ABIT BX6R2 User Manual

Notice

The information in this document is subject to change without notice and
does not represent a commitment on part of the vendor, who assumes no
liability or responsibility for any errors that may appear in this manual.

No warranty or representation, either expressed or implied, is made with
respect to the quality, accuracy or fitness for any particular part of this
document. In no event shall the manufacturer be liable for direct, indirect,
special , incidental or consequential damages arising from any defect or error
in this manual or product.

Product names appearing in this manual are for identification purpose only
and trademarks and product names or brand names appearing in this
document are property of their respective owners.

This document contains materials protected under International Copyright
Laws. All rights reserved. No part of this manual may be reproduced,
transmitted or transcribed without the expressed written permission of the
manufacturer and authors of this manual.

BX6 Motherboard

USER’ S MANUAL

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction of BX6 Features 1-1

(1) Specifications 1-1
(2) Layout Diagram 1-3
(3) The System Block Diagram 1-4

Chapter 2 Installing the Motherboard 2-1

(1) Installing the Motherboard to the Casing 2-2
(2) Standard External Connectors 2-3
(3) Jumper and Switches 2-9
(4) Installation of the Pentium II/III, Celeron CPU 2-11
(5) Installing System Memory 2-12

Chapter 3 Introduction of BIOS 3-1

(1) CPU Setup <CPU SOFT MENU™ II> 3-3
(2) Standard CMOS Setup Menu 3-8
(3) BIOS Features Setup Menu 3-11
(4) Chipset Features Setup Menu 3-17
(5) Power Management Setup Menu 3-21
(6) PnP/PCI Configuration 3-28
(7) Load Setup Defaults 3-31
(8) Integrated Peripherals 3-32
(9) Password Setting 3-37
(10) IDE Hard Disk Detection 3-37
(11) Save & Exit Setup 3-38
(12) Exit Without Saving 3-38

Part No:MN-133-2A1-41 Rev:1.01

Appendix A Quick Installation A-1
Appendix B General Discussion About HDD Installation B-1
Appendix C BIOS Flashing User Instructions C-1
Appendix D How to install the IDE Bus Master driver D-1
Appendix E How to install the PCI bridge driver for the 440BX chipset E-1
Appendix F Install HighPoint XStore Pro Utility F-1
Appendix G Install Winbond Hardware Doctor Utility G-1
Appendix H Technical Support H-1

Introduction of BX6 Features 1-1

Chapter 1 Introduction of BX6 Features

The motherboard is designed for a new generation CPUs. It supports the Intel
SLOT1 structure (Pentium II/III and Celeron processors), up to 1GB of memory,
super I/O, and Green PC functions. The motherboard provides high performance
for server systems and meets the requirements for desktop system for multimedia
in the future.

(1) Specifications

1. CPU

q CPU SOFT MENU™ II eliminates the need for jumpers or DIP switches

needed to set CPU parameters

q Employs switching type regulators to stabilize CPU operation
q Supports 66 and 100MHz MHz CPU external clock speeds
q Supports Intel® Pentium® III 450 ~ 500MHz processor cartridge (Based on

100MHz)

q Supports Intel® Pentium® II 350 ~ 450MHz processor cartridge (Based on

100MHz) and Pentium® II 233 ~ 333MHz processor cartridge (Based on
66MHz)

q Supports Intel® Celeron® 266~433MHz processor (Based on 66MHz)

2. Chipset

q Intel® 440BX chipset (82443BX and 82371EB)
q Supports Ultra DMA/33 IDE protocol
q Supports Advanced Configuration and Power Management Interface(ACPI)
q Accelerated Graphics Port connector supports AGP 1x and 2x mode

(Sideband) 3.3V device

3. Cache Memory

q Level 1 and Level 2 cache built into Intel® Pentium® II/III processor cartridge
q Level 1 cache (without L2 cache) built into Intel® Celeron processor

4. Memory(System Memory)

q Four 168-pin DIMM sockets support SDRAM modules
q Supports up to 1GB
q ECC support
q 6 Data Buffers

5. System BIOS

q AWARD BIOS
q Supports Plug-and-Play (PnP)
q Supports Advanced Configuration Power Interface (ACPI)
q Supports Desktop Management Interface (DMI)
q Year 2000 compliant

Œ

Chapter 11-2

6.

Multi I/O Functions

q Floppy port supports up to 2.88MB, and 3 mode floppies
q Ultra DMA/33 bus master IDE supports up to 4 IDE devices ( Including LS-

120 MB floppy drive )

q Built-in Standard/EPP/ECP parallel port connector
q Two built-in 16550 fast UART compatible serial port connectors
q Built-in PS/2 keyboard and PS/2 mouse port connectors
q Built-in standard IrDA TX/RX header
q Two built-in USB connectors

7.

Miscellaneous

q ATX form factor
q One AGP slot, Five PCI slots and Two ISA slots
q Wake Up On LAN header
q SB-LINK header
q Hardware monitoring¡GIncluded fan speed, voltages, CPU and system

environment temperature

q Keyboard Wake Up or PS/2 Mouse Wake Up (need +5VSB at least720mA)
q Board size: 305 * 210mm

Note:

All brand names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Œ The actual specs of Intel® Celeron® processor will depend on Intel’s shipping specs.
¯Above 66MHz/100MHz bus speed supported but not guaranteed due to the PCI and chipset

specs.

¯Sound Blaster™ is a registered trademark of Creative Technology Ltd. in the United States

and certain other countries. Sound Blaster - LINK™ and SB-LINK™ are trademarks of
Creative Technology Ltd.

¯Specifications and information contained in this manual are subject to change without

notice.

Introduction of BX6 Features 1-3

(2) Layout Diagram

Figure 1-1 Motherboard Component Locations

(3) The System Block Diagram

Chapter 11-4

Installing the Motherboard 2-1

Chapter 2 Installing the Motherboard

This BX6 motherboard not only provides all standard equipment for classic
personal computers, but also provides great flexibility for meeting future upgrade
demands. This chapter will introduce step by step all the standard equipment
and will also present, as completely as possible, future upgrade capabilities. This
motherboard is able to support all Intel Pentium II/III processors and Intel
Celeron processor now on the market. (For details, see specifications in
Chapter 1.)

This chapter is organized according the following features:

(1) Installing the Motherboard to the Casing
(2) Standard external connectors
(3) Jumpers and switches
(4) Installation of the Pentium II/III, Celeron CPU

(5) Installing the system memory



NNNN

Before proceeding with the installation

Before installing the motherboard please be sure to turn off or disconnect the
power supply unit. Before making any modifications to the hardware
configuration of the motherboard, the power supply to any areas of the
motherboard you plan to modify should be turned off to avoid unnecessary
damage to the hardware.

&

User friendly instructions

Our objective is to enable the novice computer user to perform the installation by
themselves. We have attempted to write this document in a very clear, concise
and descriptive manner to help overcome any obstacles you may face during
installation. Please read our instructions carefully and follow them step-by-step.

Chapter 22-2

(1) Installing the Motherboard to the Casing

Most computer cases will have a base on which there will be many mounting
holes that allows the motherboard to be securely attached and at the same time,
prevents short circuits.

There are two ways to attach the motherboard to the base.

l with spacers
l or with bolts

Please refer to the figure below that shows the studs and spacers, they may have
several types, but all look like the figures below:

Figure 2-1. The outline of stud and spacer

In principle, the best way to attach the motherboard is with bolts, and only if you
are unable to do this should you attach the board with spacers. Take a careful look
at the motherboard and you will see many mounting holes on it. Line these holes
up with the mounting holes on the base. If the holes line up, and there are screw
holes this means you can attach the motherboard with bolts. If the holes line up
and there are only slots, this means you can only attach the motherboard with
spacers. Take the tip of the spacers and insert it into the slots. After doing this to
all the slots, you can slide the motherboard into position aligned with the slots.
After the motherboard has been positioned, check to make sure everything is OK
before putting the casing back on.

Note: If the motherboard has mounting holes, but don’t line up with the holes on the base and

their are no slots to attach the spacers, don’t worry, you can still attach the spacers to
the mounting holes. Just cut the spacers (along the dotted line) (the spacer may be a
little hard so be careful of our hands). In this way you can still attach the motherboard
to the base without worrying about short circuits.

Installing the Motherboard 2-3

Power LED

LED power

HDD active

(2) Standard External Connectors

Inside the case of any computer several cables and plugs have to be connected.
These cables and plugs are usually connected one-by-one to connectors located
on the motherboard. You need to carefully pay attention to any connection
orientation the cables may have and, if any, notice the position of the first pin of
the connector. In the explanations that follow, we will describe the significance
of the first pin.

PN1(Pin 1-2-3-4-5): Keylock and Power LED Header

There is a specific orientation for pin 1 through pin 5. Insert the two-threaded
keylock cable into pin 4 and pin 5, and three-threaded power LED cable to Pin 1
~ pin 3. Check to make sure the correct pins of connector on the motherboard.

Pin number Name or significance of signal Connector Name

1 +5VDC
2 No connection Power LED
3 Ground Power LED
4 Keyboard inhibit Signal Keylock
5 Ground Keylock

PN1(Pin 7-8): HDD LED Header

Attach the cable from the case’s HDD LED to this connector.

Pin number Name or significance of signal

7
8

Chapter 22-4

PN1 (Pin 10-11): Power Switch Header

Pin number Name or significance of signal

10 Power On/Off switch
11 Ground

PN1 (Pin 13-14): Hardware Suspend Switch (SMI Switch) Header

Attach the cable from the case’s suspend switch (if there is one) to this switch.
Use this switch to enable/disable the power management function by hardware.

Pin number Name or significance of signal

13 Vcc
14 Suspend signal

PN2(Pin 1-2): Hardware Reset Header

Attach the cable from the case’s Reset switch to this connector. Press and hold the
reset button for at least one second to reset the system.

Pin number Name or significance of signal

1 Reset input
2 Ground

PN2(Pin 4-5-6-7): Speaker Header

Attach the system speaker to connector PN2.

Pin number Name or significance of signal

4 + 5VDC
5 Ground
6 Ground
7 Speaker data

PN2(Pin 9-10): Suspend LED Header

Pin number Name or significance of signal

9 LED power

10 Suspend LED active

Installing the Motherboard 2-5

KM1 MOUSE: PS/2 Mouse Connector

Attach a PS/2 mouse to this 6-pin Din-connector.

Pin number Name or significance of signal

1 Mouse data
2 No connection
3 Ground
4 +5VDC
5 Mouse clock
6 No connection

KM1 KB: PS/2 Keyboard Connector

Attach a keyboard to this 6-pin Din-connector.

Pin number Name or significance of signal

1 Keyboard data
2 No connection
3 Ground
4 +5VDC
5 Keyboard clock
6 No connection

Chapter 22-6

CONT1: ATX Power Input Connector

Caution: If power supply connectors are not properly attached to ATXPWR, the power

supply or add-on cards may be damaged.

Attach the connectors from the power supply to CONT1.

Pin number Name or significance of signal

1 +3.3VDC
2 +3.3VDC
3 Ground
4 +5VDC
5 Ground
6 +5VDC
7 Ground
8 Power Good

9 +5VSB
10 +12VDC
11 +3.3VDC
12 -12VDC
13 Ground
14 On/Off control signal
15 Ground
16 Ground
17 Ground
18 -5VDC
19 +5VDC
20 +5VDC

FAN1, FAN2, FAN3 (CPU FAN)

Pin number Name of the signal or signification

1 Ground

2 +12V

3 Sense signal

Installing the Motherboard 2-7

IR1: IR Header (Infra-red)

Pin number Name or significance of signal

1 +5V

2 No connection
3 IR_RX
4 Ground
5 IR_TX

I/O Port Connectors

Name Pin number Description

IDE1 40 IDE channel 1 connector
IDE2 40 IDE channel 2 connector

FDC 34 Floppy disk connector

LPT 25 Parallel port
COM1 9 Serial port COM1 connector
COM2 9 Serial port COM2 connector

USB 8 Universal serial Bus

Notes: *IDE1, IDE2 are high performance PCI IDE connectors. Up to four IDE interface

devices are supported.

