AOpen MX6E+ MX6E+ User Manual

Chapter 1 Overview
Chapter 2 Hardware Installation
Chapter 3 Award BIOS
Chapter 4 Audio
Appendix A Frequently Asked Question

Appendix B Troubleshooting
Appendix C Jumper Table Summary

Chapter 1

Overview

The MX6E PLUS is a Pentium II based system board that utilizes Intel
82440EX chipset on Micro ATX PCI/ISA platform. This chipset is designed for
Pentium II CPU, and supports new architectures such as high speed AGP
graphic port, SDRAM, Ultra DMA/33, Bus master IDE and USB port. It has
three Dual in-line Memory Module (DIMM) that allow to mix 3V EDO and
SDRAM memory and expand up to a maximum of 256MB. Also, this
motherboard uses 2M bit Flash ROM BIOS to reserve for future new functions.

In addition, MX6E PLUS also implements many special features.
Jumper-less Design Pentium II VID signal and SMbus clock generator provide

CPU voltage auto-detection and allows user to set CPU frequency through
CMOS setup, no jumper or switch is needed. The correct CPU information is
saved into EEPROM, with these technologies, the disadvantages of Pentium
base jumper-less design are eliminated. There will be no worry of wrong CPU
voltage detection and no need to re-open the housing if CMOS battery loss.
The only jumper left is to clear CMOS, which is a safety hook if you forget the
password.

Battery-less Motherboard MX6E PLUS implements EEPROM and special
circuit (patent applied) that allows you to save your current CPU and CMOS
Setup configurations without the need of battery. The RTC (real time clock) can
also keep running as long as power cord is plugged. If you lose your CMOS
data by accident, you can just reload the CMOS configurations from EEPROM
and the system will recover as usual.

Suspend To Hard Drive "Immediately" turns on system and goes back to the
original screen before power down. You can resume your original work directly
from hard disk without go through the Win95 booting process and run your
application again. Suspend to Hard Drive saves your current work (system
status, memory image) into hard disk. Note that you have to use VESA
compatible PCI VGA, Sound Blaster compatible sound card with APM driver,
for Suspend to Hard Drive to work properly.

Zero Voltage Modem Wake Up In conjunction with ATX soft power On/Off, it
is possible to have system totally power off and wakeup to automatically

1-1

Overview

answer a phone call such as answering machine or to send/receive fax. The
most important break through is not only external box modem but also internal
modem card can be used to support Modem Wake Up. The MX6E PLUS and
MP56 internal modem card implement special circuit (patent applied) to make
sure the modem card work properly without any power.

LAN Wake Up This feature is very similar as Modem Wake Up, but it is through
local area network. To use LAN Wake Up function, you must have a network
card that supports this feature and also need to install a network management
software, such as ADM.

RTC Wake Up Timer The Wake Up Timer is more like an alarm, which wakes
up and power on your system at a pre-defined time for specific application. It
can be set to wake up everyday or on specific date within a month. The
date/time accurate is second.

High Efficient Synchronous Switching Regulator Most of the current
switching designs are Asynchronous mode, which from the technical point of
view, still consumes very high power as well as heat. MX6E PLUS implements
high efficient synchronous switching design that the temperature of MOS FET
is far less than Schottky diode of Asynchronous design.

Over Current Protection Circuit The Over Current Protection was very
popular implemented on the Baby AT or ATX 3.3V/5V/12V switching power
supply. But unfortunately, the new generation Pentium II CPU uses different
voltage that have regulator to transfer 5V to CPU voltage (for example, 2.8V),
and make 5V over current protection useless. MX6E PLUS with switching
regulator onboard support CPU over current protection, in conjunction with

3.3V/5V/12V power supply provide the full line over current protection.
CPU and Housing Fan Monitoring MX6E PLUS has one more "fan

monitoring" function to prevent system overheat. There are two fan connectors,
one is for CPU and the other can be an extra housing fan. The system will
report and alarm fan malfunction though utility software such as Hardware
Monitor utility (Small Icon for Hardware Monitoring).

CPU Thermal Protection MX6E PLUS has a special thermal detection circuit
to have warning through application software when the temperature is higher
than a predefined value.

System Voltage Monitoring Further more, MX6E PLUS implements a voltage
monitoring system, As you turn on your system, this smart design will continue
to monitor your system working voltage. If any of the system voltage is over the
component's standard. There will be alarm though utility software such as
Hardware Monitor utility (Small Icon for Hardware Monitoring) for a warning to
user.

Full-range CPU core voltage This motherboard supports the CPU core
voltage from 1.3V to 3.5V, that can be applied to various CPU type in future.

1-2

Overview

FCC DoC certificate MX6E PLUS has passed FCC DoC test. The radiation is
very low, you can use any kind of housing.

Powerful utility softwares supported AOpen Bonus Pack bundled CD
contains many useful utilities, such as ADM (Advanced Desktop Manager),
AOchip, Hardware Monitor utility, Suspend to Hard Drive utility, and BIOS flash
utility.

Multi-language BIOS This breakthrough will help you set BIOS items without
the language barrier.

Note: This motherboard is battery-less, that means the RTC
(real time clock) can keep running without battery as long as
the power cord is plugged. But in case of power failure or the
power cord unplugged, you need to reset date and time from
"Standard CMOS Setup" section of BIOS Setup. For more
information, please see "Chapter 3 BIOS Setup".

1-3

Overview

1.1 Specifications

Form Factor
Board Size
CPU
System Memory

Chipset
Expansion Slots
Serial Port

Parallel Port

Floppy Interface

IDE Interface

USB Interface

PS/2 Mouse
Keyboard
RTC and Battery

BIOS

ATX
244 mm x 218 mm
Intel Pentium II Processor
3V EDO or SDRAM, 168-pin DIMM x3, maximum

256MB.
Intel 82440EX AGPset
ISA x2, PCI x2 and AGP x1
Two serial ports UART 16C550 compatible, and the

3rd UART for IR function.
One parallel port supports standard parallel port (SPP),

enhanced parallel port (EPP) or extended capabilities
port (ECP).

Floppy interface supports 3.5 inches drives with
720KB, 1.44MB or 2.88MB format or 5.25 inches
drives with 360KB, 1.2MB format

Dual-channel IDE interface support maximum 4 IDE
hard disks or CDROM, mode 4 , bus master hard disk
drives and Ultra DMA/33 mode hard drives are also
supported.

Two USB ports supported by USB bracket, the BIOS
also supports USB driver to simulate legacy keyboard.

Mini-Din PS/2 mouse connector onboard.
Mini-Din PS/2 keyboard connector onboard.
RTC within Intel PIIX4E chipset. Lithium (CR-2032)

battery is an option, no battery is needed if power cord
is plugged.

AWARD Plug-and-Play, 2M bit Flash ROM BIOS.
Multi-language versions supported.

1-4

Overview

Suspend to Hard Drive

Zero Voltage Modem
Wake Up

LAN Wake Up

RTC Wake Up Timer
Synchronous Switching

Regulator
Over-current Protection

CPU Thermal
Protection

Fan Monitoring

System Voltage
Monitoring

Supported by BIOS, save your work to hard disk and
resume within a very short time. VESA compatible
VGA and Sound Blaster compatible sound card
required.

Special circuit (patent applied) to support modem ring
wake up by external box modem or internal AOpen
F56/MP56 modem card.

By using a network card that supports this feature and a
network management software (such as ADM), you
can wake up a system through a local area network.

Program the date/time to wake up your system.
High efficient synchronous switching regulator.

CPU core voltage over-current protection to prevent
any accident short circuit.

Warning when CPU temperature is overheat. Option
for OEM to have sensor at CPU heatsink.

Two 3-pin fan connectors, warning when CPU or
housing fan is malfunction.

Warning when system voltage (5V,12V,3.3V and CPU
core) are abnormal

1-5

Overview

1.2 Suspend to Hard Drive

Suspend to Hard Drive saves your current work (system status, memory and
screen image) into hard disk, and then the system can be totally power off.
Next time, when power is on, you can resume your original work directly from
hard disk within few second without go through the Win95 booting process and
run your application again. If your memory is 16MB, normally, you need to
reserve at least 16MB HDD space to save your memory image. Note that you
have to use VESA compatible PCI VGA (AOpen PV70/PT70), Sound Blaster
compatible sound card and sound driver that supports APM (AOpen
AW32/AW35) for Suspend to Hard Drive to work properly. Of course, we
recommend to use AOpen products for best compatibility.

To use Suspend to Hard Drive:

1. Go into BIOS setup, Power Management à Suspend Mode Option, select
"Suspend to Disk".

2. Go into BIOS setup, PNP/PCI Configuration à PnP OS Installed, select
"No". This can give BIOS the capability to allocate system resources for
Suspend to Hard Drive.

3. Bootup your system into DOS command prompt. If you are Win'95 user,
Please restart your Windows 95 under "Command Prompt" by pressing "F8"
while system shows "Windows 95 Starting ...". Choose "Safe Mode
Command Prompt Only" from selection so that system will start in DOS
command prompt.

4. Copy AOZVHDD.EXE to the root directory of your C: drive.

5. Option 1: Use /file switch (applied to FAT16 file system):
Please use following command to create a hidden file in the root directory of

your hard disk for Suspend to Hard Drive to save the system status and
memory image.

C:>AOZVHDD /c /file

Please make sure that you have enough continuous HDD space for
creating this hidden file. For example, if you have 32MB of system memory
and 4MB of VGA memory, you need at least 36MB (32MB + 4MB) of
continuous HDD space. If AOZVHDD failed to allocate the HDD space, you
may run "DEFRAG" Utility or "Disk Defragmenter" which come with MS­DOS or Win'95 to free HDD space.

1-6

Overview

Option2: Use /partiton switch (applied to FAT16/FAT32 file system):

To create a separate partiton for Suspend to Hard Drive, please make sure
you have reserved a free partition. We suggest you reserve the free
partition which space is appropriate for your future memory expansion. For
example, if you have 32MB of system memory and 4MB of VGA memory
currently, but you plan to upgrade system memory to 64MB in the near
future, then you may reserve a 68MB (64MB+4MB) space by using a disk
utility (such as fdisk). Next, use following command to create a suspend
partition:

C:>AOZVHDD /c /partition

If there is no extra free partition and you don't want your data lost, please do
not use this partition method.

6. After creating above partition or hidden file, please reboot your system.

7. Push suspend switch (momentary mode) or use Win95 Suspend icon to
force system goes into Suspend to Hard Drive mode and then turn system
power off by power switch of your power supply.

8. Next time when you turn on your system, it will resume to your original work
automatically.

Warning: Note that Intel Bus Master and Ultra
DMA/33 IDE driver are not fully compatible with
Suspend to Hard Drive function, installing these
drivers may cause the system unstable. Under this
situation, please uninstall the drivers.

Warning: This function does not support SCSI hard
disks.

1-7

Overview

Tip: The following VGA cards have been tested &
recognized as VESA compatible VGA device.

AOpen PV90 (Trident 9680)
AOpen PT60 (S3 Virge/BIOS R1.00-01)
AOpen PV60 (S3 Tiro64V+)
AOpen PT70 (S3 Virge/DX)
ProLink Trident GD-5440
ProLink Cirrus GD-5430
ProLink Cirrus GD-5446
ATI Mach 64 GX
ATI 3D RAGE II
Diamond Stealth64D (S3 868)
Diamond Stealth64V (S3 968)
KuoWei ET-6000.
ATI 3D RAGE PRO 2x (AGP)
PLOTECH 3D IMAGE 9850 (AGP)
CARDEX S3 Virge/GX (AGP)

Tip: The following sound cards have been tested OK
for Suspend to Hard Drive.

AOpen AW32
AOpen AW35
AOpen MP32
Creative SB 16 Value PnP
Creative SB AWE32 PnP
ESS 1868 PnP
If your sound card can not work after resume from

Suspend to Hard Drive, check your sound card
vendor see if there is driver to support APM, and
install it again.

1-8

Note: The USB function has not been tested for

Suspend to Hard Drive. If you find any unstable
problem, please go into BIOS, Integrated Peripherals
à USB Legacy Support. Disable the USB Legacy
function.

