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AOpen AX4SPE Max Online Manual

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AX4SPE Max
DOC. NO.: AX4SPEMAX-OL-E0306B
1

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Summary of Contents for AOpen AX4SPE Max

  • Page 1: A X4Spe Max

    AX4SPE Max DOC. NO.: AX4SPEMAX-OL-E0306B...

  • Page 2: Table Of Contents

    ’ ’ A X4SPE Max .............................1 W hat’s in this manual ..................................2 Y ou Must Notice .................................... 9 B efore You Start ..................................10 O verview ......................................11 F eature Highlight ..................................12 Q uick Installation Procedure ............................... 17 M otherboard Map ..................................
  • Page 3 F ull-range Adjustable CPU Core Voltage ............................ 30 C PU and System Fan Connector (with H/W Monitoring) ......................32 J P28 Keyboard/Mouse Wake-up Jumper ............................ 33 D IMM Sockets ..................................... 34 A TX Power Connector ................................. 36 A C Power Auto Recovery ................................
  • Page 4 C olor Coded Back Panel ................................54 S /PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interface) Connector ........................55 S uper 5.1 Channel Audio Effect ..............................56 F ront Audio Connector ................................57 D ie-Hard BIOS .................................... 58 J P15/JP16 Dr. Voice Language Select Jumpers .
  • Page 5 W hat’s RAID? ....................................81 W hat are the RAID levels? ................................82 H DD Capacity of RAID Levels ..............................85 S erial ATA RAID for Intel ICH5R ..............................86 S erial ATA RAID for Silicon Image 3112A ........................... 88 P hoenix-AWARD BIOS ..........................93 H ow To Use Phoenix-Award™...
  • Page 6 G lossary ...............................124 A C97 CODEC ................................... 124 A CPI (Advanced Configuration & Power Interface) ........................124 A CR (Advanced Communication Riser) ............................ 124 A GP (Accelerated Graphic Port) ............................... 125 A MR (Audio/Modem Riser) ............................... 125 A TA (AT Attachment) .................................
  • Page 7 H yper Threading ..................................129 I EEE 1394 ....................................129 P arity Bit ....................................130 P CI (Peripheral Component Interface) Bus ..........................130 P DF Format ....................................130 P nP (Plug and Play) .................................. 130 P OST (Power-On Self Test) ..............................
  • Page 8 T echnical Support ..........................138 P roduct Registration ..........................142 H ow to Contact Us ..........................143...

  • Page 9: Y Ou Must Notice

    All of the specifications and information contained in this manual are subject to change without notice. AOpen reserves the right to revise this publication and to make reasonable changes. AOpen assumes no responsibility for any errors or inaccuracies that may appear in this manual, including the products and software described in it.

  • Page 10: B Efore You Start

    This Online Manual will introduce to the user how this product is installed. All useful information will be described in later chapters. Please keep this manual carefully for future upgrades or system configuration changes. This Online Manual is saved in P DF format , we H T U...

  • Page 11: O Verview

    Socket 478 motherboard (M/B) based on the ATX form ® factor featuring the I ntel Springdale-PE chipsets . As high performance chipset built in the M/B, AX4SPE Max motherboard supports Intel H T U U T H ® Socket 478 Pentium 4 1.6GHz~3.06GHz.

  • Page 12: F Eature Highlight

    ® ® Supports Intel Socket 478 Pentium 4 (Northwood) 1.6GHz~3.06GHz+ with 400/533/800MHz Front Side Bus (FSB) designed for Socket 478 technology. Chipset Springdale-PE is a Memory Controller Hub (MCH) designed for use with the Pentium 4 processor with 512-KB L2 cache on 0.13 micron processor.
  • Page 13 H T U U T H all of them are master PCI slots with arbitration and decoding for all integrated functions and LPC bus. AX4SPE Max motherboard includes one AGP expansion slot for a bus mastering AGP graphic card. The...
  • Page 14 1MHz Stepping CPU Frequency Adjustment Provides “1MHz Stepping CPU Frequency Adjustment” function in the BIOS. This magic function allows you to adjust CPU FSB frequency from 100~400MHz by 1MHz stepping adjustment, and helps your system get maximum performance. LAN Port On the strength of Broadcom BCM5705, a fourth-generation triple-speed 10/100/1000 base-T Ethernet LAN Controller solution for high-performance network applications, this motherboard provides 10/100/1000M bps Ethernet for office and home use.
  • Page 15 On-board AC’97 Sound AX4SPE Max uses RealTek AC97 CODEC RealTek ALC650 sound chip. This on-board audio includes a complete audio recording and playback system. Eight USB 2.0 Ports Provides six ports on the back panel and one USB 2.0 connector on the board, providing a total of eight USB 2.0 interface to connect devices such as mouse, keyboard, modem, scanner, etc.
  • Page 16 Hardware Monitoring Management Supports CPU or system fans status, temperature and voltage monitoring and alert, through the on-board hardware monitor module. SilentTek Combines “Hardware-Status Monitoring”, “Overheat Warning” and “Fan Speed Control” with user-friendly interfaces to provide a perfect balance among noises, system performance and stability. Enhanced ACPI ®...

  • Page 17: Q Uick Installation Procedure

    This page gives you a quick procedure on how to install your system. Follow each step accordingly. Installing C PU F an H T U U T H H T U U T H I nstalling System Memory (DIMM H T U U T H C onnecting Front Panel Cable H T U...

  • Page 18: Motherboard Map

    Motherboard Map AC’97 CODEC C olored Back Panel R esetable Fuse A UX-IN Connector JP28 Keyboard/Mouse CD-IN Connector Wakeup Jumper S/PDIF Connector F AN2 Connector F ront Audio Connector 3 2-bit PCI Expansion Slot x6 4 -pin 12V. ATX Power Connector IrDA Connector L ow ESR Capacitors Game Port Connector...

