AOpen AX37 PRO Online Manual
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AOpen AX37 PRO Online Manual

AOpen AX37 PRO Online Manual

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AX37 Plus/AX37 Pro
DOC. NO.: AX37P-OL-E0210C
1

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Summary of Contents for AOpen AX37 PRO

  • Page 1: W H A T ' S I N T H I S M A N U A L Ax37 Plus/Ax37 Pro

    AX37 Plus/AX37 Pro DOC. NO.: AX37P-OL-E0210C...

  • Page 2: Table Of Contents

    ’ ’ AX37 Plus/AX37 Pro ..........................1 What’s in this manual ..............................2 You Must Notice ................................8 Before You Start................................9 Overview ..................................10 Feature Highlight................................11 Quick Installation Procedure ............................15 Motherboard Map ................................16 Block Diagram................................17 Hardware Installation........................19 Clear CMOS Data .................................
  • Page 3 ATX Power Connector ..............................36 AC Power Auto Recovery.............................. 37 JP28 Keyboard Wake-up............................... 37 IDE, Floppy and IDE RAID (AX37 Plus only) Connector....................38 JP35 Enable/Disable Onboard IDE RAID Controller...................... 40 IrDA Connector ................................41 WOM (Zero Voltage Wake on Modem) Connector......................42 WOL (Wake on LAN)..............................
  • Page 4 Over-current Protection ..............................62 Hardware Monitoring ..............................63 Resettable Fuse ................................64 Year 2000 (Y2K)................................65 2200µf Low ESR Capacitor ............................67 Layout (Frequency Isolation Wall) ..........................69 Pure Aluminum Heatsink ............................... 70 Driver and Utility ..........................71 Auto-run Menu from Bonus CD Disc ..........................72 Installing Windows 95 ..............................
  • Page 5 AC97 ..................................... 95 ACPI (Advanced Configuration & Power Interface) ....................... 95 AGP (Accelerated Graphic Port) ........................... 95 AMR (Audio/Modem Riser)............................96 AOpen Bonus Pack CD ..............................96 APM (Advanced Power Management)........................... 96 ATA (AT Attachment) ..............................96 ATA/66 ..................................96 ATA/100 ..................................
  • Page 6 CODEC (Coding and Decoding) ............................ 98 DDR (Double Data Rated) SDRAM ..........................98 DIMM (Dual In Line Memory Module) ..........................98 DMA (Direct Memory Access) ............................98 ECC (Error Checking and Correction) ........................... 99 EDO (Extended Data Output) Memory .......................... 99 EEPROM (Electronic Erasable Programmable ROM)....................

  • Page 7: Product Registration

    PCI (Peripheral Component Interface) Bus ......................... 102 PDF Format ................................103 PnP (Plug and Play)..............................103 POST (Power-On Self Test) ............................103 RDRAM (Rambus DRAM) ............................103 RIMM (Rambus Inline Memory Module) ........................104 SDRAM (Synchronous DRAM) ............................ 104 Shadow E PROM ................................

  • 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 4.0 for online viewing, it is included in Bonus CD disc...

  • Page 10: Overview

    1066MB/sec. With high bandwidth 266MB/s 8-bit V-Link Host Controller, PC1600 PC2100 DDR SDRAM can be applied to the AX37 Plus/AX37 Pro and the maximum memory size can be up to 3GB. The on-board IDE controller supports Ultra 33/66/100 mode and the transfer rate up to ®...