WOL1: Wake On LAN Header

Pin number Name or significance of signal

1 +5VSB
2 GND
3 Sense input

SB1: SB-Link™ Header

Pin number Name or significance of signal

1 GNTA
2 Ground
3 KEY
4 REQA
5 Ground
6 SERIRQ

Chapter 22-8

RT2 Header (Optional)

This header is for you to connect an additional thermistor to detect the CPU
temperature. You can buy the thermistor at an electronics store, and ask for a
10KΩ thermistor which will be OK. Please don’t use too long of a lead wire for
the thermistor. You can see the detected temperature in the BIOS menu. (see
Chipset Features Setup Menu)

According to ACPI specifications, CPU fan speed is relative to the CPU
temperature. In order to avoid confusing ACPI functions, we strongly suggest that
you connect the additional thermistor to the CPU.

Note: Before you install or unplug any connectors or add-on cards, please remember to turn

the ATX power supply switch off (fully turn the +5V standby power off), or take power
cord off. Otherwise, you may cause the motherboard components, add-on cards to
malfunction or be damaged.

Installing the Motherboard 2-9

(3) Jumper and Switches

You can set jumper switches on the motherboard to configure various hardware
options. See Figure 1-1 for jumper locations.
Throughout this section, the following symbols are used to indicate jumper
settings.
For 3-pin jumpers, the symbols below are used:

Short Pins 1 and 2 with a jumper cap.

Short Pins 2 and 3 with a jumper cap.

For 2-pins jumpers, the following symbols are used:

Place the jumper cap over the two pins of the
jumper to Short the jumper.

Remove the jumper cap to Open the jumper cap.

Note: To avoid losing jumper caps, attach the removed jumper cap to one of the jumper pins.

Chapter 22-10

CCMOS 1 : CMOS Discharge Jumper

Jumper CCMOS discharge CMOS memory. When you install the motherboard,
make sure this jumper is set for Normal Operation (1-2). See the jumper below.

Setting CCMOS

Normal Operation

(Default)

Discharge CMOS

Note: Before you clear the CMOS, you have to turn the power off first (including the +5V
standby power). Otherwise, your system may work abnormally or malfunction.

Installing the Motherboard 2-11



(4) Installation of the Pentium

II/III, Celeron CPU

The installation method for the CPU is printed on the package of the retention
mechanism that comes with the motherboard. You can refer to it while you install
the CPU. This motherboard also supports the Celeron® PPGA processor. If you
want to install the Celeron® PPGA processor, you have to use an additional
adapter that allows you to use a Celeron® PPGA processor in a slot 1 board. For
this ABIT makes the SlotKET adapter.

Note:

l Installing a heat sink and cooling fan is necessary for proper heat dissipation from your

CPU. Failing to install these items may result in overheating and damage of your CPU.

l Please refer to your boxed processor installation or other documentation attached with

your CPU for detailed installing instructions.

Chapter 22-12

(5) Installing System Memory

The motherboard provides four 168-pin DIMM sites for memory expansion.. The
DIMM socket supports 1Mx64(8MB), 2Mx64(16MB), 4Mx64(32MB),
8Mx64(64MB), 16Mx64(128MB), and 32Mx64(256MB) or double sided DIMM
modules. Minimum memory size is 8MB and maximum memory size is 1GB
SDRAM.

There are four Memory module sockets on the system board.(Total eight banks)
In order to create a memory array, certain rules must be followed. The following
set of rules allows for optimum configurations.

l The memory array is 64 or 72 bits wide. (Without parity or with parity)
l Those modules can be populated in any order.
l Support single and double density DIMMS.

The following is the valid memory configuration:

Bank Memory Module Total Memory

Bank 0, 1

(DIMM1)

Bank 2, 3

(DIMM2)

Bank 4, 5

(DIMM3)

Bank 6, 7

(DIMM4)

Total System Memory 8MB ~ 1GB

8MB, 16MB,32MB,

64MB, 128MB, 256MB

8MB, 16MB,32MB,

64MB, 128MB, 256MB

8MB, 16MB,32MB,

64MB, 128MB, 256MB

8MB, 16MB,32MB,

64MB, 128MB, 256MB

8MB ~ 256MB

8MB ~ 256MB

8MB ~ 256MB

8MB ~ 256MB

Installing the Motherboard 2-13

Supported SDRAM Memory Configurations

DRAM DRAM DRAM DRAM DRAM DIMM DRAM MA

Type Tech Depth Width

SDRAM 16M

SDRAM 64M

2 Bank

SDRAM 64M

4 Bank

1M 16 1M 2M Asymmetric 12 8 2 8MB 16MB
2M 8 2M 4M Asymmetric 12 9 2 16MB 32MB
2M 8 2M 4M Asymmetric 13 8 2 16MB 32MB
4M 4 4M 8M Asymmetric 12 10 2 32MB 64MB
4M 4 4M 8M Asymmetric 14 8 2 32MB 64MB
2M 32 2M 4M Asymmetric 12 9 2 16MB 32MB
2M 32 2M 4M Asymmetric 13 8 2 16MB 32MB
4M 16 4M 8M Asymmetric 12 10 2 32MB 64MB
4M 16 4M 8M Asymmetric 14 8 2 32MB 64MB
8M 8 8M 16M Asymmetric 14 9 2 64MB 128MB

16M 4 16M 32M Asymmetric 14 10 2 128MB 256MB

2M 32 2M 4M Asymmetric 13 8 4 16MB 32MB
4M 16 4M 8M Asymmetric 14 8 4 32MB 64MB
8M 8 8M 16M Asymmetric 14 9 4 64MB 128MB

16M 4 16M 32M Asymmetric 14 10 4 128MB 256MB

SS

x64

DS

Addressing Row Col Banks

x64

DARM

Min

(1 row)

Size

Max

(2 row)

Chapter 22-14

Introduction of BIOS 3-1

Chapter 3 Introduction of BIOS

The BIOS is a program located on a Flash Memory chip on the motherboard. This
program will not be lost when you turn the computer off. This program is also
referred to as the boot program. It is the only channel for the hardware circuit to
communicate with the operating system. Its main function is to manage the setup
of the motherboard and interface cards parameters, including simple parameters
such as time, date, hard disk drive, as well as more complex parameters such as
hardware synchronization, device operating mode, CPU SOFT MENU™ II
techniques, setup of CPU speed. The computer will operate normally, or will
operate at its best, only if all these parameters are correctly configured through
the BIOS.

M

Don’t change the parameters inside the BIOS unless you know what you

are doing

The parameters inside the BIOS are used to setup the hardware synchronization
or the device operating mode. If the parameters are not correct, they will
produce errors, the computer may crash, and sometimes you will even not be
able to boot the computer after it has crashed. We recommend that you do not
change the parameters inside the BIOS unless you are familiar with them. If you
are not able to boot your computer anymore, please refer to the section “Erase
CMOS data” in Chapter 2.

When you start the computer, it is controlled by the BIOS program. The BIOS
first operates an auto-diagnostic for all the necessary hardware, configures the
parameters of the hardware synchronization, and detects all the hardware. Only
when these tasks are completed does it give up control of the computer to the
program of the next level, which is the operating system. Since the BIOS is the
only channel for hardware and software to communicate, it will be the key factor
for system stability, and to ensure that your system performs at its best. After the
BIOS has achieved the auto-diagnostic and auto-detection operations, it will
display the following message:

PRESS DEL TO ENTER SETUP

Three to five seconds after the message is displayed, if you press the Del key, you
will access the BIOS Setup menu. At that moment, the BIOS will display the
following message:

Chapter 33-2

Fig 3-1 CMOS Setup Utility

In the BIOS Setup main menu of Figure 3-1, you can see several options. We will
explain these options step by step in the following pages of this chapter, but let us
first see a short description of the function keys you may use here:

l Press Esc to quit the BIOS Setup.
l Press

¡ô¡õ¡÷¡ö

(up, down, left, right) to choose, in the main menu, the

option you want to confirm or to modify.

l Press F10 when you have completed the setup of BIOS parameters to save

these parameters and to exit the BIOS Setup menu.

l Press Page Up/Page Down or +/- keys when you want to modify the BIOS

parameters for the active option.

B Computer Knowledge B

& CMOS DATA
Maybe you have heard somebody saying that their CMOS DATA was lost. What is the CMOS? Is

it important? The CMOS is the memory used to store the BIOS parameters that you have
configured. This memory is passive. You can read its data, and you can also store data in it. But
this memory has to be powered by a battery, in order to avoid any loss of its data when the
computer is turned off. Since you may have to change the CMOS battery when it is out of power
and if doing so, you will loose all CMOS data, therefore, we recommend that you write down all
the parameters of your hardware, or to put a label with these parameters on your hard disk.

Introduction of BIOS 3-3

(1) CPU Setup ( CPU SOFT MENU™ II )

The CPU can be setup through a programmable switch (CPU SOFT MENU™ II),
that replaces traditional manual hardware configuration. This feature allows the
user to complete the installation procedures easily. You can install the CPU
without configuring any jumpers or switches. The CPU must be setup according
its specifications.

In the first option, you can press <F1> at any time to display all the items that can
be chosen for that option.

Fig 3-2 CPU SOFT MENU™ II

CPU Name Is:

ä Intel Pentium III MMX
ä Intel Pentium II MMX
ä Intel Celeron MMX

CPU Operating Speed:

This option sets the CPU speed.
In this field, the CPU speed is indicated like this:

CPU speed = External clock * Multiplier factor,

Chapter 33-4

Select the CPU speed according the type and the speed of your CPU.
For Intel Pentium® II/III and Celeron® MMX processors, you can choose the

following settings:

ä 233 (66*3.5) ä 266 (66*4) ä300 (66*4.5) ä 333 (66*5)
ä 350 (100*3.5) ä 366 (66*5.5) ä400 (100*4) ä 400(66*6)
ä 433 (66*6.5) ä 450 (100*4.5) ä500 (100*5) ……

User define external clock and multiplier factor:

ä

User Define

/

Turbo Frequency:

This item will only be displayed if your CPU external clock
supports Turbo mode.

The Turbo mode allows you to speed up the external clock by
approximately 2.5%. This feature is used to verify the design
flexibility. It is a very important tool for test units to verify CPU
stability. Do not use this feature.

äDisabled: CPU external clock is operating within the normal

limits.

äEnabled: CPU external clock is operating within the limits of the

Turbo mode.

/

Ext. Clock (PCI):

ä 66MHz (1/2) ä 75MHz* (1/2) ä 83MHz* (1/2)
ä 100MHz (1/3) ä 112MHz* (1/3) ä 117MHz* (1/3)
ä 117MHz* (1/4) ä 124MHz* (1/4) ä 129MHz* (1/4)
ä 133MHz* (1/4) ä 138MHz* (1/4) ä 143MHz* (1/4)
ä 148MHz* (1/4) ä 153MHz* (1/4)

Note:

1. *Above 66MHz/100MHz bus speeds supported but not guaranteed due to the PCI and
chipset specs.

2. PCI clock = External clock * fraction. For example, when you select 117MHz (1/3), it
means the PCI clock is 39MHz. If you set to 117MHz(1/4), the PCI clock is 29MHz.

Introduction of BIOS 3-5

/

Multiplier Factor:

You can choose the following multiplier factors:

ä 2.0 ä 2.5 ä 3.0
ä 3.5 ä 4.0 ä 4.5
ä 5.0 ä 5.5 ä 6.0
ä 6.5 ä 7.0 ä 7.5
ä 8.0 …………

However, differences will exist because of the various brands and
types available.

/

SEL100/66# Signal:

This default setting is “High” at 100MHz, and “Low” at 66MHz.
When you want to try a higher multiplier factor at 100MHz and
cannot chose it in “High” state, then you can set it to “Low” state.

Note: Some Pentium® II/III processors have been locked the multiplier factor at manufacturing

site. In this situation, there is no way to choose the higher multiplier factor.

