AMI MERLIN DP AMI Merlin DP Manual

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Merlin DP

Dual Pentium® Pro

PCI ISA Motherboard

User's Guide

MAN – 750

12/10/96

5555 Oakbrook Parkway, Building 200,

Norcross, GA 30093

This publication contains proprietary information which is protected by copyright. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, translated into any language or computer language, or transmitted in any form whatsoever without the prior written consent of the publisher, American Megatrends, Inc.

Limited Warranty

Buyer agrees if this product proves to be defective, that American Megatrends, Inc. is only obligated to replace or refund the purchase price of this product at American Megatrend's discretion according to the terms and conditions on the motherboard warranty card. American Megatrends shall not be liable in tort or contract for any loss or damage, direct, incidental or consequential. Please see the Warranty Registration Card shipped with this product for full warranty details.

Limitations of Liability

In no event shall American Megatrends be held liable for any loss, expenses, or damages of any kind whatsoever, whether direct, indirect, incidental, or consequential, arising from the design or use of this product or the support materials provided with the product.

Trademarks

VESA is a registered trademark of the Video Electronics Standards Association. Intel and Pentium are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation. MS – DOS, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. IBM, AT, XT, CGA, VGA, PS/2, OS/2, and EGA are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. Fujitsu is a registered trademark of Fujitsu America, Inc. Motorola is a registered trademark of Motorola Corporation. Hitachi is a registered trademark of Hitachi America, Ltd. PNY is a registered trademark of PNY Corporation. Oki is a registered trademark of Oki America, Inc. NEC is a registered trademark of NEC Corporation. Samsung is a registered trademark of Samsung Electronics Corporation. Siemens is a trademark of Siemens Corporation. Mitsubishi is a registered trademark of Mitsubishi Electronics of America. Micron is a registered trademark of Micron Corporation. SCO, Unix, and UnixWare are registered trademarks of the Santa Cruz Operation, Inc. Toshiba is a registered trademark of Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba. VESA and DPMS are trademarks of Video Electronics Standards Association. All other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Revision History

9/25/96 Initial release of preliminary version. 10/22/96 Corrected minor errors in manual. 12/10/96 Added new AMIBIOS Setup options.

Merlin DP PCI Motherboard User’s Guide

Preface

To the OEM

Thank you for purchasing the high performance American Megatrends Merlin DP Dual Pentium Pro PCI ISA motherboard. This product is a state of the art motherboard that includes the famous AMIBIOS. It is assumed that you have also licensed the rights to use the American Megatrends documentation for the American Megatrends Merlin DP motherboard.

This manual was written for the OEM to assist in the proper installation and operation of this motherboard. This manual describes the specifications and features of the Merlin DP PCI motherboard. It explains how to assemble a system based on the Merlin DP PCI motherboard and how to use the AMIBIOS that is specifically designed for this motherboard.

This manual is not meant to be read by the computer owner who purchases a computer with this motherboard. It is assumed that you, the computer manufacturer, will use this manual as a sourcebook of information, and that parts of this manual will be included in the computer owner's manual.

Technical Support

If an American Megatrends motherboard fails to operate as described or you are in doubt about a configuration option, please call technical support at 770 – 246 – 8645.

Preface

American Megatrends BBS

The American Megatrends BBS permits OEMs, VARs, and system integrators to access technical information about motherboard and BIOS products. Product Engineering Change Notices, Tech Tips, Technical Notes, and complete technical manuals are available.

Data Transmission Rates

The American Megatrends BBS automatically handles modems with data transmission rates from 1,200 to 28,800 bps.

BBS Phone Numbers

The following table lists the characteristics of the BBS phone numbers. The BBS requires no parity, eight data bits, and one stop bit.

Phone Number Characteristics

770 – 246 – 8780 28,800 baud rate. Supports v.34. 770 – 246 – 8781 28,800 baud rate. Supports v.34. 770 – 246 – 8782 Supports HST and v.42. 770 – 246 – 8783 Supports HST and v.42.

Packing List

You should have received the following:

• a Merlin DP PCI motherboard,

• two serial cables,

• one parallel cable,

• a Warranty Card, and

• the American Megatrends Merlin DP PCI Pentium Pro Motherboard User's

Guide.

Merlin DP PCI Motherboard User’s Guide

1 Hardware Installation

Overview

The American Megatrends Merlin DP PCI Pentium Pro ISA motherboard features include:

• supports two Intel Pentium Pro CPUs operating at 133, 150, 166, 180, or 200

MHz,

• supports up to 512 MB of system memory,

• parity checking or ECC (Error Checking and Correction),

• PCI local bus throughput of 132 megabytes per second,

• three ISA expansion slots, and

• four PCI expansion slots.

ISA DMA or Bus Masters

The Merlin DP Pentium Pro PCI ISA motherboard conforms to the PCI Version

2.1 specification, if the PCI 2.1 Compliance option in Chipset Setup is set to Enabled. The Version 2.1 PCI specification requires a deterministic latency for PCI devices.

Computers that use ISA DMA or ISA bus masters will experience longer access latencies if the PCI 2.1 Compliance Chipset Setup option is set to Enabled.

AMIBIOS automatically configures the PCI slots. The PCI slots are synchronous with the CPU clock:

CPU External Clock FrequencyPCI Expansion Slot Frequency

66 MHz 33 MHz 60 MHz 30 MHz 50 MHz 25 MHz

Onboard I/O

The Merlin DP motherboard includes:

• two 40 – pin IDE connectors for 1 – 4 IDE drives,

• a 34 – pin floppy drive connector,

• two serial port connectors,

• a 25 – pin parallel port connector,

• a keyboard DIN connector, and

• a 9 – pin berg mouse connector.

Chapter 1 Hardware Installation

Merlin DP PCI Dimensions

The motherboard is approximately 8.55” by 13”.

Power Connectors

1.5"

13"

This motherboard contains sensitive electronic

components that can be easily damaged by static

electricity. Follow the instructions carefully to ensure

correct installation and to avoid static damage.

Expansi on

Slots

0.62"

Keyboard

Connectors

0.85"

SIMM

Sockets

1.5" CPU Fan and Voltage Regulators

8.55"

Warning

Merlin DP PCI Motherboard User’s Guide

Merlin DP PCI Motherboard Layout

Pin 1 is identified by a square pin and by a pointed box on the silkscr een.

PCI SLOT 4

J22

J23

PCI SLOT 3

PCI SLOT 2

J14 USB2 J13 USB1

BANK0 BANK1

PCI SLOT 1

J11

KEBD

PS/2 MOUSE

J8 SER1

J9 SER2

J10 Secondary IDE

J12 Primary IDE

J1 Floppy

J2 Parallel

Alarm

Optional RO M

BIOS

RTC/ Battery

J32

J36 KEYLOCK

J35 SPKR

J26

J16

J17

Megatren ds

Megatrends

J3 CPU

Me gatren ds

J29 J34

Fan

J30

CPU Fan

J31

J33

J20

Chapter 1 Hardware Installation

Step 1 Unpack the Motherboard

Step Action

1 Inspect the cardboard carton for obvious damage. If

damaged, call 770 – 246 – 8645. Leave the motherboard in its original packing.

2 Perform all unpacking and installation procedures on a

ground – connected anti – static mat. Wear an anti – static wristband grounded at the same point as the anti – static mat. Or use a sheet of conductive aluminum foil grounded through a 1 megohm resistor instead of the anti – static mat. Similarly, a strip of conductive aluminum foil wrapped around the wrist and grounded through a 1 megohm resistor serves the same purpose as the wristband.

3 Inside the carton, the motherboard is packed in an anti –

static bag, and sandwiched between sheets of sponge. Remove the sponge and the anti – static bag. Place the motherboard on a grounded anti – static surface component side up. Save the original packing material.

4 Inspect the motherboard for damage. Press down on all

ICs mounted in sockets to verify proper seating. Do not apply power to the motherboard if it has been damaged.

5 If the motherboard is undamaged, it is ready to be

installed.

Set Jumpers

Set all jumpers and install the CPU before placing the motherboard in the chassis.

Avoid Static Electricity

Static electricity can damage the motherboard and other computer components. Keep the motherboard in the anti – static bag until it is to be installed. Wear an anti – static wrist grounding strap before handling the motherboard. Make sure you stand on an anti – static mat when handling the motherboard.

Avoid contact with any component or connector on any adapter card, printed circuit board, or memory module. Handle these components by the mounting bracket.

Merlin DP PCI Motherboard User’s Guide

Step 2 Configure CPU

J16, J17, J26, and J22 select the CPU speeds and voltages for the two CPUs. Both CPUs are configured to the same speed.

CPU Speed

If using two CPUs with different speed ratings, set the motherboard jumpers to the lower CPU speed.

CPU Speed J22 J16 J17 J26

150 MHz Short Pins 1 – 2 Open Shorted Short Pins 3 – 4

166 MHz Short Pins 1 – 2 Shorted Open Short Pins3 – 4

180 MHz Short Pins 1 – 2 Open Shorted Short Pins 1 – 2

200 MHz Short Pins 1 – 2 Shorted Open Short Pins 1 – 2

Short Pins 5 – 6 Short Pins 7 – 8

Important

Please contact American Megatrends technical

support at 770 – 246 – 8645 to support a CPU

running at a higher speed.

Cont’d

Chapter 1 Hardware Installation

Step 2 Configure CPU, Continued

CPU Voltage

Each CPU can be independently set to the correct CPU core voltage. The factory setting for both CPUs is 3.3V. It should not be changed unless the CPU is rated differently. J6 sets the CPU voltage for the CPU in U13. J4 sets the CPU voltage for the CPU in U12.

