MSI K9NQ Master-A6, K9NQ Master, MS-9184 User Manual

K9NQ Master Series

MS-9184 (V1.X) Server Board

G52-91841X1

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.
Intel® and Pentium® are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation.

AMD, Athlon™, Athlon™ XP, Thoroughbred™, and Duron™ are registered trade­marks of AMD Corporation.
NVIDIA, the NVIDIA logo, DualNet, and nForce are registered trademarks or trade­marks of NVIDIA Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
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

V1.0 First release May 2007

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 at http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?

func=faqIndex for FAQ, technical guide, BIOS updates, driver updates,

and other information.

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 service
personnel:

† The power cord or plug is damaged.
† Liquid has penetrated into the equipment.
† The equipment has been exposed to moisture.
† The equipment does 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-9184

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

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

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

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

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

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

Back Panel...........................................................................................................2-11

Connectors........................................................................................................2-13

Jumper................................................................................................................2-16

Slot......................................................................................................................2-18

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

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

The Menu Bar......................................................................................................3-4

Main......................................................................................................................3-4

Advanced............................................................................................................3-6

Security..............................................................................................................3-18

Boot....................................................................................................................3-20

Power.................................................................................................................3-23

Exit......................................................................................................................3-24

Appendix A nVIDIA SATA RAID.............................................................................A-1

Introduction..........................................................................................................A-2

RAID Configuration..............................................................................................A-2

NVIDIA RAID Utility Installation.............................................................................A-8

RAID Drives Management..................................................................................A-12

viii

Getting Started

Chapter 1

Getting Started

Thank you for choosing the K9NQ Master (MS-9184
v1.X), an excellent SSI server board from MSI.

Based on the innovative nVIDIA MCP55 Pro chipset
for optimal system efficiency, the K9NQ Master ac­commodates the latest AMD® Opteron processor in
1207-pin package and supports up to 16 Registered
ECC DDR2 400/533/667 DIMM slots to provide the maxi­mum of 64GB memory capacity.

In the entry-level and mid-range market segment, the
K9NQ Master can provide a high-performance solution
for today’s front-end and general purpose server/
workstation, as well as in the future.

1-1

MS-9184 Server Board

Mainboard Specifications

Processor

- Supports four AMD Opteron (Socket F 1207)

- HyperTransport interface capable of operating up to 2000 MT/s

- Meets thermal requirements

Chipset

- nVIDIA nForce Professional 3600 MCP (MCP55 Pro )

Memory

- Supports ECC Registered DDR2 400/533/667 DIMMs

- 16 DDR2 DIMM slots up to 64GB memory

IDE

- 1-channel bus master IDE port

- Supports ATA133/100/66

SATA

- 6 SATA II ports support 6 SATA II devices

- Storage and data transfers at up to 300 MB/s

Floppy

- 1 floppy port

LAN

- 2 Gigabit Ethernet controllers bundled into Marvell 88E1116
(MCP55 Pro)

Graphics

- ATI ES1000 graphics controller

- Onboard 16MB Video SDRAM

1-2

Connectors

Back Panel

- 1 x PS/2 mouse port

- 1 x PS/2 keyboard port

- 2 x USB ports

- 1 x serial port

- 1 x VGA port

- 2 x RJ-45 Gigabit LAN ports

Onboard Pinheaders

- 1 x USB connector

- 1 x serial port connector

- 1 x proprietary front panel connector

Slots

- 1 32-bit/33MHz PCI slot

- 2 100MHz PCI-X slots

- 1 PCI-Express x8 slot

- 2 PCI-Express x16 slots (with x8 signal)

Getting Started

Form Factor

- SSI form factor 13” x 16”

