AOpen N250AL User Manual
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Table of Contents ................................................................................... 1
1.1 A Thank-you Note Before You Get Start..........................................................4
1.2 Features of This Manual ...............................................................................5
1.3 Safety Information ......................................................................................5
Chapter 2 Introduction to This Motherboard............................................... 6
2.1 How does your motherboard look like?...........................................................6
2.2 Specification...............................................................................................7
2.3 Block Diagram ............................................................................................8
Chapter 3 Hardware Installation............................................................... 9
3.1 Quick Installation Procedure .........................................................................9
3.2 Installation You Have to Know..................................................................... 10
Installing CPU...........................................................................................10
Installing CPU and System Fans ..................................................................11
Installing Memory Modules.........................................................................12
Connecting IDE and Floppy Cables ..............................................................13
Connecting ATX Power Cables.....................................................................14
Connecting Front Panel Cable .....................................................................15
3.3 Other Installation for Your Reference ...........................................................16
Setting CPU Voltage and Frequency.............................................................16
Connecting Serial ATA................................................................................17
Adjusting your Hard Disk Setting.................................................................18
Connecting AGP 8X Expansion Slot ..............................................................19
Connecting IrDA........................................................................................20
10/100/1000Mbps LAN Supported...............................................................21
Connecting USB2.0....................................................................................22
Connecting 1394 (only for n250a-FR) ..........................................................23
1
Connecting S/PDIF ....................................................................................24
Super 5.1 Channel Audio Effect...................................................................25
Connecting Front Audio..............................................................................26
Connecting Game Port ...............................................................................27
Connecting CD_IN.....................................................................................28
Connecting AUX_IN ...................................................................................29
Connecting Case Open...............................................................................30
Colored Coded Back Panel ..........................................................................31
LED Indication ..........................................................................................32
3.4 Jumper Settings........................................................................................33
Chapter 4 Special Features and Utilities................................................... 36
RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) ...................................................36
RAID Configuration Utility...........................................................................36
Silicon Image SATARaid GUI Overview (only for n250a-FR)............................37
SilentTek – Noise is Gone!................................................................................38
Other Useful Features......................................................................................41
Chapter 5 Setting BIOS......................................................................... 42
Introduction .............................................................................................42
How To Use Phoenix-Award™ BIOS Setup Program .......................................43
How To Enter BIOS Setup ..........................................................................43
BIOS Upgrade under Windows environment..................................................44
WinBIOS Utility (only for n250a-FR) ............................................................46
Vivid BIOS technology ...............................................................................48
Chapter 6 Installing Drivers................................................................... 49
6.1 Auto-run Menu from Bonus CD.................................................................... 49
6.2 Installing NVIDIA Windows nForce Drivers....................................................50
6.3 Installing NVIDIA NvMixer Driver................................................................. 50
6.4 Installing Gigabit LAN Driver (for n250a-FR and n250a-L) ..............................51
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6.5 Installing LAN Driver for n250a................................................................... 51
6.6 Installing USB2.0 Driver.............................................................................52
6.7 Installing NVidia SATA RAID Driver..............................................................52
6.8 Installing Silicon Image 3114 SATARaid Driver (for n250a-FR only) ................. 53
6.9 Installing Silicon Image 3114 Java SATARaid Utility (for n250a-FR only)........... 58
6.10 JAVA 2 Runtime Environment Installation (for n250a-FR only).......................58
Chapter 7 Troubleshooting..................................................................... 59
Chapter 8 Technical Support .................................................................. 60
Model Name and BIOS Version....................................................................61
Register Your Motherboard .........................................................................61
3
1.1 A Thank-you Note Before You Get Start
First of all, we would like to express our gratitude for purchasing AOpen products.
Once again, this motherboard is designed uniquely to meet all your personal
needs with our gre at industr y-d esigning ability and our ev erlasti ng perse ver ance
to the quality of all our products.
This manual will introduce you how this motherboard is installed. Please keep it
well for your future reference. If you lost your printed manual, you may also go to
our website at
Now, we would like to invite you to personally experience this user-friendly
manual and all of the powerful functions this AOpen product offers.
The logos of Adobe and Acrobat are the registered trademarks of Adobe Systems
Incorporated.
