DFI PT800-AL User Manual

Addendum

The PT880-ALF system board supports two IEEE 1394 ports. It is equipped
with an IEEE 1394 port at the rear I/O panel and a 10-pin connector at
location J8 for connecting an additional IEEE 1394 por t. All other information in
this manual pertains to the PT880-ALF too. Please refer to this manual for
reference.

1/1 936-PT8806-300

79101418

PT880-AL
PT800-AL

Rev. A+
System Board
User’s Manual

79100349

Copyright

This publication contains information that is protected by copyright.
No par t of it may be reproduced in any form or by any means or
used to make any transformation/adaptation without the prior
written permission from the copyr ight holder s.

This publication is provided for informational purposes only. The
manufacturer makes no representations or warranties with respect to
the contents or use of this manual and specifically disclaims any
express or implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for any
par ticular purpose . The user will assume the entire r isk of the use or
the results of the use of this document. Fur ther, the manufacturer
reser ves the right to revise this publication and make changes to its
contents at any time, without obligation to notify any person or
entity of such revisions or changes.

© 2004. All Rights Reser ved.

Trademarks

Windows® 98, Windows® 98 SE, Windows® ME, Windows® 2000,
Windows NT® 4.0 and Windows® XP are registered trademar ks of
Microsoft Corporation. Intel®, Pentium® 4 and Celeron are regis­tered trademarks of Intel Corporation. VIA is a registered trade­mark of VIA Technologies, Inc. Award is a registered trademark of
Award Software, Inc. Other trademarks and registered trademarks
of products appearing in this manual are the properties of their
respective holders.

Caution

To avoid damage to the system:

• Use the correct AC input voltage range
To reduce the r isk of electric shock:

• Unplug the power cord before removing the system chassis
cover for installation or servicing. After installation or ser vicing,
cover the system chassis before plugging the power cord.

..

.

..

Battery:

• Danger of explosion if batter y incor rectly replaced.

• Replace only with the same or equivalent type recommend
the manufacturer.

• Dispose of used batteries according to the battery
manufacturer’s

instructions.

FCC and DOC Statement on Class B

This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the
limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Par t 15 of the FCC
rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection
against harmful interference when the equipment is operated in a
residential installation. This equipment generates, uses and can ra­diate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in ac­cordance with the instruction manual, may cause harmful interfer­ence to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee
that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this
equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television
reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off
and on, the user is encouraged to tr y to correct the interference
by one or more of the following measures:

• Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.

• Increase the separation between the equipment and the receiver.

• Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from
that to which the receiver is connected.

• Consult the dealer or an experienced radio TV technician for
help.

by

Notice:

1. The changes or modifications not expressly approved by the
par ty responsible for compliance could void the user's authority
to operate the equipment.

2. Shielded interface cables must be used in order to comply with
the emission limits.

Notice

This user’s manual contains detailed information about the system
board. If, in some cases, some information doesn’t match those
shown in the multilingual manual, the multilingual manual should
always be regarded as the most updated version. The multilingual
manual is included in the system board package.

To view the user’s manual, inser t the CD into a CD-ROM drive . The
autorun screen (Main Board Utility CD) will appear. Click “User’s
Manual”.

System Board

This user’s manual is for the PT880-AL and PT800-AL system
boards. The only difference between these boards is the PT880­AL system board supports dual channel memory interface.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - Introduction

1. 1 Features and Specifications.................................................................................

1.2 Hyper-Threading Technology Functionality Requirements...

1.3 Package Checklist...........................................................................................................

Chapter 2 - Hardware Installation

2.1 System Board Layout ...........................................................................................

2. 2 System Memory...........................................................................................................

2.3 CPU........................................................................................................................................

2. 4 Jumper Settings.............................................................................................................

2. 5 Rear Panel I/O Ports..............................................................................................

2. 6 I/O Connector s...........................................................................................................

Chapter 3 - BIOS Setup

3.1 Award BIOS Setup Utility....................................................................................

3.2 VIA RAID BIOS Setting Utility........................................................................

3. 3 Updating the BIOS.....................................................................................................

Chapter 4 - Supported Softwares

4.1 Desktop Management Interface.....................................................................

4.2 Driver s, Utilities and Software Applications.........................................

4.3 3D Audio Configuration........................................................................................

4. 4 Installation Notes..........................................................................................................

7
14
14

15
16
19
24
26
37

46
87
88

90

93
103
104

1

Introduction

Appendix A - Enabling the Hyper-Threading

Technology

A.1 Enabling the Hyper-Threading Technology...........................................

Appendix B - Using the Suspend to RAM

Function

B.1 Using the Suspend to RAM Function...................................................

Appendix C - System Error Messages

C . 1 POST Beep....................................................................................................................

C . 2 Error Messages...........................................................................................................

Appendix D - Troubleshooting

D.1 Troubleshooting Checklist.................................................................................

105

108

112
112

114

6

Chapter 1 - Introduction

1.1 Features and Specifications

1.1.1 Features

Chipset

• PT880-AL

- Nor th bridge: VIA
Advanced high performance 128-bit DDR DRAM control­ler

- South bridge: VIA® VT8237

• PT800-AL

- Nor th bridge: VIA® PT800

- South bridge: VIA® VT8237

®

PT880

Introduction

1

Processor

The system board is equipped with Socket 478 for installing one
of the following suppor ted processor s.

®

• Intel

Pentium® 4 (Prescott and Northwood) processor up to

3.06GHz

- Intel Hyper-Threading Technology

- FSB: 533MHz and 800MHz

• Intel® Celeron® processor

- 400MHz system data bus

System Memory

• Supports dual channel (128-bit wide) memory interface
(PT880-AL only)

• Three 184-pin DDR DIMM sockets

• Supports up to 3GB using PC1600 (DDR200), PC2100
(DDR266), PC2700 (DDR333) and PC3200 (DDR400)
unbuffered DDR SDRAM DIMM, 2.6V type

DIMMs

2MBx64
4MBx64
8MBx64

Memory Size

16MB
32MB
64MB

DIMMs

16MBx64
32MBx64
64MBx64

Memory Size

128MB
256MB
512MB

7

1

Introduction

Expansion Slots

• 1 AGP slot

• 5 PCI slots

AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port)

AGP is an interface designed to support high performance 3D
graphics cards. It utilizes a dedicated pipeline to access system
memor y for texturing, z-buffering and alpha blending. The universal
AGP slot supports AGP 8x with up to 2133MB/sec. bandwidth and
AGP 4x with up to 1066MB/sec. bandwidth for 3D graphics
applications. AGP in this system board will deliver faster and better
graphics to your PC .

Onboard Audio Features

• AC’97 2.2 extension compliant codec

• Supports Microsoft® DirectSound/DirectSound 3D

• AC’97 supported with full duplex, independent sample rate
conver ter for audio recording and playback

• S/PDIF-in/out compressed digital output

• 6-channel audio output via software

S/PDIF

S/PDIF is a standard audio file transfer format that transfers digital
audio signals to a device without having to be converted first to
an analog format. This prevents the quality of the audio signal
from degrading whenever it is converted to analog. S/PDIF is usu­ally found on digital audio equipment such as a DAT machine or
audio processing device. The S/PDIF connector on the system
board sends surround sound and 3D audio signal outputs to am­plifiers and speakers and to digital recording devices like CD re­corders.

6-channel Audio

The audio jacks at the rear panel will suppor t 6-channel audio only
when the audio utility is configured to support this function. The mic­in at the rear will be disabled. Use the front audio’s mic-in jack.

8

Introduction

Onboard LAN Features

• Phy fast ethernet controller

• Integrated IEEE 802.3, 10BASE-T and 100BASE-TX compatible
PHY

• 32-bit PCI master interface

• Integrated power management functions

• Full duplex suppor t at both 10 and 100 Mbps

• Suppor ts IEEE 802.3u auto-negotiation

• Suppor ts wire for management

Serial ATA (SATA) IDE Interface with RAID

Serial ATA is a storage interface that is compliant with SATA 1.0
specification. With speed of up to 1.5Gbps, it improves hard drive
performance even in data intensive environments such as audio/
video, consumer electronics and entry-level servers.

• Two SATA (Serial ATA) interfaces which are compliant with
SATA 1.0 specification (1.5Gbps interface)

• Suppor ts RAID 0, RAID 1 and JBOD

IEEE 1394 Interface (optional)

1

• VIA VT6307 PCI 1394 integrated host controller

• Suppor ts two 100/200/400 Mb/sec ports

IEEE 1394 is fully compliant with the 1394 OHCI (Open Host
Controller Interface) 1.1 specification. It suppor ts up to 63 devices
that can run simultaneously on a system. 1394 is a fast external bus
standard that supports data transfer rates of up to 400Mbps. In
addition to its high speed, it also suppor ts isochronous data transfer
which is ideal for video devices that need to transfer high levels of
data in real-time. 1394 supports both Plug-and-Play and hot
plugging.

PCI Bus Master IDE Controller

• Supports ATA/33, ATA/66, ATA/100 and ATA/133 hard drives

• UDMA Modes 3, 4, 5 and 6 Enhanced IDE (data transfer rate
up to 133MB/sec.)

• Bus mastering reduces CPU utilization during disk transfer

• Suppor ts ATAPI CD-ROM, LS-120 and ZIP

9

1

Introduction

USB Ports

The system board supports USB 2.0 and USB 1.1. USB 1.1 sup­ports 12Mb/second bandwidth while USB 2.0 supports 480Mb/
second bandwidth providing a marked improvement in device
transfer speeds between your computer and a wide range of si­multaneously accessible external Plug and Play peripherals.

BIOS

• Award BIOS, Windows® 98/2000/ME/XP Plug and Play
compatible

• Supports SCSI sequential boot-up

• Supports DMI 2.0 function

• 4Mbit flash memory

Desktop Management Interface (DMI)

The system board comes with a DMI 2.0 built into the BIOS. The
DMI utility in the BIOS automatically records various information
about your system configuration and stores these information in the
DMI pool, which is a part of the system board's Plug and Play
BIOS. DMI, along with the appropriately networked software, is
designed to make inventory, maintenance and troubleshooting of
computer systems easier. Refer to chapter 4 for instructions on
using the DMI utility.

