Biostar NF4ST-A9 Owner's Manual

NF4ST-A9

FCC Information and Copyright

This equipment has been tes ted and f ound to comply with the limits of a C lass
B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of th e FCC Rules. These limits are designed
to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential
installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio f r equency
energy and, if not ins ta lled and used in accordan ce with the instructions, may
cause harmful interferenc e to radio c ommu nications. There is no gu arantee
that interference will not occur in a particular installation.

The vendor makes no r epr es entations or warranties with respect to the
contents here and specia lly disclaims any implied wa rranties of merchan tability
or fitness for any purpose. Further the vendor reserves the right to revise this
publication and to ma ke changes to the contents here without obligation to
notify any party beforehand.

Duplication of this publication, in part or in whole, is not allowe d without first
obtaining the ven dor ’s approval in writing.

The content of this user’s manual is subject to be ch a nged without notice and
we will not be responsible for any mistak es foun d in this u ser’s manua l. All the
brand and product names are trademarks of their respective companies.

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction.....................................................1

1.1 Motherboard Features............................................................ 1

1.2 Package Checklist...................................................................6

1.3 Layout & Components........................................................... 7

Chapter 2: Hardware Installation.....................................8

2.1 Central Processing Unit (CPU).............................................8

2.2 Fan Headers........................................................................... 10

2.3 Memory Modules Installation............................................. 11

2.4 Connectors, & Slots...............................................................12

Chapter 3: Headers & Jumpers Setup........................... 13

3.1 How to setup Jumpers.........................................................13

3.2 Detail Settings........................................................................13

Chapter 4: Useful Help....................................................19

4.1 Award BIOS Beep Code....................................................... 19

4.2 Troubleshooting....................................................................19

Chapter 5: NVIDIA RAID Functions................................20

5.1 Operation System ................................................................. 20

5.2 Raid Arrays............................................................................ 20

5.3 How RAID Works ................................................................ 21

Chapter 6: WarpSpeeder™............................................. 25

6.1 Introduction...........................................................................25

6.2 System Requirement.............................................................25

6.3 Installation.............................................................................26

6.4 [WarpSpeeder™] includes 1 tray icon and 5 panels........ 27

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NF4ST-A9

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 MOTHERBOARD FEATURES

A. Hardware

CPU

Supports Socket 939.
Supports AMD Athlon 64 FX processor.
Supports AMD Athlon 64 processor.
Supports AMD Sempron processor.
AMD 64 architecture enables sim ultaneous 32 and 64 bit

computing.
Supports HyperTransport Technology.
Supports AMD Cool’n’Quiet Technology.

Chipset

NVIDIA nForce4 (CK8-04):

- Supports NVIDIA Firewall.

- Supports Gigabit Ethernet.

- Supports 10 USB 2.0 ports.

- Supports NVIDIA nTune Utility.

- Supports 1 PCI-Express x16 interface graphics slot.

- Supports 4 SATA ports, each channel up to 1.5Gb/s.

- Supports NVIDIA RAID functions, including RAID 0, RAID 1

and RAID 0+1.

- Supports 4 IDE disk drives with PIO Mode 5, Bride Mode
and Ultra DMA 33/66/100/133 Bus Master Mode.

- Compliant with AC’97 version2.3 specification.

- Complaints with PCI-Express Version 1.a specification.

Operating Systems

Supports Windows 2000 and Windows XP.

Note: Do not support Windows 98SE and Windows ME.

Supports SCO UNIX.

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NF4ST-A9

Dimensions

ATX Form Factor: 23.4cm (W) x 29.35cm (L)

Main Memory

Supports Dual Channel DDR.
Supports 8 banks in total.

Supports DDR333 and DDR400.
Certified DDR400 List:

- Please check the website:
http://www.biostar.com.tw/products/mainboard/board.php3?
name=NF4ST-A9

Maximum memory size i s 4GB.

DIMM Socket

Location

DIMM1 128MB/256MB/512MB/1GB *1
DIMM2 128MB/256MB/512MB/1GB *1
DIMM3 128MB/256MB/512MB/1GB *1
DIMM4 128MB/256MB/512MB/1GB *1

DDR Module

Total Memory

Size (MB)

Max is 4 GB.

DDR Installation Notice:

Please follow the table below to install DDR memory module, or

the system may not boot up or may not function properly.
“SS” represents Single Side DDR memory module.
“DS” represents Double Side DDR memory module.
Star sign “*” represents leave the DIMM socket empty.

