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Information in this document is subject to change without notice.
1991–199 6 Del l Computer Corporation. All rights reserved.
Reproduc ti on in any manner what s oever without the wr itten permission of Dell Comput er Corporation is strictly forbidden.
Trademarks used in this text: Dell, the DELL logo, and OptiPlex are registered t rademarks and DellWa r e is a registered service mark of D ell
Computer Corporation; Intel and Pentium are registered trademar ks and Intel486, Intel386, IntelDX2, and IntelDX4 are trademarks of Intel
Corporation; Windo ws for W orkgroups is a trademark a nd Micr osof t, MS-DOS, Windows, and W indows N T are regi stered t rademarks of Micr osoft
Corporation; IBM and OS/2 are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation; UNIX is a registered trade mark of U NIX
System Laboratories, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Novell, Inc.; Novell and NetWare are registered trademarks of Novell, Inc.; VESA is a
registered trademar k and VL- Bu s is a trademark of Video Electronics Standards Association; 3Com is a registered trad emark of 3Com Corpor ation.
Other trademarks and trade na mes may be used in this document to refer to either the entitie s claiming the marks and names or their products.
Dell Computer Corporation disclaims any proprietary interest in trademarks and trade names other than its own.
Septembe r 1996 P/N 99153 Rev. A02
Safety Instructions
se the foll owing safety guidelines to help pr otect
U
your computer’ s system from potentia l damage and to
ensure your own personal safety.
W
hen Using Your Computer System
As you use your computer syste m, observe the foll owing
safety gu idelin es:
To help avoid damaging your c omputer, be sure the
•
voltage s elec tion s wit ch on t he power s uppl y is set to
match t h e alternating current (AC) power available
at your location:
— 115 volts (V)/6 0 hertz (Hz) in mo st of North and
South America and some Far Eas tern countries
such as Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan
— 230 V/50 Hz in most of Europe, the Middle
East, and the Far East
Also be sure your monitor and attached peripherals
are electrically rated to operate with the AC power
available in your location.
To help avoid possi ble damage to the system board,
•
wait five seconds aft er turning off the system befo re
removing a component from the system board or disconnecting a peripheral device from the computer.
To help prevent electric shock, plug the computer
•
and peripheral power cables into properly grounded
power sources. These cables are equipped with 3prong plugs to en su re proper grounding. Do not use
adapter plu gs or remove the grounding prong from a
cable. If you must use an extension cable, use a 3wire cable with properly grounded plugs.
To help protect your comput er s ys tem from sudden,
•
tran sient in creases and decreases in ele ctrical power,
use a surge suppressor, line conditioner, or uninterruptible power supply.
Be sure nothing rests on your c omputer system’s
•
cables an d that the cables are not lo cated where they
can be stepped on or tripped over.
Do not spill food or liquids on your computer. If the
•
computer gets wet, consult your
Troublesh ooting Guide.
Do not push any objects into the openings of your
•
computer. Doing so can cause fire or electric shock
by shorting out interior components.
Keep your computer away from radiators and heat
•
sources. Also, do not block cooling vents. Avoid
placing loose papers underneath your computer; do
not place your computer in a cl osed-in wall unit or
on a bed, sofa, or rug.
Diagnostics and
Ergonomic Computing Habits
WARNING: Improper or prolonged keyboard use
may result in injury.
For comfort and efficiency, observe the following ergonomic guidelines when s etting up and using your
computer syste m:
Position your system so that the monitor and key-
•
board are directly in front of you as you work.
Special shelves are available (from Dell and oth er
sources) to help you cor r ectly position your
keyboard.
Set the monitor at a comfortable viewing distanc e
•
(usually 510 to 610 millimeters [20 to 24 inches]
from your eyes).
Make s u re th e mo nitor sc re en is at eye leve l or
•
slightly lower when you are sitting in front of the
monitor.
v
Adjust the til t of the monitor, its contrast and bright-
•
ness settings, and the lighting around you (such as
overhead light s, desk lamps, and the curta ins or
blinds on nearb y windows ) to mi nimize reflections
and glare on the monitor screen.
Use a chair that provides good lower back support.
•
Keep your forearms horizon tal with your wrists in a
•
neutral, co mfortable position while using the keyboard or mouse.
Always leave space to res t your hands while using
•
the keyboard or mouse.
wrists relaxed and flat
Let your upper arms hang naturally at your sides.
•
Sit erect, with your feet resting on the floo r and your
•
thighs level.
When sitting, make sure the weight of your legs is on
•
your feet and not on the front of your chair s eat.
Adjust your chair’ s height or use a footrest, if necessary, to maintain proper posture.
Vary your work acti vities. Try to organize your
•
work so that you do not have to type for ex tended
periods of time. When you stop typing, try to do
things that use both hands.
monit or screen at or belo w eye level
monit or and keyb oard
posit ioned directly
in front of user
arms at desk level
vi
feet flat on the floor
W
hen Working Inside Your Computer
Before you remove the compute r cover, perform the following steps in the sequence indicated:
CAUTIONS: Do not attempt to service the
computer system yourself, except as explained in
this guide and elsewhere in Dell documentation.
Always follow installation and servicing
instru c t io n s cl o s el y.
To help avoid p ossible damage to the system board,
wait five seconds after turning off the system
before removing a component from the system
board or disconnecting a peripheral device from
the comp u ter.
1. Turn off your computer and any peripheral s.
2. Disconnect your computer and peripherals from
their power sources. Also disconnect any telephone or telecommunication lines from the computer.
Doing so reduces the po tential for personal injury or
shock.
3. Touch an unpainted m e tal s urface on the cha ssis,
such as the metal around the card-slot openings at
the back of the computer, before touching anything inside your computer.
While you work, periodically touch an unpainted
metal s u rfa c e on th e co mp u ter chassis to dis si p ate
any static ele ctricity tha t mi ght harm internal
components.
In addition, ta ke note of these safety guidelines when
appropriate:
When you disconnect a cable, pull on its connector
•
or on its strain-relief loop, not on the cable itself.
Some cables have a connector with locking tabs; if
you are disconnecting this type of cable, press in on
the locking tabs before disconnecting the cable. As
you pull connectors apart, keep them evenly aligned
to avoid bending an y connector pins. Also, before
you connect a cable, make sure both connectors are
correctly oriented and aligned.
Handle components and cards with care. Don’t
•
touch the components or contacts on a card. Hold a
card by its edges or by its metal mounting bracke t.
