EPOX EP-6VBA2 User Manual

TRADEMARK

All products and company names are trademarks or registered
trademarks of their respective holders.

These specifications are subject to change without notice.

Manual Revision 3.0

September 27, 1999

EP-6VBEP-6VB

EP-6VBEP-6VB

EP-6VB

A2A2

A2A2

A2

A PA P

A PA P

A P

entiumentium

entiumentium

entium

®®

®®

®

II or P II or P

II or P II or P

II or P

entiumentium

entiumentium

entium

®®

®®

®

III III

III III

III

Slot1 Processor based 4X AGPSlot1 Processor based 4X AGP

Slot1 Processor based 4X AGPSlot1 Processor based 4X AGP

Slot1 Processor based 4X AGP
mainboarmainboar

mainboarmainboar

mainboar

d (100/66MHz)d (100/66MHz)

d (100/66MHz)d (100/66MHz)

d (100/66MHz)

SupporSuppor

SupporSuppor

Suppor

ts PC-133 SDRAM Modulets PC-133 SDRAM Module

ts PC-133 SDRAM Modulets PC-133 SDRAM Module

ts PC-133 SDRAM Module

EP-6VBA2

User Notice

No part of this product, including the product and software may be reproduced,
transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any language
in any form without the express written permission of EPoX Computer Company
(hereinafter referred to as EPoX) except for documentation kept by the purchaser
for backup purposes.

We provide this manual “as is” without warranty of any kind, either expressed or
implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties or conditions of
merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. In no event shall EPoX be liable
for any loss of profits, loss of business, loss of use or data, interruption of busi­ness or for indirect, special incidental, or consequential damages of any kind, even
if EPoX has been advised of the possibility of such damages arising from any
defect or error in the manual or product. EPoX may revise this manual from time
to time without notice. For updated BIOS, drivers, or product release information
you may visit our websites at http://www.epox.com or http://www.epox.com.tw.

Products mentioned in this manual are mentioned for identification purposes only.
Product names appearing in this manual may or may not be registered trademarks
or copyrights of their respective companies. The product name and revision

number are both printed on the mainboard itself.

Handling Procedures

Static electricity can severely damage your equipment. Handle the EP-6VBA2 and
any other device in your system with extreme care and avoid unnecessary contact
with system components on the mainboard. Always work on an antistatic surface to
avoid possible damage to the mainboard from static discharge. Always have the
power supply unplugged and powered off when inserting and removing devices
within the computer chassis. EPoX assumes no responsibility for any damage to
the EP-6VBA2 mainboard that results from failure to follow instruction or failure
to observe safety precautions.

CAUTION

The EP-6VBA2 mainboard is subject to

damage by static electricity. Always

observe the handling procedures.

EP-6VBA2

T echnical Support Services

If you need additional information, help during installation or normal use of this
product, please contact your retailer. Your retailer will have the most current
information about your configuration. If your retailer cannot help, you may visit
our online technical support website and/or contact our support technicians at the
locations listed below.

Record your serial number before installing your EP-6VBA2 mainboard. (The
serial number is located near the ISA slots at the edge of the board.)

EP-6VBA2 serial number: _________________________________

Contacting Technical Support

EPoX technical support is working hard to answer all of your questions online.
From our website you can find answers to many common questions, drivers, BIOS
updates, tech notes, and important technical bulletins. If you are still unable to
locate the solution you are seeking, you always have the option to contact our
support technicians directly.

North American website (English language)

http://www.epox.com
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

European website (Multi-language)

http://www.epox.nl
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

Taiwan website (Chinese language)

http://www.epox.com.tw
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

Thank you for using EPoX mainboards!

Copyright 1999 EPoX Computer Company. All rights reserved.

EP-6VBA2

Table of Contents

Section 1 Introduction

Components Checklist ........................................1-1

Overview

Pentium® II or Pentium® III Processor............... 1-2

S.E.C. Cartridge Terminology ............................. 1-3

Accelerated Graphics Port..................................1-4

Hardware Monitoring ..........................................1- 4

EP-6VBA2 Form-Factor .....................................1-5

I/O Shield Connector ..........................................1-6

Power-On/Off (Remote)..................................... 1-6

System Block Diagram........................................ 1-7

Section 2 Features

EP-6VBA2 Features ............................................ 2-1

Section 3 Installation

EP-6VBA2 Detailed Layout................................ 3-2

Easy Installation Procedure

Configure Jumpers ..............................................3-3

System Memory Configuration ..........................3 -4

Installing a Pentium® II/III Processor.................3-6

Device Connectors .............................................. 3-8

External Modem Ring-in Power ON and

Keyboard Power ON Function (KBPO) ............. 3-10

Section 4 Award BIOS Setup

BIOS Instructions ................................................4-1

Standard CMOS Setup ......................................... 4-2

BIOS Features Setup ........................................... 4-3

Chipset Features Setup........................................ 4-8

Power Management Setup...................................4 -11

PNP/PCI Configuration ......................................4-14

Load Setup Defaults ............................................4-16

Integrated Peripherals .........................................4-16

Sensor and CPU Speed Setup.............................. 4-20

Page

EP-6VBA2

Change Supervisor or User Password.................4-22

IDE HDD Auto Detection ................................... 4-23

Save & Exit Setup ................................................4-25

Exit Without Saving............................................. 4-25

Driver Installation ............................................... 5-1

Appendix

Appendix A

Memory Map ....................................................... A-1

I/O Map ................................................................ A-1

Timer & DMA Channels Map .............................A-2

Interrupt Map ....................................................... A-2

R TC & CMOS RAM Map.................................... A-3

Appendix B

POST Codes......................................................... A-5

Unexpected Errors...............................................A-8

Appendix C

Load Setup Defaults ............................................ A-9

Appendix D

GHOST 5.1 Quick User’s Guide......................... A-11

EP-6VBA2

Page Left Blank

IntroductionEP-6VBA2

Page 1-1

Section 1

INTRODUCTION

Components Checklist

üü

üü

ü A. (1) EP-6VBA2 mainboard

üü

üü

ü B. (1) EP-6VBA2 user’s manual

üü

üü

ü C. (1) Floppy ribbon cable

üü

üü

ü D. (1) ATA-66 Hard drive ribbon cable

üü

üü

ü E. (1) Foldable Retention Module

F. (1) PS/2 to AT keyboard connector adapter (optional)

üü

üü

ü G. (1) Driver and utility

A

E

F

B

USER’S

MANUAL

EP-6VBA2

G

or

D

C

Introduction EP-6VBA2

Page 1-2

Overview

Pentium® II or Pentium® III Processor

The Pentium® II or Pentium® III Processor (The Pentium® III Processor as 400/
100MHz and 450/100MHz speed above with 512K-L2 cache Versions.) is the
follow-on to the Pentium® Processor. The Pentium® II or Pentium® III Processor,
like the Pentium® Pro processor, implements a Dynamic Execution micro­architecture -- a unique combination of multiple branch prediction, data flow
analysis, and speculative execution. This enables the Pentium® II/III Processor to
deliver higher performance than the Pentium® processor, while maintaining binary
compatibility with all previous Intel architecture processors.

A significant feature of the Pentium® II or Pentium® III Processor, from a system
perspective, is the built-in direct multiprocessing support. In order to achieve
multiprocessing, and maintain the memory and I/O bandwidth to support it, new
system designs are needed. For systems with dual processors, it is important to
consider the additional power burdens and signal integrity issues of supporting
multiple loads on a high speed bus. The Pentium® II or Pentium® III Processor
card supports both uni-processor and dual processor implementations.

The Pentium® II or Pentium® III Processor utilizes Single Edge Contact (S.E.C.)
(Figure 1) cartridge packaging technology. The S.E.C. cartridge allows the L2
cache to remain tightly coupled to the processor, while maintaining flexibility
when implementing high performance processors into OEM systems. The second
level cache is performance optimized and tested at the cartridge level. The S.E.C.
cartridge utilizes surface mounted core components and a printed circuit board
with an edge finger connection. The S.E.C. cartridge package introduced on the
Pentium® II Processor will also be used in future Slot 1 processors.

The S.E.C. cartridge has the following features: a thermal plate, a cover and a PCB
with an edge finger connection. The thermal plate allows standardized heatsink
attachment or customized thermal solutions. The thermal plate enables a reusable
heatsink to minimize fit issues for serviceability, upgradeability and replacement.
The full enclosure also protects the surface mount components. The edge finger
connection maintains socketabilty for system configuration. The edge finger
connector is denoted as ‘Slot 1 connector’ in this and other documentation.

IntroductionEP-6VBA2

Page 1-3

The entire enclosed product is called the Pentium® II or Pentium® III Processor.
The packaging technology and each of the physical elements of the product are
referred to using accurate technical descriptions. This allows clear reference to
the products as just a processor. This is the model used in past packaging tech­nologies like PGA, TCP, PQFP, DIP, etc.

