Supero SUPER P3TSSA, SUPER P3TSSE, SUPER P3TSSR User Manual

®

SUPER P3TSSA
SUPER P3TSSR
SUPER P3TSSE

USER’S MANUAL

Revision 1.0c

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 © 2002 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 SUPER P3TSSA/P3TSSR/P3TSSE motherboards. The SUPER
P3TSSA/P3TSSR/P3TSSE supports single Intel® PentiumTM III FCPGA 500
MHz-1.4 GHz processors (including low power PentiumTM III processors) at
front side bus speeds of 133 and 100 MHz, and FCPGA and FCPGA2
CeleronTM processors at front side bus speeds of 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. Intel

®

FCPGA 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 P3TSSA/P3TSSR/P3TSSE mainboards 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 trouble­shooting 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.

Appendix A lists BIOS error beep codes.

Appendix B provides POST checkpoint codes.

iii

Preface

SUPER P3TSSA/P3TSSR/P3TSSE User’s Manual

iv

Table of Contents

About This Manual ...................................................................................................... iii

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

Chapter 1: Introduction

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

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

Contacting Supermicro ............................................................................ 1 -2

SUPER P3TSSA Image ............................................................................ 1-3

SUPER P3TSSR Image ............................................................................. 1-4

SUPER P3TSSE Image ............................................................................. 1-5

SUPER P3TSSA Layout........................................................................... 1-6

SUPER P3TSSA Quick Reference.......................................................... 1-7

SUPER P3TSSR Layout ........................................................................... 1-8

SUPER P3TSSR Quick Reference .......................................................... 1-9

SUPER P3TSSE Layout ......................................................................... 1-10

SUPER P3TSSE Quick Reference ........................................................ 1-11

Motherboard Features .......................................................................... 1-12

815E B-Step Chipset: System Block Diagram.................................... 1-14

1-2 Chipset Overview......................................................................................... 1-15

1-3 Special Features........................................................................................... 1-16

1-4 PC Health Monitoring.................................................................................... 1-16

1-5 ACPI/PC 98 Features ................................................................................... 1-18

1-6 Power Supply ............................................................................................... 1-20

1- 7 Super I/O......................................................................................................... 1-20

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

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

v

Table of Contents

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

Speaker ..................................................................................................... 2-9

ATX PS/2 Keyboard/Mouse Ports ......................................................... 2-9

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

Serial Ports ............................................................................................. 2-10

Wake-On-LAN ......................................................................................... 2-10

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

Fan Headers ........................................................................................... 2-11

Chassis Intrusion Header ..................................................................... 2-11

Overheat LED .......................................................................................... 2-11

Speaker Header ...................................................................................... 2-11

2- 7 Jumper Settings ............................................................................................ 2-12

Explanation of Jumpers ........................................................................ 2- 12

Front Side Bus Speed .......................................................................... 2-12

CMOS Clear............................................................................................. 2-13

AC'97 Enable/Disable ............................................................................. 2-13

Speaker .................................................................................................... 2-13

Keyboard Wake-Up................................................................................. 2-14

SCSI Termination ..................................................................................... 2-14

LAN1/LAN2 .............................................................................................. 2-14

Watchdog Reset ..................................................................................... 2-14

2- 8 Parallel Port, AGP, Floppy/Hard Disk Drive and SCSI Connections..... 2-15

Parallel Port Connector ......................................................................... 2- 15

Floppy Connector ................................................................................... 2-16

IDE Connectors ...................................................................................... 2- 16

Ultra160 SCSI Connectors ..................................................................... 2-17

AGP Pro/4xAGP Slot .............................................................................. 2-18

2-9 Installing Software Drivers......................................................................... 2-19

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

SUPER P3TSSA/P3TSSR/P3TSSE User’s Manual

vi

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................................................................................................. 4-16

4-6 PCI PnP Setup ................................................................................................ 4-24

4-7 Power Setup .................................................................................................. 4-28

4- 8 Boot Setup...................................................................................................... 4-34

4-9 Security Setup ............................................................................................... 4-36

4-10 Exit Setup ....................................................................................................... 4-38

Appendices:

