How-To Do Basic Hardware Maintenance
From Unofficial BOINC Wiki
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[edit] General
This is a very basic guide for doing some easy tasks to improve the performance of your machine. These tasks take little skill and can, perhaps, change that computer that is faulting, returning invalid Work Units, or you just want to try to keep on top of things.
[edit] Cleanliness Is Next To Impossible
If you're running Climateprediction, or any other Distributed Computing application, your machine will quite likely be running 24x7x365. Recent CPUs use quite a lot of power (60~80Watts) when compared to older desktop machine's CPUs (20~30Watts). Many components in a newer machine are operating at speeds faster than the CPU in that old desktop box, so all those other components combined require significant power too. That power has to be dissipated as heat thus many individual components require quite sizable heat sinks & fans along with a good draft of relatively cool air through the whole machine for stable operation. All that air carries dust with it thus a lot of dust will end up lodged in heat sinks and fans as 'dust bunnies' - or in inlet fan dust filters, if the assembler fitted them. ;)
Soooo, one of the first things to check if your machine starts having problems is if the heat sinks or inlet filter(s) are choked with dust. Switch the computer off at the wall and unplug it first - modern ATX format computers do not have dangerous Voltages outside their power supplies (PSU) but older AT format machines have full A/C Voltage at the computer's main switch. Beyond that, I can't give you specific advice for your particular machine because they vary so widely but it is usually quite easy to remove one side panel of a 'tower' or the top of a small desktop box to check for dust accumulation.
Warning1 - electrostatic shock: Be careful to touch an earth point (Eg. a metal sink or bare metal on a central heating radiator.) before touching any electronics inside your machine. It is also a good idea to avoid working on a machine whilst standing on carpeting - if you've ever walked around a department store wearing shoes with plastic soles then you will already know why. (Touch a metal handrail & wonder what bit you. ;) ) Electrostatic shocks can destroy many integrated circuits instantly with no visible sign of damage.
Warning2 - working inside a power supply: If you decide to open & clean out your PSU then be very careful what you touch inside it - those big capacitors in there can carry one heck of a charge. Left for some hours before opening, the capacitors should have discharged through other circuitry but - you have been warned..! The PSU exhausts a lot of heat from most machines, it is the only exhaust fan in many 'white boxes', thus it may get choked with dust bunnies after a while - a plastic or wooden handled stiffish brush is your safest bet for this particular cleanup job.
- Note:
- We don't recommend that you open the power supply unit. Most of the time, vacuuming the power supply without opening the box is usually sufficient.
Any filter will be on inlet fan(s), sometimes behind the plastic front bezel - easy enough to remove too but, if you're unsure, get your local computer handyman to do it for you. Dust bunnies can be blown off heat sinks and fans using compressed air - don't switch back on too quickly after using compressed air because water is likely to condense out on the cold areas where you've used it. (No problem once it has dried off.) You can also use a 1/2" to 1" paint brush to remove dust from heat sinks but do hold the heat sink firmly so that you don't disturb it's contact with CPU, graphics processor (GPU) or chipset.
If you smoke (as I do) then heat sinks may need removal and washing to get them completely clean - the amount of sticky tar that condenses out on them is truly amazing..! If you remove a CPU heat sink that was fitted using a thermal pad (most recent white-box computers.) then you will need to clean the residue off the heat sink & the CPU with something like Cellulose thinners or some other form of degreasant before refitting the heat sink using a thermal paste. Eg. Arctic Alumina. Take great care refitting any heat sink to FCPGA chips like PIII Coppermines or Athlons - the silicon wafer is directly exposed to the heat sink and it is quite delicate.
Warning: Faster PIIIs and all Athons will self-destruct in seconds if switched on without a heat sink in situ..! If the CPU fan is disconnected, or has simply quit, then the motherboard may refuse to boot - if it does boot then you should soon hear a two tone 'siren' warning of overheating & recent motherboards will shut themselves down. Intel's P4 will slow itself down rather than self destructing but it won't be much use at the speed it will slow to without a heat sink in place. ;)
[edit] Fans
Sleeve bearing fans will often become a little noisy then slow down or stop completely after a period of continuous operation - usually measured in years but some GPU & chipset fans don't last that long. Standard size 12V DC fans, ie. 120mm, 92mm, 80mm, 60mm & 40mm measured across the fan case, are easy enough to replace with inexpensive similar units - twin ball bearing fans are a little more expensive but will usually outlast the service life of a computer. Many difficult to replace chipset & GPU fan 'specials' can be revitalized; Remove the fan, lift the label & put a single drip of light oil in the bearing, (too much oil will act as a dust bunny attractor.) stick the label back down & work the fan back and forth until it spins freely then refit it.
Monitoring your machine's temperatures, Voltages & fans is a good idea for preventative maintenance before you start having problems: Many motherboard manufacturer's supply hardware monitoring software on their drivers CD. Motherboard Monitor is the best hardware monitoring tool that I know of but MBM5 setup is a little 'geeky'.
[edit] Hard Disk Drives
Any computer component will last longer if it runs cooler, especially modern hot-running high-speed HDDs. The coolest place in almost any room is the lower part of it. Dust gets kicked up from carpeting, so standing a computer directly on floor carpets isn't a great idea but a few inches off the floor is usually the best place temperature wise. Good air circulation around a modern machine is also a 'must'; Eg. Standing a computer inside a cupboard is not a good idea unless the cupboard has very good ventilation.
"HDD Health" HDD monitoring freeware is available from Pantera Soft. It will monitor many aspects of your HDD, give a loose prediction of the time to failure and a good idea if funny things are starting to happen with the HD.