S.E.C. Cartridge Terminology

• Pentium® II or Pentium® III Processor
The new enclosed card packaging technology is called a “Single Edge
Contact cartridge.” This is similar to previous names for packaging
technology such as PGA or TCP.

• Processor card
The green PCB (with or without components on it)

• Processor core
The silicon on the PLGA package on the PCB

• Cover
The plastic cover on the opposite side from the thermal plate.

• Slot 1
The slot that the S.E.C. cartridge plugs into, just as the Pentium® Pro
processor uses Socket 8.

• Retention mechanism
Formerly ‘retention module’ the dual posts, etc. that holds the cartridge in
place.

• Thermal plate
The heatsink attach­ment plate.

• Heat sink supports
The support pieces that
are mounted on the
mainboard to provide
added support for
heatsinks.

Figure 1: Pentium® II/III Processor CPU
with S.E.C.C. or S.E.C.C.2 Package

Pentium® II Processor
in an S.E.C.C. Package

Pentium® III Processor
in an S.E.C.C.2 Package

Introduction EP-6VBA2

Page 1-4

The L2 cache (TagRAM, PBSRAM) components keep standard industry names.
The Pentium® II or Pentium® III Processor is the first product to utilize the S.E.C.

cartridge technology and Slot 1 connector. Unless otherwise noted, any refer­ences to “Pentium® II Processor,” “Pentium® II or Pentium® III Processor/Slot 1
processor” or “Pentium III Processor” will apply to both the Pentium® II Proces­sor desktop processors.

Accelerated Graphics Port
(AGP or A.G.P.)

Typically, 3D graphics rendering requires a tremendous amount of memory, and
demands ever increasing throughput speed as well. As 3D products for the
personal computer become more and more popular, these demands will only
increase. This will cause a rise in costs for both end users and manufacturers.
Lowering these costs as well as improving performance is the primary motivation
behind AGP. By providing a massive increase in the bandwidth available between
the video card and the processor, it will assist in relieving some of these pres­sures for quite sometime.

Hardware Monitoring

Hardware monitoring allows you to monitor various aspects of your systems
operations and status. The features include CPU temperature, voltage and RPM
of fan.

IntroductionEP-6VBA2

Page 1-5

EP-6VBA2 Form-Factor

The EP-6VBA2 is designed with ATX form factor - the new industry standard of
chassis. ATX form factor is essentially a Baby-AT baseboard rotated 90 degrees
within the chassis enclosure and a new mounting configuration for the power
supply. With these changes the processor is relocated away from the expansion
slots, allowing them all to hold full length add-in cards. ATX defines a double
height aperture to the rear of the chassis which can be used to host a wide range of
onboard I/O. Only the size and position of this aperture is defined, allowing PC
manufacturers to add new I/O features (e.g.; TV input, TV output, joystick, modem,
LAN, etc.) to systems. This will help systems integrators differentiate their
products in the marketplace, and better meet your needs.

• By integrating more I/O down onto the board and better positioning the hard
drive and floppy connectors material cost of cables and add-in cards is
reduced.

• By reducing the number of cables and components in the system, manufactur­ing time and inventory holding costs are reduced and reliability will increase.

• By using an optimized power supply, it's possible to reduce cooling costs and
lower acoustical noise. An ATX power supply, which has a side-mounted fan,
allows direct cooling of the processor and add-in cards making a secondary
fan or active heatsink unnecessary in most system applications.

Full length
slots

Expandable I/O

5 1/4"

Bay

3 1/2"

Bay

Figure 2: Summary of ATX chassis features

CPU located near
Power Supply

Single chassis
fan for system

ATX
Power
Supply

ATX power connec­tor

Floppy / IDE
connectors
close to
peripheral
bays

Introduction EP-6VBA2

Page 1-6

Power-On/Off (Remote)

The EP-6VBA2 has a single 20-pin connector for ATX power supplies. For ATX
power supplies that support the Remote On/Off feature, this should be connected
to the systems front panel for system Power On/Off button. The systems power
On/Off button should be a momentary button that is normally open.

The EP-6VBA2 has been designed with “Soft Off" functions. You can turn Off the
system from one of two sources: The first is the front panel Power On/Off
button, and the other is the "Soft Off" function (coming from the EP-6VBA2’s
onboard circuit controller) that can be controlled by the operating system.
Windows 95/98 will control this when the user clicks that they are ready to
Shutdown the system.

Figure 4: Simple ATX Power ON/OFF Controller

J 3

ATX
POWER SUPPLY

Case (chassis) Power
ON/OFF button (J 3)

I/O Shield Connector

The EP-6VBA2 is equipped with an I/O back panel. Please use the appropriate I/
O shield (figure 3).

Figure 3: I/O back panel layout

PS/2 Mouse

PS/2

KEYBOARD

USB port

COM1 COM2

parallel port

Speaker

Line_in

MIC

Joystick/Midi

IntroductionEP-6VBA2

Page 1-7

Figure 5: System Block Diagram

System Block Diagram

PAC

PCI Bridge

and memory

controller

VT82C694X

100/66MHz

100/66MHz

66MHz

Pentium II

or

Processor

Pentium III

VT82C686A

I/O Bridge

AC

97

USB 0,1 USB 2,3

AMR Slot

Introduction EP-6VBA2

Page 1-8

Page Left Blank

FeaturesEP-6VBA2

Page 2-1

Section 2

FEATURES

EP-6VBA2 Features:

• EP-6VBA2 is based on the Pentium® II/III Processor operating at 266 ~

600MHz on Slot1. The board is configured by an ESSJ (Easy-Setting­Single-Jumper) to match your CPU clock speed.

• Designed with VIA Apollo Pro PCIset.

• Supports up to 768MB of DRAM (minimum of 8 MB) on board (please

see Section 3-2).

• EP-6VBA2 will support Error Checking and Correcting (ECC) when using

parity SDRAM memory modules. This will detect multiple bit errors and
correct 1-bit memory errors.

• Supports (1) 16 bit ISA slots, (5) 32 bit PCI slots, (1) 4X AGP slot, (1) AMR

slot and provides (2) independent high performance PCI IDE interfaces
capable of supporting PIO Mode 3/4 and Ultra DMA 33/66 devices.
The EP-6VBA2 supports (5) PCI Bus Master slots and a jumperless PCI
INT# control scheme which reduces configuration confusion when plugging
in PCI card(s).

• Supports ATAPI (e.g. CD-ROM) devices on both Primary and Secondary

IDE interfaces.

• Designed with on chip Multi I/O: (1) floppy port, (1) parallel port (EPP,

ECP), and (2) serial ports (16550 Fast UART).
Note: Japanese “Floppy 3 mode” is also supported

• Features Award Plug & Play BIOS. With Flash Memory you can always

upgrade to the current BIOS as they are released. (http://www.epox.com/
please visit our Technical Support section for the latest updates).

Features EP-6VBA2

Page 2-2

• EP-6VBA2 utilizes a Lithium battery which provides environmental

protection and longer battery life.

• Supports the (4) Universal Serial Bus (USB) Ports. The onboard

VT82C686A chip provides the means for connecting PC peripherals such
as; keyboards, joysticks, telephones, and modems.

• Built-in ATX 20-pin power supply connector.

• Software power-down when using Windows® 95/98.

• Supports ring-in feature (remote power-on through external modem,

allows system to be turned on remotely).

• Resume by Alarm - Allows your system to turn on at a preselected time.

• Power Loss Recovery - In the event of a power outtage your system will

automatically turn itself back on without user intervention.

• Supports CPU Hardware sleep and SMM (System Management Mode).

• Supports Keyboard power ON function (KBPO).

• Built-in WOL (Wake-up On Lan) Connector.

• Built-in WOM (Wake-up On Modem) Connector.

• Built-in AC97 PCI Audio.

InstallationEP-6VBA2

Page 3-1

Section 3

INSTALLATION

Installation EP-6VBA2

Page 3-2

Figure 1

EP-6VBA2 Detailed Layout

InstallationEP-6VBA2

Page 3-3

Easy Installation Procedure

Easy Installation Procedure

The following must be completed before powering on your new system:

3-1. Configure DIP Switch and Jumper to match your hardware
3-2. System memory Configuration
3-3. Install Pentium II or Pentium III Processor
3-4. Device Connectors
3-5. External Modem Ring-in Power ON and Keyboard Power ON

Functions (KBPO)

Section 3-1
Configure DIP Switch

We design this motherboard with a DIP Switch to make your install fast and easy.
The following will describe all of the DIP Switch that you are required to set before

moving on to step 3-2.

Note: The DIP Switch as depicted as shown (Figure 1) in their correct

physical orientation.