AMIBIOS Error Beep Codes .................................................................................... A-1

AMIBIOS POST Codes ..............................................................................................B-1

Chapter 1: Introduction

1-1

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) ATA100/66/33 ribbon cable for IDE devices

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 box only)

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

One (1) User's/BIOS Manual

SCSI Accessories (P3TSSR only):

One (1) SCSI Manual

One (1) set of SCSI driver diskettes

One (1) 68-pin LVD SCSI cable (retail box only)

SUPER P3TSSA/P3TSSR/P3TSSE User's Manual

1-2

Contacting Supermicro

Headquarters

Address: Super Micro Computer, Inc.

980 Rock Ave.

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

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

Europe

Address: Super Micro Computer B.V.

Het Sterrenbeeld 28, 5215 ML

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

[e-mail] (Technical Support)

[e-mail] (Customer Support)

Asia-Pacific

Address: 3F, #753 Chung-Cheng Road

Chung-Ho City, Taipei Hsien, Taiwan, R.O.C.
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Web Site: www.supermicro.com.tw
Technical Support:
Email: [e-mail]
Tel: [phone], ext.132

Chapter 1: Introduction

1-3

SUPER P3TSSA

Figure 1-1. SUPER P3TSSA Image

SUPER P3TSSA/P3TSSR/P3TSSE User's Manual

1-4

SUPER P3TSSR

Figure 1-2. SUPER P3TSSR Image

Chapter 1: Introduction

1-5

SUPER P3TSSE

Figure 1-3. SUPER P3TSSE Image

SUPER P3TSSA/P3TSSR/P3TSSE User's Manual

1-6

Figure 1-4. SUPER P3TSSA Layout

(not drawn to scale)

SUPER P3TSSA

COM1

J30
KB/

MOUSE

J29

ATX POWER

J39

JOH

J38

USB0/1

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

ha

ssis F

a

n

WOL

FAN3

ICH2

GMCH

J35

Parallel

Port

1

J37

7.8"

J1

J2

BATTERY

FAN2

JPW

AKE

1

1

LINE

OUT

LINE
IN

MIC

12"

1

JBT1

BIOS
FWH

1

PIII FCPGA or

Celeron Processor

J4

VGA

GAME PORT

F

A

N

3: T

he

rm

al C

o

ntrol F

a

n

JP11

®

AC'97 Audio
CODEC chip

1

JL1

JP12

JP28

PCI 4

PCI 5

AGP PRO

PCI 6

CNR/USB3

J40

J41

J42

J28

CD_1

CD

SUPER I/O

J26

1

1

D

IM

M

2

COM2

JWOR

J3

1

1

1

Chapter 1: Introduction

1-7

P3TSSA Quick Reference

Jumpers Description Default Setting

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

Connectors Description

CD Audio CD Input (large connector)
CD_1 Audio CD Input (small connector)
CNR Communications/Networking Riser
COM1/COM2 COM1/COM2 Serial Port Connector
CPU FAN CPU Fan Header
FAN2 Chassis Fan Header
FAN3 Thermal Control Fan Header
GAME Game Port
J1, J2, J3 Memory (DIMM) Slots
J18, J19 IDE Hard Disk Drive Connectors
JP26 Floppy Disk Drive Connector
J2 9 ATX Power Connector
J30 PS/2 Keyboard/Mouse
J35 Parallel Printer Port
JF1, JF2 Front Control Panel
JL1 Chassis Intrusion Header
JOH Overheat LED
JWOR Wake-On-Ring Header
LINE IN Audio In Connector
LINE OUT Audio Out (Speaker) Connector
MIC Microphone Input
USB0/1 Universal Serial Bus Ports
USB2 Universal Serial Bus Header
WOL Wake-on-LAN Header

See Chapter 2 for details on the above jumpers and connectors and
the Front Control Panel connectors (JF1JF2).

Jumpers not indicated are for test purposes only.

