Chapter 6: Output, Input, And Storage Devices

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Chapter 6 Output, Input, And Storage Devices

• A Guide to Operating Systems Troubleshooting
  and Problem Solving

2
Chapter Objectives

• Review how operating systems interface with
  input, output, and storage devices
• Understand the need for software drivers for
  specific hardware output devices
• Discuss software driver installation within major
  operating systems
• Describe popular printer technologies,
  connections, and methods of installation

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Chapter Objectives

• Discuss general display adapter design, types of
  adapters, and hardware installation
• Identify important considerations when installing
  and using a variety of input devices
• Understand basic disk drive interface technologies

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Operating Systems - An Overview

• Handle input from the keyboard, mouse, and other
  input devices
• Handle output to the screen, printer, and other
  output devices
• Control information storage and retrieval using
  various types of disk drives
• Support communications with remote computers

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Installing Input, Output, or Storage Devices

• This is accomplished in two steps
• Install any software drivers that are required
• Set up the hardware

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Locating Drivers From the Internet

• Choose the specific device model
• Peripheral product information and model types
  can be found on their respective manufacturers
  web pages
• Click download to install driver
• Drivers may come compressed

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Zip and Unzip Files

• Drivers may come compressed as WINZIP or PKZIP
  files
• PC users use the PKZIP or WINZIP
  compression/decompression utilities
• PC executable files normally use an EXE file
  extension
• Driver archives with EXE extensions are know as
  self-extracting file
• Macintosh users can use ZIP-format archives
  called Stuff It
• UNIX system users may retrieve drivers and other
  software in a tar format

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Manufacturer Driver Installation

• Typically the manufacturers install utilities
  are fully automatic.
• Newer printers, plotters, and other devices
  usually come with extensive support material on
  CD-ROM.
• Simply follow on screen prompts.

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DOS Driver Installation

• May include automatic driver installation
• DOS drivers are installed and configured by
  adding statements in two system-level files,
  CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT
• You can edit these files with any text editor
  (the intrinsic DOS EDIT utility is a good choice).

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DOS CONFIG.SYS File
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DOS AUTOEXEC.BAT File
C\windows\Net Start A\SMARTDRV.EXE echo
off call pmpt set compspecc\command.com loadhigh
c\mouse\mscmouse /a5 loadhigh doskey doskey dir
dir 1 /p /on PATH C \WINDOWSc\c\dosc\wp5
1 SET TEMPC\WINDOWS\TEMP loadhigh mode con
rate30 delay1 doskey clsc\utility\melt doskey
dir dir 1 /on /p Figure 6-2 Typcial DOS
AUTOEXEC.BAT file
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CONFIG.SYS Commands

• CONFIG.SYS file loads first. It includes
  commands to load low-level drivers and to
  configure memory
• General format for CONFIG.SYS file commands is
  deviceltpathgt filename

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CONFIG.SYS Commands Continued
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AUTOEXEC.BAT Commands

• AUTOEXEC.BAT functions at a higher level than
  CONFIG.SYS
• AUTOEXEC issues DOS commands as if they were
  typed at the command prompt
• Commands in AUTOEXEC.BAT are used to launch
  external programs, applications that run outside
  of DOS
• Other AUTOEXEC.BAT commands can conduct final
  configuration of the system as it boots

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Windows Driver Installation (3.1x)

• Most drivers are supplied on CD-ROM or floppy
  disk
• Windows 3.1x starts at the control panel
• Select the main application icon

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Windows 3.11 Desktop/Main Application
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Windows 3.11/Open Control Panel
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Windows 3.11 Control Panel/Open Printer Window
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Windows 3.11 Install Driver
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Adding a Printer in Windows 3.11
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Windows 95 / 98 Plug and Play

• Printer Installation
• Shut down the system by choosing Shut Down from
  the Start menu
• Turn off the power
• Connect the printer to the computers printer
  port
• Plug the printer into a power outlet and turn it
  on
• Turn on the computer

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Printer Wizard
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Windows NT Printer Installation

• Many Windows NT 4.0 screens look very similar to
  Windows 95/98 screens.
• Installing a printer in Windows NT is quite
  similar to installing a printer in Windows 95/98.
• Open the Control Panel. Double-click the Printer
  icon to display the Printers dialog box.