Core CPU Voltage J6 and J7 Setting

3.5V Short Pins 1 – 2

3.4V Short Pins 1 – 2

3.3V (Factory Setting) Short Pins 1 – 2

3.2V Short Pins 1 – 2

3.1V Short Pins 1 – 2

3.0V Short Pins 1 – 2

2.9V Short Pins 1 – 2

2.8V Short Pins 1 – 2

2.7V Short Pins 3 – 4

2.6V Short Pins 3 – 4

2.5V Short Pins 3 – 4

2.4V Short Pins 3 – 4

2.3V Short Pins 5 – 6

2.2V Short Pins 5 – 6

2.1V Short Pins 7 – 8

No Voltage OPEN

Short Pins 3 – 4 Short Pins 5 – 6 Short Pins 7 – 8

Short Pins 3 – 4 Short Pins 5 – 6

Short Pins 3 – 4 Short Pins 7 – 8

Short Pins 3 – 4

Short Pins 5 – 6 Short Pins 7 – 8

Short Pins 5 – 6

Short Pins 7 – 8

Short Pins 5 – 6 Short Pins 7 – 8

Short Pins 5 – 6

Short Pins 7 – 8

Cont’d

Merlin DP PCI Motherboard User’s Guide

Step 2 Configure CPU, Continued

Voltage Regulator

One Voltage Regulator Module is shipped with every Merlin DP motherboard. You need another VRM if you install two CPUs. You can order VRMs for Intel Pentium Pro CPUs from:

Manufacturer Part Number AMI Part

Number

VXI Electronics, Inc. 4607 SE International Way Milwaukie OR 97222 503 – 652 – 7300 Fax: 503 – 786 – 5011

Connect CPU Fan J3 and J5 (shown below) are two – pin bergs that connect the fan on the CPU

heat sink to the motherboard power. J5 is the CPU fan connector for the CPU in socket U13. J3 is the CPU fan connector for the CPU in socket U12.

073 – 20674 – 07X MDL – P6 –

V5A124

GND

+ 12V

All Pentium Pro CPUs are shipped with a heat sink and a CPU fan. The wire from the CPU fan has two leads. The fan cable has a red lead and a black lead. Connect the Red lead to +12V.

Pin 1

GND

+ 12V

Pin 1

Warning

The red wire from the CPU fan must be connected to Pin 1 of J3

and J5.

Cont’d

Chapter 1 Hardware Installation

Step 2 Configure CPU, Continued

Install CPU

Install the CPU in the ZIF (zero insertion force) socket by performing the following steps. The CPU socket is near one edge of the motherboard.

Warning

Improper CPU installation can damage the CPU and

the motherboard. You must follow the procedures in

this section exactly as documented. Make sure you

wear an antistatic wristband while installing the

CPU. Follow all prescribed antistatic procedures.

Step Action

1 Lift the lever on the ZIF socket. The empty CPU socket looks like this.

2 Check for bent pins on the CPU. Gently straighten any bent pins with

pliers. Place the CPU in the middle of the socket, as shown below. Make sure that pin 1 of the CPU is aligned with pin 1 of the socket. Make sure you are properly grounded while handling the CPU.

Merlin DP PCI Motherboard User’s Guide

Step Action

3 Complete installation by lifting the ZIF lever to the other side of the

socket, as shown below.

Chapter 1 Hardware Installation

Step 3 Install Memory

System Memory

Four 32 – bit SIMM sockets are on this motherboard. System memory must be populated one bank at a time. Each bank has two

sockets. Bank0 includes U11 and U14. Bank1 includes U8 and U9. Each bank must be populated with the same type of SIMM. If a 4 MB SIMM is

installed in the first socket in Bank0, then the same type of 4 MB SIMM must be installed in the second Bank0 SIMM socket. The minimum amount of system memory supported by the Merlin DP PCI is 8 MB. Each socket can hold one SIMM. You can use:

• 1 MB x 32 (or 36),

• 2 MB x 32 (or 36),

• 4 MB x 32 (or 36),

• 8 MB x 32 (or 36),

• 16 MB x 32 (or 36), or

• 32 MB x 32 (or 36) SIMMs.

The Merlin DP motherboard will support 128 MB SIMMs when they become available, permitting up to 512 MB of system memory to be installed on the motherboard.

Fast Page Mode, EDO, and Burst EDO SIMMs cannot be mixed. The motherboard supports SIMMs operating at 50, 60, or 70 ns RAS access time. Set the Chipset Setup DRAM Speed option correctly.

Memory Display

System memory is reported by AMIBIOS as it boots and again when the AMIBIOS System Configuration Screen is displayed just before the operating system boots. The memory displayed by AMIBIOS on the System Configuration Screen is 384 KB less than the total memory installed.

Cont’d

Merlin DP PCI Motherboard User’s Guide

Step 3 Install Memory, Continued

Select SIMMs

SIMMs must meet the following specifications:

Parameter Specification

Page Mode FAST

Refresh CAS before RAS

CAC

RAC

CPA

SIMM Part Numbers

Type Manufacturer Part Number

1 MB x 36 Micron MT12D136M – 7 “ Mitsubishi MH1M36ADJ – 7 “ PNY P361000 – 70 “ Motorola MCM36100AS – 70 “ Oki MSC2355 – 70YS12 “ Samsung KMM5361000AV – 7 2 MB x 36 PNY P362000 – 70 “ Samsung EMM53620036 – 70 4 MB x 36 Micron MT12D436M – 7 “ Mitsubishi MH4M36SAJ – 7 “ Motorola MCM36400S – 70 “ PNY P364000 – 70 “ Samsung KMM5364100 – 7 8 MB x 36 Motorola MCM36800S – 70 “ PNY P368000 – 707 “ Samsung KMM5368100 – 7 16 MB x 36 Samsung KMM53616000AKG – 6

≤ 20 ns ≤ 80 ns ≤ 45 ns

70 ns

≤ 45 ns

Installing SIMMs

The four SIMM sockets on the motherboard can be filled with either 1 MB x 32 (or 36), 2 MB x 32 (or 36), 4 MB x 32 (or 36), 8 MB x 32 (or 36), or 16 MB x 32 (or

36) SIMMs. Place the motherboard on an anti – static mat. With the component side of the SIMM facing you, firmly push the SIMM into the socket at an angle, then push it up. When properly inserted, the SIMM clicks into place as the latching pins engage.

Chapter 1 Hardware Installation

Step 4 Install the Motherboard

The motherboard mounting hole pattern is the same as the mounting hole pattern on the standard baby AT motherboard. Standoffs and mounting screws are not supplied with the motherboard. The chassis manufacturer should supply these parts.

Step Action

1 Place the chassis on an anti – static mat. Connect the chassis

to ground to avoid static damage during installation. Connect an alligator clip with a wire lead to any unpainted part of the chassis. Ground the other end of the lead at the same point as the mat and the wristband.

2 Rotate the chassis so the front is to the right, and the rear is

to the left. The side facing you is where the motherboard is mounted. The power supply is mounted at the far end of the chassis.

3 Hold the motherboard, component – side up, with the edge

with the SIMM sockets toward you and the edge with the power supply connector away from you. The keyboard, mouse, and video connectors should be to the left.

4 Carefully slide the motherboard into the chassis. Make

certain the edge connectors fit the ports in the rear of the chassis. The motherboard should rest level with the chassis.

5 Place the mounting screws in the holes provided and tighten

them. If necessary, shift the motherboard slightly to align the mounting holes on the motherboard with the holes on the chassis.

If using metallic screws, make sure you use them only

in the plated mounting holes.

If using metallic screws, make sure the head of the

screw fits completely inside the plated mounting holes.

Merlin DP PCI Motherboard User’s Guide

Warning

Step 5 Attach Cables

Connectors

The Merlin DP PCI motherboard includes many connectors. Connection instructions, illustrations of connectors, and pinouts are supplied in the following screens.

Cable Connector Ends

When connecting chassis connectors to the motherboard, make sure to connect the correct connector end. Most connector wires are color – coded. Match the color of the wires leaving the switch or LED to the same pin on the connector end. There may be more than one connector with the same color – coded wires. If so, follow the wire to the switch or LED. All motherboard components are outlined by a white rectangular box with a broad arrow at one end. Pin 1 is always at the arrow end of the white outlined box.

Connect Power Supply

The power supply should match the physical configuration of the chassis. Make sure the power switch is off before assembly. Before attaching all components, make sure the proper voltage has been selected. Power supplies often can run on a wide range of voltages and must be set (usually via a switch) to the proper range. Use at least a 250 watt power supply, which should have built – in filters to suppress radiated emissions.

Connect Power Cables

Attach the power supply cables to the power connector (P1 and P2) on the motherboard. AT – compatible power supplies have two six – pin connectors, attached as shown below. The six – pin connector on the power cable with three red wires and two black wires is attached to P2. The other connector on the end of the power cable is attached to P1.

Chapter 1 Hardware Installation

Cont’d

Step 5 Attach Cables, Continued

Power Connector Keys

The power connectors are keyed to prevent incorrect installation. The keys on the connector must be cut to fit on some power supplies, as shown below.

Pin 1

P1 Pinout

Pin 1

Pin Description

1 Power Good (Orange wire) (Not used) 2 VCC (Red wire) 3 +12 Volts (Yellow wire) 4 – 12 Volts (Blue wire) 5 Ground (Black wire) 6 Ground (Black wire)

P2 Pinout

Merlin DP PCI Motherboard User’s Guide

Pin Description

1 Ground (Black wire) 2 Ground (Black wire) 3 – 5 Volts (White wire) 4 VCC (Red wire) 5 VCC (Red wire) 6 VCC (Red wire)

Cont’d

Step 5 Attach Cables, Continued

J11 Keyboard Connector

The keyboard connector is a 6 – pin DIN socket. The pinout is shown below.

