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SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL/ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING

REPORT ON STUDENT INDUSTRIAL WORK EXPERIENCE SCHEME

(SIWES) TRAINING PROGRAM

DONE AT

POWERLINE ENTERPRISE

BY

SUBMITTED TO

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL/ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD

OF A BACHELOR’S DEGREE (B.Eng) IN ELECTRICAL/ELECTRONIC
ENGINEERING

DATE: JANUARY 2017

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Table of contents

CHAPTER THREE…………………………………………………….………..…….……..12

3.0 Hardware Components of the Computer and functions………...12

3.1 Keyboard and Mouse…………………………………………………..………12

3.2 Monitor/ Display Screen ………………………….………………..….....….12

3.3 Microprocessor………………………………….…………………………...12-13

3.4 Memory……………………………………………………..……...……..…….13-14

3.5 Sound Card…..……………………………………………..……..……..…….14-15

3.6 Graphic Card…………………………………………………….......................….15

3.7 Motherboard and its Components…………………………….…..…15-18

CHAPTER FOUR………………………………………………………………………...……19

4.0 Computer Repairs and Maintenance Tools….…………………………19

4. Hardware Tools………………………….………………….…...……………..19-22

4.2 Software Tools …………………………………………………………………....22

4.3 Protection Tools ………………………………………………………..…….…23

CHAPTER FIVE……………………………………….…….……………..…….………..…24

5.0 Practical Work ………………..…………..…………………………………….. 24

5.0.1Procedure for Uncoupling a System…………..…………….……..…..24

5.0.2 Procedure for Formatting and Driving………………..……..…24-25

CHAPTER SIX………………………………………………………..…………..…..….…..26

6.0 Basic Computer Faults and Solutions…………...…………………26-28

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CHAPTER SEVEN…………………………………………………….…………………….29

7.0 My Experience……………………………………………..…………...…….....29

7.1 Difficulties Encountered………………………………..………….…….….29

7.2 Lesson and Acquired Knowledge………………..…...………………….29

7.3 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………29

CHAPTER 3

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3.0 HARDWARE COMPONENTS OF THE COMPUTER AND

THEIR FUNCTIONS

3.1 Keyboard and Mouse

The keyboard and mouse are the two most common input devices. The
computer performs different actions depending on the icons you click and
commands you type. The computer gives you nearly instant feedback,
moving a pointer on the screen as you move the mouse and displaying
characters as you type. Though the keyboard and mouse might seem
directly connected to the screen, the microprocessor oversees the whole
activity, receiving keystrokes from the keyboard, clicks from the mouse and
sending data to the screen.

3.2 Monitor/ Display Screen

A monitor is an output device that displays the results of the work done by
the microprocessor and other parts. The display screen consists of
thousands of small dots, called pixels, arranged in a rectangular grid. The
higher the number of pixels per unit area, the higher the resolution of the
screen or monitor. By turning the pixels or dots into different colours
aligned properly, the monitor's circuit forms text and graphic images you
can see.

The display screen is held together in most laptops by two side hinges
which have, connected to them proximity sensors that commands the
laptop to sleep, hibernate, “do nothing, or shut down when closed.

3.3 Microprocessor

The microprocessor is a chip slotted into its socket in the mother board of
the computer and performs computation or calculations. The speed is rated
in gigahertz (GHz) which makes it possible to run a billion or more
instructions per second and can appear to run many programs at the same
time. In reality, it runs only a few at a time, at most, but switches back and
forth rapidly between tasks. The processor does all the calculations thus the
constant heating up that requires immediate cooling, thus the introduction
of the cooling system made up the processor paste, heat sink and the fan.

The processor paste is a non-metallic conductor of heat only. It does not

have the ability to conduct electrically to avoid short circuiting of the
processor. It is applied directly on the processor(s) before covering up with

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the heat sink to ensure that all heat produced at the processor is
transferred/dissipated to the heat sink, which is then blown away by the fan
through the architectured opening.

Fig 3.1: Showing the speed of each core( 2.60Ghz) of a five-core

microprocessor system and its RAM of 8Gigabyte.

