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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Table of Contents ................................................................................... 1
1.1 A Thank-you Note Before You Get Start..........................................................4
1.2 Features of This Manual ...............................................................................5
1.3 Safety Information ......................................................................................5
Chapter 2 Introduction to This Motherboard ............................................... 6
2.1 How does your motherboard look like?...........................................................6
2.2 Specification ...............................................................................................7
2.3 Block Diagram ............................................................................................8
Chapter 3 Hardware Installation ............................................................... 9
3.1 Quick Installation Procedure .........................................................................9
3.2 Installation You Have to Know..................................................................... 10
Installing CPU ...........................................................................................10
Installing CPU and System Fans ..................................................................11
Installing Memory Modules .........................................................................12
Connecting IDE and Floppy Cables ..............................................................13
Connecting ATX Power Cables .....................................................................14
Connecting Front Panel Cable .....................................................................15
3.3 Other Installation for Your Reference ........................................................... 16
Setting CPU Voltage and Frequency .............................................................16
Connecting Serial ATA................................................................................17
Adjusting your Hard Disk Setting.................................................................18
Connecting AGP 8X Expansion Slot ..............................................................19
Connecting IrDA........................................................................................20
10/100/1000Mbps LAN Supported ...............................................................21
Connecting USB2.0....................................................................................22
Connecting 1394 (only for n250a-FR) ..........................................................23
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Summary of Contents for AOpen n250a-FR
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Page 1: Table Of Contents
3.3 Other Installation for Your Reference ............16 Setting CPU Voltage and Frequency .............16 Connecting Serial ATA................17 Adjusting your Hard Disk Setting..............18 Connecting AGP 8X Expansion Slot ..............19 Connecting IrDA..................20 10/100/1000Mbps LAN Supported ...............21 Connecting USB2.0..................22 Connecting 1394 (only for n250a-FR) ............23... - Page 2 Vivid BIOS technology ................48 Chapter 6 Installing Drivers ..............49 6.1 Auto-run Menu from Bonus CD..............49 6.2 Installing NVIDIA Windows nForce Drivers............ 50 6.3 Installing NVIDIA NvMixer Driver..............50 6.4 Installing Gigabit LAN Driver (for n250a-FR and n250a-L) ......51...
- Page 3 6.6 Installing USB2.0 Driver ................52 6.7 Installing NVidia SATA RAID Driver .............. 52 6.8 Installing Silicon Image 3114 SATARaid Driver (for n250a-FR only) ....53 6.9 Installing Silicon Image 3114 Java SATARaid Utility (for n250a-FR only)... 58 6.10 JAVA 2 Runtime Environment Installation (for n250a-FR only)....... 58 Chapter 7 Troubleshooting..............
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Page 4: A Thank-You Note Before You Get Start
We regret not informing about any changes in usage standards and other related information. AOpen reserves the right of altering or modifying the content of this manual. In case of any mistakes or incorrect descriptions, which include those on the products, AOpen makes no guarantee or commitments. -
Page 5: Features Of This Manual
