Mitsubishi Electric apricot XEN-LS II Using Setup And Installing Add-ons

USING SETUP AND INSTALLING ADD-ONS

XEN-LS II

apricot

MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC

Information contained in this document is subject to change without notice and
does not represent a commitment on the part of Apricot Computers Limited. The
software described in this manual is furnished under a license agreement. The
software may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of this
agreement.

It is against the law to copy any disk supplied for any purpose other than the
purchaser’s personal use.

All rights reserved; no use or disclosure without written consent.
Copyright © Apricot Computers Limited 1992
Published by

Apricot Computers Limited
3500 Parkside
Birmingham Business Park
B37 7YS

MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC
Printed in the United Kingdom
Part no. 15028131

Revision 02

Contents

SETUP

Introduction 3
Invoking SETUP 3
The SETUP screen 4
Controlling SETUP using the keyboard 6
System Autoconfiguration 6
Opening screen 7
Change disk types 13
Advanced options 14
Exiting SETUP 20

Installing add-ons

Introduction 21
Expansion cards 23
Memory 26
Processor upgrades 32

5.25" drives 40

3.5" hard disk drive 48

Appendices

A: Configuring expansion cards 53
B: Video feature connector 64

1

2

SETUP

Introduction

The Apricot XEN-LS II motherboard is fitted with a small
area of memory which is used to store information about
the configuration of the computer. The computer’s
configuration is modified using a SETUP utility provided in
Read Only Memory (ROM) on the motherboard.

A rechargeable battery on the XEN-LS II motherboard
maintains the configuration memory when the computer is
switched off.

In voking SETUP

Each time the XEN-LS II is switched on, or rebooted, it
runs through a self test procedure. During this period the
SETUP utility can be invoked by pressing the
combination.

The XEN-LS II can boot in two ways, it can use a graphical
boot screen, or a conventional text based boot screen.
During graphical boot a Setup button is displayed, SETUP
can only be invoked while the button is not greyed out.
During text boot a prompt appears on the screen, while the
prompt is visible SETUP can be invoked.

ALT+S key

There may be a delay of a few seconds, while the self test
procedure is completed, before the SETUP screen
appears.

3

The SETUP screen

The simplest way to use SETUP is with a mouse, just
move the cursor to the option you want to select and click
with the left mouse button. The illustration below identifies
the elements that make up the SETUP screen.

XEN-LS II Setup

Memory
Total

Extended

Power on sound

Low

Enable

Power-on password

Enable

Monitor type

VGA
HiVision 14"
Multi-sync [14/17]

4096KB
3072KB

Test

High

Save
Cancel
Default

Advanced...

Startup

Graphics
Text

Ethernet interface

UTP [10BASE-T]
Thin [10BASE-2]
Thick [10BASE-5]

Option group

Text

Option button

Disk types

Hard 1
Quantum LPS120AT
Hard 2
Quantum LPS120AT

Floppy 1

3.5in 1.44M
Floppy 2
NONE

Boot device

CMOS Checksum OK

Change...

Local
Ethernet RPL

On-board other

Button

Message bar

Scroll Bar

Text Box

Option group

These are used to collect a number of related, or exclusive,
options under a common heading.

Check box

Check boxes are used where any number of the options in
the group may be selected. Select or de-select a check
box by pointing and clicking in the box with the mouse.

4

Option button

These are used for exclusive options. Beside each option
is a circle, only one circle is highlighted at any given time. If
you point and click on an option the highlight will transfer to
it.

Scroll bar

Scroll bars behave like slide controls. They are adjusted by
pointing and clicking on the arrows at each end of the bar.

Text box

These are provided when the user has to enter text. Point
and click in the text box, then enter the text required and
press

ENTER.

Text

The SETUP utility displays some information about your
system that is detected automatically and cannot be
altered. For example, the amount of memory installed in the
system is detected and displayed, for information only.