Mounting

- 7 mounting holes

1-3

MS-9184 Server Board

CPU_FAN0

CPU_FAN1

PCIX0

PCIX1

PCIE1

P3_DIMM0

P2_DIMM0

P3_DIMM2

P2_DIMM2

P3_DIMM1

P2_DIMM1

P3_DIMM3

P2_DIMM3

MCP55 Pro

SATA0

W83627EHG

SATA2

SATA4

JVGA0

JLAN0

JLAN1

Top: Mouse

Bottom: Keyboard

USB0

Marvell

88E1116

Intel 6702 PXH-V

Mainboard Layout

JUSB0

SATA1

SATA3

SATA5

IDE0

JPWR3

JPWR4

JPWR2

F_FAN1

FDD0

SB_FAN0

BATT

+

P0_DIMM0
P0_DIMM1
P0_DIMM2
P0_DIMM3

Winbond

J7

JBAT0

BIOS

NVIDIA

JSSI0

COM1

PCI0

PCIE0

PCIE2

Marvell

88E1116

CN1

ATI

ES1000

F_FAN2

JPWR1

F_FAN3

JPWR0

F_FAN0

CPU0

CPU1

P1_DIMM0
P1_DIMM1
P1_DIMM2
P1_DIMM3

CPU_FAN2
CPU_FAN3

CPU3

CPU2

K9NQ Master (MS-9184 v1.X) SSI Server Board

COM0

R_FAN0

R_FAN3

R_FAN2

R_FAN1

1-4

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-9184 Server Board

Quick Components Guide

SATA0~5, p.2-13

JPWR3, p.2-9

FDD0, p.2-12

IDE0, p.2-12

SB_FAN0, p.2-14

F_FAN1, p.2-14

J7, p.2-14

JPWR4, p.2-9

JBAT0, p.2-17

DIMM Slots, p.2-6

JUSB0, p.2-15

COM1, p.2-15

PCI-Class Slots, p.2-18

JSSI0, p.2-16

JPWR2, p.2-8

F_FAN2, p.2-14

CPU, p.2-3

CPU_FAN2/3, p.2-14

JPWR1, p.2-8

CPU, p.2-17

JPWR0, p.2-8

F_FAN3, p.2-14

F_FAN0, p.2-14

DIMM Slots, p.2-6

Back Panel
I/O, p.2-11

CPU, p.2-3

R_FAN0/1/2/3,

p.2-14

CPU_FAN1/0, p.2-14

2-2

Hardware Setup

CPU (Central Processing Unit)

This mainboard supports the latest AMD® Opteron processor in 1207-pin package.
When you are installing the CPU, make sure that you install the cooler to
prevent the CPU from overheating. If you do not have the CPU cooler, contact
your dealer to purchase and install it before turning on the computer.

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

AMD® Opteron CPU in 1207-Pin Package

The pin-pad side The surface

Yellow triangle is the Pin 1 indicator

Alignment Key

Remember to apply some silicone heat
transfer compound on it for better
heat dispersion.

Yellow triangle is the Pin 1 indicator

Alignment Key

2-3

MS-9184 Server Board

Socket 1207 CPU & Cooler Installation

1. Locate the first CPU socket. (The CPU has a plastic cap on it to protect the contact
from damage. Before installing the CPU, always cover it to protect the socket
pins.)

2. Remove the plastic cap from the load plate. The pins of the socket reveal.

3. Raise the load lever up to its full extent.

4. Open the load plate.

5. After confirming the CPU direction (indicated below with red circles) for correct
mating, put down the CPU in the socket housing frame. Be sure to grasp on the
edge of the CPU base. Note that the alignment keys are matched.

6. Visually inspect if the CPU is seated well into the socket. If not, take out the CPU
with pure vertical motion and reinstall.

Yellow triangle is the Pin 1 indicator

Alignment Key

2-4

Alignment Key

Yellow Triangle

Hardware Setup

7. Cover the load plate onto the package.

8. Press down the load lever lightly onto the load plate and then secure the lever
with the hook under the retention tab.

9. Unscrew the retention mechanism.

11.Screw to secure the CPU cooler to
the mainboard.

10.Place the cooler set on top of the
retention mechanism.

12.Connect the cooler power cord to the
onboard CPU fan power connector.

2-5

MS-9184 Server Board

Memory

These DIMM slots are intended for system memory modules.

DDR2

240-pin, 1.8V

64x2=128 pin 56x2=112 pin

Dual-Channel Mode Population Rule

In Dual-Channel mode, the memory modules can transmit and receive data with two
data bus lines simultaneously. Enabling Dual-Channel mode can enhance the system
performance. Please refer to the following illustrations for population rules under
Dual-Channel mode.

CPU 0 / 1 / 2 / 3 DIMM 0 DIMM 1 DIMM 2 DIMM 3
Rule 1 (Single-Channel) V V
Rule 2 (Dual-Channel) V V
Rule 3 (Dual-Channel) V V
Rule 4 (Dual-Channel) V V V V

Important

Make sure that you install memory modules of the same type and density under
dual-channel mode.

2-6

Hardware Setup

Memory Frequency vs. Core Multiplier

The DDR2 DIMM operates different frequency when using different CPU. For example,
when using 2.4GHz CPU the DDR2 667MHz DIMM will operate at 600MHz.

Installing Memory 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.

v NOTE: You can barely see the golden finger if the memory module is

properly inserted in the DIMM slot.

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

Volt

Notch

2-7

MS-9184 Server Board

Power Supply

4-Pin CPU Power Connector: JPWR0
8-Pin CPU Power Connector: JPWR1, JPWR2

These connectors provide 12V power output to the CPUs.