  • Page 11: Feature Highlight

    The AGP video cards support data transfer rate up to 1066MB/s. As AX37 Plus/AX37 Pro includes one AGP expansion slot for a bus mastering AGP graphic card, For AD and SBA signaling, AX37 Plus/AX37 Pro can support 133MHz 2X/4X mode.
  • Page 12 Memory With VIA Apollo Pro266 chipset, the AX37 Plus/AX37 Pro can support Double-Data-Rated (DDR) SDRAM. The DDR DRAM interface allows zero wait state bursting between the DRAM and the data buffers at 66/100/133MHz. The six banks of DDR DRAM can be composed of an arbitrary mixture of 1M/2M4M/8M/16M/32M/64MxN DRAMs and maximum up to 3GB. The AX37 Plus/AX37 Pro allows DRAMs can run either synchronous or pseudo-synchronous mode with the host CPU bus frequency (66/100/133MHz).
  • Page 13 66~248 by 1MHz stepping, and lets your system can get maximum performance. Watch Dog Timer Includes AOpen “Watch Dog Timer” function that can auto-reset system in 4.8 seconds when you fail to system overclocking. Die-Hard BIOS with external controller (User Optional) The Die-Hard BIOS technology is a very effective hardware protection method that doesn’t involve any software or BIOS coding.
  • Page 14 Dr. LED (User Optional) The Dr. LED has 8 LEDs on the AX37 Plus/AX37 Pro can easily show what kind of problem you may encounter. Power Management/Plug and Play The AX37 Plus/AX37 Pro supports the power management function that confirms to the power-saving standards of the U.S.

  • Page 15: Quick Installation Procedure

    This page gives you a quick procedure on how to install your system. Follow each step accordingly. Installing 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 Reboot...

  • Page 16: Motherboard Map

    CD-IN Connector Motherboard Map Onboard AC97 CODEC Die Hard BIOS with 100% Virus Protection (User Optional) PC99 Colored Back Panel JP30 Die Hard BIOS Select Jumper Resettable Fuse Keyboard Green: AUX-IN Connector Wake-up Select Jumper Red: Modem-IN Connector 2200 μf Low ESR Capacitor CNR Expansion Slot ATX Power Connector...

  • Page 17: Block Diagram

    PC1600/PC2100 DDR Supports ATA100 IDE DRAM Up to 3GB RAID 0 and RAID 1 Solution (AX37 Plus Only) 32-bit PCI Slot x6 DDR DRAM Socket x3 Primary Promise Channel FastTrak IDE Drive x4 100 IDE RAID Controller Secondary Channel VT8633 66/100/133MHz PCI Bus Socket 370...
  • Page 18 (This page is intentionally left blank for notes)

  • Page 19: Hardware Installation

    AX37 Plus or AX37 Pro Motherboard x1 Hard Disk Drive Cable & Floppy Disk Drive Cable x1 80-wire IDE Cable x1 USB Cable x1 Bonus Pack CD Disk & NORTON AntiVirus 2000 CD x1 AX37 Plus/AX37 Pro Online Manual & EIG x1...

  • Page 20: 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 pins 1 &...
  • Page 21 ® ® This motherboard supports Intel Pentium III and Celeron Socket 370 series CPU. Be careful of CPU orientation when you plug it into CPU socket. 2. Locate Pin 1 in the socket and look for a black dot or cut edge on the 1.

  • Page 22: Cpu Installation

    3. Press down the CPU socket level and finish CPU installation. CPU cut edge Note: If you do not match the CPU socket Pin 1 and CPU cut edge well, it may damage the CPU.

  • Page 23: Jp23 Fsb/Pci Clock Ratio

    This jumper is used to specify the relationship of PCI and clock. Generally speaking, if you are not overclockers, we recommend you to set at the default setting. By the way, this motherboard also provides “1MHz Stepping Adjustment” feature for overclockers.
  • Page 24 Clock = CPU FSB Clock / Clock Ratio Clock = PCI Clock x 2 Clock Ratio CPU (Host) Memory 66MHz 33MHz PCI x2 or x3 2X, overclocking 75MHz 37.5MHz 75MHz PCI x2 or x3 100MHz 33MHz 66MHz PCI x2 or x3 or x4 3X, overclocking 112MHz 37.3MHz...

