Supermicro 440FX Reference Manual

SUPER

440FX Chipset

AMI BIOS

®

REFERENCE MANUAL

Revision 3.3

The information in this User’s Manual has been carefully reviewed and is believed to be
accurate. The vendor assumes no responsibility for any inaccuracies that may be
contained in this document, makes no commitment to update or to keep current the
information in this manual, or to notify any person or organization of the updates.

The manufacturer reserves the right to make changes to the product described in this
manual at any time and without notice. This product, including software, if any, and
documentation may not, in whole or in part, be copied, photocopied, reproduced, translated
or reduced to any medium or machine without prior written consent.

IN NO EVENT WILL THE MANUFACTURER BE LIABLE FOR DIRECT, INDIRECT,
SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING FROM THE USE OR
INABILITY TO USE THIS PRODUCT OR DOCUMENTATION, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE
POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. IN PARTICULAR, THE VENDOR SHALL NOT HAVE
LIABILITY FOR ANY HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, OR DATA STORED OR USED WITH THE
PRODUCT, INCLUDING THE COSTS OF THE REPAIRING, REPLACING, OR
RECOVERING SUCH HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, OR DATA.

Copyright © 1997 by SUPERMICRO COMPUTER INC.
All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America.

Unless you request and receive written permission from the manufacturer, you may not
copy any part of this document.

All products and company names mentioned are trademarks or registered trademarks of
their respective holders.

Do not upgrade the BIOS unless you are notified to do so. Please call technical
support first before upgrading the boot-block BIOS.

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BIOS User's Manual

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: AMI BIOS

1-1 Introduction

System BIOS ....................................................................................... 1-1

Configuration Data............................................................................. 1-1

How Data Is Configured................................................................... 1-1

POST Memory Test ............................................................................ 1-2

1-2 BIOS Features...................................................................................... 1-2

BIOS Configuration Summary Screen ........................................... 1-3

Chapter 2: Running Setup

2-1 Setup

2-1-1 Standard Setup.................................................................. 2-1

2-1-2 Advanced Setup ................................................................. 2-3

2-1-3 Chipset Setup .................................................................... 2-8

2-1-4 Power Management........................................................ 2-12

2-1-5 PCI/PnP Setup ................................................................. 2-15

2-1-6 Peripheral Setup ............................................................. 2-18

2-2 Security Setup

2-2-1 Supervisor/User ................................................................2-21

2-2-2 Anti-Virus ........................................................................... 2-21

2-3 Utility Setup

2-3-1 Language........................................................................... 2-22

2-3-2 Detect IDE .......................................................................... 2-22

2-4 Default Setting

2-4-1 Optimal Default................................................................. 2-22

2-4-2 Fail-Safe Default............................................................... 2-22

iii

Table of Contents

Appendix A: Hard Disk Error Messages ................ A-1

Appendix B: BIOS Hard Disk Drive Types.............. B-1

Appendix C: BIOS Error Beep Codes..................... C-1

Appendix D: AMI BIOS POST Diagnostic Error

Messages .......................................... D-1

Appendix E: BIOS Non-Fatal Error Messages........ E-1

iv

PRINTED IN U.S.A.

Chapter 1: AMI BIOS

Chapter 1

AMI BIOS

1-1 Introduction

This chapter describes the AMIBIOS for the Intel 440FX chipset
which is designed for Intel Pentium® Pro 150/166/180/200 MHz and
Pentium II 233/266/300 MHz processors. The AMI ROM BIOS is
stored in the Flash EEPROM and is easily upgraded using a floppy
disk-based program.

System BIOS

The BIOS is the basic input output system used in all IBM® PC,
XT™, AT®, and PS/2® compatible computers. The WinBIOS is a
high-quality example of a system BIOS.

Configuration Data

AT-compatible systems, also called ISA (Industry Standard Architec­ture) must have a place to store system information when the
computer is turned off. The original IBM AT had 64 bytes of non­volatile memory storage in CMOS RAM. All AT-compatible systems
have at least 64 bytes of CMOS RAM, which is usually part of the
Real Time Clock. Many systems have 128 bytes of CMOS RAM.

How Data Is Configured

AMIBIOS provides a Setup utility in ROM that is accessed by
pressing <Del> at the appropriate time during system boot. Setup
configures data in CMOS RAM.

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BIOS User's Manual

POST Memory Test

Normally, the only visible POST routine is the memory test. The
screen that appears when the system is powered on is shown
below.

An AMIBIOS Identification string is displayed at the left bottom
corner of the screen, below the copyright message.

Made in U.S.A. Mainboard Rev 1.2
BIOS Release 041197
xxxxx KB OK

Hit <DEL> if you want to run SETUP

(C) American Megatrends Inc.,
XX-XXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXX-X

1-2 BIOS Features

• supports Plug and Play V1.0A and DMI 2.0

• supports Intel PCI 2.1 (Peripheral Component Interconnect) lo­cal bus specification

• supports EDO (Extended Data Out), ECC and FPM DRAM

• supports ECC (Error Checking and Correction)

• supports Flash ROM

1-2

Chapter 1: AMI BIOS

BIOS Configuration Summary Screen

AMIBIOS displays a screen that looks similar to the following when
the POST routines complete successfully.

AMIBIOS System Configuration (C) 1985-1994 American Megatrends Inc.,

Main Processor : Pentium(tm)Pro Base Memory Size : 640 KB
Math Processor : Built-In Ext. Memory Size : 31744 KB
Floppy Drive A: : 1.2 MB, 5¼ Display Type : VGA/EGA
Floppy Drive B: : 1.44 MB, 3½ Serial Port(s) : 3F8,2F8
AMI-BIOS Date : 7/15/95 Parallel Port(s) : 378
Processor Clock : 200MHz Power Management : APM, SMI

200 MHz CPU Clock

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BIOS User's Manual

1-4

Chapter 2: Running Setup

Chapter 2

Running Setup

The WinBIOS Setup options described in this section are selected
by choosing the appropriate high-level icon from the Standard Setup
screen. All displayed icons are described in this section, although
the screen display is often all you need to understand how to set
the option.

2-1 Setup

2-1-1 Standard Setup

Pri Master
Pri Slave
Sec Master
Sec Slave

Choose these icons to configure the hard disk drive. When you
click on an icon, the following parameters are listed: Type, LBA/
Large Mode, Block Mode, 32Bit Mode, and PIO Mode. All param­eters relate to IDE drives except Type.

If the hard disk drive to be configured is an IDE drive, select the
appropriate drive icon, choose the Type parameter and select Auto.
The BIOS will automatically detect the IDE drive parameters and
display them. Click on the OK button to accept these parameters.

Click on LBA/Large Mode and choose On to enable support for IDE
drives with capacities greater than 528MB. Click on Block Mode
and choose On to support IDE drives that use Block Mode. Click on
32Bit Mode and click on On to support IDE drives that permit 32-bit
accesses.

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BIOS User's Manual

To configure an old MFM hard disk drive, you must know the drive
parameters (number of heads, number of cylinders, number of sec­tors, the starting write precompensation cylinder, and drive capac­ity). Select the hard disk drive type (1-46). Refer to Appendix B in
this manual for a list of the various hard disk drive types. Select
User in the Type field if the drive parameters on your MFM drive do
not match any of the drive type in Appendix B.