SUPER P3TSSA/P3TSSR/P3TSSE User's Manual

1-8

Figure 1-5. SUPER P3TSSR Layout

(not drawn to scale)

PIII FCPGA or

Celeron Processor

GMCH

J30

KB/Mouse

USB0/1

COM 1

COM 2

VGA

LAN 1

LAN 2

J29

ATX POWERCPU FAN

JPWAKE

JP12

DIMM0

JP11

DIMM1

DIMM2

JF1

IR

PW LED

BATTERY

CH FAN 1

BLOWER FAN

OH FAN

J1

J2

J3

PCI 3

AGP 4x

PCI 2

PCI 4

PCI 1

ICH2

Ultra III LVD SCSI CH B

BIOS
FWH

JA2

Ultra III LVD SCSI CH B

JA3

JP31

JP35

JPA2

JP34

JPA1

AIC - 7899

Ultra III LVD SCSI CH A

JA1

JBT1

JWOR

WOL

JL1

JP32

SUPER P3TSSR

®

IDE #1 IDE #2

FLOPPY

J19

J18

J26

USB2

USB3

JP36

Chapter 1: Introduction

1-9

P3TSSR Quick Reference

Jumpers Description Default Setting

JBT1 CMOS Clear Pins 1-2 (Normal)
JPA1 SCSI Channel A Termination Open (Terminated)
JPA2 SCSI Channel B Termination Open (Terminated)
JP11/12 Front Side Bus Speed Both: Pins 1-2 (Auto)
JP31 LAN2 Enable/Disable Closed (Enabled)
JP34 SCSI Enable/Disable Pins 1-2 (Enabled)
JP35 LAN1 Enable/Disable Closed (Enabled)
JP36 Speaker/Watchdog Enable Closed (Speaker)
JPWAKE Keyboard Wake-Up Pins 1-2 (Disabled)

Connectors Description

CH FAN 1 Chassis Fan Header
COM1/COM2 COM1/COM2 Serial Port Connector
CPU FAN CPU Fan Header
IR Infrared Device Header
J1, J2, J3 Memory (DIMM) Slots
J18, J19 IDE Hard Disk Drive Connectors
J2 9 ATX Power Connector
J30 PS/2 Keyboard/Mouse Ports
J35 Parallel Printer Port
JF1 Front Control Panel Header
JL1 Chassis Intrusion Header
JP26 Floppy Disk Drive Connector
JP32 Speaker Header
JWOR Wake-On-Ring Header
LAN1/LAN2 Ethernet Ports
OH FAN Overheat Fan Header
PW LED Power LED Header
USB0/1 Universal Serial Bus Ports
USB2/3 Universal Serial Bus Headers
VGA VGA (Monitor) Port
WOL Wake-on-LAN Header

See Chapter 2 for details on the above jumpers and connectors and the
Front Control Panel connectors (JF1).

Jumpers not indicated are for test purposes only.

SUPER P3TSSA/P3TSSR/P3TSSE User's Manual

1-10

Figure 1-6. SUPER P3TSSE Layout

(not drawn to scale)

PIII FCPGA or

Celeron Processor

GMCH

J30

KB/Mouse

USB0/1

COM 1

COM 2

VGA

LAN 1

LAN 2

J29

ATX POWERCPU FAN

JPWAKE

JP12

DIMM0

JP11

DIMM1

DIMM2

JF1

IR

PW LED

BATTERY

CH FAN 1

BLOWER FAN

OH FAN

J1

J2

J3

PCI 3

AGP 4x

PCI 2

PCI 4

PCI 1

ICH2

BIOS
FWH

JP31

JP35

JBT1

JWOR

WOL

JL1

JP32

SUPER P3TSSE

®

IDE #1 IDE #2

FLOPPY

J19

J18

J26

USB2

USB3

JP36

Chapter 1: Introduction

1-11

P3TSSE Quick Reference

Jumpers Description Default Setting

JBT1 CMOS Clear Pins 1-2 (Normal)
JP11/12 Front Side Bus Speed Both: Pins 1-2 (Auto)
JP31 LAN2 Enable/Disable Closed (Enabled)
JP35 LAN1 Enable/Disable Closed (Enabled)
JP36 Speaker/Watchdog Enable Closed (Speaker)
JPWAKE Keyboard Wake-Up Pins 1-2 (Disabled)