Overview

InternalModemCardWakeUp(suchasMP56)

ExternalModemWakeUp

COMportTELLineTELLine

1.3 Zero Voltage Modem Wake Up

The Modem Wake Up discussed here is to wakeup from true power off
(identified by fan of power supply is off), This motherboard still supports
traditional green PC suspend mode but it is not discussed here.

With the help ATX soft power On/Off, it is possible to have system totally power
off (The traditional suspend mode of power management function does not
really turn off the system power supply), and wakeup to automatically answer a
phone call such as answering machine or to send/receive fax. You may identify
the true power off by checking fan of your power supply. Both external box
modem and internal modem card can be used to support Modem Wake Up, but
if you use external modem, you have to keep the box modem always power-on.
AOpen MX6E PLUS and internal modem card implement special circuit (patent
applied) and make sure the modem card works properly without any power. We
recommend you choose AOpen modem card (MP56) for Modem Wake Up
applications.

External Box Modem

1-9

Overview

For Internal Modem Card (AOpen MP56):

1. Go into BIOS setup , Power Management à Modem Wake Up, select
Enable.

2. Setup your application, put into Windows 95 StartUp or use Suspend to
Hard Drive function.

3. Turn system power off by soft power switch.

4. Connect 4-pin Modem Ring-On cable from MP56 RING connector to MX6E
PLUS connector WKUP.

5. Connect telephone line to MP56. You are now ready to use Modem Ring­On.

For External Box Modem:

1. Go into BIOS setup, Power Management à Modem Wake Up, select
Enable.

2. Setup your application, put into Windows 95 StartUp or use Suspend to
Hard Drive function.

3. Turn system power off by soft power switch.

4. Connect RS232 cable of external box Modem to COM1 or COM2.

5. Connect telephone line to external box Modem. Turn on Modem power (you
must keep Modem power always on). You are now ready to use Modem
Ring

1-10

Tip: External modem wake up signal is detected through

COM1 or COM2. Internal modem card wake up signal is
detected through cable from connector RING (on modem
card) to WKUP (on mainboard).

Tip: You can combine Suspend to Hard Drive, Modem
Wake Up and the software Acephone for the best solution
of answering machine or to send/receive fax.

Note: If you use external modem, the power of external
modem must be kept on to receive signal from telephone
line. Internal modem card has no such limitation.

Overview

1.4 System Voltage Monitoring

This motherboard implements a voltage monitoring system. As you turn on your
system, this smart design will continue to monitor your system working voltage.
If any of the system voltage is over the component's standard. There will be
alarm through application software such as Hardware Monitor utility for a
warning to user. System voltage monitoring function monitors CPU core
voltage. It is automatically implemented by BIOS and Hardware Monitor utility
(the file name is like aohw100.exe, where 100 means the version number), no
hardware installation is needed.

1.5 Fan Monitoring

There are two fan connectors, one is for CPU, the other can be a housing fan.
The fan monitoring function is implemented by connecting fan to 3-pin fan
connector CPUFAN or FAN and installingHardware Monitor utility.

Note: You need 3-pin fan that supports SENSE
signal for fan monitoring function to work properly.

1-11

Overview

1.6 CPU Thermal Protection

Thermistor

Monitor IC

This mainboard implements special thermal protection circuits. When
temperature is higher than a predefined value, there will be warning through
application software such as Hardware Monitor utility to notify user. It is
automatically implemented by BIOS and Hardware Monitor utility, no hardware
installation is needed.

For OEM customer who needs more accurate temperature, MX6E PLUS
reserves an option to use special CPU heatsink with thermal sensor on it. The
CPU thermal sensor should be connected to CN1.

1.7 Multi-language BIOS

For giving AOpen's worldwide users the best support, AOpen software team
made every effort to overcome all difficulties and successfully develop a
method to provide multi-language BIOS.

You may download and reflash a specified BIOS version from AOpen 's web
site (For example, Chinese). After entering BIOS Setup, you can switch to
another language by pressing F9. Then pressing F9 again will let you return to
English screen.

This breakthrough will help you set BIOS items without the language barrier.

1-12

Overview

Battery

1.8 Battery-less Design

To preserve the earth, AOpen MX6E PLUS implements the world first battery­less motherboard design. There is no need to have battery for RTC (real time
clock) and CMOS Setup as long as the power cable is plugged. In case of the
AC power is shutdown or power cord is removed by accident, the CMOS Setup
and system configuration can be restored from EEPROM, only the system
clock needed to be re-set to current date/time.

For the convenience of end user, MX6E PLUS still shipped with one Lithium
(CR-2032) battery. If you prefer to use battery, you can still Insert it into battery
socket. The RTC will still keep running even power cord is removed.

1-13

Chapter 2

Hardware Installation

This chapter gives you a step-by-step procedure on how to install your system.
Follow each section accordingly.

Caution: Electrostatic discharge (ESD) can
damage your processor, disk drives, expansion
boards, and other components. Always
observe the following precautions before you
install a system component.

1. Do not remove a component from its
protective packaging until you are ready
to install it.

2. Wear a wrist ground strap and attach it to
a metal part of the system unit before
handling a component. If a wrist strap is
not available, maintain contact with the
system unit throughout any procedure
requiring ESD protection.

2-1

Hardware Installation

1

2

LED

JP14

CPU FAN

COM1

PRINTER

COM2

FAN

LAN-WKUP

JS1

CDIN1

CN3

2.1 Jumper and Connector Locations

The following figure shows the locations of the jumpers and connectors on the
system board:

PANEL

I

I

S

S

A

A

BIOS

HDD

P
C
I
2

MODEM-

WKUP

P

C

I

1

A
G
P

SPWR

IrDA

FDC

CPU SLOT 1

DIMM1
DIMM2
DIMM3

IDE2

IDE1

USB

KB2

PS/2 MS

2-2

Hardware Installation

Jumpers:

JP14: Clear CMOS
JS1: Disable Sound

Connectors:

PS2: PS/2 mouse connector
KB: PS/2 keyboard connector
COM1: COM1 connector
COM2: COM2 connector
PRINTER: Printer connector
PWR2: ATX power connector
USB: USB connector
FDC: Floppy drive connector
IDE1: IDE1 primary channel
IDE2: IDE2 secondary channel
CPUFAN: CPU fan connector
FAN: Housing fan connector
IrDA: IrDA (Infrared) connector
HDD LED: HDD LED connector
PANEL: Front panel (Multifunction) connector
SPWR: ATX Soft-Power Switch Connector
MODEM-WKUP: Modem Wake Up Connector
LAN-WKUP: Lan Wake Up Connector
CDIN1: CD-audio connector
CN3: Mono in (Pin 1-2) and Mic out (Pin 3-4)

2-3

Hardware Installation

2.2 Jumpers

With the help of Pentium II VID signal and SMbus, this motherboard is

jumper-less design. The only jumper left is to clear CMOS, which is a

safety hook if you forget the password.

2.2.1 Selecting the CPU Frequency

Pentium II VID signal and SMbus clock generator provide CPU voltage auto­detection and allow user to set CPU frequency through CMOS setup, no jumper
or switch is needed. The correct CPU information is saved into EEPROM, with
these technologies, the disadvantages of Pentium base jumper-less design are
eliminated. There will be no worry of wrong CPU voltage detection and no need
to re-open the housing if CMOS battery loss.

The CPU frequency selection is set by going into:

BOIS Setup à Chipset Features Setup à CPU Clock Frequency

(The possible setting is 66, 68.5, 75 and 83.3 MHz)

BOIS Setup à Chipset Features Setup à CPU Clock Ratio

(The possible setting is 1.5x, 2x, 2.5x, 3x, 3.5x, 4x, 4.5x, 5x, 5.5x, 6x, 6.5x, 7x,

7.5x, and 8x)

Core frequency = Ratio * External bus clock

INTEL Pentium II CPU Core Frequency Ratio External Bus Clock

Klamath 233 233MHz = 3.5x 66MHz
Klamath 266 266MHz = 4x 66MHz
Klamath 300 300MHz = 4.5x 66MHz
Klamath 333 333MHz = 5x 66MHz
Celeron 266 266MHz= 4x 66MHz
Celeron 300 300MHz 4.5x 66MHz

2-4

Hardware Installation

1 2 3

1 2 3

2.2.2 Setting the CPU Voltage

This motherboard supports Pentium II VID function, the CPU core voltage is
automatically detected, the range is from 1.3V to 3.5V.

2.2.3 Clearing the CMOS

JP14

1-2

2-3

The procedure to clear CMOS:

1. Turn off the system and unplug the AC power.

2. Remove ATX power cable from connector PWR2.

3. Locate JP14 and short pins 2-3 for a few seconds.

4. Return JP14 to its normal setting by shorting pins 1-2.

5. Connect ATX power cable back to connector PWR2.

6. Turn on the system power.

7. Press during bootup to enter the BIOS Setup Utility and specify a

Clear CMOS

Normal operation
(default)
Clear CMOS

new password, if needed.

Tip: If your system hangs or fails to boot because of
over-clocking, please clear CMOS and the system will go
back to default setting (233MHz).

Tip: Except using JP14, you may also press <Home>
key. By this smart design, it would be more convenient to
clear CPU frequency setting. For using this function, you
just need to press <Home> key first and then press
Power button at the same time. Please note that do not
release <Home> key until POST screen appearing .

You need to clear the CMOS if you forget your
system password. To clear the CMOS, follow
the procedures listed below:

JP14

Normal Operation

(default)

JP14

Clear CMOS

2-5

Hardware Installation

3

3

2.2.6 Disable Onboard Sound Card

JS1

1-2
2-3

Disable Onboard
Sound Card

Enabled (default)
Disabled

If you want to install other sound card, you have
to disable the onboard sound card by setting this
jumper to Disabled.

JS1

1
2

Enabled (default)

JS1

1
2

Disabled

2-6

Hardware Installation

+5V

5V SB

3.3V

2.3 Connectors

2.3.1 Power Cable

The ATX power supply uses 20-pin connector shown below. Make sure you
plug in the right direction.

Caution: Make sure that the power supply is
off before connecting or disconnecting the
power cable.

+5V

3.3V

PWR2

2.3.2 ATX Soft-Power Switch Connector

The ATX soft-power switch connector is a 2-pin header on the system board.
Locate the power switch cable from your ATX housing. It is 2-pin female
connector from the housing front panel. Plug this connector to the soft-power
switch connector marked SPWR.

1
2

SPWR

2-7

Hardware Installation

SENSE

PS/2 Mouse

2.3.3 Fan

Plug in the fan cable to the 3-pin fan connector onboard. The fan connector is
marked CPUFAN and FAN on the system board.

GND
+12V

CPUFAN & FAN

Note: Attach fan cable to either CPU FAN connector or
FAN connector. Both of these two fans connectors can
support hardware monitoring function, however, you can
only use the CPU FAN connector to control the fan
power ON/OFF.

2.3.4 PS/2 Mouse

The onboard PS/2 mouse connector is a 6-pin Mini-Din connector marked PS2.
The view angle of drawing shown here is from back panel of the housing.

2-8

PCB

Hardware Installation

PS/2 KB

COM1

COM2

2.3.5 Keyboard

The onboard PS/2 keyboard connector is a 6-pin Mini-Din connector marked KB2.
The view angle of drawing shown here is from back panel of the housing.

PCB

2.3.6 Serial Devices (COM1/COM2)

The onboard serial connectors are 9-pin D-type connector on the back panel
of mainboard. The serial port 1 connector is marked as COM1 and the serial
port 2 connector is marked as COM2.

PCB

2-9

Hardware Installation

PRINTER

USB

2.3.7 Printer

The onboard printer connector is a 25-pin D-type connector marked PRINTER.
The view angle of drawing shown here is from back panel of the housing.

PCB

2.3.8 USB Device

You can attach USB devices to the USB connector. The motherboard contains
two USB connectors, which are marked as USB.

PCB

2-10

Hardware Installation

34

33

1

40

2

39

1

40

2

39

2.3.9 Floppy Drive

Connect the 34-pin floppy drive cable to the floppy drive connector marked as

FDC on the system board.