Entering Drive Parameters

You can also enter the hard disk drive parameters. The drive pa­rameters are:

Parameter Description

Type The number for a drive with certain identification parameters.

Cylinders The number of cylinders in the disk drive.

Heads The number of heads.

Write The size of a sector gets progressively smaller as the track

Precompensation diameter diminishes. Yet each sector must still hold 512 bytes.

Write precompensation circuitry on the hard disk compensates for
the physical difference in sector size by boosting the write
current for sectors on inner tracks. This parameter is the track
number where write precompensation begins.

Landing Zone This number is the cylinder location where the heads will normally

Sectors The number of sectors per track. MFM drives have 17 sectors

Capacity The formatted capacity of the drive is (Number of heads) x

park when the system is shut down.

per track. RLL drives have 26 sectors per track. ESDI drives
have 34 sectors per track. SCSI and IDE drive may have even
more sectors per track.

(Number of cylinders) x (Number of sectors per track) x (512
bytes per sector)

2-2

Chapter 2: Running Setup

Date and Time Configuration

Select the Standard option. Select the Date/Time icon. The current
values for each category are displayed. Enter new values through
the keyboard.

Floppy A
Floppy B

Choose the Floppy Drive A or B icon to specify the floppy drive type.
The settings are 360 KB 5¼ inch, 1.2 MB 5¼ inch, 720 KB 3½ inch,

1.44 MB 3½ inch, 2.88 MB 3½ inch or Not Installed.

2-1-2 Advanced Setup

Quick Boot

Set this option to Enabled to permit AMIBIOS to boot within 5 sec­onds. The settings are Disabled or Enabled. The Optimal default
setting is Enabled. The Fail-Safe default setting is Disabled.

1st Boot Device
2nd Boot Device
3rd Boot Device

The options for 1st Boot Device are Disabled, IDE-1, IDE-2, IDE-3,
Floppy, Floptical, SCSI, or Network. The options for 2nd Boot De-

vice are Disabled, IDE-0, or Floptical. The options for 3rd Boot
Device are Disabled, Floptical, or CDROM.

The Disabled option means that setup will not be considered dur­ing the boot process. Floppy can be selected only as 1st boot
device. SCSI can be selected only as 1st boot device. CDROM can
be selected only as 3rd boot device. The same device cannot be
chosen more than once. For example, if Floptical is chosen as 2nd
boot device, it cannot be chosen as any other boot device. If IDE-1

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BIOS User's Manual

or IDE-2 or IDE-3 is selected as 1st boot device, IDE-0 cannot be
selected as 2nd boot device. This means that only one IDE device
can be selected as the boot device.

IDE-0, IDE-1, IDE-2, IDE-3 are the four hard disks than can be in­stalled by the BIOS. IDE-0 is the first hard disk installed by the
BIOS, IDE-1 is the second hard disk, and so on. For example, if the
system has a hard disk connected to Primary Slave and another
hard disk to Secondary Master, then IDE-0 will be referred to as the
hard disk connected to Primary Slave and IDE-1 will be referred to
as the hard disk connected to the Secondary Master. IDE-2 and
IDE-3 are not present. Note that the order of the initialization of the
devices connected to the primary and secondary channels are Pri­mary Master first, Primary Slave second, Secondary Master third,
and Secondary Slave fourth.

The BIOS will attempt to read the boot record from 1st, 2nd, and 3rd
boot device in the selected order until it is successful in reading the
booting record. The BIOS will not attempt to boot from any device
which is not selected as the boot device.

Try Other Boot Device

This option controls the action of the BIOS if all the selected boot
devices failed to boot. The settings for this option are Yes or No. If
Yes is selected and all the selected boot devices failed to boot, the
BIOS will try to boot from the other boot devices (in a predefined
sequence) which are present but not selected as boot devices in
the setup (and hence not yet been tried for booting). If selected as
No and all selected boot devices failed to boot, the BIOS will try not
to boot from the other boot devices which may be present but not
selected as boot devices in setup. The Optimal and Fail-Safe de­fault settings are Yes.

Initial Display Mode

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Chapter 2: Running Setup

This option determines the display screen with which the POST is
going to start the display. If selected as BIOS, the POST will start
with the normal sign-on message screen. If Silent is selected, the
POST will start with the silent screen. The settings for this option
are BIOS or Silent. The Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings are
BIOS.

Display Mode at Add-on ROM Init

This option determines the display mode during add-on ROM (ex­cept Video add-on ROM) initialization. The settings for this option
are Force BIOS or Keep Current. If selected as Force BIOS, the
POST will force the display to be changed to BIOS mode before
giving control to any add-on ROM. If no add-on ROM is found, then
the current display mode will remain unchanged even if this setup
question is selected as Force BIOS. If selected as Keep Current,
then the current display mode will remain unchanged. The Optimal
and Fail-Safe default settings are Force BIOS.

Floppy Access Control

The settings for this option are Read-Write or Read-Only. The Op­timal and Fail-Safe default settings are Read-Write.

Hard Disk Access Control

The settings for this option are Read-Write or Read-Only. The Op­timal and Fail-Safe default settings are Read-Write.

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

S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) is
a technology developed to manage the reliability of the hard disk by
predicting future device failures. The hard disk needs to be
S.M.A.R.T. capable. The settings for this option are Disabled or
Enabled. The Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings are Disabled.

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BIOS User's Manual

Boot Up Num-Lock

When this option is set to On, the BIOS turns off the Num Lock key
when the system is powered on. This will enable the end user to
use the arrow keys on both the numeric keypad and the keyboard.
The settings are On or Off. The Optimal and Fail-Safe default set­tings are On.

PS/2 Mouse Support

When this option is set to Enabled, AMIBIOS supports a PS/2-type
mouse. The settings are Enabled or Disabled. The Optimal and
Fail-Safe default settings are Enabled.

Primary Display

This option specifies the type of display adapter card installed in
the system. The settings are VGA/EGA, CGA40x25, CGA80x25,

Mono, or Absent. The Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings are
VGA/EGA.

Password Check

This option enables the password check option every time the sys­tem boots or the end user runs WinBIOS Setup. If Always is cho­sen, a user password prompt appears every time the computer is
turned on. If Setup is chosen, the password prompt appears if
WinBIOS Setup is executed. The Optimal and Fail-Safe default set­tings are Setup.

Boot to OS/2

If DRAM size is over 64M, set this option to Yes to permit AMIBIOS to
run with IBM OS/2. The settings are No or Yes. The Optimal and
Fail-Safe default settings are No.

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Chapter 2: Running Setup

CPU MicroCode Updation

Set this option to Enabled to allow the CPU microcode to be up­dated online at any time. The settings for this option are Disabled
or Enabled. The Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings are En-
abled.

P6 Internal Cache

This option is for enabling or disabling the internal cache memory.
The settings for this option are Disabled, WriteThru or WriteBack.
The Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings are WriteBack.

