GB2352821A

GB2352821A - A method of manufacturing and testing a computer to order

Info

Publication number: GB2352821A
Application number: GB9918402A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Lars Edman; Conor O'donovan; John Cronin; Elizabeth Mccarthy; Ruairi Egan; Gerard O'connor
Original assignee: WILDSTAR Ltd
Current assignee: WILDSTAR Ltd
Priority date: 1999-08-05
Filing date: 1999-08-05
Publication date: 2001-02-07
Anticipated expiration: 2019-08-05
Also published as: GB2352821B; GB9918402D0

Abstract

A method of making and testing a computer comprises collecting and assembling appropriate components for an ordered computer, making the computer operational and performing tests on the computer. An initial batch manufacturing stage produces a power supply and a mother board secured to a casing. The configuration of the computer is interrogated and verified during manufacture and the tests include at least twelve hours of burn-in tests for the mother board, random access memory and a fixed disk.

Description

2352821 "'A computer manufacturing process" The invention relates to the

manufacture of computers. 5 One object of the invention is to provide such a process in which there is improved traceablity of both computer components and of test results.

Another object is that computers be produced to order on a unit-by-unit basis according to specific requirements of the customer, without being inefficient.

Heretofore, the trend has been to either produce small numbers of high specification computers exactly to order or, to batch produce lower cost computers in high volumes.

According to the invention, there is provided a process for manufacturing a computer, the process comprising the steps of:- producing batches of casing sub-assemblies, in which each casing sub- assembly comprises a casing, a mother board secured to the casing, and a power supply; 20 individually producing the computer to order by:- receiving an order for a computer and storing an order record in a production controller; 25 selecting a casing sub-assembly; the production controller generating a component list for the computer of the order, and the components being picked and placed in an identified associated container; performing computer build by connecting the picked components in the casing, scanning a label on each component as it is being connected, and the production controller automatically verifying the component against the order; performing quality control by:

interrogating the mother board BIOS to determine all computer components, uploading the results to the production controller with a computer serial number and the production controller automatically verffying the results, and installing an operating system and a quality control program pre stored on a storage medium automatically executing to perform benchmark tests and storing benchmark test results in a mapped section of a fixed disk of the computer; and performing burn-in tests by executing burn-in test programs for at least 800 cycles and at least 12 hours to test the mother board, the RAM, and the fixed disk, and in which the mother board tests include tests for processor basic functionality and speed, and the memory tests include BIOS ROM, parity, pattern, data bus, address, refresh, and processor cache tests.

In one embodiment, the production of the casing sub-assembles comprises the steps of making wiring connections between the mother board and all external interfacing devices.

Preferably, the computer build step comprises the sub-step of, after mounting all components, switching power on and validating power-up and basic computer operation.

In one embodiment, the quality control step comprises the sub-step of 10 automatically writing utility files to the fixed disk.

Preferably, the quality control step includes the sub-step of automatically scanning computer registry data.

In another embodiment, the quality control step comprises the further substep of creating a desktop icon for user access to stored quality control data.

In a further embodiment, the casing sub-assembly production step comprises the further sub-step of storing a set of optimum settings in the mother board BIOS, 20 and these settings are subsequently selected during the quality control step.

Preferably, the settings include a SDRAM CAS latency time setting of less than 70% of maximum.

In one embodiment, the mother board burn-in tests include a processor protected mode test and a coprocessor test.

In another embodiment, the mother board burn-in tests include interrupt controller, timer, and real time clock tests.

In a further embodiment, the fixed disk tests include write, read/verify, seek, 5 performance, and boot sector tests.

The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description of some embodiments thereof, given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:-

Fig. 1 is a flow diagram illustrating a batch process forming part of an overall production process of the invention; and Figs. 2(a) and 2(b) are together a flow diagram illustrating computer build, quality control, and bum-in stages of production.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a process 1 for production of a computer. The process 1 is carried out in response to a customer order which is logged into a production controller together with the exact specification requested by the customer. The computer is then built to order provided the required components are available. Otherwise, the order is held in abeyance.

The process 1 comprises an off-line batch process comprising steps 2 to 7 in which batches of casing sub-assembles are produced and stored. The batch process is used to produce batches of either a desk top or a tower computer PC casing sub-assembly. However, there may be more than two types of casing subassemblies.

