Supero SUPER 370SSA, SUPER 370SSM User Manual

®

SUPER 370SSA
SUPER 370SSM

USER’S MANUAL

Revision 1.1

SUPER

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.

Please Note: For the
most up-to-date version of this manual, please see our web site at
www.supermicro.com.

SUPERMICRO COMPUTER 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 SUPERMICRO COMPUTER 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 REPAIRING, REPLACING, INTEGRATING,
INSTALLING OR RECOVERING SUCH HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, OR DATA.

Any disputes arising between manufacturer and customer shall be governed by the laws of
Santa Clara County in the State of California, USA. The State of California, County of Santa
Clara shall be the exclusive venue for the resolution of any such disputes. Supermicro's total
liability for all claims will not exceed the price paid for the hardware product.

Unless you request and receive written permission from SUPER MICRO COMPUTER, you
may not copy any part of this document.

Information in this document is subject to change without notice. Other products and
companies referred to herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective
companies or mark holders.

Copyright © 2000 by SUPER MICRO COMPUTER INC.
All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America.

Preface

About This Manual

This manual is written for system integrators, PC technicians and
knowledgeable PC users. It provides information for the installation and use
of the SUPER 370SSA/370SSM motherboard. The SUPER 370SSA/370SSM
supports single Pentium® III FCPGA 500 MHz-1 GHz processors and Celeron
PPGA 333-500 processors at front side bus speeds of 133, 100 and 66 MHz.
Please refer to the support section of our web site (http://
www.supermicro.com/TechSupport.htm) for a complete listing of supported
processors.

FCPGA Pentium III processors are housed in a 370-pin package.

Manual Organization

Chapter 1 includes a checklist of what should be included in your mainboard

box, describes the features, specifications and performance of the SUPER
370SSA/370SSM mainboard and provides detailed information about the
chipset.

Chapter 2 begins with instructions on handling static-sensitive devices. Read
this chapter when you want to install the processor and DIMM memory mod­ules and when mounting the mainboard in the chassis. Also refer to this
chapter to connect the floppy and hard disk drives, the IDE interfaces, the
parallel and serial ports and the twisted wires for the power supply, the reset
button, the keylock/power LED, the speaker and the keyboard.

If you encounter any problems, see Chapter 3, which describes troubleshoot-
ing procedures for the video, the memory and the setup configuration stored
in CMOS. For quick reference, a general FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
section is provided. Instructions are also included for contacting technical
support. In addition, you can visit our web site at www.supermicro.com/
techsupport.htm for more detailed information.

Chapter 4 includes an introduction to BIOS and provides detailed information
on running the CMOS Setup utility.

The Appendix provides post diagnostic error messages.

iii

Preface

iv

SUPER 370SSA/370SSM User’s Manual

Notes

Table of Contents

v

Table of Contents

Preface

About This Manual ...................................................................................................... ii i

Manual Organization ................................................................................................... iii

Chapter 1: Introduction

1-1 Overview .......................................................................................................... 1 -1

Checklist .................................................................................................... 1 -1

Contacting Supermicro ............................................................................. 1 -3

SUPER 370SSA Image ........................................................................... 1- 4

SUPER 370SSM Image ........................................................................... 1- 5

SUPER 370SSA Layout .......................................................................... 1- 6

SUPER 370SSM Layout .......................................................................... 1- 8

815 Chipset: System Block Diagram ................................................... 1-10

Motherboard Features ........................................................................... 1-11

1-2 Chipset Overview .......................................................................................... 1-13

1-3 Special Features ........................................................................................... 1-14

Communication and Networking Riser (CNR - 370SSA only) ......... 1-14

Audio Modem Riser (AMR - 370SSM only) ....................................... 1-14

1-4 PC Health Monitoring................................................................................... 1-14

1-5 ACPI/PC 98 Features .................................................................................. 1-16

1-6 Power Supply ................................................................................................ 1-18