DIMM1 SS/DS
DIMM2
DIMM3
DIMM4

* * *
*
* * *

*

SS/DS SS/DS SS/DS

SS/DS SS/DS

SS/DS

SS/DS

On-board IDE

2 on-board connectors support 4 IDE disk drives.
Supports PIO mode 4, Block Mode and Ultra DMA

33/66/100/133 bus master mode.

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Serial ATA

4 on-board Serial ATA connectors support 4 serial ATA (SATA)

ports.

Compliant with SATA 1.0 specification.
Data transfer rates up to 1.5Gb/s.

Slots

Three 32bit PCI bus master slots.
Two PCI-Express x1 slots:

- PCI Express 1.0a compliant.

- Bandwidth 250MB/s per direction.

One PCI-Express x16 slot.

- PCI Express 1.0a compliant.

- Maximum theoretical realized bandwidth of 4GB/s

simultaneously per direction, for an aggregate of 8GB/s
totally.

One Xtreme Graphics Port slot. (See p.12 for detail information)

Super I/O

Chip: ITE IT8712F.
Low Pin Count Interface.
Provides the most commonly used legacy Super I/O

functionality.

Environment Control initiatives,

- H/W Monitor

- Fan Speed Controller

- ITE's "Smart Guardian" function

On-board AC’97 Audio Sound Codec

Chip: ALC850.

 Compliant with AC’97 version2.3 specificat ion.
 Supports 8 channels audio output.

Chip: ALC655 (optional).

 Compliant with AC’97 version2.3 specificat ion.
 Supports 6 channels audio output.

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NF4ST-A9

IEEE 1394A Chip (optional)

Chip: VIA VT6307.
Supports 2 ports with transfer up to 400Mb/s.

Gigabit LAN

NVIDIA Gigabit MAC + VITESSE Gigabit PHY VSC8201.
Supports 10 Mb/s, 100 Mb/s and 1Gb/s auto-negotiation.
Half/Full duplex capability.
Supports personal Firewall setup.
Supports ACPI power management.
Supports NVIDIA StreamThru technology

- Isochronous controller paired with Hyper Transport results
in fastest networking performance

Security

NVIDIA Firewall technology

- Native firewall solution

Advanced features

- Remote access, configuration, monitoring

- Command line interface (CLI)

- WMI scripts.

Storage

NVIDIA RAID Technology

- RAID 0 disk striping for highest system and application
performance

- RAID 1 disk mirroring support for fault tolerance
Support for both SATA and ATA-133 disk controller
standards

- RAID 0+1 disk striping and mirroring for highest
performance with fault tolerance

Internal On-board Connectors and Headers

1 audio-out header supports audio-out facilities.

1 front panel header supports front panel facilities.

1 CD-in connector supports CD-ROM audio-in function.

1 SPDIF-out connector supports digital audio-out function.

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1 SPDIF-in connector supports digital audio-in function

(optional).
1 IEEE1394 header supports 1 1394 Firewire port (optional).
1 floppy connector supports 2 FDD devices with 360K, 720K,

1.2M, 1.44M and 2.88Mbytes.

2 IDE connectors support 4 IDE disk drives.

3 USB headers support 6 USB 2.0 ports at front panel.
4 Serial ATA connectors support 4 SATA devices.

Rear (Back Panel) Side Connectors

1 PS/2 Mouse Port.
1 PS/2 Keyboard Port.
1 Printer Port.
1 Serial Port. (JCOM2 is optional.)
1 1394 Firewire Port (optional).

1 RJ-45 LAN jack.
4 USB 2.0 Ports.
6 audio ports support 8 channels audio-out facilities.

(With ALC850)

JKMBS1

PS/2

Mouse

JPRNT1

Printer Port

J1394_USB 1

1394 Port
(optional)

JUSBLAN1

LAN

Connector

PS/2

Keyboard

COM1

JCOM1

Center/Left

Rear

Side

COM2

(optional)

JCOM2

(optional)

USB *2

USB *2

Line-in

Line-out

MIC-in

5

3 audio ports support 6 channels audio-out facilities.

(With ALC655, optional)

JKMBS1

PS/2

Mouse

PS/2

Keyboard

B. BIOS & Software

BIOS

Award legal BIOS.

Supports APM1.2.

Supports ACPI.

Supports USB Function.

Bundled Software

Supports 9th Touch™, WINFLASHER™ and FLASHER™.

