MSI 845EV MS-6566 v1 User Manual

MSI

MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL

MS-6566 (v1.X) ATX Mainboard

845EV

Version 1.1

G52-M6566X2-K01

i

Manual Rev: 1.1
Release Date: March 2003

FCC-B Radio Frequency Interference Statement

This equipment has been tested and found to comply with 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 when the equip­ment is operated in a commercial environment. This equipment generates, uses
and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accor­dance with the instruction manual, may cause harmful interference to radio
communications. Operation of this equipment in a residential area is likely to
cause harmful interference, in which case the user will be required to correct
the interference at his own expense.

Notice 1

The changes or modifications not expressly approved by the party respon­sible for compliance could void the user’s authority to operate the equipment.

Notice 2

Shielded interface cables and A.C. power cord, if any, must be used in order to
comply with the emission limits.

VOIR LA NOTICE D’INSTALLATION AVANT DE RACCORDER AU

RESEAU.

Micro-Star International MS-6566

Tested to comply

with FCC Standard

For Home or Office Use

ii

Edition

March 2003

Copyright Notice

The material in this document is the intellectual property of MICRO-STAR
INTERNATIONAL. We take every care in the preparation of this document,

but no guarantee is given as to the correctness of its contents. Our products
are under continual improvement and we reserve the right to make changes
without notice.

Trademarks

All trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.

Intel® and Pentium® are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation.
PS/2 and OS®/2 are registered trademarks of International Business Machines
Corporation.
Windows® 95/98/2000/NT/XP are registered trademarks of Microsoft
Corporation.
Netware® is a registered trademark of Novell, Inc.
Award® is a registered trademark of Phoenix Technologies Ltd.
AMI® is a registered trademark of American Megatrends Inc.

Revision History

Revision Revision History Date

V1.1 Update specification, March 2003

MSI Special Features
and BIOS

iii

Safety Instructions

1. Read the safety instructions carefully.

2. Save this User’s Guide for possible use later.

3. Keep this equipment away from humidity.

4. Lay this equipment on a stable and flat surface before setting it up.

5. The openings on the enclosure are used for air convection and to prevent
the equipment from overheating. Note: Do not cover the openings.

6. Make sure that the power voltage is within its safety range and has been
adjusted properly to the value of 110/220V before connecting the equip­ment to the power inlet.

7. Place the power cord in a way that people are unlikely to step on it. Do not
place anything on the power cord.

8. Always unplug the power cord before inserting any add-on card or module.

9. All cautions and warnings on the equipment should be noted.

10. Never pour any liquid into the opening that could damage the equipment
or cause an electrical shock.

11. If any of the following situations arises, get the equipment checked by a
service personnel:

z the power cord or plug is damaged
z liquid has penetrated into the equipment
z the equipment has been exposed to moisture
z the equipment has not work well or you can not get it work according

to User’s Guide

z the equipment was dropped and damaged
z the equipment has obvious signs of breakage

12. Do not leave the equipment in an unconditioned environment with a stor­age temperature of 600 C (1400F) or above, which may damage the
equipment.

CAUTION: To prevent explosion caused by improper battery
replacement, use the same or equivalent type of battery recommended
by the manufacturer only.

iv

CONTENTS

Chapter 1. Getting Started ........................................................................ 1-1

Mainboard Specification ...................................................................... 1-2

Mainboard Layout ............................................................................... 1-4

Quick Components Guide .................................................................... 1-5

MSI Special Features ........................................................................... 1-6

Fuzzy Logic™ 4 ............................................................................. 1-6

Live BIOS™/Live Driver™ ............................................................ 1-7

D-Bracket™ (Optional) .................................................................. 1-8

PC Alert™ 4 ................................................................................. 1-10

Chapter 2. Hardware Setup ....................................................................... 2-1

Central Processing Unit: CPU .............................................................. 2-2

CPU Installation Procedures ......................................................... 2-2

Installing the CPU Fan .................................................................. 2-3

CPU Core Speed Derivation Procedure ......................................... 2-4

Memory ................................................................................................2-5

Introduction to DDR SDRAM ....................................................... 2-5

DDR Module Combination ............................................................ 2-6

Installing DDR Modules ............................................................... 2-6

Power Supply ....................................................................................... 2-7

ATX 20-Pin Power Connector: JW1 .............................................. 2-7

ATX 12V Power Connector: JPW1 ................................................ 2-7

Back Panel ............................................................................................ 2-8

Mouse Connector: JKBMS1 ......................................................... 2-8

Keyboard Connector: JKBMS1 ..................................................... 2-9

USB Connectors ............................................................................ 2-9

Serial Port Connector: COM A & COM B ................................... 2-10

Joystick/Midi Connectors ........................................................... 2-10

v

Audio Port Connectors ............................................................... 2-10

Parallel Port Connector: LPT1 ...................................................... 2-11

Connectors ......................................................................................... 2-12

Floppy Disk Drive Connector: FDD1 ........................................... 2-12

IrDA Infrared Module Header: JIR1 ............................................ 2-12

Hard Disk Connectors: IDE1 & IDE2 ........................................... 2-13

CD-In Connector: JCD1 ............................................................... 2-14

Aux Line-In Connector: JAUX1 .................................................. 2-14

Modem-In Connector: JMD1 ....................................................... 2-14

Fan Power Connectors: CFAN1/SFAN1 ...................................... 2-15

Wake On Ring Connector: JWR1 ................................................ 2-16

Power Saving Switch Connector: JGS1 ........................................ 2-16

Front Panel Connector: JFP1 & JFP2 ........................................... 2-17

Front Panel Audio Connector: JAUD1 ........................................ 2-18

Front USB Connectors: JUSB1 .................................................... 2-19

D-Bracket™ Connector: JDB1 ..................................................... 2-20

Jumpers .............................................................................................. 2-21

Clear CMOS Jumper: JBAT1 ........................................................ 2-21

Slots ................................................................................................... 2-22

AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) Slot ......................................... 2-22

PCI Slots ...................................................................................... 2-23

CNR (Communication Network Riser) ......................................... 2-23

PCI Interrupt Request Routing .................................................... 2-24

Chapter 3. AMI BIOS Setup ..................................................................... 3-1

Entering Setup ...................................................................................... 3-2

Selecting the First Boot Device ..................................................... 3-2

Control Keys ................................................................................. 3-3

Getting Help .................................................................................. 3-3

vi

The Main Menu ................................................................................... 3-4

Standard CMOS Features .................................................................... 3-6

Advanced BIOS Features .................................................................... 3-8

Advanced Chipset Features ............................................................... 3-12

Power Management Setup ................................................................. 3-14

PNP/PCI Configurations ..................................................................... 3-17

Integrated Peripherals ........................................................................ 3-19

Hardware Monitor Setup .................................................................... 3-22

Load High Performance/BIOS Setup Defaults .................................... 3-24

Supervisor/User Password ................................................................. 3-25

IDE HDD AUTO Detection ................................................................ 3-27

Glossary .................................................................................................... G-1

vii

Getting Started

Chapter 1. Getting Started

Getting Started

Thank you for purchasing the MS-6566 v1.X ATX mainboard. The MS­6566 v1.X is based on Intel® 845E & ICH2 chipsets for optimal system efficiency.
Designed to fit the advanced Intel® Pentium® 4/Celeron processors in the 478
pin package, the MS-6566 delivers a high performance and professional desk­top platform solution.

TOPICS

Mainboard Specification 1-2

Mainboard Layout 1-4

Quick Components Guide 1-5

MSI Special Features 1-6

1

1-1

Chapter 1

Mainboard Specification

CPU

Support Intel® Pentium® 4/Celeron processor in 478 pin package
Support 1.4GHz~3.06GHz processor

- FSB 400MHz up to 1.4~2.6GHz

- FSB 533MHz up to 2.26~3.06GHz

Chipset

Intel® 845E chipset

- AGP 4x slot (1.5V only)

- Support 400/533MHz FSB

- Support 400/533MHz Intel NetBurst micro-architecture bus
Intel® ICH2 chipset

- AC’97 Controller Integrated

- 2 full IDE channels, up to ATA 100

- Low pin count interface for SIO

Main Memory

Support two 184-pin DDR DIMM slots
Support up to 2 GB memory size

Slots

One AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) 4x slot (1.5V only)
Six PCI 2.2v 32-bit Master PCI bus slots
One CNR (Communication Network Riser) slot

On-Board IDE

An IDE controller on the ICH2 chipset provides IDE HDD/CD-ROM with
PIO, Bus Master and Ultra DMA66/100 operation modes
Can connect up to four IDE devices.

Note: The AGP slot DOES NOT support 3.3V AGP card. Use of

3.3V AGP card may cause damage to the mainboard.