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Windows NT Printer Installation

• Double-click the Add Printer icon to start the
  Add Printer Wizard.
• Follow the prompts.
• Specify if this printer will be shared with other
  users on a network and assign a Share Name.
• Share Name is used to locate and connect other
  users to your printer

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Windows NT Printer Dialog Box
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Windows NT Add Printer Wizard
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Windows NT Shared/Not Shared
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Mac OS Driver Installation

• Chooser is Apples tool for selecting printers.
• Chooser first checks to see if drivers are
  currently installed that are compatible with the
  printer.
• If your printer isnt listed, you should try the
  next higher-numbered printer in the Chooser.
• If you arent sure that you have all Apple
  printer drivers installed, you may need to
  install them, which requires re-running part of
  the Mac OS installer

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Customize Button in Mac OS
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Customized Installation selection in Mac OS
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Mac OS - Choose Printing installation
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Mac OS - Launch Printer Drive Installer
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UNIX Driver Installation

• The central portion of the UNIX operating system,
  known as the Kernel, is where most UNIX device
  drivers are loaded.
• Device drivers are either in the form of kernel
  modules, or loadable modules, similar pieces of
  code not linked into the Kernel
• Since UNIX uses a print queue or spooler, it
  temporarily stores print jobs sent from an
  application
• All definitions of printers and queues are kept
  in a file /etc/printcap and maintained in plain
  ASCII
• The UNIX platform has traditionally used
  PostScript printers

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Printer Types

• The following types of printers are most popular
  today
• Dot matrix impact printers - produce characters
  by slamming a group of wire pins (dots) onto a
  ribbon and paper
• Ink-jet printers - another form of dot matrix
  printer that creates characters by squirting tiny
  droplets onto the page
• Laser printers - use an imaging technology
  similar to copiers to produce a computer output,
  and are probably the most popular printer for
  business text and graphics

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Specialized Printer Designs

• Line Printers - The earliest impact printer,
  which prints an entire line at a time rather than
  a character at a time, fast but extremely noisy
• Thermal-wax transfer - Two basic designs exist.
• First design uses rolls of plastic film coated
  with colored wax, which is melted onto the page.
  
• Second design melts wax stored in individual
  colored sticks then sprays molten colored wax
  onto page.
• Dye sublimation - Vaporized pigments and gas
  penetrate the surface of the paper to create an
  image on the page.
• Imagesetter - Creates high quality output used in
  printing industry to produce final output or page
  masters for offset printing.

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Printer Connections

• Serial Port - uses a 9-pin connector for
  asynchronous (one signal at a time) communication
• Parallel Port - manages communications between
  computer and peripherals in which data flows in
  parallel streams
• Centronics interface - uses 36-pin connector
  which works like a parallel port
• UNIX machines and most modern PCs use the 25-pin
  (DB-25) parallel connector
• Universal Serial Bus (USB) - high-speed I/O port
  found on most modern computers
• Apple Desktop Bus (ADB) - similar technology but
  slower than USB
• DIN8M - used for Apple printers

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Basic Display Adapter Technology

• The basic display consists of 640 pixels
  horizontally and 480 pixels vertically.
• Pixel - a picture element that represents one
  small portion of the overall screen
• More pixels are displayed with larger monitors
• Good quality files are produced at 300 dpi (dots
  per inch). High-quality brochures may be printed
  at 1200 dpi.
• World Wide Web designers use 256 colors to ensure
  the broadest compatibility with hardware in use
  by Web browsers.