2

1

FDC

2.3.10 IDE Hard Disk and CD ROM

This mainboard supports two 40 pin IDE connectors marked as IDE1 and
IDE2. IDE1 is also known as primary channel and IDE2 as secondary

channel, each channel supports two IDE devices that makes total of four
devices.

In order to work together, the two devices on each channel must be set
differently to master and slave mode, either one can be hard disk or CDROM.
The setting as master or slave mode depends on the jumper on your IDE
device, please refer to your hard disk and CDROM manual accordingly.

Connect your first IDE hard disk to master mode of the primary channel. If you
have second IDE device to install in your system, connect it as slave mode on
the same channel, and the third and fourth device can be connected on
secondary channel as master and slave mode respectively.

IDE2

IDE1

2-11

Hardware Installation

(3rd)

(4th)

4

+

+

4

+

+

4

+

+

Caution: The specification of IDE cable is
maximum 46cm (18 inches), make sure your
cable does not excess this length.

Caution: For better signal quality, it is
recommended to set far end side device to
master mode and follow the suggested
sequence to install your new device . Please
refer to following figure.

IDE2 (Secondary Channel)

Slave

IDE1 (Primary Channel)

Slave
(2nd)

2.3.11 Hard Disk LED

The HDD LED connector is marked as HDD
LED on the board. This connector is designed

for different type of housing, actually only two
pins are necessary for the LED. If your housing
has four pin connector, simply plug it in. If you
have only two pin connector, please connect to
pin 1-2 or pin 3-4 according to the polarity.

1
2
3

HDD LED

4-pin connector

Master

Master

(1st)

Pin

1
2
3
4

Description

HDD LED
GND
GND
HDD LED

1
2
3

HDD LED

2-pin

connector at

pin 1-2

1
2
3

HDD LED

2-pin

connector at

pin 3-4

2-12

2.3.12 Panel Connector

1

11

10

20

+

+

+

+

10

20

Hardware Installation

The Panel (multifunction) connector is a 20­pin connector marked as PANEL on the
board. Attach the power LED, keylock,
speaker, and reset switch to the
corresponding pins as shown in the figure.

Some housings have a five-pin connector for
the keylock and power LED Since power
LED and keylock are aligned together, you
can still use this kind of connector.

Keylock

ACPI LED

Speaker

GND

KEYLOCK

GND

+5V

POWER LED

SPEAKER

+5V

GND

NC

SPEAKER

PANEL

1

11

10 20

PANEL

Reset

+5V
GND
Reserved
GND
NC
NC
GND
NC
RESET
GND

Other housings may have a 12-pin
connector. If your housing has this
type of connector, connect it to
PANEL as shown in the figure. Make
sure that the red wire of the
connector is connected to +5V.

1

11

PANEL

+5V

2-13

Hardware Installation

1 2 3 4 5 6

2.3.13 IrDA Connector

The IrDA connector can be configured to support wireless infrared module,
with this module and application software such as Laplink or Win95 Direct
Cable Connection, user can transfer files to or from laptops, notebooks,
PDA and printers. This connector supports HPSIR (115.2Kbps, 2 meters),
ASK-IR (56Kbps) and Fast IR (4Mbps, 2 meters).

Install infrared module onto IrDA
connector and enable infrared function
from BIOS setup, make sure to have
correct orientation when you plug onto
IrDA connector.

Pin

1
2
3
4
5
6

IrDA

Description

+5V
NC
IRRX
GND
IRTX
NC

2-14

Hardware Installation

3

2.3.14 Modem Wake-up Connector

This motherboard implements special circuit to support
Modem Ring-On, both Internal Modem Card (AOpen
MP56) and external box Modem are supported. Since
Internal Modem card consumes no power when system
power is off, it is recommended to use Internal Modem.
To use AOpen MP56, connect 4-pin cable from RING
connector of MP56 to WKUP connector on the
mainboard.

1
2
3
4

MODEM-WKUP

2.3.15 LAN Wake-up Connector

This mainboard implements a LAN-WKUP connector.
To use LAN Wake-up function, you need a network
card that supports this feature. In addition, you also
need to install a network management software, such
as ADM.

Pin

1
2
3
4

Pin

1
2
3

Description

+5V SB
NC
RING
GND

Description

+5V SB
GND
LID

1
2

LAN-WKUP

2-15

Hardware Installation

2.3.16 CD Audio Connector

This connector is used to connect CD audio cable.

1
2
3
4

CDIN1

2.3.16 Mono In/Mic Out Connector

This connector is used to connect Mono In/Mic Out
connector of an internal modem card. The pin 1-2 is
Mono In, and the pin 3-4 is Mic Out. Please note
that there is no standard for this kind of connector
yet, only some internal modem cards implement this
connector.

Please see the pin definitions to connect the cable.

Pin

1
2
3
4

Description

2-16

1
2
3
4

Mono In/Mic Out

Hardware Installation

168

2.4 Configuring the System Memory

The DIMM types supported are EDO
(Extended Data Out) and SDRAM
(Synchronous DRAM). This mainboard has

Pin 1

DIMM modules can be identified by the following factors:
I. Size: single side, 1Mx64 (8MB), 2Mx64 (16MB), 4Mx64 (32MB), 8Mx64

(64MB), 16Mx64 (128MB), and double side, 1Mx64x2 (16MB), 2Mx64x2
(32MB), 4Mx64x2 (64MB), 8Mx64x2 (128MB).

Tip: Here is a trick to check if your DIMM is
single-side or double-side -- if there are traces
connected to golden finger pin 114 and pin 129 of
the DIMM, the DIMM is probably double-side;
otherwise, it is single-side. Following figure is for
your reference.

three 168 pin DIMM sockets (Dual-in-line
Memory Module) that allow you to install
system memory up to 256MB.

Pin 129

Pin 114

Warning: If you want to install DRAMs on DIMM2 and DIMM3 at
the same time, it is very important to identify single/double side.
Under this configuration, only single side DRAMs are acceptable.

II. Speed:

SDRAM: normally marked as as -12, which means the clock cycle time is 12ns
and maximum clock of this SDRAM is 83MHz. Sometimes you can also find the
SDRAM marked as -67, which means maximum clock is 67MHz.

EDO: the access time of EDO RAM can be 60ns or 70ns.

2-17

Hardware Installation

III. Buffered and non-buffered: This motherboard supports non-buffered

DIMMs. You can identify non-buffered DIMMs and buffered DIMMs
according to the position of the notch, following figure is for your reference:

Reserved

non-buffered

buffered

Because the positions are different, only non-buffered DIMMs can be
inserted into the DIMM sockets on this motherboard. Although most of
DIMMs on current market are non-buffered, we still recommend you to ask
your dealer for the correct type.

IV. 2-clock and 4-clock signals: Although both of 2-clock and 4-clock signals

are supported by AX6LC Lite, we strongly recommend you to choose 4­clock SDRAM in consideration of reliability.

Tip: To identify 2-clock and 4-clock SDRAM, you
may check if there are traces connected to golden
finger pin 79 and pin 163 of the SDRAM. If there
are traces, the SDRAM is probably 4-clock;
Otherwise, it is 2-clock.

V. Parity: This motherboard supports standard 64 bit wide (without parity) and

72-bit wide (with parity) DIMM modules.

There is no jumper setting required for the memory size or type. It is
automatically detected by the system BIOS, and the total memory size is to add
them together. The maximum is 256MB.

EX chipset only supports 3V EDO or SDRAM, so we can mix EDO and SDRAM
without any problem.

Every DIMM socket can be EDO or SDRAM. Please note that the maximum

DRAM size of DIMM1 is 128MB, but DIMM2 plus DIMM3 can only be
128MB.

Total Memory Size = Size of DIMM1 + Size of DIMM2 + Size of DIMM3

2-18

Hardware Installation

Following table list the recommended DRAM combinations of DIMM:

DIMM
Data chip

1M by 16 1Mx64 x1 4 8MB Yes
1M by 16 1Mx64 x2 8 16MB Yes
2M by 8 2Mx64 x1 8 16MB Yes
2M by 8 2Mx64 x2 16 32MB Yes
4M by 16 4Mx64 x1 4 32MB Yes
4M by 16 4Mx64 x2 8 64MB Yes
8M by 8 8Mx64 x1 8 64MB Yes
8M by 8 8Mx64 x2 16 128MB Yes

DIMM
Data chip

2M by 32 2Mx64 x1 2 16MB Yes, but not tested.
2M by 32 2Mx64 x2 4 32MB Yes, but not tested.

Bit size
per side

Bit size
per side

Single/
Double side

Single/
Double side

Chip
count

Chip
count

DIMM size Recommended

DIMM size Recommended

Following table are possible DRAM combinations that is NOT recommended:

DIMM
Data chip

4M by 4 4Mx64 x1 16 32MB No
4M by 4 4Mx64 x2 32 64MB No
16M by 4 16Mx64 x1 16 128MB No

Bit size
per side

Single/
Double side

Chip
count

DIMM size Recommended

2-19

Hardware Installation

The EDO and SDRAM that AOpen had tested are listed below.

Size/Type Vendor Model Single/Double Chip Count

8M/EDO Micron MT4LCM16E5TG6 x1 8
16M/EDO Micron MT4LC2M8E7DJ-6 x1 4
16M/EDO Hitachi 51W17805BJ6 x1 8
32M/EDO Hitachi 51W17405BLTS6 x1 16
64M/EDO Hyndai HY51V65804 TC-60 x1 8
8M/SDRAM SEC KM416511220AT-G12 x1 4
8M/SDRAM TI TMS626162DGE M-67 x1 4
8M/SDRAM TI TMS626162DGE-15 x1 4
16M/SDRAM TI TMS626162DGE-15 x2 8
16M/SDRAM TI TMS626812DGE-15 x1 8
16M/SDRAM NEC D4516821G5-A12-7JF x1 8
16M/SDRAM Toshiba TC59S1608AFT-12A x1 8
16M/SDRAM TI TMS626812DGE-12A x1 8
16M/SDRAM TI TMS626812DGE-12A x1 8
16M/SDRAM LGS GM72V16821BT10K x1 8
32M/SDRAM Toshiba TC59S1608AFT-12A x2 16
32M/SDRAM NEC D4516821G5-A10-7JF x2 16
128M/SDRAM NEC D4564841G5-A10-9JF x2 16
16M/SDRAM IBM 0316169CT3B x2 8
16M/SDRAM Hitachi HM5216165TT10 x1 8
16M/SDRAM IBM 0316809CT4B x1 8

Memory error checking is supported by parity check. To use parity check you
need 72 bit DIMM (64+8 bit parity), which are automatically detected by BIOS.

2-20

Hardware Installation

Warning: The driving capability of new generation chipset is
limited because the lack of memory buffer (to improve
performance). This makes DRAM chip count an important
factor to be taking into consideration when you install DIMM.
Unfortunately, there is no way that BIOS can identified the
correct chip count, you need to calculate the chip count by
yourself. The simple rule is: By visual inspection, use only

DIMM which is less than 16 chips.

Tip: The parity mode uses 1 parity bit for each byte, normally it

is even parity mode, that is, each time the memory data is
updated, parity bit will be adjusted to have even count "1" for
each byte. When next time, if memory is read with odd
number of "1", the parity error is occurred and this is called
single bit error detection.

2-21

Chapter 3

Award BIOS

This chapter tells how to configure the system parameters. You may update
your BIOS via AWARD Flash Utility.

Important: Because the BIOS code is the most
often changed part of the mainboard design, the
BIOS information contained in this chapter
(especially the Chipset Setup parameters) may be
a little different compared to the actual BIOS that
came with your mainboard.

3-1

AWARD BIOS

3.1 Entering the Award BIOS Setup Menu

The BIOS setup utility is a segment of codes/routines residing in the BIOS
Flash ROM. This routine allows you to configure the system parameters and
save the configuration into the 128 byte CMOS area, (normally in the RTC chip

or directly in the main chipset). To enter the BIOS Setup, press during
POST (Power-On Self Test). The BIOS Setup Main Menu appears as follows.

Tip: Choose "Load Setup Defaults" for
recommended optimal performance. Choose
"Load Turbo Defaults" for best performance
with light system loading. Refer to section 3.7.