1-7 Super I/O ........................................................................................................ 1-18

Chapter 2: Installation

2-1 Static-Sensitive Devices ................................................................................ 2- 1

2-2 Processor Installation .................................................................................... 2- 2

2-3 Mounting the Motherboard in the Chassis .................................................. 2-3

2-4 Installing DIMMs ............................................................................................. 2 -4

2-5 Port/Control Panel Connector Locations .................................................. 2 -5,6

2-6 Connecting Cables ......................................................................................... 2-7

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

Infrared Connector .................................................................................... 2- 7

PWR_ON ................................................................................................... 2 -7

Reset ........................................................................................................... 2 -8

Hard Drive LED ........................................................................................ 2 -8

Keylock/Power LED ................................................................................. 2-8

Speaker ..................................................................................................... 2-8

SUPER 370SSA/370SSM User’s Manual

ATX PS/2 Keyboard/Mouse Ports ......................................................... 2-8

Universal Serial Bus ................................................................................ 2- 9

Serial Ports ............................................................................................... 2-9

Wake-On-LAN ............................................................................................ 2-9

CD Headers ............................................................................................ 2-10

Fan Headers ........................................................................................... 2-10

Chassis Intrusion Header ..................................................................... 2-10

Overheat LED .......................................................................................... 2-10

2-7 Jumper Settings ............................................................................................ 2-11

Explanation of Jumpers ........................................................................ 2-11

Front Side Bus Speed ........................................................................... 2-11

CMOS Clear ............................................................................................ 2-12

AC'97 Enable/Disable ............................................................................. 2-12

Wake-On-Ring ......................................................................................... 2-12

Keyboard Wake-Up ................................................................................. 2-13

2-8 Parallel Port, AMR, Floppy/Hard Disk Drive and AGP Connections .... 2-13

Parallel Port Connector ......................................................................... 2-14

Floppy Connector ................................................................................... 2-14

IDE Connectors ...................................................................................... 2-14

AMR Connector ....................................................................................... 2-15

AGP Slot .................................................................................................. 2-15

2-9 Installing Software Dr ivers .......................................................................... 2-16

Chapter 3: Troubleshooting

3-1 Troubleshooting Procedures ......................................................................... 3 -1

Before Power On ...................................................................................... 3 -1

No Power ................................................................................................... 3-1

No Video .................................................................................................... 3-1

Memory Errors .......................................................................................... 3-2

Losing the System’s Setup Configuration ............................................ 3- 2

3-2 Technical Support Procedures ..................................................................... 3-2

3-3 Frequently Asked Questions ......................................................................... 3-3

3-4 Returning Merchandise for Service ............................................................. 3- 6

Chapter 4: BIOS

4-1 Introduction....................................................................................................... 4- 1

4-2 BIOS Features ................................................................................................. 4- 2

4-3 Running Setup ................................................................................................. 4 -2

4-4 Advanced Chipset Setup ................................................................................ 4- 4

4-5 Chipset Setup ................................................................................................. 4-14

vi

Table of Contents

4-6 PCI PnP Setup ............................................................................................... 4-22

4-7 Power Setup ................................................................................................... 4-25

4-8 Boot Setup ...................................................................................................... 4-31

4-9 Security Setup ................................................................................................ 4-33

4-10 Exit Setup ....................................................................................................... 4-35

Appendix:

AMIBIOS Post Diagnostic Error Messages ........................................................... A- 1

vii

Notes

SUPER 370SSA/370SSM User’s Manual

viii

Chapter 1: Introduction

1-1

Introduction

Chapter 1

Introduction

1-1 Overview

Checklist

Congratulations on purchasing your computer motherboard from an ac­knowledged leader in the industry. Supermicro boards are designed with
the utmost attention to detail to provide you with the highest standards in
quality and performance.

Please check that the following items have all been included with your
motherboard. If anything listed here is damaged or missing, contact your
retailer.