  • Page 19: B Lock Diagram

    DDR400/333/266 Dual Channel RAM Up to 4GB PCI Bus 32-bit PCI Slot x6 SATA 1 DIMM Socket x4 2 Serial ATA Ports SATA 2 150MB/s 533/800MHz System Bus Socket 478 SATA 3 Silicon Image Intel Pentium 4 SATA Controller SATA 4 CPU (Northwood) Intel AGP bus...

  • Page 20: H Ardware Installation

    This chapter describes jumpers, connectors and hardware devices of this motherboard. Note: Electrostatic discharge (ESD) can damage your processor, disk drives, expansion boards, and other components. Always observe the following precautions before you install a system component. Do not remove a component from its protective packaging until you are ready to install it. Wear a wrist ground strap and attach it to a metal part of the system unit before handling a component.

  • Page 21: A Bout "User Upgrade Optional" And "Manufacture Upgrade Optional

    When you read this online manual and start to assemble your computer system, you may notice that some of the functions are marked as “User Upgrade Optional” or “Manufacture Upgrade Optional”. Although all of AOpen’s motherboards have included many amazing and powerful features, sometimes not every user is familiar with these powerful features.

  • Page 22: J P14 Clear Cmos Data

    You can clear CMOS to restore system default setting. To clear the CMOS, follow the procedure below. Turn off the system and unplug the AC power. Remove ATX power cable from connector PWR2. Locate JP14 and short pins 2-3 for a few seconds. Return JP14 to its normal setting by shorting pin1 &...

  • Page 23: C Pu Installation

    ® This motherboard supports Intel Pentium 4 Socket 478 series CPU (Willamette). Be careful of CPU orientation when you plug it into CPU socket. 2. Locate Pin 1 in the socket and look for mark on the CPU upper interface. 1.
  • Page 24 3. Press down the CPU socket lever and finish CPU installation. CPU cut edge Note: If you do not match the CPU socket Pin 1 and CPU cut edge well, you may damage the CPU. Note: This socket supports Micro-FC-PGA2 package CPU, which is the latest CPU package developed by Intel.

  • Page 25: C Pu Fan Installation

    This motherboard comes with a retention module attached on the CPU socket when shipped, we strongly recommend you to install AOpen special designed CPU Fan as shown below on the retention module for better heat dissipation. Please install the CPU Fan correctly as the following pictures shown.

  • Page 26: C Pu Jumper-Less Design

    CPU VID signal and S Mbus clock generator provide CPU voltage auto-detection and allows the user to set the CPU frequency through the H T U U T H BIOS setup, therefore no jumpers or switches are used. The disadvantages of the Pentium based jumper-less designs are eliminated. There will be no worry of wrong CPU voltage detection.

  • Page 27: C Pu Over-Current Protection

    Note: Although we have implemented protection circuit try to prevent any human operating mistake, there is still certain risk that CPU, memory, HDD, add-on cards installed on this motherboard may be damaged because of component failure, human operating error or unknown nature reason. AOpen cannot guaranty the protection circuit will always work perfectly.

  • Page 28: B Attery-Less And Long Life Design

    This Motherboard implements a F lash ROM and a special circuit that provide you no batter power consumption of current CPU and CMOS H T U U T H Setup configurations. The RTC (real time clock) can also keep running as long as the power cord is plugged. If you lose your CMOS data by accident, you can just reload the CMOS configurations from Flash ROM and the system will recover as usual.

  • Page 29: A Open "Watch Dog Abs

    “ ” “ ” AOpen provides a special and useful feature on this motherboard for overclockers. When you power-on the system, the BIOS will check last system P OST status. If it succeeded, the BIOS will H T U U T H enable “Watch Dog ABS”...

  • Page 30: F Ull-Range Adjustable Cpu Core Voltage

    This function is dedicated to overclockers and supports Adjustable CPU Core Voltage from 1.10V to 2.025V. However, this motherboard can also automatically detect CPU VID signal and generates proper CPU core voltage. BIOS Setup > Frequency/Voltage Control > CPU Bus Frequency This motherboard is CPU jumper-less design, you can set CPU frequency in BIOS;...
  • Page 31 CPU Core System Northwood CPU Ratio Frequency Clock Pentium 4 1.6G 1600MHz 100MHz 400MHz Pentium 4 1.6G 1600MHz 133MHz 533MHz Pentium 4 1.7G 1700MHz 133MHz 533MHz Note: Intel Springdale-PE chipset only Pentium 4 1.8G 1800MHz 100MHz 400MHz support Northwood processors, and don’t Pentium 4 2.0G 2000MHz 100MHz...

  • Page 32: C Pu And System Fan Connector (With H/W Monitoring)

    Plug in the CPU fan cable to the 3-pin CPUFAN1 connector. If you have chassis fan, you can also plug it on SYSFAN2 or SYSFAN3 connector. +12V SENSOR SYSFAN2 Connector Note: Some CPU fans do not have CPUFAN1 Connector sensor pin, so that they cannot support hardware monitoring function.

  • Page 33: J P28 Keyboard/Mouse Wake-Up Jumper

    This motherboard provides PS2 keyboard / mouse wake-up function. You can use JP28 to enable or disable this function, which could resume your system from suspend mode with keyboard or mouse. The factory default setting is set to “Disable” (1-2), and you may enable this function by setting the jumper to 2-3.