The section at the bottom of the screen tells how to control the screen. Use the
arrow keys to move between items, to color scheme of the display,

to exit, and to save the changes before exit. Another section at the

bottom of the screen displays a brief description of the highlighted item.
After selecting an item, press to select or enter a submenu.

3-2

AWARD BIOS

3.2 Standard CMOS Setup

The "Standard CMOS Setup" sets the basic system parameters such as the
date, time, and the hard disk type. Use the arrow keys to highlight an item and

or to select the value for each item.

Standard CMOS à Date

To set the date, highlight the Date parameter. Press or to set the
current date. The date format is month, date, and year.

Standard CMOS à Time

To set the time, highlight the Time parameter. Press or to set the
current time in hour, minute, and second format. The time is based on the 24
hour military clock.

3-3

AWARD BIOS

Standard CMOS à Primary Master à Type
Standard CMOS à Primary Slave à Type
Standard CMOS à Secondary Master à Type
Standard CMOS à Secondary Slave à Type

Type

Auto
User
None
1
2
...
45

This item lets you select the IDE hard disk parameters
that your system supports. These parameters are Size,
Number of Cylinder, Number of Head, Start Cylinder for
Pre-compensation, Cylinder number of Head Landing
Zone and Number of Sector per Track. The default
setting is Auto, which enables BIOS to automatically
detect the parameters of installed HDD at POST (Power­On Self Test). If you prefer to enter HDD parameters
manually, select User. Select None if no HDD is
connected to the system.

The IDE CDROM is always automatically detected.

Tip: For an IDE hard disk, we recommend that
you use the "IDE HDD Auto Detection" to enter
the drive specifications automatically. See the
section "IDE HDD Auto Detection".

Standard CMOS à Primary Master à Mode
Standard CMOS à Primary Slave à Mode
Standard CMOS à Secondary Master à Mode
Standard CMOS à Secondary Slave à Mode

Mode

Auto
Normal
LBA
Large

The enhanced IDE feature allows the system to use a
hard disk with a capacity of more than 528MB. This is
made possible through the Logical Block Address (LBA)
mode translation. The LBA is now considered as a
standard feature of current IDE hard disk on the market
because of its capability to support capacity larger than
528MB. Note that if HDD is formatted with LBA On, it will
not be able to boot with LBA Off.

3-4

Standard CMOS à Drive A
Standard CMOS à Drive B

AWARD BIOS

Drive A

None
360KB 5.25"

1.2MB 5.25"
720KB 3.5"

1.44MB 3.5"

2.88MB 3.5"

These items select floppy drive type. The available settings
and types supported by the mainboard are listed on the left.

Standard CMOS à Video

Video

EGA/VGA
CGA40
CGA80
Mono

This item specifies the type of video card in use. The
default setting is VGA/EGA. Since current PCs use VGA
only, this function is almost useless and may be
disregarded in the future.

Standard CMOS à Halt On

Halt On

No Errors
All Errors
All, But Keyboard
All, But Diskette
All, But Disk/Key

This parameter enables you to control the system stops in
case of Power-On Self Test (POST) error.

3-5

AWARD BIOS

3.3 BIOS Features Setup

This screen appears when you select the option "BIOS Features Setup" from
the main menu.

BIOS Features à Virus Warning

Virus Warning

Enabled
Disabled

Type "Y" to accept write, or "N" to abort write

3-6

Set this parameter to Enabled to activate the warning
message. This feature protects the boot sector and partition
table of your hard disk from virus intrusion.

Any attempt during boot up to write to the boot sector of the
hard disk drive stops the system and the following warning
message appears on the screen. Run an anti-virus program
to locate the problem.

! WARNING !

Disk Boot Sector is to be modified

Award Software, Inc.

BIOS Features à External Cache

AWARD BIOS

External Cache

Enabled
Disabled

Enabling this parameter activates the secondary cache
(currently, PBSRAM cache). Disabling the parameter
slows down the system. Therefore, we recommend that
you leave it enabled unless you are troubleshooting a
problem.

BIOS Features à CPU L2 Cache ECC Checking

CPU L2 Cache
ECC Checking

Enabled
Disabled

This item lets you enable or disable L2 Cache ECC
checking.

BIOS Features à Quick Power On Self Test

Quick Power on
Self test

Enable
Disabled

This parameter speeds up POST by skipping some items
that are normally checked.

BIOS Features à Boot Sequence

Boot Sequence

A,C,SCSI
C,A,SCSI
C,CDROM,A
CDROM,C,A
D,A,SCSI
E,A,SCSI
F,A,SCSI
SCSI,A,C
SCSI,C,A
C only
LS/ZIP,C

This parameter allows you to specify the system boot up
search sequence. The hard disk ID are listed below:

C: Primary master
D: Primary slave
E: Secondary master
F: Secondary slave
LS: LS120
Zip: IOMEGA ZIP Drive

3-7

AWARD BIOS

BIOS Features à Swap Floppy Drive

Swap Floppy Drive

Enabled
Disabled

This item allows you to swap floppy drives. For example,
if you have two floppy drives (A and B), you can assign the
first drive as drive B and the second drive as drive A or
vice-versa.

BIOS Features à Boot Up NumLock Status

Boot Up NumLock
Status

On
Off

Setting this parameter to On enables the numeric function
of the numeric keypad. Set this parameter to Off to
disregard the function. Disabling the numeric function
allows you to use the numeric keypad for cursor control.

BIOS Features à Boot Up System Speed

Boot Up System
Speed

High
Low

Select High or Low system speed after boot.

BIOS Features à Typematic Rate Setting

Typematic Rate
Setting

Enabled
Disabled

Set this parameter to Enable/Disable the keyboard
repeat function. When enabled, continually holding down
a key on the keyboard will generate repeatedly
keystrokes.

BIOS Features à Typematic Rate (Chars/Sec)

Typematic Rate

6
8
10
12
15
20
24
30

3-8

This item allows you to control the speed of repeated
keystrokes. The default is 30 characters/sec.

BIOS Features à Typematic Delay (Msec)

AWARD BIOS

Typematic Delay

250
500
750
1000

This parameter allows you to control the delay time
between the first and the second keystroke (where the
repeated keystrokes begin). The typematic delay
settings are 250, 500, 750, and 1000 msec.

BIOS Features à Security Option

Security Option

Setup
System

The System option limits access to both the System boot
and BIOS setup. A prompt asking you to enter your
password appears on the screen every time you boot the
system.

The Setup option limits access only to BIOS setup.
To disable the security option, select Password Setting

from the main menu, don't type anything and just press
<Enter>.

BIOS Features à PCI/VGA Palette Snoop

PCI/VGA Palette
Snoop

Enabled
Disabled

Enabling this item informs the PCI VGA card to keep silent
(and to prevent conflict) when palette register is updated
(i.e., accepts data without responding any communication
signals). This is useful only when two display cards use
the same palette address and plugged in the PCI bus at
the same time (such as MPEQ or Video capture). In such
case, PCI VGA is silent while MPEQ/Video capture is set
to function normally.

BIOS Features à OS Select for DRAM > 64MB

OS Select for
DRAM > 64MB

OS/2
Non-OS/2

Set to OS/2 if your system is utilizing an OS/2 operating
system and has a memory size of more than 64 MB.

3-9

AWARD BIOS

BIOS Features à Video BIOS Shadow

Video BIOS
Shadow

Enabled
Disabled

VGA BIOS Shadowing means to copy video display
card BIOS into the DRAM area. This enhances system
performance because DRAM access time is faster than
ROM.

BIOS Features à C800-CBFF Shadow
BIOS Features à CC00-CFFF Shadow
BIOS Features à D000-D3FF Shadow
BIOS Features à D400-D7FF Shadow
BIOS Features à D800-DBFF Shadow
BIOS Features à DC00-DFFF Shadow

C8000-CBFFF
Shadow

Enabled
Disabled

These six items are for shadowing ROM code on other
expansion cards. Before you set these parameters, you
need to know the specific addresses of that ROM code.
If you do not know this information, enable all the ROM
shadow settings.

Note: The F000 and E000 segments are
always shadowed because BIOS code
occupies these areas.

3-10

AWARD BIOS

3.4 Chipset Features Setup

The "Chipset Features Setup" includes settings for the chipset dependent
features. These features are related to system performance.

Caution: Make sure you fully understand the
items contained in this menu before you try to
change anything. You may change the
parameter settings to improve system
performance . However, it may cause system
unstable if the setting are not correct for your
system configuration.

3-11

AWARD BIOS

Chipset Features à Auto Configuration

Auto Configuration

Enabled
Disabled

When Enabled, the DRAM and cache related timing
are set to pre-defined value according to CPU type
and clock. Select Disable if you want to specify your
own DRAM timing.

Chipset Features à DRAM Speed Selection

DRAM Speed
Selection

50 ns
60 ns

There are two sets of DRAM timing parameters can
be automatically set by BIOS, 50ns and 60ns.

Chipset Features à MA Wait State

MA Wait State

Slow
Fast

To enable or disable one additional MA (DRAM
memory address) wait state. The default setting is
Slow. Set it to Fast if you have heavy loading (many
chip count) or lower speed DRAM.

Chipset Features à EDO RAS# to CAS# Delay

EDO RAS# to CAS#
Delay

2
3

This option allows you to set the wait state between
row address strobe (RAS) and column address strobe
(CAS) signals.

Chipset Features à EDO RAS# Precharge Time

EDO RAS#
Precharge Time

3
4

3-12

This parameter specifies the number of clocks
required to deassert the RAS signal to prevent DRAM
from losing data after performing a read. This
operation is called Precharge.

Chipset Features à EDO DRAM Read Burst

AWARD BIOS

EDO DRAM Read
Burst

x333
x222

Read Burst means to read four continuous memory
cycles on four predefined addresses from the DRAM.
The default value is x222 for 60ns EDO DRAM.
Which means the 2nd,3rd and 4th memory cycles are
2 CPU clocks for EDO. The value of x is the timing of
first memory cycle.

Chipset Features à EDO DRAM Write Burst

EDO DRAM Write
Burst

x333
x222

Write Burst means to write four continuous memory
cycles on four predefined addresses to the DRAM.
The default value is x222 for 60ns EDO DRAM.
Which means the 2nd,3rd and 4th memory cycles are
2 CPU clocks for EDO. The value of x is the timing of
first memory cycle.

Chipset Features à SDRAM(CAS Lat/RAS-to-CAS)

SDRAM(CAS
Lat/RAS-to-CAS)

2/2
3/3

These are timing of SDRAM CAS Latency and RAS
to CAS Delay, calculated by clocks. They are
important parameters affects SDRAM performance,
default is 2 clocks. If your SDRAM has unstable
problem, change 2/2 to 3/3.

Chipset Features à SDRAM RAS Precharge Time

SDRAM RAS
Prechatge Time

2T
3T

The RAS Precharge means the timing to inactive
RAS and the timing for DRAM to do precharge before
next RAS can be issued. RAS is the address latch
control signal of DRAM row address. The default
setting is 3 clocks.

3-13

AWARD BIOS

Chipset Features à DRAM ECC Function

DRAM ECC
Function

Enabled
Disabled

This item lets you enable or disable DRAM ECC
function. The ECC algorithm has the ability to detect
double bit error and automatically correct single bit
error.

Chipset Features à CPU-to-PCI IDE Posting

CPU-to-PCI IDE
Posting

Enabled
Disabled

To enable or disable CPU to PCI IDE post write cycle.
The IDE write cycles will be queued in the FIFO or
buffer, and CPU can be released to do next job.
Disable it, if you find any IDE compatibility problem.

Chipset Features à Video BIOS Cacheable

Video BIOS
Cacheable

Enabled
Disabled

Allows the video BIOS to be cached to allow faster
video performance.

Chipset Features à Video RAM Cacheable

Video RAM
Cacheable

Enabled
Disabled

This item lets you cache Video RAM A000 and B000.

