VA-20 AMD Athlon™ XP / Athlon™ / Duron™ Socket 462 System Board User’s Manual Rev. 1.
Copyright and Warranty Notice The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on part of the vendor, who assumes no liability or responsibility for any errors that may appear in this manual. No warranty or representation, either expressed or implied, is made with respect to the quality, accuracy or fitness for any particular part of this document.
Table Of Contents Chapter 1. 1.1. 1.2. 1.3. Chapter 2. 2.1. 2.2. 2.3. 2.4. 2.5. Introduction .................................................... 1-1 Features & Specifications....................................................... 1-1 Layout Diagram...................................................................... 1-3 Jumpers & Connectors Description........................................ 1-4 Hardware Setup.............................................. 2-1 Precautions ..............................
Chapter 3. 3.1. 3.2. Chapter 4. 4.1. BIOS Setup...................................................... 3-1 About the Setup Utility........................................................... 3-1 3.1.1. The Standard Configuration ..................................... 3-1 3.1.2. Entering the Setup Utility ......................................... 3-2 3.1.3. Updating the BIOS ................................................... 3-3 Using BIOS ....................................................................
Introduction 1-1 Chapter 1. Introduction 1.1.
1-2 Chapter 1 Back Panel I/O • • • • 1x PS/2 Keyboard, 1x PS/2 Mouse 1x Parallel Port, 1x Serial Port, 1x VGA Port, 4x USB 2.0, 1x RJ-45 LAN Connector 3 holes Audio connectors (Line-out, Line-in, Microphone) Miscellaneous • Micro ATX form factor (244mm x 220mm) All brand names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. This motherboard is customized for certain system configurations; and may not fit system integration in all DIY ways.
Introduction 1-3 1.2.
1-4 Chapter 1 1.3.
Hardware Setup Chapter 2. 2-1 Hardware Setup 2.1. Precautions Please pay attention to the following precautions before setting up any hardware. 1. Always switch off the power supply and unplug the power cord from the wall outlet before installing the board or changing any settings. 2. Ground yourself properly by wearing a static safety wrist strap before removing the board from the antistatic bag. 3. Hold the board by its edges. Avoid touching any component on it. 4.
2-2 Chapter 2 2.2. Installing the System Board Before installing the system board, exam your chassis to ensure this system board fits into it. 1. Face the side of the I/O ports toward the rear part of the chassis. 2. Locate the screw holes on the system board and the chassis base. 3. Place all the studs or spacers needed on the chassis base and have them tightened. 4. Line up all the screw holes on the board with those studs or spacers on the chassis. 5. Tightens all the screw holes.
Hardware Setup 2-3 2.3. Install CPU and Heatsink • Installing a heatsink and cooling fan is necessary for heat to dissipate from your processor. Failing to install these items may result in overheating and processor damage. • The AMD Socket A processor will produce a lot of heat while operating, so you need to use a large heat sink that is especially designed for the AMD socket A processor. Otherwise, it may result in overheating and processor damage.
2-4 Chapter 2 1. Locate the Socket 462 on this motherboard. Pull the CPU release lever sideways to unlatch and then raise it all the way up. 2. Align the CPU notch to the socket notch for CPU. Drop the processor with its pin side down into the CPU socket. Do not use extra force to insert CPU; it only fit in one direction. Close the CPU release lever. 3. Remove the plastic film adhesive on the heatsink.
Hardware Setup 2-5 2.4. System Memory This system board provides two 184-pin DDR DIMM slots for DDR 400/333/266/200 un-buffered memory modules. 2.4.1.
2-6 2.4.2. Chapter 2 Installing and Removing Memory Modules Power off the computer and unplug the AC power cord before installing or removing memory modules. 1. Locate the DIMM slot on the board. 2. Hold two edges of the DIMM module carefully, keep away of touching its connectors. 3. Align the two notch keys on the module with the two ribs on the slot. 4. Firmly press the module into the slots until the ejector tabs at both sides of the slot automatically snaps into the mounting notch.
