Blue Chip Technology APX-4D User Manual

APX-4D

Single Board PC

User Manual

APX-4D

User Manual

Document Part N° 0127-1006
Document Reference APX-4D\..\127-1006.doc
Document Issue Level 1.1

Manual covers PCBs with the following Issue 1.x, A.x (x is any alpha/digit)

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopied, recorded or otherwise, without
the prior permission, in writing, from the publisher. For permission in the UK contact Blue Chip Technology.

Information offered in this manual is believed to be correct at the time of printing. Blue Chip Technology
accepts no responsibility for any inaccuracies. The information contained herein is subject to change without
notice. There are no express or implied licences granted herein to any intellectual property rights of Blue Chip
Technology Ltd.

All trademarks and registered names acknowledged.

Blue Chip Technology Limited,

Chowley Oak, Tattenhall,

Chester, Cheshire,

CH3 9EX, UK

Telephone: [phone]

Facsimile: [phone]

Website: http://www.bluechiptechnology.co.uk

Amendment History

Issue
Level

0.1 11.02.98 PD First draft

1.0 10/07/98 SEJ Update corrections See ECN 98/059

1.1 15/01/01 EGW Add more detail on cooling

Issue

Date

Author Amendment Details

Contents

INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................1

MANUAL OBJECTIVES......................................................................................................1

LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY............................................................................................1

PRECAUTIONS....................................................................................................................2

Electro-Static Discharges....................................................................................................2

OFF-Board Battery.............................................................................................................2

RELATED PUBLICATIONS ................................................................................................3

TRADEMARKS ....................................................................................................................3

USER GUIDE .......................................................................................................................4

OVERVIEW..........................................................................................................................4

Board Level Features..........................................................................................................5

CPU....................................................................................................................................5

System Memory...................................................................................................................5

BUS Expansion Slots...........................................................................................................5

Electromagnetic Compatibility............................................................................................6

SPECIFICATION..................................................................................................................7

Cooling...............................................................................................................................7

HARDWARE DESCRIPTION ............................................................................................8

CHIPSET...............................................................................................................................8

M1489 CACHE MEMORY PCI CONTROLLER (CMP) ......................................................8

M1487 ISA BRIDGE CONTROLLER (IBC).........................................................................8

I/O CONTROLLER...............................................................................................................8

IDE Support........................................................................................................................8

SMC 37C665 SUPER I/O CONTROLLER............................................................................8

Floppy Controller ...............................................................................................................9

Real Time Clock, CMOS RAM and Battery.........................................................................9

ETHERNET: REALTEK RTL8029AS ..................................................................................9

BIOS....................................................................................................................................10

System Setup Utility ..........................................................................................................10

PCI Support......................................................................................................................10

ISA Plug and Play.............................................................................................................10

Auto-Configuration Capabilities.......................................................................................10

Advanced Power Management ..........................................................................................10

Sleep mode Support...........................................................................................................11

Security features ...............................................................................................................11

on-board connectORS.......................................................................................................12

Bus Connectors.................................................................................................................12

JUMPERS............................................................................................................................12

SOFTWARE DESCRIPTION...........................................................................................15

BIOS SETUP - PROVISIONAL..........................................................................................15

OVERVIEW OF THE SETUP MENU SCREENS...............................................................15

Main Screen......................................................................................................................15

Overview of the Setup Keys...............................................................................................17

Standard Setup..................................................................................................................18

Advanced System Setup.....................................................................................................20

Quick Boot........................................................................................................................20

Advanced Chipset Setup....................................................................................................22

Power Management Setup.................................................................................................23

Blue Chip Technology Ltd. 01271006

Contents

PCI / PnP Setup................................................................................................................25

Peripheral Setup ...............................................................................................................28

SOLID STATE DISK SUPPORT ........................................................................................32

ADDRESS MAPS................................................................................................................33

Memory Map.....................................................................................................................33

I/O MAP ...........................................................................................................................34

Interrupts & DMA Channels .............................................................................................35

CONNECTORS...................................................................................................................36

Ethernet UTP CONNECTOR P1 (8 way rj45 )..................................................................36

Power Connector P2 (4 way 5 ¼ Disk drive connector).....................................................36

Auxiliary power Connector P3 (3 way molex)....................................................................36

ECP/EPP Parallel PORT P7 (26 way header)..................................................................37

Battery Connector P13 (4 way header)..............................................................................40

ERROR MESSAGES...........................................................................................................41

AMIBIOS Error Beep Codes.............................................................................................41

AMIBIOS Error Codes on the POST display.....................................................................42

AMIBIOS Error Messages.................................................................................................44

ISA NMI Messages............................................................................................................46

PCI Configuration Error Messages...................................................................................47

BOARD LAYOUT.............................................................................................................49

Blue Chip Technology Ltd. 01271006

Company Profile

COMPANY PROFILE

Blue Chip Technology is the leading specialist PC product manufacturer in UK/Europe.
Blue Chip Technology provides innovation with quality design and manufacturing from a

single source.
Based in the North West, our purpose built complex contains one of the most advanced

research and development facility, engineering workshop and production lines.
Specialising in the provision of industrial computing and electronic solutions for a wide range

of UK and European organisations, Blue Chip Technology has one of the UK's largest
portfolios of industrial PCs, peripherals and data acquisition cards. This extensive range of
products, coupled with our experience and expertise, enables Blue Chip Technology to offer
an industrial processing solution for any application. The APX-4D Single Board PC is the
latest addition to our portfolio, providing a cost effective product development and volume
production tool for OEMs.

A unique customisation and specialised system integration service is also available, delivering
innovative solutions to customers problems. The company's success and reputation in this
area has led to a number of large design and manufacturing projects for companies such as
BNFL, Aston Martin, JaguarSport and British Gas.

British Standards Institute approval (BS EN 9001) means that all of Blue Chip Technology's
design and manufacturing procedures are strictly controlled, ensuring the highest levels of
quality, reliability and performance.

Blue Chip Technology are also committed to the single European market and continue to
invest in the latest technology and skills to provide high performance computer and
electronic solutions for a world-wide customer base.

Blue Chip Technology Ltd. 01271006

APX-4D Manual Introduction

INTRODUCTION

MANUAL OBJECTIVES

This manual describes in detail the Blue Chip Technology APX-4D PC104-plus Single Board
Processor Card (SBPC).

We have tried to include as much information as possible but we have not duplicated
information that is provided in the standard IBM Technical References, unless it proved to be
necessary to aid in the understanding of the APX-4D.

The manual is sectioned and includes a User Guide which will help the non technical user to
get the unit up and running. A Troubleshooting Guide is also included to help when things
go wrong.

We strongly recommend that you study this manual carefully before attempting to interface
with APX-4D or change the standard configurations. Whilst all the necessary information is
available in this manual we would recommend that unless you are confident, you contact
your supplier for guidance.

Please be aware that it is possible to create configurations within the CMOS RAM that make
booting impossible. If this should happen, clear the CMOS settings, (see the description of
the Jumper Settings for details).

If you have any suggestions or find any errors concerning this manual and want to inform us
of these, please contact our Customer Support department with the relevant details.

LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY

In no event shall Blue Chip Technology be held liable for any loss, expenses or damages of
any kind whatsoever, whether direct, indirect, incidental or consequential, arising from the
design or use of this product or the support materials supplied with this product. If this
product proves to be defective, Blue Chip Technology is only obliged to replace or refund
the purchase price at Blue Chip Technology's discretion according to their Terms and
Conditions of Sale.

Blue Chip Technology Ltd. 01271006 Page 1

APX-4D Manual Introduction

PRECAUTIONS

It is imperative that precautions are taken to avoid electro-static discharges, or any
maltreatment of the off-board lithium battery.

ELECTRO-STATIC DISCHARGES

The devices on this card can be totally destroyed by static electricity. Ensure that you take
necessary static precautions, ideally wear an approved wrist strap or touch a suitable
ground to discharge any static build up. This should be repeated if the handling is for any
length of time.

When carrying the board around, please place it into the non-conductive bag in which it
came. This will prevent any static electricity build up.

OFF-BOARD BATTERY

This board supports an off board a Lithium battery. Great care should be taken with this
type of battery. Under NO circumstances should :

• the outputs be shorted

• be exposed to temperatures in excess of 100°C

• be burnt

• be immersed in water

• be unsoldered

• be recharged

• be disassembled

If the battery is mistreated in any way there is a very real possibility of fire, explosion, and

harm.

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APX-4D Manual Introduction

RELATED PUBLICATIONS

The following publications will provide useful information related to the Standard Personal

Computer and can be used in conjunction with this manual.

• IBM Personal Computer AT Technical Reference, 1502494, IBM, 1984.

• IBM Personal System/2 and Personal Computer BIOS Interface Technical Reference,

15F0306, IBM, 1987.

• The Programmers PC Sourcebook, Microsoft

• The Winn L. Rosch Hardware Bible, Brady

• PC104 Consortium Technical Specification

TRADEMARKS

IBM, PC, AT and PS/2 are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation

(IBM).

AMI Hi-Flex BIOS is a trademark of American Megatrends Inc.
Intel is a registered trademark of the Intel Corporation.
All 80x86 and Pentium processors are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation.
MSDOS and WINDOWS are registered trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation.
PC/104-plus and PC/104 are registered trademarks of the PC/104 Consortium.
Finali is a registered Trademark of Acer Labs Incorporated

Blue Chip Technology Ltd. 01271006 Page 3

APX-4D Manual User Guide

USER GUIDE
OVERVIEW

The Blue Chip Technology APX-4D single board PC sets new standards for integration of

the latest advances in processor, memory, and I/O technologies. The APX-4D complies with
the PC104+ standard form providing PCI, and ISA bus interfaces on a single card. The
PC104+ is an ideal platform for the increasing requirements of today's and tomorrow's
embedded applications.

The design is based on the AMD Am5x86-P75 running at an internal clock rate of 133MHz

providing an equivalent performance to a P75. The memory sub-system is designed to
support up to 16MB of EDO DRAM (for improved performance) or standard Fast Page
DRAM in standard 72-pin SODIMM sockets.

The APX-4D single board PC utilises ALIs Finali PCI chipset to provide increased

integration and performance over other single board PC designs. The Finali PCIset contains
an integrated PCI Bus EIDE controller with a high performance IDE interface allowing up to
two IDE devices (such as hard drives, CD-ROM readers, etc.). The SMC 37C665 Super I/O
controller integrates the standard PC I/O functions: floppy interface, two FIFO serial ports
and one EPP/ECP capable parallel port.

In addition to superior hardware capabilities, a full set of software drivers and utilities are

available to allow advanced operating systems such as Windows™ 95 to take full advantage
of the hardware capabilities. Features such as PCI EIDE, Windows™ 95-ready Plug and
Play (PnP), Advanced Power Management (APM) are available for the APX-4D.

