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Every PC technician should have a POST card. This invaluable tool can quickly and easily identify the reason why PCs black screen and refuse to boot. Saves time & money every time. It can be used for PC system assembly, motherboard testing and BIOS debugging.
We have three different types of POST card; one for every occasion!
PC Analyzer-PRO - dual ISA/PCI bus 4 digit card with remote display, memory functions and more.
PC Analyzer-PRO/M -miniPCI (laptops) bus 4 digit card with remote display, memory functions and more.
PC Analyzer-PRO/P - printer port (laptops) 4 digit card with memory function.
POST CARD 101
·Some users call the POST card a port 80 card or error test card. The primary function of the POST card is to latch and display the BIOS POST code. After system power on, the motherboard BIOS performs the POST (Power-On-Self-Test) routines. The main purpose of these routines is to perform diagnostic tests on the system components, device detection, chipset initialization etc. The BIOS will output the POST code to the POST code port before each test routine is performed. (For normal motherboards this is Port 80h, for Compaq it is 84h, some Laptops output to the parallel port).
When the POST Card is plugged into a motherboard, the 7-segment LEDs on the POST card flashes during the boot sequence. Each value represents a test routine of the BIOS Power-On-Self-Test program. The display responds to the current POST program status. If the POST code display stops at a fixed value before the operating system loads it means that some problem has occurred. Users can check the meaning of the BIOS POST code, for each BIOS vendor, against lists provided or from the manufacturers website. From this you should be able to identify the cause of the failure.
Using an ISA or a PCI POST card will get the same result displayed on the POST code indicator. Remember the POST Card does not test - the BIOS is doing the testing. The POST Card's purpose is to display the BIOS test codes. We only need be concerned whether the system has a compatible bus slot for our POST card to plug into.
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