Stibitz supplied me with personal archival materials and criticized portions of the manuscript. I also wish to thank Bill Aspray, Gwen Bell, and Nancy Stern, who also read portions of the manuscript and gave me helpful advice. Any errors or statements of opinion are of course my own.

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2008-01-31T11:33:00.000-08:00

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PC Guide- Ultimate PC maintenance Ebook

2007-06-16T14:24:00.000-07:00

Following are the topics covered in this PC maintenance ebook.

Introduction to the PC
How the PC Works
The Computer's Primary Jobs
How the Computer Computes
Example: What Happens When You Press A Key
Overview of Systems and Components
PC Fundamentals
Binary vs. Decimal Measurements
Basic Electrical Components
Jumpers
Signaling, Clocks and Synchronous Data Transfer
Systems and Components Reference Guide
System Case
Parts of the System Case
Styles and Sizes
Form Factors
Case Switches
Case LEDs
Drive Bays
Power
External Power
Electrical Power Basics
External Power Problems
Protection Against Power Problems
Uninterruptible Power Supplies
Uninterruptible Power Supply Overview
Uninterruptible Power Supply Types
Parts of the Uninterruptible Power Supply
Uninterruptible Power Supply Functions and Features
Comparison of Power Protection Methods
The Power Supply
Power Supply Functions and Signals
Parts of the Power Supply
Power Supply Form Factors
Power Supply Output and Ratings
Power Supply Specifications and Certifications
Motherboard and System Devices
The Motherboard
Motherboard Form Factors
Parts of the Motherboard
Motherboard Integrated Components
System Chipset and Controllers
Chipset Functions and Features
Chipset Processor Support
Chipset Cache Support
Chipset Memory Support
Chipset Timing and Flow Control
Chipset Peripheral and I/O Bus Control
Chipset Power Management Support
Popular Chipsets
Fourth Generation (486 Class) Chipsets
Fifth Generation (Pentium Class) Intel Chipsets
Fifth Generation (Pentium Class) Non-Intel Chipsets
Sixth Generation (Pentium Pro / Pentium II Class) Chipsets
Keyboard Controller Functions
Super I/O Controller Functions
Additional Integrated Motherboard Functions
System Buses
System Bus Functions and Features
System Bus Types
Older Bus Types
Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) Local Bus
Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP)
System BIOS
System BIOS Functions and Operation
BIOS System Boot Operations
BIOS Components and Features
BIOS Setup Program
BIOS Settings
Standard Settings
Advanced Features
Advanced Chipset Features
PCI / PnP Configuration
Power Management
Integrated Peripherals
IDE Device Setup / Autodetection
Security / Password Settings
Hardware Device Settings / ("CPU Soft Menu")
Auto Configuration and Defaults
Exit Setup
System Cache
Role of Cache in the PC
"Layers" of Cache
Function and Operation of the System Cache
Cache Characteristics
Cache Transfer Technologies and Timing
Cache Structure and Packaging
System Resources
Interrupts (IRQs)
Interrupt Function and Operation
IRQ Details By Number
Direct Memory Access (DMA) Channels
DMA Channel Function and Operation
DMA Channel Details By Number
Input / Output (I/O) Addresses
Logical Devices
Memory Addresses and Device BIOSes
System Configuration
Resource Conflicts and Conflict Resolution
Plug and Play
The Processor
Roots of the Processor: Digital Logic and the Semiconductor
Processor Physical Characteristics
Processor Manufacturing
Physical Chip Characteristics
Processor Power and Voltage
Processor Cooling
Processor Packaging
Processor Sockets and Slots
Processor Architecture and Operation
External Processor Interfaces and Operation
Internal Processor Architecture and Operation
Processor Instruction Sets
Processor Modes
Internal Architectural Components
Instruction Execution Process
Performance Enhancing Architectural Features
Processor Performance
Processor Families
Explanation of Processor Summary Tables
First Generation Processors
Second Generation Processors
Third Generation Processors
Fourth Generation Processors
Fifth Generation Processors
Sixth Generation Processors
System Memory
Memory Technology Types
Memory Speed, Access and Timing
DRAM Technologies
Memory Size
Memory Packaging
Memory Errors, Detection and Correction
Logical Memory Layout
Video Cards
Video Card Overview
Video System Interfaces
Video Modes, Resolution and Color
Video Memory Function and Speed
Video Memory Technologies
Video Display Standards
3D Video Acceleration
Full-Motion Video
Video Card Performance
Monitors
Monitor Construction and Operation
Monitor Resolution, Color and Refresh
Monitor Size
CRT Characteristics
Monitor Power and Safety
Hard Disk Drives
A Brief History of the Hard Disk Drive
Construction and Operation of the Hard Disk Drive
Hard Disk Operational Overview
Hard Disk Platters and Media
Hard Disk Read/Write Heads
Read/Write Head Operation
Read/Write Head Technologies
Hard Disk Head Sliders, Arms and Actuator
Hard Disk Spindle Motor
Hard Disk Connectors and Jumpers
Hard Disk Logic Board
Hard Disk Cache and Cache Circuitry
Hard Disk Form Factors
Hard Disk Packaging and Mounting
Hard Disk Geometry and Low-Level Data Structures
Data Encoding and Decoding
Tracks, Cylinders and Sectors
Formatting and Capacity
Geometry Specifications and Translation
Error Management and Recovery
Hard Disk Performance, Quality and Reliability
Hard Disk Performance
Hard Disk General Performance Issues
