Transcend TS-AVE3, TS-AVE3/B User Manual

TS-AVE3

TS-AVE3/B

USER’S MANUAL

Intel

®

Socket 370 Celeron

TM

Pentium® III FC-PGA Series

/

TS-AVE3 Motherboard

Supporting Intel ® Socket 370 CeleronTM/Pentium IIITM FC-PGA Series Processor

66/100/133 MHz Front Side Bus Frequency
AGP 4X

VIA® Apollo Pro 133A Chipset

Welcome !!

Congratulations on your purchase of this great value motherboard, with its range of special
features and innovative onboard functions, built around the advanced architecture of the new
VIA® Apollo Pro 133A Chipset. More details to follow later in this manual.

Our Website

Please come and visit us at our website on http://www.transcendusa.com/ . You’ll find plenty
of interesting information about this and many other quality Transcend products.

Your User’s Manual

This User’s Manual is designed to help end users and system manufacturers to set up and
install the motherboard. All of the information within has been carefully checked for accuracy .
However, Transcend Information, Inc. (hereafter referred to as “Transcend”) carries no
responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies which this manual may contain. This
includes references to products and software. In addition, the information and specifications
are subject to change without prior notice.

Disclaimer

Transcend provides this manual “as is” without any warranty of any kind, either expressed or
implied, including - but not limited to - the implied warranties, conditions of merchantability or
fitness for a particular purpose. Transcend, its management, employees, distributors and
agents are in no way liable for any indirect special, incidental or consequential damages,
including loss of profits, loss of business and the like. This is even if Transcend has been
advised of the possibility of such damages arising from any defect or error in this manual or
product.

Trademarks

All brands, product names and trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of
their respective owners or companies and are used solely for identification or explanation. It
is Transcend policy to respect all product rights.

Copyright

This manual may not, in whole or in part, be photocopied, reproduced, transcribed, translated
or transmitted, in whatever form or language, without the written consent of the manufacturer,
except for copies retained by the purchaser for personal archiving purposes.

Manual Version: 2.1
Release Date: April , 2001
Copyright © 2000 Transcend Information, Inc.

T able of Contents

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Essential Handling Precautions ......................................................................................1

1.2 Checklist: Hardware Required for Setup .......................................................................2

1.3 Package Contents .................................................................................................. 2

1.4 Specifications and Features ...........................................................................................3

CHAPTER 2 HARDWARE INSTALLATION 5

2.1 Transcend’s TS-AVE3 Motherboard ............................................................... 5

2.2 Layout of Transcend’s TS-AVE3 Motherboard ................................................. 6

2.3 CPU Installation ............................................................................................ 7

2.4 66/100/133MHz System Configuration ........................................................ 9

2.5 Memory Configuration ................................................................................... 10

2.6 Primary/Secondary IDE Connectors ............................................................. 11

2.7 Floppy Disk Drive Connector .......................................................................... 12

2.8 Fan Power Connectors ............................................................................... 12

2.9 Wake-on-LAN Connector ............................................................................ 13

2.10 IrDA-Compliant Infrared Module Connector .................................................. 13

2.11 Panel Connectors ....................................................................................... 14

2.12 Power Connector ....................................................................................... 16

2.13 External Back Panel I/O Ports ..................................................................... 16

2.14 Using JPS to clear CMOS Jumper........................................................................... 17

2.15 Onboard Audio Setting .............................................................................. 18

2.16 Internal Audio Connectors ...................................................................................... 19

2.17 Internal USB Port Connector

................................................................................ 20

CHAPTER 3 BIOS SETUP 21

3.1 BIOS Setup.................................................................................................. 21

3.2 The Main Menu ........................................................................................... 21

3.3 Standard CMOS Features............................................................................. 23

3.4 Advanced BIOS Features............................................................................. 26

3.5 Advanced Chipset Features .......................................................................... 30

3.6 Integrated Peripherals ........................................................................... 34

3.7 Power Management Setup......................................................................... 38

3.8 PnP/PCI Configurations ................................................................................ 43

3.9 PC Health Status................................................................................... 45

3.10 Frequency/Voltage Control ........................................................................... 46

3.11 Load Fail-Safe Defaults ............................................................................. 47

3.12 Load Optimized Defanlts.............................................................................. 47

3.13 Supervisor Password ................................................................................ 48

3.14 User Password.................................................................................... 49

3.15 Save & Exit Setup................................................................................... 50

3.16 Exit Without Saving................................................................................... 50

CHAPTER 4 BIOS UPGRADE 51

4.1 How to Check Your BIOS File Name and Version .......................................... 51

4.2 How to Download the Correct BIOS File from Our Web Site.............................51

4.3 How to Upgrade Your Motherboard BIOS .................................................... 52

INTRODUCTION 1

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Essential Handling Precautions

IMPORTANT. Read this page before unpacking your motherboard!

• Power Supply

Be careful! Always ensure that the computer is disconnected from the power supply when
working on the motherboard and its components.

• Static

Static electricity may cause damage to the delicate integrated circuit chips on your motherboard.
Before handling the motherboard outside of its protective packaging, ensure that there is no
static electric charge in your body . To avoid this risk, please observe these simple precautions
while handling the motherboard and other computer components:

1. If possible, wear an anti-static wrist strap. This fits around your wrist and is connected to
a natural earth ground.

2. Touch a grounded or anti-static surface, or a metal fixture such as a pipe or the chassis of
your system, before touching the motherboard.

3. When you have removed the motherboard from its anti-static packaging, try to hold it only
by the edges, without touching any components.

4. Avoid contacting the components on add-on cards, motherboards, and modules with the
golden fingers (gold-colored connectors) which plug into the expansion slots.

5. It is safest to handle system components only by their mounting brackets.

6. Keep components which are not connected to the system in the anti-static packaging
whenever possible.
These precautions help to reduce the risk of static build-up and ensure any static discharge is
harmless to your equipment.

••

• Battery Replacement

••

The battery which holds the system settings memory on your motherboard should not require
replacement for at least five years, and probably much longer . In picture 2.2, it is located near
the bottom right hand corner.

2 INTRODUCTION

Please replace your battery only with the same type, or a similar type recommended by the
manufacturer. If the battery is replaced incorrectly, there is a risk of a short circuit or explosion.
Used batteries should disposed of according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

••

• Electric Screwdrivers

••

To reduce the risk of damage to the motherboard due to excessive torque, avoid setting
electric screwdrivers above 7.5 kg/cm.

1.2 Checklist: Hardware Required for Setup

It is advisable to have all of these items of hardware available before you unpack your
motherboard from its anti-static packaging and start building your system.

- Computer case and chassis with appropriate power supply.

- Monitor.

- Socket 370 Central Processing Unit (CPU).

- DIMM memory module.

- PS/2 or USB Keyboard.

- PS/2 or USB Mouse.

- Hard Disk Drive.

- Floppy Disk Drive.

- CD-ROM Drive.

- (Optional) External Peripherals: printer, speakers, plotter, modem.

- (Optional) Internal Peripherals: modem, LAN cards.