One (1) Supermicro Mainboard

One (1) ATA100 ribbon cable for IDE devices (370SSA)

One (1) ATA66 ribbon cable for IDE devices (370SSM)

One (1) floppy ribbon cable for (1) 5.25-inch floppy and (2) 3.5-inch floppy
drives

One (1) serial COM 2 cable (retail only)

One (1) I/O backpanel shield

One (1) Supermicro CD or diskettes containing drivers and utilities

One (1) User's/BIOS Manual

SUPER 370SSA/370SSM User's Manual

1-2

Introduction

Notes

Chapter 1: Introduction

1-3

Introduction

CONTACTING SUPERMICRO

Headquarters

Address: Super Micro Computer, Inc.

2051 Junction Avenue

San Jose, CA 95131 U.S.A.
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail] (General Information)

[e-mail] (Technical Support)
Web site: www.supermicro.com

European Office

Address: Super Micro Computer B.V.

Het Sterrenbeeld 28, 5215 ML,

's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail] (General Information)

[e-mail] (Technical Support)

[e-mail] (Customer Support)

SUPER 370SSA/370SSM User's Manual

1-4

Introduction

SUPER 370SSA

Figure 1-1. SUPER 370SSA Image

Chapter 1: Introduction

1-5

Introduction

SUPER 370SSM

Figure 1-2. SUPER 370SSM Image

SUPER 370SSA/370SSM User's Manual

1-6

Introduction

Figure 1-3. SUPER 370SSA Layout

(not drawn to scale)

SUPER 370SSA

COM1

J30
KB/

MOUSE

J29

ATX POWER

J39

JOH

J38

J32, J33

USB

CPU FAN

D

IM

M

0

DIMM1

PCI 1

PCI 2

PCI 3

JF1

JF2

IR CON PW_ON

RESET

IDE LED/KEYLOCK/SPEAKER

USB2

J19

FLO

P

P

Y

IDE2

IDE1

1

1

J18

F

A

N

2: C

h

a

ssis F

a

n

WOL

FAN3

ICH2

GMCH

J35

Parallel

Port

1

J37

7.8"

J1

J2

BATTERY

FAN2

JPW

A

KE

1

1

LINE

OUT

LINE
IN

MIC

12"

1

JBT1

BIOS
FWH

1

Celeron Processor

FCPGA Package

J4

VGA

GAME PORT

F

A

N

3

: T

he

rm

al C

on

trol F

an

JP11

1

®

AC'97 Audio
CODEC chip

1

JL1

JP12

1

JP28

PCI 4

PCI 5

AGP PRO

PCI 6

CNR/USB3

J40

J41

J42

J28

CD_1

CD

SUPER I/O

J26

JP8

JP9

1

1

DIM

M

2

COM2

JWOR

JP13

J3

Chapter 1: Introduction

1-7

Introduction

370SSA Quick Reference

Jumpers Description Default Setting

JBT1 CMOS Clear (p. 2-12) Pins 1-2 (Normal)
JP11/12 Front Side Bus Speed (p. 2-11) Both: Pins 1-2 (Auto)
JP28 AC97 Audio (p. 2-12) Pins 1-2 (Enabled)
JPWAKE Keyboard Wake-Up Pins 1-2 (Disabled)