Hold a comp o n ent such as a microprocessor chip by
its edges, not by its pins.
Protecting Against Electrostatic Discharge
Static electricity can harm delicate components inside
your computer. T o prevent static damage , discharge
static electricity from your body before you touch any of
your computer’ s electronic components , such as the
microprocessor. You can do so by touc hing an unpain ted
metal surface on the computer chassis.
As you continue to work inside the computer, periodically touch an unpainted metal surface to remove any
static charge your body may have accumulated.
In addition to the preceding precautions, you can also
take the followin g steps to prevent damage from electrostatic discharge (ESD):
When unpacking a stati c-sensitive component from
•
its shipping carton, do not remove the component’s
antistatic packing material until you are ready to
install the component in your computer. Just before
unwrapping the antistatic packaging, be sure to discharge static el ec tricity from your body.
When transportin g a sens itive compone nt, firs t place
•
it in an an ti s t at ic contai n er or packag in g .
Handle all sensi tive c omponen ts in a sta tic-s afe ar ea.
•
If possible, use antistatic floor pads and workbench
pads.
The following caution may appear throughout this document to remind you of these precautions:
CAUTION: See “Protecting Against Electrostatic
Discharge” in the safety instructions at the front of
this guide.
vii
viii
Preface
A
bout This Guide
This guide is int ended for anyone who uses a Dell OptiPlex GX
first-time and expe rienced computer users who want to
learn about the f ea tures and operation of the systems or
who want to upgrade their computers. The chapters and
append i xe s ar e s u mmarized as f o ll ows:
Everyone should rea d Chapter 1, “Introduct ion,” for
•
an overview of the system features, a description of
the controls and indicators on the front panel, and a
general discussion of connecting external devices to
the back panel o f the compu t er.
Everyone should read the first few sections of Chap-
•
ter 2, “Using the Software Support Uti lities,” to find
out whic h Dell utilities and bus-mast er ing integrated
drive electr onics (IDE) drivers have been included
with the system. Only users who want to use one of
the utili ti es or bu s-ma ste ring drive rs need to read th e
rest of Chapter 2.
Everyone should rea d the first several sect ions of
•
Chapter 3 , “Using th e System Setup Program,” to
familiarize themselves with this important program.
Only users who want to make configurat ion changes
to their s ystem or who want to use the pass word features need to read the rest of Chapter 3.
Users who add or re move an Industry-S tandard Archite c-
•
ture (ISA) expansion card s hould read Chapter 4, “Using
the ISA Configuration Utili ty.”
Users who want to con nec t th eir syst em to a net work
•
should read Chapte r 5, “Using t he Networ k Inte rfa ce
Controller.” This chapter provides information on
connecting the system to a network, con f iguring the
network interface control ler (NIC), i nstalli ng driv ers
for the NIC, and running the NIC diagnostics.
computer system. It can be used by both
pro
Users who need information on the integrated sound
•
featu re s of th e co mputer s y ste m sh o ul d re ad Chap ter 6, “Using the Integr ated Audio Controller.”
Chapter 6 provide s information on connec ting audio
equipment to y our computer , in stalli ng audio dr ivers,
and reco n f ig uring the in tegrated audio controller.
Chapter 7, “Working Inside Your Computer,” Chap-
•
ter 8, “Installing System Board Options,” and
Chapter 9, “Insta ll ing Drive s,” are i nte nded for user s
who want to install or remove options inside the
computer, such as dual in-line memory modules
(DIMMs), expansion cards, or dri ves.
Appendix A, “Technical S pecifications,” and
•
Appendix B, “Hardware Configuration Features,”
are intended prima rily as refe rence ma teria l for users
interested in learning more about the details of the
system. User s who add internal options may need t o
refer to Appendix B to change jumper or switch
settings.
Appendix C, “ISA Configurat ion Utilit y Messag es,”
•
describes error messages generated by the ISA Configuration Utili ty (ICU), possible causes, and
correc tive actio n s.
Appendix D, “Maintaining the System,” describes
•
preventive maint enance procedures that you s hould
perform regularl y to kee p your computer system in
top operating condition.
Appendix E, “Regulatory Notices,” is for users who
•
are interested in which regulatory agencies have
tested and approved the Dell OptiPlex GX
systems.
Appendix F, “Warranties and Return Policy,”
•
describes the warranty for your Dell system and the
“Total Satisfaction” Return Policy.
pro
ix
The Glossary provides definitions of terms, acro-
•
nyms, and abbreviations used in this gui de.
W
arranty and Return Policy
Information
Dell Computer Corporation (“Dell”) manufactures its
hardware products from parts and components that are
new or equivalent to new in accordance with industrystandard pract ices. For information about the Dell
warranty for your system, se e Appe ndix F, “W arranties
and Return Poli cy. ”
O
ther Documents You May Need
Besides this
included with your system:
The
•
instructions for setting up your compute r system.
The
•
detailed answers to questions that ar e often asked b y
Dell com pu t er users. Be sur e to r ead th e se cards
before calling Dell for techni ca l ass is tance.
The
•
includes trouble shooting proc edures and inst ructions
for using the diskette-based diagnostics
computer system.
The
•
instructions for using the application programs that
take advantage of the computer’s integrated sound
feature. These programs ar e installed on your harddisk drive.
Video card documentation from the card manufac-
•
turer describes the video drivers included with the
system. Only users who want to use or change a
video driver need to read this documentat ion in
detail.
You may also have one or more of the following
documents.
NOTE: Documentation upda tes are someti mes included
with your syst em to describe changes to your system or
software. Always read these up dates
User’ s Guide
Getting Started
Fre quently Asked Questions
Diagnostics and Troubleshooting Guide
Dell Integrated A udio User’s Guide
, the following doc umentat ion is
sheet pr ovi d es st ep - b y-step
card s pr o vide
to test your
prov i des
before
consulting any
other documentation because the updates often contain the latest information.
Operating system documentation is included if you
•
ordered your operating system software from Dell.
This documentation describes how to instal l (if necessary), configure, and us e your operating system
software.
Documentation is included with any options you
•
purchase separately from your system. This documentation includes information that you nee d to
configure and install these options in your Dell computer. Installatio n instructions for the options are
included in this
Technical information files—so metimes called
•
“readme” files—may be ins talled on your hard-disk
drive to provide last-minute updates about technical
changes to your system or advanced technical reference material intended for experienced users or
technicians.
N
otational Conventions
The following subsections list notational conventions
used in this document.
Use r’s Gui de
.