1-2

Getting Started

On-Board Peripherals

On-board Peripherals include:

- 1 floppy port supports 2 FDD with 360K, 720K, 1.2M, 1.44M and 2.88Mbytes

- 2 serial ports (COM 1 + COM 2)

- 1 parallel port supports SPP/EPP/ECP mode

- 4 USB ports (Rear x 2/ Front x 2)

- 1 Line-In/Line-Out/Mic-In/Game port

Audio

ICH2 chip integrated
AC’97 codec supports 2 channel Audio

BIOS

The mainboard BIOS provides “Plug & Play” function which detects the
peripherals devices and expansion cards of the board automatically
The mainboard provides a Desktop Management Interface (DMI) function
which records your mainboard specifications

Dimension

ATX Form Factor 30.5cm x 20cm

Mounting

6 mounting holes

Others

Vcore/Vio adjustable
LAN/Modem Wake-up function
ACPI support, including STR/STD
PC 2001 compliant

1-3

Chapter 1

Mainboard Layout

Top : mous e
Bottom: keyboard

USB
ports

Top :
Game port

Bottom:
Line-Out
Line-In
Mic

Codec

JMD1

1
D
U
A
J

1

1

X

D

U

C
J

A
J

d
n
o
b
n

i
W

FWH

JDB1

CNR

CFAN1

ATX Po wer

Supply

JPW1

AGP Slot

PCI Slot 1

2
M

M
I

D

SFAN1

PCI Slot 2

ICH 2

PCI Slot 3

JGS1

W
A

­F
H
7
2
6
3
8

W

PCI Slot 4

PCI Slot 5

PCI Slot 6

JIR1

JWR1

FDD1

JUSB1

BATT

+

JBAT1

IDE 1

IDE 2

JFP2

JFP1

845EV (MS-6566 v1.X) ATX Mainboard

1-4

Getting Started

Quick Components Guide

Component Function Reference

JW1 ATX 20-pin power connector See p. 2-7

JPW1 ATX 12V power connector See p. 2-7

JKBMS1 Mouse connector See p. 2-8

JKBMS1 Keyboard connector See p. 2-9

USB Connectors Connecting to USB devices See p. 2-9

COM A & COM B Serial port connector See p. 2-10

LPT1 Parallel port connector See p. 2-11

FDD1 Floppy disk drive connector See p. 2-12

JIR1 IrDA infrared module connector See p. 2-12

IDE1~ IDE2 Hard disk connectors See p. 2-13

JCD1 CD-in connector See p. 2-14

JAUX1 Aux line-in connector See p. 2-14

JMD1 Modem-in connector See p. 2-14

CFAN1/SFAN1 Fan power connectors See p. 2-15

JWR1 Wake on ring connector See p. 2-16

JGS1 Power Saving Switch See p. 2-16

JFP1/JFP2 Front panel connectors See p. 2-17

JAUD1 Front panel audio connector See p. 2-18

JUSB1 Front USB connector See p. 2-19

JDB1 D-Bracket connector See p. 2-20

JBAT1 Clear CMOS jumper See p. 2-21

AGP Slot Connecting to AGP card See p. 2-22

PCI Slots Connecting to expansion cards See p. 2-23

CNR Slot Connecting to expansion card See p. 2-23

1-5

Chapter 1

MSI Special Features

Fuzzy Logic™ 4

The Fuzzy Logic™ 4 utility is a user friendly tool that allows users to
view and adjust the current system status. To overclock the CPU FSB (Front
Side Bus) frequency under the Windows operating system, click FSB and use
the right and left arrow keys to select the desired FSB, and then click Apply to
apply the new setup value. To enable the system running at the specified FSB
every time when you click Turbo, click Save to save the desired FSB first. If
you want to know the maximal CPU overclocking value, click Auto to start
testing. The CPU FSB will automatically increase the testing value until the PC
reboots. After rebooting, click Turbo to apply the test result. Click Default to
restore the default values.

Features:

Ø MSI Logo links to the MSI Web site
Ø CPU Speed allows users to adjust the CPU speed through CPU

Multiplier and FSB

Ø Voltage allows user to adjust the voltage of CPU/Memory/AGP
Ø MSI Info provides information about the mainboard, BIOS and OS
Ø CPU Info provides detailed information about the CPU
Ø CPU Fan Speed shows the current running speed of CPU Fan
Ø CPU Temp. shows the current CPU temperature

MSI Reminds You...

To adjust the options under CPU Speed and Voltage, use the right
and left arrow keys to select the desired value and then click Ap-

ply to run the setup value.

1-6

Getting Started

Live BIOS™/Live Driver™

The Live BIOS™/Live Driver™ is a tool used to detect and
update your BIOS/drivers online so that you don’t need to search
for the correct BIOS/driver version throughout the Web site. To
use the function, you need to install the “MSI Live Update 2”
application. After the installation, the “MSI Live Update 2” icon
(as shown on the right) will appear on the screen.

Double click the “MSI Live Update 2” icon, and the follow­ing screen will appear:

Five buttons are placed on the leftmost pane of the screen. Click the desired
button to start the update process.

zz

z Live BIOS – Updates the BIOS online.

zz

zz

z Live Driver – Updates the drivers online.

zz

zz

z Live VGA BIOS – Updates the VGA BIOS online.

zz

zz

z Live VGA Driver – Updates the VGA driver online.

zz
zz

z Live Utility – Updates the utilities online.

zz

If the product you purchased does not support any of the functions listed
above, a “sorry” message is displayed. For more information on the update
instructions, insert the companion CD and refer to the “Live Update Guide”
under the “Manual” Tab.

1-7

Chapter 1

D-Bracket™ (Optional)

D-Bracket™ is a USB bracket integrating four Diagnostic LEDs, which
use graphic signal display to help users understand their system. The LEDs
provide up to 16 combinations of signals to debug the system. The 4 LEDs can
debug all problems that fail the system, such as VGA, RAM or other failures.
This special feature is very useful for the overclocking users. These users can
use the feature to detect if there are any problems or failures.

D-Bracket™

Red

D-Bracket

1 2

3 4

Green

Description

System Power ON

- The D-LED will hang here if the processor is dam­aged or not installed properly.

Early Chipset Initialization

Memory Detection Test

- Testing onboard memory size. The D-LED will hang
if the memory module is damaged or not installed
properly.

Decompressing BIOS image to RAM for fast booting.

Initializing Keyboard Controller.

Testing VGA BIOS

- This will start writing VGA sign-on message to the
screen.

1-8

Getting Started

D-Bracket

1 2

3 4

Description

Processor Initialization

- This will show information regarding the processor
(like brand name, system bus, etc...)

Testing RTC (Real Time Clock)

Initializing Video Interface

- This will start detecting CPU clock, checking type of
video onboard. Then, detect and initialize the video
adapter.

BIOS Sign On

- This will start showing information about logo, pro­cessor brand name, etc...

Testing Base and Extended Memory

- Teting base memory from 240K to 640K and ex­tended memory above 1MB using various patterns.

Assign Resources to all ISA.

Initializing Hard Drive Controller

- This will initialize IDE drive and controller.

Initializing Floppy Drive Controller

- This will initialize Floppy Drive and controller.

Boot Attempt

- Thi will set low stack and boot via INT 19h.

Operating System Booting

1-9

Chapter 1

PC Alert™ 4

The PC AlertTM 4 is a utility you can find in the CD-ROM disk. The utility
is just like your PC doctor that can detect the following PC hardware status
during real time operation:

Ø monitor CPU & system temperatures
Ø monitor fan speeds
Ø monitor system voltages

If one of the items above is abnormal, the program main screen will be
immediately shown on the screen, with the abnormal item highlighted in red.
This will continue to be shown until the condition returns to the normal status.

Adjusting Keys

temperature

modes

COOLER XP

Users can use the Adjusting Keys to change the minimum and maximum
threshold of each item for the system to send out a warning message. Click
Temperature to select the temperature modes of either Fahrenheit (℉) or Cel­sius (℃). The PC Alert4 icon on the Status Area will show the current CPU
temperature.

1-10

Getting Started

To better protect the CPU from overheating, a new feature, COOLER
XP, has been added to decrease the temperature of AMD Athlon XP CPU. To

do so, simply click COOLER XP and the screen will show the Cute skin (as
shown below) with information about the CPU and chipset. Right-click the
mouse to select the skin you want to switch to.

Cute

MSI Reminds You...

The new feature COOLER XP will work only if your mainboard
supports AMD Athlon XP CPU.
Items shown on PC Alert 4 vary depending on your system’s status.

1-11

Hardware Setup

Chapter 2. Hardware Setup

Hardware Setup

This chapter provides you with the information about hardware setup
procedures. While doing the installation, be careful in holding the components
and follow the installation procedures. For some components, if you install in
the wrong orientation, the components will not work properly.

Use a grounded wrist strap before handling computer components. Static
electricity may damage the components.

TOPICS

Central Processing Unit: CPU 2-2
Memory 2-5
Power Supply 2-7
Back Panel 2-8
Connectors 2-12
Jumpers 2-21
Slots 2-22

2

2-1

Chapter 2

Central Processing Unit: CPU

The mainboard supports Intel® Pentium® 4 processor in the 478 pin
package. The mainboard uses a CPU socket called PGA478 for easy CPU
installation. When you are installing the CPU, make sure the CPU has a heat
sink and a cooling fan attached on the top to prevent overheating. If you do not
find the heat sink and cooling fan, contact your dealer to purchase and install
them before turning on the computer.