Connectors Description

CD Audio CD Input (large connector) (p. 2-10)
CD_1 Audio CD Input (small connector) (p. 2-10)
CNR Communications/Networking Riser (p. 2-14)
COM1/COM2 COM1/COM2 Serial Port Connector (p. 2-9)
CPU FAN CPU Fan Header (p. 2-10)
FAN2 Chassis Fan Header (p. 2-10)
FAN3 Thermal Control Fan Header (p. 2-10)
GAME Game Port
J1, J2, J3 Memory (DIMM) Slots (p. 2-4)
J18, J19 IDE Hard Disk Drive Connectors (p. 2-14)
JP26 Floppy Disk Drive Connector (p. 2-14)
J2 9 ATX Power Connector (p. 2-7)
J30 PS/2 Keyboard/Mouse (p. 2-8)
J32, J33 Universal Serial Bus Ports (p. 2-9)
J35 Parallel Printer Port (p. 2-14)
JF1, JF2 Front Control Panel (p. 2-6)
JL1 Chassis Intrusion Header (p. 2-10)
JOH Overheat LED (p. 2-10)
JWOR Wake-On-Ring Header (p. 2-12)
LINE IN Audio In Connector
LINE OUT Audio Out (Speaker) Connector
MIC Microphone Input
USB3 Universal Serial Bus Port #3
WOL Wake-on-LAN Header (p. 2-9)

Also see the figures on page 2-5 for the I/O ports and page 2-6 for
the Front Control Panel (JF1/2) connectors.

Jumpers not indicated are for test purposes only.

SUPER 370SSA/370SSM User's Manual

1-8

Introduction

Figure 1-4. SUPER 370SSM Layout

(not drawn to scale)

COM1

J30
KB/

MOUSE

J29

ATX POWER

J11

JOH

J12

J32, J33

USB

CPU FAN

DIM

M

0

DIMM1

PCI 1

PCI 2

JF1

JF2

IR CON PW_ON

RESET

IDE LED/KEYLOCK/SPEAKER

J19

FLO

PP

Y

IDE2

IDE1

1

J18

F

A

N

2: C

h

assis F

a

n

WOL

FAN3

ICH2

GMCH

J35

Parallel

Port

7.8"

J1

J2

BATTERY

FAN2

JPW

AK

E

1

1

LINE

OUT

LINE
IN

MIC

9.6"

1

JBT1

BIOS
FWH

1

Celeron Processor

FCPGA Package

J4

VGA

GAME PORT

F

A

N

3

: T

he

rm

al C

o

ntrol F

a

n

JP11

®

JL1

JP12

1

JP28

AGP PRO

CD_1

CD

SUPER I/O

J26

1

1

DIM

M

2

COM2

JR

JP13

J3

SUPER 370SSM

AMR

AC'97 Audio
CODEC chip

Chapter 1: Introduction

1-9

Introduction

370SSM Quick Reference

Jumpers Description Default Setting

JBT1 CMOS Clear (p. 2-12) Pins 1-2 (Normal)
JP11/12 Front Side Bus Speed (p. 2-11) Both: Pins 1-2 (Auto)
JP28 AC97 Audio (p. 2-12) Pins 1-2 (Enabled)
JPWAKE Keyboard Wake-Up Pins 1-2 (Disabled)

Connectors Description

CD Audio CD Input (large connector) (p. 2-10)
CD_1 Audio CD Input (small connector) (p. 2-10)
COM1/COM2 COM1/COM2 Serial Port Connector (p. 2-9)
CPU FAN CPU Fan Header (p. 2-10)
FAN2 Chassis Fan Header (p. 2-10)
FAN3 Thermal Control Fan Header (p. 2-10)
GAME Game Port
J1, J2, J3 Memory (DIMM) Slots (p. 2-4)
J18, J19 IDE Hard Disk Drive Connectors (p. 2-14)
JP26 Floppy Disk Drive Connector (p. 2-14)
J2 9 ATX Power Connector (p. 2-7)
J30 PS/2 Keyboard/Mouse (p. 2-8)
J32, J33 Universal Serial Bus Ports (p. 2-9)
J35 Parallel Printer Port (p. 2-14)
JF1, JF2 Front Control Panel (p. 2-6)
JL1 Chassis Intrusion Header (p. 2-10)
JOH Overheat LED (p. 2-10)
JWOR Wake-On-Ring Header (p. 2-12)
LINE IN Audio In Connector
LINE OUT Audio Out (Speaker) Connector
MIC Microphone Input
WOL Wake-on-LAN Header (p. 2-9)

Also see the figures on page 2-5 for the I/O ports and page 2-6 for
the Front Control Panel (JF1/2) connectors.