/

AGPCLK/CPUCLK:

Default setting is “ 2/3”. In this state, AGP bus speed will be CPU
bus speed divided by 3 and times 2. If you choose the setting to
“ 1/1 ”, AGP bus speed will equal to CPU bus speed.

/

Speed Error Hold:

Default setting is “Disable”. If you choose the setting to “Enable”,
when CPU speed setting is wrong, then system will hold.

Normally, we do not recommend that you use the “User Define” option to setup
CPU speed and multiplier factor. This option is for the setup of future CPUs
whose specifications are still unknown. The specifications of all present CPUs are
included in the default settings. Unless you are very familiar with all CPU
parameters, it is very easy to make mistakes when you define by yourself the
external clock and the multiplier factor.

Solution in case of booting problem due to invalid clock setup:

Normally, if the CPU clock setup is wrong, you will not be able to boot. In this
case, turn the system off than on again. The CPU will automatically use its
standard parameters to boot. You can then enter BIOS Setup again and set up the
CPU clock.

If you can’t enter BIOS setup, you must try turning the system on a few times
(3~4 times) or press “ INSERT “ key when turn the power on and the system will
automatically use its standard parameters to boot. You can then enter BIOS

Chapter 33-6

SETUP again and set up the new parameters.

When you change your CPU:

The motherboard have been designed in such a way that you can turn the system
on after having inserted the CPU in the socket without having to configure any
jumpers or DIP switches. But if you change your CPU, normally, you just have
to turn off the power supply, change the CPU and then, set up the CPU
parameters through CPU SOFT MENU™ II However, if the CPU brand and type
is the same, and if the new CPU is slower than the old one, we suggest you two
methods to successfully complete the CPU change operation.

Method 1: Setup up the CPU for the lowest speed for its brand. Turn the

power supply off and change the CPU. Then turn the system
on again, and set up the CPU parameters through CPU SOFT
MENU™ II.

Method 2: Since you have to open the computer case when you change

the CPU, it could be a good idea to use the CCMOS jumper to
erase the parameters of the original CPU and to enter BIOS
Setup to set up CPU parameters again.

Note: The increase by 2.5% of the CPU speed is not a standard feature of this product. It is

only for use by our development department to verify that the CPU is able to work
normally when CPU speed, operating temperature and power supply are 2.5% higher
or lower than the standard values. This is to guarantee product stability. We require
the manufacturer of the Clock Generator to meet the demands of our development
department and to add a TURBO Frequency feature used for testing purposes by our
R&D department. Of course, you can use this feature to test the stability of your own
system, but after you have tested the product, we recommend that you set it back to its
normal value in order to guarantee system stability.

Attention: After setting up the parameters and you leave the BIOS SETUP, and you have

verified that the system can be booted, do not press the Reset button or turn off
the power supply. Otherwise the BIOS will not read correctly, the parameters will
not be saved properly and you must enter CPU SOFT MENU™ II again to set up
the parameters all over again.

CPU Power Supply:

This option allows you to switch between CPU Default and user define
voltage.

Introduction of BIOS 3-7

ä

CPU Default: System will detect CPU type and select the proper voltage

automatically. When it is enabled, the option “Core Voltage”
will show the current voltage setting that is defined by the
CPU and this can not be changed. We recommend using this
CPU default setting and not changing it unless current CPU
type and voltage setting can not be detected or not correct.

ä

User define: This option allows user to select the voltage manually. You can

change values of the “Core Voltage” option list by using the
Page Up and Page Down keys.

Warning: The wrong settings of the multiplier and external clock in certain circumstances

may cause CPU damage. Setting the working frequency higher than the PCI
chipset or processor specs, may cause abnormal memory module functioning;
system hangs; hard disk drive data lose; VGA card abnormal functioning, or
abnormal functioning in other add-on cards. Using non-specification settings for
your CPU is not the intention of this explanation. These should be used for
engineering testing, not for normal applications.

If you use non-specification settings for normal operation, your system may not
be stable, and may effect system reliability. Also, we do not guarantee the
stability and compatibility for settings that are not within specification, and any
damage of any elements on the motherboard or peripherals, is not our
responsibility.

Chapter 33-8

(2) Standard CMOS Setup Menu

This contains the basic configuration parameters of the BIOS. These parameters
include the settings of date, hour, VGA card, FDD and HDD.

Fig 3-3 Standard CMOS Setup Menu

Date (mm:dd:yyyy):

You can set the date information in this item, month (mm), date (dd) and year
(yyyy).

Time (hh:mm:ss):

You can set time information in this item, hour (hh), minute (mm) and second
(ss).

Setup of HDD operating mode¡iNORMAL, LBA, LARGE

Since old operating systems were only able to support HDD whose capacity
was not bigger than 528MB, any hard disk with more than 528MB was
unusable. AWARD BIOS features a solution to this problem: you can,
according to your operating system, choose three operating modes: NORMAL,

¡j

Introduction of BIOS 3-9

LBA or LARGE.
The HDD auto detection option in the Main Menu will automatically detect

the parameters of your hard disk and the mode supported.

ä Normal mode:

Standard normal mode supports hard disks of 528MB or less.
This mode directly uses positions indicated by Cylinders (CYLS),
Heads, and Sectors to access data.

ä LBA (Logical Block Addressing) mode:

The earlier LBA mode can support HDDs capacity of up to

8.4GB, and this mode uses a different method to calculate the
position of disk data to be accessed. It translates Cylinders
(CYLS), Heads and Sectors into a logical address where data are
located. The Cylinders, Heads, and Sectors displayed in this
menu do not reflect the actual structure of the hard disk, they are
just reference values used to calculate actual positions. Currently,
all high capacity hard disks support this mode, that’s why we
recommend you use this mode. Currently, the BIOS can support
INT 13h extension function, then the LBA mode supports hard
disk drives capacity exceeding 8.4GB.

ä LARGE Mode:

When the number of cylinders (CYLs) of the hard disk exceeds
1024 and DOS is not able to support it, or if your operating
system does not support LBA mode, you should select this mode.

Drive A:

If you have installed the floppy disk drive here, then you can select the type of
floppy drive it can support. Six options are available: Noneè360K, 5.25 in.
è1.2M, 5.25 in. è720K, 3.5 in. è1.44M, 3.5 in. è2.88M, 3.5 in. èBack to

None.

Drive B:

If you have installed the floppy disk drive here, then you can select the type of
floppy drive it can support. Six options are available: Noneè360K, 5.25 in.
è1.2M, 5.25 in. è720K, 3.5 in. è1.44M, 3.5 in. è2.88M, 3.5 in. èBack to

None.

FDD supporting 3 Mode:

3 Mode floppy disk drives (FDD) are 3 1/2” drives used in Japanese computer
systems. If you need to access data stored in this kind of floppy, you must
select this mode, and of course you must have a 3 Mode floppy drive.

Chapter 33-10

Video:

You can select the VGA modes for your video adapter, five options are
available: MONOèEGA/VGA èCGA 40èCGA 80 èBack to MONO. The
default setting is EGA/VGA.

Halt On:

You can select which type of error will cause the system to halt. Five
options are available: All ErrorsèNo ErrorsèAll, But KeyboardèAll, But
DisketteèAll, But Disk/KeyèBack to All Errors.

You can see your system memory list in the lower right box, it shows the Base
Memory, Extended Memory and Other Memory size in your system.

2 For further information about HDD installation, refer to Appendix B.

Introduction of BIOS 3-11

(3) BIOS Features Setup Menu

BIOS Features Setup Menu has already been set for maximum operation. If you
do not really understand each of the options in this menu, we recommend you use
default values.

In each item, you can press <F1> at any time to display all the options for this
item.

Fig 3-4 BIOS Features Setup

Virus Warning:

This item can be set as Enable or Disable.
When this feature is enabled, if there is any attempt from a software or an

application to access the boot sector or the partition table, the BIOS will warn
you that a boot virus is attempting to access to the hard disk.

CPU Level 1 Cache:

This item is used to Enable or to Disable the CPU level 1 cache. When the
cache is set at Disable, it is much slower, so the default setting for this item is
Enable. Some old and very bad programs will make the computer malfunction

Chapter 33-12

or crash if the system speed is too high. In that case, you should Disable this
feature.

CPU Level 2 Cache:

This item is used to enable or to disable the CPU level 2 cache. When the
external cache is enabled, the system works faster. The default is Enable.

CPU Level 2 Cache ECC Checking:

This item is used to enable or to disable the CPU level 2 cache ECC checking
function.

Quick Power On Self Test:

After the computer has been powered on, the BIOS of the motherboard will
run a series of tests in order to check the system and its peripherals. If the
Quick power on self test feature is Enable, the BIOS will simplify the test
procedures in order to speed up the boot process. The default is Enable.

Boot Sequence:

When the computer boots up, it can load the operating system from floppy
drive A:, hard disk drive C:, SCSI disk drive or CD-ROM. There are many
options for the boot sequence:

ä A, C, SCSI
ä C, A, SCSI
ä C, CD-ROM, A
ä CD-ROM, C, A
ä D, A, SCSI ( At least 2 IDE HDD can be used )
ä E, A, SCSI ( At least 3 IDE HDD can be used )
ä F, A, SCSI ( At least 4 IDE HDD can be used )
ä SCSI, A, C
ä SCSI, C, A
ä A, SCSI, C
ä LS/ZIP, C

Swap Floppy Drive:

This item can be set as Enable or Disable.
When this feature is enabled, you don’t need to open the computer case to

swap the position of floppy disk drive connectors. Drive A: can be set as drive

Introduction of BIOS 3-13

B, and drive B: can be set as drive A:.

Boot Up Floppy Seek:

When computer boots up, the BIOS detects if the system has FDD or not.
When this item is enabled, if the BIOS detects no floppy drive, it will display
a floppy disk drive error message. If this item is disabled, the BIOS will skip
this test.

Boot Up NumLock Status:

ä On: At boot up, the Numeric Keypad is in numeric mode.
ä Off: At boot up, the Numeric Keypad is in cursor control mode.

IDE HDD Block Mode:

This item can be set as Enable or Disable
Most of new hard disk drives (IDE drives) support multi-sector transfers. This

feature speeds up hard disk drive access performance and reduces the time
necessary to access data. When this item is enabled, the BIOS will
automatically detect if your hard disk drive supports this feature or not, and
will choose the right settings for you. ( The default is Disable )

2 For further details about hard disk drive installation, refer to appendix B.

Typematic Rate Setting:

This item allows you to adjust the keystroke repeat rate. When enabled, you
can set the two keyboard typematic control that follow (Typematic Rate and
Typematic Rate Delay). If this item is disabled, the BIOS will use the default
setting.

Typematic Rate (Chars/Sec):

When you press a key continuously, the keyboard will repeat the keystroke
according to the rate you have set. (Unit: characters/second¡^

Typematic Rate Delay (Msec):

When you press a key continuously, if you exceed the delay you have set here,
the keyboard will automatically repeat the keystroke according a certain rate.
(Unit: milliseconds)

Chapter 33-14

Security Option:

This option can be set to System or to Setup.
After you have created a password through PASSWORD SETTING, this

option will deny access to your system (System) or modification of computer
setup (BIOS Setup) by unauthorized users.

äSYSTEM: When you choose System, a password is required each time

the computer boots up. If the correct password is not given,
the system will not start.

äSETUP: When you choose Setup, a password is required only when

accessing the BIOS Setup. If you have not set a password in the
PASSWORD SETTING option, this option is not available.

Notice: Don’t forget your password. If you forget the password, you will have to open the

computer case and clear all information in the CMOS before you can start up the
system. But doing this, you have to reset all the options you had set up before.

PCI /VGA Palette Snoop:

This option allows the BIOS to preview VGA Status, and to modify the
information delivered from the Feature Connector of the VGA card to the
MPEG Card. This option can solve the display inversion to black after you
have used the MPEG card.

OS Select For DRAM > 64MB:

When the system memory is bigger than 64MB, the communication method
between the BIOS and the operating system will differ from one operating
system to another. If you use OS/2, select OS2; if you choose another
operating system, select Non-OS2.