10

Rear Panel I/O Ports (PC 99 color-coded connectors)

• One PS/2 mouse port

• One PS/2 keyboard port

• One DB-9 serial por t

• One DB-25 parallel por t

• 2 S/PDIF RCA jacks (S/PDIF-in and S/PDIF-out)

• Four USB 2.0/1.1 por ts

• One RJ45 LAN por t

• One IEEE 1394 por t (optional)

• Three audio jacks: line-out, line-in and mic-in

Introduction

I/O Connectors

• Two connector s for 4 additional external USB 2.0/1.1 por ts

• One connector for 1 external IEEE 1394 por t (optional)

• One front audio connector for external line-out and mic-in
jacks

• One CD-in internal audio connector

• Two Serial ATA connectors

• Two IDE connectors

• One floppy connector

• Two ATX power supply connectors

• Two fan connectors

PCB

• 4 layers, ATX form factor

• 30.5cm (12") x 22cm (8.66")

1.1.2 Intelligence

Dual Function Power Button

Depending on the setting in the “Soft-Off By PWRBTN” field of
the Power Management Setup, this switch will allow the system

to enter the Soft-Off or Suspend mode.

1

Wake-On-Ring

This feature allows the system that is in the Suspend mode or
Soft Power Off mode to wake-up/power-on to respond to calls
coming from an external modem or respond to calls from a
modem PCI card that uses the PCI PME (Power Management
Event) signal to remotely wake up the PC.

Important:

If you are using a modem add-in card, the 5VSB power source
of your power supply must support ≥720mA.

11

1

Introduction

Wake-On-LAN

This feature allows the network to remotely wake up a Soft Power
Down (Soft-Off) PC. It is supported via the onboard LAN por t or
via a PCI LAN card that uses the PCI PME (Power Management
Event) signal. However, if your system is in the Suspend mode, you
can power-on the system only through an IRQ or DMA inter r upt.

Important:

The 5VSB power source of your power supply must support

≥

720mA.

Wake-On-PS/2 Keyboard/Mouse

This function allows you to use the PS/2 keyboard or PS/2 mouse
to wake up the system from the S3 state.

Important:

The 5VSB power source of your power supply must support

≥

720mA.

Wake-On-USB Keyboard/Mouse

This function allows you to use a USB keyboard or USB mouse
to wake up a system from the S3 (STR - Suspend To RAM) state .

12

Important:

• If you are using the Wake-On-USB Keyboard/Mouse
function for 2 USB ports, the 5VSB power source of your
power supply must support ≥1.5A.

• If you are using the Wake-On-USB Keyboard/Mouse func­tion for 3 or more USB ports, the 5VSB power source of
your power supply must support ≥2A.

RTC Timer to Power-on the System

The RTC installed on the system board allows your system to
automatically power-on on the set date and time .

Introduction

ACPI

The system board is designed to meet the ACPI (Advanced Con­figuration and Power Interface) specification. ACPI has energy saving
features that enables PCs to implement Power Management and
Plug-and-Play with operating systems that suppor t OS Direct Power
Management. Currently, only Windows
the ACPI function. ACPI when enabled in the Power Management
Setup will allow you to use the Suspend to RAM function.

With the Suspend to RAM function enabled, you can power-off the
system at once by pressing the power button or selecting “Standby”
when you shut down Windows
go through the sometimes tiresome process of closing files,
applications and operating system. This is because the system is
capable of storing all programs and data files during the entire
operating session into RAM (Random Access Memory) when it
powers-off. The oper ating session will resume exactly where you left
off the next time you power-on the system.

Important:

The 5VSB power source of your power supply must support

≥

1A.

®®

®

®®

®®

®

®®

98/2000/ME/XP supports

98/2000/ME/XP without having to

1

AC Power Failure Recovery

When power returns after an AC power failure, you may choose
to either power-on the system manually, let the system power-on
automatically or return to the state where you left off before power
failure occurs.

Virus Protection

Most viruses today destroy data stored in hard drives. The system
board is designed to protect the boot sector and par tition table of
your hard disk drive.

13

1

Introduction

1.2 Hyper-Threading Technology Functionality
Requirements

Enabling the functionality of Hyper-Threading Technology for your
computer system requires ALL of the following platforms.

Components:

• CPU - an Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor with HT Technology

• Chipset - an Intel® chipset that suppor ts HT Technology

• BIOS - a BIOS that suppor ts HT Technology and has it enabled

• OS - an operating system that includes optimizations for HT
Technology

Please refer to Appendix A for information about enabling the
functionality of the Hyper-Threading Technology. For more information
on Hyper-Threading Technology, go to: www.intel.com/info/
hyperthreading.

1.3 Package Checklist

The system board package contains the following items:

14

! The system board
! A user’s manual
! One Serial ATA data cable
! One IDE cable for ATA/33/66/100/133 IDE drives
! One 34-pin floppy disk drive cable
! One SATA RAID floppy diskette
! One I/O shield
! One “Mainboard Utility” CD

If any of these items are missing or damaged, please contact your
dealer or sales representative for assistance.

Hardware Installation

Chapter 2 - Hardware Installation

2.1 System Board Layout

2

COM

S/PDIF-

in

S/PDIF-

out

LAN Phy

1

Front audio

KB/Mouse

Parallel

1394_1, USB 1-2

LAN, USB 3-4

Line-out
Line-in
Mic-in

I/O

chip

BIOS

1

CD-in

Audio

Codec

+12V power

CPU fan

1

DDR 1

DDR 2

DDR 3

Socket 478

ATX

power

1

1

PT880/800

PCI 1

PCI 2

PCI 3

PCI 4

PCI 5

VIA

AGP

1

1

USB 5-6

VIA

VT8237

USB 7-8

VIA

6307

System fan

1

Secondary IDE

SATA 2

1

1

SATA 1

1394_2

1

Primary IDE

FDD

Clear CMOS
(JP1)

1

SPEAKER

ATX-SW

RESET

1

Battery

HD-LED

PWR-LED

1

1

1

PT880-AL/PT800-AL

15

2

Hardware Installation

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Warning:

.

Electrostatic discharge (ESD) can damage your system board, proces­sor, disk drives, add-in boards, and other components. Perform the
upgrade instruction procedures described at an ESD workstation only.
If such a station is not available, you can provide some ESD protection
by wearing an antistatic wrist strap and attaching it to a metal part
of the system chassis. If a wrist strap is unavailable, establish and
maintain contact with the system chassis throughout any procedures
requiring ESD protection.

2.2 System Memory

DDR 1
DDR 2
DDR 3

16

The system board is equipped with three 184-pin DDR DIMM
sockets. DDR (Double Data Rate) is a type of SDRAM that dou­bles the data rate through reading and writing at both the rising
and falling edge of each clock. This effectively doubles the speed
of operation therefore providing two times faster data transfer.

Refer to chapter 1 (System Memory section) for detailed specifi­cation of the memory supported by the system board.

Hardware Installation

PT800-AL supports single channel memory interface. Data will be
accessed in chunks of 64 bits from the memory channels.

PT880-AL supports dual channel memory interface. The three
DDR DIMM sockets are divided into 2 channels:

Channel A - DDR 1 and DDR 2
Channel B - DDR 3

Data will be accessed in chunks of 128 bits from the memory
channels. Dual channel provides better system performance be­cause it doubles the data transfer rate.

2

Single Channel

Virtual Single Channel

Dual Channel

DIMMs are on the same channel.
DIMMs in a channel can be identical or
completely different.
Not all slots need to be populated.

DIMMs of different memory configura­tions are on different channels.

DIMMs of the same memory configu­ration are on different channels.

17

2

Hardware Installation

2.2.1 Installing the DIM Module

A DIM module simply snaps into a DIMM socket on the system
board. Pin 1 of the DIM module must correspond with Pin 1 of
the socket.

Notch
Key

Tab

Pin 1

1. Pull the “tabs” which are at the ends of the socket to the
side.

2. Position the DIMM above the socket with the “notch” in the
module aligned with the “key” on the socket.

3. Seat the module vertically into the socket. Make sure it is
completely seated. The tabs will hold the DIMM in place.

Tab

18

Hardware Installation

2.3 CPU

2.3.1 Overview

The system board is equipped with a surface mount 478-pin CPU
socket. This socket is exclusively designed for installing an Intel
processor.

2.3.2 Installing the CPU

1. Locate Socket 478 on the system board.

2. Unlock the socket by pushing the lever sideways, away from the
socket, then lifting it up to a 90o angle. Make sure the socket is
lifted to at least this angle otherwise the CPU will not fit in
properly.

2

Lever

19

2

Hardware Installation

3. Position the CPU above the socket then align the gold mark
on the corner of the CPU (designated as pin 1) with pin 1 of
the socket.

Important:

Handle the CPU by its edges and avoid touching the pins.

Gold mark

Pin 1

4. Insert the CPU into the socket until it is seated in place. The
CPU will fit in only one orientation and can easily be inserted
without exerting any force.

Important:

Do not force the CPU into the socket. Forcing the CPU into
the socket may bend the pins and damage the CPU.

20

Hardware Installation

5. Once the CPU is in place, push down the lever to lock the
socket. The lever should click on the side tab to indicate that
the CPU is completely secured in the socket.

2.3.3 Installing the Fan and Heat Sink

The CPU must be kept cool by using a CPU fan with heatsink.
Without sufficient air circulation across the CPU and heat sink,
the CPU will overheat damaging both the CPU and system board.

Note:

• Only use Intel® certified fan and heat sink.

• An Intel® boxed processor package contains a retention

mechanism, heat sink, fan and installation guide. If the instal­lation procedure in the installation guide differs from the one
in this section, please follow the installation guide in the
package.

• If you are installing a non-boxed processor, the heat sink, fan
and retention mechanism assembly may look different from
the one shown in this section but the procedure will more or
less be the same.

2

21

2

Hardware Installation

1. The system board comes with the retention module base al­ready installed.

Retention

hole

Retention

hole

Retention

module base

2. Position the fan / heat sink and retention mechanism assembly
on the CPU, then align and snap the retention legs’ hooks to
the retention holes at the 4 corners of the retention module
base.

Note:

You will not be able to snap the hooks into the holes if the
fan / heat sink and retention mechanism assembly did not
fit properly onto the CPU and retention module base.

Unsnapped

Retention

hole

Retention

hole

Fan / heat sink
and retention
mechanism
assembly

22

Snapped

Hardware Installation

3. The retention levers at this time remains unlocked as shown
in the illustration below.

Retention lever

Retention lever

4. Move the retention levers to their opposite directions then
push them down. This will secure the fan / heat sink and re­tention mechanism assembly to the retention module base.

Note:

You will not be able to push the lever down if the direction
is incorrect.