COM1

JCOM1

NF4ST-A9

JPRNT1

Printer Port

COM2

(optional)

JCOM2

(optional)

J1394_USB 1

1394 Port
(optional)

USB *2

JUSBLAN1

LAN

Connector

USB *2

Line-in/Rear

Line-out
MIC-in/

Center/
Left

1.2 PACKAGE CHECKLIST

FDD Cable X 1
HDD Cable X 1
User’s Manual X 1
Fully Setup Driver CD X 1
Rear I/O Panel for ATX Case X 1
USB 2.0 Cable X1 (optional)
S/PDIF Cable X 1 (optional)
Serial ATA Cable X 1 (optional)
IEEE 1394 Cable X 1 (optional)
Serial ATA Power Switch Cable X 1 (optional)

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1.3 LAYOUT & COMPONENTS

JKBMS1

JCOM1

JCOM2

(optional)

J1394_USB1

JUSBLAN1

JKBMSV1

C
O
M
1

JPRNT1

C
O
M
2

J1394_USBV1

JATXPWR2

CPU1

JCFAN1

JATXPWR1

Socket 939

DIMM1

DIMM2

DIMM4

DIMM3

EARPHONEJACK1

JAUDIO2

PCI-EX x1

PEX1-2

PCI-EX x1

PEX1-1

Giga LAN

J1394PWR1
(optional)

IEEE 1394

Chip

(optional)

JCDIN1

PCI1

JSPDIF_OUT

PCI2

Codec

JSPDIF_IN1

PCI3

Note: ■ represents the 1

XGP1

PCI-EX16

st

nForce4

(CK8-04)

pin.

Super I /O

J1394A1
(optional)

JNBFAN1

JSATA1 JSATA2 JSATA3 JSATA4

JCI1

BIOS

JPANEL1

IDE2

IDE1

FDD1

JUSB3JUSB2JUSB1

JUSBV1

JCMOS1

BA T1

JSFAN1

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NF4ST-A9

CHAPTER 2: HARDWARE INSTALLATION

2.1 CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT (CPU)

Step 1: Remove the socket protection cap.

Step 2: Pull the lever sideways away from the socket and then raise the

lever up to a 90-degree angle.

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Step 3: Look for the black cut edge on socket, and the white dot on CPU

should point forwards this black cut edge. The CPU will fit only in
the correct orientation.

Step 4: Hold the CPU down firmly, and then close the lever to complete

the installation.

Step 5: Put the CPU Fan on the CPU and buckle it. Connect the CPU FAN

power cable to the JCFAN1. This completes the installation.

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2.2 FAN HEADERS

CPU FAN Power Header: JCFAN1

Pin Assignment

1 Ground

1

3

System Fan Power Header: JSFAN1

1

3

North Bridge Fan Power Header: JNBFAN1

1

3

Note:

The JCFAN1, JSFAN1and JNBFAN1 support system cooling fan with

Smart Fan Control utility. It supports 3 pin head connector. When

connecting with wires onto connectors, please note that the red wi re is the

positive and should be connected to pin#2, and the black wire is Ground

and should be connected to GND.

2 CPU Fan Control
3 FAN RPM rate sense

Pin Assignment

1 Ground
2 +12V
3 FAN RPM rate sense

Pin Assignment

1 Ground
2 +12V
3 FAN RPM rate sense

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NF4ST-A9

2.3 MEMORY MODULES INSTALLATION

1. Unlock a DIMM slot by pressing the retaining clips outward. Align a
DIMM on the slot such that the notch on the DIMM matches the break
on the Slot.

2. Insert the DIMM vertically and firmly into the slot until the retaining chip
snap back in place and the DIMM is properly seated.

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NF4ST-A9

2.4 CONNECTORS, & SLOTS

Floppy Disk Connector: FDD1

The motherboard provides a standard floppy disk connector that
supports 360K, 720K, 1.2M, 1.44M and 2.88M floppy disk types. This
connector supports the provided floppy drive ribbon cables.

Hard Disk Connectors: IDE1/IDE2

The motherboard has a 32-bit Enhanced PCI IDE Controller that
provides PIO Mode 0~5, Bus Master, and Ultra DMA 33/66/100/133
functionality. It has two HDD connectors IDE1 (primary) and IDE2
(secondary).

The IDE connectors can connect a master and a slave drive, so you can
connect up to four hard disk drives. The first hard drive should always be
connected to IDE1.