1.3 Package Contents

This motherboard package should contain the following items. Please check them as soon as
you unpack. If you find any damaged or missing items, please contact your retailer.

- TS-AVE3 motherboard

- 1 x CD-ROM

- 1 x FDD cable

- 1 x Ultra DMA/66 cable

- User ’s Manual

- 1 x External USB connector (Optional)

INTRODUCTION 3

1.4 Specifications and Features

• •

• CPU

• •

- Supports Intel Socket 370 Celeron

- Supports Intel Pentium III FC-PGA

• •

• Chipset

• •

-TS-A VE3: VIA 694X/686A

-TS-A VE3/B: VIA 694X/686B

• •

• DRAM Memory

• •

- Supports Synchronous DRAM

- Supports Virtual Channel Memory

- 3 x slots for 168-pin DIMM module

- 8MB~1.5GB memory size

- 8/16/32/64/128/256/512MB SDRAM DIMM

TM

- Supports ECC

- 64 data bits structure only

- PC100/PC133 SDRAM compliant

• •

• I/O BUS Slot

• •

- 1 x AGP slot

- 5 x Master/Slave PCI slots (PCI 2.1 compliant)

- 1 x ISA slot

- 1 x ARM slot (Share with ISA slot)

• •

• I/O Functions

• •

- Supports PIO Mode 3,4 ATAPI devices and Ultra DMA/33/66/(100,For 686B Only)

- Supports 2 high speed UART 16550 COM ports

- Supports SPP/EPP/ECP LPT port

- Supports 1.44/2.88 MB floppy drive

- Supports PS/2 Mouse and PS/2 Keyboard

- Supports IrDA port

- Supports 4 Universal Serial Bus (USB) ports

4 INTRODUCTION

•

Award BIOS

- Support Plug-and-Play, PC98

- Support ACPI, APM, DMI and Green Feature

- Easy BIOS Recovery

•

Wake Up Features

- Supports Wake-on-LAN function

- Remote Ring Wake Up

- Time Wake Up

•

PCB Dimensions

- ATX form factor, 4-layer PCB, 19cm x 30.5cm (8 inch x 12 inch)

•

Switching Voltage Regulator

- Intel VRM 8.4 compliant

•

Other Features

- Year 2000 compliant

- Anti-Virus Boot up

- System voltage monitors for CPU Vcore, +2.5, +3.3V, +5V and +12V

- CPU temperature monitor

- System temperature monitor

- F AN speed monitor

HARDWARE INSTALLATION 5

g

CHAPTER 2 HARDWARE INSTALLA TION

2.1 Transcend’s TS-AVE3 Motherboard

I/O

I/O Port

Port

General MIDI Port & Audio Jack

·

(Line-In, Line-Out, MIC-In)
2 x COM Ports & 1 x Parallel Port

·

2 x USB Ports

·

PS/2 KB Port & PS/2 Mouse Port

·

CPU

·

Intel® CeleronTM Socket 370 PPGA
CPU 300A~533 MHz (FSB 66MHz)

Intel® Pentium® III Socket 370 FC-PGA

·

CPU 533A~633+ MHz (FSB 66MHz)

CPU 500~933+MHz (FSB 100/133MHz)

·

·

Memory

3 x 168 -pin DIMM Sockets

·

8MB~1.5GB SDRAM

·

Switchin

Switching Reg.

Reg.

Intel® VRM 8.4 Compliant

·

FDD Connector

Nouth Bridge

Supports 66/100/133MHz FSB

·

·

PCI IDE Connector

Bus Master

·

·

PIO Mode 3/4

·

·

DMA Mode 2

·

·

Ultra DMA 33/66

·

·

AGP Connector

·

·

Supports AGP1X/2X/4X

IrDA

South Bridge

·

Supports System Health
Monitor

Build-In Super I/O

·

·

WOL

WOL Header

Header

Wake-on-LAN

·

·

Flash

Flash EEPROM

EEPROM

Award BIOS

·

·

PnP,DMI

·

·

ACPI compliant

·

·

Expansion

Expansion Slots

Slots

5 x PCI Slots

··

1 x AMR Slot

External USB

Connector

·

·

2 x USB Ports

AC97 CODEC

·

·

AC97 V2.1 Audio CODEC

··

1 x ISA Slot

·

(Shared with AMR)

g

6 HARDWARE INSTALLATION

2.2 Layout of Transcend’s TS-AVE3 Motherboard

KB MOUSE

PS/2

T:Mose

B:Keyboard

USB

USB

T:Port 1
B:Port 2

ATX Power Connector

JP3

VIO

COMB

Printer

COMA

Parallel Port

Game Port

GAME

LINE-IN LINE-OUT

MIC

AUX

CD2

VIDEO

PGA 370

CPU-FAN

PCI Slot 1

PCI Slot 2

Nouth

Bridge

AGP Slot

IrDA

Transcend

JP7

66/100

100/133

JP4

Li Battery

DIMM1

DIMM2

DIMM3

IDE1

CMOS_CLR

JP5

FDC

IDE2

TS-AVE3

PCI Slot 3

CD1

MODEM

South

Brid

e

PCI Slot 4

CN14

USB 3/4

AC97

CODEC

AUDIO

JP6

AMR Slot

WOL

PCI Slot 5

2M-bit Flash

BIOS(EEPROM)

ISA Slot

KB-AWK

JP1

CASE-FAN

Panel

Connector

HARDWARE INSTALLATION 7

2.3 CPU (Central Processing Unit) Installation

So far you have familiarized yourself with the handling precautions, checked you have all of
the necessary hardware for building your system, inspected the motherboard package contents
and looked at the layout of the motherboard. This chapter will take you step by step through
the process of installing the different hardware devices onto it.

Caution

1. Remember to always make sure the system power is off before installing or removing
any devices.

2. Don’t forget the static electricity precautions.

3. Be careful ! Inserting hardware onto your motherboard incorrectly can damage it.

The motherboard has a ZIF Socket 370 which houses the CPU. A fan is necessary for the
CPU to prevent overheating. If there is no fan on it, please purchase one before you turn on
your system.

WARNING! Be sure that sufficient air circulation is available across the processor’s
passive heatsink. Without sufficient circulation, the processor could overheat and
damage both the processor and the motherboard. You may install an auxiliary fan, if
necessary.

Please follow the steps below to install the CPU:

Step 1:

To install the CPU, first turn off your system and remove its cover . Locate the ZIF socket and
open it by first pulling the lever sideways away from the socket then upwards to a 90-degree
right angle. Insert the CPU in the correct direction, you should have a CPU fan to cover the face
of the CPU. With the added weight of the CPU fan, no force is required to insert the CPU. Once
completely inserted, close the socket’s lever while holding down the CPU.

8 HARDWARE INSTALLATION

(

)

Step 2:

Next, Connect the CPU’s fan cable to the CPU-F AN connector indicated on the diagram below.
Ensure that the cable is connected correctly! It will be obvious which way it fits.