Warnings, Cautions, and Notes
Throughout this guide, there may be blocks of text
printed in bold type within boxes or in italic type. These
blocks are warnings, cautions, and notes, and they are
used as follows:
WARNING: A WARNING indicates the potential
for bodily harm and tells you how to avoid the
problem.
CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates either potential damage to hardware or los s of data and tells
you how to avoid the problem.
NOTE: A NOTE indicates important info rmation that
helps you make better use of your computer system.
x
Typographical Conventions
The following list defines (where appropriate) and illustrates typo graphical conventions used as visual cues for
specific elements of text throughout this document:
•
Keycaps
keyboard, a re pre sent ed i n up percase a nd enc losed in
angle brackets .
Example : <
•
Key combinations
simultaneo usl y (unless otherwise in dicated) to perform a single function.
Example : <
All
•
VETICA
Example :
•
Commands
ence purposes only and are not intended to be typed
at that parti cular point in the discussion.
Example: “Use the
In contrast, comma nds presented in the Courier
font are intend ed to be typed a s part of an instruct ion.
Example: “Type format a: to format the diskette in
drive A.”
•
Filenames
lowercase bold.
Examples:
, the labeli ng that appears on the keys on a
>
ENTER
are series of keys to be pressed
CTRL><ALT><ENTER
items on a menu screen
font and in uppercase bold.
SETUP PASSWORD
presented in l owercase bold are for re fer-
format
and
directory names
autoexec.bat
>
are prese nted in the
category
command t o . . . .”
are prese nt ed in
c:\windows
and
HEL-
•
Syntax lines
possible paramet ers. Commands are displayed in
lowercase bold; variable parameter s (those for which
you substitute a value) are displayed in lowercase
italics; constant parameters are displayed in lowercase bold. The brac k ets indicate items that are
optional.
Example:
•
Command lines
include one or more of the command’s possible
parameters. Command li nes are presented in the
Courier font.
Example:
•
Screen text
monitor or display. It can be a system message, for
example, or it can be text that you are instructed to
type as part of a command (referred to as a
line)
Example: “Type md c:\dos, and then press
<
ENTER
Example: The following messa ge appears on your
screen:
No boot devic e available
•
Variables
value. They ar e pr esented in it al i cs.
Example: DIMM n (where n represen ts the DIMM
socket designation)
consist of a command and all its
del
del c:\myfile.doc
is text that appears on the screen of your
. Screen text is presented in the Courier font.
>.”
are placeholder s f or which y ou subs titut e a
:
[
] [
drive
path]filename
consist of a comman d and may
[/p]
command
xi
xii
Contents
Chapter 1
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1
System Features. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1
Important Note to Windows 95 User s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3
Using the Floor Stand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3
Front Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4
Back Panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5
Connecting External Devices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5
Security Cable Slot. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5
Getting Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
Chapter 2
Using the Software Support Utilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1
Software Support Utilities on Diskette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1
Dell-Installed Software Support Uti lities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1
Backing Up the Software Support Utilities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2
System Utilities and Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2
Asset Tag Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2
Installing the Asset Tag Utility. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2
Using the Asset Tag Utility. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2
Auto Power On Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3
Installing the Auto Power On Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3
Dell AutoShutdown Service. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3
How AutoShutdown Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3
If Your Operating System Locks Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-4
Dell Thermal Shutdown Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-4
How Thermal Shutdown Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-4
Installing the Dell AutoShutdown and Thermal Shutdown Services. . . . . . . . . . 2-4
Removing a Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-4
xiii
Dell Energy Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5
Installing the Dell Energy Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5
Bus-Mastering IDE Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5
Windows NT 3.5x. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5
OS/2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-6
Chapter 3
Using the System Setup Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1
Entering the System Setup Program. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1
System Setup Screens. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
Using the System Setup Program. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
System Setup Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
Date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
Diskette Drive A and Diskette Drive B. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
Drive A Location. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
Drives: Primary and Secondary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
EIDE Devices Other Than Hard-Disk Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5
EIDE Hard-Disk Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5
If You Have a Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5
Base Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5
Extended Memory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6
Reserved Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6
Fast Video BIOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6
CPU Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6
Num Lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6
Keyboard Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6
System Password. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7
Password Status. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7
Boot Sequence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7
Setup Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7
Auto Power On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-8
Power Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-8
Saving Monitor Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-8
Saving EIDE Hard-Disk Drive Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-8
Sound. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-9
NIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-9
Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-9
Serial Port 1 and Serial Port 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-9
xiv
Parallel Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-9
Parallel Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-9
IDE Hard Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10
Diskette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10
Speaker. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10
System Data Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10
Using the System Password Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10
Assigning a System Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-11
Using Your System Password to Secure Your System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-12
Deleting or Changing an Existing System Password. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-12
Using the Setup Password Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-13
Assigning a Setup Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-13
Operating With a Setup Password Enabled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-13
Deleting or Changing an Existing Setup Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-13
Disabling a Forgotten Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-14
Responding to Error Mess ages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-14
Chapter 4
Using the ISA Configuration Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
Quick Start. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
About the ICU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2
ISA Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2
When to Run the ICU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2
Preparing to Use the ICU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
Backing Up the ISA Configuration Utility Diskette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
Starting the ICU. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
Accessing Help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4
Making Selections in the ICU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4
Adding a Listed Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4
Adding an Unlisted Card. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-6
Modifying a Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-7
Removing a Card. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-8
Viewing Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-9
Saving the System Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-9
Exiting From the ICU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-10
Advanced Features of the ICU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-10
Locking and Unlocking Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-10
Locking and Unlocking All Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-10
Locking and Unlocking Configuration Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-11
xv
Modifying the Configuration Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-11
Using Image Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-11
Loading an Image File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-12
Saving an Image to a File. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-12
Chapter 5
Using the Network Interface Controller. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1
Connecting to a Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1
Configuring the NIC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-2
Using Install to Change Configuration Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3
Installing Network Drivers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3
NetWare Drivers and Client Software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3
Novell
Determining an Adapter’s Port Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3
Client Workstation With Built-In 3Com PCI Network Adapter Only. . . . . 5-3
Client Workstation With Multiple 3Com PCI Network Adapters. . . . . . . . 5-4
