Interfaces and peripherals
Input, output and storage peripherals, common connectors and interfaces (USB, HDMI, SATA, NVMe, PCIe, RJ45), serial versus parallel links, speeds, drivers and hot plugging.
- 28 cards
- 5 topics
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Peripheral: what is it?
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A device connected to the computer to feed information in, take it out or keep it: keyboard, screen, printer, USB stick.
They are classified by the direction of data flow: input (keyboard, mouse, webcam), output (screen, printer), input and output (touch screen, network card) and storage (USB stick, external disk).
A cable has USB-C connectors at both ends. What can you conclude about its speed?
- Nothing: only its USB version says
- It offers at least 10 Gbit/s
- It is USB 3.0 exactly
- It is for charging only
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Nothing: only its USB version says
USB-C describes the connector shape. A cheap charging cable is often USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/s), whereas a USB4 cable reaches 40 Gbit/s or more. You have to read the cable's standard.
To control a specific piece of hardware, the operating system goes through a … installed on the machine.
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To control a specific piece of hardware, the operating system goes through a driver installed on the machine.
The driver turns the system's general requests (print, read a sector) into orders specific to the hardware.
Device driver: what is it?
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Software the operating system uses to communicate with a specific piece of hardware and give it a common interface.
Without it, a connected device is not recognised or only partly works. The system bundles many, but not all: a recent printer may need its own.
A 4K screen is stuck at 30 Hz, though the graphics card can do 4K at 60 Hz. What is the probable cause?
- An HDMI 1.4 cable or port
- A DisplayPort 1.2 cable or port
- Not enough RAM
- A processor clocked too low
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An HDMI 1.4 cable or port
HDMI 1.4 caps out at 4K at 30 Hz, whereas DisplayPort 1.2 already handles 4K at 60 Hz. You need an HDMI 2.0 (or DisplayPort) cable and ports on both ends: the weakest link sets the limit. RAM and the processor do not set the screen's refresh rate.