CPU_FAN

Socket

Transcend

Notch

370 CPU

(Top View)

Socket 370 CPU Installation

Notch

Socket

370 CPU

Bottom View

HARDWARE INSTALLATION 9

2.4 66/100/133MHz System Configuration

The jumper (JP4) allows you to set the FSB (Front Side Bus) for 66, 100 or 133MHz configuration.
When you set the FSB to 66MHz, you can select a system bus frequency from 66MHz to 95MHz
through “CPU Host/PCI Clock” in “Frequency/Voltage Control” (Please refer to page 46). When
you set the FSB to 100MHz, you can select a system bus frequency from 100MHz to 124MHz
through “CPU Host/PCI Clock” in “Frequency/Voltage Control” (Please refer to page 46) When
you set the FSB to 133MHz, you can select a system bus frequency from 124MHz to 150MHz
through ”CPU Host/PCI Clock” in “Frequency/Voltage Control” (Please refer to page 46) .

NOTE :If you are not familar with this feature, we recommend you set this jumper to
“A UTO”.

JP4

66/100/133MHz

1

Transcend

66/100/133MHz FSB Configuration Jumper

AUTO

66MHz

100MHz

133MHz

10 HARDWARE INSTALLATION

2.5 Memory Configuration

This motherboard must be installed with DIMMs (Dual Inline Memory Modules). The DIMMs
must be 3.3 Volt synchronous DRAM modules. The VIA Apollo Pro 133A chipset supports
PC100, PC133 and Virtual Channel Memory (VCM). It also supports ECC (Error Checking
and Correcting) modules. Y ou can install memory in any combination as follows:

DIMM Location

DIMM1
DIMM2
DIMM3

Total Memory

SDRAM 8,16, 32, 64,128, 256, 512MBytes
SDRAM 8,16, 32, 64,128, 256, 512MBytes
SDRAM 8,16, 32, 64,128, 256, 512MBytes

1.5GBytes (max.)

168-pin DIMM

NOTE: Different types of DRAM modules should not be installed on one motherboard
at the same time.

Transcend

3.3V Position

Unbuffered Position

168Pin SDRAM Module (DIMM1)
168Pin SDRAM Module (DIMM2)
168Pin SDRAM Module (DIMM3)

168Pin DIMM Sockets

HARDWARE INSTALLATION 11

2.6 Primary / Secondary IDE Connectors (Two 40-pin IDE)

This mainboard supports two 40-pin IDE connectors marked as IDE1 (primary IDE channel)
and IDE2 (secondary IDE channel). Each channel supports two IDE devices, making a total of
four devices. Connect your Hard Disk (the main one if you are using more than one) to the
“Master” connector (at the end of the cable) and connect it to the IDE1 (see important note
below). If your HDD supports UltraDMA/66, you must use an 80-wire cable, otherwise the
HDD won’t be able to reach this speed.

If you intend to operate two IDE devices from the same channel, one device must be set to
“Master” mode, the other to “Slave” mode. A Hard Disk, CD ROM or other IDE device can
have either s e tting, depending on device’s jumper. Please refer to the device’s manual for
more information.

NOTE: The connectors must be attached to the IDE channels the right way round. Make
sure that the red stripe on one edge of the ribbon cable (this may be faint and
could also be a dotted line) is the nearest to PIN1 (on the left as the motherboard
is shown in the picture below).

Note: Orient the red

stripe to Pin1

Transcend

Secondary IDE Connector

PIN1
PIN1

Primary IDE Connector

IDE1

IDE2

IDE Connectors

12 HARDWARE INSTALLATION

2.7 Floppy Disk Drive Connector (34-pin FDC)

This connector supports the provided floppy disk drive ribbon cable. After connecting the
single end to the board, connect the two plugs on the other end to the floppy drives.

Note: Orient the red

stripe to Pin1

Transcend

Floppy Disk Drive Connector

Floppy Drive Connector

FDC

PIN1

2.8 Fan Power Connectors

There are two fan power connectors on the mainboard: the CPU-FAN and the CASE-F AN. Each
connector provides +12V power. Make sure they are in the right orientation, or they may cause
damage. These connectors support cooling fans of 500 mA (6W) or less.

Transcend

CASE-FAN

Fan Power Connectors

CPU-FAN

FAN

Rotation

+12V

GND

HARDWARE INSTALLATION 13

2.9 Wake-on-LAN Connector (3-pin WOL)

This connector connects to LAN cards with a Wake-on-LAN output. The system can be Power
up when a wakeup packet or signal is received from the LAN card.

NOTE: This function requires that the “LAN Wake Up” function in the POWER MANAGEMENT
SETUP is set to “Enabled” and that your system has an ATX power supply with
at least 720mA +5V standby power.

Transcend

WO

L

+5 Volt Standby

GND

PME

Wake-On-LAN Connector

2.10 IrDA-Compliant Infrared Module Connector (5-pin IrDA)

The IrDA connector can be configured to support a wireless infrared module. With this module
and application software such as Laplink or Win95 Direct Cable Connection, the user can
transfer files to or from laptops(notebooks), PDAs and printers.

Transcend

IrDA

+5V

NC
IRRX
GND
IRTX

IrDA Connector

1

5

14 HARDWARE INSTALLATION

2.11 Panel Connectors

Transcend

Panel Connectors

Power LED Lead (3-pin POWER LED)

This 3-pin connector attaches to the power LED.

Pin1 : +5V
Pin3 : NC

Pin5 : G ND

POWER LED

1

++

++

2

S_LED HD_LED RESET SOFT_OFF

SLEEP

SPEAKER

19

20

Speaker Lead (4-pin SPEAKER)

This 4-pin connector connects to the case-mounted speaker.

Pin13 : +5V
Pin15 : GN D
Pin17 : NC
Pin19 : SPK

Suspend Mode LED Lead (2-pin S_LED)

The S_LED will light when the suspend system is in mode works.

Pin2 : +5V
Pin4 : G ND

Harddisk LED Lead (2-pin HD_LED)

This 2-pin connector connects to the LED of the hard disk. The LED lights up when the HDD is
active.

Pin6 : +5V
Pin8 : G ND

HARDWARE INSTALLATION 15

Sleep Button Lead (2-pin SLEEP)

Pin10 : SLEEP

Pin12 : GND

Reset Switch Lead (2-pin RESET)

This 2-pin connector connects to the case-mounted reset switch for rebooting your computer
without turning off your power switch.

Pin14 : RESET
Pin16 : GND

Software Power-Off Lead (2-pin SOFT_OFF)

Attach the SOFT_OFF Switch of the panel to this connector.

Pin18 : SOFT-OFF
Pin20 : GND

16 HARDWARE INSTALLATION

y

2.12 Power Connector (20-pin PWR-CONN)

Make sure to plug the A TX power supply connector in the right direction. The pin definition is
shown below. Make sure that your ATX power supply can support at least 720mA on the
standby lead.

PWR-CONN

Transcend

Power Connector

+3.3V

-12.0V
GND

PSON#

GND
GND
GND

-5.0V
+5.0V
+5.0V

PSON# : Power Supply on

+3.3V
+3.3V

GND
+5.0V
GND
+5.0V
GND

Power Good

+5.0V Standb
+12.0V

2.13 External Back Panel I/O Ports

There are 5 kinds of external connectors on the motherboard. The view angle of the drawing
shown on next page is from the back panel of the housing.