Report No FDD For WIN 95:

When using Windows 95 without floppy drive , please set this item to Yes.

Delay For HDD (Secs):

This item is used to support some old model or special type of hard disks or
CD-ROMs , since the BIOS may not detect those kinds of devices during
system booting .

Introduction of BIOS 3-15

Video BIOS Shadow:

This option is used to define whether the BIOS on the video card uses shadow
feature or not. You should set this option to Enabled, otherwise the display
performance of the system will greatly decrease.

Shadowing address ranges (C8000-CBFFF Shadow):

This option allows you to decide if the memory block (BIOS) of an interface
card at the address C8000-CBFFF uses the shadow feature or not. If you have
no interface card using this memory block, don’t enable this option.

Shadowing address ranges (CC000-CFFFF Shadow):

This option allows you to decide if the memory block (BIOS) of an interface
card at the address CC000-CFFFF uses the shadow feature or not. If you have
no interface card using this memory block, don’t enable this option.

Shadowing address ranges (D0000-D3FFF Shadow):

This option allows you to decide if the memory block (BIOS) of an interface
card at the address D0000-D3FFF uses the shadow feature or not. If you have
no interface card using this memory block, don’t enable this option.

Shadowing address ranges (D4000-D7FFF Shadow):

This option allows you to decide if the memory block (BIOS) of an interface
card at the address D4000-D7FFF uses the shadow feature or not. If you have
no interface card using this memory block, don’t enable this option.

Shadowing address ranges (D8000-DBFFF Shadow):

This option allows you to decide if the memory block (BIOS) of an interface
card at the address D8000-DBFFF uses the shadow feature or not. If you have
no interface card using this memory block, don’t enable this option.

Shadowing address ranges (DC000-DFFFF Shadow):

This option allows you to decide if the memory block (BIOS) of an interface
card at the address DC000-DFFFF uses the shadow feature or not. If you have
no interface card using this memory block, don’t enable this option.

Chapter 33-16

B Computer Knowledge B

& SHADOW

What is the SHADOW? The BIOS of standard video or interface cards is stored in ROM, and it is
often very slow. With the Shadow feature, the CPU reads the BIOS on the VGA card and copies it
into RAM. When the CPU runs this BIOS, the operation is speeded up.

Introduction of BIOS 3-17

(4) Chipset Features Setup Menu

The Chipset Features Setup Menu is used to modify the contents of the buffers in
the chipset on the motherboard. Since the parameters of the buffers are closely
related to hardware, if the setup is not correct or false, the motherboard will
become unstable or you will not be able to boot up. If you don’t know the
hardware very well, use default values ( i.e. use the LOAD SETUP DEFAULTS
option).

Fig 3-5 Chipset Features Setup

You can use the arrow keys to move between the items. Use PgUP, PgDn, + or ­key to change the values. When you have finished setting up the chipset, press

ESC to go back to the main menu.

SDRAM CAS latency:

When synchronous DRAM is installed, you can control the numbers of CLKs
between when the SDRAMs sample a read command and when the controller
samples read data from SDRAMs. You can select SDRAM CAS (Column
Address Strobe) latency time according to your SDRAM specification.

SDRAM precharge control

When enabled, all CPU cycles to SDRAM result in an ALL Banks Precharge
Command on the SDRAM interface.

Chapter 33-18

DRAM Data Integrity Mode:

Two options are available: Non-ECC or ECC. This option use to configure the
type of DRAM in your system. ECC is Error Checking and Correction, when
your memory is ECC memory, choose the ECC option.

System BIOS Cacheable:

You can select Enable or Disable. When you select Enabled, you get faster
system BIOS executing speed via the L2 cache.

Video BIOS Cacheable:

You can select Enable or Disable. When you select Enabled, you get faster
video BIOS executing speed via the L2 cache.

Video RAM Cacheable:

You can select Enable or Disable. When you select Enabled, you get faster
video RAM executing speed via the L2 cache. You must check your VGA
adapter manual to find out if any compatibility problems will occur.

8 Bit I/O Recovery Time:

Nine options are available: NA è 8 è 1 è 2 è 3 è 4 è 5 è 6 è 7
èBack to NA. This option specifies the length of a delay inserted between

consecutive 8 bit I/O operations. For an earlier 8 bit Add-on card, sometimes
you need to adjust its recovery time to make it work normal.

16 Bit I/O Recovery Time:

Five options are available: NA è 4 è 1 è 2 è 3 è Back to NA. This
option specifies the length of a delay inserted between consecutive 16 bit I/O
operations. For an earlier 16 bit Add-on card, sometimes you need to adjust
its recovery time to make it work normal.

Memory Hole At 15M-16M:

This option is used to free up the 15M-16M memory block. Some special
peripherals need to use a memory block located between 15M and 16M, and
this memory block has a size of 1M. We recommend that you disable this
option.

Introduction of BIOS 3-19

Passive Release :

Two options are available: Enabled and Disabled. Set the option to enabled or
disabled passive release for the Intel PIIX4 chip (Intel PCI to ISA bridge).
This function is used to meet the latency of the ISA bus master, if you have an
ISA card compatibility problem, you can try to enable or disable this option
for optimal result.

Delayed Transaction:

Two options are available: Enabled and Disabled. Set the option to enabled
or disabled delayed transaction for the Intel PIIX4 chip. This function is
used to meet the latency of PCI cycles to or from the ISA bus. This option
must be enabled to provide PCI 2.1 compliance. If you have ISA card
compatibility problem, you can try to enable or disable this option for optimal
result.

AGP Aperture Size (MB):

Seven options are available: 4 è 8 è 16 è 32 è 64 è 128 è 256 è Back

to 4. This option specifies the amount of system memory that can be used by

the AGP device. The aperture is a portion of the PCI memory address range
dedicated for graphics memory address space.

Spread Spectrum:

Four options are available: Disableè0.50%(CNTR)è0.5%(DOWN). For
EMC (Electro-Magnetic Compatibility Test) testing may need to adjust these
options for optimal result, we do not recommend you change the default,
except for special reasons. Some values you select may cause system
instability under some situations, please be careful.

Temperature Warning:

This item lets you select the temperature that you want the system to send out
a warning message of to the PC speakers when the temperature goes beyond
either limit. You can select temperatures you want, they are any from 30°C /
86°F to 120°C / 248°F. It lets you increase by one step increments, 1°C /

33.8°F.

Chapter 33-20

Thermal, Fans Speed and Voltages Monitor:

These items list current states of CPU and system temperature as well as fan
speed. It can not be change by user.

The following items list the voltage states of the system power. Just like
Thermal & Fan Monitor, it is unchangeable.

Note: The monitor features for temperature, fans and voltages will occupy the I/O address

from 294H to 297H. If you have a network adapter, sound card or other add-on cards
will use those I/O address, so please adjust your add-on card I/O address, to avoid the
use of those address, because those addresses will occupied by the LM79, and cannot
changed.

There are small differences in the chipset feature setup according to different
motherboard models, but this has no influence upon performance. Our default
setup should be the best one.

Introduction of BIOS 3-21

(5) Power Management Setup Menu

The difference between Green PCs and traditional computers is that Green PCs
have a power management feature. With this feature, when the computer is
powered on but inactive, the power consumption is reduced in order to save
energy. When the computer operates normally, it is in Normal mode. In this mode,
the Power Management Program will control the access to video, parallel ports,
serial ports and drives, and the operating status of the keyboard, mouse and other
device. These are referred to as Power Management Events. In cases when none
of these events occurs, the system enters the power saving mode. When one of the
controlled events occurs, the system immediately returns to normal mode and
operates at its maximum speed. Power saving modes can be divided into three
modes according to their power consumption: Doze Mode, Standby Mode , and
Suspend Mode. The four modes proceed in the following sequence:

Normal Mode===> Doze Mode===> Standby Mode===> Suspend Mode

The system consumption is reduced according the following sequence:

Normal > Doze > Standby > Suspend

In the Main Menu, select "Power Management Setup" and press "Enter". The
following screen is displayed:

Fig 3-6 Power Management Setup Menu

Chapter 33-22

Use arrow keys to go to the item you want to configure. To change the settings,
use PgUP, PgDn, + or - key.

After you have configured the Power Management feature, press Esc to go back
to the Main Menu.

We are now going to briefly explain the options in this menu:

ACPI Function (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface):

ACPI gives the operating system direct control over the power management
and Plug and Play functions of a computer.

There are two options that can be select, “Enabled” and “Disabled”. You can
select “Enabled” to enable ACPI functions. If you want ACPI functions to
work normally, you should notice two things. One is your operating system
must support ACPI, as of now only Microsoft® Windows® 98 supports these
functions. The second thing is that all devices and add-on cards in your
system, must fully support ACPI, both hardware and software (drivers). If
you want to know whether your devices or add-on cards support ACPI or not,
please contact the device or add-on card manufacture for more information.
If you want to know more about ACPI specifications, please go to the address
below for more detailed information:

http://www.teleport.com/~acpi/acpihtml/home.htm

ACPI requires an ACPI-aware operating system. ACPI features include:
l Plug and Play (including bus and device enumeration) and APM

functionality normally contained in the BIOS.

l Power management control of individual devices, add-in boards (some

add-in boards may require an ACPI-aware driver), video displays, and
hard disk drives.

l A Soft-off feature that enables the operating system to power off the

computer.

l Support for multiple wake up events (see Table 5-1).
l Support for a front panel power and sleep mode switch. Table 5-2

describes the system states based on how long the power switch is
pressed, depending on how ACPI is configured with an ACPI-aware
operating system.

System States and Power States

Under ACPI, the operating system directs all system and device power state
transitions. The operating system puts devices in and out of low-power states
based on user preferences and knowledge of how devices are being used
by applications. Devices that are not being used can be turned off. The

Introduction of BIOS 3-23

operating system uses information from applications and user settings to put
the system as a whole into a low-power state.

Table 5-1: Wake Up Device and Events

The table below describes which devices or specific events can wake the
computer from specific states.

These device/events can wake up
the computer

……FROM THIS STATE

Power switch Sleeping mode or power off mode
RTC alarm Sleeping mode or power off mode
LAN Sleeping mode or power off mode
Modem Sleeping mode or power off mode
IR command Sleeping mode
USB Sleeping mode
PS/2 keyboard Sleeping mode
PS/2 mouse Sleeping mode
Sleep button Sleeping mode

Table 5-2: Effect of Pressing the Power Switch

IF THE SYSTEM IS IN
THIS STATE……

……AND THE POWER
SWITCH IS PRESSED FOR

……THE SYSTEM ENTERS
THIS STATE

Off Less than four seconds Power on

On More than four seconds Soft off/Suspend
On Less than four seconds Fail safe power off

Sleep Less than four seconds Wake up

Power Management:

Four options:

ä User Define

User Define defines the delay for accessing the power modes.

ä Min Saving

When the three saving modes are enabled, the system is set up for
minimum power savings.
Doze = 1 hour
Standby = 1 hour
Suspend = 1 hour

ä Max Saving

When the three saving modes are enabled, the system is set up for

Chapter 33-24

maximum power savings.
Doze = 1 minute
Standby = 1 minute
Suspend = 1 minute

ä Disable

Disable the power management function.

PM Control by APM:

Power Management is completely controlled by the APM.
APM stands for Advanced Power Management, it is a power management

standard set by Microsoft, Intel and other major manufacturers.

Video Off Method:

Three video off methods are available: "Blank Screen", "V/H SYNC + Blank"
and "DPMS". The default is "V/H SYNC + Blank".

If this setting does not shut off the screen, select “Blank Screen”. If your
monitor and video card support DMPS standard, select “DPMS”.

Video Off After:

Select the saving mode in which the video is switched off.

ä NA

The video will never be switched off in no power saving mode.

ä Suspend

The video will only be switched off in Suspend mode.

ä Standby

The video will only be switched off in Standby or Suspend mode.

ä Doze

The video will be switched off in all power saving modes.

CPU Fan Off Option:

CPU fan can be turned off in suspend mode.

Modem Use IRQ:

You can specify the IRQ for modem use.