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APX-4D Manual User Guide

BOARD LEVEL FEATURES

• AMD 5x86-P75 133MHz CPU

• On-board 3.3 V CPU voltage regulator

• ALI Finali PCI chipset:

M1489 Cache Memory PCI Controller (CMP)
M1487 ISA bridge Controller (IBC)

• One SODIMM socket providing support for up to 16MByte of EDO or FPM

DRAM

• On board PCI NE2000 compatible Ethernet supporting 10BaseT

• PC104+ (PCI) expansion bus

• PC104 (ISA) expansion bus

• SMC 37C665 I/O controller providing:

Dual PCI IDE interface
Dual floppy interface
EPP/ECP bi-directional parallel interface

• 2 on-board serial ports.

Com 1 RS232
Com 2 RS422/485

• Real-time clock with on-board Dyna Cap (hold up for at least 72Hrs)

• PS/2 mouse and keyboard support.

• +5v only operation.

• Optional on-board Solid State Disk -

1Mbyte Flash fitted as standard
2-72Mbyte Flash expansion using Disk On Chip (DOC)

CPU

The APX-4D PC104+ single board PC is designed to operate with AMD Am5x86-P75

CPU running at 3.3 Volts. An on-board voltage regulator circuit provides the required
voltage for the processor from the 5 volt output of a standard PC power supply.

The Am5x86-P75 processor maintains full backward compatibility with the 8x86

architecture processors. It supports burst mode bus cycles, and includes an integrated
unified 16KB on-chip cache which employs a write-back policy. Also integrated into the
processor is an advanced numeric co-processor which significantly increases the speed of
floating point operations, whilst maintaining backward compatibility with 8x87 math
coprocessor and complying to ANSI/IEEE standard 754-1985.

SYSTEM MEMORY

The APX-4D single board PC provides a SODIMM for memory expansion. The socket

support 1M x 32 (4 MB), 2M x 32 (8 MB), 4M x 32 (16 MB), 5V SODIMM modules. ..
Memory timing requires 70 ns fast page devices or, for optimum performance, 60ns EDO
DRAM. There are no jumper settings required for the memory size or DRAM technology
this is automatically detected by the system BIOS.

BUS EXPANSION SLOTS

The APX 4D is designed for use in an embedded application and provides both PCI and

ISA expansion via the PC/104-plus ( PCI) and standard PC/104 (ISA) connectors. There
may be up to four PC/104 bus expansion cards and three PC/104-plus expansion cards.

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APX-4D Manual User Guide

ELECTROMAGNETIC COMPATIBILITY

This product meets the requirements of the European EMC Directive (89/336/EEC) and is

eligible to bear the CE mark. However, because the board can be installed in a variety of
computers and enclosures, certain conditions have to be applied to ensure that the
compatibility is maintained. Subject to those conditions, it meets the requirements for an
industrial environment (Class A product).

• The board must be installed in a computer system chassis which provides screening

suitable for an industrial environment.

• Any recommendations made by the computer system manufacturer/supplier must be

complied with regarding earthing and the installation of boards.

• The board must be installed with any bulkhead plates securely screwed to the chassis of

the computer to ensure good metal-to-metal (i.e. earth) contact.

• Most EMC problems are caused by the external cabling to boards. It is imperative that

any external cabling to the board is totally screened, and that the screen of the cable
connects to the metal enclosure and hence to earth. It is recommended that round
screened cables with a braided wire screen are used in preference to those with a foil
screen and drain wire. Use metal connector shells which connect around the full
circumference of the screen: they are far superior to those which earth the screen by a
simple “pig-tail”.

• The keyboard and mouse will play an important part in the compatibility of the

processor card since it is a port into the board. Similarly, they will affect the
compatibility of the complete system. A fully compatible keyboard and/or mouse must
be used otherwise the complete system could be degraded. The keyboard/mouse
themselves may radiate or behave as if keys are pressed when subject to interference.
Under these circumstances it may be beneficial to add a ferrite clamp on the
keyboard/mouse lead as close as possible to the connector. A suitable type is the
Chomerics type H8FE-1004-AS.

• Ensure that the screens of any external cables are bonded to a good RF earth at the

remote end of the cable.

Failure to observe these recommendations may invalidate the EMC compliance.

Warning

This is a Class A product. In a domestic environment this product may cause
radio interference in which case the user may be required to take adequate
measures.

Blue Chip Technology Ltd. 01271006 Page 6

APX-4D Manual User Guide

SPECIFICATION

APX-4D Power +5 V ± 5% Required for processor operation.
Requirement +12 V ± 5%  Not required for board operation

-5 V ± 5%  The PC/104-plus and PC/104

-12 V ± 5%  voltage rails are linked on board.

Typical System
Consumption 8Watts Am5x86-P75 16 MB RAM

Temperature Non-Operating -40°C to +80°C

Operating +0°C to +40°C (min. airflow of 15 m3/hour)

+0°C to +50°C (min. airflow of 45 m3/hour)
+0°C to +60°C (min. airflow of 66 m3/hour)

Shock Non-Operating Half sine, 2ms, 1 m drop

Vibration Non-Operating 5 Hz - 500 Hz, 3.1 g RMS random

Operating 10 Hz - 500 Hz, 1.0 g RMS random

EMC Emissions EN55022 (A)

Immunity EN50082-2 in a Blue Chip ICON Industrial PC

Chassis

MTBF Estimated 40,000 Hrs

Dimensions Board only 100 x 114 mm

Power Consumption figures given are for a typical configuration.
This information is preliminary and is provided only as a guide to calculating approximate

total system power usage when additional resources are added.

COOLING

Efficient cooling is essential for long and reliable operation. The greater the volume of air,
the greater the cooling effect and the lower the temperature rise above the ambient air
temperature. However, the volume produced by any fan will vary with the pressure against
which it has to work. The resistance to airflow (the back-pressure on the fan) will depend
upon the enclosure, the mounting and restrictions. Therefore, when mounting and cabling
the board, it is essential that the free circulation of the cooling airflow is not impeded.

The calculation of airflow through an enclosure is not straightforward, and depends on
many factors. The method of meeting the cooling requirements will be specific for each
system. Consequently, the system builder is responsible for ensuring adequate cooling.
However, interpreting airflow volumes is not intuitive. As an aid to selecting suitable
cooling, the following example is offered. A 60 mm axial fan (such as a Papst type
612NGH) blowing over the board can supply up to 46 m3/hour when unrestricted.
Restrictions to the airflow will reduce this volume.

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APX-4D Manual Hardware Description

HARDWARE DESCRIPTION

CHIPSET

The Ali Finali PCI Chipset consists of the M1489 Cache Memory PCI controller (CMP)
and the M1487 ISA Bridge Controller (IBC).

M1489 CACHE MEMORY PCI CONTROLLER (CMP)

The M1489 provides all control signals necessary to drive a second level cache( not
implemented) and the DRAM array, including multiplexed address signals. The CMP
provides access to memory and generates snoop controls to maintain cache coherency. The
CMP also integrates an intelligent Host to PCI interface buffer to improve system
performance. The high performance Local bus EIDE interface is also provided by the
CMP. The CMP comes in a 208-pin PQFP package.

M1487 ISA BRIDGE CONTROLLER (IBC)

The M1487 provides the bridge between the ISA bus, PCI bus and Host Bus. It
integrates the standard PC peripherals such as DMA Interrupt controllers, keyboard,
RTC and Timer functions. The IBC is packaged in a 160 pin PQFP

I/O CONTROLLER

IDE SUPPORT

The APX 4D single board PC provides two high performance PCI IDE interfaces capable
of supporting PIO Mode 3 and Mode 4 devices. The system BIOS supports Logical Block
Addressing (LBA) and Extended Cylinder Head Sector (ECHS) translation modes as well
as ATAPI (e.g. CD-ROM) devices on both IDE interfaces. Detection of IDE device
transfer rate and translation mode capability is automatically determined by the system
BIOS.

SMC 37C665 SUPER I/O CONTROLLER

Control for the integrated serial ports, parallel port and floppy drive controller is
incorporated into a single component, the SMC 37C665. This component provides:

• Two powered NS16C550-compatible UARTs with send/receive 16 byte FIFO

• Multi-mode bi-directional parallel port

- Standard mode; IBM and Centronics compatible

- Enhanced Parallel Port (EPP) with BIOS support

- High Speed mode; Extended Capabilities Port (ECP) compatible

• Industry standard floppy controller with 16 byte data FIFO (2.88 MB floppy support)

The 37C665 is normally configured by the BIOS automatically, however configuration of
these interfaces is possible via the CMOS Setup program that can be invoked during boot­up. The serial ports can be enabled as COM1, COM2, or disabled. The parallel port can be

Blue Chip Technology Ltd. 01271006 Page 8

APX-4D Manual Hardware Description

configured as normal, extended, EPP/ECP, or disabled. The floppy interface is configurable.
Header connectors allow cabling to use these interfaces.

FLOPPY CONTROLLER

The 37C665 is software compatible with the DP8473 and 82077 floppy disk controllers.
The floppy interface can be configured for 360 KB or 1.2 MB 5¼" media or for 720 KB,

1.44 MB, or 2.88 MB 3½" media in the BIOS setup. By default, the Floppy A interface is
configured for 1.44 MB and Floppy B is disabled.

REAL TIME CLOCK, CMOS RAM AND BATTERY

The integrated Real Time Clock (RTC) is DS1287 and MC146818 compatible and
provides a time of day clock, 100-year calendar with alarm features. The RTC can be set
via the BIOS SETUP program. The RTC also supports 242 bytes of battery-backed
CMOS RAM in two banks which is reserved for BIOS use. The CMOS RAM can be set to
specific values or cleared to the system default values using the BIOS SETUP program.
Also, the CMOS RAM values can be cleared to the system defaults by using a
configuration jumper on the single board PC. The appendix lists the jumper configurations.

An on-board DYNACAP capacitor provides power to the RTC and CMOS memory during
power down. The capacitor has an estimated hold up of 48 hours unpowered. When the
APX-4D is powered up, power is drawn from the power supply. If a longer hold up period
is required, the APX 4D is fitted with a standard 3.7V Lithium battery connector to allow
the user to fit an external battery.

ETHERNET: REALTEK RTL8029AS

The APX-4D provides a highly integrated PCI 10BaseT NE2000 compatible Ethernet port.
The board is fitted with an RJ45 connector for ease of interfacing. The RTL8029AS
integrates the MAC, Physical chip, transceiver and SRAM buffer into a single 100pin
PQFP device. The RTL8029AS supports Full duplex flow control (IEEE 802.3x). All the
necessary drivers for most popular Network operating systems are supplied on a utilities
disk

Blue Chip Technology Ltd. 01271006 Page 9

APX-4D Manual Hardware Description

BIOS

The APX 4D single board PC uses an AMI system BIOS which is stored in EPROM. In
addition to the System BIOS, the EPROM also contains the Setup utility, Power-On Self
Tests (POST), and the PCI auto-configuration utility. This single board PC supports system
BIOS shadowing, allowing the BIOS to execute from 32-bit on-board write-protected
DRAM.