Pin Assignments

1 Keyboard clock 2 Keyboard data

3, 6 Not used

4 Ground 5 VCC

Connect Mouse Cable

The mouse connector (J7 ) is a 10 – pin berg. The mouse cable is the same as the serial cable in the motherboard. Two serial cables are shipped with the motherboard. Use one of these cables for the mouse, or make your own cable. The pinout is:

Pin Description Pin Description

1 Mouse Clock 2 N/C 3 N/C 4 N/C 5 N/C 6 VCC 7 N/C 8 Mouse Data 9 Ground 10 N/C

PS/2 Mouse IRQ

J23 is a three – pin berg that enables the PS/2 mouse interrupt (IRQ12). Short Pins 1 – 2 of J23 to enable IRQ12 as the PS/2 mouse interrupt. You should always short Pins 1 – 2 of J23 to enable the PS/2 mouse interrupt. The only reason you would ever have to short Pins 2 – 3 of J23 is if you wanted an adapter card on the ISA bus to use IRQ12. You would then have to set the Mouse Support option in Advanced Setup to Disabled.

J23 Pins 1-2 Shorted IRQ12 us ed for PS/2 Mouse

Cont’d

Chapter 1 Hardware Installation

Step 5 Attach Cables, Continued

J29 Green PC Power

J29 is a two – pin berg that connects to a Green PC power supply. When the computer enters a power conserving state, a signal is sent from this berg to the power supply to permit the power supply to switch to a low power, high – efficiency mode. The + on Pin 2 identifies the positive connector.

J32 Reset Switch Connector

J32 is a two – pin single – inline berg that is attached via a cable to an externally – mounted reset switch. When the reset switch is pressed, the system performs a hard reset. Pin 1 is ground and Pin 2 is Hard Reset.

J35 Speaker Connector

J35 is a four – pin single – inline berg that is optionally attached via a cable to a standard system speaker. AMIBIOS signals hardware problems through the speaker. Pin 1 on the motherboard is identified by the arrow on the white box around the berg. The Merlin DP PCI motherboard also has a built – in speaker mounted on the motherboard.

Pin Description

1 Data Out 2 Key 3 N/C 4 VCC

Cont’d

Merlin DP PCI Motherboard User’s Guide

Step 5 Attach Cables, Continued

J36 Keyboard Lock

J36 is a 5 – pin single – inline berg that is attached via a cable to the keyboard lock connector or separate keyboard lock and Power LED connectors. The computer chassis may not include the keyboard lock and Power LED on a single connector. The keyboard lock allows the user to lock the keyboard, protecting the system from unauthorized use. Pin 1 on the motherboard is identified by the broad arrow.

Pin Description

1 VCC 2 Ground 3 Ground 4 Keyboard Lock (KBDINH) 5 Ground

J30 Turbo LED

J30 is a two – pin berg that is attached via a cable to the externally – mounted bipolar Turbo LED. The LED lights when the motherboard is running at high speed.

J34 IDE LED

J34 is a two – pin berg that is attached via a cable to the externally – mounted IDE Activity LED. This LED lights when the IDE drive is running.

Warning

In some IDE drives, you may have to disable the

IDE LED mounted on the drive by changing a

jumper or setting a switch on the IDE drive itself,

before the IDE drive sends a signal to J34.

Cont’d

Chapter 1 Hardware Installation

Step 5 Attach Cables, Continued

Onboard Adapters

The Merlin DP PCI motherboard has:

• two serial ports J8 and J9,

• a parallel port J2,

• an IDE controller on the PCI bus. The primary IDE connector is J12. The

secondary IDE connector is J10, and

• a floppy controller J1. The serial and parallel port connectors are described below.

Conflicts

AMIBIOS minimizes conflicts between onboard and offboard I/O devices. AMIBIOS automatically checks the adapter cards installed in the expansion slots on the Merlin DP PCI motherboard for a hard disk or floppy controller and serial or parallel ports.

J8 SER1 J9 SER2

J8 and J9 are 9 – pin connectors that provide an AT – compatible serial port interface. Connect the cables supplied with the motherboard to J8 and J9. The serial port base I/O port address and other serial port settings can be selected in Peripheral Setup in WINBIOS Setup. The J8 and J9 pinout is shown below.

Pin Signal Description Pin Signal Description

1 Carrier Detect 6 Data Set Ready 2 Receive Data 7 Request to Send 3 Transmit Data 8 Clear to Send 4 Data Terminal Ready 9 Ring Indicator 5 Ground 10 CUT PIN

Cont’d

Merlin DP PCI Motherboard User’s Guide

Step 5 Attach Cables, Continued

J2 Parallel Port

J2 is a 25 – pin connector for a parallel port. The J2 pinout is shown below. Connect the 16 – pin to DB25 cable provided with the motherboard to J6. The parallel port interface supports: the standard Centronics – compatible parallel port,

• the ECP Extended Capabilities Port and

• the EPP Enhanced Parallel Port

All parallel port settings must be correctly configured through Peripheral Setup in WINBIOS Setup.

Pin Signal Description Pin Signal Description

1 STROBE# 2 PD0 3 PD1 4 PD2 5 PD3 6 PD4 7 PD5 8 PD6

9 PD7 10 ACK# 11 BUSY 12 PE 13 SLCT 14 AUTOFD# 15 ERROR# 16 INIT# 17 SLCTIN# 18 Ground 19 Ground 20 Ground 21 Ground 22 Ground 23 Ground 24 Ground 25 Ground 26 Ground

Cont’d

Chapter 1 Hardware Installation

Step 5 Attach Cables, Continued

J1 Floppy

J1 is a 34 – pin dual – inline berg. Connect the cable from the floppy drive to J1, as shown below. The onboard floppy controller cannot be used if a hard disk card with a floppy controller is installed. Choose Standard Setup and Peripheral Setup to configure the floppy controller.

The motherboard supports up to two 720 KB, 1.44 MB, or 2.88 MB 3½" drives and 360 KB and 1.2 MB 5¼" drives. The connecting cable is a 34 – pin ribbon connector with two 34 – pin edge connectors for attaching the floppy disk drives. There is a small twist in the cable between the floppy connectors. The last (end) connector should be connected to floppy drive A:.

Cont’d

Merlin DP PCI Motherboard User’s Guide

Step 5 Attach Cables, Continued

J1 Floppy Connector Pinout

Pin Use Pin Use

1 GND 2 DENSE1 3 GND 4 N/C 5 GND 6 DRATE0 7 GND 8 – INDEX

9 GND 10 – MOTOR0 11 GND 12 – FDSEL1 13 GND 14 – FDSEL0 15 GND 16 – MOTOR1 17 GND 18 DIR 19 GND 20 – 21 GND 22 – WDATA 23 GND 24 – WGATE 25 GND 26 – TRK0 27 GND 28 – WRPROT 29 GND 30 – RDATA 31 GND 32 HDSEL 33 GND 34 DSKCHNG

Twist in Floppy Cable

Floppy B to A Floppy B to A Floppy B to A Floppy B to A

10 to 16 12 to 14 14 to 12 16 to 10 11 to 15 13 to 13 15 to 11

Cont’d

Chapter 1 Hardware Installation

Step 5 Attach Cables, Continued

IDE Drives

Attach the IDE drives in the following manner. Choose Peripheral Setup in WINBIOS Setup to enable the onboard IDE controller.

Merlin DP PCI Motherboard User’s Guide

Cont’d

Step 5 Attach Cables, Continued

Attach IDE Cable to J12

J12 is the primary IDE Integrated Drive Electronics hard disk drive connector. Both the primary master and the primary slave IDE drives must be connected by cable to J12, as shown below.

J12 is a 40 – pin dual – inline berg that connects an IDE drive to the primary onboard IDE connector. This motherboard supports IDE Modes 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4, IDE prefetch, LBA (Logical Block Address) mode, high capacity drives (over 528 MB), 32 – bit data transfer, and fast IDE transfer. These IDE features are configured in Peripheral Setup in the WINBIOS Setup utility.

Disable the onboard IDE interface in Peripheral Setup to use an ISA ESDI, RLL, MFM, or SCSI hard disk drive controller.

Cont’d

Chapter 1 Hardware Installation

Step 5 Attach Cables, Continued

J12 Pinout

The J12 pinout is:

Pin Use Pin Use

1 – RESET 2 GND 3 DATA7 4 DATA8 5 DATA6 6 DATA9 7 DATA5 8 DATA10

9 DATA4 10 DATA11 11 DATA3 12 DATA12 13 DATA2 14 DATA13 15 DATA1 16 DATA14 17 DATA0 18 DATA15 19 GND 20 KEY (N/C) 21 – REQ 22 GND 23 – IOW 24 GND 25 – IOR 26 GND 27 IDERDY 28 Pullup 29 – ACK 30 GND 31 INT14 32 N/C 33 HA1 34 N/C 35 HA0 36 HA2 37 – CS0 38 – CS1 39 – IDEACT 40 GND

J10 Secondary IDE Controller

J10, the secondary IDE connector, is a 40 – pin dual – inline berg that connects the secondary primary and slave IDE drives to the secondary onboard IDE controller.

Attach the secondary master and slave IDE drives to J10 via a standard 40 – pin IDE cable.

