MSI K9NBPM2-FID User Manual

K9NBPM2-FID Series

MS-7252 (V1.X) Mainboard

G52-72521X5

i

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.
NVIDIA, the NVIDIA logo, DualNet, and nForce are registered trademarks or trade-

marks of NVIDIA Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
AMD, Athlon™ , Athlon™ XP, Thoroughbred™, and Duron™ are registered trade­marks of AMD Corporation.
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 First release for K9NBPM2-FID September 2006

Technical Support

If a problem arises with your system and no solution can be obtained from the user’ s
manual, please contact your place of purchase or local distributor. Alternatively,
please try the following help resources for further guidance.

Visit the MSI website for FAQ, technical guide, BIOS updates, driver updates,
and other information: http://www.msi.com.tw/program/service/faq/

faq/esc_faq_list.php

Contact our technical staff at: http://support.msi.com.tw/

ii

Safety Instructions

1. Always read the safety instructions carefully.

2. Keep this User’s Manual for future reference.

3. Keep this equipment away from humidity.

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

5. The openings on the enclosure are for air convection hence protects the equip­ment from overheating. DO NOT COVER THE OPENINGS.

6. Make sure the voltage of the power source and adjust properly 110/220V be­fore connecting the equipment to the power inlet.

7. Place the power cord such a way that people can not step on it. Do not place
anything over 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 or cause electrical
shock.

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

† The power cord or plug is damaged.
† Liquid has penetrated into the equipment.
† The equipment has been exposed to moisture.
† The equipment has not work well or you can not get it work according to

User’s Manual.

† The equipment has dropped and damaged.
† The equipment has obvious sign of breakage.

12. DO NOT LEAVE THIS EQUIPMENT IN AN ENVIRONMENT UNCONDITIONED, STOR­AGE TEMPERATURE ABOVE 600 C (1400F), IT MAY DAMAGE THE EQUIPMENT.

CAUTION: Danger of explosion if battery is incorrectly replaced.
Replace only with the same or equivalent type recommended by the
manufacturer.

iii

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 in a residential installation. This equipment generates,
uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accor­dance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications.
However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular
installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television
reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is
encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the measures listed
below.

† Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
† Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.
† Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to

which the receiver is connected.

† Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/television technician for help.

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-7252

This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the
following two conditions:

(1) this device may not cause harmful interference, and
(2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that

may cause undesired operation.

iv

WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Statement

v

vi

vii

CONTENTS

Copyright Notice..............................................................................................................ii

Trademarks.......................................................................................................................ii

Revision History..............................................................................................................ii

Technical Support...........................................................................................................ii

Safety Instructions.........................................................................................................iii

FCC-B Radio Frequency Interference Statement........................................................iv

WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Statement....................................v

Chapter 1 Getting Started.....................................................................................1.1

Mainboard Specifications...................................................................................1-2

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

Packing Checklist.................................................................................................1-5

MSI Special Feature............................................................................................1-6

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

Quick Components Guide....................................................................................2-2

CPU (Central Processing Unit)............................................................................2-3

CPU Installation Procedures for Socket AM2............................................2-4

Installing AMD Socket AM2 CPU Cooler Set...............................................2-5

Memory.................................................................................................................2-6

Dual-Channel Memory Population Rules....................................................2-6

Installing DDRII Modules...............................................................................2-7

Power Supply......................................................................................................2-8

ATX 24-Pin Power Connector: JPWR1......................................................2-8

ATX 12V Power Connector: JPW1............................................................2-8

Important Notification about Power Issue..................................................2-9

Back Panel..........................................................................................................2-10

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

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

ATA133 Hard Disk Connectors: IDE1/ IDE2..............................................2-12

Serial ATA II Connectors: SATA1~SATA4................................................2-13

Fan Power Connectors: CPUFAN1 & SYSFAN1.....................................2-14

Chassis Intrusion Switch Connector: JCI1..............................................2-14

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

Front Panel Audio Connector: JAUD1......................................................2-15

Front USB Connectors: JUSB1 & JUSB2.................................................2-16

IEEE 1394 Connectors: J1394_1 (optional).............................................2-17

Serial Port Header: JCOM1 (optional)......................................................2-17

SPDIF-Out/ SPDIF-ln Connector: JSPDO1/ JSPDI1 (SPDIF-In is optional)2-18

viii

Audio-out Connector: J1...........................................................................2-18

Front Panel Connectors: JFP1/JFP2.........................................................2-19

Jumper................................................................................................................2-20

Clear CMOS Jumper: JBAT1.....................................................................2-20

Slots....................................................................................................................2-21

PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) Express Slots.......................2-21

PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) Slots......................................2-22

PCI Interrupt Request Routing...................................................................2-22

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

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

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

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

General Help <F1>.......................................................................................3-3

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

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

Advanced BIOS Features...................................................................................3-9

Advanced Chipset Features.............................................................................3-11

Integrated Peripherals.......................................................................................3-12

Power Management Setup...............................................................................3-15

PNP/PCI Configurations.....................................................................................3-18

H/W Monitor........................................................................................................3-20

Load Optimized Defaults...................................................................................3-22

BIOS Setting Password.....................................................................................3-23

Appendix A Realtek ALC883 Audio...................................................................A-1

Software Configuration......................................................................................A-2

Sound Effect................................................................................................A-3

Mixer.............................................................................................................A-6

Audio I/O.....................................................................................................A-10

Microphone................................................................................................A-14

3D Audio Demo...........................................................................................A-15

Information..................................................................................................A-16

Hardware Setup................................................................................................A-17

Appendix B nVidia RAID........................................................................................B-1

Introduction..........................................................................................................B-2

System Requirement...................................................................................B-2

RAID Arrays.................................................................................................B-2

Summary of RAID Configurations...............................................................B-2

RAID Configuration..............................................................................................B-3

Basic Configuration Instructions................................................................B-3

ix

Setting Up the NVRAID BIOS.......................................................................B-3

Installing the RAID Driver (for bootable RAID Array)................................B-7

NVIDIA IDE Driver/ RAID Utility Installation..........................................................B-9

Installing the NVIDIA RAID Software Under Windows (for Non-bootable RAID

Array)...........................................................................................................B-9

Initializing and Using the Disk Array.........................................................B-10

NVRAID Management Utility..............................................................................B-12

Viewing RAID Array Configurations........................................................B-12

Setting Up a Spare RAID Disk...................................................................B-13

Morphing From One RAID Array to Another............................................B-17

Hot Plug Array............................................................................................B-18

Initializing a RAID Array.............................................................................B-19

Rebuilding a RAID Array............................................................................B-22

Synchronizing a RAID Array.....................................................................B-25

Appendix C nVidia System Driver.....................................................................C-1

nVidia System Driver Installation........................................................................C-2

NVIDIA System Driver..................................................................................C-2

nVidia Utility Installation.......................................................................................C-5

x

Getting Started

Chapter 1

Getting Started

Thank you for choosing the K9NBPM2-FID Series (MS­7252 v1.X) Micro ATX mainboard. The K9NBPM2-FID
Series mainboards are based on nVidia® Quadro® NVS
210S & nVidia® nForce® 430 chipsets for optimal sys­tem efficiency. Designed to fit the advanced AMD® Athlon
64/ X2/ Sempron processor, the K9NBPM2-FID Series
deliver a high performance and professional desktop
platform solution.

1-1

MS-7252 Mainboard

Mainboard Specifications

Processor Support

- AMD® Athlon 64/ Athlon 64 X2 and Sempron in the socket AM2
package.
(For the latest information about CPU, please visit http://www.msi.

com.tw/program/products/mainboard/mbd/pro_mbd_cpu_support.
php)

Supported FSB

- HyperTransport supporting speed up to 1GHz (2000MT/s)

Chipset

- nVIDIA® Quadro® NVS 210S chipset

- nVIDIA® nForce® 430 chipset

Memory Support

- DDRII 400/ 533/ 667/ 800 SDRAM (8GB Max)

- 4 DDRII DIMMs (240pin, non-ECC)
(For more information on compatible components, please visit http:/

/www.msi.com.tw/program/products/mainboard/mbd/
pro_mbd_trp_list.php)

LAN

- Supports 10/100/1000 Fast Ethernet LAN by Vitesse VSC8601

IEEE 1394 (optional)

- Chip integrated by VIA VT6308P

- Transfer rate is up to 400Mbps

Audio

- Chip integrated by Realtek® ALC883

- Flexible 8-channel audio with jack sensing

- Compliant with Azalia 1.0 Spec

IDE

- 2 IDE ports by nForce® 430

- Supports Ultra DMA 66/100/133 mode

- Supports PIO, Bus Master operation mode

SATA

- 4 SATA II ports by nForce® 430

- Supports storage and data transfers at up to 300 MB/s

RAID

- SATA 1~4 support RAID 0/ 1 mode by nForce® 430

1-2

Getting Started

Floppy

- 1 floppy port

- Supports 1 FDD with 360K, 720K, 1.2M, 1.44M and 2.88Mbytes

Connectors

Back panel

- 1 PS/2 mouse port

- 1 PS/2 keyboard port

- 1 VGA port

- 1 DVI-D port (optional)

- 1 parallel port supporting SPP/EPP/ECP mode

- 1 IEEE 1394 port (optional)