2

5. Connect the CPU fan’s cable connector to the CPU fan con­nector on the system board.

23

2

Hardware Installation

2.4 Jumper Settings

2.4.1 Jumper Settings for Clearing CMOS Data

JP1

1-2 On: Normal

!

(default)

If you encounter the following,

a) CMOS data becomes corrupted.
b) You forgot the keyboard, supervisor or user password.
c) You are unable to boot-up the computer system because the proc-

essor’s ratio/clock was incorrectly set in the BIOS.

Clear CMOS Data

312312

2-3 On:

24

you can reconfigure the system with the default values stored in
the ROM BIOS.

To load the default values stored in the ROM BIOS, please follow
the steps below.

1. Power-off the system and unplug the power cord.

2. Set JP1 pins 2 and 3 to On. Wait for a few seconds and set
JP1 back to its default setting, pins 1 and 2 On.

3. Plug the power cord then power-on the system.
If your reason for clearing the CMOS data is due to incorrect

setting of the processor’s ratio/clock in the BIOS, please pro­ceed to step 4.

Hardware Installation

4. After powering-on the system, press <Del> to enter the main
menu of the BIOS.

5. Select the Frequency/Voltage Control submenu and press
<Enter>.

6. Set the “CPU Clock Ratio” or “CPU Host Clock” field to its
default setting or an appropriate frequency ratio or bus clock.
Refer to the Frequency/Voltage Control section in chapter 3
for more information.

7. Press <Esc> to return to the main menu of the BIOS setup
utility. Select “Save & Exit Setup” and press <Enter>.

8. Type <Y> and press <Enter>.

2

25

2

Hardware Installation

2.5 Rear Panel I/O Ports

PS/2

Mouse

PS/2

K/B

The rear panel I/O ports consist of the following:

• PS/2 mouse por t

• PS/2 keyboard port

• Parallel port

• COM por t

• S/PDIF-in jack

• S/PDIF-out jack

• 1394_1 port

• USB ports

• LAN por t

• Mic-in jack

• Line-in jack

• Line-out jack

COM

Parallel

S/PDIF-in

1394_1

USB 1-2

S/PDIF-out

RJ45

LAN

USB 3-4

Mic-in
Line-in

Line-out

26

Hardware Installation

2.5.1 PS/2 Mouse and PS/2 Keyboard Ports

2

PS/2 Mouse

PS/2 Keyboard

"

The system board is equipped with an onboard PS/2 mouse
(Green) and PS/2 keyboard (Purple) ports - both at location
CN1 of the system board. The PS/2 mouse por t uses IRQ12. If a
mouse is not connected to this port, the system will reserve
IRQ12 for other expansion cards.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Warning:

.

.

Make sure to turn off your computer prior to connecting or
disconnecting a mouse or keyboard. Failure to do so may dam­age the system board.

Wake-On-PS/2 Keyboard/Mouse

The Wake-On-PS/2 Keyboard/Mouse function allows you to use
a PS/2 keyboard or PS/2 mouse to wake up the system from the
S3 state. To use this function:

• BIOS Setting:

Configure the PS/2 wake up function in the Power Manage­ment Setup submenu (“IRQ/Event Activity Detect” section) of
the BIOS. Refer to chapter 3 for more information.

27

2

Hardware Installation

2.5.2 Serial Port

"

COM

The system board is equipped with an onboard serial port (Teal/
Turquoise) at location CN5 of the system board. It is a RS-232C
asynchronous communication port with 16C550A-compatible
UART that can be used with a modem, serial printer, remote
display terminal or other serial devices.

28

BIOS Setting

Select the serial port’s I/O address in the Integrated Peripherals
submenu (“Super IO Device” section) of the BIOS. Refer to
chapter 3 for more information.

Hardware Installation

2.5.3 Parallel Port

Parallel

"

The system board has a standard parallel port (Burgundy) at lo­cation CN8 for interfacing your PC to a parallel printer. It sup­por ts SPP, ECP and EPP modes.

2

Setting

SPP
(Standard Parallel Port)

ECP
(Extended Capabilities
Port)

EPP
(Enhanced Parallel Port)

BIOS Setting

Select the parallel port’s mode in the Integrated Peripherals
submenu (“Super IO Device” section) of the BIOS. Refer to
chapter 3 for more information.

Allows normal speed operation
but in one direction only.

Allows parallel port to operate in
bidirectional mode and at a speed
faster than the SPP’s data transfer
rate.

Allows bidirectional parallel por t
operation at maximum speed.

Function

29

2

Hardware Installation

2.5.4 S/PDIF-in/out Jacks

"

S/PDIF-in

S/PDIF-out

The system board is equipped with an onboard S/PDIF-in RCA
jack (red) and a S/PDIF-out RCA jack (yellow) at locations CN3
and CN4 respectively.

30

2.5.5 IEEE 1394 (optional)

Hardware Installation

2

1394_2

1394_1

2

1

TPA-

TP A+

TPB-

Ground

TPB+

Ground

"

VCC

VCC

Shield

10

9

Key

"

The system board is equipped with an onboard IEEE 1394 port
at location CN6 (IEEE 1394_1) of the system board.

It is also equipped with an IEEE 1394 connector at location J8
(1394_2) for connecting an additional 1394 device. Your 1394
por t may come mounted on a card-edge bracket. Install the card­edge bracket to the system chassis then inser t the connector that
is attached to the 1394 port cable to J8. Make sure pin 1 of the
cable connector is aligned with pin 1 of the J8.

31

2

Hardware Installation

2.5.6 Universal Serial Bus Ports

USB 2
USB 1

"

"

USB 4
USB 3

USB 7-8
USB 5-6

VCC

-Data

"

2

1

VCC

-Data

The system board supports 8 USB 2.0/1.1 ports. Four onboard
USB ports (Black) are at locations CN6 (USB 1-2) and CN7
(USB 3-4) of the system board.

J4 (USB 5-6) and J5 (USB 7-8) connectors allow you to connect
4 additional USB por ts. Your USB por ts may come mounted on a
card-edge bracket. Install the card-edge bracket to the system
chassis then insert the connector that is attached to the USB
por t cables to J4 or J5.

Ground

+Data

+Data

Ground

N. C.

10

9

Key

32

BIOS Setting

Configure the USB ports in the Integrated Peripherals submenu
(“VIA OnChip PCI Device” section) of the BIOS. Refer to chapter
3 for more information.

Hardware Installation

Driver Installation

You may need to install the proper drivers in your operating
system to use the USB device. Refer to your operating system’s
manual or documentation for more information.

If you are using USB 2.0 devices, install the “VIA USB 2.0 Driv­ers”. Refer to chapter 4 for more information.

Wake-On-USB Keyboard/Mouse

The Wake-On-USB Keyboard/Mouse function allows you to use a
USB keyboard or USB mouse to wake up a system from the S3
(STR - Suspend To RAM) state . To use this function:

• BIOS Setting:
“USB Resume from S3” in the Power Management Setup
submenu (“IRQ/Event Activity Detect” section) of the BIOS
must be set to Enabled. Refer to chapter 3 for more informa­tion.

2

33

2

Hardware Installation

2.5.7 RJ45 Fast-Ethernet Port

RJ45 LAN

The system board is equipped with an onboard RJ45 fast­ethernet LAN port at location CN7 of the system board. It al­lows the system board to connect to a local area network by
means of a network hub.

BIOS Setting

Enable or disable the onboard LAN in the Integrated Peripherals
submenu (“VIA OnChip PCI Device” section) of the BIOS. Refer
to chapter 3 for more information.

Driver Installation

Install the “VIA LAN Drivers”. Refer to chapter 4 for more infor­mation.

"

34

Hardware Installation

2.5.8 Audio (Audio Jacks and Front Audio)

Mic-in

Line-in

Line-out

2
1

GND

Mic

"

AuD_Vcc

AuD_R_Return

AuD_L_Return

Key

N. C.

Mic Power

AuD_L_Out

AuD_R_Out

10

Front
audio

"

9

2

Audio Jacks

The system board is equipped with 3 audio jacks at location
CN2. A jack is a one-hole connecting interface for inserting a
plug.

• Line-out Jack (Lime)

This jack is used to connect external speakers for audio output
from the system board.

• Line-in Jack (Light Blue)

This jack can be connected to the line-out jack of any exter­nal audio devices such as Hi-fi set, CD player, AM/FM radio
tuner, synthesizer, etc. Connect a stereo cable from the line­out jack of your external device to this line-in jack.

35

2

Hardware Installation

• Mic-in Jack (Pink)

This jack is used to connect an external microphone.

Front Audio

The front audio connector (J2) allows you to connect to the line-out
and mic-in jacks that are at the front panel of your system. Using
this connector will disable the rear audio’s line-out and mic-in func­tions.

Remove the jumper caps from pins 5-6 and pins 9-10 of J2 prior to
connecting the front audio cable connector. Make sure pin 1 of the
cable connector is aligned with pin 1 of J2. If you are not using this
connector, make sure to replace the jumper caps back to their
original pin locations.

Pins 5-6 and 9-10 shor t
(default)

Pins 5-6 and 9-10 open

Driver Installation

Install the “Audio Drivers”. Refer to chapter 4 for more informa­tion.

The front audio is disabled.
The rear audio is enabled.

The front audio is enabled.
The rear audio is disabled.

36

2.6 I/O Connectors

2.6.1 CD-in Internal Audio Connector

Ground Ground

Left audio

channel

Right audio
channel

Hardware Installation

2

14

The CD-in (J3) connector is used to receive audio from a CD­ROM drive, TV tuner or MPEG card.

"

37

2

Hardware Installation

2.6.2 Floppy Disk Drive Connector

33

!

34

The system board is equipped with a shrouded floppy disk drive
connector for connecting a standard floppy disk drive. To prevent
improper floppy cable installation, the shrouded floppy disk
header has a keying mechanism. The 34-pin connector on the
floppy cable can be placed into the header only if pin 1 of the
connector is aligned with pin 1 of the header.

Connecting the Floppy Disk Drive Cable

Install one end of the floppy disk drive cable into the shrouded
floppy disk header (J14) on the system board and the other end­most connector to the floppy drive. The colored edge of the
daisy chained ribbon cable should be aligned with pin 1 of J14.

BIOS Setting

Enable or disable this function in the Integrated Peripherals
submenu (“Super IO Device” section) of the BIOS. Refer to
chapter 3 for more information.