3.4 Memory

There are different memory devices used in a computer, namely,

i. Hard disk / Drive: This is the internal permanent storage device. Writing and
reading information results from a mechanism which moves back and forth
across the platter's surface which stores data encoded as microscopic
magnetic pattern. Constant contact with the surface of the disk leads to
destruction of the disk and may lead loss of stored information. Because the

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disk stores data magnetically, the computer can rewrite it with new data
indefinitely, and the data remains intact after you turn the power off.

ii. Random Access Memory: This is an internal temporary high speed storage
device. The computer uses random access memory, or RAM, as a high-
speed working storage space for programs, documents and the
intermediate results of calculations. Character for character, RAM storage is
about a thousand times more expensive than hard drive space, though it is
more than a thousand times faster. It is faster because it consists of millions
of tiny transistors that store data as electric charges; the electricity moves
at nearly the speed of light. RAM is called "volatile storage" because it can
hold data only while the power is on.

iii. Flash memory: This is an external permanent storage device. It is another

form of transistorized data storage. Though slower than RAM, it is less
expensive and able to hold its information without power. USB thumb
drives store data in flash memory.

3.5 Sound Card

The sound card is incorporated in the mother board and can input audio as
well as produce sound with the aid of the connected speaker. The computer
stores representations of sound as long strings of numbers; a graph of the
numbers would resemble sound waves. The microprocessor sends the
sound card these number strings, which the card turns into electrical waves
you hear as sound through speakers or headphones. The sound card can
also turn audio from a microphone or other source into number strings,
which it passes to the microprocessor. Internally, the computer treats
sound as numbers, making the storage, processing and playback of music
straightforward and accurate. A typical sound card usually has four ports. A
personal computer sound card is placed into the PCI (Peripheral Component
Interconnect) slots of a mother board.

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Fig : A typical Sound Card

3.6 Graphic Card

The graphic card is embedded on the mother board and controls all the
screen display actions of the pixels. It controls the lightening of all pixels,
their alignment, and the different colours to be displayed by each pixel
inorder to form an image. The graphic card requires more power than the
motherboard can provide, and thus dedicated connectors have been
introduced to attach them directly to the power supply.

The graphic card like the microprocessor(s), performs a lot of actions thus
producing a lot of heat which needs to be dissipated away from the system.
To conduct the heat away, the heat sink is connected to the graphic card
with an intermediate paper-like conductor to ensure maximum heat
transfer from the graphic card to the heat sink, which is then mechanically
blown away by the fan.

3.7 The Mother Board and Its Components

The role of the motherboard is to allow all components on it to
communicate with each other. Considering the fact that all the other
components are installed on the motherboard or connected to it, it is safe
to say that the motherboard is the central piece of a PC, the component

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that brings it all together. The mother board is basically the physical model
of the designed complex computer circuit which has in it the basic
components of all electronic components with the addition of a lot more. It
can also be called system or logic board.

The mother board has on it the microprocessor(s) or central processing unit

socket, graphic card socket, universal serial bus port, earphone port,
peripheral component interconnector slots, VGA (Video Graphics Array)
port, HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) port, microphone port,
DDR( Double Data Rate) memory slots, capacitors, resistors, diodes,
connectors, RAM, memory slots, BIOS(Basic Input/ Output System), CMOS,
power connectors, IDE connectors, spider ICs( power and regular spider ICs)
and CD-ROM interface.

Fig: A typical Mother Board

3.7.1 Functions of some components in the Mother board

1. Spider Integrated Circuits: Spider ICs have eight pins, thus the name “spider
ICs”. There are two types, namely

i. Power Spider IC: It distributes power/ electricity to other parts of the

system. They serve as power substations.

ii. Regular IC: It is used to consolidate functions, programmed to perform

different functions. It relates to other ICs. The power spider IC when read

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using a multi-meter gives a higher continuity reading than the regular spider
IC.

2. Capacitors: The capacitor keeps the system running briefly during the
period of change over from AC ( charging current) to DC(battery or UPS).

3. CMOS battery: This is used to keep the board alive and also keep time
and date running when the system is turned off.

4. Resistor: To regulate the amount of current entering each component in the

board as some require higher current than others

5. Connectors: These are insulated conductors used to transfer data from one
component or point to another.

6. Power Connectors: These receive electrical power from the computer

power supply and distribute it to the CPU, chipset, main memory and
expansion cards.

7. Clock generator: It produces the system clock signal to synchronize the

various components.

8. CPU Socket: is an electrical component that attached to the printed circuit

board and in which one or more microprocessors may be installed. It is a
special type of integrated circuit socket designed for very high pin counts
and to provide physical structure to support the CPU, and heat sink. It also
forms an electrical interface between the CPU and the PCB.