Hard Disk Performance Measurement
Hard Disk Performance Specifications
General Notes On Performance Specifications
Positioning Plus Transfer Performance Specifications
Positioning Performance Specifications
Transfer Performance Specifications
Other Performance Specifications
Hard Disk Internal Performance Factors
Mechanical Design Factors
Data Recording and Encoding Factors
Controller and Cache Factors
Hard Disk External Performance Factors
Disk Interface Factors
PC System Factors
File System Factors
Hard Disk Quality and Reliability
Hard Disk Quality and Reliability Specifications
Hard Disk Quality and Reliability Issues
Hard Disk Quality and Reliability Features
Hard Disk Warranty and Disaster Recovery Issues
Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks (RAID)
Why Use RAID? Benefits and Costs, Tradeoffs and Limitations
RAID Concepts and Issues
General RAID Concepts
RAID Performance Issues
RAID Reliability Issues
RAID Levels
Technical Factors Differentiating RAID Levels
Single RAID Levels
Multiple (Nested) RAID Levels
"Just A Bunch Of Disks"
Summary Comparison of RAID Levels
RAID Configuration and Implementation
RAID Controllers and Controller Features
RAID Hard Disk Drive Requirements
RAID Management
Advanced RAID Features
Hard Disk BIOS and Capacity Factors
BIOS and the Hard Disk
Hard Disk Size Barriers
BIOS Translation Modes
Overcoming BIOS Disk Size Barriers
Hard Disk Interfaces and Configuration
Hard Disk General Interface Factors
Obsolete Hard Disk Interfaces
Specialty and Future Hard Disk Interfaces
Integrated Drive Electronics / AT Attachment (IDE/ATA) Interface
Overview and History of the IDE/ATA Interface
Official IDE/ATA Standards and Feature Sets
Unofficial IDE/ATA Standards and Marketing Programs
IDE/ATA Transfer Modes and Protocols
IDE/ATA Configuration and Cabling
Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI)
Overview and History of the SCSI Interface
SCSI Standards
SCSI-1
SCSI-2
SCSI-3
SCSI Data Transfer Modes and Feature Sets
SCSI Protocols and Interface Features
Summary of SCSI Protocols and Transfer Modes
SCSI Host Adapters
SCSI Cables and Connectors
SCSI Configuration and Cabling
IDE/ATA vs. SCSI: Interface Comparison
Hard Disk Logical Structures and File Systems
Operating Systems and File Systems
PC File Systems
PC Operating System and File System Cross-Reference
Major Disk Structures and the Boot Process
FAT File System Disk Volume Structures
Clusters and File Allocation
Partitioning, Partition Sizes and Drive Lettering
Disk Partitioning and Formatting Programs
Disk Compression
New Technology File System (NTFS)
Overview and History of NTFS
NTFS Versions
NTFS Architecture and Structures
NTFS Directories and Files
NTFS Security and Permissions
NTFS Reliability Features and System Management
Other NTFS Features and Advantages
NTFS Implementation Considerations
Floppy Disk Drives
Floppy Disk Drive Construction and Operation
Floppy Disk Media and Low-Level Data Structures
Floppy Disk Formats and Logical Structures
Floppy Disk Interfacing and Configuration
CD-ROM Drives
CD-ROM Drive Construction and Operation
Compact Disk Media
Compact Disk Formats
Recordable CD (CD-R)
Rewriteable CD (CD-RW)
CD-ROM Performance and Reliability
CD-ROM Interfaces and Configuration
Keyboards
Keyboard Construction and Operation
Keycaps
Keyswitches
Other Regular Keyboard Components
Keyboard Operation
Keyboard Key Groupings
Keyboard Layouts
General Layout Issues
Alphanumeric Key Layouts
Standard Keyboard Layouts
Non-Standard Keyboard Layouts
Special Keyboard Features and Accessories
Keyboard Software Issues
The PC Buyer's Guide
Introduction To The PC Buyer's Guide
Step-By-Step Summary Guide To Buying A PC
Requirements Analysis
General Requirements Analysis Issues
Determining Your PC Requirements
Buying, Building and Upgrading
Budget Considerations
PC Use Profiles
Designing and Specifying PC Systems and Components
PC Types
Designing PCs: Structure and Subsystems
PC Structural Design
PC Subsystem Design
Key Performance Issues In PC System Design
Key Non-Performance Issues In PC System Design
Component Specification Issues
System-Based Key Component Selection
Detailed Considerations and Tips for Specifying Particular Components
Notebook PC Specification Issues
Software Issues in PC Specification
Understanding PC Sources, Vendors and Prices
The PC Industry, Vendors and The Market
Sources For PC Systems and Components
Retail Sources
Online, Catalog and Mail Order Sources
Other Sources
Summary Comparison of PC Sources
Cross-Reference Between PC Sources and PC Types
Researching Vendors and Prices
Vendor Evaluation Factors
Reputation and History
Pricing, Selection and Stock
Factors Affecting Pricing
Customer Service
Guarantees and Return Policies
Warranty Service and Warranty Policies
Support
Vendor "Danger Signals"
Purchasing PCs and Components
Purchase Timing
Delivery Methods and Issues
Payment Methods
Immediate Payment Options
Delayed Payment Options
Comparison of Payment Methods
Making The Purchase
Vendor and Order Problems and Solutions
Common Vendor and Order Problems
Dealing With Difficult Vendors and Order Problems
Dealing With Vendor Abuses and Deceptive Practices
After The Purchase
Upon System Receipt
Problems With Your System
Final Matters
System Care Guide
Preventive Maintenance
System Care: Protecting Your PC
General System Care Factors
Environmental Care Factors
Cooling and Ventilation Care Factors
Power Care Factors
Care of Specific Components