The logos of AMD, Athlon, and Duron are the registered trademarks of Advanced Micro
Devices, Inc.
The logos of Intel, Intel Celeron, Pentium II, III and Pentium 4 are the registered
trademarks of Intel Corporation.
The logos of nVidia are the registered trademarks of nVidia Corporation.
The logos of Microsoft, Windows are the registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in
America and other countries.
http://www.aopen.com to download the updated file.
All the titles of the products and the trademarks mentioned in this manual are for the
purpose of illustrative conveniences and are possessed by their respective firms.
We regret not informing about any changes in usage standards and other related
information. AOpen reserves the right of altering or modifying the content of this manual. In
case of any mistakes or incorrect descriptions, which include those on the products, AOpen
makes no guarantee or commitments.
This document is based on the copyright laws in order to protect our company and reserve
all rights.
Under no circumstances are any types of duplicating and loading this brochure in any
databases and media permitted except the permission signed on formal document by
AOpen Company.
1996-2004 Copyrights, AOpen Ltd. All rights reserved.
4
1.2 Features of This Manual
T o help you g rab the useful information of this motherboard and aware of certain
conditions that you might need to know, you will see the icons below frequently:
Note
Warning / Caution
Warning
Tip
Warning
This contains knowledge you should know in process
of assembling, or some helpful tips.
Please be careful when you see this mark. It
highlights mistakes that occur often during
assembling, or something you need to pay attention
to.
This tip tells you some useful information that will
make your installation smoothly.
1.3 Safety Information
Please wear a wrist strap and attach it to a metal part of the system unit
before handling a component. Alternatively, you can also touch an objec t
that is of ground connection or with metal surface.
Always unplug the power before you make any jumper setting.
Before you install or remove any components on the motherboard, please
make sure to disconnect the power first in case of damaging motherboard
or other components.
5
Chapter 2 Introduction to This Motherboard
Chapter 2 Introduction to This Motherboard
2.1 How does your motherboard look like?
13
1. JP28 PS2 KB/Mouse Wakeup Jumper 17. Front Audio Connector
2. AGP 8X Expansion Slot 18. Game Port Connector
3. 4-pin 12V ATX Power Connector 19. S/PDIF Connector
4. AGP Protection LED 20. 32-bit PCI Expansion Slots X 5 (Slot 5:
5. CPUFAN Connector 21. Case Open Connector
6. SYSFAN1 Connector 22. SYSFAN2 Connector
7. 184-pin DIMMs X 3 23. IrDA Connector
8. 754-pin CPU socket supporting
AMD
9. NVIDIA nForce3 Chipsets 25. USB2.0 Connectors X 2
10. IDE Connectors x 2 26. JP25 BIOS Protection Jumper (for n250a-FR)
11. ATX Power Connector 27. JP24 BIOS Rescue Jumper (for n250a-FR)
12. FDD Connector 28. Serial ATA Ports X 6
13. Realtek LAN Chip 29. Front Panel Connector
14. CD-IN Connector 30. JP2 Speaker Output Jumper (for n250a-FR)
15. AUX-IN Connector 31. JP15, 16 Dr. Voice II Language Selection
16. Onboard AC’97 CODEC 32. JP14 CMOS Data Clear Jumper
15
17
19
21
23
25
27
29
31
TM
Athlon
14
16
18
20
22
24
26
28
30
32
TM
64 CPU
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Self-Powered PCI Slot, only for n250a-FR)
24. IEEE1394 Connectors X 2
(only for n250a-FR)
(for n250a and n250a-L, Serial AT A Ports X 4)
(for n250a-FR)
6
2.2 Specification
Here is the main function of your motherboard.
Models n250a-FR n250a-L n250a
CPU
Chipset nForce3 250 nForce3 250 nForce3 250
Main Memory
Graphics 8X AGP slot 8X AGP slot 8X AGP slot
IDE
LAN
Sound
USB USB 2.0 x 8 USB 2.0 x 8 USB 2.0 x 8
IEEE1394
Slots
Back Panel I/O
On Board
Connector
BIOS
Board Size 305 mm x 244 mm 305 mm x 244 mm 305 mm x 244 mm
AMD Athlon 64 CPU
Socket 754
800MHz
DDR 266/333/400MHz
DDR DIMM x 3
DIMM T yp e :
64/128/256/512MB & 1GB
Max Memory : 3GB
Integrated ATA133 and Serial
ATA Controller
Silicon Image Serial ATA
Control Chip
[Support RAID 0,1,0+1]
Max Disk: 144,000,000GB [by
48 bits LBA Spec.]
