Laptop QC Checklist

QC Checklist

Welcome to Laptop Build! Quality checking a few systems that others have built will be your first step, then you'll be ready to move on to assembling and checking software on systems.

Work through every step as well as you can, If you have a problem, ask your build instructor or a neighbor for help. Try and learn the reason for each of the steps: this knowledge will come in handy later.

Steps	Notes/Detailed Instructions	Done
BEFORE YOU POWER ON
Find Build/QC sheet for your system	Should be inside the closed laptop.
Does box rattle when you shake it?	If so, find the culprit and fix/remove it.
Screws in tight? All screws present?	If not, tighten and/or find screws.
Are all slots and bays covered?	If not, cover 'em.
Is there Microsoft Branding (Certificates of Authenticity)?	If there is, take them off. (Or render them unreadable)
Are there Asset tags? (identifying the last owner)	If there are, remove them.
Is the system exterior clean?	If not, use cleaner and rag to clean.
Is the system standard?	Check the Spec Sheet. If non-standard, please check with your instructor to see how to proceed.
BOOT AND ENTER BIOS
Get into BIOS	If you see an OS come up, you have gone too far; reboot and try again.
Check boot order	It should be: 1st-CD-ROM; 2nd-Hard drive; 3rd-Network. Get as close as possible, depending on the BIOS.
Is parallel port enabled on 0x378, and set to EPP or Bi-Directional	EPP and Bi-Directional are the protocols spoken by standard PC computers, as opposed to Macs and some obscure devices. The "0x378" is the standard I/O space for PC parallel ports. If the system has no parallel port, skip this step.
Check proper time and date.	Wrong time and date can be a sign of a bad cmos battery. If the time and/or date are wrong, correct it, reboot and check again. If the problem persists ask your build instructor for advice.
Save and exit.
SOFTWARE TESTING
Boot to Linux, login with username: "oem" password: "freegeek"
Update the software	If present, select the "Install all Updates" option from the update-notifier icon at the top-right of the screen. It may take some time to download and install packages, so feel free to continue on with other steps while this runs in the background.
"basiccheck"	To start terminal program: Click on black monitor icon at top of screen. Type "basiccheck" (remember tab-completion) to run the program. Read through each of the tests and verify that they pass
Test USB	Details: plug in a USB mouse see that the cursor moves and can interact with things Repeat with all usb ports If all USB ports fail, the machine may be a recycle.
Test Cardbus/PCMCIA slots	put a wifi card in each slot, if it lights up it works.
Check time and date	Check the time and date in the top right corner. If incorrect: Make sure network cable is plugged in and networking is enabled Type "basiccheck net" from terminal to check if networking is enabled Right-click on the time and choose "Adjust date and time" Click on "Synchronize now" button.
Play an audio CD	Repeat for each CD-ROM drive. Do you hear what you expect? If not, check the Build tips on the wiki, under section 3, Sound.
Read data CD	Repeat for each CD-ROM drive. If your file browser sees files on the drive, the CD-ROM can read files.
Remove all CDs from the CD-ROM drive(s)
Test CD/DVD writing	Write to a CD and/or DVD. Put a blank disk in and drag and drop a few files from /home/oem/examples to the CD/DVD writing folder that appears. Click write to disk. When each disk is done, verify that they contain the files you wrote to them
Stress test the system for a few minutes.	Open a terminal and run "stress-test". Wait a few minutes while it runs, and look for error messages. If you want to know more about what it's doing, open up another terminal and run "man stress".
Reboot using software controls	Either open a terminal and run "sudo reboot", or use the graphical interface to reboot. Wait while it reboots, and ensure that the system powers on and offers a login screen without user intervention (e.g. without requiring that you "press F1 to boot").
Test all WiFi cards.	Connect to The Free Geek wireless network. Surf the web for a minute.
Test Battery	Make sure battery is charged up, put in a music CD, Start playing, open a terminal run 'bat_check', Pull power plug, let run until dead or an hour, whichever happens first
Check Battery time	To check how long the battery ran open a terminal and type 'wc bat_time. The first number is how many minutes it ran before the battery died.
Fill out paperwork	To check and fill out paperwork: Make sure your name, etc. are filled out on the QC portion of the system's paperwork Fill in any notes you need to: did you notice anything strange? On the Build portion, make sure that component notes are adequate
Run parallel port testing program, "printme", from terminal	TThis will give you a System ID number Connect printer to parallel port. If you have no parallel port, enable network printers. From a terminal, type "printme" Answer the questions printme asks, A webpage will open with info about the system. Print this page. If there are problems, check with your instructor.
Check in with Build Instructor
Shut down system and place pieces on proper shelf	Use software controls for the shutdown (either "sudo halt" or the System menu at the top). Ask where to put the system.
Clean up work area