CPU Installation Procedures

1. Pull the lever sideways away

from the socket. Then, raise
the lever up to a 90-degree
angle.

2. Look for the gold arrow. The

gold arrow should point to­wards the lever pivot. The
CPU will only fit in the correct
orientation.

3. Hold the CPU down firmly,

and then close the lever to
complete the installation.

Overheating will seriously damage the CPU and system,
always make sure the cooling fan can work properly to

WARNING!

protect the CPU from overheating.

Sliding

Plate

Gold Arrow

Dot

Open Lever

Close
Lever

2-2

Hardware Setup

Installing the CPU Fan

As processor technology pushes to faster speeds and higher
performance, thermal management becomes increasingly important. T o dissi­pate heat, you need to attach the CPU cooling fan and heatsink on top of the
CPU. Follow the instructions below to install the Heatsink/Fan:

1. Locate the CPU and its retention

mechanism on the motherboard.

retention mechanism

3. Mount the fan on top of the

heatsink. Press down the fan un­til its four clips get wedged in the
holes of the retention mechanism.

2. Position the heatsink onto the re-

tention mechanism.

4. Press the two levers down to fas-

ten the fan. Each lever can be
pressed down in only ONE
direction.

levers

2-3

Chapter 2

5. Connect the fan power cable from the mounted fan to the 3-pin fan power

connector on the board.

fan power cable

CPU Core Speed Derivation Procedure

If CPU Clock = 100MHz

Core/Bus ratio = 24

then CPU core speed = Host Clock x Core/Bus ratio

= 100MHz x 24
= 2.4GHz

Overclocking

This motherboard is designed to support overclocking.

WARNING!

However, please make sure your components are able to
tolerate such abnormal setting, while doing overclocking.
Any attempt to operate beyond product specifications is not
recommended. We do not guarantee the damages or risks

caused by inadequate operation or beyond product
specifications.

2-4

Hardware Setup

Memory

The mainboard provides 2 slots for 184-pin, 2.5V unbuffered DDR DIMM
with 4 memory banks. Y ou can install PC1600/PC2100 DDR SDRAM modules
on the DDR DIMM slots (DDR 1~2). T o operate properly, at least one DIMM
module must be installed.

DDR DIMM Slots
(DDR 1~2)

Introduction to DDR SDRAM

DDR (Double Data Rate) SDRAM is similar to conventional SDRAM,
but doubles the rate by transferring data twice per cycle. It uses 2.5 volts as
opposed to 3.3 volts used in SDR SDRAM, and requires 184-pin DIMM mod­ules rather than 168-pin DIMM modules used by SDR SDRAM. High memory
bandwidth makes DDR an ideal solution for high performance PC, worksta­tions and servers.

2-5

Chapter 2

DDR Module Combination

You can install either single-sided or double-sided 184-pin DDR DIMM
modules into DDR DIMM slots to meet your needs. Different from the SDR
DIMM, the DDR DIMM has only one notch on the center of module. The
number of pins on either side of the breaks are different. The module will only
fit in the right orientation.

Y ou can install memory modules in any combination as follows:

Slot Momory Module Total Memory

Slot 1 64MB, 128MB, 256MB, 64MB~1GB
(Bank 0 & 1) 512MB, 1GB
Slot 2 64MB, 128MB, 256MB, 64MB~1GB
(Bank 2 & 3) 512MB, 1GB
Maximum System Memory Supported 64MB~2GB

Installing DDR Modules

1. The DDR DIMM has only one notch on the center of module. The module

will only fit in the right orientation.

2. Insert the DIMM memory module vertically into the DIMM slot. Then

push it in.

Volt

notch

3. The plastic clip at each side of the DIMM slot will automatically close.

2-6

Hardware Setup

Power Supply

The mainboard supports ATX power supply for the power system. Be­fore inserting the power supply connector, always make sure that all compo­nents are installed properly to ensure that no damage will be caused.

A TX 20-Pin Power Connector: JW1

This connector allows you to connect to an ATX power supply. To
connect to the ATX power supply, make sure the plugs of the power supply is
inserted in the proper orientation and the pins are aligned. Then push down
the power supply firmly into the connector. The power connector supports
instant power on function which means that system will boot up immediately
when the power supply connector is inserted on the board.

A TX 12V Power Connector: JPW1

This 12V power connector is used to provide power to the CPU.

1

11

JPW1

4

3
1

2

JPW1 Pin Definition

PIN SIGNAL

1 GND
2 GND
3 12V
4 12V

JW1

JW1 Pin Definition

PIN SIGNAL

1 3.3V
2 3.3V
3 GND
45V
5 GND
65V
7 GND
8 PW_OK
9 5V_SB
10 12V

2-7

20

PIN SIGNAL

11 3.3V
12 -12V
13 GND
14 PS_ON
15 GND
16 GND
17 GND
18 -5V
19 5V
20 5V

10

Chapter 2

Back Panel

The Back Panel provides the following connectors:

Mouse

Parallel

Midi/Joystick

USB

Keyboard

COM A COM B

L-out

L-in MIC

Mouse Connector: JKBMS1

The mainboard provides a standard PS/2® mouse mini DIN connector for
attaching a PS/2® mouse. You can plug a PS/2® mouse directly into this
connector. The connector location and pin assignments are as follows:

Pin Definition

6

4

2

PS/2 Mouse (6-pin Female)

5

3

1

PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION

1 Mouse DATA Mouse DAT A
2 NC No connection
3 GND Ground
4 VCC +5V
5 Mouse Clock Mouse clock
6 NC No connection

2-8

Hardware Setup

Keyboard Connector: JKBMS1

The mainboard provides a standard PS/2® keyboard mini DIN connector
for attaching a PS/2® keyboard. You can plug a PS/2® keyboard directly into
this connector.

Pin Definition

6

4

2

5

3

1

PS/2 Keyboard (6-pin Female)

PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION

1 Keyboard DAT A Keyboard DAT A
2 NC No connection
3 GND Ground
4 VCC +5V
5 Keyboard Clock Keyboard clock
6 NC No connection

USB Connectors

The mainboard provides a UHCI (Universal Host Controller Interface)
Universal Serial Bus root for attaching USB devices such as keyboard, mouse
or other USB-compatible devices. You can plug the USB device directly into
ths connector.

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8

USB Ports

USB Port Description

PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION

1 VCC +5V
2 -Data 0 Negative Data Channel 0
3 +Data0 Positive Data Channel 0
4 GND Ground
5 VCC +5V
6 -Data 1 Negative Data Channel 1
7 +Data 1 Positive Data Channel 1
8 GND Ground

2-9

Chapter 2

Serial Port Connector: COM A & COM B

The mainboard offers two 9-pin male DIN connectors as serial ports
COM A and COM B. The ports are 16550A high speed communication ports
that send/receive 16 bytes FIFOs. You can attach a serial mouse or other serial
devices directly to them.

Pin Definition

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9

9-Pin Male DIN Connectors

PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION

1 DCD Data Carry Detect
2 SIN Serial In or Receive Data
3 SOUT Serial Out or Transmit Data
4 DTR Data Terminal Ready)
5 GND Ground
6 DSR Data Set Ready
7 RTS Request To Send
8 CTS Clear To Send
9 RI Ring Indicate

Joystick/Midi Connectors

You can connect a joystick or game pad to this connector.

Audio Port Connectors

Line Out is a connector for Speakers or Headphones. Line In is used for

external CD player, Tape player, or other audio devices. Mic is a connector for
microphones.

1/8” Stereo Audio Connectors

Line Out Line In M IC

2-10

Hardware Setup

Parallel Port Connector: LPT1

The mainboard provides a 25-pin female centronic connector for LPT. A
parallel port is a standard printer port that supports Enhanced Parallel Port
(EPP) and Extended Capabilities Parallel Port (ECP) mode.

13 1

25

14

Pin Definition

PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION

1 STROBE Strobe
2 DAT A0 Data0
3 DAT A1 Data1
4 DAT A2 Data2
5 DAT A3 Data3
6 DAT A4 Data4
7 DAT A5 Data5
8 DAT A6 Data6
9 DAT A7 Data7
10 ACK# Acknowledge
11 BUSY Busy
12 PE Paper End
13 SELECT Select
14 AUTO FEED# Automatic Feed
15 ERR# Error
16 INIT# Initialize Printer
17 SLIN# Select In
18 GND Ground
19 GND Ground
20 GND Ground
21 GND Ground
22 GND Ground
23 GND Ground
24 GND Ground
25 GND Ground

2-11

Chapter 2

Connectors

The mainboard provides connectors to connect to FDD, IDE HDD, case,
modem, LAN, USB Ports, IR module and CPU/System F AN.