System Bios Cacheable

AMIBIOS always copies the system BIOS from ROM to RAM for
faster execution. Set this option to Enabled to permit the contents
of F0000h RAM memory segment to be written to and read from
cache memory. The settings are Disabled or Enabled. The Opti­mal default setting is Enabled. The Fail-Safe default setting is Dis-
abled.

C000, 16K Shadow
C400, 16K Shadow

These options specify how the contents of the video ROM are
handled. The settings are: Disabled, Cached or Enabled. When
set to Cached, the contents of the video ROM area from C0000h­C7FFFh are not only copied from ROM to RAM, the contents of the
C0000h-C7FFFh RAM can be written to or read from cache memory.
The Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings are Enabled.

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BIOS User's Manual

C800, 16K Shadow
CC00, 16K Shadow
D000, 16K Shadow
D400, 16K Shadow
D800, 16K Shadow
DC00, 16K Shadow

These options specify how the contents of the adaptor ROM named
in the option title are handled. The ROM area that is not used by
ISA adapter cards will be allocated to PCI adapter cards. The set­tings are: Disabled, Cached or Enabled. The Optimal and Fail-Safe
default settings are Disabled.

2-1-3 Chipset Setup

USB Function

Set this option to Enabled to enable the USB (Universal Serial Bus)
functions. The settings for this option are Enabled or Disabled.
The Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings are Disabled.

USB KB/Mouse Legacy Support

Set this option to Enabled to enable the USB keyboard and mouse.
The settings for this option are Enabled or Disabled. The Optimal
and Fail-Safe default settings are Disabled.

USB Passive Release Enable

Set this option to Enabled to enable the passive release on the
USB. The settings for this option are Enabled or Disabled. The
Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings are Enabled.

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Chapter 2: Running Setup

DRAM Speed (ns)

This option should be set according to the speed of the DRAM in
the system. The value of this option determines how the DRAM
timings should be programmed in the chipset. The settings for this
option are 50ns, 60ns or 70ns. The Optimal and Fail-Safe default
settings are 70ns.

DRAM Integrity Mode (ECC)

Set this option to Enabled to enable ECC DRAM integrity mode.
ECC allows critical system to detect and correct memory errors,
while normal parity generator/checker can only detect such memory
errors. The settings are: Disabled or Enabled. The Optimal and
Fail-Safe default settings are Disabled.

DRAM Fast LeadOff

This option is for PMC register 57h where bit 7 is currently listed as
reserved. The settings are: Disabled or Enabled. The Optimal and
Fail-Safe default settings are Disabled.

DRAM Refresh Type

This option sets the type of system memory refresh that is used in
the computer. The settings are RAS Only or CAS/RAS. The Opti­mal and Fail-Safe default settings are RAS Only.

DRAM Refresh Queue

Due to capacitor discharge, DRAM will lose information from the bit
cell. Therefore, all DRAMs are refreshed every fifteen microsecond.
When this option is Enabled, all refresh requests are queued. If

Disabled, all refreshes are priority requests. The settings are Dis­abled or Enabled. The Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings are
Enabled.

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BIOS User's Manual

DRAM ECC Mode

The settings are Disabled or Enabled. The Optimal and Fail-Safe
default settings are Disabled.

VGA Frame Buffer USWC

USWC is a memory cycle type that stands for Uncacheable Specu­lative Write Combining. The settings are: Disabled or Enabled.
The Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings are Disabled.

PCI Frame Buffer USWC

When Enabled, the PCI frame buffer address and length are di­vided into 2. The value is then programmed into the processor
Variable MTRR (3) with the value for USWC (01h). The settings are:
Disabled or Enabled. The Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings
are Disabled.

Fixed Memory Hole

This option allows a memory hole to be specified for either the 512­640K region or the 15-16M region. The settings for this option are
Disabled, 512-640KB or 15-16MB. The Optimal and Fail-Safe de­fault settings are Disabled.

CPU to IDE Posting

Set this option to Enabled to enable posted messages from the
CPU to the IDE controller. The settings are: Disabled or Enabled.
The Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings are Enabled.

USWC Write Posting

This option is for USWC Write Posting to PMC register 53h, bit 5.
The settings are: Disabled or Enabled. The Optimal and Fail-Safe
default settings are Disabled.

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Chapter 2: Running Setup

CPU to PCI Posting

Set this option to Enabled to enable posted messages from the
CPU to the PCI bus. The settings are: Disabled or Enabled. The
Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings are Enabled.

PCI to DRAM Pipeline

Set this option to Enabled to allow the PCI bridge to run back-to­back cycle to access the DRAM. The settings are: Disabled or En-
abled. The Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings are Enabled.

PCI Burst Write Combine

When Enabled, PCI bridge can combine memory writes to succes­sive doublewords into a single memory write transaction using lin­ear addressing. The combined doublewords must be written in the
same order in which they were posted. The settings are: Disabled
or Enabled. The Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings are En-
abled.

Read Around Write

This option is for PMC register 53h, bit 0. The settings are: Dis­abled or Enabled. The Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings are
Enabled.

Deturbo Mode

When Enabled, it slows down (de-turbo) the system effective speed
by disabling the processor caching and stalls the processor pipe­line at a rate programmed in the deturbo counter register. CPU
caching is off. The settings are: Disabled or Enabled. The Optimal
and Fail-Safe default settings are Disabled.

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BIOS User's Manual

Type F DMA Buffer Control 1
Type F DMA Buffer Control 2

Instead of 8 sysclock, Type F DMA only requires 3 sysclock to finish
the data transfer. These two options are device dependent. The
settings are Channel 0, Channel 1, Channel 2, Channel 3, Channel
5, Channel 6, Channel 7 or Disabled. The Optimal and Fail-Safe
default settings are Disabled.

2-1-4 Power Management

Standard Power Management

Set this option to Enabled to enable the Intel 440FX power manage­ment features. This is the basic power conservation mode. The
settings are Enabled, Inst-On (instant-on) or Disabled. When it is
set to Enabled, the system BIOS only turns on the system hardware
power management support. In this mode, operation system con­trols the power conservation functions, not the system BIOS. The
Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings are Disabled.

Advanced Power Management/APM

This power conservation feature is specified by Intel and Microsoft
INT 15h Advance Power Management BIOS functions. The settings
are: Disabled or Enabled. When this feature is set to Enabled, the
system power conservation features are controlled by the system
BIOS, not by the operation system. The Optimal and Fail-Safe de­fault settings are Disabled.

Instant-On Timeout (Minutes)

This option specifies the length of a period of system inactivity while
the computer is in full power on state. When this length of time
expires, AMIBIOS takes the computer to a lower power consumption
state, but the computer can return to full power instantly when any

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Chapter 2: Running Setup

system activity occurs. The settings are Disabled and 1 Min through
15 Min in 1 minute intervals. The Optimal and Fail-Safe default
settings are Disabled.

Auxilary Power Supply Timeout

The settings are Disabled, Standby, or Suspend. The Optimal and
Fail-Safe default settings are Disabled.

DPMS Video Power Down Mode

This option specifies the power conserving state that the VGA video
subsystem enters after the specified period of display inactivity has
expired. The settings are Disabled, Standby, or Suspend. The
Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings are Disabled.

