Ampro Corporation LITTLE BOARD 5001451A User Manual

Little Board™ P6d Reference Manual

P/N 5001451A Revision B

5215 Hellyer Avenue, San Jose, CA 95138-1007

Phone: [phone], FAX: [phone], W eb: www.a mpro.co m

TRADEMARKS

The Ampro logo is a registered trademark, and Ampro, EnCore, Little Board, CoreModule, and MiniModule are trademarks
of Ampro Computers, Inc. Pentium is a registered trademark of Intel, Incorporated. All other marks are the property of
their respective companies.

NOTICE

No part of this document may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any
language or computer language, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, magnetic, optical, chemical, manual,
or otherwise, without prior written permission from Ampro Computers, Incorporated.

DISCLAIMER

Ampro Computers, Incorporated makes no representations or warranties with respect to the contents of this manual or of
the associated Ampro products, and specifically disclaims any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for any
particular purpose. Ampro shall under no circumstances be liable for incidental or consequential damages or related
expenses resulting from the use of this product, even if it has been notified of the possibility of such damages. Ampro
reserves the right to revise this publication from time to time without obligation to notify any person of such revisions. If
errors are found, please contact Ampro at the address listed on the title page of this document.

REVISION HISTORY

Revision Reason for Change Date

1 Pre-Production Release 08/00
A Production Release 11/00
B Updates/Revisions 02/02

© Copyright 2000, 2002, Ampro Computers, Inco rporate d

AUDIENCE ASSUMPTIONS

This reference manual is for the person who designs computer related equipment, including but not limited to hardware
and software design and implementation of the same. Ampro Computers, Inc. assumes you are qualified in designing and
implementing your hardware designs and its related software into your prototype computer equipment

ii

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction.........................................................................................................................................vii

Technical Support .........................................................................................................................vii

Introduction

General Description .......................................................................................................................... 1–1

Product Feature Summary ................................................................................................................ 1–1

CPU/Motherboard ....................................................................................................................... 1–1

Enhanced Embedded-PC BIOS................................................................................................... 1–2

Modular PC/104-Plus Expansion Bus ......................................................................................... 1–2

CompactFlash Disk ..................................................................................................................... 1–2

Serial Ports.................................................................................................................................. 1–3

Parallel Port................................................................................................................................ 1–3

Floppy Interface.......................................................................................................................... 1–3

PCI-Bus EIDE Interfaces............................................................................................................ 1–3

PCI Audio Interface .................................................................................................................... 1–3

Flat Panel/CRT Display Controller............................................................................................. 1–4

100 MBps Ethernet LAN Interface............................................................................................. 1–4

Enhanced Reliability................................................................................................................... 1–4

Software ............................................................................................................................................ 1–5

Designing Little Board Systems ....................................................................................................... 1–5

On-board MiniModule Expansion ............................................................................................... 1–5

Little Board Development Platform And Q uickStart Kit........................................................... 1–6

Connector Descriptions ............................................................................................................... 1–7

Switch Descriptions (S1 – S5)..................................................................................................... 1–8

Product Reference

Overview............................................................................................................................................ 2–1

Mounting Dimensions ....................................................................................................................... 2–1

Connector Summary.......................................................................................................................... 2–3

Jumper Summary .............................................................................................................................. 2–6

DC Power........................................................................................................................................... 2–7

Power Requirements ................................................................................................................... 2–7

Other Voltages ............................................................................................................................ 2–7

Switching Power Supplies........................................................................................................... 2–8

Powerfail NMI............................................................................................................................. 2–8

Backup Battery ........................................................................................................................... 2–8

Cooling Requirements....................................................................................................................... 2–8

Thermal Sensor........................................................................................................................... 2–8

Fan Switch................................................................................................................................... 2–9

iii

System Memory................................................................................................................................. 2–9

ROM BIOS ..................................................................................................................................2–10

Shadowing..................................................................................................................................2–10

BIOS Recovery ...........................................................................................................................2–10

Interrupt and DMA Channel Usage.................................................................................................2–10

Battery-Backed Clock.......................................................................................................................2–12

Serial Ports.......................................................................................................................................2–12

I/O Addresses and Interrupt Assignments ................................................................................2–13

ROM-BIOS Installation of the Serial Ports ...............................................................................2–13

Serial Port Connectors (J8, J11) ................................................................................................2–13

Serial TTL Option ......................................................................................................................2–15

Ampro Custom Serial Features ..................................................................................................2–15

Serial Console Features .............................................................................................................2–15

Universal Serial Bus (USB) Ports ....................................................................................................2–17

Infrared (IrDA) Interface.................................................................................................................2–18

Requirements for an IrDA Interface..........................................................................................2–18

IrDA Connector (Part of Utility J19) .........................................................................................2–18

Multi-Mode Parallel Port .................................................................................................................2–19

I/O Addresses and Interrupts ....................................................................................................2–19

ROM-BIOS Installation of Parallel Ports ..................................................................................2–19

DMA Channels ...........................................................................................................................2–20

Parallel Port Connector (J9) ......................................................................................................2–20

IEEE-1284-compliant Cables.....................................................................................................2–21

Latch-Up Protection...................................................................................................................2–22

Parallel Port Registers...............................................................................................................2–22

Standard and Bidirectional Operation ......................................................................................2–22

Enabling the Parallel Port Interrupt.........................................................................................2–23

Floppy Disk Interface .......................................................................................................................2–25

Floppy Drive Considerations......................................................................................................2–25

Floppy Interface Configuration ..................................................................................................2–25

Floppy Interface Connector ( J14) ..............................................................................................2–26

EIDE Hard Disk Interface ...............................................................................................................2–26

IDE Interface Configuration......................................................................................................2–28

CompactFlash Solid-State Disk .......................................................................................................2–28

