pci tester card

[baggeh]

anyone know which ones are good?

[FKF]

If you mean a PCI POST card, then the few that I have used have always been pretty much useless. Invariably they would come up with a code that didn't seem to exist in the manual, or come up with one that couldn't possibly be right.

Having said that, the ones I have used have always been cheapy no-name ones, perhaps something a bit more professional would do the job better.

[Ubergeek]

I knew a 'technician' who used one of these and thought they were the best thing out. Until the day he plugged it into a system and received no diagnostic result at all.

He called me to come in and check it out. The fault? A blown fuse in the power supply. He had spent 2 hours trying to determine the fault. :rolleyes:

My advice: Learn basic fault finding techniques. POST diagnostic cards aren't worth it.

[baggeh]

cheers guys. i realise POST cards arnt that great, i should have been more specific.
I was thinking of something like P.H.D. PCI2 http://www.uxd.com/phdpci2.shtml

Basically it does diagnostic tests. Fault finding techniques are well and good, but ill give u an example which made me think these cards would be good.

A dude came into the shop with a box that was weeks old. OS wouldnt load. After 10 mins i narrowed it down to his mobo.

Turns out part of his mobo was fried (SATA tracks).

My point is, without this sort of card what do u do when the customer wants to know exactly what is wrong? I cant spend hours testing every pcb track by hand.

Using 'fault finding techniques', in some cases you cant nail down the fault exactly.

[baggeh]

btw, anyone know what the rma geeks at big companys use? like intel etc.
Surley they dont have the time to track down faults on thousands on rma'ed mobos?

[MR_60]

Originally posted by baggeh
btw, anyone know what the rma geeks at big companys use? like intel etc.
Surley they dont have the time to track down faults on thousands on rma'ed mobos?

I suspect they use the round filing tin, it's probably cheaper than spending any time checking the boards out.

[Ubergeek]

Most manufacturers use an automated testing facility when boards are released. I've seen automated board testing systems running and it's really impressive, the slightest defect and it gets rejected. RMA testing facilities usually have a test jig set up which is computer controlled and runs specific defect analysis software.

For example, if the result of measuring a signal, voltage drop, or current between point A and B was over a certain percentage of tolerance, it would be reported.

99% of boards that are sent back under RMA are written off anyway, no point in repairing something which may have a fault that has every chance of re-appearing.