Intergraph TD-22/25 User Manual

Thunderbolt Pentium

PCI/ISA

System Board Manual

Document Number: 06-00293-01, Rev. 1B

April 1997

45365 Northport Loop West, Fremont, CA. 94538-6417

Copyright Notices

Copyright  1997 Micronics Computers, Inc. The information con­tained in the Thunderbolt PCI/ISA Pentium Processor system board

2

manual has been carefully checked and is believed to be accurate.
Micronics assumes no responsibility for any inaccuracies that may be
contained in this document. Micronics makes no commitments to
update or to keep the information in this manual at a current level when
changes are made to the product.

Micronics reserves the right to make improvements to this document
and/or product at any time and without notice. All Rights Reserved.
No part of this document may be photocopied, reproduced, trans­lated, or reduced to any medium or machine form without prior,
written consent from Micronics.

Portions of the Manual

Portions of this manual were copied (with permission) from Phoenix
Technologies, Ltd. All rights reserved.

Trademarks

IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines.
Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Cor­poration. Intel and PCI are registered trademarks of Intel Corpora­tion. All other product names mentioned herein are used for identi­fication purposes only and may be the trademarks of their respective
companies.

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

Table of Contents

Introduction 5

Features 6
Software Compatibility 7
Before You Begin 8

Chapter 1 - Quick Installation 9

Installing the Thunderbolt 9

Chapter 2 - Configuring the Thunderbolt 11

Static Electricity 11
Office Environment 11
Thunderbolt System Board 12
Thunderbolt Back Panel Connections 12
Jumper Settings 13

Chapter 3 - Installing the Thunderbolt 19

Introduction 19
System Memory Support 19
Installing the Thunderbolt 20

Tools Required 20
Equipment Required 20

System Memory 21

DIMMs Supported 21

Upgrading Rules 21
Memory Configurations 22
Installing the DIMMs 23

Removing DIMMs 23
Installing a CPU 24
Installing a PCI Peripheral Card 25
Installing a ISA Peripheral Card 26

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1

Installing a CD-ROM Drive 27
The Thunderbolt Sound Option 28

Connecting Sound Devices 28

Chapter 4 - The BIOS Setup Utility 31

Configuration 31
Initial Bootup 31
Setup 31
Running the Setup Procedure 33
Setting the Main Screen 33
Setting the Advanced Screen 38

Security Screen 41
Power Screen 44
Boot Screen 46
Exit Screen 47

Chapter 5 - Installing Device Drivers 49

About Device Drivers 49
Installing the Sound Drivers 49

Appendix A - Technical Information 51

Specifications 51
Environmental Specifications 52

Temperature Range 52

Relative Humidity 52
Battery Disposal 53
Support and Information Services 54

Technical Support 54

Appendix B - Post Messages 57

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Thunderbolt System Board Manual

Appendix C - Beep and POST Codes 59

Appendix D - Hard Disk Drive Types 63

Appendix E - Updating the System BIOS 65

Appendix F - Warranties and Notices 67

Limited Warranty 67
FCC Statement 69

Index 74

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3

List of Figures

Figure 1.1: Power-Up Screen 10
Figure 2.1: Thunderbolt System Board 12
Figure 2.2: Thunderbolt Back Panel Connections 12
Figure 3.1: Installing a 168-Pin DIMM 23
Figure 3.2: Installing a PCI Card 25
Figure 3.3: Installing an ISA Peripheral Card 26
Figure 3.4: Connecting External Sound Devices 28
Figure 4.1: Power-Up Screen 32
Figure 4.2: CMOS Main Screen 33
Figure 4.3: IDE Device Submenu 36
Figure 4.4: Advanced Screen 38
Figure 4.5: Security Setup Screen 41
Figure 4.6: Supervisor Password Submenu 42
Figure 4.7: Power Screen 44
Figure 4.8: Boot Screen 46
Figure 4.9: Exit Screen 47

List of Tables

Table 2.1: CPU Speed Selection 13
Table 2.2: CPU Type Selection 13
Table 2.3: CPU Voltage Selection 14
Table 2.4: Clear CMOS Settings 14
Table 2.5: Cache Type Selection 14
Table 2.6: Flash Memory Setting 15
Table 2.7: Soft Power Setting 15
Table 2.8: Onboard Sound Setting 15
Table 2.9: Onboard Wavetable Setting 15
Table 2.10: Case and Peripheral Connections 16
Table 3.1: Memory Configurations 22
Table A.1: Support and Information Services 55

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Thunderbolt System Board Manual

Introduction

Introduction

Thank you for choosing the Thunderbolt system board.
The Thunderbolt is the ultimate 32-bit computing solution
for the industry's most demanding workstation applica­tions.

Based on the Intel 430TX PCIset, the Thunderbolt sup­ports the Pentium® processor with MMX™ technology,
which provides a smoother and more realistic multimedia
experience and increased 32-bit performance. Other fea­tures of the 430TX PCIset include advanced power man­agement, Universal Serial Bus support, Ultra DMA/33
hard drive protocol (up to 33MBytes/sec transfer rate),
concurrent PCI and support for different memory types,
including Synchronous Dynamic RAM and Extended Data
Out RAM.

Designed to fit into the most modern ATX form factor, the
flexible Thunderbolt also features support for PCI and ISA
slots and optional onboard sound. The ATX form factor
allows critical components such as floppy drive connectors,
chassis fan, CPU and memory to be strategically located so
that full length cards can be installed in all slots.

Micronics builds all products to exacting standards, using
the highest quality components available. We are proud
to provide this system board and believe you will be
pleased with your purchase.

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

5

Introduction

Features

The Thunderbolt includes the following features:

Single ZIF socket 7

Intel Pentium® 90- 200MHz processors (P54C)

Intel Pentium® 166-233MHz Processor with MMX™

(P55C)

AMD-K5™ PR90 to PR166MHz

AMD-K6™ 166 to 233MHz with MMX

Integrated Voltage Regulator Module

Intel 430TX PCIset

Intel PIIX 4

Ultra I/O chip

Four 32-bit PCI slots

Four 16-bit ISA slots

One is a shared PCI/ISA slot

Two 3.3V unbuffered 64-bit 168-pin DIMM sockets

Maximum memory 256MB

Supports FPM, EDO and SDRAM memory

Ultra DMA/33 IDE

Primary and Secondary 40-pin IDE connectors

Yamaha OPL3 and OPL4 Sound (optional)

Two Universal Serial Bus (USB) ports for desktop

peripheral expansion

Server Management: LM78 - microprocessor system

hardware monitoring device (optional)

ATX form factor

Thunderbolt System Board Manual6

Introduction

Software Compatibility

The Thunderbolt system board has been thoroughly tested
for compatibility with a variety of operating systems and
environments, including:

Microsoft
DOS 5.0
DOS 6.2
Windows 95
Windows NT
Windows NT 4.0

IBM
OS/2 Warp 3.0
OS/2 Warp 4.0

SCO
UNIXWare 2.1.1
Open Server 5.02
UNIX 3.2, 4.2

Novell Netware

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

7

Introduction

This manual will familiarize you with the features, installation
and use of your Thunderbolt. There are several symbols and
conventions used throughout this manual to help draw your
attention to a feature or to focus on important information:

Common Names

APM Automatic Power Management
DIMM Dual Inline Memory Module
DMA Direct Memory Access
DRAM Dynamic Random Access Memory
EDO Extended Data Out
FPM Fast Page Mode
IDE Integrated Drive Electronics
PCI Peripheral Component Interconnect
SDRAM Synchronous Dynamic Random Access

USB Universal Serial Bus
VRM Voltage Regulator Module

Before You Begin

When you see the Magnifying Glass, it refers
to something you should take a closer look at
before proceeding further.

When you see the Exclamation Mark, it gives
important information on avoiding damage.

Memory

8

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

Chapter

1

STATIC!

Before
handling the
Thunderbolt,
be properly
grounded by
using a
special wrist
or ankle
strap, or
touch a
safely
grounded
object.

Chapter 1: Quick Installation

Quick Installation

We know that many experienced people prefer to read as
little of the documentation as possible. If this sounds like
you, here’s the short form to get up and running quickly.

Installing the Thunderbolt

1. Make backup copies of your installation and configu­ration diskettes.

2. Ground yourself to prevent damaging static dis­charge, then remove the Thunderbolt from its packag­ing.

3. Configure and verify the system board’s jumper set­tings (refer to Jumper Settings in Chapter 2).

4. Install the CPU and the system memory (refer to
Chapter 3).

5. Install the system board into the chassis and make all
necessary case connections.

6. Install any ISA and/or PCI add-on peripherals (refer to
Chapter 3).

7. Now you can connect any optional devices (refer to
Chapter 3).

8. Turn the computer on and press the <F2> key
when you see the screen in Figure 1.1.

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

9

Chapter 1: Quick Installation

Figure 1-1: Power-Up Screen

9. Set the time and date. Adjust the BIOS settings to
match your configuration. If installing an IDE drive,
select the IDE device you wish to configure. Press
ENTER with Autotype Fixed Disk selected and the
BIOS will automatically configure the drive for you
(refer to Chapter 4).