1234

ON

1WS)zHM(UPC

1234 oitaRzHM66zHM001zHM331

NONONOX3002003004
NONOX5.3332053764

NONONOX4662004335
NONOX5.4003054006

NONOX5333005666*

NOX5.5663055
NONONOX6004006
NONOX5.6334056*
NONOX7664007*
NOX5.7005*057*

NONOX8335*008*

*reserved

JP1 Clear COMS

1-2 : N orm al(default)
2-3 : C lear C MO S

JP4 Keyboard P ow er-ON Functio n Selection

1-2 : Disabled(default)
2-3 : E nabled

Installation EP-6VBA2

Page 3-4

Section 3-2
System Memory Configuration

Memory Layout

The EP-6VBA2 supports (3) PC133 168-pin DIMMs (Dual In-line Memory
Module). The DIMMs can be either EDO (Enhanced Data Out) or SDRAM
(Synchronized DRAM).

• DIMM SDRAM may be 83MHz (12ns), 100MHz (10ns) or
125MHz (8ns) bus speed.

• If you use both 50ns and 60ns memory you must configure
your BIOS to read 60ns.

• When using Synchronous DRAM we recommend using the
4 clock variety over the 2 clock.

Figure 2 and Table 1 show several possible memory configurations using both
SIMM and DIMM.

* SDRAM only supports 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256MB DIMM modules.
* We recommend to use PC100 Memory Module for bus speed between 66MHz

and 100MHz and PC133 Memory for bus speed over 100MHz.

* Using non-compliant memory with higher bus speed (over clocking) may

severely compromise the integrity of the system.

DIMM 1

DIMM 2

Bank 0/1

Bank 2/3

DIMM 3

Bank 4/5

-Synchronous

-EDO

yromeMlatoT

1MMID

)1/0knaB(

2MMID

)3/2knaB(

3MMID

)5/4knaB(

BM652=

mumixaM

*MARDS/ODE

,BM46,BM23,BM61,BM8

1XBM652,BM821

enoNenoN

BM215=

mumixaM

*MARDS/ODE

,BM46,BM23,BM61,BM8

1XBM652,BM821

*MARDS/ODE

,BM46,BM23,BM61,BM8

1XBM652,BM821

enoN

BM867=

mumixaM

*MARDS/ODE

,BM46,BM23,BM61,BM8

1XBM652,BM821

*MARDS/ODE

,BM46,BM23,BM61,BM8

1XBM652,BM821

*MARDS/ODE

,BM46,BM23,BM61,BM8

1XBM652,BM821

Figure 2

Table 1

InstallationEP-6VBA2

Page 3-5

DIMM Module Installation

Figure 3 displays the notch marks and what they should look like on your DIMM
memory module.

DIMMs have 168-pins and two notches that will match with the onboard DIMM
socket. DIMM modules are installed by placing the chip firmly into the socket at a
90 degree angle and pressing straight down (figure 4) until it fits tightly into the
DIMM socket (figure 5).

Figure 3

Figure 5

DIMM Module clip after installation

To remove the DIMM module simply press down both of the white clips on
either side and the module will be released from the socket.

Figure 4

DIMM Module clip before installation

CENTER KEY ZONE
(3.3 V DRAM)

LEFT KEY ZONE

(UNBUFFERED)

Installation EP-6VBA2

Page 3-6

Section 3-3
Installing a Pentium II/III Processor

The EP-6VBA2 uses the Single Edge Contact (SEC) slot for a Pentium® II/III
processor packaged in an SEC cartridge. The SEC slot is not compatible with other
non-Pentium® II/III processors.

Please have ready the following list of components so that we may install the
processor onto the motherboard.

1. Pentium® II/III processor heat sink

2. Intel Pentium® II/III Processor

OK, now that you have all of your components ready, we can start.

First, please refer to figure 6 below, and follow the direction to lift up the
fixed foldable pentium® II/III Retention Mechanism. This pre-installed
device is designed for you to install Pentium® II/III CPU more easier and to
avoide any damage on the board due to overtightening the four screws.

One thing must be kept in your mind that please make sure to lift upright the
foldable parts of the Retention module to fit and install CPU properly.

Figure 6

Now we are going to put the heatsink or cooler onto Pentium® II/III processor.
Due to the processor is more and more faster in the feature. The power consump­tion is larger than before processor. We strong recommend a good attach fan
heatsink or cooler onto the processor’s OLGA package become very important.

The Pentium® II/III processor may also be offered as Intel® boxed processors. The
boxed processor’s fan heatsink requires a +12V power supply. A fan power cable

InstallationEP-6VBA2

Page 3-7

will be shipped with the boxed processor to draw power from a power header on
the mainboard’s J4.

Now we are ready to install the SEC Cartridge (Pentium II/III Processor) into the
Retention Module. The SEC Cartridge is mounted by sliding the SEC Cartridge
into the Retention Module and letting it slide all the way down. Once it reaches the

bottom make sure you press firmly on SEC cartridge to firmly secure into the Slot
1 Socket.

Installation EP-6VBA2

Page 3-8

Section 3-4
Device Connectors

Please install the motherboard into the chassis.

Now that your motherboard is installed you are ready to connect all your connec­tions (figure 7).

J2,J3: Chassis Panel Connector

• Power LED, Speaker, Reset, Turbo LED, HDD LED, IR Conn., Sleep/
Power_ON

J4: CPU Fan Power

• A plug-in for the CPU Fan Power

J6: Chassis Fan Power

• A plug-in for the chassis Fan Power

J7: WOL (Wake On Lan) Connector
J8: WOM (Wake On Modem) Connector
IDE1: Primary IDE Connector
IDE2: Secondary IDE Connector
FDD1: Floppy Controller Connector
PW1: ATX Power Connector

• 20-pin power connector

CD1: CD Audio Connector
AUX1: AUX Audio Connector

MODEM1: Telephony Connector

• Pin1(Audio_in), Pin2/Pin3(GND), Pin4(Mic-out to Modem)

Figure 7

PS/2 Mouse

PS/2

KEYBOARD

USB port

COM1 COM2

parallel port

Speaker

Line_in

MIC

Joystic/Midi port

InstallationEP-6VBA2

Page 3-9

Device Connectors (continued)

(This is connected to the power button on the case. Using the Soft-Off
by Pwr-BTTN feature, you can choose either Instant Off (turns system
off immediatly), or 4 sec delay (you need to hold the button down for
4 seconds before the system turns off). When the system is in 4 sec
delay mode, there is a special feature to make the system to go into
suspend mode when the button is pressed momentarily).

Turbo LED indicator - LED ON when higher speed is selected
IDE LED indicator - LED ON when Onboard PCI IDE Hard disks

is activate

J3

1

+

+

IR Connector

1. VCC 4. GND

2. NC 5. IRTX

3. IRRX

1

Power On/Off

J2

Speaker -

Connect to the system's speaker for beeping

1. Speaker 3. GND

2. N/C 4. GND

Reset - Closed to restart system.

Power LED - Power LED connector

1. Power LED(+) 4. NC

2. N/C 5. GND

3. GND

1

1

1

Installation EP-6VBA2

Page 3-10

Section 3-5
External Modem Ring-in Power
ON and Keyboard Power ON
Functions (KBPO)

On the basis of bounded functions in I/O chipset, the two serial ports are able to
support the External Modem Ring-in Power ON function. Once users connect the
external modem to COM1 or COM2, the EP-6VBA2 mainboard allows users to turn
on their system through the remote and host's dial-up control.

Exclusive Keyboard Power ON Function

To innovate a unique feature to benefit users, we devoted the easiest and most
convenient way to turn on your system based on the the ATX power supply.

How to work with it

Step 1: Please check JP4 at the position 2-3 after you finished the system

installation.

Step 2: You can enjoy the Keyboard Power ON function (KBPO) by pressing any

key and BUTTON only to turn on your system. Your system will be turned

on automatically, after releasing the keys. To power off you system, you
can use the Soft-OFF function under Windows 95/98.

Notes: Intel ATX version 2.0 specification has recommended you use the power

supply with 0.72A(720mA) in 5.0VSB. With our EP-6VBA2 mainboard,
the 5.0VSB standby power only has to be > = 0.2A (200mA) then you can
enjoy this unique benefit. However, the ATX power supply which is < 0.
2 (200mA) is still applicable to your system by placed JP4 at the position
1-2 to disable this feature.

JP4 Keyboard P ower-O N F unction Selection

1-2 : D isabled(default)
2-3 : Enabled

BIOS

EP-6VBA2

Page 4-1

Section 4

AWARD BIOS SETUP

BIOS Instructions

Award’s ROM BIOS provides a built-in Setup program which allows user to
modify the basic system configuration and hardware parameters. The modified
data will be stored in a battery-backed CMOS, so that data will be retained even
when the power is turned off. In general, the information saved in the CMOS
RAM will stay unchanged unless there is a configuration change in the system,
such as hard drive replacement or a device is added.

It is possible for the CMOS battery to fail, this will cause data loss in the CMOS
only. If this does happen you will need to reconfigure your BIOS settings.

To enter the Setup Program :

Power on the computer and press the <Del> key immediately, this will bring you
into the BIOS CMOS SETUP UTILITY.

