Biostar TA870 PLUS BIOS MANUAL

TA870+ Setup Manual

FCC Information and Copyright

This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits of a Class
B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed
to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential
installation. This equipment ge nerates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency
energy and, if not i nstalled and used in accordance with the instructions, may
cause harmful interference to radio communications. There is no guarantee
that interference will not occur in a particular installation.

The vendor makes no representations or warranties with respect to the
contents here and specially disclaims any implied warranties of merchantability
or fitness for any purpose. Further the vendor reserves the right to revise this
publication and to make changes to the contents here without obligation to
notify any party beforehand.

Duplication of this publication, in part or in whole, is not allowed without first
obtaining the vendor’s approval in writing.

The content of this user’s manual is subject to be changed without notice and
we will not be responsible for any mistakes found in this user’s manual. All the
brand and product names are trademarks of their respective companies.

Table of Contents

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

1.1 Before You Start ................................................................................ 1

1.2 Package Checklist............................................................................. 1

1.3 Motherboard Features...................................................................... 2

1.4 Rear Panel Connectors ..................................................................... 3

1.5 Motherboard Layout......................................................................... 4

Chapter 2: Hardware Installation .......................... 5

2.1 Installing Central Processing Unit (CPU) ....................................... 5

2.2 FAN Headers...................................................................................... 7

2.3 Installing System Memory................................................................ 8

2.4 Connectors and Slots....................................................................... 10

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

3.1 How to Setup Jumpers .................................................................... 13

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

Chapter 4: RAID Functions .................................. 19

4.1 Operating System............................................................................ 19

4.2 Raid Arrays...................................................................................... 19

4.3 How RAID Works............................................................................. 19

Chapter 5: T-Series BIOS & Software................... 23

5.1 T-Series BIOS..................................................................................... 23

5.2 T-Series Software ............................................................................. 31

Chapter 6: Useful Help ........................................ 41

6.1 Driver Installation Note.................................................................. 41

6.2 Extra Information............................................................................ 42

6.3 AMI BIOS Beep Code....................................................................... 43

6.4 AMI BIOS Post Code ........................................................................ 44

6.5 Troubleshooting............................................................................... 46

Appendix: SPEC In Other Languages ................... 48

German.................................................................................................................. 48

French .................................................................................................................... 50

Italian..................................................................................................................... 52

Spanish ................................................................................................................... 54

Portugue se ............................................................................................................ 56

Polish...................................................................................................................... 58

Russian ................................................................................................................... 60

Arabic..................................................................................................................... 62

Japanese ................................................................................................................ 64

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

TA870+

1.1 B

EFORE YOU START

Thank you for choosing our product. Before you start installing the
motherboard, please make sure you follow the instructions below:

 Prepare a dry and stable working environment with

sufficient lighting.

 Always disconnect the computer from power outlet

before operation.

 Before you take the motherboard out from anti-static

bag, ground yourself properly by touching any safely
grounded appliance, or use grounded wrist strap to
remove the static charge.

 Avoid touching the components on motherboard or the

rear side of the board unless necessary. Hold the board
on the edge, do not try to bend or flex the board.

 Do not leave any unfastened small parts inside the

case after installation. Loose parts will cause short
circuits which may damage the equipment.

 Keep the computer from dangerous area, such as heat

source, humid air and water.

 The operating temperatures of the computer should be

0 to 45 degrees Celsius.

1.2 PACKAGE CHECKLIST

IDE Cable X 1 (optional)
Serial ATA Cable X 3
Serial ATA Power Cable X 1
Rear I/O Panel for ATX Case X 1
User’s Manual X 1
Fully Setup Driver CD X 1
FDD Cable X 1 (optional)
USB 2.0 Cable X1 (optional)
S/PDIF out Cable X 1 (optional)

Note: The package contents may be different due to area or your motherboard version.

1

Motherboard Manual

1.3 MOTHERBOARD FEATURES

Socket AM3

CPU

FSB

Chipset

Super I/O

Main

Memory

IDE

SATA III

LAN

Sound

IEEE 1394

On Board

Connectors

AMD Sempron / Phenom II / Athlon II

processors

Support HyperTransport 3.0

Supports up to 5.2 GT/s Bandwidth

AMD 870

AMD SB850

ITE 8721

Prov ides the most commonly us ed leg acy

Super I/O functionality.

