Page 1: Ax45F-8X Max
AX45F-8X Max DOC. NO.: AX45F8XMAX-OL-E0307A...
Page 2: Table Of Contents
CPU Installation................................... 22 Hyper Threading Technology ..............................25 CPU Jumper-less Design ................................27 CPU Over-current Protection ..............................28 AOpen “Watch Dog ABS” ................................29 CPU Core Voltage Auto Detectable............................. 31 CPU and System Fan Connector (with H/W Monitoring) ......................32...
Page 3 DIMM Sockets ..................................... 34 Front Panel Connector ................................36 ATX Power Connector................................. 37 AC Power Auto Recovery................................37 IDE and Floppy Connector ................................38 ATA133 Supported ..................................40 Serial ATA Supported .................................. 41 IrDA Connector.................................... 45 Support AGP 8X (Accelerated Graphic Port) Expansion Slot ..................... 46 AGP Protection Technology and AGP LED ..........................
Page 4 CD Audio Connector..................................59 AUX-IN Connector..................................60 Game Port Bracket Supported ..............................61 JP2 Speaker Output Jumper ............................... 62 JP14 Clear CMOS Data ................................63 JP15/JP16 Dr. Voice II Language Select Jumpers........................64 JP24 / JP25 BIOS Rescue Jumper ............................. 65 JP28 Keyboard/Mouse Wake-up Jumper............................
Page 5: Driver And Utility
Driver and Utility ............................86 Auto-run Menu from Bonus CD ..............................86 Installing AGP Driver ................................... 87 Installing Onboard Sound Driver ..............................88 Installing IDE Driver..................................89 Installing LAN Driver in Win98SE/ME/2000/XP........................... 90 Installing Serial ATA Driver in Win98SE/ME/NT4.0/2000/XP ....................107 Installing USB 2.0 Driver ................................
Page 6 EEPROM (Electronic Erasable Programmable ROM) ......................123 EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM)..........................124 EV6 Bus ....................................124 FCC DoC (Declaration of Conformity)............................124 FC-PGA (Flip Chip-Pin Grid Array)............................124 FC-PGA2 (Flip Chip-Pin Grid Array)............................124 Flash ROM ....................................125 Hyper Threading..................................125 IEEE 1394 ....................................
Page 7 SPD (Serial Presence Detect)..............................128 USB 2.0 (Universal Serial Bus) ..............................128 VCM (Virtual Channel Memory) ..............................129 Wireless LAN – 802.11b ................................129 ZIP file ....................................... 129 Troubleshooting ...........................130 Technical Support..........................134 Product Registration..........................138 How to Contact Us..........................139...
Page 8: You 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 9: Before 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 format, we recommend using Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0 for online viewing, it is included in Bonus CD or you can get free download from Adobe...
Page 10: Overview
Technology which brings additional intelligence to system. In the AGP performance, it has one AGP slot and supports AGP 8X mode pipelined spilt-transaction long burst transfer up to 2112MB/sec. According to different customer’s requirements, AX45F-8X Max supports DDR 400/333/266 RAM up to 3GB maximum. The onboard...
Page 11: Feature Highlight
4 (Northwood) 1.6GHz~3.20GHz+ with 400/533/800 MHz Front Side Bus (FSB) designed for ocket 478 technology. The AX45F-8X Max motherboard supports Intel Hyper-Threading Technology. Chipset The motherboard is equipped with SIS 648FX chipset. The SIS 648FX Host & Memory & AGP Controller integrates a high performance host interface for Intel Pentium 4 processor, a high performance memory controller, an AGP interface and SiS MuTIOL 1G Technology connecting with SiS963L MuTIOL 1G Media IO.
Page 12: Lan Port
Watch Dog ABS Includes AOpen “Watch Dog ABS” function that can auto-reset system in 4.8 seconds when you fail the system overclocking. 1MHz Stepping Frequency Adjustment Provides “1MH z Stepping Frequency Adjustment” function in the BIOS. This magic function allows you to adjust CPU frequency from 100~248MHz by 1MHz stepping adjustment, and helps your system get maximum performance.
Page 13 66/100/133, PIO Modes 3 and 4 and Bus Master IDE DMA Mode 5, and supports Enhanced IDE devices. On-board AC’97 Sound AX45F-8X Max uses RealTek ALC650 AC97 sound chip. This on-board audio includes a complete audio recording and playback system.