  • Page 34: D Imm Sockets

    This motherboard has four 184-pin DDR D IMM sockets that allow you to install 128-bit dual channel D DR400 D DR333 D DR266 memory H T U U T H H T U U T H H T U U T H up to 4GB.
  • Page 35 Note: Please pay attention to Please follow the procedure as shown below to finish memory installation. the Blue slots. To run dual Make sure the DIMM module’s pin face down and match the socket’s size as depicted below. channel speed, you should insert the RAM in the slot of DIMM A1 and DIMM B1 or DIMM A2 and DIMM B2.

  • Page 36: A Tx Power Connector

    This motherboard comes with a 20-pin and 4-pin ATX power connector. Make sure you plug in the right direction. We strongly recommend you to connect the 4-pin 12V ATX connector before connecting the 20-pin ATX power connector and use standard power supply specially designed for Pentium 4 system.

  • Page 37: I De And Floppy Connector

    Connect 34-pin floppy cable and 40-pin IDE cable to floppy connector FDD and IDE connector. Be careful of the pin1 orientation. Wrong orientation may cause system damage. Secondary Secondary Slave (4th) Master (3rd) IDE 2 (Secondary) IDE 1 (Primary) Pin 1 Primary Primary Master (1st)
  • Page 38 IDE1 is also known as the primary channel and IDE2 as the secondary channel. Each channel supports two IDE devices that make a total of four devices. In order to work together, the two devices on each channel must be set differently to Master and Slave mode. Either one can be the hard disk or the CDROM.

  • Page 39: S Erial Ata Supported

    The traditional parallel ATA specification has defined the standard storage interface for PCs with its original speed of just 3 Mbytes/second since the protocol was introduced in the 1980s. And the latest generation of the interface, Ultra ATA-133, has been developed further with a burst data transfer rate of 133 Mbytes/second.

  • Page 40: C Onnecting Serial Ata Disk

    To connect a Serial ATA disk, you have to have a 7-pin serial ATA cable. Connect two ends of the serial ATA cable to the serial ATA header on the motherboard and the disk. Like every other traditional disk, you also have to connect a power cable. Please be noted that it is a jumper free implement;...
  • Page 41 Except its original 2 sets of parallel IDE, this motherboard does come with the support for the latest Serial ATA hard disk. If you are unable to find your newly installed Serial ATA hard disks on your operating system after you have had installed them on, the problem mainly lies in the BIOS setting.
  • Page 42 If you intend to change the default setting, simply press Enter for a list of selection: Disabled: You may choose this item if you’re sure that only traditional IDE hard disks had been installed on your system. Disabling this item may also cancel the detection to Serial ATA hard disk during POST, which theoretically, could speed up your boot-up timing for a little bit;...

  • Page 43: S Upport Raid 0 And Raid 1

    With Intel ICH5R chipset and Silicon Image Sil3112A onboard, this motherboard provides a cost-effective, high performance striping (RAID 0) and mirroring (RAID 1) solution. With striping, identical drives can read and write data in parallel to increase performance. Mirroring increase read performance through load balancing and elevator seeking while creating a complete backup of your files. When supporting RAID 0 or RAID 1, you should connect SATA hard driver disks to SATA Header 1and 2.

  • Page 44: F Ront Panel Connector

    Attach the power LED, Keylock, speaker, power and reset switch connectors to the corresponding pins. If you enable “Suspend Mode” item in BIOS Setup, the ACPI & Power LED will keep flashing while the system is in suspend mode. Locate the power switch cable from your ATX housing. It is 2-pin female connector from the housing front panel.

  • Page 45: A Gp (Accelerated Graphic Port) 8X Expansion Slot

    AX4SPE Max provides an A GP 8x slot. The AGP 8X is a bus interface targeted for high-performance 3D graphic. AGP uses both rising and H T U U T H falling edge of the 66MHz clock, for 4X AGP, the data transfer rate is 66MHz x 4bytes x 4 = 1056MB/s. AGP is now moving to AGP 8x mode, which is 66MHz x 4bytes x 8 =2112MB/s.

  • Page 46: A Gp Protection Technology And Agp Led

    With the outstanding R&D ability of AOpen and its specially developed circuit, this motherboard implements a blend new technology to protect your motherboard from being damaged by over-voltaging of AGP card. When AGP Protection Technology is implemented, this motherboard will automatically detect the voltage of AGP card and prevent your chipsets from being burnt out. Please note that if you install a AGP card with 3.3V, which is not supported by Intel Springdale-PE chipset, the AGP LED on the motherboard will light up to warn you the...

  • Page 47: W Ol (Wake On Lan)

    To use Wake on LAN function, you must have a network card with chipset that supports this feature, and connect a cable from LAN card to motherboard WOL connector. The system identification information (probably IP address) is stored on network card and because there is a lot of traffic on the Ethernet, you need to install network management software, such as ADM, for the checking of how to wake up the system.
  • Page 48 WOL Connector (Ethernet Card Side) WOL Connector (Motherboard Side) Note: This picture is for example only, it may not exactly be the same motherboard.

  • Page 49: I Rda Connector

    The IrDA connector can be configured to support wireless infrared module, with this module and application software such as Laplink or Windows 98 Direct Cable Connection, the user can transfer files to or from laptops, notebooks, PDA devices and printers. This connector supports HPSIR (115.2Kbps, 2 meters) and ASK-IR (56Kbps).

  • Page 50: S Upport 10/100/1000 Mbps Lan Onboard

    On the strength of BCM5705, a fourth-generation triple-speed 10/100/1000 base-T Ethernet LAN Controller solution for high-performance network applications, this motherboard provides 10/100/1000M bps Ethernet for office and home use. The Ethernet RJ45 connector is located on top of USB connectors. The right hand side LED indicates link mode, it lights in orange whenever linking to network. The left hand side LED indicates the transfer mode and it lights in green when data is transferring in 100Mbps (never lights while in 10Mbps), but lights in orange when transferring in Gigabit’s mode.