10. After you have configured the Main Setup menu,
make any desired setting configurations in the Ad­vanced and Security menu. When finished, go to the
exit screen, select “Save Changes and Exit” and you
are finished with the BIOS configuration (see Chap­ter 4).

11. Install your IDE CD-ROM drive and its device
drivers (optional). Refer to Chapter 3.

12. Install the sound controller device drivers (optional).
Refer to Chapter 5.

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Thunderbolt System Board Manual

Chapter 2: Configuring the Thunderbolt

Chapter

2

Configuring the Thunderbolt

Although the Thunderbolt system board is packaged in
protective materials, it is important to use care while
unpacking and setting up.

Static Electricity

The Thunderbolt is shipped from the factory in an anti­static bag. To reduce the possibility of damage, it is impor­tant to neutralize any accumulated static charges on your
body before handling the board. The best way to do this
is to ground yourself using a special wrist or ankle strap.
If you do not have a strap, you should touch both of your
hands to a safely grounded object. After you have
grounded yourself, ground the Thunderbolt via the solder
pads surrounding one of its mounting holes.

Once the Thunderbolt is removed from its packaging,
place it on top of the antistatic bag. Carefully inspect the
board for damage which may have occurred during ship­ment.

Office Environment

Make sure the finished computer system is in an area with
good ventilation. The system should not be in direct
sunlight, near heaters, or exposed to moisture, dust or
dirt.

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

11

Chapter 2: Configuring the Thunderbolt

Figure 2-2: Thunderbolt Back Panel

Thunderbolt System Board

Figure 2-1: Thunderbolt System Board

Thunderbolt Back Panel Connections

12

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

Chapter 2: Configuring the Thunderbolt

CPU

Speed

Bus

Speed

W2 W3 W4 W5 W6

90 MHz 60 x 1.5 Open Open Close Open Close
100 MHz 66 x 1.5 Open Open Open Close Open
120 MHz 60 x 2.0 Close Open Close Open Close
133 MHz 66 x 2.0 Close Open Open Close Open
150 MHz 60 x 2.5 Close Close Close Open Close
166 MHz 66 x 2.5 Close Close Open Close Open
180 MHz 60 x 3.0 Open Close Close Open Close
200 MHz 66 x 3.0 Open Close Open Close Open
233 MHz 66 x 3.5 Open Open Open Close Open

CPU Type W23-26 W30-33

P54C/AMD-K5 ON OFF

P55C/MMX OFF ON

Jumper Settings

This chapter gives you the jumper settings used for the Thunderbolt
system board.

Table 2-1 lists the Intel and AMD-K5 CPU speed settings and the jumper
settings that select these speeds.

Table 2-2 lists the jumper settings to set the Thunderbolt for the Intel
P54C or P55C processor.

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

Table 2-1: CPU Speed Selections

Table 2-2: CPU Type Selection

13

Chapter 2: Configuring the Thunderbolt

Jumper VR Voltage Settings

W27 VR: 3.3V

VRE: 3.5V (default)ONOFF

Jumper CMOS Battery Settings

W11 Normal (default)

Clear CMOS

1-2
2-3

Jumper Cache Type Setting

W46 32K x 32 (default)

64K x 32

ON

OFF

Table 2-3 lists the jumper settings to select the CPU voltage
regulator mode.

Table 2-3: CPU Voltage Selection

Table 2-4 lists the jumper settings to clear the BIOS CMOS
settings. With your computer's power off, close pins 2-3, wait ten
seconds and place the jumper back on pins 1-2. (The jumper must
be placed back on pins 1-2 for the system to function properly.)

NOTE: This will reset all BIOS default settings. Any changes you have
made will be lost.

Table 2-4: Clear CMOS Settings

Table 2-5 lists the jumper settings to select the type of cache
memory installed.

Table 2-5: Cache Type Selection

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Thunderbolt System Board Manual

Chapter 2: Configuring the Thunderbolt

Jumper Flash Memory Settings

W12 Write Protect

Normal (default)ONOFF

Jumper Soft Power Select Setting

W41 PIIX4 Control

Normal (default)

1-2
2-3

Jumper Wavetable Settings

W48 Enable (default)

Disable

ON

OFF

Jumper Audio Settings

W49 Enabled (default)

Disabled

1-2
2-3

Table 2-6 lists the jumper settings for the flash memory to repro­gram the BIOS. NOTE: To flash the BIOS, you must place a jumper
on W12.

T able 2-6: Flash Memory Setting

Table 2-7 lists the jumper settings to select the system power-on
setting. The PIIX4 Control selection includes features such as
advanced power management, Ultra DMA/33 IDE and USB
support.

T able 2-7: Soft Power Setting

Table 2-8 lists jumper settings to enable or disable the onboard
sound (optional).

T able 2-8: Onboard Sound Setting

Table 2-9 lists the jumper settings to enable or disable the built-in
audio wavetable.

T able 2-9: Onboard Wavetable Setting

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

15

Chapter 2: Configuring the Thunderbolt

Connector Function Notes

J2-J5 PCI Bus Expansion Slots

J6-J11, J43-44 ISA Bus Expansion Slots

J12, J13 Serial Ports COM A & COMB

J14 Floppy Drive Connector Supports up to two floppy drives
J15 Parallel Port Connector Upper Level
J16 USB Connector Lower Level: USB Port 1

Upper Level: USB Port 0

J17 Primary IDE Port

Connector

Supports up to two IDE devices

J18 Secondary IDE Port

Connector

Supports up to two IDE devices

J19 PS/2 Keyboard Connector

PS/2 Mouse Connector

Lower Level
Upper Level

J20 Chassis Fan 2 - 12+V Power; 1 - Ground;

3 - Status (Running or Stopped)

J23 Front Panel Connector

" System Power On/Off 1 - Power; 2 - Ground
" Reset Switch 23 - Reset; 22 - Ground
" PC Speaker

Note: Jumper pins 26 and
27 to use the onboard
speaker

26 - Speaker; 24 - +5V DC

" Power-On LED 20 - Positive; 18 - Ground
" IDE LED

Note: IDE and SCSI
functions share the same
LED

13 or 16 - Positive; 15 ­Negative

" Infrared 6 - +5V DC; 8 - Receive Data;

9 - Ground; 10 - Transmit Data

" Speaker (Buzzer)

Note: Jumper pins 25 and
26 to use the onboard
speaker

Enabled (default)

J28-J29 DRAM (168-pin DIMM

sockets)

3.3 Volt Only. Unbuffered
DIMMs Supported

Table 2-10 lists the case and peripheral connections for the Thunderbolt.

T able 2-10: Case & Peripheral Connections

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Thunderbolt System Board Manual

Chapter 2: Configuring the Thunderbolt

Connector Function Notes

J31 Power Supply ATX Standard
J40 Keylock
J41 CPU Fan 2- 12+V Power; 1 - Ground;

3 - Status (Running or Stopped)

J45 CD-ROM Audio

(Panasonic)

1 - Ground; 2 - CD-In Right Channel;
3 - Ground; 4 - CD-In Left Channel

J46 CD-ROM Audio

(Mitsumi)

1 - Ground; 2 - CD-In Right Channel;
3 - Ground; 4 - CD-In Left Channel

J47 Modem 1 - No Connect; 2 - MIC Out;

3 - Ground; 4 - Speaker Input

J48 Game Port/MIDI

MIC In, Line In, Line Out

Upper Level
Lower Level

J49 SCSI LED (optional)
J50 CD Audio (optional) 1 - CD-In Left Channel; 2, 3 - Ground;

4 - MIC Input

J51 Modem Audio (optional) 1 - Mono Input; 2, 3 - Ground; 4 - MIC

Input

U1 CPU Socket 7

U18 System BIOS

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

T able 2-10: Case & Peripheral Connections (cont.)

17

Chapter 2: Configuring the Thunderbolt

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Thunderbolt System Board Manual

Chapter 3: Installing the Thunderbolt

Chapter

3

Installing the Thunderbolt

Introduction

This chapter explains how to install the Thunderbolt
system board, memory, CPU and peripherals.

WARNING: Before installing or removing any peripherals or
components, make sure you have a clear work space and that
you adhere to all anti-static precautions described in Chapter

1. Micronics recommends only trained technicians install and
configure the system board.

Damage which occurs to the board while adding or removing
peripherals or components may void the warranty. If prob­lems arise while installing peripherals, contact the computer
dealer where you purchased the peripheral or Micronics’
Technical Support Department.

System Memory Support

The flexibility of the Thunderbolt is augmented by its
support for SDRAM, EDO and FPM DRAM memory.
SDRAM memory is a new, faster memory technology that
features the ability to synchronize all operations with the
processor clock signal, which enables the coexistence of
high-performance and simple user interface.

The SDRAM memory technology extends the perfor­mance of conventional DRAM memory with its syn­chronized operation and burst mode. The result is an
improvement in memory-access performance on the Thun­derbolt system board.