Connectors Description

CH FAN 1 Chassis Fan Header
COM1/COM2 COM1/COM2 Serial Port Connector
CPU FAN CPU Fan Header
IR Infrared Device Header
J1, J2, J3 Memory (DIMM) Slots
J18, J19 IDE Hard Disk Drive Connectors
J2 9 ATX Power Connector
J30 PS/2 Keyboard/Mouse Ports
J35 Parallel Printer Port
JF1 Front Control Panel Header
JL1 Chassis Intrusion Header
JP26 Floppy Disk Drive Connector
JP32 Speaker Header
JWOR Wake-On-Ring Header
LAN1/LAN2 Ethernet Ports
OH FAN Overheat Fan Header
PW LED Power LED Header
USB0/1 Universal Serial Bus Ports
USB2/3 Universal Serial Bus Headers
VGA VGA (Monitor) Port
WOL Wake-on-LAN Header

See Chapter 2 for details on the above jumpers and connectors and the
Front Control Panel connectors (JF1).

Jumpers not indicated are for test purposes only.

SUPER P3TSSA/P3TSSR/P3TSSE User's Manual

1-12

Motherboard Features

CPU

• Single Pentium® III 500 MHz - 1.4 GHz processors at front bus speeds

of 133/100 MHz, and single FCPGA and FCPGA2 Celeron processors at
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.
P3TSSR only: DIMM sockets are positioned at 25 degrees for use in
rackmount systems.

Chipset

• Intel 815E B-Step

Expansion Slots

P3TSSA P3TSSR P3TSSE

• 6 32-bit PCI 4 32-bit PCI 4 32-bit PCI

• 1 4xAGP Pro 1 4xAGP Pro 1 4xAGP

• 1 CNR

BIOS

• 4 Mb Firmware Hub AMI® Flash BIOS

• APM 1.2, DMI 2.3, PCI 2.2, ACPI 1.0, Plug and Play (PnP)

PC Health Monitoring

• Six onboard voltage monitors for CPU core, chipset voltage, +3.3v, +5v

and ±12v

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

• Environmental temperature monitor and control

• 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

Chapter 1: Introduction

1-13

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

• AIC-7899 controller for dual channel Ultra 160 SCSI (P3TSSR only)

• Intel 82559 for onboard Ethernet (P3TSSR/P3TSSE only)

• 2 EIDE bus master interfaces support UDMA/100

• 1 floppy port interface (up to 2.88 MB)

• 2 Fast UART 16550A compatible serial ports

• 1 EPP/ECP (Enhanced Parallel Port/Extended Capabilities Port)

• 1 (each) PS/2 mouse and PS/2 keyboard ports

• 1 infrared port

• 4 USB ports (up to 3 on P3TSSA)

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)

• Direct AGP with optional AIMM 4 MB display cache

CD Utilities

• BIOS flash upgrade utility

• Drivers for 815/815E chipset utilities

Dimensions

• P3TSSA: ATX 12" x 7.8" (305 x 198 mm)

• P3TSSR: ATX 12" x 8.7" (305 x 221 mm)

• P3TSSE: ATX 12" x 7.8" (305 x 198 mm)

SUPER P3TSSA/P3TSSR/P3TSSE User's Manual

1-14

GMCH

544 BGA

ICH

360 EBGA

133/100/66 MHz Host Bus

USB

BIOS 4Mb

FWH

Graphics Performance

Accelera tor

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 1-7. 815E B-Step Chipset:

System Block Diagram

NOTE: This is a general block diagram and may not

exactly represent the features on your motherboard. See

the previous pages for the actual specifications of each

motherboard.

Chapter 1: Introduction

1-15

1-2 Chipset Overview

Intel’s 815E B-Step 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 ICH2. The ICH2 inte­grates a UDMA/100 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, ICH2 inter­face and 4xAGP interface for the 815/815E 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 (ICH2)

The P3TSSA/P3TSSR/P3TSSE is based on the 815E B-Step chipset and has
the more powerful ICH2, which includes UDMA/100 IDE controllers and two
USB controllers that offer 24 Mbps of bandwidth across four USB 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 both the system BIOS and video BIOS
thereby eliminating a redundant nonvolatile memory component.