1. PS/2 Mouse Port (Green, 6-pin MOUSE)
The onboard PS/2 Mouse port is a 6-pin Mini-Din connector marked “MOUSE”

2. PS/2 Keyboard Port (Purple, 6-pin KB)
The onboard PS/2 Keyboard port is a 6-pin Mini-Din connector marked “KB”.

3. Universal Serial Bus (USB) Ports 1 & 2 (Black, two 4-pin USBs)
Y ou can attach USB devices to the USB port. The motherboard contains two USB ports,

which are marked as “USB”. (USB Ports 3 & 4 are on-board connectors with 2x5
Header.

4. Parallel Port (Burgundy , 25-pin PRN)
The onboard printer port is a 25-pin D-type connector marked “PRN”.

5. Serial Ports (Turquoise, two 9-pin COMA/COMB)
The onboard serial ports are 9-pin D-type connectors on the back panel of
motherboard. The serial port 1 is marked as “COMA”, and the serial port 2 is marked

as “COMB”.

HARDWARE INSTALLATION 17

4. Parallel Port

1. PS/2 Mouse

3. USB1

(Printer)

7. Game/MIDI Port

3. USB2

5. COMB COMA

9. Line-in

2. PS/2 Keyboard

8. Line-out

10. MIC-in

External Back Panel I/O Ports

2.14 Using Jumper JPS to Clear CMOS

To clear the CMOS data, you should turn off your computers power and short pin1 and pin2
of JP5.

JP5

Transcend

1

1

Default

Clear CMOS Jumper

1

CMOS_CLR

18 HARDWARE INSTALLATION

2.15 Onboard Audio Setting (9-Pin JP6)

For an external AMR card, the onboard audio CODEC can be enabled or disabled via this
jumper. Please disable the onboard audio CODEC, if you want to use an AMR Sound Card.

Note : If you want to use a PCI Sound Card with audio controller on it, please disable the
“O nChip Sound” function in “Advanced” Chipset Features” (Please reference
Page 32).

JP6

1 2 3

Transcend

1
2
3

Disable

onboard CODEC

AMR Slot

Audio Selection Jumper

1
2
3

Enable

onboard CODEC

HARDWARE INSTALLATION 19

g

g

g

Left Audio Ch

l

2.16 Internal Audio Connectors

These connectors allow you to receive stereo audio input from sound sources such as a CD­ROM, TV tuner, or MPEG card. The MODEM connector allows the onboard audio to interface
a voice modem card with a matched connector. It also allows the sharing of mono_in (such as
a phone) and mono_out (such as a speaker) between the onboard audio and the voice modem
card.

anne

GND

Right Audio Channel

VIDEO (White)

Left Audio Channel

GND

Transcend

AUX(Green)

CD2

Ri

ht Audio Channel

GND

ht Audio Channel

Ri

Left Audio Channel
Left Audio Channel

GND

Ri

ht Audio Channel

Internal Audio Connecotrs

CD1(Black)

Modem-In

(Voice to Modem)
Modem-Out
(Voice from Modem)

GND

MODEM

20 HARDWARE INSTALLATION

2.17 Internal USB Port Connector (10-Pin USB3/4)

You can use the provided serial port bracket to add a serial port for additional serial devices.
Regarding the onboard COMA, please refer to Section 2.13 “External Back Panel I/O Ports”
(page 20).

NOTE : Please make sure that the two red stripes Onthe are cable seated on Pin1 and
Pin2.

USB4

VCC

USB4-

USB4+

GND
GND

Transcend

USB3

12

VCC

USB3-

USB3+

GND

910

Internal USB Port Connector

Congratulations, you have now completed Hardware Setup! This means that you can move
on to Chapter 3, the BIOS Setup section and turn on your PC.

BIOS SETUP 21

CHAPTER 3 BIOS SETUP

3.1 BIOS Setup

Award BIOS has a built-in Setup program that allows users to modify the basic system
configuration. This information is stored in CMOS RAM, so it can retain the Setup information
when the power is turned off. When the CMOS battery fails, it will cause the data to be lost. If
that happens, please set up your configuration parameters again after replacing the battery.
Please refer to Section 1.1, Essential Handling Precautions (Page 1).

3.2 The Main Menu

As you turn on or reboot the system, the BIOS is immediately activated. It will read the system
configuration information, and check the system through Power On Self Test (POST). During
the POST process, press the [Del] key, and you can enter the Award BIOS configuration
system. The following screen will appear.

In the Award BIOS system, you can use the arrows (
press the [Enter] key to enter the sub-menu. The following keys help you navigate in Setup.
[Esc] Main Menu: Quit and do not save changes into CMOS RAM

Other pages: Exit current page and return to Main Menu
[PgUp] Increase the numeric value or make changes
[PgDn] Decrease the numeric value or make changes

) to highlight an item,and

22 BIOS SETUP

[+] Increase the numeric value or make changes
[-] Decrease the numeric value or make changes
[F1] General help on setup navigation keys
[F5] Load previous values from CMOS
[F6] Load the Fail-Safe Defaults from BIOS default table
[F7] Load the Optimized Defaults
[F10] Save all CMOS changes, and exit

The following is a brief summary of each setup category

• Standard CMOS Features

Options in the original PC AT-compatible BIOS

• Advanced BIOS Features

Award enhanced BIOS options

• Advanced Chipset Features

Available options specific to your system Chipset

• Integrated Peripherals

I/O subsystems that depend on the integrated peripheral controllers in your system

• Power Management Setup

Advanced Power Management (APM) and Advanced Configuration and Power Interface
(ACPI) options

• PnP/PCI Configurations

Plug and Play standard and PCI Local Bus configuration options

• PC Health Status

To display the fan status, CPU temperature, system temperature etc., and to provide the
temperature monitoring option

• Frequency / Voltage Control

To control the frequency and voltage of the CPU

• Load Fail-Safe Defaults

To load the most basic BIOS default values required for your system to operate

• Load Optimized Defaults

To load the BIOS default values that are factory settings for optimal system performance

BIOS SETUP 23

• Set Supervisor / User Password

To change, set, or disable a password

• Save & Exit Setup

To save settings in nonvolatile CMOS RAM and exit Setup

• Exit Without Saving

To abandon all changes and exit Setup

3.3 Standard CMOS Features

• Date (mm:dd:yy) / Time (hh:mm:ss)

Highlight the items and use [PageUp] / [PageDown] to change the value of Date/Time.

• IDE Primary / Secondary Master / Slave

Press [Enter] to enter the sub menu.

24 BIOS SETUP

• IDE HDD Auto-Detection : Detect the HDD on this channel. If the detection is successful,
it fills the remaining fields on this menu.

• IDE Primary/Secondary Master/Slave : We recommend that you select “AUTO” for all
drives. The BIOS can automatically detect the specifications during POST (Power On
Self T est) while the system boots. Y ou can also choose “Manual” to set the specifications
by yourself. The “None” setting means there is no device installed on this IDE channel.