  • Page 25: 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. There will be no worry of wrong CPU voltage detection. Clock Generator ®...
  • Page 26 This function is dedicated to overclockers, AOpen works together with Fairchild to develop a special chip FM3540 that supports Adjustable CPU Core Voltage from 1.3V to 3.5 by 0.05 stepping. But this motherboard can also automatically detect CPU VID signal and generates proper CPU core voltage.
  • Page 27 Tip: If your system hangs or fails to boot because of overclocking, simply use <Home> key to restore the default setting (433MHz) or you can Home wait the AOpen “Watch Dog Timer” reset the system after five seconds and system will auto-detect hardware again.
  • Page 28 Note: This motherboard support CPU Core Frequency = CPU Clock * CPU Ratio auto-detection function. Hence, you PCI Clock = CPU Bus Clock / Clock Ratio don’t need to setup the CPU frequency by manual. Clock = PCI Clock x 2 CPU Core FSB Clock Ratio...
  • Page 29 Pentium III 650E 650MHz 100MHz 6.5x Pentium III 700E 700MHz 100MHz Pentium III 750E 750MHz 100MHz Pentium III 800E 800MHz 100MHz Pentium III 850E 850MHz 100MHz 8.5x Pentium III 533EB 533MHz 133MHz Pentium III 600EB 600MHz 133MHz 4.5x Pentium III 667EB 667MHz 133MHz Pentium III 733EB...
  • Page 30 ” “ ” With this motherboard, AOpen provides a very special, useful feature 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 Timer” function immediately, and set the CPU frequency by user’s setting that stored in the BIOS.

  • Page 31: Cpu And Housing Fan Connector (With H/W Monitoring)

    Plug in the CPU fan cable to the 3-pin CPU FAN connector. If you have chassis fan, you can also plug it on FAN2 or FAN3 (without H/W monitoring) connector. Fan3 Connector +12V SENSE CPU Fan Connector Note: Some CPU fans do not have +12V sensor pin, so that cannot support fan SENSE...

  • Page 32: Dram Socket

    184-pin sockets, six banks of DDR DRAM can be composed of an arbitrary mixture of 1M/2M4M/8M/16M/32M/64MxN DRAMs and maximum up to 3GB. Warning: The AX37 Plus/AX37 Pro only supports DDR DRAM, please do not install the SDRAM on it, this will cause the memory sockets or DDR DRAM module damage.
  • Page 33 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. Pin 1 52 pins 40 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 34: System And Ram Power Indicate Led

    This LED indicates there is power applies to motherboard and memory. If you connect power to the motherboard, this LED will be lighting. It is useful to check the system power status when power on/off and stand-by mode or RAM power status during Suspend to RAM mode.

  • Page 35: Front Panel Connector

    Attach the power LED, EMPI, 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 36: Atx Power Connector

    The ATX power supply uses 20-pin connector shown below. Make sure you plug in the right direction. PW-OK +3.3V 5VSB +3.3V +12V +3.3V -12V PS-ON...

  • Page 37: Ac Power Auto Recovery

    A traditional ATX system should remain at power off stage when AC power resumes from power failure. This design is inconvenient for a network server or workstation, without an UPS, that needs to keep power-on. This motherboard implements an AC Power Auto Recovery function to solve this problem.

  • Page 38: Ide, Floppy And Ide Raid (Ax37 Plus Only) Connector

    Connect 34-pin floppy cable and 40-pin IDE cable to floppy connector FDC and IDE/IDE RAID (AX37 Plus only) connector. Be careful of the pin1 orientation. Wrong orientation may cause system damage. Primary Primary Master (1st) Slave (2nd) ATA 33/66/100 IDE Connector IDE1 (Primary) IDE2 (Secondary) Pin 1...
  • Page 39 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.

  • Page 40: Jp35 Enable/Disable Onboard Ide Raid Controller

    ® The JP35 is used to enable or disable onboard PROMISE FastTrak 100 Lite IDE RAID controller. If you want to disable this controller, please turn off the system power first, and short pin 2 and pin 3 of JP35 by jumper. Pin 1 Enable Disable...