1

2

38

2.6.3 Serial ATA Connectors

Hardware Installation

2

SATA 2

SATA 1

The VIA VT8237 south bridge controller allows configuring RAID
on SATA dr ives connected to the two Serial ATA por ts at locations
J10 (SATA 1) and J9 (SATA 2) of the system board. Connect one
end of the SATA cable to J9 or J10 and the other end to your
serial ATA device.

Configuring RAID on Serial ATA Drives

The system board suppor ts RAID 0, RAID 1 and JBOD. The follow­ing must be set accordingly.

• BIOS Setting

1. The “SATA or SCSI Card Boot” field in the Advanced

BIOS Features submenu of the Award BIOS must be prop­erly configured.

3. Configure RAID (e.g. creating or deleting RAID) in the VIA

RAID BIOS Setting Utility. You can enter this utility by
pressing the <Tab> key during system boot up.

17

RXP

TXP

TXN

RXN

GND

GND

GND

Refer to chapter 3 for more information.

• Drivers and Utility

Install the “SATA RAID Drivers”. Refer to chapter 4 for more
information.

39

2

Hardware Installation

2.6.4 IDE Disk Drive Connector

39

40

39

Primary

IDE

40

!

IDE

!

21

Primary

IDE

21
Secondary

IDE

Secondary

The system board is equipped with two shrouded PCI IDE head­ers that will interface four Enhanced IDE (Integrated Drive Elec­tronics) disk drives. To prevent improper IDE cable installation,
each shrouded PCI IDE header has a keying mechanism. The 40­pin connector on the IDE cable can be placed into the header
only if pin 1 of the connector is aligned with pin 1 of the header.

Each IDE connector suppor ts 2 devices, a Master and a Slave. Use
an IDE ribbon cable to connect the drives to the system board. An
IDE ribbon cable have 3 connectors on them, one that plugs into an
IDE connector on the system board and the other 2 connects to
IDE devices. The connector at the end of the cable is for the Master
drive and the connector in the middle of the cable is for the Slave
drive.

40

Connecting the IDE Disk Drive Cable

Install one end of the IDE cable into the J11 header (Primar y IDE)
on the system board and the other connectors to the IDE devices.

If you are adding a third or fourth IDE device, use another IDE
cable and install one end of the cable into the J13 header
(Secondar y IDE) on the system board and the other connectors to
the IDE devices.

Hardware Installation

Note:

Refer to your disk drive user’s manual for information about
selecting proper drive switch settings.

Adding a Second IDE Disk Drive

When using two IDE drives, one must be set as the master and
the other as the slave. Follow the instructions provided by the
drive manufacturer for setting the jumpers and/or switches on
the drives.

The system board supports Enhanced IDE or ATA-2, ATA/33,
ATA/66, ATA/100 and ATA/133 hard drives. We recommend that
you use hard drives from the same manufacturer. In a few cases,
drives from two different manufacturers will not function prop­erly when used together. The problem lies in the hard drives, not
the system board.

Important:

If you encounter problems while using an ATAPI CD-ROM drive
that is set in Master mode, please set the CD-ROM drive to
Slave mode. Some ATAPI CD-ROMs may not be recognized and
cannot be used if incorrectly set in Master mode.

2

BIOS Setting

Enable or disable the onboard primary or secondary IDE con­troller in the Integrated Peripherals submenu (“VIA OnChip IDE
Device” section) of the BIOS. Refer to chapter 3 for more infor­mation.

41

2

Hardware Installation

2.6.5 Cooling Fan Connectors

12V

Ground

!

!

Connect the CPU fan’s cable connector to the CPU fan connec­tor (J6) on the system board. The system fan connector (J7) is
used to connect an additional cooling fan. The cooling fans will
provide adequate airflow throughout the chassis to prevent over­heating the CPU and system board components.

N. C.

13

CPU Fan

12V

Ground

N. C.

13

System Fan

42

Hardware Installation

2.6.6 Power Connectors

+12V

!

5VSB

PW-OK

Ground

+5V

Ground

+5V

Ground

3.3V

3.3V

+12V

Ground

!

4
3

+12V

2
1

Ground

We recommend that you use a power supply that complies with
the ATX12V Power Supply Design Guide Version 1.1. Connect
the ATX12V power supply’s 20-pin ATX main power connector
and 4-pin +12V power connector to CN10 and CN9 respec­tively.

10

2

20

+5V

+5V

-5V
Ground
Ground

Ground

PS-ON

Ground

-12V

3.3V

111

The 4-pin +12V power connector enables the delivery of more
+12VDC current to the processor’s Voltage Regulator Module
(VRM).

The system board requires a minimum of 250 Watt power sup­ply to operate. Your system configuration (amount of memory,
add-in cards, peripherals, etc.) may exceed the minimum power
requirement. To ensure that adequate power is provided, use a
300 Watt (or greater) power supply.

43

2

Hardware Installation

2.6.7 Front Panel Connectors

SPEAKER

J12

19

!

20

HD-LED: Primary/Secondary IDE LED

This LED will light when the hard drive is being accessed.

RESET

HD-LED

1
2

PWR-LED

A TX-SW

44

RESET: Reset Switch

This switch allows you to reboot without having to power off
the system thus prolonging the life of the power supply or sys­tem.

SPEAKER: Speaker Connector

This connects to the speaker installed in the system chassis.

ATX-SW: ATX Power Switch

Depending on the setting in the BIOS setup, this switch is a “dual
function power button” that will allow your system to enter the
Soft-Off or Suspend mode. Refer to “Soft-Off By PWRBTN” in
the Power Management Setup (Chapter 3).

Hardware Installation

PWR-LED: Power/Standby LED

When the system’s power is on, this LED will light. When the
system is in the S1 (POS - Power On Suspend) state, it will blink
every second. When the system is in the S3 (STR - Suspend To
RAM) state, it will blink ever y 4 seconds.

Note:

If your system did not boot-up and the Power/Standby LED did
not light after it was powered-on, it may indicate that the CPU
or memor y module was not installed properly. Please make sure
they are properly inserted into their corresponding socket.

Pin

Pin Assignment

HD-LED

(Primary/Secondary IDE LED)

Reserved

ATX-SW

(ATX power switch)

Reserved

RESET

(Reset switch)

SPEAKER

(Speaker connector)

PWR-LED

(Power/Standby LED)

3

HDD LED Power

5

HDD

14

N. C.

16

N. C.

8

PWRBT+

10

PWRBT-

18

N. C.

20

N. C.

7

Ground

9

H/W Reset

13

Speaker Data

15

N. C.

17

Ground

19

Speaker Power

2

LED Power (+)

4

LED Power (+)

6

LED Power (-) or Standby Signal

2

45

3

BIOS Setup

Chapter 3 - BIOS Setup

3.1 Award BIOS Setup Utility

The Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) is a program that takes
care of the basic level of communication between the processor
and peripherals. In addition, the BIOS also contains codes for vari­ous advanced features found in this system board. This chapter
explains the Setup Utility for the Award BIOS.

After you power up the system, the BIOS message appears on
the screen and the memory count begins. After the memory test,
the following message will appear on the screen:

Press DEL to enter setup

If the message disappears before you respond, restart the system
or press the “Reset” button. You may also restart the system by
pressing the <Ctrl> <Alt> and <Del> keys simultaneously.

When you press <Del>, the main menu screen will appear.

46

BIOS Setup

3.1.1 Standard CMOS Features

Use the arrow keys to highlight “Standard CMOS Features” and
press <Enter>. A screen similar to the one below will appear.

The settings on the screen are for reference only. Your version may not be identical
to this one.

3.1.1.1 Date

The date format is <day>, <month>, <date>, <year>. Day dis­plays a day, from Sunday to Saturday. Month displays the month,
from January to December. Date displays the date, from 1 to 31.
Year displays the year, from 1990 to 2098.

3

3.1.1.2 Time

The time format is <hour>, <minute>, <second>. The time is
based on the 24-hour military-time clock. For example, 1 p.m. is
13:00:00. Hour displays hours from 00 to 23. Minute displays min­utes from 00 to 59. Second displays seconds from 00 to 59.

47

3

BIOS Setup

3.1.1.3 IDE Primary Master, IDE Primary Slave, IDE Secondary Master
and IDE Secondary Slave

Move the cursor to the “IDE Primary Master”, “IDE Primary
Slave”, “IDE Secondary Master” or “IDE Secondary Slave” field,
then press <Enter>.

The settings on the screen are for reference only. Your version may not be identical
to this one.

IDE HDD Auto Detection

48

Detects the parameters of the drive. The parameters will auto­matically be shown on the screen.

IDE Primary Master/Slave and IDE Secondary Master/Slave

If you wish to define your own drive type manually, select
“Manual”. The drive type information should be included in the
documentation from your hard disk vendor. If you select ”Auto”,
the BIOS will auto-detect the HDD & CD-ROM drive at the
POST stage and show the IDE for the HDD & CD-ROM drive. If
a hard disk has not been installed, select “None”.

Access Mode

For hard drives larger than 528MB, you would typically select the
LBA type. Certain operating systems require that you select Nor­mal or Large. Please check your operating system’s manual or
Help desk on which one to select.

BIOS Setup

Capacity

Displays the approximate capacity of the disk drive. Usually the
size is slightly greater than the size of a formatted disk given by a
disk checking program.

Cylinder

This field displays the number of cylinders.

Head

This field displays the number of read/write heads.

Precomp

This field displays the number of cylinders at which to change
the write timing.

Landing Zone

This field displays the number of cylinders specified as the landing
zone for the read/write heads.

Sector

3

This field displays the number sectors per track.

3.1.1.4 Drive A

This field is used to select the type of floppy disk drive installed.

None No floppy drive is installed
360K, 5.25 in. 5-1/4 in. standard drive; 360KB capacity

1.2M, 5.25 in. 5-1/4 in. AT-type high-density drive; 1.2MB capac-

ity

720K, 3.5 in. 3-1/2 in. double-sided drive; 720KB capacity

1.44M, 3.5 in. 3-1/2 in. double-sided drive; 1.44MB capacity

2.88M, 3.5 in. 3-1/2 in. double-sided drive; 2.88MB capacity

49

3

BIOS Setup

3.1.1.5 Video

This field selects the type of video adapter used for the primary
system monitor. Although secondary monitors are supported, you
do not have to select the type. The default setting is EGA/VGA.

EGA/VGA Enhanced Graphics Adapter/Video Graphics Array.

For EGA, VGA, SVGA and PGA monitor adapters.