Enabling the Drive.....................................................................................................................2–28

Master/Slave Setting..................................................................................................................2–28

Solid-State Disk Preparation .....................................................................................................2–28

Audio Interface .................................................................................................................................2–29

Audio Amplifier..........................................................................................................................2–29

Audio Interface Connector .........................................................................................................2–29

Flat Panel/CRT Video Controller.....................................................................................................2–32

Connecting a Flat Panel (J15)....................................................................................................2–33

BIOS Support of Standard Flat Panels ......................................................................................2–35

Connecting a CRT (J17) .............................................................................................................2–35

Disabling the Video Controller ..................................................................................................2–37

Ethernet Network Interface.............................................................................................................2–37

Hardware Description................................................................................................................2–37

iv

Ethernet RJ45 Interface Connector (J13)..................................................................................2–37

Ethernet Interface Software ......................................................................................................2–38

Ethernet Setup...........................................................................................................................2–39

Ethernet Indicator LEDs ...........................................................................................................2–39

Watchdog Timer ...............................................................................................................................2–39

Utility Connectors (J19)...................................................................................................................2–40

LED Connection .........................................................................................................................2–42

Speaker Connections..................................................................................................................2–42

Push-button Reset Connection...................................................................................................2–42

Keyboard Connection .................................................................................................................2–42

PS/2 Mouse Connection..............................................................................................................2–42

IrDA Interface............................................................................................................................2–43

TTL Serial Ports.........................................................................................................................2–43

Miscellaneous Power Management Sig nals...............................................................................2–43

PC/104-Plus Expansion Bus.............................................................................................................2–43

On-board MiniModule Expansion D etails ..................................................................................2–43

Using Standard PC and AT Bus Cards......................................................................................2–44

Expansion Bus Connector Pinouts.............................................................................................2–44

Setup ................................................................................................................................................2–48

Setup Help ..................................................................................................................................2–48

Setup 1 — Main Menu................................................................................................................2–50

Setup 2 — Standard CMOS Setup .............................................................................................2–51

Setup 3 — BIOS Features Setup................................................................................................2–53

Setup 4 — Chipset Features Setup............................................................................................2–55

Setup 5 — Power Management Setup ........................................................................................2–56

Setup 6 — PCI Configuration Setup..........................................................................................2–58

Setup 7 — Integrated Peripherals Se tup...................................................................................2–59

Other Setup Screens ..................................................................................................................2–61

Technical Specifications

Little Board P6d Technical Specifications........................................................................................ 3–1

CPU/Motherboard ....................................................................................................................... 3–1

Embedded-PC System Enhancements ........................................................................................ 3–1

Support Software ........................................................................................................................ 3–3

Mechanical and Environmental Specifications ........................................................................... 3–3

Flat Panel Displays..................................................................................................................... 3–4

Hardware IRQ Map..................................................................................................................... 3–9

Standards Contact Information
Cables
Index

v

vi

Preface

Introduction

This manual is for integrators and programmers of systems based on the Ampro Little Board P6d,
a full-featured CPU module conforming to the EBX 1.1 technical specification. It contains technical
information about hardware requirements, interconnection, and software configuration.

Technical Support

Ampro Computers, Inc. provides a number of methods for contacting Technical Support listed in the
following Table i. Ampro provides a comprehensive listing of Frequently Asked Questions on our
web site at the Virtual Technician. If you can not find the answers to your questions, please
continue in the Virtual Technician and ask for Personal Assistance. Requests for support through
the web site are give n the h ighe st priority , and usually will be ad dresse d with in one workin g day .

! Internet – Provides the most information concerning Ampro products, including reference

material and white papers.

– Ampro Virtual Technician – This service is free and available 24 hours a day through the Ampro

Computers World Wide Web site at http://www.ampro.com. However, you must sign in to access
this service.

The Ampro Virtual Technician is a se archable database of Fre quently Asked Q uestions,
which will help you w ith the co mmon qu estions aske d by most cu stome rs. This is go od
source of information to look at first for your technical solutions. .

– Embedded Design Resource Center – This service is also free and available 24 hours-a-day at the

Ampro web site at http://www.ampro.com. However, you must sign in to access this service .
The Embedded Design Resource Center was created as a resource for embedded system

developers to share Ampro's knowledge, insight, and expertise gained from years of
experience. This page contain s links to White Pap ers, Spe cification s, and additio nal
technical information.

! Personal Assistance – This is the quicke st way to obtain a r espo nse to you r supp ort que stions.

Please go to the following location on Ampro’s web site to submit your request 24 hours a day, 7

days a week.

http://www.ampro.com/scripts/virtual_technician.exe/people

Table i. USA Technical Support Contact Information

Email

Website

FTP

Surface Mail

[e-mail]
http:// www. ampro.co m
ftp://ftp.ampro.com

Ampro Computers , Incorporated
5215 Hellyer Avenue
San Jose, CA
95138-1007, USA

vii

viii

Chapter 1

Introduction

General Description

The Little Board P6d system is a high integration , high- perf ormance Pentium-II base d PC/AT­compatible system that confo rms to the EBX V1.1 specif ication. Th is rugge d and h igh quality
single-board system contains all the component subsystems of a PC/AT PCI motherboard plus the
equivalent of up to six expansion boards. The Little Board P6d system meets the size, power
consumption, temperatur e range , quality, an d reliability d emands o f em bedde d syste m application s.