Cont’d

Merlin DP PCI Motherboard User’s Guide

Step 5 Attach Cables, Continued

J10 Pinout

The J10 pinout is:

Pin Use Pin Use

1 – RESET 2 GND 3 DATA7 4 DATA8 5 DATA6 6 DATA9 7 DATA5 8 DATA10

9 DATA4 10 DATA11 11 DATA3 12 DATA12 13 DATA2 14 DATA13 15 DATA1 16 DATA14 17 DATA0 18 DATA15 19 GND 20 KEY (N/C) 21 – REQ 22 GND 23 – IOW 24 GND 25 – IOR 26 GND 27 IDERDY 28 Pullup 29 – ACK 30 GND 31 INT15 32 N/C 33 HA1 34 N/C 35 HA0 36 HA2 37 – CS2 38 – CS3 39 N/C 40 GND

Chapter 1 Hardware Installation

Step 6 Test and Configure

Review the following points before powering up:

• make sure that all adapter cards are seated properly,

• make sure all connectors are properly installed,

• make sure the CPU is seated properly,

• make sure there are no screws or other foreign material on the

motherboard,

• plug the system into a surge – protected power strip, and

• make sure blank back panels are installed on the back of the chassis to

minimize RF emissions.

Start the Test

Plug everything in and turn on the switch. If there are any signs of a problem, turn off the unit immediately. Reinstall the connectors. Call Technical Support if there are problems.

BIOS Errors

If the system operates normally, a display should appear on the monitor. The BIOS Power On Self Test (POST) should execute.

If POST does not run successfully, it will beep or display error messages. Beeps indicate a serious problem with the system configuration or hardware. The Beep Code indicates the problem. AMIBIOS Beep Codes are defined in the AMIBIOS Technical Reference. Make sure the affected part is properly seated and connected. An error message is displayed if the error is less serious. Recheck the system configuration or the connections.

Configure the System

Run WINBIOS Setup. You must enter the requested information and save the configuration data in NVRAM. The system will then reset, run POST, and boot the operating system. See the following chapter for information on configuring the computer.

Merlin DP PCI Motherboard User’s Guide

2 WINBIOS Setup

In ISA and EISA computers, the system parameters (such as amount of memory, type of disk drives and video displays, and many other elements) are stored in NVRAM (Non – Volatile Random Access Memory), also called CMOS RAM. Unlike the DRAM (dynamic random access memory) that is used for standard system memory, NVRAM requires very little power. When the computer is turned off, a back – up battery provides power to NVRAM, which retains the system parameters. Every time the computer is powered – on, the computer is configured with the values stored in NVRAM by the system BIOS, which gains control when the computer is powered on.

The system parameters are configured by a system BIOS Setup utility. Historically, BIOS Setup utilities have been character – based, required keyboard input, and have had user interfaces that were not very intuitive.

Graphical Setup

American Megatrends has a new type of system BIOS Setup utility. WINBIOS Setup has a graphical user interface the end user can access using a mouse. The WINBIOS Setup code is so compact that it can reside on the same ROM as the system BIOS. The system configuration parameters are set by WINBIOS Setup.

Since WINBIOS Setup resides in the ROM BIOS, it is available each time the computer is turned on.

Starting WINBIOS Setup

As POST executes, the following appears:

Hit <DEL> if you want to run SETUP

Press <Del> to run WINBIOS Setup.

Chapter 2 WINBIOS Setup

Using a Mouse with WINBIOS Setup

WINBIOS Setup has a built – in mouse driver and can be accessed by either a serial mouse or PS/2 – style mouse. WINBIOS Setup supports Microsoft – Compatible serial mice and all PS/2 – type mice.

The mouse click functions are: single click to change or select both global and current fields and double – click to perform an operation in the selected field.

Using the Keyboard with WINBIOS Setup

WINBIOS has a built – in keyboard driver that uses simple keystroke combinations:

Keystroke Action

<Tab> Change or select a global field.

<→, ←, ↑, ↓ Change or select the current field.

<Enter> Perform an operation in the current field

+ Increment a value.

– Decrement a value.

<Esc> Abort any window function. <PgUp> Return to the previous screen <PgDn> Advance to the next scren. <Home> Returns to the beginning of the text.

<End> Advance to the end of the text.

<Ctrl><Alt><+> Change to high speed

<Ctrl><Alt>< – > Change to low speed.

Merlin DP PCI Motherboard User’s Guide

WINBIOS Setup Menu

The WINBIOS Setup main menu, shown below, is organized into four sections. Each of these sections corresponds to a section in this chapter.

Each section contains several icons. Clicking on each icon activates a specific AMIBIOS function. The WINBIOS Setup main windows and related functions are described below.

Main Windows

The WINBIOS Setup main windows are:

WINBIOS Setup Windows See Section

The Setup icons allow you to set system configuration

options such as date, time, hard disk type, and floppy

type.

The Utilities section allows you to change the WINBIOS

Setup screen colors and to change the language that

WINBIOS Setup screen message are written in.

The Security icons allow you to configure passwords and

enable AMIBIOS anti – virus protection.

Default has three icons that permit you to select a group

of settings for all AMIBIOS WINBIOS Setup options.

Chapter 2 WINBIOS Setup

Section 1 Setup

Standard Setup

Standard Setup options are displayed by choosing the Standard icon from the WINBIOS Setup main menu. All Standard Setup options are described in this section.

Date/Time

Select the Standard option. Select the Date and Time icon. The current values for each category are displayed. Enter new values through the keyboard.

Floppy Drive A: and B:

Move the cursor to these fields via ↑ and ↓ and select the floppy type. The settings are 360 KB 5¼ inch, 1.2 MB 5¼ inch, 720 KB 3½ inch, 1.44 MB 3½ inch, or 2.88 MB 3½ inch.

Pri Master, Pri Slave, Sec Master, Sec Slave

Select one of these hard disk drive icons to configure the hard disk drive named in the option. Select Auto from the drive parameters screen to let AMIBIOS automatically configure the drive. A screen with a list of drive parameters appears. Click on OK to configure the drive.

Drive Type How to Configure

SCSI Select Type. Select Not Installed in the drive parameter screen.

The SCSI drivers provided by the SCSI drive or SCSI host adapter manufacturer should allow you to configure the SCSI drive.

IDE Select Type. Select Auto to let AMIBIOS determine the

parameters. Click on OK when AMIBIOS displays the drive parameters. Select LBA/Large Mode. Select On if the drive has a capacity greater than 540 MB. Select Block Mode. Select On to allow block mode data transfers. Select 32 – Bit Transfer. Select On to allow 32 – bit data transfers. Select the PIO Mode. It is best to select Auto to allow AMIBIOS to determine the PIO mode. If you select a PIO mode that is not supported by the IDE drive, the drive will not work properly. If you are absolutely certain that you know the drive’s PIO mode, select PIO mode 0 – 5, as appropriate.

CD – ROM Select Type. Select CDROM. Click on OK when AMIBIOS

displays the drive parameters.

Standard

MFM Drive

Non –

Standard

MFM Drive

Select Type. You must know the drive parameters. Select the drive type that exactly matches your drive’s parameters. Select Type. If the drive parameters do not match the drive parameters listed for drive types 1 – 46, select User and enter the correct hard disk drive parameters.

Merlin DP PCI Motherboard User’s Guide

Cont’d

Standard Setup, Continued

Entering Drive Parameters

You can also enter the hard disk drive parameters. The drive parameters are:

Parameter Description

Type The number for a drive with certain identification

parameters.

Cylinders The number of cylinders in the disk drive.

Heads The number of heads.

Write

Precompensation

Landing Zone This number is the cylinder location where the heads

Sectors The number of sectors per track. MFM drives have 17

Capacity The formatted capacity of the drive is the number of

The actual physical size of a sector gets progressively smaller as the track diameter diminishes. Yet each sector must still hold 512 bytes. Write precompensation circuitry on the hard disk compensates for the physical difference in sector size by boosting the write current for sectors on inner tracks. This parameter is the track number on the disk surface where write precompensation begins.

normally park when the system is shut down.

sectors per track. RLL drives have 26 sectors per track. ESDI drives have 34 sectors per track. SCSI and IDE drives have even more sectors per track.

heads times the number of cylinders times the number of sectors per track times 512 (bytes per sector).

Cont’d

Chapter 2 WINBIOS Setup

Standard Setup, Continued

Hard Disk Drive Types

Type Cylinders Heads Write

1 306 4 128 305 17 10 MB 2 615 4 300 615 17 20 MB 3 615 6 300 615 17 31 MB 4 940 8 512 940 17 62 MB 5 940 6 512 940 17 47 MB 6 615 4 65535 615 17 20 MB 7 462 8 256 511 17 31 MB 8 733 5 65535 733 17 30 MB

9 900 15 65535 901 17 112 MB 10 820 3 65535 820 17 20 MB 11 855 5 65535 855 17 35 MB 12 855 7 65535 855 17 50 MB 13 306 8 128 319 17 20 MB 14 733 7 65535 733 17 43 MB 16 612 4 0 663 17 20 MB 17 977 5 300 977 17 41 MB 18 977 7 65535 977 17 57 MB 19 1024 7 512 1023 17 60 MB 20 733 5 300 732 17 30 MB 21 733 7 300 732 17 43 MB 22 733 5 300 733 17 30 MB 23 306 4 0 336 17 10 MB 24 925 7 0 925 17 54 MB 25 925 9 65535 925 17 69 MB 26 754 7 754 754 17 44 MB 27 754 11 65535 754 17 69 MB 28 699 7 256 699 17 41 MB 29 823 10 65535 823 17 68 MB 30 918 7 918 918 17 53 MB 31 1024 11 65535 1024 17 94 MB 32 1024 15 65535 1024 17 128 MB 33 1024 5 1024 1024 17 43 MB 34 612 2 128 612 17 10 MB 35 1024 9 65535 1024 17 77 MB 36 1024 8 512 1024 17 68 MB 37 615 8 128 615 17 41 MB 38 987 3 987 987 17 25 MB 39 987 7 987 987 17 57 MB 40 820 6 820 820 17 41 MB 41 977 5 977 977 17 41 MB 42 981 5 981 981 17 41 MB 43 830 7 512 830 17 48 MB 44 830 10 65535 830 17 69 MB 45 917 15 65535 918 17 114 MB 46 1224 15 65535 1223 17 152 MB

AMIBIOS automatically sets IDE drive parameters. Select USER to enter MFM, ESDI, or RLL drive

parameters. Select Not Installed for SCSI drives. Select CDROM for CD – ROM drives.