Floppy Disk Drive Connector: FDD1

The mainboard provides a standard floppy disk drive connector that
supports 360K, 720K, 1.2M, 1.44M and 2.88M floppy disk types.

FDD1

IrDA Infrared Module Header: JIR1

This connector allows you to connect to IrDA Infrared modules. You
must configure the setting through the BIOS setup to use the IR function. The
JIR1 is compliant to Intel Front Panel I/O Connectivity Design Guide.

1

5

JIR1

2

6

JIR1 Pin Definition

Pin Signal

1NC
2NC
3 VCC5
4 GND
5 IRTX
6 IRRX

2-12

Hardware Setup

Hard Disk Connectors: IDE1 & IDE2

The mainboard has a 32-bit Enhanced PCI IDE and Ultra DMA 33/66/100
controller that provides PIO mode 0~4, Bus Master, and Ultra DMA/33/66/100
function. Y ou can connect up to four hard disk drives, CD-ROM, 120MB Floppy
(reserved for future BIOS) and other devices. These connectors support the
provided IDE hard disk cable.

IDE 1

IDE 2

IDE1 (Primary IDE Connector)
The first hard drive should always be connected to IDE1. IDE1 can

connect a Master and a Slave drive. You must configure second hard
drive to Slave mode by setting the jumper accordingly.

IDE2 (Secondary IDE Connector)
IDE2 can also connect a Master and a Slave drive.

TIP:

If you install two hard disks on cable, you must configure the
second drive to Slave mode by setting its jumper. Refer to the
hard disk documentation supplied by hard disk vendors for jumper
setting instructions.

2-13

Chapter 2

CD-In Connector: JCD1

The connector is for CD-ROM audio connector.

Aux Line-In Connector: JAUX1

The connector is for DVD add-on card with Line-in connector.

Modem-In Connector: JMD1

The connector is for modem with internal audio connector.

JMD1

GND

Phone_InMono_Out

GND

JCD1

R

L

JAUX1

R

GND

L

2-14

Hardware Setup

Fan Power Connectors: CF AN1/SF AN1

The CFAN1 (processor fan) and SFAN1 (system fan) support system
cooling fan with +12V. It supports three-pin head connector. When connect­ing the wire to the connectors, always take note that the red wire is the positive
and should be connected to the +12V, the black wire is Ground and should be
connected to GND. If the mainboard has a System Hardware Monitor chipset
on-board, you must use a specially designed fan with speed sensor to take
advantage of the CPU fan control.

GND
+12V
SENSOR

CFAN1

GND
+12V
SENSOR

SFAN1

Note:

1. Always consult the vendor for proper CPU cooling fan.

2. CPU Fan supports the fan control. You can install the PC Alert
utility that will automatically control the CPU Fan speed accord­ing to the actual CPU temperature.

2-15

Chapter 2

Wake On Ring Connector: JWR1

This connector allows you to connect to a modem card with Wake On
Ring function. The connector will power up the system when a signal is re­ceived through the modem card.

Pin Signal

1NC
2 GND
3 MDM_WAKEUP
4NC
5 5VSB

5

1

JWR1

Power Saving Switch Connector: JGS1

Attach a power saving switch to this connector. Pressing the switch
once will have the system enter the sleep/suspend state. Press any key to wake
up the system.

JGS1

2-16

Hardware Setup

Front Panel Connector: JFP1 & JFP2

The mainboard provides two front panel connectors for establishing
electrical connection to the front panel switches and LEDs. Users can choose
either JFP1 or JFP2. Both JFP1 and JFP2 are compliant with Intel® Front Panel
I/O Connectivity Design Guide.

7

8

+

­+

-

­+

S

P

2

JFP2

10

JFP1

P

LED

S
GND

1

­RST

+

­HDD

+

192

JFP2 Pin Definition

Pin Signal

1 GND
2 SPK­3 SLED
4 BUZ+

Pin Signal

5 PLED
6 BUZ­7NC
8 SPK+

BUZ

SPK

(BUZ is optional)

PWSW

LED

JFP1 Switch/LED Front Panel Electrical Connection

PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION

1 HD_LED_P Hard disk LED pull-up to +5V
2 FP PWR/SLP MSG LED pull-up to +5V
3 HD_LED_N Hard disk active LED
4 FP PWR/SLP MSG LED pull-up to +5V
5 RST_SW_N Reset Switch low reference pull-down to GND
6 PWR_SW_P Power Switch high reference pull-up to +5V
7 RST_SW_P Reset Switch high reference pull-up to +5V
8 PWR_SW_N Power Switch low reference pull-down to GND
9 RSVD_DNU Reserved. Do not use.

2-17

Chapter 2

Front Panel Audio Connector: JAUD1

You can connect an optional audio connector to the JAUD1 front panel
audio connector. The JAUD1 is compliant to Intel® Front Panel I/O Connectiv­ity Design Guide.

1

2

9

10

JAUD1

Pin Definition

PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION

1 AUD_MIC Front panel microphone input signal
2 AUD_GND Ground used by analog audio circuits
3 AUD_MIC_BIAS Microphone power
4 AUD_VCC Filtered +5V used by analog audio circuits
5 AUD_FPOUT_R Right channel audio signal to front panel
6 AUD_RET_R Right channel audio signal return from front panel
7 HP_ON Reserved for future use to control headphone amplifier
8 KEY No pin
9 AUD_FPOUT_L Left channel audio signal to front panel
10 AUD_RET_L Left channel audio signal return from front panel

CAUTION!!!

If you don’t want to connect to the front audio
header, pins 5 and 6, 9 and 10 have to be shorted
by jumper caps in order to have signal output
directed to the rear audio ports.

10

6

9

5

2-18

Hardware Setup

Front USB Connector: JUSB1

The mainboard provides a front Universal Serial Bus connector for you
to connect to USB devices. The JUSB1 connector is compliant with Intel
Front Panel I/O Connectivity Design Guide.

2 10

®

1

JUSB1 Pin Definition

Pin Description Pin Description

1 USBPWR 2 USBPWR
3 USBP0- 4 USBP1­5 USBP0+ 6 USBP1+
7 GND 8 GND
9 NC 10 USBOC

9

JUSB1

2-19

Chapter 2

D-Bracket™ Connector: JDB1

The mainboard comes with a JDB1 connector for you to connect to D­Bracket™. D-Bracket™ is a USB Bracket integrating four LEDs and allows
users to identify system problem through 16 various combinations of LED
signals. For definitions of 16 signal combinations, please refer to Chapter 1. D-
Bracket™.

2

1

Connected to JDB1

Connected to JUSB1

10

9

JDB1

D-Bracket™

2-20

Hardware Setup

Jumpers

The motherboard provides one jumper for you to set the computer’s
function. This section will explain how to change your motherboard’s function
through the use of the jumper.

Clear CMOS Jumper: JBA T1

There is a CMOS RAM on board that has a power supply from external
battery to keep the data of system configuration. With the CMOS RAM, the
system can automatically boot OS every time it is turned on. That battery has
long life time for at least 5 years. If you want to clear the system configuration,
use the JBAT1 (Clear CMOS Jumper ) to clear data. Follow the instructions
below to clear the data:

1

WARNING!

JBAT1

1

3

Keep CMOS

1

3

Clear CMOS

You can clear CMOS by shorting 2-3 pin while the
system is off. Then return to 1-2 pin position. Avoid
clearing the CMOS while the system is on; it will
damage the mainboard.

2-21

Chapter 2

Slots

The motherboard provides six 32-bit Master PCI bus slots, one AGP slot
and one CNR slot.

AGP Slot

PCI Slots

CNR Slot

AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) Slot

The AGP slot allows you to insert the AGP graphics card. AGP is an
interface specification designed for the throughput demands of 3D graphics.
It introduces a 66MHz, 32-bit channel for the graphics controller to directly
access main memory and provides three levels of throughputs: 1x (266Mbps),
2x (533Mbps) and 4x (1.07Gbps).

Please note that the AGP slot does not support 3.3V AGP card. Use of 3.
3V AGP card may cause damages to the mainboard. To avoid the risk of
causing permanent damages to the mainboard, the AGP slot is protected with
MSI electrical routing device. If users have inserted a 3.3V AGP card into the
slot, the MSI routing device will disable the computer’s boot-up system. Re­move the 3.3V AGP card and the boot-up system will return to normal.

2-22

Hardware Setup

Attention!

DO NOT use the following AGP cards which would result in
failure to restart the system. The following list is subject to
change without prior notice.

Model AGP Chip

ATI Xpert2000 3D RAGE 128VR
ATI Rage Furry Maxx 3D RAGE 128 Pro
Diamond Monster Fusion 3DFX VooDoo Banshee
Hercules KYRO II 4500
Leadtek Winfast VR300 SiS300
Matrox Millennium G400 G4+MDHA32G
STB 3Dfx VooDoo3 3500TV 3Dfx VooDoo 3500TV

PCI Slots

Six PCI slots allow you to insert the expansion cards to meet your needs.
When adding or removing expansion cards, make sure that you unplug the
power supply first. Meanwhile, read the documentation for the expansion card
to make any necessary hardware or software settings for the expansion card,
such as jumpers, switches or BIOS configuration.