Key functions on the Little Board P6d module include:

– High-speed Pentium-II CPU

– 64-bit wide 3.3V SDRAM - up to 256MB

– 256KB Internal secondary cache

– Embedded-PC BIOS in Flash EPROM

– Four buffered serial ports (with RS232,

RS485, TTL options)

– Two universal serial bus (USB) ports

– Infrared (IrDA) port

– Multi-mode IEEE-1284 parallel port

– Floppy controller

– Dual PCI-bus EIDE/UltraDMA drive

controllers

– Flat panel/CRT display controller
– Sound Blaster Audio
– Ethernet 100BaseT LAN interface,
– CompactFlash solid-state IDE drive

support

– Standard PS/2 Keyboard/Mouse and

speaker interfaces

In addition, Ampro has made many improvements to the architecture and firmware of the
traditional desktop PC to optimize it for embedded applications. Among the many embedded-PC
enhancements that e nsure fail-safe embe dded system ope ration an d applicatio n ve rsatility are a
watchdog timer, a powerfail NMI generator, serial console support, serial boot loader, non-battery
boot, failsafe boot, accelerated boot, on-board high-density CompactFlash disk, and BIOS extensions
for OEM boot customization.

System operation require s a single +5 Vo lt pow er source (and 3.3 Vo lts for lo w-vo ltage PCI
expansion cards, if required) and offers "green PC" power-saving modes under support of Advanced
Power Management (APM) BIOS functions.

Product Feature Summary

CPU/Motherboard

The Little Board P6d module has a f ully comp atible PC archite cture, with a Pentium-II lo w-v oltage
CPU.

For improved reliability in harsh thermal e nviron ments, th e board imp lemen ts a CPU ther mal
sensor and configurable thermal-management control logic in the BIOS.

1-1

The board uses a single 3.3V DIMM memory module for main DRAM memory, and supports from
32MB to 256MB in a 64-bit or 72-bit (ECC) configuration.

The module has a full comple ment of stan dard PCI PC/AT archite ctural featu res, includin g DMA
channels, interrupt controllers, real-time clock, and timer counters.

Enhanced Embedded-PC BIOS

One of the most valuable features of the Little Board P6d module is its enhanced embedded-PC
BIOS, which includes an extensive set of functions that meet the unique requirements of embedded­system applications. These enhancements include:

! CompactFlash support. You can use a so lid-state Co mpactFlash memo ry modu le in place of a

rotating media drive (see Co mpactFlash Disk, belo w).

! Watchdog timer. The WDT monitors the boot process and can be integrated into application

programs using function calls provided in the BIOS.

! Fast boot operation. Normal or accelerated POST.
! Fail-safe boot support. Inte lligently retries bo ot dev ices (co nfigu red in th e BIOS) u ntil a

successful boo t.

! Battery-free boot su pport. Sav es syste m Setup info rmation in n on-v olatile EEPRO M. The

board can use this information sh ould th e RTC battery fail.

! Serial console option. Let's y ou use a se rial dev ice, such as an ASCII se rial terminal, as co nsole.
! Serial loader option. Supports loading boot code from an external serial source.
! EEPROM access function. 256 bits of se rial EEPROM storag e are av ailable to th e user , useful

for serialization, copy protection, security, etc.

! OEM customization hooks. The module can execute custom code prior to system boot via ROM

extensions; allows sop histicated system custo mization w ithou t BIOS mo dific ation.

Modular PC/104-Plus Expansion Bus

The Little Board P6d module prov ides a PC/104-Plu s expan sion bus f or addi tional syste m fun ctions.
This bus offers compact, self- stacking, mod ular exp andability. It is an embed ded system v ersion o f
the signal set provid ed o n a deskto p PC's ISA bus. Th e PC/104-Plus bu s include s this signal se t,
and in addition, signals implem enting a PCI bus, available o n an ad ditional 120- pin PCI bus
connector.

The Little Board P6d module's on-board EIDE, Ethernet, and Audio interface are internally
connected to its PCI bus. In add ition, yo u can attach PCI p eriphe rals to the board's stackable PCI
bus expansion connecto r in much th e same way PC/104 module s are stacked on the PC/104
connectors. The PCI expansio n conne ctor con sists of 4 row s of 30 pins (120-p in head er), and carries
all of the appropriate PCI signals to accommodate up to 4 PCI add-on modules. The bus operates at
clock speeds up to 33MHz.

CompactFlash Disk

The CompactFlash interf ace allo ws yo u to substitu te solid -state Flash memo ry f or a co nve ntion al
Hard drive. Any DOS-base d applicatio n, includ ing the ope rating sy stem, utilitie s, drive rs, and
application programs, can easily be run from the CompactFlash device without modification.

1-2

Little Board P6d Module

The CompactFlash disk is a solid -state o r rotatin g me dia disk sy stem th at emulate s an ID E drive .
It uses standard CompactFlash disk media, similar to a PCMCIA memory card, but smaller. Insert
the CompactFlash disk media in the on-board CompactFlash socket, and use it in much the same
way you would use a remo vable- media hard d rive. Th e CompactFlash drive is arch itecturally
equivalent to an IDE drive in your system. When installed, it becomes one of the two IDE drives
supported by the primary EIDE disk controller. It can be configured as either an IDE master or
slave drive.

Serial Ports

The Little Board P6d module p rovid es fou r RS232C serial po rts, impleme nted using 16C550-ty pe
UARTs. These UARTs are equipped with 16-byte FIFO buffers to improve throughput.

Serial ports 1 & 2 have full mod em sup port. The re are RS232 leve l shifters o n all signals. Th e RX
and TX data signals can also be conf igure d as RS485/RS422. The TTL versio ns of th e TX and RX
signals for port 1, 3, and 4 are also brough t out to the utility conne ctor. Po rt 2 TTL TX and RX are
brought out to the Utility conne ctor via th e IrDA inte rface.

Parallel Port

An enhanced bidirectional parallel port interface conforms to the IEEE-1284 standard. It provide s
features attractive to embedded system designers, including increased speed, an internal FIFO
buffer, and DMA transfer capability .