The BIOS displays a sign-on message during POST identifying the type of BIOS and a
revision code.

SYSTEM SETUP UTILITY

The EPROM-based Setup utility allows the configuration to be modified without removing
the APX 4D from its enclosed for most basic changes. The Setup utility is accessible only
during the Power-On Self Test (POST) by pressing the <DEL> key after the POST
memory test has started and before boot begins. A prompt may be enabled that informs
users to press the <DEL> key to access Setup.

PCI SUPPORT

The AMI BIOS supports Version 2.0 of the PCI BIOS specification. Support is also
provided for Version 1.0 of the PCI bridge specification. PCI-to-PC Card bridging can also
be supported using third party expansion cards.

ISA PLUG AND PLAY

The AMI BIOS incorporates ISA Plug and Play capabilities as defined by the Plug and Play
Release 1.0A specification (Plug and Play BIOS Version 1.0A, ESCD Version 1.02). This
allows auto-configuration of Plug and Play ISA cards, and resource management for non­Plug and Play (or legacy) ISA cards, when used in conjunction with Plug and Play aware
operating systems (such as Windows™ 95).

AUTO-CONFIGURATION CAPABILITIES

The auto-configuration utility operates in conjunction with the system Setup utility to allow
the insertion and removal of PCI and ISA Plug and Play cards to the system without user
intervention (Plug & Play). When the system is turned on after adding a PCI or ISA Plug
and Play card, the BIOS automatically configures interrupts, DMA channels, I/O space,
and memory space. The user does not have to configure jumpers or worry about potential
resource conflicts. Because PCI and ISA Plug and Play cards use the same interrupt
resources as ISA cards, the user can specify the interrupts used by ISA add-in cards in the
Setup utility. If using Windows™ 95, the auto-configuration utility only initialises the
devices required to boot up, Windows™ 95 initialises all the other devices since it is a Plug
and Play aware operating system.

ADVANCED POWER MANAGEMENT

The APX-4D AMI BIOS supports power management through System Management Mode
(SMM) interrupts to the CPU and Advanced Power Management (APM Version 1.1). In
general, power management capabilities will allow the system to be put into a power
managed, Stand-by mode either by entering a user configurable hot-key sequence on the
keyboard, or by the expiration of a hardware timer which detects system inactivity for a
user-configurable time. When in the Stand-by mode, the APX-4D single board PC reduces
power consumption by using the power saving capabilities of the Am5x86-P75 processor

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APX-4D Manual Hardware Description

and also running down hard drives and turning off DPMS compliant monitors. Add-in
cards supplied with APM-aware drivers can also be put into a power managed state for
further energy savings. The ability to respond to external interrupts is fully maintained
while in Stand-by mode, allowing the system to service requests (such as in-coming or
network messages) while unattended, albeit slowly until the system wakes up.

SLEEP MODE SUPPORT

When Advanced Power Management (APM) is activated in the System BIOS and the
Operating System’s APM driver is loaded, Sleep mode (Stand-By) can be entered in one of
three ways.

Sleep/Resume may be activated by using either a momentary-action sleep switch in the
UTILS header, a keyboard hot-key sequence, or by a time-out of the system inactivity
timer. Both the keyboard hot-key and the inactivity timer are programmable in the BIOS
setup (timer is set to 10 minutes by default). To re-activate the system, or “Resume”, the
user simply uses the keyboard or mouse, or presses the sleep switch. Note that mouse
activity will only “wake up” the system if a mouse driver is loaded. While the system is in
Stand-By or “Sleep” mode it is fully capable of responding to, and servicing external
interrupts, even though the monitor will only turn on if a user interrupt occurs as
mentioned above.

SECURITY FEATURES

SUPERVISOR PASSWORD

If enabled, the supervisor password protects all sensitive Setup options from being
changed by a user unless the password is entered (see appendix).

If the password is forgotten, it may be cleared by turning off the system and clearing the
CMOS RAM by removing the battery (if fitted) and allowing the CMOS capacitor to
discharge.

USER PASSWORD

The User Password feature provides access to all setup options that do not require the
supervisor password. The User Password feature also provides security during the boot
process. The User Password can be enabled using the Setup utility. (At boot-up, the
system will complete the operating system boot up process, but keyboard and mouse
operation will be locked until the User Password is entered.)

If the password is forgotten, it can be cleared by turning off the system and clearing the
CMOS RAM. (As above).

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APX-4D Manual Hardware Description

CONNECTORS

A selection of connectors are incorporated on the APX-4D PC board. These provide
connectivity to external peripherals (serial, parallel, keyboard, etc.), in-chassis peripherals
(disk drives, etc.), and bus devices. A complete table of the available connectors and their
pin-outs is given in the appendices. The PC board layout at the end of the manual shows
their positions.

ON-BOARD CONNECTORS

There are connectors on-board for Floppy Disk Drive, IDE, LCD, Serial and parallel ports,
PC/104 plus and PC/104 and utilities connector. There are also sockets for SODIMMs,
Solid State Disks (Disk on Chip), Power supply and external battery.

UTILITY CONNECTOR

The APX-4D PC board provides a connector to support functions such as reset switch,
speaker, Turbo LED, Power LED, keyboard, mouse and external SMI to invoke the
power saving mode of the APX-4D.

SPEAKER

No on-board Piezo speaker is provided. An off-board 8ohm speaker may be connected to
the header (P9 pins 1 & 2). The speaker provides error beep code information during the
Power-On Self Test if the system cannot use the video interface.

RESET

Two pins of the utilities header P9 (pins 3 & 4) may be connected to a momentary
normally open SPST switch. When the switch is closed, the system will perform a hard
reset and run the POST.

TURBO LED

Two pins of the utilities header P9 (pins 5 & 6) may be connected to an LED to provide
a light when the APX-4D is running in Turbo mode.

BUS CONNECTORS

The board incorporates the PC/104-plus and PC/104 bus connectors for expansion. See the
appendices for the pin-out details.

JUMPERS

Jumpers are used on the board to select various options. Some of the jumpers are factory set
to suit particular semiconductor options. These must not be disturbed, or damage to the
board may ensue. Refer to the board layout drawing at the end of the manual for the
positions of the various jumpers.

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APX-4D Manual Hardware Description

Table of Jumpers

JUMPER AREA OF INFLUENCE LINK ACTION

J1 COM2 RS485 mode 1-2

J2 COM2 RS485 mode None
J3

(See note)

Memory operating voltage
(factory fitted)

2-3

Fitted

5V

3V3

Half Duplex Mode
Full Duplex Mode

Full Duplex Mode
Half Duplex Mode
5V SODIMM
3V3 SODIMM

Note: Currently the APX-4D will only support 5V SODIMMs. Contact BCT for further

information when using 3V SODIMMs in APX-4D

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APX-4D Manual Software Description

SOFTWARE DESCRIPTION

BIOS SETUP - PROVISIONAL

This section details the BIOS CMOS Setup Utility. The parameters described below are
based on BIOS version 1.00; other BIOS versions may differ from the description below as
new features are added.

OVERVIEW OF THE SETUP MENU SCREENS

The Setup program initially displays the Main menu screen. In each screen there are options
for modifying the system configuration. Select a sub-menu screen by pressing the up <↑> or
down <↓> arrow keys, followed by <Enter>. Within the menu use the up <↑> or down <↓>
keys to select an item, then use <PgUp> or <PgDn> to modify it. For certain items, pressing
<Enter> will bring up a subscreen. After you have selected an item, use the <PgUp> or
<PgDn> keys to modify the setting.

MAIN SCREEN

Shows the following menu:

Auto Configuration with Optimal Settings

Auto Configuration with Fail Safe Settings

Standard Setup

Advanced Setup

Advanced Chipset Setup

Power Management Setup

PCI / PnP Setup

Peripheral Setup

Auto Detect Hard Disk

Change User Password

Change Supervisor Password

Save Settings and Exit

Exit without Saving

Their operation is shown on the following page.

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STANDARD SETUP

For setting up and modifying basic items such as floppy disk drives, hard drives, and
system time & date.

ADVANCED CMOS SETUP

For modifying the more advanced features of the PC (e.g. system bootup options).

ADVANCED CHIPSET SETUP

Modifies hardware level options.

POWER MANAGEMENT SETUP

For specifying the “Green PC” features such as IDE and VGA timeouts.

PCI / PNP SETUP

For specifying Plug and Play options (e.g. IRQ assignments).

PERIPHERAL SETUP

For specifying the system peripheral options such as serial and parallel port modes.

AUTO DETECT HARD DISK

Automatically determines the parameters of any IDE devices connected, and sets up the
parameters for “USER DEFINED” drives.

CHANGE USER PASSWORD

Allows the password for the user level options to be set or changed. This option cannot
be changed unless a supervisor password has been set.

CHANGE SUPERVISOR PASSWORD

Allows the password for the supervisor level options to be changed.

AUTO CONFIGURATION WITH OPTIMAL SETTINGS

Resets the CMOS setup options to a high performance configuration. The optimal
default settings are best case values and should optimise the system performance. If
CMOS RAM is corrupted, the optimal settings are loaded automatically.

AUTO CONFIGURATION WITH FAIL SAFE SETTINGS

Resets the CMOS setup options to a lower performance but guaranteed working
configuration. The fail safe settings provide far from optimal system performance, but
are the most stable settings. Use these settings as an diagnostics aid if the system is
performing erratically.

SAVE SETTINGS AND EXIT

When selected, this allows you to save the change to CMOS and exit the Setup program.
You can also press the <F10> key anywhere in the Setup program to do this.

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EXIT WITHOUT SAVING

When selected, this allows you to exit the Setup program without saving any changes.
This means that any changes made while in the Setup program will be discarded and
NOT SAVED. Pressing the <Esc> key in any of the four main screens will do this.

OVERVIEW OF THE SETUP KEYS

SETUP KEY DESCRIPTION

<F1> Pressing the <F1> key brings up a help screen for the currently

selected item.

<Esc> Pressing the <Esc> key takes you back to the previous screen.

Pressing it in the Main, Advanced, Security, or Exit screen
allows you to Exit Discarding Changes (see later in this
chapter).

<PgUp> <PgDn> Pressing either key moves the selection of the current item up

or down the available options.

<↑> Pressing the up <↑> key changes the selection to the previous

item or option.

<↓> Pressing the down <↓> key changes the selection the to the

next item or option.