Introduction of BIOS 3-25

Doze Mode:

When the setting selected for "Power Management" is "User Define", you can
define for this mode any delay from 1 minute to 1 hour. If no power
management event occurs during this time period, meaning that computer is
inactive during this period, the system will enter the Doze power saving mode.

If this mode is disabled, the system will enter the next mode in the sequence
(Standby or Suspend mode).

Standby Mode:

When the setting selected for "Power Management" is "User Define", you can
define for this mode any delay from 1 minute to 1 hour. If no power
management event occurs during this time period, meaning the computer is
inactive during this period, the system will enter the Standby power saving
mode.

If this mode is disabled, the system will enter the next mode in the sequence
(Suspend mode).

Suspend Mode:

When the setting selected for "Power Management" is "User Define", you can
define for this mode any delay from 1 minute to 1 hour. If no power
management event occurs during this time period, meaning the computer is
inactive during this period, the system will enter the Suspend power saving
mode. The CPU stops working completely.

If this mode is disabled, the system will not enter the Suspend mode.

Throttle Duty Cycle:

This is used to specify the CPU speed in power saving mode. Seven options
are available: 12.5%, 25.0%, 37.5%, 50.0%, 62.5% or 75.0%.

HDD Power Down:

If the system has not accessed data on the hard disk drive during the specified
time period, the engine of the HDD will stop in order to save electricity.

You can set 1 to 15 minutes or select Disable according to your use of the
HDD.

Chapter 33-26

Power Button Override:

Support ACPI Power Button Over-ride. The user presses the power button for
more then four seconds while the system is in the working state, then the
system will transition to the soft-off(Power off by software). This is called the
power button over-ride.

Resume by LAN :

To enable this feature, you must make sure your network software and
network adapter (LAN card) support such a function. This function is also
called “ Wake on LAN “ (WOL).

Power on by Ring:

If you connect an external modem to the onboard serial port, the system will
be turned on when a telephone ring-up occurs.

Power on by Alarm:

RTC alarm can turn on the system. You can set date (of month) and time
( hour , minute , second ) .

PM Timer Events:

When one of the specifics occurs, the count down made for entry in power
saving mode goes back to zero.

Since the computer will enter a power saving mode only after an inactivity
delay specified (time specific for Doze, Standby and Suspend modes) and
after it has no activity, during this time period, any event will cause the
computer to re-count the time elapsed. Resume events are operations or
signals that cause the computer to resume time counting.

äIRQ [3-7, 9-15], NMI:

If any IRQ or NMI (Non-Mask Interrupt) activities occur, this will cause the
computer to re-count the time elapsed.

äVGA Active Monitor:

If there is any VGA data transfer or any I/O activities, this will cause the
computer to re-count the time elapsed.

äIRQ8 Break Suspend :

Supports the RTC alarm wake up from suspend function (via IRQ8).

Introduction of BIOS 3-27

äIDE Primary Master:

If any IDE primary master I/O activity occurs, it will cause the computer to
re-count the time elapsed.

äIDE Primary Slave:

If any IDE primary slave I/O activity occurs, it will cause the computer to
re-count the time elapsed.

äIDE Secondary Master:

If any IDE secondary master I/O activity occurs, it will cause the computer
to re-count the time elapsed.

äIDE Secondary Slave:

If any IDE secondary slave I/O activity occurs, it will cause the computer to
re-count the time elapsed.

äFloppy Disk:

If any floppy disk I/O activity occurs, it will cause the computer to re-count
the time elapsed.

äSerial Port:

If any serial port I/O activity occurs, it will cause the computer to re-count
the time elapsed.

äParallel Port:

If any IDE secondary master I/O activity occurs, it will cause the computer
to re-count the time elapsed.

äMouse Break Suspend:

Four options are available: YesèNo (COM1) èNo (COM2) èNo (PS/2)
èBack to Yes.

Chapter 33-28

(6) PnP/PCI Configuration

In this menu, you can change the INT# and IRQ of the PCI bus and other
hardware settings.

Figure 3-7. PNP/PCI Configuration Menu

PnP OS Installed:

Device resource assigned by PnP OS or BIOS.

Force Update ESCD:

If you want to clear ESCD data next time you boot up, and ask the BIOS to
reset the settings for the Plug & Play ISA Card and the PCI Card, select
Enabled. But the next time you boot up, this option will automatically be set
as Disabled.

B Computer Knowledge B

& ESCD (Extended System Configuration Data)
The ESCD contains the IRQ, DMA, I/O Port, Memory information of the system. This is a

specification and a feature specific to the Plug & Play BIOS.

Introduction of BIOS 3-29

Resources Controlled By:

When resource are controlled manually, assign each system interrupt as one of
the following types, depending on the type of device using the interrupt:

Legacy ISA devices compliant with the original PC AT bus specification,
requiring a specific interrupt (such as IRQ4 for serial port 1).

PCI/ISA devices compliant with the Plug and Play standard, whether designed
for PCI or ISA bus architecture.

Two options are available: Auto or Manual. The Award Plug and Play BIOS
has the capability to automatically configure all of the boot and Plug and Play
compatible devices. If you select Auto, all the interrupt request (IRQ) and
DMA assignment fields disappear, as the BIOS automatically assigns them.
But if you have trouble in assigning the interrupt resource automatically, you
can select Manual to set which IRQ and DMA are assigned to PCI/ISA PnP or
legacy ISA cards.

Assign IRQ For VGA :

You can assign an IRQ for the PCI VGA or Auto.

Assign IRQ For USB:

If you need another IRQ to be freed up, you can choose to disable this item,
and you can get an IRQ. But in some situations in Windows® 95 it may cause
the USB port to malfunction or other problems! Two options are available:
Enable or Disable the assigned IRQ action.

PIRQ_1 Use IRQ No. ~ PIRQ_4 Use IRQ No:

This item allows you to specify the IRQ number for the device installed on
PCI slots. Which means, you can specific the fixed IRQ number for the device
installed on the PCI slots (PCI slot 1 to PCI slot 5, included AGP slot). This is
a useful function when you want to fix the IRQ for a specific device.

For example, if you want to remove your hard disk to another computer and
don’t want to re-install the Windows® NT 4.0 (and lower versions), then you
can specific the IRQ for device install on the new computer to fit original
computer settings.

Chapter 33-30

Note: If you specific the IRQ in this item, then you cannot specific the same IRQ to Legacy

ISA. Otherwise, it will cause the hardware conflict.

You must familiar with the PCI interrupt distribution mechanism to adjust this
setting. This feature is for the OS who will record and fix the PCI
configuration status, and you want to change it.

For the relations between the hardware layout of PIRQ (the signals from the
PIIX4 chipset), INT# (means PCI slot IRQ signals) and devices, please refer
to the table below:

Signals PCI slot 1

AGP slot
PIRQ_1
PIRQ_2
PIRQ_3
PIRQ_4

INT A INT B INT C INT D
INT B INT C INT D INT A
INT C INT D INT A INT B
INT D INT A INT B INT C

PCI slot 2 PCI slot 3 PCI slot 4

PCI slot 5

l USB used PIRQ_4.
l Each PCI slot has four INT#s (INT A~INT D), and the AGP slot has two

INT# (INTA and INT B).

Introduction of BIOS 3-31

(7) Load Setup Defaults

Setup defaults are the settings that allow your system to operate at its highest
performance. When you choose this option, the following message is displayed:

“Load Setup Defaults (Y/N)? N”

If you want to use BIOS Setup default values, press “Y”, than <Enter> to
complete the loading of the settings for best performance.

You should first load the best settings, than enter the CPU Soft Menu to set up
CPU parameters, otherwise the BIOS will replace set parameters by default
parameters.

Chapter 33-32

(8) Integrated Peripherals

In this menu, you can change the onboard I/O device, I/O port address and other
hardware settings.

Figure 3-8. Integrated Peripherals Menu

Onboard IDE-1 Controller:

The onboard IDE 1 controller can be set as Enabled or Disabled.

/ Master Drive PIO Mode:

ä Auto: the BIOS can auto-detect the transfer mode of the IDE

devices in order to set its data transfer rate. (Default)
You can select the PIO mode from 0 to 4 of the IDE devices in

order to set its data transfer rate.

/ Slave Drive PIO Mode:

ä Auto: the BIOS can auto-detect the transfer mode of the IDE

devices in order to set its data transfer rate. (Default)
You can select the PIO mode from 0 to 4 of the IDE devices in

order to set its data transfer rate.

Introduction of BIOS 3-33

/ Master Drive Ultra DMA:

Ultra DMA is a DMA data transfer protocol that utilizes ATA
commands and the ATA bus to allow DMA commands to transfer data
at a maximum burst rate of 33 MB/sec.

ä Auto: When you select Auto, the system automatically determines

the optimal data transfer rate for each IDE device. (Default)

ä Disabled: If you meet the problem of using Ultra DMA devices,

you can try to Disabled this item.

/ Slave Drive Ultra DMA:

ä Auto: When you select Auto, the system automatically determines

the optimal data transfer rate for each IDE device. (Default)

ä Disabled: If you encounter the problem of using Ultra DMA

devices, you can try to Disabled this item.

Onboard IDE-2 Controller:

The onboard IDE-2 controller can be set at Enabled or Disabled.

/ Master Drive PIO Mode:

ä Auto: the BIOS can auto-detect the transfer mode of the IDE

devices in order to set its data transfer rate. (Default)
You can select the PIO mode from 0 to 4 of the IDE devices in

order to set its data transfer rate.

/ Slave Drive PIO Mode:

ä Auto: the BIOS can auto-detect the transfer mode of the IDE

devices in order to set its data transfer rate. (Default)
You can select the PIO mode from 0 to 4 of the IDE devices in

order to set its data transfer rate.

/ Master Drive Ultra DMA:

Ultra DMA is a DMA data transfer protocol that utilizes ATA
commands and the ATA bus to allow DMA commands to transfer data
at a maximum burst rate of 33 MB/sec.

ä Auto: When you select Auto, the system automatically determines

the optimal data transfer rate for each IDE device. (Default)

ä Disabled: If you meet the problem of using Ultra DMA devices,

you can try to Disabled this item.

Chapter 33-34

/ Slave Drive Ultra DMA:

ä Auto: When you select Auto, the system automatically determines

the optimal data transfer rate for each IDE device. (Default)

ä Disabled: If you meet the problem of using Ultra DMA devices,

you can try to Disabled this item.

PIO MODE 0~4 reflects the IDE device data transfer rate. The higher the
MODE value is, the better is the IDE device data transfer rate. But it does not
mean that you can select the highest MODE value just as you like, you first
have to be sure that your IDE device supports this MODE, otherwise the hard
disk will not be able to operate normally.

2 For further information about HDD installation, refer to Appendix B.

USB Keyboard Support Via:

You can choose either the OS or the BIOS to support the USB keyboard.
Depending on the situation. Two options are available: OS or BIOS, OS is the
default settings. With the BIOS option, you can use a USB keyboard under the
MS-DOS environment but don’t need to install a driver.

Init Display First:

When you install more than one display cards, you can choose either a PCI
display card or an AGP display card to activate the display boot-up screen. If
you only installed one display card, the BIOS will detect which slot (AGP or
PCI) you installed it, in then everything will be take care of by the BIOS.

KBC Input Clock Select:

This item allows you to change keyboard clock, if you have keyboard problem,
like keyboard failure, slow typing response time, etc. You may try to change
the keyboard clock settings for optimal result.

Power On Function:

This item allows you to select which way you want your system to power on.
Four items are available: BUTTON ONLY è Hot Key è Mouse Left è
Mouse Right. Default setting is BUTTON ONLY.

/ Hot Key Power On:

There are twelve options are available, Ctrl-F1 to Ctrl-F12. You can select
this item and using the Ctrl plus the one of each function key (1 to 12) to
power on the computer.

Introduction of BIOS 3-35

Note:

1. The mouse wake up function can only be used with the PS/2 mouse. Mouse Left (Mouse

Right) means, you need to double click the mouse left (right) button, then computer will
power on. If your PS/2 mouse compatibility is low, you may fail to power on.