Precompensation

Landing

Zone

Sectors Capacity

Merlin DP PCI Motherboard User’s Guide

Advanced Setup

Advanced Setup options are displayed by choosing the Advanced icon from the WINBIOS Setup main menu. All Advanced Setup options are described in this section.

Typematic Rate

This option sets the rate at which characters on the screen repeat when a key is pressed and held down. The settings are Slow or Fast. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Fast.

System Keyboard

This option does not specify if a keyboard is attached to the computer. Rather, it specifies if error messages are displayed if a keyboard is not attached. This option permits you to configure workstations with no keyboards. The settings are Absent or Present. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Present.

Primary Display

This option configures the type of monitor attached to the computer. The settings are Mono, CGA40x25, CGA80x25, VGA/EGA, or Absent. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are VGA/EGA.

Mouse Support

Set this option to Enabled to enable AMIBIOS support for a PS/2 – type mouse. Pins 1 – 2 of J23 on the motherboard must be shorted together to enable PS/2 mouse support . The settings are Enabled or Disabled. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Enabled.

Cont’d

Chapter 2 WINBIOS Setup

Advanced Setup, Continued

Hit <DEL> Message Display

Set this option to Disabled to prevent

Hit <DEL> if you want to run Setup

from appearing when the system boots. The settings are Enabled or Disabled. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Enabled.

Wait for <F1> If Error

AMIBIOS POST runs system diagnostic tests that can generate a message followed by:

Press <F1> to continue

If this option is set to Enabled, AMIBIOS waits for an <F1> key press before continuing. If this option is set to Disabled, AMIBIOS continues the boot process without waiting for <F1> to be pressed. The settings are Enabled or Disabled. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Enabled.

Pause On Configuration Screen

This option specifies the length of time that the AMIBIOS configuration screen appears. The settings are 2 (seconds), 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, or Disabled. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Disabled.

Boot Up Num Lock

Set this option to On to turn off the Num Lock key when the system is powered on so you can use the arrow keys on both the numeric keypad and the keyboard. The settings are On or Off. The Optimal default setting is Off. The Fail – Safe default setting is On.

Password Check

This option enables password checking every time the system boots or when you run WINBIOS Setup. If Always is chosen, a user password prompt appears every time the computer is turned on. If Setup is chosen, the password prompt appears if WINBIOS is executed. Instructions for changing a password. Are provided later in this manual. The Optimal and Fail – Safe defaults are Setup.

Cont’d

Merlin DP PCI Motherboard User’s Guide

Advanced Setup, Continued

OS/2 Compatible Mode

Set this option to Enabled if running OS/2 operating system and using more than 64 MB of system memory on the motherboard. The settings are Enabled or Disabled. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Disabled.

Floppy Drive Seek

When this option is set to Enabled, AMIBIOS performs a Seek command on floppy drive A: before booting the system. The settings are Enabled or Disabled. The Optimal default setting is Disabled. The Fail – Safe default setting is Enabled.

Floppy Drive Swap

Set this option to Enabled to permit drives A: and B: to be swapped. The settings are Enabled or Disabled. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Disabled.

Quick Boot

Set this option to Enabled to allow the BIOS to boot to the operating system within 5 seconds after the computer power switch is turned on. The settings are Enabled or Disabled. The Optimal default setting is Enabled. The Fail – Safe default setting is Disabled.

Boot Up Sequence

This option sets the sequence of boot drives (floppy drive A:, hard disk drive C:, or a CD – ROM drive) AMIBIOS attempts to boot from after AMIBIOS POST completes. The settings are C:,A:,CDROM, A:,C:,CDROM, or CDROM,C:,A:. The Optimal default setting is C:,A:,CDROM. The Fail – Safe default setting is A:,C:,CDROM.

L1/L2 Cache

Set this option to Enabled to enable the L1 internal cache memory on the CPU and the L2 secondary cache memory. The settings are WriteBack, Write – Thru, or Disabled. The Optimal default setting is Enabled. The Fail – Safe default setting is Disabled.

Cont’d

Chapter 2 WINBIOS Setup

Advanced Setup, Continued

System BIOS Cacheable

When this option is set to Enabled, the contents of the F0000h system memory segment can be read from or written to L2 secondary cache memory. The contents of the F0000h memory segment are always copied from the BIOS ROM to system RAM for faster execution. The settings are Enabled or Disabled. The Optimal default setting is Enabled. The Fail – Safe default setting is Disabled.

Caching Controller

Set this option to Present if a cache controller is installed in the computer. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Absent.

Setting Description

Absent To comply with the PCI specifications, PCI adapter cards must be

reset every time the CPU is reset. When the end user forces a soft reset by pressing <Ctrl> <Alt> <Del>, only the CPU is reset. When this option is set to No, all soft resets are converted to hard resets, and all PCI adapter cards are reset when the CPU is reset.

Present Soft resets still behave like soft resets when Present is selected.

Select this option if a caching controller is installed in the computer. Soft resets must not generate a hard reset if a caching controller is used. If a hard reset is generated, a PCI caching controller card may not be able to flush data from its cache memory to a hard disk drive before the reset.

Cont’d

Merlin DP PCI Motherboard User’s Guide

Advanced Setup, Continued

Video Shadow C000, 32K

This option specifies the way that the 32 KB of video ROM beginning at C0000h is treated. The settings are:

Setting Description

Disabled The contents of the video ROM are not copied to RAM.

Cached The contents of the video ROM area from C0000h – C7FFFh are not

only copied from ROM to RAM, the contents of the C0000h – C7FFFh RAM area can be written to or read from cache memory.

Shadow The contents of the video ROM area from C0000h – C7FFFh are

copied (shadowed) from ROM to RAM for faster execution.

The Optimal default setting is Cached. The Fail – Safe default setting is Disabled.

Shadow C800,16K Shadow CC00,16K Shadow D000,16K Shadow D400,16K Shadow D800, 16K Shadow DC00,16K

These options enable shadowing of the contents of the ROM area named in the option title. The ROM area that is not used by ISA adapter cards will be allocated to PCI adapter cards. The settings are:

Setting Description

Disabled The contents of the video ROM are not copied to RAM.

Cached The contents of the video ROM area from C0000h – C7FFFh

are not only copied from ROM to RAM, the contents of the C0000h – C7FFFh RAM area can be written to or read from cache memory.

Shadow The contents of the video ROM area from C0000h – C7FFFh

are copied (shadowed) from ROM to RAM for faster execution.

The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Disabled.

Chapter 2 WINBIOS Setup

Chipset Setup

Chipset Setup options are displayed by choosing the Chipset icon from the WINBIOS Setup main menu. All Chipset Setup options are described below.

PCI 2.1 Compliance

Set this option to Enabled to program the chipset to comply with the PCI Version 2.1 specification. The settings are Enabled or Disabled. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Disabled.

DRAM Speed (ns)

This option specifies the RAS access time (in nanoseconds) of the DRAM used in the computer for system memory. The settings are 50 ns, 60 ns, or 70 ns. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are 70 ns.

DRAM ECC Mode

This option sets the type of system memory checking. The settings are:

Setting Description

Disabled No error checking or error reporting is done. (Optimal and Fail – Safe default)

Level I Multibit errors are detected and reported as parity errors. Single – bit errors are

corrected by the chipset. Corrected bits of data from memory are not written back to DRAM system memory. If Level I is selected, the J31 External SMI software jumper on the motherboard is disabled.

Level II Multibit errors are detected and reported as parity errors. Single – bit errors are

corrected by the chipset and are written back to DRAM system memory. If a soft (correctable) memory error occurs, writing the fixed data back to DRAM system memory will resolve the problem. Most DRAM errors are soft errors. If a hard (uncorrectable) error occurs, writing the fixed data back to DRAM system memory does not solve the problem. In this case, the second time the error occurs in the same location, a Parity Error is reported, indicating an uncorrectable error. If Level II is selected, AMIBIOS automatically sets the Standard Power Management option in Power Management Setup to Enabled to make sure that the System Management Interface (SMI) is enabled. If you do not want to enable power management, set the Advanced Power Management (APM) option to Disabled and set all Power Management Setup timeout options to Disabled. To enable power management, set Advanced Power Management (APM) to Enabled and set the power management timeout options as desired.

The difference between Level I and Level II ECC is shown below. If a DRAM SIMM has a single bit uncorrectable error, even writing fixed data to this bit will not remove the error.

Setting then...

Level I the data error is fixed during the memory read cycle every time the bad bit is accessed

and the system continues to run, although every time the bad bit is read and corrected, CPU cycles are wasted.

Level II the system tries to write the corrected data back to the bad bit in the DRAM SIMM.

Since the bad bit in the SIMM cannot be fixed, writing data to the bad bit has no effect. The next time the error location is read, the chipset will once again find a bad bit. The chipset generates a Parity Error, indicating an uncorrectable memory error.

Cont’d

Merlin DP PCI Motherboard User’s Guide

Chipset Setup, Continued

ISA VGA USWC/Video Frame Buffer

This option specifies the starting address of the VGA video frame buffer using USWC.

USWC is Uncacheable, Speculatable, Write – Combined memory. The settings are:

Setting Description

Disabled No VGA video frame buffer is available.