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

19

Chapter 3: Installing the Thunderbolt

Installing the Thunderbolt

Installation of the Thunderbolt system board depends on
the type of case you use. The Thunderbolt is designed for
the standard ATX form factor and must be installed in an
ATX chassis.

NOTE: If you are unfamiliar with installing a system board,
Micronics highly recommends that you read the computer
user’s manual or contact your dealer’s technical support
department.

Tools Required

Micronics recommends using the following tools to install
the Thunderbolt:

Small Phillips screwdriver
Tweezers or a pair of needle-nose pliers
Tray (to hold loose screws)

Equipment Required

Micronics recommends using the following equipment with
the Thunderbolt for a typical configuration:

ATX chassis with standard hardware.
A high-quality ATX power supply capable of providing

continuous power within a 3 volt range. A power filter
may be used with a noisy AC power source.

PS/2 mouse and compatible keyboard.
Eight ohm speaker (optional)
Standard ribbon cables for internal connections.
Standard power cord (grounded).
Heat sink with cooling fan for CPU (required).

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Thunderbolt System Board Manual

Chapter 3: Installing the Thunderbolt

System Memory

System memory is necessary to operate the Thunderbolt
system board. The Thunderbolt has two unbuffered 64-bit,
168-pin DIMM sockets for a maximum of 256 Megabytes of
RAM. Support is provided for SDRAM, EDO and FPM
DRAM memory. This chapter will explain the type of
DIMMs supported, list the rules for adding memory to the
Thunderbolt, give some examples of common memory
configurations and show how to physically install the new
DIMMs.

DIMMs Supported

For long
term
reliability,
Micronics
recom­mends using
DIMMs with
gold-plated
contacts.
The use of
tin-plated
contacts
may conflict
with the gold
alloy on the
DIMM
socket.

The Thunderbolt supports the following types of 60 or 70ns
DIMMs:

8MB (1MBx64)
16MB (2MBx64)
32MB (4MBx64)
64MB (8MBx64)
128MB (16MBx64)

Upgrading Rules

The following is a list of rules to follow when upgrading
DIMMs. If you follow these rules, your upgrade should be
trouble-free:

Use 70ns or faster DIMMs.
For EDO and FPM DRAM memory, you must use 3.3V

buffered DIMMs.
Upgrade DIMMs one bank at a time. Start with Bank

0, then Bank 1 (one DIMM per bank), adding memory
from the smallest to the largest size.

Install the different types of memory in separate banks.
(For example, install SDRAM memory in Bank 0 and
EDO memory in Bank 1.)

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

21

Chapter 3: Installing the Thunderbolt

Memory Bank 0 Bank 1

16MB 2MBx64
32MB 4MBx64
32MB 2MBx64 2MBx64
64MB 8MBx64
64MB 4MBx64 4MBx64

96MB 8MBx64 4MBx64
128MB 8MBx64 8MBx64
128MB 16MBx64
256MB 16MBx64 16MBx64

Memory Configurations

The following tables list the most common memory con­figurations. The memory available depends on the number
of DIMMs installed.

22

T able 3-1: Memory Configurations

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

Chapter 3: Installing the Thunderbolt

Installing the DIMMs

There is no
need to set
any jumpers.
When you
reboot, the
size and
type of
memory are
automatically
detected.

To install the DIMMs, locate the memory banks on the
system board and perform the following steps:

1. Hold the DIMM so that the notched edge is aligned
with the notch on the DIMM socket (Figure 3-1).

2. Insert the DIMM at a 90 degree angle.

3. Gently push the DIMM straight down until it locks
into place (past the release tabs).

Figure 3-1: Installing a 168-Pin DIMM

Removing DIMMs

To remove DIMMs, follow the steps below:

1. With both thumbs (or fingers), press the release tabs
away from the socket.

2. With the DIMM free from the release tabs, lift the
module up and place in an anti-static bag or package.

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

23

Chapter 3: Installing the Thunderbolt

Installing a CPU

The Thunderbolt is designed to support Pentium proces­sors. Follow the steps below to install the processor:

1. Turn off the computer and remove its cover.

2. Locate the ZIF socket illustrated in Figure 2-1.

3. Lift the lever of the socket.

4. Locate pin 1 on the processor and pin 1 on the socket
(refer to Figure 2-1). Gently place the processor into
the socket, making sure pin 1 on the processor and pin
1 on the socket are aligned.

5. Push the lever down until it locks into place.

6. Make sure the speed and the voltage selection jumpers
are set correctly (refer to Chapter 2 - Jumper Settings).

WARNING: Pentium processors require a heat-sink with a
cooling fan. Failure to provide adequate cooling of the processor
may seriously affect system performance or cause permanent
damage to the processor.

24

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

Chapter 3: Installing the Thunderbolt

Installing a PCI Peripheral Card

Micronics PCI slots accommodate all PCI peripherals that
meet the PCI 2.1 specifications. Follow the steps below to
install a PCI card:

1. Turn the computer system off and remove its cover.

2. Choose an unused PCI slot and remove the slot cover.

3. Insert the card with the bottom edge level to the slot.

NOTE: Never insert the card at an angle.

4. Carefully push the card straight down, making sure
the card is fully inserted.

5. Replace the screw which holds the card into place.

6. Replace the computer cover.

7. Refer to the PCI card’s documentation additional
instructions regarding installation and software
drivers.

Figure 3-2: Installing a PCI Card

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

25

Chapter 3: Installing the Thunderbolt

Installing an ISA Peripheral Card

Micronics ISA slots accommodate all standard ISA
peripherals. Follow the steps below to install a PCI card:

1. Turn the computer system off and remove its cover.

2. Choose an unused ISA slot and remove the slot cover.

3. Insert the card with the bottom edge level to the slot.

NOTE: Never insert the card at an angle.

4. Carefully push the card straight down, making sure the
card is inserted fully.

5. Replace the screw that holds the card into place.

6. Replace the computer cover.

7. Refer to the ISA card’s documentation for additional
instructions regarding installation and software driv­ers.

26

Figure 3-3: Installing an ISA Card

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

Chapter 3: Installing the Thunderbolt

Installing a CD-ROM Drive

If you are installing a CD-ROM drive, Micronics recom­mends the installation of an IDE CD-ROM drive. The

instructions below will help you with the installation, but also
refer to the documentation that accompanied your CD-ROM
drive.

Before starting the setup and installation, make sure your
computer is off and the power cord is disconnected from
the wall outlet. Your CD-ROM drive kit should contain
the following items for a successful installation:

❏ CD-ROM Drive with installation hardware
❏ Interface Cable
❏ CD Audio Cable

1. Connect the ribbon cable as described in the CD­ROM’s documentation, making sure the red stripe
(facing power connector) on the cable is aligned with
pin 1 of the connectors.

2. Connect the audio cable to the CD-ROM drive's
audio connector.

3. Connect the other end of the audio cable to the
MPC-2 compatible CD-ROM audio connector on
the Thunderbolt system board (see Figures 2.1 and

2.2).

4. Connect the power supply cable to the CD-ROM
drive's power connector.

5. Install the CD-ROM device drivers. CD-ROM drives
require device drivers to access the drive and are
generally provided by the manufacturer of the CD­ROM drive. Usually one device driver is added to the
CONFIG.SYS file and one to the AUTOEXEC.BAT
file.

6. If you are using the CD-ROM drive in an MS-DOS
environment, the utility MSCDEX.EXE must also be
added to the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Consult your
DOS manual for more information.

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

27

Chapter 3: Installing the Thunderbolt

The Thunderbolt Sound Option

You can connect external sound devices to your Thunder­bolt system board to take advantage of the optional sound
support (refer to Figure 2.2). The sound option includes 16­bit stereo sound and a game and MIDI port. See Chapter 5
for information on installing sound device drivers.

Connecting Sound Devices

28

Figure 3-4: Connecting External Sound Devices

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

Chapter 3: Installing the Thunderbolt

Audio/Game

You can use the Audio/Game Port connector to connect
an IBM PC compatible joystick or MIDI instrument.

Line Out

The Line Out jack allows you to connect the audio output
of the audio controller to your home stereo, VCR, or
amplified speakers.

Line In

You may connect an external mono or stereo audio source
to the audio controller, such as a tape player or radio. Use
the appropriate converter cable to interface to your exter­nal equipment.

MIC IN

The MIC IN jack will accommodate a 300-600 ohm micro­phone.

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

29

Chapter 3: Installing the Thunderbolt

30

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

Chapter 4: The BIOS Setup Utility

Chapter

4

The BIOS Setup Utility

Configuration

After the Thunderbolt system board and all hardware is
installed, the system is ready for configuration. Before
turning on the computer, make sure all cables are correctly
connected and all jumpers are correctly set.

It is recommended you keep the computer cover off the
first time you boot the system. This will make it easier to
correct any difficulties that might arise.

Initial Boot Up

Power up the Thunderbolt. If the system does not properly
boot, check all your cables and peripherals for bad connec­tions. You may also get beep codes or error messages. If this
occurs, consult Appendices B and/or C for a guide to
possible solutions.

After the system properly boots, it is ready to be config­ured. The following information explains the proper
procedures for BIOS configuration.