<←> <→> Pressing the left <←> or right <→> keys in the Main, Advanced,

Security, or Exit menu screens changes the menu screen.
Pressing either key in a subscreen does nothing.

<F5> Pressing the <F5> key allows you to Load Setup Defaults (see

later in this chapter).

<F6> Pressing the <F6> key allows you to Discard Changes (see later

in this chapter).

<F10> Pressing the <F10> key allows you to Exit Saving Changes (see

later in this chapter).

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STANDARD SETUP

This section describes the Setup options found on the standard setup screen.

SYSTEM DATE

When selected, this allows you to set the current date by specifying a date, month and
year.

SYSTEM TIME

When selected, this allows you to set the current time by entering values for hours,
minutes and seconds..

FLOPPY A: TYPE

When selected, this allows you to cycle through the available options to specify the
physical size and capacity of the diskette drive. The options are Disabled; 360 KB, 5.25­inch; 1.2 MB, 5.25-inch; 720 KB, 3.5-inch; 1.44/1.25 MB, 3.5-inch; 2.88 MB, 3.5-inch.
The default is 1.44 MB, 3.5-inch.

FLOPPY B: TYPE

When selected, this allows you to cycle through the available options to specify the
physical size and capacity of the diskette drive. The options are Disabled, 360 KB, 5.25­inch; 1.2 MB, 5.25-inch; 720 KB, 3.5-inch; 1.44/1.25 MB, 3.5-inch; 2.88 MB, 3.5-inch.
The default is Disabled.

PRIMARY IDE MASTER

This reports if a primary master IDE hard disk is connected to the system and allows for
the configuration of drive parameters. When selected, this allows the manual
configuration of the hard drive or have the system auto configure it. The options are
Auto Configured, User Definable and Disabled. There are also options for IDE CD-ROM
and 46 predefined hard drive types. If you select User Definable then the Number of
Cylinders, Number of Heads, and Number of Sectors can each be modified. The default
for this is not installed.

PRIMARY IDE SLAVE

This reports if a primary slave IDE hard disk is connected to the system. It is configured
exactly as described under Primary IDE Master above. The default is “Not Installed”.

SECONDARY IDE MASTER

This reports if a secondary master IDE hard disk is connected to the system. It is
configured exactly as described under Primary IDE Master above. The default is “Not
Installed”.

SECONDARY IDE SLAVE

This reports if a secondary slave IDE hard disk is connected to the system. It is
configured exactly as described under Primary IDE Master above. The default is “Not
Installed”.

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NUMBER OF CYLINDERS

If Hard Disk Type is set to User Definable, you must type the correct number of
cylinders for your hard disk. If Hard Disk Type is set to Auto Configured, this reports
the number of cylinders for your hard disk and cannot be modified.

NUMBER OF HEADS

If Hard Disk Type is set to User Definable, you must type the correct number of heads
for your hard disk. If Hard Disk Type is set to Auto Configured, this reports the number
of heads for your hard disk and cannot be modified.

NUMBER OF SECTORS

If Hard Disk Type is set to User Definable, you must type the correct number of sectors
for your hard disk. If Hard Disk Type is set to Auto Configured, this reports the number
of sectors for your hard disk and cannot be modified.

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ADVANCED SYSTEM SETUP
QUICK BOOT

Set this option to “Enabled “ to instruct the BIOS to boot quickly.
If set to “Enabled” the BIOS does not test memory above 1 MB and the BIOS does not

wait up to 40 seconds for a READY signal from the hard drive. If the READY signal is
not received immediately from the IDE drive, it is not configured (as if it was absent).
The default is “Enabled”.

BOOTUP SEQUENCE

This option specifies the sequence of the boot drives. The options are:

A:, C:, CDROM - Default
C:, A:, CDROM
CDROM, C:, A:

BOOT UP NUM LOCK

Allows you to set the start up state of “Num Lock” on your keyboard. The options are
“On” and “Off”. The default is On.

MOUSE SUPPORT

Optimal Mouse Support disabled. (Note: the mouse option is not currently supported on
the APX 4D).

PRIMARY DISPLAY

This option specifies the type of display monitor and adapter in the computer. The
settings are Mono, CGA40, CGA80, EGA/VGA, or Absent. The Optimal and Fail-Safe
default settings are EGA/VGA.

PASSWORD CHECK

This option enables password checking every time the computer is powered on or every
time Setup is executed. If Always is chosen, a user password prompt appears every time
the computer is turned on. If Setup is chosen, the password prompt appears if Setup is
executed.

OS/2 COMPATIBLE MODE

Set this option to Yes to permit AMIBIOS to run with IBM OS/2. The settings are
Enabled or Disabled. The default setting is Disabled.

WAIT FOR F1 IF ERROR

AMIBIOS POST error messages are followed by:

Press <F1> to continue

If this option is set to Disabled, AMIBIOS does not wait for you to press the <F1> key
after an error message. The settings are Disabled or Enabled. The Optimal and Fail-Safe
default settings are Disabled.

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INTERNAL CACHE

This option specifies the caching algorithm used for L1 internal cache memory. The
settings are :

SETTING DESCRIPTION

Disabled Neither L1 internal cache memory on the CPU or L2

secondary cache memory is disabled

WriteBack

(default)

Use the write-back caching algorithm

SYSTEM BIOS SHADOW CACHEABLE

When this option is set to Enabled, the contents of the F0000h system memory segment
can be read from or written to L1 cache memory. The contents of the F0000h memory
segment are always copied from the BIOS ROM to system RAM for faster execution.

The settings are Enabled or Disabled. The Optimal default setting is Enabled. The Fail­Safe default is Disabled. Default is Enabled.

C000, 16K Shadow
C400, 16K Shadow
C800, 16K Shadow
CC00, 16K Shadow
D000, 16K Shadow
D400, 16K Shadow
D800, 16K Shadow
DC00, 16K Shadow

These options control the location of the contents of the 16KB blocks of ROM beginning
at the specified memory location. If no adapter ROM is using the named ROM area, this
area is made available to the local bus.

The settings are :

SETTING DESCRIPTION

Enabled The contents of C0000h - C3FFFh are written to the

same address in system memory (RAM) for faster
execution.

Cache The contents of the named ROM area are written to

the same address in system memory (RAM) for faster
execution, if an adapter ROM will be using the named
ROM area. Also, the contents of the RAM area can be
read from and written to cache memory.

Disabled The video ROM is not copied to RAM. The contents of

the video ROM cannot be read from or written to cache
memory.

The default setting is Cache for C000 and C400; disabled for the remainder.
In the AMIBIOS for the ALI Finali chipset, the E000h page is used as ROM during

POST, but shadowing is disabled and the ROM CS# signal is disabled to make the E000h
page available on the local bus.

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ADVANCED CHIPSET SETUP

AUTO CONFIG FUNCTION ENABLED DISABLED
AT Bus Clock
(options: 7.16MHz, Clk/3, Clk/4, Clk/5
or Clk/8)
DRAM READ TIMING
(options: slow, normal)
DRAM WRITE TIMING
(options: Normal, Faster or Fastest)
SRAM READ TIMING
(Options: 2-1-1-1, 3-1-1-1, 3-2-2-2 or
4-2-2-2)
SRAM WRITE TIMING: 1 WS 1 WS
(options: 1 WS, 0 WS)
HIDDEN REFRESH
(Enabled or Disabled)
ISA I/O RECOVERY Disabled Disabled

OPTIMAL FAILSAFE

7.16MHz 7.16MHz

Normal Normal
Normal Normal
4-2-2-2 4-2-2-2

Disabled Disabled

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APX-4D Manual Software Description

POWER MANAGEMENT SETUP

POWER MANAGEMENT / APM

Set this option to Enabled to enable the power management and APM (advanced Power
Management) features.

The settings are Enabled or Disabled. The default settings are Disabled.

INSTANT ON SUPPORT

If this option is set in Power Management / APM it allows the computer to go to full
power on mode when leaving a power-conserving state. AMIBIOS uses the RTC Alarm
function to wake the computer at a pre-specified time. The settings are 1 to 14 minutes,
or Disabled. The default settings are Disabled.

GREEN PC MONITOR POWER STATE

This option specifies the power management state that the Green PC-compliant video
monitor enters after the specified period of display inactivity has expired. The settings
are, Disabled, Standby, or Suspend. The default settings are Disabled.

VIDEO POWER DOWN MODE

This option specifies the power management state that the video subsystem enters after
the specified period of display inactivity has expired. The settings are Disabled, Standby
or Suspend. The default settings are Disabled.

HARD DISK POWER DOWN MODE

This option specifies the power management state that the hard disk drive enters after the
specified period of display inactivity has expired. The settings are Disabled, Standby, or
Suspend. The default settings are Disabled.

HARD DISK TIMEOUT (MIN)

This option specifies the length of a period of hard disk inactivity. When this period
expires, the hard disk drive enters the power-conserving mode specified in the Hard Disk
Power Down Mode option described above. The settings are Disabled, 1 Min (minutes),
and all one minute intervals up to and including 15 Min. The default settings are
Disabled.

STANDBY TIMEOUT

This option specifies the length of the period of system inactivity when the computer is in
Full-On mode before the computer is placed in Standby mode. In Standby mode, some
power use is curtailed. The settings are Disabled, 1 Min, 2 Min and all one minute
intervals up to and including 15 Min. The default settings are Disabled.

SUSPEND TIMEOUT

This option specifies the length of the period of system inactivity when the computer is
already in Standby mode before the computer is placed in Suspend mode. In Suspend
mode, nearly all power use is curtailed. The settings are Disabled, 1 Min, 2 Min, and all
one minute intervals up to and including 15 Min. The default settings are Disabled.

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APX-4D Manual Software Description

DISPLAY ACTIVITY

This option specifies if AMIBIOS is to monitor activity on the display monitor for power
conservation purposes. When this option is set to Monitor and there is no display
activity for the length of time specified in the value in the Full-On to Standby Timeout
(Min) option, the computer enters a power saving state. The settings are Monitor or
Ignore. The default settings are Ignore.

IRQ 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

These options enable event monitoring. When the computer is in a power saving mode,
activity on the named interrupt request line is monitored by AMIBIOS. When any
activity occurs, the computer enters Full On mode.

Each of these options can be set to Monitor or Ignore. The provisional settings are:

OPTIMAL FAIL-SAFE
IRQ 3 Ignore Ignore
IRQ 4 Ignore Ignore
IRQ 5 Ignore Ignore
IRQ 7 Ignore Ignore
IRQ 9 Ignore Ignore
IRQ 10 Ignore Ignore
IRQ 11 Ignore Ignore
IRQ 12 Ignore Ignore
IRQ 13 Ignore Ignore
IRQ 14 Ignore Ignore
IRQ 15 Ignore Ignore

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APX-4D Manual Software Description

PCI / PNP SETUP

PLUG AND PLAY AWARE OS

Set this option to Yes if the operating system installed in the computer is Plug and Play­aware. AMIBIOS only detects and enables PnP ISA adapter cards that are required for
system boot. The Windows 95 operating system detects and enables all other PnP-aware
adapter cards. Windows 95 is PnP-aware. Set this option to No if the operating system
(such as DOS, OS/2, Windows 3.x) does not use PnP. You must set this option
correctly or PnP-aware adapter cards installed in your computer will not be configured
properly. The settings are No or Yes. The Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings are
No.

