EPoX Computer EP-6VBA User Manual

EP-6VBEP-6VB

EP-6VB

EP-6VBEP-6VB

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Slot1 Processor based AGPSlot1 Processor based AGP

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Slot1 Processor based AGPSlot1 Processor based AGP
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TRADEMARK

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

These specifications are subject to change without notice.

®®

II or P II or P

II or P

II or P II or P

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

d (100/66MHz)

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

ts PC-133 SDRAM Modulets PC-133 SDRAM Module

ts PC-133 SDRAM Module

ts PC-133 SDRAM Modulets PC-133 SDRAM Module

Manual Revision 4.2

May 25, 1999

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III III

III

III III

EP-6VBA

Technical Support Services

If you need additional information, help during installation or normal use of this
product, please contact your retailer. If your retailer can not help, you may E­Mail us with any questions at the following address [e-mail]

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

EPoX EP-6VBA serial number:

__________________________

BIOS Upgrades

Please use either our Web Site or BBS for current BIOS Upgrades.

Internet Access

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

Modem Access

886-2-2247-2742 (T aiwan)
31-182-618451 (The Netherlands)

You can access this number via a Hayes-compatible modem with a 2,400 to
28,800 baud rate. The following setup format is required:

8 Data Bits, No Parity, 1 Stop Bit.
If your modem is unable to connect at higher baud rates, try connecting at

2,400 baud before contacting T echnical Support.

Thank you for using EPoX mainboards!

© Copyright 1998 EPoX Computer Company. All rights reserved.

EP-6VBA

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 by any means without the express written permission of
EPoX Computer Company (here in after referred to as EPoX) except documenta­tion kept by the purchaser for backup purposes.

EPoX provides this manual “as is” without warranty of any kind, either express 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 or 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 review this manual from
time to time without notice. For updated BIOS, drivers, or product release
information you may visit EPoX’s home page at: http://www.epox.com

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-6VBA

and any other device in your system with care and avoid unneccessary contact
with system components on the mainboard.

Always work on an antistatic surface to avoid possible damage to the motherboard
from static discharge.

W e assume no responsibility for any damage to the EP-6VBA mainboard that
results from failure to follow installation instructions or failure to observe safety
precautions.

CAUTION

The EP-6VBA mainboard is subject to

damage by static electricity. Always

observe the handling procedures.

Section 1 Introduction

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

Overview

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

S.E.C. Cartridge T erminology ........................... 1-3

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

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

EP-6VBA 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-6VBA

Table of Contents

EP-6VBA Features ............................................ 2-1

Section 3 Installation

EP-6VBA Detailed Layout ................................ 3-1

Easy Installation Procedure

Configure DIP Switch........................................ 3-3

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

Installing a Pentium® II Processor ..................... 3-7

Device Connectors ............................................ 3-9

External Modem Ring-in Power On and

Keyboard Power On Function (KBPO) ............. 3-1 1

Section 4 Award BIOS Setup

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

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

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

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

EP-6VBA

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

PNP/PCI Configuration ..................................... 4-15

Load Setup Defaults .......................................... 4-17

Integrated Peripherals........................................ 4-17

Sensor and CPU Speed Setup ............................ 4-22

Change Supervisor or User Password ............... 4-24

IDE HDD Auto Detection.................................. 4-25

HDD Low Level Format.................................... 4-27

Save & Exit Setup ............................................. 4-27

Exit Without Saving........................................... 4-27

Section 5 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

Sound Driver Quick Installation Guide ............. A-11

AGP Driver Quick Installation Guide ............... A-13

EP-6VBA

Page Left Blank

EP-6VBA

Components Checklist

üü

ü A. (1) EP-6VBA mainboard

üü

üü

ü B. (1) EP-6VBA user’ s manual

üü

üü

ü C. (1) Floppy ribbon cable

üü

üü

ü D. (1) Hard drive ribbon cables

üü

üü

ü E. (1) Foldable Retention Module

üü

F. (1) Heatsink Support Unit (Optional)
G. (1) PS/2 to AT keyboard connector adapter (optional)

üü

ü H. (1) Driver and utility

üü

Introduction

Section 1

INTRODUCTION

USER’S

MANUAL

EP-6VBA

B

A

Top Half

Bottom Half

E

F

C

D

G

or

H

Page 1-1

Introduction

Pentium® II or Pentium® III Processor

EP-6VBA

Overview

The Pentium® II or Pentium® III Processor is the follow-on to the Pentium

®

Processor. The Pentium® II or Pentium® III Processor, like the Pentium® Pro
processor, implements a Dynamic Execution micro-architecture -- a unique
combination of multiple branch prediction, data flow analysis, and speculative
execution. This enables the Pentium® II 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
can 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.

Page 1-2

EP-6VBA

Introduction

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
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.