CNR (Communication Network Riser)

The CNR slot allows you to insert the CNR expansion cards. CNR is a
specially designed network, audio, or modem riser card for ATX family
motherboards. Its main processing is done through software and controlled by
the motherboard’s chipset.

2-23

Chapter 2

PCI Interrupt Request Routing

The IRQ, abbreviation of interrupt request line and pronounced I-R-Q,
are hardware lines over which devices can send interrupt signals to the
microprocessor. The PCI IRQ pins are typically connected to the PCI bus INT
A# ~ INT D# pins as follows:

Order 1 Order 2 Order 3 Order 4
PCI Slot 1 INT A# INT B# INT C# INT D#
PCI Slot 2 INT B# INT C# INT D# INT A#
PCI Slot 3 INT C# INT D# INT A# INT B#
PCI Slot 4 INT D# INT A# INT B# INT C#
PCI Slot 5 INT B# INT C# INT D# INT A#
PCI Slot 6 INT A# INT B# INT C# INT D#

2-24

Chapter 3. BIOS Setup

AMI BIOS Setup

AMI BIOS Setup

This chapter provides information on the BIOS Setup program and allows
you to configure the system for optimum use.

You may need to run the Setup program when:

An error message appears on the screen during the system booting up,

and requests you to run SETUP.

You want to change the default settings for customized features.

TOPICS

Entering Setup 3-2
The Main Menu 3-4
Standard CMOS Features 3-6
Advanced BIOS Features 3-8
Advanced Chipset Features 3-12
Power Management Setup 3-14
PNP/PCI Configurations 3-17
Integrated Peripherals 3-19
Hardware Monitor Setup 3-22
Load High Performance/BIOS Setup Defaults 3-24
Supervisor/User Password 3-25
IDE HDD AUTO Detection 3-27

3

3-1

Chapter 3

Entering Setup

Power on the computer and the system will start POST (Power On Self
Test) process. When the message below appears on the screen, press <DEL>
key to enter Setup.

DEL:Setup F11:Boot Menu F12:Network boot TAB:Logo

If the message disappears before you respond and you still wish to enter
Setup, restart the system by turning it OFF and On or pressing the RESET
button. You may also restart the system by simultaneously pressing <Ctrl>,
<Alt>, and <Delete> keys.

Selecting the First Boot Device

You are allowed to select the 1st boot device without entering the BIOS
setup utility by pressing <F11>. When the same message as listed above
appears on the screen, press <F11> to trigger the boot menu.

The POST messages might pass by too quickly for you to respond in
time. If so, restart the system and press <F11> after around 2 or 3 seconds to
activate the boot menu similar to the following.

Select First Boot Device

Floppy : 1st Floppy
IDE-0 : IBM-DTLA-307038
CDROM : ATAPI CD-ROM DRIVE 40X M

[Up/Dn] Select [RETURN] Boot [ESC] cancel

The boot menu will list all the bootable devices. Select the one you want
to boot from by using arrow keys and then pressing <Enter>. The system will
boot from the selected device. The selection will not make changes to the
settings in the BIOS setup utility, so next time when you power on the system,
it will still use the original first boot device to boot up.

3-2

Control Keys

AMI BIOS Setup

<↑>
<↓>
<←>
<→>
<Enter> Select the item
<Esc> Jumps to the Exit menu or returns to t he main menu from a su bme nu
<+/PU> Increase the numeric value or make changes
<-/PD> Decrease the numeric value or make changes
<F5> Restore the previous CMOS value from CMOS, only for Option Page

<F6> Load High Performance Defaults
<F7> Load BIOS Set up Defaults
<F10> Save all the CMOS changes and exit

Move to the previous item
Move to the next item
Move to the item in the left hand
Move to the item in the right hand

Setup Menu

Getting Help

After entering the Setup utility, the first screen you see is the Main Menu.

Main Menu

The main menu displays the setup categories the BIOS supplies. You can use
the arrow keys ( ↑↓ ) to select the item. The on-line description for the selected
setup category is displayed at the bottom of the screen.

Default Settings

The BIOS setup program contains two kinds of default settings: the BIOS
Setup and High Performance defaults. Bios Setup defaults provide stable but
minimal performance settings for all devices and the system, while High Perfor­mance defaults provide the best system performance but may affect the sys­tem stability.

3-3

Chapter 3

The Main Menu

Once you enter AMIBIOS SIMPLE SETUP UTILITY, the Main Menu will ap­pear on the screen. The Main Menu displays twelve configurable functions
and two exit choices. Use arrow keys to move among the items and press
<Enter> to enter the sub-menu.

Standard CMOS Features

Use this menu for basic system configurations, such as time, date etc.

Advanced BIOS Features

Use this menu to setup the items of AMI® special enhanced features.

Advanced Chipset Features

Use this menu to change the values in the chipset registers and optimize your
system’s performance.

Power Management Setup

Use this menu to specify your settings for power management.

PNP/PCI Configurations

This entry appears if your system supports PnP/PCI.

3-4

AMI BIOS Setup

Integrated Peripherals

Use this menu to specify your settings for integrated peripherals.

Hardware Monitor Setup

This entry shows your PC’s current status, and allows you to adjust CPU
clock, core voltage, ratio and DDR voltage.

Load High Performance Defaults

Use this menu to load the BIOS values for the best system performance, but
the system stability may be affected.

BIOS Setup Defaults

Use this menu to load factory default settings into the BIOS for stable system
performance operations.

Supervisor Password

Use this menu to set Supervisor Password.

User Password

Use this menu to set User Password.

IDE HDD AUTO Dection

Use this menu to automatically detect hard drives.

Save & Exit Setup

Save changes to CMOS and exit setup.

Exit Without Saving

Abandon all changes and exit setup.

3-5

Chapter 3

Standard CMOS Features

The items inside ST ANDARD CMOS SETUP menu are divided into 9 catego­ries. Each category includes none, one or more setup items. Use the arrow keys
to highlight the item you want to modify and use the <PgUp> or <PgDn> keys
to switch to the value you prefer.

Date

This allows you to set the system to the date that you want (usually the current
date). The format is <day><month> <date> <year>.

day Day of the week, from Sun to Sat, determined by

BIOS. Read-only.

month The month from Jan. through Dec.
date The date from 1 to 31 can be keyed by numeric

function keys.

year The year can be adjusted by users.

Time

This allows you to set the system time that you want (usually the current time).
The time format is <hour> <minute> <second>.

3-6

AMI BIOS Setup

Pri Master/Pri Slave/Sec Master/Sec Slave

Press PgUp/<+> or PgDn/<-> to select the hard disk drive type. The specifica­tion of hard disk drive will show up on the right hand according to your selection.

TYPE Type of the device.
SIZE Capacity of the device.
C YLS Number of cylinders.
HEAD Number of heads.
PRECOMP Write precompensation.
LANDZ Cylinder location of Landing zone.
SECTOR Number of sectors.
MODE Access mode.

Floppy Drive A:/B:

This item allows you to set the type of floppy drives installed. A vailable options:

Not Installed, 360 KB 5¼, 1.2 MB 5¼, 720 KB 3½, 1.44 MB 3½ and 2.88 MB
3½.

Boot Sector Virus Protection

The item is to set the Virus Warning feature for IDE Hard Disk boot sector
protection. When Enabled, BIOS will issue a virus warning message and beep
if a write to the boot sector or the partition table of the HDD is attempted.
Setting options: Disabled and Enabled.

Note: This feature only protects the boot sector, not the whole hard

disk.

3-7

Chapter 3

Advanced BIOS Features

Quick Boot

Setting the item to Enabled allows the system to boot within 5 seconds since
it will skip some check items. A vailable options: Enabled and Disabled.

Full Screen Logo Show

This item enables you to show the company logo on the bootup screen. Set­tings are:

Disabled Shows the POST messages at boot.
Enabled Shows a still image (logo) on the full screen at boot.

1st/2nd/3rd Boot Device

The items allow you to set the sequence of boot devices where AMIBIOS
attempts to load the operating system. The settings are:

IDE-0 The system will boot from the first HDD.
IDE-1 The system will boot from the second HDD.
IDE-2 The system will boot from the third HDD.
IDE-3 The system will boot from the fourth HDD.
Floppy The system will boot from floppy drive.
ARMD-FDD The system will boot from any ARMD device, such

3-8

AMI BIOS Setup

as LS-120 or ZIP drive, that functions as a floppy
drive.

ARMD-HDD The system will boot from ARMD device, such as

MO or ZIP drive, that functions as hard disk drive.

CDROM The system will boot from the CD-ROM.
SCSI The system will boot from the SCSI.
NETWORK The system will boot from the Network drive.
BBS-0 The system will boot from the first BBS (BIOS Boot

Specification) compliant device.

BBS-1 The system will boot from the second BBS (BIOS

Boot Specification) compliant device.