Hardware Setup 2-7 2.5. Connectors, Headers, and Switches All the connectors, headers and switches mentioned here are depending on your system configuration. Some features you may (or may not) have to connect or to configure depending on the peripherals you have connected. WARNING: Always power off the computer and unplug the AC power cord before adding or removing any peripheral or component. Failing to so may cause severe damage to your system board and/or peripherals.
2-8 2.5.2. Chapter 2 FAN Connectors (CPUFAN1, CASFAN1) These connectors each provide power to the cooling fans installed in your system. The CPU must be kept cool by using a powerful fan with heatsink. The system is capable of monitoring the speed of the CPU fan. • CPUFAN1: Power connector for CPU cooling fan • CASFAN1: Power connector for chassis cooling fan WARNING: These fan connectors are not jumpers. DO NOT place jumper caps on these connectors.
Hardware Setup 2.5.3. 2-9 CMOS Memory Clearing Header (JP1) This header uses a jumper cap to clear the CMOS memory. • Pin 1-2 shorted (default): Normal operation. • Pin 2-3 shorted: Clear CMOS memory. ATTENTION: Turn the system power off first (including the +5V standby power) before clearing the CMOS memory. Failing to do so may cause your system to work abnormally or malfunction.
2-10 Chapter 2 2.5.4. BIOS Write Protection Header (JP3) This header uses a jumper cap to protect the BIOS contents from accidentally flashed. VA-20 • Pin 1-2 shorted (Default): Write Protect Enabled. • Pin 2-3 shorted: Write Protect Disabled.
Hardware Setup 2.5.5. 2-11 CPU FSB Frequency Selector (JP8, JP9) These headers use jumper caps to select the CPU FSB Frequency.
2-12 2.5.6. Chapter 2 Front Panel Switches & Indicators Connection Headers (PANEL1) These headers are used for connecting switches and LED indicators on the chassis front panel. The mark “+” align to the pin in the figure below stands for positive polarity for the LED connection.
Hardware Setup 2.5.7. 2-13 Additional USB Port Connection Header (USB3, USB4) This header provides 2 additional USB 2.0 ports connection through an USB cable designed for USB 2.0 specifications.
2-14 2.5.8. Chapter 2 Front Panel Audio Connection Header (AUDIO1) This header provides the connection to audio connector at front panel. • To use the audio connector at front panel, remove all the jumpers on this header, and then connect to front panel by the extension cable provided with the chassis. • To use the audio connector at rear panel, disconnect the extension cable, attach the jumpers back at pin 5-6, and pin 9-10 (default setting).
Hardware Setup 2.5.9. 2-15 Accelerated Graphics Port Slot (AGP1) This slot supports an optional AGP graphics card up to AGP 8X/4X mode. ATTENTION: This motherboard does not support 3.3V AGP cards. Use only 1.5V or 0.8V AGP cards. 2.5.10. Internal Audio Source Connectors (CDIN1, AUXIN1) These connectors connect to the audio output of internal CD-ROM drive or add-on card.
2-16 2.5.11. Chapter 2 Floppy Disk Drive Connector (FDD1) This connector supports two standard floppy disk drives via a 34-pin 34-conductor ribbon cable. Connecting the Floppy Disk Drive Cable: 1. Install one end of the ribbon cable into the FDD1 connector. The colored edge of the ribbon cable should be aligned with pin-1 of FDD1 connector. 2. Install the other end(s) of ribbon cable into the disk drive connector(s).
Hardware Setup 2.5.12. 2-17 IDE Disk Drive Connectors (IDE1, IDE2) These IDE ports each connects up to two IDE drives at Ultra ATA/100 mode by one 40-pin, 80-conductor, and 3-connector Ultra ATA/66 ribbon cables. Connect the single end (blue connector) at the longer length of ribbon cable to the IDE port on system board, and the other two ends (gray and black connector) at the shorter length of the ribbon cable to the connectors on hard drives.