Care of Media
Data Loss and Virus Prevention
Data Problem Prevention
Data Problem Detection
Virus Detection and Protection
Background on Viruses
Virus Infection Mechanisms and Prevention
Virus Scanning and Antivirus Software
Backups and Disaster Recovery
A Mental Exercise To Underscore the Importance of Backups
The Risks To Your Data
Backup Methods, Devices and Media
Backup Scheduling and Media Rotation Systems
What To Back Up
How To Back Up
Boot Disks
Disaster Recovery
Troubleshooting and Repair Guide
General Troubleshooting Techniques
Troubleshooting and Your Mental State
Steps To Take First When Troubleshooting
General Diagnostic Techniques
Diagnostic, Troubleshooting and Repair Tools
The Troubleshooting Expert
Using the Troubleshooting Expert
Troubleshooting Boot Problems
Boot Problem Troubleshooting Walkthrough
Quick Access to Boot Process Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting The System Overall
Troubleshooting BIOS Beep Codes
American Megatrends Inc. (AMI BIOS)
Award BIOS
Phoenix BIOS
Older BIOS Family (Phoenix BIOS Plus, PhoenixBIOS 1.x)
Newer BIOS Family (PhoenixBIOS 4.x)
Other Brand
Troubleshooting Boot-Time Error Messages
Troubleshooting Run-Time Error Messages
Troubleshooting System Instablity, Reboots and Crashes
Troubleshooting System Slowdowns
Troubleshooting Specific Components
System Case
Assembly or Physical Issues
LEDs or Case Buttons
Key Lock
Power Sources and Power Protection Devices
Motherboard and System Devices
General Failures
CMOS Memory or Real-Time Clock
System BIOS
Physical Issues
Secondary Cache
System Bus, Resources and Expansion Cards
The Processor
System Memory
Apparent Failure
Parity Errors
Memory Not Recognized
Out of Memory Problems
Performance Issues
Video Cards
Failure or Improper Operation
Image Quality Problems
Performance or Video Mode Issues
Monitors
Failure or Improper Operation
Image Quality Problems
Hard Disk Drives
Booting or Operation Problems
Missing Space Issues
Configuration Issues
Dynamic Drive Overlay Problems
Disk Compression Issues
Drive Letter Issues
Errors
Physical Problems
File System Problems
Performance Issues
Windows Issues
Floppy Disk Drives
Booting or Operation Problems
Disk Formatting Problems
Errors
Physical Problems
File System Problems
CD-ROM Drives
Drive Not Recognized
Configuration Problems
Physical Problems
Errors
Audio Issues
Performance Issues
Peripheral I/O Ports
Keyboards
Mice
Modems
Operation and Connection Problems
Speed Issues
Errors and Download Problems
Call Waiting Problems
Software Modem Issues
Operating Systems and Applications
Obtaining Technical Support
Using Automated Technical Support Systems
Calling For Technical Support
Other Alternatives for Technical Support
Repairs, Returns and Refunds
Determining the Feasibility of Repair
Deciding On A Course Of Action
Performing a Repair or Return
System Optimization and Enhancement Guide
System Optimizations and Enhancements
Using the System Optimizations and Enhancements
Enhance and Streamline the Boot Process
Improve the PC's Physical and Environmental Characteristics
System Resource (IRQ, DMA, I/O, COM) Conservation and Optimization
General System Performance Optimization
Operating System Performance Optimization
Hard Disk Performance Optimization
Windows System Resource Optimization
Conventional and Upper Memory Optimization
Video and Image Optimization
File System Optimization and Freeing Disk Space
Improve the Reliability of the System
Miscellaneous Improvements
Overclocking: The Dissenting Opinion
Introduction to Overclocking
Overclocking Risks and Rewards
Should You Overclock?
Procedure Guide
Explanation of Procedure Overviews
General Installation and Assembly Tips
New PC Assembly Procedure
Configuration Procedures
System Layout Planning Procedure
Case Floor Relocation Procedure
Floppy Disk Drive Connection Procedure
Hard Disk Drive Connection Procedure
CD-ROM Drive Connection Procedure
IDE/ATA Device Configuration Procedure
Motherboard Configuration Procedure
Motherboard and Case Connection Procedure
External Peripheral Connection Procedure
Physical Installation Procedures
System Case Preparation Procedure
Floppy Disk Drive Physical Installation Procedure
Hard Disk Drive Physical Installation Procedure
CD-ROM Drive Physical Installation Procedure
Processor Physical Installation Procedure
Heat Sink Physical Installation Procedure
Cache Module Physical Installation Procedure
Memory Module Physical Installation Procedure
Motherboard Physical Installation Procedure
I/O Port Connector Physical Installation Procedure
PS/2 Mouse Port Connector Physical Installation Procedure
Video Card Physical Installation Procedure
Uninstallation and Disassembly Procedures
System Case Cover Removal Procedure
Setup and Inspection Procedures
Post-Assembly Inspection Procedure
Post-Assembly Initial Boot Procedure
Safe BIOS Setup Procedure
Post-Assembly Initial Test Procedure
Hard Disk Partitioning and Formatting Procedure
CD-ROM Driver Installation Procedure
System Documentation Procedure
Identification Procedures
Video Card Identification Procedure
Windows 95 Version Identification Procedure
File System Identification Procedure
Software Procedures
Boot Disk Creation Procedure
Manual Windows 95 Recovery Procedure
Windows 95 Installation Procedure
Technical Resource Guide (Including Links)
Reference Tables
Online Technical Resources (Links)
General World Wide Web Links
Component-Specific World Wide Web Links
USEnet Newsgroups
Internet Relay Chat (IRC)