Server With Built-In 3Com PCI Network Adapter Only. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-4
Server With Multiple 3Com PCI Network Adapters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-5
Windows NT 3.51 Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6
Installing Drivers During Operating System Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6
Installi ng Dr ivers Subsequent to Operating System Installation. . . . . . . . . 5-6
Installing Other Drivers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-7
Running the NIC Diagnostics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-7
Running the Group 1 Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-7
Running the Group 3 Test. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-8
Setting Up an Echo Server. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-8
Running the Diagnostic Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-8
Changing the Test Parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-8
What to Do If a Test Fails. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-9
Chapter 6
Using the Integrated Audio Controller. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-1
Using System Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-1
Reverting to an Earlier BIOS Version. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-1
Connecting Audi o Devices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-2
Speakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-2
Microphones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-2
Record/Playback Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-2
CD-ROM Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-2
xvi
Adjusting Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-3
Adjusting Volume in Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 95 . . . . . . . . . 6-3
Adjusting Volume in Microsoft Windows NT 3.51. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-3
Adjusting Volume in Microsoft Windows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-3
Adjusting Volume in MS-DOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-3
Using the Dell-Installed Audio Application Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-4
Configuring the Integrated Audio Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-4
Installing Audio Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5
MS-DOS, Windows 3.1x, and Windows for Workgroups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-6
Windows NT 3.51 and 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-6
Chapter 7
Working Inside Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-1
Before You Begin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-1
Safety First—For You and Your Computer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-1
Removing the Computer Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-2
Replacing the Computer Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-2
Unpacking Your Hardware Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-3
Inside Your Computer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-3
Removing and Replacing the Expansion-Card Cage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-5
Removing the Expansion-Card Cage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-5
Replacing the Expansion-Card Cage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-5
Rotating the Power Supply Away From the System Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-6
Chapter 8
Installing System Board Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-1
Expansion Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-2
Expansion Slots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-2
Installing an Expansion Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-3
Removing an Expansion Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-4
Adding Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-4
DIMM Installation Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-4
Performing a Memory Upgrade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-5
Installing a DIMM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-6
Removing a DIMM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-6
Microprocessor Upgrades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-6
Upgrading the System Board Microprocessor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-7
xvii
Adding a Secondary Micr oprocessor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-11
Installing the Microprocessor Add-In Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-11
Upgrading the Secondary Microprocessor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-12
Replacing the System Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-13
Chapter 9
Installing Drives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-1
Determining the Boot Diskette Drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-1
Configuring Your Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-2
Jumpers and Switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-2
Removing and Replacing Front-Panel Inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-2
Connecting Driv es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3
Installing Drives in the Drive Cage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3
Installing a Drive That Uses a Built-In Drive Interface in a
5.25-Inch Drive Bay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3
Installing a Diskette Drive on the 3.5-Inch Bracket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-6
Installing an Internal Tape Drive or CD-ROM Drive
That Uses a Controller Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-7
Installing an External Tape Drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-8
Installing an EIDE Hard-Disk Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-9
EIDE Drive Addressing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-9
Installing an EIDE Hard-Di sk Drive in the Hard-Disk Drive Bracket . . . 9-10
Partitio ning and Logically Formatting Your EIDE Hard-Disk Drive. . . . . . . . 9-12
Installing SCSI Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-12
SCSI Configuration Guidelines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-12
SCSI ID Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-12
SCSI Cable and SCSI Terminators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-13
General Procedure for Installing SCSI Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-14
Partitioning and Formatting SCSI Hard-Disk Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-15
Appendix A
Technical Specifications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-1
xviii
Appendix B
Hardware Configuration Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-1
Jumpers and Switches—A General Explanation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B-1
Jumpers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B-1
Switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B-1
System Board Labels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B-3
I/O Ports and Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B-5
Serial and Parallel Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B-5
Adding an Expansion Ca rd Containing Serial or Parallel Ports. . . . . . . . . .B-5
Serial Port Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B-6
Parallel Port Connector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B-6
Keyboard and Mouse Connect ors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B-7
Keyboard Connector. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B-7
Mouse Connector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B-8
Video Connector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B-8
Interrupt Assignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B-8
Memory Allocations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B-9
Appendix C
Beep Codes and System Messages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-1
New Diagnostics Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C-1
Beep Code Update. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C-1
Additional System Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C-1
ISA Configuration Utility Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C-3
ICU Error Messages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C-3
Configuration Manager Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C-9
Appendix D
Maintaining the System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-1
Data Preservation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .D-1
Scheduling Bac kups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .D-1
Backup Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .D-1
Recovering Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .D-1
Cleaning System Components. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .D-2
Recommended Tools and Accessories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .D-2
Cleaning the Computer, Monitor, and Keyboard Exteriors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .D-2
Cleaning Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .D-3
xix
Environmental Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-3
Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-3
Humidity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-3
Altitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-3
Dust and Particles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-4
Corrosion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-4
ESD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-4
Electromagnetic and Radio Frequency Interference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-4
Magnetism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-5
Shock and Vibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-5
Power Source Interruptions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-5
Power Protection Devices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-6
Surge Protectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-6
Line Conditi oners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-6
Uninterruptible Power Supply. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-6
Appendix E
Regulatory Notices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E-1
FCC Notices (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E-1
Class A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E-1
Class B. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E-1
IC Notice (Canada Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E-2
EN 55022 Complian ce (Czech Republic Only). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E-2
CE Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E-3
VCCI Notices (Japan Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E-3
Class 1 Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E-3
Class 2 Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E-3
Korean Regulatory Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E-4
Class A Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E-4
Class B Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E-4
Polish Center for Testing and Certification Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E-4
