Asrock Q2900M User Manual

Q2900MQ2900M

Q2900MQ2900M

Version 1.1

Published November 2014

Copyright©2014 ASRock INC. All rights reserved.

Copyright Notice:

No part of this documentation may be reproduced, transcribed, transmitted, or
translated in any language, in any form or by any means, except duplication of
documentation by the purchaser for backup purpose, without written consent of
ASRock Inc.

Products and corporate names appearing in this documentation may or may not
be registered trademarks or copyrights of their respective companies, and are used
only for identication or explanation and to the owners’ benet, without intent to

infringe.

Disclaimer:

Specications and information contained in this documentation are furnished for
informational use only and subject to change without notice, and should not be
constructed as a commitment by ASRock. ASRock assumes no responsibility for
any errors or omissions that may appear in this documentation.

With respect to the contents of this documentation, ASRock does not provide
warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to
the implied warranties or conditions of merchantability or tness for a particular
purpose.

In no event shall ASRock, its directors, ocers, employees, or agents be liable for
any indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages (including damages for
loss of prots, loss of business, loss of data, interruption of business and the like),
even if ASRock has been advised of the possibility of such damages arising from any
defect or error in the documentation or product.

e terms HDMI™ and HDMI High-Denition Multimedia Interface, and the HDMI
logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of HDMI Licensing LLC in the United
States and other countries.

is device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following
two conditions:
(1) this device may not cause harmful interference, and
(2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that

may cause undesired operation.

CALIFORNIA, USA ONLY

e Lithium battery adopted on this motherboard contains Perchlorate, a toxic substance
controlled in Perchlorate Best Management Practices (BMP) regulations passed by the
California Legislature. When you discard the Lithium battery in California, USA, please
follow the related regulations in advance.
“Perchlorate Material-special handling may apply, see www.dtsc.ca.gov/hazardouswaste/
perchlorate”

ASRock Website: http://www.asrock.com

AUSTRALIA ONLY

Our goods come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer
Law. You are entitled to a replacement or refund for a major failure and compensation for
any other reasonably foreseeable loss or damage caused by our goods. You are also entitled
to have the goods repaired or replaced if the goods fail to be of acceptable quality and the
failure does not amount to a major failure. If you require assistance please call ASRock Tel
: [phone] ext.123 (Standard International call charges apply)

e terms HDMI™ and HDMI High-Denition Multimedia Interface, and the HDMI
logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of HDMI Licensing LLC in the United
States and other countries.

Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction 1

1.1 Package Contents 1

1.2 Specications 2

1.3 Motherboard Layout 5

1.4 I/O Panel 7

Chapter 2 Installation 8

2.1 Installing Memory Modules (DIMM) 9

2.2 Expansion Slots (PCI Express Slots) 11

2.3 Jumpers Setup 12

2.4 Onboard Headers and Connectors 13

Chapter 3 Software and Utilities Operation 17

3.1 Installing Drivers 17

3.2 A-Tuning 18

3.3 Intel® Smart Connect Technology 20

3.4 ASRock APP Shop 25

3.4.1 UI Overview 25

3.4.2 Apps 26

3.4.3 BIOS & Drivers 29

3.4.4 Setting 30

3.5 Start8 31

Chapter 4 UEFI SETUP UTILITY 34

4.1 Introduction 34

4.1.1 UEFI Menu Bar 34

4.1.2 Navigation Keys 35

4.2 Main Screen 36

4.3 Advanced Screen 37

4.3.1 CPU Conguration 38

4.3.2 Chipset Conguration 40

4.3.3 Storage Conguration 42

4.3.4 Intel® Smart Connect Technology 43

4.3.5 Super IO Conguration 44

4.3.6 ACPI Conguration 45

4.3.7 USB Conguration 47

4.3.8 Trusted Computing 48

4.4 Tools 49

4.5 Hardware Health Event Monitoring Screen 51

4.6 Security Screen 52

4.7 Boot Screen 53

4.8 Exit Screen 55

Chapter 1 Introduction

ank you for purchasing ASRock Q2900M motherboard, a reliable motherboard

produced under ASRock’s consistently stringent quality control. It delivers excellent

performance with robust design conforming to ASRock’s commitment to quality

and endurance.

In this manual, Chapter 1 and 2 contains the introduction of the motherboard

and step-by-step installation guides. Chapter 3 contains the operation guide of the

soware and utilities. Chapter 4 contains the conguration guide of the BIOS setup.

Becau se the motherboard specic ations and the BIOS soware might be updated, the
content of this documentation w ill be subject to change without notice. In case any
modications of this documentation occ ur, the updated version will be available on
ASRock’s website without further notice. If you require technical support related to
this motherboard, please visit our website for spec ic information about the model
you are using. You may nd the latest VGA cards and CPU support list on ASRock’s
website a s well. ASRock website http://www.asrock.com.