Chipset Features à 8 Bit I/O Recovery Time

8 Bit I/O Recovery
Time

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
NA

3-14

For some old I/O chips, after the execution of an I/O
command, the device requires a certain amount of
time (recovery time) before the execution of the next
I/O command. Because of new generation CPU and
mainboard chipset, the assertion of I/O command is
faster, and sometimes shorter than specified I/O
recovery time of old I/O devices. This item lets you
specify the delay of 8-bit I/O command by count of
ISA bus clock. If you find any unstable 8-bit I/O card,
you may try to extend the I/O recovery time via this
item. The BIOS default value is 4 ISA clock. If set to
NA, the chipset will insert 3.5 system clocks.

Chipset Features à 16 Bit I/O Recovery Time

AWARD BIOS

16 Bit I/O Recovery
Time

1
2
3
4
NA

The same as 16-bit I/O recovery time. This item lets
you specify the recovery time for the execution of 16­bit I/O commands by count of ISA bus clock. If you
find any of the installed 16-bit I/O cards unstable, try
extending the I/O recovery time via this item. The
BIOS default value is 1 ISA clocks. If set to NA, the
chipset will automatically insert 3.5 system clocks.

Chipset Features à Memory Hole At 15M-16M

Memory Hole At
15M-16M

Enabled
Disabled

This option lets you reserve system memory area for
special ISA cards. The chipset accesses code/data
of these areas from the ISA bus directly. Normally,
these areas are reserved for memory mapped I/O
card.

Chipset Features à Passive Release

Passive Release

Enabled
Disabled

This item lets you control the Passive Release
function of the PIIX4 chipset (Intel PCI to ISA bridge).
This function is used to meet latency of ISA bus
master. Try to enable or disable it, if you have ISA
card compatibility problem.

Chipset Features à Delayed Transaction

Delayed Transaction

Enabled
Disabled

This item lets you control the Delayed Transaction
function of the PIIX4 chipset (Intel PCI to ISA bridge).
This function is used to meet latency of PCI cycles to
or from ISA bus. Try to enable or disable it, if you
have ISA card compatibility problem.

3-15

AWARD BIOS

Chipset Features à AGP Aperture Size (MB)

AGP Aperture Size
(MB)

4
8
16
32
64
128
256

This item lets you determine the effective size of the
Graphic Apeture.

Chipset Features à Pentium II Micro Codes

Pentium II Micro
Codes

Enabled
Disabled

The micro codes are used to fix bugs of Pentium II
CPU, we strongly recommand to enable this item for
system reliability reason. However, this microcode
may slightly reduce CPU performance. We provide
this option for your convenience if you like to test it.

Chipset Features à Manufacture Frequency Default

Manufacture
Frequency Default

Depends on the CPU
type

This item only reminds you of the actual CPU
frequency while clearing CMOS or pressing "Home”
key. The default setting is 233 Mhz, you can modify it
to match the actual CPU frequency by using the utility

- flash.exe.

Chipset Features à System Frequency

System Frequency

233 Mhz
266 Mhz
300 Mhz
333 Mhz
Manual

3-16

This item lets you set CPU frequency. If you want to
set other value, please choose "Manual " to set CPU
clock frequency and clock ratio manually.

Chipset Features à CPU Clock Frequency

AWARD BIOS

CPU Clock
Frequency

66.8 Mhz

68.5 Mhz

75.0 Mhz

83.3 Mhz

This item lets you set external clock (bus clock). The
possible settings of current Klamath CPU available on
the market are 66.8 Mhz, the correct setting may vary
because of new CPU product, refer to your CPU
specification for more details.

Chipset Features à CPU Clock Ratio

CPU Clock Ratio

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

5.0

5.5

6.0

6.5

7.0

7.5

8.0

Intel Pentium II (Klamath) is designed to have
different Internal (Core) and External (Bus) frequency.
This item lets you select the ratio of Core/Bus
frequency. The default value is 3.5x.

3-17

AWARD BIOS

3.5 Power Management Setup

The Power Management Setup screen enables you to control the mainboard
green features. See the following screen.

Power Management à Power Management

Power Management

Max Saving
Mix Saving
User Define
Disabled

Mode Doze Standby Suspend HDD Power Down

Min Saving 1 hour 1 hour 1 hour 15 min
Max Saving 1 min 1 min 1 min 1 min

3-18

This function allows you to set the default parameters
of power-saving modes. Set to Disable to turn off
power management function. Set to User Define to
choose your own parameters.

Power Management à PM Controlled by APM

AWARD BIOS

PM Controlled by
APM

Yes
No

If "Max Saving" is selected, you can turn on this item,
transfer power management control to APM
(Advanced Power Management) and enhance power
saving function. For example, stop CPU internal
clock.

Power Management à Video Off After

Video Off After

N/A
Doze
Standby
Suspend

To turn off video monitor at which power down mode.

Power Management à Doze Mode

Doze Mode

Disabled
1 Min
2 Min
4 Min
8 Min
12 Min
20 Min
30 Min
40 Min
1 Hour

This item lets you set the period of time after which
the system enters into Doze mode. The system
activity (or event) is detected by monitoring the IRQ
signals or other events (such as I/O).

3-19

AWARD BIOS

Power Management à Standby Mode

Standby Mode

Disabled
1 Min
2 Min
4 Min
8 Min
12 Min
20 Min
30 Min
40 Min
1 Hour

This item lets you set the period of time after which
the system enters into Standby mode. In this mode,
the monitor power-saving feature activates. Any
activity detected returns the system to full power. The
system activity (or event) is detected by monitoring
the IRQ signals or other events (such as I/O).

Power Management à Suspend Mode

Suspend Mode

Disabled
1 Min
2 Min
4 Min
8 Min
12 Min
20 Min
30 Min
40 Min
1 Hour

This item lets you set the period of time after which
the system enters into Suspend mode. The Suspend
mode can be Power On Suspend or Suspend to Hard
Drive, selected by "Suspend Mode Option".

Power Management à HDD Power Down

HDD Power Down

Disabled
1 Min

.....

15 Min

3-20

This option lets you specify the IDE HDD idle time
before the device enters the power down state. This
item is independent from the power states previously
described in this section (Standby and Suspend).

Power Management à Modem Wake Up

AWARD BIOS

Modem Wake Up

Enabled
Disabled

This option lets you specify enable or disable Modem
Wake Up function.

Power Management à LAN Wake Up

LAN Wake Up

Enabled
Disabled

This option lets you specify enable or disable LAN
Wake Up function.

Power Management à Suspend Mode Option

Suspend Modem
Option

PowerOn Suspend
Suspend to Disk

You can select suspend mode by this item. Power
On Suspend is the traditional Green PC suspend

mode, the CPU clock is stop, all other devices are
shut off. But power must be kept On to detect
activities from modem, keyboard/mouse and returns
the system to full power. The system activities is
detected by monitoring the IRQ signals or I/O.
Suspend to Hard Drive saves system status,
memory and screen image into hard disk, then the
power can be totally Off. Next time, when power is
turned On, the system goes back to your original work
within just few seconds, which depending on your
memory size. You need utility AOZVHDD to reserve
disk space.

Power Management à VGA Active Monitor

VGA Active Monitor

Enabled
Disabled

To enable or disable the detection of VGA activity for
power down state transition.

3-21

AWARD BIOS

Power Management à Power Button Override

Power Button
Override

Enabled
Disabled

This is a specification of ACPI and supported by
hardware. When Enabled, the soft power switch on
the front panel can be used to control power On,
Suspend and Off. If the switch is pressed less than 4
sec during power On, the system will go into Suspend
mode. If the switch is pressed longer than 4 sec, the
system will be turned Off. The default setting is
Disabled, soft power switch is only used to control On
and Off, there is no need to press 4 sec, and there is
no Suspend.

Power Management à RTC Wake Up Timer

RTC Wake Up Timer

Enabled
Disabled

This option lets you enable or disable the RTC Wake
Up function.

Power Management à WakeUp Date (of Month)

WakeUp Date (of
Month)

0
1

.....

31

This item is displayed when you enable the RTC
Wake Up Timer option. Here you can specify what
date you want to wake up the system. For Example,
setting to 15 will wake up the system on the 15th day
of every month.

3-22

Note: Setting this item to 0 will wake up the

system on the specified time (which can be
set in the WakeUp Time item) every day.

AWARD BIOS

Power Management à WakeUp Time (hh:mm:ss)

WakeUp Time
(hh:mm:ss)

hh:mm:ss

This item is displayed when you enable the RTC
Wake Up Timer option. Here you can specify what
time you want to wake up the system.

Power Management à IRQ 8 Clock Event

IRQ 8 Clock Event

Enabled
Disabled

To enable or disable the detection of IRQ8 (RTC)
event for power down state transition. OS2 has
periodically IRQ8 (RTC) interruptions, If IRQ8 is not
set to Disabled, OS/2 may fail to go into
Doze/Standby/Suspend mode.

Power Management à IRQ [3-7,9-15],NMI

IRQ [3-7,9-15],NMI

Enabled
Disabled

To enable or disable the detection of IRQ3-7, IRQ9­15 or NMI interrupt events for power down state
transition.

Power Management à Primary IDE 0
Power Management à Primary IDE 1
Power Management à Secondary IDE 0
Power Management à Secondary IDE 1
Power Management à Floppy Disk
Power Management à Serial Port
Power Management à Parallel Port

Primary IDE 0

Enabled
Disabled

These items enable or disable the detection of IDE,
floppy, serial and parallel port activities for power
down state transition. Actually it detects the read/write
to/from I/O port.

3-23

AWARD BIOS

3.6 PNP/PCI Configuration Setup

The PNP/PCI Configuration Setup allows you to configure the ISA and PCI
devices installed in your system. The following screen appears if you select the
option "PNP/PCI Configuration Setup" from the main menu.

PNP/PCI Configuration à PnP OS Installed

PnP OS Installed

Yes
No

3-24

Normally, the PnP resources are allocated by BIOS
during POST (Power-On Self Test). If you are using
a PnP operating system (such as Windows 95), set
this item to Yes to inform BIOS to configure only the

resources needed for booting (VGA/IDE or SCSI).
The rest of system resources will be allocated by PnP
operating system.

AWARD BIOS

PNP/PCI Configuration à Resources Controlled By

Resources Controlled
by

Auto
Manual

Setting this option to Manual allows you to individually
assign the IRQs and DMAs to the ISA and PCI
devices. Set this to Auto to enable the auto­configuration function.

PNP/PCI Configuration à Reset Configuration Data

Reset Configuration
Data

Enabled
Disabled

In case conflict occurs after you assign the IRQs or
after you configure your system, you can enable this
function, allow your system to automatically reset your
configuration and reassign the IRQs, DMAs, and I/O
address.

PNP/PCI Configuration à IRQ3 (COM2)
PNP/PCI Configuration à IRQ4 (COM1)
PNP/PCI Configuration à IRQ5 (Network/Sound or Others)
PNP/PCI Configuration à IRQ7 (Printer or Others)
PNP/PCI Configuration à IRQ9 (Video or Others)
PNP/PCI Configuration à IRQ10 (SCSI or Others)
PNP/PCI Configuration à IRQ11 (SCSI or Others)
PNP/PCI Configuration à IRQ12 (PS/2 Mouse)
PNP/PCI Configuration à IRQ14 (IDE1)
PNP/PCI Configuration à IRQ15 (IDE2)

IRQ 3

Legacy ISA
PCI/ISA PnP

If your ISA card is not PnP compatible and requires a
special IRQ to support its function, set the selected
IRQ to Legacy ISA. This setting informs the PnP
BIOS to reserve the selected IRQ for the installed
legacy ISA card. The default is PCI/ISA PnP. Take
note that PCI cards are always PnP compatible
(except old PCI IDE card).

3-25

AWARD BIOS

PNP/PCI Configuration à DMA 0
PNP/PCI Configuration à DMA 1
PNP/PCI Configuration à DMA 3
PNP/PCI Configuration à DMA 5
PNP/PCI Configuration à DMA 6
PNP/PCI Configuration à DMA 7

DMA 0

Legacy ISA
PCI/ISA PnP

If your ISA card is not PnP compatible and requires a
special DMA channel to support its function, set the
selected DMA channel to Legacy ISA. This setting informs
the PnP BIOS to reserve the selected DMA channel for the
installed legacy ISA card. The default is PCI/ISA PnP.
Take note that PCI card does not require DMA channel.