Low Pin Count Interface

DDR3 DIMM Slots x 4

Max Memory Capacity 16GB

Each DIMM supports 512MB/

1GB/2GB/4GB DDR3

VIA VT6330

Integrated Serial ATA Controller

Realtek RTL 8111E

ALC892

VIA VT6330 1394a

PCI Slot x2 Supports PCI expansion cards

PCI Express Gen2 x1 S lot x2 Supports PCI-E Gen2 x1 expansion card Slots

PCI Express Gen2 x16 Slot x2 Supports PCI-E Gen2 x16, x4 expansion cards

IDE Conn ector x1 Each conne ctor suppo rts 2 IDE dev ices

SATA Connector x5 Each conne ctor s upports 1 SATA device

Front Panel Connector x1 Supports front panel facilit ies

Front Audio Connector x1 Supports front panel audio function

S/PDIF out Connector x1 Supports digital audio out function

Consumer IR Connector x1 Supports infrared funct ion

SPEC

AMD 64 Architecture enables 32 and 64 bit

computing

Supports Hyper Transport 3.0

En v ironm ent C ontro l in it iat ives,

H/W Mon ito r

Fan Sp eed Contro ller

ITE's "S mart Guardian " function

Dual Channel Mode DDR3 me mo ry modu le

Supports DDR3 800 / 1066 / 1333

Supports DDR3 1600 (OC)

Ultra DMA 33 / 66 / 100 / 133 Bus Master Mode

supports PIO Mode 0~4,

Data transfer rates up to 6 Gb/s.

SATA Vers ion 3.0 spe cif ic at io n co mpliant .

RAID 0,1,5,10 support

10 / 100 Mb/s / 1Gb/s auto negot iation

Half / Full duplex capability

7.1channels audio out

Supports HD Audio

2

Back Panel

I/O

Board Size

OS Support

TA870+

SPEC

CPU Fan Header x1 CPU Fan power supply (with Smart Fan function)

System Fan Header x2 System Fan Power supply

CMOS clear Header x1 Restore CMOS data to factory default

USB Connector x3 Each conne ctor s upports 2 front panel USB ports

IEEE 1394 Connector x1 Connects to IEEE 1394 device

Printer Port Connector x1 Each connector supports 1 Printer port

Serial Port Connector x1 Connects to RS-232 Port

Power Connector (24-Pin) x1 Connects to Power supp ly

Power Connector (4-Pin) x1 Connects to Power supply

PS/2 Keyboard x1

PS/2 Mous e x1

Optical +coaxial S/PDIF Out x1

1394 Port x1

eSATA Port x1

LAN port x1

USB Port x6

Audio Jack x6

305 mm (W) x 225 mm (L) ATX

Windows XP / Vista / 7

Connects to PS/2 Keyboard

Connects to PS/2 Mouse

Provides digital audio out function

Connects to IEEE 1394 device

Connect to SATA devices

Connect to RJ- 45 ethernet cab le

Connect to USB devices

Provide Audio-In/Out and Mic. connection

Biostar reserves the r ight to add or remove support

for any OS With or without notice.

1.4 REAR PANEL CONNECTORS

PS/2
Mouse

PS /2
Keyboard

Optic al +coa xia l

S/PDIF Out

USBX2

Center

Rear

Side

USBX2

IEEE 1394

eSATA

LAN

USBX2

Line In

Line Out

Mic In

3

Motherboard Manual

1.5 MOTHERBOARD LAYOUT

KBMS1

SPDIF1

USB1

USB_1394_
ESATA1

RJ45USB1

AUDIO2

LAN

JUSBV1

ATXPWR2

PEX1_1

SYS_FAN2

PEX16_1

PH1_LED

PH2_LED

NB_PH_LED

AMD

870

PH3_LED

PH4_LED

CPU_FAN1

Socket AM3

DDR3_A1

DB1DR3_

DB2DR3_

DA2DR3_

ATXPWR1

BIOS

SATA5

SATA4

4

Codec

F_AUDIO1

JSPDIFOUT1

Note: represents the 1■

PEX1_2

PEX16_2

PCI1

PCI2

J_COM1J_PR INT1 SYS_FAN1

st

pin.