  • Page 51: S Upport Usb 2.0 Ports

    This motherboard provides eight U SB 2.0 ports to connect USB devices such as mouse, keyboard, modem, printer, etc. There are one USB H T U U T H connector on the board for you to connect two USB devices and six other ports on the back panel. You can use proper cables to connect USB devices from back panel or connect the front USB connector to the front panel of chassis.

  • Page 52: I Eee 1394 Connectors

    With I EEE1394 M AC Embedded in Intel ICH5R (with AGERE FW323), the IEEE 1394 provides data transfer rate up to 400Mb/s, and USB H T U U T H 1.0/1.1 just has 12Mbps. Hence, the IEEE 1394 interface can connect with the devices that need high data transferring performance, such as digital camera, scanner or others IEEE 1394 devices.

  • Page 53: G Ame Port Bracket Supported

    This motherboard comes with a game port (Joystick-Midi) for you to connect any midi devices or joysticks. To use this function you have to have a joystick module and connect it with a game port cable to this port on the motherboard. Joystick Module Pin1 (User Upgrade Optional)

  • Page 54: C Olor Coded Back Panel

    The onboard I/O devices are PS/2 Keyboard, PS/2 Mouse, RJ-45 LAN Connector, COM1, Printer, USB, AC97 sound and game ports. The view angle of drawing shown here is from the back panel of the housing. USB 2.0 SPP/EPP/ECP RJ-45 LAN PS/2 Mouse Ports Parallel Port...

  • Page 55: S /Pdif (Sony/Philips Digital Interface) Connector

    S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interface) is a latest audio transfer file format that provides impressive quality through optical fiber and allows you to enjoy digital audio instead of analog. Normally there are two S/PDIF outputs as shown, one for RCA connector, the most common one used for consumer audio products, and the other for optical connector with a even better audio quality.

  • Page 56: S Uper 5.1 Channel Audio Effect

    This motherboard comes with an ALC650E CODEC, which supports high quality of 5.1 Channel audio effects, bringing you a brand new audio experience. On the strength of the innovative design of ALC650, you're able to use standard line-jacks for surround audio output without connecting any external module.

  • Page 57: F Ront Audio Connector

    If the housing has been designed with an audio port on the front panel, you’ll be able to connect onboard audio to front panel through this connector. By the way, please remove the jumper cap from the Front Audio Connector before you connect the cable. Do not remove this yellow jumper cap if your housing doesn’t have an audio port on the front panel.

  • Page 58: D Ie-Hard Bios

    BIOS ROM by setting JP24 to pin 2-3 if it fails to work properly. This motherboard comes with one BIOS ROM, you may contact our local distributors or resellers for purchasing an extra BIOS ROM. Please visit our website at w ww.aopen.com for details.

  • Page 60: J P15/Jp16 Dr. Voice Language Select Jumpers

    Dr. Voice is a great feature of AX4SPE Max, which can identify the problems you may encounter in the operating system. It can clearly “tell you” whether the problem is caused from components or improper installation such as CPU, memory module, VGA, PCI add-on card, FDD, HDD or keyboard.

  • Page 61: J P2 Speaker Output Jumper

    This motherboard comes with another considerate option that allows you to turn off the voice from buzzer and speaker. You can choose not to be bothered by the warning made from Dr. Voice when it detects any error in operating system. You may also set JP2 to choose sending out voices from buzzer or speaker.

  • Page 62: C D Audio Connector

    This connector is used to connect CD Audio cable from CDROM or DVD drive to onboard sound. Note: Though some of the latest versions of Windows CD-IN Connector support “Digital Audio” through IDE bus. However, in order to use Open Jukebox player, which is driven under BIOS, it is a MUST to connect audio cable to CD-IN connector on the motherboard.

  • Page 63: A Ux-In Connector

    This connector is used to connect MPEG Audio cable from MPEG card to onboard sound. AUX-IN Connector...

  • Page 64: C Ase Open Connector

    The “CASE OPEN” header provides chassis intrusion-monitoring function. To make this function works, you have to enable it in the system BIOS, connect this header to a sensor somewhere on the chassis. So, whenever the sensor is triggered by lights or by the opening of the chassis, the system will beep to inform you.

  • Page 65: S Tby Led (Standby Led)

    STBY LED is AOpen’s considerate design that we aim at providing you friendly system information. The STBY LED will light up when power is provided to the motherboard. This is a convenient indication for you to check the system power status in many circumstances such as power on/off, stand-by mode and RAM power status during Suspend to RAM mode.

  • Page 66: R Esetable Fuse

    Traditional motherboard uses fuses to prevent Keyboard and USB port from over-current or shortage. These fuses are soldered onboard that when it is broken (function to protect motherboard), user cannot replace them and result in malfunction of motherboard. With expensive Resetable Fuse, the motherboard can be resumed back to normal function even after the fuse had done its protection job. Resetable Fuse...

  • Page 67: E Nlarged Aluminum Heatsink

    Cool down CPU and Chipset are important for system reliability. Enlarged aluminum heat sink provides better heat consumption especially when you are trying to over-clock the CPU.

  • Page 68: L Ow Esr Capacitor

    CPU power. The idea of where to put these capacitors is another know-how that requires experience and detail calculation. Not only that, AX4SPE Max implements 3300μF capacitors, which is much larger than normal capacitor (1000 & 1500μF) and it provides...
  • Page 69 The power circuit of the CPU core voltage must be checked to ensure system stability for high speed CPUs. A typical CPU core voltage is 2.0V, so a good design should control voltage between 1.860V and 2.140V. That is, the transient must be below 280mV. Below is a timing diagram captured by a Digital Storage Scope, it shows the voltage transient is only 143mv even when maximum 60A current is applied.