8ZNBHBOJB1PMTLJFHP$FOUSVN#BEBËJ$FSUZGJLBDKJ
1P[PTUBFJOTUSVLDKFCF[QJFD[FËTUXB
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E-4
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E-4
xx
Appendix F
Warranties and Return Policy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F-1
Limited Three-Year Warranty (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F-1
Coverage During Year One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F-1
Coverage During Years Two and Three . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F-2
General. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F-2
Limited Three-Year Warranty (Canada Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F-2
Coverage During Year One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F-3
Coverage During Years Two and Three . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F-3
General. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F-3
“Total Satisfaction” Return Policy (U.S. and Canada Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F-4
Glossary
Index
Figures
Figure 1-1. Attaching the Floor Stand. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4
Figure 1-2. Front Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5
Figure 1-3. Security Cable Slot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
Figure 3-1. System Setup Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3
Figure 4-1. ICU Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4
Figure 4-2. Add Network Card Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5
Figure 4-3. Card Configuration Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5
Figure 4-4. Configuration Settings Dialog Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5
Figure 4-5. Available Settings List Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-6
Figure 4-6. Configuration Settings Dialog Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-6
Figure 4-7. Specify Interrupt Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-7
Figure 4-8. Specify Interrupt List Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-7
Figure 4-9. Specify Memory Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-7
Figure 4-10. System Resource Usage Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-9
Figure 4-11. Card Resource Usage Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-9
Figure 5-1. I/O Ports and Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-2
Figure 6-1. Audio Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-2
Figure 6-2. ICU Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5
Figure 7-1. Padlock Installed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-2
Figure 7-2. Removing the Computer Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-2
Figure 7-3. Replacing the Computer Cover. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-3
xxi
Figure 7-4. Computer Orientation View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-3
Figure 7-5. Inside the Chassis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-4
Figure 7-6. Removing the Expansion-Card Cage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-5
Figure 7-7. Rotating the Power Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-6
Figure 8-1. System Board Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-1
Figure 8-2. Expansion Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-2
Figure 8-3. Riser-Board Expansion-Card Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-2
Figure 8-4. Removing the Filler Bracket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-3
Figure 8-5. Installing an Expansion Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-3
Figure 8-6. DIMMs and DIMM Sockets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-4
Figure 8-7. Installing a DIMM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-6
Figure 8-8. Removing a DIMM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-6
Figure 8-9. Microprocessor Securing Clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-8
Figure 8-10. Removing the Microprocessor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-8
Figure 8-11. Pin-1 Identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-9
Figure 8-12. Installing the Microprocessor Chip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-9
Figure 8-13. Installing the Heat Sink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-10
Figure 8-14. Removing the Terminator Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-11
Figure 8-15. Installi ng the Secondary Microprocessor Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-12
Figure 8-16. System Battery and Battery Socket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-14
Figure 9-1. Drive Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-1
Figure 9-2. Removing a Front-Panel Insert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-2
Figure 9-3. DC Power Cable Connect or. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3
Figure 9-4. Drive Interface Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3
Figure 9-5. Attaching Diskette Drive or Tape Drive Cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-5
Figure 9-6. Installing a Drive on the 3.5-Inch Bracket. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-6
Figure 9-7. External Tape-Drive Cable Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-8
Figure 9-8. Connecting the Y- Sh aped Power Cable Extension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-9
Figure 9-9. Removing the Hard-Disk Drive Bracket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-10
Figure 9-10. Attaching Hard-Disk Drive Cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-11
Figure 9-11. Internal SCSI Cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-13
Figure B-1. System Board Jumpers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-2
Figure B-2. I/O Ports and Connectors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-5
Figure B-3. Pin Numbers for the Serial Port Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-6
Figure B-4. Pin Numbers for the Parallel Port Connector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-7
Figure B-5. Pin Numbers for the Keyboard Conne ctor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-7
Figure B-6. Pin Numbers for the Mouse Connector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-8
xxii
Tables
Table 2-1. Asset Tag Command-Line Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3
Table 3-1. System-Setup Navigation Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
Table 3-2. Power Time-Out Periods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-9
Table 4-1. ICU Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4
Table 8-1. Sample DIMM Configuration Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-5
Table A-1. Technical Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A-1
Table B-1. System-Board Jumper Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B-3
Table B-2. System Board and Ri ser Board Connectors and Sockets . . . . . . . . . .B-4
Table B-3. Pin Assignments for the Serial Port Connectors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B-6
Table B-4. Pin Assignments for the Parallel Port Connector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B-7
Table B-5. Pin Assignments for the Keyboard Connector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B-8
Table B-6. Pin Assignments for the Mouse Connector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B-8
Table B-7. Interrupt Assignments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B-9
Table B-8. Conventional Memory Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B-10
Table B-9. Upper Memory Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B-10
Table C-1. System Error Messages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C-2
Table C-2. Configuration Utility Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C-4
Table C-3. Configuration Manager Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C-9
xxiii
xxiv
Chapter 1
Introduction
D
ell®OptiPlex® GX
upgradable personal computers designed around Intel
Pentium
Industry-Standard Architecture (ISA) design that allows
you to configure the computer system to your initial
requirements and then upgrade it as necessary. These
systems also support the high-performance Peripheral
Component Interconnect (PCI) bus.
This chapter describes the major hardware and software
features of your system , provides information about the
indicators and contro ls on t he compu ter’s front p anel, and
discusses co nnec ting external devices to the computer.
S
Your system offers the following features:
•
®
Pro microprocessors . Each syst em has an
ystem Features
An Intel Pentium Pro microprocessor. The following microprocessor options are available:
— An Intel Pentium Pro microprocessor with an
internal speed of 180 megahertz (MHz) and an
external speed of 60 M Hz
— An Intel Pentium Pro microprocessor with an
internal speed of 200 MHz and an external
speed of 66 MHz
The Pentium Pro microproces sor includes an i nternal
math coprocessor and other advanced inte rnal logic.
The microproces sor also incorporates both first- and
secon d-l ev el cache memory. First-lev el cache con sists of a n 8-kil obyt e ( KB) inte rna l data cac he and an
8-KB intern al instruction cache. The integr ated second-le v el cache, which elim inates the need for an
add-in ca ch e- memory ch ip or card, cons i st s of a
256-KB (for the 180-MHz microprocessor) or a
systems are high-speed,
pro
®
256- or 512-KB (for the 200-MHz microprocessor)
data /i n s tr u c tion cach e .
Cache m e mo r y enhances the spe ed of ma ny mi cr o processor operations by s toring the most recently
accessed contents of system memory.
Dual-processor capability. The system allows the
•
installation of a microproc essor add-in card (operating at the same frequency and cache size as the
installed microprocessor), which can be purchased
from Dell. Dua l processing improves performance
under operating systems that support multiprocessing, such as Microsoft
A 16-bit integrated audio controller that provides all
•
the sound functions of the Sound Blaster expa nsion
card. See Chapter 6, “Using th e Integrated Audio
Controller,” for details.
System memory that can be increased up to
•
512 megabytes ( M B). Memor y can be increas ed by
installing 16-, 32-, 64-, or 128-MB extended-data out
(EDO) and error correction code (ECC) dual in-line
memory modules (DIMMs) in the four DIMM sockets on
the system board. EDO DIMMs offer improved performance by using a shorter page-mode cycle time while
accessing data within a single page of memory. See
“Adding Memory” in Chapter 8 for details.
The system’s basic input/output syst em (BIOS ) ,
•
which resides in flash memory and can be upgraded
by diskette if required.
Plug and Play capabil ity, which greatly simplifies
•
the installation of expansion cards. Plug and Play
support included in the system BIOS allows you to
install Plug and P lay ex pansi on cards wit hout sett ing
jumpers or switches or performing other configuration tasks. The ISA Configuration Utility (ICU)
allows you to configure existing ISA expansion cards for
conflict-free operation. Also, because the system BIOS is
®
Windows NT®3.51 or 4.0.