BBS-2 The system will boot from the third BBS (BIOS Boot

Specification) compliant device.

BBS-3 The system will boot from the fourth BBS (BIOS Boot

Specification) compliant device.

Disabled Disable this sequence.

Note: Available settings for “1st/2nd/3rd Boot Device” vary depend-

ing on the bootable devices you have installed. For example, if you

did not install a floppy drive, the setting “Floppy” does not show up.

T ry Other Boot Devices

Setting the option to Yes allows the system to try to boot from other devices if
the system fails to boot from the 1st/2nd/3rd boot device.

S.M.A.R.T. for Hard Disks

This allows you to activate the S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring Analysis & Re­porting Technology) capability for the hard disks. S.M.A.R.T is a utility that
monitors your disk status to predict hard disk failure. This gives you an oppor­tunity to move data from a hard disk that is going to fail to a safe place before
the hard disk becomes offline. Settings: Enabled and Disabled.

BootUp Num-Lock

This item is to set the Num Lock status when the system is powered on.
Setting to On will turn on the Num Lock key when the system is powered on.
Setting to Off will allow end users to use the arrow keys on the numeric keypad.
Setting options: On and Off.

3-9

Chapter 3

Swap Floppy

Setting to Enabled will swap floppy drives A: and B:.

Seek Floppy

This setting causes the BIOS to search for floppy disk drives at boot time.
When enabled, the BIOS will activate the floppy disk drives during the boot
process: the drive activity light will come on and the head will move back and
forth once. First A: will be done and then B: if it exists. Setting options: Disabled,
Enabled.

Password Check

This specifies the type of AMIBIOS password protection that is implemented.
Setting options are described below.

Option Description

Setup The password prompt appears only when end users try to

run Setup.

Always A password prompt appears every time when the com-

puter is powered on or when end users try to run Setup.

Boot OS/2 for DRAM > 64MB

This allows you to run the OS/2® operating system with DRAM larger than
64MB. When you choose No, you cannot run the OS/2® operating system
with DRAM larger than 64MB. But it is possible if you choose Yes.

APIC Function

This field is used to enable or disable the APIC (Advanced Programmable
Interrupt Controller). Due to compliance with PC2001 design guide, the system
is able to run in APIC mode. Enabling APIC mode will expand available IRQ
resources for the system. Settings: Enabled and Disabled.

MPS T able V ersion

This field allows you to select which MPS (Multi-Processor Specification)
version to be used for the operating system. You need to select the MPS
version supported by your operating system. T o find out which version to use,
consult the vendor of your operating system. Settings: 1.4 and 1.1.

3-10

AMI BIOS Setup

L1 Cache

Cache memory is additional memory that is much faster than conventional
DRAM (system memory). When the CPU requests data, the system transfers
the requested data from the main DRAM into cache memory, for even faster
access by the CPU. The setting enables/disables the internal cache (also known
as L1 or level 1 cache). Setting to Enabled will speed up the system performance.

Flash Protection

This function protects the BIOS from accidental corruption by unauthorized
users or computer viruses. When enabled, the BIOS' data cannot be changed
when attempting to update the BIOS with a Flash utility. To successfully up­date the BIOS, you'll need to disable this Flash Protection function. Setting
options: Disabled, Enabled.

System BIOS Cacheable

Selecting Enabled allows caching of the system BIOS ROM at F0000h-FFFFFh,
resulting in better system performance. However, if any program writes to this
memory area, a system error may result. Setting options: Enabled, Disabled.

3-11

Chapter 3

Advanced Chipset Features

Note: Change these settings only if you are familiar with the chipset.

DRAM Frequency

This item is used to configure the clock frequency of the installed DRAM.
Settings: Auto, 200MHz, 266MHz.

Configure DRAM Timing by

This setting determines whether DRAM timing is controlled by the SPD (Serial
Presence Detect) EEPROM on the DRAM module. Setting to SPD enables
CAS# Latency, RAS# Precharge, RAS# to CAS# Delay, and Precharge Delay
automatically to be determined by BIOS based on the configurations on the
SPD. Selecting Manual allows users to configure these fields manually.

CAS# Latency

The field controls the CAS latency, which determines the timing delay before
SDRAM starts a read command after receiving it. Setting options: 2.5 Clocks,
2 Clocks. 2 Clocks increases system performance while 2.5 Clocks provides
more stable system performance.

RAS# Precharge

This setting controls the number of cycles for Row Address Strobe (RAS) to

3-12

AMI BIOS Setup

be allowed to precharge. If insufficient time is allowed for the RAS to accumu­late its charge before DRAM refresh, refresh may be incomplete and DRAM
may fail to retain data. This item applies only when synchronous DRAM is
installed in the system. Setting options: 2 Clocks, 3 Clocks.

RAS# to CAS# Delay

When DRAM is refreshed, both rows and columns are addressed separately.
This setup item allows you to determine the timing of the transition from RAS
(row address strobe) to CAS (column address strobe). The less the clock cycles,
the faster the DRAM performance. Setting options: 3 Clocks, 2 Clocks.

Precharge Delay

This setting controls the precharge delay, which determines the timing delay
for DRAM precharge. Setting options: 5 Clocks, 6 Clocks, 7 Clocks.

DRAM Integrity Mode

Select ECC (Error-Checking & Correcting Code) or Non-ECC according to the
type of DRAM installed.

AGP Aperture Size

The field selects the size of the Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) aperture.
Aperture is a portion of the PCI memory address range dedicated for graphics
memory address space. Host cycles that hit the aperture range are forwarded
to the AGP without any translation. Settings: 4MB, 8MB, 16MB, 32MB, 64MB,
128MB, 256MB.

Delayed T ransaction

The chipset has an embedded 32-bit posted write buffer to support delayed
transactions cycles. Select Enabled to support compliance with PCI specifica­tion version 2.1. Settings: Enabled and Disabled.

3-13

Chapter 3

Power Management Setup

IPCA Function

This item is to activate the ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Man­agement Interface) function. If your operating system is ACPI-aware, such as
Windows 98SE/2000/ME, select Yes. Available options: Yes and No.

ACPI Standby State

This item specifies the power saving modes for ACPI function. Options are:

S1/POS The S1 sleep mode is a low power state. In this state, no

system context is lost (CPU or chipset) and hardware
maintains all system context.

S3/STR The S3 sleep mode is a lower power state where the infor-

mation of system cofiguration and open applications/
files is saved to main memory that remains powered while
most other hardware components turn off to save energy.
The information stored in memory will be used to restore
the system when an “wake up” event occurs.

USB Wakeup From S3

This item allows the activity of the USB device to wake up the system from S3

3-14

AMI BIOS Setup

(Suspend to RAM) sleep state. Settings: Enabled and Disabled.

Mouse Wakeup From S3

This item allows the activity of the mouse to wake up the system from S3
(Suspend to RAM) sleep state. Settings: Enabled and Disabled.

Keyboard Wakeup Fr om S3

This item allows the activity of the keyboard to wake up the system from S3
(Suspend to RAM) sleep state. Settings: Enabled and Disabled.

Specific Key for Wakeup

This setting allows users to set a specific key for the Keyboard Wakeup
From S3 function.

Power Management/APM

Setting to Enabled will activate an Advanced Power Management (APM)
device to enhance Max Saving mode and stop CPU internal clock. Settings are
Disabled and Enabled.

Suspend Time Out (Minute)

After the selected period of system inactivity, all devices except the CPU shut
off. Settings are Disabled, 1, 2, 4, 8, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60.

FDC/LPT/COM Ports, Primary/Secondary Master/Slave IDE

These items specify if the BIOS will monitor the activity of the specified hard­ware peripheral or component. If set to Monitor, any activity detected on the
specified hardware peripheral or component will wake up the system or pre­vent the system from entering the power saving modes. Settings: Monitor and
Ignore.

Power Button Function

This feature sets the function of the power button. Settings are:

On/Off The power button functions as normal on/off button.
Suspend When you press the power button, the computer enters

the suspend/sleep mode, but if the button is pressed for
more than four seconds, the computer is turned off.

3-15

Chapter 3

Wake Up On Ring

When setting to Enabled, the feature allows your system to be awakened from
the power saving modes through an incoming call from the modem. Settings:

Enabled and Disabled.

Note: You need to install a modem supporting power on function for
Wake Up On Ring function.

Wake Up On PME

When setting to Enabled, the feature allows your system to be awakened from
the power saving modes through any event on PME (Power Management
Event). Settings: Enabled and Disabled.

Resume By RTC Alarm

This is used to enable or disable the feature of booting up the system on a
scheduled time/date from the soft off (S5) state. Settings: Enabled and Disabled.

RTC Alarm Date/Hour/Minute/Second

If Resume By RTC Alarm is set to Enabled, the system will automatically
resume (boot up) on a specific date/hour/minute/second specified in these
fields. A vailable settings for each item are:

Alarm Date 01 ~ 31, Every Day
Alarm Hour 00 ~ 23
Alarm Minute 00 ~ 59
Alarm Second 00 ~ 59

Note: If you change these settings, you must reboot the system until it

enters the operating system and then power off the system. By doing

so, the changed settings will come into effect next time when you

power on the system.