CIR1

BAT1

Super

I/O

JUSBV2

F_U SB 3F_USB1 F_USB2 F_139 4A1

AMD

SB850

LED_D1
LED_D2

JCLEAN1

SATA1 SATA3

PAN E L1

IDE1

JCM OS1

SW_PWR 1

SW_RST 1

SATA2

CHAPTER 2: HARDWARE INSTALLATION

TA870+

2.1 I

NSTALLING CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT (CPU)

Step 1: Pull the lever toward direction A from the socket and then raise the

lever up to a 90-degree angle.

Step 2: Look for the white triangle on socket, and the gold triangle on

CPU should point towards this white triangle. The CPU will fit only
in the correct orientation.

5

Motherboard Manual

Step 3: Hold the CPU down firmly, and then close the lever toward direct

B to complete the installation.

Step 4: Put the CPU Fan on the CPU and buckle it. Connect the CPU

FAN power cable to the CPU_FAN1. This completes the
installation.

6

2.2 FAN HEADERS

These fan headers support cooling-fans built in the computer. The fan
cable and connector may be different according to the fan manufacturer.
Connect the fan cable to the connector while matching the black wire to
pin#1.

CPU_FAN1: CPU Fan Header

14

SYS_FAN1: System Fan Header

SYS_FAN2: NorthBridge Fan Header

SYS_FAN2

1

3

13

Pin

Assignment

1 Ground
2 +12V
3

FAN RPM r ate
sense

4 Smart Fan

Control (By Fan)

Pin Assignment

1 Ground
2 +12V
3

TA870+

FAN RPM
rate sense

SYS_FAN1

Note:

CPU_FAN1, SYS_FAN1/2 support 4-pin and 3-pin head connectors. When connecting
with wires onto connectors, please note that the red wire is the positive and should be
connected to pin#2, and the black wire is Ground and should be connected to GND.

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Motherboard Manual

2.3 INSTALLING SYSTEM MEMORY

A. DDR3 Modules

DDR 3_A1

DB1DR 3_

DA2DR 3_

DB2DR 3_

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.

8

B. Memory Capacity

TA870+

DIMM Socket

Location

DDR3_A1 512MB/1GB/2GB/4GB

DDR3_B1 512MB/1GB/2GB/4GB

DDR3_A2 512MB/1GB/2GB/4GB

DDR3_B2 512MB/1GB/2GB/4GB

DDR3 Module

Total Me m ory

Size

Max is 16GB.

C. Dual Channel Memory installation

Please refer to the following requirements to activate Dual Channel function:

Install memory module of the same density in pairs, shown in the table.

Dual Channel Status

Enabled O O X X

Enabled X X O O

Enabled O O O O

(O: memory installed; X: memory not installed)

The DRAM bus width of the memory module must be the same (x8 or
x16)

DDR3_A1

DDR3_B1 DDR3_A2 DDR3_B2

9

Motherboard Manual

2.4 CONNECTORS AND SLOTS

IDE1: IDE/ATAPI Connector

The motherboard has a 32-bit Enhanced IDE Controller that provides PIO Mode
0~4, Bus Master, and Ultra DMA 33/66/100/133 functionality.

2

1

SATA1~SATA5: Serial ATA Connectors

The motherboard has a PCI to SATA Controller with 5 channels SATA interface,
it satisfies the SATA 3.0 spec and with transfer rate of 6.0Gb/s.

39

7

4

1

40

SATA5 SATA4

Pin

Assignment

1 Ground
2 TX+
3 TX­4 Ground
5 RX­6 RX+
7 Ground

SATA1 SATA3
SATA2

147

10

ATXP W R1: AT X P ower Source Connector

This connector allows user to connect 24-pin power connector on the ATX
power supply.

TA870+

12

1

Pin Assignment Pin Assignment

13 +3.3V 1 +3.3V
14 -12V 2 +3.3V
15 Ground 3 Ground
16 PS_ON 4 +5V
17 Ground 5 Ground
18 Ground 6 +5V
19 Ground 7 Ground
20 NC 8 PW_OK
21 +5V 9 Standby Voltage+5V
22 +5V 10 +12V
23 +5V 11 +12V
24 Ground 12 +3.3V

24

13

ATXP W R2: AT X P ower Source Connector

This connector provides +12V to CPU power circuit.