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PC Architecture

2007-06-16T14:14:00.000-07:00

By Michael Karbo

Contents

PC Architecture. Preface.
Chapter 1. The PC, history and logic.
Chapter 2. The Von Neumann model.
Chapter 3. A data processor.
Chapter 4. Intro to the motherboard.
Chapter 5. It all starts with the CPU.
Chapter 6. The CPU and the motherboard.
Chapter 7. The south bridge.
Chapter 8. Inside and around the CPU.
Chapter 9. Moores' Law.
Chapter 10. The cache.
Chapter 11. The L2 cache.
Chapter 12. Data and instructions.
Chapter 13. FPU’s and multimedia.
Chapter 14. Examples of CPU’s.
Chapter 15. The evolution of the Pentium 4.
Chapter 16. Choosing a CPU.
Chapter 17. The CPU’s immediate surroundings.
Chapter 18. Overclocking.
Chapter 19. Different types of RAM.
Chapter 20. RAM technologies.
Chapter 21. Advice on RAM.
Chapter 22. Chipsets and hubs.
Chapter 23. Data for the monitor.
Chapter 24. Intro to the I/O system.
Chapter 25. From ISA to PCI Express.
Chapter 26. The CPU and the motherboard.
Chapter 27. Inside and around the CPU.
Chapter 28. The cache.
Chapter 29. Data and instructions.
Chapter 30. Inside the CPU.
Chapter 31. FPU’s and multimedia.
Chapter 32. Examples of CPU’s.
Chapter 33. Choosing a CPU.
Chapter 34. The CPU’s immediate surroundings.
Chapter 35. Different types of RAM.
Chapter 36. Chipsets and hubs.
Chapter 37. Data for the monitor.
Chapter 38. The PC’s I/O system.
Chapter 39. From ISA to PCI.
Chapter 40. I/O buses using IRQ’s.
Chapter 41. Check your adapters.
Chapter 42. I/O and The south bridge.
Chapter 43. SCSI, USB and Firewire.
Chapter 44. Hard disks, ATA and SATA.
Chapter 45. System software. A small glossary.

Chapter 1. The PC, history and logic
The PC is a fascinating subject, and I want to take you on an illustrated, guided tour of its workings. But first I will tell you a bit about the background and history of computers. I will also have to introduce certain terms and expressions, since computer science is a subject with its own terminology. Then I will start to go through the actual PC architecture!

The historical PC
The PC is a microcomputer, according to the traditional division of computers based on size.

Microcomputers
No-one uses the expression microcomputer much anymore, but that is what the PC actually is. If we look at computers based on size, we find the PC at the bottom of the hierarchy.

Mainframes and super computers are the biggest computers – million dollar machines, as big as a refrigerator or bigger. An example is the IBM model 390.
Minicomputers are large, powerful machines which are often found at the centre of networks of “dumb” terminals and PC’s. For example, IBM’s AS/400. A definition that was used in the past, was that minicomputers cost between $10,000 and $100,000.
Workstations are very powerful user machines. They have the capacity to execute technical/scientific programs and calculations, and typically use a UNIX variant or Windows NT as their operating system. Workstations used to be equipped with powerful RISC processors, like Digital Alpha, Sun Sparc or MIPS, but today workstations can be configured with one or more of Intel’s more powerful CPU’s.
The PC is the baby of the family: Small, cheap, mass-produced computers which typically run Windows and which are used for standard programs which can be purchased anywhere.......

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A history of the personal computer: the people and the technology

2007-06-16T14:05:00.000-07:00

This book is an exciting history of the personal computer revolution. Early personal computing, the "first" personal computer, invention of the microprocessor at intel and the first microcomputer are detailed. It also traces the evolution of the personal computer from the hardware and software hacker, to its use as a consumer appliance on the internet. This is the only book that provides such comprehensive coverage. It not only describes the hardware and software, but also the companies and people who made it happen.

Hardware from the MITS Altair to the IBM Personal Computer and the Apple Macintosh are covered. Separate chapters describe the developments at significant companies such as Apple Computer and IBM. Successful companies such as Compaq and Dell and the less successful ones such as Commodore and Osborne are also detailed.

Details of the software that powered the hardware are described. This includes application programs, operating systems, and programming languages. Two chapters describe the founding of Microsoft by Bill Gates and Paul Allen and the major contributions by the company to the personal computer industry.