Power Again

This setting specifies whether your system will reboot after a power failure or
interrupts occurs. Available settings are:

Power Off Leaves the computer in the power off state.
Power On Reboots the computer.
Last State Restores the system to the status before power failure or

interrupt occurs.

3-16

AMI BIOS Setup

PNP/PCI Configurations

This section describes configuring the PCI bus system and PnP (Plug & Play)
feature. PCI, or Personal Computer Interconnect, is a system which allows I/O
devices to operate at speeds nearing the speed the CPU itself uses when
communicating with its special components. This section covers some very
technical items and it is strongly recommended that only experienced users
should make any changes to the default settings.

Clear ESCD

The ESCD (Extended System Configuration Data) NVRAM (Non-volatile Ran­dom Access Memory) is where the BIOS stores resource information for both
PNP and non-PNP devices in a bit string format. When the item is set to Yes, the
system will reset ESCD NVRAM right after the system is booted up and then
set the setting of the item back to No automatically.

PCI VGA Palette Snoop

When set to Enabled, multiple VGA devices operating on different buses can
handle data from the CPU on each set of palette registers on every video
device. Bit 5 of the command register in the PCI device configuration space is
the VGA Palette Snoop bit (0 is disabled). For example, if there are two VGA
devices in the computer (one PCI and one ISA) and the:

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Chapter 3

VGA Palette Snoop
Bit Setting Action

Disabled Data read or written by the CPU is only directed to the

PCI VGA device’s palette registers.

Enabled Data read or written by the CPU is directed to both the

PCI VGA device’s palette registers and the ISA VGA
device’s palette registers, permitting the palette registers
of both VGA devices to be identical.

The setting must be set to Enabled if any ISA bus adapter in the system
requires VGA palette snooping.

PCI Slot1/6 IRQ, PCI Slot2/5 IRQ, PCI Slot3 IRQ, PCI Slot4 IRQ

This item specifies the IRQ line for each PCI slot. Settings: 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11
and Auto. Selecting Auto allows BIOS to automatically determine the IRQ line
for each PCI slot.

DMA Channel 0/1/3/5/6/7

These items specify the bus that the system DMA (Direct Memory Access)
channel is used.
The settings determine if AMIBIOS should remove a DMA from the available
DMAs passed to devices that are configurable by the system BIOS. The
available DMA pool is determined by reading the ESCD NVRAM. If more
DMAs must be removed from the pool, the end user can reserve the DMA by
assigning an ISA/EISA setting to it.

IRQ 3/4/5/7/9/10/11

These items specify the bus where the specified IRQ line is used.
The settings determine if AMIBIOS should remove an IRQ from the pool of
available IRQs passed to devices that are configurable by the system BIOS.
The available IRQ pool is determined by reading the ESCD NVRAM. If more
IRQs must be removed from the IRQ pool, the end user can use these settings
to reserve the IRQ by assigning an ISA/EISA setting to it. Onboard I/O is
configured by AMIBIOS. All IRQs used by onboard I/O are configured as
PCI/PnP. If all IRQs are set to ISA/EISA, and IRQ 14/15 are allocated to the
onboard PCI IDE, IRQ 9 will still be available for PCI and PnP devices. A vail­able settings: ISA/EISA and PCI/PnP.

3-18

AMI BIOS Setup

Integrated Peripherals

USB Controller

This setting is used to enable/disable the onboard USB controllers. Settings:
All USB Port, Disabled, USB Port 0&1, USB Port 2&3.

USB Legacy Support

Set to All Device if your need to use any USB device in the operating system
that does not support or have any USB driver installed, such as DOS and SCO
Unix. Set to No Mice only if your want to use any USB device other than the
USB mouse. Setting options: Disabled, No Mice, All Device.

On-Chip IDE

This setting controls the on-chip IDE controller. Setting options: Disabled,
Primary, Secondary, Both.

AC’97 Audio

Auto allows the mainboard to detect whether an audio device is used. If the
device is detected, the onboard AC’97 (Audio Codec’97) controller will be
enabled; if not, it is disabled. Disable the controller if you want to use other
controller cards to connect an audio device. Settings: Auto, Disabled.

AC’97 Modem

Auto allows the mainboard to detect whether a modem is used. If a modem is

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Chapter 3

used, the onboard MC’97 (Modem Codec’97) controller will be enabled; if not,
it is disabled. Disable the controller if you want to use other controller cards to
connect to a modem. Settings: Auto, Disabled.

Floppy Controller

This is used to enable or disable the onboard Floppy controller.

Option Description

Auto BIOS will automatically determine whether to enable the

onboard Floppy controller or not.
Enabled Enables the onboard Floppy controller.
Disabled Disables the onboard Floppy controller.

Serial Port A/B

These items specify the base I/O port addresses of the onboard Serial Port 1
(COM A)/Serial Port 2 (COM B). Selecting Auto allows AMIBIOS to automati­cally determine the correct base I/O port address. Settings: Auto, 3F8/COM1,
2F8/COM2, 3E8/COM3, 2E8/COM4 and Disabled.

Serial PortB Mode

This item sets the operation mode for Serial Port B. Settings: Normal,

1.6uS, 3/16 Baud and ASKIR (the last three operation modes are setting

options for IR function).

IR Duplex Mode

This field specifies a duplex value for the IR device connected to COM B.
Full-Duplex mode permits simultaneous two-direction transmission. Half­Duplex mode permits transmission in one direction only at a time. Settings:
Half Duplex and Full Duplex.

IR Pin Select

Set to IRRX/IRTX when using an internal IR module connected to the IR
connector. Set to SINB/SOUTB. when connecting an IR adapter to COM
B.

Parallel Port

This field specifies the base I/O port address of the onboard parallel port.
Selecting Auto allows AMIBIOS to automatically determine the correct base I/

3-20

AMI BIOS Setup

O port address. Settings: Auto, 378, 278, 3BC and Disabled.

Parallel Port Mode

This item selects the operation mode for the onboard parallel port: ECP,
Normal, Bi-Dir or EPP.

EPP V ersion

The item selects the EPP version used by the parallel port if the port is set
to EPP mode. Settings: 1.7 and 1.9.

IRQ

When Parallel Port is set to Auto, the item shows Auto indicating that
BIOS determines the IRQ for the parallel port automatically.

DMA Channel

This feature needs to be configured only when Parallel Port Mode is set
to the ECP mode. When Parallel Port is set to Auto, the field will show
Auto indicating that BIOS automatically determines the DMA channel for
the parallel port.

OnBoard Midi Port

The field specifies the base I/O port address for the onboard Midi Port.

Midi IRQ Select

The item is used to select the IRQ line for onboard Midi port.

OnBoard Game Port

This item is used to specify the address for the onboard game port.

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Chapter 3

Hardware Monitor Setup

This section describes how to set the CPU FSB frequency, monitor the current
hardware status including CPU/system temperatures, CPU/System Fan speeds,
Vcore etc. Monitor function is available only if there is hardware monitoring
mechanism onboard.

CPU Ratio Selection

This setting controls the multiplier that is used to determine the internal clock
speed of the processor relative to the external or motherboard clock speed.

CPU FSB Clock (Mhz)

This setting allows you to select the CPU Front Side Bus clock frequency.
Setting options:

CPU FSB Setting Range
100MHz 100MHz~200MHz at 1MHz increment
133MHz 133MHz~233MHz at 1MHz increment

Spread Spectrum

When the motherboard clock generator pulses, the extreme values (spikes) of
the pulses creates EMI (Electromagnetic Interference). The Spread Spectrum
function reduces the EMI generated by modulating the pulses so that the
spikes of the pulses are reduced to flatter curves. If you do not have any EMI
problem, leave the setting at Disabled for optimal system stability and

3-22

AMI BIOS Setup

performance. But if you are plagued by EMI, setting to Enabled for EMI
reduction. Remember to disable Spread Spectrum if you are overclocking be­cause even a slight jitter can introduce a temporary boost in clockspeed which
may just cause your overclocked processor to lock up.

CPU Vcore Adjust

This setting is used to adjust the CPU core voltage (Vcore), making overclocking
possible.

Note: Changing CPU Vcore could result in unstable system;
therefore, it is not recommended to change the default setting for
long-term purpose.

DDR/AGP Power V oltage

The item is to adjust the DDR/AGP voltage to increase the DDR/AGP rate.
Modifying the setting may lead to unstable system, so changing the DDR/
AGP Vcore for long-term use is not recommended.

CPU / System T emperatur e, CPU / System Fan Speed, Vcore, 3.3V, +5.0V,
+12.0V, -12.0V, -5.0V, Battery, +5V SB

These items display the current status of all of the monitored hardware de­vices/components such as system voltages, temperatures and fan speeds.