  • Page 41: Irda Connector

    The IrDA connector can be configured to support wireless infrared module, with this module and application software such as Laplink or Windows 95 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 42: Wom (Zero Voltage Wake On Modem) Connector

    This motherboard implements special circuit to support Wake On Modem, both Internal modem card and external box modem are supported. Since Internal modem card consumes no power when system power is off, it is recommended to use an internal modem. To use internal modem, connect 4-pin cable from RING connector of modem card to the WOM connector on the motherboard.
  • Page 43 Traditional Green PC suspend mode does not really turn off the system power supply, it uses external box modem to trigger MB COM port and resume back to active. Serial Port (Modem Side) Pin 1 Serial Port (Motherboard Side)
  • Page 44 With the help of the ATX soft power On/Off, it is possible to have a system totally power off, and wakeup to automatically answer a phone call as an answering machine or to send/receive a fax. You may identify whether or not your system is in true power off mode by checking to see if the fan of your power supply is off.

  • Page 45: Wol (Wake On Lan)

    This feature is very similar as Wake On Modem, but it goes through local area network. 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 46 WOL Connector (Ethernet Card Side) WOL Connector (Motherboard Side)

  • Page 47: Agp (Accelerated Graphic Port) Expansion Slot

    The AX37 Plus/AX37 Pro provides an 4x slot. The AGP 4x is a bus interface targeted for high-performance 3D graphic. AGP supports only memory read/write operation and single-master single-slave one-to-one only. AGP uses both rising and falling edge of the 66MHz clock, for 2X AGP, the data transfer rate is 66MHz x 4bytes x 2 = 528MB/s. AGP is now moving to AGP 4x mode,...

  • Page 48: Cnr (Communication And Network Riser) Expansion Slot

    is a riser card specification to replace the AMR (Audio/Modem Riser) that supports V.90 analog modem, multi-channel audio, and phone-line based networking. Owing to CPU computing power getting stronger, the digital processing job can be implemented in main chipset and share CPU power. The analogy conversion (CODEC) circuit requires a different and separate circuit design, which is put on CNR card.

  • Page 49: Pc99 Color Coded Back Panel

    The onboard I/O devices are PS/2 Keyboard, PS/2 Mouse, serial ports COM1 and COM2, Printer, USB, AC97 sound and game port. The view angle of drawing shown here is from the back panel of the housing. SPP/EPP/ECP MIDI/Game Port PS/2 Mouse Parallel Port Connector Connectors...

  • Page 50: Support 2 Nd & 3 Rd Usb Port

    & & This motherboard supports three USB ports and provides six USB connectors. Two of them are on the PC99 colored back panel, and 2 and 3 port connector is behind PCI3 slot. You can use proper cable to connect others USB connectors to the back plane or front panel of chassis.

  • Page 51: Chassis Intrusion Sensor

    You can use the 2-pin chassis intrusion sensor to connect with JP13, and enable the chassis monitoring function of system BIOS. Please contact our local distributor or reseller for purchasing this sensor. And again, you also can visit our official web site: www.aopen.com.tw to get more information.

  • Page 52: Cd Audio Connector

    This connector is used to connect CD Audio cable from CDROM or DVD drive to onboard sound. Pin 1 GND GND CD-IN...

  • Page 53: Modem Audio Connector

    This connector is used to connect Mono In/MIC Out cable from internal modem card to onboard sound circuit. The pin 1-2 is Mono In, and the pin 3-4 is MIC Out. Please note that there is no standard for this kind of connector yet, only some internal modem cards implement this connector.

  • Page 54: Aux-In Connector

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

  • Page 55: Front Panel Audio Connector

    If the housing has been design with an audio port on the front panel, you’ll be able to connect onboard audio to front panel through this connector. MIC_IN2 VREFOUT PHONE_R PHONE_L Pin 1...