Setup

The Setup program is used to configure the computer’s
BIOS (Basic Input/Output System). The computer’s
BIOS is responsible for configuring the system board and
providing hardware information to the operating system.
In order for the computer to run properly, run the Setup
procedure after first installing the system board.

After the system is turned on and goes through a memory
test, the Power-Up screen (Figure 4-1) will appear on your
monitor:

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

31

Chapter 4: The BIOS Setup Utility

Figure 4-1: Power-Up Screen

When “Press <F2> to enter SETUP” appears at the
bottom of the screen, press the <F2> key to begin the
Setup procedure. The CMOS Main Screen (Figure 4-2)
should appear and the prompt should be on the time
line. The Setup procedure can only be activated during
the boot sequence.

32

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

Chapter 4: The BIOS Setup Utility

Running the Setup Procedure

The Thunderbolt system board has six primary CMOS
configuration screens: Main, Advanced, Security, Power,
Boot and Exit. To toggle between the screens, press the
right arrow <→> and the left arrow < ←> keys.

Setting the Main Screen

The CMOS Main screen (Figure 4-2) is used to set the time
and date, to set the floppy drive types, to configure IDE
hard disks and to configure the video. This chapter explains
how to configure each of these categories. To move be­tween the categories, use the up and down arrow <↑/↓>
keys.

Figure 4-2: CMOS Main Screen

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

33

Chapter 4: The BIOS Setup Utility

System Time and Date

To set the time, use the <-> key to decrease the number
and the <+> key to increase the number. To move the
prompt forward, use the <Tab> key; to move the prompt
backward, use the <Shift-Tab> key. To set the date, use
the up and down arrows<↑/↓> to highlight the System
Date and follow the same procedure used to set the time.

Diskette A or B

To configure a floppy drive added to or removed from your
computer, use the up and down arrow keys <↑/↓> to
select the desired drive. Use the <+/-> keys to change
the setting until it matches the floppy drive you installed.
The BIOS supports 2.88MB, 1.44MB, 1.2MB, 720KB, and
360KB floppy drives.

Primary and Secondary IDE Devices

If you are setting up a SCSI hard disk, select None in the
IDE Device parameters (see your SCSI card manual for
more details). To install an IDE device, select the device to
configure and press ENTER. An IDE Device submenu will
appear (see Figure 4-3).

Numlock

Setting this to On activates Numlock upon boot. Setting
this to Auto (default) activates Numlock if the BIOS
detects a numeric keyboard. It may also be set to Off.

External Cache

This selection allows you to enable the external memory
cache. For optimal performance, select Enabled.

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Thunderbolt System Board Manual

Chapter 4: The BIOS Setup Utility

Video BIOS

The Video BIOS category allows you to Shadow or Shadow
& Cache the video BIOS. Choosing Shadowed copies the
video BIOS into RAM for faster execution. Choosing Shad­owed & Cached (default) caches the shadowed video
BIOS for even higher performance. To disable the Video
BIOS category, select Disabled.

System BIOS

The System BIOS category allows you to Shadow or Shadow
& Cache the system BIOS. Choosing Shadowed copies the
system BIOS into RAM for faster execution. Choosing
Shadowed & Cached (default) caches the shadowed sys­tem BIOS for even higher performance. To disable the
System BIOS category, select Disabled.

System Memory

The System Memory category identifies the size of the base
memory. It cannot be changed.

Extended Memory

The Extended Memory category automatically detects
the amount of memory installed above the amount in the
System Memory category. Because the BIOS automati­cally calculates the amount of memory installed in your
system, you cannot change this category without adding
or removing memory.

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

35

Chapter 4: The BIOS Setup Utility

Figure 4-3: IDE Device Submenu

Type

This category selects the drive type installed in the sys­tem. The options are Auto (default), 1-39, User and
None. If Autotype Fixed Disk does not find your drive’s
parameters, fill this information in manually under the
User category.

This information may be in the manual which came with
your system. If not, contact your dealer or the hard drive
manufacturer to fill in this category. If you are using a SCSI
hard drive, select None and refer to the documentation
which came with the SCSI adapter.

Multi-Sector Transfer

This category determines the number of sectors per block
for multiple sector transfers. The options are Auto (de­fault), 2 Sectors, 4 Sectors, 8 Sectors, and 16 Sectors.

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Thunderbolt System Board Manual

Chapter 4: The BIOS Setup Utility

LBA Mode Control

Enable LBA (Logical Block Addressing) to support IDE
drives larger than 528MB in size. The default setting is
Enabled.

32-Bit I/O

This category allows you to enable the 32-bit I/O function
of the PCI IDE controller. Select Disabled if your drive will
not run at this speed. The default setting is Enabled.

Transfer Mode

This category sets the transfer speeds for IDE devices. The
Standard option is the default setting. The Fast PIO 1, Fast
PIO 2, Fast PIO 3 and Fast PIO 4 options are for higher
speed devices.

Smart Monitoring

This feature will monitor your hard drive and report any
problems detected. The default setting cannot be changed.

Ultra DMA Mode

This option will enable or disable the Ultra DMA/33 fea­ture. Ultra DMA/33 is a hard drive interface protocol that
increases the burst data transfer rate to 33MBytes per
second.

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

37

Chapter 4: The BIOS Setup Utility

Setting the Advanced Screen

To move to the Advanced screen, use the left and right
arrow keys <←/→> keys until you see the screen below.

Figure 4-4: Advanced Screen

Serial Port A

Serial Port A may be configured using the following op­tions: Disabled (No configuration), Enabled (User configu­ration), Auto (BIOS configuration) and PnP
O/S (O/S configuration).

Serial Port B

Serial Port B may be configured using the following options:
Disabled (No configuration), Enabled (User configura­tion), Auto (BIOS configuration) and PnP
O/S (O/S configuration).

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Thunderbolt System Board Manual

Chapter 4: The BIOS Setup Utility

Parallel Port

The parallel port may be configured using the following
options: Disabled (No configuration), Enabled (User con­figuration), Auto (BIOS configuration) and PnP
O/S (O/S configuration).

Floppy Disk Controller

The selection allows you to enable or disable the floppy disk
controller.

Integrated PCI IDE

Enables or disables the integrated Local Bus IDE adapter.
The IDE controller may be set for Primary, Both (default)
or Disabled.

Plug & Play O/S

This selection, when set to Yes, allows the system to work
with a Plug and Play operating system such as Windows 95.
The default setting is No. NOTE: This selection should be
set to No when using Windows 3.1 or Windows NT.

Reset Configuration Data

Select Yes if you want to clear the system configuration
data. The default setting is No.

PCI Configuration

Use this selection for additional setup menus to configure
PCI devices.

DRAM Read/Write Burst Timing

Sets the timing for burst-mode read/writes from DRAM.
The lower the timing numbers, the faster the system ad-

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

39

Chapter 4: The BIOS Setup Utility

dresses memory.

DRAM Read/Write Leadoff Timing

Sets the leadoff cycles used by DRAM. The lower the
timing numbers, the greater the optimized performance.

PS/2 Mouse

When disabled, this selection prevents the PS/2 mouse
from functioning and frees up IRQ12. Selecting Enabled
(default) allows the operating system to determine whether
to enable or disable the mouse.

Secured Setup Configuration

Select Yes if you want the system settings to be secured
from change by a Plug and Play operating system. The
default setting is No.

Large Disk Access Mode

If you are using a DOS operating system, set to DOS
(default). If you are using anything else, set to OTHER.

LM78

Enabled or disable the integrated LM78 microprocessor
system hardware monitor. The LM78 can be used to moni­tor temperatures, power supply voltages and fan speeds.

Smart Monitoring

This feature will monitor your hard drive and report any
problems detected. The default setting cannot be changed.

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Thunderbolt System Board Manual

Chapter 4: The BIOS Setup Utility

Security Screen

The Security screen controls access to the computer. The
security screen allows for settings of two passwords. The
Supervisor Password allows access to the system and Setup.
The User Password allows access to the system, but not to
all Setup features.

Figure 4-5: Security Setup Screen

Set Supervisor Password

This selection controls access to the Setup utility. Press the
ENTER key to enter the Supervisor Password submenu.
The screen on the following page appears.

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

41

Chapter 4: The BIOS Setup Utility

Figure 4-6: Supervisor Password Submenu

Type the password and press the ENTER key. Retype
the password and press the ENTER key again. Write
down the password somewhere safe so it will not be
forgotten. The password may be disabled by setting the
new password to nothing (pressing the ENTER key
without first typing a password).

WARNING: If you forget the Supervisor Password, it can­not be disabled without discharging the CMOS.

Set User Password

This selection controls access to the Setup utility. Fol­low the same procedure used to set the Supervisor
Password.

NOTE: After a password is entered, it is saved immediately.
All other changes may still be discarded (see Exit Screen).

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Thunderbolt System Board Manual

Chapter 4: The BIOS Setup Utility

Password on Boot

When enabled, the system requires a password upon
power up. Either the Supervisor or User Password may be
entered.