1.2 Features of This Manual To help you grab the useful information of this motherboard and aware of certain conditions that you might need to know, you will see the icons below frequently: Note This contains knowledge you should know in process of assembling, or some helpful tips. -
Page 6: Chapter 2 Introduction To This Motherboard
(only for n250a-FR) 9. NVIDIA nForce3 Chipsets 25. USB2.0 Connectors X 2 10. IDE Connectors x 2 26. JP25 BIOS Protection Jumper (for n250a-FR) 11. ATX Power Connector 27. JP24 BIOS Rescue Jumper (for n250a-FR) 12. FDD Connector 28. Serial ATA Ports X 6 (for n250a and n250a-L, Serial ATA Ports X 4) 13. -
Page 7: Specification
2.2 Specification Here is the main function of your motherboard. Models n250a-FR n250a-L n250a AMD Athlon 64 CPU AMD Athlon 64 CPU AMD Athlon 64 CPU Socket 754 Socket 754 Socket 754 800MHz 800MHz 800MHz Chipset nForce3 250 nForce3 250... -
Page 8: Block Diagram
PCI Bus AMD Athlon 32-bit PCI Slot 64 CPU ATA 66/100/133 IDE Drives x 4 150MB/s Serial ATA Ports AGP bus Only for n250a-FR AGP 8X NVIDIA nForce3 250 Silicon Image DDR400/333/266 Serial ATA Ports SATA Controller Up to 3GB... -
Page 9: Chapter 3 Hardware Installation
Chapter 3 Hardware Installation Chapter 3 Hardware Installation 3.1 Quick Installation Procedure 12. Installing Drivers & 1. Installing CPU Utilities 11. Installing Operating System 2. Installing CPU (such as, Windows Fan & System Fan 10. Loading Default BIOS, Setting CPU 3. -
Page 10: Installation You Have To Know
3.2 Installation You Have to Know Installing CPU ® This motherboard supports AMD Athlon 64 Socket 754 CPU. Be careful of CPU orientation when you plug it into CPU socket (with CPU Overheat Protection function implemented, the system will be automatically power off when the temperature of CPU reached 97 degree). -
Page 11: Installing Cpu And System Fans
Installing CPU and System Fans Plug the CPU fan cable to the 3-pin CPUFAN connector. If you have chassis fan, you can also plug it in SYSFAN1 or SYSFAN2 connector. SENSOR +12V SYSFAN1 Connector SENSOR +12V +12V CPUFAN Connector SENSOR SYSFAN2 Connector Note: Some CPU fans do not have sensor pin so... -
Page 12: Installing Memory Modules
Installing Memory Modules DIMM slots are designed in Navy Blue or Electronic Blue which are very easy to recognize. Insert the module straight down to the DIMM slot with both hands and press down firmly until the DIMM module is securely in place. Pin 1 Note: The tabs of the DIMM slot will clip to hold the... -
Page 13: Connecting Ide And Floppy Cables
Connecting IDE and Floppy Cables Connect the 34-pin floppy cable and 40-pin, 80-wire IDE cable to floppy connector and IDE connector. Be careful of the pin1 orientation. Wrong orientation may cause system damage. FDD Connector Secondary Secondary Master (3rd) Slave (4th) Pin 1 Pin 1 IDE 1 (Primary) -
Page 14: Connecting Atx Power Cables
Connecting ATX Power Cables This motherboard comes with a 20-pin and 4-pin ATX power connector as shown below. Make sure you plug them in the right direction. We strongly recommend you to insert the 4-pin connector before connecting the 20-pin connector. -
Page 15: Connecting Front Panel Cable
Connecting Front Panel Cable Attach the power LED, speaker 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, which is a 2-pin female connector from the housing front panel. -
Page 16: Other Installation For Your Reference
If your system hangs or fails to boot because of overclocking, simply use <Home> key to restore the default setting or you can wait the AOpen “Watch Dog ABS” reset the system in five seconds and system will auto-detect hardware again . -
Page 17: Connecting Serial Ata
When serial ATA hard disks are installed on serial ATA ports, the one connected on Port1(SATA1) will be set as the first boot device automatically. Please note that it doesn’t support Hot-Plug in function. SATA Port2 Only for n250a-FR SATA SATA SATA Port1... -
Page 18: Adjusting Your Hard Disk Setting
Adjusting your Hard Disk Setting Except its original 2 sets of parallel IDE, this motherboard supports the latest serial ATA hard disk. If you are unable to find your newly installed serial ATA hard disks on your operating system after having them installed, the problem may lie in the BIOS setting. -
Page 19: Connecting Agp 8X Expansion Slot
Connecting AGP 8X Expansion Slot n250a-FR / n250a-L / n250a provide an AGP 8X slot, a sky blue slot having the latest AGP specification on motherboard. The AGP 8X is a bus interface targeted for high-performance 3D graphic. Traditionally AGP used both rising and falling edge of the 66MHz clock for 4X AGP, and the data transfer rate could achieve 66MHz x 4bytes x 4 = 1056MB/s. -