CGA 40 Color Graphics Adapter. Power up in 40-column

mode.

CGA 80 Color Graphics Adapter. Power up in 80-column

mode.

Mono Monochrome adapter. Includes high resolution

monochrome adapters.

3.1.1.6 Halt On

This field determines whether the system will stop if an error is
detected during power up. The default setting is All Errors.

No Errors The system boot will not stop for any errors de-

tected.

All Errors The system boot will stop whenever the BIOS de-

tects a non-fatal error.

All, But Keyboard The system boot will not stop for a key-

board error ; it will stop for all other error s.

All, But Diskette The system boot will not stop for a disk er-

ror ; it will stop for all other errors.

All, But Disk/Key The system boot will not stop for a disk or

keyboard error; it will stop for all other er­rors.

50

3.1.1.7 Base Memory

Displays the amount of base (or conventional) memory installed
in the system. The value of the base memor y is typically 512K for
systems with 512K memory installed on the motherboard or
640K for systems with 640K or more memory installed on the
motherboard.

BIOS Setup

3.1.1.8 Extended Memory

Displays the amount of extended memory detected during boot­up.

3.1.1.9 Total Memory

Displays the total memory available in the system.

3

51

3

BIOS Setup

3.1.2 Advanced BIOS Features

The Advanced BIOS Features allows you to configure your sys­tem for basic operation. Some entries are defaults required by
the system board, while others, if enabled, will improve the per­formance of your system or let you set some features according
to your preference.

The screen above list all the fields available in the Advanced BIOS Features submenu,
for ease of reference in this manual. In the actual CMOS setup, you have to use the
scroll bar to view the fields. The settings on the screen are for reference only. Your
version may not be identical to this one.

52

3.1.2.1 CPU Feature

This field is used to configure the CPU that is installed on the
system board.

3.1.2.2 Virus Warning

This field protects the boot sector and partition table of your
hard disk drive. When this field is enabled, the Award BIOS will
monitor the boot sector and partition table of the hard disk
drive. If an attempt is made to write to the boot sector or par ti­tion table of the hard disk drive, the BIOS will halt the system
and an error message will appear.

After seeing the error message, if necessary, you will be able to
run an anti-virus program to locate and remove the problem
before any damage is done.

BIOS Setup

Many disk diagnostic programs which attempt to access the boot
sector table will cause the warning message to appear. If you are
running such a program, we recommend that you first disable
this field. Also, disable this field if you are installing or running
certain operating systems like Windows® 98/2000/ME/XP or the
operating system may not install nor work.

3.1.2.3 CPU L1 & L2 Cache

This field speeds up the memory access. The default value is ena­bled.

3.1.2.4 CPU L3 Cache

This field is used to enable or disable the CPU’s L3 cache.

3.1.2.5 Hyper-Threading Technology (for Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor
with Hyper-Threading Technology)

3

This field is used to enable the functionality of the Intel
Pentium® 4 Processor with Hyper-Threading Technology and will
appear only when using this processor.

3.1.2.6 CPU L2 Cache ECC Checking

The processors supported by the system board come with built­in Level 2 cache. By default, ECC is enabled to check the Level 2
cache. If you are not using this function, set this field to Disabled.

3.1.2.7 Quick Power On Self Test

This field speeds up Power On Self Test (POST) after you power
on the system. When Enabled, the BIOS will shorten or skip
some check items during POST.

3.1.2.8 SATA or SCSI Card Boot

This field is used to select between booting from a SATA drive
and the drive connected to the SCSI card.

VIA 8237 SATA The drive connected to the SATA 1 or SATA

2 connector.

PCI SCSI Card The drive connected to the SCSI add-in card

that is installed in a PCI slot.

®

53

3

BIOS Setup

If only one of the interfaces is connected with a device(s), you
don’t need to particularly select an option in this field because
the system will automatically detect for the existing drive.

3.1.2.9 First Boot Device, Second Boot Device, Third Boot Device
and Boot Other Device

Select the drive to boot first, second and third in the “First Boot
Device” “Second Boot Device” and “Third Boot Device” fields
respectively. The BIOS will boot the operating system according
to the sequence of the drive selected. Set “Boot Other Device”
to Enabled if you wish to boot from another device.

3.1.2.10 Boot Up Floppy Seek

When enabled, the BIOS will check whether the floppy disk drive
installed is 40 or 80 tracks. Note that the BIOS cannot distinguish
between 720K, 1.2M, 1.44M and 2.88M drive types as they are all 80
tracks. When disabled, the BIOS will not search for the type of
floppy disk drive by track number. Note that there will not be any
warning message if the drive installed is 360KB.

3.1.2.11 Boot Up NumLock Status

54

This allows you to determine the default state of the numeric
keypad. By default, the system boots up with NumLock on
wherein the function of the numeric keypad is the number keys.
When set to Off, the function of the numeric keypad is the ar­row keys.

3.1.2.12 Typematic Rate Setting

Disabled Continually holding down a key on your keyboard

will cause the BIOS to repor t that the key is down.

Enabled The BIOS will not only repor t that the key is down,

but will first wait for a moment, and, if the key is still
down, it will begin to report that the key has been
depressed repeatedly. For example, you would use
such a feature to accelerate cursor movements with
the arrow keys. You can then select the typematic
rate and typematic delay in the “Typematic Rate
(Chars/Sec)” and “Typematic Delay (Msec)” fields
below.

BIOS Setup

3.1.2.13 Typematic Rate (Chars/Sec)

This field allows you to select the rate at which the keys are
accelerated.

3.1.2.14 Typematic Delay (Msec)

This field allows you to select the delay between when the key
was first depressed and when the acceleration begins.

3.1.2.15 Security Option

This field determines when the system will prompt for the pass­word - everytime the system boots or only when you enter the
BIOS setup. Set the password in the Set Supervisor/User Pass­word submenu.

System The system will not boot and access to Setup will be

denied unless the correct password is entered at the
prompt.

Setup The system will boot, but access to Setup will be de-

nied unless the correct password is entered at the
prompt.

3

3.1.2.16 MPS Version Control for OS

This field is used to select the MPS version used by the system.

3.1.2.17 OS Select for DRAM > 64MB

This field allows you to access the memory that is over 64MB in
OS/2. The options are: Non-OS2 and OS2.

3.1.2.18 Video BIOS Shadow

Determines whether video BIOS will be copied to RAM. Video
Shadow will increase the video speed. Note that some graphics
boards require that this option be disabled. The default value is
Enabled.

Enabled Video shadow is enabled.
Disabled Video shadow is disabled.

55

3

BIOS Setup

3.1.2.19 Full Screen Logo Show

This field is applicable only if you want a particular logo to ap­pear during system boot-up.

Enabled The logo will appear in full screen during system

boot-up.

Disabled The logo will not appear during system boot-up.

3.1.2.20 Small Logo(EPA) Show

Enabled The EPA logo will appear during system boot-up.
Disabled The EPA logo will not appear during system boot-

up.

56

BIOS Setup

3.1.3 Advanced Chipset Features

The settings on the screen are for reference only. Your version may not be identical
to this one.

This section gives you functions to configure the system based
on the specific features of the chipset. The chipset manages bus
speeds and access to system memory resources. These items

should not be altered unless necessary. The default settings have

been chosen because they provide the best operating conditions
for your system. The only time you might consider making any
changes would be if you discovered some incompatibility or that
data was being lost while using your system.

3

57

3

BIOS Setup

3.1.3.1 DRAM Clock/Drive Control

Move the cursor to this field and press <Enter>. The following
screen will appear.

The settings on the screen are for reference only. Your version may not be identical
to this one.

Current FSB Frequency

This field shows the detected FSB of the CPU.

Current DRAM Frequency

58

This field shows the detected frequency of the DRAM.

DRAM Clock

This field is used to select the clock speed of the DIMM.

By SPD The system will run according to the infor mation

in the EEPROM. The EEPROM on the DIMM has
SPD (Serial Presence Detect) data str ucture that
stores information about the module such as the
memory type , memory size, memory speed, etc.
This option is the default setting because it
provides the most stable condition for the
system.

100MHz The memory clock speed will run at 200MHz.
133MHz The memory clock speed will run at 266MHz.

BIOS Setup

166MHz The memor y clock speed will run at 333MHz.
200MHz The memory clock speed will run at 400MHz.

DRAM Timing

This field is used to select the timing of the DRAM.

Auto By SPD The EEPROM on a DIMM has SPD (Serial Pres-

ence Detect) data structure that stores informa­tion about the module such as the memory
type, memory size, memory speed, etc. When
this option is selected, the system will run ac­cording to the information in the EEPROM. This
option is the default setting because it provides
the most stable condition for the system.

T urbo If you want the system to run at a speed faster

than “Auto By SPD”, select this option. However ,
compatibility problems may occur with some
DRAMs. If you encounter any problems, set this
field to “Auto By SPD” or “Manual”.

Ultra If you want the system to run at a speed faster

than “Turbo”, select this option. However, com­patibility problems may occur with some
DRAMs. If you encounter any problems, set this
field to “Auto By SPD” or “Manual”.

Manual This option allows you to manually select the

options in the “SDRAM C AS Latency” to “ACT(0)
to ACT(1) (TRRD)” fields. The system will r un ac­cording to the settings in these fields.

3

SDRAM CAS Latency

This field is used to select the clock cycles for the CAS latency.

Bank Interleave

The options are 2 Bank, 4 Bank and Disabled.

Precharge to Active (Trp)

The options are 2T, 3T, 4T and 5T.

59

3

BIOS Setup

Active to Precharge (Tras)

The options are 6T, 7T, 8T and 9T.

Active to CMD (Trcd)

The options are 2T, 3T, 4T and 5T.

REF to ACT/REF to REF(Trfc)

The options are 12T, 13T, 14T and 15T.

ACT(0) to ACT(1) (TRRD)

The options are 2T and 3T.

DRAM Bus Selection

Auto The system will automatically detect the type of

memor y interface .

Single Channel Sets the memory interface to single channel.
Dual Channel Sets the memory interface to dual channel.

DRAM Command Rate

60

The options are 1T Command and 2T Command.

BIOS Setup

3.1.3.2 AGP & P2P Bridge Control

Move the cursor to this field and press <Enter>. The following
screen will appear.

The settings on the screen are for reference only. Your version may not be identical
to this one.

AGP Aperture Size

This field is relevant to the memory-mapped graphics data of the
AGP card installed in your system.