Fixed Disk Boot Sector

This selection allows the boot sector of the fixed disk to be
write protected. The default setting is Normal. When set
for Write Protected, it serves as a form of virus protection.
If the passwords are enabled, this option may only be
changed by the supervisor.

Diskette Access

This selection allows floppy disk access with an option of
the supervisor or user. Selecting Supervisor (default) gives
floppy disk access to the supervisor only. Selecting User
gives floppy disk access to both the user and the supervisor.
If the passwords are enabled, this option may only be
changed by the supervisor.

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

43

Chapter 4: The BIOS Setup Utility

Power Screen

The Power screen controls the power management func­tions of the system. To move to the Power screen, use the
left and right arrow <←/→> keys until it appears. To
move between the categories, use the up and down arrow
keys <↑/↓>.

Figure 4-7: Power Screen

Power Management Mode

This selection may be set for Maximum Power Savings,
Maximum Performance, Customized or Disabled (default).
If you select Customized, you must set the following cat­egories.

Standby Timeout

The Standby Timeout category sets the amount of time
that elapses for the system to enter the power saving mode.

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Thunderbolt System Board Manual

Chapter 4: The BIOS Setup Utility

Before making changes, "Customized" must be selected in
the Power Management Mode category.

Auto Standby Timeout

The Auto Standby Timeout category sets the amount of
time that elapses for the system to enter the Suspend
mode. Before making changes, "Customized" must be se­lected in the Power Management Mode category.

Fixed Disk Timeout

This category sets the amount of time that elapses before
the IDE drive enters spin-down mode to conserve power.
Before making changes, "Customized" must be selected in
the Power Management Mode category. NOTE: Do not

enable this category unless your IDE drive supports spin-down
mode.

Video Timeout

This category sets the amount of time that elapses for the
video screen to turn off. Before making changes, "Custom­ized" must be selected in the Power Management Mode
category. The default setting is Disabled.

Resume On Time

When turned On, the system counts down to zero and
awakes from Standby or Suspend mode. Before making
changes, "Customized" must be selected in the Power
Management Mode category. The default setting is Off.

Resume On Modem Ring

When the modem rings, the system wakes up from Suspend
mode. Before making changes, "Customized" must be se­lected in the Power Management Mode category. The
default setting is Off.

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

45

Chapter 4: The BIOS Setup Utility

Boot Screen

The Boot screen allows you to configure the power up
system configuration settings.

Figure 4-8: Boot Screen

Boot Device Priority

This feature will set the search order for the types of
bootable devices.

Hard Drive Boot Order

The system will attempt to boot to the operating system
from the first hard drive listed. If no operating system is
found, the system will attempt to boot from the next drive
listed until an operating system is found.

46

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

Chapter 4: The BIOS Setup Utility

Exit Screen

After you complete configuring the BIOS, select the Exit
screen.

Figure 4-9: Exit Screen

Choose “Save Changes and Exit” and reboot the com­puter. Your computer is ready for use.

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

47

Chapter 4: The BIOS Setup Utility

48

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

Chapter 5: Installing Device Drivers

Chapter

5

Installing Device Drivers

This chapter explains how to install the software device
drivers and utilities necessary to utilize the optional sound
support. Other drivers and utilities are available through
our online services.

About Device Drivers

Device drivers are necessary for the computer system to
communicate with devices such as CD-ROM drives, sound
controllers, graphics adapters or devices that are not na­tively supported by the system BIOS. Once started, device
drivers remain active in the background of the computer
system. Usually a device driver is added to the CONFIG.SYS
file, the AUTOEXEC.BAT file or both.

Installing the Sound Drivers

Once you have connected your external sound devices, you
can install the sound drivers. NOTE: If you are installing a
CD-ROM drive, it is recommended you install it before
setting up the sound devices. See Installing a CD-ROM
Drive in Chapter 3.

1. Follow the instructions in Chapter 3 on connecting ex­ternal sound devices.

2. If you previously installed another sound card, remove
it and all associated files from your AUTOEXEC.BAT
and CONFIG.SYS files. If you are using Windows 3.1x,
you must also remove all associated files from the
WIN .INI and SYSTEM.INI files. (F or more information,
please contact the sound driver manufacturer.)

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

49

Chapter 5: Installing Device Drivers

3. Start your computer system.

4. Insert the sound driver disk into your floppy drive.

5. If you are using W indows 3.1x, go to the Program Man­ager File menu, click on Run and type A:\SETUP.

6. If you are using W indows 95, you will be prompted to in­stall the drivers the first time you boot the system.

7. If you are using OS/2, refer to the README file on
the OS/2 disk for instructions on how to install sound
drivers.

8. Once the software is copied, the install program
automatically updates the system files.

50

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

Appendix A: Technical Information

Appendix

A

Specifications

Part Number: 09-00293-01
Processor: Single ZIF socket 7

Intel Pentium
(P54C).
Intel Pentium
with MMX
AMD-K5™ PR90 to PR166MHz
AMD-K6™ 166 to 233MHz with MMX
Integrated VRM

Chipset: Intel 430TX PCIset with PIIX 4

Ultra I/O chip

CPU Clock Frequency synthesizer chip
Select: Support for 60 and 66MHz CPU bus

Form F actor: ATX footprint (12" x 9.6")
Expansion: F our 32-bit PCI slots

Four 16-bit ISA slots
One shared PCI/ISA slot

® 90-200MHz processors
® 166-233MHz Processor

™ (P55C)

BIOS: Phoenix 4.06 Plug and Play BIOS on

2MB Flash.
APM 1.2
Auto-detection of memory size
Auto-detection and display of SDRAM
and EDO memory.
Soft P ower Down
Multi-boot II
DMI

RAM Capacity: Maximum memory 256MB

Two 3.3V unbuffered 64-bit 168-pin
DIMM sockets.
Supports SDRAM, EDO and FPM
DRAM memory.

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

51

Appendix A: Technical Information

Keyboard/Mouse: PS/2 compatible
Onboard Sound: Y amaha OPL3 and OPL4

(optional) Sound Blaster

Game/MIDI ports
Built-in Wavetable

Cache: 256K or 512K Pipelined Burst Level 2 cache

soldered onboard.

Server LM78 - microprocessor hardware monitoring device
Management: (optional).

I/O P orts: Two high speed serial ports (16550 compatible)

Enhanced Parallel P ort with ECP and EPP support
IrDA compliant IR header
Two USB connectors

Floppy P ort: Auto-detection and support of two floppy drives

(2.88MB, 1.44MB, 1.2MB, 720K, 360K).

PCI IDE: Ultra DMA/33 IDE

Two resident 40-pin IDE connectors
Multiple sector transfer support
Auto detection of add-in IDE board

™ compatible 16-bit stereo

Environmental Specifications

The environment in which the Thunderbolt is located is critical. Micron­ics recommends the following environmental specifications:

Temperature Range

Operating: 50 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit (10 to 40 degrees Celsius).
Non -Operating: 50 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit (10 to 60 degrees Celsius).
Shipping: -22 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit (-30 to 60 degrees Celsius).

Relative Humidity

Operating: 20% to 80%.
Non-Operating: 5% to 90%.

52

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

Appendix A: Technical Information

Battery Disposal

WARNING:

Please do not open battery, dispose of in fire, recharge, put in backwards
or mix with used or other battery types. The battery may explode or leak
and cause personal injury.

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

53

Appendix A: Technical Information

Support and Information Services

Micronics offers a variety of support and information services to
help you get the most from your product. The following services
are available:

▲ Technical Support
▲ Electronic Bulletin Board Service (BBS)
▲ Return Materials Authorization (RMA)
▲ Fax-On-Demand
▲ World Wide Web
▲ Customer Service

Refer to Table A-1 for details on these services.

Technical Support

If you need technical assistance, our Technical Support
Engineers will be glad to help you. You can contact us via
telephone, fax or BBS. Before calling Technical Support
please have the following information ready:

❏ The model name and 09 part number of your Micronics

product.

❏ Your computer information such as CPU type, operating

system, amount of installed memory and other peripherals

installed in your computer.
❏ Try to call from the location of your computer.
NOTE: For Return Material Authorization purposes, please

keep a copy of your product receipt.

54

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

Appendix A: Technical Information

Service Hours Country Telephone Number

Technical Support - Live phone help
from Technical Support Engineers

M-F: 7:00am to

4:45pm (PST)

USA

France

UK

[phone]
[phone] (Fax)
[phone]
[phone] (Fax) +44
(0) 1256 844899
[phone] (Fax)

Electronic Bulletin Board Service
(BBS) - Information on software
upgrades, new releases and other
helpful information

24 hours a day

7 days a week

"
"

USA

France

UK

[phone]
14400 baud rate, Parity=N,
Data Bits=8, Stop Bits=1
YMODEM and ZMODEM
(recommended file transfer
protocols)
[phone]
[phone]

RMA (Return Materials Authorization) ­Return products for repair

M-F: 8:00am to

4:45pm (PST)

USA [phone]

[phone] (Fax)

Fax-On-Demand - Automated system
for product literature, technical
bulletins and other helpful information

24 hours a day

7 days a week

USA [phone]

World Wide Web - Product information,
technical support, press releases and
other helpful information

24 hours a day

7 days a week

USA http://www.micronics.com

Customer Service - Order Micronics
and Orchid products

M-F: 8:00am to

5:00pm (PST)

USA

France

UK

Germany

Taiwan

[phone]
[phone] (Fax)
[phone]
[phone] (Fax)
[phone]
[phone] (Fax)
[phone]
[phone] (Fax)
[phone]
[phone] (Fax)

T able A-1: Support and Information Services

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

55

Appendix A: Technical Information

56

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

Appendix B: POST Messages

Solution

Check Setup and cable

connections.