®

Pro

Cover

Thermal Plate

Figure 1:
Pentium® II or Pentium® III Processor
CPU with S.E.C. Cartridge

Processor

Printed Circuit Board

Page 1-3

Introduction

EP-6VBA

The L2 cache (T agRAM, 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.)

T ypically, 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.

Page 1-4

EP-6VBA

Introduction

EP-6VBA Form-Factor

The EP-6VBA is designed with ATX form factor - the new industry standard of
chassis. ATX form factor is essentially a Baby-A T baseboard rotated 90 degrees
within the chassis enclosure and a new mounting configuration for the power
supply . W ith 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, manufac-

turing 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.

Expandable I/O

Full length
slots

Floppy / IDE
connectors
close to
peripheral
bays

ATX
Power
Supply

3 1/2"

Bay

Figure 2: Summary of ATX chassis features

5 1/4"

Bay

Single chassis
fan for
system

CPU located near
Power Supply

ATX power
connector

Page 1-5

Introduction

EP-6VBA

I/O Shield Connector

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

parallel port

Joystick/Midi port

PS/2 Mouse

PS/2

KEYBOARD

Figure 3: I/O back panel layout

Power-On/Off (Remote)

USB port

COM1 COM2

Speaker

Line_in

MIC

The EP-6VBA has a single 20-pin connector for ATX power supplies. For A TX
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-6VBA 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-6VBA’ s
onboard circuit controller) that can be controlled by the operating system. Win­dows 95 will control this when the user clicks that they are ready to Shutdown the
system.

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

Figure 4: Simple ATX Power ON/OFF Controller

Page 1-6

ATX
POWER SUPPLY

J 3

EP-6VBA Board

EP-6VBA

System Block Diagram

Pentium II

or

Pentium III

Processor

Introduction

100/66MHz

66MHz

PAC

PCI Bridge

and memory

controller

VT82C693

VT82C686A

I/O Bridge

USB 0,1 USB 2,3

100/66MHz

AMR Slot

AC

97

Figure 5: System Block Diagram

Page 1-7

Introduction

EP-6VBA

Page Left Blank

Page 1-8

EP-6VBA

EP-6VBA Features:

Features

Section 2

FEATURES

• EP-6VBA is based on the Pentium

550MHz on Slot1. The board is configured by an ESSJ (Easy-Setting­Single-Jumper) to match your CPU clock speed.

®

II/III Processor operating at 266 ~

• Designed with VIA Apollo Pro PCIset.

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

see Section 3-2).

• EP-6VBA 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) 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-6VBA 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 T echnical Support section for the latest updates)

• EP-6VBA utilizes a Lithium battery which provides environmental protec

tion and longer battery life.

Page 2-1

Features

EP-6VBA

• 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 AC97 PCI Audio.

Page 2-2

EP-6VBA

Installation

Section 3

INSTALLATION

Page 3-1

Installation

EP-6VBA

EP-6VBA Detailed Layout

Page 3-2

Figure 1

EP-6VBA

Installation

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.

ON

1234

1234 oitaRzHM66zHM001

NONONOX3002003
NONOX5.3332053

NONONOX6004006*
NONOX5.6334056*
NONOX7664*007*
NOX5.7005*057*

1WS)zHM(UPC

NONONOX4662004
NONOX5.4003054

NONOX5333005

NOX5.5663055*

NONOX8335*008*

JP1 Clear COM S

1-2 : Run M ode(default)
2-3 : Clear CMO S

JP4 K e y b oar d Pow er-O N Functio n S e le ction

1-2 : Disabled
2-3 : Enabled

*reserved

Page 3-3

Installation

EP-6VBA

Section 3-2
System Memory Configuration

Memory Layout

The EP-6VBA supports (3) 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.

DIMM 1

DIMM 2

DIMM 3

Bank 0
Bank 1
Bank 2

-Synchronous

-EDO

Figure 2

yromeMlatoT

BM652=
mumixaM

BM215=
mumixaM

BM867=
mumixaM

1MMID

*MARDS/ODE

*MARDS/ODE

*MARDS/ODE

)0knaB(

,BM46,BM23,BM61,BM8

1XBM652,BM821

,BM46,BM23,BM61,BM8

1XBM652,BM821

,BM46,BM23,BM61,BM8

1XBM652,BM821

enoNenoN

2MMID

)1knaB(

*MARDS/ODE

,BM46,BM23,BM61,BM8

1XBM652,BM821

*MARDS/ODE

,BM46,BM23,BM61,BM8

1XBM652,BM821

enoN

*MARDS/ODE

* SDRAM only supports 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256MB DIMM modules.

Table 1

3MMID

)2knaB(

,BM46,BM23,BM61,BM8

1XBM652,BM821

Page 3-4

EP-6VBA

Installation

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).

LEFT KEY ZONE

(UNBUFFERED)

DIMM Module clip before installation

CENTER KEY ZONE
(3.3 V DRAM)

Figure 3

Figure 4

Page 3-5