Jumpers not indicated are for test purposes only.

SUPER 370SSA/370SSM User's Manual

1-10

Introduction

GMCH

544 BGA

ICH

360 EBGA

133/100/66 MHz Host Bus

USB

BIOS 4Mb

FWH

Graphics Performance

Accelerator

SuperI/O

LPC

1.5 Mb/sec

Pentium III

FCPGA

CPU

IDE Ports

PCI Slots

133/100 MHz

DIMMs

133/100 MHz Memory Bus

AC97

Audio Codec

Modem Codec

2x/4x AGP

Figure 1-5. 815 Chipset:

System Block Diagram

NOTE: This is a general block diagram and may not

exactly represent the features on your motherboard. See

the following pages for the actual specifications of each

motherboard.

Chapter 1: Introduction

1-11

Introduction

Features of the 370SSA/370SSM Motherboard

CPU

• Single Pentium® III FCPGA 500 MHz-1 GHz processors and Celeron

PPGA 333-500 MHz processors at 133/100/66 MHz front side bus
speeds

Note: Please refer to the support section of our web site for a complete listing of supported
processors. (http://www.supermicro.com/TechSupport.htm)

Memory

• Three 168-pin DIMM sockets to support up to 512 MB unbuffered

SDRAM. PC133 and PC100 SDRAM are fully supported.

Chipset

• Intel 815 (370SSM)

• Intel 815E (370SSA)

Expansion Slots

370SSA:

• Six 32-bit PCI slots

• One AGP Pro slot

• One CNR (Communications and Network Riser Card) slot

• 1 GPA (Graphics Perfomance Accelerator, formerly known as AIMM)

slot

370SSM:

• Two 32-bit PCI slots

• One 4xAGP slot

• One AMR (Audio Modem Riser) slot

• 1 GPA (Graphics Perfomance Accelerator, formerly called AIMM) slot

BIOS

• 4 Mb Firmware Hub AMI® Flash BIOS

• APM 1.2, DMI 2.1, PCI 2.2, ACPI 1.0, Plug and Play (PnP)

PC Health Monitoring

• Seven onboard voltage monitors for CPU core, chipset voltage, +3.3V,

±5V and ±12V

• Four-fan status monitor with firmware/software on/off control

• Environmental temperature monitor and control

SUPER 370SSA/370SSM User's Manual

1-12

Introduction

• CPU fan auto-off in sleep mode

• Power-up mode control for recovery from AC power loss

• System overheat LED and control

• System resource alert

• Hardware BIOS virus protection

• Auto-switching voltage regulator for the CPU core

ACPI/PC 98 Features

• Microsoft OnNow

• Slow blinking LED for suspend state indicator

• BIOS support for USB keyboard

• Real-time clock wake-up alarm

• Main switch override mechanism

• External modem ring-on

Onboard I/O

• 2 EIDE bus master interfaces support Ultra DMA/100 (370SSA)

• 2 EIDE bus master interfaces support Ultra DMA/66 (370SSM)

• 1 floppy port interface (up to 2.88 MB)

• 2 Fast UART 16550A compatible serial ports

• 1 EPP (Enhanced Parallel Port) and ECP (Extended Capabilities Port)
supported parallel port

• PS/2 mouse and PS/2 keyboard ports

• 1 infrared port

• 4 USB (Universal Serial Bus) ports (2 USB ports on 370SSM)

Other

• Selectable CPU and chassis fan speed control (set in BIOS)

• Internal/external modem ring-on

• Recovery from AC power loss control

• Wake-on-LAN (WOL)

• Multiple FSB clock frequency selections (set in BIOS)

CD Utilities

• BIOS flash upgrade utility

• Drivers for 815 chipset utilities

Dimensions

• SUPER 370SSA - ATX: 12" x 7.8" (305 x 198 mm)