Introduction 1-1
stored in flash memory, it can be updated to support future
enhancements to the Plug and Play standard.
NOTE: The Windows NT 4.0 ope rating system does
not provide full ISA Plug and Play supp ort.
There fore, some ISA Plug and Play cards (such as
modem, sound, and network cards) may not work
with your Windows NT operating system.
A modular computer ch assis with a minimum num-
•
ber of screws for easy disassembly and improved
serviceability.
A chassis designed for both horizontal (desktop) a nd
•
vertical (mini tower) use. Although optimized for
horizontal positioning, the system is shipped with a
floor stand that ca n be at tached to make the system
into a mini towe r (f or instru ct io n s on at ta ch ing the
floor stand, see “Using the Floor Sta nd” found later
in this chapter ) .
A high-speed, high-resolut ion PCI video card. (Doc-
•
umentation f r om the video card manufacturer is
included with your system.)
The system board includes the following bui lt-in
features:
Three 32-bit PCI expansion slots a nd two shared P CI
•
(32-bit)/ISA (16-bit) expansion slots on a riser board.
Built-i n support for two e x tern a l l y a cces sibl e d ev ices
•
(diskette drives a nd ta pe drives) connecte d to the c omputer’s buil t-in disket te/tape drive i nterface .
Enhanced integrated drive electronics (EIDE) sup-
•
port. The primary and secondary interface are both
located on the PCI bus to provide faster data
throughput. Each int erface supports extremely highcapacity EIDE drives, as well as devices such as
EIDE CD-ROM drives and EIDE tape drives .
Two high-performance serial ports and one bi-
•
directiona l parallel port for connecting external
devices.
A Personal Syst em/2 (PS/2)-style ke yboard port and
•
a PS/2-c o mp atible mo u s e p ort .
An integrated Ethernet network interface controller
•
(NIC). The NIC is configured using software
described in Chapter 5, “Using the Network Interface Controller.”
The following software is included with your Dell computer system:
Utilities that safeguard your system and enhance the
•
operation of its hardware features; for example, a
thermal shutdown utility will perform an orderly
shutdown if the system overheats. For more information on these uti lities, see Chapter 2, “Using the
Software Support Util ities.”
A standard set of video driver s for Microsoft Win-
•
dows NT 4.0 and Windows 95 installed on your
system, with the resolution set at 800 x 600 pixels.
for Windows NT 3.51, Windows
Windows for Workgroups
640 x 480 pixels. All vid eo gra phics array (VGA)
monitors and most appli cati on prog rams support thi s
resolution. To change the resolution, check the documentation that c ame with your monitor to
determine the resol uti ons a nd refre sh rates s upp orted
by the monitor. Then check the documentation tha t
came with your PCI video card for instructions on
changing the resolution.
The System Setup program for quickl y viewing and
•
changing the system configuration inform ation for
your system. For more information on thi s program,
see Chapter 3, “Using the System Setup Program.”
An Auto Power On utility that enables your system
•
to perform routine tasks automatically in your
absence. For more information on this utility, see
Chapter 2, “ U sin g the So f tw a r e S u pp ort Ut il ities. ”
Enhanced security features available through the
•
System Setup program (a setup password, a system
password, a system password lock option, a writeprotect option for diskette drives, and aut om atic display of the system’s service tag number). In
addition, a customer-definable ass et tag number can
be assigned via a soft ware support uti lity a nd viewe d
on the System Setu p screens. For more information,
see Chapter 2, “Using the Software Support Utilities,” and Chapter 3, “Using the System Setup
Program.”
Advanced power management options that can
•
reduce the energy cons um ption of your system. For
more information, see Chapter 3, “Using the System
Setup Program.”
®
™
3.x, and
the reso l u ti o n is set at
1-2 Dell OptiPlex GXpro Systems User’s Guide
The ICU, which tells you how to configure ISA
•
expansion cards manually. After resources have
been assigned to th ese cards, the system BIOS can
assign resources to PCI and Plug a nd Play exp ansi on
cards for a conflict-free configurat ion. For more
information, see Chapter 4, “Using the ISA Configuration Util ity.”
Dell dia g nos t i cs for ev al u at in g th e co mputer’s com-
•
ponents and devic es . For information on using the
diagnostics, see the chapter titled “Running the Diskette-B as ed Diagnostics” in the
Tr oubleshooting Guide
Network device drivers for several network operat-
•
ing systems. These drivers are supplied with
systems wit h t he NIC a nd are de scri bed in Chapt er 5,
“Using the Network Interface Controller.”
Desktop Management Interface (DMI) support,
•
which enables the management of your computer
system’s software and hardware. DMI defines the
software, interfaces, and data files that enable your
system to determine and report information about its
components.
If your system has Dell-installed Microsoft Windows
(except for Windows NT 4.0), DMI is already installed
on your system’s hard-disk drive. You c an en a b le
DMI support by double-clicking the DMI icon in the
Windows Control Panel (located in the Main program
group). For instructions on enabling DMI support or for
information about DMI, refer to the DMI online help.
You can access the online help by double-clicking the
DMI icon in the Control Panel. The DMI online help is
also provided in the Dell Accessories program group.
The Dell Inspector utility, which uses DMI supp ort
•
to display detailed information about the hardware
and software configuration for your system. The
Dell Inspector uti lity provides you with the information you may need if you cal l Dell for technical
assistance. It a lso provides you with the info rmation
you may need when you ins tall h ardware or soft ware
in your sys tem. The Dell Inspector utility is located
in the Dell Accessories program group.
If you ordered Dell-installed software with your system,
such as Microsoft Windows, Windows NT, Windows 95,
or other programs, Dell provides a menu that allows you to
make program diskette sets of your Dell-installed software. A
program diskette set
.
is an uninstalled version of a software
Diagnostics and
package that you can use to reinstall or reconfigure the software. You can use this same menu to remove
(individual files that correspond to each diskette in a pro-
files
gram diskette set) to reclaim space on the computer’s hard-disk
drive. For more information on making program diskette sets,
see the online help provided in the Dell DiskMaker program,
which is available in the Dell Accessories program group.
I
mportant Note to Windows 95
Users
For the Microsoft Windows 95 operating system to work
correctly on your computer system, you
sion of Windows 95 that Dell installed on your computer.