A0000h The system memory segment beginning at A0000h is used for

the VGA USWC/video frame buffer.

B0000h The system memory segment beginning at B0000h is used for

the VGA USWC/video frame buffer.

Both The 128 KB of system memory from A0000h through BFFFFh

is used for the VGA USWC/video frame buffer.

VGA card drivers may not behave correctly when this option is not set to Disabled. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Disabled.

PCI VGA USWC/Video Frame Buffer

Set this option to Enabled to enable the USWC memory attribute and improve video performance when a PCI video adapter is installed. However, VGA card drivers may not behave correctly when this option is set to Enabled. The settings are Disabled or Enabled. The Optimal and Fail – Safe defaults are Disabled.

Optional ROM

The Merlin DP PCI Pentium Pro motherboard has an empty option ROM socket near the ISA expansion slots. You can install a 32 KB ROM in this socket. The starting memory address of this ROM can be either C000h (only if this computer does not have a VGA controller), C800h, D000h, or D800h. The following three Chipset Setup options configure the option ROM only if you have installed a ROM chip in the option ROM socket.

Optional ROM Decode

This option specifies the starting address of an adapter ROM to be decoded. The settings are C000h, C800h, D000h, D800h, or Disabled. The Optimal and Fail – Safe defaults are Disabled.

Cont’d

Chapter 2 WINBIOS Setup

Chipset Setup, Continued

Optional ROM Shadow Before Init

Set this option to Enabled to permit the contents of the option ROM to be copied to RAM before being initialized by AMIBIOS during Power On Self Test. This option does not appear if the Optional ROM Decode option is set to Disabled. The settings are Disabled or Enabled. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Disabled.

Optional ROM Cacheable

Set this option to Enabled to allow the contents of the option ROM to be read from or written to cache memory. This option does not appear if the Optional ROM Shadow Before Init option is set to Disabled. The settings are Enabled or Disabled. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Disabled.

Watchdog Timer

This motherboard has an integrated system watchdog timer. The watchdog timer reboots the computer if there is no bus activity for 1.2 seconds.

Set this option to Enabled when running applications (such as a security system) that require continuous monitoring. The computer then automatically resets after it locks up and the application can continue running with no human intervention required.

The settings are Enabled or Disabled. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Disabled.

CPU Thermal Alarm

Set this option to Enabled to enable an alarm if the Pentium Pro CPU overheats. The settings are Enabled or Disabled. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Disabled.

Cont’d

Merlin DP PCI Motherboard User’s Guide

Chipset Setup, Continued

ISA 8 Bit I/O Recovery Time

This option specifies the length of the delay that is added to the CPU cycle between consecutive 8 – bit I/O operations. The length of the delay is related to the CPU type and frequency. The settings are 1 Sysclock, 2 Sysclocks, 3 Sysclocks, 4 Sysclocks, 5 Sysclocks, 6 Sysclocks, 7 Sysclocks, 8 Sysclocks, or Disabled. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Disabled.

ISA 16 Bit I/O Recovery

This option specifies the length of the delay that is added to the CPU cycle between consecutive 16 – bit I/O operations. The length of the delay is related to the CPU type and frequency. The settings are 1 Sysclock, 2 Sysclocks, 3 Sysclocks, 4 Sysclocks, or Disabled. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Disabled.

Memory Hole

This option specifies the location of an area of memory that cannot be addressed on the ISA bus. The settings are Disabled, 15 MB – 16 MB, or 512KB – 640KB. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Disabled.

Deturbo Frequency (MHz)

This option specifies the deturbo frequency (in megahertz). The deturbo frequency is a low speed used only for old software that cannot operate at high speed. The settings are 6 MHz, 8 MHz, 12 MHz, or Disabled. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Disabled.

Chapter 2 WINBIOS Setup

Power Management Setup

The AMIBIOS Setup options described in this section are selected by choosing the Power Management Setup icon from the Setup section on the AMIBIOS Setup main menu.

Standard Power Management

Set this option to Enabled to enable standard power management, including SMI support. The settings are Enabled, Instant On, or Disabled. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Disabled.

Advanced Power Management (APM)

Set this option to Enabled to enable APM. The settings are Enabled or Disabled. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Disabled.

Instant-On Timeout (Minute)

This option specifies the length of a period of system inactivity while the computer is in Full power on state. When this length of time expires, the computer enters a low power consumption state, but the computer can return to full power instantly when any system activity occurs. This option is only available if supported by the computer hardware. The settings are Disabled, 1 min. (minute), 2 min, 3 min., 4 min., 5 min., 6 min, 7 min., 8 min., 9 min., 10 min., 11 min., 12 min., 13 min., 14 min, or 15 min. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Disabled.

Auxiliary Power Supply Timeout

This option specifies the power state that the auxiliary power supply enters when AMIBIOS places it in a power saving state after the specified period of display inactivity has expired. The settings are Megakey (the power savings state determined by the Megakey keyboard controller), Standby, Suspend or Disabled. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Disabled.

Cont’d

Merlin DP PCI Motherboard User’s Guide

Power Management Setup, Continued

DPMS Video Power Down Mode

This option specifies the power state that a DPMS (Display Power Management Specification) – compliant video subsystem enters when AMIBIOS places it in a power saving state after the specified period of display inactivity has expired. The settings are Standby, Suspend, or Disabled. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Disabled.

Green PC Monitor Power State

This option specifies the power state that the green PC – compliant video monitor enters when AMIBIOS places it in a power saving state after the specified period of display inactivity has expired. The settings are Off, Standby, Suspend, or Disabled. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Disabled.

Hard Disk Power Down Mode

This option specifies the power conserving state that the hard disk drive enters after the specified period of hard drive inactivity has expired. The settings are Disabled, Standby, or Suspend. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Disabled.

Hard Disk Timeout (Minute)

This option specifies the length of a period of hard disk drive inactivity. When this length of time expires, the computer enters power – conserving state specified in the Hard Disk Power Down Mode option (see the previous screen). The settings are Disabled, 1 min. (minute), 2 min, 3 min., 4 min., 5 min., 6 min, 7 min., 8 min., 9 min., 10 min., 11 min., 12 min., 13 min., 14 min, or 15 min. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Disabled.

Cont’d

Chapter 2 WINBIOS Setup

Power Management Setup, Continued

Standby Timeout

This option specifies the length of a period of system inactivity while in Full power on state. When this length of time expires, the computer enters Standby power state. The settings are Disabled, 1 min. (minute), 2 min, 3 min., 4 min., 5 min., 6 min, 7 min., 8 min., 9 min., 10 min., 11 min., 12 min., 13 min., 14 min, or 15 min. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Disabled.

Suspend Timeout

This option specifies the length of a period of system inactivity while in Standby state. When this length of time expires, the computer enters Suspend power state. The settings are Disabled, 1 min. (minute), 2 min, 3 min., 4 min., 5 min., 6 min, 7 min., 8 min., 9 min., 10 min., 11 min., 12 min., 13 min., 14 min, or 15 min. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Disabled.

Slow Clock Ratio

This option specifies the speed at which the system clock runs in power saving states. The settings are expressed as a ratio between the normal CPU clock speed and the CPU clock speed when the computer is in the power – conserving state. The settings are 1:1, 1:2, 1:4, 1:8, 1:16, 1:32, 1:64, or 1:128. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are 1:8.

Cont’d

Merlin DP PCI Motherboard User’s Guide

Power Management Setup, Continued

IRQ3 IRQ4 IRQ5 IRQ7 IRQ9 IRQ10 IRQ11 IRQ12 IRQ15

When set to Monitor, these options enable event monitoring on the specified hardware interrupt request line. If set to Monitor and the computer is in a power saving state, AMIBIOS watches for activity on the specified IRQ line. The computer enters the Full On state if any activity occurs. AMIBIOS reloads the Standby and Suspend timeout timers if activity occurs on the specified IRQ line.

The settings for each of these options are Monitor or Ignore. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are:

Option Optimal Default Fail-Safe Default

IRQ3 Monitor Monitor IRQ4 Monitor Monitor IRQ5 Monitor Disabled IRQ7 Monitor Monitor

IRQ9 Monitor Disabled IRQ10 Monitor Disabled IRQ11 Monitor Disabled IRQ12 Monitor Monitor IRQ15 Monitor Monitor

Chapter 2 WINBIOS Setup

PCI/PnP Setup

Choose the PCI/PnP Setup icon from the WINBIOS Setup screen to display the PCI and Plug and Play Setup options, described below.

PCI VGA Palette Snoop

When this option is set to Enabled, multiple VGA devices operating on different buses can handle data from the CPU on each set of palette registers on every video device. Bit 5 of the command register in the PCI device configuration space is the VGA Palette Snoop bit (0 is disabled). For example: if there are two VGA devices in the computer (one PCI and one ISA) and:

VGA Palette

Snoop Bit Setting

Disabled Data read and written by the CPU is only directed to the PCI VGA

device's palette registers.

Enabled Data read and written by the CPU is directed to the both the PCI

VGA device's palette registers and the ISA VGA device palette registers, permitting the palette registers of both devices to be identical.

Action

This option must be set to Enabled if any ISA adapter card installed in the system requires VGA palette snooping. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Disabled.

PCI Slot-1 Latency Timer PCI Slot-2 Latency Timer PCI Slot-3 Latency Timer PCI Slot-4 Latency Timer

These options specify the latency timings (in PCI clocks) for PCI devices installed in the four PCI expansion slots. The settings are 32, 64, 96, 128, 160, 192, 224, or 248. The Optimal default setting is 248. The Fail – Safe default setting is 248.