- 4 USB 2.0 Ports

- 1 LAN jack

- 3 flexible audio jacks

On-Board Pinheaders

- 2 USB 2.0 pinheaders

- 1 IEEE 1394 pinheader (optional)

- 1 SPDIF-out pinheader/ 1 SPDIF-in pinheader

- 1 COM port pinheader

- 1 Audio-out pinheader

Slots

- 1 PCI Express x 16 slot

- 1 PCI Express x 1 slot

- 2 PCI slots, support 3.3V/ 5V PCI bus Interface

Form Factor

- Micro-ATX (24.4 cm X 24.4 cm)

Mounting

- 8 mounting holes

1-3

MS-7252 Mainboard

nVidia

nForce 430

Quadro NVS 210S

BATT+BIOS

IDE 1IDE 2JCI1FDD 1JPWR

1

JUSB1

JUSB2

JFP1

JFP2SYSFAN1

SATA1SATA3SATA2SATA

4

DIMM1DIMM2DIMM3DIMM

4

JSPDO1

JSPDI1

Mainboard Layout

Top : mouse
Bottom: keyboard

Top :
Parallel Port

Bottom:
DVI port (optional)
VGA port

Winbond

I/O

Top: LAN jack
Bottom: USB ports

Top: 1394 port (optional)
Bottom: USB ports

T:Line-In
M:Line- Out
B:Mic

VIA

VT6308P

(optional)

ALC883

JCD1

JAUD1

JPW1

CPUFAN1

LAN

CHIP

PCI _E1

Nvidia

PCI _E2

PCI1

PCI2

J1

J1394_1 (optional)

JCOM1

K9NBPM2-FID Series

(MS-7252 v1.X) Micro-ATX Mainboard

JBAT1

1-4

Packing Checklist

MSI motherboard

MSI Driver/Utility CD

Getting Started

Standard Cable for

IDE Devices

Power Cable

User’ s Guide

* The pictures are for reference only and may vary from the packing contents of the
product you purchased.

SATA Cable

Back IO Shield

1-5

MS-7252 Mainboard

MSI Special Feature

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:

ö monitor CPU & system temperatures
ö monitor fan speeds
ö 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

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 (oF) or Celsius (oC). The PC Alert™ 4 icon
on the Status Area will show the current CPU temperature.

1-6

Hardware Setup

Chapter 2

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.

2-1

MS-7252 Mainboard

Quick Components Guide

Back Panel
I/O, p.2-10

PCIE Slots,

p.2-21

PCI Slots,

p.2-22

JAUD1,

p.2-15

JPW1, p.2-8

JCD1, p.2-14

CPUFAN1, p.2-14

J1394_1,

p.2-17

JSPDI1, p.2-18

JSPDO1, p.2-18

J1, p.2-18

CPU, p.2-3

JCOM1, p.2-17

DDRII DIMMs, p.2-6

JUSB1/2, p.2-16

JCI1, p.2-14

FDD1, p.2-12

JPWR1, p.2-8

IDE1/2

, p.2-12
SATA1~4,

p.2-13

SYSFAN1,

p.2-14

JBAT1, p.2-20
JFP2, p.2-19

JFP1, p.2-19

2-2

Hardware Setup

CPU (Central Processing Unit)

The mainboard supports AMD® Athlon64 X2/ Athlon64 & Sempron processors. The
mainboard uses a CPU socket called Socket AM2 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 have the heat sink and
cooling fan, contact your dealer to purchase and install them before turning on the
computer.
For the latest information about CPU, please visit http://www.msi.com.tw/program/
products/mainboard/mbd/pro_mbd_cpu_support.php.

Important

1. Overheating will seriously damage the CPU and system. Always make

sure the cooling fan can work properly to protect the CPU from overheating.

2. Make sure that you apply an even layer of heat sink paste (or thermal tape)

between the CPU and the heatsink to enhance heat dissipation.

3. While replacing the CPU, always turn off the ATX power supply or unplug

the power supply’s power cord from the grounded outlet first to ensure the
safety of CPU.

2-3

MS-7252 Mainboard

Gold arrow

Gold arrow

Gold arrow

Correct CPU placement

O

CPU Installation Procedures for Socket AM2

1.Please turn off the power and
unplug the power cord before
installing the CPU.

2.Pull the lever sideways away
from the socket. Make sure to
raise the lever up to a 90-de­gree angle.

3.Look for the gold arrow of the
CPU. The gold arrow should
point as shown in the picture.
The CPU can only fit in the cor­rect orientation.

4.If the CPU is correctly installed,
the pins should be completely
embedded into the socket and
can not be seen. Please note
that any violation of the correct
installation procedures may
cause permanent damages to
your mainboard.

Sliding

Plate

Open Lever

90 degree

5. Press the CPU down firmly into
the socket and close the lever.
As the CPU is likely to move while
the lever is being closed, al­ways close the lever with your
fingers pressing tightly on top of
the CPU to make sure the CPU is
properly and completely embed­ded into the socket.

2-4

Hardware Setup

Installing AMD Socket AM2 CPU Cooler Set

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 have the

heat sink and cooling fan, contact your dealer to purchase and install them before
turning on the computer.

Important

Mainboard photos shown in this section are for demonstration of the cooler
installation for Socket AM2 CPUs only. The appearance of your mainboard
may vary depending on the model you purchase.

1.Position the cooling set onto the re­tention mechanism.

Hook one end of the clip to hook
first.

3.Fasten down the lever.

2. Then press down the other end of
the clip to fasten the cooling set on
the top of the retention mechanism.
Locate the Fix Lever and lift up it .

Fixed Lever

4.Attach the CPU Fan cable to the CPU
fan connector on the mainboard.

2-5

MS-7252 Mainboard

1

2

3

Memory

The mainboard provides four 240-pin non-ECC DDRII DIMMs and supports up to 8 GB
system memory.

For more information on compatible components, please visit http://www.msi.com.tw/

program/products/mainboard/mbd/pro_mbd_trp_list.php

DDRII

240-pin, 1.8V

64x2=128 pin56x2=112 pin

Dual-Channel Memory Population Rules

DIMM1
DIMM2

DIMM3
DIMM4

DIMM1
DIMM2
DIMM3
DIMM4

DIMM1
DIMM2
DIMM3
DIMM4

2-6

Hardware Setup

Installing DDRII Modules

1. The memory module has only one notch on the center and will only fit in the right
orientation.

2. Insert the memory module vertically into the DIMM slot. Then push it in until the
golden finger on the memory module is deeply inserted in the DIMM slot.

Important

You can barely see the golden finger if the module is properly inserted in the
DIMM slot.

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

Volt

Notch

Important

-DDRII modules are not interchangeable with DDR and the DDRII standard is
not backwards compatible. You should always install DDRII memory mod­ules in the DDRII DIMMs and DDR memory modules in the DDR DIMMs.

-In dual-channel mode, make sure that you install memory modules of the
same type and density in differentchannel DDR DIMMs.

-To enable successful system boot-up, always insert the memory modules
into the DIMM1 first.

- Due to the chipset resource deployment, the system density will only be
detected up to 7+GB (not full 8 GB) when each DIMM is installed with a 2GB
memory module.

2-7

MS-7252 Mainboard

Power Supply

ATX 24-Pin Power Connector: JPWR1

This connector allows you to connect an ATX 24-pin power supply.
To connect the ATX 24-pin power supply, make sure the plug 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.

You may use the 20-pin ATX power supply as you like. If you’d like
to use the 20-pin ATX power supply, please plug your power sup­ply along with pin 1 & pin 13 (refer to the image at the right hand).
There is also a foolproof design on pin 11, 12, 23 & 24 to avoid
wrong installation.

13 1

JPWR1

24

12

PIN SIGNAL

1 +3.3V
2 +3.3V.
3 GND
4 +5V
5 GND
6 +5V
7 GND
8 PWR OK
9 5VSB
10 +12V
11 +12V
12 +3.3V

Pin Definition

PIN SIGNAL

13 +3.3V
14 -12V
15 GND
16 PS-ON#
17 GND
18 GND
19 GND
20 Res
21 +5V
22 +5V
23 +5V
24 GND

pin 13

pin 12

ATX 12V Power Connector: JPW1

This 12V power connector JPW1 is used to provide power to the CPU.

JPW1

4 2

13

Pin Definition

PIN SIGNAL

1 GND
2 GND
3 12V
4 12V

Important

1. Maker sure that all the connectors are connected to proper ATX power sup­plies to ensure stable operation of the mainboard.

2. Power supply of 350 watts (and above) is highly recommended for system
stability.

2-8

Hardware Setup

Important Notification about Power Issue

NForce chipset is very sensitive to ESD (Electrostatic Discharge), therefore this
issue mostly happens while the users intensively swap memory modules under S5
(power-off) states, and the power code is plugged while installing modules. Due to
several pins are very sensitive to ESD, so this kind of memory-replacement actions
might cause system chipset unable to boot. Please follow the following solution to
avoid this situation.

Unplug the AC power cable (shown in figure 1) or unplug the JPWR1 & JPW1 power
connectors (shown in figure 2 & figure 3) before the 1st installation or during system
upgrade procedure.