9. Video Card Slot: It is situated at the right below the processor. High-end
gaming motherboards come with multiple video card slots, allowing the
installation of multiple video cards for improved graphics.

10. Expansion Slots: Expansions have the role of letting you install additional
components to enhance or expand the functionality of your PC. These
ports are located under the video card slot, and come in the form of PCI

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slots (on older motherboards) or a scaled-down version of PCI-Express

slots (on newer motherboards).

11. IDE (Integrated Device Electronics) and SATA (Serial Advanced Technology
Attachment) ports: IDE and SATA ports are used to provide connectivity
for the storage devices and optical drives. The IDE is much slower and an
older connector to the SATA, thus being outdated.

12. BIOS (Basic Input and Output System) chip and battery: The BIOS chip
contains the basic code needed to take your computer through the boot
process, up to the point where the operating system takes over. Since the
BIOS code is stored on a memory chip that needs constant power to
function, a battery is also present to keep the chip powered when the
computer is unplugged.

13. Northbridge and Southbridge: The northbridge is responsible for

coordinating the data flow between the memory, the video card and the
processor. A secondary chip, known as Southbridge, has a similar function,

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coordinating the data flow between the processor and peripherals such as
sound cards or network cards.

And a lot more.

CHAPTER 4

4.0 COMPUTER REPAIRS AND MAINTENANCE TOOLS

To accurately and easily troubleshoot a system, a computer engineering

needs to possess all the basic tools required for computer maintenance
and other relevant tools also. Some of these tools include;

4.1 Hardware Tools

i. Anti-static wrist band: The computer is made up of some of

components that require very little electric charges to operate. The
static electricity in the body may be far greater than the required
charge, thus the destruction of such component. The anti-static wrist-
strap is used to prevent static electricity charges from destroying the
computer parts by grounding your body. The metal clip is connected
to a bare metal part of the computer case like the metal case of a PC.

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Fig 4.1: Anti-static wrist band

This can also be achieved partially but no safely by touching the
ground at intervals to discharge the static electricity to the ground.
ii. Tweezers: It is a too; used for picking up and manipulating objects
too small to be handled with the human hand.

Fig 4.2: A tweezer

iii. Long Nose Plier: It used to cut wires and can get in and out of tight
spots, unlike regular pliers.

Fig 4.3: A plier

iv. Soldering Iron: It is essential for repairs on mother board but with
extreme care. When used carelessly, it can destroy the board as well
as injure the engineer.

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Fig 4.4: Soldering Iron

v. 8” Wire Cutter/ Stripper: It is for wire cutting and stripping insulation
on a single, multiple, fine stranded of wire cables with plastic or
rubber insulation.

Fig 4.5: 8” wire cutter

vi. Hot air blower/Work Station: This is used in desoldering parts that
are faulty or have been being wrongly soldered. It weakens the lead.
It is also used in the application of paste ( heat dependent gum) on
board.

Fig 4.6 Hot air blower

vii. Set of Screw Drivers: The different parts of the computer are made
of nuts and screws of different sizes, thus the need for multi-mouth
screw driver set. It is used in the loosening of nuts and screws.

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Fig 4.7: Set of screw drivers

viii. Paste flux: This is a heat dependent non-insulating joining paste used
to attach components on the board.

Fig 4.8: Paste flux

ix. Soldering wire/ lead: This is a metallic conductive joining material. It
is applied using the soldering iron at high temperature. Soldering on
the motherboard requires a high level of care as the soldering iron
lacks precision(mouth-size of 2mm-3mm)

Fig 4.9: Soldering lead

x. Multi-meter: It is used to measure voltage, current, continuity of wire
or motherboard, resistances at different points on the board and a
lot more.

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Fig 4.10: A digital multi-meter

xi. Storage (USB Flash and External Hard disk): This stores all the
engineer’s working softwares. Without which the engineer can do so
little.
xii. Magnifying Lamp: It is used while working on the board to magnify
the size of the board for accuracy and speed.

Fig 4.11: A magnifying lamp

4.2 Software Tools: Like hardware tools, there are a variety of software
tools that can be used to help technicians pinpoint and troubleshoot problems.
Many of these tools are free and several come with the Windows operating
system. Examples are;
i. Disk Management tools: Initializes disks, creates partitions, and
formats partitions.
ii. ScanDisk : Checks the integrity of files and folders on a hard drive by
scanning the file system. These tools might also check the disk
surface for physical errors.
iii. Disk Cleanup: Clears space on a hard drive by searching for files that
can be safely deleted.