Floppy Interface

An on-board floppy disk interface provides access to standard floppy drives. The interface supports
two floppy drives, 5- 1/4 inch or 3- 1/2 inch. All standard flopp y driv e type s, from 360K at 5-1/4 inch
to 1.44M at 3-1/2 inch are supported .

PCI-Bus EIDE Interfaces

On-board PCI EIDE/Ultra DMA/33 interfaces provide high-speed hard disk, IDE CD-ROM drive,
and other IDE device access. The interfaces support up to four IDE devices (via primary and
secondary drive interf aces). The in terfaces are fully co mpliant with the AS/NSIS ATA Rev . 3.0
specification and the ATAPI Sp ecificatio n.

The CompactFlash interface is imple mente d as an ID E drive . If it is installed , it takes the positio n
of one of the drives of the primary IDE interface (settable as a master or slave drive).

PCI Audio Interface

The SoundBlaster™ compatible au dio inte rface is imple mente d using a combination of the Trident
4DWAVE-NX PCI DirectSound Accelerato r, the Natio nal LM4549 AD97 COD EC and a Natio nal
LM4863 Audio Amplifier.

1-3

Flat Panel/CRT Display Controller

A 69030 video display controlle r suppo rts both f lat panels an d CRTs, and o ffe rs full sof tware
compatibility with all popular PC vide o standard s (VGA, Sup er VGA, and VESA). All standard
resolutions up to 1600x1200 p ixels at 64K co lors fo r CRTs and up to 1280x1024 p ixels at 16.7M
colors for flat panels are supported. 4MB of SDRAM are provided as standard video memory. The
display controller features are:

! Enhanced AGP Bus Interface – The video controller provides a 66MHz AGP-bus path between

the CPU and the controller.

! Full IBM VGA compatibility – VESA DPMS and DCC standard s suppo rted.
! Color Flat Panel Support – Up to 16.7 million co lors can be displaye d on co lor TFT LCD f lat

panels and color STN LCD panels.

! Dual Independent Displays – The controller provides three different modes, which include two

completely separate and independent video displays (CRT and flat panel) with resolutions up to
1280x1024 at 256 colors at 60Hz.

– Dual-Pipe Simultaneous Mode – This mode provides the same image on both displays and each

display (CRT or flat panel) can operate at its optimum timing.
– Dual-Pipe Mosaic Mode – This mode provides two displays with completely different images on

each display and each display can be configured at its optimum resolution/timing.
– Virtual Desktop Mode – This mode provides a single image or desktop spanned across the two

displays.

! Automatic Power Sequencing Controls. The video controller provides the signals to safely

sequence the pow er and data signals to LCD flat p anels.

! Low-Power Modes. The Advanced Power Management (APM) and Advanced Configuration and

Power Management Interface (ACPI) compliant features are implemented in the power control
logic.

! ZV Port Support. The standard ZV input port for PCMCIA is supported.

100 MBps Ethernet LAN Interface

The Ethernet subsystem is based on the Inte l 82559ER 10/100BaseT PCI Ethern et Controlle r. It
fully supports IEEE 802.3 Ethernet standards - 10BaseT and 100BaseT. Features of this Ethernet
controller include:

! Chained memory structure
! Full Duplex suppo rt at 10 and 100Mbps
! IEEE 802.3u Auto-negotiable support

1-4

Little Board P6d Module

Enhanced Reliability

Reliability is especially important in e mbedd ed comp uter sy stems. Ampro , specializin g in
embedded syste m com pute rs and p erip her als, know s that em bedd ed sy stems mu st be able to run
reliably in rugged, hostile, and mission-critical environments without operator intervention. Over
the years, Ampro has evolved system designs and a comprehensive testing program to ensure a
reliable and stable system for h arsh and d emandin g applicatio ns. These in clude:

ISO 9001 Manufacturing. Ampro is a certified ISO 9001 vendor. Know ing that man y embe dded
systems must qualify unde r EMC em issions and suscep tibility testin g, Ampro de signs board s with
careful attention to EMI issue s.

Wide-range temperature testing. Ampro Engineering qualifies all of its de signs by exte nsive
thermal and voltage margin testing.

Shock and Vibration Tes ting. Ampro products are intended for use in harsh environments and
are designed for sho ck and v ibration d urability to MIL- STD 202F, Meth od 213-I, Co nditio n A
(three 50G shocks in e ach axis) an d MIL-STD 202F, Me thod 214A, Table 214-I, Con dition D (11.95B
random vibration, 100 Hz to 1000 Hz).

Software

The vast array of commercial and pu blic-dom ain softw are for th e IBM PC and PC/AT is usable in
LB/P6d-based systems. You can use the most popular software development tools (editors,
compilers, debuggers, etc.) for developing code for your application. With this software and the
standard Ampro-supplie d utilities an d driv ers, yo u can quickly tailor a syste m to y our n eeds.

Use the board's Setup f unctio n for all sy stem co nfigu rations. Se tup inf ormation is store d in both
the battery-backed CMOS RAM-portion of the real-time clock, and in a configuration EEPROM.
Setup information is retaine d in the EEPROM ev en if th e real-time clock batte ry loses p owe r,
ensuring reliable start-up.

Setup can be invoked by pressing the DEL key during the Pow er-On Se lf Test (POST). The
contents of the EEPROM can be w ritten an d read f rom the DOS co mmand line u sing a utility
program, SETCMOS.EXE, available on the Little Bo ard P6d Utilitie s diskette .

Designing Little Board Systems

The board affords a gr eat de al of fl exibility in system desig n. You can build a sy stem using only the
Little Board, serial or parallel devices for input/output, and a solid-state disk drive.

On-board MiniModule Expansion

The simplest way to e xpan d a Little B oard sy stem is w ith se lf-stackin g Amp ro Mini Module s.
MiniModules are available for a wide variety of functions. You can stack the MiniModules on the
Little Board and avoid the n eed f or bus cables, card cages, and backplanes. Fo r detaile d
information, see page 2- 43.