• Access Mode : “Normal”, “LBA”, “Large”, or “Auto”.

- Normal : Maximum number of cylinders, heads, and sectors supported are 1024,16,
and 63 respectively.

- LBA (Logical Block Addressing) : During drive access, the IDE controller transfers
the data address described by sector, head, and cylinder number into a physical
block address. This will significantly improve data transfer rates for drives with
more than 1024 cylinders.

- Large : For drives that do not support LBA and have more than 1024 cylinders.

- Auto : The BIOS automatically determines the optimal access mode.

• Capacity : Disk drive capacity. Note that this size is slighty greater than the size of

formatted disk given by the disk-checking program.

• Cylinder : Number of cylinders

• Head : Number of heads

• Precomp : Write precompensation cylinder

• Landing Zone : Landing zone

• Sector : Number of sectors

BIOS SETUP 25

•

Drive A / Drive B

Select the correct types of diskette drive(s) installed in the computer.

- None : No diskette drive installed

- 360K, 5.25 in. : 5-1/4 inch standard drive; 360 kilobyte capacity

- 1.2M, 5.25 in. : 5-1/4 inch high-density drive; 1.2 megabyte capacity

- 720K, 3.5 in. : 3-1/2 inch double-sided drive; 720 kilobyte capacity

- 1.44M, 3.5 in. : 3-1/2 inch double-sided drive; 1.44 megabyte capacity

- 2.88M, 3.5 in. : 3-1/2 inch double-sided drive; 2.88 megabyte capacity

•

Floppy Mode 3 Support

Supports some particular Japanese floppy drives ( 3.5 inch drives with 1.2 MB capacity ).

•

Video

Select the type of primary video subsystem in your computer. The BIOS will detect the
correct video type automatically . The BIOS supports a secondary video subsystem, but do
not select it in this Setup.

- EGA/VGA : Enhanced Graphics Adapter/Video Graphics Array . For EGA, VGA, SEGA,
SVGA or PGA monitor adapters.

- CGA 40 : Color Graphics Adapter, powers up in 40-column mode.

- CGA 80 : Color Graphics Adapter, powers up in 80-column mode.

- MONO : Monochrome adapter, including high resolution.

•

Halt On

During the Power On Self T est (POST), the computer stops if the BIOS detects a hardware
error . Y ou can set the BIOS to ignore certain errors during POST and continue the boot-up
process. The followings are the selections.

- All Errors : If the BIOS detects any non-fatal errors, POST stops and prompts you
to take corrective action.

- No Errors : POST does not stop for any error.

- All, But Keyboard : If the BIOS detects any non-fatal errors except keyboard, POST

stops and prompts you to take corrective action.

26 BIOS SETUP

3.4 Advanced BIOS Features

The “Advanced BIOS Features” option allows you to improve your system performance and
sets up system features according to your preference.

•

Virus Warning

When this function is enabled, you will receive a warning message if a program (specifically ,
a virus) attempts to write to the boot sector or the partition table of the hard disk drive. Y ou
should then execute an anti-virus program. Keep in mind that this feature protects the boot
sector only , not the entire hard drive.

NOTE: Many disk diagnostic programs that access the boot sector table can trigger
the virus warning message. If you plan to run such a program, we recommend that
you first disable the virus warning.

BIOS SETUP 27

• CPU Internal Cache / External Cache

Cache memory is additional memory that is much faster than conventional DRAM (system
memory). CPUs from 486-type and up contain internal cache memory. Most, but not all,
modern PCs have additional (external) cache memory . When the CPU requests data, the
system transfers the requested data from the main DRAM into cache memory for even
faster accessed by the CPU. The “External Cache” field may not appear if your system does
not have external cache memory .

• CPU L2 Cache ECC Checking

Select “Enabled” to make sure the data is accurate.

• Processor Number Feature

This function was designed with the internet in mind. Select “ Enable” to make the processor
serial number serve as a means of identifying your system.

• Quick Power On Self Test

Select “Enabled” to reduce the amount of time required to run the Power On Self Test
(POST). The Quick POST skips certain steps. We recommend that you normally disable
Quick POST. It’s better to find a problem during POST than to lose data during your work.

28 BIOS SETUP

• First / Second / Third Boot Device; Boot Other Device

The original IBM PCs loaded the DOS operating system from drive A (floppy disk). Therefore,
IBM PC-compatible systems are designed to search for an operating system first on drive
A, and then on drive C (hard disk). However, the BIOS attempts to load the operating
system from the devices in the sequence selected in these fields. In addition to the traditional
drives A (“Floppy”) and C (“HDD-0”), options include “HDD-1”, “HDD-2”, “HDD-3”, and “CD-
ROM”; plus a “SCSI” hard drive, a “LS/ZIP” drive and a “LAN” drive. If your boot device is
not included in the list, you can set the “Boot Other Device” field to “Enabled”, and let the
system detect the drive automatically.

• Swap Floppy Drive

This field is effective only in systems with two floppy drives. Selecting “Enabled” assigns
physical drive B to logical drive A, and physical drive A to logical drive B.

• Boot Up Floppy Seek

When you select “Enabled”, the BIOS tests (seeks) floppy drives to determine whether they

have 40 or 80 tracks. Only 360-KB floppy drives have 40 tracks; drives with 720KB, 1.2MB,
and 1.44MB capacity all have 80 tracks. Because very few modern PCs have 40-track
floppy drives, we recommend that you set this field to “Disabled” to save time.

• Boot Up NumLock Status

Toggle between “On” and “Off” to control the state of the NumLock key when the system
boots. When toggled “On”, the numeric keypad generates numbers instead of controlling
cursor operations.

• Gate A20 Option

Choose “Fast” (default) or “Normal”. “Fast” allows RAM access above 1MB to use the fast
Gate A20 line.

•

Typematic Rate Setting

When this function is disabled, the following two items (Typematic Rate and Typematic
Delay) are irrelevant. Keystrokes repeat at a rate determined by the keyboard controller in
your system. When this function is enabled, you can select a typematic rate and typematic
delay.

BIOS SETUP 29

•

Typematic Rate (Chars/Sec)

When the Typematic Rate setting is enabled, you can select a typematic rate (the rate at
which characters repeat) to “6”, “8”, “10”, “12”, “15”, “20”, “24” or “30” characters per
second.

•

Typematic Delay (Msec)

When the Typematic Delay setting is enabled, you can select a typematic delay (the delay
before key strokes begin to repeat) of “250”, “500”, “750” or “1000” milliseconds.

•

Security Option

If you have set a password, you can select whether the password is required while the
system boots, or only when you enter “Setup”.

•

OS Select for DRAM > 64MB

Select “OS2” only if you are running OS/2 operating system with more than 64 MB of RAM
on your system.

•

Video BIOS Shadow

Select “Enabled” to change the video BIOS location form ROM to RAM, where the CPU can
read data through the 64-bit DRAM bus. This can enhance system performance.