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iv. HP Diagnostic tool: It troubleshoots the inactive hardwares and tries

activate them, on request. When unable to fix a problem, it gives the
cause of such problem (e.g missing drive).
v. DriverPack Online: It scans a system and then lists the missing drives
or drives that needs update in the system.
vi. Windows Update Diagnostic: It is a preinstalled software that scans
and updates system component drivers and also preinstalled
softwares.
vii. HP Support Solutions Framework: It scans faulty systems and
provide online solutions.
4.3 PROTECTION TOOLS
Virus and spyware can damage operating systems, applications, and data.
Computers that have been pinfected may even have problems with hardware
performance or component failure, thus the need for protection tools.

i. Windows Action Center: Checks the status of essential security settings.

The Action Center continuously checks to make sure that the software
firewall and antivirus programs are running. It also ensures that
automatic updates download and install automatically.
ii. Antivirus program: Protects the system against virus attacks.
iii. Antispyware program: Protects against software that sends information
about web surfing habits to an attacker. Spyware can be installed
without the knowledge or consent of the user.
iv. Windows Firewall: Runs continuously to protect against unauthorized
communications to and from your computer. But when a system has a
working anti-virus, the operating system automatically disables the
windows firewall, as the two perform same function.

CHAPTER 5

5.0 PRACTICAL WORK

5.0.1 PROCEDURE FOR UNCOUPLING A SYSTEM DOWN TO MOTHERBOARD

i. Remove the battery. This is ensure that charges do not destroy

the board.
ii. Wear the anti-static wrist band and attach the metal clip on the
metal part of the system.

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iii. Unscrew the back body nuts and open the back.
iv. Remove the hard disk.
v. Unscrew body bearing in mind the different positions of the
screws.
vi. Remove keyboard.
vii. Detach the screen from the hinges.
viii. Detach disk drive and RAM
ix. Unscrew the upper body to see more components to unscrew.
x. Remove speaker, RAM, microprocessor(s) and graphic card and
the connectors.

5.0.2 PROCEDURE FOR FORMATTING AND DRIVING A SYSTEM

Drivers are softwares that enable hardwares in the system to function

properly. Every hardware has a number of drivers that run it. Drivers enable
upgrading/updating of hardwares.

After formatting a system, all the drivers have to be installed back. Example of
software packages that provide system drivers are DriverPack and
DriverIdentifier. The procedure is thus explained;

i. The operating system to be installed after formatting is procured in a

storage device (CD, external hard drive, or flash) in compressed form.
ii. Important files present in the system must be extracted to an
external storage device.
iii. On start-up, the boot process is intercepted by immediately pressing
F9 key (in HP) or F12(in Dell), and then changing the boot device at
the BIOS.
The boot device is where the computer boots from and where an
operating system is saved. The four (4) boot device options are
a. Notebook Upgrade Bay or CD-ROM
b. Notebook Hard Drive
c. USB Hard Drive 1
d. Notebook Ethernet or Network

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iv. When the boot device has been chosen, and system restarts, it
searches for the OS and starts up. Page for format pops up.
v. Option for format and deletion of partitions are listed, the partition
to be formatted is then chosen. And the raw partitions are divided if
need be.
vi. Windows is installed on main partition
vii. Then, some relevant selections like language, time and date are
made.
viii. Connect device to an external storage and install an anti-virus
ix. Using either DriverPack or DriverIdentifier, drivers for the different
hardwares are reinstalled.
x. Then softwares are installed.

CHAPTER 6
6.0 BASIC COMPUTER FAULTS AND SOLUTIONS
i. Heating up of the system:
Possible Causes
a. Dormant fan.
b. Evaporated processor paste.
c. Improperly connected heat sink or low conducting power of heat
sink.
d. Blockage of vent by dust or dirt.