3

AGP 2.0 Mode

This field is used to select the AGP mode of the AGP card installed
on the system board.

AGP Driving Control

Set this field to Manual only if there are compatibility problems
with some AGP cards. When set to Manual, select a value in the
“AGP Driving Value” field.

AGP Driving Value

This field is used to select a value for the AGP Driving control. We
recommend that you leave this field in its default setting.

AGP Fast Write

Select Enabled to support the AGP Fast Write function.

61

3

BIOS Setup

AGP Master 1 WS Write

Set this field to Enabled to add one clock tick to AGP write
operations.

AGP Master 1 WS Read

Set this field to Enabled to add one clock tick to AGP read op­erations.

AGP 3.0 Calibration Cycle

When this field is set to enabled, it allows the system to calibrate
the AGP’s performance. We recommend that you leave this field
in its default setting - Enabled.

62

BIOS Setup

3.1.3.3 CPU & PCI Bus Control

Move the cursor to this field and press <Enter>. The following
screen will appear.

The settings on the screen are for reference only. Your version may not be identical
to this one.

PCI Master 0 WS Write

When enabled, writes to the PCI bus are executed with zero
wait state.

3

PCI Delay Transaction

When enabled, this function frees up the PCI bus for other PCI
masters during the PCI-to-ISA transactions. This allows PCI and
ISA buses to be used more efficiently and prevents degradation
of performance on the PCI bus when ISA accesses are made.

VLink Mode Selection

This field is used to select the VLink mode. If you selected “By
Auto”, you can enable the VLink 8x function in the field below.

VLink 8X Support

When this field is set to Enabled, the speed of VLink which links
the Nor th Bridge and South Bridge will be 8x.

63

3

BIOS Setup

3.1.3.4 Memory Hole

In order to improve system performance, certain space in memor y
can be reser ved for ISA cards. This memor y must be mapped into
the memor y space below 16MB.

15M - 16M The CPU assumes the 15-16MB memor y r ange is

allocated to the hidden ISA address range instead
of the actual system DRAM.

Disabled The CPU assumes the 15-16MB address range

actually contains DRAM memory. If more than
16MB of system memory is installed, this option
must be selected to provide contiguous system

memory.

3.1.3.5 System BIOS Cacheable

When this field is enabled, accesses to the system BIOS ROM
addressed at F0000H-FFFFFH are cached, provided that the cache
controller is enabled. The larger the r ange of the Cache RAM, the
higher the efficiency of the system.

3.1.3.6 Init Display First

64

This field is used to select whether to initialize the AGP or PCI
first when the system boots.

AGP When the system boots, it will first initialize the

AGP.

PCI Slot When the system boots, it will first initialize PCI.

BIOS Setup

3.1.4 Integrated Peripherals

The settings on the screen are for reference only. Your version may not be identical
to this one.

3.1.4.1 VIA OnChip IDE Device

Move the cursor to this field and press <Enter>. The following
screen will appear.

3

The settings on the screen are for reference only. Your version may not be identical
to this one.

IDE DMA Transfer Access

This field, when Enabled, will enhance the IDE DMA transfer of
an IDE hard disk drive.

65

3

BIOS Setup

OnChip IDE Channel 0 and OnChip IDE Channel 1

These fields allow you to enable or disable the primar y and sec­ondary IDE controller. The default is Enabled. Select Disabled if
you want to add a different hard drive controller.

IDE Prefetch Mode

This allows data and addresses to be stored in the internal buffer
of the chip, thus reducing access time. Enable this field to achieve
better performance.

Primary Master/Slave PIO and Secondary Master/Slave PIO

PIO means Programmed Input/Output. Rather than have the
BIOS issue a series of commands to effect a transfer to or from
the disk drive, PIO allows the BIOS to tell the controller what it
wants and then let the controller and the CPU perform the com­plete task by themselves. Your system suppor ts five modes, 0 (de­fault) to 4, which primar ily differ in timing. When Auto is selected,
the BIOS will select the best available mode after checking your
drive.

Auto The BIOS will automatically set the system ac-

cording to your hard disk drive’s timing.

Mode 0-4 You can select a mode that matches your hard

disk drive’s timing. Caution: Do not use the wrong
setting or you will have drive errors.

66

Primary Master/Slave UDMA and Secondary Master/Slave
UDMA

These fields allow you to set the Ultra DMA in use. When Auto
is selected, the BIOS will select the best available option after
checking your hard drive or CD-ROM.

Auto The BIOS will automatically detect the settings

for you.

Disabled The BIOS will not detect these categories.

BIOS Setup

IDE HDD Block Mode

Enabled The IDE HDD uses the block mode. The system

BIOS will check the hard disk drive for the maximum
block size the system can transfer. The block size will
depend on the type of hard disk drive.

Disabled The IDE HDD uses the standard mode.

3.1.4.2 VIA OnChip PCI Device

Move the cursor to this field and press <Enter>. The following
screen will appear.

3

The settings on the screen are for reference only. Your version may not be identical
to this one.

Onboard AC97 Audio

Auto Select this option when using the onboard audio

codec.

Disabled Select this option when using a PCI sound card.

Onboard LAN

Enabled Enables the onboard LAN.
Disabled Disables the onboard LAN.

67

3

BIOS Setup

Onboard LAN Boot ROM

Enable this field if you wish to use the boot ROM (instead of a
disk drive) to boot-up the system and access the local area net­work directly.

If you wish to change the boot ROM’s settings, type the <Shift>
and <F10> keys simultaneously when prompted during boot-up.
Take note: you will be able to access the boot ROM’s program
(by typing <Shift> + <F10>) only when this field is enabled.

OnChip USB Controller

This field is used to select the USB por ts you want Enabled.

OnChip EHCI Controller

If you are using USB 2.0, this field must be set to Enabled.

USB Keyboard Support

If you are using a USB keyboard under DOS, set this field to
Enabled.

USB Mouse Support

68

This field is used to enable or disable the USB mouse. It can be
configured only if the “USB Controller” field is enabled.

BIOS Setup

3.1.4.3 Super IO Device

Move the cursor to this field and press <Enter>. The following
screen will appear.

The settings on the screen are for reference only. Your version may not be identical
to this one.

Onboard FDC Controller

Enabled Enables the onboard floppy disk controller.
Disabled Disables the onboard floppy disk controller.

3

Onboard Serial Port 1

Auto The system will automatically select an I/O ad-

dress for the onboard serial por t.

3F8/IRQ4, 2F8/IRQ3, 3E8/IRQ4, 2E8/IRQ3 Allows you to

manually select an I/O address for the onboard
serial por t.

Disabled Disables the onboard serial port.

69

3

BIOS Setup

Onboard Parallel Port

378/IRQ7, 3BC/IRQ7, 278/IRQ5 Selects the I/O address and

IRQ for the onboard parallel por t.

Disabled Disables the onboard parallel port.

Parallel Port Mode

The options are SPP, EPP, ECP and ECP+EPP. These apply to
standard specifications and will depend on the type and speed of
your device. Refer to your peripheral’s manual for the best op­tion.

SPP

Allows normal speed operation but in one direction only.

“ECP (Extended Capabilities Port)”

Allows parallel port to operate in bidirectional mode and at a
speed faster than the normal mode’s data transfer rate.

“EPP (Enhanced Parallel Port)”

Allows bidirectional parallel port operation at maximum
speed.

70

ECP Mode Use DMA

This is used to select the DMA channel used for the parallel
port.

BIOS Setup

3.1.5 Power Management Setup

The Power Management Setup allows you to configure your sys­tem to most effectively save energy.

The settings on the screen are for reference only. Your version may not be identical
to this one.

3.1.5.1 ACPI Function

3

This function should be enabled only in operating systems that

®®

®

suppor t ACPI. Currently, only Windows

®®

98/2000/ME/XP supports
this function. If you want to use the Suspend to RAM function,
make sure this field is enabled then select “S3(STR)” in the “ACPI
Suspend Type” field.

3.1.5.2 ACPI Suspend Type

This field is used to select the type of Suspend mode.

S1(POS) Enables the Power On Suspend function.
S3(STR) Enables the Suspend to RAM function. If you are

®®

®

using the Windows

®®

98 operating system, refer to
“Using the Suspend to RAM Function” in appendix
B for more information.

71

3

BIOS Setup

3.1.5.3 Power Management Option

This field allows you to select the type (or degree) of power
saving by changing the length of idle time that elapses before the
“Suspend Mode” field is activated.

Min Saving Minimum power saving time for Suspend mode =

1 hr.

Max Saving Maximum power saving time for Suspend mode

= 1 min.

User Define Allows you to set the power saving time in the

“Suspend Mode” field.

3.1.5.4 HDD Power Down

After the set time of system inactivity, the hard disk drive will be
powered down while all other devices remain active.

3.1.5.5 Suspend Mode

This is selectable only when the Power Management field is set
to User Define. When the system enters the Suspend mode ac­cording to the power saving time selected, the CPU and onboard
peripherals will be shut off.

72

3.1.5.6 Video Off Option

Always On The system BIOS will never turn off the

screen.

Suspend -> Off The screen is off when the system is in the

Suspend mode.

3.1.5.7 Video Off Method

This determines the manner in which the monitor is blanked.

V/H SYNC + Blank This will cause the system to turn off the

vertical and horizontal synchronization
por ts and write blanks to the video buffer.

Blank Screen This only writes blanks to the video buffer.
DPMS Support Initializes display power management signaling.

Select this if your video board supports it.

BIOS Setup

3.1.5.8 Soft-Off by PWRBTN

This field allows you to select the method of powering off your
system.

Delay 4 Sec Regardless of whether the Power Management

field is enabled or disabled, if the power button is
pushed and released in less than 4 sec, the sys­tem enters the Suspend mode. The purpose of
this function is to prevent the system from
powering off in case you accidentally “hit” or
pushed the power button. Push and release again
in less than 4 sec to restore. Pushing the power
button for more than 4 seconds will power off
the system.

Instant-Off Pressing and then releasing the power button at

once will immediately power off your system.

3.1.5.9 Run VGABIOS if S3 Resume

When this field is set to Auto, the system will initialize the VGA
BIOS from the S3 state.

3.1.5.10 PWR Lost Resume State

3

Keep Off When power returns after an AC power failure,

the system’s power is off. You must press the
Power button to power-on the system.

Tu rn O n When power returns after an AC power failure,

the system will automatically power-on.

