Concerned Questions

Rampage2884

I just did the techexams A+ hardware test (50 questions), and score 80%, you guys think I'm ready for the real test?

I also came across some question I got confused on.

1) When refering to a single SCSI-2 host adapter, do you have to assume it can handle up to 16 devices because Fast SCSI-2 can only hand 8 devices?

2) The qustion about "How many devices can be attached to one IDE channel?"
Answer is two but wouldn't it be one saying that and IDE controller connects to a IDE cable which brances off into 2 channels (Master and Slave)

3) Another question about "Which of the following are true?"

a. Level 1 cache is external
b. Level 1 cache is internal
c. Level 2 cache is external
d. Level 2 cache is internal

Answer is b and c. But what the Pentiun Pro's and above. There level 2 cache is internal. So what do we have to assume?

4) Last question. I got this on a practice test.
"Liam's computer has a SCSI hard drive. He wants to add another internal SCSI hard drive, to increase the storage capacity of his computer. Where should he connect the second SCSI hard drive?"

a) To an open SCSI port on the computer
b) To an open SCSI port on the first hardrive

I said (B) but the answer is (A), can someone please verify this.

Sorry about all the question, I'm just so worried about my test.

lazyart

1)Unless SCSI is stated as WIDE (Wide, Ultra Wide, etc) it will only handle 8 devices. Wide SCSI can address 16 devices.

2)You can attach two devices to an IDE controller. Motherboards will have two controllers (Primary, Secondary) to which you can connect a Master and Slave drive to each.

3)For the most part, B & C are the correct answers.

4)That's a bit of a trick question there. There is no open SCSI port on the first hard drive (because it is already connected). If it were an external SCSI drive there would be. You would attach the internal drive to an open port on the existing SCSI cable in the computer.

You should do ok, but I would shoot for a bit higher. How much hands-on experience do you have?

Zumpel

For the 3rd Q, check this out:
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/mbsys/cache/structIntegrated-c.html

I don't think this has changed very much in the new processors, as it would just add a quite "big" chunk of Ram to them. Easier to locate the L2 cache close to it. Keep in mind that the thing you slap into the mobo is just a container for the processor and other stuff.

Anyone here into processors, to clarify this properly ?

lazyart

Well, it goes like this:

L1 cache is always housed with the CPU. Back in the day, not all motherboards had cache. In fact, some had what was called COAST - Cache On A STick (I have an old board with just that-- looks like a short memory stick you added to the board near the processor). What the motherboard had was L2 cache.

Well, AMD went and spoiled this party. They released a wonderful little chip called the K6-3 (I have one). This chip featured what they termed a "tri-level cache". L1 and L2 cache were BOTH on the chip. The stuff on the motherboard was relegated to L3. The Pentium Pro actually might have been the first to do this-- but that chip was certainly not for desktops. And yes, I have a couple PPros lying around as well, lol.

Nowadays, all the Intel and AMD chips have both L1 and L2 on die. CompTIA will likely tell you that L2 is on the motherboard since it goes back to the Pentium days (if not further). Maybe with the 2003 objectives it may be changed.. however because of the huge ambiguity I don't think it would show up as the practice exam asked.

Rampage2884

lazyart wrote:

1)Unless SCSI is stated as WIDE (Wide, Ultra Wide, etc) it will only handle 8 devices. Wide SCSI can address 16 devices.

2)You can attach two devices to an IDE controller. Motherboards will have two controllers (Primary, Secondary) to which you can connect a Master and Slave drive to each.

3)For the most part, B & C are the correct answers.

4)That's a bit of a trick question there. There is no open SCSI port on the first hard drive (because it is already connected). If it were an external SCSI drive there would be. You would attach the internal drive to an open port on the existing SCSI cable in the computer.

You should do ok, but I would shoot for a bit higher. How much hands-on experience do you have?

1) I thought that answer was also 8 but it was 16. I know that the Fast SCSI-2 can handle up to 8 devices and the SCSI-2 wide can handle 16 devices becuase of it's 16 bit bus.