Page 14 Dr. Voice II The Dr. Voice II can identify what kind of pro l b ems had occurred in the operating system. It provides English, Chinese, Japanese and German four kinds language versions. S/PDIF Connectors S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Inte rface) is the newest audio transfer file format, which provides impressive quality through optical fiber and allows you to enjoy digital audio instead of analog audio.
Page 15: Quick Installation Procedure
This p age gives you a quick procedure on how to install your system. Follow each step accordingly. Inst alling CPU and Fan Installing System Memory (DIMM) Connecting Front Panel Cable Connecting IDE and Floppy Cable Connecting ATX Power Cable Connecting Back Panel Cable Power-on and Load BIOS Setup Default Setting CPU Frequency...
Page 16: Motherboard Map
Motherboard Map Realtek Gigabit PCI LAN Chip Game Port Connector Resetable Fuse Front Audio Connector PC99 Colored Back Panel CD-IN Connector ALC650 AC’97 CODEC JP28 Keyboard/Mouse Wakeup AUX-IN Connector Jumper SmartEAR Connector 4-pin 12V. ATX Power Connector S/PDIF Connector 3300μF Low ESR Capacitors 32-bit PCI Expansion Slots x6 IrDA Connector SYS-FAN2 Connector...
Page 17: Block Diagram
DDR400/333/266 RAM Up to 3GB PCI Bus 32-bit PCI Slot x6 Serial ATA x2 DIMM Socket x3 SATA 1 150MB/S SATA 2 Socket 478 800/533MHz Intel Pentium 4 System Bus Primary Channel 66/100/133 SIS 648FX Secondary Channel IDE Drive x6 Third AGP 8X Slot Channel...
Page 18: Hardware 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 19: About "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 20: Ezcolor
Breaking through traditional outlook of motherboard, AOpen now brings you a new fresh look of motherboard! – EzColor! Fancy? You may think so, but actually it is a practical and useful feature for amateur or even power-users. Coming in specific color for specific connector and module, components on motherboard are now born with their respective colors.
Page 21 Power Switch ACPI & Power LED IDE LED SPEAKER Navy Blue: IDE 1 Connector RESET Black: IDE 2 Connector Light Yellow: IDE 3 Connector Note: Colors setting varies on different motherboards, the color setting here applies only to AX45F-8X Max.
Page 22: Cpu Installation
® This motherboard supports Intel Pentium 4 Socket 478 series CPU (Northwood). 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 23 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 24 This motherboard comes with a retention module att ached on the CPU socket when shipped, we strongly recommend you to install Open speci al de signed CPU Fan as shown below on the retenti on module for better heat dissipation. Please install the CPU Fan orrectly as the f ollow ing pictures shown.
Page 25: Hyper Threading Technology
What is Hyper-Threading? Hyper-Threading technology is an innovative design from Intel that enables multi-threaded sof ware applications to process threads in parallel within each processor resulting in increased utilization of processor execution resource . As a result, an average improvement of ~40% in CPU resource utilization yields higher processing throughput.
Page 26 For multiprocessor-capable software applications, 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 can track one software thread, while second logical processor tracks another...
Page 27: Cpu Jumper-Less Design
CPU VID signal and SMbus clock generator provide CPU voltage auto-detection and allows the user to set the CPU frequency through the BIOS setup, therefore no jumpers or switches are used. The disadvantages of the Pentium based jumper-less designs are eliminated.
Page 28: Cpu 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 29: Aopen "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 POST status. If it succeeded, the BIOS will enable “Watch Dog ABS” function immediately, and set the CPU FSB frequency according to user’s settings stored in the BIOS.
Page 30 This Motherboard implements a Flash ROM and a special circuit that provide you no batter power consumption of current CPU and CMOS 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 31: Cpu Core Voltage Auto Detectable
This motherboard supports CPU VID function. The CPU core voltage will be automatically detected and the range is from 0.8375V to 1.6V. It is not necessary to set CPU Core Voltage. BIOS Setup > Frequency/Voltage Control > CPU Bus Frequency This motherboard is CPU jumper-less design, you can set CPU frequency through the BIOS setup, and no jumpers or switches are needed.
Page 32 CPU Core System Celeron CPU Core System Northwood CPU FSB Clock Ratio Ratio Frequency Frequency Clock Pentium 4 1.6G 1600MHz 100MHz 400MHz Celeron 2.0G 2000MHz 100MHz 400MHz Pentium 4 1.8G 1800MHz 100MHz 400MHz Celeron 2.1G 2100MHz 100MHz 400MHz Pentium 4 2.0G 2000MHz 100MHz 400MHz...