Realtek Gigabit LAN
Controller, support
10/100/1000Mbps
Realtek AC'97 CODEC
onboard, support 5.1 Channel
Integrated Agere 1394
Control Chip
AGP x 1
PCI x 4, Self-Powered PCI x 1
PS/2 Keyboard x 1,
PS/2 Mouse x 1
USB Port x 4,
LAN Port x 1,
COM Port x 2,
Printer Port x 1
Speaker_Out x 1,
Line_In x 1, MIC_In x 1
Front Panel x 1
Front Audio x 1
CPU FAN x 1,Sy stem FAN x
1,Chassis FAN x 1
Power FAN x 1, Power
Temperature Connector x 1
SmartEar Connector x 1
Case Open Connector x 1
S/PDIF Connector x 1,
CD_IN x 1, AUX_IN x 1
IrDA x 1,Game Connector x 1
IEEE 1394 x 2, USB Port x 2
USB Connectors x 2
Award PnP 4Mb Flash ROM
BIOS x 2
AMD Athlon 64 CPU
Socket 754
800MHz
DDR 266/333/400MHz
DDR DIMM x 3
DIMM T yp e :
64/128/256/512MB &
1GB
Max Memory : 3GB
Integrated ATA133 and
Serial ATA Controller
Max
Disk: 144,000,000GB
[by 48 bits LBA Spec.]
Realtek Gigabit LAN
Controller, support
10/100/1000Mbps
Realtek AC'97 CODEC
onboard, support 5.1
Channel
AGP x 1
PCI x 5
PS/2 Keyboard x 1,
PS/2 Mouse x 1
USB Port x 4,
LAN Port x 1,
COM Port x 2,
Printer Port x 1
Speaker_Out x 1,
Line_In x 1, MIC_In x 1
Front Panel x 1
Front Audio x 1
CPU FAN x 1,System
FAN x 1,Chassis FAN x
1, Power FAN x 1,
Power Temperature
Connector x 1
Case Open Connector x
1 , IrDA Connector x 1
S/PDIF Connector x 1,
CD_IN x 1, AUX_IN x 1
Game Connector x 1
USB Connectors x 2
Award PnP 4Mb Flash
ROM BIOS
AMD Athlon 64 CPU
Socket 754
800MHz
DDR 266/333/400MHz
DDR DIMM x 3
DIMM T yp e :
64/128/256/512MB &
1GB
Max Memory : 3GB
Integrated AT A133 and
Serial ATA Controller
Max
Disk: 144,000,000GB
[by 48 bits LBA Spec.]
Realtek 10/100Mbps
LAN Controller , support
10/100Mbps
Realtek AC'97 CODEC
onboard, support 5.1
Channel
AGP x 1
PCI x 5
PS/2 Keyboard x 1,
PS/2 Mouse x 1
USB Port x 4,
LAN Port x 1,
COM Port x 2,
Printer Port x 1
Speaker_Out x 1,
Line_In x 1, MIC_In x 1
Front Panel x 1
Front Audio x 1
CPU FAN x 1,System
FAN x 1,Chassis FAN x
1, Power FAN x 1,
Power Temperature
Connector x 1
Case Open Connector x
1 , IrDA Connector x 1
S/PDIF Connector x 1,
CD_IN x 1, AUX_IN x 1
Game Connector x 1
USB Connectors x 2
Award PnP 4Mb Flash
ROM BIOS
7
2.3 Block Diagram
p
Socket 754
AMD Athlon
64 CPU
AGP 8X
DIMM Sockets x3
Realtek
LAN Chip
LAN connect
Com
onent
USB Ports x8
800MHz
System Bus
AGP bus
DDR400/333/266
Up to 3GB
NVIDIA
nForce3 250
PCI Bus
ATA 66/100/133
150MB/s
Only for n250a-FR
Silicon Image
SATA Controller
Only for n250a-FR
Agere
FW323
For n250a-FR,
4Mbit Flash EEPROM x2
32-bit PCI Slot
IDE Drives x 4
Serial ATA Ports
Serial ATA Ports
IEEE 1394 Ports
4Mbit Flash
EEPROM
Floppy Disk
Drive
RealTek
AC97
CODEC
Winbond
Super IO
8
Parallel Port
Serial Ports x2
Chapter 3 Hardware Installation
Chapter 3 Hardware
q
Installation
3.1 Quick Installation Procedure
2. Installing CPU
Fan & System Fan
3. Installing
Memory Module
4. Installing HD,
CD-ROM and
SATA Disk, etc
5. Connecting Front
Panel Cable
1. Installing CPU
6. Connecting ATX
Power Cable
12. Installing Drivers &
Utilities
11. Installing
Operating System
(such as, Windows