Unplug the JPWR1 power conn.

Figure 2:

Unplug the AC power cable

Figure 1:

Figure 3:

Unplug the JPW1 power conn.

2-9

MS-7252 Mainboard

Back Panel

Mouse

Parallel Port

LAN

IEEE 1394

(optional)

L-In

L-Out

Mic

Keyboard USB Ports

DVI-D Port

(optional)

VGA Port

Mouse/Keyboard Connector

The standard PS/2® mouse/keyboard DIN connector is for a PS/2® mouse/keyboard.

Parallel Port Connector
A parallel port is a standard printer port that supports Enhanced Parallel Port (EPP)
and Extended Capabilities Parallel Port (ECP) mode.

VGA Port Connector
The DB 15-pin female connector which allows you to connect a VGA monitor.

DVI-D connector (optional)
The DVI-D (Digital Visual Interface-Digital) connector which allows you to connect an
LCD monitor. The DVI-D connector provides a high-speed digital interconnection
between the computer and its display device. To connect a LCD monitor, simply plug
your monitor cable into the DVI-D connector, and make sure that the other end of the
cable is properly connected to your monitor. (refer to your monitor manual for more
information.) Please note that the DVI-D connector doesn’t support to connect

the DVI to D-sub converter.

IEEE 1394 Port (optional)
The 1394 port on the back panel provides connection to 1394 devices.

LAN (RJ-45) Jack
The standard RJ-45 jack is for connection

Link IndicatorActivity Indicator

to single Local Area Network (LAN). You
can connect a network cable to it.

LED Color LED State condition

Off LAN link is not established.

Left Orange On (steady state) LAN link is established.

Green Off 10 Mbit/sec data rate is selected.

Right On 100 Mbit/sec data rate is selected.

Orange On 1000 Mbit/sec data rate is selected.

On (brighter & pulsing)The computer is communicating with another computer on the LAN.

2-10

Hardware Setup

USB Connectors
The OHCI (Open Host Controller Interface) Universal Serial Bus root is for attaching
USB devices such as keyboard, mouse, or other USB-compatible devices.

Audio Port Connectors
These audio connectors are used for audio devices. You can differentiate the color
of the audio jacks for different audio sound effects.
However, there is an advanced audio application provided by Realtek ALC883 to
offer support for 7.1-channel audio operation . You can use the external audio
cable and the rear audio connectors to function the 2-/4-/5.1-/7.1- channel audio.

other audio devices.

Blue audio jack - Line In, is used for external CD player, tapeplayer or
Green audio jack - Line Out, is a connector for speakers or headphones.

Pink audio jack - Mic In, is a connector for microphones.

Rear Out
Center and Subwoofer Out
Side Surround Out

Audio-Out Bracket (optional)

2-11

MS-7252 Mainboard

Connectors

Floppy Disk Drive Connector: FDD1

This standard FDD connector supports 360K, 720K, 1.2M, 1.44M and 2.88M floppy
disk types.

FDD1

ATA133 Hard Disk Connectors: IDE1/ IDE2

The mainboard has a 32-bit Enhanced PCI IDE and Ultra DMA 66/100/133
controller that provides PIO mode 0~4, Bus Master, and Ultra DMA 66/
100/133 function. You can connect hard disk drives, CD-ROM and other
IDE devices.

The Ultra ATA133 interface boosts data transfer rates between the
computer and the hard drive up to 133 megabytes (MB) per second. The
new interface is one-third faster than earlier record-breaking Ultra ATA/
100 technology and is backwards compatible with the existing Ultra ATA
interface.

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 the 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.

Important

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.

2-12

IDE1/ IDE2

Hardware Setup

Serial ATA Connectors: SATA1~SATA4

SATA1~SATA4 are high-speed SATAII interface ports. Each supports data rates of
300 MB/s and is fully compliant with Serial ATA specifications. Each Serial ATA con­nector can connect to 1 hard disk device.

SATA3

SATA4

SATA2SATA1

Serial ATA cable

Take out the dust cover
and connect to the hard
disk devices

Connect to SATA connector

Important

Please do not fold the Serial ATA cable into 90-degree angle. Otherwise,
data loss may occur during transmission.

2-13

MS-7252 Mainboard

Fan Power Connectors: CPUFAN1 & SYSFAN1

The fan power connectors support system cooling fan with +12V. 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.

SENSOR

+12V

GND

Control

GND

+12V
SENSOR

CPUFAN1

SYSFAN1

Important

1.Please refer to the recommended CPU fans at AMD® official website or
consult the vendors for proper CPU cooling fan.

2.Always consult the vendors for proper CPU cooling fan.

Chassis Intrusion Switch Connector: JCI1

This connector connects to a 2-pin chassis switch. If the chassis is opened, the
switch will be short. The system will record this status and show a warning mes­sage on the screen. To clear the warning, you must enter the BIOS utility and clear the
record.

CINTRU

1

GND

2

JCI1

CD-In Connector: JCD1

This connector is provided for CD-ROM audio.

JCD1

2-14

R

L

GND

Hardware Setup

Front Panel Audio Connector: JAUD1

The JAUD1 front panel audio connector allows you to connect the front panel audio
and is compliant with Intel® Front Panel I/O Connectivity Design Guide (either HD Audio
or AC’97 Audio).

2
1

10

9

JAUD1

HD Audio Pin Definition

PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION

1 MIC_L Microphone - Left channel
2 GND Ground
3 MIC_R Microphone - Right channel
4 PRESENCE# Active low signal-signals BIOS that a High Definition Audio dongle

5 LINE out_R Analog Port - Right channel
6 MIC_JD Jack detection return from front panel microphone JACK1
7 Front_JD Jack detection sense line from the High Definition Audio CODEC

8 NC No control
9 LINE out_L Analog Port - Left channel
10 LINEout_JD Jack detection return from front panel JACK2

is connected to the analog header. PRESENCE# = 0 when a
High Definition Audio dongle is connected

jack detection resistor network

AC’97 Audio Pin Definition

PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION

1 MIC Microphone input signal
2 GND Ground
3 MIC_PWR Microphone power
4 NC No Control
5 LINE out_R Right channel audio signal to front panel
6 NC No Control
7 NC No Control
8 Key No pin
9 LINE out_L Left channel audio signal to front panel
10 NC No Control

2-15

MS-7252 Mainboard

Front USB Connectors: JUSB1 & JUSB2

The mainboard provides USB 2.0 pinheaders (optional USB 2.0 bracket available) that
are compliant with Intel® I/O Connectivity Design Guide. USB 2.0 technology increases
data transfer rate up to a maximum throughput of 480Mbps, which is 40 times faster
than USB 1.1, and is ideal for connecting high-speed USB interface peripherals such
as USB HDD, digital cameras , MP3 players , printers, modems and the like.

JUSB1

9

10

1
2

JUSB2

2
1

Connected to USB connector (Yellow)

10

9

Important

Pin Definition

PIN SIGNAL PIN SIGNAL

1 VCC 2 VCC
3 USB0- 4 USB1­5 USB0+ 6 USB1+
7 GND 8 GND
9 Key (no pin) 10 USBOC

USB 2.0 Bracket

(Optional)

Note that the pins of VCC and GND must be connected correctly to avoid
possible damage.

2-16

Hardware Setup

IEEE 1394 Connectors: J1394_1 (optional)

The mainboard provides IEEE1394 pinheader that allow you to connect IEEE 1394
ports via an external IEEE1394 bracket (optional).

Pin Definition

PIN SIGNAL PIN SIGNAL

J1394_1

10

9

1 TPA+ 2 TPA­3 Ground 4 Ground
5 TPB+ 6 TPB­7 Cable power 8 Cable power
9 Key (no pin) 10 Ground

2

1

Connected to 1394 connector (Green)

IEEE1394 Bracket (Optional)

Foolproof

design

Serial Port Header: JCOM1 (optional)

The mainboard offers one 9-pin header as serial port. The port is a 16550A high
speed communication port that sends/receives 16 bytes FIFOs. You can attach a
serial mouse or other serial device directly to it.

Pin Definition

9

JCOM1

2

1

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

2-17

MS-7252 Mainboard

SPDIF-Out/ SPDIF-In Connector: JSPDO1/ JSPDI1 (SPDIF-In is
optional)

These connectors are used to connect SPDIF (Sony & Philips Digital Interconnect
Format) interface for digital audio transmission. The JSPDO1 is for SPDIF-Out and the
JSPDI1 is for SPDIF-In.

JSPDO1

Connect to SPDO1 or SPDI1

NC
GND
SPDIF-Out

JSPDI1

NC
GND
SPDIF-In

SPDIF Bracket (Optional)

Audio-out Connector: J1

The mainboard optionally provides a audio-out connector for you to attach a Audio­Out bracket. The Audio-Out bracket offers three audio-out jacks. Select the appropri­ate one to connect to the proper speaker.

Pin Definition

2
1

Connect to J1

J1

14
13

PIN SIGNAL PIN SIGNAL

1 LEFOut 2 SURROutR
3 CENTEROut 4 SURROutL
5 SURRBackR 6 SURRJD
7 SURRBackL 8 CENJD
9 SURRBackJD 10 Ground
11 Ground 12 Ground
13 NC 14 Ground

2-18

Audio-Out Bracket

(Optional)

Hardware Setup

Front Panel Connectors: JFP1/JFP2

The mainboard provides two front panel connectors for electrical connection to the
front panel switches and LEDs. The JFP1 is compliant with Intel® Front Panel I/O
Connectivity Design Guide.