Page 33: Cpu And System Fan Connector (With H/W Monitoring)
The fan Connectors are painted in white in EzColor. Please 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. The PowerFAN4 is for SilentTek II function. +12V SENSOR SYSFAN2 Connector...
Page 34: Dimm Sockets
This motherboard has three 184-pin DDR DIMM sockets that allow you to install DDR400/333/266 memory up to 3GB. The DIMM sockets are painted in electric blue and only support non-ECC DDR RAM. Please install the suitable RAM modules; otherwise serious damage may occur on memory sockets or you RAM modules.
Page 35 Please follow the procedure as shown below to finish memory installation. Make sure the DIMM module’s pin face down and match the socket’s size as depicted below. 40 pins 52 pins Insert the module straight down to the DIMM slot with both hands and press down firmly until the DIMM module is securely in place.
Page 36: Front Panel Connector
The pins of Front Panel Connector are painted in different colors with their respective functions. Please attach the power LED, speaker, power and reset switch connectors to the corresponding pins matched in same colors. If you enable “Suspend Mode” item in BIOS Setup, the ACPI &...
Page 37: Atx Power Connector
This motherboard comes with a 20-pin and 4-pin ATX power connector in flame red. Make sure you plug in the right direction with the same color cables. 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 38: Ide And Floppy Connector
Connect 34-pin floppy cable and 40-pin IDE cable to floppy connector FDD and IDE connector. The IDE 1 connector is painted in navy blue; the IDE 3 connector is painted in light yellow; the IDE 2 connector and FDD connector are painted in Black. Be careful of the pin1orientation.
Page 39 IDE1 is also known as the primary channel and IDE2、IDE3 as the secondary channel. Each channel supports two IDE devices that make a total of six devices. In order to work together, the two devices on each channel must be set differently to Master and Slave mode.
Page 40: Ata133 Supported
This motherboard supports ATA66, ATA100 ATA133 IDE devices. Following table lists the transfer rate of IDE PIO and DMA modes. The IDE bus is 16-bit, which means every transfer is two bytes. As the hard drive industry introduces faster and higher capacity hard drives, the current Ultra ATA/100 interface causes a data bottleneck between the drive and the host computer.
Page 41: Serial 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 42 You will find the claret serial ATA connectors in motherboard easily. To connect a Serial ATA disk, you have to have a 7-pin serial ATA cable which is red too. 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.
Page 43 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 44 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 45: Irda 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 46: Support Agp 8X (Accelerated Graphic Port) Expansion Slot
AX45F-8X Max provides an 8x slot, a sky blue slot which has the latest AGP specification in motherboard. The AGP 8x calls for the bus to operate at the basic AGP 66-MHz clock frequency and the bandwidth are 2.1Gbytes/s. It is a great improvement on the performance of 3D graphic.
Page 47: Agp Protection Technology And Agp Led
With the outstanding R&D ability of AOpen and its specially developed circuit, this model implements a blend new technology to protect your motherboard from being damaged by over-voltage 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 SIS648FX, the AGP LED on the motherboard will light up to warn you the...
Page 48: Wake On Modem / Wake On Lan / Wake On Pci Card
This motherboard implements special circuit to support Wake On Modem, Wake On LAN and Wake On PCI Card. Green PC suspend mode does not really turn off the system power supply, it can be triggered by Modem, LAN or Other PCI Cards and resume back to active.
Page 49: Support Gigabit Lan Chip Onboard
On the strength of RTL8110S-32 Gigabit LAN controller on board, which is a highly-integrated Platform LAN Connect device, it provides Gigabits Ethernet for office and home use, the Ethernet RJ45 connector is located on top of USB connectors. The right-hand side LED indicates the link mode, it blinks in orange whenever linking to network.
Page 50: Support Usb 2.0 Ports
This motherboard provides six ports to connect USB devices such as mouse, keyboard, modem, printer, etc. There are four ports on the back panel and one header on board. You can use proper cables to connect USB devices from back panel or connect USB 2.0 header to the front panel of chassis.
Page 51: Ieee 1394 Connectors
With IEEE1394 MAC Embedded in SiS 963 (with AGERE FW802C), the IEEE 1394 provides data transfer rate up to 400Mb/s, and USB 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 52: Colored Back Panel
The onboard I/O devices are PS/2 Keyboard, PS/2 Mouse, RJ-45 LAN Connector, COM1 and COM2, Printer, USB, and AC97 sound. The view angle of the drawing shown here is from the back panel of the housing. SPP/EPP/ECP RJ-45 LAN Parallel Port Connector PS/2 Mouse LINE-IN...