Check Setup and cable

connections.

Replace defective

memory.

Replace defective

memory.

Rerun SETUP and check

connections, or replace

hard disk.

Check configuration and

connections, or replace

controller card.

Run Setup.

Run Setup.

Requires repair of system

board.

Check connections. You

may have to replace the

keyboard or controller.

Make sure the keys are

not jammed or dirty.

of

Unlock the keyswitch.

Appendix

B

POST Messages

The following table lists the Power On Self Test (POST)
messages, possible causes and solutions.

Message Possible Cause

DISKETTE DRIVE A
FAILURE

DISKETTE DRIVE B
FAILURE

EXTENDED RAM
FAILED AT
OFFSET: nnnn

FAILING BITS: nnnn

FIXED DISK X
FAILURE (where X
=0 or 1)

FIXED DISK
CONTROLLER
FAILURE

INCORRECT DRIVE
A TYPE

INCORRECT DRIVE
B TYPE

INVALID NVRAM
MEDIA TYPE

KEYBOARD
ERROR, or
KEYBOARD
CONTROLLER
ERROR

KEYBOARD
ERROR nn

KEYBOARD
LOCKED

Drive A failed or is
missing.

Drive B failed or is
missing.

Extended memory not
working or configured
properly.

Memory failure in
System, Extended, or
Shadow memory.

The hard disk is not
configured or working
properly.

The controller card has
failed.

Floppy drive A: not set
correctly in Setup.

Floppy drive A: not set
correctly in Setup.

NVRAM chip is bad.

The keyboard or
keyboard controller
failed.

A key is jammed or was
held down during boot.

Keyswitch on the front
the case is locked.

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

57

Appendix B: POST Messages

S NOT MATCH

make any

tments,

AT OFFSET

ATTERY

en

ve RAM.

Message Possible Cause Solution

MONITOR TYPE
DOE
CMOS

OPERATING
SYSTEM NOT
FOUND

Monitor type not
correctly identified in
Setup.

Operating system
cannot be located on
Drive C: or Drive A:

Run Setup and enter
correct monitor type.

Check Setup to see if
Drive A: and C: are
properly configured, or
put a bootable disk in
Drive A:

PARITY CHECK 1
nnnn

PARITY CHECK 2
nnnn

PREVIOUS BOOT
INCOMPLETE ­DEFAULT
CONFIGURATION
USED

REAL TIME CLOCK
ERROR

SHADOW RAM
FAILED

SYSTEM B
IS DEAD

SYSTEM CACHE
ERROR - CACHE
DISABLED

SYSTEM CMOS
CHECKSUM BAD ­RUN SETUP

Parity error found in the
system bus.

Parity error found in the
I/O bus.

Previous POST did not
complete successfully.

Real-time clock failed
BIOS test.

Shadow RAM failed. May require repair of

System battery died. Replace the system

External (L2) cache
failed BIOS test.

System CMOS has be
corrupted or modified
incorrectly.

Check Setup. Board
repair may be required.

Check Setup. Board
repair may be required.

Run Setup, load default
BIOS settings,
necessary adjus
and save the changes

May require battery
replacement or board
repair.

system board.

battery and run Setup to
reconfigure the system.

System will still run, but
slower. Replace cache
at convenience.

Run Setup and
reconfigure the system.

SYSTEM RAM
FAILED AT
OFFSET: nnnn

SYSTEM TIMER
ERROR

58

System RAM failed. Replace defecti

Timer test failed. Requires repair of system

board.

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

Appendix C: Beep and POST Codes

Appendix

C

Beep and POST Codes

Beep codes are a series of beeps sent through the speaker
which indicate a problem during the Power On Self Test
(POST). If text appears on the video screen, the Thun­derbolt has completed POST; any other tone from the
speaker indicates something other than a POST error.
These tones are not described in the tables on the follow­ing pages.

The beep error codes are a series of beeps. The duration
of the beep tones are constant, but the length of the
pauses between the beeps varies. For example: a 1-3­3 beep code will sound like one beep, a pause; three
beeps consecutively, another pause and then three
more beeps.

One beep code is often misunderstood. If a video card
is not installed or is failing, the system board will
generate a long-short-long-short beep code. This is
often interpreted as a 1-2-1 beep code. But POST
errors always vary in the length of the pause and not the
duration of the beep tone.

Another way of identifying a POST error is to use a
device called a POST card. This peripheral card is
inserted into one of the ISA slots and has an LED (or
LCD) read out showing the contents of port 80h.

The following tables list all beep codes and POST
routines.

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59

Appendix C: Beep and POST Codes

Code Beeps POST Routine Description

02 Verify Real Mode.
04 Get CPU type.
06 Initialize system hardware.
08 Initialize chipset registers with initial POST values.

09 Get in POST Reg.
0A Initialize CPU registers.
0C Initialize cache initial POST values.

OE Initialize I/O.
OF Initialize the localbus IDE.

10 Initialize Power Management.
11 Load alternate registers with initial POST values.
12 Jump to UserPatch0.
14 Initialize keyboard controller.
16 2-2-3 BIOS ROM checksum.
18 8254 timer initialization.
1A 8237 DMA controller initialization.
1C Reset Programmable Interrupt Controller.
20 3-1-1 Test DRAM refresh.
22 3-1-3 Test 8742 Keyboard Controller.
24 Set ES segment register to 4 GB.
28 Autosize DRAM.
2A Clear 512K base RAM.
2C 3-4-1 Test 512K base address lines.
2E 3-4-3 Test 512K base memory.
32 Test CPU bus-clock frequency.
34 Test CMOS RAM.
35 Initialize alternate chipset registers.
37 Reinitialize the chipset (MB only).
38 Shadow system BIOS ROM.
39 Reinitialize the cache (MB only).
3A Autosize cache.
3C Configure advanced chipset registers.
3D Load alternate registers with CMOS values.
40 Set initial CPU speed.
42 Initialize interrupt vectors.
44 Initialize BIOS interrupts.
46 2-1-2-3 Check ROM copyright notice.
47 Initialize manager for PCI Option ROMs.
48 Check video configuration against CMOS.
49 Initialize PCI bus and devices.

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Thunderbolt System Board Manual

Appendix C: Beep and POST Codes

Code Beeps POST Routine Description

4A Initialize all video adapters in system.
4C Shadow video BIOS ROM.
4E Display copyright notice.
50 Display CPU type and speed.
51 Initialize EISA board.
52 Test keyboard.
54 Set key click if enabled.
56 Enable keyboard.
58 2-2-3-1 Test for unexpected interrupts.
5A Display prompt “Press F2 to enter SETUP”.
5C Test RAM between 512 and 640k.
60 Test extended memory.
62 Test extended memory address lines.
64 Jump to UserPatch1.
66 Configure advanced cache registers.
68 Enable external and CPU caches.
6A Display external cache size.
6C Display shadow message.
6E Display non-disposable segments.
70 Display error messages.
72 Check for configuration errors.
74 Test real-time clock.
76 Check for keyboard errors.
7C Set up hardware interrupt vectors.
7E Test coprocessor if present.
80 Disable onboard I/O ports.
82 Detect and install external RS232 ports.
84 Detect and install external parallel ports.
86 Re-initialize on-board I/O ports.
88 Initialize BIOSData Area.
8A Initialize Extended BIOS Data Area.
8C Initialize floppy controller.
90 Initialize hard-disk controller.
91 Initialize localbus hard-disk controller.
92 Jump to UserPatch2.
93 Build MPTABLE for multi-processor boards.
94 Disable A20 address line.
96 Clear huge ES segment register.
98 Search for option ROMs.
9A Shadow option ROMs.

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61

Appendix C: Beep and POST Codes

Code Beeps POST Routine Description

9C Set up Power Management.
9E Enable hardware interrupts.
A0 Set time of day.
A2 Check key lock.
A4 Initialize typematic rate.
A8 Erase F2 prompt.
AA Scan for F2 keystroke.

AC Enter SETUP.

AE Clear in-POST flag.
B0 Check for errors.
B2 POST done - prepare to boot operating system.
B4 One beep.
B6 Check password (optional).
B8 Clear global descriptor table.

BC Clear parity checkers.

BE Clear screen (optional).
BF Check virus and backup reminders.
C0 Try to boot with INT 19.
D0 Interrupt handler error.
D2 Unknown interrupt error.
D4 Pending Interrupt.
D6 Initialize option ROM error.

D8 Shutdown error.
DA Extended Block Move.
DC Shutdown 10 error.