In step 2 a casing 10 is opened and a mother board 11 is mounted in it. The casing 10 is pre-assembled with a power supply 12 and an internal casing 13 for the power supply and other components. The housing 13 extends along one side of the casing 10 and down on the adjoining side until it abuts a housing 14 for a removable disk drive 15 and a fixed disk drive, not shown. The mother board 11 is mounted on one side of the casing 10 using pillars 16 and plastics spacers between the board 11 and the casing 10. This step involves adhering the mother board 11 serial number onto the back of the casing. In step 3, an operator makes wiring connections between sockets 17 on the mother board 11 and interfacing devices 18 on the front of the casing 10. The wires 19 are bundled in step 4 to help prevent damage. In step 5 a removable disk drive 15 is mounted in the casing 14. As indicated by the steps 6 and 7, these steps are repeated for each of the pre-set number of casing sub-assemblies until a full batch has been produced.

For a particular customer order, in step 40 the production controller (indicat ed by the numeral 35 in Fig. 2(a)) generates a component list. An operator then picks components for this list and places them in a unit container associated with a computer and identified by its serial number. These components are selected from a modem, a video card, a processor, a memory, a fixed disk drive, a CD ROM drive, and a network card for example. In step 41, these components are connected in the casing and in step 42 each component is scanned as it is being connected. The scan causes an automatic upload to the production controller 35 which in turn automatically verifies the component against the customer order. In step 43, a computer build stage is completed by the operator connecting the built CPU to a keyboard and a monitor and switching on power. The CPU is allowed boot from a boot removable disk, and the operator sets the BIOS specified for the order. The operator also checks that the hardware configuration detected by the processor matches that which has been built. The operator also checks that all of the build components have been marked off as connected.

All of the literature and storage media associated with the various components 5 are bundled with the computer as the relevant component is mounted in the casing.

In a quality control stage, an operator checks that the documentation and set of drives of the build stage are present and correct. In step 44 a BIOS interrogation program is installed. In step 45 this program automatically interrogates the BIOS to determine all components of the computer. The operator also inputs the computer serial number in step 46 and the computer then uploads the computer component data together with the serial number to the production controller 35 in step 47. The production controller 35 performs automatic verification of the configuration using the stored production record and the received BIOS component data.

It is only after this initial BIOS interrogation that the operating system is installed, in step 48. When the operating system has been installed, a quality control program which was pre-stored in the fixed disk during production automatically operates to write the utility files such as AUTOEXEC.BAT to a mapped disk section in step 49.

In step 50, the program executes benchmark tests to test the video card, the 25 sound card, and multimedia circuits generally. Any detected faults are flagged to an operator and faulty components are replaced.

This program also performs in step 51 scanning to detect any corruption in a registry file. This file is part of the operating system and contains a register of all computer components detected. The scanned registry file is written to a pre-set location on the fixed disk.

This step also includes creation of a Desktop icon and associated program for 5 user access to the mapped disk section. This section includes the utility files and quality control output files.

In step 52 pre-configured optimum settings for BIOS are selected. This step is very quick as the settings are pre-configured. These settings include a disabled setting for the second serial port, and a latency time setting of 2 for SDRAM CAS latency time. This is less than 70% of maximum.

It has been found that a combination of the automatic verification during computer build, the BIOS interrogation at the start of quality control, the subsequent testing using operating system programs all help to minimise defects while also helping to ensure excellent efficiency.

Testing of the computers is completed by a burn-in stage 53. An important aspect of this stage is that it is carried out for at least twelve hours and there is a concentration of testing of the random access memory, the mother board and processor and the fixed disk, There are at least 800 cycles for the burn-in tests for each of these units.

The memory tests include testing of all cache memory. Typically, faults in part 25 of the cache memory are not detected by the BIOS, which simply uses the available good cahce memory locations. The memory tests also include:- BIOS ROM test, data bus test, parity test, address test, pattern test, refresh test, and random memory test, processor cache test The BIOS ROM test checks the data path of the BIOS ROM and ensures that it is write-protected. The parity test locates bad memory locations including parity errors. The pattern test writes a series of test patterns to memory and compares after reading back. The random memory test writes a random bit pattern to a randomly-selected DRAM location, reads the pattern back, and compares. The test is performed in an incremental manner. The data bus test tests the data bus by transmitting data signals on it and verifying. The address test checks for shorts and opens on the address lines. The refresh test checks the DRAM memory refresh interval rate. The processor cache test checks that the processor's cache memory is correctly functioning. The access is direct, whereas in the cache memory test the access is indirect.

Regarding the mother board tests, these include processor tests for basic functionality, for speed, and for Protected Mode. The basic functionality test checks 32-bit registers and flags. The speed test checks the actual CPU clock speed by measuring the time taken to execute a specific instruction, using a separate clock source with a known frequency. The Protected Mode test check protected mode instructions. The coprocessor test checks the functionality of the math coprocessor. The mother board tests also include interrupt controller, timer, and real time clock tests. The following is a sample test output display of CPU information.