Should you need to reinstall Windows 95 on an OptiPlex
pro
GX
system
install the correct version. Del l recom mends performing
a periodic tape backup of the system’s entire hard-disk
drive, so that if nece ssary the operat ing s y stem, drivers,
and other software can be reinstal led as original ly configured, with a minimum of downtime.
If you are unable to reinstall from a tape backup of the
hard-disk drive, you can reinstall Windows 95 from the
system’s Windows 95 backup media (CD or diskettes)
that you received from Dell or created from the Dellinstalle d s o ftwa r e on your s ystem .
reinstall Windows 95 in this manner, the bus-mastering
functionality of the Windows 95 integrated drive electronics (IDE) driver, which was operat ive in your
original configuration, will be disabled
will opera te wi tho ut the bus- mast er ing f uncti ona lit y, with
only a small de grada tio n in pe rforma nce. For inform atio n
on the advantages of using bus-mastering dri vers , see
“Bus-Mastering IDE Drivers” in Chapter 2.)
NOTE to network syste m administrators: If you must
download Windows 95 from a server to client systems,
make sure that you have the Wi ndows 95 backup media
for the OptiPle x GX
downloading.
U
sing the Floor Stand
Included with your system is a floor stand that you can
easil y at tach to gi v e th e computer a mi ni to w er (v e r ti cal)
for any reason, you must be sure to re-
pro
system on your server before
must
However, if you
. (Your system
diskette image
use the v er-
Introduction 1-3
orientation. Although you can atta ch (a nd r em ove) the
floor stand at any time with a minimum of system disruption, it is easiest to attach before you set up your
computer and connect the back panel cables.
Attach the floor stand as follows:
1. Turn the computer onto its right side so that the
drive ba ys are at t he b o tto m .
2. Fit the floor stand onto what was the left side of
the comp u ter.
Position the floor stand as shown in Figure 1-1.
Align the large rou nd hole in the floor stan d with the
securing button on the side of the cover, and align
the captive thumbscrew in the stand with the screw
hole in the cover.
captiv e screw
securing
button
locator pin
Figure 1-1. Attaching the Flo or S ta nd
As you lower the stand into place, make sure the
locator pin (see Figure 1-1) heads into the corner
hole of the hole pattern as shown. When the stand is
in place, tighten the thumbscrew.
3. Rotate the computer so that the floor stand is at
the bottom and the drives are at the top.
To remove the floo r stand, turn the computer over so the
floor stand is at the top, lo osen t he screw a nd lift the floo r
stand away, and place the computer in a horizon tal
position.
F
ront Panel
Your computer’s front panel contains the foll owing indicators and controls (see Figure 1-2):
The
•
•
•
•
power bu tt on
nating current (AC) input power. The push-button switch
operates as follows:
— When the computer is turn ed off, pressing the
button turns the computer on.
— When the computer is turn ed on, pressing the
button turns the computer off. However, a lowvoltage (standb y) cu rrent is m ainta ined from t he
power supply to the switch. To completely
remove all power from the system, unpl ug the
AC power cable from its source.
For systems running Microsoft Windows 95 or
Windo ws NT with the Dell AutoShutdown service opera tional, pressing the power button
causes the system to perform an orde rly operating system shutdown before turning off. (For
more information, see “Dell AutoShutdown
Service” in Chapter 2.)
NOTE: A Display Power Manageme nt Signaling
(DPMS) monitor does not be gin warming up until
the computer to which it is attached is turned on.
Thus, some DPMS monit or s may not display a video
image until sever al seconds after you turn on your
computer.
The green
puter is receiving power.
The
hard-dis k dri ve acces s indi cator
hard-disk drive is in use. (Drive access in dicators for
diskette drives and tape drive s are located on the front of the
drives.)
The
reset butt on
your having to turn the power off and then on again.
Rebooting the system in this manner reduces stress on system components.
provides control of the system’s alter-
power indicator
reboots (restarts) y our system wit hout
lights up when the com-
lights up when a
1-4 Dell OptiPlex GXpro Systems User’s Guide
power bu tto n
Always attach external devices
turned off
any external devices, unl ess the docu mentation for the
device specifies otherwise. (If the computer does not seem
to recognize the device, try turning on the device before
turning on the computer.)
. Then turn the computer on
while your computer is
turning on
before
power indicator
reset button
hard-disk drive
access indicator
Figure 1-2. Front Panel
B
ack Panel
Your computer’s back panel con tains various ports and
connectors for attaching external de vices and includes a
securit y cab le slo t. Thes e fe at u r es ar e des cr ib e d in the
following subs ections.
Connecting External Devices
You can connect various external devices, such as a
mouse and printer, to the input/output (I/O) ports and
connectors on the computer’s back panel. The system
BIOS dete ct s t he pre s enc e of m os t ex ter nal devi ce s when
you boot or reboot your system. When connecting external devices to your computer, follow these guidelines:
Check the documentation that accompanied the
•
device for specific installation and configuration
instructions.
For example, most dev ices must be connected to a
parti cular I /O port or c o nn ecto r to ope r ate pro p er ly.
Also, extern al devic es like a mouse o r pri nter usual ly
require you to load soft ware files called
into system memory before they will work. These software
drivers help the computer recognize the exte rnal device and
direct its operation.
device drivers
CAUTION: When disconnecting external
devices from the back of the computer, wait
five seconds after turning off the computer
before you disconnect the device to avoid possible damage to the system board.
For information about en abling, di s abling, or confi guring
I/O ports and connectors, see Chapter 3, “Using the System Setup Program.” For detailed descriptions and
illustrati ons of each port and connec tor on the back panel,
see “I/O Ports and Connectors” in Appendix B.
Security Cable Slot
To the right of the fan vent on the back of t he computer is a security cable s lot (see Fi gure 1-3) for attachi ng a commer ciall y
available antithe ft de vice. Antitheft de vices for pe rsonal computers usually include a segment of galvanized cable with an
attached l o cki ng de v ice a nd ass oci ate d ke y. T o pr even t unauthorized removal of your computer, loop the cable around an
immovable objec t, ins ert t he l ocki ng d ev ice in t o t he se cur it y
cable slot on the back of your computer , and lock the device with
its associated key. Complete instructions for instal ling this kind
of antitheft devi ce are us ually i ncluded wit h the d evice.
NOTE: Antitheft devic es ar e of diff erin g design s. Befor e
purchasing such a device, make sure it will work with the
cable slot on your computer.
Introduction 1-5
security cable slot
fan vent
Figure 1-3. Security Cable Slot
G
etting Help
If at any ti me you don’t un derst and a procedur e descr ibed
in this guide, or if your system does not perform as
expected, Dell provi des a number of tools to help you.