Peripheral Component Interconnect Slots: PCI1~PCI3

This motherboard is equipped with 3 standard PCI slot. PCI stands for
Peripheral Component Interconnect, and it is a bus standard for
expansion cards. This PCI slot is designated as 32 bits.

Xtreme Graphics Port Slot: XGP1

This XGP (Xtreme Graphics Port) slot is a special design that only
supports compatible AGP VG A card s.

To install the system with an add-on AGP VGA card, please make sure
to install the driver of add-on AGP VGA card before onboard VGA driver
installation. If the onboard VGA driver has already been installed before
you install the add-on AGP VGA card, the system will automatically set
the onboard VGA as the primar y graphics adapter .

For the onboard VGA driver can’t be removed completely, and to solve
this problem, please follow the steps below,

1. Disable onboard VGA utility under the operating system, and reboot
PC. After PC restarts, the system will automatically set the AGP
VGA card as the graphics adapter.

2. Re-install your operating system to ensure the AGP VGA card
function can be used.

Note:

Please go to “http://www.biostar.com.tw
about XGP compatible AGP cards.

” for more detailed information

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NF4ST-A9

4

CHAPTER 3: HEADERS & JUMPERS SETUP

3.1 HOW TO SETUP JUMPERS

The illustration shows how to set up jumpers. When the jumper cap is
placed on pins, the jumper is “close”, if not, that means the jumper is
“open”.

Pin opened Pin closed Pin1-2 closed

3.2 DETAIL SETTINGS

ATX Power Source Connectors: JATXPWR1/JATXPWR2

JATXPWR1: This connector allows user to connect 20-pin power
connector on the ATX power supply.

JATXPWR2: By connecting this connector, it will provide +12V to CPU
power circuit.

13

2

JATXPWR1

JATXPWR2

1

Pin Assignment Pin Assignment

1 +3.3V 13 +3.3V
2 +3.3V 14 -12V
3 Ground 15 Ground
4 +5V 16 PS_ON
5 Ground 17 Ground
6 +5V 18 Ground
7 Ground 19 Ground
8 PW_OK 20 -5V
9 Standby Voltage +5V 21 +5V

10 +12V 22 +5V

12

1

2

34

11 +12V 23 +5V
12 Detect 24 Ground

Pin Assignment Pin Assignment

1 +12V 3 Ground
2 +12V 4 Ground

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NF4ST-A9

Power Source Headers for USB Ports: J1394_USBV1/JUSBV1

Assignment Description

3

1

Pin 1-2 close

Pin 2-3 close

3

1

+5V

+5V standby
Voltage

J1394_USBV1: +5V for USB ports at

J1394_USB1 and JUSBLAN1.

JUSBV1: +5V for front USB headers

(JUSB1/JUSB2/JUSB3).

J1394_USBV1: USB ports at

J1394_USB1 and JUSBLAN1 are
powered with +5V standby voltage.

JUSBV1: Front USB headers

(JUSB1/JUSB2/JUSB3) are powered
with +5V standby voltage.

Note:

In order to support this function “Power-on system via USB device,”
“J1394_USBV1/JUSBV1” jumper cap should be placed on Pin 2-3
individually.

Power Source Header for PS/2 Keyboard/Mouse: JKBMSV1

Assignment Description

1
3

Pin 1-2 close

1
3

Pin 2-3 close

Note:

In order to support this function “Power-on system via keyboard and
mouse”, “JKBMSV1” jumper cap should be placed on Pin 2-3.

+5V +5V for keyboard and mouse

+5V Standby
Voltage

PS/2 keyboard and mouse are
powered with +5V standby voltage.

CD-ROM Audio-in Connector: JCDIN1

This connector allows user to connect the audio source from the variety
devices, like CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, PCI sound card, PCI TV turner card
etc..

Pin Assignment

1 Left channel input

14

JCDIN1

2 Ground
3 Ground
4 Right channel input

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NF4ST-A9

r

Front Panel Audio-out Header: JAUDIO2

This connector will allow user to connect with the front audio out put
headers on the PC case. It will disable the output on back panel audio
connectors.