Figure 1: CMOS Setup Utility

BIOS EP-6VBA2

Page 4-2

The menu displays all the major selection items. Select the item you need to
reconfigure. The selection is made by moving the cursor (press any direction key
) to the item and pressing the ‘Enter’ key. An on-line help message is displayed at
the bottom of the screen as the cursor is moved to various items which provides a
better understanding of each function. When a selection is made, the menu of the
selected item will appear so that the user can modify associated configuration
parameters.

4-1 Standard CMOS Setup

Choose “Standard CMOS Setup” in the CMOS SETUP UTILITY Menu (Figure 2).
The Standard CMOS Setup allows the user to configure system settings such as
the current date and time, type of hard disk drive installed, floppy drive type, and
display type. Memory size is auto-detected by the BIOS and displayed for your
reference. When a field is highlighted (use direction keys to move the cursor and
the <Enter> key to select), the entries in the field can be changed by pressing the
<PgDn> or the <PgUp> key.

Figure 2: Standard CMOS Setup

BIOS

EP-6VBA2

Page 4-3

NOTE: If the hard disk Primary Master/Slave and Secondary Master/
Slave are set to Auto, then the hard disk size and model will be auto­detected.
NOTE: The “Halt On:” field is used to determine when to halt the system
by the BIOS if an error occurs.
NOTE: Floppy 3 Mode support is a mode used to support a special 3.5”
drive used in Japan. This is a 3.5” disk that stores only 1.2 MB, the
default setting for this is disabled.

4-2 BIOS Features Setup

Selecting the “BIOS FEATURES SETUP” option in the CMOS SETUP UTILITY
menu allows users to change system related parameters in the displayed menu.
This menu shows all of the manufacturer’s default values for the EP-6VBA2.

Pressing the [F1] key will display a help message for the selected item.

Figure 3: BIOS Features Setup

BIOS EP-6VBA2

Page 4-4

Virus Warning: During and after the system boots up, any attempt to write to the
boot sector or partition table of the hard disk drive will halt the system and an
error message will appear.

You should then run an anti-virus program to locate the virus. Keep in mind that
this feature protects only the boot sector, not the entire hard drive.
The default value is Disabled.

Enabled: Activates automatically when the system boots up causing a warning

message to appear when anything attempts to access the boot sector.

Disabled: No warning message will appear when anything attempts to access the

boot sector.

Note: Many disk diagnostic programs that access the boot sector table

can trigger the virus warning message. If you plan to run such a
program, we recommend that you first disable the virus warning.

CPU Internal Cache: This controls the status of the processor’s internal cache
area. The default is Enabled.
Enabled: This activates the processor’s internal cache thereby increasing

performance.

Disabled: This deactivates the processor’s internal cache thereby lowering

performance.

External (L2) Cache: This controls the status of the external (L2) cache area.
The default is Enabled.
Enabled: This activates the motherboard’s L2 cache thereby increasing

performance.

Disabled: This deactivates the motherboard’s L2 cache thereby lowering

performance.

CPU L2 Cache ECC Checking: This control if the CPU’s L2 Cache will
support Error Checking and Correcting (ECC). The default is Disabled.
Enabled: Enables ECC support for the CPU’s L2 cache. Performance will

decrease 2% ~ 4%.

Disabled: Disables ECC support for the CPU’s L2 cache.

Processor Number Feature: Pentium III or later CPU new feature. The default

is Enabled.

Enabled: Processor serial number readable.
Disabled: Processor serial number disabled.

BIOS

EP-6VBA2

Page 4-5

Quick Power On Self Test: This category speeds up the Power On Self Test
(POST). The default is Enabled.

Enabled: This setting will shorten or skip of the items checked during POST.
Disabled: Normal POST.

Boot Sequence: This category determines which drive is searched first by the O/S

(Operating System). The default is A,C,SCSI.

The following is your list of options:
[A, C, SCSI] - [C, A, SCSI] - [C, CD-ROM, A] - [CD-ROM, C, A]
[D, A,CD-ROM],[E, A, CD-ROM] - [F, A, CD-ROM] - [SCSI, A, C]
[SCSI C, A] - [C Only]

Swap Floppy Drive: This will swap your physical drive letters A & B if you are
using two floppy disks. The default is Disabled.

Enabled: Floppy A & B will be swapped under the O/S.
Disabled: Floppy A & B will be not swapped.

Boot Up Floppy Seek: During Power-On-Self-Test (POST), BIOS will deter-

mine if the floppy disk drive installed is 40 or 80 tracks. Only 360K type is 40
tracks while 760K, 1.2MB and 1.44MB are all 80 tracks. The default is Enabled.
Enabled: The BIOS will search the floppy disk drive to determine if it is 40 or

80 tracks.

Disabled: The BIOS will not search for the type of floppy disk drive by track

number.

Note: BIOS can not tell the difference between 720K, 1.2MB and 1.44MB

drive types as they are all 80 tracks.

Boot Up NumLock Status: This controls the state of the NumLock key when the
system boots. The default is On.

On: The keypad acts as a 10-key pad.
Off: The keypad acts like the cursor keys.

IDE HDD Block Mode: IDE Block Mode allows the controller to access blocks

of sectors rather than a single sector at a time. The default is Enabled.

Enabled: Enabled IDE HDD Block Mode. Provides higher HDD transfer rates.
Disabled: Disable IDE HDD Block Mode.

BIOS EP-6VBA2

Page 4-6

Gate A20 Option: This refers to the way the system addresses memory above
1MB (extended memory). The default is Fast.
Normal: The A20 signal is controlled by the keyboard controller or chipset

hardware.

Fast: The A20 signal is controlled by Port 92 or chipset specific method.

Memory Parity/ECC Check: If the DRAM chip in your system support Parity/

ECC check, select Enabled.

Typematic Rate Setting: This determines the keystrokes repeat rate.
The default is Disabled.

Enabled: Allows typematic rate and typematic delay programming.
Disabled: The typematic rate and typematic delay will be controlled by the

keyboard controller in your system.

Typematic Rate (Chars/Sec): This is the number of characters that will be
repeated by a keyboard press. The default is 6.

6: 6 characters per second. 8: 8 characters per second.
10: 10 characters per second. 12: 12 characters per second.
15: 15 characters per second. 20: 20 characters per second.
24: 24 characters per second. 30: 30 characters per second.

Typematic Delay (msec): This setting controls the time between the first and
the second character displayed by typematic auto-repeat. The default is 250.

250: 250 msec.
500: 500 msec.
750: 750 msec.
1000: 1000 msec.

Security Option: This category allows you to limit access to the System and
Setup, or just to Setup. The default is Setup.
System: The system will not boot and the access to Setup will be denied if the

correct password is not entered at the prompt.

Setup: The system will boot; but the access to Setup will be denied if the

incorrect password is not entered at the prompt.

BIOS

EP-6VBA2

Page 4-7

PCI/VGA Palette Snoop: This field controls the ability of a primary PCI VGA
controller to share a common palette (When a snoop write cycles) with an ISA
video card. The default is Disabled.
Enabled: If an ISA card is connected to a PCI VGA card via the VESA

connector, and that ISA card connects to a VGA monitor, then that ISA
card uses the RAMDAC of the PCI card.

OS Select For DRAM > 64MB: Some operating systems require special
handling. Use this option only if your system has greater than 64MB of memory.
The default is Non-OS2.
OS2: Select this if you are running the OS/2 operating system with greater

than 64MB of RAM.

Non-OS2: Select this for all other operating systems and configurations.

HDD S.M.A.R.T Capability: Enable SMART hard drive functions for compat-

ible hardware. The default is Disabled.

Enabled: S.M.A.R.T features are available.
Disabled: S.M.A.R.T features will not be available.

Report No FDD For WIN95: This option allows BIOS to indicate whether

WIN95 is with FDD or not. The Default value is NO.

NO: Report No FDD for WIN95.
YES: Report FDD for WIN95

Video BIOS Shadow: This option allows video BIOS to be copied into RAM.
Video Shadowing will increase the video performance of your system.
The default is Enabled.

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

C8000 - CBFFF Shadow: CC000 - CFFFF Shadow:
D0000 - D3FFF Shadow: D4000 - D7FFF Shadow:
D8000 - DBFFF Shadow: DC000 - DFFFF Shadow:

These categories determine whether ROMs from option cards will be copied into
RAM. This will be in 16K byte or 32K byte units, and the size will depend on
chipset of the option card.

Enabled: Optional shadow is enabled.
Disabled: Optional shadow is disabled.

BIOS EP-6VBA2

Page 4-8

Bank 0/1, 2/3, 4/5 DRAM Timing: This value in this field is set by the system
board manufacturer, depending on whether the board has paged DRAMs or EDO
(extended data output) DRAMs.
The Choice: Bank 0/1, 2/3, 4/5.

SDRAM Cycle length: This setting defines the CAS timing parameter of the
SDRAM in terms of clocks. The default is 3.

2: Provides faster memory performance.
3: Provides better memory compatibility.

SDRAM Bank Interleave: The item allows you to set how many banks of
SDRAM support in your mainboard.
The Choice: 2 Bank, 4 Bank, Disabled.