(1)333 MHz 966 MIPS (Integer operations) 386 MFLOPS (Floating point operations) (Integer application simulation) 78 (Floating point application simulation) 79 (MMX application simulation) CPU Details CPU load:O low MIPS:666 CPUID:OxO652 Oxl83F9FF MMXPresent: True 3Dnow Present: False dhrystone time (s): 2.1 whetstone time (s): 0.026 integer time (s): 9.8 The following is a sample display of fixed disk information.

Intel Pentium 11 with MMX Windows 98 4.10.1998 System Details BIOS: Award 12/21/98 Bus:PCI.ISA APM: Version 1.2 Flags Ox7 Possible "'hog"apps running: Other apps running: Enable/ disable CPU test:

Context Menu: Reply: Inbox DEJAWINT:;ThorConnWndClass; WMS Idle; WMS ST Notif Window FFC49FA3 FFCOFDA3; WMS Idle; WMS notif window; Sockets Asynchronous Request Server; WMS Spooler; WMS notif window The fixed disk tests include write, read/verify, seek, performance, and boot sector tests. The read/verify test performs sequential and random read operations on a specified part of the drive. The seek test checks the movement of the head over a set cylinder and head range. The tests are performed both sequentially and randomly. The performance test checks the data transfer rate, the sequential seek time and the random seek time base on transfer size, seek count, and data transferred. The transfer rate is measured in kB/s, and seek time in ms. The boot sector test checks integrity of the partition and boot sector in the drive. The following is sample display of disk test information.

56 cached disk MB/s 3.3 uncached disk MB/s Disk Details Disk Last Scanned: 28/05/99 08.29.17 Disk Last Optimized 00.00.00 Cached Disk. 128 blocks Open file time (s) 0.01 Sequential write time (s); 0.0093 Sequential read time (s); 0.058 Random write time (s); 0.0013 Random read time (s); 0.0048 Close file time (s); 0.00092 Open file bytes: 1024 Sequential write bytes: 524288 The concentration of at least 800 cycles of the above tests for the mother board, the fixed disk, and the memory have been found to be particularly effective at achieving a low defect rate.

It will be appreciated that the invention provides a process which ensures early detection of faults and also provides comprehensive quality control. Also, the sub-assembly stage in combination with the build, quality control, and burn-in stages ensures that computers are manufactured precisely to order on an item by-item basis with excellent efficiency.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments described, but may be varied in construction and detail

Claims

1. A process for manufacturing a computer, the process comprising the steps of:5 producing batches of casing sub-assemblies, in which each casing subassembly comprises a casing, a mother board secured to the casing, and a power supply; individually producing the computer to order by:- receiving an order for a computer and storing an order record in a production controller; selecting a casing sub-assembly; the production controller generating a component list for the computer of the order, and the components being picked and placed in an identified associated container; 20 performing computer build by connecting the picked components in the casing, scanning a label on each component as it is being connected, and the production controller automatically verifying the component against the order; 25 performing quality control by:interrogating the mother board BIOS to determine all computer components, uploading the results to the production controller with a computer serial number and the production controller automatically verifying the results, and 5 installing an operating system, and a quality control program prestored on a storage medium automatically executing to perform benchmark tests and storing benchmark test results in a mapped section of a fixed disk of the computer; and 10 performing burn-in tests by executing burn-in test programs for at least 800 cycles and at least 12 hours to test the mother board, the RAM and the fixed disk, and in which the mother board tests include tests for processor basic funtionality and speed and the memory tests include BIOS ROM, parity, pattern, data bust, address, refresh, and processor cache tests

2. A process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the production of the casing subassembles comprises the steps of making wiring connections between the mother board and all external interfacing devices. 20

3. A process as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the computer build step comprises the sub-step of, after mounting all components, switching power on and validating power-up and basic computer operation.

4. A process as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the quality control step comprises the sub-step of automatically writing utility files to the fixed disk.

5. A process as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the quality control step includes the sub-step of automatically scanning computer registry data.

6. A process as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the quality control step comprises the further sub-step of creating a desktop icon for user access to stored quality control data.

7. A process as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the casing sub assembly production step comprises the further sub-step of storing a set of optimum settings in the mother board BIOS, and these settings are subsequently selected during the quality control step.

8. A process as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the settings include a SDRAM CAS latency time setting of less than 70% of maximum.

9. A process as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the mother board burn in tests include a processor protected mode test and a coprocessor test.

10. A process as claimed in claim 9, wherein the mother board burn-in tests include interrupt controller, timer, and real time clock tests.

11. A process as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the fixed disk tests include write, read/verify, seek, performance, and boot sector tests.

12. A process substantially as described with reference to the drawings.

13. A computer whenever produced by a process as claimed in any preceding claim.