Page 53: 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 54: Super 5.1 Channel Audio Effect
This motherboard comes with an ALC650 Codec which supports high quality of 5.1 Channel audio effect, 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 55: Front 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 56: Dr. Led Connector (User Upgrade Optional)
Connecting Dr. LED you can easily find the system problems that may occur while assembling. It can clearly indicate whether the roblem is caused from components or improper installation through the 8 LED lig hts of Dr. LED on the front panel. That is to say you can diagnose your system status quickly.
Page 57 Dr. LED is a CD disc storage box with 8 LEDs on its front panel, the size of Dr. LED is exactly the same as 5.25 in floppy drive, so that it an be mount into normal 5.25 in drive bay of any housing. Floppy Boot O.K.
Page 58: Case Open Connector
The “CASE OPEN” header provides chassis intrusion-monitoring function. To make this f unction 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 59: Cd Audio Connector
This connector is used to connect CD Audio cable from CDROM or DVD drive to onboard sound. CD-IN Connector...
Page 60: Aux-In Connector
This GREEN connector is used to connect MPEG Audio cable from MPEG card to onboard sound. AUX-IN Connector...
Page 61: Game 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 (User Upgrade Optional) Pin1...
Page 62: Jp2 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 II when it detects any error in operating system. You may also set JP2 to choose sending out voices from buzzer or speaker.
Page 63: Jp14 Clear Cmos Data
You can clear CMOS to restore system default setting. To clear 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 pin 1 &...
Page 64: Jp15/Jp16 Dr. Voice Ii Language Select Jumpers
Dr. Voice II is a great feature 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 ke yboard.
Page 65: Jp24 / Jp25 Bios Rescue Jumper
Inherited DieHard BIOS, the steps of rescuing your crashed BIOS 1 back to life is the same. First step is to set JP24 to Pin2-3 to boot up the system with BIOS 2. After that, please set the JP24 back to Pin1-2, go to AOpen website to get your BIOS version suited for your motherboard, and have it downloaded.
Page 66: Jp28 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 67: Stby Led
STBY LED is AOpen’s considerate design that we aim at providing you friendly sy stem information. The STBY LED will light up when ower is provide d to the motherboard. This is a convenient indication for you to check the system power status in many circumstances...
Page 68: Enlarged 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 69: Resetable Fuse
Traditional motherboard uses fuses to prevent Keyboard and 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.
Page 70: 3300Μf Low 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, AX45F-8X Max implements 3300μF capacitors, which is much larger than normal capacitor (1000 & 1500μF) and it rovides better stability for CPU power.
Page 71 The power circuit of the CPU core voltage must be checked to ensure system stability for high speed CPUs (such as the Pentium IV, or when overclocking). 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.
Page 72: Ezclock
But from now on, you don’t 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 to set...
Page 73 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 74 X Max 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 75 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 76: Aoconfig 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 77 .bmp or .txt format. AOConfig can be used under Windows 98SE/ME, NT4.0/2000/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 78: Phoenix-Award Bios
Most BIOS settings of this model 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 79: How 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 WinBIOS Utility to get more detailed description, further powerful functions and advanced setting of BIOS.
Page 80 Self 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 81: Bios 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’...
Page 82 Download the new version of BIOS package file from AOpen official web site. (ex: http://www.aopen.com) Unzip the download BIOS package (ex: WAX45F8XMAX102.ZIP) with WinZip (http://www.winzip.com) in Windows environment. Save the unzipped files into a folder, for example, WAX45F8XMAX102.EXE & WAX45F8XMAX102.BIN.
Page 83: Winbios 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 84: Function Keys
For the latest WinBIOS profile and language pack modules, you may find them from AOpen official web site as shown below: (http://english.aopen.com.tw/tech/download/WinBIOS/default.htm) Note: Due to BIOS versions are updated in an extremely fast speed, it's strongly recommended to download the latest BIOS...
Page 85: Vivid 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 colors screen without missing any important information shown on POST screen.
Page 86 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 87 You can find AGP driver from the Bonus Pack CD auto-run menu.