Green PC Monitor Power State

This option specifies the power state that the green PC-compliant
video monitor enters when AMIBIOS places it in a power savings
state after the specified period of display inactivity has expired. The
settings are Off, Standby, or Suspend. The Optimal and Fail-Safe
default settings are Disabled.

Hard Disk Power Down Mode

This option specifies the power conserving state that the hard disk
drive enters after the specified period of hard drive inactivity has
expired. The settings are Disabled, Standby, or Suspend. The
Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings are Disabled.

Hard Disk Timeout (Minutes)

This option specifies the length of a period of hard disk drive inac­tivity. When this length of time expires, the computer enters power­conserving state specified in the Hard Disk Power Down Mode op-

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BIOS User's Manual

tion. The settings are Disabled and 1 Min through 15 Min in 1

minute intervals. The Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings are
Disabled.

Standby Timeout (Minutes)

This option specifies the length of a period of system inactivity while
in full power on state. When this length of time expires, the com­puter enters standby power state. The settings are Disabled and 1
Min through 15 Min in 1 minute intervals. The Optimal and Fail-Safe
default settings are Disabled.

Suspend Timeout (Minutes)

This option specifies the length of a period of system inactivity while
in standby state. When this length of time expires, the computer
enters suspend power state. The settings are Disabled and 1 Min
through 15 Min in 1 minute intervals. The Optimal and Fail-Safe
default settings are Disabled.

Slow Clock Ratio

This option specifies the speed at which the system clock runs in
power saving states. The settings are expressed as a ratio be­tween the normal CPU clock speed and the CPU clock speed when
the computer is in the power-conserving state. The settings are
1:1, 1:2, 1:4, 1:8, 1:16, 1:32, 1:64, and 1:128. The Optimal and Fail­Safe default settings are Disabled.

IRQ3
IRQ4
IRQ5
IRQ7
IRQ9
IRQ10
IRQ11
IRQ15

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Chapter 2: Running Setup

When set to Monitor, these options enable event monitoring on the
specified hardware interrupt request line. If set to Monitor and the
computer is in a power saving state, AMIBIOS watches for activity on
the specified IRQ line. The computer enters the full on power state
if any activity occurs. AMIBIOS reloads the standby and suspend
timeout timers if activity occurs on the specified IRQ line.

The settings for each of these options are Monitor or Ignore. The
Optimal and Fail Safe default settings are Disabled.

2-1-5 PCI/PnP Setup

Plug and Play-Aware OS

The settings for this option are Yes or No. The Optimal and Fail­Safe default settings are No. Set this option to Yes if the operating
system in the computer is aware of and follows the Plug and Play
specification. AMIBIOS only detects and enables PnP ISA adapter
cards that are required for system boot. Currently, only Windows
95' is PnP-Aware. Set this option to No if the operating system
(such as DOS, OS/2, Windows 3.x) does not use PnP. You must
set this option correctly. Otherwise, PnP-aware adapter cards in­stalled in the computer will not be configured properly.

PCI Latency Timer (PCI Clocks)

This option specifies the latency timings in PCI clocks for all PCI
devices. The settings are 32, 64, 96, 128, 160, 192, 224, or 248.
The Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings are 64.

PCI VGA Palette Snoop

The settings for this option are Enabled or Disabled. The Optimal
and Fail-Safe default settings are Disabled. When set to Enabled,
multiple VGA devices operating on different buses can handle data
from the CPU on each set of palette registers on every video device.
Bit 5 of the command register in the PCI device configuration space

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BIOS User's Manual

is the VGA Palette Snoop bit (0 is disabled). For example: if there
are two VGA devices in the computer (one PCI and one ISA) and
this option is disabled, data read and written by the CPU is only
directed to the PCI VGA device's palette registers. If enabled, data
read and written by the CPU is directed to both the PCI VGA device's
palette registers and the ISA VGA palette registers. This will permit
the palette registers of both devices to be identical. This option
must be set to Enabled if any ISA adapter card installed in the sys­tem requires VGA palette snooping.

PCI IDE Bus Master

The settings are: Disabled or Enabled. The Optimal and Fail-Safe
default settings are Disabled.

Offboard PCI IDE Card

This option specifies if an offboard PCI IDE controller adapter card
is installed in the computer. The PCI expansion slot on the
motherboard where the offboard PCI IDE controller is installed must
be specified. If an offboard PCI IDE controller is used, the onboard
IDE controller is automatically disabled. The settings are Auto
(AMIBIOS automatically determines where the offboard PCI IDE con­troller adapter card is installed), Slot 1, Slot 2, Slot 3, Slot 4, Slot 5
or Slot 6. The Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings are Auto.

This option forces IRQ14 and IRQ15 to a PCI slot on the PCI local
bus. This is necessary to support non-compliant ISA IDE controller
adapter cards. If an offboard PCI IDE controller adapter card is
installed in the computer, you must also set the Offboard PCI IDE
Primary IRQ and Offboard PCI IDE Secondary IRQ options.

Offboard PCI IDE Primary IRQ
Offboard PCI IDE Secondary IRQ

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Chapter 2: Running Setup

These options specify the PCI interrupt used by the primary (or sec­ondary) IDE channel on the offboard PCI IDE controller. The set­tings are Disabled, Hardwired, INTA, INTB, INTC, or INTD. The
Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings are Disabled.

PCI Slot 1 IRQ Priority
PCI Slot 2 IRQ Priority
PCI Slot 3 IRQ Priority
PCI Slot 4 IRQ Priority

The settings are Auto, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, or 11. The Optimal and Fail­Safe default settings are Auto.

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

These DMA channels control the data transfers between the I/O
devices and the system memory. The chipset allows the BIOS to
choose which channels to do the job. The settings are ISA/EISA or
PnP. The Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings are PnP.

IRQ3
IRQ4
IRQ5
IRQ7
IRQ9
IRQ10
IRQ11
IRQ14
IRQ15

These options specify which bus the specified IRQ line is used on
and allow you to reserve IRQs for legacy ISA adapter cards. If more
IRQs must be removed from the pool, the end user can use these

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BIOS User's Manual

options to reserve the IRQ by assigning an ISA/EISA setting to it.
Onboard I/O is configured by AMIBIOS. All IRQs used by onboard I/
O are configured as PCI/PnP.

IRQ14 and 15 will not be available if the onboard PCI IDE is en­abled. If all IRQs are set to ISA/EISA and IRQ14 and 15 are allo­cated to the onboard PCI IDE, IRQ 9 will still be available for PCI
and PnP devices. This is because at least one IRQ must be avail­able for PCI and PnP devices.

The settings are ISA/EISA or PCI/PnP. The Optimal and Fail-Safe
default settings are PCI/PnP.

Reserved Memory Size

This option specifies the size of the memory area reserved for
legacy ISA adapter cards. The settings are Disabled, 16K, 32K, or
64K. The Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings are Disabled.

Reserved Memory Address

This option specifies the beginning address (in hex) of the reserved
memory area. The specified ROM memory area is reserved for use
by legacy ISA adapter cards. The settings are C0000, C4000,
C8000, CC000, D0000, D4000, D8000, or DC000. The Optimal
and Fail-Safe default settings are C8000.