•

C8000-DFFFF Shadow

You can shadow the ROM on other expansion cards by setting these fields. If you install
other expansion cards with ROMs, you need to know which address the ROMs use specifically .
Shadowing a ROM reduces the memory available between 640K and 1024K depending on
the used amount.

•

Delay For HDD (Secs)

Generally, you can set this field to “0”. However, for some old Hard Disk Drives, you may
need to increase the delay time for BIOS to detect the right type of HDD.

30 BIOS SETUP

3.5 Advanced Chipset Features

This option will change the values of the chipset registers and the system setting will alter.
Do not change any values if you are unfamiliar with the chipset.

•

Bank 0/1, 2/3, 4/5, DRAM Timing

The DRAM timing of Bank 0/1, 2/3, 4/5 is determined by the Memory modules which are
plugged on the motherboard. If you use PC100 SDRAM, please select “PC100”; if you use
PC133 SDRAM, select “PC133” instead.

• SDRAM CAS Latency

This controls the SDRAM performance, default is “3” clocks. If your SDRAM DIMM
specification is 2 CAS latency, change “3” to “2” for better performance.

• DRAM Clock

Set the clock frequency of the DRAMs. The default value is “Host Clock”. You can select
“HCLK+33M” if your DRAM modules are faster than the CPU (a 66MHz FSB CPU with a
PC100 SDRAM, or a 100MHz FSB CPU with PC133 SDRAM); or select “HCLK-33M” for a
faster CPU with slower SDRAMs.

• Concurrent PCI/Host

When “Disabled”, the CPU bus will be occupied during the entire PCI operation period.

BIOS SETUP 31

•

Memory Hole At 15M-16M

Enabling this feature reserves memory address space (between 15 and 16MB) to ISA
expansion cards that specifically require this setting. This makes between 15 and 16MB of
memory unavailable to the system. Expansion cards can only access memory up to 16MB.
The default setting is “Disabled”.

• Fast R-W Turn Around

DRAM optimization feature: If a memory read is addressed to a location whose latest write
is being held in a buffer before being written to memory, the read is satisfied through the
buffer contents, and the read is not sent to the DRAM.
The choices: “Enabled” and “Disabled”.

•

System BIOS Cacheable

Selecting “Enabled” allows caching of the system BIOS. This action can increase system
performance.

•

Video BIOS Cacheable

Selecting “Enabled” allows caching of the video BIOS. This action can increase system
performance.

•

AGP Aperture Size (MB)

Memory-mapped graphics data structures can reside in a Graphic Aperture. We suggest
you leave this field on the default setting.

•

AGP- 4X Mode

Select “Enable” if you use a AGP-4X VGA card.

•

AGP Driving Control

This function allows you to adjust the AGP driving force. Choosing ‘Manual’ allows you key
in an AGP Driving V alue in the next selection. We recommend that you set this field to “Auto”
to avoid any error in the system.

•

AGP Driving Value

This field allows you to adjust the AGP driving force (from OO~FF).

••

• OnChip USB

••

Select “Enabled” if you have a USB Keyboard or any USB device.

••

• USB Keyboard Support

••

Select “Enabled” if you went to use a USB Keyboard.

32 BIOS SETUP

• •

• On Chip Sound

• •

Select “Auto” to enable the OnChip Audio Controller, which lets you use OnBoard CODEC
or Add-On CODEC on the AMR card (depend on the JP setting). If you use an Add-On
Audio Card with an Audio Controller built-in, please set this field to “Disabled”.

• •

• OnChip MODEM

• •

Select “Auto” to enable the OnChip MODEM Controller, which lets you use Add-On MODEM
CODEC on the AMR card. If you use an Add-On card with a MODEM Controller built-in,
please set this field to “Disabled”.

• •

• CPU to PCI Write Buffer

• •

If “Enabled” is selected, writes from the CPU to the PCI bus are buffered to compensate for
the speed differences between the CPU and the PCI bus. If “Disabled”, the writes are not
buffered and the CPU must wait until the write is complete before starting another write
cycle.

• PCI Dynamic Bursting

When “Enabled”, every write transaction goes to the write buffer. Burstable transactions
then burst on the PCI bus and nonburstable transactions will write to PCI bus immediately .

• PCI Master 0 WS Write

When “Enabled”, writes to the PCI bus are executed with zero wait states.

• PCI Delay Transaction

The chipset has an embedded 32-bit posted write buffer to support delay transactions
cycles. Select “Enabled” to support compliance with PCI specification version 2.1.

• PCI #2 Access #1 Retry

Select “Enabled” to support PCI #2 (AGP bus) access to PCI #1 (PCI bus) retry function
when a error occurred. The default value is “Disabled”.

• AGP Master 1 WS Write

Selecting “Enabled” will implement a single delay when writing to the AGP Bus. By default,
two wait states are used by the system, allowing for greater stability.

• AGP Master 1 WS Read

This implements a single delay when reading to the AGP Bus. By default, two-wait states
are used by the system, allowing for greater stability.

BIOS SETUP 33

•

Memory Parity / ECC Check

When parity DRAM modules are installed, select “Enabled” to correct 1 bit memory errors
in the memory. Otherwise, select “Disabled”.

34 BIOS SETUP

3.6 Integrated Peripherals

Choose this option and the following display appears.

• •

• On-Chip IDE Channel O/Channel 1

• •

The chipset contains a PCI IDE interface which supports two IDE channels. Select “Enabled”
to activate the first and/or second IDE interface. Select “Disabled” to deactivate this interface,

if you install a primary and/or secondary add-in IDE interface.

• •

• IDE Prefetch Mode

• •

The On Board IDE drive interface supports IDE prefetching for faster drive access. If your
IDE drive has add-in IDE interface and doesn’t support prefetching, please set this field to

“Disabled”.

BIOS SETUP 35

• •

• Primary/Secondary Master/Slave PIO

• •

The four IDE PIO (Programmed Input/Output) fields let you set a PIO mode (0-4) for each
of the four IDE devices that the onboard IDE interface supports. Mode 0 through 4 provide
successively increased performance. In “Auto” mode, the system automatically determines

the best mode for each device.

• •

• Primary/Secondary Master/Slave UDMA

• •

Ultra DMA/33(66) implementation is possible only if your IDE hard drive can support it and
the operating environment includes a DMA driver (Windows 95 OSR2 or a third-party IDE
bus master driver). If both your hard disk drive and your system software can support Ultra
DMA/33(66), select “Auto” to enable BIOS support.

• Init Display First

This item allows you to decide whether to activate either the “PCI Slot” or the “AGP first”.

• •

• IDE HDD Block Mode

• •

Block Mode is also called Block Transfer, Multiple Commands, or Multiple Sector Read/
Write. If your IDE hard drive supports Block Mode (most new drives do), select “Enabled”
for automatic detection of the optimal number of Block Read/Writes per sector that the drive
can support.

36 BIOS SETUP

• •

• Onboard FDD Controller

• •

Y ou can use this function to enable or disable the onboard FDD controller.