Pin Definition

JPWR0

1
2

3

4

PIN SIGNAL

1 GND
2 GND
3 12V
4 12V

JPWR1/2

4

1

8

5

PIN SIGNAL

1 GND
2 GND
3 GND
4 GND

Pin Definition

PIN SIGNAL

5 +12V
6 +12V
7 +12V
8 +12V

Important

1. Make sure that all connectors are connected to proper power supply to
ensure stable operation of the mainboard.

2. Power supply of 600 watts (and above) is highly recommended for system
stability.

2-8

Hardware Setup

24-Pin System Power Connector: JPWR3

This connector allows you to connect to an SSI power supply. To connect to the
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.

4-Pin Power Connector: JPWR4

Make sure that you connect this connector with a 5V/12V power supply to ensure
stable operation of the PCI Express/PCI-X/PCI adapters and front panel USB device.

JPWR3

13

24

1

4

1

12

JPWR4

Pin Definition

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

1 5V
2 GND
3 GND
4 12V

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

2-9

MS-9184 Server Board

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 or unplug the power connectors before the 1st installa­tion or during system upgrade procedure.

Unplug the AC power cable Unplug the power connector

Unplug the power connector

Unplug the power connector

Important

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

2-10

Back Panel

Mouse

Hardware Setup

KeyboardUSB Ports

Serial Port

VGA Port

JLAN1 JLAN0

Mouse/Keyboard Connector

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

USB Port
The USB (Universal Serial Bus) port is for attaching USB devices such as keyboard,
mouse, or other USB-compatible devices.

Serial Port
The serial port is a 16550A high speed communications port that sends/ receives 16
bytes FIFOs. You can attach a serial mouse or other serial devices directly to the
connector.

VGA Port
The DB15-pin female connector is provided for monitors.

LAN Port
The standard RJ-45 jack is for connection to Local Area Network (LAN). You can
connect a network cable to it.

Link/Active Indicator

Mode Indicator

LED Color LED State Condition

Off LAN link is not established.

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

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

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.

RJ-45 LAN Jack

2-11

MS-9184 Server Board

Connectors

Floppy Disk Drive Connector: FDD0

This connector supports 360KB, 720KB, 1.2MB, 1.44MB or 2.88MB floppy disk drive.

FDD0

IDE Connector: IDE0

This connector supports IDE hard disk drives, optical disk drives and other IDE devices.

IDE0

Important

If you install two IDE devices on the same cable, you must configure the drives
separately to master / slave mode by setting jumpers. Refer to IDE device’s
documentation supplied by the vendors for jumper setting instructions.

2-12

Hardware Setup

Serial ATA II Connector: SATA0 ~ SATA5

This connector is a high-speed Serial ATA II interface port. Each connector can
connect one SATA II device.

SATA4

SATA5

SATA2

SATA3

SATA0

SATA1

Important

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

2-13

MS-9184 Server Board

I2C Bus Connector: J7

This connector provides power supply for the System Management Bus (SMBus)
interface.

J7

1

Pin Definition

PIN SIGNAL

1 SMB_CLK
2 SMB_DATA
3 Power Supply Alert
4 GND
5 +3.3V

Fan Power Connectors: CPU_FAN 0 / 1 / 2 / 3, F_FAN 0 / 1 / 2 / 3,
R_FAN 0 / 1 / 2 / 3, SB_FAN0

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 onboard, you must
use a specially designed fan with speed sensor to take advantage of the CPU fan
control.

CONTROL

SENSOR

+12V

GND

CPU_FAN0

GND
+12V
SENSOR
CONTROL

CPU_FAN1,

F_FAN1,
F_FAN2,
F_FAN3,

R_FAN2,

R_FAN3

CPU_FAN2,
CPU_FAN3,

F_FAN0,
R_FAN0,

R_FAN1

C

S

O

E

N

N

T

+

S

G

R

1

O

N

O

2

R

D

V

L

CONTROL
+12V
NC

SB_FAN0

Important

Please refer to the recommended CPU fans at processor’s official website or
consult the vendors for proper CPU cooling fan.

2-14

Hardware Setup

Serial Port Connector: COM 1

This connector is a 16550A high speed communications port that sends/receives 16
bytes FIFOs. You can attach a serial device directly to it.

Pin Definition

PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION

COM1

2
1 9

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

Front USB Connector: JUSB0

This connector, compliant with Intel® I/O Connectivity Design Guide, is ideal for con­necting high-speed USB interface peripherals such as USB HDD, digital cameras,

MP3 players, printers, modems and the like.

Pin Definition

PIN SIGNAL PIN SIGNAL

9
10

JUSB0

1

2

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

USB 2.0 Bracket

(Optional)

Important

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

2-15

MS-9184 Server Board

Front Panel Connector: JSSI0

This connector is for electrical connection to the front panel switches and LEDs.