2-18 2.5.13.
Hardware Setup 2.5.14. 2-19 Serial ATA connectors (SATA1, SATA2) These connectors are provided to attach one Serial ATA device at each channel via Serial ATA cable. This motherboard also provides RAID 0 and RAID 1 configuration for Serial ATA hard drives through the VIA VT8237 chipset.
2-20 2.5.15. Chapter 2 External I/O Panel • Mouse: PS/2 mouse connector. • Keyboard: PS/2 keyboard connector. • LPT1: Parallel port connector. • COM1: Serial port connector. • VGA1: Monitor signal connector. • USB1/USB2: USB 2.0 connectors. • LAN1:10/100Mbps LAN connectors. • AUDIO: Mic In: Connects to the plug from external microphone. Line In: Connects to the line out from external audio sources. Line Out: Connects to the front left and front right channel in the 5.
BIOS Setup Chapter 3. 3-1 BIOS Setup 3.1. About the Setup Utility The computer uses the latest Award BIOS with support for Windows Plug and Play. The CMOS chip on the motherboard contains the ROM setup instructions for configuring the motherboard BIOS. The BIOS (Basic Input and Output System) Setup Utility displays the system’s configuration status and provides you with options to set system parameters.
3-2 Chapter 3 3.1.2. Entering the Setup Utility When you power on the system, BIOS enters the Power-On Self Test (POST) routines. POST is a series of built-in diagnostics performed by the BIOS.
BIOS Setup 3.1.3. 3-3 Updating the BIOS You can download and install updated BIOS for this motherboard from the manufacturer’s Web site. New BIOS provides support for new peripherals, improvements in performance, or fixes for known bugs. Install new BIOS as follows: 1. If your motherboard has a BIOS protection jumper, change the setting to allow BIOS flashing. 2. If your motherboard has an item called Firmware Write Protect in Advanced BIOS features, disable it.
3-4 Chapter 3 3.2. Using BIOS When you start the Setup Utility, the main menu appears. The main menu of the Setup Utility displays a list of the options that are available. A highlight indicates which option is currently selected. Use the cursor arrow keys to move the highlight to other options. When an option is highlighted, execute the option by pressing . Some options lead to pop-up dialog boxes that prompt you to verify that you wish to execute that option.
BIOS Setup 3-5 IDE Devices (None) Your computer has two IDE channels (Primary and Secondary) and each channel can be installed with one or two devices (Master and Slave). Use these items to configure each device on the IDE channel. Press to display the IDE submenu: IDE HDD Auto-Detection Press while this item is highlighted to prompt the Setup Utility to automatically detect and configure an IDE device on the IDE channel.
3-6 Chapter 3 NOTE: Before attempting to configure a hard disk drive, ensure that you have the configuration information supplied by the manufacturer of your hard drive. Incorrect settings can result in your system not recognizing the installed hard disk. Access Mode (Auto) This item defines ways that can be used to access IDE hard disks such as LBA (Large Block Addressing). Leave this value at Auto and the system will automatically decide the fastest way to access the hard disk drive.
BIOS Setup 3.2.2. 3-7 Advanced BIOS Features This option defines advanced information about your system. ATA 66/100 IDE Cable Msg. (Enabled) This item enables or disables the display of the ATA 66/100 Cable MSG. Quick Power On Self Test (Enabled) Enable this item to shorten the power on testing (POST) and have your system start up faster. You might like to enable this item after you are confident that your system hardware is operating smoothly.
3-8 Chapter 3 Swap Floppy Drive (Disabled) If you have two floppy diskette drives in your system, this item allows you to swap the assigned drive letters so that drive A becomes drive B, and drive B becomes drive A. Boot Up Floppy Seek (Disabled) If this item is enabled, it checks the size of the floppy disk drives at startup time. You don’t need to enable this item unless you have a legacy diskette drive with 360K capacity.