• SUPER 370SSM - MicroATX: 9.6" x 7.8" (244 x 198 mm)

Chapter 1: Introduction

1-13

Introduction

1-2 Chipset Overview

Intel’s 815 chipset is made up of three main components: the Graphics and
Memory Controller Hub (GMCH), the I/O Controller Hub (ICH) and the Firm­ware Hub (FWH). The GMCH integrates a 133/100/66 MHz system bus
controller, a 2D/3D graphics accelerator (AGP2x/4x) discrete graphics card,
a 133/100 MHz SDRAM controller and a high-speed hub architecture inter­face that communicates with the ICH. The ICH integrates a UDMA/100 or
UDMA/66 controller, USB controllers and other I/O functions (see below).
The FWH stores both system and video BIOS and includes a Random Num­ber Generator (RNG).

Graphics and Memory Controller Hub (GMCH)

The GMCH includes the host (CPU) interface, DRAM interface, ICH interface
and 4xAGP interface for the 815 chipset. It contains advanced power
management logic and supports dual channels for DRAM. The AGP 2.0
interface supports 4x data transfers and operates at a peak bandwidth of
266 MB/sec. The MCH host interface bus runs at 133/100/66 MHz.

I/O Controller Hub (ICH/ICH2)

The ICH is the I/O Controller Hub subsystem on the 370SSM, which inte­grates many of the Input/Output functions of the 815 chipset, including a
two-channel UDMA/66 Bus Master IDE controller. It also provides the inter­face to the PCI Bus and communicates with the MCH over a dedicated hub
interface. The 370SSA has the more powerful ICH2, which includes UDMA/
100 IDE controllers and two USB controllers that offer 24 Mbps of band­width across four ports. ICH2 also features an enhanced AC'97 interface
that supports full surround sound for the Dolby Digital Audio used on DVDs.

Firmware Hub (FWH)

The FWH is a component that brings added security and manageability to
the PC platform infrastructure. This device includes an integrated Random
Number Generator (RNG) for stronger encryption, digital signing and secu­rity protocols. The FWH stores the system BIOS and video BIOS to eliminate
a redundant nonvolatile memory component.

SUPER 370SSA/370SSM User's Manual

1-14

Introduction

Recovery from AC Power Loss

BIOS provides a setting for you to determine how the system will respond
when AC power is lost and then restored to the system. You can choose
for the system to remain powered off (in which case you must hit the
power switch to turn it back on) or for it to automatically return to a power
on state. See the Power Lost Control setting in the BIOS chapter of this
manual to change this setting. The default setting is Always OFF.

1-3 Special Features

Communication and Networking Riser (CNR - 370SSA only)

The CNR slot supports audio, modem and networking cards and provides
interfaces that support multichannel audio, V.90 analog modems, home net­working through a telephone line, 10/100 Ethernet-based networking and
future technologies. Separating sound and communications systems from
the motherboard makes them less sensitive to noise.

Audio Modem Riser (AMR - 370SSM only)

The AMR is a new modular specification that integrates the audio/modem
functions on the motherboard by assigning the analog I/O functions to a
riser card. Integration of the audio/modem function enhances system capa­bilities while reducing costs. The AMR interface is based on an AC-link that
is compliant with Intel’s Audio Codec ’97 version 2.1 specification.

1-4 PC Health Monitoring

This section describes the PC health monitoring features of the SUPER
370SSA/370SSM. Both have an onboard System Hardware Monitor chip
that supports PC health monitoring.

Seven Onboard Voltage Monitors for the CPU Core, Chipset
Voltage, +3.3V,

±±

±±

±5V and

±±

±±

±12V

The onboard voltage monitor will scan these seven voltages continuously.
Once a voltage becomes unstable, it will give a warning or send an error
message to the screen. Users can adjust the voltage thresholds to define
the sensitivity of the voltage monitor.