23

41

Pin Assignment

1 +12V
2 +12V
3 +12V
4 +12V
5 Ground
6 Ground
7 Ground
8 Ground

Note:

Before you power on the system, please make sure that both ATXPWR1 and ATXPWR2
connectors have been plugged-in.

11

Motherboard Manual

PEX16_1: PCI-Express Gen2 x16 Slot

- PCI-Express 2.0 compliant.

- Maximum theoretical realized bandwidth of 8GB/s simultaneously per

direction, for an aggregate of 16GB/s totally.

- PCI-Express Gen2 supports a raw bit-rate of 5.0Gb/s on the data pins.

PEX16_2: PCI-Express Gen2 x4 Slot

- PCI-Express 2.0 compliant.

- Data transfer bandwidth up to 2GB/s per direction;4GB/s in total.

- PCI-Express Gen2 supports a raw bit-rate of 2.5Gb/s on the data pins.

PEX1_1/PEX1_2: PCI-Express Gen2 x1 Slot

- PCI-Express 2.0 compliant.

- Data transfer bandwidth up to 250MB/s per direction; 500MB/s in total.

PEX1_1

PEX16_1

PEX1_2

PCI1/PCI2: Peripheral Component Interconnect Slots

This motherboard is equipped with 2 standard PCI slots. PCI stands for
Peripheral Component Interconnect, and it is a bus standard for expansion
cards. This PCI slot is designated as 32 bits.

12

PEX16_2

PCI1

PCI2

CHAPTER 3: HEADERS & JUMPERS SETUP

TA870+

3.1 H

OW 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

PANEL1: Front Panel Header

This 16-pin connector includes Power-on, Reset, HDD LED, Power LED, and
speaker connection. It allows user to connect the PC case’s front panel switch
functions.

E

L

D

W

R

P

_

f

/

f

O

n

O

-

+

916

1

+

8

-

+

R

S

S

P

K

T

H

L

E

D

Pin Assignment Function Pin Assignment Function

1 +5V 9 N/A
2 N/A 10 N/A
3 N/ A 1 1 N/ A N/A
4 Speaker
5 HDD LED (+) 13 Power LED (+)
6 HDD LED (-)
7 Ground 15 Power button
8 Reset control

Speaker
Connector

Hard drive
LED

Reset button

12 Power LED (+)

14 Power LED (-)

16 Ground

N/A

Power LED

Power-on button

13

Motherboard Manual

JCMOS1: Clear CMOS Header

Placing the jumper on pin2-3 allows user to restore the BIOS safe setting and
the CMOS data. Please carefully follow the procedures to avoid damaging the
motherboard.

※ Clear CMOS Procedures:

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.

13

13

Pin 1-2 Close:

Normal Operation
(default).

Pin 2-3 Close:

Clear CMOS data.

13

J_COM1: Serial port Connector

The motherboard has a Serial Port Connector for connecting RS-232 Port.

14

210

19

Assignment

Pin

1 Carrier detect
2 Received data
3 Transmitted data
4 Data terminal ready
5 Signal ground
6 Data set ready
7 Request to send
8 Clear to send
9 Ring indicator

10 NC

F_AUDIO1: Front Panel Audio Header

This header allows user to connect the front audio output cable with the PC front
panel. This header allows only HD audio front panel connector; AC’97 connector
is not acceptable.

JSPDIFOUT1: Digital Audio-out Connector

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

TA870+

Pin Assignment

1 Mic Left in
2 Ground
3 Mic Right in
4 GPIO
5 Right line in
6 Jack Sense
7 Front Sense

2

10

1

9

8 Key
9 Left line in

10 Jack Sense

Pin

Assignment

1 +5V
2 SPDIF_OUT
3 Ground

CIR1: Consumer IR Connector

This header is for infrared remote control and communication.

1

3

Pin Assignment

1 IrDA serial input
2 Ground
3 Ground
4 Key
5 IrDA serial output
6 IR Power

125

6

15

Motherboard Manual

F_1394A1: IEEE 1394 Header

This header allows user to connect IEEE 1394 device.