1.1 Package Contents

ASRock Q2900M Motherboard (Micro ATX Form Factor)

•

ASRock Q2900M Quick Installation Guide

•

ASRock Q2900M Support CD

•

2 x Serial ATA (SATA) Data Cables (Optional)

•

1 x I/O Panel Shield

•

Q2900M

English

1

English

1.2 Specications

Platform

CPU

Memory

Expansion
Slot

Graphics

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* If only one DIMM module is installed, please install it into

DDR3_A1.

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Micro ATX Form Factor

All Solid Capacitor design

High Density Glass Fabric PCB

Intel® Quad-Core Pentium® Processor J2900 (2.41 GHz)

Dual Channel DDR3/DDR3L Memory Technology

2 x DDR3/DDR3L DIMM Slots

Supports DDR3/DDR3L 1333/1066 non-ECC, un-buered

memory

Max. capacity of system memory: 16GB

(see CAUTION)

1 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 Slot (PCIE2 @ x1 mode)

2 x PCI Express 2.0 x1 Slots

Intel® 7th generation (Gen 7) graphics

DirectX 11.0, Pixel Shader 5.0

ree graphics output options: D-Sub, DVI-D and HDMI

Supports HDMI Technology with max. resolution up to

1920x1200 @ 60Hz

Supports DVI-D with max. resolution up to 1920x1200 @

60Hz

Supports D-Sub with max. resolution up to 1920x1200 @

60Hz

Supports Auto Lip Sync, Deep Color (12bpc), xvYCC and

HBR (High Bit Rate Audio) with HDMI Port (Compliant

HDMI monitor is required)

Supports HDCP with DVI-D and HDMI Ports

Supports Full HD 1080p Blu-ray (BD) playback with DVI-D

and HDMI Ports

5.1 CH HD Audio (Realtek ALC662 Audio Codec)

Audio

•

Supports Surge Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection)

•

2

LAN

Rear Panel
I/O

PCIE x1 Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s

•

Realtek RTL8111GR

•

Supports Wake-On-WAN

•

Supports Wake-On-LAN

•

Supports Lightning/ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike

•

Protection)

Supports LAN Cable Detection

•

Supports Energy Ecient Ethernet 802.3az

•

Supports PXE

•

1 x PS/2 Mouse Port

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1 x PS/2 Keyboard Port

•

1 x D-Sub Port

•

1 x DVI-D Port

•

1 x HDMI Port

•

3 x USB 2.0 Ports (Supports ESD Protection (ASRock Full

•

Spike Protection))

1 x USB 3.0 Port (Supports ESD Protection (ASRock Full

•

Spike Protection))

1 x RJ-45 LAN Port with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED

•

LED)

HD Audio Jacks: Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone

•

Q2900M

Storage

Connector

2 x SATA2 3.0 Gb/s Connectors, support NCQ, AHCI and

•

Hot Plug

1 x Print Port Header

•

1 x COM Port Header

•

1 x TPM Header

•

1 x Chassis Intrusion Header

•

1 x CPU Fan Connector (3-pin)

•

1 x Chassis Fan Connector (3-pin)

•

1 x 24 pin ATX Power Connector

•

1 x Front Panel Audio Connector

•

2 x USB 2.0 Headers (Support 3 USB 2.0 ports) (Supports ESD

•

Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection))

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3

64Mb AMI UEFI Legal BIOS with GUI support

BIOS
Feature

Hardware
Monitor

•

Supports Plug and Play

•

ACPI 1.1 compliant wake up events

•

Supports jumperfree

•

SMBIOS 2.3.1 support

•

CPU/Chassis temperature sensing

•

CPU/Chassis Fan Tachometer

•

CPU/Chassis Quiet Fan (Auto adjust chassis fan speed by

•

CPU temperature)

CPU/Chassis Fan multi-speed control

•

CASE OPEN detection

•

Supports CPU Fanless

•

Voltage monitoring: +12V, +5V, +3.3V, CPU Vcore

•

Microso® Windows® 8.1 32-bit / 8.1 64-bit / 8 32-bit / 8 64-

OS

•

bit / 7 32-bit / 7 64-bit

FCC, CE, WHQL

Certica­tions

* For detailed produc t information , please visit our website: http://ww w.asrock.com

•

ErP/EuP ready (ErP/EuP ready power supply is required)

•

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4

Due to limitation, the actual memory size may be less than 4GB for the re servation
for system usage under Windows® 32-bit operating system s. Windows® 6 4-bit operat­ing systems do not have such limitations. You can use ASRock XFa st RAM to utilize
the memory that Windows® cannot use.