PNP/PCI Configuration à PCI IDE IRQ Map To

PCI IDE IRQ Map
To

ISA
PCI-Slot1
PCI-Slot2
PCI-Slot3
PCI-Slot4
PCI-Auto

Some old PCI IDE add-on cards are not fully PnP
compatible. These cards require you to specify the
slot in use to enable BIOS to properly configure the
PnP resources. This function allows you to select the
PCI slot for any PCI IDE add-on card present in your
system. Set this item to Auto to allow BIOS to
automatically configure the installed PCI IDE card(s).

PNP/PCI Configuration à Primary IDE INT#
PNP/PCI Configuration à Secondary IDE INT#

Primary IDE INT#

A
B
C
D

These two items, in conjunction with item "PCI IDE
IRQ Map To", specify the IRQ routing of the primary
or secondary channel of the PCI IDE add-on card (not
the onboard IDE). Each PCI slot has four PCI
interrupts aligned as listed in the table below. You
must specify the slot in the "PCI IDE IRQ Map To",
and set the PCI interrupt (INTx) here according to the
interrupt connection on the card.

3-26

AWARD BIOS

PCI Slot Location 1

(pin A6)

Slot 1 INTA INTB INTC INTD
Slot 2 INTB INTC INTD INTA
Slot 3 INTC INTD INTA INTB
Slot 4 INTD INTA INTB INTC
Slot 5 (if any) INTD INTA INTB INTC

Location 2
(pin B7)

Location 3
(pin A7)

Location 4
(pin B8)

PNP/PCI Configuration à Used MEM Base Addr

Used MEM base addr

N/A
C800
CC00
D000
D400
D800
DC00

This item, in conjunction with the "Used MEM
Length", lets you set a memory space for non-PnP
compatible ISA card. This item specifies the
memory base (start address) of the reserved
memory space. The memory size is specified in the
"Used MEM Length".

PNP/PCI Configuration à Used MEM Length

Used MEM Length

8K
16K
32K
64K

If your ISA card is not PnP compatible and requires
special memory space to support its function,
specify the memory size in this parameter to inform
the PnP BIOS to reserve the specified memory
space for installed legacy ISA card.

3-27

AWARD BIOS

PNP/PCI Configuration à PCI Slot1 IRQ (Right)
PNP/PCI Configuration à PCI Slot2 IRQ

PCI Slot1 IRQ

3
4
5
7
9
10
11
12
14
15
Auto

This item is reserved for engineering purpose to let
you assign an IRQ manually to the add-on card on
each PCI slot. If you select Auto, system will
automatically assign an available value to the device.

It is suggested to use default setting, which is Auto, in
order to comply with PnP specification completely.

3-28

AWARD BIOS

3.7 Load Setup Defaults

The "Load Setup Defaults" option loads optimized settings for optimum system
performance. Optimal settings are relatively safer than the Turbo settings. We
recommend you to use the Optimal settings if your system has large memory
size and fully loaded with add-on card (for example, a file server using double­sided 8MB SIMM x4 and SCSI plus Network card occupying the PCI and ISA
slots).

Optimal is not the slowest setting for this mainboard. If you need to verify a
unstable problem, you may manually set the parameter in the "BIOS Features
Setup" and "Chipset Features Setup" to get slowest and safer setting.

3.8 Load Turbo Defaults

The "Load Turbo Defaults" option gives better performance than Optimal
values. However, Turbo values may not be the best setting of this mainboard
but these values are qualified by the AOpen RD and QA department as the
reliable settings especially if you have limited loading of add-on card and
memory size (for example, a system that contains only a VGA/Sound card and
two SIMMs).

To attain the best system performance, you may manually set the parameters
in the "Chipset Features Setup" to get proprietary setting. Make sure that you
know and understand the functions of every item in Chipset Setup menu. The
performance difference of Turbo from Optimal is normally around 3% to 10%,
depending on the chipset and the application.

3-29

AWARD BIOS

3.9 Integrated Peripherals

The following screen appears if you select the option "Integrated Peripherals"
from the main menu. This option allows you to configure the I/O features.

Integrated Peripherals à IDE HDD Block Mode

IDE HDD Block
Mode

Enabled
Disabled

3-30

This feature enhances disk performance by allowing
multisector data transfers and eliminates the interrupt
handling time for each sector. Most IDE drives,
except with old designs, can support this feature.

AWARD BIOS

Integrated Peripherals à IDE Primary Master PIO
Integrated Peripherals à IDE Primary Slave PIO
Integrated Peripherals à IDE Secondary Master PIO
Integrated Peripherals à IDE Secondary Slave PIO

IDE Primary Master
PIO

Auto
Mode 1
Mode 2
Mode 3
Mode 4

Setting this item to Auto activates the HDD speed
auto-detect function. The PIO mode specifies the
data transfer rate of HDD. For example: mode 0
data transfer rate is 3.3MB/s, mode 1 is 5.2MB/s,
mode 2 is 8.3MB/s, mode 3 is 11.1MB/s and mode 4
is 16.6MB/s. If your hard disk performance becomes
unstable, you may manually try the slower mode.

Caution: It is recommended that you connect
the first IDE device of each channel to the
endmost connector of the IDE cable. Refer to
section "Connectors" for details on how to
connect IDE device(s).

Integrated Peripherals à IDE Primary Master UDMA
Integrated Peripherals à IDE Primary Slave UDMA
Integrated Peripherals à IDE Secondary Master UDMA
Integrated Peripherals à IDE Secondary Slave UDMA

IDE Primary Master
UDMA

Auto
Disabled

This item allows you to set the Ultra DMA/33 mode
supported by the hard disk drive connected to your
primary IDE connector.

Integrated Peripherals à On-Chip Primary PCI IDE
Integrated Peripherals à On-Chip Secondary PCI IDE

On-Chip Primary
PCI IDE

Enabled
Disabled

This parameter lets you enable or disable the IDE
device connected to the primary IDE connector.

3-31

AWARD BIOS

Integrated Peripherals à USB Legacy Support

USB Legacy Support

Enabled
Disabled

This item lets you enable or disable the USB
keyboard driver within the onboard BIOS. The
keyboard driver simulates legacy keyboard command
and let you use USB keyboard during POST or after
boot if you don't have USB driver in the operating
system.

Caution: You can not use both USB driver
and USB legacy keyboard at the same time.
Disable "USB Legacy Support" if you have
USB driver in the operating system.

Integrated Peripherals à USB IRQ Released

USB IRQ Released

Yes
No

USB device is default to use PCI INTD#, the same as
PCI slot4. If you installed PCI card on slot4 and
require to use INTD#, set this item to Yes. The USB
device will then be disabled.

Note: Normally, PCI VGA does not need PCI
interrupt, you may put PCI VGA on slot4.

Integrated Peripherals à Onboard FDC Controller

Onboard FDC
Controller

Enabled
Disabled

Setting this parameter to Enabled allows you to
connect your floppy disk drives to the onboard floppy
disk connector instead of a separate controller card.
Change the setting to Disabled if you want to use a
separate controller card.

3-32

AWARD BIOS

Integrated Peripherals à Onboard Serial Port 1
Integrated Peripherals à Onboard Serial Port 2

Onboard Serial Port
1

Auto
3F8/IRQ4
2F8/IRQ3
3E8/IRQ4
2E8/IRQ3
Disabled

This item allow you to assign address and interrupt for
the board serial port. Default is Auto.

Note: If you are using an network card, make
sure that the interrupt does not conflict.

Integrated Peripherals à Onboard UART 2 Mode

Onboard UART 2
Mode

Standard
HPSIR
ASKIR

This item is configurable only if the "Onboard UART
2" is enabled. This allows you to specify the mode of
serial port2. The available mode selections are:

• Standard - Sets serial port 2 to operate in normal mode. This is the

default setting.

• HPSIR - Select this setting if you installed an Infrared module in your

system via IrDA connector (refer to section 2.3 "Connectors"). This
setting allows infrared serial communication at a maximum baud rate of
115K baud.

• ASKIR - Select this setting if you installed an Infrared module via IrDA

connector (refer to section 2.3 "Connectors"). This setting allows infrared
serial communication at a maximum baud rate of 19.2K baud.

3-33

AWARD BIOS

Integrated Peripherals à Onboard Parallel Port

Onboard Parallel
Port

3BC/IRQ7
378/IRQ7
278/IRQ5
Disabled

This item controls the onboard parallel port address
and interrupt.

Note: If you are using an I/O card with a
parallel port, make sure that the addresses
and IRQ do not conflict.

Integrated Peripherals à Parallel Port Mode

Parallel Port Mode

SPP
EPP
ECP
ECP + EPP

This item lets you set the parallel port mode. The
mode options are SPP (Standard and Bidirection
Parallel Port), EPP (Enhanced Parallel Port) and ECP
(Extended Parallel Port). SPP is the IBM AT and
PS/2 compatible mode. EPP enhances the parallel
port throughput by directly writing/reading data to/from
parallel port without latch. ECP supports DMA and
RLE (Run Length Encoded) compression and
decompression.

Integrated Peripherals à ECP Mode Use DMA

ECP Mode Use DMA

3
1

This item lets you set the DMA channel of ECP mode.

3-34

AWARD BIOS

3.10 Password Setting

Password prevents unauthorized use of your computer. If you set a password,
the system prompts for the correct password before boot or access to Setup.

To set a password:

1. At the prompt, type your password. Your password can be up to 8
alphanumeric characters. When you type the characters, they appear as
asterisks on the password screen box.

2. After typing the password, press.

3. At the next prompt, re-type your password and press again to confirm the
new password. After the password entry, the screen automatically reverts
to the main screen.

To disable the password, press when prompted to enter the password. The
screen displays a message confirming that the password has been disabled.

3.11 IDE HDD Auto Detection

If your system has an IDE hard drive, you can use this function to detect its
parameters and enter them into the "Standard CMOS Setup" automatically.

This routine only detects one set of parameters for your IDE hard drive. Some
IDE drives can use more than one set of parameters. If your hard disk is
formatted using different parameters than those detected, you have to enter the
parameters manually. If the parameters listed do not match the ones used to
format the disk, the information on that disk will not be accessible. If the auto­detected parameters displayed do not match those that used for your drive,
ignore them. Type N to reject the values and enter the correct ones manually

from the Standard CMOS Setup screen.

3.12 Save & Exit Setup

This function automatically saves all CMOS values before leaving Setup.

3-35

AWARD BIOS

3.13 Load EEPROM Default

Except "Load Setup Default" and "Load Turbo Default", you may also use
"Save EEPROM Default " to save your own settings into EEPROM, and reload
by using this item.

3.14 Save EEPROM Default

You may use this item to save your own settings into EEPROM. Then, if the
data in CMOS is lost or you forget the previous settings, you may use "Load
EEPROM Default " to reload.

3.15 Exit without Saving

Use this function to exit Setup without saving the CMOS value changes. Do
not use this option if you want to save the new configuration.

3.16 NCR SCSI BIOS and Drivers

The NCR 53C810 SCSI BIOS resides in the same flash memory chip as the
system BIOS. The onboard NCR SCSI BIOS is used to support NCR 53C810
SCSI control card without BIOS code.

The NCR SCSI BIOS directly supports DOS, Windows 3.1 and OS/2. For
better system performance, you may use the drivers that come with the NCR
SCSI card or with your operating system. For details, refer to the installation
manual of your NCR 53C810 SCSI card.

3-36

AWARD BIOS

3.17 BIOS Flash Utility

The BIOS Flash utility allows you to upgrade the system BIOS. To get the
AOpen Flash utility and the upgrade BIOS file, contact your local distributor or
visit our homepage at http://www.aopen.com.tw. Please make sure that you
have the correct BIOS ready, the BIOS filename is normally like
AP5TR110.BIN, which means model AP5T BIOS revision 1.10.

There are two useful programs, Checksum utility CHECKSUM.EXE and AOpen
Flash utility AOFLASH.EXE. Follow the procedures below to upgrade your
BIOS.

[CHECKSUM.EXE]
This utility will help you to determine if the BIOS has been downloaded correctly

or not.

1. Execute

C:> CHECKSUM Biosfile.bin

Biosfile.bin is the filename of the BIOS code.