4-3 Chipset Features Setup

Choose the “CHIPSET FEATURES SETUP” in the CMOS SETUP UTILITY menu
to display following menu.

Figure 4: Chipset Features Setup

BIOS

EP-6VBA2

Page 4-9

DRAM Page-Mode: The item will active or inactive chipset page registers.

Enabled: Page-Mode Enabled.
Disabled: No page registers update and non Page-Mode operation.

Memory Hole : You can reserve this memory area for the use of ISA adaptor
ROMs. The default is Disabled.

Enabled: This field enables the main memory (15~16MB) to remap to ISA BUS.
Disabled: Normal Setting.
Note: If this feature is enabled you will not be able to cache this memory segment.

System BIOS Cacheable: This allows you to copy your BIOS code from slow
ROM to fast RAM. The default is Disabled.
Enabled: The option will improve system performance. However, if any program

writes to this memory area, a system error may result.

Disabled: System BIOS non-cacheable.

Video BIOS Cacheable: This option copies the video ROM BIOS to fast RAM

(C0000h to C7FFFh). The default is Enabled.

Enabled: Enables the Video BIOS Cacheable to speed up the VGA Performance.
Disabled: Will not use the Video BIOS Cacheable function.

Video RAM Cacheable: This option allows the CPU to cache read/writes of the

video RAM. The default is Enabled.

Enabled: This option allows for faster video access.
Disabled: Reduced video performance.

AGP Aperture Size: The amount of system memory that the AGP card is

allowed to share. The default is 64.

4: 4MB of systems memory accessable by the AGP card.
8: 8MB of systems memory accessable by the AGP card.
16: 16MB of systems memory accessable by the AGP card.
32: 32MB of systems memory accessable by the AGP card.
64: 64MB of systems memory accessable by the AGP card.
128: 128MB of systems memory accessable by the AGP card.
256: 256MB of systems memory accessable by the AGP card.

BIOS EP-6VBA2

Page 4-10

AGP-4X Mode: Chipset AGP Mode support.
Options: x1 , x2 and x4.

OnChip USB: Select Enabled if your system contains a Universal Serial Bus
(USB) controller and you have a USB peripheral.

USB Keyboard Support: This controls the activation status of an optional USB
keyboard that may be attached. The default is disabled.

Enabled: Enable USB keyboard support.
Disabled: Disable USB keyboard support.

OnChip Sound: Turn on/off onchip sound device.

OnChip Modem: Turn on/off onchip software modem device.

BIOS

EP-6VBA2

Page 4-11

4-4 Power Management Setup

Choose the “POWER MANAGEMENT SETUP” in the CMOS SETUP UTILITY to
display the following screen. This menu allows the user to modify the power
management parameters and IRQ signals. In general, these parameters should not
be changed unless it’s absolutely necessary.

Figure 5: Power Management Setup

ACPI Function: This option allows you to select ACPI Function.
The default is Enabled.

Enabled: Support ACPI function for new O.S
Disabled: No Support ACPI function.

You can only change the content of Doze Mode, Standby Mode, and Suspend
Mode when the Power Management is set to ‘User Define’.

Power Management: Use this to select your Power Management selection.
The default is User define.

Disabled: The system operates in NORMAL conditions (Non-GREEN), and

the Power Management function is disabled.

Max. saving: Maximum power savings. Inactivity period is 1 minute in each mode.

BIOS EP-6VBA2

Page 4-12

Min. saving: Minimum power savings. Inactivity period is 1 hour in each mode.
User define: Allows user to define PM Timers parameters to control power

saving mode.

PM controlled APM: This option shows weather or not you want the Power
Management to be controlled the Advanced Power Management (APM).
The default is Yes.

Yes: APM controls your PM
No: APM does not control your PM

Video Off After: Tells you what time frame that the video will be disabled under

current power management settings. The default is Standby.

Standby: Video powers off after time shown in standby mode setting.
Doze: Video powers off after time shown in doze mode setting.
Suspend: Video powers off after time shown in suspend mode setting.
N/A: Video power off not controlled by power management.

Video Off Method: This option allows you to select how the video will be

disabled by the power management. The default is V/H Sync + Blank
V/H Sync + Blank: System turns off vertical and horizontal synchronization

ports and writes blanks to the video buffer.

DPMS: Select this option if your monitor supports the Display

Power Management Signaling (DPMS) standard of the
Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA). Use the
software supplied for your video subsystem to select video
power management values.

Blank Screen: System only writes blanks to the video buffer.

MODEM Use IRQ: Name the interrupt request (IRQ) line assigned to the

modem (if any) on your system. Activity of the selected IRQ always awakens the
system. Default is IRQ 3.

N/A: No IRQ is used. 3: IRQ 3
4: IRQ 4 5: IRQ 5
7: IRQ 7 9: IRQ 9
10: IRQ 10 11: IRQ 11

BIOS

EP-6VBA2

Page 4-13

Soft-Off by PWRBTN: Use this to select your soft-off function.
The default is Delay 4 sec.

Instant Off: Turns off the system instantly.
Delay 4 Second : Turns off the system after a 4 second delay. If momentary

press of button, the system will go into Suspend Mode. Press
the power botton again to take system out of Suspend Mode.

HDD Power Down: HDD Standby timer can be set from 1 to 15 minute(s).

Doze Mode: The “Doze” mode timer starts to count when no “PM events” have

occurred.

Suspend Mode: This function works only when the Pentium II Processor is
installed. The timer starts to count when “System Standby” mode timer is timed
out and no “PM Events” are occurring. Valid range is from 1 minute up to 1 hour.

VGA: When set to On (default), any event occurring at a VGA port will awaken a
system which has been powered down.

LPT & COM: When set to On (default), any event occurring at a COM(serial)/
LPT (printer) port will awaken a system which has been powered down.

HDD & FDD: When set to On (default), any event occurring at a hard or floppy
drive port will awaken a system which has been powered down.

PCI Master: When set to On (default), any event occurring to the DMA control-
ler will awaken a system which has been powered down.

Modem Ring Resume: When set to Enabled, any event occurring to the Modem
Ring will awaken a system which has been powered down.

RTC Alarm Resume: When set to Enable rtc alarm resume, you could set the
date (of month) and timer (hh:mm:ss), any event occurring at will awaken a
system which has been powered down.

Primary INTR: When set to On (default), any event occurring at will awaken a
system which has been powered down.

BIOS EP-6VBA2

Page 4-14

4-5 PNP/PCI Configuration

The PNP/PCI configuration program is for the user to modify the PCI/ISA IRQ
signals when various PCI/ISA cards are inserted in the PCI or ISA slots.

WARNING: Conflicting IRQ’s may cause the system to not find certain devices.

Figure 6: PCI Configuration Setup

PNP OS Installed: Do you have a PNP OS installed on your system. The default
is No.

Yes: Select if you are using a PNP OS.
No: Select if your OS does not support PNP.

Resources Controlled By: Who controlled the system PNP/PCI resources.

The default is Auto.
Manual: PNP Card’s resources will be controlled manually. You can set which

IRQ-X and DMA-X are assigned to PCI/ISA PNP or Legacy ISA Cards.

Auto: If your ISA card and PCI card are all PNP cards, BIOS will assign the

interrupt resource automatically.

BIOS

EP-6VBA2

Page 4-15

Reset Configuration Data: This setting allows you to clear ESCD data.
The default is Disabled

Disabled: Normal Setting.
Enabled: If you have plugged in some Legacy cards to the system and they were

recorded into ESCD (Extended System Configuration Data), you can
set this field to Enabled in order to clear ESCD.

CPU to PCI Write Buffer: When enabled, up to four D words of data can be
written to the PCI bus without interruting the CPU. When disabled, a write buffer
is not used and the CPU read cycle will not be completed until the PCI bus signals
that it is ready to receive the data.
The Choice: Enabled, Disabled.

PCI Dynamic Bursting: When Enabled, data transfers on the PCI bus, where
possible, make use of the high-performance PCI bust protocol, in which graeater
amounts of data are transferred at a single command.
The Choice: Enabled, Disabled.

PCI Master 0 WS Write: When Enabled, writes to the PCI bus are command
with zero wait states.
The Choice: Enabled, Disabled.

PCI Delay Transaction: The chipset has an embedded 32-bit posted write buffer
to support delay transactions cycles. Select Enabled to support compliance with
PCI specification version 2.1.
The Choice: Enabled, Disabled.

PCI #2 Access #1 Retry: This item allows you enabled/disable the PCI #2
Access #1 Retry.
The Choice: Enabled, Disabled.

Slot 1 to Slot 5 Use IRQ No: These settings allow the user to specify what IRQ
will be assigned to PCI devices in the chosen slot. Options available: Auto,3,4,5,
7,9,10,11,12,14 & 15. The defaults are Auto.

BIOS EP-6VBA2

Page 4-16

4-6 Load Setup Defaults

The “LOAD SETUP DEFAULTS” function loads the system default data directly
from ROM and initializes the associated hardware properly. This function will be
necessary only when the system CMOS data is corrupted.