PCI LATENCY TIMER (IN PCI CLOCKS)

This option sets latency of all PCI devices on the PCI bus. The settings are in units equal
to PCI clocks. The settings are 32, 64, 96, 128, 160, 192, 224, or 248. The Optimal and
Fail-Safe default settings are 64.

PCI BUS TRANSFER CONTROLS

The following table lists the options for PCI Bus transfers. These should change to
match the system PCI Bus requirements.

PCI TRANSFER CONTROL OPTIMAL FAILSAFE

CPU TO PCI WRITE BUFFER Enabled Disabled
BYTE MERGE Enabled Disabled
FAST BACK TO BACK Enabled Disabled
PCI TO DRAM BUFFER Enabled Disabled

PCI VGA PALETTE SNOOP

This option must be set to Enabled if any ISA adapter card installed in the computer
requires VGA palette snooping. The settings are Disabled or Enabled. The Optimal and
Fail-Safe default settings are Disabled.

PCI IDE BUS/MASTER

Set this option to Enabled to specify that the IDE controller on the PCI local bus has bus
mastering capability. The settings are Disabled or Enabled. The Optimal and Fail-Safe
default settings are Disabled.

OFFBOARD PCI IDE CARD

This option specifies if an offboard PCI IDE controller adapter card is used in the
computer. You must also specify the PCI104+ expansion slot where the offboard PCI
IDE controller card is installed. If an offboard PCI IDE controller is used, the on-board
IDE controller on APX-4D is automatically disabled. The settings are Disabled, Auto,
Slot1, Slot2, or Slot3

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If Auto is selected, AMIBIOS automatically determines the correct setting for this
option. The Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings are Auto.

In the AMIBIOS for the Ali Finali chipset, this option forces IRQ 14 and 15 to a PCI slot
on the PCI local bus. This is necessary to support non-compliant PCI IDE adapter cards.

OFFBOARD PCI IDE PRIMARY IRQ

This option specifies the PCI interrupt used by the primary IDE channel on the offboard
PCI IDE controller. The settings are Disabled, INTA, INTB, INTC, INTD or
Hardwired. The Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings are Disabled.

OFFBOARD PCI IDE SECONDARY IRQ

This option specifies the PCI interrupt used by the secondary IDE channel on the
offboard PCI IDE controller. The settings are Disabled, INTA, INTB, INTC, INTD or
Hardwired. The Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings are Disabled.

DMA CHANNELS 0, 1, 3, 5, 6, 7

These options specify the bus to which the DMA channel is allocated.
These options determine if AMIBIOS should remove a DMA channel from the available

pool passed to BIOS configurable devices. The available pool is determined by reading
the ESCD NVRAM. If more DMA channels must be removed from the pool, the end
user can use these PCI/PnP Setup options to remove the channel by assigning the option
to the ISA/EISA setting. Onboard I/O is configurable by AMIBIOS. The DMA
channels used by onboard I/O are configured as PCI/PnP.

The provisional default settings are:

OPTIMAL FAILSAFE
Channel 0 PnP PnP
Channel 1 PnP PnP
Channel 3 PnP PnP
Channel 5 PnP PnP
Channel 6 PnP PnP
Channel 7 PnP PnP

IRQ 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15

These options specify the bus that the named interrupt request lines (IRQs) are used on.
These options allow you to specify IRQs for use by legacy ISA adapter cards.

These options determine if AMIBIOS should remove an IRQ from the pool of available
IRQs passed to BIOS configurable devices. The available IRQ pool is determined by
reading the ESCD NVRAM. If more IRQs must be removed from the pool, the end user
can use these PCI/PnP Setup options to remove the IRQ by assigning the option to the
ISA/EISA setting. Onboard I/O is configurable by AMIBIOS. The IRQs used by
onboard I/O are configured as PCI/PnP.

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APX-4D Manual Software Description

The provisional optimal and fail-safe settings are:

OPTIMAL FAILSAFE
IRQ 3 PnP PnP
IRQ 4 PnP PnP
IRQ 5 PnP PnP
IRQ 7 PnP PnP
IRQ 9 PnP PnP
IRQ 10 PnP PnP
IRQ 11 PnP PnP
IRQ 14 PnP PnP
IRQ 15 PnP PnP

RESERVED MEMORY SIZE

This option specifies the size of the memory area reserved for legacy ISA adapter cards.
The settings are Disabled, 16K, 32K, or 64K. The Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings

are Disabled.

RESERVED MEMORY ADDRESS

This option specifies the beginning address (in hex) of the reserved memory area. The
specified ROM memory area is reserved for use by legacy ISA adapter cards.

The settings are C0000, C4000, C8000, CC000, D0000, D4000, D8000, DC000. The
Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings are C8000.

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PERIPHERAL SETUP

Peripheral Setup options are displayed by choosing the Peripheral Setup icon from the
WINBIOS Setup main menu. All Peripheral Setup options are described in this section.

ONBOARD IDE

This option specifies the onboard IDE controller channels that will be used. The settings
are Primary, Secondary, Both or Disabled. The Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings
are Primary.

ONBOARD FDC

This option enables the floppy drive controller on the PC board. The settings are Auto,
Enabled or Disabled. The default setting is Auto.

ONBOARD SERIAL PORT1

This option enables serial port 1 on the board and specifies the based I/O port address for
serial port 1.

The settings are Auto, 3F8h, 3E8h, 2F8h, 2E8h, or Disabled. The default setting is
Auto.

ONBOARD SERIAL PORT2

This option enables serial port 2 on the board and specifies the base I/O port address for
serial port 2.

The settings are Auto, 3F8h, 3E8h, 2F8h, 2E8h, or Disabled. The default setting is
Auto.

ONBOARD PARALLEL PORT

This option enables the parallel port on the board and specifies the parallel port based I/O
port address. The settings are Auto, 378h, 278h, 3BCh, or Disabled. The default setting
is Auto.

PARALLEL PORT MODE

This option specifies the parallel port mode. ECP and EPP are both bi-directional data
transfer schemes that adhere to the IEEE P1284 specifications. The settings are :

SETTING DESCRIPTION

Normal The normal parallel port mode is used. This is the

default setting.

EPP The parallel port can be used with devices that adhere to

the Enhanced Parallel Port (EPP) specification. EPP
uses the existing parallel port signals to provide
asymmetric bi-directional data transfer driven by the host
device.

ECP The parallel port can be used with devices that adhere to

the Extended Capabilities Port (ECP) specification. ECP
uses the DMA protocol to achieve transfer rates of
approximately 2.5Mbs. ECP provides symmetric bi­directional communications.

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PARALLEL PORT IRQ

Selects which IRQ is assigned to the parallel port. Available options are 5 or 7. The
default is 7.

PARALLEL PORT DMA

This option is only available if the setting for the Parallel Port Mode option is ECP.
The settings are Auto, None, DMA CH 0, DMA CH 1 or DMA CH 3. (CH = channel).

The default setting is Disabled.

HARDWARE IO PORT BASE ADDRESS

This specifies the base address of the APX-4D configuration and control registers. The
permissible options are:

100 Hex ( default) up to 700 Hex in increments of 100 Hex

FLASH DISK

This specifies the drive letter for the on-board flash disk to use. The options are
disabled, drive A or drive B. The optimal and failsafe defaults are Disabled.

See the section on Solid State Disk for more information.

REMOTE DISK

This specifies the serial port to be used for remote disk. The options are Disabled,
COM1 or COM2. The optimal and fail safe defaults are Disabled.

See the section on Serial Disk for more information.

REMOTE CONSOLE

This specifies the serial port to be used by the serial console. This redirects all text mode
output from the APX-4D to an ANSI serial terminal. The options are Disabled, COM1
and COM2. The optimal and failsafe defaults are Disabled.

See the section on Remote Console for more details.

REMOTE CONTROL BAND RATE

This specifies the band rate to run the remote console at. The options are 9600, 19.2K,

30.4K and 115.2K band. The optimal and failsafe defaults are 115.2K

BOOT ROM

Specifies the mode of operation for the ethernet boot ROM. The options are ′Boot from
local disk′, ′Netware RPL Server′, ‘Windows NTAS RPL Server’, ‘Lan Server RPL
Server’, ‘Lan Manager RPL Server’ or ‘Other RPL Server.

The optimal and failsafe defaults are ′boot from local disk′.

SOLID STATE DISK

The APX-4D SBPC supports two types of solid state disk (SSD). The first is using the
1MB of on-board FLASH disk on the APX-4D. This is programmed using the
PROGFLAS utility on the disk provided and gives a 1MB read only drive which can be
drive A: or drive B: The second is through the M-Systems™ Disk On Chip 2000 which
can be fitted to the 32 pin DIL socket located on the top of the APX-4D. This is

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currently available in capacities for 2MB to 72MB and is used to emulate a hard disk
drive.

USING THE ON-BOARD FLASH

To use the on-board FLASH as a solid state disk it first needs to be programmed with a
disk image. To create this image first formate a 1.44MB floppy disk and copy the system
file to it using the DOS command

FORMAT A: /U /S

Copy the required application files to the disk and create the AUTOEKEC.BAT and
CONFIG.SYS files as required. Label the disk as ′FLASH Image Disk′ and keep in a
safe place after use so that the FLASH can be reprogrammed should it become corrupt.

To program the FLASH place the disk into a floppy disk drive connected to the APX-4D
and issue the command

PROGFLAS <drive>

When <drive> specifies the drive letter of the floppy disk drive being used.

REMOTE DISK

Remote disk provides a way of using a floppy disk drive on a system that does not
physically have a drive connected. This is achieved using a remote system (the host) and
a serial cable. The cable requires no-flow control and so only TX, RX and GND need to
be connected with RX being connected to TX and vice-versa.

Copy the file REMSVR.SYS from the utilities disk onto the hard disk drive of the host
system and add the following lines to the hosts CONFIG.SYS file

DEVICE=REMSVR.SYS /n

Where n specifies the COM port being used on the host.
Connect the cable between the host and the APX-4D and using the setup on the APX-4D

set the remote disk option to the appropriate serial port. Insert a bootable floppy disk
into drive A: on the host and boot the

APX-4D.
As the APX-4D boots the following messages will be displayed:

Initialising remote disk…

If all is well ′Remote connection OK′ if remote disk fails to connect to the host ′Error
unable to correct to the host′. If this occurs check that the drive is loaded correctly on
the host and check the cable connections.