2. If the spec. of your keyboard is too old, you may fail to power on.

Onboard FDD Controller:

This is to Enable or Disable the Onboard FDD Controller.

Onboard Serial Port 1:

This is used to specify the I/O address and IRQ of Serial Port 1. Ten options
are available: Disable, 3F8h/IRQ4, 2F8h/IRQ3, 3E8h/IRQ4 or 2E8h/IRQ3,
3F8h/IRQ10, 2F8h/IRQ11, 3E8h/IRQ10, 2E8h/IRQ11, and AUTO.

Onboard Serial Port 2:

This is used to specify the I/O address and IRQ of Serial Port 2. Ten options
are available: Disable, 3F8h/IRQ4, 2F8h/IRQ3, 3E8h/IRQ4 or 2E8h/IRQ3.
3F8/IRQ10, 2F8/IRQ11, 3E8/IRQ10, 2E8/IRQ11, and AUTO.

/

Onboard IR Function:

Three options are available:

ä IrDA (HPSIR)mode.
ä ASK IR (Amplitude Shift Keyed IR)mode.
ä Disabled.

/

RxD, TxD Active:

Set IR transmission/reception polarity as High or Low.

/

IR Transmission Delay:

Set IR transmission delays 4 character-time(40 bit-time) when SIR is
changed form RX mode to TX mode.

Onboard Parallel Port:

Set the I/O address and IRQ of the onboard parallel port. Four options are
available: Disable, 3BCh/IRQ7, 278h/IRQ5 and 378h/IRQ7. Default is
378h/IRQ7.

/

Parallel Port Mode:

Can be set as ECP, EPP, ECP+EPP, or Normal (SPP) mode. Default is
Normal (SPP) mode.

/ ECP Mode Use DMA:

When the mode selected for the onboard parallel port is ECP, the DMA
channel selected can be Channel 1 or Channel 3.

/ EPP Mode Select:

When the mode selected for the onboard parallel port is EPP, two EPP
version options are available: EPP1.7.

2 For further information about HDD installation, refer to Appendix B.

Chapter 33-36

Introduction of BIOS 3-37

(9) Password Setting

This option allows you to set a password required to start the system (System) or
to access to the BIOS (Setup).

After you have set a password through the PASSWORD SETTING option, you
can enter the Security Option in the “BIOS Features Setup Menu” to select the
security level in order to prevent any unauthorized access.

Password setting procedure:

When you choose the Password setting option, the following message is
displayed:

“Enter Password:“

Type your password. When complete, press <Enter>. The following message is
displayed:

“Confirm Password:“

Type your password again. When complete, press <Enter>. The password setting
is completed.

Password clearing procedure:

When you select the Password setting option, the following message is displayed:

“Enter Password:“

Press <Enter>, the message “Password Disable” is displayed. Press a key. The
password clearing procedure is completed.

Notice: Do not forget your password. If you forget it, you will have to open the computer case,

clear the contents of the CMOS, and boot the system up again. By doing this, you must
reset all your parameters.

(10) IDE Hard Disk Detection

After you have installed the hard disk, in old systems, you had to know the hard
disk specifications, such as the number of cylinders, heads and sectors, and to
enter the relevant information into the hard disk information section. If the CMOS
data was erased, and you had forgotten the hard disk specifications, it was a great
problem. But now, you can use this option to auto detect the hard disk type and
specifications, and the BIOS will automatically detect all the relevant information
and place them in the Hard Disk data section of the Standard CMOS Setup Menu,
in order to allow you to use your hard disk.

(11) Save & Exit Setup

Chapter 33-38

Fig 3-9 Save & Exit Setup

You can save all your selection to CMOS and exit BIOS to reboot your computer.

(12) Exit Without Saving

Fig 3-10 Exit Without Saving

You can exit and without saving all your selections to CMOS, then exit BIOS to
reboot your computer.

Quick Installation A-1

Appendix A Quick Installation

Appendix A will give you a simplified installation procedure, in order to allow
you to install your motherboard quickly and correctly.
If you need further information or if you need to change some other settings, start
reading from Chapter 1.

Installing the CPU

Mount the retention mechanism onto Slot 1, then fix the screw on the four corners
of the mechanism. Slightly and gently insert the Pentium® II/III processor into the
retention base, make sure all the components are affixed securely.

Adjusting CPU speed

According to your CPU speed, set up the CPU in the CPU SOFT MENU™ II of
the BIOS SETUP.

Installing System Memory

You can install the SDRAM module (168 pin DIMM module) to the DIMM
sockets (DIMM 1~DIMM5), the maximum memory capacity of this motherboard
is 1GB.

Installing FDD

Watch the pin position and the orientation
FDC: Connect one end of the 34-pin cable that comes with the motherboard or

the drive to the FDD connector, and the other end of the cable to the FDC pin
connector on the motherboard.

Note: Be sure that the red line on the cable connects to the first pin of the connectors.

Installing HDD

Watch the pin position and the orientation
IDE1 (Primary IDE): Connect one end of the 40-pin cable that comes with the

motherboard or the drive to the HDD connector, and the other end to IDE1 pin
connector on the motherboard.

Appendix AA-2

Note: Be sure that the red line on the cable connects to the first pin of the connectors.

Installing CD-ROM drive

Watch the pin position and the orientation
IDE2 (Secondary IDE): Connect one end of the 40-pin cable that comes with the

drive to the CD-ROM connector, and the other end to the IDE2 pin connector on
the motherboard.

Note: Be sure that the red line on the cable connects to the first pin of the connectors.

Installing Keylock and power LED connectors

Watch the pin position and the orientation
PN1 Pin 1-5: There is a specific orientation for pin 1 to pin 5. Insert the two-

threads keylock cable into pin 4 and pin 5, and three-threads power LED cable to
Pin 1 ~ pin 3. Correct pins of header on the motherboard.

Pin number Name of the signal or signification

1 +5VDC
2 No connection
3 Ground
4 Keyboard inhibit Signal
5 Ground

Installing HDD LED connector

Watch the pin position and the orientation
PN1 Pin 7-8: There is a specific orientation for pin 7 and pin 8. Connect the two-

threads IDE HDD LED connector of the computer case to correct pins of header
on the motherboard.

Pin number Name of the signal or signification

7 LED power
8 HDD active

Quick Installation A-3

Installing power On/Off switch connector

PN1 Pin 10-11 : There is no specific orientation for pin 10 and pin 11. Connect

the two-threads power switch cable to the PN1 header pins on the motherboard.

Pin number Name of the signal or signification

10 Power On/Off switch
11 Ground

Installing suspend switch connector

PN1 Pin 13-14: There is no specific orientation for pin 13 and pin 14. Connect

the two-threads suspend switch connector of the computer case to correct pins of
header on the motherboard. You can ignore this connector since most of computer
cases do not support this feature (the motherboard itself supports it).

Pin number Name of the signal or signification

13 Vcc
14 Suspend signal

Installing Hardware Reset Switch Connector

PN2 Pin 1-2: Attach the cable from the case’s Reset switch to this header. Press

and hold the reset button for at least one second to reset the system.

Pin number Name or significance of signal

1 Reset input
2 Ground

Installing speaker connector

PN2 Pin 4-7: There is no specific orientation for pin 4 and pin 7. Connect the

four-threads speaker cable to the PN2 header pins on the motherboard.

Pin number Name of the signal or signification

4 +5VDC
5 Ground
6 Ground
7 Speaker data

Appendix AA-4

Installing suspend LED connector

Watch the pin position and the orientation
PN2 Pin 9-10: There is a specific orientation for pin 9 and pin 10. Connect the

two-threads suspend LED switch connector of the computer case to correct pins
of header on the motherboard.

Pin number Name or significance of signal

9 LED Power

10 Suspend LED active

Installing ATX Power input connector

Watch the pin position and the orientation
CONT1: Connect the power supply unit to the correct connectors on the

motherboard.

Pin number

1 +3.3VDC 11 +3.3VDC
2 +3.3VDC 12 -12VDC
3 Ground 13 Ground
4 +5VDC 14 ON/OFF control signal
5 Ground 15 Ground
6 +5VDC 16 Ground
7 Ground 17 Ground
8 Power Good 18 -5VDC
9 +5VSB 19 +5VDC

10 +12VDC 20 +5VDC

Installing Keyboard connector

Watch the pin position and the orientation
KM1 lower connector: There is an orientation pin. Connect your PS/2 keyboard

connector to the connector on back side of the motherboard.

Name of the signal or
signification

Pin number

Name of the signal or
signification

Installing PS2 Mouse

Watch the pin position and the orientation

Quick Installation A-5

KM1 upper connector: There is an orientation pin. Connect your PS/2 mouse
connector to the connector on the back side of the motherboard.

Installing CPU fan power connector

Watch the pin position and the orientation
FAN: There is a specific orientation. Connect the three-threads fan power cable

to the fan header on the motherboard.

FAN1, FAN2, FAN3 (CPU FAN)

Pin number Name of the signal or signification

1 Ground
2 +12V
3 Sense signal

Adjusting other jumpers

Some jumpers are reserved for future functions or are not to be adjusted in normal
operation. Adjust them according to the following recommendations.

CCMOS ¡GAlways put jumper on pin 1 and pin 2, this is default setting.

BIOS Setup

Parameters and CPU settings After you have followed the steps described above
and completed the installation, when you power the computer on, you will see the
following message displayed

PRESS DEL TO ENTER SETUP
Press immediately Del key to enter BIOS Setup. Select Load Setup Defaults, than

enter CPU Soft Menu to set CPU parameters.

Appendix AA-6

General Discussion about HDD Installation B-1

Appendix B General Discussion About

HDD Installation

Most of the present HDDs use IDE interface. Installing an IDE hard disk does not
require a lot of knowledge like installing the driver for a SCSI hard disk, but this
means that the user often must install the hard disk by himself and cope with all
the problems they may encounter. Here, we will try to help you solve these
potential problems.

The data stored in the hard disk are accessed through the chipset located on the
motherboard. You might often hear about the PIO mode, Master mode or DMA
mode of HDD. These modes reflect the way data is transferred from and to the
IDE drive and the motherboard.

What is the PIO mode? When the system needs to access hard disk data, the CPU
delivers input/output (I/O) orders through the chipset on the motherboard to the
hard disk drive, and then puts this data into the system memory. This is the PIO
mode.

What is the Master mode? When the system needs to access hard disk data, this
data is directly accessed from the hard disk by the chipset on the motherboard
(using a DMA or a PIO mode), and then the data is put into the memory. In this
case, the CPU does not participate in the data transfer.

What is the DMA mode? Usually, DMA mode refers to accessing the hard disk
data by the chipset, it does not refer to the data transfer mode. Here are some
examples of data transfer rates for IDE HDD with PIO interface:

PIO Mode 0: The fastest data transfer rate reaches 3.3Mbyte/sec
PIO Mode 1: The fastest data transfer rate reaches 5.2Mbyte/sec
PIO Mode 2: The fastest data transfer rate reaches 8.3Mbyte/sec
PIO Mode 3: The fastest data transfer rate reaches 11.1Mbyte/sec
PIO Mode 4: The fastest data transfer rate reaches 16.6Mbyte/sec

The higher the MODE value is, the best is the hard disk data transfer rate. But this
does not mean that you can select the highest mode value as you like. You must
be sure that your hard disk supports that type of fast data transfer, otherwise your
hard disk will not be able to operate correctly.

Here are some examples of data transfer rates for IDE HDD with DMA mode:

DMA Mode 0: The fastest data transfer rate reaches 4.16Mbyte/sec
DMA Mode 1: The fastest data transfer rate reaches 13.3Mbyte/sec
DMA Mode 2: The fastest data transfer rate reaches 16.6Mbyte/sec

Appendix BB-2

Usually, PIO mode means that the hard disk data are accessed by the CPU
through the chipset and placed into memory, and the chipset is using PIO mode to
access hard disk data.

MASTER mode means that hard disk data are accessed by the chipset, and that
the chipset places the data into memory. The chipset is using DMA or PIO mode
to access data stored in the hard disk drive. The Master mode can reduce the CPU
load, especially in a Multi-task environment. This can help system performance.