  • Page 70: T He Noise Is Gone

    Today, AOpen Motherboard is honored to bring you a new overall solution, SilentTek, to make your system quiet. To collocate with hardware circuit, BIOS and the utility under...
  • Page 71 The first image you have here is the Voltage Status In “Temp/Fan/Case” page, you may get aware of the page. You can find current status of all voltages and set current temperature of CPU and the heat inside chassis. your expected margins of warning level. Also, you can check if fans are running properly.
  • Page 72 You may find that this setting fits you best. AOpen Recommend Setting: This setting is designed specifically for AOpen housing. A series of lab tests were conducted under the real world scenario to determine optimum fan speed to reduce noise level within CPU working condition and temperature.

  • Page 73: E Zclock

    But from now on, you don’t have to surfer the boring stuffs anymore. With brand-new and user-friendly EzClock that AOpen specially designs for his users, you can adjust those important values as you please and think of suitable. This tailor-made EzClock allows you...
  • Page 74 How You Adjust the Settings in EzClock Utility In EzClock utility, you can adjust CPU Front Side Bus (FSB), the voltage and frequency of VGA, AGP, PCI and DRAM. Besides, the CPU related information such as CPU voltage, temperature and CPUFAN rotation speed will also be displayed on this utility. On the left circle area shows Ratio, FSB and frequency information CPU Color Bars: The color bar will...
  • Page 75 On the bottom rectangular panel represents CPU fan speed, CPU voltage and CPU temperature. The three color bars on the right hand side will light on according to operation temperature. Please refer to the picture shown above. CPU Color Bars: CPU Fan, Voltage and Temperature: The color bars will light on representing CPU fan speed, CPU...
  • Page 76 How Your Boot Screen Looks Like After you finish setting BIOS, these setting values will be displayed on the boot screen like the shown picture here. Every time you boot your system, both default and current settings will pop up on the screen. Your personal settings that had been adjusted earlier will be highlighted;...

  • Page 77: H Yper Threading Technology

    What is Hyper-Threading? Hyper-Threading technology is an innovative design from Intel that enables multi-threaded software applications to process threads in parallel within each processor resulting in increased utilization of processor execution resources. As a result, an average improvement of ~40% in CPU resource utilization yields higher processing throughput. How Hyper-Threading Works A form of simultaneous multi-threading technology (SMT), Hyper-Threading technology allows multiple threads of software applications to be run simultaneously on one processor by...
  • Page 78 For multiprocessor-capable software applications, the Hyper-Threading based processor is considered two separate logical processors on which the software applications can run without modification. Also, each logical processor responds interrupts independently. first logical processor track software thread, while the second logical processor tracks another...

  • Page 79: A Oconfig Utility

    Moreover, AOConfig allows users to save information in *.BMP or *.TXT format which users may collect the system information in detail and send them to AOpen directly for technical support or for further diagnose of system problems. 1. The system page shows the...
  • Page 80 .bmp or .txt format. NOTE: AOConfig can be used under Windows 98SE/ME, NT4.0/2000, or Windows XP. Please also note that AOConfig can only be operated in a system equipped with an AOpen motherboard. Before running AOConfig, all applications must be closed.

  • Page 81: R Aid Introduction

    ’ ’ Two major challenges facing the storage industry today are keeping pace with the increasing performance demands of computer systems by improving disk I/O throughput and providing data accessibility in the face of hard disk failures. The idea of RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) was first introduced by David A. Patterson, Garth Gibson and Randy H. Katz at the University California at Berkeley in 1988.

  • Page 82: W Hat Are The Raid Levels

    RAID level 0, which is the fastest drive array you can have, is a performance-oriented disk mapping method. The data in this array gets written across a stripe or different disks for a faster transfer. This technique has striping but no redundancy of data. It offers the best performance but no fault-tolerance.
  • Page 83 Block 1 RAID level 1 uses at least two duplicate hard drives and store the exact same Block 2 blocks of information between them. This is the slowest form of fault Block 3 tolerance because the data has to be replicated onto two disks at the same time.
  • Page 84 As the name would suggest, RAID 0+1 is striping and mirroring combined. This RAID combines the best of both RAID 0 and RAID 1. It takes a Disk stripe using two disks, and mirrors it to another set of disks for fault tolerance. Data is stripped across several disks, each disk has partner with exactly the same data on it.

  • Page 85: H Dd Capacity Of Raid Levels

    Striping Logical Drive Physical Disks Physical Disks 80 GB 40 GB 40 GB Physical Disks 40GB Physical Disks 40 GB Mirroring Logical Drive 80 GB Physical Disks 40GB Physical Disks 40 GB Logical Drive Physical Disks Physical Disks 40 GB 40 GB 40 GB Striping...

  • Page 86: S Erial Ata Raid For Intel Ich5R

    With the latest chipsets implemented, Intel ICH5R provides RAID 0 and RAID 1 function for the Serial ATA hard disks. You may follow the steps shown below to setup your disk array. After having properly installed your Serial ATA hard disks, you may directly get into the BIOS setting screen for adjustment. You may simply press “Integrated Peripherals On-Chip IDE Device On-Chip Serial ATA”...
  • Page 87 In order to make sure your system can recognize and operate Serial ATA RAID device smoothly, we have to enter RAID Configuration Utility to do some configuration. After finishing the BIOS setup and reboot, you will see [Press CTRL + I to enter configuration Utility] about half way through the boot up.