Giga-bit
LAN1 LED

Power

Switch
HDD
LED

Giga-bit
LAN2 LEDSMBus

Reset Switch

JSSI0

Standby
Power (5V)

2
1

Power LED

Pin Definition

Pin Description Pin Description

1 Power LED + 2 5Vs/b
3 Key 4 No Connection

5 Power LED - 6 No Connection
7 HDD Activity LED + 8 System Status LED +
9 HDD Activity LED - 10 System Status LED ­11 Power Switch+ 12 NIC Activity LED +
13 Power Switch- (GND) 14 NIC Activity LED ­15 Reset Switch+ 16 SMBus SDA
17 Reset Switch- (GND) 18 SMBus SCL
19 NC 20 NC
21 GND 22 NIC#2 Activity LED +
23 NC 24 NIC#2 Activity LED ­25 Key 26 Key
27 ID LED+ 28 NC
29 ID LED- 30 NC
31 ID# 32 NC
33 GND 34 NC

34
33

2-16

Hardware Setup

Jumper

Clear CMOS Jumper: JBAT0

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
this jumper to clear data.

JBAT0

1

1

Keep Data

1

3

Clear Data

3

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.

2-17

MS-9184 Server Board

Slot

PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) Express Slot

The PCI Express slot supports the PCI Express interface expansion card.
The PCI Express x 16 slot supports up to 4.0 GB/s transfer rate.
The PCI Express x 8 slot supports up to 2.0 GB/s transfer rate.

PCI Express x16 Slot

PCI Express x8 Slot

PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) Slot

The PCI slot supports LAN card, SCSI card, USB card, and other add-on cards that
comply with PCI specifications.

64-bit/100MHz PCI-X Slot

32-bit/33MHz PCI 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.

2-18

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:

BIOS Setup

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.

3-1

MS-9184 Server BoardB

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 <F2> key to enter Setup.

Press F2 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:

P9184NMS V1.0 041507 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, V = VIA, and R =
Serverworks.
7th - 8th digit refers to the customer as MS = all standard customers.
V1.0 refers to the BIOS version.
041507 refers to the date this BIOS was released.

3-2

Control Keys

BIOS Setup

Key
<F1> or <Alt-H>
<Esc>

↔ arrow keys

↑ or ↓ arrow keys
<Home> or <End>
<PgUp> or <PgDn>
<F5> or <->
<F6> or <+>or <Space>
<F9>
<F10>
<Enter>

Function
General Help window
Exit this menu
Select a different menu
Move cursor up and down
Move cursor to top or bottom of window
Move cursor to next or previous page
Select the previous value for the field
Select the next value for the field
Load the default configuration values for this menu
Save and exit
Execute command or enter submenu

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.

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MS-9184 Server BoardB

The Menu Bar

Once you enter Phoenix TrustedCoreTM Setup Utility, the Main Menu will appear
on the screen. On the Main Menu screen, you will see basic BIOS settings including
system time & date, and the setup categories the BIOS supplies. Use Arrow keys to
move among the items and menus, and make changes to the settings.

Main

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

Advanced

Use this menu to set up the items of special enhanced features available on your
system’s chipset.

Security

Use this menu to set Supervisor and User Passwords.

Boot

Use this menu to specify the priority of boot devices.

Power

Use this menu to specify your settings for power management.

Exit

This menu allows you to load the BIOS default values or factory default settings into
the BIOS and exit the BIOS setup utility with or without changes.

3-4

BIOS Setup

Main

The items inside the Main menu are for basic system information and configuration.
Each item includes none, one or more setup items. Use the Up/Down arrow keys or
<Tab> to highlight the item or field you want to modify and use the <+> or <-> key to
switch to the value you prefer.

BIOS Date, BIOS Version

These items show the information of the system BIOS. (Read-only)

Legacy Diskette A

This setting allows you to set the type of floppy drives installed. System Time
The time format is <HH> <MM> <SS>.

Floppy Check

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.

Primary Master, Primary Slave

[Type] Press PgUp/<+> or PgDn/<-> to select

[Manual], [None] or [Auto] type. Note that the
specifications of your drive must match with
the drive table. The hard disk will not work

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MS-9184 Server BoardB

properly if you enter improper information for
this category. If your hard disk drive type is
not matched or listed, you can use [Manual] to
define your own drive type manually.

[Multi-Sector Transfers] Any selection except Disabled determines

the number of sectors transferred per block

[LBA Mode Control] Enabling LBA causes Logical Block Ad-

dressing to be used in place of Cylinders,
Heads and Sectors

[32-Bit I/O] Enables 32-bit communication between

CPU and IDE card

[Tranfer Mode] Selects the method for transferring the data

between the hard disk and system memory

[Ultra DMA Mode] Indicates the type of Ultra DMA

Large Disk Access Mode

Defaulting this setting to [DOS] will create a Translated FDPT. Compatible ill-behaved
applications will operate correctly when [DOS] is selected. Setting to [Other] will
create a Standard FDPT. Incompatible ill-behaved applications will function correctly
with [Other].