  • Page 56: Die-Hard Bios (100% Virus Protection, User Optional)

    BIOS coding, hence is 100% virus free. There is a BIOS flash ROM mounted on the M/B when you get it. If you want to add extra BIOS flash ROM, please contact the local distributor or reseller. You also can link to AOpen official website: www.aopen.com.tw by Internet to purchase it.
  • Page 57 External Controller provides you a better and convenience way to switch the BIOS status between “Rescue” and “Normal” without opening the case of your computer. You have to plug the jumper cable to the connector pin (JP30) on the motherboard. Be careful of the orientation when you connect, the red wire should correspond to Pin1.
  • Page 58 Note: If you suspect your BIOS is infected by virus, just rescue your bios by following steps: Turn off the system, set the External Controller to “Rescue” to read from rescue ROM. Boot the system and set the switch back to “Normal”. Follow the BIOS upgrade procedure to rehabilitate BIOS.

  • Page 59: Dr. Led Connector (User Optional)

    In conjunction with Dr. LED (User Optional), which can easily show what kind of problem you may incur on your system during assembly. It can clearly indicate whether there is a component issue or an installed issue by the 8 LEDs on the front panel of Dr. LED.
  • Page 60 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 can be mount into normal 5.25 in drive bay of any housing. Boot O.K.

  • Page 61: Battery-Less And Long Life Design

    This Motherboard implements Flash ROM and a special circuit that allows you to save your current CPU and CMOS Setup configurations without the need of a battery. 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 62: Over-Current Protection

    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 63: Hardware Monitoring

    This motherboard implements a hardware monitoring system. As you turn on your system, this smart design will continue to monitor your system’s working voltage, fan status and CPU temperature. If any of these systems’ status go wrong, there will be an alarm through the AOpen Hardware Monitoring Utility to warn the user.

  • Page 64: Resettable Fuse

    Traditional motherboard has fuse for Keyboard and port to prevent over-current or shortage. These fuses are soldered onboard that when it is broken (did the job to protect motherboard), user still cannot replace it and the motherboard is still malfunction. With expensive Resettable Fuse, the motherboard can back to normal function after fuse did the protection job.

  • Page 65: Year 2000 (Y2K)

    BIOS, this Tick Routine does not update the CMOS every time because the CMOS is a very slow device that degrades system performance. The Tick Routine of the AOpen BIOS has 4 digits for year coding, as long as applications and the operating system...
  • Page 66 follow the rule to get date/time information. There will be no Y2K problem (such as NSTL’s test program). But unfortunately again, we found some test programs (such as Checkit 98) accesses RTC/CMOS directly. This motherboard has hardware Y2K checking and protection that ensures risk free operation.

  • Page 67: 2200Μf Low Esr Capacitor

    μ μ The quality of low ESR capacitor (Low Equivalent Series Resistance) during high frequency operation is very important for stability of CPU power. The location of where to put these capacitors is another know-how that requires experience and detail calculation. Not only that, this motherboard implements 2200μf condensers, which is much larger than normal (1000 or 1500μf) and provides better stability for CPU power.
  • Page 68 The power circuit of the CPU core voltage must be checked to ensure system stability for high speed CPUs (such as the new Pentium III, or when overclocking). A typical CPU core voltage is 2.0V, so a good design should control voltage between 1.860V and 2.140V.

  • Page 69: Layout (Frequency Isolation Wall)

    For high frequency operation, especially overclocking, layout is the most important factor to make sure chipset and CPU working in stable condition. The layout of this motherboard implements AOpen’s unique design called “ Frequency Isolation Wall”. Separating each critical portion of motherboard into...

  • Page 70: Pure Aluminum Heatsink

    Cool down CPU and Chipset is important for system reliability. Aluminum heat sink provides better heat consumption especially when you are trying to overclock.

  • Page 71: Driver And Utility

    There are motherboard drivers and utilities included in AOpen Bonus CD disc. 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 98) before you can install any drivers or utilities.

  • Page 72: Auto-Run Menu From Bonus Cd Disc

    You can use the auto-run menu of Bonus CD disc. Choose the utility and driver and select model name.