The development of components such as disk drives, memory, modems, printers and video terminals are included. Associations, clubs, conventions and the numerous magazines that supported the industry are also chronicled.

The most extensive bibliography on the history of the personal computer industry and a complete index make the book a valuable reference source.

Finally share the excitement of the incredible success and fortunes created by people such as Michael Dell, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.

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Hardware Reference Material

2007-06-16T13:53:00.000-07:00

Facts and figures on a variety of topics. If your not careful, you just may learn something new.

This ebook offers computer hardware description of various topics including

Cables - Types and standards - General descriptions of networking and peripheral cables.
RAM - Descriptions - Technology overview: banking, capacity and form factors.
Processors - Intel Family - From the 8086 to the Pentium 4.
Hard Drives - Standards - ST-506, ESDI, ATA, SCSI .
Main Board - Evolution and Technology - XT, AT,baby AT, ATX .
PC Bus types - Expansion Slots - Peripheral connectors and internal data routes.
Storage Media - How data is stored - Methods for storing data onto digital media.
Networking - IEEE 802.3 LAN's - Ethernets, TCP/IP, Equipment.

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Hardware Book

2007-06-16T13:45:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Hardware Book. Internet's largest free collection of connector pinouts and cable descriptions.

Connectors

Universal Serial Bus (USB)
ATX Power Supply
SCART
S-Video
VGA (15)
Serial (PC 9)
VGA (VESA DDC)
ATA (44) Internal
Pop-Port
IEEE1394

Cables

Nullmodem (9-9)
Ethernet 10/100/1000Base-T Straight Thru
Video to TV SCART
Ethernet 10/100/1000Base-T and 100Base-T4 Crossover
S-Video to SCART
S-Video to Composite
Cisco Console (9)
9 to 15 pin VGA
IEEE1394 cable
Amiga to SCART

Computers

Apple TV
800XL
Amiga 500
Amiga 1200
800
C64
800XE
400
1200XL
ZX Spectrum 128K

Adapters

PS/2 to Serial Mouse
PS/2 Keyboard Y (Gateway)
GameCube Memory Card to SD
9 to 25 Serial
DIN to Mini-DIN Keyboard
Serial to PS/2 Mouse
Macintosh Video to VGA
PS/2 Keyboard Y (IBM Thinkpad)
Mini-DIN to DIN Keyboard
Nullmodem

Manufactures

Atari
Sega
IBM
SGI
Apple
NEC
Commodore
Sinclair Research
Spectravideo
Mattel

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Basic Computing Using Windows

2007-06-16T13:39:00.000-07:00

Computers and Peripherals
What is a computer? A computer is a machine that inputs (takes in) facts and information (known as data), and then processes (does something to or with) it. Afterwards it outputs, or displays, the results for you to see. Data is all kinds of information, including, pictures, letters, numbers, and sounds. There are two main parts of computers, hardware and software. Hardware is all of the parts of the computer you can see and touch. Software is the instructions that a computer uses to do what you ask it to. Pieces of software are often called programs.

Many people mistakenly think that where the computer normally displays things is the computer. This is not true. That is the monitor. The computer is usually a box. Also, you may call the whole assembly of all the hardware (the computer and the monitor, for example) the computer.

There are different styles of monitors. One of these is the one already shown. It is called a CRT monitor. It takes more power than the other popular kind, called LCDs. However, CRT monitors work faster, which makes them better for fast games because the movement will blur less. LCDs are thinner than CRTs, but they are more expensive.

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Upgrading & Repairing PCs Eighth Edition

2007-06-16T13:26:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Upgrading and Repairing PCs, 8th Edition. This book is for people who want to upgrade, repair, maintain, and troubleshoot computers. It covers the full range of PC-compatible systems from the oldest 8-bit machines to the latest in high-end 64-bit workstations.

In addition, this book covers state-of-the-art hardware and accessories that make the most modern personal computers easier, faster, and more productive to use. Hardware coverage includes all of the Intel and Intel-compatible processors through the Pentium, Pentium Pro, and new Pentium II CPU chips; new cache and main memory technology; PCI local bus technology; CD-ROM drives; tape backups; sound boards; PC-Card and Cardbus devices for laptops; IDE and SCSI-interface devices; larger and faster hard drives; and new video adapter and display capabilities.

The comprehensive coverage of the PC-compatible personal computer in this book has consistently won acclaim since debuting as the first book of its kind on the market in 1988. Now with the release of this eighth edition, Upgrading and Repairing PCs continues its place as not only the best selling book of its type, but also the most comprehensive and easily used reference on even the most modern systems--those based on cutting-edge hardware and software. The book examines PCs in-depth, outlines the differences among them, and presents options for configuring each system at the time you purchase it.