For more informati on on these help tools, see the chapter
titled “Getting Help” in your
ing Guide.
Diagnostics and Tr oubleshoot-
1-6 Dell OptiPlex GXpro Systems User’s Guide
Chapter 2
Using the Software Support Utilities
Y
our Dell system comes with software support utilities
on diskette or on your c ompute r’ s hard- disk dri ve. These
software support utilities include system utilities, system
services, and bu s- masteri ng in t eg r at ed drive elec tr o n ic s
(IDE) drivers, all of which are documented in this
chapter.
NOTE: For information on the additional software support util ities you receive with your system, refer to the
following places:
Video drivers—see the documentation from the
•
video card manufacturer. (Video drivers support the
video graphics requirements of a variety of mon itors
and application programs running Micr osoft Windows NT 3.51 or 4.0, Microsoft Windows 95,
Microsoft Windows 3.x, or MS-DOS
systems.)
Audio drivers—see Chapt er 6, “Using t he Integra ted
•
Audio Controller,” of this guide.
Network interface drivers—see Chapter 5, “Using
•
the Network Interface Controller,” of this guide.
System utilities and serv ices
your system and to explicitly control certain hardwa re
features. Refer to “Sys tem Utilities and Services” found
later in th is chapter for information about these utilities.
Bus-mastering IDE drivers
Microsoft Windows 95, Windows NT 3.51, and OS/2
operating systems.
NOTE: Bus-Mastering IDE drivers are
for use with the Windows NT 4.0 operating system.
These drivers can off-load certain functions from the system microprocessor, providing a performance
improvement during multithreaded operations (instance s
where se ve r al ap pl i cat ion prog rams are run n i ng simultaneously). Refer to “Bus -Mastering IDE Drivers” found
later in th is chapter for information about these utilities.
can be used to safeguard
are provided for the
®
operating
not
yet available
®
NOTE: On each softwar e s upport diskette set yo u
receive, a readme.txt file may be included (on diskette 1
of the set) along wit h the software utilities or drivers. If
inclu de d, the readme.txt fi le contains the latest updates
to the information in this manual. Use the edit o r
included with your operating system to view and/or print
the contents of readme.txt files.
S
oftware Support Utilities on
Diskette
If software support diskettes are included with your Dell
system, the Dell system utilities and bus-mastering IDE
drivers are provi ded on these diskettes. To use one of
these utili ties or drivers, you must install the utility or
driver as described la ter in this ch apter.
D
ell-Installed Software Support
Utilities
If no software support diskettes were shipped to you, the
system utilities and bus-masterin g IDE drive r s are
already instal led on your hard-disk drive in t wo different
forms: as wor king u til it ie s, ope rativ e im medi at el y, and as
diskette images.
In case you later need to reinstall the files for any reason,
you need to copy the di sket te images to a bac kup disk ette
(see the next secti on, “Backing Up the Software Support
Utilities”). From the backup disket te, you can install the
desired file(s) to a directory on your hard-dis k drive. Further instr u ctions for installing the utilities and servic es
are provided later in this chapter.
Using the Software Support Uti li ties 2-1
B
acking Up the Software Support
Utilities
Dell recommends that you cr eat e origi nal diske tte copi es,
or
progr am diskette sets
You will need these diskettes if you ever want to reconfigure or reinstal l your Dell-installed software. To create
program diskett es, use the Dell DiskMaker program to
create program diskette sets (available through the Dell
Accessories prog ram group or folder).
S
ystem Utilities and Services
The following utilities and services are included on your
Dell Sy stem Ut il ities
The
•
•
•
•
Asset Tag
number into nonvolatile random-access memory
(NVRAM). Thereaft er, you can display this number
using the Asset Tag utility or the System Setup
program.
The
Auto Power On
file to carry out a series of commands when your system
is powered on by the Auto Power On feature or by the
power button.
The
Dell AutoShutdown
tion of the power button by providing for an orderly
operating system shutdown when the computer system is tu r n ed of f.
The
Dell Thermal Shutdown
anisms for protecting the microprocessor against
overheating.
Asset Tag Utility
The Asset Tag utility allows you to enter an asset tag
number for your computer. The default System Setup
screens (se e Figure 3-1) do not s how the asset tag number
unless you enter one using this util ity.
NOTE: The Asset Tag utility works onl y on s ys tems running MS-DOS and Windows 95.
, of your Dell-insta lled software.
diskette:
utility lets you ent er a sys tem a sset tag
utility enables you to create a batch
service enhances the opera-
service provides mech-
Installing the Asset Tag Utility
The Asset Tag Utility is already installed on your harddisk drive. I f y ou need to reinstall the Asset Tag Utility ,
perform the following steps:
1. If you have not already done so, use the Dell DiskMaker to make a diskette copy of the
Utilities
The Dell DiskMaker is available through the Dell
Accessories program group. For more info rmation,
refer to the online help provided in the Dell DiskMaker program.
2. With the backup diskette in drive A, copy the
asset.com
your choice on your hard-disk drive.
If the
already contain the directo r y in which you reinstalled the
Asset Tag utility, modify the
that directory. (See your MS-DOS reference documentation for informati on on modi fying the
diskette image on your hard-disk drive.
file from the diskette to the directory of
statement in your
path
autoexec.bat
statement to include
path
Dell System
file does not
autoexec.bat
file.)
Using the Asset Tag Utility
After you reinstall the Asset T ag utility, you can use it to
enter an asset tag number that you or your company
assign to your comput er; you can a lso use it t o reent er the
computer’s service tag number if that becomes necessary.
Use the
existing asset ta g and s ervice tag num bers, type ass et and
press <
the System Setup progra m described i n Cha pter 3.)
Assigning and Deleting an Asset Tag Number
An asset tag number can ha ve up to ten characters; any
combination of characters excluding spaces is valid. To
assign or change an a sset tag number, type asse t and a
space followed by the ne w number; then pres s <
example, type the following command line and press <
asset 1234567890
When prompted to verify the ass et tag number, type y and
press <
asset tag number a nd th e service tag num ber.
To delete the asset tag number without assigning a new
one, type asset /d and press <
command from the syst em prompt. To view
asset
>. (You can also view the a sset ta g number us ing
ENTER
ENTER
>. The system then displays the new or modified
ENTER
>.
ENTER
>. For
ENTER
>:
2-2 Dell OptiPlex GXpro Systems User’s Guide