  • Page 88: S Erial Ata Raid For Silicon Image 3112A

    Silicon Image’s SATARaid provides Serial ATA Software RAID including Striping and Mirroring to enhance the industry’s first proven PCI-to-SATA host controller product. Standard with SATARaid software is a Graphical User Interface (GUI) that provides easy-to-use configurations for the different RAID Sets supported.
  • Page 90 Creating and Deleting RAID Sets is a function set in the BIOS and please press <CRTL-S> or F4 to enter RAID utility during boot. Creating RAID Sets Select “Create RAID Set”. Choose either a “Striped” or “Mirrored” RAID Set. Select if you want the utility to Auto Configure the RAID Set or if you want to manually configure the RAID Set. For Striped Sets, you can change the chunk size.
  • Page 91 The creating and naming of partitions is something done within the Windows operating system. Windows XP/2000 and Windows NT both use the Disk Management window to start this work. And Windows 98/ME uses FDISK to realize this function. Windows XP/2000 SECTION 1: System listing of all formatted and available disks/RAID Sets.
  • Page 92 The SATARaid GUI offers the user the ability to easily monitor your RAID Set. To launch the GUI, simply double-click on the icon located in the bottom right hand corner of the Desktop.

  • Page 93: P Hoenix-Award Bios

    Most BIOS settings of AX4SPE Max have been optimized by AOpen’s R&D engineering team. But, the default setting of BIOS still can’t fine-tune the chipset controlling entire system. Therefore, the rest of this chapter intends to guide you the process of configuring your system setup.

  • Page 94: H Ow To Use Phoenix-Award™ Bios Setup Program

    <Page Down> key to change setting values. You can press <Esc> key to quit Phoenix-Award™ BIOS setup program. The following table provides details about how to use keyboard in the Phoenix-Award™ BIOS setup program. Alternatively, it's strongly recommended to install AOpen’s newest W inBIOS Utility to get more detailed description, further powerful functions and advanced setting of BIOS.

  • Page 95: H Ow To Enter Bios Setup

    After you finish jumper settings and connect correct cables, power on and enter the BIOS Setup. Press <Del> during P OST (Power-On Self H T U U T H Test) and choose "Load Setup Defaults" for recommended optimal performance. Warning: Please avoid of using "Load Turbo Defaults", unless you are sure your system components (CPU, DRAM, HDD, etc.) are good enough for turbo setting.

  • Page 96: W Inbios Utility

    DEL key at a good timing during POST (Power-On-Self-Test) screen to get into the BIOS, which is inconvenient and clumsy. From now on, AOpen provides an easier way to configure your BIOS. WinBIOS is a customized utility for running exclusively on AOpen motherboards, which allows you to setup your BIOS under Windows environment.
  • Page 97 BIOS from damaged by wrong profile version. For the latest WinBIOS profile and language pack modules, you may find them from AOpen official web site as shown below: h ttp://english.aopen.com.tw/tech/download/WinBIOS/default.htm H T U U T H Note: Due to BIOS versions are updated in an extremely fast speed, it's strongly recommended to download the latest BIOS version and WinBIOS profile from our website upon receipt of the motherboard.

  • Page 98: B Ios Upgrade Under Windows Environment

    Windows 95/98, 98SE/ME, NT4.0/2000, or Windows XP. In the meanwhile, in order to provide a much more user-friendly operating environment, AOpen EzWinFlash is natively designed to have multi-language function to provide easier way for users’ usage in changing BIOS setting.
  • Page 99 You may accomplish BIOS upgrade procedure with EzWinFlash by the following steps, and it’s STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to close all the applications before you start the upgrading. 1. Download the new version of BIOS package z ip file from AOpen official web site. (ex: h ttp://www.aopen.com H T U U T H...

  • Page 100: Ivid Bios Technology

    POST screen! Unlike earlier graphic POST screen which could occupy the whole screen and mask text information during POST, AOpen VividBIOS deals with graphics and texts separately, and makes them running simultaneously during POST. With this innovative design, VividBIOS now brings you a beautiful and sleek 256 colours screen without missing any important information shown on POST screen.

  • Page 101: D River And Utility

    There are motherboard drivers and utilities in AOpen Bonus CD. You don’t need to install all of them to boot your system. But after you finish the hardware installation, you have to install your operation system first (such as Windows XP) before you install any drivers or utilities.

  • Page 102: I Nstalling Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility

    ® ® ® The Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility should be installed onto the target system and the Windows * INF files outline the operating ® system how the chipset components will be configured. It is recommended that the Intel Chipset Software Installation utility be installed onto the target system prior to the installation of other drivers.

  • Page 103: I Nstalling Onboard Sound Driver

    This motherboard comes with AC97 CODEC . This audio driver supports Windows 98SE and upper Windows OS; you can find the audio H T U U T H driver from the Bonus Pack CD auto-run menu.

  • Page 104: I Nstalling Intel Application Accelerator Raid Edition Driver In Windows 2000/Xp

    Edition is designed to provide functionality for the Intel ICH5R SATA RAID Controller. This product is available for use on Pentium (R) 4 processor-based systems with an ICH5R I/O Controller Hub and running Microsoft Windows 2000/XP. Software installation is flexible and fully automated for Windows 2000/XP. You can find it in the AOpen Bonus Pack.