J_PRINT1: Printer Port Connector

This header allows you to connector printer on the PC.

Pin Assignment

1 TPA1+
2 TPA1­3 GND
4 GND
5 TPB1+
6 TPB1­7 VCC
8 VCC

2

10

1

9

9 N/A

10 KEY

16

2

1

Pin Assignment Pin Assignment

1 -Strobe 14 Ground

2 -ALF 15 Data 6

3 Data 0 16 Ground

4 -Error 17 Data 7

5 Data 1 18 Ground

6 -Init 19 -ACK

7 Data 2 20 Ground

8 -Scltin 21 Busy

9 Data 3 22 Ground

10 Ground 23 PE

11 Data 4 24 Ground

12 Ground 25 SCLT

13 Data 5 26 Key

26

25

F_USB1~F_USB3: Headers for USB 2.0 Ports at Front Panel

These headers allow user to connect additional USB cable on the PC front panel,
and also can be connected with internal USB devices, like USB card reader.

F_USB1 F_

F_

2

1

USB2

USB3

10

9

JUSBV1/JUSBV2: Power Source Headers for USB Ports

Pin 1-2 Close:

JUSBV1: +5V for USB ports at USB1/USB_1394_ESATA1/RJ45USB1.

JUSBV2: +5V for USB ports at F_USB1/F_USB2/F_USB3.

Pin 2-3 Close:

JUSBV1: +5V STB for USB ports at USB1/USB_1394_ESATA1/

RJ45USB1.

JUSBV2: +5V STB for USB ports at F_USB1/F_USB2/F_USB3.

TA870+

Pin

Assignment

1 +5V (fused)
2 +5V (fused)
3 USB­4 USB­5 USB+
6 USB+
7 Ground
8 Ground
9 Key

10 NC

JUSBV1

3

1

13

JUSBV2

13

13

Pin 1-2 close

Pin 2-3 close

17

Motherboard Manual

On-Board LED Indicators

There are 7 LED indicators showing system status.

LED_D1 & LED_D2: Debug Indicators

NB_PH_LED /PH1_LED ~ PH4_LED: Power Status Indicators

Please refer to the tables below for specific messages:

LED_D1 LED_D2 Message

ON ON Normal

ON OFF Memory Error
OFF ON VGA Error
OFF OFF Abnormal: CPU / Chipset error.

PH1_LED~PH4_LED Phase Indicator

ON Phase Active

OFF Phase Disable

On-Board Buttons

There are 2 on-board buttons.

PH 1_LE D

NB_PH_LE D

LED_D1
LED_D2

PH 2_LE D

PH 3_LE D

PH 4_LE D

18

SW_RST1: Reset button.
SW_PWR1: Power Switch button.

SW_PWR1

SW_RST 1

CHAPTER 4: RAID FUNCTIONS

TA870+

4.1 O

Supports Windows Vista and Windows 7.

PERATING SYSTEM

4.2 RAID ARRAYS

RAID supports the following types of RAID arrays:

RAID 0: RAID 0 defines a disk striping scheme that improves disk read and write times for

many applications.

RAID 1: RAID 1 defines techniques for mirroring data.

RAID 10: RAID 10 combines the techniques used in RAID 0 and RAID 1.

RAID 5: RAID 5 provides fault to lerance and better utilizat ion of disk capacity.

4.3 HOW RAID WORKS

RAID 0:

The controller “stripes” data across multiple drives in a RAID 0 array system. It breaks
up a large f ile into smal ler b locks and perf orm s disk rea ds and w rite s acr oss multip le
drives in parallel. The size of each block is determined by the stripe size parameter,
which you set during the creation of the RAID set based on the system environment. This
technique reduces overall disk access time and offers high bandwidth.

Features and Benefits

 Drives: Minimum 2, and maximum is up to 6 or 8. Depending on the

platform.

 Uses: Intended for non-critical data requiring high data throughput, or any

environment that does not require fault tolerance.

 Benefits: provides increased data throughput, especially for large files. No

capacity loss penalty for parity.

 Drawbacks: Does not deliver any fault tolerance. If any drive in the array

fails, all data is lost.

 Fault Tolerance: No.

Block 1
Blo ck 3
Blo ck 5

Block 2
Blo ck 4
Blo ck 6

19