Buttons

Buttons carry out the action indicated by the text on the
button.

Message line

A message line at the bottom of the screen contains
information about SETUP.

Greyed out options

Where an option is greyed out it indicates that it cannot
currently be selected, or used. There could be a variety of
reasons for this, for example: the computer may not
support the option, or an associated option may have to be
enabled in order for the greyed out option to be valid.

5

Controlling SETUP using the keyboard

If you are unable to use a mouse, you can use the
keyboard to move around and select the SETUP options.

TAB Moves you round the option groups, and

buttons. An alternative method is to hold
down the

ALT key and press the letter

which corresponds to the one underlined
in the title of the group.

ARROW KEYS Once you are in an option group, use the

arrow keys to move through the options.
The system will highlight an entry to show
which option is currently selected.

SPACE BAR Press the space bar to set the highlighted

option.

ENTER Confirms buttons.

When the changes in a screen are complete are complete,
select the
changes, select the

SAVE button and press ENTER. To abandon your

CANCEL button and press ENTER.

System Autoconfiguration

If the system configuration has changed since the last time
the computer was booted, SETUP will be invoked
automatically.

6

Opening screen

Disk Types

Hard disk

The XEN-LS II supports a maximum of two IDE hard disk
drive(s). The type of drive fitted is displayed in these two
text boxes.

Floppy disk

The XEN-LS II can be fitted with one or two floppy drives.
These text boxes are used to display the type of drive
fitted.

There is no need to change the floppy drive type unless
you are adding a drive.

Change

The Change button accesses a screen which allows you
to select the type of each floppy drive, and provides for the
possible inclusion of user-defined hard disk drives.

Change disk type

The
later in this section.

screen is described in more detail

Boot device

The boot device option group allows you to select where
you want the XEN-LS II to look for an operating system
when it is switched on or rebooted. The group contains
three option buttons, these choose between booting from a
hard or floppy disk in the computer, and remotely across
the on-board Ethernet interface using different types of
remote boot.

If you make an inappropriate selection it may result in the
computer failing to find an operating system and being
unable to boot.

Before selecting a remote boot option check with your
network administrator.

7

Local

This should be selected if the computer is to boot from an
internal hard disk or floppy drive.

It should be noted that when one of the remote boot schemes
described below is enabled it is not possible to boot the
computer from a local device. If you wish a XEN-LS II, that
normally boots remotely using the on-board Ethernet
interface, to boot from a local device, you must first use
SETUP to select Local in the boot device option group.

Note

This option should be selected if you want the computer to
boot remotely from a server using a network interface on
an expansion card.

Ethernet

If the computer is connected to an Ethernet network using
the on-board Ethernet interface, and it is to boot remotely
from a server using the RPL (Remote Program Load)
scheme, enable this option.

Other

This option is provided for possible future implementation of
other remote boot methods for the on-board Ethernet
interface. It is currently greyed out.

Memory

The memory text box displays a count of the amount of
memory installed in the system. The contents of the text
box cannot be edited and is displayed for information only.

Separate counts of total and extended memory are
displayed.

Power-on sound

When this option is enabled the XEN-LS II audio
subsystem provides an audible indication that the system
has been switched on.

8

Volume

The volume control adjusts the output level of the Power­On Sound. Use it to adjust the volume to suit the
computer’s location.

Test

Use the Test button to preview the Power-On Sound to
ensure that you have set it to a suitable level.

Set Power-on Password

The XEN-LS II supports a power-on password. If enabled this
password must be entered every time the system is powered
up or rebooted. If you have Apricot LOC Technology enabled
the power on password cannot be used.

When the power-on password is enabled the text box can
be selected and a password entered. The password has a
minimum length of 1 character and a maximum length of 7
characters.

Monitor type

There are three option buttons in this group: VGA, HiVision
14" and Multi-sync [14/17]. The three options alter the
timings of video signals provided by the XEN-LS II video
connector to suit a variety of different types of monitor.