While the APX-4D has booted the drive A: will be accessed via the serial link and will
read the drive on the host.

Remote disk data packets can be monitored on the host by running the SERVER utility
on the disk supplied.

SERIAL CONSOLE

APX-4D provides the ability to redirect int 10h (video) text to a serial terminal or
terminal emulator and to accept key strokes in return from the terminal. This uses the
same 3 wire connection or remote disk (TX-RX, RX-TX, GND-GND).

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To enable the serial console, enter the BIOS setup and select the appropriate COM port
and baud rate for the serial console and connect the cable.

After the APX-4D has started to boot and displayed the sign on message for the solid
state disk BIOS extension all text messages will be set to the serial terminal and not the
local VGA display.

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APX-4D Manual Solid State Disk Support

SOLID STATE DISK SUPPORT

APX-4D supports the use of Solid State Disks (SSD) using either on board 1M flash device
or a Disk on Chip module fitted into the 32 pin DIL socket.

The on board 1Mbyte flash allows the user to copy an image of a floppy into the flash
configured as a bootable write protected drive. This option provides a rugged read only drive
for diskless systems.

If Read and write capability is required this is acheived using the M-Systems Disk On Chip
2000 (DOC2000). This 32 pin DIL module allows Hard disk read / write emulation with disk
densities ranging from 2M to 72Mbyte currently.

Please contact Blue Chip Technology’s Sales for details.

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APX-4D User Manual Address Maps

ADDRESS MAPS

MEMORY MAP

ADDRESS RANGE

(HEX) SIZE DESCRIPTION

100000 - 8000000 127M Extended Memory

E0000 - FFFFF 128K AMI System BIOS

(not available for UMB)
D8000 - DFFFF 32K Bios extensions
D0000 - D7FFF 32K Available HI DOS memory (opens

to ISA and PCI bus)

CC000 - CFFFF 16K Disk on Chip Window

C8000 - CBFFF 16K Solid State Disk Page
A0000 - C7FFF 160K Video memory and BIOS ( if

fitted)
9FC00 - 9FFFF 1K Extended BIOS Data

(moveable by QEMM, 386MAX)

80000 - 9FBFF 127K Extended conventional
00000 - 7FFFF 512K Conventional

Blue Chip Technology Ltd. 01271006 Page 33

APX-4D User Manual Address Maps

I/O MAP

The following table lists the I/O addresses used by single board PC devices. Some of these
devices (e.g. graphics) may not be present in all configurations. Some devices (serial ports,
parallel ports etc.) may be configured for various addresses or disabled. These I/O
locations are listed in the Variable Resources column.

ADDRESS

(HEX)

0000 - 000F 16 DMA 1
0020 - 0021 2 Interrupt Controller 1
002E - 002F 2 Ultra I/O configuration registers
0040 - 0043 4 Timer 1
0060 1 Keyboard Controller Data Byte
0061 1 NMI, speaker control
0064 1 Kbd Controller, CMD/STAT Byte
0070, bit 7 1 bit Enable NMI
0070, bits 6:0 7 bits RTC, Address
0071 1 RTC, Data
0080 - 008F 16 DMA Page Register
00A0 - 00A1 2 PIIIX - Interrupt Controller 2
00B2 - 00B3 2 APM Control / Status Interrupt

00C0 - 00DE 31 DMA 2
00F0 1 Reset Numeric Error
0100 - 0107 8 Reserved for Board Confign.
0170 - 0177 8
01F0 - 01F7 8 Primary IDE Channel
0200 - 0207 8 Gameport Joystick
0278 - 027B 4 Parallel Port 2
02E8 - 02EF 8 Serial Port 4
02F8 - 02FF 8 Serial Port 2
0376 1
0377 1
0378 - 037F 8 Parallel Port 1
03B0 - 03BB 4 Video controller
03BC - 03BF 4 Parallel Port 3
03C0 - 03DF 16 Video controller
03E8 - 03EF 8 Serial Port 3
03F0 - 03F5 6 Floppy Channel 1
03F6 1 Pri IDE Chan Cmnd Port
03F7 (Write) 1 Floppy Chan 1 Cmd
03F7, bit 7 1 bit Floppy Disk Chg Chan 1
03F7, bits 6:0 7 bits Pri IDE Chan Status Port
03F8 - 03FF 8 Serial Port 1
LPT + 400h 3 ECP regs, LPT base + 400h
04D0 - 04D1 2 Edge/Level INTR Control Reg.
0CF8 - 0CFC* 4 PCI Config Address Reg.
0CF9 1 Turbo & Reset control Reg.
0CFC - 0CFF 4 PCI Config Data Reg
FFA0 - FFA7 8 1ary Bus MasterIDE regs
FFA8 - FFAF 8 2ary Bus Master IDE regs
FF00-FF07 8 IDE Bus Master Reg.

SIZE

Bytes

FIXED RESOURCES VARIABLE RESOURCES

Controller 2

*only accessible by DWORD accesses.

Blue Chip Technology Ltd. 01271006 Page 34

APX-4D User Manual Address Maps

INTERRUPTS & DMA CHANNELS

The following tables list the Interrupt and DMA Channel configuration options for on­board devices. The serial ports, parallel ports, and IDE controller can be configured using
SETUP, or any other Plug and Play resource manager (such as the Windows™ 95 Device
Manager). The Graphics interrupt is assigned by the auto-configure utility during boot up.

IRQ RESERVED INTERRUPTS

NMI I/O Channel Check

0 Interval Timer
1 Keyboard buffer full
2 Cascade interrupt from slave PIC
3 Serial 2 (COM2)
4 Serial 1 (COM1)
5 Parallel 2 (LPT2)
6 Floppy Controller
7 Parallel (LPT1)
8 Real time clock

9 Cascade
10
11
12 PS/2 Mouse (if present)
13 Math co-processor
14 Primary E-IDE
15

DMA RESERVED

0
1
2 Floppy
3
4 Cascade channel
5
6
7

Blue Chip Technology Ltd. 01271006 Page 35

APX-4D User Manual Connectors

CONNECTORS

ETHERNET UTP CONNECTOR P1 (8 WAY RJ45 )

PIN N°

1 +VE TRANSMIT
2 -VE TRANSMIT
3 +VE RECEIVE
4 NC
5 NC
6 -VE RECEIVE
7 NC
8 NC

SIGNAL

POWER CONNECTOR P2 (4 WAY 5 ¼ DISK DRIVE CONNECTOR)

PIN N°

1 +12v
2 Ground
3 Ground
4 +5V

SIGNAL

AUXILIARY POWER CONNECTOR P3 (3 WAY MOLEX)

Pin N°

1 -12 Volts DC
3 Ground
4 -5 Volts DC

Signal

RS232 SERIAL PORT 1 P4 (10 WAY HEADER)

PIN NO. SIGNAL PIN NO SIGNAL

1 DCD 2 DSR
3 RxD 4 RTS
5 TxD 6 CTS
7 DTR 8 RI
9 GND 10 Key

RS485 SERIAL PORT 2 P5 (10 WAY HEADER)

PIN NO. SIGNAL PIN NO. SIGNAL

1 Full Duplex RX +ve 2 10K pull up (+5V)
3 Full Duplex RX -ve 4 NC
5 TX +ve Full Duplex

TX/RX +ve Half Duplex

7 TX -ve Full Duplex

TX/RX -ve Half Duplex

9 10K Pull down ( 0V) 10 NC

6 NC
8 NC

Blue Chip Technology Ltd. 01271006 Page 36

APX-4D User Manual Connectors

PC104 + CONNECTOR (PCI BUS) P6 (120 WAY SOCKET)

ROW ASIGNAL ROW

B

ROW

C

SIGNAL ROW

D

SIGNAL

1 +5V 1 RSVD (NC) 1 +5V 1 AD0
2 VIO (NC) 2 AD2 2 AD1 2 +5V
3 AD5 3 GND 3 AD4 3 AD3
4 C/BE0 4 AD7 4 GND 4 AD6
5 GND 5 AD9 5 AD8 5 GND
6 AD11 6 VIO (NC) 6 AD10 6 M66NE(NC)
7 AD14 7 AD13 7 GND 7 AD12
8 3V3 (NC) 8 C/BE1# 8 AD15 8 3V3

( NC)

9 SERR# 9 GND 9 SBO# (NC) 9 PAR
10 GND 10 PERR# 10 3V3 (NC) 10 SDONE (NC)
11 STOP# 11 3V3 (NC) 11 LOCK# 11 GND
12 3V3 (NC) 12 TRDY# 12 GND 12 DEVSEL#
13 FRAME# 13 GND 13 IRDY# 13 3V3 (NC)
14 GND 14 AD16 14 3V3 (NC) 14 C/BE2#
15 AD18 15 3V3 (NC) 15 AD17 15 GND
16 AD21 16 AD20 16 GND 16 AD19
17 3V3 17 AD23 17 AD22 17 3V3 (NC)
18 IDSEL0 18 GND 18 AD21 18 AD22
19 AD24 19 C/BE3# 19 VIO (NC) 19 AD23

20 GND 20 AD26 20 AD25 20 GND
21 AD29 21 +5V 21 AD28 21 AD27
22 +5V 22 AD30 22 GND 22 AD31
23 REQ0# 23 GND 23 REQ1# 23 VIO (NC)
24 GND 24 REQ2# 24 +5V 24 GNT0#
25 GNT1# 25 VIO (NC) 25 GNT2# 25 GND
26 +5V 26 CLK0 26 GND 26 CLK1
27 CLK2 27 +5V 27 CLK3 27 GND
28 GND 28 INTD# 28 +5V 28 PCIRST#
29 +12V 29 INTA# 29 INTB# 29 INTC#
30 -12V 30 RSVD (NC) 30 RSVD (NC) 30 3V3 (NC)

ECP/EPP PARALLEL PORT P7 (26 WAY HEADER)

PIN N°

SIGNAL

PIN N°

1 -Strobe 2 -Auto Feed XT
3 Data bit 0 4 -Error
5 Data bit 1 6 -Initialise
7 Data bit 2 8 -Select (input)

9 Data bit 3 10 Ground
11 Data bit 4 12 Ground
13 Data bit 5 14 Ground
15 Data bit 6 16 Ground
17 Data bit 7 18 Ground
19 -Acknowledge 20 Ground
21 Busy 22 Ground
23 Paper Empty 24 Ground
25 Select (Output) 26 Not Used

Blue Chip Technology Ltd. 01271006 Page 37

SIGNAL

APX-4D User Manual Connectors

PRIMARY E-IDE CONNECTOR P8 (40 WAY HEADER 2MM PITCH)

