How can I learn understand schematics and block diagrams for Macs and other computers (technician level please)?

[Rodion15]

How can I learn understand schematics and block diagrams for Macs and other computers (technician level please?)

This is one of the questions where I expect to receive ambiguous and unclear answers. No matter how clear my question actually is. Probably because it’s in a bit of a no-man’s land.

I’m working as an Apple mac technician and have some background in Electronics (mostly old anagogic related). I’d like to learn to understand and basically troubleshoot hardware issues by looking at the schematics and Block diagrams for Macs and other computers (like the ones below).

I guess there has to exist some book, course or website making this approachable to a computer technician level. I’d welcome a lot some advice on this.

By the way: I like watching Louis Rossman youtube videos, but I’d rather have something more formal or complete.

 

[4745454b]

For some reason I can't make your first pic bigger. But block diagrams are the easiest to read. You literally just read it, no symbol translating happens. If things are connected, they can talk to each other directly. If they aren't, then they don't. From what I can make out, your camera I/O has 4GBs of DDR3 attached to it. It connects to that big thing in the center with a PCIe 2.0 1x link. The keyboard, wifi, bluetooth, etc don't talk directly to the camera module at all, they all run though that hub in the middle. (I'm guessing this is for some sort of iphone.)

As for your second pic, that's still the same as your analog stuff. I see symbols for diodes, grounds, resistors, etc. If you could read them before I don't see how this is different.

How can I learn understand schematics and block diagrams for Macs and other computers...I’m working as an Apple mac technician

Switching hats, why are you working as something if you don't know how to do it? To be honest I'd talk to your boss about getting training. I mean no disrespect at all, but I would never hire someone as a tech who can't read a block diagram.

 

[Rodion15]

For some reason I can't make your first pic bigger. But block diagrams are the easiest to read. You literally just read it, no symbol translating happens. If things are connected, they can talk to each other directly. If they aren't, then they don't. From what I can make out, your camera I/O has 4GBs of DDR3 attached to it. It connects to that big thing in the center with a PCIe 2.0 1x link. The keyboard, wifi, bluetooth, etc don't talk directly to the camera module at all, they all run though that hub in the middle. (I'm guessing this is for some sort of iphone.)

As for your second pic, that's still the same as your analog stuff. I see symbols for diodes, grounds, resistors, etc. If you could read them before I don't see how this is different.

How can I learn understand schematics and block diagrams for Macs and other computers...I’m working as an Apple mac technician

Switching hats, why are you working as something if you don't know how to do it? To be honest I'd talk to your boss about getting training. I mean no disrespect at all, but I would never hire someone as a tech who can't read a block diagram.

Hi. Thanks for your answer.
What I asked is for some reliable book/website explaining them.

 

[4745454b]

That is what I was trying to say in the second part of my post. A block diagram is the easiest thing to "read". You just look at it. If you can't read a block diagram, you have no business fixing things. There is no website or book I can suggest on block diagrams. It's just something I look at.

As for schematics, I can't help you there either. I know the symbols but get lost reading larger pages. As a tech you mostly figure out what broke and then replace it. So I'm not sure how knowing either of these things help you. If the front camera no longer works, you open it up and remove that module. Install new one and put back together. You work at a shop that wants you to unsolder broken things and replace them?

 

[13thmonkey]

They only make sense in terms of the answer to a question, so for the question "why doesn't X provide it's output to Y", you look at X, figure out how it connects to Y, and then you can determine the elements of the chain that need to work in order for X to output to Y. Then you know what you have to figure out how to test. Just looking at a block diagram by itself is like looking at a roadmap, it doesn't tell you anything other than what's connected to what. If you look at a roadmap with the question in mind how to I get from here to there, then it becomes something a lot more understandable.

 

[Rodion15]

They only make sense in terms of the answer to a question, so for the question "why doesn't X provide it's output to Y", you look at X, figure out how it connects to Y, and then you can determine the elements of the chain that need to work in order for X to output to Y. Then you know what you have to figure out how to test. Just looking at a block diagram by itself is like looking at a roadmap, it doesn't tell you anything other than what's connected to what. If you look at a roadmap with the question in mind how to I get from here to there, then it becomes something a lot more understandable.

Hi, thanks for your answers.

I’m an official Apple mac and iPhone technician. In my repair center, we don’t use schematics. In fact: the Apple training I did (I’m ACMT and ACiT certified), doesn’t require any deep insight of hardware circuitry.

However, I know there’re repair centres that do use schematics and repair at component-level.

I used schematics when I worked as radio-frequency technician, this was long ago, and modern electronics is digital and quite different. That’s why I’d like to find a good resource to learn modern schematics.

I know online resources such as Louis Rossmann Youtube channel, that explain component level repairs, but it doesn’t explain schematics as well.

There’re also books such as Beginner's Guide to Reading Schematics, Third Edition that explain them. But I have no idea if they’re good or not.


Reading schematics is convenient for certain troubleshooting. For example: when there’s no backlight on a macbook, sometimes you cannot know if it’s the logic board or the display that is faulty, you have to replace the logic board first, if that doesn’t work, then replace the display (this is the "official" Apple troubleshooting). I know that deeper troubleshooting will find out if it’s the logic board or the display that is faulty.

 

[13thmonkey]

so in that example you'd check for power coming from the driver board, and determine if that is the right power, you might also force the right voltage to the backlight and see if it works, nothing that common sense wouldn't tell you you'd need to figure out where to apply it though, that's where the diagram helps, once you've figured out what question to ask.