1-5

Little Board Development Platform And QuickStart Kit

To help developers quickly assemble an embedded system, Ampro offers the Little Board
Development Platform. It in cludes a po wer su pply, 3-1/2 in ch 1.44M flop py disk d rive, ID E hard
drive, CD ROM drive, speaker, I/O connectors, a backplane for ISA and PCI expansion cards, an I/O
development board (describe d below ), and mo unting studs fo r the Little Board.

The Development Platform provides a "known good" environment for your development work. You
can install the Little Board P6d module, MiniModules, or conventional expansion boards, keyboard,
monitor, and I/O devices to quickly create a platform for your hardware and software engineering
needs.

The QuickStart Kit includes cables, docu mentation , and sof tware ne ede d to de velo p an app lication
with the Little Board. Unlike the Development Platform, you must supply the disk drives and
power supply. Technical drawings for the cables provided in the QuickStart Kit are included in
Appendix B.

There are other kits available from Ampro to aid in the development of your application. A Cable
Kit that includes only the Little Board P6d cable se t is available.

To facilitate connections to th e Little Bo ard P6d utility co nne ctors, Ampro prov ides the Little Board
P6d Utility I/O Developm ent Board . Figure 1-1 is an illustratio n of th e I/O D eve lopme nt board
showing the connectors and switches that are provided. It is included in the Development Platform
Kit and the QuickStart K it.

1-6

Figure 1-1. I/O Development Board

Little Board P6d Module

The Little Board P6d Utility I/O De velop ment Bo ard pro vides co nnectio ns for th e speake r,
keyboard, mouse, I rDA, TTL se rial, fro nt pane l switch es, misc. p owe r manag eme nt signals, e xter nal
power supply connections, and so forth.

Table 1-1 summarizes the connecto rs available o n the I/O Dev elop ment Bo ard.

Table 1-1. I/O Development Board Connector Summary

Connector Name Description

J1 Utility Connect to Little Board P6d Utility
J2 Power Provides connections for -12V and - 5V
J3 Misc. Misc. Power Management and TT L Serial
J4 Keyboard Plug in a standard PS/2 Keyboard
J5 Mouse Plug in PS/2 Mouse

Connector Descriptions

The following sections describe the use of each connector on the I/O Development Board.

J1 — Utility

The Utility connector con nects to th e Little Bo ard P6d Utility conne ctor. It pro vide s connectio ns to
an on-board speaker, keyboard connector, Mouse connector, reset switch, IrDA Transceiver, TTL
RS232 signals, misc. power management I/O, an d a conne ctor fo r extern al -5V and -12V p ower
supplies, and a power LED.

If you have the Ampro QuickStart Kit, connect a ribbon cable between J1 on the I/O Development
Board and J19 on the Little Board .

J2 — Power

You can use J2 to connect - 5V and -12V po wer su pplie s to the Little Board.

Table 1-2. –5V and –12V Power Wiring

Pin # Signal

1 -12 Volts
3-5 Volts

2, 4 Ground

1-7

J3 — Misc.

This connector c ontain s miscellan eou s Powe r Manag eme nt sign als and th e TTL ser ial.

Table 1-3. Miscellaneous Power Management and TTL Wiring

Pin # Signal Pin # Signal

1 TTL_TX3 2 TTL_RX1
3 TTL_RX3 4 TTL_T X1
5 TTL_GND 6 SMBALRT
7 TTL_TX4 8 SMBDATA
9 TTL_RX 4 10 SMBCLK

J4 — Keyboard

You can use J4 to connect a PS/2 key board. J4 is a stand ard 5-pin DIN co nnecto r.

J5 — Mouse

You can use J5 to connect a PS/2 mouse. J5 is a standard 6-pin mini-DIN connector.

Switch Descriptions (S1 – S5)

There are five switches on the I/O Development Board. They’re described in Table 1-4.

Table 1-4. I/O Development Board Switches

Switch Name Description

S1 LID Power m anagem ent input: caus es an SMI to sim ulate a laptop lid c losure.
S2 PWR Power management input (push- button switch): when pushed f or 6

seconds, it powers down the board. W hen pres sed again, the board
powers up.

S3 LO BAT Power management input: causes an SMI to sim ulate a low-battery

condition.
S4 RESET Standard Reset signal to the Little Board
S5 RI Ring Indicator: causes an SMI to simulate a laptop m odem r ing.

1-8

Figure 1-2 is a block diagram of the Little Board P6d architectu re.

CPU

Little Board P6d Module

Temp

Serial

EEPROM

USB (2)

IDE (4)

Compact

Flash

Floppy

443BX

PIIX4E

Multi-I/O I/O

Parallel

Serial 1, 2

Audio Video

Buffer

BIOS RTC

Keyboard

Mouse

DRAM

DIMM

PCI/120 Bus

100BaseT

Ethernet

PC/104 Bus

Serial 3, 4

Figure 1-2. System Block Diagram

1-9

1-10

Chapter 2

Product Reference

Overview

This chapter contains the techn ical informatio n you will ne ed to in stall and con figur e the Little
Board P6d system. The information is presented in the following order:

! Mounting Dimensions (page 2-1)
! Connector Summary (page 2- 3)
! Jumper Summary (page 2-6)
! DC Power (page 2-7)
! System Memory (page 2- 9)
! Battery Backed Clock (page 2- 12)
! Serial Ports (page 2-12)
! Universal Serial Bus (USB) Po rts (page 2-17)
! IrDA Port (page 2-18)
! Parallel Port (page 2-19)
! Floppy Interface (page 2-25)
! EIDE Hard Disk Interface (page 2- 26)
! CompactFlash (page 2-28)
! Audio Interface (page 2-29)
! Flat Panel/CRT Video Controller (pag e 2-32)
! Ethernet Network Interface (page 2-37)
! Watchdog Timer (page 2-39)
! Utility Connector Wiring (p age 2-40)
! Expansion Busses (page 2-43 )
! Setup Function (pag e 2-48)

Mounting Dimensions

Figure 2-1 shows the Little Board P6d module’s mounting dimensions.