PCI Slot-1 IRQ Preference PCI Slot-2 IRQ Preference PCI Slot-3 IRQ Preference PCI Slot-4 IRQ Preference

These options specify the IRQ priority for PCI devices installed in the four PCI expansion slots. The settings are Auto, IRQ3, IRQ4, IRQ5, IRQ7, IRQ9, IRQ10, IRQ11, IRQ12, IRQ 14, or IRQ15, in priority order. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Auto.

Cont’d

Merlin DP PCI Motherboard User’s Guide

PCI/PnP Setup, Continued

IRQ3 IRQ4 IRQ5 IRQ7 IRQ9 IRQ10 IRQ11 IRQ12 IRQ14 IRQ15

These options specify the bus that the specified IRQ line is used on. These options allow you to reserve IRQs for legacy ISA adapter cards.

These options determine if AMIBIOS should remove an IRQ from the pool of available IRQs passed to devices that are configurable by the system BIOS. The available IRQ pool is determined by reading the ESCD NVRAM . If more IRQs must be removed from the pool, the end user can use these options to reserve the IRQ by assigning an ISA/EISA setting to it. Onboard I/O is configured by AMIBIOS. All IRQs used by onboard I/O are configured as PCI/PnP.

IRQ12 only appears if the Mouse Support option in Advanced Setup is set to Disabled.

IRQ14 and 15 will not be available if the onboard Triton PCI IDE is enabled. If all IRQs are set to ISA/EISA and IRQ14 and 15 are allocated to the onboard PCI IDE, IRQ9 will still be available for PCI and PnP devices, because at least one IRQ must be available for PCI and PnP devices.

The settings are ISA/EISA or PCI/PnP. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings for IRQ3 through 7 are ISA/EISA. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings for IRQ0 through 15 are PCI/PnP.

Cont’d

Chapter 2 WINBIOS Setup

PCI/PnP Setup, Continued

DMA Channel 0 DMA Channel 1 DMA Channel 3 DMA Channel 5 DMA Channel 6 DMA Channel 7

These options allow you to specify the bus type used by each DMA channel. The settings are PnP or ISA. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are PnP.

Reserved ISA Card Memory Size

This option specifies the size of the memory area reserved for legacy ISA adapter cards. The settings are Disabled, 16K, 32K, or 64K. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Disabled.

Reserved ISA Card Memory Address

This option specifies the beginning address (in hex) of the reserved memory area. The specified ROM memory area is reserved for use by legacy ISA adapter cards.

This option does not appear if the Reserved Memory Size option is set to Disabled.

The settings are C0000, C4000, C8000, CC000, D0000, D4000, D8000, or DC000. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are not supplied.

Merlin DP PCI Motherboard User’s Guide

Peripheral Setup

Peripheral Setup options are displayed by choosing the Peripheral Setup icon from the WINBIOS Setup main menu. All Peripheral Setup options are described in this section.

Onboard Floppy Controller

Set this option to Enabled to enable the floppy drive controller on the motherboard. The settings are Enabled or Disabled. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Enabled.

Onboard Primary/Secondary IDE

This option specifies the IDE channel used by the onboard IDE controller. The settings are Disabled, Primary, Secondary, or Both. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Disabled.

Onboard IDE Bus Master

Set this option to Enabled if the onboard IDE controller is a PCI bus mastering device. The settings are Enabled or Disabled. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Enabled.

Onboard Primary Prefetch

This option enables the prefetch feature for the specified IDE device attached to the onboard Primary IDE controller. The settings are Master, Slave, Both, or Disabled. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Disabled.

Onboard Secondary Prefetch

This option enables the prefetch feature for the specified IDE device attached to the onboard Secondary IDE controller. The settings are Master, Slave, Both, or Disabled. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Disabled.

Cont’d

Chapter 2 WINBIOS Setup

Peripheral Setup, Continued

Offboard PCI/ISA IDE Card

This option specifies the expansion slot that the offboard PCI or ISA IDE Controller adapter card is installed in. The Onboard Primary/Secondary IDE option must be set to Disabled if this option is set to any value except Disabled.

The settings are Absent, ISA, Slot1, Slot2, Slot3, or Slot4. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Absent.

Offboard Primary/Secondary

This option specifies the IDE channel used by the offboard PCI controller. The settings are Primary, Secondary, or Both. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Primary.

Offboard PCI IDE Primary IRQ Offboard PCI IDE Secondary IRQ

These options specify the PCI interrupt used by the primary and secondary IDE channels if an offboard IDE controller is installed in the computer. The settings are Disabled, Hardwired, INTA, INTB, INTC, or INTD. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Disabled.

Serial Port1 IRQ

This option specifies the IRQ (Interrupt Request Line) used by serial port 1. The settings are IRQ 4 or Disabled. The Optimal default setting is IRQ 4. The Fail – Safe default setting is Disabled.

Serial Port1 Address

This option specifies the base I/O port address for serial port 1. The settings are 3E8h, 3F8h, or Disabled. The Optimal default setting is 3F8h. The Fail – Safe default setting are not supplied.

Cont’d

Merlin DP PCI Motherboard User’s Guide

Peripheral Setup, Continued

Serial Port1 FIFO

Set this option to Enabled to enable the FIFO buffer for the first serial port. The settings are Enabled or Disabled. The Optimal default setting is Disabled. The Fail – Safe default setting is not supplied.

Caution

Do not enable the Serial Port 1 FIFO option if a mouse is

Serial Port2 IRQ

This option specifies the IRQ (Interrupt Request Line) used by serial port 1. The settings are IRQ 3, IRQ 4 or Disabled. The Optimal default setting is IRQ 3. The Fail – Safe default setting is Disabled.

Serial Port2 Address

This option specifies the base I/O port address for serial port 2. The settings are 2F8h, 2E8h, or Disabled. The Optimal default setting is 2F8h. The Fail – Safe default settings are not supplied.

Serial Port2 FIFO

attached to COM1.

This option enables the FIFO buffer for the second serial port. The settings are Enabled or Disabled. The Optimal default setting is Disabled. The Fail – Safe default settings are not supplied.

Parallel Port IRQ

This option specifies the IRQ (Interrupt Request Line) used by the parallel port. The settings are Disabled, IRQ 5, or IRQ 7. The Optimal default setting is IRQ 7. The Fail – Safe default setting is Disabled.

Caution

Do not enable the Serial Port2 FIFO option if a mouse is

attached to COM2.

Cont’d

Chapter 2 WINBIOS Setup

Peripheral Setup, Continued

Parallel Port Address

This option specifies the base I/O port address for the parallel port. The settings are 378h, 278h, or Disabled. The Optimal default setting is 378h. The Fail – Safe default setting is not supplied.

Parallel Port Mode

This option specifies the parallel port mode. ECP and EPP are both bidirectional data transfer modes that adhere to the IEEE P1284 specifications. The settings are:

Setting Description

Normal The standard AT – compatible parallel port mode is used. EPP The parallel port can be used with devices that adhere to

the Enhanced Parallel Port (EPP) specification. EPP uses the existing parallel port signals to provide asymmetric bidirectional data transfer driven by the host device.

ECP The parallel port can be used with devices that adhere to

the Extended Capabilities Port (ECP) specification. ECP uses the DMA protocol to achieve data transfer rates up to 2.5 Megabits per second. ECP provides symmetric bidirectional communication.

The Optimal default setting is Normal. The Fail – Safe default setting is not supplied.

Parallel Port DMA Channel

This option is only available if the setting for the Parallel Port Mode option is ECP. This option sets the DMA channel used by the parallel port. The settings are DMA CH 1, or DMA CH 3. The Optimal and Fail – Safe default settings are Disabled.

Merlin DP PCI Motherboard User’s Guide

Section 2 Security

Three icons appear in this part of the WINBIOS Setup screen:

• Supervisor (Password),

• User (Password), and

• Anti – Virus.

Two Levels of Passwords

Both the Supervisor and the User icons configure password support. If you use both, the Supervisor password must be set first.

The system can be configured so that all users must enter a password every time the system boots or when WINBIOS Setup is executed, using either or both the Supervisor password or User password.

AMIBIOS Password Support

The Supervisor and User icons activate two different levels of password security: Supervisor and User.

In addition, the computer can be configured so that all users must enter a password every time the system boots or when WINBIOS Setup is executed.

Chapter 2 WINBIOS Setup

Setting a Password

The password check option is enabled in Advanced Setup by choosing either Always (the password prompt appears every time the system is powered on) or Setup (the password prompt appears only when WINBIOS is run). The password is encrypted and stored in NVRAM.

As shown on the above screen, you are prompted for a 1 – 6 character password. You can either type the password on the keyboard or select each letter of the password, one at a time, using the mouse. The password does not appear on the screen when typed. Make sure you write it down. If you forget it, you must drain NVRAM and reconfigure.

If You Do Not Want to Use a Password

Just press <Enter> when the password prompt appears.

Merlin DP PCI Motherboard User’s Guide

Changing a Password

Select the Supervisor or User icon from the Security section of the WINBIOS Setup main menu. Enter the password and press <Enter>. The screen does not display the characters entered. After the new password is entered, retype the new password as prompted and press <Enter>.

If the password confirmation is incorrect, an error message appears. If the new password is entered without error, press <Esc>. The password is stored in NVRAM after WINBIOS completes. The next time the system boots, a password prompt appears if the password function is present and enabled.

Remember the Password

Keep a record of the new password when the password is changed. If you forget the password, you must erase the system configuration information in NVRAM (Non – Volatile Random Access Memory).

Anti-Virus

When this icon is selected from the Security section of the WINBIOS Setup main menu, AMIBIOS issues a warning when any program (or virus) issues a Disk Format command or attempts to write to the boot sector of the hard disk drive. The settings are Enabled or Disabled. If enabled, the following appears when a write is attempted to the boot sector. You may have to type N several times to prevent the boot sector write.