JFP1

910

-

Power
Switch++

Power
LED

JFP1 Pin Definition

PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION

1 HD_LED + Hard disk LED pull-up
2 FP PWR/SLP MSG LED pull-up
3 HD_LED - Hard disk active LED
4 FP PWR/SLP MSG LED pull-up
5 RST_SW - Reset Switch low reference pull-down to GND
6 PWR_SW + Power Switch high reference pull-up
7 RST_SW + Reset Switch high reference pull-up
8 PWR_SW - Power Switch low reference pull-down to GND
9 RSVD_DNU Reserved. Do not use.

JFP2

2
1

2

Speaker

-

Power
LED

1

+

Reset

-

Switch

-

HDD
LED

+

8
7

JFP2 Pin Definition

PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION

1 GND Ground
2 SPK- Speaker­3 SLED Suspend LED
4 BUZ Buzzer+
5 PLED Power LED
6 BUZ Buzzer­7 NC No connection
8 SPK+ Speaker+

2-19

MS-7252 Mainboard

Jumpers

Clear CMOS Jumper: JBAT1

There is a CMOS RAM onboard 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. If you want to clear the system configuration, set
the JBAT1 (Clear CMOS Jumper ) to clear data.

3

1

Clear Data

JBAT1

3

1

1

Keep Data

Important

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.

2-20

Hardware Setup

Slots

PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) Express Slots

PCI Express architecture provides a high performance I/O infrastructure for Desktop
Platforms with transfer rates starting at 2.5 Giga transfers per second over a PCI
Express x1 lane for Gigabit Ethernet, TV Tuners, 1394 controllers, and general pur­pose I/O. Also, desktop platforms with PCI Express Architecture will be designed to
deliver highest performance in video, graphics, multimedia and other sophisticated
applications. Moreover, PCI Express architecture provides a high performance graphics
infrastructure for Desktop Platforms doubling the capability of existing AGP 8x de­signs with transfer rates of 4.0 GB/s over a PCI Express x16 lane for graphics
controllers, while PCI Express x1 supports transfer rate of 250 MB/s.

PCI Express x16 Slot

PCI Express x1 Slot

Important

When adding or removing expansion cards, make sure that you unplug the
power supply first. Meanwhile, read the documentation for the expansion card
to configure any necessary hardware or software settings for the expansion
card, such as jumpers, switches or BIOS configuration.

2-21

MS-7252 Mainboard

PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) Slots

The PCI slots support LAN cards, SCSI cards, USB cards, and other add-on cards
that comply with PCI specifications. At 32 bits and 33 MHz, it yields a throughput rate
of 133 MBps.

32-bit PCI Slot

PCI Interrupt Request Routing

The IRQ, acronym 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 pins as follows:

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

2-22

Chapter 3

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:

² An error message appears on the screen during the

system booting up, and requests you to run SETUP.

² You want to change the default settings for cus-

tomized features.

BIOS Setup

3-1

MS-7252 Mainboard

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.

Press DEL to enter SETUP

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.

Important

1.The items under each BIOS category described in this chapter are under
continuous update for better system performance. Therefore, the descrip­tion may be slightly different from the latest BIOS and should be held for
reference only.

2.Upon boot-up, the 1st line appearing after the memory count is the BIOS
version. It is usually in the format:

3-2

A7252NMS V1.1 083106 where:

1st digit refers to BIOS maker as A = AMI, W = AWARD, and P =
PHOENIX.
2nd - 5th digit refers to the model number.
6th digit refers to the chipset as I = Intel, N = nVidia, and V = VIA.
7th - 8th digit refers to the customer as MS = all standard customers.
V1.0 refers to the BIOS version.
083106 refers to the date this BIOS was released.

BIOS Setup

Control Keys

<↑> 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

<Enter> Select the item
<Esc> Jumps to the Exit menu or returns to the main menu from a

submenu

<+/PU> Increase the numeric value or make changes
<-/PD> Decrease the numeric value or make changes
<F6> Load Optimized Defaults
<F10> Save all the CMOS changes and exit

Getting Help

After entering the Setup menu, the first menu you will see is the Main Menu.

Main Menu

The main menu lists the setup functions you can make changes to. You can use the
arrow keys ( ↑↓ ) to select the item. The on-line description of the highlighted setup
function is displayed at the bottom of the screen.

Sub-Menu

If you find a right pointer symbol (as shown in the right
view) appears to the left of certain fields that means a
sub-menu can be launched from this field. A sub-menu
contains additional options for a field parameter. You can
use arrow keys ( ↑↓ ) to highlight the field and press
<Enter> to call up the sub-menu. Then you can use the control keys to enter values
and move from field to field within a sub-menu. If you want to return to the main menu,
just press the <Esc >.

General Help <F1>

The BIOS setup program provides a General Help screen. You can call up this screen
from any menu by simply pressing <F1>. The Help screen lists the appropriate keys
to use and the possible selections for the highlighted item. Press <Esc> to exit the
Help screen.

3-3

MS-7252 Mainboard

The Main 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.

Integrated Peripherals

Use this menu to specify your settings for integrated peripherals.

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.

H/W Monitor

This entry shows your PC health status.

Load Optimized Defaults

Use this menu to load the default values set by the mainboard manufacturer specifi­cally for optimal performance of the mainboard.

3-4

BIOS Setting Password

Use this menu to set the password for BIOS.

Save & Exit Setup

Save changes to CMOS and exit setup.

Exit Without Saving

Abandon all changes and exit setup.

BIOS Setup

3-5

MS-7252 Mainboard

Standard CMOS Features

The items in Standard CMOS Features Menu includes some basic setup items. Use
the arrow keys to highlight the item and then use the <PgUp> or <PgDn> keys to select
the value you want in each item.

Date (MM:DD:YY)

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
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.

BIOS. Read-only.

Time (HH:MM:SS)

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

Primary/ Secondary IDE Master/ Slave, Serial-ATA 0/1 Primary/ Second-

ary Channel

Press <Enter> to enter the sub-menu, and the following screen appears.

3-6

BIOS Setup

Device/ Vender/ Size/ LBA Mode/ Block Mode/ PIO Mode/ Async DMA/

Ultra DMA/ S.M.A.R.T.

It will showing the device information that you connected to the IDE/SATA
connector.

Type

Select the type of IDE device. Setting options: [Not Installed], [Auto], [CD/DVD],
[ARMD].

LBA/Large Mode

This allows you to enable or disable the LBA Mode. Setting to Auto enables LBA
mode if the device supports it and the devices is not already formatted with LBA
mode disabled.

DMA Mode

Select DMA Mode.

Hard Disk S.M.A.R.T.

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.

Important

Primary/ Secondary IDE Master/ Slave, Serial-ATA 0/ 1 Primary/
Secondary Channel are appearing when you connect the HD devices to

the IDE/ SATA connector on the mainboard.

Floppy Drive A

This item allows you to set the type of floppy drives installed.

3-7

MS-7252 Mainboard

Halt On

The setting determines whether the system will stop if an error is detected at boot.
Available options are:

[No Errors] The system doesn’t stop for any detected error.
[All, But Keyboard] The system doesn’t stop for a keyboard error.

System Information

Press <Enter> to enter the sub-menu, and the following screen appears.

BIOS Version/ Physical Memory/ Usage Memory/ CPU Information

These items show the CPU information, BIOS version and memory status of your
system (read only).

3-8

BIOS Setup

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.

Boot Up Num-Lock LED

This setting 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 users to use the arrow keys on the numeric keypad.

Boot to OS/2

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].

IOAPIC 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.

MPS Table Version

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. To find out which version to use, consult the vendor of your
operating system.

3-9

MS-7252 Mainboard

Boot Sequence

Press <Enter> to enter the sub-menu and the following screen appears:

1st Boot Device

The items allow you to set the sequence of boot devices where BIOS attempts
to load the disk operating system.

Boot From Other Device

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

Hard Disk Drives

This feature allows you to specify the hard disk boot priority.

Removable Drives

This feature allows you to specify the removable device boot priority.

CD/DVD Drives

This feature allows you to specify the CD/DVD device boot priority.

3-10

BIOS Setup

Advanced Chipset Features

OnChip and PCIe VGA selection

Setting “Auto” to auto detect the graphics card. Or you can set to both to enable both
OnChip VGA and PCIe VGA.

On-Chip VGA Frame Buffer Size

The field specifies the size of system memory allocated for video memory.

3-11

MS-7252 Mainboard

Integrated Peripherals

USB Controller

This setting allows you to enable/disable the onboard USB 1.1/ 2.0 controller.

USB Device Legacy Support

Select [Enabled] if you need to use a USB-interfaced device in the operating system.

Onboard GigaBit LAN

This setting allows you to enable/disable the onboard gigabit LAN controller.

GigaBit LAN Option ROM

This item is used to decide whether to invoke the Boot ROM of the Onboard GigaBit
LAN Chip.