4-7 Integrated Peripherals

Figure 8: Integrated Peripherals

Note: If you do not use the Onboard IDE connector, then you will need to

set Onboard Primary PCI IDE: Disabled and Onboard Secondary
PCI IDE: Disabled

Note: The Onboard PCI IDE cable should be equal to or less than 18

inches (45 cm.).

OnChip IDE Channel0: The default value is Enabled.
Enabled: Enables Onboard IDE primary port.
Disabled: Disables Onboard IDE primary port.

BIOS

EP-6VBA2

Page 4-17

OnChip IDE Channel1: The default is Enabled.
Enabled: Enables Onboard IDE secondary port.
Disabled: Disables Onboard IDE secondary port.

IDE Prefetch Mode: Enable prefetching for IDE drive interfaces that support its

faster drive accesses. If uou are getting disk drive errors, change the setting to
omit the drive interface where the errors occur. Depending on the configuration
of your IDE subsystem, this field may not appear, and it does not appear when the
Internal PCI/IDE field, above, is Disabled.

The Choice: Enabled, Disabled.

Primary Master PIO: The default is Auto.
Auto: BIOS will automatically detect the Onboard Primary Master PCI IDE

HDD Accessing mode.

Mode 0~4: Manually set the IDE Programmed interrupt mode.

Primary Slave PIO: The default is Auto.
Auto: BIOS will automatically detect the Onboard Primary Slave PCI IDE

HDD Accessing mode.

Mode 0~4: Manually set the IDE Programmed interrupt mode.

Secondary Master PIO: The default is Auto.
Auto: BIOS will automatically detect the Onboard Secondary Master PCI

IDE HDD Accessing mode.

Mode 0~4: Manually set the IDE Programmed interrupt mode.

Secondary Slave PIO: The default is Auto.
Auto: BIOS will automatically detect the Onboard Secondary Slave PCI

IDE HDD Accessing mode.

Mode 0~4: Manually set the IDE Programmed interrupt mode.

Primary Master UDMA: This allows you to select the mode of operation for

the hard drive. The default is Auto.

Auto: The computer will select the optimal setting.
Disabled: The hard drive will run in normal mode.

BIOS EP-6VBA2

Page 4-18

Primary Slave UDMA: This allows you to select the mode of operation for the
hard drive. The default is Auto.

Auto: The computer will select the optimal setting.
Disabled: The hard drive will run in normal mode.

Secondary Master UDMA: This allows you to select the mode of operation for

the hard drive. The default is Auto.

Auto: The computer will select the optimal setting.
Disabled: The hard drive will run in normal mode.

Secondary Slave UDMA: This allows you to select the mode of operation for

the hard drive. The default is Auto.

Auto: The computer will select the optimal setting.
Disabled: The hard drive will run in normal mode.

Init Display First: If two video cards are used (1 AGP and 1 PCI) this specifies

which one will be the primary display adapter. The default is PCI Slot.

PCI Slots: PCI video card will be primary adapter.
AGP: AGP video card will be primary adapter.

Onboard FDD Controller: This controls the state of the onboard floppy

controller. The default value is Enabled.

Enabled: Enable the Onboard Winbond Chips’s floppy drive interface controller.
Disabled: Disable the Onboard Winbond Chip’s floppy drive interface controller.

Onboard Serial Port 1: This field allows the user to configure the 1st serial

port. The default is Auto.

AUTO: Enable Onboard Serial port 1 and address is Auto adjusted.
COM1: Enable Onboard Serial port 1 and address is 3F8H/IRQ4.
COM2: Enable Onboard Serial port 1 and address is 2F8H/IRQ3.
COM3: Enable Onboard Serial port 1 and address is 3E8H/IRQ4.
COM4: Enable Onboard Serial port 1 and address is 2E8H/IRQ3.
Disabled: Disable Onboard SMC CHIP’s Serial port 1.

Onboard Serial Port 2: This field allows the user to configure the 2nd serial port.

The default is Auto.

AUTO: Enable Onboard Serial port 2 and address is Auto adjusted.
COM1: Enable Onboard Serial port 2 and address is Auto.

BIOS

EP-6VBA2

Page 4-19

COM2: Enable Onboard Serial port 2 and address is 2F8H/IRQ3.
COM3: Enable Onboard Serial port 2 and address is 3E8H/IRQ4.
COM4: Enable Onboard Serial port 2 and address is 2E8H/IRQ3.
Disabled: Disable Onboard SMC CHIP’s Serial port 2.

UART 2 Mode: This item allows you to determine which Infra Red (IR) function

of onboard I/O chip.
The Choice: Standard, ASKIR, HPSIR.

Onboard Parallel port: This field allows the user to configure the LPT port.
The default is 378H / IRQ7.

378H: Enable Onboard LPT port and address is 378H and IRQ7.
278H: Enable Onboard LPT port and address is 278H and IRQ5.
3BCH: Enable Onboard LPT port and address is 3BCH and IRQ7.
Disabled: Disable Onboard Winbond Chip’s LPT port.

Parallel Port Mode: This field allows the user to select the parallel port mode.

The default is Normal.

Normal: Standard mode. IBM PC/AT Compatible bidirectional parallel port.
EPP: Enhanced Parallel Port mode.
ECP: Extended Capabilities Port mode.
EPP+ECP: ECP Mode & EPP Mode.

Onboard Legacy Audio: Legacy Audio enabled/disabled.
Sound Blaster: Sound Blaster compatible device enabled/disabled.
SB I/O Base Address: Sound Blaster I/O resource selection.
SB IRQ Select: Legacy audio device IRQ selection.
SB DMA Select: Sound Blaster DMA channel selection.
MPU-401: MPU-401 function enabled/disabled.
MPU-401 I/O Address: Built-in MPU-401 compatible MIDI I/O port selection:

300-303H
310-313H
320-323H
330-333H (default)

Game Port (200-207H): Built-in joystick port support disabled/enabled(default).

BIOS EP-6VBA2

Page 4-20

Auto Detect DIMM/PCI Clk: When enabled the motherboard will automatically
disable the clock source for a DIMM socket which does not have a module in it.
Same applies for PCI slots. The default is Enabled.

Enabled: Enables this option.
Disabled: Disables this option.

Spread Spectrum : The default is Disabled.

Enabled: Enables this option.
Disabled: Disables this option.

CPU Host Clock (CPU/PCI): Allows the external clock to be modified
depending upon what FSB has been selected. Should not be used to clock proces­sor faster than it was designed for. The default is Default.

66MHz FSB options: Default, 66.8, 68.5, 75, and 83MHz.
100MHz FSB options: Default, 100, 103, 112, and 133MHz.

4-8 Sensor and CPU Speed Setup

31oC/87oF

0 RPM

1.52V

5.02V

24oC/75oF

0 RPM

2.07V

3.33V

12.15V

BIOS

EP-6VBA2

Page 4-21

DRAM Clock Is: The item will synchronize/asynchronize DRAM operation
clock.

Host Clock: DRAM has same working clock with CPU host bus.
2/3 Host: DRAM running with lower operation clock.

CPUFAN Off In Suspend: This option is used to set if the CPU fans will turn off
during suspend mode. The default is Enabled.

Enabled: The system will turn off the CPU fans during suspend mode.
Disabled: The system will not turn off the CPU fan during suspend mode.

Current System Temp: This is the Current temperature of the system.

Current CPU Temperature: This is the current temperature of the CPU.

Current CPU FAN Speed: The current CPU fan speed in RPMs.
Current Chassis FAN Speed: The current chassis fan speed in RPMs.

CPU(V): The voltage level of the CPU(Vio/Vcore).
Vtt, +3.3V, +5V, +12V: The voltage level of the switch power supply.

BIOS EP-6VBA2

Page 4-22

4-9 Change Supervisor or User Password

To change the password, choose the “SUPERVISOR PASSWORD or USER
PASSWORD” option from the CMOS SETUP UTILITY menu and press [Enter].

Note: Either “Setup” or “System” must be selected in the “Security

Option” of the BIOS FEA TURES SETUP menu.

1. If CMOS is corrupted or the option was not used, a default password
stored in the ROM will be used. The screen will display the following
message:

Enter Password:
Press the [Enter] key to continue after the proper password is given.

2. If the CMOS is corrupted or the option was used earlier and the user
wishes to change the default password, the SETUP UTILITY will display
a message and ask for a confirmation.

Confirm Password:

3. After pressing the [Enter] key (ROM password if the option was not
used) or current password (user-defined password), the user can change
the password and store new one in CMOS RAM. A maximum of 8
characters can be entered.

BIOS

EP-6VBA2

Page 4-23

4-10 IDE HDD Auto Detection

The “IIDE HDD auto detection” utility is a very useful tool, especially when you
do not know which kind of hard disk type you are using. You can use this utility to
detect the correct disk type installed in the system automatically. But now you
can set HARD DISK TYPE to Auto in the STANDARD CMOS SETUP. Y ou don’ t
need the “IIDE HDD AUTO DETECTION” utility. The BIOS will Auto-detect the
hard disk size and model on display during POST.