It is important to ensure that you have made the correct
selection.

VGA

If you have a standard VGA monitor such as the Apricot
14" VGA Colour, or Apricot 14" VGA Paper-White you must
choose this option.

Higher resolution monitors will display standard VGA video
modes correctly if you select this option. However, if you
try to use higher resolution outputs, it is unlikely that they
will display correctly. For monitors that are capable of
displaying resolutions higher than 640x480 you should
choose one of the other selections.

9

HiVision 14"

This option must be selected only if you are using the
Apricot HiVision 14" monitor.

The HiVision 14" monitor is a dual synchronous monitor
capable of displaying 640x480 and 1024x768 video
outputs, it is also known as the Apricot High Resolution 14"
VGA monitor.

Multi-sync [14/17]

Select this mode if you are using an Apricot HiVision Low
Emission 14" or 17" monitor.

This option selects VESA compliant timings. Any multi­sync monitor which is compliant with the VESA timings will
work with this setting.

Note

This setting must not be chosen for the Apricot HiVision
14".

Video modes

The XEN-LS II motherboard video adapter can generate a
wide variety of video outputs. In addition to standard VGA
modes it supports seven enhanced modes as shown
below.

10

Resolution Colours Horizontal Vertical Mode Note

frequency frequency

640x480 256 31.5/37.9kHz 60/72Hz 2E 1, 3
640x480 65536 31.5/37.9kHz 60/72Hz 7A 1, 3
800x600 16 48.1kHz 72Hz 64, 6A 2
800x600 256 48.1kHz 72Hz 30 2
800x600 65536 35.2kHz 56Hz 7B 2
1024x768 1 6 48.3kHz 60Hz 37 2, 3

1024x768 256 48.3kHz 60Hz 38 2, 3

Notes

1. These modes are displayable on a standard VGA
monitor. The higher frequencies are selected when
multi-sync [14/17] is selected in SETUP. Higher
frequency variants use VESA compliant timings and
are displayable on the Apricot HiVision Low
Emission 14" and 17" monitors, and other VESA
timing compliant multi-sync monitors.

2. These modes use VESA compliant timings and are
displayable on the Apricot HiVision Low Emission
14" and 17" monitors, and other VESA timing
compliant multi-sync monitors.

3. These modes are displayable on an Apricot HiVision
14" monitor. When using a HiVision 14" monitor
(also known as a High Resolution 14" VGA monitor)
you must select the HiVision 14" option in the
monitor type option group.

In addition to the enhanced modes listed in the table above,
VGA mode 12 (640x480x16 colour) also uses the higher
vertical frequency when multi-sync [14/17] is selected.

In order to display these enhanced modes correctly you
must ensure that the correct monitor type is selected.
Selecting the wrong monitor type could result in nothing
being displayed.

To take advantage of these modes suitable display drivers
must be used. A set of drivers for popular applications is
supplied with your computer. Installation instructions are
provided in help files supplied with the drivers.

Startup

Graphics

When graphics is selected the initial boot screen is
displayed in graphical format.

Text

When text is selected a text based boot screen is used.

11

Ethernet interface

These three option buttons are used to select the type of
Ethernet the XEN-LS II is connected to.

Warning

You must select the correct interface. If you choose the
wrong one you will not be able to use the network
connection.

Advanced

This button activates a screen of advanced options. Many
of the options affect the operation of the motherboard, and
should only be changed by the technically competent user.

The operation of the
later in this section.

Advanced

screen is described in detail

12

Change disk types

Change disk types

Hard 1

None
Autodetect

User-defined

Hard 2

None
Autodetect

User-defined

Hard 1 and 2

For Apricot supplied drives always use Autodetect. This
will ensure that the system uses the correct parameters for
the drive.

The user-defined entry is for possible future enhancement
to allow non-standard drives to be used.