PIN NO. SIGNAL PIN NO. SIGNAL

1 -Reset 2 Ground
3 Data bit 7 (HD) 4 Data bit 8 (HD)
5 Data bit 6 (HD) 6 Data bit 9 (HD)
7 Data bit 5 (HD) 8 Data bit 10 (HD)

9 Data bit 4 (HD) 10 Data bit 11 (HD)
11 Data bit 3 (HD) 12 Data bit 12 (HD)
13 Data bit 2 (HD) 14 Data bit 13 (HD)
15 Data bit 1 (HD) 16 Data bit 14 (HD)
17 Data bit 0 (HD) 18 Data bit 15 (HD)
19 Ground 20 Not used
21 Drive Request 22 Ground
23 -IO Write (HD) 24 Ground
25 -IO Read (HD) 26 Ground
27 Drive Ready 28 Not Used
29 Drive Acknowledge 30 Ground
31 IRQ14 32 HDIOCS16
33 Address 1 (HD) 34 Not Used
35 Address 0 (HD) 36 Address 2 (HD)
37 -Chip Select 0 (HD) 38 -Chip Select 1 (HD)
39 Not Used 40 Ground

UTILITY CONNECTOR P9 (20 WAY HEADER)

Battery

SIGNAL

PIN N°

18 0 Volts Battery

PIN N°

1 Audio +ve 2 Audio -ve

3 Reset +ve 4 Reset -ve (Ground)

5 Turbo LED +ve 6 Turbo LED -ve

7 Turbo switch +ve 8 Turbo switch -ve

9 Power LED +ve 10 Power Led -ve (
11 PS2 Mouse Data 12 PS2 Mouse Clock

13 External SMI +ve 14 External SMI -ve
15 +5V (fused) 16 0 Volts (Ground)

17 External +3.6 Volt
19 Keyboard Data 20 Keyboard Clock

SIGNAL

(Ground)
Ground)

(Ground)

(Ground)

Blue Chip Technology Ltd. 01271006 Page 38

APX-4D User Manual Connectors

FLOPPY DISK DRIVE CONNECTOR P10 (34 WAY HEADER)

PIN N°

SIGNAL

PIN N°

SIGNAL

1 Ground 2 +RPM/Low Current
3 Ground 4 Not used
5 Ground 6 Not used
7 Ground 8 -Index

9 Ground 10 -Motor 0
11 Ground 12 -Drive select 1
13 Ground 14 -Drive select 0
15 Ground 16 -Motor 1
17 Ground 18 +Direction
19 Ground 20 -Step
21 Ground 22 -Write Data
23 Ground 24 -Write Gate
25 Ground 26 -Track 0
27 Ground 28 -Write Protect
29 Ground 30 -Read Data
31 Ground 32 +Head Select
33 Ground 34 +Disk Change

PC104 PC/XT CONNECTOR (ISA BUS) P11 (64 WAY SOCKET)

SIDE A SIGNAL SIDE B SIGNAL

1 -IOCHCK 1 Ground

2 SD7 2 Resetdrv

3 SD6 3 +5 Volts

4 SD5 4 IRQ9

5 SD4 5 -5 Volts

6 SD3 6 DREQ2

7 SD2 7 -12 Volts

8 SD1 8 -0WS

9 SD0 9 +12 Volts

10 IOCHRDY 10 Ground
11 AEN 11 -SMEMW
12 SA19 12 -SMEMR
13 SA18 13 -IOW
14 SA17 14 -IOR
15 SA16 15 -DACK3
16 SA15 16 DREQ3
17 SA14 17 -DACK1
18 SA13 18 DREQ1
19 SA12 19 -REF
20 SA11 20 CLK
21 SA10 21 IRQ7
22 SA9 22 IRQ6

23 SA8 23 IRQ5
24 SA7 24 IRQ4
25 SA6 25 IRQ3
26 SA5 26 -DACK2
27 SA4 27 T/C
28 SA3 28 BALE
29 SA2 29 +5 Volts
30 SA1 30 OSC
31 SA0 31 Ground
32 Ground 32 Ground

Blue Chip Technology Ltd. 01271006 Page 39

APX-4D User Manual Connectors

PC104 PC/AT CONNECTOR P12 (40 WAY SOCKET)

SIDE C SIGNAL SIDE D SIGNAL

1 Ground 1 Ground
2 -SBHE 2 -MEMCS16
3 LA23 3 -IOCS16
4 LA22 4 IRQ10
5 LA21 5 IRQ11
6 LA20 6 IRQ12
7 LA19 7 IRQ15
8 LA18 8 IRQ14

9 LA17 9 -DACK0
10 -MEMR 10 DREQ0
11 -MEMW 11 -DACK5
12 SD8 12 DREQ5
13 SD9 13 -DACK6
14 SD10 14 DREQ6
15 SD11 15 -DACK7
16 SD12 16 DREQ7
17 SD13 17 +5 Volts
18 SD14 18 -Master
19 SD15 19 Ground
20 No Connection 20 Ground

BATTERY CONNECTOR P13 (4 WAY HEADER)

Pin N°

1 +3.7 Volts DC
2 Not used (key)
3 Ground
4 Ground

Signal

Blue Chip Technology Ltd. 01271006 Page 40

APX-4D User Manual Error Messages

ERROR MESSAGES

AMIBIOS ERROR BEEP CODES

The BIOS performs a Power On Self Test (POST) after a reset or reboot. If errors occur
during the POST, the microprocessor indicates the status of the test by writing codes to the
I/O port at address 80 Hex. If the BIOS cannot find and configure the display controller
then the errors are communicated through a series of audible beeps (by the speaker drive
circuit). Fatal errors, which prevent the system from continuing the boot process, will
produce beep codes.

Other errors are displayed textually. For these see AMIBIOS Error Messages, in the
following subsection.

BEEPS ERROR MESSAGE DESCRIPTION

1long, 3

short

10 CMOS Shutdown

11 Cache Error /

Video failure A connection to a monitor was not detected.
1 Refresh Failure The memory refresh circuitry on the single board PC
2 Parity Error Parity is not supported on this product, will not occur.

3 Base 64 KB Memory

Failure
4 Timer Not

Operational
5 Processor Error The CPU on the single board PC generated an error.
6 8042 - Gate A20

Failure
7 Processor Exception

Interrupt Error
8 Display Memory

Read/Write Error
9 ROM Checksum

Error

Register Rd/Wrt

Error

External Cache Bad

is faulty.

Memory failure in the first 64 KB.
Memory failure in the first 64 KB of memory, or

Timer 1 on the single board PC is not functioning.

The keyboard controller (8042) may be bad. The
BIOS cannot switch to protected mode.
The CPU generated an exception interrupt.

System video adapter is either missing or its memory
is faulty. This is not a fatal error.
ROM checksum value does not match the value
encoded in BIOS.
The shutdown register for CMOS RAM failed.

The external cache is faulty.

Blue Chip Technology Ltd. 01271006 Page 41

APX-4D User Manual Error Messages

AMIBIOS ERROR CODES ON THE POST DISPLAY

As the BIOS performs the POST after a reset or reboot, the microprocessor indicates the
status of the test by writing codes to the I/O port at address 80 Hex. The following codes
indicate the progress of the microprocessor during the power on test.

UNCOMPRESSED INIT CODE CHECKPOINTS

CODE

(HEX)

D0 NMI is Disabled. CPU ID saved. Init code Checksum

verification starting.

D1 To do DMA init, Keyboard controller BAT test, start memory

refresh and going to 4GB flat mode.
D3 To start Memory sizing.
D4 To come back to real mode. Execute OEM patch. Set stack.
D5 E000 ROM enabled. Init code is copied to segment 0 and

control to be transfered to segment 0.
D6 Control is in segment 0. To check <CTRL><HOME> key and

verify main BIOS checksum. If either <CTRL><HOME> is

pressed or main BIOS checksum is bad, go to check point E0

else goto check point D7.
D7 Main BIOS runtime code is to be decompressed and control to

be passed to main BIOS in shadow RAM.

DESCRIPTION

BOOT BLOCK RECOVERY CODE CHECKPOINTS

CODE

(HEX)

E0 On-Board Floppy Controller (if any) is initialised. To start base

512K memory test.
E1 To initialise interrupt vector table.
E2 To initialise DMA and interrupt controllers.
E6 To enable floppy and timer IRQ, enable internal cache.

ED Initialize floppy drive.
EE Start looking for a diskette in drive A: and read 1st sector of

the diskette.

EF Floppy read error.

F0 Start searching ‘AMIBOOT.ROM’ file in root directory.
F1 ‘AMIBOOT.ROM’ file not present in root directory.
F2 Start reading FAT table and analyze FAT to find the clusters

occupied by ‘AMIBOOT.ROM’ file..
F3 Start reading ‘AMIBOOT.ROM’ file cluster by cluster.
F4 ‘AMIBOOT.ROM’ file not of proper size.
F5 Disable internal cache.

FB Detect Flash type present.
FC Erase Flash.
FD Program Flash.

FF Flash program successful. BIOS is going to restart.

DESCRIPTION

These Checkpoints are only utilised when the APX-4D is fitted with a Flash BIOS

Blue Chip Technology Ltd. 01271006 Page 42

APX-4D User Manual Error Messages

RUNTIME CODE IS UNCOMPRESSED IN F000 SHADOW RAM

CODE
(HEX)

03 NMI is Disabled. To check soft reset/power-on.
05 BIOS stack set. Going to disable Cache if any.
06 POST code to be uncompressed.
07 CPU init and CPU data area init to be done.
08 CMOS checksum calculation to be done next.

0B Any initialisation before keyboard BAT to be done next.
0C KB controller I/B free. To issue the BAT command to keyboard controller.
0E Any initialisation after KB controller BAT to be done next.
0F Keyboard command byte to be written.

10 Going to issue Pin-23,24 blocking/unblocking command.

11 Going to check pressing of <INS> , <END> key during power-on.

12 To init CMOS if “Init CMOS in every boot” is set or <END> key is pressed. Going to disable DMA and

Interrupt controllers.
13 Video display is disabled and port-B is initialised. Chipset init about to begin.
14 8254 timer test about to start.
19 About to start memory refresh test.

1A Memory Refresh line is toggling. Going to check 15us ON/OFF time.

23 To read 8042 input port and disable Megakey GreenPC feature. Make BIOS code segment writeable.
24 To do any setup before Int vector init.
25 Interrupt vector initialisation about to begin. To clear password if necessary.
27 Any initialisation before setting video mode to be done.
28 Going for monochrome mode and colour mode setting.

2A Different BUSes init (system, static, output devices) to start if present.
2B To give control for any setup required before optional video ROM check.
2C To look for optional video ROM and give control.
2D To give control to do any processing after video ROM returns control.
2E If EGA/VGA not found then do display memory R/W test.
2F EGA/VGA not found. Display memory R/W test about to begin.