1.3 Motherboard Layout

Ro HS

US B 3 .0

CMO S

Bat tery

Sup er

I/O

LAN

AUDIO
CODEC

64Mb
BIOS

PS2

Key b oard

PS2

Mous e

VGA1

DVI1

USB 2.0
T: US B2
B: USB3

HDM I1

Top:
RJ-4 5

USB 3.0:

USB 1

USB 2.0:

USB 0

Top:

LINE IN

Cente r:

FRONT

Botto m:

MIC IN

PCIE1

PCIE2

PCIE3

ATXP WR1

1

HD_AUD IO1

CI1

1

1

TPMS1

1

LPT1

COM1

1

1

USB4_5

1

SPEAKER1

CLRCMO S1

1

1

USB6

HDLED RESET

PLED PWRBTN

PANEL1

1

SATA2_2

SATA2_1

CPU_FA N1

DDR 3_A1 (64 bi t, 24 0-pi n modu le)

DDR 3_B1 (64 bi t, 24 0-pi n modu le)

1

3

2

4

5

6

7

8

13

12

11

9

10

14

16

15

Q2 900M

Q2900M

English

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No. Description

1 CPU Fan Connector (CPU_FAN1)

2 2 x 240-pin DDR3 DIMM Slots (DDR3_A1, DDR3_B1)

3 ATX Power Connector (ATXPWR1)

4 Chassis Fan Connector (CHA_FAN1)

5 Chassis Speaker Header (SPEAKER1)

6 SATA2 Connector (SATA2_1)

7 System Panel Header (PANEL1)

8 SATA2 Connector (SATA2_2)

9 Clear CMOS Jumper (CLRCMOS1)

10 USB 2.0 Header (USB6)

11 USB 2.0 Header (USB4_5)

12 COM Port Header (COM1)

13 Print Port Header (LPT1)

14 TPM Header (TPMS1)

15 Front Panel Audio Header (HD_AUDIO1)

16 Chassis Intrusion Header (CI1)

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1.4 I/O Panel

1 2

3 5

Q2900M

4

6
7

1012 11

9

No. Description No. Description

1 PS/2 Mouse Port 7 Front Speaker (Lime)

2 USB 2.0 Ports (USB_23) 8 Microphone (Pink)

3 HDMI Port 9 USB 3.0 Port (USB1)

4 LAN RJ-45 Port* 10 DVI-D Port

5 USB 2.0 Port (USB0) 11 D-Sub Port

6 Line In (Light Blue) 12 PS/2 Keyboard Port

* ere are two LEDs on each LAN port . Please refer to the table below for the LA N port LED indic ations.

ACT/LINK L ED

SPEED LE D

LAN Por t

Activity / Link LED Speed LED

Status Description Status Description

O No Link O 10Mbps connection
Blinking Data Activity Orange 100Mbps connection
On Link Green 1Gbps connection

8

English

7

Chapter 2 Installation

is is a Micro ATX form factor motherboard. Before you insta ll the motherboard,

study the conguration of your chassis to ensure that the motherboard ts into it.

Pre-installation Precautions

Take note of the following precautions before you install motherboard components

or change any motherboard settings.

Make sure to unplug the power cord before installing or removing the motherboard.

•

Failure to do so may cause physical injuries to you and damages to motherboard

components.

In order to avoid damage from static electricity to the motherboard’s components,

•

NEVER place your motherboard directly on a carpet. Also remember to use a grounded

wrist strap or touch a safety grounded object before you handle the components.

Hold components by the edges and do not touch the ICs.

•

Whenever you uninstall any components, place them on a grounded anti-static pad or

•

in the bag that comes with the components.

When placing screws to secure the motherboard to the chassis, please do not over-

•

tighten the screws! Doing so may damage the motherboard.

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8

2.1 Installing Memory Modules (DIMM)

is motherboard provides two 240-pin DDR3/DDR3L (Double Data Rate 3)

DIMM slots. If only one DIMM module is installed, please install it into DDR3_A1.

It is not allowed to install a DDR or DDR2 memory module into a DDR3/DDR3L
slot; otherwise, this motherboard and DIMM may be damaged.

e DIMM only ts in one cor rect orientation. It will cause permanent damage to
the mothe rboard and the DIMM if you force the DI MM into the sl ot at incorrect
orientation.

Q2900M

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9

1

2

English

10

3

2.2 Expansion Slots (PCI Express Slots)

ere are 3 PCI Express slots on the motherboard.

Before installing an expansion card, please mak e sure that the power supply is
switched o or the power cord is unplugged. Please rea d the documentation of the
expan sion card and mak e necessary hardware settings for the card before you start the
installation.

PCIe slots:

PCIE1 (PCIe 2.0 x1 slot) is used for PCI Express x1 lane width cards.

PCIE2 (PCIe 2.0 x16 slot) is used for PCI Express x1 lane width cards.