Sections of this book provide detailed information about each internal component of a personal computer system, from the processor to the keyboard and video display. The book examines the options available in modern, high-performance PC configurations, and how to use them to your advantage; it focuses on much of the hardware and software available today and specifies the optimum configurations for achieving maximum benefit for the time and money you spend. At a glance, here are the major system components and peripherals covered in this edition of Upgrading and Repairing PCs:

Pentium II, Pentium Pro, Pentium, 486, and earlier central processing unit (CPU) chips.
The latest processor upgrade socket and slot specifications.
New motherboard chipsets and designs, including the ATX form factor.
Special bus architectures and devices, including high-speed PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) and VL-Bus (VESA Local), EISA (Extended Industry Standard Architecture), and MCA (Micro Channel Architecture).
Bus resources which often conflict such as Interrupt ReQuest (IRQ) lines, Direct Memory Access (DMA) channels, and Input Output (I/O) port addresses.
Plug and Play architecture.
Larger, faster hard drives and hard drive interfaces, including EIDE and SCSI.
Floppy drives, including 360K, 1.2M, 1.44M, and 2.88M drives.
New storage devices such as DVD, CD-ROM, and Magneto-Optical drives.
Increasing system memory capacity with SIMM and DIMM modules.
New types of memory including Synchronous Pipeline Burst cache, EDO RAM, Burst EDO, and Synchronous DRAM.
Large-screen Super VGA monitors and high-speed graphics adapter cards.
Peripheral devices such as CD-ROM drives, sound boards, and tape backups.
PC-Card and Cardbus devices for laptops.

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Systems

2007-06-16T13:11:00.000-07:00

Topics on the engineering of computer software and hardware systems: techniques for controlling complexity, system infrastructure, networks and distributed systems, atomicity and coordination of parallel activities, recovery and reliability, privacy of information, impact of computer systems on society. Case studies of working systems and outside reading in the current literature provide comparisons and contrasts. The group project is to write an NSF systems proposal to fund a middle-ware product, for announcement RFP01-63.

Contents

Intro to Systems, Critical Thinking about Systems, the Role of Complexity

Lucky's Bozos on the bus
Science of Scientific Writing
Worse is better
Architecture of Complexity

System Models, System Design

Hints for Computer System Design
An Investigation of the Therac-25 Accident
The X Window System

Basics of Operating Systems, Storage, Virtual Memory

The UNIX time-sharing system
Disk System Architectures for High Performance Computing
Virtual Memory for an Object Oriented Language

Other topics covering in this ebook are Distributed Systems, Virtual memory discussion, Networking, Distributed Storage, Security, Name Services, Time and Coordination, Distributed Transactions, Replication and Distributed Multimedia.

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How Computers Work

2007-06-16T13:00:00.000-07:00

Includes the basics of digital logical design, computer organization and architecture including assembly language, processor design, memory hierarchies and pipelining. Students examine the detailed construction of a very simple computer. Problem sets use Beta-Sim, a RISC simulator written by Mike Wessler. A higher level view of a modern RISC architecture is studied, using the Patterson and Hennessey introductory text, from both the programmer's point of view and the hardware designer's point of view. The distinction between RISC and CISC architectures is emphasized.

Contents

Philosophy and Roadmap, Simple Programs, Beta ISA
Storage Allocation, Stack Discipline, Calling Conventions
Unpipelined Beta, Exceptions
Implementing the ALU
Implementation of Beta Memories
Synchronous Finite State Machines (FSMs)
Flip flops, Asynchronous FSMs, Dynamic Discipline, Timing
Arbitration and Metastability
Static Discipline, Transistor-level design
Physics of Communication and Computation
Latency vs. Throughput, Explicit Parallelism
Pipelining the Beta, Hazards, Stalling, Anullment
Caches
Virtual Memory, Cache Coherence, Integration of Caches
Communications Networks
Explicitly Parallel Machines, Future Machines

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How Computers Work - Processor and Main Memory

2007-06-16T12:42:00.000-07:00

By Roger Young

Computers are the most complex machines that have ever been created. Very few people really know how they work. This book will tell you how they work and no technical knowledge is required. It explains the operation of a simple, but fully functional, computer in complete detail. The simple computer described consists mainly of a processor and main memory. Relays, which are explained, are used in the circuitry instead of transistors for simplicity. This book does not cover peripherals like modems, mice, disk drives, or monitors.

Did you ever wonder what a bit, a pixel, a latch, a word (of memory), a data bus, an address bus, a memory, a register, a processor, a timing diagram, a clock (of a processor), an instruction, or machine code is? Though most explanations of how computers work are a lot of analogies or require a background in electrical engineering, this book will tell you precisely what each of them is and how each of them works without requiring any previous knowledge of computers or electronics. However, this book starts out very easy and gets harder as it goes along. You must read the book starting at the first page and not skip around because later topics depend on understanding earlier topics. How far you can get may depend on your background. A junior high school science background should be enough. There is no mathematics required other than simple addition and multiplication. This is a short book, but it must be studied carefully. This means that you will have to read some parts more than once to understand them. Get as far as you can. You will be much more knowledgeable about how computers work when you are done than when you started, even if you are not able to get through the whole text. This is a technical book though it is aimed at a non-technical audience. Though this book takes considerable effort to understand, it is very easy for what it explains. After you have studied this book, if you go back and read it, it will seem simple. Good Luck!

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RSA Hardware Implementation

2007-05-18T13:26:00.000-07:00

By Cetin Kaya Koc

The RSA algorithm, invented by Rivest, Shamir, and Adleman [25], is one of the simplest public-key cryptosystems.