Chapter 1: Introduction

1-15

Introduction

Three-Fan Status Monitor with Firmware/Software On/Off
Control

The PC health monitor can check the RPM status of the cooling fans. The
onboard 3-pin CPU and chassis fans are controlled by the power manage­ment functions. The thermal fan is controlled by the overheat detection
logic.

Environmental Temperature Control

The thermal control sensor monitors the CPU temperature in real time and
will turn on the thermal control fan whenever the CPU temperature exceeds
a user-defined threshold. The overheat circuitry runs independently from
the CPU. It can continue to monitor for overheat conditions even when the
CPU is in sleep mode. Once it detects that the CPU temperature is too high,
it will automatically turn on the thermal control fan to prevent any overheat
damage to the CPU. The onboard chassis thermal circuitry can monitor the
overall system temperature and alert users when the chassis temperature
is too high.

CPU Fan Auto-Off in Sleep Mode

The CPU fan activates when the power is turned on. It can be turned off
when the CPU is in sleep mode. When in sleep mode, the CPU will not run
at full power, thereby generating less heat.

CPU Overheat LED and Control

This feature is available when the user enables the CPU overheat warning
function in the BIOS. This allows the user to define an overheat tempera­ture. When this temperature is exceeded, both the overheat fan and the
warning LED are triggered.

System Resource Alert

This feature is available when used with Intel's LANDesk Client Manager
(optional). It is used to notify the user of certain system events. For
example, if the system is running low on virtual memory and there is insuf­ficient hard drive space for saving the data, you can be alerted of the
potential problem.

SUPER 370SSA/370SSM User's Manual

1-16

Introduction

Hardware BIOS Virus Protection

The system BIOS is protected by hardware so that no virus can infect the
BIOS area. The user can only change the BIOS content through the flash
utility provided by SUPERMICRO. This feature can prevent viruses from
infecting the BIOS area and destroying valuable data.

Auto-Switching Voltage Regulator for the CPU Core

The auto-switching voltage regulator for the CPU core can support up to
20A current and auto-sense voltage IDs ranging from 1.3V to 3.5V. This
will allow the regulator to run cooler and thus make the system more stable.

1-5 ACPI/PC 98 Features

ACPI stands for Advanced Configuration and Power Interface. The ACPI
specification defines a flexible and abstract hardware interface that pro­vides a standard way to integrate power management features throughout
a PC system, including its hardware, operating system and application soft­ware. This enables the system to automatically turn on and off peripherals
such as CD-ROMs, network cards, hard disk drives and printers. This also
includes consumer devices connected to the PC such as VCRs, TVs, tele­phones and stereos.

In addition to enabling operating system-directed power management, ACPI
provides a generic system event mechanism for Plug and Play and an oper­ating system-independent interface for configuration control. ACPI lever­ages the Plug and Play BIOS data structures while providing a processor
architecture-independent implementation that is compatible with both Win­dows 98 and Windows NT 5.0. Note: To utilize ACPI, you must reinstall
Windows 98. To reinstall Windows 98 with ACPI, enter DOS and type
"setup /p J" at the CDROM prompt (usually D:\) with the Windows 98 CD
loaded. (Make sure you include the spaces after "setup" and "p".) Then hit
<Enter>. You can check to see if ACPI has been properly installed by
looking for it in the Device Manager, which is located in the Control Panel in
Windows.

Microsoft OnNow

The OnNow design initiative is a comprehensive, system-wide approach to
system and device power control. OnNow is a term for a PC that is always
on but appears to be off and responds immediately to user or other re-

Chapter 1: Introduction

1-17

Introduction

quests.

Slow Blinking LED for Suspend-State Indicator

When the CPU goes into a suspend state, the chassis power LED will start
blinking to indicate that the CPU is in suspend mode. When the user presses
any key, the CPU will wake-up and the LED will automatically stop blinking
and remain on.