  • Page 105: I Nstalling Lan Driver

    This motherboard integrates BCM5705 Gigabit Ethernet Chip. In Widows 2000/XP, you can find this driver from the Bonus Pack CD auto-run menu.
  • Page 106 Install LAN Driver in Windows 98SE/ME Open the Device Manager and check if there is a "PCI Ethernet Controller" in "Other devices" Insert the supplied "Bonus CD" Click "PCI Ethernet Controller " ->" Driver" -> "Update Driver" and Select "Install the software automatically (Recommended) " And then Click "Next".
  • Page 107 Then OS will request to insert the Bonus CD into CD-ROM Drive...
  • Page 108 Type the path of the BroadCom Ethernet driver and select "OK" Example: e:\Driver\Lan\BCM5705 Where is the designation of the “b57w2k.sys “on your Bonus CD. BroadCom Ethernet driver installation finish...
  • Page 109 Install LAN Driver in Windows NT 4.0 Verify that the Windows NT system is upgraded with Service Pack 4 or later. Start your Windows NT system and log in. You must have System Administrator privileges to install the driver software. Open the Control Panel.
  • Page 110 7. When the Select Network Adapter window opens, click "Have Disk"..8. When prompted, insert the driver installation media, or choose a location to install the driver from. Type the path to the driver, and click "OK". For example, to install the adapter driver software for Windows NT, type D:\Driver\Lan\BCM5705 in the Insert Disk location box (where is the designation of the LAN driver on Bonus CD) 9.
  • Page 111 The adapter files are installed, and then the Network window is displayed showing the newly installed adapter Click "Close", then the Microsoft TCP/IP Properties window appears. Configure the TCP/IP protocol and click "OK". When prompted to restart your computer, click "Yes".

  • Page 112: I Nstalling Usb 2.0 Driver

    This motherboard integrates USB 2.0. In widows 98SE/ME, you can find this driver from the Bonus Pack CD auto-run menu.
  • Page 113 * Windows 2000 Installation Guide ********************************************************** Installing Drivers during Windows 2000 Installation ********************************************************** The following details the installation of the USB 2.0 driver while installing Windows 2000 (with the USB 2.0 controller is enabled already). 1. After enabling the USB 2.0 controller, install Windows 2000 normally. 2.
  • Page 115 ********************************************************* Installing Driver in Existing Windows 2000 System ********************************************************* After enabling the USB 2.0 controller and rebooting your system, Windows 2000 setup will show a "New Hardware Found" dialog box. Under Windows 2000, "Universal Serial Bus (USB) Controller" will be displayed. 1.
  • Page 116 2. Choose the "Hardware" tab, and then click the "Device Manager" tab. 3. Click the "+" in front of "Universal Serial Bus controllers". "Intel PCI to USB Enhanced Host Controller - ICH5R" should appear.

  • Page 117: I Nstalling Silicon Image Sii3112A Sata Raid Driver

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000/XP Fresh Installation --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Follow the instructions in this section if you are performing a new installation of Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000/XP, and you wish to boot from a device attached to the SiI 3112 controller. 1.
  • Page 118 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) Adding the SiI RAID controller to an existing Windows NT 4.0 installation ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Follow the instructions in this section to install the Silicon Image SiI 3112 driver on a system already running Windows NT 4.0. 1. Power off the system. Connect the hard drives to the SiI 3112 controller and insert the controller into a PCI slot. Power up the system. 2.
  • Page 119 2. During OS boot up, Windows 2000 will display the 'Found New Hardware Wizard'. Click 'Next'. 3. Select 'Search for a suitable driver for my device (Recommended)' and Click 'Next'. 4. Under 'Optional search locations' insure that 'Floppy disk drives' is checked. 5.
  • Page 120 1. Double click on 'My Computer' icon, select 'Control Panel', click on 'SCSI Adapters' icon, 'Silicon Image SiI 3112 SATA Raid Controller' should displayed correctly under 'Device' and 'Driver' tab. 2. To view information about the devices attached to the controller, use the SiICfg Utility and click on the device from the list. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) Update SiI RAID driver on Windows NT 4.0 with existing Silicon Image driver ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------...
  • Page 121 With the Silicon Image controller already plugged in and the driver already installed. Follow the instructions to update SiI RAID driver. 1. Right click on 'My Computer' and select 'Properties'. Under the 'System Properties' section, click on 'Hardware' tab, and then on 'Device Manager' click 'SCSI and RAID Controller’...
  • Page 122 the system. 5. After the system reboot, right click on 'My Computer' and select 'Properties'. From the 'System Properties' , select 'Device Manager', right click on the '?PCI RAID controller' and select 'Properties' from the pop-up menu. 6. Click ‘Driver’,'Update Driver’ and select 'Automatic search for a better driver [Recommended]'. Insert the driver diskette into floppy drive. Click 'Next' and complete the driver installation.
  • Page 123 5. See instructions in section A to verify controller was installed correctly. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9) Update SiI RAID driver on Windows 98SE/ME with existing Silicon Image driver ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- With the Silicon Image controller already plugged in and the driver already installed. Follow the instructions to update SiI 3112 driver. 1.

  • Page 124: A C97 Codec

    Basically, AC97 CODEC is the standard structure of PCI sound card. As we know, computer is digital-based, but music is based on analog-based. Therefore, there must be a process to turn digital into analog during the last stage processing of sound in computer. Hence, the component on sound card that play this important task is what we called CODEC.

  • Page 125: A Gp (Accelerated Graphic Port)

    The main function of AGP simply put is to tell monitor what screen information had to be shown, a visual transmission device actually. With the rapid developing of AGP card, we can see that it had been developed from single colorful AGP card to 2D and 3D graphic.

  • Page 126: B Ios (Basic Input/Output System)

    Ultra DMA, data transfer rate is 16.6MHz x 2 = 33MB/s. ATA/66, data transfer rate is 16.6MHz x 4 = 66MB/s. ATA/100, data transfer rate is 16.6MHz x 6 = 100MB/s. ATA/133, data transfer rate is 16.6MHz x 8 = 133MB/s. (ATA/133 uses both rising edge and falling edge as ATA/66 but clock cycle time is reduced to 30ns.) BIOS, is a set of assembly routine/program that reside in EPROM...