2-1-6 Peripheral Setup

OnBoard FDC

This option enables the FDC (Floppy Drive Controller) on the
motherboard. The settings are Auto (AMIBIOS automatically deter­mines if the floppy controller should be enabled), Enabled, or Dis-
abled. The Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings are Auto.

2-18

Chapter 2: Running Setup

OnBoard Serial Port 1

This option specifies the base I/O port address of serial port 1. The
settings are Auto (AMIBIOS automatically determines the correct
base I/O port address), Disabled, 3F8h, 2F8h, 2E8h, or 3E8h. The
Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings are Auto.

OnBoard Serial Port 2

This option specifies the base I/O port address of serial port 2. The
settings are Auto (AMIBIOS automatically determines the correct
base I/O port address), Disabled, 3F8h, 2F8h, 2E8h, or 3E8h. The
Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings are Auto.

Serial Port 2 Mode

The settings are Normal, Sharp-IR, SIR, MIR, FIR, or TV Remote.
The Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings are Normal.

IR Duplex Mode

The settings are Half or Full. The Optimal and Fail-Safe default
settings are N/A.

IR Receiver Pin

The settings are IRRX1 or IRRX2. The Optimal and Fail-Safe de­fault settings are N/A.

OnBoard Parallel Port

This option specifies the base I/O port address of the parallel port
on the motherboard. The settings are Auto (AMIBIOS automatically
determines the correct base I/O port address), Disabled, 378h,
278h, or 3BCh. The Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings are Auto.

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BIOS User's Manual

Parallel Port Mode

This option specifies the parallel port mode. The settings are Nor­mal, Bi-Dir, EPP or ECP. The Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings

are Bi-Dir. When set to Normal, the normal parallel port mode is
used. Use Bi-Dir to support bidirectional transfers. Use EPP (En­hanced Parallel Port) to provide asymmetric bidirectional data trans­fer driven by the host device. Use ECP (Extended Capabilities Port)
to achieve data transfer rates of up to 2.5Mbps. ECP uses the DMA
protocol and provides symmetric bidirectional communication.

EPP Version

The settings are 1.7 or 1.9. The Optimal and Fail-Safe default set­tings are N/A.

Parallel Port DMA Channel

This option is only available if the settting of the parallel port mode
option is ECP. The settings are 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 or 7. The Optimal
and Fail-Safe default settings are N/A.

Parallel Port IRQ

This option specifies the parallel port IRQ. The settings are Auto, 5
or 7. The Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings are Auto.

OnBoard IDE

This option specifies the onboard IDE controller channels to be
used. The settings are Disabled, Primary, Secondary, or Both. The
Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings are Both.

2-20

Chapter 2: Running Setup

2-2 Security Setup

2-2-1 Supervisor

User

The system can be configured so that all users must enter a pass­word every time the system boots or when the WINBIOS setup is
executed. You can set either a Supervisor password or a User
password. If you do not want to use a password, just press <En­ter> when the password prompt appears.

The password check option is enabled in the Advanced Setup by
choosing either Always or Setup. The password is stored in CMOS
RAM. You can enter a password by typing the password on the
keyboard, selecting each letter via the mouse, or selecting each
letter via the pen stylus. Pen access must be customized for each
specific hardware platform.

When you select Supervisor or User, AMIBIOS prompts for a pass­word. You must set the Supervisor password before you can set
the User password. Enter a 1-6 character password. The pass­word does not appear on the screen when typed. Retype the new
password as prompted and press <Enter>. Make sure you write it
down. If you forget it, you must drain CMOS RAM and reconfigure.

2-2-2 Anti-Virus

When this icon is selected, AMIBIOS issues a warning when any
program (or virus) issues a disk format command or attempts to
write to the boot sector of the hard disk drive. The settings are
Enabled or Disabled. The Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings
are Disabled.

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BIOS User's Manual

2-3 Utility Setup

2-3-1 Language

The Optimal and Fail-Safe default settings for this option are En­glish.

2-3-2 Detect IDE

Use this icon to let the BIOS autodetect the IDE hard drive.

2-4 Default Setting

Every option in WinBIOS Setup contains two default settings: a Fail­Safe default, and an Optimal default.

2-4-1 Optimal Default

The Optimal default settings provide optimum performance settings
for all devices and system features.

2-4-2 Fail-Safe Default

The Fail-Safe default settings consist of the safest set of param­eters. Use them if the system is behaving erratically. They should
always work but do not provide optimal system performance char­acteristics.

2-22

Appendix A: Hard Disk Error Messages

Appendix A

Hard Disk Error Messages

The first group of errors listed below may appear during the
initialization process, before anything else happens.

1. No Hard Disk Installed — The program could not
find a hard disk drive installed on the system. This
message appears if there is no hard disk on the
system and you have chosen to run the Hard Disk
Utility.

2. FATAL ERROR Bad Hard Disk — The program is
not getting a response from the hard disk, or the
hard disk is not repairable. Check all cable and
power connections to the hard disk.

3. Hard Disk Controller Failure — The program is getting
an error response from the reset command
sent to the hard disk controller. Check to see that
the controller is seated properly in the bus slot.

4. C: (D:) Hard Disk Failure — The hard disk drive (C or D)
is not responding to commands sent to it by the
program. Check power and cable connections to the
hard disk.

A-1

BIOS User’s Manual

NOTE

The errors listed below may appear during operation.

5. Undefined Error - Command Aborted — An error
condition has occurred which the program cannot
identify.

6. Address Mark Not Found — The address mark (initial
address) on the hard disk could not be found.

7. Requested Sector Not Found — The sector currently
requested on the hard disk could not be found.

8. Reset Failed — The program issued a reset command
to the hard disk, but this command did not properly
reset the hard disk.

9. Drive Parameter Activity Failed — The program has
sent a reset command to the controller, followed by
the drive parameters. Using the parameters sent to
it, the controller is not getting a response from the
hard disk drive. Check to see if the drive type
selected in the ‘Standard CMOS Setup’ is correct for
the disk drive being used.

10. Bad Sector Flag Detected — The program has tried to
perform an operation on a sector which has been
flagged (i.e., marked as “bad”).

11. Bad ECC on Disk Read — When the program attempts to
write to the disk, it also calculates an ECC (Error
Correction Code) value for the data being written.
This ECC value is written to the drive and then read
back. If the value read back is different from the one
calculated, then, this error will occur.

A-2

Appendix A: Hard Disk Error Messages

12. ECC Corrected Data Error — The ECC value
(explained above) read from the disk is not the same
value which was written to the disk; therefore, the
program assumes that the data is not correct. It,
then, attempts to correct the data, but the ECC value
is not corrected. In this situation, this message
appears.

13. Controller Has Failed — The program has issued a
diagnostic command to the controller, which has
failed; therefore, the controller has failed as well.

14. Seek Operation Failed — The program has issued
a seek command to the drive and this operation has
failed. A seek operation is the act of finding a
particular sector on the hard disk.

15. Attachment Failed to Respond — No response has
been received from the hard disk drive. This
message appears if an operation has already begun
and the hard disk does not respond, when it has
responded earlier.

16. Drive Not Ready — The program is trying to perform an
operation on the hard disk drive, and it has waited
beyond a preset specified time limit. This situation
is known as “timeout.”