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Chapter 3

Load High Performance/BIOS Setup Defaults

The two options on the main menu allow users to restore all of the BIOS
settings to High Performance defaults or BIOS Setup defaults. The High Per­formance Defaults are the default values set by the mainboard manufacturer
for the best system performance but probably will cause a stability issue. The
BIOS Setup Defaults are the default values also set by the mainboard manufac­turer for stable performance of the mainboard.

When you select Load High Performance Defaults, a message as below appears:

Pressing ‘Y’ loads the default BIOS values that enable the best system
performance but may lead to a stability issue.

When you select Load BIOS Setup Defaults, a message as below appears:

Pressing ‘Y’ loads the default values that are factory settings for stable system
performance.

The option is for power or overclocking users only. Use of high
performance defaults will tighten most timings to increase the sys-

WARNING!

tem performance. Therefore, a high-end system configuration is a
must, which means you need high-quality VGA adapter, RAM and
so on. We don’t recommend that users should apply the high
performance defaults in their regular systems. Otherwise, the sys­tem may become unstable or even crash. If the system crashes or
hangs after enabling the feature, please CLEAR CMOS DATA to
resolve the problem. For more information, refer to “Clear CMOS
Jumper:JBAT1” in Chapter 2.

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AMI BIOS Setup

Supervisor/User Password

When you select Supervisor Password, a message as below will appear on the
screen:

When you select User Password, a message as below will appear on the screen:

Type the password, up to six characters in length, and press <Enter>. The
password typed now will replace any previously set password from CMOS
memory. You will be prompted to confirm the password. Retype the password
and press <Enter>. You may also press <Esc> to abort the selection and not
enter a password.

To clear a set password, just press <Enter> when you are prompted to enter the
password. A message will show up confirming the password will be disabled.
Once the password is disabled, the system will boot and you can enter Setup
without entering any password.

When a password has been set, you will be prompted to enter it every time you
try to enter Setup. This prevents an unauthorized person from changing any
part of your system configuration.

Additionally, when a password is enabled, you can also have AMIBIOS to
request a password each time the system is booted. This would prevent unau-

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Chapter 3

thorized use of your computer. The setting to determine when the password
prompt is required is the P ASSWORD CHECK option of the ADV ANCED BIOS
FEATURES menu. If the PASSWORD CHECK option is set to Always, the
password is required both at boot and at entry to Setup. If set to Setup, pass­word prompt only occurs when you try to enter Setup.

About Supervisor Password & User Password:

Supervisor password: Can enter and change the settings of

the setup menu.

User password: Can only enter but do not have the right

to change the settings of the setup menu.

3-26

AMI BIOS Setup

IDE HDD AUTO Detection

You can use this utility to AUTOMATICALLY detect the characteristics of
most hard drives.

3-27

Glossary

Glossary

ACPI (Advanced Configuration & Power Interface)
This power management specification enables the OS (operating system) to control the
amount of power given to each device attached to the computer. Windows 98/98SE,
Windows 2000 and Windows ME can fully support ACPI to allow users managing the
system power flexibly.

AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port)
A new, high-speed graphics interface that based on PCI construction and designed
especially for the throughput demands of 3-D graphics. AGP provides a direct channel
(32-bit wide bus) between the display controller and main memory for high graphics
quality and performance.

ATX

A modern shape and layout of mainboard that supersedes the widely-used Baby AT
form factor. It improves many placement of components and makes a more efficient
design.

BIOS (basic input/output system)
On PCs, an essential software that contains all the control code of input/output inter­face (such as keyboard, disk drives, etc.). It executes hardware test on booting the
system, starts the OS, and provides an interface between the OS and the components.
The BIOS is stored in a ROM chip.

Glossary

Bus

A set of hardware lines within the computer system, through which the data is trans­ferred among different components. In a PC, the term bus usually refers to a local bus
that connects the internal components to the CPU and main memory.

Cache

A special memory subsystem that is used to speed up the data transfer. It stores the
contents of frequently accessed RAM locations and the addresses where these data
items are stored.

Chipset

A collection of integrated chips designed to perform one or more related functions. For

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Glossary

example, a modem chipset contains all the primary circuits for transmitting and receiv­ing data; a PC chipset provides the electronic interfaces between all subsystems.

CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor)
CMOS is a widely used type of semiconductor, which features high speed and low
power consumption. PCs usually contain a small amount of battery-powered CMOS
memory to retain the date, time, and system setup parameters.

COM

In MS-DOS system, the name of a serial communications port. DOS supports four
serial ports. For example, if a modem is connected to one serial port and a serial mouse
to another, they are identified as COM1 and COM2.

DIMM (dual in-line memory module)
A small circuit board that holds memory chips. A SIMM (single in-line memory
module) has a 32-bit path to the memory chips whereas a DIMM has 64-bit path.

DRAM (Dynamic RAM)
A most common type of computer memory. It usually uses one transistor and a
capacitor to represent a bit. As the development of technology, the memory type and
specification used in computer becomes variety, such as SDRAM, DDR SDRAM, and
RDRAM. For further instruction, please see the table below:

Dynamic RAM (DRAM) Memory Technologies

Type

FPM (60,70ns)

EDO (50,60,70ns)

SDRAM (66MHz)

SDRAM (100MHz)

SDRAM (133MHz)

RDRAM (Direct Rambus)

DDR SDRAM (100MHz)

DDR SDRAM (133MHz)

* Memory channel width (64 bits started with 75MHz Pentium)

Source: Computer Desktop Encyclopedia

First Used

1990

1994

1996

1998

1999

1999

2000

2000

Clock Rate

25MHz

40MHz

66MHz

100MHz

133MHz

400MHz

100MHz

133MHz

Bus* Width

64 bits

64 bits

64 bits

64 bits

64 bits

16 bits

64 bits

64 bits

G-2

Peak

Bandwidth

200 MBps

320 MBps

528 MBps

800 MBps

1.1 GBps

1.6 GBps

1.6 GBps

2.1 GBps

Volts

5v

5v

3.3v

3.3v

3.3v

2.5v

3.3v

3.3v

Glossary

ECC Memory (error correcting code memory)
A type of memory that contains special circuitry for testing the accuracy of data and
correcting the errors on the fly.

IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics)
A type of disk-drive interface widely used to connect hard disks, CD-ROMs and tape
drives to a PC, in which the controller electronics is integrated into the drive itself,
eliminating the need for a separate adapter card. The IDE interface is known as the
ATA (AT Attachment) specification.

IEEE 1394

A new, high speed external bus standard, also known as FireWire or iLink, which
supports data transfer rates of up to 400 Mbps for connecting up to 63 external
devices.

IrDA (Infrared Data Association)
A group of device vendors, including computer, component and telecommunications,
who have developed a standard for transmitting data via infrared light waves. This
enables you to transfer data from one device to another without any cables.

LAN (local area network)
A computer network that covers a relatively smaller area, such as in a building or an
enterprise. It is made up of servers, workstations, shared resources, a network oper­ating system and a communications link. These individual PCs and devices on a LAN
are known as “nodes”, and are connected by cables to access data and devices any­where on the LAN, so that many users can share expensive devices and data.

LED (light emitting diode)
A semiconductor device that converts electrical energy into light. Since it lights up
(usually red) when electricity is passed through it, it is usually used for the activity
lights on computer’s component, such as disk drivers.

LPT (line printer terminal)
Logical device name for a line printer; a name reserved by the MS-DOS for up to three
parallel printer ports: LPT1, LPT2, and LPT3. It is frequently used by the OS to
identify a printer.

G-3

Glossary

PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect)
A local bus standard developed by Intel that first appeared on PCs in late 1993. PCI
provides “plug and play” capability and allows IRQs to be shared. The PCI controller
can exchange data with the system's CPU either 32 bits or 64 bits at a time.

PnP (Plug and Play)
A set of specifications that allows a PC to configure itself automatically to work with
peripherals. The user can "plug" in a peripheral device and "play" it without configur­ing the system manually. To implement this useful feature, both the BIOS that sup­ports PnP and a PnP expansion card are required.

POST (Power On Self Test)
During booting up your system, the BIOS executes a series of diagnostic tests, include
checking the RAM, the keyboard, the disk drives, etc., to see if they are properly
connected and operating.

PS/2 Port

A type of port developed by IBM for connecting a mouse or keyboard to a PC. The
PS/2 port supports a mini DIN plug containing just 6 pins. Most modern PCs equipped
with PS/2 ports so that the special port can be used by another device, such as a
modem.

USB (universal serial bus)
A hardware interface for low-speed peripherals such as the keyboard, mouse, joystick,
etc. USB provides a maximum bandwidth of 12 Mbit/sec (Mbps) for connecting up to
127 peripheral devices to PC. USB features hot swap capability and multiple data
streams, allows external devices to be plugged in and unplugged without turning the
system off.

Virus

A program or a piece of code that infects computer files by inserting in those files
copies of itself. The virus code is buried within an existing program, and is activated
when that program is executed. All the viruses are man-made, and often have damaging
side effects.

G-4