Onboard IEEE1394 Controller

This setting allows you to enable/disable the onboard IEEE 1394 controller.

AZALIA AUDIO

This setting is used to enable/disable the onboard audio controller.

3-12

BIOS Setup

On-Chip ATA Devices

Press <Enter> to enter the sub-menu and the following screen appears:

PCI IDE BusMaster

This item allows you to enable/ disable BIOS to used PCI busmastering for
reading/ writing to IDE drives.

On-Chip IDE Controller

This item allows you to enable/ disable IDE Controller.

Serial-ATA 0/1

These items allow users to enable or disable the SATA channel 0/1.

Onchip RAID Controller

This item is used to enable/disable the nVidia RAID function.

SATA 0/ 1 Primary/ Secondary Channel

These itemsallow users to enable or disable the RAID function for each SATA
hard disk drive.

I/O Devices

Press <Enter> to enter the sub-menu and the following screen appears:

Onboard Floppy Controller

Select [Enabled] if your system has a floppy disk controller (FDD) installed on the
system board and you wish to use it. If you install add-on FDC or the system has
no floppy drive, select [Disabled] in this field.

3-13

MS-7252 Mainboard

COM Port 1

Select an address and corresponding interrupt for the first serial port.

Parallel Port

There is a built-in parallel port on the on-board Super I/O chipset that provides
Standard, ECP, and EPP features. It has the following options:

[Disabled]
[3BC] Line Printer port 0
[278] Line Printer port 2
[378] Line Printer port 1

Parallel Port Mode

To operate the onboard parallel port as Standard Parallel Port only, choose [SPP].
To operate the onboard parallel port in the EPP mode simultaneously, choose
[EPP]. By choosing [ECP], the onboard parallel port will operate in ECP mode only.
Choosing [ECP + EPP] will allow the onboard parallel port to support both the ECP
and EPP modes simultaneously.

Parallel Port IRQ

This item allows you to set parallel port IRQ.

[SPP] Standard Parallel Port
[EPP] Enhanced Parallel Port
[ECP] Extended Capability Port
[ECP + EPP] Extended Capability Port + Enhanced Parallel Port

3-14

Power Management Setup

Important

BIOS Setup

S3-related functions described in this section are available only when your
BIOS supports S3 sleep mode.

ACPI 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 [Enabled].

ACPI Standby State

This item specifies the power saving modes for ACPI function. If your operating
system supports ACPI, such as Windows 2000/ XP , you can choose to enter the
Standby mode in S1(POS) or S3(STR) fashion through the setting of this field. Set­tings are:

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

[S3/STR] The S3 sleep mode is a lower power state where the in

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

formation of system configuration 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 a “wake up ” event occurs.

3-15

MS-7252 Mainboard

Re-call VGA BIOS from S3

Selecting [Enabled] allows BIOS to call VGA BIOS to initialize the VGA card when
system wakes up (resumes) from S3 sleep state. The system resume time is short­ened when you disable the function, but system will need an AGP driver to initialize
the VGA card. Therefore, if the AGP driver of the card does not support the initializa­tion feature, the display may work abnormally or not function after resuming from S3.

Power Button Function

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

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

Restore On AC Power Loss

This item specifies whether your system will reboot after a power failure or interrupt
occurs. Settings are:

[Off] Always leaves the computer in the power off state.
[On] Always leaves the computer in the power on state.
[Last State] Restores the system to the status before power failure

Wakeup Event Setup

Press <Enter> and the following sub-menu appears.

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

or interrupt occurred.

Resume From S3 by PS/2 KB

This controls how the PS/2 keyboard is able to power on the system. If you
choose Specific Key, the power button on the case will not function anymore
and you must type the password to power on the system.

Resume From S3 by PS/2 MS

This setting determines whether the system will be awakened from what power
saving modes when input signal of the PS/2 mouse is detected.

Resume by PCI Device (PME#)

When set to [Enabled], the feature allows your system to be awakened from the
power saving modes through any event on PME (Power Management Event).

3-16

BIOS Setup

Resume by PCIE Device

When set to [Enabled], the feature allows your system to be awakened from the
power saving modes through any event on PCIE device.

Resume by RTC Alarm

The field is used to enable or disable the feature of booting up the system on a
scheduled time/date.

3-17

MS-7252 Mainboard

PNP/PCI Configurations

This section describes configuring the PCI bus system and PnP (Plug & Play) feature.
PCI, or Peripheral Component 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.

Primary Graphics Adapter

This setting specifies which graphics card is your primary graphics adapter.

PCI Latency Timer

This item controls how long each PCI device can hold the bus before another takes
over. When set to higher values, every PCI device can conduct transactions for a
longer time and thus improve the effective PCI bandwidth. For better PCI performance,
you should set the item to higher values.

PCI Slot 1/2 IRQ

These items specify the IRQ line for each PCI slot.

3-18

BIOS Setup

IRQ Resource Setup

Press <Enter> to enter the sub-menu and the following screen appears.

IRQ 3/4/5/7/9/10/11/14/15

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 [Reserved] setting to it. Onboard I/O is configured by
AMIBIOS. All IRQs used by onboard I/O are configured as [Available]. If all IRQs
are set to [Reserved], and IRQ 14/15 are allocated to the onboard PCI IDE, IRQ 9
will still be available for PCI and PnP devices.

Important

IRQ (Interrupt Request) lines are system resources allocated to I/O devices.
When an I/O device needs to gain attention of the operating system, it sig­nals this by causing an IRQ to occur. After receiving the signal, when the
operating system is ready, the system will interrupt itself and perform the
service required by the I/O device.

DMA Resource Setup

Press <Enter> to enter the sub-menu and the following screen appears.

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

The settings determine if AMIBIOS should remove a DMA (Direct Memory Access)
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.

3-19

MS-7252 Mainboard

H/W Monitor

Spread Spectrum

Press <Enter> to enter the sub-menu and the following screen appears.

CPU Spread Spectrum

This setting is used to enable or disable the CPU Spread Spectrum feature.
When overclocking the CPU, always set it to [Disabled].

C51 PCIE Spread Spectrum

This setting is used to enable or disable the C51 PCIE Spread Spectrum feature.

CPU/LDT Spread Spectrum

This setting is used to enable or disable the CPU/LDT Spread Spectrum feature.
When overclocking the CPU, always set it to [Disabled].

SATA Spread Spectrum

This setting is used to enable or disable the SATA Spread Spectrum feature.

3-20

BIOS Setup

Auto Disable PCI Clk

This item is used to auto detect the PCI slots. When set to [Enabled], the system will
remove (turn off) clocks from empty PCI slots to minimize the electromagnetic inter­ference (EMI).

Chassis Intrusion

The field enables or disables the feature of recording the chassis intrusion status
and issuing a warning message if the chassis is once opened. To clear the warning
message, set the field to [Reset]. The setting of the field will automatically return to
[Enabled] later.

Cool’n’Quiet

This feature is especially desiged for AMD processor, which provides a CPU tem­perature detecting function to prevent your CPU’s from overheading due to the heavy
working loading.

Important

For the purpose of ensuring the stability of Cool'n'Quiet function, it is always
recommended to have the memories plugged in DIMM1.

Smart FAN Target

The mainboard provides the Smart Fan function which can control the fan speed
automatically depending on the current temperature to keep it with in a specific range.
You can select a fan target value here. If the current CPU fan temperature reaches to
the target value, the smart fan function will be activated. It provides 5 sections to
speed up for cooling down automaticlly.

PC Health Status

Press <Enter> to enter the sub-menu and the following screen appears.

System/ CPU Temperature, CPUFAN Speed, CPU Vcore, +12.0V, +3.3V,,

+5.0V

These items display the current status of all of the monitored hardware devices/
components such as CPU voltage, temperatures and all fans’ speeds.

3-21

MS-7252 Mainboard

Load Optimized Defaults

The option on the main menu allows users to restore all of the BIOS settings to the
default Optimized values. The Optimized Defaults are the default values set by the
mainboard manufacturer specifically for optimal performance of the mainboard.

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

Pressing Y loads the default factory settings for optimal system performance.

3-22

BIOS Setup

BIOS Setting Password

When you select this function, 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.

3-23

Realtek ALC883 Audio

Appendix A

Realtek ALC883 Audio

The Realtek ALC883 provides 10-channel DAC that si­multaneously supports 7.1 sound playback and 2 chan­nels of independent stereo sound output (multiple
streaming) through the Front-Out-Left and Front-Out­Right channels.

A-1

MS-7252 Mainboard

Software Configuration

After installing the NVIDIA C51/ MCP51NBP System Driver, you are able to use the 2-,
4-, 6- or 8- channel audio feature now. Click the audio icon from the system tray
at the lower-right corner of the screen to activate the HD Audio Configuration. It is

also available to enable the audio driver by clicking the Azalia HD Sound Effect
Manager from the Control Panel.

Double click

/

A-2

Realtek ALC883 Audio

Sound Effect

Here you can select a sound effect you like from the Environment list.

Environment Simulation

You will be able to enjoy different sound experience by pulling down the arrow,
totally 23 kinds of sound effect will be shown for selection. Realtek HD Audio Sound
Manager also provides five popular settings “Stone Corridor” , “Bathroom”, “Sewer
pipe”, “Arena” and “Audio Corridor” for quick enjoyment.