Page 20: Connecting Irda
Connecting IrDA The IrDA connector can be configured to support wireless infrared module, with this module and application software such as Laplink or Windows Direct Cable Connection, user can transfer files to or from laptops, notebooks, PDA devices and printers. This connector supports both HPSIR (115.2Kbps, 2 meters) and ASK-IR (56Kbps). -
Page 21: 10/100/1000Mbps Lan Supported
10/100/1000Mbps LAN Supported On the strength of Gigabit LAN controller on board (for n250a-FR and n250a-L), this motherboard provides 10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet for office and home use (for n250a, it is 10/100 Mbps). The Ethernet RJ45 connector is located on the top of USB connectors. -
Page 22: Connecting Usb2.0
Connecting USB2.0 This motherboard provides eight USB 2.0 ports to connect USB devices such as mouse, keyboard, modem, printer, etc. There are four ports on the back panel. You can use proper cables to connect Front USB connector to USB modules or chassis front panel. -
Page 23: Connecting 1394 (Only For N250A-Fr)
Connecting 1394 (only for n250a-FR) This motherboard comes with AGERE 1394 Control Chip onboard, the IEEE 1394 provides data transfer rate up to 400Mb/s, this interface can connect to devices that require high data transferring performance such as digital camera, scanner or others IEEE 1394 devices. -
Page 24: Connecting S/Pdif
Connecting S/PDIF S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interface) is a newest audio transfer file format, which provides impressive audio quality through optical fiber and allows you to enjoy digital audio instead of analog audio. Through a specific audio cable, you can connect the S/PDIF connector to other end of the S/PDIF audio module, which bears S/PDIF digital output. -
Page 25: Super 5.1 Channel Audio Effect
Super 5.1 Channel Audio Effect This motherboard comes with an AC’97 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 AC’97 CODEC, you're able to use standard line-jacks for surround audio output without connecting any external module. -
Page 26: Connecting Front Audio
Connecting Front Audio If the housing is 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. -
Page 27: Connecting Game Port
Connecting Game Port 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. Pin1 (User Upgrade Optional) -
Page 28: Connecting Cd_In
Connecting CD_IN This connector is designed to connect CD Audio cable from CDROM or DVD drive to onboard sound. -
Page 29: Connecting Aux_In
Connecting AUX_IN This connector is used to connect MPEG Audio cable from MPEG card to onboard sound. -
Page 30: Connecting Case Open
Connecting Case Open The “CASE OPEN” header provides chassis intrusion-monitoring function. To make this function work, 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 31: Colored Coded Back Panel
Colored Coded Back Panel The onboard I/O devices have PS/2 Keyboard, PS/2 Mouse, RJ-45 LAN Connector, COM1, COM2 port, Printer, USB, AC’97 sound and game ports. The view angle of drawing shown here is from the back panel of the housing. RJ45 SPP/EPP/ECP PS/2 Mouse... -
Page 32: Led Indication
LED Indication LED indication including Standby LED and AGP LED are AOpen’s considerate designs that aim at providing you friendly system information. STBY LED will light up when power is provided to the motherboard, giving you a convenient indication check the system power status in circumstances such as power on/off, stand-by mode and RAM power status during Suspend to RAM mode. -
Page 33: Jumper Settings
3.4 Jumper Settings JP2 Speaker Output Allows you to turn off the voice from buzzer or (only for n250a-FR) speaker. You can choose not to be bothered by the warning made from Dr. Voice when it detects any error in operating system. - Page 34 Dr. Voice provides four language versions: English, JP15/16 Dr. Voice Language German, Japanese and Chinese. You can select your Select preferred language by JP15 & JP16 jumpers. (only for n250a-FR) Disable Enable (Default) JP28 KB/Mouse Wakeup Jumper JP15/16 Dr. Voice Languages Select Jumper...
- Page 35 JP24/25 BIOS Rescue/Protection Jumper (only for n250a-FR) This motherboard provides DieHard BIOS II function to rescue your BIOS and protect BIOS from viruses. Once your BIOS were crashed, please set JP24 to Pin2-3 to boot up the system with BIOS 2. Then set the JP24 back to Pin1-2.