With ALC850 Audio Sound Codec:

12

13 14

Pin Assignment Pin Assignment

1 Stereo MIC-in R. 2 Ground
3 Stereo MIC-in L. 4 Audio power

Right line out/Speaker out

5

Right
7 Reserved 8 Key
9 Left line out/Speaker out Left 10 Left line out/Speaker out Left

11 Right line in 12 Right line in
13 Left line in 14 Left line in

Right line out/Speaker out

6

Right

With ALC655 Audio Sound Codec (optional):

12

13 14

Pin Assignment Pin Assignment

1 Stereo MIC-in R/ Center 2 Ground
3 Stereo MIC-in L/ Bass 4 Audio power

Right line out/Speake

5

Right
7 Reserved 8 Key
9 Left line out/Speaker-out Left 10 Left line out/Speaker out Left

Right line in/Rear speaker

11

Right

13 Left line in/Rear speaker Left 14 Left line in/Rear speaker Left

-out

Right line out/Speaker-out

6

Right

Right line in/Rear speaker

12

Right

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NF4ST-A9

Digital Audio-out Connector: JSPDIF_OUT

This connector will allow user to connect the PCI bracket SPDIF output
header.

Pin Assignment

1 +5V

1

3

JSPDIF_OUT

2 SPDIF OUT
3 Ground

Digital Audio-in Connector: JSPDIF_IN1 (optional)

This connector will allow user to connect the PCI bracket SPDIF output
header.

Pin Assignment

1 +5V

1

3

JSPDIF_IN1

2 SPDIF In
3 Ground

Power Source Header for 1394 Chip: J1394PWR1 (optional)

Assignment Description

3

1

Pin 1-2 close

3

1

Pin 2-3 close

+3.3V

+3.3V SB +3.3V SB for 1394 chipset.

+3.3V for 1394 chipset.
(Default)

Header for 1394 Firewire Port at Front Panel: J1394A1 (optional)

This connector allows user to connect the front 1394 port for digital
image devices.

Pin Assignment Pin Assignment

1

10

2

1 A+ 2 A­3 Ground 4 Ground
5 B+ 6 B­7 +12v 8 +12V
9 Key 10 Ground

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Header for Front Panel Faci li tie s: J PAN EL 1

This 24-pin connector includes Power-on, Reset, HDD LED, Power LED,
Sleep button, speaker and IrDA Connection. It allows user to connect
the PC case’s front panel switch functions.

2

24

1

Pin Assignment Function Pin Assignment Function

1 +5V 2 Sleep control
3 N/A 4 Ground
5 N/A 6 N/A N/A
7 Speaker
9 HDD LED (+) 10 Power LED (+)

11 HDD LED (-)
13 Ground 14 Power button
15 Reset control
17 N/A 18 Key
19 N/A 20 Key
21 +5V 22 Ground
23 IRTX

Speaker
Connector

Hard drive
LED

Reset
button

IrDA
Connector

23

JPANEL1

8 Power LED (+)

12 Power LED (-)

16 Ground

24 IRRX

Sleep
button

Power LED

Power-on
button

IrDA
Connector

Headers for USB Ports at Front Panel: JUSB1~JUSB3

This connector allows user to connect additional USB cables at PC front
panel, and also can be connected with internal USB devices, like USB
card reader.

Pin Assignment Pin Assignment

1

10

2

1 +5V (fused) 2 +5V (fused)
3 USB- 4 USB­5 USB+ 6 USB+
7 Ground 8 Ground
9 Key 10 NC

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Close CMOS Header: JCMOS1

By placing the jumper on pin2-3, it allows user to restore the BIOS safe
setting and the CMOS data, please carefully follow the procedures to
avoid damaging the motherboard.

JCMOS1 Assignment

1
3

Pin 1-2 close

1
3

Pin 2-3 close

※

※ Clear CMOS Procedures:

※※

Normal Operation (Default).

Clear CMOS data.

1. Remove AC power line.

2. Set the jumper to “Pin 2-3 close”.

3. Wait for five seconds.

4. Set the jumper to “Pin 1-2 close”.

5. Power on the AC.

6. Reset your desired password or clear the CMOS data.

Case Open Header: JCI1

This connector allows system to monitor PC case open status. If the
signal has been triggered, it will record to the CMOS and show the
message on next boot-up.

Pin Assignment

2

1

JCI1

1 Case open signal
2 Ground

Serial ATA Connector: JSATA1~JSATA4

The motherboard has a SATA Controller in nForce4 (CK8-04) with 4
channels SATA interface, it satisfies the SATA 1.0 spec and with transfer
rate of 1.5Gb/s.

Pin Assignment Pin Assignment

1 Ground 2 TX+

7

1

4

3 TX- 4 Ground
5 RX- 6 RX+
7 Ground

18