You may choose the provided sound effects, and the equalizer will adjust automatically.
If you like, you may also load an equalizer setting or make an new equalizer setting to
save as an new one by using the “ Load EQ Setting” and “Save Preset ” button,
click “Reset EQ Setting” button to use the default value, or click “Delete EQ Set-
ting” button to remove a preset EQ setting.

There are also other pre-set equalizer models for you to choose by clicking “Others”
under the Equalizer part.

A-3

MS-7252 Mainboard

Equalizer Selection

Equalizer frees users from default settings; users may create their owned preferred
settings by utilizing this tool.

10 bands of equalizer, ranging from 100Hz to 16KHz.

Save

The settings are saved
permanently for future
use

Enable / Disable

To disable, you can tem­porarily stop the sound
effect without losing the
settings

Delete

To delete the pre-saved settings which are created from previous steps.

Reset

10 bands of equalizer
would go back to the de­fault setting

Load

Whenever you would like to
use preload settings, simply
click this, the whole list will
be shown for your selection.

A-4

Realtek ALC883 Audio

Frequently Used Equalizer Setting

Realtek recognizes the needs that you might have. By leveraging our long experience
at audio field, Realtek HD Audio Sound Manager provides you certain optimized equal­izer settings that are frequently used for your quick enjoyment.

[How to Use It]
Other than the buttons “Pop” “Live” “Club” & “Rock” shown on the page, to pull down
the arrow in “Others”, you will find more optimized settings available to you.

Karaoke Mode

Karaoke mode brings Karaoke fun back home. Simply using the music you usually
play, Karaoke mode can help you eliminate the vocal of the song or adjust the key to
accommodate your range.

1.Vocal Cancellation: Single click on “ Voice Cancellation” , the vocal of the song would
be eliminated, while the background music is still in place, and you can be that
singer!

2.Key Adjustment: Using “Up / Down Arrow” to find a key which better fits your vocal
range.

Raise the key

Remove the
human voice

Lower the key

A-5

MS-7252 Mainboard

Mixer

In the Mixer part, you may adjust the volumes of the rear and front panels individually.

1. Adjust Volume

You can adjust the volume of the speakers that you pluged in front or rear panel.

Important

Before set up, please make sure the playback devices are well plugged in the
jacks on the rear or front panel.

2. Multi-Stream Function

ALC883 supports an outstanding feature called Multi-Stream, which means you may
play different audio sources simultaneously and let them output respectively from the
indicated real panel or front panel. This feature is very helpful when 2 people are
using the same computer together for different purposes.

Click the button and the Mixer ToolBox menu will appear. Then check the Enable

playback multi-streaming and click OK to save the setup.

Important

You have to plug the device into the jacks on the rear and front panel first
before enable the multi-stream function.

A-6

Realtek ALC883 Audio

When you are playing the first audio source (for example: use Windows Media
Player to play DVD/VCD), the output will be played from the rear panel, which is the
default setting.

Then you must to select the Realtek HD Audio 2nd output from the scroll list
first, and use a different program to play the second audio source (for example: use
Winamp to play MP3 files). You will find that the second audio source (MP3 music) will
come out from the Line-Out audio jack of Front Panel.

A-7

MS-7252 Mainboard

3. Playback control

Playback device

Tool Mute

This function is to let you freely decide which ports to
output the sound. And this is essential when multi­streaming playback enabled.

- Realtek HD Audio Output

- Realtek HD Audio 2nd Output

Mute

You may choose to mute single or multiple volume controls or to completely mute
sound output.

Tool

- Show the following volume controls

This is to let you freely decide which volume control items to be displayed.

- Advanced controls

- Enable playback multi-streaming
With this function, you will be able to have an audio chat with your friends via
headphone (stream 1 from front panel) while still have music (stream 2 from back
panel) in play. At any given period, you can have maximum 2 streams operating
simultaneously.

A-8

4. Recording control

Realtek ALC883 Audio

Tool Mute

Recording device

-Realtek HD Digital input

-Realtek HD Audio input

Mute

You may choose to mute single or multiple volume controls or to completely mute
sound input.

Tool

- Show the following volume controls

This is to let you freely decide which volume control items to be displayed.

- Enable recording multi-streaming

Important

ALC883 allows you to record the CD, Line, Mic and Stereo Mix channels
simultaneously, frees you from mixing efforts. At any given period, you may
choose 1 of the following 4 channels to record.

A-9

MS-7252 Mainboard

Audio I/O

In this tab, you can easily configure your multi-channel audio function and speakers.
You can choose a desired multi-channel operation here.

a. Headphone for the common headphone
b. 2CH Speaker for Stereo-Speaker Output
c. 4CH Speaker for 4-Speaker Output
d. 6CH Speaker for 5.1-Speaker Output
e. 8CH Speaker for 7.1-Speaker Output

Speaker Configuration:

1. Plug the speakers in the corresponding jack.

2. Dialogue “ connected device” will pop up for your selection. Please select the
device you have plugged in.

- If the device is being plugged into the correct jack, you will be able to find the icon
beside the jack changed to the one that is same as your device.

- If not correct, Realtek HD Audio Manager will guide you to plug the device into the
correct jack.

A-10

Realtek ALC883 Audio

Connector Settings

Click to access connector settings.

Disable front panel jack detection (option)

Jack detection function only works with HD audio front panel.

Mute rear panel output when front headphone plugged in.

Enable auto popup dialogue, when device has been plugged in

Once this item checked, the dialog “Connected device” would not automatically pop
up when device plugged in.

A-11

MS-7252 Mainboard

S/PDIF

Short for Sony/Philips Digital Interface, a standard audio file transfer format. S/PDIF
allows the transfer of digital audio signals from one device to another without having
to be converted first to an analog format. Maintaining the viability of a digital signal
prevents the quality of the signal from degrading when it is converted to analog.

Output Sampling Rate

44.1KHz: This is recommend while playing CD.
48KHz: This is recommended while playing DVD or Dolby.
96KHz: This is recommended while playing DVD-Audio.
192KHz: This is recommended while playing High quality Audio.

Output Source

No S/PDIF out: There will no S/PDIF out.
Output digital audio source: The digital audio format (such as .wav, .mp3,.midi etc)
will come out through S/PDIF-Out.
S/PDIF-in to S/PDIF -out pass though mode: The data from S/PDIF-In can be real­ time played from S/PDIF-Out.

A-12

Realtek ALC883 Audio

Test Speakers

You can select the speaker by clicking it to test its functionality. The one you select
will light up and make testing sound. If any speaker fails to make sound, then check
whether the cable is inserted firmly to the connector or replace the bad speakers

with good ones. Or you may click the auto test button to test the sounds of
each speaker automatically.

Center

Front Left

Side Left

Rear Left

Front Right

Side Right

Subwoofer

Rear Right

A-13

MS-7252 Mainboard

Microphone

In this tab you may set the function of the microphone. Select the Noise Suppres­sion to remove the possible noise during recording, or select Acoustic Echo
Cancelltion to cancel the acoustic echo druing recording.

Acoustic Echo Cancelltion prevents playback sound from being recorded by mi-

crophone together with your sound. For example, you might have chance to use
VOIP function through Internet with your friends. The voice of your friend will come
out from speakers (playback). However, the voice of your friend might also be
recorded into your microphone then go back to your friend through Internet. In that
case, your friend will hear his/her own voice again. With AEC(Acoustic Echo
Cancellation) enabled at your side, your friend can enjoy the benefit with less echo.

A-14

Realtek ALC883 Audio

3D Audio Demo

In this tab you may adjust your 3D positional audio before playing 3D audio applica­tions like gaming. You may also select different environment to choose the most
suitable environment you like.

A-15

MS-7252 Mainboard

Information

In this tab it provides some information about this HD Audio Configuration utility,
including Audio Driver Version, DirectX Version, Audio Controller & Audio Codec. You
may also select the language of this utility by choosing from the Language list.

Also there is a selection Show icon in system tray. Switch it on and an icon
will show in the system tray. Right-click on the icon and the Audio Accessories

dialogue box will appear which provides several multimedia features for you to take
advantage of.

A-16

Realtek ALC883 Audio

Hardware Setup

Connecting the Speakers

When you have set the Multi-Channel Audio Function mode properly in the software
utility, connect your speakers to the correct phone jacks in accordance with the
setting in software utility.

n 2-Channel Mode for Stereo-Speaker Output
Refer to the following diagram and caption for the function of each phone jack on the
back panel when 2-Channel Mode is selected.

1

4

2

5

6

3

1 Line In
2 Line Out (Front channels)
3 MIC
4 Line Out (Rear surround channels, but no functioning in this mode)
5 Line Out (Center and Subwoofer channel, but no functioning in this mode)
6 Line Out (Side surround channels, but no functioning in this mode)

A-17

MS-7252 Mainboard

n 4-Channel Mode for 4-Speaker Output

1

2

3

4-Channel Analog Audio Output

1 Line In
2 Line Out (Front channels)
3 MIC
4 Line Out (Rear surround channels)
5 Line Out (Center and Subwoofer channel, but no functioning in this mode)
6 Line Out (Side surround channels, but no functioning in this mode)

4

5

6

Description:
Connect two speakers to back
panel’ s Line Out connector and
two speakers to the Rear-chan­nel Line Out connector.