17. Write Fault on Selected Drive — A ‘Write Fault’ has
occurred during the write operation on the hard disk.

A-3

BIOS User’s Manual

A-4

Appendix B: BIOS Hard Disk Drive Types

Appendix B

BIOS Hard Disk Drive Types

Table B-1. AMI BIOS Hard Disk Drive Types

Type Cylinders Heads Write Landing Sectors Size

1 306 4 128 305 17 10 MB
2 615 4 300 615 17 20 MB
3 615 6 300 615 17 31 MB
4 940 8 512 940 17 62 MB
5 940 6 512 940 17 47 MB
6 615 4 65535 615 17 20 MB
7 462 8 256 511 17 31 MB
8 733 5 65535 733 17 30 MB

9 900 15 65535 901 17 112 MB
10 820 3 65535 820 17 20 MB
11 855 5 65535 855 17 35 MB
12 855 7 65535 855 17 50 MB
13 306 8 128 319 17 20 MB
14 733 7 65535 733 17 43 MB
16 612 4 0 663 17 20 MB
17 977 5 300 977 17 41 MB
18 977 7 65535 977 17 57 MB
19 1024 7 512 1023 17 60 MB
20 733 5 300 732 17 30 MB
21 733 7 300 732 17 43 MB
22 733 5 300 733 17 30 MB
23 306 4 0 336 17 10 MB
24 925 7 0 925 17 54 MB
25 925 9 65535 925 17 69 MB
26 754 7 754 754 17 44 MB
27 754 11 65535 754 17 69 MB
28 699 7 256 699 17 41 MB
29 823 10 65535 823 17 68 MB
30 918 7 918 918 17 53 MB
31 1024 11 65535 1024 17 94 MB
32 1024 15 65535 1024 17 128 MB
33 1024 5 1024 1024 17 43 MB
34 612 2 128 612 17 10 MB
35 1024 9 65535 1024 17 77 MB
36 1024 8 512 1024 17 68 MB

Precompensation Zone

B-1

BIOS User’s Manual

Table B-1. AMI BIOS Hard Disk Drive Types (Continued)

Type Cylinders Heads Write Landing Sectors Size

37 615 8 128 615 17 41 MB
38 987 3 987 987 17 25 MB
39 987 7 987 987 17 57 MB
40 820 6 820 820 17 41 MB
41 977 5 977 977 17 41 MB
42 981 5 981 981 17 41 MB
43 830 7 512 831 17 48 MB
44 830 10 65535 830 17 69 MB
45 917 15 65535 918 17 114 MB
46 1224 15 65535 1223 17 152 MB
47 ENTER PARAMETERS PROVIDED WITH HARD DRIVE

Precompensation Zone

B-2

Appendix C: BIOS Error Beep Codes

Appendix C

BIOS Error Beep Codes

During the POST (Power-On Self-Test) routines, which are
performed each time the system is powered on, errors may occur.

Non-fatal errors are those which, in most cases, allow the system
to continue the boot-up process. The error messages normally
appear on the screen. See Appendix E for BIOS Error Messages.

Fatal errors are those which will not allow the system to continue
the boot-up procedure. If a fatal error occurs, you should consult
with your system manufacturer for possible repairs.

These fatal errors are usually communicated through a series of
audible beeps. The numbers on the fatal error list below
correspond to the number of beeps for the corresponding error. All
errors listed, with the exception of #8, are fatal errors.

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BIOS User’s Manual

Beeps Error message Description

1 Refresh Failure The memory refresh circuitry on the

motherboard is faulty.

2 Parity Error A parity error was detected in the base

memory (the first 64 KB block) of the
system.

3 Base 64 KB Memory Failure A memory failure occurred within the

first 64 KB of memory.

4 Timer Not Operational A memory failure was detected in the

first 64 KB of memory, or Timer 1 is
not functioning.

5 Processor Error The CPU on the system board

generated an error.

6 8042 - Gate A20 Failure The keyboard controller (8042) contains

the Gate A20 switch which allows the
CPU to operate in virtual mode. This
error means that the BIOS cannot
switch the CPU into protected mode.

7 Processor Exception The CPU on the motherboard generated

Interrupt Error an exception interrupt.

8 Display Memory Read/Write The system video adapter is either

Error missing or its memory is faulty.

Please Note: This is not a fatal error.

9 ROM Checksum Error The ROM checksum value does not

match the value encoded in the BIOS.

10 CMOS Shutdown Register The shutdown register for CMOS

Read/Write Error memory has failed.

11 Cache memory bad - The cache memory test failed. Cache

do not enable cache memory is disabled. Do not press

<Ctrl>+<Alt>+<Shift> and <+> to
enable cache memory.

C-2

Appendix D: AMI BIOS POST Diagnostics Error Messages

Appendix D

AMI BIOS POST Diagnostic Error

Messages

This section describes the power-on self-tests (POST) port 80
codes for the AMI BIOS.

Check Point Description

03 NMI is Disabled Checking soft reset and power-on

next.

05 Soft reset/power-on determined. Going to disable

cache (i.e., disable shadow RAM/cache, if any).

06 Post code to be uncompressed. CPU init and CPU

data area init to be done next.

07 Post code is uncompressed. CPU init and CPU data

area init to be done next.

08 CPU and CPU data area init done. CMOS checksum

calculation to be done next.

09 The CMOS checksum calculation is done and the

CMOS RAM diagnostic byte has been written. CMOS
RAM initialization is next if the Initialize CMOS RAM At
Every Boot option is set.

0A CMOS RAM is initialize. The CMOS RAM status

register will be initialized for Date and Time next.

OB The CMOS RAM status register has been initialized.

Any initialization before the keyboard BAT test will be
done next.

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BIOS User’s Manual

Check Point Description

0C The keyboard controller I/B is free. Issuing the BAT

command to the keyboard controller next.

0D The BAT command was issued to the keyboard con-

troller. Verifying the BAT command next.

0E The keyboard controller BAT result has been verified.

Any initialization after the keyboard controller BAT com­mand will be done next.

0F Initialization after the keyboard controller BAT

command is done. The keyboard command byte will
be written next.

10 The keyboard controller command byte has been writ-

ten. Issuing the keyboard controller pins 23 and 24
blocking and unblocking command next.

11 Keyboard controller pins 23 and 24 have been blocked

and unblocked. See if the <Ins> key has been
pressed during power-on next.

12 Checked if the <Ins> key was pressed during power-

on. Disabling the DMA and Interrupt controllers.

13 DMA controllers 1 and 2 and interrupt controllers 1 and

2 have been disabled. The video display is disabled
and port B is initialized. Initializing the chipset and
doing automatic memory detection next.

15 Chipset initialization/auto memory detection over.

Next, 8254 timer test about to start.

19 The 8254 timer test has completed. Starting the mem-

ory refresh test.

D-2

Appendix D: AMI BIOS POST Diagnostics Error Messages

Check Point Description

1A Memory Refresh line has been toggled. Going to

check 15 microseconds ON/OFF time.

20 Memory Refresh period 30 microsecond test

completed. Base 64 KB memory test and address line
test about to start.