  • Page 127: C Nr (Communication And Networking Riser)

    The CNR specification provides the PC industry the opportunity to deliver a flexible and cost reduced method of implementing LAN, home networking, DSL, USB, wireless, audio and modem subsystems widely used in today's "connected PCs". The CNR specification is an open industry specification and is supported by OEMs, IHV card manufacturers, silicon supplier and Microsoft. DDR RAM utilizes the existing SDRAM (For ex, PC-100, PC-133) infrastructure and technology while doubling the nominal...

  • Page 128: E Prom (Erasable Programmable Rom)

    Traditional motherboard stores BIOS code in EPROM. EPROM can only be erased by ultra-violet (UV) light. If BIOS has to be upgraded, you need to remove EPROM from motherboard, clear by UV light, re-program, and then insert back. EV6 Bus is the technology of Alpha processor from Digital Equipment Corporation. EV6 bus uses both rising and falling clock edge to transfer data, similar as DDR RAM or ATA/66 IDE bus.

  • Page 129: F Lash Rom

    Flash ROM can be re-programmed by electronic signals. It is easier for BIOS to upgrade by a flash utility, but it is also easier to be infected by virus. Because of increase of new functions, BIOS size is increased from 64KB to 512KB (4M bit). Hyper-Threading technology is an innovative design from Intel that enables multi-threaded software applications to process threads in parallel within each processor resulting in increased utilization of processor execution resources.

  • Page 130: P Arity Bit

    The parity mode uses 1 parity bit for each byte, normally it is even parity mode, that is, each time the memory data is updated, parity bit will be adjusted to have even count "1" for each byte. When next time, if memory is read with odd number of "1", the parity error is occurred and this is called single bit error detection.

  • Page 131: P Ost (Power-On Self Test)

    The BIOS self-test procedure after power-on, sometimes, it is the first or the second screen shown on your monitor during system boot. PSB Clock means the external bus clock of CPU. CPU internal clock = CPU PSB Clock x CPU Clock Ratio A DRAM technology developed by Rambus Corporation*, to achieve high speed of memory through the use of multiple channels in parallel by 16-bits.

  • Page 132: S Ata (Serial Ata)

    The Serial ATA specification is designed to overcome speed limitations while enabling the storage interface to scale with the growing media rate demands of PC platforms. Serial ATA is to replace parallel with the compatibility with existing operating H T U U T H systems and drivers, adding performance headroom for years to come.

  • Page 133: Cm (Virtual Channel Memory)

    NEC’s Virtual Channel Memory (VCM) is a new DRAM core architecture that dramatically improves the memory system’s ability to service multimedia requirements. VCM increases memory bus efficiency and performance of any DRAM technology by providing a set of fast static registers between the memory core and I/O pins. Using VCM technology results in reduced data access latency and reduced power consumption.

  • Page 134: T Roubleshooting

    If you encounter any trouble to boot you system, follow the procedures accordingly to resolve the problem. Start Turn off the power and unplug the AC power cable, then remove all of the add-on cards and cables, including VGA, IDE, FDD, COM1, COM2 and printer. Make sure if all jumper settings are correct.
  • Page 135 Continue Install the VGA card. Then connect your monitor and keyboard. Turn on the power and check if the power supply and CPU fan work properly. The problem is probably caused by power supply or motherboard failure. Next Please contact your reseller or local distributor for repairing.
  • Page 136 Continue Perhaps your VGA card Check if there is display? or monitor is defective. Press <Ctrl> and <Alt> key at the same time, hold them and then press <Del> to reboot the system. It is very possible that your Check if the system keyboard is defective.
  • Page 137 Continue During system rebooting, press <Del> to enter BIOS setup. Choose “Load Setup Default”. Turn off the system and re-connect IDE cable. The problem should be Check if the system can caused by the IDE cable reboot successfully? or HDD itself. Re-install the operating system such as Windows XP.
  • Page 138 Dear Customer, Thanks for choosing AOpen products. To provide the best and fastest service to our customer is our first priority. However, we receive numerous emails and phone-calls worldwide everyday, it is very hard for us to serve everyone on time. We recommend you follow the procedures below and seek help before contact us.
  • Page 139 AOpen eForum is provided to discuss our products with other users, in which your problem probably had been discussed before or will be answered. After log on, you may select your preferred language under “Multi-language”. http://club.aopen.com.tw/forum U H U Contact Distributors/Resellers: We sell our products through resellers and integrators.
  • Page 140 The Part Number and Serial number are printed on bar code label. You can find this bar code label on the outside packing, or on component side of PCB. For example: Part No. Serial No. P/N: 91.88110.201 is part number, S/N: 91949378KN73 is serial number.
  • Page 141 For example: H T U U T H AX4SPE Max R1.00 Mar. 1. 2003 AOpen Inc. Phoenix-Award Plug and Play BIOS Extension v1.0A Copyright © 2003, Award Software, Inc. AX4SPE Max is model name of motherboard, R1.00 is BIOS version.

  • Page 142: P Roduct Registration

    Be able to join the discussions of web-based news groups. AOpen makes sure that the information you provide is encrypted, so that it cannot be read or intercepted by other people or companies. Further, AOpen will not disclose any of information you submitted under any conditions. Please consult our...
  • Page 143 Please do not hesitate contact us if you have any problem about our products. Any opinion will be appreciated. Pacific Rim Europe America AOpen America Inc. AOpen Inc. AOpen Computer b.v. Tel: 886-2-3789-5888 Tel: 31-73-645-9516 Tel: 1-510-498-8928 Fax: 1-408-922-2935 Fax: 886-2-3789-5899 Email: Support@AOpen.NL...

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