  • Page 73: Installing Windows 95

    First, don’t install any add-on card except card. Install Windows 95 OSR2 v2.1, 1212 or 1214 version and later with USB support. Otherwise, you need to install USBSUPP.EXE. Install the VIA 4 in 1 driver, which includes VIA AGP Vxd driver, VIA ATAPI Vendor Support driver and VIA registry (INF) program.
  • Page 74 First, don’t install any add-on card except card. Enable USB Controller in BIOS Setup > Advanced Chipset Features > OnChip USB, to make BIOS fully capable of controlling IRQ assignment. Install Window 98 into your system. Install the VIA 4 in 1 driver, which includes VIA AGP Vxd driver, IRQ Routing, VIA ATAPI Vendor Support driver and VIA registry (INF) program.

  • Page 75: Installing Windows 98

    ® ® ® ® ® ® & & ® ® ® If you are using Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows Millennium Edition or Windows 2000, you do not need to install the 4-in-1 ® driver as the IRQ Routing Driver and the ACPI Registry are already incorporated into the operating system. Users with Windows 98 SE may update the VIA Registry INF and AGP drivers by installing them individually.

  • Page 76: Installing Via 4 In 1 Driver

    You can install the VIA 4 in 1 driver (IDE Bus master (For Windows NT use), VIA ATAPI Vendor Support Driver, VIA AGP, IRQ Routing Driver (For Windows 98 use), VIA Registry (INF) Driver) from the Bonus Pack CD disc auto-run menu. Note: Installing this Bus Master IDE driver may cause Suspend to Hard Drive failure.

  • Page 77: Installing Onboard Sound Driver

    This motherboard comes with an AC97 CODEC and the sound controller is in VIA South Bridge chipset. You can find the audio driver from the Bonus Pack CD disc auto-run menu.

  • Page 78: Install Onboard Ide Raid Driver (Ax37 Plus Only)

    ® The onboard PROMISE FastTrak 100 Lite chipset provides DOS, Widows 3.1/95/98/98 SE/ME/NT/2000 driver for install. Please refer to the “ATA/100 IDE RAID Manual” for get more detail information. ™ ™ You can monitor the operating status of disk array and drives configured on the IDE RAID channel using the supplies FastCheck™ monitoring utility for Windows-based operating system.

  • Page 79: Installing Hardware Monitoring Utility

    You can install Hardware Monitoring Utility to monitor CPU temperature, fans and system voltage. The hardware monitoring function is automatically implemented by the BIOS and utility software. No hardware installation is needed.

  • Page 80: Acpi Suspend To Hard Drive

    ACPI Suspend to Hard Drive is basically controlled by Windows operation system. It saves your current work (system status, memory and screen image) into hard disk, and then the system can be totally power off. Next time, when power is on, you can resume your original work directly from hard disk within few seconds without go through the Windows booting process and run your application again.

  • Page 81: System Requirement

    System Requirement AOZVHDD.EXE 1.30b or later. Delete config.sys and autoexec.bat. Fresh installation of Windows 98 on a new system 1. Execute "Setup.exe /p j" to install Windows 98 2. After Windows 98's installation is complete, go to the Control Panel > Power Management. a.
  • Page 82 Changing from APM to ACPI (Windows 98 only) 1. Run "Regedit.exe" a. Go through the following path HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWARE MICROSOFT WINDOWS CURRENT VERSION DETECT b. Select "ADD Binary" and name it as "ACPIOPTION". c. Right click and select Modify, add "01" after "0000" to make it "0000 01". d.
  • Page 83 4. Run "Add New Hardware" again and it will find "Advanced Power Management Resource". 5. Click "OK". Tip: Currently we found only ATI 3D Rage Pro AGP card would support ACPI suspend to disk. Please refer to AOpen web site for latest update...