Floppy 1 and 2

Floppy 1

None

5.25" 360K

5.25" 1.2M

Floppy 2

None

5.25" 360K

5.25" 1.2M

3.5" 720K

3.5" 1.44M

3.5" 2.88M

3.5" 720K

3.5" 1.44M

3.5" 2.88M

Save
Cancel
Default

These two option groups allow to select which type of
floppy drive is installed.

Floppy 1 will always be a 3.5" device, 1.44M being the
standard fitment.

Floppy 2, if fitted, will usually be a 5.25" 1.2M device.
The other options are included for compatibility reasons,

and for possible future enhancement.

13

Advanced options

Advanced options

Disable motherboard

Serial port 1
Serial port 2
Parallel port
Digital audio system
Hard disk controller
Floppy disk controller
CD-ROM interface
Ethernet coprocessor
BIOS copy at 16MB

Memory hole at 16MB
i486 cache
External cache
Expansion slots

Disable motherboard

These check boxes allow you to selectively disable
motherboard features. You should only disable any of these
functions if you are sure it is appropriate.

Adapter Memory

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

C4000-C7FFF
C0000-C3FFF

Motherboard BIOS

System [E0000-FFFFF]
Video [C0000-C7FFF]

ISA bus

Bus speed

Slow
Fast

Shadow Wrt.Protect

Shadow Wrt.Protect

Save

Cancel

Default

I/O decoding

10 bit
16 bit

14

Serial port 1, 2, Parallel port

Checking a box disables the port associated with that box.
You should only disable a port if you are sure that you do
not want to use it.

Disabling a port in SETUP disables the relevant
motherboard hardware and frees the interrupt associated
with the port. Information on interrupts and their usage is
given in Appendix A at the rear of this guide.

Digital audio system

Checking this box disables the Apricot audio feature. You
should only disable the audio system if you are not using it.

Note

This check box disables the Apricot audio hardware, it has
no affect on the standard ISA sound capabilities.

Disabling the Apricot audio system frees the interrupt, and
the DMA channels associated with the audio system.
Information on interrupts, DMA channels, and their usage is
given in Appendix A at the rear of this guide.

Hard disk controller

Checking this box disables the motherboard hard disk drive
interface. You should only disable the interface in a system
without a hard disk drive.

Disabling the interface in SETUP disables the relevant
motherboard hardware and frees the interrupt associated
with the it. Information on interrupts and their usage is given
in Appendix A at the rear of this guide.

Floppy disk controller

Checking this box disables the motherboard floppy drive
interface. Since all XEN-LS II systems are supplied fitted
with at least one diskette drive you should not normally
disable the interface.

Disabling the floppy drive interface in SETUP disables the
relevant motherboard hardware and frees the interrupt and
the DMA channel associated with it. Information on
interrupts, DMA channels, and their usage is given in
Appendix A at the rear of this guide.

CD-ROM interface

Checking this box disables the motherboard CD-ROM
interface. You should only disable the interface in a system
without a CD-ROM drive.

Disabling the CD-ROM interface in SETUP disables the
relevant motherboard hardware and frees the interrupt and
the DMA channel associated with it. Information on
interrupts, DMA channels, and their usage is given in
Appendix A at the rear of this guide.

15

Ethernet coprocessor

Checking this box disables the Ethernet coprocessor. You
should only disable the Ethernet coprocessor if you are not
using it.

Disabling the Ethernet coprocessor in SETUP disables the
motherboard hardware and frees the interrupt associated
with the coprocessor. Information on interrupts and their
usage is given in Appendix A at the rear of this guide.

BIOS copy at 16MB

In an ISA compatible system a copy of the system BIOS
appears at 16 Mbytes. Checking this box removes that
copy of the system BIOS from the memory map.

In systems fitted with up to 16 Mbytes of RAM the box can
be either checked, or unchecked, it is unlikely to have a
significant effect.

In systems fitted with more than 16 Mbytes of RAM the box
must be checked.