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Page 36: Chapter 4 Special Features And Utilities
Chapter 4 Special Features and Utilities Chapter 4 Special Features and Utilities RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) This motherboard supports RAID 0, RAID 1 and RAID 0+1 (n250a-FR only) functions. For more RAID introduction, please visit our website: http://english.aopen.com.tw/tech/techinside/RAID.htm RAID Configuration Utility Nvidia nForce3 250 chipsets support RAID 0 and RAID 1 functions. -
Page 37: Silicon Image Sataraid Gui Overview (Only For N250A-Fr)
Silicon Image SATARaid GUI Overview (only for n250a-FR) Silicon Image’s SATARaidTM provides Serial ATA RAID 0 (Striping), RAID 1 (Mirroring) and RAID 0+1 (Striping and Mirroring) functionality to enhance the industry’s leading PCI-to-SATA host controller products. Standard with SATARaid software is a Graphical User Interface (GUI) that provides easy-to-use configurations for different RAID Sets supported. -
Page 38: Silenttek - 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 Windows, SilentTek combines “Hardware-Status Monitoring”,... - Page 39 The first image you have here is Voltage Status page. You can find current status of all voltages here and set your expected margins of warning level. You may check your system voltage from the indicating bar here. In “Temp/Fan/Case” page, you can get aware of the current temperature of CPU and the heat inside chassis.
- Page 40 Smart FAN Control: Smart FAN Control: This is the default setting of SilentTek and can be used for any branded computer housing. With a special algorithm developed by AOpen, the fan speed is automatically adjusted by the parameters of CPU and ambient temperature which is ease-of-use and trouble free at your service.
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Page 41: Other Useful Features
Other Useful Features With excellent design ability of R&D team, AOpen boasts for its various powerful and handy features that come with our product like follows. You are welcomed visit technical website learn more about those features. http://english.aopen.com.tw/tech/techinside... -
Page 42: Chapter 5 Setting Bios
AOpen’s R&D engineering team had optimized most BIOS settings of this motherboard. However, some default settings of BIOS cannot fine-tune those sections that controlled by chipset. Therefore, this chapter is intended to guide you and help you to configure some other settings. -
Page 43: How To Use Phoenix-Award™ Bios Setup Program
Alternatively, it's strongly recommended to install AOpen’s newest WinBIOS Utility to get more detailed description, further powerful functions and advanced setting of BIOS. Description Page Up or + Change setting to next value or increase the value. Page Down or - Change setting to previous value or decrease value. -
Page 44: Bios Upgrade Under Windows Environment
BIOS Upgrade under Windows environment With outstanding R&D ability of AOpen, we now bring you a whole new BIOS Flash wizard ---- EzWinFlash. With an eye to convenience for users, EzWinFlash combines the BIOS binary code and flash module together, so the only thing you have to do is just clicking on the utility you downloaded from web and let it help you complete the flash process automatically. - Page 45 STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to close all applications before you start the upgrades. Download the latest version of BIOS package zip file from AOpen official web site. (Ex: http://english.aopen.com.tw/) Unzip the downloaded BIOS package (ex: N250AFR102.ZIP) with WinZip (http://www.winzip.com) in Windows environment.