PCIE3 (PCIe 2.0 x1 slot) is used for PCI Express x1 lane width cards.

Q2900M

11

English

2.3 Jumpers Setup

e illustration shows how jumpers are setup. When the jumper cap is placed on

the pins, the jumper is “Short”. If no jumper cap is placed on the pins, the jumper

is “Open”. e illustration shows a 3-pin jumper whose pin1 and pin2 are “Short”

when a jumper cap is placed on these 2 pins.

Clear CMOS Jumper

(CLRCMOS1)

(see p.5, No. 9)

CLRCMOS1 allows you to clear the data in CMOS. To clear and reset the system

parameters to default setup, please turn o the computer and unplug the power

cord from the power supply. Aer waiting for 15 seconds, use a jumper cap to

short pin2 and pin3 on CLRCMOS1 for 5 seconds. However, please do not clear

the CMOS right aer you update the BIOS. If you need to clear the CMOS when

you just nish updating the BIOS, you must boot up the system rst, and then shut

it down before you do the clear-CMOS action. Please be noted that the password,

date, time, and user default prole will be cleared only if the CMOS battery is

removed.

Clear CMOSDefault

English

12

If you clear the CMOS, the case open may be detected. Please adjust the BIOS option
“Clear Status” to clear the record of previous chassis intrusion status.

2.4 Onboard Headers and Connectors

Onboard headers and connectors are NOT jumpers. Do NOT place jumper ca ps over
these headers and connectors. Placing jumper caps over the hea ders and connectors
will cause permanent damage to the mothe rboard.

Q2900M

System Panel Header

(9-pin PANEL1)

(see p.5, No. 7)

PWRBTN (Power Switch):

Connec t to the power switch on the chassis front panel. You may congure the way to
turn o your system u sing the power switch.

RESET (Reset Swi tch):

Connec t to the reset switch on the chassis front panel. Pre ss the reset switch to restar t
the computer if the computer free zes and fails to perform a normal restart.

PLED (Syste m Power LED):

Connec t to the power status indicator on the chassis front panel. e LED is on when
the system is operating. e LED kee ps blinking when th e system is in S1/S3 sleep state.
e LED is o when the system is in S4 sleep state or powered o (S5).

HDLED (Ha rd Drive Activity LED):

Connec t to the hard drive ac tivity LED on the chassis front panel. e LED i s on when
the hard dr ive is reading or w riting data.

e front panel design may dier b y chassis. A f ront panel module mainly consists
of power switch, reset switch , power LED, hard dr ive activity LED, speake r and etc.
When connecting your chass is front panel module to this header, make sure the wire
assig nments and the pin assignments are matched correctly.

1

PLE D+

PLE D-

HDL ED-

HDL ED+

PWR BTN#

GND

GND

RES ET#

GND

Connect the power

switch, reset switch and

system status indicator on

the chassis to this header

according to the pin

assignments below. Note

the positive and negative

pins before connecting

the cables.

13

English

Serial ATA2 Connectors

(SATA2_1:

see p.5, No. 6)

(SATA2_2:

see p.5, No. 8)

SATA2_1

SATA2_2

ese two SATA2

connectors support SATA

data cables for internal

storage devices with up to

3.0 Gb/s data transfer rate.

English

USB 2.0 Headers

(9-pin USB4_ 5)

(see p.5, No. 11)

(4-pin USB6)

(see p.5, No. 10)

Front Panel Audio Header

(9-pin HD_AUDIO1)

(see p.5, No. 15)

1. High De nition Audio sup ports Jack Sensing , but the panel wire on the chassis must
suppor t HDA to function correctly. Plea se follow the instructions in our manual and
chassis manual to install your system .

2. If you use an AC’97 audio panel, please install it to the front panel audio header by
the steps below:
A. Connect Mic_ IN (MIC) to MIC2_ L.
B. Conne ct Audio_R (RIN) to OUT2_ R and Audio_L (LIN) to OUT2_L.
C. Connect Ground (GND) to Ground (GND).
D. MIC_ RET and OUT_RET are for the HD au dio panel only. You don’t need to
connec t them for the AC’97 audio panel.
E. To activate the front mic , go to the “FrontMic” Tab in the Realtek Cont rol panel
and adju st “Recording Volume”.

USB _PWR

1

USB _PWR

1

GND

1

MIC 2_L

P-

P+

GND

GND

P+

P-

P-

USB_ PWR

PRE SENC E#

MIC _RET

J_S ENSE

OUT 2_R

MIC 2_R

P+

DUM MY

GND

OUT _RET

OUT 2_L

Besides three USB 2.0

ports on the I/O panel,

there are two headers on

this motherboard.

is header is for

connecting audio devices

to the front audio panel.

14