BIOS Support for USB Keyboard

If the USB keyboard is the only keyboard in the system, it keyboard will
function like a normal keyboard during system boot-up.

Real Time Clock Wake-Up Alarm

Although the PC may be perceived to be off when not in use, it is still
capable of responding to preset wake-up events. In the BIOS, the user can
set a timer to wake-up the system at a predetermined time.

Main Switch Override Mechanism

When an ATX power supply is used, the power button can function as a
system suspend button. When the user depresses the power button, the
system will enter a SoftOff state. The monitor will be suspended and the
hard drive will spin down. Depressing the power button again will cause
the whole system to wake-up. During the SoftOff state, the ATX power
supply provides power to keep the required circuitry in the system alive. In
case the system malfunctions and you want to turn off the power, just
depress and hold the power button for 4 seconds. The power will turn off
and no power will be provided to the motherboard.

External Modem Ring-On

Wake-up events can be triggered by a device such as the external modem
ringing when the system is in the SoftOff state. Note that external modem
ring-on can only be used with an ATX 2.01 (or above) compliant power
supply.

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Introduction

1-7 Super I/O

The disk drive adapter functions of the Super I/O chip include a floppy disk
drive controller that is compatible with industry standard 82077/765, a data
separator, write pre-compensation circuitry, decode logic, data rate selec­tion, a clock generator, drive interface control logic and interrupt and DMA
logic. The wide range of functions integrated onto the Super I/O greatly
reduces the number of components required for interfacing with floppy disk
drives. The Super I/O supports four 360 K, 720 K, 1.2 M, 1.44 M or 2.88 M
disk drives and data transfer rates of 250 Kb/s, 500 Kb/s or 1 Mb/s.

Wake-On-LAN (WOL)

Wake-On-LAN is defined as the ability of a management application to re­motely power up a computer that is powered off. Remote PC setup, up­dates and asset tracking can occur after hours and on weekends so that
daily LAN traffic is kept to a minimum and users are not interrupted. The
motherboards have a 3-pin header (WOL) to connect to the 3-pin header on
a Network Interface Card (NIC) that has WOL capability. Wake-On-LAN
must be enabled in BIOS. Note that Wake-On-Lan can only be used with an
ATX 2.01 (or above) compliant power supply.

1-6 Power Supply

As with all computer products, a stable power source is necessary for
proper and reliable operation. It is even more important for processors that
have high CPU clock rates of 300 MHz and above.

The SUPER 370SSA/370SSM accommodates ATX power supplies. Although
most power supplies generally meet the specifications required by the CPU,
some are inadequate.

It is strongly recommended that you use a high quality power supply that
meets ATX power supply Specification 2.02 or above. Additionally, in ar­eas

where noisy power transmission is present, you may choose to install a
line filter to shield the computer from noise. It is recommended that you also
install a power surge protector to help avoid problems caused by power
surges.

Chapter 1: Introduction

1-19

Introduction

It also provides two high-speed, 16550 compatible serial communication
ports (UARTs), one of which supports serial infrared communication. Each
UART includes a 16-byte send/receive FIFO, a programmable baud rate
generator, complete modem control capability and a processor interrupt sys­tem. Both UARTs provide legacy speed with baud rate of up to 115.2 Kbps
as well as an advanced speed with baud rates of 250 K, 500 K, or 1 Mb/s,
which support higher speed modems.

The Super I/O supports one PC-compatible printer port (SPP), Bi-directional
Printer Port (BPP) , Enhanced Parallel Port (EPP) or Extended Capabilities
Port (ECP).

The Super I/O provides functions that comply with ACPI (Advanced Con­figuration and Power Interface), which includes support of legacy and ACPI
power management through an SMI or SCI function pin. It also features
auto power management to reduce power consumption.

The IRQs, DMAs and I/O space resources of the Super I/O can flexibly
adjust to meet ISA PnP requirements, which suppport ACPI and APM (Ad­vanced Power Management).

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Introduction

Notes