QuickBoot Mode

Setting the item to [Enabled] allows the system to boot within 5 seconds since it will
skip some check items.

Boot-time Diagnostic Screen

Select [Enabled] if you want to view the system diagnostic screen during boot-time.

Summary Screen

Select [Enabled] if you want to view the system summary screen.

Extended Memory Testing

This setting determines which type of tests will be performed on extended memory
(above 1M).

System Memory, Extended Memory

These items show the memory status of the system. (Read-only)

System Time

The time format is <HH> <MM> <SS>.

System Date

The date format is <MM> <DD> <YYYY>.

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BIOS Setup

Advanced

Items in the menu are divided into several sub-menus. Each sub-menu provides more
settings. To enter the sub-menu, highligh the sub-menu you want to configure and
press <Enter>.

Installed O/S

When multiple operating systems are installed in your system, use this setting to
select the major operating system that will be used most commonly. Note that an
incorrect setting in this field may cause unexpected errors on the operating systems.

NOTE: When installing Linux OS, you must switch this item to [Linux].

Reset Configuration Data

The ESCD (Extended System Configuration Data) NVRAM (Non-volatile Random Ac­cess Memory) is where the BIOS stores resource information for both PNP and non­PNP 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.

NumLock

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.

SLI Broadcast Aperture

When this setting is set to [Enabled], BIOS will reserve 256 MB memory space to
increase system performance during SLI operation.

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MS-9184 Server BoardB

Case Open Function

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.

Halt On Error

The setting determines whether the system will stop if an error is detected at boot.
When the system stops for the errors preset, it will halt on for 15 seconds and then
automatically resume its operation.

KBC Clock

This BIOS feature allows you to adjust the keyboard interface clock for a better
response or to fix a keyboard problem. It is recommended that you select a higher
clock speed for a better keyboard response. But if the keyboard performs erratically
or fails to initialize, try a lower clock speed.

Memory Controller Options

ACPI SRAT Table

The Static Resource Affinity Table (SRAT) can be used to describe the physical
location of processors and memory in large-scale systems (such as CC-NUMA)
to the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 operating system, allowing threads and
memory to be grouped in an optimal manner.

DRAM Bank Interleave

Interleaved memory is system memory divided into two or more sections. Set­ting to [Enabled] allows memory to be accessed faster since each section of
memory is capable of being utilized at once.

3-8

BIOS Setup

Node Interleave

AMD Opteron CPU supports a mode called node interleave. When node inter­leave is disabled, the memory controller maps the local memory of each pro­cessor to a single contiguous range of physical addresses. This allows the
operating system to map user data to local memory, whenever possible, to
allow programs to access data the most rapidly. When node interleave is
enabled, physical addresses are partitioned into 4KB blocks, and alternated
among the processors. The operating system is then unable to use NUMA
optimizations, and the memory space is treated as if the system were an SMP
system.

SW Mem Hole Remapp

This setting enables the software to remap the physical memory to an address
higher than 4GB.

Integrated Devices

USB Control

This setting enables/disables the onboard USB host controller.

USB BIOS Legacy Support

Set to [Enabled] if your need to use any USB 1.1/2.0 device in the operating
system that does not support or have any USB 1.1/2.0 driver installed, such as
DOS and SCO Unix.

MAC LAN, MAC LAN Bridge, MAC 1 LAN, MAC 1 LAN Bridge

These settings allow you to enable/disable the specified device controllers.

SATA0 Controller, SATA1 Controller, SATA2 Controller

These settings allow you to enable/disable the onchip Serial-ATA controllers.

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MS-9184 Server BoardB

NV RAID Configuration

NV RAID Configuration

This setting enables/disables the nVIDIA software RAID configuration.

3-10

PnP Configuration

BIOS Setup

MAC0 LAN, MAC1 LAN, PCI Slot 1, PCI-E Slot 1 / 2 / 3, PCI-X Slot 1 / 2

Option ROM Scan

Use this feature to initialize device expansion ROM.

Enable Master

When set to [Enabled], BIOS will activate the selected device as a PCI bus
master.

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.

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MS-9184 Server BoardB

I/O Device Configuration

Floppy Disk Controller

This setting enables/disables the onboard floppy disk controller.

Base I/O Address

This setting specifies the base I/O port address of the onboard floppy port.

Serial Port A/B

These settings enable/disable the onboard Serial Port A / B.