A-18

n 6-Channel Mode for 6-Speaker Output

Realtek ALC883 Audio

1

2

3

6-Channel Analog Audio Output

1 Line In
2 Line Out (Front channels)
3 MIC
4 Line Out (Rear surround channels)
5 Line Out (Center and Subwoofer channel)
6 Line Out (Side surround channels, but no functioning in this mode)

4

5

6

Description:
Connect two speakers to back
panel’ s Line Out connector, two
speakers to the rear-channel
Line out connector and two
speakers to the center/
subwoofer-channel Line Out
connector.

A-19

MS-7252 Mainboard

n 8-Channel Mode for 8-Speaker Output

1

2

3

8-Channel Analog Audio Output

1 Line In
2 Line Out (Front channels)
3 MIC
4 Line Out (Rear channels)
5 Line Out (Center and Subwoofer channel)
6 Line Out (Side surround channels)

4

5

6

Description:
Connect two speakers to back
panel’s Line Out connector, two
speakers to the rear-channel
Line out connector, two speak­ers to the center/subwoofer­channel Line Out connector and
two speakers to the side-chan­nel Line Out connector.

A-20

Appendix B

nVidia RAID

NVIDIA brings Redundant Array of Independent Disks
(RAID) technology—which is used by the world’s lead­ing businesses—to the common PC desktop. This tech­nology uses multiple drives to either increase total disk
space or to offer data protection. For all levels, RAID
techniques optimize storage solutions by using multiple
disks grouped together and treating them as a single
storage resource.

nVidia RAID

B-1

MS-7252 Mainboard

Introduction

System Requirement

Operating System Support

NVRAID supports the following operating systems:

Windows XP
Windows 2000 Professional

RAID Arrays

NVRAID supports the following types of RAID arrays described in this section:
RAID 0: RAID 0 defines a disk striping scheme that improves the disk read and write
times for many applications.
RAID 1: RAID 1 defines techniques for mirroring data.

Summary of RAID Configurations

Array Uses Advantages Drawbacks # Hard

RAID 0 Non-critical data

RAID 1 Small databases or any

requiring high
performance.

other small capacity
environment requiring
fault tolerance.

High data throughput. No fault tolerance. multiple None

100% data
redundancy.

Requires 2 drives for
the storage space of 1
drive.

Disks

2 Yes

Fault
Tolerance

B-2

nVidia RAID

RAID Configuration

Basic Configuration Instructions

The following are the basic steps for configuring NVRAID:

Non-Bootable RAID Array

1. Choose the hard disks that are to be RAID enabled in the system BIOS. (To enable
the SATA 0/ 1 Primary/ Secondary Channel in On-Chip ATA Devices of Inte-
grated Peripherals in BIOS.)

2. Specify the RAID level, either Mirroring (RAID 1), Striping (RAID 0), Striping and
Mirroring (RAID 0+1) or JBOD and create the desired RAID array.

3. Enter the Windows OS, run the Windows nForce Setup application and install the
RAID software. (Check p. B-9 for details.)

4. Initialize the NVRAID Array Disks.

Bootable RAID Array

1. Choose the hard disks that are to be RAID enabled in the system BIOS. (To enable
the SATA 0/ 1 Primary/ Secondary Channel in On-Chip ATA Devices of Inte-
grated Peripherals in BIOS.)

2. Specify the RAID level, either Mirroring (RAID 1) or Striping (RAID 0) and create the
desired RAID array.

3. Boot from the Windows CD, use the floppy disk that has the RAID driver to copy
and install the nForce RAID software. (Check p.B-7 for details.)

4. Initialize the NVRAID Array Disks.

Setting Up the NVRAID BIOS

Be sure to enable the SATA 0/ 1 Primary/ Secondary Channel in On-Chip ATA
Device of Integrated Peripherals in BIOS before configuring the NVRAID BIOS.

After that press F10 to save the configuration and exit. The PC will reboot right away.
Then enter the RAID BIOS Setup by pressing F10 when prompted, and follow the
procedures described below to set up the NVRAID BIOS.
NVRAID BIOS setup lets you choose the RAID array type and which hard drives you
want to make part of the array.

Entering the RAID BIOS Setup

1. After rebooting your PC, wait until you

see the RAID software prompting you
to press F10. The RAID prompt ap­pears as part of the system POST and
boot process prior to loading the OS.

2. Press F10, and the NVIDIA RAID Util-

ity --- Define a New Array window
will appear.
The default RAID Mode is set to Mir-

roring and Striping Block is set to
Optimal.

B-3

MS-7252 Mainboard

Understanding the “ Define a New Array” Window

Use the Define a New Array window to

• Select the RAID Mode

• Set up the Striping Block

• Specify which disks to use for the RAID Array

Depending on the platform used, the system can have one or more channels. In a
typical system there is usually one controller and multiple channels, and each chan­nel has a slave and a master.
The channel/controller/master/slave status of each hard disk is given in the Loc
(location) columns of the Free Disks and Array Disks lists.

In the example above, 1.0.M means the hard drive is attached to Channel 2, Controller
0, and the drive is set to Master. The following is a list of all possible combinations:

Serial ATA

1.0.M Controller 1, Channel 0, Master (SATA1)

1.1.M Controller 1, Channel 1, Master (SATA2)

2.0.M Controller 2, Channel 0, Master (SATA3)

2.1.M Controller 2, Channel 1, Master (SATA4)

Important

There is no such thing as Slave drive in Serial ATA. All drives are considered
to be Master since there is a one to one connection between the drive and the
controller.

B-4

nVidia RAID

Using the Define a New Array Window

If necessary, press the tab key to move from field to field until the appropriate field is
highlighted.

• Selecting the RAID Mode

By default, this is set to [Mirroring]. To change to a different RAID mode, press the
down arrow key until the mode that you want appears in the RAID Mode box—either
[Mirroring] or [Striping].

• Selecting the Striping Block Size
Striping Block size is given in kilobytes, and affects how data is arranged on the

disk. It is recommended to leave this value at the default [Optimal], which is 32KB, but
the values can be between [4 KB] and [128 KB].

• Assigning the Disks

The disks that you enabled from the RAID Config BIOS setup page appear in the Free
Disks block. These are the drives that are available for use as RAID array disks.

To designate a free disk to be used as a RAID array disk,

1. Tab to the Free Disks section. The first disk in the list is selected.

2. Move it from the Free Disks block to the Array Disks block by pressing the right

arrow key (-->). The first disk in the list is moved, and the next disk in the list is

selected and ready to be moved.

3. Continue pressing the right-arrow key (<-- ) until all the disks that you want to use

as RAID array disks appear in the Array Disks block.

It shows that two disks have been assigned as RAID1 array disks in the figure
above.

- Define a New Array -

B-5

MS-7252 Mainboard

Completing the RAID BIOS Setup

1.After assigning your RAID array disks, press F7. The Clear disk data prompt

appears.

2.Press Y if you want to wipe out all the data from the RAID array, otherwise press

N. You must choose Yes if the drives were previously used as RAID drives.
The Array List window appears, where you can review the RAID arrays that you
have set up.

3. Use the arrow keys to select the array that you want to set up, then press Enter.

The Array Detail window appears.

4. If you want to mark this disk as empty and wipe out all its contents then press C.

5. At the prompt, press Y to wipe out all the data, otherwise press N.

6.Press Enter again to go back to the previous window and then press Ctrl+X to

exit the RAID setup. Now that the RAID setup has been configured from the RAID
BIOS, the next step is to configure and load NVRAID drivers under Windows, as
explained in “Installing the NVIDIA RAID Software Under Windows” on B-9.

B-6

nVidia RAID

Installing the RAID Driver (for bootable RAID Array)

1. After you complete the RAID BIOS setup, boot from the Windows CD, and the

Windows Setup program starts.

2. Press F6 and wait for the Windows Setup screen to appear.

3. Specify the NVIDIA drivers:

(1)Insert the floppy that has the RAID driver, press S, then press Enter. The

Windows Setup screen appears as below:

Important

Please follow the instruction below to make an nVIDIA Serial ATA RAID driver
for yourself.

1.Insert the MSI CD into the CD-ROM drive.

2.Click the “Browse CD” on the Setup screen.

3.Copy all the contents in the :\\Chipset\nsip2KXP\IDE\Win XP or Win2K
\sataraid to a formatted floppy disk.

4.The driver disk for nVIDIA RAID controller is done.

(2)Select “NVIDIA RAID CLASS DRIVER” and then press Enter.
(3)Press S again at the Specify Devices screen, then press Enter.
(4)Select “NVIDIA NForce Storage Controller” and then press Enter. The follow-

ing Windows Setup screen appears listing both drivers:

B-7

MS-7252 Mainboard

4.Press Enter to continue with Windows XP Installation. Be sure to leave the floppy
disk inserted in the floppy drive until the blue screen portion of Windows XP
installation is completed, then take out the floppy.

5.Follow the instructions on how to install Windows XP. After Windows XP is com­pletely installed, it is recommended that you install the the RAID management tool.