2-1

7.800

7.600

7.500

7.150

7.100

6.200

5.975

5.700

5.625

5.325

.100

.050

.250

.750

1.500

2.675

2.875

3.125

4.200

4.650

5.350

7.600

7.175

6.875

6.800

6.575

6.475

5.800

3.100

2.800

1.850

1.025

.207
.175

0.0

.200

0.0

.200

.575

.650

2.111

1.875

2.293

2.325

2.625

3.125

4.000

4.575

4.950

5.350

5.550

2.250

Figure 2-1. Little Board P6d Module with Mounting Dimensions

2.700

2.650

.400
.350

0.0

2-2

Little Board P6d Module

Connector Summary

Refer to Figure 2-2. Little Board P6d Connector and Jumper Locations for the locations of the
connectors (J1 – J21) and co nfigu ration j umper s (W1 – W9). Table 2- 1 summarizes the use of the
I/O connectors.

Each interface is described in its own section, showing connector pinouts, signal definitions,
required mating connectors, and configuration jumper options.

Many of the connectors have a key pin removed. This allows you to block the corresponding cable
connector socket to help prevent improper assembly. Table 2-1 indicates which pins are key pins.

Table 2-1. Connector Summary

Connector Function Size Key Pin

J1 A/B PC/104 Expansion Bus 64-Pin B10

J2 C/D PC/104 Expansion Bus 40-pin C19

J3 PCI Bus 120-pin A1/D30*
J4 USB 1 5-PIN Mechanical Key**
J5 USB 2 5-PIN Mechanical Key**
J6 IDE1 Interface 44-pin 2mm 20
J7 IDE2 Interface 44-pin 2mm 20
J8 Serial 1 and Serial 2 20-pin None
J9 Parallel Port 26-pin 26

J10

(J100)

J11 Serial 3 and Serial 4 20-pin None
J12 Audio Interface 26-pin 2mm 25
J13 Ethernet Twisted Pair RJ45 Mechanic al Key**
J14 Ethernet Option 6-pin None
J15 Flat Panel Video 50-pin 2mm None
J16 Video ZOOM 26-pin 2m m None
J17 CRT Video 10-pin None
J18 Floppy Interface 26-pin 2mm 1
J19 Utility 44-pin 2mm 31
J21 Fan Power 3-pin None

Power, +5V, +12V, +3.3V

(J100 Alternate Connector)

7-pin Molex Mechanical Key**

J22 CompactFlash 50-pin Mechanical Key**

Notes: *A1 and D30 keys are used to key the PCI connector for 5V or 3.3V respectively.

**Connector provides keying mechanism

.

2-3

Most I/O connectors are shrouded dual-row male headers for use with flat ribbon (IDC) female
connectors and ribbon cable.

Note

Ampro recommends using “center-bump polarized” connectors to
prevent accidentally installin g cables backward s.

You can also design a PC board asse mbly, m ade w ith fe male co nne ctors in the same relativ e
positions as the Little Board’s connectors, to eliminate cables, meet packaging requirements, add
EMI filtering, or customize yo ur installatio n in othe r ways. Precise dimensio ns for locatin g
connectors are provided in Figure 2-1.

The ISA portion of the PC/104- Plus bus appe ars on co nnecto r J1A, J1B, J2C, and J2D . You can
expand the system w ith on- board MiniMo dule p rodu cts or o ther PC/104-co mpliant ex pansion
modules. These modules stack directly on the connectors, or use conventional or custom expansion
hardware, including solutio ns available f rom Ampr o.

The PCI portion of the PC/104- Plus expan sion bus app ears on co nnecto r J3. It uses a 2 mm 4-ro w
connector called out in the PC/104-Plu s draft spe cificatio n. Like the J1, J2 conn ector, J3 h as both
male and female connections, allowing for “stackthrough” assembly.

2-4

Little Board P6d Module

J100

J10

J9

J8

J13

J6

J7

W6

W7

J22

W4

W2

J3

J17

W10

J21

J15

J16

Figure 2-2. Little Board P6d Connector and Jumper Locations

J1

W3

CRT

2-5

Jumper Summary

Ampro installs option jump ers in def ault po sitions so that in m ost case s the Little Board P6d
module requires no special jumpering for standard AT operation. You can connect the power and
peripherals and operate it immediately.

Jumper-pin arrays are design ated W1, W2, and so forth . Jumper p ins are spaced 2 mm apart. A
square solder pad identifies pin 1 of each jumper array. Table 2-2 is a summary of jumper use.
Factory settings are shown in the Default column. Some jumpers are set at the factory to configure
options that are not user-settable. These are indicated in the table. Do not change these settings.

Table 2-2. Configuration Jumper Summary

Jumper Group Function Default

W1 CompactFlash IDE Master/Slave

ON=Master, OFF=Slave

W2 BIOS Flash EPROM Programming Power

ON=Programm ing enabled
OFF= Programm ing disabled

W3 External BIOS Board Enable/Cable Connection

ON=Normal, OFF=Ex ternal Cable

W4 Serial 1 RS485 100 Ohm Termination

ON=Terminated, OF F=Unterm inated

W5 Serial 2 RS485 100 Ohm Termination

ON=Terminated, OF F=Unterm inated

W6 Serial 3 RS485 100 Ohm Termination

ON=Terminated, OF F=Unterm inated

W7 Serial 4 RS485 100 Ohm Termination

ON=Terminated, OF F=Unterm inated

W8 Local Head Phone Enable

ON = Enable Local HP, OFF = Disable HP

W9 Watchdog timer reset enable

ON=Enabled, OFF=Disabled

ON

ON

ON

OFF

OFF

OFF

OFF

OFF

OFF

2-6

Little Board P6d Module

DC Power

The power connector J10 is a 7- pin po larized con nector. Re fer to Table 2-3 for p ower co nnectio ns
and Table 2-4 for mating conne ctor info rmation.