23 Base 64 KB sequential data R/W test passed. Any

setup before Interrupt vector initialize about to start.

24 Setup required before vector initialization completed.

Interrupt vector initialization about to begin.

25 Interrupt vector initialization done. Going to read I/O

port of 8042 for turbo switch (if any).

26 Input port of 8042 is read. Going to initialize global

data for turbo switch.

27 Global data initialization is over. Any initialization

before setting the video mode to be done next.

28 Initialization before setting the video mode has been

completed. Going for monochrome/color mode set­ting.

2A Different BUSes init (system, static, output devices) to

start if present.

2B About to give control for any setup required before op-

tional video ROM check.

2C Processing before video ROM control is done. About

to look for optional video ROM and give control.

D-3

BIOS User’s Manual

Check Point Description

2D Optional video ROM control is done. About to give con-

trol to do any processing after video ROM returns
control to post.

2E Return from processing after the video ROM control. If

EGA/VGA not found, then do display memory R/W test.

2F EGA/VGA not found. Display memory R/W test about

to begin.

30 Display memory R/W test passed. Looking for the re-

trace checking.

31 Display memory R/W test or retrace checking failed.

About to do alternate Display memory R/W test.

32 Alternate Display memory R/W test passed. About to

look for the alternate display retrace checking.

34 Video display checking over. Display mode to be set

next.

37 Display mode set. Going to display the power-on mes-

sage.

38 Different BUSes init (input, IPL, general devices) to

start if present.
39 Display different BUSes initialization error messages.
3A New cursor position read and saved. Going to display

the Hit <DEL> message next.
3B “Hit <DEL>” message is displayed. Virtual mode

memory test about to start.
40 Preparing the descriptor tables next.
42 Descriptor tables prepared. Going to enter in virtual

mode for memory test.

D-4

Appendix D: AMI BIOS POST Diagnostics Error Messages

Check Point Description

43 Entered in the virtual mode. Going to enable interrupts

for diagnostics mode.

44 Interrupts enabled (if diagnostics switch is on). Going

to initialize data to check memory remap at 0:0.

45 Data initialized. Going to check for memory remap at

0:0 and find the total system memory size.

46 Memory remap test done. Memory size calculation

over. About to go for writing patterns to test memory.

47 Pattern to be tested written in extended memory.

Going to write patterns in base 640 KB memory.

48 Patterns written in base memory. Going to find out

amount of memory below 1 MB memory.

49 Amount of memory below 1 MB found and verified. Go-

ing to find out amount of memory above 1 MB memory.

4B Amount of memory above 1 MB found and verified.

Checking for soft reset and clearing the memory below
1 MB for a soft reset. (If at power on, go to checkpoint
4E).

4C Memory below 1 MB cleared. (SOFT RESET.) Going

to clear memory above it.

4D Memory above 1 MB cleared. (SOFT RESET.) Going

to save the memory size. Going to checkpoint 52 next.

4E Memory test started. (NO SOFT RESET.) About to dis-

play the first 64 KB memory test.

4F Memory size display started. This will be updated dur-

ing memory test. Going for sequential and random
memory test.

D-5

BIOS User’s Manual

Check Point Description

50 Memory test below 1 MB completed. Going to adjust

memory size for relocation/shadow.
51 Memory size adjusted due to relocation/shadow.

Memory test above 1 MB to follow.
52 Memory test above 1 MB completed. Saving the

memory size information.
53 CPU registers are saved including memory size.

Going to enter into real mode.
54 Shutdown successful, CPU in real mode. Going to

disable Gate A20 address line.
57 The Gate A20 address line is disabled. Adjusting the

memory size depending the memory relocation and/or

shadowing parameters.
58 The memory size has been adjusted for memory relo-

cation and/or shadowing. Clearing the Hit<DEL> mes-

sage next.
59 “Hit <DEL>” message cleared. “WAIT...” message dis-

played. About to start DMA and interrupt controller test.
60 DMA page register test passed. About to verify from

display memory.
62 DMA #1 base register test passed. About to go for

DMA #2 base register test.
65 DMA #2 base register test passed. Programming DMA

controllers 1 and 2 next.
66 DMA unit 1 and 2 programming over. About to initialize

8259 interrupt controller.

D-6

Appendix D: AMI BIOS POST Diagnostics Error Messages

Check Point Description

67 8259 initialization over. About to start keyboard test.
7F Extended NMI sources enabling is in progress.
80 Keyboard test started. Clearing output buffer, check-

ing for stuck key. About to issue keyboard reset com­mand.

81 Keyboard reset error/stuck key found. About to issue

keyboard controller interface test command.

82 Keyboard controller interface test over. About to write

command byte and initialize circular buffer.

83 Command byte written. Global data initialization done.

About to check for lock-key.

84 Lock-key checking over. About to check for memory

size mismatch with CMOS.

85 Memory size check done. About to display soft error

and check for password or bypass setup.

86 Password checked. About to do programming before

setup.

87 Programming before setup completed. Going to

CMOS setup program.

88 Returned from CMOS setup program and screen is

cleared. About to do programming after setup.

89 Programming after setup completed. Going to display

power-on screen message.

8B First screen message displayed. “WAIT...” message

is also displayed. Shadowing of the system and video
BIOS will be done next.

D-7

BIOS User’s Manual

Check Point Description

8C Main and Video BIOS shadow successful. Setup op-

tions programming after CMOS setup about to start.
8D Setup options are programmed. The mouse check

and initialization will be done next.
8E The mouse check and initialization are done. Going for

hard disk reset.
8F The hard disk reset is complete. About to go for floppy

check.
91 Floppy setup is over. Test for hard disk presence to

be done.
94 Hard disk setup completes. About to set the base

and extended memory sizes.
96 Memory size adjusted due to mouse support, hard

disk type-47. Going to do any initialization before

C8000 optional ROM control.
97 Any initialization before C8000 optional control is over.

Checking the C8000 adaptor ROM, then passing

control to it next.
98 C8000 adaptor ROM has passed control to POST. Go-

ing to do any required processing after C8000 adaptor

ROM returns control next.
99 Any initialization required after optional ROM test over.

Going to set up timer data area and printer base ad-

dress.
9A Return after setting timer and printer base address.

Going to set the RS-232 base address.
9B Returned after RS-232 base address. Going to do any

initialization before coprocessor test.

D-8

Appendix D: AMI BIOS POST Diagnostics Error Messages

Check Point Description

9C Required initialization before coprocessor test is over.

Going to initialize the coprocessor next.

9D Coprocessor initialized. Going to do any initialization

after coprocessor test.

9E Initialization after coprocessor test is completed.

Going to check extended keyboard, keyboard ID and
num-lock.

9F Extended keyboard check, ID flag set, num-lock on/off

is done. Keyboard ID command to be issued.

A0 Keyboard ID command is issued. Keyboard ID flag to

be reset.
A1 Keyboard ID flag reset. Cache memory test to follow.
A2 Cache memory test over. Going to display any soft

errors.
A3 Soft error display complete. Going to set the keyboard

typematic rate.
A4 Keyboard typematic rate set. Going to program

memory wait states.
A5 Memory wait states programming over. Screen to be

cleared next. Going to enable parity and NMI.
A7 NMI and parity enabled. Going to do any initialization

required before giving control to optional ROM at

E0000.
A8 Initialization before E000 ROM control over. E000 ROM

to get control next.
A9 Returned from E000 ROM control. Going to do any

initialization required after E000 optional ROM control.