Base I/O Address

These settings specify the base I/O port addresses of the onboard Serial
Port A / B.

Interrupt

These settings specify IRQs for the Serial Port A / B.

3-12

ECC Options

BIOS Setup

ECC Mode

If all memory in the system supports ECC, enabling this will initial scrub DRAM
and enable system requests to DRAM to be checked and/or corrected.

ECC Error Checking

This setting enables/disables ECC (Error Correction Code) checking, a method
of checking the integrity of data in DRAM. ECC provides more elaborate error
detection than parity; ECC can detect multiple-bit errors and can locate and
correct single-bit errors.

ECC Error Log

This setting logs the ECC error.

Chipkill

Chipkill is a new Advanced ECC (Error Correction Code) memory technology
that protects servers from system downtime caused by memory failures.

ECC Scrub Redirection

This setting enables/disables ECC Scrubber to correct errors detected in
DRAM during normal CPU requests (foreground scrubbing).

DRAM ECC Scrub Control

The DRAM ECC Scrub option controls the frequency at which memory read
options are corrected while the system is in an idle state.

DCache ECC Scrub Control

The Data Cache ECC Scrub option controls the time allotted for the L1 memory
cache to be corrected when in an idle state.

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MS-9184 Server BoardB

L2 ECC Scrub Control

The L2 ECC Scrub option controls the time allotted for the L2 memory cache
to be corrected when in an idle state.

ECC Multibit Error Detection

This setting provides a higher level of memory protection against multi-bit errors.

3-14

Console Redirection

BIOS Setup

Com Port Address

This setting enables/disables the Com port address for console connection.

Baud Rate

This setting specifies the transfer rate (bits per second) of Console Redirection.

Console Type

This setting specifies the console type.

Flow Control

This feature allows you to enable flow control.

Console Connection

This feature indicates whether the console is connected directly to the system
or a modem is used for connection.

Continue C. R. after POST

Selecting [On] will enable Console Redirection after OS has loaded.

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MS-9184 Server BoardB

DMI Event Logging

Event Log Capacity/Validity

These items indicate the status of Event log validity and capacity.

View DMI Event Log

Press [Enter] to view the contents of the DMI event log.

Clear All DMI Event Logs

When this setting is set to [Yes], the DMI event log will be cleared at next POST
stage. Then, the BIOS will automatically set this option to [No].

Event Logging

This setting disables/enables the BIOS to log DMI (Desktop Management Interface)
events.

Mark DMI Events as Readd

Press [Enter] and a screen pops up, asking users to confirm whether or not to
clear all DMI event logs immediately. Press [Y] and [Enter], the BIOS will clear all
DMI event logs right away.

3-16

BIOS Setup

Health

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

System Voltage

These items display the current operating voltages of the system.

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MS-9184 Server BoardB

System Fan Speed

These items display the current fan speeds of the system.

3-18

BIOS Setup

Security

This section lets you set security passwords to control access to the system at boot
time and/or when entering the BIOS setup program. It also allows you to set virus
protection at hard disk boot sector.

Supervisor Password Is/ User Password Is

It shows the preset supervisor/user password. (read only)

Set Supervisor Password/ Set User Password

Enabling Supervisor Password requires a password for entering Setup. The pass­words are not case sensitive. Pressing <Enter> at either Set Supervisor Password
or Set User Password displays the following message:

Set Supervisor Password

Enter New Password:
Confirm New Password:

Type the password and press <Enter>. Repeat.

[ ]
[ ]

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MS-9184 Server BoardB

Password on Boot

Choosing [Enabled] requires a password on boot. It requires prior setting of the
supervisor password. If the supervisor password is set and this option is disabled,
BIOS assumes the user is booting.

Fixed Disk Boot Sector

This option allows users to write protect boot sector on hard disk to protect against
viruses.

Diskette Access

This setting is used to restrict access to the diskette drive.

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BIOS Setup

Boot

Use this menu to arrange and specify the priority of the devices from which the BIOS
will attempt to boot the Operating System.

Boot Priority Order

This setting allows users to set the boot priority of the specified devices. Refer to the
Item Specific Help on the right pane for instructions.

Excluded from Boot Order

This setting allows users to exclude the specified devices from the Boot Order list.

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MS-9184 Server BoardB

Power

Use this menu to specify your settings for Power Management. Remember that the
options available depend upon the hardware installed in your system.

Power Loss Control

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

[Stay Off] Returns the system to an off state.
[Power On] Returns the system to an on state.
[Last State] Restores the system to the previous status before power

failure or interrupt occurred.

Enable Multimedia Timer

This setting enables the Multimedia Timer to achieve better resolution for multimedia
and other time-sensitive applications.

Wake Up by LAN

Select [Enabled] to wake up the system when incoming signals are detected on the
specified LAN devices.