Important

Each time you add a new hard drive to a RAID array, the RAID driver will have
to be installed under Windows once for that hard drive. After that, the driver
will not have to be installed.

B-8

nVidia RAID

NVIDIA IDE Driver/ RAID Utility Installation

Installing the NVIDIA RAID Software Under Windows
(for Non-bootable RAID Array)

The existing Windows IDE Parallel ATA driver (as well as the Serial ATA driver if SATA
is enabled) must be upgraded to use the NVIDIA IDE Parallel ATA driver (as well as the
NV Serial ATA driver if SATA is enabled).
This section describes how to run the setup application and install the RAID software
which will upgrade the Windows IDE driver and install the RAID software.

1.Start the NVIDIA nForce Drivers installation program to open the NVIDIA Windows

nForce Drivers page.

2.Select the modules that you want to install. Make sure that the “NVIDIA IDE Driver”

is selected.

Important

You must install the NVIDIA IDE driver in order to enable NVIDIA
RAID. If you do not install the NVIDIA IDE driver, NVIDIA RAID will not be

worked.

3.Click Next and then follow the instructions.

4.After the installation is completed, be sure to reboot the PC.

5.After the reboot, initialize the newly created array.

B-9

MS-7252 Mainboard

Initializing and Using the Disk Array

The RAID array is now ready to be initialized under Windows.

1.Launch Computer Management by clicking “Start” --> “Settings” --> “Control Panel”

then open the “ Administrative Tools” folder and double click on “Computer
Management”.

2.Click “Disk Management” (under the “ Storage” section). The Initialize and Convert

Disk Wizards appears.

3.Click Next. The Select Disks to Initialize window appears. The disks listed depend

on how many arrays you have configured.

4.Click Next. The Select Disks to Convert window appears.

B-10

nVidia RAID

5.Check the disk in the list if you want to make the array a dynamic disk, then click

Next. The Completing the Initialize and Convert Disk Wizard window appears.

6.Click Finish. The “Computer Management” window appears.

The actual disks listed will depend on your system, and the unallocated partition is
the total combined storage of two hard disks. You must format the unallocated
disk space in order to use it.

7. Format the unallocated disk space. Right click “Unallocated space”, select “New

Partition…” and follow the wizard. After the drive has been formatted, it is ready
for use.

B-11

MS-7252 Mainboard

NVRAID Management Utility

There is an application called NVRAIDMAN which helps you perform the following
tasks of nVDIA RAID.

• Viewing RAID Array Configurations

View an array configuration (mirrored, striped, or any supported combination)

• Setting Up a Spare RAID Disk

• View free and/or dedicated free disks

• Designate a free disk to a particular array

• Creating RAID Arrays

• Deleting a RAID Array

• Morphing From One RAID Array to Another

• Hot Plug Array

• Initializing a RAID Array

• Erase the data on the array by writing all zeros to the sectors of each hard

disk.

• Rebuilding a RAID Mirrored Array

• Rebuild a broken mirrored array

• Watch the progress of rebuilding an array

• Only applies to RAID 1 arrays

• Synchronizing a RAID Array

• Rebuild the redundancy in RAID 1 arrays (copy the data to the

redundant disk—the same operation as rebuilding)

Viewing RAID Array Configurations

To view your RAID configuration from Windows, launch the NVRAID Management
utility.
The RAID configuration information appears in the right-side pane, as shown below.

Important

The information in the figures in this part may very from what it is shown in
your system.

B-12

nVidia RAID

Setting Up a Spare RAID Disk

You can designate a hard drive to be used as a spare drive for a RAID 1 array. The
spare drive can take over for a failed disk. NVRAID supports two types of spare
drives:

• Free Disk

A free disk is a disk that is not part of any RAID array, but can be used by any
available RAID 1 array that requires a particular disk when one of its disks crashes
or becomes unusable. The process is automatic and doesn’t require any user
interaction.
For example, if you have a system with four hard disks where one disk is used to
boot the OS, two hard drives are set up in a mirrored array, and a fourth hard disk is
set up as a free disk, then if one of the mirrored array drives fails, the free disk will
be automatically assigned to the mirrored array to be used instead of the failed disk.

• Dedicated Disk

A dedicated free disk is a disk that is assigned to a RAID 1 array and that disk is used
by that array only when needed, for example during a system crash where a RAID
mirrored drive is broken. The dedicated disk can be used only by the array that it is
assigned to and not by any other array, unlike a free disk which can be used by any
available RAID 1 array.
Note: You must have at least two RAID arrays to use this feature.

Assigning a Free Disk

To mark a disk as free, or not a part of any array,

1. Enter the system BIOS setup and make sure that the drive that you want to mark as
free is RAID enabled.

2. Enter the RAID BIOS and make sure that the drive is not part of any array (if one
exists).

3. Boot into Windows and run the NVRAIDMAN program. The drive appears under the
Free Disk section. The figure below shows an example of the NVRAIDMAN display
if you have a mirror array and one free disk.

B-13

MS-7252 Mainboard

Assigning a Dedicated Disk

To mark a disk as dedicated, or reserve it for use by a specific array,

Step 1: Mark the Disk as a Free Disk

1. Enter the system BIOS setup and make sure that the drive that you want to mark as

free is RAID enabled.

2. Boot into Windows and run the NVRAIDMAN program.

If the disk is not part of any RAID array, then it will appear under the Free Disk
section of the RAID GUI.

Step 2: Dedicate the Free Disk to an Array

While running NVRAIDMAN, dedicate the free disk to an array by doing the following:

1. Right click one of the two Mirrored arrays as shown below.

2. Select Designate Spare from the menu to launch the Spare Disk Allocation Wizard.

B-14

nVidia RAID

3. Click Next.

The RAID Array Selection page appears.

4. From the Free Disk Selection page, select one of the two free disks available.

This would be the disk that will be designated to the mirror array.

5. Click Next.

The Completing the NVIDIA Spare Disk Allocation page appears.

6. Click Finish.

As shown in figure below, the ST380011A drive is now a dedicated free disk in the
mirrored array. If a system crash occurs that causes any of the two WD360GD
drives to fail, the ST380011A hard drive will take over and be used in the newly
formed mirrored array.

B-15

MS-7252 Mainboard

Removing a Dedicated Disk

Once a dedicated disk has been assigned to a particular array, it can be removed at
any time. To remove the disk, right click on the dedicated disk and select “Remove
Disk...” to remove it. In the previous example, simply right click on the ST380011A
drive and select “Remove Disk...”. as shown in the screen shot below:

B-16

nVidia RAID

Morphing From One RAID Array to Another

In a traditional RAID environment, when a user wants to change the current state of
a disk or a current array to a new RAID configuration, the process of reconfiguring
the new array involves multiple steps. The user must back up the data, delete the
array, re-boot the PC, and then reconfigure the new array.
NVIDIA RAID allows the end user to change the current state of the disk or array to
another with a one-step process called .Morphing.. This section describes the NVIDIA
Morphing process and explains how to use Morphing to convert from one RAID array
type to another.

General Morphing Principles

NVIDIA RAID includes extensive support for morphing, a process of converting from
one RAID mode to another RAID mode.

General Requirements and Limitations

• The new array capacity must be equal to or greater than the previous array.

For example, it is possible to morph from a RAID 1 array to a RAID 0 array as long as
the RAID 0 array is the same size as (or larger than) the RAID 1 array.

• You can’t morph

- From RAID 1 to RAID 1

Specific Morphing Requirements

The following table lists the disk requirements for a new RAID array for various
morphing combinations.

From To New Array Disk Requirements

RAID 0

RAID 0

RAID 1

RAID 0

RAID 1

RAID 1

m > n
Number of disks in the new array must be greater than the
original array.
m =2, n =1
RAID 1 array must include two disks, converted from a one
disk RAID 0 array.

No additional restrictions.

** Not a valid combination **

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MS-7252 Mainboard

Hot Plug Array

With respect to RAID, hot plugging is the ability to add a disk to a system safely and
without causing problems for the RAID software. For example, when a drive in a
mirrored array fails, the user can launch the Hot Plug Array Wizard which instructs
the user as to when a drive can be safely added to the system. As soon as the drive
is added, the user can then finish running the RAID wizard and the drive becomes
usable by the system. Hot Plug Array allows the user to add or remove an entire array
without degrading the array in the process.

NVRAIDMAN can be used to hot plug a RAID disk. To hot plug a disk, simply do the
following:

1 Launch NVRAIDMAN and click on “Hot Plug Array” and the following screen shot
will appear:

2 Click Next and the following screen shot will appear:

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nVidia RAID

3 Connect the RAID disk that you want to use with any given RAID array.
4 Click Next and the following screen shot will appear:

5 Click Finish.

Initializing a RAID Array

Initializing a RAID array erases all the data that is stored on that array, and writes all
zeros to the disks. Initialization of newly configured RAID arrays is recommended to
ensure consistency and reliable performance on any supported fault tolerant array
such asRAID 0. Use this feature only if you are absolutely sure that you want to wipe
out all the data on that array.
Initialization of a fault tolerant array can only be done when the array is being
created. To initialize an array, perform the following steps:

Note: In this example, a mirror array is initialized.

1 From the NVRAIDMAN window, right click on any available free disk and select
Create Array as show in Figure below.

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