XP)
8. Installing Other
Devices (USB, Front
Audio, etc)
7. Installing AGP & PCI
Cards
10. Loading
Default BIOS,
Setting CPU
uency
Fre
9. Connecting
Back Panel Ports
(Keyboard,
Mouse, etc)
9
3.2 Installation You Have to Know
Installing CPU
This motherboard supports AMD® Athlon 64 Socket 754 CPU. Be careful of CPU
orientation when you plug it into CPU socket (with CPU Overheat Protection
function implemented, the system will be automatically power off when the
temperature of CPU reached 97 degree).
1. Pull up the CPU socket lever and up to 90-degree angle.
2. Locate Pin 1 in the socket and look for a golden arrow on the CPU upper
interface. Match Pin 1 and golden arrow. Then insert the CPU into the
socket.
3. Press down the CPU socket lever to finish CPU installation.
CPU socket lever
Socket Pin 1
Golden Arrow
10
Installing CPU and System Fans
R
R
Plug the CPU fan cable to the 3-pin CPUFAN connector. If you have chassis fan,
you can also plug it in SYSFAN1 or SYSFAN2 connector.
SENSO
+12V
GND
SYSFAN2 Connector
GND
+12V
SENSOR
Note: Some CPU fans
do not have sensor pin so
that they cannot support fan
monitoring.
SYSFAN1 Connector
SENSO
+12V
GND
CPUFAN Connector
11
Installing Memory Modules
DIMM slots are designed in Navy Blue or Electronic Blue which are very easy to
recognize. Insert the module straight down to the DIMM slot with both hands and
press down firmly until the DIMM module is securely in place.
Tab
Pin 1
Key
Note: The tabs of the
DIMM slot will clip to hold the
DIMM in place when the DIMM
touches the slot’s bottom.
12
Connecting IDE and Floppy Cables
Connect the 34-pin floppy cable and 40-pin, 80-wire IDE cable to floppy
connector and IDE connector. Be careful of the pin1 orientation. Wrong
orientation may cause system damage.
FDD Connector
Pin 1
Secondary
Slave (4th)
Primary
Slave (2nd)
Secondary
Master (3rd)
Pin 1
IDE 1 (Primary)
Primary
Master (1st)
AT A 66/100/133
IDE Connector
13
Connecting ATX Power Cables
This motherboard comes with a 20-pin and 4-pin ATX power connector as shown
below. Make sure you plug them in the right direction. We strongly recommend
you to insert the 4-pin connector before connecting the 20-pin connector.
14
Connecting Front Panel Cable
Attach the power LED, speaker and reset switch connectors to the corresponding
pins. If you enable “Suspend Mode” item in BIOS Setup, the ACPI & Power LED
will keep flashing while the system is in suspend mode.
Locate the power switch cable from your ATX housing, which is a 2-pin female
connector from the housing front panel. Plug this connector to the soft-power
switch connector marked SPWR.
15
3.3 Other Installation for Your Reference
Setting CPU Voltage and Frequency
Setting CPU Core Voltage
This motherboard supports Voltage ID (VID) function to detect CPU voltage
automatically during power-on. However, if users are willing to do overclocking,
we also provide a range from 0.80V to 1.55V in the BIOS. Sometimes increasing
the original core voltage a little bit will make CPU overclock more properly.