• •

• Onboard Serial Port 1 / Port 2

• •

Select an address and the corresponding interrupt for each of the first and second serial
ports. The Choices are: “Disabled”, “3F8/IRQ4”, “2F8/IRQ3”, “3E8/IRQ4”, “2E8/IRQ3”,
and “Auto”.

• •

• UART 2 Mode

• •

Choose the right type of infrared device:

- Standard : Normal operation

- HPSIR : IrDA compliant serial infrared port

- ASKIR : Amplitude Shift Keyed Infrared Port

• •

• IR Function Duplex

• •

Consult your IR peripheral documentation to select the setting for IR “Half” / ”Full” duplex
function.

• •

• TX, RX Invertiog Enable

• •

Consult your IR peripheral documentation to set this field. The item “Yes” means “Low
Active” and “No” means “High Active”.

• •

• Onboard Parallel Port

• •

Select a logical LPT port name and matching address for the physical parallel (printer)
port.

The second serial port shares the resources (address and IRQ) with IrDA.

The choices are: “378/IRQ7”, “278/IRQ5”, “3BC/IRQ7” and “Disabled”.

BIOS SETUP 37

• •

• Onboard Parallel Mode

• •

This field allows you to set the operation mode of the parallel port.

- Normal: Allows normal-speed operation, but in one direction only .

- EPP: Allows bidirectional parallel port operation at maximum speed.

- ECP: Allows DMA and bidirectional operation. It is faster than EPP mode.

- ECP + EPP: Allows normal speed operation in two-way mode.

• •

• Parallel Port EPP Type

• •

Select EPP port type “1.7” or “1.9”.

• •

• ECP Mode Use DMA

• •

Assign DMA channel “1” or “3” to the port for ECP mode operation.

• •

• Onboard Legacy Audio

• •

This field controls the onboard legacy audio related selection. If “Disabled” all of the following
selections will be disabled. Select “Enable” if you want to use onboard audio.

• •

• Sound Blaster

• •

Select “Enable” to use Sound Blaster .

• •

• SB I/O Base Address

• •

Assign Sound Blaster resources. We recommend you leave this field on default.

• •

• SB IRQ Select

• •

Assign Sound Blaster resources. We recommend you leave this field on default.

• •

• SB DMA Select

• •

Assign Sound Blaster resources. We recommend you leave this field on default.

• •

• MPU-401

• •

Select “Enabled” to use the MPU-401 device (Hardware W are Table) you installed.

• •

• MPU-401 I/O Address

• •

Assign MPU-401 resource.

• •

• Game Port Address

• •

Select “Enabled” to assign Game Port resource.

38 BIOS SETUP

3.7 Power Management Setup

The Power Management Setup allows you to configure your system to minimize energy
consumption, according to your own style of computer use.

•

ACPI Function

This item allows you to enable/disable the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface
(ACPI).

•

Power Management

BIOS SETUP 39

This category allows you to select the type (or degree) of power saving and is directly
related to the following modes.

1. Suspend Mode

2. HDD Power Down

3. Doze Mode

There are three selections for Power Management. Two of them have fixed mode settings.

1. Min. Power Saving :
Minimum power management mode. Inactivity period is defined below:

Doze Mode = 1 Hour
Suspend Mode = 1 Hour.

2. Max. Power Saving :
Maximum power management mode. Inactivity period is defined below:

Doze Mode = 1 Min

3. User Define :
Allows you to set each mode individually. Select the time-out period for each mode
shown above.

Suspend Mode = 1 Min.

40 BIOS SETUP

• •

• ACPI Suspend Type

• •

Select the ACPI Suspend Type : “S1 (POS)” or “S3 (STR)”.
If your expansion cards do not support the STR function, you must leave this field on “S1
(POS)” setting. STR (Suspend-to-RAM) is an energy-saving feature. It takes only a few

seconds to wake up the system and return H to its previous situation.

NOTE: This feature (STR) requires an A TX power supply with at least 720mA and 5V
standby power for the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) functions.
Otherwise, the system will fail to return from suspend mode.

•

Video Off Method

Defines the Video Off features

-Blank Screen: Only blanks the screen. Use this for monitors without power management
and “green” features.

-V/H SYNC+Blank: Blanks the screen and turns off vertical and horizontal scanning

-DPMS Support: The DPMS (Display Power Management System) feature allows the
BIOS to control the video display card if it supports the DPMS feature.

•

PM Control by APM

When “Yes”, an Advanced Power Management device will be activated to enhance the Max.
Power Saving mode and stop the CPU internal clock.

•

VIDEO Off Option

When “Enabled”, this function allows the VGA adapter to operate in a power saving mode.

-Always On: Monitor will remain on during power saving modes.

-Suspend Off: Monitor blanked when the system enters the supend mode.

-All Modes: Monitor blanked when the system enters any power saving mode.

•

MODEM Use IRQ

You can select one of the following interrupt resources for modem use: “N/A”, “3”, “4”, “5”,
“7”, “9”, ”10”, and “11”.

• Soft-Off by PWRBTN

When set to “Instant-off”, the A TX switch can be used as a normal system Power Off button.
When set to “Delay 4 seconds”, you need to press the ATX switch down for more than 4
seconds if you want to Power Off the system.

BIOS SETUP 41

• State After Power Failure

State After Power Failure

-On : After a power failure, the system will automatically reboot as soon as power is
restored.

-Off : After a power failure, the system will not reboot when power is restored. The system
needs to be turned on again manually .

-Auto : After a power failure, the system will automatically reboot as soon power is restored
IF the PC was turned on when the power failed. If the PC was already turned off when the
power failed, the system needs to be turned on again manually .

• Wake Up Event

• VGA

If you select “On”, you can set the VGA to awake the system.

• LPT & COM

Any activity “LPT” from “LPT”, “COM” or “LPT/COM” wakes up the system.

• HDD & FDD

If you select “On”, any activity from one of them wakes up the system.

• PCI Master

If select “On”, any activity on PCI Master wakes up the system.

42 BIOS SETUP

• MODEM Ring WakeUp

Select “Enabled” to Power On your system when the external modem receives a call.

NOTE:This function requires an external modem which supports the Ring Wake-Up
function.

• RTC Alarm WakeUp

Select “Enabled” if you want to Power On your system at a certain time on the same day
every month or at a certain time every day.

• Date/Time

Set the Date and Time to Power On the system. Activated only when the “Resume by
Alarm” field is enabled.

• Primary INTR

If you select “On”, the IRQs Activity Monitor Function will be enabled,

• IRQs Activity Monitoring

In the screen, you can see a list of IRQs (Interrupt Requests),
When an I/O device wants to gain the attention of the Operating System, it asserts an IRQ
signal. When the Operating System is ready to respond to the request, it interrupts itself and
performs the service.
The IRQs Activity Monitoring function monitors the IRQs you select “On”, any activity from
one of them will awaken a system which has been powered down.

BIOS SETUP 43

3.8 PnP/PCI Configurations

• PnP OS Installed

This field allows you to use a Plug-and-Play (PnP) operating system to configure the PCI
bus slots instead of using the BIOS. Thus interrupts may be re-assigned by the OS when
“Yes” is selected. When a non-PnP OS is installed to prevent re-assigning of interrupt
settings, select the default setting of “No”.