Last State When power returns after an AC power failure,

the system will return to the state where you left
off before power failure occurs. If the system’s
power is off when AC power failure occurs, it will
remain off when power returns. If the system’s
power is on when AC power failure occurs, the
system will power-on when power returns.

73

3

BIOS Setup

3.1.5.11 Delay Prior To Thermal

This field is used to select the time that would force the CPU to
a 50% duty cycle when it exceeds its maximum operating tem­perature therefore protecting the CPU and the system board
from overheating to ensure a safe computing environment..

3.1.5.12 IRQ/Event Activity Detect

Move the cursor to this field and press <Enter>. The following
screen will appear.

74

The settings on the screen are for reference only. Your version may not be identical
to this one.

PS2KB Wakeup Select

Hot Key This option allows you to select the key you

would like to use to power-on the system in the
“PS2KB Wakeup from S3” field.

Password This option allows you to use a password to wake

up the system from the S3 state. Select this option
and press <Enter>. Enter your password. You can
enter up to 8 characters. Type in exactly the same
password to confirm, then press <Enter>.

Important:

If you forgot the password, you must power-off
the system, unplug the power cord and clear the
CMOS data. Follow the steps in the “Jumper
Settings for Clearing CMOS Data” section in
chapter 2.

BIOS Setup

PS2KB Wakeup from S3

Ctrl+F1 to Ctrl+F12 Use a function key to wake up the sys-

tem from the S3 state.

Any Key Use any keyboard keys to wake up the

system from the S3 state.

Disabled Disables the PS/2 keyboard wake up

function.

PS2MS Wakeup from S3

Enabled Use the PS/2 mouse to wake up the system

from the S3 state.

Disabled Disables the PS/2 mouse wake up function.

USB Resume from S3

This function, when enabled, allows you to use a USB keyboard
or USB mouse to wake up a system that is in the S3 (STR ­Suspend To RAM) state .

VGA

When set to On, the system will respond and wake up to any
VGA activity.

3

LPT & COM

Select the port you would like the system to respond and wake
up when an event occurs on that por t.

HDD & FDD

When set to On, the system will respond and wake up to any
hard drive or floppy drive activity.

PCI Master

When set to On, the system will respond and wake up to any
PCI or bus master activity.

75

3

BIOS Setup

Resume on PCI Event

Enabled This field should be set to Enabled only if your PCI

card such as LAN card or modem card uses the PCI
PME (Power Management Event) signal to remotely
wake up the system. Access to the LAN card or PCI
card will cause the system to wake up. Refer to the
card’s documentation for more information.

Disabled The system will not wake up despite access to the

PCI card.

Resume On Ring

When enabled, the system will power-on to respond to calls com­ing from an external modem.

Resume on Alarm

Enabled When Enabled, you can set the date and time

you would like the Soft Power Down (Soft-Off)
PC to power-on in the “Date (of Month)” and
“Resume Time (hh:mm:ss)” fields. However, if the
system is being accessed by incoming calls or the
network prior to the date and time set in these
fields, the system will give priority to the incom­ing calls or network.

Disabled Disables the automatic power-on function. (de-

fault)

76

Date (of Month)

0 The system will power-on everyday according to

the time set in the “Resume Time (hh:mm:ss)” field.

1-31 Select a date you would like the system to power-

on. The system will power-on on the set date, and
time set in the “Resume Time (hh:mm:ss)” field.

Resume Time (hh:mm:ss)

This is used to set the time you would like the system to power­on. If you want the system to power-on everyday as set in the
“Date (of Month)” field, the time set in this field must be later
than the time of the RTC set in the Standard CMOS Features
submenu.

BIOS Setup

IRQs Activity Monitoring

Move the cursor to this field and press <Enter>. The following
screen will appear.

The settings on the screen are for reference only. Your version may not be identical
to this one.

When the “Primar y INTR”, and “IRQ3” - “IRQ15” fields are ena­bled, access to the specified IRQ will cause the system to wake
up completely from the power management mode. When disa­bled, the system will not wake up from the power management
mode despite access to the specified IRQ.

3

77

3

BIOS Setup

3.1.6 PnP/PCI Configurations

This section shows how to configure the PCI bus system. It cov­ers some very technical items and it is strongly recommended
that only experienced users should make any changes to the de­fault settings.

The settings on the screen are for reference only. Your version may not be identical
to this one.

3.1.6.1 PNP OS Installed

78

The default setting is “No”. The BIOS will detect the Plug and
Play devices for some compatible resources.

3.1.6.2 Reset Configuration Data

Enabled The BIOS will reset the Extended System Configura-

tion Data (ESCD) once automatically. It will then rec­reate a new set of configuration data.

Disabled The BIOS will not reset the configuration data.

3.1.6.3 Resources Controlled By

The Award Plug and Play BIOS has the capability to automatically
configure all of the boot and Plug and Play compatible devices.

Auto(ESCD) The system will automatically detect the settings

for you.

Manual Choose the specific IRQ resources in the “IRQ

Resources” field.

BIOS Setup

3.1.6.4 IRQ Resources

Move the cursor to this field and press <Enter>. This field is used
to set each system interrupt to either Reser ved or PCI Device.

The settings on the screen are for reference only. Your version may not be identical
to this one.

3.1.6.5 PCI/VGA Palette Snoop

This field determines whether the MPEG ISA/VESA VGA cards
can work with PCI/VGA or not. The default value is Disabled.

3

Enabled MPEG ISA/VESA VGA cards wor k with PCI/VGA.
Disabled MPEG ISA/VESA VGA cards does not work with PCI/

VGA.

3.1.6.6 Assign IRQ for VGA

When Enabled, the system automatically assigns an IRQ for the VGA
card installed. Your VGA card will need an IRQ only when using the
video capture function of the card. If you are not using this func­tion and a new device requires an IRQ, you can set this field to
Disabled. The IRQ (previously occupied by the VGA card) will be
available for your new device.

3.1.6.7 Assign IRQ for USB

When Enabled, the system automatically assigns an IRQ for the USB
device connected to your system. However, if you are not using
USB devices and a new device requires an IRQ, set this field to
Disabled. The IRQ previously occupied by the USB device will be
available for the new device.

79

3

BIOS Setup

3.1.7 Frequency/Voltage Control

The settings on the screen are for reference only. Your version may not be identical
to this one.

3.1.7.1 CPU Clock Ratio

This field is used to select the CPU’s frequency ratio.

Important:

The frequency ratio of some processors may have been locked
by the manufacturer. If you are using this kind of processor,
setting an extended ratio for the processor will have no effect.
The system will instead use its factor y default ratio.

80

3.1.7.2 Auto Detect PCI Clk

When enabled, the system will automatically send clock signals to
existing PCI devices.

3.1.7.3 Spread Spectrum

Leave this field in its default setting. Do not alter this setting un­less advised by an engineer or technician.

BIOS Setup

3.1.7.4 CPU Host Clock

This field provides several options for selecting the external system
bus clock of the CPU. The available options allow you to adjust the
CPU’s bus clock in 1MHz increment.

Important:

Overclocking may result in the processor’s or system’s instability
and is not guaranteed to provide better system performance.

If, in the “CPU Clock Ratio” or “CPU Host Clock” field, you selected
an option other than the default setting and is unable to boot up
the system, there are 2 methods of booting up the system and
going back to its default setting.

Method 1:
Clear the CMOS data by setting JP1 to 2-3 On. All fields in the
BIOS Setup will automatically be set to their default settings.

Method 2:
Press the <Insert> key and power button simultaneously, then
release the power button first. Keep-on pressing the <Insert>
key until the power-on screen appears. This will allow the system
to boot according to the FSB of the processor. Now press the
<Del> key to enter the main menu of the BIOS. Select “Fre­quency/Voltage Control” and set the “CPU Clock Ratio” or “CPU
Host Clock” field to its default setting or an appropriate bus
clock or ratio.

3

Note:

Use a PS/2 or AT (requires a DIN to mini DIN adapter) key­board for method 2.

81

3

BIOS Setup

3.1.8 Load Fail-Safe Defaults

The “Load Fail-Safe Defaults” option loads the troubleshooting
default values permanently stored in the ROM chips. These set­tings are not optimal and turn off all high performance features.
You should use these values only if you have hardware problems.
Highlight this option in the main menu and press <Enter>.

If you want to proceed, type <Y> and press <Enter>. The default
settings will be loaded.

82

BIOS Setup

3.1.9 Load Optimized Defaults

The “Load Optimized Defaults” option loads optimized settings
from the BIOS ROM. Use the default values as standard values for
your system. Highlight this option in the main menu and press
<Enter>.

Type <Y> and press <Enter> to load the Setup default values.

3

83

3

BIOS Setup

3.1.10 Set Supervisor Password

If you want to protect your system and setup from unauthorized
entry, set a supervisor’s password with the “System” option se­lected in the Advanced BIOS Features. If you want to protect
access to setup only, but not your system, set a supervisor’s pass­word with the “Setup” option selected in the Advanced BIOS
Features. You will not be prompted for a password when you
cold boot the system.

Use the arrow keys to highlight “Set Supervisor Password” and
press <Enter>.

84

Type in the password. You are limited to eight characters. When
done, the message below will appear:

Confirm Password:

You are asked to verify the password. Type in exactly the same
password. If you type in a wrong password, you will be prompted
to enter the correct password again. To delete or disable the
password function, highlight “Set Supervisor Password” and press
<Enter>, instead of typing in a new password. Press the <Esc>
key to return to the main menu.

BIOS Setup

3.1.11 Set User Password

If you want another user to have access only to your system but
not to setup, set a user’s password with the “System” option se­lected in the Advanced BIOS Features. If you want a user to en­ter a password when trying to access setup, set a user’s password
with the “Setup” option selected in the Advanced BIOS Features.

Using user’s password to enter Setup allows a user to access
only “Set User Password” that appears in the main menu screen.
Access to all other options is denied.

Use the arrow keys to highlight “Set User Password” and press
<Enter>.

3

Type in the password. You are limited to eight characters. When
done, the message below will appear:

Confirm Password:

You are asked to verify the password. Type in exactly the same
password. If you type in a wrong password, you will be prompted
to enter the correct password again. To delete or disable the
password function, highlight “Set User Password” and press <En­ter>, instead of typing in a new password. Press the <Esc> key to
return to the main menu.

85

3

BIOS Setup

3.1.12 Save & Exit Setup

When all the changes have been made, highlight “Save & Exit
Setup” and press <Enter>.