Page 88 his motherboard comes w ith RealTek ALC650 AC97 CODEC. This audio driver supports Windows 98SE and uppe r Windows OS; you can find the audio driver from th e Bonus Pack CD auto-run menu.
Page 89 To use IDE devices you have to install IDE driver from Bonus Pack CD.
Page 90 Windows 98 SE Installation Guide Open the Device Manager and check if there is a "PCI Ethernet Controller" in "Other devices" Insert the supplied "Bonus CD” Double click "PCI Ethernet Controller " Click "Reinstall Driver" in the General Tab.
Page 91 Select "Search for a better driver than the one your device is using now. (Recommended)" Select "Specify a location", and type "G:\Driver\LAN\RTL8100S-32\Win98" in the text box that appears. Press “Next". System will ask you to provide the file path for loading driver, please type "G:\Driver\LAN\RTL8100S-32\Win98" in the text box that appears.
Page 92 System will ask you to insert "Windows 98 CD-ROM" Driver installed. 10. Restart computer.
Page 93 11. Confirming Windows 98 Installation...
Page 94 Windows ME Installation Guide 1. Open the Device Manager and check if there is a "PCI Ethernet Controller" in "Other devices" 2. Insert the supplied "Bonus CD” 3. Double click "PCI Ethernet Controller” 4. Click "Reinstall Driver" in the General Tab.
Page 95 5. Select "Specify the location of the driver (Advanced)" Choose "Search for a better driver than the one your device is using now. (Recommended)", then Select "Specify a location", and type "G:\Driver\LAN\RTL8100S-32\WinME" in the text box that appears. Press “Next". Driver installed.
Page 96 Restart computer. Confirming Windows ME Installation...
Page 97 Windows NT 4.0 Installation Guide In the Control Panel, double-click the Network icon. When the Network window opens, select the Adapters tab. Click "Add" to install a new adapt er. All previously installed drivers are listed under Network Adapters.
Page 98 When the Select Network Adapter window opens, click "Have Disk"..When prompted, insert the BONUS CD, type the path "G:\Driver\LAN\RTL8100S-32\Winnt4" to the driver, and click "OK". With "Realtek RTL8169/8110 Family Gigabit Ethernet NIC" highlighted in the Select OEM Option window, click "OK". Restart computer.
Page 99 Confirming Windows NT Installation...
Page 100 Windows 2000 Installation Guide Open the Device Manager and check if there is a "Ethernet Controller" in "Other devices" Insert the supplied "Bonus CD " Right click "Ethernet Controller ", and then select "Properties".
Page 101 Click "Reinstall Driver" in the General Tab. 5. Select "Search for a suitable driver for my device (recommended)"...
Page 102 6. Select "Specify a location", and then click "Next". . Type "G:\Driver\LAN\RTL8100S-32\Win2000 " in the text box that appears. Press “OK".
Page 103 Driv er installed. Confirming Windows 2000 Installation...
Page 104 Windows XP Installation Guide 1. Open th e Device Manager and check if there is a "Ethernet Controller" in " Other devices". 2. Insert the supplied "Bonus CD " 3. Right click "Ethernet Controller ", and then select "Update Driver".
Page 105 4. Select "Install from a list or specific location (Advanced)", and then click "Next". Choose "Search for the best driver in these locations", and then select "Include this location in the search:" Type "G:\Drive r\LAN\RTL8100S-32\WinXP " in the text box that appears. Press “Next ".
Page 106 . Driver installed. . Confirming Windows XP Installation...
Page 107 Windows 98 SE Installation Guide *********************************************************** Installing Drivers during Windows 98 SE Installation *********** ************************************************ The following details the installation of the Serial ATA drivers while installing Windows 98 SE (with the SATA controller is enabled already). 1. After enabling the Serial ATA controller and configuri ng the hard drive(s) partition and format your hard drive(s), if necessary.
Page 108 9. Choose "Sea rch for a better driver than the one your device is using now (recommended)," then press "Next." 10. Insert the Promise SATA150 driver diskette into drive A. 11. Choose "Specify a Loc ation," and then type "A:\" 10a.
Page 109 Windows ME Installation Guide ******************************************************** Installing Drivers during Windows ME Installation ******************************************************** The following details the installation of the Serial ATA drivers while installing Windows ME (with the Serial ATA controller is enab already). 1. Install Windows Me fully. 2. After installation, go the "Start" menu and choose "Settings." 3.
