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    how can one learn about the bus architecture of their laptop?

    Discussion in 'HP' started by TedDemen, Mar 9, 2008.

  1. TedDemen

    TedDemen Notebook Guru

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    im trying to figure out how the motherboard of my laptop is split up and what share the same bus with what else.
    (my laptop is a DV2612ca)

    for example; are all the usb ports on the same bus?
    (im thinking no because when i plug a device (say wireless mouse) into a usb port, it installs drivers EVEN THOUGH i already installed those drivers before (the only difference was that it was in another usb port on the same laptop)
    im not sure if the above is bus related or not, but it is kind of weird.

    but regarding the bus layout; i need to know if the expresscard is on the same bus as the firewire (and if anything else is sharing that same bus)
     
  2. stefanp67

    stefanp67 Notebook Consultant

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    You will get some info on bus layout by opening the device manager and choose show devices by connection.
     
  3. TedDemen

    TedDemen Notebook Guru

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    i tried this but it really doesnt tell me anything.

    surely there must be a diagram or something of that sort somwhere?
     
  4. Crimsonman

    Crimsonman Ex NBR member :cry:

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    Google it.
     
  5. flipfire

    flipfire Moderately Boss

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    wikipedia would be better
     
  6. TedDemen

    TedDemen Notebook Guru

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    ofcourse i tried to google and wiki.

    with google you get 1000s of unrelated or semi related stuff....
    wiki doesnt even have a page on this laptop.... not even same series
     
  7. Wirelessman

    Wirelessman Monkeymod

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    Here there is "generic" diagram used by your laptop platform I believe. It would seem that all the USB share the same bus, and that the expresscard and firewire used another different bus.
     
  8. orev

    orev Notebook Virtuoso

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    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northbridge_(computing)

    Each USB port gets its own number, so if you plug a USB device into a different port it's technically a new device. Windows should find the already installed drivers though. This allows you to have more than one of the same device, like if you have 2 of the same printers, you can have them both plugged in.
     
  9. Greg

    Greg Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Most likely, there is an internal USB2.0 hub in the notebook. So the processor/chipset only has to communicate with one USB device, and that device is the hub that serves all the other ports.