The RSA algorithm can be used to send encrypted messages and to produce digital signatures for electronic documents. It provides a procedure for signing a digital document, and verifying whether the signature is indeed authentic. The signing of a digital document is somewhat dierent from signing a paper document, where the same signature is being produced for all paper documents. A digital signature cannot be a constant; it is a function of the digital document for which it was produced. After the signature (which is just another piece of digital data) of a digital document is obtained, it is attached to the document for anyone wishing the verify the authenticity of the document and the signature. We refer the reader to the technical reports Answers to Frequently Asked Questions About Today's Cryptography and Public Key Cryptography Standards published by the RSA Laboratories [26, 27] for answers to certain questions on these issues.

Computation of Modular Exponentiation
Once the modulus and the private and public exponents are determined, the senders and recipients perform a single operation for signing, veri cation, encryption, and decryption. The operation required is the computation of Me (mod n), i.e., the modular exponentiation. The modular exponentiation operation is a common operation for scrambling; it is used in several cryptosystems. For example, the Diffie-Hellman key exchange scheme requires modular exponentiation [6]. Furthermore, the ElGamal signature scheme [7] and the Digital Signature Standard (DSS) of the National Institute for Standards and Technology [22] also require the computation of modular exponentiation. However, we note that the exponentiation process in a cryptosystem based on the discrete logarithm problem is slightly dierent: The base (M) and the modulus (n) are known in advance. This allows some precomputation since powers of the base can be precomputed and saved [5]. In the exponentiation process for the RSA algorithm, we know the exponent (e) and the modulus (n) in advance but not the base (M); thus, such optimizations are not likely to be applicable.

In the following sections we will review techniques for implementation of the modular exponentiation operation in hardware. We will study techniques for exponentiation, modular multiplication, modular addition, and addition operations. We intend to cover mathematical and algorithmic aspects of the modular exponentiation operation, providing the necessary knowledge to the hardware designer who is interested implementing the RSA algorithm using a particular technology. We draw our material from computer arithmetic books [32, 10, 34, 17], collection of articles [31, 30], and journal and conference articles on hardware structures for performing the modularmultiplication and exponentiations [24, 16, 28, 9, 4, 13, 14, 15, 33]. For implementing the RSA algorithm in software, we refer the reader to the companion report High-Speed RSA Implementation published by the RSA Laboratories [12].

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Embedded, Everywhere: A Research Agenda For Networked Systems Of Embedded Computers

2007-05-18T12:46:00.000-07:00

By Committee On Networked Systems Of Embedded Computers

Continued advances in information technologies are enabling a growing number of physical devices to be imbued with computing and communications capabilities. Aircraft, cars, household appliances, cellular telephones, and health monitoring devices all contain microprocessors that are being linked with other information processing devices. Such examples represent only the very beginning of what is possible. As microprocessors continue to shrink, wireless radios are also becoming more powerful and compact. As the cost of these and related technologies continues to decrease, computing and communications technologies will be embedded into everyday objects of all kinds to allow objects to sense and react to their changing environments. Networks comprising thousands or millions of sensors could monitor the environment, the battlefield, or the factory floor; smart spaces containing hundreds of smart surfaces and intelligent appliances could provide access to computational resources.

Getting to this point will not be easy. Networks of embedded computers pose a host of challenges qualitatively different from those faced by more traditional computers or stand-alone embedded computers because they will be more tightly integrated with their physical environments, more autonomous, and more constrained in terms of space, power, and other resources. They will also need to operate, communicate, and adapt in real time, often unattended. Enabling such innovation will require that a number of research challenges be overcome. How can large numbers of embedded computing devices assemble themselves seamlessly into an integrated network? How can their performance be guaranteed? How can social issues raised by the advent of more pervasive information collection and processing--for example, concerns about privacy, robustness, and usability--be addressed?

This report examines both issues related to components of embedded computers--such as hardware needs, operating systems, programming capabilities, and human interfaces--and systems-level issues resulting from the interconnection of multiple embedded computers--system architectures, coordination, adaptation, reliability, security, safety, interoperability, stability, and guaranteed performance. To that end, the committee attempted to answer questions such as the following:

What are networked systems of embedded computing systems? How do networks of embedded computers differ from more traditional computer networks? How do these differences affect research needs?
What types of applications could arise from greater networking of embedded systems?
What are the general characteristics of different applications? What would be the benefits and capabilities of such systems?
How can systems of interconnected embedded processors be more easily designed, developed, and maintained? How can system reliability, safety, operability, and maintainability be ensured in networked systems? How do such considerations differ for embedded and more traditional forms of computing?
What kinds of advances are needed in enabling component technologies, such as hardware devices, operating systems, and communications networks, to make EmNets possible and more capable?
What types of user interfaces are needed to allow users to interact with and to program systems composed of large numbers of interconnected embedded systems? How do these requirements differ for different kinds of users (experts, novices, system integrators)? What types of "programming" will consumers be expected to perform?
How can the stability and effectiveness of interconnected systems of embedded computers be assured if individual components come from a wide variety of developers and use a variety of hardware and software platforms, some of which may run the latest versions of the software, and others of which may be several generations behind?

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Embedded Linux Distributions Quick Reference Guide

2007-05-18T12:40:00.000-07:00

From linuxdevices.com

This Quick Reference Guide provides brief descriptions of many of the currently available commercial and non-commercial sources for Embedded Linux distributions and implementations, and includes pointers to more detailed information. We sincerely hope this guide will assist you in locating Linux-based solutions that match your system requirements.

This quick reference guide is organized in four parts . . .