Page 110 10. Choose "Specify a Location," and then type "A:\" 9a. Insert the "Bonus CD" in CD-RO 10a. Choose "Specify a Location," an d then type "[CD-ROM]:\Driver\Promise\SATA150\Driver\Win98-Me" in the text box. 1. Press the "Next" button. A message informing you that Windows Me has found "Win98-ME Promise SATA150 TX2plus(tm) IDE Controller"...
Page 111 Windows NT 4.x Installation Guide ****************************************************************** Installing Drivers during New Windows NT 4.0 Installation ****************************************************************** 1. Start the system installation by booting from the Windows NT disk: a. Floppy install: boot the system with the Windows NT installation diskettes. b. Floppyless install: boot from floppy and type "WINNT /B". After files have been copied, the system will reboot. On the reboot, press the "F6"...
Page 112 After a successful installati on, the "SCSI Adapter Setup" box will show that the "WinNT Promise SATA TX2plus (tm) IDE Controller" driver has been installed. ****************************************************** Installing Drivers with Existing Windows NT 4.0 ****************************************************** WARNING: If you wish to use your current bootable drive with the Windows NT4 operating system on the SATA150, perform the steps below while the boot drive is still att ached to your existing onboard IDE controller.
Page 113 Windows 2000 Installation Guide ************************************************************** Installing Driver during New Windows 2000 Installation ************************************************************** 1. S tart the installation: a. Floppy Install: Boot the computer with the Windows 2000 installation diskettes. b. Floppyless Install: Boot from floppy and type "WINNT". After files have been copied, the system will reboot. On the reboot, press <F6>...
Page 114 6. From the Windows 2000 Setup screen, press the Enter key. Setup will now load all device files and then continue the Windows 2000 installation. ******************************************************** Installing Driver in Existing Windows 2000 System ************* ******************************************** WARNING: If you will be moving the boot drive containing the existing Windows 2000 operating system to the SATA150 connector, the SATA150 driver MUST be loaded on to this hard drive while it is still attached to your existing hard drive controller.
Page 115 4a. Insert the Bonus CD in CD-ROM. 5a. Type "[CD-ROM]:\Driver\Pr omise\SATA150\Driver\Win2000" in the text box that appears. Press “OK ". 6. Click on "Next." A message informing you that Windows has found "Win2000 Promise SATA TX2plus (tm) IDE Controller" should appear.
Page 116 Windows XP Installation Guide ************************************************************ Installing Driver during New Windows XP Installation ************************************************************ 1. Start the installation: a. Floppy Install: Boot the computer with the Windows XP installation diskettes. b. Floppyless Install: Boot from floppy and type "WINNT". After files have been copied, the system will reboot. On the reboot, press <F6>...
Page 117 The Windows XP Setup screen will appear again saying, "Set up will load support for the following mass storage devices:" The list will include "Win XP Promise SATA TX2plus (tm) IDE Controller". NOTE: If you nee d to specify any additional devices to be installed, do so at this time. Once all devices are specified, continue to the next step.- 7.
Page 118 2. Click on "Next," and from the generated choices, choose "Include this location in the search:" 3. Insert the Pr omise SATA150 driver diskette i nto drive A. 4. Type "A:\" in the text box that appears. Press “OK ". 3a.
Page 119 In Bonus Pack CD, you can install USB 2.0 driver from the following screen.
Page 120: Glossary
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 121: Ata (At Attachment)
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. AGP supports only memory read/write operation and single-master single-slave one-to-one only.
Page 122: Bluetooth
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 123 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 bandwidth...
Page 124 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 125: Flash 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 126: Parity 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 127 The BIOS self-test procedure after power-on, so metimes, 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 128 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 systems and drivers, adding performance headroom for years to come.
Page 129 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 130: Troubleshooting
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 131 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 132 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 133 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 134 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 135 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/ Contact Distributors/Resellers: We sell our products through resellers and integrators. They should know your system configuration very well and should be able to solve your problem efficiently and provide important reference for you.
Page 136 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 137 Model name and BIOS version can be found on upper left corner of first boot screen (POST screen). For example: AX45F- 8X Max R1.00 Jul. 1. 2003 AOpen Inc. Phoenix-Award Plug and Play BIOS Extension v1.0A Copyright © 2003, Award Software, Inc.
Page 138: Product 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 in formation you submitted under any conditions.
Page 139 Please do not hesitate contact us if you have any problem about our products. Any opinion will be appreciated. Pacific Rim Europe America AOpen Inc. AOpen Computer b.v. AOpen America Inc. 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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