Caution

To prevent damage to the Little Board P6d or its power connector,
ensure the power plug is wired correctly before applying power to the
module!! See Table 2-3.

Table 2-3. Power Connector (J10)

Pin # Signal Name Function

1, 7 +5VDC +5VDC ±5% input
2, 3, 6 Ground Ground return
4 +12VDC +12VDC ±5% input
5 +3.3VDC +3.3V ±5% input

(Only required for some PCI expansion boards)

Table 2-4. J10 Mating Connector

Connector Type Mating Connector

DISCRETE W IRE MO LEX HOUSING 09-50-8073

Pins 08-52-0071

Power Requirements

The Little Board P6d module requires only +5VDC (±5%) for operation. The voltage required for
the RS232 ports is generated o n-bo ard from the +5VDC su pply. An on-bo ard low -voltag e po wer
supply circuit provides power to low-voltage CPUs and certain other on-board components.

The exact power requirement of the Little Board P6d system depends on several factors, including
the CPU speed, the peripheral connections, and which, if any, MiniModule products or other
expansion boards are attached. For example, the keyboard draws its power from the board, and
there can be some loading from the serial, parallel, and other peripheral ports. Consult the
specifications in Chapter 3 for th e basic pow er require ments o f you r mode l.

Other Voltages

There may be a requireme nt for an exte rnal +12 volt su pply, d epe nding on wh at periph erals yo u
connect to the Little Board sy stem. For in stance, +12V is re quired f or most flat p anel backligh t
power supplies. You can connect a +12V supply to the Little Board module through the power
connector, J10. This will supp ly +12V to the ISA and PCI po rtions o f the PC/104 e xpansio n busses.
Similarly, you can connect -12V an d -5V to th e Utility Co nnecto r, to su pply th ose vo ltages to bo th
expansion busses. Pinou ts for the Utility Co nnecto r are pr ovide d in Table 2-4.

2-7

If a PCI expansion card requiring 3.3V is in stalled, that v oltage can be con necte d to J10-5 to supply
power to J3, the PCI bus interface connector.

Switching Power Supplies

If you use a switch ing po we r supp ly, be su re it re gulate s pro per ly with the lo ad yo ur syste m dr aws.
Some switching powe r supplie s do no t regulate pro perly unless th ey are lo aded to some minimum
value. If this is the case with y our su pply, consu lt the man ufactu rer abo ut additio nal load ing, o r
use another supply or another type of power source (such as a linear supply, batteries, etc.). The
minimum power for the Little Board P6d system appears in the power specifications in Chapter 1.

Powerfail NMI

The Little Board P6d module includes a circuit that can sense a power failure. If the +5V power
supply falls below ~4.7V, the po werf ail logic pr oduce s a non- maskable interru pt (NMI).

When a NMI occurs, the BIOS detects the NMI and displays the message “Power Fail NMI” on the
console. At this point you have two options via the keyboard. You can mask the NMI and continue
(the PC architecture provides a mask bit for the non-maskable interrupt), or reboot the system.

If you want your system to respond to the NMI, you can provide a NMI handler in your application,
and patch the NMI inte rrup t vec tor add ress to poin t to yo ur ro utine .

Backup Battery

The Real-Time Clock Battery on the Little Board P6d module should last 10 years under normal
usage.

Cooling Requirements

The Pentium-II CPU, DRAM module, video controller, and core logic chips draw most of the power
and generate most of the heat. The board is designed to support various speed versions of the
Pentium-II from 333MHz to 366MHz with a 66MHz clo ck spee d.

A heat sink and fan are provided for the CPU and a thermal sensor is used to monitor the CPU
temperature, as described below.

Thermal Sensor

A thermal sensor monitors the internal temperature of the Pentium-II CPU. If the thermal sensor
detects the CPU temperature has exceeded its upper temperature threshold (100°C/212°F), the
thermal sensor’s logic sends a signal to the BIOS to reduce the CPU clock speed. This speed
reduction remains in effect until the processor has cooled to the lower sensor limit. Choosing to
operate the CPU at a temperature higher than this upper limit should be avoided due to the
possibility of CPU damage an d its erratic o peratin g spee d.

2-8

Little Board P6d Module

Fan Connector

Figure 2-3 shows the co nnectio n betw een the f an and J21. Th e pino ut of J21 is shown in Table 2- 5.

J21

5V CPU Fan

1

2

TACH

­+

Figure 2-3. CPU Fan Connection (J21)

Table 2-5. Fan Power Connector (J21)

Pin # Function

1 Switched Ground
2+5V Power
3 T ACH Output

System Memory

The module suppo rts a single 168-pin DIMM socke t. The sy stem su pports bo th 64-bit SD RAM and
72-bit SDRAM. The 72-bit SDRAM is used to support ECC (Error Detection And Correction). You
can install from 32MB to 256MB, depend ing on your memory n eed s.

The ROM BIOS automatically detects the size of the installe d memo ry modu le and co nfigu res the
system accordingly at boot time ( No jump ering or manual co nfigur ation is requ ired.). The amount
of memory the BIOS measures can be displayed by running Setup. Memory error correction (ECC)
is supported by the chip se t used o n the Little Board P6d module . DRAM memo ry is allocated in
the system as shown in Table 2-6.