D-9

BIOS User’s Manual

Check Point Description

AA Initialization after E000 optional ROM control is over.

Going to display the system configuration.

B0 The system configuration is displayed.

Uncompressing the Setup code for hotkey setup next,
if required.

B1 The setup code for hotkey has been uncompressed.

Copying any required code to a specific area.

00 The code has been copied to a specific area. Going

to give control to INT 19h boot loader.

D-10

Appendix E: BIOS Non-Fatal Error Messages

Appendix E

BIOS Non-Fatal Error Messages

If a non-fatal error occurs during the POST routines performed each
time the system is powered on, the error message will appear on
the screen in the following format:

ERROR Message Line 1

ERROR Message Line 2

Press <F1> to RESUME

Note the error message and press the <F1 > key to continue with
the boot up sequence.

NOTE

If the “Wait for <F1> If Any Error” option in the

Advanced CMOS Setup portion of the BIOS SETUP

PROGRAM has been set to “disabled,” the <Fl>

prompt will not appear on the third line.

For most of the error messages, there is no ERROR Message Line

2. Generally, for those messages containing a line 2 ERROR
Message the text will be “RUN SETUP UTILITY.” Pressing the <F1>
key will invoke the BIOS SETUP PROGRAM.

A description of the error messages appears below.

1. CH-2 Timer Error — Most PC AT™ standard system
boards include two timers. An error with timer #1 is
a fatal error, explained in Appendix C. If an error
occurs with timer #2, this error message appears.

2. INTR #1 Error — The interrupt channel #1 has failed
the POST routine.

E-1

BIOS User’s Manual

3. INTR #2 Error — The interrupt channel #2 has failed
the POST routine.

4. CMOS Battery State Low — There is a battery in
your system which is used for storing the CMOS
values. This battery appears to be low in power and
needs to be replaced.

5. CMOS Checksum Failure — After the CMOS values
are saved, a checksum value is generated to provide
for error checking. If the previous value is different
from the value currently read, this error message
appears. To correct this error, you should run BIOS
SETUP Program.

6. CMOS System Options Not Set — The values stored
in the CMOS are either corrupt or nonexistent. Run
the BIOS SETUP Program to correct this error.

7. CMOS Display Type Mismatch — The type of video
stored in CMOS does not match the type detected by
the BIOS. Run the BIOS SETUP Program to correct
this error.

8. Display Switch Not Proper — Some systems require
that a video switch on the motherboard be set to
either color or monochrome, depending upon the
type of video you are using. To correct this situation,
set the switch properly. (Remember to shut down
the system first.)

9. Keyboard is Locked...Unlocked It — The keyboard
lock on the system is engaged. The system must be
unlocked to continue the boot-up procedure.

E-2

Appendix E: BIOS Non-Fatal Error Messages

10. Keyboard Error — The BIOS has encountered a
timing problem with the keyboard. Make sure you
have an AMI keyboard BIOS installed in your system.
You may also set the ‘Keyboard’ option in the BIOS
SETUP Program, Standard CMOS Setup to “Not
Installed,” which will cause the BIOS to skip the
keyboard POST routines.

11. KB/Interface Error — The BIOS has found an error
with the keyboard connector on the system board.

12. CMOS Memory Size Mismatch — If the BIOS finds
the amount of memory on your system board to be
different from the amount stored in CMOS, this error
message is generated. Run the BIOS SETUP
Program to correct this error.

13. FDD Controller Failure — The BIOS is not able to
communicate with the floppy disk drive controller.
Check all appropriate connections after the system is
powered off.

14. HDD Controller Failure — The BIOS is not able to
communicate with the hard disk drive controller.
Check all appropriate connections after the system is
powered down.

15. C: Drive Error — The BIOS is not receiving any

16. D: Drive Error — The same error has occurred with

response from hard disk drive C. It may be
necessary to run the Hard Disk Utility to correct this
problem. Also, check the type of hard disk selected
in the Standard CMOS Setup of the BIOS SETUP
Program to see if the correct hard disk drive has
been selected.

hard drive D. Follow the procedures in Error #15 to
correct the situation.

E-3

BIOS User’s Manual

17. C: Drive Failure — The BIOS cannot get any
response from the hard disk drive C. It may be
necessary to replace the hard disk.

18. D: Drive Failure — The same error as #17 has
occurred with hard drive D.

19. CMOS Time & Date Not Set — Run the ‘Standard
CMOS Setup’ of the BIOS SETUP Program to set the
date and time of the CMOS.

20. Cache Memory Bad, Do Not Enable Cache! — The
BIOS has found the cache memory of the
motherboard to be defective. Consult your system
manufacturer to repair this problem.

21. 8042 Gate A20 Error — The Gate A20 portion of
the keyboard controller (8042) has failed to operate
correctly. The 8042 chip should be replaced.

22. Address Line Short! — An error has occurred in
the address decoding circuitry of the motherboard.

23. DMA #2 Error — An error has occurred with the
second DMA channel on the motherboard.

24. DMA #1 Error — An error has occurred with the
first DMA channel on the motherboard.

25. DMA Error — An error has occurred with the DMA
controller on the motherboard.

26. No ROM BASIC — This error occurred when a proper
bootable sector cannot be found on either the floppy
diskette drive A: or the hard disk drive C:. The BIOS
will try at this point to run ROM Basic, and the error
message will be generated when the BIOS does not
find it.

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Appendix E: BIOS Non-Fatal Error Messages

27. Diskette Boot Failure — The diskette used to boot­up in floppy drive A is corrupt, which means you
cannot use it to boot-up the system. Use another
boot diskette and follow the instructions on the
screen.

28. Invalid Boot Diskette — The BIOS can read the
diskette in floppy drive A, but it cannot boot-up the
system with it. Use another boot diskette and follow
the instructions on the screen.

29. * On Board Parity Error — The BIOS has
encountered a parity error with some memory
installed on the system board. The message will
appear as follows:

ON BOARD PARITY ERROR
ADDR (HEX) = (XXXX)

Where XXXX is the address (in hexadecimal) where
the error has occurred. “On Board” means that it is
part of the memory attached directly to the system
board, as opposed to memory installed via an
expansion card in an I/O bus slot.

30. * Off Board Parity Error — The BIOS has
encountered a parity error with some memory
installed in an I/O bus slot. The message will
appear as follows:

OFF BOARD PARITY ERROR
ADDR (HEX) = (XXXX)

Where XXXX is the address (in hexadecimal) where
the error has occurred. “Off Board” means that it is
part of the memory installed via an expansion card in
an I/O bus slot, as opposed to memory attached
directly to the system board.

E-5

BIOS User’s Manual

31. * Parity Error ???? — The BIOS has encountered a
parity error with some memory in the system, but it is
not able to determine the address of the error.

* Memory diagnostic software, such as AMIDIAG, can be used to

find and correct memory problems.

E-6