Type “Y” and press <Enter>. The modifications you have made
will be written into the CMOS memory, and the system will
reboot. You will once again see the initial diagnostics on the
screen. If you wish to make additional changes to the setup, press
<Ctrl> <Alt> <Esc> simultaneously or <Del> after memory
testing is done.

86

BIOS Setup

3.1.13 Exit Without Saving

When you do not want to save the changes you have made,
highlight “Exit Without Saving” and press <Enter>.

Type “Y” and press <Enter>. The system will reboot and you will
once again see the initial diagnostics on the screen. If you wish to
make any changes to the setup, press <Ctrl> <Alt> <Esc> simul­taneously or <Del> after memory testing is done .

3.2 VIA RAID BIOS Setting Utility

3

The VIA RAID BIOS Setting Utility is used to configure and man­age RAID on Serial ATA drives.

After you power up the system and all hard disk drives have
been detected, the VIA RAID BIOS status message screen will
appear. Press the <Tab> key to enter the utility. The utility allows
you to build a RAID system using two Serial ATA (SATA) hard
drives.

Note:

Refer to the VIA SATA RAID manual for information on using
the utility. The manual is included in the CD.

87

3

BIOS Setup

3.3 Updating the BIOS

To update the BIOS, you will need the new BIOS file and a flash
utility, AWDFLASH.EXE. You can download them from DFI’s web
site or contact technical support or your sales representative.

1. Save the new BIOS file along with the flash utility
AWDFLASH.EXE to a floppy disk.

2. Reboot the system and enter the Award BIOS Setup Utility to
set the first boot drive to “Floppy”.

3. Save the setting and reboot the system.

4. After the system booted from the floppy disk, execute the
flash utility by typing AWDFLASH.EXE. The following screen
will appear.

Award BIOS Flash Utility V.8.15B

(C) Phoenix Technologies Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

(The current BIOS information will appear in this area.)
File Name to Program :

88

5. Type the new BIOS file name onto the gray area that is next
to “File Name to Program” then press <Enter>.

BIOS Setup

6. The following will appear.
Do You Want to Save BIOS (Y/N)

This question refers to the current existing BIOS in your sys­tem. We recommend that you save the current BIOS and its
flash utility; just in case you need to reinstall the BIOS. To save
the current BIOS, press <Y> then enter the file name of the
current BIOS. Otherwise, press <N>.

7. The following will then appear.

Press “Y” to Program or “N” to Exit

8. Press <Y> to flash the new BIOS.

3

89

4

Supported Software

Chapter 4 - Supported Software

4.1 Desktop Management Interface (DMI)

The system board comes with a DMI built into the BIOS. DMI, along
with the appropriately networked software, is designed to make inven­tor y, maintenance and troubleshooting of computer systems easier.
With DMI, a network administr ator or MIS engineer can remotely ac­cess some information about a par ticular computer system without
physically going to it. Quite often a service call may be unnecessar y as
the problem can be solved remotely.

The DMI utility in the BIOS automatically records various information
about your system configuration. Information about the type and speed
of CPU, type and amount of memor y for each memory slot, BIOS
revision level, types of add-in PCI boards and components, cer tain re­vision numbers of hardware installed, etc. are automatically detected
and stored in the DMI pool, which is a par t of the mainboard's Plug
and Play BIOS. Additional information, such as ISA based per ipherals,
which may not be automatically detected, can be manually recorded
in the DMI pool by using the Add DMI menu. The DMI pool data is
then verified or updated whenever the system hardware or setup is
altered.

90

4.1.1 Running the DMI Utility

To r un the DMI utility, type: DMICFG.EXE. You can download this utility
from ftp.dfiusa.com - /utilities/DMI directory.

The DMI utility must run in real mode with at least 180K of base
memor y. Memor y manager s like HIMEM.SYS (required by Windows)
must not be installed. You may do this by using one of the 3 meth­ods listed below.

1. Boot up from a system diskette without the AUTOEXEC.BAT and
CONFIG.SYS files,

2. “REM” HIMEM.SYS in the CONFIG.SYS, or

3. Press <F5> during bootup to bypass your AUTOEXEC .BAT and
CONFIG.SYS files.

4.1.2 Using the DMI Utility

Supported Software

4

[Edit DMI] [Add DMI] [Load DMI File] [Save DMI File]



















↑ ↓ ↑ ↓

↑ ↓

↑ ↓ ↑ ↓
→→

→

→→

Award DMI Configuration Utility Copyright Award Software Inc, 1996

BIOS

System

Enclosure/Chassis

Processor

Memory Controller

Memory Module
Memory Module
Memory Module
Memory Module

Cache

Cache
Port Connector
Port Connector
Port Connector
Port Connector
Port Connector
Port Connector
Port Connector

System Slots

←←

←

←←

Move cursor ENTER-Accept DEL-Delete ESC-Abort&Exit

Type : BIOS Information
Handle : 0000

Vendor Name :
BIOS Version :
BIOS Starting Address Segment : E000
BIOS Build Date :
BIOS Characteristics :
Size of BIOS ROM : 0256K

*** BIOS Auto Detect ***

The four menus located on top of the DMI Configuration Utility screen
are Edit DMI, Add DMI, Load DMI File and Save DMI File. Use the
← or → (left or right) arrow keys to select a menu from the Menu
bar .

On the left side of the screen is a list of the system configuration items.
Use the ↑ or ↓ (up or down) arrow keys to select an item.

The commands at the bottom of the screen will allow you to navi­gate through the various setup menus.

Edit DMI

1. Use the ← or → arrow keys to select the Edit DMI menu.

2. Highlight the item on the left screen that you would like to edit
by using the ↑ or ↓ arrow keys, then press <Enter>.

3. The cur sor will move to the screen you select allowing you to edit
information. The screen will also display the auto-detected informa­tion.

4. Press <F10> to update the edited information into the flash ROM.

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Supported Software

Add DMI

1. Use the ← or → arrow keys to select the Add DMI menu.

2. Highlight the item on the left screen that you would like to add
by using the ↑ or ↓ arrow keys, then press <Enter>.

3. The cur sor will move to the screen you select allowing you to enter
information about the added item.

4. Press <F10> to save information into the flash ROM.

To view information about the added items, go to the Edit DMI menu.

Load DMI File

1. Use the ← or → arrow keys to select the Load DMI File menu.

2. The following message will appear.

Press [Enter] to select DMI file for load

Press <Enter>.

3. The DMI files will appear on the screen. Select the file you would
like to load and press <Enter>.

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4. The following message will appear.

Do you want to execute? (Y/N)

Type <Y>. All previous DMI str uctures will be destroyed and the
new file will be saved into the flash ROM.

Save DMI File

1. Use the ← or → arrow keys to select the Save DMI File menu.

2. The following message will appear.

Press [Enter] to select DMI file for save

Press <Enter>.

3. Enter the director y and filename under which you would like the
DMI file saved.

Supported Software

4.2 Drivers, Utilities and Software Applications

The CD that came with the system board contains drivers, utilities
and software applications required to enhance the performance of
the system board.

Insert the CD into a CD-ROM drive. The autorun screen
(Mainboard Utility CD) will appear. If after inserting the CD,
"Autorun" did not automatically star t (which is, the Mainboard Utility
CD screen did not appear), please go directly to the root director y
of the CD and double-click "Setup".

PT800CE/880CD chipset / Chipset Drivers

VIA Service Pack

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4.2.1 VIA® Service Pack

The VIA® Ser vice Pack contains the following drivers.

• VIA ATAPI Vendor Support Driver

• AGP VxD Driver

• IRQ Routing Minipor t Driver

• VIA INF Driver

To install VIA Service Pack, please follow the steps below.

1. On the left side of the autor un screen, click the “CHIPSET” icon.

2. Click “VIA Ser vice Pack” on the main screen. The following screen
will appear.

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3. Click “Next”. Please read the “VIA Service Pack Readme”
carefully before proceeding to step 3.

4. Follow the prompts on the screen to complete the installation.

5. Reboot the system for the drivers to take effect.

Supported Software

VIA® Service Pack Installation Notes

The “AGP VxD Driver” and “VIA INF Driver” drivers in the “VIA
Service Pack” are suppor ted in Windows® 95, Windows® 98, Win­dows® 98 SE, Windows® ME and Windows® 2000.

You must first install VIA® Ser vice Pack prior to installing any other
drivers. However, this may not be the case for some AGP cards.
Please read carefully the following information.

Important:

The VGA driver that came with some AGP cards is already
bundled with the AGP VxD driver. Since the version of the
bundled VxD dr iver may be older than the one provided in the
CD, installing the bundled VxD driver may cause problems. If
you are using this type of card, we recommend that you install
first the AGP card’s VGA driver before installing the VIA Ser vice
Pack.

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4.2.2 Audio Drivers

The audio drivers are suppor ted in the following operating systems:
Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, Windows ME, Windows NT 4.0,
Windows 2000 and Windows XP.

To install the driver, please follow the steps below.

1. On the left side of the autorun screen, click the “AUDIO” icon.

2. Click “Audio Drivers” on the main screen The following screen
will appear. Click “Install Device Dr iver”.

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Supported Software

3. The following screen will appear.

4. Follow the prompts on the screen to complete installation.

5. Reboot the system for the driver to take effect.

4

Note:

The 3D Audio Configuration software, which is an audio panel
for setting basic audio configurations, will at the same time be
installed into your system. Refer to the “3D Audio Configuration”
section in this chapter for more information.

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4.2.3 VIA USB 2.0 Drivers

To install the USB 2.0 driver, please follow the steps below.

1. On the left side of the autorun screen, click the “USB” icon.

2. Click “VIA USB 2.0 Drivers” on the main screen. The following
screen will appear.

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3. Follow the prompts on the screen to complete installation.

4. Restar t the system.

4.2.4 VIA LAN Drivers

Supported Software

4

The LAN drivers for Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, Windows
ME, Windows 2000 and Windows XP suppor t “Autorun”.

To install the LAN driver, please follow the steps below.

1. On the left side of the autorun screen, click the “NETWORK”
icon.

2. Click “VIA LAN Drivers”. on the main screen. The following
screen will appear.



3. Follow the prompts on the screen to complete installation.

4. Reboot the system for the driver to take effect.

The LAN driver for Windows NT 4.0 does not suppor t “Autorun”.
Once the system has detected the fast ethernet controller, it will
prompt you to install the driver for Windows NT 4.0. The dr iver is
in the “LANDRV” root directory of the CD. Please refer to
README for the exact location of the drivers.

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