Figure 8: IDE HDD Auto Detection

Note: HDD Modes

The Award BIOS supports 3 HDD modes : NORMAL, LBA & LARGE NORMAL
mode
Generic access mode in which neither the BIOS nor the IDE controller will make
any transformations during accessing.
The maximum number of cylinders, head & sectors for NORMAL mode are
1024, 16 & 63.

no. Cylinder (1024)
x no. Head ( 16)
x no. Sector ( 63)
x no. per sector ( 512)

528 Megabytes

ROM PCI/ISA BIOS(2A6LJPA9)

CMOS SETUP UTILITY

AWARD SOFTWARE, INC.

HARD DISKS TYPE SIZE CYLS HEADS PRECOMP LANDZONE SECTORS MODE

Primary Master :

Select Secondary Slave Option (N=Skip) : N

OPTIONS SIZE CYLS HEAD PRECOMP LANDZ SECTORMODE

2 (Y) 4310 524 255 0 14847 63 LBA
1 4310 14848 9 65535 14847 63 NORMAL
3 4310 928 144 65535 14847 63 LARGE

Note: Some OSes (like SCO-UNIX) must use NORMAL for installation

ESC : Skip

BIOS EP-6VBA2

Page 4-24

If user set his HDD to NORMAL mode, the maximum accessible HDD size will
be 528 Megabytes even though its physical size may be greater than that!

LBA (Logical Block Addressing) mode: A new HDD accessing method to
overcome the 528 Megabyte bottleneck. The number of cylinders, heads &
sectors shown in setup may not be the number physically contained in the HDD.
During HDD accessing, the IDE controller will transform the logical address
described by sector, head & cylinder into its own physical address inside the
HDD. The maximum HDD size supported by LBA mode is 8.4 GigaBytes which is
obtained by the following formula:

no. Cylinder (1024)
x no. Head ( 255)
x no. Sector ( 6 3)
x bytes per sector ( 512)

8.4 GigaBytes

LARGE mode: Extended HDD access mode supported by Award Software.
Some IDE HDDs contain more than 1024 cylinder without LBA support (in some

cases, user do not want LBA). The Award BIOS provides another alternative to
support these kinds of LARGE mode.

CYLS HEADS SECTOR MODE

1120 16 59 NORMAL
560 32 59 LARGE

BIOS tricks DOS (or other OS) that the number of cylinders is less than 1024 by
dividing it by 2. At the same time, the number of heads is multiplied by 2. A
reverse transformation process will be made inside

INT 12h in order to access the right HDD address!
Maximum HDD size:

no. Cylinder (1024)
x no. Head ( 32)
x no. Sector ( 6 3)
x bytes per sector ( 512)

1 GigaByte

BIOS

EP-6VBA2

Page 4-25

Note: To support LBA or LARGE mode of HDDs, there must be some software

involved. All the software is located in the Award HDD Service Routine
(INT 13h). It may fail to access a HDD with LBA (LARGE) mode selected
if you are running under an Operating System which replaces the whole
INT 13h.

UNIX operating systems do not support either LBA or LARGE and must utilize
the Standard mode. UNIX can support drives larger than 528MB.

4-11 Save & Exit Setup

The “SAVE & EXIT SETUP” option will bring you back to the boot up procedure
with all the changes you just recorded in the CMOS RAM.

4-12 Exit Without Saving

The “EXIT WITHOUT SAVING” option will bring you back to normal boot up
procedure without saving any data into CMOS RAM.

All old data in the CMOS will not be destroyed.

BIOS EP-6VBA2

Page 4-26

Page Left Blank

AppendixEP-6VBA2

A-1

Appendix A

A-1 MEMORY MAP

Address Range Size Description
[00000-7FFFF] 512K Conventional memory
[80000-9FBFF] 127K Extended Conventional memory
[9FC00-9FFFF] 1K Extended BIOS data area if PS/2 mouse is

installed
[A0000-C7FFF] 160K Available for Hi DOS memory
[C8000-DFFFF] 96K Available for Hi DOS memory and adapter

ROMs
[E0000-EEFFF] 60K A vailable for UMB
[EF000-EFFFF] 4K Video service routine for Monochrome &

CGA adaptor
[F0000-F7FFF] 32K BIOS CMOS setup utility
[F8000-FCFFF] 20K BIOS runtime service routine (2)
[FD000-FDFFF] 4K Plug and Play ESCD data area
[FE000-FFFFF] 8 K BIOS runtime service routine (1)

A-2 I/O MAP

[000-01F] DMA controller.(Master)
[020-021] INTERRUPT CONTROLLER.(Master)
[022-023] CHIPSET control registers. I/O ports.
[040-05F] TIMER control registers.
[060-06F] KEYBOARD interface controller.(8042)
[070-07F] RTC ports & CMOS I/O ports.
[080-09F] DMA register.
[0A0-0BF] INTERRUPT controller.(Slave)
[0C0-0DF] DMA controller.(Slave)
[0F0-0FF] MATH COPROCESSOR.
[1F0-1F8 ] HARD DISK controller.
[278-27F] PARALLEL port 2.
[2B0-2DF] GRAPHICS adapter controller.

Appendix EP-6VBA2

A-2

[2F8-2FF] SERIAL port 2.
[360-36F] NETWORK ports.
[378-37F] PARALLEL port 1.
[3B0-3BF] MONOCHROME & PARALLEL port adapter .
[3C0-3CF] EGA adapter.
[3D0-3DF] CGA adapter.
[3F0-3F7] FLOPPY DISK controller.
[3F8-3FF] SERIAL port 1.

A-3 TIMER & DMA CHANNELS MAP

TIMER MAP:
TIMER Channel 0 System timer interrupt.
TIMER Channel 1 DRAM REFRESH request.
TIMER Channel 2 SPEAKER tone generator.
DMA CHANNELS:
DMA Channel 0 Available.
DMA Channel 1 Onboard ECP (Option).
DMA Channel 2 FLOPPY DISK (SMC CHIP).
DMA Channel 3 Onboard ECP (default).
DMA Channel 4 Cascade for DMA controller 1.
DMA Channel 5 Available.
DMA Channel 6 Available.
DMA Channel 7 Available

A-4 INTERRUPT MAP

NMI :
Parity check error.
IRQ (H/W):
0 System TIMER interrupt from TIMER 0.
1 KEYBOARD output buffer full.
2 Cascade for IRQ 8-15.
3 SERIAL port 2.
4 SERIAL port 1.
5 PARALLEL port 2.

AppendixEP-6VBA2

A-3

6 FLOPPY DISK (SMC CHIP).
7 PARALLEL port 1.
8 RTC clock.
9 Available.
10 Available.
11 Available.
1 2 PS/2 Mouse.
1 3 MATH coprocessor.
14 Onboard HARD DISK (IDE1) channel.
15 Onboard HARD DISK (IDE1) channel.

A-5 RTC & CMOS RAM MAP

R TC & CMOS:
00 Seconds.
01 Second alarm.
0 2 Minutes.
03 Minutes alarm.
0 4 Hours.
0 5 Hours alarm.
06 Day of week.
07 Day of month.
08 Month.
09 Year.
0A Status register A.
0B Status register B.
0C Status register C.
0D Status register D.
0E Diagnostic status byte.
0F Shutdown byte.
10 FLOPPY DISK drive type byte.
11 Reserve.
12 HARD DISK type byte.
13 Reserve.
14 Equipment type.
15 Base memory low byte.

Appendix EP-6VBA2

A-4

16 Base memory high byte.
17 Extension memory low byte.
18 Extension memory high byte.
19-2d
2E-2F
3 0 Reserved for extension memory low byte.
3 1 Reserved for extension memory high byte.
32 DA TE CENTUR Y byte.
33 INFORMA TION FLAG.
34-3F Reserve.
40-7F Reserved for CHIPSET SETTING DAT A.

AppendixEP-6VBA2

A-5

Appendix B

B-1 POST CODES

ISA POST codes are typically output to I/O port address 80h.

POST (hex) DESCRIPTION

01-02 Reserved.
C0 Turn off OEM specific cache, shadow.
03 1. Initialize EISA registers (EISA BIOS only).

2. Initialize all the standard devices with default values
Standard devices includes.

- DMA controller (8237).

- Programmable Interrupt Controller (8259).

- Programmable Interval Timer (8254).

- RTC chip.
04 Reserved
0 5 1. Keyboard Controller Self-Test.
06 2. Enable Keyboard Interface.
0 7 Reserved.
0 8 Verifies CMOS's basic R/W functionality.
C1 Auto-detection of onboard DRAM & Cache.
C5 Copy the BIOS from ROM into E0000-FFFFF shadow RAM

so that POST will go faster.
0 8 Test the first 256K DRAM.
0 9 OEM specific cache initialization. (if needed)
0A 1. Initialize the first 32 interrupt vectors with correspond

ing Interrupt handlers. Initialize INT numbers from 33-120

with Dummy (Spurious) Interrupt Handler.