2. The utility will show "Checksum is ssss".

3. Compare the "ssss" with original checksum posted on Web or BBS. If they

are different, please do not proceed any further and try to download the
BIOS again.

[AOFLASH.EXE]
This utility will try to check the mainboard model, BIOS version and Super/Ultra

IO chip model. To ensure the correct BIOS file for the correct mainboard and
IO chip. This utility will permanently replace your original BIOS content after
flashing.

1. Bootup the system from floppy without loading any memory handler

(HIMEM, EMM386, QEMM386, ...) or device driver.

2. Execute

C:> AOFLASH Biosfile.bin

Biosfile.bin is the filename of the BIOS code.

3-37

AWARD BIOS

3. After loading the new BIOS code, the utility will prompt you to save original

BIOS code into your HDD or floppy. Please press "Y" to store it as
"BIOS.OLD".

4. After the old BIOS has been successfully saved, press "Y" to replace BIOS.

5. DO NOT turn off the power during "FLASHING".

6. Reboot the system by turn off the power after "FLASHING".

7. Press "DEL" key to enter BIOS setup during POST.

8. Reload the "BIOS SETUP DEFAULT" and reconfigure other items as

previous set.

9. Save & Exit. Done!

Warning: DO NOT turn off the power during
"FLASHING". If the BIOS programming is not
successfully finished, the system will not be boot
again, and you may need to physically replace the
BIOS chip.

Tip: You may load back original BIOS "BIOS.OLD" by
the same procedure.

3-38

Chapter 4

SPK

MIC

LINE-IN

Tape Deck,

Speakers

Microphone

Headphones

CD Player

Audio

This motherboard comes with a 16-bit sound processor (Crystal CX4235)
onboard.

Game Port

PCB

To fully utilize the audio functions, you may connect various peripheral devices
that the audio chip supports. The following figure shows the different devices
that you can connect.

Stereo
Amplifier

SPK

Line-in

Mic

Synthesizer,

etc.

4-1

Audio

4.1 Features

The onboard audio has the following features:

Advanced technology support

• Microsoft Direct Sound

• Plug and Play

MIDI interface

• Built-in MIDI interface for external MIDI devices

Software-controllable audio

• Supports various audio devices all controllable through software

• Adjusts master volume, CD audio, line-in, and microphone inputs

• Software setting of I/O address, DMA and IRQ

Stereo digitized voice channel

• Full-duplex, 16-bit digital audio playback and recording in both stereo and

mono modes

• Programmable sampling rate from 8 KHz to 44.1 KHz

3D Sound-Surround

• Adjustable Space effect via software

• Preset capability (maximum of three different settings)

4-2

Audio

4.2 Setting Up in Windows 95

AOpen Bonus Pack CD-ROM contains the Windows 95 drivers and software
(including the Music Center application). Please see the online help for details.

Note: Refer to your Windows 95 manual or online
help for any questions on Windows 95.

4.2.1 Installing the Drivers and the Application

After turning on the system, Windows 95 begins loading and starts detecting
new hardware installed on the system.

1. When Windows 95 detects the presence of the onboard audio chip, it
begins to build the CX4235 driver database. The New Hardware Found
dialog box displays.

2. Select Driver from disk provided by hardware manufacturer and click
on OK. Windows 95 prompts you for the driver disk.

3. Specify the path of the Win95 driver from your CD-ROM drive, then click
on OK. The system will copy the necessary driver files to your hard disk
drive.

Tip: Prepare the Windows 95 CD-ROM disk before
setting up the onboard audio. Windows 95 will
prompt you to insert the Windows 95 CD-ROM disk
when you install the joystick or MIDI device.

Note: If the file being copied is older than the file
currently existing in your system, we suggest you to
keep the existing file.

4. Windows 95 makes changes to the system settings and begins detecting
the following new hardware components:

• Crystal PnP Audio System Joystick

• Crystal PnP Audio System Control Registers

• Crystal PnP Audio System MPU-401 Compatible

4-3

Audio

• Crystal PnP Audio System CODEC

5. Upon initial installation, the setup process begins setting up the software.

Windows 95 makes final changes to the system settings.

4.2.2 Removing the Drivers

Follow these steps to remove or uninstall the drivers:

1. Execute SETUP.EXE on driver disk & click on Uninstall Driver.

2. Click on Uninstall Crystal Drivers to uninstall the drivers.

The uninstallation process automatically removes the drivers and changes the
system registry settings.

Important: After removing the drivers, remember to
remove the audio chip when you shutdown from the
current Windows 95 session; otherwise, Windows 95
will again detect the audio chip at the next startup.

4-4

Audio

4.3 Setting Up in DOS and Windows 3.x

4.3.1 Installing the Drivers and the Application

Follow these steps to install the drivers and the application:

1. Insert AOpen Bonus Pack into the appropriate CDROM drive.

2. At the DOS prompt, type

x:\Mx6eplus\Sound\Driver\Win31\setup e

depending on your CD-ROM drive.

3. Select the install option to start the installation process. A confirmation
screen displays.

4. This screen describes the files setup will modify during installation. Read
this message carefully. Select Yes to proceed with the installation. The
install path confirmation screen displays.

5. Confirm the installation path by selecting Begin Installation. You can
modify the source and destination directories. The Windows applications
installation screen displays.

6. Press e if you want to install the Windows applications and drivers.
Otherwise, press m. The hardware settings screen displays.

7. Select Accept the above settings to install the drivers and applications.
You can modify any of the options before you begin installation.

If you selected to install the Windows drivers and applications, the
Windows-specific hardware settings screen displays.

8. Select Accept the above settings to install the Windows drivers and
applications. You can modify any of the options before you begin
installation.

Skip this step if you did not select to install the Windows drivers and
applications.

9. Follow the screen instructions to complete the installation.
The installation program automatically updates your profiles

(AUTOEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS, and SYSTEM.INI) so that your
hardware and software work properly.

4-5

Audio

Note: Before any changes are made to your
AUTOEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS, WIN.INI and
SYSTEM.INI files, backups of your original files are
copied to the audio directory and are renamed as
AUTOEXEC.###, CONFIG.###, WIN.### and
SYSTEM.### respectively.

10. Reboot the system after installation.

Important: You must reboot the system. The
onboard audio does not work unless you reboot.

4.3.2 Removing the Drivers

Follow these steps to remove or uninstall the drivers:

1. Change the directory to where the audio driver files are located and type
the following at the DOS prompt:

setup e

2. Select the uninstall option to start the uninstallation process. Follow the
screen instructions to complete the process.

4-6

Audio

4.4 Setting Up in NT3.51 / NT4.0

4.4.1 Installing the Audio Drivers

Follow these steps to install the audio drivers:

1. For NT3.51, select DRIVERS from control panel.
For NT4.0, select MULTIMEDIA from control panel and click on the
Devices tab.

2. Press the ADD button. Select Unlisted or Updated Drivers and press
OK.

3. Browse and select X:\Mx6eplus\Sound\Driver\WinNT.
(X: is your CD-ROM drive.)

4. Press OK to continue with the installation.

5. An Audio Setup dialog box will appear. Please select the default
configuration resource and press OK.

6. Click on the Restart Now button.

4.4.2 Install MPU-401/Joystick Driver

Follow these steps to install the MPU401 or joystick drivers:

1. For NT3.51, select DRIVERS from control panel.
For NT4.0, select MULTIMEDIA from control panel and click on the
Devices tab.

2. Press the ADD button. Select MPU-401 Compatible Driver /Microsoft
Sidewinder 3D Pro Joystick and press OK.

3. Place your NT4.0/NT3.51 installation CD and press OK (the default path
is the i386 directory).

4. The Generic MPU-401/Joystick Setup dialog box will pop up. Select the
default configuration resource and press OK.

5. Click on the Restart Now button.

4-7

Audio

4.5 Applications

4.5.1 Music Center

To startup this application, please click the Music Center Icon.

MIDI Player: plays MIDI audio files

3D
Controller:

controls the
3D effects

CD Player:

plays audio
CDs

Wave Player:

plays and
records
waveform
audio files

Multimedia Mixer: controls the combination and
balance of sound output from different channels

For more information, please refer to the online help.

4-8

4.5.2 MIDI Board

To startup this application software, please click the MIDI Board Icon.

Audio

Tone Button: Sharp or disminish
background music by the 12 tone buttons.

MIDI Board Notes: Move cursor over
the screen keyboard and click for
playing or strick corrospondence key
on PC keyboard to play specific tone.

Rhythm & Tempo: To
play several types of
background music.

Program Tuner: Drag the
yellow point to select specific
program for different
instrument tune.

Menu Button:
Turn on/off Menu.

HotKey Button:

Show keyboard
mapping.

4.5.3 MIDI Player

MIDI player is very similar as Media Player that comes with Windows 95, but it
is able to dynamic switch MIDI devices from one to another while playing MIDI
file, so you can enjoy the sound quality between different MIDI device
obviously.

4-9

Appendix A

BIOS revision

Frequently Asked Question

Note: FAQ may be updated without notice. If you
cannot find the information that you need in this
appendix, visit our WWW home page, (address:
http://www.aopen.com.tw) and check the FAQ
area and other new information.

Q: How can I identify the mainboard BIOS version?

A: The AOpen mainboard BIOS version appears on the upper-left corner of the

POST (Power-On Self Test) screen. Normally, it starts with R and is found in
between the model name and the date. For example:

AP53/AX53 R3.80 Oct.22.1996

Q: How can I identify the model name & revision of the mainboard from

PCB?

A: The AOpen mainboard revision appears as REV:X.X on the PCB, usually it is

under beneath of AOpen Logo & mainboard model name. For example,
“AX6L REV:1.2” shall appear on the PCB as follows:

AX6L

REV:1.2

A-1

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is MMX?

A: MMX is the new single-line multiple-instruction technology of the new Intel

Pentium PP/MT (P55C) and Pentium II CPU. The AMD K6 and Cyrix M2 will
support MMX, too. The MMX instructions are specifically useful for multimedia
applications (such as 3D video, 3D sound, video conference). The
performance can be improved if applications use these instructions. All AOpen
MBs have at least dual power onboard to support MMX. It is not necessary to
have special chipset for MMX CPU.

Q: What is USB (Universal Serial Bus)?

A: USB is a new 4-pin serial peripheral bus that is capable of cascading

low/medium speed peripherals (less than 10Mbit/s) such as keyboard, mouse,
joystick, scanner, printer and modem/ISDN. With USB, the traditional
complex cables from back panel of your PC can be eliminated.

You need the USB driver to support USB device(s). AOpen MBs are all USB
ready, you may get latest BIOS from AOpen web site
(http://www.aopen.com.tw). Our latest BIOS includes the keyboard driver
(called Legacy mode), that simulates USB keyboard to act as AT or PS/2
keyboard and makes it possible to use USB keyboard if you don't have driver
in your OS. For other USB devices, you may get the drivers from your device
vendor or from OS (such as Win95). Be sure to turn off "USB Legacy
Support" in BIOS "Chipset Setup" if you have another driver in your OS.

Q: What is FCC DoC (Declaration of Conformity)?

A: The DoC is new certification standard of FCC regulations. This new standard

allows DIY component (such as mainboard) to apply DoC label separately
without a shielding of housing. The rule to test mainboard for DoC is to
remove housing and test it with regulation 47 CFR 15.31. The DoC test of
mainboard is more difficult than traditional FCC test. If the mainboard passes
DoC test, that means it has very low EMI radiation and you can use any kind
of housing (even paper housing). Following is an example of DoC label.

AP5T

Test To Comply
With FCC Standa rds

FOR HOME OR OFFICE USE

A-2

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is Bus Master IDE (DMA mode)?

A: The traditional PIO (Programmable I/O) IDE requires the CPU to involve in all

the activities of the IDE access including waiting for the mechanical events.
To reduce the workload of the CPU, the bus master IDE device transfers data
from/to memory without interrupting CPU, and releases CPU to operate
concurrently while data is transferring between memory and IDE device. You
need the bus master IDE driver and the bus master IDE HDD to support bus
master IDE mode. Note that it is different with master/slave mode of the IDE
device connection. For more details, refer to section 2.3 "Connectors".