Boot Sector Write!!! Possible VIRUS: Continue (Y/N)? _

The following appears after any attempt to format any cylinder, head, or sector of any hard disk drive via the BIOS INT 13 Hard Disk Drive Service:

Format!!! Possible VIRUS: Continue (Y/N)? _

Chapter 2 WINBIOS Setup

Section 3 Utility

The icons in this section of the WINBIOS Setup main screen permit you to choose a different set of colors for the WINBIOS Setup screens and to display all WINBIOS Setup text displayed on the screen in a different language.

If you choose to display the WINBIOS Setup screen text in a different language, the text for the screen messages written in the selected language must have been incorporated into the WINBOIS Setup code in AMIBIOS when the BIOS was manufactured.

Color Set

Color Set sets the WINBIOS Setup screen colors.

Language

If this feature is enabled, you can choose to display all WINBIOS Setup screen text in different languages.

Merlin DP PCI Motherboard User’s Guide

Section 4 Default

The icons in this section permit you to select a group of settings for all WINBIOS Setup options. Not only can you use these icons to quickly set system configuration parameters, you can choose a group of settings that have a better chance of working when the system is having configuration – related problems.

Original

Choose the Original icon to return to the system configuration values present in WINBIOS Setup when you first began this WINBIOS Setup session.

Optimal

You can load the optimal default settings for the WINBIOS by selecting the Optimal icon. The Optimal default settings are best – case values that should optimize system performance. If NVRAM is corrupted, the Optimal settings are loaded automatically.

Fail-Safe

You can load the Fail – Safe WINBIOS Setup option settings by selecting the Fail – Safe icon from the Default section of the WINBIOS Setup main menu. The Fail – Safe settings provide far from optimal system performance, but are the most stable settings. Use this option as a diagnostic aid if the system is behaving erratically.

Chapter 2 WINBIOS Setup

3 Programming Flash ROM

All versions of the Merlin DP PCI motherboard use Flash EPROM to store the system BIOS. The advantage of Flash EPROM is the EPROM chip does not have to be replaced to update the BIOS. The end user can actually reprogram the BIOS, using a ROM file supplied by American Megatrends.

Programming the Flash EPROM

Step Action

1 Turn power off. Make sure the computer has a working speaker. 2 Insert the floppy disk with the S750P.ROM file in drive A:. 3 Press and hold the <Ctrl> and <Home> keys down while turning the

power on. Continue to hold the <Ctrl> and <Home> keys down until the access light on the floppy drive comes on. It may take 10 seconds or more before this light turns on.

4 Release the <Ctrl> and <Home> keys. AMIBIOS issues a series of beep

codes that indicate that the system BIOS ROM file is being updated.

5 When the flash ROM has successfully been programmed, the computer

will reboot.

6 When the computer reboots, check the BIOS Release text at the bottom

of the first boot screen to make sure that the correct BIOS has been used.

7 The error message

NVRAM checksum bad, NVRAM cleared

will appear during the first boot after a successful BIOS ROM update. This message indicates that the NVRAM area in the system BIOS has been cleared. AMIBIOS will reconstruct the NVRAM area before the computer boots completely, so you can safely ignore this message.

8 Load the optional default and save.

Cont’d

Chapter 3 Programming the Flash ROM

Programming the Flash ROM, Continued

Bootblock Actions

When you reprogram from system boot, the bootblock code:

Step Action

1 Reads S750P.ROM from the root directory of the floppy

disk in drive A:. 2 Erases the Flash EPROM. 3 Programs the Flash EPROM with the data read from the

floppy disk in drive A:. 4 Generates a CPU reset, rebooting the computer.

The bootblock part of the Flash EPROM is not programmed. Should you inadvertently open the disk drive door or turn power off to the computer while programming the Flash EPROM, the bootblock will be unaffected. Simply turn power back on and begin the Flash ROM programming process again.

S750P.ROM

S750P.ROM resides on a floppy disk and contains the updated main BIOS code. American Megatrends will provide this file when the AMIBIOS for the Merlin DP PCI ISA motherboard must be updated.

S750P.ROM must be present in the root directory of the floppy disk before the onboard Flash EPROM can be reprogrammed. The file that has the main BIOS code must be named S750P.ROM.

Cont’d

Merlin DP PCI Motherboard User’s Guide

Programming the Flash ROM, Continued

Beep Codes

The bootblock code produces a series of beeps during Flash ROM programming to: signify completion of a step (as shown on the previous screen), or to signal an error.

Error beeps are arranged in a coded sequence and have different meanings depending on when they occur. The error beep codes and when they can occur are:

Number of

Beeps

1 Insert diskette in floppy drive A:. 2 The AMIBOOT.ROM file was not found in the root directory of the diskette

in floppy drive A:. 3 Base memory error. 4 Flash program successful. 5 Floppy read error. 6 Keyboard controller BAT command failed. 7 No Flash EPROM detected. 8 Floppy controller failure. 9 Boot Block BIOS checksum error.

10 Flash erase error. 11 Flash Program error. 12 AMIBOOT.ROM file size error.

Continuou

beep

Flash Programming successful. Turn power off. Then turn power on again to

restart.

Description

Chapter 3 Programming the Flash ROM

Bootblock Code Checkpoint Codes

Code Description

E0h Verify the Boot Block BIOS checksum. Disable the internal cache,

DMA, and interrupt controllers. Initialize the system timer. Start memory refresh.

E1h Initialize the chipset registers. Set the BIOS size to 128K. Make the

512 KB base memory available.

E2h Test the base 64 KB of system memory. Send the BAT command

to the keyboard controller. Make sure that <Ctrl> <Home> was pressed. Verify the main system BIOS checksum.

E3h The main system BIOS is good. Transfer control to the main

system BIOS. E4h Start the memory test. E5h The memory test is over. Initialize the interrupt vector table. E6h Initialize the DMA and interrupt controllers. E7h Determine the CPU internal clock frequency. E8h Initialize the I/O chipset, if any. E9h Program the CPU clock – dependent chip set parameters.

EAh Enable the timer and the floppy diskette interrupt. Enable the

internal cache. Copy the boot block BIOS and pass control to the

boot block BIOS in the 0000h segment.

EDh Initialize the floppy drive.

EEh Look for a diskette in drive A:. Read the first sector of the diskette. EFh Floppy read error. F0h Search for AMIBOOT.ROM in the root directory of the floppy

diskette in drive A:. F1h The AMIBOOT.ROM file is not in the root directory. F2h Read the FAT table. Analyze the FAT to find the clusters

occupied by the AMIBOOT.ROM. F3h Start reading the AMIBOOT.ROM file, cluster by cluster. F4h The AMIBOOT.ROM file is not the correct size. F5h Disable the internal cache. Raise the Vpp. Enable Flash write and

reset the Flash ROM.

FBh Detect the flash type. FCh Start erasing flash blocks. FDh Program the Flash ROM in the E0000 – EFFFFh region.

FEh Start programming Flash at F0000 – FFFFF region. FFh Flash programming is successful. The computer reboots.

Merlin DP PCI Motherboard User’s Guide

4 Deleting a Password

If you forget the passwords you set up through WINBIOS Setup, the only way you can restart the computer is to erase the system configuration information where the passwords are stored. System configuration data is stored in CMOS RAM, a type of memory that consumes very little power.

Erase Old Password

You can drain CMOS RAM power via J33 on the motherboard. J33 is a 2 – pin berg that is normally always OPEN. Perform the following steps to erase the old password.

Important

Make sure you are properly grounded before

performing the following procedure. You must be

certain that no electrostatic discharge (ESD) occurs.

ESD can ruin your motherboard. Wear an antistatic

wristband attached to a ground. See “Avoid Static

Electricity” on the following screen.

Step Action

1 Turn the computer power off and remove the computer

cover. 2 Place a shorting bridge on J33. 3 Turn on computer power for about 10 seconds. 4 Turn the computer off again. 5 Remove the shorting bridge from J33. 6 Turn on computer power again.

Since you drained power from CMOS RAM, all system

configuration information has been erased. You must now

re – enter the system configuration information by

running WINBIOS Setup.

Chapter 4 Deleting a Password

Avoid Static Electricity

Avoid contact with any component or connector on any adapter card, printed circuit board, or memory module. Handle these components by the mounting bracket.

Merlin DP PCI Motherboard User’s Guide

A Specifications

Engineering Specifications

Temperature Ranges

The following values are ambient temperatures inside the computer case. The board temperatures reflect the dual Pentium Pro CPU Heat dissipation requirements because they will be the hottest motherboard components. Temperature specifications vary with the CPU frequency.

Frequency Heat

133, 150, 166, 180, or 200 MHz,

Humidity

Airflow

Sink

YES 200 feet per

You must make sure that there is adequate air flow over the CPU inside the case.

The recommended humidity range for operation of the motherboard is 20% to 80% non – condensing.

over CPU

minute

Airflow over

other components

Not critical 0 ° through 50 ° C.

Temperature Range

ambient

Chapter 4 Deleting a Password

AMI MERLIN DP AMI Merlin DP Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

American Megatrends BBS

1 Hardware Installation

Step 1 Unpack the Motherboard

Step 2 Configure CPU

Step 3 Install Memory

Step 4 Install the Motherboard

Step 5 Attach Cables

Step 6 Test and Configure

2 WINBIOS Setup

WINBIOS Setup Menu

Standard Setup

Advanced Setup

Chipset Setup

Power Management Setup

PCI/PnP Setup

Peripheral Setup

AMIBIOS Password Support

Setting a Password

Changing a Password

Anti-Virus

3 Programming Flash ROM

4 Deleting a Password

Avoid Static Electricity

A Specifications