Installing a hard disk:

In the Standard CMOS Setup Menu,
♦ Primary means the first connector on the motherboard, that is, connector

IDE1 on our motherboard.

♦ Secondary means the second connector on the motherboard, that is,

connector IDE2 on our motherboard.

♦ Two HDDs can be connected to the each connector:
The first HDD is referred to as Master, The second HDD is referred to as Slave.

Note: The Master or Slave status of the hard disk drive is set on the hard disk itself. Refer to

the hard disk drive manual.

Installing one HDD:

The red line on the connection cable must be lined up with pin 1 on the
connector.

Be sure that your hard disk drive is set at Master. Actually, most hard disk drives
are set at Master as a default, so you don’t need to adjust any setting. Just connect
one end of the 40 pin cable on the drive connector, and the other end to connector
IDE1 on the motherboard.

Installing one HDD + one CD-ROM drive:

The red line on the connection cable must be lined up with pin 1 on the
connector.

Method 1: Set the HDD at Master, and the CD-ROM drive at Slave.

Connect one connector of the 40-pin cable to the hard disk,
another one to the CD-ROM drive, and the other end to
connector IDE1 on the motherboard.

Method 2: Set the HDD as Master and connect one end of the 40-pin

cable to the HDD, and the other end to connector IDE1 on
the motherboard.
You can ignore the setting of the CD-ROM drive, just

General Discussion about HDD Installation B-3

connect one end of the 40-pin cable to the CD-ROM drive,

and the other end to connector IDE2 on the motherboard.

We recommend you use this kind of connection, since it has

no influence on HDD speed.

Installing two HDDs:

The red line on the connection cable must be lined up with pin 1 on the
connector.

Method 1: Set the hard disk drive used for boot up at Master, and the

other drive at Slave. Connect one of the connectors of the

40-pin cable to the first drive, another connector to the

second drive, and the other end of the cable to connector

IDE1 on the motherboard.

Method 2: Set the hard disk drive used for boot up at Master, connect

one end of the 40-pin cable to the drive, and the other end to
connector IDE1 on the motherboard.
Set the other hard disk drive at Master, connect one end of
the 40-pin cable to the drive, and the other end to connector
IDE2 on the motherboard.

Installing two HDDs + one CD-ROM drive:

The red line on the connection cable must be lined up with pin 1 on the
connector.

Method 1: Set the hard disk drive used for boot up as Master, set the

other HDD at Slave, connect one connector of the 40-pin
cable to the first drive, another connector to the second drive,
and the other end of the cable to connector IDE1 on the
motherboard. You can ignore the setting of the CD-ROM
drive. Connect one end of the 40-pin cable to the drive, and
the other end to connector IDE2 on the motherboard. We
recommend you use this method, since it has no influence on
HDD speed.

Method 2: Set the hard disk drive used for boot up at Master, connect

one end of the 40-pin cable to the drive, and the other end to
connector IDE1 on the motherboard. Set the other hard
disk drive at Master, and be sure that the CD-ROM drive is
set at Slave. Most of CD-ROM drives are set at Slave as a
default, so you will normally not have to set the CD-ROM
drive. After you have verified the settings, connect one
connector of the 40-pin cable to the HDD, another connector
to the CD-ROM drive, and the other end of the cable to
connector IDE2 on the motherboard.

Appendix BB-4

Installing three HDDs:

The red line on the connection cable must be lined up with pin 1 on the
connector.

Method 1: Set the hard disk drive used for boot up at Master, set the

second drive at Slave. Connect one connector of the 40­pin cable to the first drive, another connector to the
second drive, and the other end of the cable to connector
IDE1 on the motherboard.
Set the other (the third) drive at Master, and connect one
end of the 40-pin cable to the drive, and the other end to
connector IDE2 on the motherboard.

Method 2: Set the hard disk drive used for boot up at Master, and

connect one end of the 40-pin cable to the drive and the
other end to connector IDE1 on the motherboard. Set
another drive (the second drive) at Master and the third
drive at Slave, connect one connector of the 40-pin cable
to the second drive, another connector to the third drive,
and the other end of the cable to connector IDE2 on the
motherboard.

Installing three HDDs + one CD-ROM drive:

The red line on the connection cable must be lined up with pin 1 on the
connector.

Set the hard disk drive used for boot up at Master, set another HDD (the second)
at Slave, connect one connector of the 40-pin cable to the first drive, another
connector to the second drive, and the other end of the cable to connector IDE1
on the motherboard.

Set the third hard disk drive at Master, set the CD-ROM drive at Slave, connect
one connector of the 40-pin cable to the third HDD, another connector to the CD­ROM drive, and the other end of the cable to connector IDE2 on the motherboard.

BIOS Setup:

♦ If all your HDDs are new, you can use the IDE HDD Auto Detection option

in the CMOS to auto detect the parameters of all your drives. You don’t need
to set any hard disk parameter.

♦ If one or several of your HDDs are old, and if you don’t know their

parameters, and you want to reconfigure your drives, you can still use the
IDE HDD Auto Detection option in the CMOS to auto detect the drives
parameters.

General Discussion about HDD Installation B-5

♦ If one or several of your HDD are old, and if you don’t want to erase the data

stored in your drives, you will have to remember the parameters (Type,
Cylinders, Heads, Sectors, Mode) of the drive(s) you don’t want to erase.
After you have used the IDE HDD Auto Detection option in the CMOS,
enter the Standard CMOS Setup Menu to change the settings of the related
hard disk drive.

Software use:

The basic step in using a hard disk drive is to make a HDD Low Level Format,
than run FDISK, and than FORMAT the drive. Most of present HDD have
already been subjected to low level format at the factory, so you probably can
skip this operation.

Boot with a bootable floppy disk, then enter:

FDISK

¯Using FDISK: (DOS command)
This command is found in the DOS disks.
FDISK is a tool used to organize and to partition the hard disk. The hard disk

must have been partitioned before use. You can create one unique partition on the
hard disk, or create several partition and use a different Operating System on each
partition. Just don’t forget that you have to specify an Active partition, otherwise
your hard disk will not be bootable. For further information about FDISK, refer to
the FDISK section in the DOS user’s manual.

After you have partitioned the hard disk with FDISK, the system will reboot
automatically. Boot from a system floppy disk, and type

FORMAT C: /S

¯Using FORMAT: (DOS command)
This command is found in the DOS disks.
FORMAT is used to format the hard disk. The HDD have to be formatted before

use. Don’t forget to add /S after C:, otherwise the hard disk will not be bootable
after formatting.

Appendix BB-6

BIOS Flashing User Instructions C-1

Appendix C BIOS Flashing User Instructions

When your motherboard needs to be upgraded with new features or to fix some
compatibility problems of a BIOS, you will need to use this BIOS flash utility.
This utility is provided by Award Software, and it’s easy to flash by yourself. But
you have to read all the information within this section before flashing.

Before you can flash the BIOS you need to first go into the pure DOS
environment by rebooting your system and going directly into DOS. Basically,
there are two ways to flash your BIOS. One is to directly type the full line
commands that are described in this section. The utility will then flash your BIOS.
When you finish the flash operation, you will see the screen as in Figure C-2.

The other method is to just type awdflash then press enter, the Flash Memory
Writer V6.66 screen will show up, please refer to Figure C-1. You need to type
“NEWBIOS” (the file name or you can use another name if you choose) into the
“File Name to Program”, then press enter. When you finish the flash operation,
you will see the screen as in Figure C-2.

Figure C-1. Award Flash Memory Writer V6.66 Start Screen

C-2 Appendix C

When you have finished updating your BIOS, you will see the screen as in Figure
C-2. You then need to press the “F1” key to reset the system, or press the “F10”
key to exit the writer.

Figure C-2. Award Flash Memory Writer V6.66 Complete Screen

Figure C-3 shows you what commands you can use for the flashing program, you
need to go into the pure DOS environment and type awdflash /?, then you will see
Figure C-3.

Figure C-3. Flash Commands Screen

BIOS Flashing User Instructions C-3

Example 1 To update the BIOS and create a backup of the current system BIOS

execute this command:

AWDFLASH NEWBIOS /PY SAVEBIOS /SY

Example 2 To update the BIOS, create a backup of current system BIOS, and

clear the CMOS, execute this command:

AWDFLASH NEWBIOS SAVEBIOS /CC

Example 3 To update the BIOS and clear PnP settings execute this command:

AWDFLASH NEWBIOS /SN /CP

Example 4 To make a backup of the current system BIOS execute the following

command:

AWDFLASH NEWBIOS /PN SAVEBIOS

Notes: “NEWBIOS” indicates the file name for the new BIOS which can be downloaded

from our website at http://www.abit.com.tw (the user can choose a different file name
in place of NEWBIOS).
“SAVEBIOS”indicates the filename of the old system BIOS (the user can choose a
different file name in place of SAVEBIOS).

Explanation of parameter names:

/CC: Clears CMOS data
/CP: Clears PnP data

Remarks:

¬ When executing AWDFLASH.EXE, do not run HIMEM.SYS and

EMM386.EXE in the CONFIG.SYS.

- Please take the following actions to solve problems caused by

power shortage or other non preventable malfunctions during BIOS
updating that lead to update failure. First, it is strongly suggested
that you format a disk that can boot your computer before you
update your BIOS. If the above mentioned problem occurs during
BIOS update you will be able to use this disk to automatically
execute a BIOS updating. The content of the disk should be the
following:
a. Startup system files (COMMAND.COM, MSDOS.SYS,

IO.SYS...)
b. AWDFLSH.EXE
c. The NEWBIOS file which can be downloaded from ABIT’ s

website.
d. AUTOEXEC.BAT, which has the following content:

A:\AWDFLASH NEWBIOS /PY /SN /CC
For example, to update the IT6B BIOS version to FZ (it6b_fz.bin),

C-4 Appendix C

you need to type:

A:\AWDFLASH IT6B_FZ.bin /PY /SN /CC

® If you try to flash a version of BIOS that is for the incorrect

motherboard model the following message will appear:

“The program file’s part number does not match with your

system!”

How to install the IDE Bus Master driver D-1

Appendix D How to install the IDE Bus

Master driver

This motherboard not only supports the IDE Bus Master, it also supports the Ultra
DMA/33 HDD . If your hard disk drive supports this function you need to install
the Ultra DMA driver software on the CD-ROM included with this motherboard
for better performance (Some model’s packaging may only have a floppy diskette).
If your HDD does not support Ultra DMA/33 specs, you can still install this driver
with no harm! Complete the installation process exactly as below:

In Windows 95, place the CD-ROM into the computer. The main menu will show
up. Click the Drivers button, then select the IDE Master button, again select the
OS in which you want to install the driver. We have provided the OS/2,
Windows® 95 and Windows® NT Bus Master driver for you. Direct clicking the
OS button will automatically install the Bus Master driver to your system.

If you have a floppy diskette instead of the CD-ROM, you need to place the
diskette into your floppy disk drive, and go into the proper OS directory. When
you get in the OS directory, for example Windows® 95, you can double click the
Setup.exe icon, this will start the drivers installation. Please follow the procedure
below:

D-2 Appendix D

Step1: Welcome: Click ‘NEXT’

Step2: License screen: Notepad will show the content, close the notepad to

continue.

How to install the IDE Bus Master driver D-3

Step3: Question: Click ‘Yes’

Step4: Select Components: Click ‘INSTALL

Step5: Question: Click ‘Yes’

D-4 Appendix D

Step6: Information: Click ‘OK’

After previous instructions have been followed, the driver will automatically
install. It will automatically restart the computer after it has finished installing.

Step7: When you restart your Windows® 95, just follow the step shows on the

screens. After you see the screen below, please set the path to
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\IOSUBSYS then finish the following steps. You
will need to restart Windows, then Windows will find several I/O devices,
when finished with this procedure, you will need to restart Windows® 95
yet again. This will fully complete the installation of the IDE Bus Master
drivers.