The following are for boot block in Flash ROM:
E2 Initialize the chipset.
E3 Initialize refresh counter.
E4 Check for Forced Flash.
E5 Check HW status of ROM.
E6 BIOS ROM is OK.
E7 Do a complete RAM test.
E8 Do OEM initialization.
E9 Initialize interrupt controller.
EA Read in the bootstrap code.
EB Initialize all vectors.

EC Boot the Flash program.
ED Initialize the boot device.

EE Boot code was read OK.

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Thunderbolt System Board Manual

Appendix D: Hard Disk Drive Types

ylinders

ads

recomp

ectors

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

Appendix

D

Hard Disk Drive Types

The following table lists the IDE hard disk types supported
by the Thunderbolt.

Type C

1 306 4 128 17 10
2 615 4 300 17 21
3 615 6 300 17 32
4 940 8 512 17 65
5 940 6 512 17 99
6 615 4 none 17 21
7 462 8 256 17 32
8 733 5 none 17 31
9 900 15 none 17 117

820 3 none 17 21
855 5 none 17 37
855 7 none 17 52
306 8 128 17 21
733 7 none 17 44
N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
612 4 0 17 21
977 5 300 17 42
977 7 none 17 59

1024 7 512 17 62

733 5 300 17 31
733 7 300 17 94
733 5 300 17 31
306 4 0 17 10
612 4 305 17 21
612 2 300 17 10
614 4 none 17 21
820 6 none 17 42

977 5 none 17 42
1218 15 none 36 336
1224 15 none 17 159

He

Write

P

S

Size

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

63

Appendix D: Hard Disk Drive Types

ylinders

ads

recomp

ectors

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

Type C

He

823 10 512 17 71
809 6 128 17 42
830 7 none 17 50

830 10 none 17 72
1024 5 none 17 44
1024 8 none 17 71

615 8 128 17 42
1024 8 none 26 109

925 9 none 17 72

P

Write

S

Size

64

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

Appendix E: Updating the System BIOS

Appendix

E

If you
encounter
any
problems
during this
process, or
if you have
questions
about the
procedure,
please call
Technical
Support.

Updating the System BIOS

The Micronics system boards are designed so that the
BIOS can be reprogrammed using a BIOS file. You can
easily FLASH a BIOS by following the steps below:

1) After downloading the appropriate BIOS file from our
BBS or Website, extract it to a bootable MS-DOS 6.X
diskette.

2) Turn off your system and change jumper W12 to the
closed position.

3) Reboot your system with the MS-DOS 6.X diskette in
the A: drive. To make sure a clean DOS environment
is loaded, press the F5 key while “Starting MS-DOS”
is displayed. After the system has rebooted, the cursor
will appear at the A:> prompt.

4) Now you can run the FLASH utility. The filename
should be "PHLASH.EXE." Type this filename at the
A:> prompt (but don’t include its extension), fol­lowed by a space and the BIOS ROM image’s filename.
This file will be included in the download and has a file
length of about 131K or 262K. For example, to update
the Thunderbolt to BIOS version 01, you would type:

PHLASH Thndrblt_01.ROM [ENTER]

5) After the update process has completed and the
system reboots, verify that the new BIOS version
appears on-screen.

6) Turn off your system and remove the jumper from
W12.

NOTE: If the BIOS is somehow erased or doesn’t seem to
accept the upgrade, you can purchase a new BIOS from
MicroNiche Information Systems (800-733-9188). There
is a $30.00 fee plus shipping charges for this service. (Price
and availability subject to change.)

If you prefer to send your system board in for the upgrade,
the RMA department offers this service free of charge if
your system board is under warranty.

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

65

Appendix E: Updating the System BIOS

66

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

Appendix F: Warranties and Notices

Appendix

F

Limited Warranty

Except as described below, Micronics warrants the prod­ucts to be free from defects in material and workmanship
in normal use for a period of one (1) year from date of
purchase. Should any product fail to perform according to
this warranty at any time during the warranty period,
except as provided below, Micronics or its authorized
service centers will, at Micronics’ option, repair or replace
the product at no additional charge.

The warranty does not cover loss or damage which occurs
in shipment or which is due to: (1) improper installation or
maintenance, misuse, neglect or any cause other than
ordinary commercial application, including without limita­tion, accidents or acts of God; (2) adjustment, repair, or
modification by other than a Micronics authorized service
center; (3) improper environment, excessive or inadequate
heating or air conditioning, or electrical power failures,
surges or other irregularities; (4) any statement about the
product other than those set forth in this warranty; or (5)
nonconformity to models or samples shown to the pur­chaser. Any models or samples were for the sole purpose of
suggesting the character of the product and are not in­tended to form the basis of the bargain.

A receipt or copy of the invoice with the date of purchase
from a Micronics reseller is required before any warranty
service can be rendered. Service can be obtained by
calling Micronics for a Return Merchandise Authoriza­tion (RMA) Number.

The RMA Number should be prominently displayed on
the outside of the shipping carton of the returned prod­uct. Returned product should be shipped prepaid or hand
carried to Micronics. The purchaser assumes risk of loss or
damage in transit, and unless otherwise agreed to in writing
by Micronics, will pay inbound shipping charges.

The exclusive remedy of the purchaser under this war­ranty above will be repaired or replaced at Micronics’

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

67

Appendix F: Warranties and Notices

option, but if for any reason that remedy should fail of its
essential purpose, the exclusive remedy of the purchaser
shall then be actual damages up to amounts paid for the
defective product by the purchaser. This limited warranty
shall be deemed to “fail of its essential purpose” if, after
repeated efforts, Micronics is unable to make the product
operate as warranted. Micronics’ liability for damages to
the purchaser for any cause whatsoever; regardless of the
form of action and whether in contract or in tort, shall be
limited to the purchase price in effect when the cause of
action arose for the product that is the basis of the claim.

Micronics will not be liable for any lost profits or any
indirect, special incidental or consequential damages in
connection with the product, even if Micronics has been
advised of the possibility of such damages.

Micronics makes no warranties or representations as to
performance of products or as to service to distributor or
to any person, except as set forth in Micronics; limited
warranty accompanying delivery of product.

Micronics disclaims all other warranties whether oral,
written, expressed, or implied, including without limita­tion, the warranties of design, merchantability, or fitness
for a particular purpose, if applicable, or arising from a
course of dealing, usage or trade practice.

Non-Warranty Service

After the one year warranty service is no longer in effect,
repair service is still available for Micronics products. For
more information, contact Micronics’ RMA department
at [phone]. The RMA department is open between
8:00 A.M. and 4:45P.M. Pacific Standard Time.

68

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

Appendix F: Warranties and Notices

FCC Statement

This equipment has been tested and found to comply
within the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to
Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to
provide reasonable protection against harmful interfer­ence in a residential installation. This equipment gener­ates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if
not used in accordance with the instructions, may cause
harmful interference to radio communications. Interfer­ence to radio or television reception can be determined by
turning the equipment off and on. You are encouraged to
try to correct the interference by one or more of the
following measures:

Reorient 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 your dealer or an experienced radio/TV
technician for help.

To meet FCC requirements, shielded cables are required.

NOTE: Changes or modifications not expressly approved by
Micronics could void your authority to operate the equipment.

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

69

Glossary

Glossary

16550 UART - A high speed chip for
controlling serial ports. Although un­necessary for a mouse, it is required for
modems that are 14,400 baud or faster.

APM - An acronym for Advanced
Power Management.

The APM speci­fication defines a layer of software
that supports power management in
computers with power manageable
hardware.

Asynchronous - Operations that do
not require the clocks of communicat­ing devices to be coordinated. See Syn­chronous.

ATX - A system board size measuring
approximately 12” x 9.6”.

Bidirectional Parallel Port - A type of
parallel port that can send and receive
information.

BIOS - An Acronym for Basic Input/
Output System. Configures the system
board and provides hardware informa­tion to the operating system.

Bit - A contraction of Binary digit.
The smallest unit of information in a
binary number system. A bit repre­sents a choice between either zero
or one.

ering action increases the maximum
number of modules on the same sys­tem board. The buffered DIMMs come
with standard DRAM chips for either
5V or 3.3V operation.

Bus - A group of electronic paths used
to send data between parts of the sys­tem. On a system board, the bus con­nects the peripheral cards with the
microprocessor via the expansion slots.

Bus Mastering - The ability of a
peripheral card to control the bus with­out requiring intervention of the CPU .

Byte - A group of adjacent bits treated
as a unit. Eight bits are typically con­sidered one byte. Also called a char­acter.

Cache - A process where information
is copied from the slower memory
(DRAM) to the faster memory
(SRAM). Information that is likely to
be read or edited is stored in the cache
providing significant performance in­creases.

Cache Hit - The percentage of re­quest for data from memory that can
be served from the cache.

Cache Miss - A memory access which
cannot be supplied from cache.

Boot - To start up the computer and
load the operating system software. See
cold boot and warm boot.