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Page 46: Winbios Utility (Only For N250A-Fr)
In the past, users have to keep punching the DEL key 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, running exclusively on AOpen motherboards, to allow you setting up BIOS under Windows environment. -
Page 47: Function Keys
This verification is designed on purpose to protect your BIOS from being damaged by wrong profile version. For the latest WinBIOS profile and language pack modules, you can find them on AOpen official web site: (http://download.aopen.com.tw/downloads/default.asp) Note: Because BIOS versions are... -
Page 48: Vivid Bios Technology
Have you been fed up with the conservative and immutable POST screen? Let’s rule out the tradition idea that POST screen are stiff and frigid, and let AOpen show you the newly developed VividBIOS to experience the lively vivid colorful... -
Page 49: Chapter 6 Installing Drivers
Chapter 6 Installing Drivers Chapter 6 Installing Drivers There are motherboard drivers and utilities included in AOpen Bonus CD. You don’t need to install all of them in order 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 can install any drivers or utilities. -
Page 50: Installing Nvidia Windows Nforce Drivers
6.2 Installing NVIDIA Windows nForce Drivers You can install NVIDIA Windows nForce drivers from the Bonus Pack CD auto-run menu. 6.3 Installing NVIDIA NvMixer Driver You can install NVIDIA NvMixer Driver for nForce3 250 from the Bonus Pack CD auto-run menu. -
Page 51: Installing Gigabit Lan Driver (For N250A-Fr And N250A-L)
6.4 Installing Gigabit LAN Driver (for n250a-FR and n250a-L) On the strength of Realtek Gigabit LAN controller on board, this motherboard provides 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet for office and home use. You can install the LAN driver from the Bonus Pack CD auto-run menu. -
Page 52: Installing Usb2.0 Driver
6.6 Installing USB2.0 Driver This motherboard comes with USB2.0 function. For Windows 98SE and Windows ME you need to install USB2.0 Driver from the Bonus Pack CD auto-run menu. 6.7 Installing NVidia SATA RAID Driver This mother board comes with two serial ATA ports (SATA port1 and SATA port2) provided by nForce3 250 chipset. -
Page 53: Installing Silicon Image 3114 Sataraid Driver (For N250A-Fr Only)
6.8 Installing Silicon Image 3114 SATARaid Driver (for n250a-FR only) 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 3114 controller. - Page 54 4. Select 'SCSI Adapters' from the Control Panel. 5. Select the 'Drivers' tab and click 'Add'. 6. Click 'Have Disk'. 7. Insert the diskette labeled ' Silicon Image SiI 3114 SATARaid Driver Installation Disk' into A: and press 'Enter'. 8. Choose 'Silicon Image SiI 3114 SATARaid Controller' and click 'OK'. 9.
- Page 55 1. Right click on 'My Computer' icon, select 'Properties', left click on 'Hardware' tab, and then on 'Device Manager' button. 2. Double click on 'SCSI and RAID Controllers', If there is no yellow '! ‘or ‘? ' in front of 'Silicon Image SiI 3114 SATARaid Controller', the driver is started correctly.
- Page 56 device [Recommended]'. Insert the driver diskette into floppy drive. Click 'Next' and complete the driver installation. 3. System will go through the enumeration process and install the driver. At the end of the process, click 'Yes' to reboot your system when necessary. 4.
- Page 57 Image SiI 3114 controller card, you need to run the update program to install Silicon Image driver. The driver package is located in the Silicon Image driver diskette or the diskette provided by OEM vendor. 1. Power off the system. Connect the hard drives to the SiI 3114 controller and insert the controller into a PCI slot.
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Page 58: Installing Silicon Image 3114 Java Sataraid Utility (For N250A-Fr Only)
6.9 Installing Silicon Image 3114 Java SATARaid Utility (for n250a-FR only) You can install Silicon Image 3114 Java SATARaid Utility from the Bonus Pack CD auto-run menu. 6.10 JAVA 2 Runtime Environment Installation (for n250a-FR only) The Java 2 Runtime Environment is required for the SATARaid GUI. You can install... -
Page 59: Chapter 7 Troubleshooting
Chapter 7 Troubleshooting Chapter 7 Troubleshooting... -
Page 60: Chapter 8 Technical Support
Gold Member of Club AOpen so as to ensure quality service in the future. In order to maintain the best service to every customer of us, we recommend you to follow the procedures below and seek help from our branches according to the region you buy the product. -
Page 61: Model Name And Bios Version
Gold member of Club AOpen, and to ensure high service quality and priority from AOpen. You will also have a chance to play slot machine game to win prize from AOpen. Please prepare the following information before you start: Model Name, Part Number (P/N), Serial Number (S/N) and Purchase Date.
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