• Reset Configuration Data

Normally, you leave this field on “Disabled”. Select “Enabled” to reset Extended System
Configuration Data (ESCD), if you have just installed a new add-on card and the system
reconfiguration has caused such a serious conflict that the operating system cannot boot.
The setting will automatically be set back to “Disabled” when the system reboots.

• Resources Controlled by

The Award Plug and Play BIOS can automatically configure all the boot and Plug and Play
(PnP) compatible devices. If you select “Auto(ESCD)”, all of the Interrupt Requests (IRQs)
and DMA assignment fields will be deactived as the BIOS automatically assigns them.

44 BIOS SETUP

• IRQ Resources

• IRQ-n Assigned to

When the resources are controlled manually , assign each system interrupt to one of the
following, depending on which type of device is using the interrupt.

- PCI/ISA PnP devices, whether designed for PCI or ISA bus architecture, compliant with
the Plug and Play standard.

- Legacy ISA Devices, requiring a specific interrupt (such as IRQ4 for serial port1),
compliant with the original PC A T bus specification.

• •

• DMA Resources

• •

BIOS SETUP 45

• DAM-n Assigned to

Just as the IRQ Resource Assignment, you can assign DMA Resources manually .

• PCI / VGA Palette Snoop

Some VGA cards, such as graphics accelerators or MPEG video cards, might not show
colors properly . Select “Enabled” to correct this problem. If you don’t have such problems,
leave this field at “Disabled”.

• Assign IRQ For USB

When “Enabled”, BIOS will assign an IRQ channel for the USB controller .

• Assign IRQ For VGA

Select “Enabled” only if your VGA card requires an assigned IRQ. Most ordinary cards do
not, but some high-end cards with video capture function do. Consult your VGA
documentation to set this field. Activity of the selected IRQ always awakens the system

3.9 PC Health Status

This menu provides two thermo-protect functions (CPU warning temperature and shutdown
temperature) and a hardware monitor center . These features let you know the health status
of your PC.

46 BIOS SETUP

• Current CPU Temperature

This field displays the current CPU temperature.

• Current System TEMP

This field displays the current system temperature.

• Current CPU / Case Fan Speed

These fields display the fan speeds of the CPU, Power and Case.

• System Voltage Monitor

These fields display the CPU core voltage (Vcore),VTT,+3.3V,+5V and +12V .

3.10 Frequency / Voltage Control

• CPU Vcore Select

This function allows you to change the CPU working voltage “Vcore”.Select “Enabled”
only if you are overclock you know that the system unstable is caused by the insufficent
of CPU working voltage.

• CPU Host / PCI Clock

This function allows you to set the FSB frequency of the CPU and the speed of the PCI bus.
When JP4 is set to 66MHz, you can select a system bus and PCI bus frequency from 66/
33MHz to 95/31 MHz. When JP4 is set to 100MHz, you can select a system bus
frequency from 100/33MHz to 124/31MHz. When JP4 is set to 133MHz, you can select a
system bus and PCI bus frequency from 133/33MHz to 150/37MHz.

BIOS SETUP 47

3.11 Load Fail-Safe Defaults

This option allows you to load the troubleshooting default values permanently stored in the
BIOS ROM. NOTE: These default settings are non-optimal and disable all high performance

features.

3.12 Load Optimized Defaults

This option allows you to load the default values to the system configuration fields. These
default values are the optimized configuration settings for the system.

48 BIOS SETUP

3.13 Supervisor Password

This option allows you to set a password to prevent others from changing the BIOS setting of
your system.

The password prevents any unauthorized use of your computer. If you set a password, the
system prompts for the correct password before you boot or access “Setup”.

To set a password:

1. At the prompt, type your password. Your password can be up to 8 alpha-numeric
characters. When you type the characters, they appear as asterisks on the password
screen box.

2. After typing the password, press the [Enter] key.

3. At the next prompt, re-type your password and press the [Enter] key again to confirm the
new password. After password entry, the screen automatically reverts to the main

screen.
To disable the password, press the [Enter] key when prompted to enter the password. The
screen displays a message confirming that the password has been disabled.

BIOS SETUP 49

Forget the password?

If you forget the password, you can clear it by erasing the CMOS Real Time Clock (RTC) RAM
with jumper 5 (JP5: CMOS_CLR. Please refer to page 22). To erase the RTC RAM:

1. Unplug your computer.

2. Short the JP5 jumper.

3. Turn on your computer.

4. Hold down [Delete] key during the POST process and enter BIOS setup to re-configure
BIOS.

3.14 User Password

This option allows you to set a password to prevent others from changing the BIOS setting of
your system. This operation is the same as Supervisor Password.

50 BIOS SETUP

3.15 Save & Exit Setup

Save the setting and exit the BIOS utility.

3.16 Exit Without Saving

Abort the current change and exit the BIOS utility.

BIOS UPGRADE 51

y

CHAPTER 4 BIOS UPGRADE

4.1 How to Check Your BIOS File Name and Version

Please turn on your PC first; the screen will display as follows :

TRANSCEND MODULAR BIOS : AVE3-Ver.1.03

You can see a description shows at the third line.

AVE3 - Ver 1.03

BIOS Version 1.0 (V11 for Version 1.1)
(You can upgrade to a newer version if your BIOS version is older
than this version.)

BIOS File Name
(Make sure the first 5 charactors are exactly the same as your own

version if you want to upgrade your BIOS.)

4.2 Download Correct BIOS File from Our Web Site

Please enter Transcend web site : http://www.transcendusa.com/
Choose BIOS upgrade environment.
The BIOS file name consists of 5 characters. Check the exact BIOS to download. Your BIOS
file name must absolutely match the one shown on our web site. Then download the suitable
version to your disk.

Warning:

Your system could be damaged, if a wrong BIOS version is
accidentl
choose, please contact us at [e-mail]

used. If you are not sure what version you should

52 BIOS UPGRADE

4.3 How to Upgrade Y our Motherboard BIOS

Please follow these 5 steps listed below to update your BIOS.
Step 1: Make a record of your original or existing BIOS Setup parameters.

-Press [Del] during the power On self T est to enter BIOS Setup Program when you
start your system.

-Write down the value of each parameter in order to re-configure your system after
BIOS updating.
Step 2: Make a system Disk

-Put a clean 3.5” disk in Drive A
MS-DOS:Key in
Windows O/S: Select the icon of [My Compute]
Click [3.5” Floppy (A:)]

Select [File/Format] from Command Bar

Step 3: Download the updated BIOS EXE file from the website to a floppy disk.
(Ref 4.1 and 4.2)
Step 4: Execute the download file to decompress it.
Step 5: Please read the file of Readme.TXT carefully, and follow the instructions step by
step. Then you can finish the BIOS update.

FORMAT A:/s and press [Enter].

Under Format 3.5 Floppy (A:) Menu Select
Format type = Full item and
Other Options = Copy system files
Click [Start] button