Wake Up by Ring

An input signal on the serial Ring Indicator (RI) line (in other words, an incoming call
on the modem) awakens the system from a soft off state.

3-22

Resume On Time

Select [On] to wake up the system at predetermined time.

Resume Time

The time format is <HH> <MM> <SS>.

Resume Date

The date format is <MM> <DD> <YYYY>.

BIOS Setup

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MS-9184 Server BoardB

Exit

The following sections describe each of the options on this menu. Note that <Esc>
does not exit this menu. You must select one of the items from the menu or menu bar
to exit.

Exit Saving Changes

When you want to quit the Setup menu, you can select this option to save the
changes and quit.

Exit Discarding Changes

When you want to quit the Setup menu, you can select this option to abandon the
changes.

Load Setup Defaults

The option allows users to restore all of the BIOS settings to the Optimal Defaults. The
Setup Defaults are the default values set by the mainboard manufacturer specifically
for the optimized performance of the mainboard.

Discard Changes

The option allows users to restore all of the BIOS settings to previous values.

Save Changes

The option allows users to save the changes without exiting Setup.

3-24

nVIDIA SATA RAID

Appendix A

nVIDIA SATA 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.

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MS-9184 Server Board

Introduction

System Requirement

Operating System Support

NVRAID supports the following operating systems:

Windows XP

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.
RAID 0+1: RAID 0+1 combines the techniques used in RAID 0 and RAID 1 arrays.
RAID 5: RAID 5 defines techniques for parity data.
Spanning (JBOD): JBOD provides a method for combining drives of different sizes
into one large disk

Summary of RAID Configurations

Array Uses Advantages Drawbacks # Hard

RAID 0 Non-critical data

requiring high
performance.

RAID 1 Small databases or any

other small capacity
environment requiring
fault tolerance.

RAID 0+1 Critical data requiring

high performance.

RAID 5 Critical data and

reasonable level of
performance.

JBOD Combining odd size

drives into one big drive

High data throughput. No fault tolerance. multiple None

100% data
redundancy.

Optimized for both
100% data
redundancy and
performance.
Allows spare disks.

Fault tolerance and
better utilization of
disk space.

Combines and uses
the capacity of odd
size drives.

Requires 2 drives for
the storage space of 1
drive.

Requires 2 drives for
the storage space of 1
drive—the same as
RAID level 1.

Decreased write
performance due to
parity calculations.
Requires at least
three drives.

Decreases
performance because
of the difficulty in
using drives
concurrently or to
optimize drives for
different uses.

Disks

2 Yes

4+ Yes

3+ Yes

Multiple No

Fault
Tolerance

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nVIDIA SATA 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 nVidia RAID Function in nVidia RAID Setup of Integrated Peripherals in
BIOS.)

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

3. Enter the Windows OS, run the Windows nForce Setup application and install the

RAID software.

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 nVidia RAID Function in nVidia RAID Setup of Integrated 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.

4. Initialize the NVRAID Array Disks.

Setting Up the NVRAID BIOS

Be sure to enable the nVidia RAID Function in nVidia RAID Setup 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
Utility --- Define a New Array win­dow will appear.
The default RAID Mode is set to
Mirroring and Striping Block is
set to Optimal.

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MS-9184 Server Board

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 1, Controller
0, and the drive is set to Master. The following is a list of all possible combinations:

Parallel ATA

0.0.M Channel 0, controller 0, Master

0.0.S Channel 0, controller 0, Slave

0.1.M Channel 0, controller 1, Master

0.1.S Channel 0, controller 1, Slave

Serial ATA

1.0.M Channel 1, controller 0, Master

1.1.M Channel 1, controller 1, Master

2.0.M Channel 2, controller 0, Master

2.1.M Channel 2, controller 1, Master

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.

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nVIDIA SATA 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], [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.

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MS-9184 Server Board

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”.

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nVIDIA SATA 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 instructions below to make an nVIDIA Serial ATA RAID
driver diskette 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 :

\\nVidia\System\MCP55\IDE\WinXP\sataraid or
\\nVidia\System\MCP55\IDE\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:

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MS-9184 Server Board

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.

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nVIDIA SATA RAID

NVIDIA RAID Utility Installation

Installing the NVIDIA RAID Software Under Windows (for Non­bootable 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 C19 System 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

enabled.

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.

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MS-9184 Server Board

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.

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nVIDIA SATA 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.

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MS-9184 Server Board

RAID Drives Management

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 or striped)

• 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 by double-clicking NvRaidMan.exe (the default location of NvRaidMan.exe is in
\\nVidia\System\MCP55\IDE\Win2k or XP\raidtool\ of the setup CD accompanied with
your mainboard).
The RAID configuration information appears in the right-side pane, as shown below.