2) So what are the channels that they are referring to then?

3) OK

4) "There is no open SCSI port on the first hard drive (because it is already connected). " Really, I thought every SCSI device has 2 ports so they can be daisy chained, whether it is internal or external.


Anyways, yes I do have alot of experience buidling computers, have been doing it for my friends and myself. I also did alot troubleshooting.

Btw, are the transcenders exam as difficult as the real exam? seems like it was pretty tough for me.

Webmaster

1. I think you are referring to question 6:

Which of the following are true concerning SCSI?
a. You are able to connect up to 15 different devices to a single SCSI-2 host adapter.
b. You are able to connect up to 7 different devices to a single SCSI-2 host adapter.
c. Communication between SCSI devices and the host adapter always involves the CPU or the system bus.
d. SCSI is generally faster than IDE and is better fit for RAID sets.

The answers are a and d. As you can see in our TechNote below, SCSI-2 is a specification that can support up to 16 devices, depending on which mode it is running.

www.techexams.net/technotes/scsi.shtml

Rampage2884

Webmaster wrote:

The answers are a and d. As you can see in our TechNote below, SCSI-2 is a specification that can support up to 16 devices, depending on which mode it is running.

So Webmaster, when they refer to SCSI-2 specification, we have to assume that it is running in wide and fast/wide mode because SCSI-2 in fast mode handles 8 devices?

lazyart

Rampage2884 wrote:

2) So what are the channels that they are referring to then?

4) "There is no open SCSI port on the first hard drive (because it is already connected). " Really, I thought every SCSI device has 2 ports so they can be daisy chained, whether it is internal or external.


Anyways, yes I do have alot of experience buidling computers, have been doing it for my friends and myself. I also did alot troubleshooting.

Btw, are the transcenders exam as difficult as the real exam? seems like it was pretty tough for me.

2) Primary controller and secondary controller are the "channels". You can use the terms interchangeably, but controller is more common.

4) An internal SCSI drive looks much like an internal IDE drive... the difference is the number of pins on the connector (40 for IDE, 50 or 68 for SCSI) and jumpers (IDE will only have master/slave/cable select while SCSI will have settings for device number and sometime a "lock" setting). An internal SCSI cable looks like an IDE cable-- again the difference being the number wires (SCSI cables will be wider than IDE). Usually the tell-tale difference is the SCSI cable will usually have more connectors on it-- I had one with 1 connection to the SCSI controller and 4 connectors for drives.

Like I said, Wide SCSI is 16 devices, non-Wide (sometimes termed "narrow") is 8. With the wording of the question, up to sixteen is certainly correct (sneaky, but correct, lol).

The general consensus on transcenders is that it is the best exam sim. I scored 73% on the demo I have here the day before I took my OS exam. I scored 797 and passed easily (though I wish I had done better).

Webmaster

no... just that it can support 16... not that it always does

I know, it's a tricky one. And since I write only original questions, you won't find the same question on the exam of course, but CompTIA like to use this sort of tricky questions as well.

If you look at the question, you should rule out c. immediately, and it's obvious you have to choose one of a and b. Of which answer a. is the best choice.

Rampage2884

Wow, thanks Webmaster and lazyart, everthing is clear as crystal now.

I feel so dumb now about that SCS question. Completely missed the words "can" and "up to" for the amount of devices it can handle. I'm glad I found this place, very informative.

One quick last question, if the internal SCSI HD has only one port, I'm assuming that's the last device that should be on the chaint? or am I missing something?

lazyart

You know what an IDE cable looks like... just put more attachments on it and you should get the idea.

Or even better-- a picture is worth a thousand words:



Connect a device but the cable continues on. Terminate the cable and you are set. If your SCSI controller has connections for internal and external devices, both chains must be terminated. Often there is a jumper on the card to terminate either internal or external if you are using only external or internal devices.

Rampage2884

ahhhh, I see.

Well thanks guys for the all the help.
I can feel there will be more question though so be prepared.