  • Page 84: Acpi Suspend To Ram (Str)

    This motherboard supports ACPI Suspend to RAM function. With this function, you can resume your original work directly from DRAM without going through the Windows 98 booting process and run your application again. Suspend to DRAM saves your current work in the system memory, it is faster than Suspend to Hard Drive but requires power supplied to DRAM, while Suspend to Hard Drive requires no power.
  • Page 85 To implement ACPI Suspend to DRAM, please follow the procedures as below: System Requirement An ACPI OS is required. Currently, Windows 98 is the only choice. Please refer to ACPI Suspend to Hard Drive of how to setup Windows 98 ACPI mode. The VIA 4 in 1 Driver must have been installed properly.
  • Page 86 (This page is intentionally left blank for notes)

  • Page 87: Award Bios

    Most BIOS setting of AK73M had optimized by AOpen’s R&D engineering team. But, the default setting of BIOS still can’t fine-tune the chipset controlling entire system. Hence, the rest of this chapter is intended to guide you through the process of configuring your system using setup.

  • Page 88: How To Use Award™ Bios Setup Program

    Award™ BIOS setup program. The following table provides details about how to use keyboard in the Award BIOS setup program. By the way, all products of AOpen also provides a special function in the BIOS setup, you can press <F3> key selecting preferred menu language to display.
  • Page 89 Load fail-save setting value from CMOS. Load turbo setting value from CMOS. Save changed setting and exit setup program. Note: AOpen always dedicates to give users a more friendly computer system. Now, we include all function descriptions of BIOS setup program into the BIOS Flash ROM.

  • Page 90: How To Enter Bios Setup

    After you finish the setting of jumpers and connect correct cables. Power on and enter the BIOS Setup, press <Del> during POST (Power-On Self Test). 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 91: Bios Upgrade

    By doing so, you are taking a risk of BIOS flash failure. If you indeed intent on upgrading, PLEASE BE SURE to use the right BIOS revision for the right motherboard model. AOpen Easy Flash is a little different than traditional flash method. The BIOS binary file and flash routine are linked together and you simply run a single commend to complete the flash process.
  • Page 92 Below are the steps for easy flashing procedures: (applies for Award BIOS ONLY) 1. Download new BIOS upgrade file from AOpen's web site. For example, AX37P102.ZIP. 2. Run shareware PKUNZIP (http://www.pkware.com/) which supports miscellaneous operation systems to extract the binary BIOS file and the flash utility.

  • Page 93: Overclocking

    As a leading manufacturer in motherboard industry, AOpen always listens to what customers want and develop products to fit different user's requirements. Reliability, compatibility, leading technology and friendly features are our basic goals when designing motherboards. Other than above mentioned design criteria, there are power users who are always seeking to push the limitation of the system performance by overclocking which we call them "Overclocker".

  • Page 94: Vga Card & Hard Disk

    VGA and HDD is key components for overclocking, for your reference, the following list are what have been successful overclocked in our lab. Please note that AOpen can not guaranty they can be successful overclocked again. Please check the Available Vendor List (AVL) by link to our official website.

  • Page 95: Glossary

    AGP uses both rising and falling edge of the 66MHz clock, for 2X AGP, the data transfer rate is 66MHz x 4byte x 2 = 528MB/s. AGP is now moving to 4X mode, 66MHz x 4byte x 4 = 1056MB/s. AOpen is the first...

  • Page 96: Amr (Audio/Modem Riser)

    Unlike ACPI, BIOS controls most APM power management functions. AOpen Suspend to Hard Drive is a good example of APM power management. ATA is the specification of diskette interface. In 80’s, many software and hardware manufacturers instituted the ATA specification together.

  • Page 97: Ata/100

    ATA/100 is a new IDE specification under developing. ATA/100 uses both rising edge and falling edge as ATA/66 but clock cycle time is reduced to 40ns. The data transfer rate is (1/40ns) x 2 bytes x 2 = 100MB/s. To use ATA/100, you need special 80-wire IDE cable, the same as ATA/66.

  • Page 98: Codec (Coding And Decoding)

    Normally, CODEC means a circuit that can do digital to analog conversion and also the analog to digital conversion. It is part of AC97 sound/modem solution. DDR SDRAM utilizes the existing DRAM infrastructure and technology while doubling the nominal bandwidth available to systems in an easy to design and simple to adopt way.