Part 1: Introduction and Overview to this Guide -- you are reading it now.
Part 2: Embedded Linux Commercial Distributions -- these are Embedded Linux distributions that are maintained and supported by companies as commercial products. They offer a wide range of capabililties and target a broad assortment of markets, from high-end telecommunications infrastructure, to handheld computers, to "deeply embedded" data acquisition and control.
Part 3: Open Source Embedded Linux Implementations -- the Embedded Linux implementations in this category are available as downloadable object and source code, and are covered by open source licenses.
Part 4: Recommended further reading -- here, we provide a "recommended reading list" of selected LinuxDevices.com articles and whitepapers that provide additional information about Embedded Linux distributions, techniques, and technologies.

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Elliptic Curve Cryptosystems on Reconfigurable Hardware

2007-05-18T12:30:00.000-07:00

by Martin Christopher Rosner

Security issues will play an important role in the majority of communication and computer networks of the future. As the Internet becomes more and more accessible to the public, security measures will have to be strengthened. Elliptic curve cryptosystems allow for shorter operand lengths than other public-key schemes based on the discrete logarithm in nite elds and the integer factorization problem and are thus attractive for many applications.

This thesis describes an implementation of a crypto engine based on elliptic curves. The underlying algebraic structures are composite Galois fields GF((2n)m) in a standard base representation. As a major new feature, the system is developed for a recon gurable platform based on Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). FPGAs combine the flexibility of software solutions with the security of traditional hardware implementations. In particular, it is possible to easily change all algorithm parameters such as curve coefficients, field order, or field representation.

The thesis deals with the design and implementation of elliptic curve point multiplication architectures. The architectures are described in VHDL and mapped to Xilinx FPGA devices. Architectures over Galois fields of dierent order and representation were implemented and compared. Area and timing measurements are provided for all architectures. It is shown that a full point multiplication on elliptic curves of real-world size can be implemented on commercially available FPGAs.

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Attacks on Cryptoprocessor Transaction Sets

2007-05-18T12:18:00.000-07:00

By Mike Bond

Attacks are presented on the IBM 4758 CCA and the Visa Security Module. Two new attack principles are demonstrated. Related key attacks use known or chosen differences between two cryptographic keys. Data protected with one key can then be abused by manipulation using the other key. Meet in the middle attacks work by generating a large number of unknown keys of the same type, thus reducing the key space that must be searched to discover the value of one of the keys in the type. Design heuristics are presented to avoid these attacks and other common errors.

A cryptoprocessor is a tamper-resistant processor designed to manage cryptographic keys and data in high-risk situations. The concept of a cryptoprocessor arose because conventional operating systems are too bug-ridden and computers too physically insecure to be trusted with information of high value. A normal microprocessor is enclosed within a tamper-resistant environment, so that sensitive information can only be altered or released through a tightly defined software interface – a transaction set. In combination with access control, the transaction set should prevent abuse of the sensitive information. However, as the functionality and flexibility of transaction sets have been pushed up by manufacturers and clients, this extra complexity has made bugs in transaction sets inevitable.

Sections 2 and 3 of this paper give an overview of cryptoprocessors in the context of four important architectural principles, and then describe the new vulnerabilities in a generalised way. Sections 4 and 5 introduce attacks on two widely fielded cryptoprocessors – the IBM 4758, and the Visa Security Module. Finally, some straightforward design heuristics are suggested that, whilst not guaranteeing the security of a transaction set, will at least stop the same mistakes being made over again.

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ABCs of System Programming Volume 5 - OS/390

2007-05-18T12:11:00.000-07:00

This redbook is Volume 5 of a five-volume set that is designed to introduce the structure of an OS/390 and S/390 operating environment. The set will help you install, tailor, and configure an OS/390 operating system, and is intended for system programmers who are new to an OS/390 environment.

In this Volume, Chapter 1 provides an description of a base and Parallel Sysplex. A sysplex is a collection of OS/390 systems that cooperate, using certain hardware and software products, to process work.

Chapter 2 describes the MVS System Logger. System logger is a set of services that allows an application to write, browse, and delete log data. You can use system logger services to merge data from multiple instances of an application, including merging data from different systems across a sysplex.

Chapter 3 describes Global resource serialization (GRS) which offers the control needed to ensure the integrity of resources in a multisystem environment. Combining the systems that access shared resources into a global resource serialization complex enables you to serialize resourcesacross multiple systems.

Chapter 4 describes the operation of an MVS system which involves console operations or how operators interact with MVS to monitor or control the hardware and software and message and command processing that forms the basis of operator interaction with MVS and the basis of MVS automation.

Chapter 5 describes Automatic Restart Management (ARM) which is the key to automating the restarting of subsystems and applications (referred to collectively as applications) so they can recover work they were doing at the time of an application or system failure and release resources, such as locks, that they were holding. With an automatic restart management policy, you can optionally control the way restarts are done.

Chapter 6 describes the hardware management console (HMC) which provides a single point of control to manage your central processor complex (CPC).

Chapter 7 describes workload management which provides a way to define MVS externals and tune MVS without having to specify low-level parameters. The focus is on setting performance goals for work, and letting the Workload Manager handle processing to meet the goals.

Chapter 8 describes problem diagnosis. MVS supplies many tools and service aids that assist with problem diagnosis. These tools includes dumps and traces, while service aids includes the other facilities provided for diagnosis.

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