Buffered DIMMs - The 168-pin buff­ered DIMM modules use buffer logic
chips on their control lines to reduce
loading on the system board. This buff-

70

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

Cold Boot - Starting the computer by
turning on the power or pressing the
RESET button. A cold boot makes the
processor execute all of the diagnos­tics. See boot and warm boot.
read/write head across the disk’s sur­face in order to read or write data in
magnetic code.

Glossary

CPU - An acronym for Central Pro ­cessing Unit. A CPU performs arith­metic calculations, makes logical
decisions, and directs the operation of
the computer in conjunction with the
operating system.

DIMM - An acronym for Dual Inline
Memory Module. A small printed cir­cuit board containing memory chips.

Disk Drive - A hardware device
which provides for the storage of data
on diskettes or hard metal disks that
have a magnetic coating. A disk drive
functions by spinning at high speed
while moving a device called the read/
write head across the disk’s surface in
order to read or write data in magnetic
code.

DMI - An acronym for Desktop Man­agement Interface. DMI makes hard­ware inventory easier. It defines a for­mat of a management agent for desk­top systems. Its layered-model architec­ture allows a wide range of software and
hardware components to pass informa­tion about themselves to an asset man­agement system.

DRAM - An acronym for Dynamic
Random Access Memory. A type of
memory chip that only keeps its
memory if supplied with regular clock
pulses and a chance to regularly re­fresh its data. It is slower and more cost
effective than SRAM. See SRAM.

ECC - An acronym for Error Check­ing and Correction. ECC is logic de­signed to correct memory errors. The
number of errors that can be corrected

depends upon the algorithms used,
and the number of error correction bits
(non-data bits) present.

ECP - An acronym for Expanded
Capabilities Port. A standard set by
Hewlett Packard and Microsoft Cor­poration to expand the capabilities of
the parallel port.

EDO Memory - An acronym for Ex­tended Data Out. A DRAM perfor­mance feature that permits multiple bit
of data in a single row to be accessed
quickly.

EPP - An acronym for Enhanced Par­allel Port. A standard which increases
the capabilities of the parallel port.

EPROM - Acronym for Erasable Pro­grammable Read Only Memory. A
type of ROM chip that can be pro­grammed with relatively simple tools
that will retain its data until erased. It
can only be erased by exposing the cir­cuitry in the chip to ultraviolet light.
See also Flash ROM.

Flash ROM - A type of ROM chip
that will retain its data until erased. It
can be erased or reprogrammed by sup­plying it with +12V of voltage. See
ROM and EPROM.

FPM - An acronym for Fast Page
Mode. A timing option that permits
several bits of data in a single row on a
DRAM to accessed at an accelerated
rate.

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

71

Glossary

IDE - An acronym for Integrated
Device Electronics. A standard for
communicating between a hard drive
and a computer.

Internal Cache - Cache which is built
into the CPU. See Cache.

ISA - An acronym for Industry Stan­dard Architecture. A well-established
bus standard that originated with the
IBM A T. See PCI and VESA Local Bus.

LM78 - The LM78 is a highly inte ­grated Data Acquisition system for
hardware monitoring of servers, Per­sonal Computers or virtually any mi­croprocessor based system. In a PC, the
LM78 can be used to monitor tempera­tures, power supply voltages and fan
speeds.

MMX - MMX technology is based on
the SIMD technique—Single Instruc­tion, Multiple Data—which enables
increased performance on a wide vari­ety of multimedia and communications
applications. The Pentium processor
with MMX technology includes all of
the features of a standard P entium pro­cessor , plus more.

Parallel - A form of data transmission
in which the data is sent one byte at a
time over several wires that each carry
one byte. In parallel transmission, all
the bytes arrive simultaneously, as op­posed to serial transmission in which
bits arrive one by one.

Parity - Logic that detects the presence
of an error in memory. Generally, a
single parity bit is used for each byte
(8 bits) of data. The most commonly
used forms of parity are even parity,
odd parity and checksums.

PCI - An acronym for P eripheral Com­ponent Interconnect. A high perfor­mance 32-bit or 64-bit bus developed
by Intel Corporation. PCI is
designed to be independent of the
hardware architecture to ensure com­patibility with future computer sys­tems. See VESA Local Bus and ISA.

Pentium - A high performance 64-bit
CISC processor designed and manu­factured by Intel Corporation.

Pipeline - In DRAMs and SRAMs, a
method for increasing the performance
using multistage circuitry to stack or
save data while new data is being ac­cessed.

Plug and Play - A standard developed
to ensure easy installation of peripher­als. Theoretically, a newly installed
card will automatically configure itself
and work properly without requiring
jumper configuration or device driv­ers.

POST - An acronym for Power On
Self Test. A diagnostic program that is
run whenever the system is cold
booted.

Parallel Port - A connection for a
printer or similar peripheral. Generally,
parallel ports are output only. See Bi­directional Parallel Port and ECP.

72

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

RAM - An acronym for Random
Access Memory. A type of memory
that is used as the “working memory”
of a computer system. See DRAM and
SRAM.

Glossary

ROM - An acronym for Read Only
Memory. A type of memory that re­tains its data without requiring power.
Once written, it cannot be modified.
See EPROM and Flash ROM.

SDRAM - Synchronous Dynamic
Random Access Memory or Synchro­nous DRAM. A DRAM designed to
deliver bursts of data at very high Se-
rial P ort - A communications port used
to connect peripherals such as mo­dems and mice.

Setup - A program that allows you to
make changes to the system configu­ration.

Shadow RAM - A technique used to
load a duplicate copy of BIOS from
slower ROM into faster RAM. This
enhances system performance because
it provides higher access speed to the
BIOS.

SIMM - An acronym for Standard
Inline Memory Module. A small
printed circuit board containing
memory chips.

Ultra DMA/33 IDE - A hard drive
interface protocol that increases the
burst data transfer rate to 33MBytes
per second.

Unbuffered DIMMs - The unbuffered
DIMM modules do not use any buffer
logic chips, thus achieving faster op­eration due to the elimination of the
propagation delay of the logic buffer.
This increase in speed comes at the
cost of reducing the maximum num­ber of modules on the same system
board.

USB - An acronym for Universal Se ­rial Bus. The simple and flexible way
to connect devices to your desktop or
notebook PC. USB allows virtually un­limited PC expansion with no more
hassles over add-in cards, dip switches,
jumper cables, software drivers, IRQ
settings, DMA channels and I/O ad­dresses. W ith USB, you can attach and
detach peripherals without opening the
computer or even shutting it down.

VESA - An acronym for Video Elec­tronics and Standards Association.

SRAM - An acronym for Static Ran­dom Access Memory. A type of
memory that can retain data without
requiring a regular clock signal.
Although they are faster than DRAM,
they hold less data and are more ex­pensive.

Synchronous Cache - A type of cache
that uses a clock signal to latch the
inputs and the data output. This struc­ture spreads the cache access across
two or three cycles while maintaining
a bandwidth of one access per cycle.
Improves performance by 5-10%.

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

VESA Local Bus (VL-Bus) - A high
performance bus designed by VESA.
A 32-bit version of the ISA bus which
operates at the speed of the computer’s
CPU. See PCI and ISA.

W arm Boot - Restarting the system by
simultaneously pressing the <Ctrl>,
<Alt> and <Delete> keys.

Write -Back Cache - Upon a cache
hit, the cache is updated and the main
memory is not affected. Upon a cache
miss, only the main memory is updated.

73

Index

Index

A

ATX

Chassis - 20
Form Factor - 6, 20
Power Supply - 20

B

Back Panel Connections - 12
Battery Disposal - 53
Beep and POST Codes - 59
BIOS

Configuration - 31
Setup - 31

Bulletin Board System (BBS) - 54, 55

74

C

Configuring the Thunderbolt - 11
Connecting

Sound Option - 28

D

Diagram (Thunderbolt) - 12

E

Extended Data Out (EDO) Memory - 19
Environmental Specifications - 52
Error Checking (ECC) - 19

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

F

Fast Page Mode (FPM) Memory - 19

H

Hard Disk Drive Types - 63
Help

Bulletin Board System (BBS) - 54, 55
Telephone Numbers - 55
Troubleshooting - 57, 59

I

Installation

CD-ROM Drive - 27
CPU - 24
Installing your Thunderbolt - 19
ISA Peripheral Card - 26
PCI Peripheral Card - 25
Quick Installation - 9
Sound Drivers - 49

Index

J

Jumper Settings - 13

M

Thunderbolt Back Panel Connections - 12
Thunderbolt System Board Diagram - 12
Memory

Configurations - 21, 22

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

75

Index

Installing - 23
Removing - 23
Supported - 19, 21

O

Online Services - 55

P

POST Messages - 57

S

SDRAM Memory - 19
Sound Option - 28
Specifications - 51
System BIOS - 65

76

T

Technical Specifications - 51
Technical Support - 54, 55
Troubleshooting - 57, 59

U

Updating the System BIOS - 65
Utility Programs

Advanced Screen - 38
BIOS Setup - 31
Boot Screen - 46
Exit Screen - 47

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

IDE Device Submenu - 36
Main Screen - 33
Power Screen - 44
Security Screen - 41

W

World Wide Web - 55

Index

Thunderbolt System Board Manual

77