How to install the PCI bridge driver for the 440BX chipset E-1

Appendix E How to install the PCI bridge

driver for the 440BX chipset

This CD-ROM (Or floppy diskette) has the Intel’s 82371xB INF update 3.2.2
drives version. It can be used to update the 440BX chipset motherboard. The
following procedure describes how to install and update the PCI bridge. If you
have a floppy diskette and not the CD-ROM, just insert the diskette and execute
the Setup.exe file to start installation of the INF update files.

Step 1: Check your Windows® 95 Device Manager, and find the question mark

showing the PCI Bridge.

E-2 Appendix E

Step 2: Execute the Product CD-Title ABITCD.EXE and choice Driver è PCI

Bridge Driver for Windows 95, then you will see the screen below:

Step 3: Click NEXT

Step 4: You will see the license agreement dialog screen, click Yes.

How to install the PCI bridge driver for the 440BX chipset E-3

Step 5: Click Next, then wait a while, until you see the installation complete

screen.

Step 6: Click OK, the system will restart.

E-4 Appendix E

Step 7: Restart your computer, then check the Device Manager again. First,

you can check Hard Disk Controller, then take a look to see if the Bus
Master driver is already recognized.

How to install the PCI bridge driver for the 440BX chipset E-5

Step 8: Also check System Device, to find out if four devices are identified as

well. ( Please see the arrows below) You have completed all things now.

E-6 Appendix E

Install HighPoint XStore Pro Utility F-1

Appendix F Install HighPoint XStore Pro

Utility

We provide a useful and powerful utility in our product package, the HighPoint
XStore Pro. What does XStore do? The XStore Pro is a hard disk enhancement

utility which can improve the system performance. The basic concept is using
read-ahead caching algorithm to improve the hard disk performance. With a
market trend where most systems standard configurations are moving towards 48
MBytes memory size or beyond, the HighPoint XStore Pro provides higher
system performance. XStore Pro is a new generation of XStore MMX Accelerator
for Storage.

XStore Pro utilizes the bigger system memory size to enhance memory
management by working with Windows® 95 and 98. XStore Pro optimizes higher
system performance by read ahead caching after seeking with large block size of
hard disk. And best of all, XStore Pro supports several PCI Bus Master
Controllers such as Intel, SiS, Ali, Via and others.

When you install the XStore Pro, you can choose to install the CD Xpress at same
time. Why you need the CD Xpress? We’ll tell you more about it.

CD-ROM technology is growing fast, but its performance is still unacceptable
compared to today's hard drives. The transfer rates of today's hard drives can
exceed 18MB/sec with access times below 12ms. However, transfer rates for the
fastest CD-ROM drives on the market are below 2MB/sec with access times over
100ms.

CD Xpress was created to accelerate the accessing speed of the CD-ROM drive
by utilizing the hard drive's high performance. CD Xpress reads and buffers data
from the CD-ROM to an area in the hard drive. With CD Xpress, when you
access CD-ROM data, you are actually accessing data from a swap file in the hard
drive. This results in a tremendous increase in CD-ROM performance without
penalties.

Before you install this utility, there are several things you need to know.

Important Note

1. You can only install one Bus Master Driver at a time in your system, or the
drivers will result in conflict and cause system hangs. Please make sure you
don’t have any Bus Master Driver installed in your system before you install
XStore Pro! You must remove all components of the previous Bus Master
Driver before you install XStore Pro to your system. For example, you cannot
install both Intel® bus master driver and HighPoint XStore Pro in your system,

F-2 Appendix F

otherwise it will cause system conflict when you install the second bus master
driver!

2. This Windows® 95/98 driver does not support CD-ROM Changers. If you
have an ATAPI CD-ROM Changer installed in your system, please do not
install this driver!

3. We have found that the Windows® 95 OSR2/Windows® 98 version would fail
to load the driver on some systems using the Bus Master chipset after you
install and restart the system. The following step could solve this problem if it
happens:

(1) Go to My Computer and double click Control Panel.
(2) Double click System then go to Device Manger and View Devices by

Type.
(3) Go to hard disk controllers.
(4) Double click PCI Bus Master IDE Controller (Ultra DMA supported).

(There should be a yellow mark besides this item)
(5) Click Resources and you should see a box near the bottom of the screen

that says “Set Configuration Manually”.
(6) Click on “Set Configuration Manually” and you will see a check next to

“Use automatic setting”.
(7) Uncheck the box and when the system asks you to reboot click “yes”.
(8) After the system restarts the yellow mark should be gone

4. De-Installation:
To uninstall XStore Pro from your system, run "Uninstall" from the HighPoint

XStore Pro program group. This uninstall utility will: deactivate CD Xpress,
if CD Xpress is active, remove the buffer space, and uninstall XStore Pro and
CD Xpress from the system. After the uninstallation of XStore Pro,the hard
disk will return to its original status. We suggest users to reboot the system
after finishing uninstallation.

5. The ATAPI LS-120 deivce will be recognized as a removable device in retail
Windows 95(4.00.95) and OSR1 Windows 95(4.00.95 A) after XStore Pro
driver is installed.

6. This driver might lock on certain motherboards. Please check HighPoint
Technology first if you encounter problems.

For more detailed information, please check the readme file stored in the XStore
Pro Program Group. If you want to upgrade to a new version of driver or want to
know more about XStore Pro products, please go to the HighPoint Technologies
Inc’s company WEB site, the URL is http://www.highpoint-tech.com/.

Install HighPoint XStore Pro Utility F-3

This CD-ROM (Or floppy diskette) has the HighPoint XStore Pro drivers.
(version 1.2) The following procedure describes how to install the HighPoint
XStore to your system. If you have a floppy diskette but not the CD-ROM, just
insert the diskette and run the Setup.exe file to start installation.

Step 1: In Windows® 95/98, place the CD-ROM into the computer. The main

menu will show up. Click the HighPoint XStore Pro Install button, then
you will see the XStore Pro installer is preparing the InstallShield
Wizard. When it is done, the Welcome screen will show up.

®

F-4 Appendix F

Step 2: Press the “Next” key, you will see the screen below. You then need to

choose you want to install XStore Pro only, or you want to install both of
XStore Pro and CD Xpress. Then you can press the “Next” key to
continue.

Step 3: Press the “Next” key, you will see the license screen.

Install HighPoint XStore Pro Utility F-5

Step 4: Press the “Yes” to continue screen below.

Step 5: When install process done, you will see the screen below. This screen

will show up only when you select install both XStore Pro and CD
Xpress. If you want to see the ReadMe file, you can click on to the circle.

F-6 Appendix F

Step 6: Choose the “Yes, I want to restart my computer now.” button, then

system will restart. Or you can choose the “No, I will restart my
computer later.”.

Install Winbond Hardware Doctor Utility G-1

Appendix G Install Winbond Hardware

Doctor Utility

Winbond Hardware Doctor is a self-diagnostic system for PCs and must be used
with the Winbond chipset: W83781D/W83782D/W83783S IC series products.

It will protect PC hardware by monitoring several critical items including power
supply voltages, CPU & system fans speed, and CPU and system temperature.
These items are important for the operation of the system, errors may result in
permanent damage of the PC. Once any item is out of its normal range, a warning
message will pop up and remind the user to take proper measures.

It will protect PC hardware by monitoring several critical items including power
supply voltages, CPU & system fans speed, and CPU and system temperature.
These items are important for the operation of the system, errors may result in
permanent damage of the PC. Once any item is out of its normal range, a warning
message will pop up and remind the user to take proper measures.

The following description will tell you how to install the Hardware Doctor
(Version 2.2) and use it. This CD-ROM (Or floppy diskette) has the Winbond
Hardware Doctor utility. The following procedure describes how to install the
Hardware Doctor to your system. If you have a floppy diskette and not the CD­ROM, just insert diskette 1 and execute the Setup.exe file to start installation.

Step 1: In Windows® 95/98, place the CD-ROM into the computer. The main

menu will show up. Click the Hardware Doctor Install button, then the
HWDoctor Setup screen will show up, please refer the to figure below.

G-2 Appendix G

Step 2: Press the “OK” button, then see the screen below.

Step 3: You can specify the program install path by clicking “Change Directory”

button. Or if you want to use the default path, click the icon to
continue the install process. Now the screen will show you the
percentage of install progress.

Install Winbond Hardware Doctor Utility G-3

Step 4: When the progress finishes, click the “OK” button.

Step 5: Go to the Windows toolbar and click the “Start” button, then choose the

“program” è “HWDoctor” (See the arrow mark on figure below).

G-4 Appendix G

Step 6: Then you will see the screen like the figure below. You will see voltages,

fans speed and temperature readings as well. If any item reading is
critical or less than the limitation, the reading will turn red. Also, it will
show the pop-up windows to warn you the system has a problem!

Install Winbond Hardware Doctor Utility G-5

The figure below shows the warning message windows.

Ignore: You can ignore the warning message of the item this time, but it will still

pop up when the error of the same item happens again.

Disable: The chosen item will be no longer monitored thereafter, unless you

activate it in the "configuration" page.

Shutdown: Choosing this button will shutdown the computer.
Help: You can read more information and self-diagnose simple problems.

If the warning message pops up due to the wrong warning limit, you can adjust it
in the “Configuration” option. For example if you set the temperature high limit
to 40°C, you are easy to exceed proper temperature.

Please pay attention to two things when you want to make any changes in the
“Configuration” option. Firstly, you have to make sure your new setting is in the
proper range. Secondly, after you finished the configuration, you have to save it.
Otherwise, the program will start with the default value the next time.

G-6 Appendix G

Technical Support H-1

L

Appendix H Technical Support

If you have a problem during operation & In order to help our technical
support personnel to quickly find out what is the problem of your

motherboard and to give you the answers you need, before filling in the
technical support form, eliminate any peripheral that is not related to the problem,
and indicate on the form the key peripherals. Fax this form to your dealer or to the
company where you bought the hardware in order to benefit from our technical
support. (You can refer to the examples given below.)

2

Example 1:With a system including: motherboard (with CPU, DRAM,

COAST...) HDD, CD-ROM, FDD, VGA CARD, MPEG CARD,
SCSI CARD, SOUND CARD..., after the system is assembled, if you
cannot boot up, check the key components of the system using the
procedure described below.

First remove all interface cards except the VGA card and try to
reboot.

F

If you still cannot boot up:
Try installing another brand/model VGA card and see if the system

will start. If it still does not start, note the VGA card model,
motherboard model, Bios identification number, CPU on the
technical support form (refer to main instructions), and describe
the problem in the problem description space provided.

F

If you can boot up:
Insert back the interface cards you have removed one by one and

try to start the system each time you insert a card, until the system
doesn’t start anymore. Keep the VGA card and the interface card
that causes the problem inserted on the motherboard, remove any
other card or peripheral, and start again. If you still cannot start,
note down the information related to both cards in the add-on Card
space provided, and don’t forget to indicate the motherboard
model, version, BIOS identification number, CPU (refer to main
instructions), and give a description of the problem.

H-2 Appendix H

2

Example 2:With a system including the motherboard (with CPU, DRAM,

COAST...) HDD, CD-ROM, FDD, VGA CARD, LAN CARD,
MPEG CARD, SCSI CARD, SOUND CARD, after assembly and
after having installed the Sound Card Driver, when you restart the
system, when it runs the Sound Card Driver, it resets automatically.
This problem may be due to the Sound Card Driver. During the
Starting DOS… procedure, press SHIFT (BY-PASS) key, to skip
CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT; edit CONFIG.SYS with a text
editor, and in function the line that loads the Sound Card Driver, add
a remark REM, in order to disable the Sound Card Driver. See the
example below.

CONFIG.SYS:
DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS
DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE HIGHSCAN
DOS=HIGH,UMB

JJJ

FILES=40
BUFFERS=36

REM DEVICEHIGH=C:\PLUGPLAY\DWCFGMG.SYS

LASTDRIVE=Z
Restart the system. If the system starts and does not reset, you can be

sure that the problem is due to the Sound Card Driver. Note down the
Sound Card model, motherboard model, BIOS identification number
on the technical support file (refer to main instructions), and describe
the problem in the space provided.