Q: What is the Ultra DMA/33?

A: This is the new specification to improve IDE HDD data transfer rate. Unlike

traditional PIO mode, which only uses the rising edge of IDE command signal
to transfer data, the DMA/33 uses both rising edge and falling edge. Hence,
the data transfer rate is double of the PIO mode 4 or DMA mode 2. (16.6MB/s
x2 = 33MB/s).

The following table lists the transfer rate of IDE PIO and DMA modes. The
IDE bus is 16-bit, which means every transfer is two bytes.

Mode Clock per

33MHz
PCI

PIO mode 0 30ns 20 600ns (1/600ns) x 2byte = 3.3MB/s
PIO mode 1 30ns 13 383ns (1/383ns) x 2byte = 5.2MB/s
PIO mode 2 30ns 8 240ns (1/240ns) x 2byte = 8.3MB/s
PIO mode 3 30ns 6 180ns (1/180ns) x 2byte = 11.1MB/s
PIO mode 4 30ns 4 120ns (1/120ns) x 2byte = 16.6MB/s
DMA mode 0 30ns 16 480ns (1/480ns) x 2byte = 4.16MB/s
DMA mode 1 30ns 5 150ns (1/150ns) x 2byte = 13.3MB/s
DMA mode 2 30ns 4 120ns (1/120ns) x 2byte = 16.6MB/s

DMA/33

Q: What is ACPI (Advanced Configuration & Power Interface) and OnNow?

A: The ACPI is new power management specification of 1997 (PC97). It intends

to save more power by taking full control of power management to operating
system and not through BIOS. Because of this, the chipset or super I/O chip
needs to provide standard register interface to OS (such as Win97) and
provides the ability for OS to shutdown and resume power of different part of
chip. The idea is a bit similar to the PnP register interface.

30ns 4 120ns (1/120ns) x 2byte x2 = 33MB/s

Clock
count

Cycle
time

Data Transfer rate

A-3

Frequently Asked Questions

ACPI defines momentary soft power switch to control the power state
transition. Most likely, it uses the ATX form factor with momentary soft power
switch. The most attractive part of ACPI for desktop user is probably the
"OnNow" feature, an idea from notebook. This feature allows you to
immediately resume to your original work without the long time waiting from
bootup, entering Win95 and running Winword. The AX5T with Intel TX chipset
can support ACPI.

Q: What is ATX Soft Power On/Off and Momentary Switch?

A: The Soft Power On of the ATX specification means to provide a standby

current for special circuit to wait for wakeup event when main power is off. For
example, Infrared wakeup, modem wakeup, or voice wakeup. Currently, the
most simple usage is to provide standby current for power switch circuit so
that power switch can turn on/off the main power through soft power control
pin. The ATX power specification does not mention anything about the power
switch type. You can use toggle or momentary switch, note that ACPI
specification requires momentary switch for power state control. All the
AOpen ATX MBs support momentary switch.

Soft Power Off means to turn off system through software, Windows 95
Shutdown function can be used to verify if your mainboard supports soft power
off.

Q: What is the AGP (Accelerated Graphic Port)?

A: AGP is a PCI-like bus interface targeted for high-performance 3D graphic.

AGP supports only memory read/write operation and single-master single­slave one-to-one only. The AGP uses both rising and falling edge of the
66MHz clock and produces 66MHz x 4byte x 2 = 528MB/s data transfer rate.

Q: Does Pentium, Pentium Pro or Pentium II support Deturbo mode?

A: The Deturbo mode was originally designed to slow down CPU speed for old

applications (especially old games). It uses programming loop to wait or delay
special event. This programming method is considered very bad since the
delay of loop highly depends on the CPU speed and the application fails at
high-speed CPU. Almost all new applications (including games) use RTC or
interrupt to wait event. There is no need for Deturbo mode now. The Turbo
switch is now used as Suspend switch. However, some MBs still support
Turbo/Deturbo function via keyboard. You can set the system to Deturbo by
pressing <Ctrl> <Alt> <->. To back to Turbo mode, press <Ctrl> <Alt> <+>.
Note that the Deturbo mode has been removed in new MBs since these
require more code space in Flash ROM.

Q: Power Management Icon does not appear in the Windows 95 Control Panel

even though the APM under BIOS Setup is enabled.

A-4

Frequently Asked Questions

A: This problem occurs if you did not enable the APM function before you install

Windows 95. If you have already installed Windows 95, re-install it after the
BIOS APM function is enabled.

Q: Why does the system fail to go into suspend mode under Win95?

A: This problem may be caused by your CDROM settings. The CDROM Auto

Insert Notification of Win95 is dafault enabled, the system will continue to
monitor your CDROM, auto-execute application when a CD diskette is loaded,
and prevents the system from entering into suspend mode. To resolve this,
go into Control Panel è System è Device Manager è CDROM è Setting,
and disable the "Auto Insert Notification" function.

Q: Which version of the Windows '95 that I am using?

A: You may determine the version of Windows '95 by following steps.

1. Double click "System" in "Control Panel".

2. Click "General".

3. Look for "System" heading & refer to following,

4.00.950 Windows 95

4.00.950A Windows 95 + Service Pack or OEM Service Release 1

4.00.950B OEM Service Release 2 or OEM Service Release 2.1

If you are running OSR 2.1, you may tell it from by checking "USB
Supplement to OSR2" in the list of installed program of Add/Remove
program tool under Control Panel, and checking for version 4.03.1212 of the
Ntkern.vxd file in the Windows\System\Vmm32 folder.

Q: What is LDCM (LAN Desktop Client Manager)?

A: This is a software of Intel. The major goal is to provide an easy way for

corporate network administrator to monitor the status of all the clients
(workstation). You need at least DMI BIOS for LDCM. AOpen BIOS is also
DMI ready but unfortunately, Intel LDCM needs Intel network card and ATI
VGA to work properly. It is obviously not suitable for home user to pay LDCM
extra cost.

A-5

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is ADM (Advanced Desktop Manager)?

A: This is a desktop client and server management software developed by

AOpen. It is similar as Intel LDCM with some improvement. ADM is not only
for corporate network management, it can also be used as system status
monitoring utility, for example, CPU fan, thermal and system voltage
monitoring.

Features ADM 2.1 LDCM 3.0
VGA card
Network card
Support DMI BIOS 2.0
Support Win95
Support Win NT
Real-Time CPU/Memory

Utilization Monitoring
Multi-Machine

Monitoring on One Screen
Remote Management

Protocol
Standard SNMP Trap

Remote File Transfer

No limitation Only ATI
No limitation Only Intel
Yes Yes
Yes Yes
Yes Yes
Yes No

Yes No

Standard SNMP
protocol

Yes (so that can work
with standard software
such as HP Open View)

No Yes

Intel proprietary RAP
protocol

No

A-6

Appendix B

Troubleshooting

In case you encounter any of the troubles listed below, follow the procedures
accordingly to resolve the problem. If the first corrective action listed did not
work, then try the next one.

Tip: There are many useful information in our homepage, such
as jumper settings, latest BIOS, drivers, and more FAQs. Visit
our homepage to see if there is answer of your problem.

Taiwan http://www.aopen.com.tw
USA http://www.aopen-usa.com
http://www.aopenamerica.com
Europe http://www.aopen.nl

Important: Make sure that you have tried listed procedures in

this appendix before you call your distributor. If the problem still
exist, fill out the attached Technical Problem Report Form.
Please write down your configuration and error symptoms as
detailed as possible. The more detailed information you give
us, the faster we can identify and solve your problem. You can
copy this form and fax it to your distributor or send the form via
e-mail. For getting better efficiency, we don't recommand you
report the problem through phone.

B-1

Troubleshooting

No display.

a. Check all jumper settings to make sure that you have set the proper

jumpers, especially those for CPU type, single/dual voltage (P54C/MMX),
CPU frequency and ratio.

b. Check the power cord or power switch of your system. The simple way to

identify power failure is to check the CPU fan and the power supply fan. If
these are not working, then the power is down.

c. Is there a short on the motherboard? (Is the fan of the power supply

working properly?)

d. Turn off the power and remove all add-on cards, IDE cables and floppy

cables from your mainboard. Only install the VGA card to simplify the
problem.

e. If you use a PCI VGA card, reinstall it to other PCI slot or try another card.
f. Check if the memory (SIMM/DIMM) were installed properly. Reinstall the

SIMM/DIMM to other socket or try another SIMM/DIMM.

g. Make sure the flat cable matches pin1 of IDE connector and your IDE

device.

There is display, but can 't enter BIOS Setup.

a. For checking if the keyboard works properly, press the <Num Lock> key

to enable/disable the Num Lock function, and check if the LED will ON
and OFF accordingly.

b. Check if Turbo Switch was released, don 't use Turbo Switch before

system boots. (In fact, there is no Turbo function after Pentium machine.
Now Turbo Switch usually acts as Suspend Switch.)

System sometimes auto reboots.

a. Clear CMOS. BIOS will load default setting, use the slowest and most

reliable setting.

b. Repeat the steps in "No display" section carefully.

B-2

Troubleshooting

There is display, but can 't boot.

a. Check BIOS Setup if the HDD is set to LBA (more than 540MB) format.
b. Load default setting.
c. Boot system from floppy drive. If pass, the problem should be caused by

the IDE cable or HDD itself.

HDD Controller Fail, can't detect HDD.

a. Make sure the Master/Slaver setting for HDD is correct.
b. Check IDE cable or try another HDD.

Mouse/Printer/Floppy is not working properly.

a. Check if Serial/Parallel/Floppy cable was installed properly.
b. If possible, use another peripheral to double check if the mainboard is

defective.

Keyboard has no response when system boots, or BIOS
shows the message "Keyboard Controller Error ".

a. Press the <Num Lock> key to enable and disable Num Lock function,

check if the LED will ON and OFF accordingly.

b. Is the mainboard fuse burned? (Use an multi-meter to check. The fuse is

usually located near the keyboard socket. It is usually green and marked
as F1,3A/125V.)

COMS data lost, or Battery Low

a. Does the voltage of the onboard battery is lower than 2.5V?
b. Make sure the Clear CMOS jumper is set correctly.

B-3

Troubleshooting

Technical Problem Report Form

Model Name:

Serial Number:

Name:

Contact:

TEL: FAX:

Email Address:

Error Symptom:

System
Configuration:

(Please list model
name and
version.)

B-4

OS: BIOS:

CPU: SIMM:

HDD: CDROM:

VGA: Sound:

Modem: Others:

Appendix C

Jumper Table Summary

Selecting the CPU Frequency

This motherboard is jumper-less design. The only jumper left is Clear CMOS,
which is reserved in case you forget your password.

The CPU frequency selection is set by going into:

BOIS Setup à Chipset Features Setup à CPU Clock Frequency

(The possible setting is 66, 68.5, 75 and 83.3 MHz)

BOIS Setup à Chipset Features Setup à CPU Clock Ratio

(The possible setting is 1.5x, 2x, 2.5x, 3x, 3.5x, 4x, 4.5x, 5x, 5.5x, 6x, 6.5x, 7x,

7.5x, and 8x)

INTEL Pentium II CPU Core Frequency Ratio External Bus Clock

Klamath 233 233MHz = 3.5x 66MHz
Klamath 266 266MHz = 4x 66MHz
Klamath 300 300MHz = 4.5x 66MHz
Klamath 333 333MHz = 5x 66MHz
Celeron 266 266MHz= 4x 66MHz
Celeron 300 300MHz 4.5x 66MHz

Selecting the CPU Voltage

This motherboard supports Pentium II (Klamath) VID function, the CPU core
voltage is automatically detected, the range is from 1.3V to 3.5V.

C-1

Jumper Table Summary

Clear CMOS

JP14

1-2
2-3

Clear CMOS

Normal operation (default)
Clear CMOS

Tip: If your system hangs or fails to boot because of over­clocking, simply use <Home> key to restore to the default
setting (233MHz). By this smart design, it would be more
convenient to clear CPU frequency setting. For using this
function, you just need to press <Home> key first and then
press Power button at the same time. Please note that do
not release <Home> key until POST sreen appearing .

C-2