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A+ 220-801, 220-802 Q&A > CompTIA A+ Cert Exam Guide Ch. 8 > Flashcards

CompTIA A+ Cert Exam Guide Ch. 8 Flashcards

1
Q

What is the Northbridge?

A

A chip on the motherboard, including the MCC, that controls communication between the CPU and high-speed devices, such as the video card and RAM. The Northbridge is now part of the CPU.

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2
Q

What is the Southbridge?

A

A chip on the motherboard that controls communication between the CPU and low-speed devices, such as the USB controller and HDD controllers. Now called the Input/Output Controller Hub in Intel machines and the Fusion Controller Hub in AMD machines.

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3
Q

What is the chip set?

A

The Northbridge and Southbridge chips installed on a motherboard. They come as a package.

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4
Q

What is a scan code?

A

A pattern of ones and zeros assigned to keys on a keyboard used for communication with the Southbridge. This code is sent from a scanning chip on the keyboard.

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5
Q

What is BIOS?

A

Basic Input/Output Services; a set of programs dedicated to enabling the CPU to communicate with devices. This set of instructions is separate from the OS so it allows the devices to run if no OS is present. Also called System BIOS

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6
Q

What is ROM?

A

Read-only Memory; it is a read-only, non-volatile memory on which the BIOS is written. It holds instructions for necessary hardware, such as the keyboard, mouse, monitor, HDDs, USB ports, and more.

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7
Q

What is flash ROM?

A

A rewritable type of ROM that allows a user to flash the ROM chip with a new set of instructions for hardware.

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8
Q

What is firmware?

A

Any set of programs/instructions stored on a ROM chip

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9
Q

What does CMOS stand for?

A

Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor

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10
Q

What does the CMOS chip do?

A

The CMOS stores parameters for devices that change within the system (RAM, HDDs, etc.) to allow the BIOS to complete the programs needed to talk to these devices.
It also keeps the current time and date.

CMOS was originally a stand-alone chip but is now part of the Southbridge.

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11
Q

What is the MB Intelligent Tweaker?

A

M.I.T.; A part of the CMOS that allows a user to tweak the voltage and multiplier settings on the motherboard for the CPU

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12
Q

What is virtualization support?

A

The ability to run a virtual machine on your computer replicating your hardware and software stats. CPU manufacturers have added hardware-assisted virtualization to support the use of virtual machines.

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13
Q

What is chassis intrusion detection?

A

A motherboard detects when a computer case has been opened. The CMOS logs when a case has been opened and posts a notification when the computer boots next.

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14
Q

What are the advanced chipset features?

A

Low-level chipset functions. It is best to avoid these settings unless directed to change them by the motherboard tech support

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15
Q

What are integrated peripherals?

A

Hardware devices attached to your motherboard, such as the sound card. This section of the CMOS settings allows you to adjust settings for these devices.

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16
Q

Power Management Setup

A

These settings allow you to adjust the power management settings, such as when the computer turns off and back on again for power consumption.

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17
Q

What is a CMOS password?

A

A password required when your computer boots, preventing unwanted individuals from accessing your computer.
Some CMOS utilities allow you to create a second CMOS password to prevent changes to the CMOS settings

18
Q

What is ATA Security Mode or DriveLock?

A

The ability to set a password on the HDD protecting it from unauthorized access

19
Q

What is Trusted Platform Module (TPM)?

A

A part of CMOS that supports drive encryption, digital rights management, network access control, application execution control, and password protection

20
Q

In what ways can you add hardware functionality to the BIOS that is not natively supported?

A

Option ROM, and Device drivers

21
Q

What is Option ROM?

A

The storage of BIOS information on the hardware device itself.

This has mostly been replaced with software options except for Video Cards. All video cards come with Option ROM.

22
Q

What is a device driver?

A

A file stored on a PC that provides all the commands necessary to enact with the hardware it supports.

The device drivers are loaded early in the boot process. The PC reads a file that lists the necessary device drivers and then loads these device drivers into RAM.

23
Q

What is the POST?

A

Power-On Self Test; when the computer boots, the POST sends out a command to all devices telling them to run a diagnostic. The type of diagnostic check is set by the device manufacturer. The device then reports back to the computer as to whether or not there are any problems.

24
Q

How does the PC convey hardware errors during the POST?

A

Beep codes or text messages on the screen

25
Q

What are the two common beep codes?

A
  • One long and two/three short beeps - Bad or missing video

* short beeps - Bad or missing RAM

26
Q

What is a POST card?

A

A device installed in your PC that identifies which piece of hardware is bad. A POST card is useful when the POST test is unable to provide you with details concerning the error.

27
Q

How does the system initiate the POST test?

A

When you first power on the PC, it tests for proper voltage and then sends a signal down the power good wire to wake up the CPU. The CPU then sends a built-in memory address via its address bus which is the first line of the POST program.

28
Q

How does the PC know how to load the OS?

A

When finished, the POST passes control to the bootstrap loader, which in turn loads the OS.

29
Q

What is the bootstrap loader?

A

A few lines of code at the end of the POST that locate and load the OS on bootable devices in the order specified by the boot order.

30
Q

What is a boot sector?

A

A section set aside on any piece of hardware that contains an OS. The boot sector contains special programming to tell the system where to locate the OS.

31
Q

What is a Bootable/System disk?

A

Any device with a functional OS

32
Q

What is a Preboot Execution Environment?

A

PXE; A feature of the BIOS that enables you to boot a PC without any local storage by retrieving an OS from a server over a network. (Think Panos)

33
Q

What is a CMOS battery?

A

A battery installed on the motherboard intended to maintain the contents of CMOS and the date and time when the PC is turned off. If the battery dies, the CMOS will be reset to factory defaults when the computer is turned off. Pre-2003 machines lost CMOS entirely.

34
Q

What are some ways you might lose CMOS data?

A
  • A dead CMOS battery
  • Pulling and inserting cards
  • Touching the motherboard
  • Dropping something on the motherboard
  • Dirt on the motherboard
  • Faulty power supplies
  • Electrical surges
35
Q

What are some possible error codes when the CMOS data is missing/reset?

A
  • CMOS configuration mismatch
  • CMOS date/time not set
  • No boot device available
  • CMOS battery state low
36
Q

What is a flash ROM?

A

A ROM chip that allows you to update its contents

37
Q

What is flashing the BIOS?

A

The ability to download and install a new/updated BIOS

38
Q

What are some limitations of BIOS?

A
  • It only supports 16-bit mode

* In the presence of more than one OS, it requires one OS installation to act as the master boot loader

39
Q

What is UEFI?

A

Unified Extensible Firmware Interface; it is a mini-operating system that runs on top of the firmware to apply additional functionality

40
Q

What are some advantages of UEFI?

A
  • Supports 32-bit and 64-bit booting
  • Handles all boot-loading duties
  • Is not dependent on x86 firmware

A+ 220-801, 220-802 Q&A (22 decks)

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