Setting CPU Frequency
This motherboard is of CPU jumper-less design; you can set CPU frequency by
1MHz stepping CPU Overclocking in the BIOS.
clock x CPU Ratio
. However, all CPU now sold in market belong to "Fixed
Multiplier". That means users can not adjust the CPU Ratio but change CPU FSB
clock to achieve overclocking only.
BIOS Setup > Frequency / Voltage Control > CPU Speed Setup
(Users will do the overclocking at their own risks!!)
AMD CPU CPU Core Freq. CPU Clock L2 Cache Ratio
Athlon 64 2800+ 1800MHz 200MHz 512KB 9x
Athlon 64 3000+ 2000MHz 200MHz 512KB 10x
Athlon 64 3200+ 2000MHz 200MHz 1024KB 10x
Athlon 64 3200+ 2200MHz 200MHz 512KB 11x
Athlon 64 3400+ 2200MHz 200MHz 1024KB 11x
Athlon 64 3400+ 2400MHz 200MHz 512KB 12x
Athlon 64 3700+ 2400MHz 200MHz 1024KB 12x
Note: With CPU speed changing rapidly, there might be faster CPU on the
market by the time you received this installation guide. This table is kindly
for your references only, please contact with your distributor for more
information
CPU Core Frequency = CPU FSB
Warning:
NVidia nForce3 250
chipset supports
maximum 200MHz
system clock and
66MHz AGP clock;
higher clock setting
may cause serious
system damage.
Note: If your system hangs or fails to boot because of overclocking, simply use
<Home> key to restore the default setting or you can wait the AOpen “Watch Dog
ABS” reset the system in five seconds and system will auto-detect hardware again .
Warning: Supposed you have had adjusted CPU ratio on your current CPU,
and you plan to replace a new CPU. Please use <Home> key or Clear CMOS to
restore the default setting when changing a new CPU, because the system will still
implement the previous CPU setting on the new one.
CPU Ratio From 4x to 25x step 1x
CPU FSB (Adjustment
manually)
FSB = 200 MHz-250 MHz by 1 MHz Stepping CPU Overclocking
16
Connecting Serial ATA
To connect a serial ATA disk, you have to have a 7-pin serial ATA cable. Connect
two ends of the serial AT A cable to the serial A T A header on the motherboard and
the disk. Like every other traditional disk, you also have to connect a power cable.
Please be noted that it is a jumper free implement; you don’t need to set jumpers
to define a master or slave disk. When serial AT A hard disks are installed on serial
ATA ports, the one connected on Port1(SATA1) will be set as the first boot device
automatically.
Please note that it doesn’t support Hot-Plug in function.
SATA
Port4
SATA
Port3
Only for n250a-FR
SATA
Port5
SATA
Port6
SATA
Port2
SATA
Port1
17
Adjusting your Hard Disk Setting
Except its original 2 sets of parallel IDE, this motherboard supports the latest
serial AT A hard disk. If you are unable to find your newly installed serial A T A hard
disks on your operating system after having them installed, the problem may lie
in the BIOS setting. You can simply adjust BIOS settings to have them work
properly.
After installing your hard disks properly, you can directly go to BIOS setting
screen for adjustment. You may simply press
Function Setup
Æ
Silicon SATA” to enable or disable SATA interface.
“Integrated Peripherals Æ IDE
18
Connecting AGP 8X Expansion Slot
n250a-FR / n250a-L / n250a provide an AGP 8X slot, a sky blue slot having the
latest AGP specification on motherboard. The AGP 8X is a bus interface targeted
for high-performance 3D graphic. Traditionally AGP used both rising and falling
edge of the 66MHz clock for 4X AGP, and the data transfer rate could achieve
66MHz x 4bytes x 4 = 1056MB/s. Now AGP is moving to AGP 8X mode, which is
upgraded to 66MHz x 4bytes x 8 =2.1GB/s. You can also adjust AGP voltage in
BIOS with range from 1.5V to 1.60V.
Warning: It is strongly recommended not adjust AGP/PCI
voltage/clock when you connect SATA device. It is because when
the voltage/clock for AGP/PCI is adjusted, the SATA clock cannot
remain at 100MHz, and the
system will therefore be unstable.
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