Important

The setup screens are for demonstration only and may vary from what is shown
in your system.

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nVIDIA SATA 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.

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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.

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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.

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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:

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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

m > n

RAID 0

RAID 0

RAID 1

RAID 0

RAID 1

RAID 1

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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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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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 as RAID 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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2 The Create Array Wizard opens. Follow the Wizard to create a Mirror array.
3 At the Create Array Wizard Welcome screen, click Next .
4 At the RAID Array Selection page, make sure that RAID Mode is set to “Mirroring”
and Stripe Size is set to its default value of 64K, then click Next.
5 At the Free Disk Selection page, select the two drives that you want to Mirror and

click Next.

6 Click Next again and the following screen shot will appear:

7 Check “Intialize Array” and then click Next. The Initialization Warning dialog appears.

8 Click OK. The Clearing System Data screen appears again with the Initialize Array

check box checked as shown below.

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9 Click Next , then click Finish at the Completing the NVIDIA Create Array Wizard

screen. The NVRAIDMAN windows shows the created RAID array as shown
below.

The Initialization Process

As you can see from the screen shot above, the initialization process has started
and it will be completed in a short period of time. As soon as the Initialization process
starts, a popup window similar to the following will appear:

followed by the following pop-up window:

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Rebuilding a RAID Array

Rebuilding is the process of restoring data to a hard drive from other drives in the
array. This applies only to fault tolerant arrays such as RAID 1. For example, assum­ing you have a two disk RAID 1 array, and one of the drives fail, then you need the
lost data on the newly added drive.

Rebuilding Instructions

After creating a mirrored array, you can rebuild the array using the following steps:
1 Go to Windows and run the NVIDIA RAID Management utility.
The picture below shows an example of a system with one mirrored array and two

free disks.

2. Right-click on Mirroring. The popup menu appears.

3. From the popup menu, click Rebuild Array. The NVIDIA Rebuild Array Wizard

appears.

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4. Click Next. The Disk Selection page appears.

5. Select the drive that you want to rebuild by clicking it from the list, then click Next.
The Completing the NVIDIA Rebuild Array page appears.

6. Click Finish. The array rebuilding starts after a few seconds, and a small pop-up
message appears towards the bottom right corner of the screen as shown in the
figure below.

When the rebuilding process is finished you will see the pop up box shown in Figure
below.

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During the rebuilding process, the NVRAID Management utility screen shows the
status under the System Tasks and Details sections.

More About Rebuilding Arrays

• Rebuilding Occurs in the Background

The rebuilding process is very slow (it can take up to a day) and occurs in the
background so as not to affect the performance of the system.

• Rebuilding Applies Only to RAID 1 Array

Rebuilding an array works only when using RAID 1. Rebuilding does not apply to
RAID 0.

• Rebuilding applies to a degraded fault tolerant array

You can rebuild a degraded mirrored array using any available Free Disk or Dedicated
Disk. For example, Figure below shows a mirrored array using two 34.48 GB drives
while having two Free Disks each 55.90 GB large.

To use one of these available free disks to rebuild your array, follow the same steps
as explained in “Rebuilding a RAID Array”, except when prompted to select
a disk, choose one of the two available free disks.

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Synchronizing a RAID Array

Synchronizing an array will force a rebuild of redundancy or parity. The operation is
applicable to any fault tolerant array such as RAID 1.

• For RAID1, “sync” results in copying the data to the redundancy disk,

To sync an array, do the following (This example assumes you have already created
a fault tolerant array such as RAID 1):
1 Right click on “Mirroring” and select Synchronize Array as shown in Figure

below.

2 The Synchronize Array Wizard Welcome screen appears.

3 Click on Next and then click Finish at the Wizard Completion screen. The NVRAIDMAN

window indicates that the array is synchronizing, as shown in Figure below.

As you can see from the screen shot above, the synchronization process has
started and it will be completed in a short period of time.

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Usind Disk Alert

The RAID manager application includes a disk alert feature that provides a graphical
indication of the status of the hard disks in the system.
When the RAID manager application detects a failure condition of an attached drive,
a pop-up box appears in the clock area of the Windows system tray. Click the pop­up box to view the manufacturer-provide bitmap image of the system motherboard.
The image shows the hard drive connector ports and provides a visual indication of
the location and status of the drives as follows:

• Red rectangle: A red rectangle will flash around the port connector that is
attached to the failed drive.

• Green rectangle: Ports that have a drive attached, and are in a healthy state, are
indicated with a green rectangle around the port connector.

• Yellow rectangle: Ports that have a drive attached, are members of a failed RAID
array, but are not the cause of the failure have a yellow rectangle around the port
connector.

Unconnected ports have no visual indication.

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