Memory hole at 16MB

This option is used to enable or disable a hole in
motherboard memory. The hole, when enabled, appears
from 16M-128k to 16M.

16

This option should normally be disabled, and there is no
hole in the memory map. The hole should only be enabled
when the system RAM capacity is 16Mbytes or greater,
and you have an expansion card which uses memory
mapped I/O.

i486 cache

Checking this box disables the cache memory inside the
i486 processor. There should normally be no reason to
disable the processor cache, it will result in a performance
decrease.

Some old software which is speed sensitive may not work
properly with the cache enabled. This problem is
uncommon, and this option is provided as a safety net.

External cache

Checking this box disables the external cache, the cache
outside the i486. There should normally be no reason to
disable this cache, it will result in a performance decrease.

Some old software which is speed sensitive may not work
properly with the cache enabled. This problem is
uncommon, and this option is provided as a safety net.

If your XEN-LS II is not equipped with the external cache
this option will be greyed out.

Expansion slots

Checking this box disables all three expansion slots.
This option would not normally be used, however under

certain circumstances it may be useful. For example, if you
install an expansion card and the computer fails to boot
when you power it up. You may be able to use this SETUP
option to disable the expansion slots, and get the computer
to boot.

Motherboard BIOS

The system and VGA BIOS on the motherboard is stored
in ROM which has long access times. Enabling BIOS
shadowing enhances the performance of the system by
copying the contents of the BIOS ROM into RAM.

By copying the BIOS into RAM the system takes
advantage of the shorter access times of RAM. An
additional benefit is that shadowed ROM spaces are
cached gaining a further performance advantage.

Shadow

Checking this box enables BIOS shadowing for the
associated address range.

17

Write protect

Checking this box enables write protection for the
associated shadowed address range.

The normal state for this option will be disabled, the box not
checked. It is extremely rare for software to attempt to write
to ROM address ranges, and leaving write protection
disabled results in a performance advantage.

If you enable write protection then shadowed ROM spaces
can never be overwritten, this is safer, but results in lower
performance.

Adapter BIOS

BIOS on the expansion cards is stored in ROM which has
long access times. Enabling BIOS shadowing enhances
performance by copying the contents of the ROM into
RAM.

By copying the BIOS into RAM the system takes
advantage of the shorter access times of RAM. An
additional benefit is that shadowed ROM spaces are
cached gaining a further performance advantage.

Shadow

18

Checking this box enables BIOS shadowing for the
associated address range.

Warning

Shadowing is only appropriate for adapter ROM. It must
never be enabled for adapter card RAM in these regions.

Write protect

Checking this box enables write protection for the
associated shadowed address range.

The normal state for this option will be disabled, the box not
checked. It is extremely rare for software to attempt to write
to ROM address ranges, and leaving write protection
disabled results in a performance advantage.

If you enable write protection then shadowed ROM spaces
can never be overwritten, this is safer, but results in lower
performance.

ISA bus

Bus speed

These two options, in conjunction with a switch on the
motherboard, allow the speed of the ISA bus to be varied.

When this option is set to Fast, and the switch on the
motherboard is set to 8MHz the bus is fully compatible with
the ISA specification.

If this option is set to Slow and the switch on the
motherboard is set to 8MHz the bus is slightly slower than
the ISA specification.

If this option is set to Slow and the switch on the
motherboard is set to 10MHz the bus is slightly faster than
the ISA specification.

If this option is set to Fast and the switch on the
motherboard is set to 10MHz the bus is significantly faster
than the ISA specification.

I/O decoding

These two option buttons allow you to choose whether 16
or 10 address bits are decoded for I/O cycles to the ISA
bus.

16 bit decoding allows access to the full 64K I/O space on
the ISA bus.

10 bit decoding is slightly quicker, but restricts I/O
accesses on the ISA bus to the bottom 1K, from 0h to
399h.

19