  • Page 99: Ecc (Error Checking And Correction)

    The ECC mode needs 8 ECC bits for 64-bit data. Each time memory is accessed; ECC bits are updated and checked by a special algorithm. The ECC algorithm has the ability to detect double-bit error and automatically correct single-bit error while parity mode can only detect single-bit error.

  • Page 100: Ev6 Bus

    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 256KB (2M bit). AOpen AX5T is the first board to implement 256KB (2Mbit) Flash ROM.

  • Page 101: Fsb (Front Side Bus) Clock

    FSB Clock means CPU external bus clock. CPU internal clock = CPU FSB Clock x CPU Clock Ratio See SMBus. IEEE 1394 is a low-cost digital interface originated by Apple Computer as a desktop LAN and developed by the IEEE 1394 working group.

  • Page 102: Pbsram (Pipelined Burst Sram)

    For Socket 7 CPU, one burst data read requires four QWord (Quad-word, 4x16 = 64 bits). PBSRAM only needs one address decoding time and automatically sends the remaining QWords to CPU according to a predefined sequence. Normally, it is 3-1-1-1, total 6 clocks, which is faster than asynchronous SRAM.

  • Page 103: Pdf Format

    A file format for electronic document, PDF format is independent from platform, you can read PDF file under Windows, Unix, Linux, Mac … with different PDF reader. You can also read PDF file by web browser such as IE and Netscape, note that you need to install PDF plug-in first (Included in Acrobat Reader).

  • Page 104: Rimm (Rambus Inline Memory Module)

    SDRAM comes in 64-bit 168-pin DIMM and operates at 3.3V. AOpen is the first company to support dual-SDRAM DIMMs onboard (AP5V), from Q1 1996 A memory space in Flash-ROM to simulate E PROM operation, AOpen motherboard uses Shadow E...

  • Page 105: Smbus (System Management Bus)

    SMBus is also called I2C bus. It is a two-wire bus developed for component communication (especially for semiconductor IC). For example, set clock of clock generator for jumper-less motherboard. The data transfer rate of SMBus is only 100Kbit/s, it allows one host to communicate with CPU and many masters and slaves to send/receive message.

  • Page 106: Usb (Universal Serial Bus)

    USB is a 4-pin serial peripheral bus that is capable of cascading low/medium speed peripherals (less than 10Mbit/s) such as keyboard, mouse, joystick, scanner, printer and modem. With USB, the traditional complex cables from back panel of your PC can be eliminated.

  • Page 107: 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 Make sure if all jumper settings are correct.
  • Page 108 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 109 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 110 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 reboot successfully? cable or HDD itself. Re-install the operating system such as Windows 98.

  • Page 111: Technical Support

    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 112 5 5 5 5 News Group: Your problem probably had been answered by our support engineer or professional users on the news group. http://www.aopen.com.tw/tech/newsgrp/default.htm 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 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 more efficiently than us.
  • Page 113 Model name and BIOS version can be found on upper left corner of first boot screen (POST screen). For example: AX37 Plus R1.20 Nov.01.2000 AOpen Inc. Award Plug and Play BIOS Extension v1.0A Copyright © 1998, Award Software, Inc. AX37 Plus is model name of motherboard, R1.20 is BIOS version.

  • Page 114: 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 information you submitted under any conditions. Please consult our...
  • Page 115 Web: http://www.aopen.com E-mail: Send us email by going through the contact form below. English http://www.aopen.com.tw/tech/contact/techusa.htm Japanese http://aojp.aopen.com.tw/tech/contact/techjp.htm Chinese http://w3.aopen.com.tw/tech/contact/techtw.htm German http://www.aopencom.de/tech/contact/techde.htm Simplified Chinese http://www.aopen.com.cn/tech/contact/techcn.htm TEL: 510-489-8928 Netherlands +31 73-645-9516 China (86) 755-375-3013 Taiwan (886) 2-2696-1333 Germany +49 (0) 2102-157-700...

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