2-9

Table 2-6. System Memory Map

Memory Address Function

FE0000h - FFFFFFh Duplicates BIOS at 0E0000-0FFFFFh.
100000h - FDFFFFh Extended memory
0E0000h - 0FFFFFh 128K ROM BIOS

0D0000h - 0DFFFFh BIOS extension option, if enabled. Otherwise, free.
0CB000h - 0CFFFFh USB
0C0000h - 0CAFFFh Video BIOS (44K)

0A0000h - 0BFFFFh Normally contains video RAM, as follows:

CGA Video: B8000-BFFFFh
Monochrome: B0000-B7FFFh
EGA and VGA video: A0000-AFFFFh

000000h - 09FFFFh Lower 640K DRAM

ROM BIOS

The standard BIOS is installed in a 256K B Flash dev ice at the factory . The to p 128KB o f the Flash
device is reserved f or the sy stem BIO S, located at 000E0000h – 000FFFFFh and m irrored at th e top
of the memory address sp ace. The re maining 128K B are mappe d only to the to p of me mory.

A utility program, PGM6X.COM, can be used to prog ram the o n-board Flash device . It can be use d
to update the system BIOS, vide o BIOS, o r user are a. The u tility is includ ed on the u tility diskette
that accompanies the Ampro De velo pmen t Platform. The diskette include s documen tation abou t
how to use the program.

Shadowing

To improve system performance, the contents of the ROM BIOS and video BIOS are copied into
DRAM for execution (“shadowed”), where they are accessed as 64-bit wide data. Shadowing a BIOS
ROM substantially enhances system performance. Shadowing for both the ROM and video BIOS is
built into the Ampro Extended BIOS. There is no user setting.

BIOS Recovery

If the BIOS Flash device somehow becomes corrupted, the Little Board P6d system may not boot.
In this case, the BIOS will have to be reprog rammed. A disk w ith an image of the current BIOS
along with the Utility PGM6X.CO M may be use d to resto re the BIOS image . Befo re this can be
done, the Little Board P6d system needs to be Booted and running DOS.

Interrupt and DMA Channel Usage

The PC architecture provides several interrupt and DMA control signals. When you expand the
system through the ISA p ortion of the PC/104-Plus bus w ith MiniMo dule p rodu cts or p lug-in cards
that require either interrupt or DMA support, you must select which interrupt or DMA channel to
use. Typically this involves switches or jumpers on the expansion module. In most cases, these are
not shared resources. It is important that you configure the new module to use an interrupt or

2-10

Little Board P6d Module

DMA channel not already in use . For you r conv enien ce, Table 2- 7 and Table 2- 8 prov ide a summary
of the normal interrupt and DMA channel assignments on the Little Board P6d module.

The PCI bus uses four interrupts (INTA*, INTB*, INTC*, and INTD*). These interrupts are
mapped to any of the av ailable ISA inte rrupts by the BIOS. If an e xpansion card has multiple
functions, then mo re in terru pts may be requ ired. Yo u can set the prior ity in w hich in terru pts are
assigned on Setup 6 — PCI Configuration Setup.

Table 2-7. Interrupt Channel Assignments

Interrupt Function

IRQ0
IRQ1
IRQ2
IRQ3
IRQ4
IRQ5
IRQ6
IRQ7
IRQ8

IRQ9
IRQ10
IRQ11
IRQ12
IRQ13
IRQ14
IRQ15

Note: IRQs for the Ethernet, Video, and Audio interfaces are automatically assigned

by the BIOS plug and play logic.

ROM BIOS clock tick function, f rom T im er 0
Keyboard interrupt
Cascade input for IRQ8-15
Serial 2, Serial 4
Serial 1, Serial 3
PCI
Floppy controller
Parallel port (option)
Reserved for battery-backed clock alarm
PCI
PCI, Serial 3, Serial 4
PCI
PS/2 Mouse, Serial 3, Serial 4
Reserved for coprocessor
Primary IDE hard disk controller
Secondary IDE hard disk controller

PCI Interrupts assigned during initialization cannot be used by non-PCI
devices.

2-11

Table 2-8. DMA Channel Assignments

Channel Function

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

Available for 8-bit transfers
Available for 8-bit transfers
Floppy controller
Available for 8-bit transfers
Cascade for channels 0-3
Available for 16-bit transfers
Available for 16-bit transfers
Available for 16-bit transfers

Battery-Backed Clock

An AT-compatible battery-backed real-time clock (with CMOS RAM) is standard on the Little Board
P6d module. A 3.0 volt Lithium battery so lder ed to the boar d po wers the cloc k. Battery d rain fo r
the clock is less than 0.4 uA. This battery will supp ort the clock fo r more than 10 years o f normal
usage.

The factory initializes the real-time clock and various parameters in the configuration memory for a
standard configur ation. Th e fac tory se ts the d ate and time, bu t it may no t be se t for y our time
zone. Use Setup to change these values as needed.

The contents of the configuration memory are also stored in an on-board EEPROM. The ROM BIOS
reads the EEPROM to get con figur ation inf ormation if the CMO S RAM data is lost. Th is means the
board will function if the battery f ails.

Note

The real-time clock date and time will not be correct w ithout a
battery, or after the battery f ails.

Serial Ports

The Little Board P6d module p rovid es fou r RS232C serial po rts, Serial 1 and Se rial 2 at J8, and
Serial 3 and Serial 4 at J11.

Serial 1 and Serial 2 have full mod em supp ort. Serial 3 an d Serial 4 sup port on ly RXD, TXD , RTS,
CTS. All ports support software selectable standard bau d rates up to 115.2Kbp s, 5-8 data bits, and
1, 1.5, or 2 stop bits.

Note

The IEEE RS232C specification limits the serial port to 19.2Kbps on
cables up to 50 feet in leng th.

2-12