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Avoiding the Enemy of Devices

• Static - high voltage, low current charges that
  exist between two devices
• Keep expansion cards in factory packaging until
  ready to use
• Prepare computer by removing case and any slot
  covers
• Hold card in one hand and touch metal case of
  power supply or chassis with the other hand to
  discharge static buildup
• Insert the card carefully into chosen slot and
  press it firmly into place

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Sound Cards and Other Output Devices

• There are two general types of sound devices
• Bus cards
• Hardware integral to the motherboard
• Integral motherboard sound hardware is harder to
  update or change.
• Multi-port sound cards permit a computer to serve
  as a fully digital, multi-channel recorder for
  sound studio applications.
• Digital video - captures video and allows output
  to a camera or VCR
• Digital audio stream - output to minidisk or DAT
  (Digital Audio Tape) recorders

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Standard Input Devices

• Keyboard and mouse ports - serial PS/2 ports
• No special drivers required
• Keyboard driver routines and custom configuration
  utilities are included with newer operating
  systems

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Windows 98 Control Panel Keyboard Configuration
Utility
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Windows 98 Intrinsic Mouse Configuration
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Microsoft IntelliMouse Configuration
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Other Input Devices

• Digital Tablets
• Scanners
• Joysticks
• Game Pads

• Digital sound input
• Digital picture
• Video input

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Computer Storage Options

• Single 3.5-inch floppy drive
• Zip disk

• Internal, fixed hard drives
• CD-ROM
• DVD drive

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Different Hard Drive Interfaces

• Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) - storage
  protocol that simplifies the hardware required
  inside the computer, placing more of the disk
  intelligence at the hard drive itself
• Master - first or main drive
• Slave - secondary storage device
• Extended IDE (EIDE) - more modern, faster version
  of IDE, Mode 3.0 will support transfer speeds as
  high as 33 megabits per second

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Small Computer System Interface (SCSI)
Terminator Resistor Packs

• SCSI (scuzzy) - A computer input/output bus
  standard and the hardware that uses this standard
• Terminator resistor packs (TRPS) - sets of
  resistors used on a hard drive or other storage
  device to reduce the possibility of data echoes
  on the interface bus as information travels
  between the computers controller and the storage
  device

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More Small Computer System Interface

• SCSI-1 normally uses a DB-25 connector
• SCSI-2 and Fast SCSI-2 typically use either a
  DB25 or a Mini DBC-50 connector
• Two most common problems with SCSI installations
• terminators
• total cable length
• SCSI-1 is an 8 bit wide bus
• SCSI-2 is 16 bit wide bus

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RAID Arrays

• Redundant Array of Inexpensive Drives (RAID)
  inexpensive storage design that uses multiple
  disks to reduce the chance of data loss in the
  event of hardware failure. RAID uses various
  designs - Level 0 through Level 5
• Advantages
• increased reliability
• increased storage capacity
• increased speed

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Compact Disc (CD-ROM) Technology

• Compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) Instead of
  using a system of tracks and sectors, CDs use a
  big spiral that starts at the inside and winds
  toward the outside. Laser light is emitted by
  the drive in order to read the disk.
• stores about 650 MB data on a single sided disc
• transfer speed is roughly 150 KB per second

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Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) Technology

• Digital versatile disc (DVD) - a high capacity
  CD-ROM-like hardware device used for high quality
  audio, motion video and computer data storage
• Totally optical drive
• Data is written on the disc in the form of a
  spiral of blocks
• Storage capacity and data transfer rate of DVD
  are much higher but size of disk is the same
• DVD disc can have two sides with up to two layers
  per side
• One DVD disk can store roughly 22 GB of data

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Removable Disks

• Removable disks - use removable cartridges for
  data backup, long-term offline storage, and data
  portability among multiple computer systems
• SuperDisk (LS-120) - increasingly popular high
  capacity floppy disk design can store as much as
  120 MB of data on single disk, but can read
  conventional 3.5 inch disks
• Zip disk - removable high capacity floppy disk
  design, stores a nominal 100 MB of data

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Chapter Summary

• Chapter Six
• Provides a conceptual overview of how operating
  systems interface with input, output, and storage
  devices
• Covers the setup of devices for both hardware and
  software
• Covers general steps of the installation of
  driver software
• Describes several printer and computer storage
  technologies