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

SUPER P3TSSA/P3TSSR/P3TSSE User's Manual

1-16

power switch to turn it back on) or for it to automatically return to a power­on state. See the "Power Loss 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 (P3TSSA 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, Ethernet 10/100 T-base networking and
future communications technologies.
Separating the sound and communications systems from the motherboard
makes them less sensitive to noise.

1-4 PC Health Monitoring

This section describes the PC health monitoring features of the SUPER
P3TSSA/P3TSSR/P3TSSE.

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

++

++

+5v and

±±

±±

±12v

The onboard voltage monitor scans 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.

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.

Chapter 1: Introduction

1-17

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 allowing it to continue to monitor for overheat conditions 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.

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.

SUPER P3TSSA/P3TSSR/P3TSSE User's Manual

1-18

Auto-Switching Voltage Regulator for the CPU Core

The auto-switching voltage regulator for the CPU core can support up to
20A of 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 99 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 automatically to turn peripherals, such as
CD-ROMs, network cards, hard disk drives and printers, on and off. This
feature 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, Windows NT and Windows 2000. 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 re­quests.

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.

Chapter 1: Introduction

1-19

BIOS Support for USB Keyboard

If a USB keyboard is the only keyboard in the system, it can be set to
function as 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 four seconds. The power will turn
off and the main power will not 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.

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.

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1-20

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 KB, 720 KB, 1.2 MB, 1.44 MB or

2.88 MB disk drives and data transfer rates of 250 Kbps, 500 Kbps or 1
Mbps.

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 rates of up to 115.2
Kbps as well as advanced speeds with baud rates of 250 Kbps, 500 Kbps
or 1 Mbps to 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).

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.

The SUPER P3TSSA/P3TSSR/P3TSSE 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

1-21

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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1-22

Notes

Chapter 2: Installation

2-1

Chapter 2

Installation

2-1 Static-Sensitive Devices

Electric-Static-Discharge (ESD) can damage electronic components. To pre­vent damage to your system board, it is important to handle it very carefully.
The following measures are generally sufficient to protect your equipment
from ESD.

Precautions

• Use a grounded wrist strap designed to prevent static discharge.

• Touch a grounded metal object before removing the board from the anti­static bag.

• Handle the board by its edges only; do not touch its components, periph­eral chips, memory modules or gold contacts.

• When handling chips or modules, avoid touching their pins.

• Put the motherboard and peripherals back into their antistatic bags when
not in use.

• For grounding purposes, make sure your computer chassis provides ex­cellent conductivity between the power supply, the case, the mounting
fasteners and the motherboard.

Unpacking

The motherboard is shipped in antistatic packaging to avoid static damage.
When unpacking the board, make sure the person handling it is static pro­tected.

2-2

SUPER P3TSSA/P3TSSR/P3TSSE User’s Manual

Heat Sink

Follow the instructions that came with your processor or heat sink to
attach a heat sink to the processor. Your heat sink should have a 3-pin
fan, which connects to the CPU FAN header. Make sure that good
contact is made between the CPU chip and the heat sink. Insufficient
contact will cause the processor to overheat, which may crash the
system.

Processor

You are now ready to install the processor. Your motherboard has a 370­pin, FCPGA type socket, which supports Single PentiumTM III FCPGA 500
MHz-1.26+ GHz processors at front bus speeds of 133/100 MHz, and single
FCPGA and FCPGA2 CeleronTM processors at 100/66 MHz front side bus
speeds. Lift the lever on the FCPGA socket and install with the notched
corner of the processor oriented with pin 1. Fully seat the processor into
the socket and then close the lever.

2-2 Processor Installation

When handling the processor package, avoid placing
direct pressure on the label area of the fan.

The following pages cover the installation procedure. You should install the
processor in the motherboard first, then install the motherboard in the chas­sis, then the memory and add-on cards, and finally the cables and drivers.
Following the installation procedures in the order they appear in this chap­ter should eliminate the most common problems encountered when installing
a system.

IMPORTANT: Always connect the power cord last and always re­move it before adding, removing or changing any hardware compo­nents.

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