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Possible Solutions
a. Change of fan or properly connecting fan.
b. Application of more processor paste.
c. Opening up of system and placing the heat sink properly or
change of the heat sink to a more conductive one.
d. Dusting of the vent.

ii. Hanging of the system:

Possible Causes
a. Low or incompatible RAM.
b. Filled hard disk.
c. Heating up of system.
Possible Solutions
a. Increase RAM size.
b. Delete some files in the hard disk and install a cleaner or replace
the hard disk.
c. Heating up can be resolved using the aforementioned solutions.
iii. Dormant Keyboard
Possible Causes
a. Packing or “not using” a system.
b. Damage of the “flex” or connector.
c. Drenched keyboard.
d. Damage of one key causing the board to cut off all other keys.
Possible Solution
a. Vigorously tapping the keys to restore function.
b. Disabling keyboard driver and restarting the system which auto-
enables it.
c. Change of flex or connector.
d. Change of keyboard.
iv. Inability to power on.
Cause: Bad IC on the board.
Solution: Locating and changing faulty IC.
v. Error disk display on starting up
Cause: Weak or completely bad hard disk.
Solutions

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a. Trouble shooting at the hardware section of the BIOS on start up

by immediately clicking the F9 key(on HP) or F12( on Dell).
b. If weak, try to transfer important file to an external storage
device.
c. If bad, change hard disk.
vi. Unresponsive speaker
Causes
a. Speaker driver needs update.
b. Undrived speaker.
c. Spoilt speaker.
d. Spoilt sound card.
Solution
a. Disable drive and restart the system, if it doesn’t work, drive or
update the speaker using DriverPack.
b. Format system.
c. Change speaker.
d. If changed speaker doesn’t work, troubleshoot sound card.
vii. Unresponsive screen touch
Causes
a. Formatting and driving the screen, this results in problem because
some touch screens have drivers that cannot be deleted by
formatting, and redriving it removes the needed drive.
b. Formatting and driving with wrong drive.
Solutions
a. After formatting, do not drive the screen.
b. If screen doesn’t work, or works partially, then drive using HP
online support (for HPs) or Dell online support as the case maybe.
These online supports searches for the screen details and finds the
exact drive that support your screen touch, which you download
and install.
viii. Inability of USB ports to recognize devices.
Causes
a. Dormant USB controller drive.
b. Poorly driven USB ports.
c. Driver needs to be updated.
d. Damaged USB ports.
Solution
a. Disable USB controller drive and restart the computer system.

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b. Redrive USB controller.

c. Update USB controller drive.
d. Change USB hardware.
ix. Uncontrolled restarting of system.
Causes
a. Use of unlicensed or trial version of an operating system.
b. Virus infection.
c. Inability of the power connectors and power spider ICs to
efficiently distribute power.
Solution
a. Formatting and installation of licensed operating system.
b. Installation of an anti-virus, and performing a deep system scan to
identify and delete the malware.
c. Change of power connector and troubleshooting of motherboard
to identify faulty power ICs.

CHAPTER 7
7.0 MY EXPERIENCE
Training at Powerline Enterprise Global widened my idea on a working man’s
experience. The punctuality and loyalty involved when you are obliged to
officially take orders from someone for the primary sake of skill acquisition. It
also helped me realise that being an average wealth owner doesn’t require
only working hard but trying to find where demand and supply meets as seen
in this world of trending computer-demanding environment.
7.1 DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED

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During the period of training, I met a lot of challenging walls.

The first being the need to make payment to acquire the skill, and the
amount being a bit high coupled with the daily bus fare. Those were overcome
with time. Then came the pressing matters of movement of classes, acquiring
personal basic tools and breaking a customer’s system casing (which was
handled by my instructor).
Some assignments, though helpful were challenging like, differentiating
originals of chargers, batteries, hard disk and processor paste from their fakes.
They worst of all as at the time of my training was the use of my newly(
3 months) acquired laptop for practical on formatting due to the want for the
trending window 10. Worst, because, the first installed windows 10, was a trial
version (causing uncontrolled restarting), the second installed produced a lot
of error codes. Then, the return to windows 8.1 which after installation,
stopped my screen touch and pen functions which led me to read a lot about
that and fix it by not driving it after another windows 8.1 installation.
So, within that period of test on my own laptop, I formatted it four
times.
LESSON AND ACQUIRED KNOWLEDGE
I, from the attended computer training class and self practice have eliminated
the fear of computer related issues as I have seen that almost all computer
problems have solutions except the extreme case of BIOS lock which is
reversible by the computer manufacturer.
I have also had a taste of working for a living.
CONCLUSION: The introduction of SIWES as a varsity practice is really a
good idea as it widens one’s idea about work and its needed qualities.

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