Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (
More info?)
On Sun, 14 Aug 2005 21:32:39 -0400, nospam@needed.com (Paul) wrote:
>In article <fmmvf1hnnb7tjk1364tqrge7u9rh566dc4@4ax.com>,
>miller.90@spamlessosu.edu wrote:
>
>>
>> Gee, to make sure I didn't lose settings, the last time I did it, I
>> performed the operation with the computer powered on. It went very
>> well, but just how stupid was I? Please try to go a little easy on
>> me.
>> Ron
>
>A conservative rule, is not to have any power on inside the
>computer when working on it. It is to prevent accidents, like
>pulling and reinserting DIMMs when you forgot about the
>standby power etc. People have damaged DIMMs doing that, and
>if you get in the habit of turning off the power first (by
>unplugging), it just makes working in there that much safer.
>
>Looking at an Intel reference schematic, the battery path
>looks like this. I'd also like to look at an AMD schematic,
>but don't have any in my collection.
>
> |\ |
> 3.3V_standby -------| \|-----------------+
> reg from 5vsb |/ | |
> |
> 1K ohm |\ | | To Southbridge
> Battery ----/\ /\ -----| \|-------+-----+---------->
> \/ \/ |/ | |
> resistor BAT54C --- 1uF
> diode --- filter
> | cap
> |
> __+__
> ___ GND
> _
>
>The battery socket in this case, is well protected. The
>1K ohm resistor means little current can flow in that
>path in any case. The BAT54C diodes prevent reverse
>current flow. I guess you could jam a screwdriver in
>the battery socket, and the motherboard would be none the
>wiser, if +5VSB is still running. (On some motherboards,
>CLRTC is downstream of this circuit, and there, you really
>should have the power off if clearing the CMOS, as some
>of the CLRTC circuits are pretty stupid. The upper BAT54C
>gets burned in that case. The CLRTC method varies from
>chipset to chipset, and without documentation, powering
>off is the safe thing to do.)
>
>But if you dropped any metal tools in the computer while
>doing this operation, who knows what would happen. I'm just
>trying to plan for the butter-fingers among us
Like,
>how would you answer a question where the poster said
>"I dropped my screwdriver, there were some sparks, now
>it won't boot, can you tell me whats wrong ?"
I don't
>want to contemplate questions like that.
>
> Paul
Thanks,
I promise to follow the rules hereafter ;-)
Ron