30 Display memory R/W test passed. About to look for the retrace checking.
31 Display memory R/W test or retrace checking failed. To do alternate Display memory R/W test.
32 Alternate Display memory R/W test passed. To look for the alternate display retrace checking.
34 Video display checking over. Display mode to be set next.
37 Display mode set. Going to display the power on message.
38 Different BUSes init (input, IPL, general devices) to start if present.
39 Display different BUSes initialisation error messages.

3A New cursor position read and saved. To display the Hit <DEL> message.

40 To prepare the descriptor tables.
42 To enter in virtual mode for memory test.
43 To enable interrupts for diagnostics mode.
44 To Initialize data to check memory wrap around at 0:0.
45 Data initialised. Going to check for memory wrap around at 0:0 and finding the total system memory

size.
46 Memory wrap around test done. Memory size calculation over. About to go for writing patterns to test

memory.
47 Pattern to be tested written in extended memory. Going to write patterns in base 640k memory.
48 Patterns written in base memory. Going to find out amount of memory below 1M memory.
49 Amount of memory below 1M found and verified. Going to find out amount of memory above 1M

memory.

4B Amount of memory above 1M found and verified. Check for soft reset and going to clear memory

below 1M for soft reset. (If power on, go to check point# 4Eh).

4C Memory below 1M cleared. (SOFT RESET) Going to clear memory above 1M.
4D Memory above 1M cleared. (SOFT RESET) Going to save the memory size. (Goto check point# 52h).
4E Memory test started. (NOT SOFT RESET) About to display the first 64k memory size.
4F Memory size display started. This will be updated during memory test. Going for sequential and

random memory test.
50 Memory testing/initialisation below 1M complete. Going to adjust displayed memory size for relocation/

shadow.
51 Memory size display adjusted due to relocation/ shadow. Memory test above 1M to follow.
52 Memory testing/initialisation above 1M complete. Going to save memory size information.
53 Memory size information is saved. CPU registers are saved. Going to enter in real mode.
54 Shutdown successful, CPU in real mode. Going to disable gate A20 line and disable parity/NMI.
57 A20 address line, parity/NMI disable successful. Going to adjust memory size depending on

relocation/shadow.
58 Memory size adjusted for relocation/shadow. Going to clear Hit <DEL> message.
59 Hit <DEL> message cleared. <WAIT...> message displayed. About to start DMA and interrupt

controller test.
60 DMA page register test passed. To do DMA#1 base register test.

DESCRIPTION

Blue Chip Technology Ltd. 01271006 Page 43

APX-4D User Manual Error Messages

62 DMA#1 base register test passed. To do DMA#2 base register test.
65 DMA#2 base register test passed. To program DMA unit 1 and 2.
66 DMA unit 1 and 2 programming over. To Initialize 8259 interrupt controller.

7F Extended NMI sources enabling is in progress.

80 Keyboard test started. clearing output buffer, checking for stuck key, to issue keyboard reset
81 Kb reset error/stuck key found. To issue kb controller test command.

82 Keyboard controller interface test over. To write command byte and init circular buffer.
83 Command byte written, Global data init done. To check for lock-key.
84 Lock-key checking over. To check for memory size mismatch with CMOS.
85 Memory size check done. To display soft error and check for password or bypass setup.
86 Password checked. About to do programming before setup.
87 Programming before setup complete. To uncompress SETUP code and execute CMOS setup.
88 Returned from CMOS setup program and screen is cleared. About to do programming after setup.
89 Programming after setup complete. Going to display power on screen message.

8B First screen message displayed. <WAIT...> message displayed. PS/2 Mouse check and extended
8C Setup options programming after CMOS setup about to start.

8D Going for hard disk controller reset.
8F Hard disk controller reset done. Floppy setup to be done next.

91 Floppy setup complete. Hard disk setup to be done next.
95 Init of different BUSes optional ROMs from C800 to start.
96 Going to do any init before C800 optional ROM control.
97 Any init before C800 optional ROM control is over. Optional ROM check and control will be done next.
98 Optional ROM control is done. About to give control to do any required processing after optional ROM

99 Any initialisation required after optional ROM test over. Going to setup timer data area and printer base

9A Return after setting timer and printer base address. Going to set the RS-232 base address.
9B Returned after RS-232 base address. Going to do any initialisation before Coprocessor test
9C Required initialisation before Coprocessor is over. Going to Initialize the Coprocessor next.
9D Coprocessor initialised. Going to do any initialisation after Coprocessor test.
9E Initialisation after Coprocessor test is complete. Going to check extd keyboard, keyboard ID and num-

A2 Going to display any soft errors.
A3 Soft error display complete. Going to set keyboard typematic rate.
A4 Keyboard typematic rate set. To program memory wait states.
A5 Going to enable parity/NMI.
A7 NMI and parity enabled. Going to do any initialisation required before giving control to optional ROM at

A8 Initialisation before E000 ROM control over. E000 ROM to get control next.
A9 Returned from E000 ROM control. Going to do any initialisation required after E000 optional ROM

AA Initialisation after E000 optional ROM control is over. Going to display the system configuration.
AB To uncompress DMI data and execute DMI POST init.
B0 System configuration is displayed.
B1 Going to copy any code to specific area.

00 Copying of code to specific area done. Going to give control to INT-19 boot loader.

command.

BIOS data area allocation to be done.

returns control and enable external cache.

address.

lock. Keyboard ID command to be

E000.

control.

AMIBIOS ERROR MESSAGES

Textual error messages are displayed in the following format:

ERROR Message Line 1
ERROR Message Line 2

For most displayed error messages, there is only one message. If a second message
appears, it is "RUN SETUP". If this message occurs, press <F1> to run Setup Utility. The
table of messages is shown on the next page.

Blue Chip Technology Ltd. 01271006 Page 44

APX-4D User Manual Error Messages

ERROR MESSAGE EXPLANATION

8042 Gate - A20
Error

Gate A20 on the keyboard controller (8042) is not working. Replace

the 8042.
Address Line Short! Error in the address decoding circuitry on the single board PC.
Cache Memory Bad,

Cache memory is defective. Replace it.
Do Not Enable
Cache!
CH-2 Timer Error Most AT systems include two timers. There is an error in timer 2.
CMOS Battery State
Low
CMOS Checksum
Failure

CMOS RAM is powered by a battery. The battery power is low.

Replace the battery.

After CMOS RAM values are saved, a checksum value is generated

for error checking. The previous value is different from the current

value. Run AMIBIOS Setup.
CMOS System
Options Not Set
CMOS Display Type
Mismatch
CMOS Memory Size
Mismatch
CMOS Time and

The values stored in CMOS RAM are either corrupt or non-existent.

Run Setup.

The video type in CMOS RAM does not match the type detected by

the BIOS. Run AMIBIOS Setup.

The amount of memory on the single board PC is different than the

amount in CMOS RAM. Run AMIBIOS Setup.

Run Standard CMOS Setup to set the date and time in CMOS RAM.
Date Not Set
Diskette Boot Failure The boot disk in floppy drive A: is corrupt. It cannot be used to boot

the system. Use another boot disk and follow the screen instructions.
Display Switch Not
Proper

The display jumper is not implemented on this product, this error will

not occur.
DMA Error Error in the DMA controller.
DMA #1 Error Error in the first DMA channel.
DMA #2 Error Error in the second DMA channel.
FDD Controller
Failure
HDD Controller
Failure

The BIOS cannot communicate with the floppy disk drive controller.

Check all appropriate connections after the system is powered down.

The BIOS cannot communicate with the hard disk drive controller.

Check all appropriate connections after the system is powered down.
INTR #1 Error Interrupt channel 1 failed POST.
INTR #2 Error Interrupt channel 2 failed POST.
Invalid Boot Diskette The BIOS can read the disk in floppy drive A:, but cannot boot the

system. Use another boot disk.
Keyboard Is
Locked...Unlock It

The keyboard lock on the system is engaged. The system must be

unlocked to continue.
Keyboard Error There is a timing problem with the keyboard. Set the Keyboard option

in Standard CMOS Setup to Not Installed to skip the keyboard POST

routines.
KB/Interface Error There is an error in the keyboard connector.
Off Board Parity Error Parity error in memory installed in an expansion slot. The format is:

OFF BOARD PARITY ERROR ADDR (HEX) = (XXXX)

Where “XXXX” is the hex address where the error occurred.
On Board Parity Error Parity is not supported on this product, this error will not occur.
Parity Error ???? Parity error in system memory at an unknown address.

Blue Chip Technology Ltd. 01271006 Page 45

APX-4D User Manual Error Messages

ISA NMI MESSAGES

ISA NMI MESSAGE EXPLANATION

Memory Parity Error at
XXXXX

I/O Card Parity Error at
XXXXX

DMA Bus Time-out A device has driven the bus signal for more than

Memory failed.
If the memory location can be determined, it is
displayed as XXXXX. If not, the message is Memory

Parity Error ????.

An expansion card failed.
If the address can be determined, it is displayed as
XXXXX.
If not, the message is I/O Card Parity Error ????.

7.8 microseconds.

Blue Chip Technology Ltd. 01271006 Page 46

APX-4D User Manual Error Messages

PCI CONFIGURATION ERROR MESSAGES

The following PCI messages are displayed as a group with bus, device and function
information.

<'NVRAM Checksum Error, NVRAM Cleared'>, \ ; String
<'System Board Device Resource Conflict'>, \ ; String
<'Primary Output Device Not Found'>, \ ; String
<'Primary Input Device Not Found'>, \ ; String
<'Primary Boot Device Not Found'>, \ ; String
<'NVRAM Cleared By Jumper'>, \ ; String
<'NVRAM Data Invalid, NVRAM Cleared'>, \ ; String
<'Static Device Resource Conflict'>, \ ; String

The following messages chain together to give a message such as:

"PCI I/O Port Conflict: Bus: 00, Device 0D, Function: 01".

If and when more than 15 PCI conflict errors are detected, the log full message is
displayed.

<'PCI I/O Port Conflict:'>, \ ; String
<'PCI Memory Conflict: '>, \ ; String
<'PCI IRQ Conflict: '>, \ ; String
<' Bus '>, \ ; String
<', Device '>, \ ; String
<', Function '>, \ ; String
<'PCI Error Log is Full.'>, \ ; String
<'Floppy Disk Controller Resource Conflict '>, \ ; Text
<'Primary IDE Controller Resource Conflict '>, \ ; Text
<'Secondary IDE Controller Resource Conflict '>, \ ; Text
<'Parallel Port Resource Conflict '>, \ ; Text
<'Serial Port 1 Resource Conflict '>, \ ; Text
<'Serial Port 2 Resource Conflict '>, \ ; Text

Blue Chip Technology Ltd. 01271006 Page 47

APX-4D User Manual Board Layout

BOARD LAYOUT

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