BIOS Setup 3-9 OS Select For DRAM > 64 MB (Non-OS2) This item is only required if you have installed more than 64 MB of memory and you are running the OS/2 operating system. Otherwise, leave this item at the default. HDD S.M.A.R.T Capability (Disabled) The S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) system is a diagnostics technology that monitors and predicts device performance. S.M.A.R.T. software resides on both the disk drive and the host computer.
3-10 Chapter 3 DRAM Clock/Drive Control: Scroll to this item and press to view the following screen: Current FSB Frequency This item displays the frontside bus (FSB) frequency. This is a display-only item. You cannot make changes to this field. Current DRAM Frequency This item displays the memory (DRAM) frequency. This is a display-only item. You cannot make changes to this field. DRAM Clock (By SPD) This item enables you to manually set the DRAM Clock.
BIOS Setup 3-11 DRAM CAS Latency (2.5): Enables you to select the CAS latency time in HCLKs of 2/2 or 3/3. The value is set at the factory depending on the DRAM installed. Do not change the values in this field unless you change specifications of the installed DRAM or the installed CPU. Bank Interleave (Disabled): Enable this item to increase memory speed.
3-12 Chapter 3 AGP & P2P Bridge Control Scroll to this item and press to view the following screen: AGP Aperture Size This setting controls just how much system RAM can be allocated to AGP for video purposes. The aperture is a portion of the PCI memory address range dedicated to graphics memory address space. Host cycles that hit the aperture range are forwarded to the AGP without any translation.
BIOS Setup 3-13 AGP Fast Write (Disabled) This item lets you enable or disable the caching of display data for the video memory of the processor. Enabling this item can greatly improve the display speed. Disable this item if your graphics display card does not support this feature. AGP Master 1 WS Write: This item implements a single delay when writing to the AGP Bus. When set to [Enabled], two-wait states are used by the system, allowing for greater stability.
3-14 Chapter 3 3.2.4. Integrated Peripherals These options display items that define the operation of peripheral components on the system’s input/output ports.
BIOS Setup 3-15 OnChip SATA (Enabled) This option allows you enable or disable the onboard Serial ATA device. On-Chip IDE Channel 0/1 (Enabled) Use these items to enable or disable the PCI IDE channels that are integrated on the motherboard. IDE Prefetch Mode (Enabled) The onboard IDE drive interfaces supports IDE prefetching, for faster drive access. If you install a primary and secondary add-in IDE interface, set this field to Disabled if the interface does not support prefetching.
3-16 Chapter 3 VIA OnChip PCI Device Scroll to this item and press to view the following screen: AC97 Audio (Auto) Enables and disables the onboard audio chip. Disable this item if you are going to install a PCI audio add-in card. MC97 Modem (Auto) Enables and disables the onboard modem. Disable this item if you are going to install an external modem. OnChip USB Controller (Enabled) Enable this item if you plan to use the Universal Serial Bus ports on this mainboard. USB 2.
BIOS Setup 3-17 USB Mouse Support (Disabled) Enable this item if you plan to use a mouse connected through the USB port in a legacy operating system (such as DOS) that does not support Plug and Play. Press to return to the Integrated Peripherals screen. Onboard LAN Device (Enabled) Enables and disables the onboard LAN chip. Onboard LAN Boot ROM (Disabled) Use this item to enable and disable the booting from the onboard LAN or a network add-in card with a remote boot ROM installed.
3-18 Chapter 3 Onboard Serial Port 1 (3F8/IRQ4) This option is used to assign the I/O address and interrupt request (IRQ) for onboard serial port1 (COM1). Onboard Serial Port 2 (2F8/IRQ3) This option is used to assign the I/O address and interrupt request (IRQ) for onboard serial port1 (COM2). Onboard Parallel Port (378/IRQ7) This option is used to assign the I/O address and interrupt request (IRQ) for the onboard parallel port.