2. Issue CPUID instruction to identify CPU type.

3. Early Power Management initialization. (OEM specific)

0B 1. Verify the RTC time is valid or not.

2. Detect bad battery.

3. Read CMOS data into BIOS stack area.

4. PnP initializations including. (PnP BIOS only)

- Assign CSN to PnP ISA card.

Appendix EP-6VBA2

A-6

- Create resource map from ESCD.

5. Assign IO & Memory for PCI devices. (PCI BIOS only)
0C Initialization of the BIOS Data Area. (40:ON - 40:FF)
0D 1. Program some of the Chipset's value according to Setup.

(Early Setup Value Program)

2. Measure CPU speed for display & decide the system

clock speed.

3. Video initialization including Monochrome, CGA, EGA/

VGA. If no display device found, the speaker will beep.

0E 1. Test video RAM. (If Monochrome display device found)

2. Show messages including.

- Award Logo, Copyright string, BIOS Data code & Part

No.

- OEM specific sign on messages.

- Energy Star Logo. (Green BIOS ONLY)

- CPU brand, type & speed.

- Test system BIOS checksum. (Non-Compress Version

only)
0F DMA channel 0 test.
10 DMA channel 1 test.
11 DMA page registers test.
12-13 Reserved.
1 4 Test 8254 Timer 0 Counter 2.
1 5 Test 8259 interrupt mask bits for channel 1.
1 6 Test 8259 interrupt mask bits for channel 2.
1 7 Reserved.
1 9 Test 8259 functionality.
1A-1D Reserved.
1E If EISA NVM checksum is good, execute EISA initialization.

(EISA BIOS only)
1F-29 Reserved.
3 0 Detect Base Memory & Extended Memory Size.
3 1 1. Test Base Memory from 256K to 640K.

2. Test Extended Memory from 1M to the top of memory.

32 1. Display the Award Plug & Play BIOS Extension message.

(PnP BIOS only)

AppendixEP-6VBA2

A-7

2. Program all onboard super I/O chips (if any) including

COM ports, LPT ports, FDD port ... according to setup value.
33-3B Reserved.
3C Set flag to allow users to enter CMOS Setup Utility.
3D 1. Initialize Keyboard.

2. Install PS2 mouse.

3E Try to turn on Level 2 cache.

Note: Some chipset may need to turn on the L2 cache in

this stage.

But usually, the cache is turn on later in POST 61h.
3F-40 Reserved.
BF 1. Program the rest of the Chipset's value according to Setup.

(Later Setup Value Program)
41 2. If auto-configuration is enabled, program the chipset with

pre-defined Values.
4 2 Initialize floppy disk drive controller.
4 3 Initialize Hard drive controller.
45 If it is a PnP BIOS, initialize serial & parallel ports.
4 4 Reserved.
4 5 Initialize math coprocessor.
46-4D Reserved.
4E If there is any error detected (such as video, kb...), show all

error messages on the screen & wait for user to press <F1>

key.
4F 1. If password is needed, ask for password.

2. Clear the Energy Star Logo. (Green BIOS only)

50 Write all CMOS values currently in the BIOS stack area

back into the CMOS.
5 1 Reserved.
52 1. Initialize all ISA ROMs.

2. Later PCI initializations. (PCI BIOS only)

- assign IRQ to PCI devices.

- initialize all PCI ROMs.

3. PnP Initialzations. (PnP BIOS only)

- assign IO, Memory, IRQ & DMA to PnP ISA devices.

- initialize all PnP ISA ROMs.

4. Program shadows RAM according to Setup settings.

Appendix EP-6VBA2

A-8

5. Program parity according to Setup setting.

6. Power Management Initialization.

- Enable/Disable global PM.

- APM interface initialization.

53 1. If it is NOT a PnP BIOS, initialize serial & parallel ports.

2. Initialize time value in BIOS data area by translate the

RTC time value into a timer tick value.
6 0 Setup Virus Protection. (Boot Sector Protection) function

ality

according to Setup setting.
61 1. Try to turn on Level 2 cache.

Note: If L2 cache is already turned on in POST 3D, this

part will be skipped.

2. Set the boot up speed according to Setup setting.

3. Last chance for Chipset initialization.

4. Last chance for Power Management initialization.

(Green BIOS only)

5. Show the system configuration table.

62 1. Setup daylight saving according to Setup value.

2. Program the NUM Lock, typematic rate & typematic

sp eed according to Setup setting.
63 1. If there is any changes in the hardware configuration,

update the ESCD information. (PnP BIOS only)

2. Clear memory that have been used.

3. Boot system via INT 19H.

FF System Booting. This means that the BIOS already pass the

control right to the operating system.

B-2 Unexpected Errors:

POST (hex) DESCRIPTION

B0 If interrupt occurs in protected mode.
B1 Unclaimed NMI occurs.0

AppendixEP-6VBA2

A-9

Appendix C

NOTE:

The "LOAD SETUP DEFAULTS" function loads the system default data directly
from ROM and initializes the associated hardware properly. This function will be
necessary when you accept this mainboard, or the system CMOS data is corrupted.

STANDARD CMOS SETUP SENSOR AND CPU SPEED SETUP
BIOS FEATURES SETUP SUPERVISOR PASSWORD
CHIPSET FEATURES SETUP USER PASSWORD
POWER MANAGEMENT SETUP IDE HDD AUTO DETECTION
PNP/PCI CONFIGURA ETUP
INTEGRATED PERIPH SAVING
LOAD SETUP DEFAULTS

LOAD SETUP DEF AULTS

ROM PCI/ISA BIOS(2A6LJPA9)

CMOS SETUP UTILITY

AWARD SOFTWARE, INC.

ESC: QUIT :SELECT ITEM
F10:Save & Exit Setup (Shift)F2 :Change Color

Load Setup Defaults Except Standard COMS SETUP

éé

éé

é

êê

êê

ê

èè

èè

è

çç

çç

ç

Load SETUP Default (Y/N)? Y

Appendix EP-6VBA2

A-10

Page Left Blank

AppendixEP-6VBA2

A-11

Appendix D

D-1 GHOST 5.1 Quick Users Guide

Installation is very easy. You only need to copy the Ghost5 folder or
Ghost.exe to your hard disk.

The current market version is for single Client, so the LPT and NetBios
portions will not be explained further.

Description of Menus

Ghost clones and backs up Disk and Partition.

In which Disk indicates hard disk options

Partition indicates partition options
Check indicates check options

Disk

Appendix EP-6VBA2

A-12

Disk To Disk (Disk Cloning)

1. Select the location of the Source drive.

2. Select the location of the Destination drive.

3. When cloning a disk or restoring the backup, set the required partition
size as shown in the following figure.

There are 3 hard disk functions:

1. Disk To Disk (disk cloning)

2. Disk To Image (disk backup)

3. Disk From Image (restore backup)

Important!

1. To use this function, the system must have at least 2 disks. Press the
Tab key to move the cursor.

2. When restoring to a destination disk, all data in that disk will be
completely destroyed.

AppendixEP-6VBA2

A-13

4. Click OK to display the following confirmation screen. Select Yes to
start.

Disk To Image (Disk Backup)

1. Select the location of the Source drive.

2. Select the location for storing the backup file.

Appendix EP-6VBA2

A-14

Disk From Image (Restore Backup)

1. Select the Restore file.

2. Select the Destination drive of the disk to be restored.

3. Click OK to display the following confirmation screen. Select Yes to
start.

AppendixEP-6VBA2

A-15

3. When restoring disk backup, set the required partition size as shown in
the following figure.

4. Click OK to display the following confirmation screen. Select Yes to
start.

Partition

Appendix EP-6VBA2

A-16

2. Select the first partition to be backed up. This is usually where the
operating system and programs are stored.

There are 3 partition functions:

1. Partition To Partition (partition cloning)

2 . Partition To Image (partition backup)
3 . Partition From Image (restore partition)

Partition To Partition (Partition Cloning)

The basic unit for partition cloning is a partition. Refer to disk cloning for
the operation method.

Partition To Image (Partition Backup)

1. Select the disk to be backed up.

AppendixEP-6VBA2

A-17

3. Select the path and file name for storing the backup file.

4. Is the file compressed? There are 3 options:
(1)No: do not compress data during backup
(2)Fast: Small volume compression
(3)High: high ratio compression. File can be compressed to its minimum,

but this requires longer execution time.

5. During confirmation, select Yes to start performing backup.

Appendix EP-6VBA2

A-18

Partition From Image (Restore Partition)

1. Select the backup file to be restored.

2. Select the source partition.

3. Select the disk to be restored.

AppendixEP-6VBA2

A-19

4. Select the partition to be restored.

5. Select Yes to start restoring.

Check

This function checks the hard disk or backup file for backup or
restoration error due to FAT or track error.