BIOS Setup 3.2.5. 3-19 Power Management Setup This option lets you control system power management. The system has various power-saving modes including powering down the hard disk, turning off the video, suspending to RAM, and software power down that allows the system to be automatically resumed by certain events. The power-saving modes can be controlled by timeouts. If the system is inactive for a time, the timeouts begin counting.
3-20 Chapter 3 Power Management Option (User Define) This item acts like a master switch for the power-saving modes and hard disk timeouts. If this item is set to Max Saving, power-saving modes occur after a short timeout. If this item is set to Min Saving, power-saving modes occur after a longer timeout. If the item is set to User Define, you can insert your own timeouts for the power-saving modes.
BIOS Setup 3-21 Run VGABIOS if S3 Resume (Auto) This item allows the system to initialize the VGA BIOS from S3 (Suspend to RAM) sleep state. PWRON After PWR-Fail (Off) This item enables your computer to automatically restart to its last operating status after power returns from a power failure.
3-22 Chapter 3 USB Resume from S3 (Disabled) When set to Enabled, the system power will resume the system from a power saving mode if there is any USB port activity. VGA (OFF) When set to On, the system power will resume the system from a power saving mode if there is any VGA activity. LPT & COM (LPT/COM) When this item is enabled, the system will restart the power-saving timeout counters when any activity is detected on the serial ports, or the parallel port.
BIOS Setup 3-23 IRQs Activity Monitoring This screen enables you to set IRQs that will resume the system from a power saving mode. Set any IRQ to Enabled to allow activity at the IRQ to wake up the system from a power saving mode.
3-24 3.2.6. Chapter 3 PnP/PCI Configurations These options configure how PnP (Plug and Play) and PCI expansion cards operate in your system. Both the ISA and PCI buses on the motherboard use system IRQs (Interrupt ReQuests) and DMAs (Direct Memory Access). You must set up the IRQ and DMA assignments correctly through the PnP/PCI Configurations Setup utility for the motherboard to work properly.
BIOS Setup 3-25 IRQ Resources The submenu allows you to individually assign an interrupt type for interrupts IRQ-3 to IRQ-15. In the IRQ Resources submenu, if you assign an IRQ to Legacy ISA, then that Interrupt Request Line is reserved for a legacy ISA expansion card. Press to close the IRQ Resources submenu. In the Memory Resources submenu, use the first item Reserved Memory Base to set the start address of the memory you want to reserve for the ISA expansion card.
3-26 3.2.7. Chapter 3 PC Health Status On motherboards that support hardware monitoring, this item lets you monitor the parameters for critical voltages, critical temperatures, and fan speeds. Shutdown Temperature (Disabled) Enables you to set the maximum temperature the system can reach before powering down. System Component Characteristics These items allow end users and technicians to monitor data provided by the BIOS on this motherboard. You cannot make changes to these fields.
BIOS Setup 3.2.8. 3-27 Frequency/Voltage Control This item enables you to set the clock speed and system bus for your system. The clock speed and system bus are determined by the kind of processor you have installed in your system. DIMM Voltage Adjust (2.58V) This item adjusts the voltage delivered to the DIMM memory. Auto Detect PCI/DIMM Clk (Enabled) When this item is enabled, BIOS will disable the clock signal of free DIMM and PCI slots.
3-28 3.2.9. Chapter 3 Load Fail-Safe Defaults Option This option opens a dialog box that lets you install fail-safe defaults for all appropriate items in the Setup Utility: Press and then to install the defaults. Press and then to not install the defaults. The fail-safe defaults place no great demands on the system and are generally stable.
BIOS Setup 3-29 Supervisor Password has higher priority than User Password. You can use Supervisor Password when booting the system or entering BIOS Setup to modify all settings. Also you can use User Password when booting the system or entering BIOS Setup but can not modify any setting if Supervisor Password is enabled. 3.2.12. Save & Exit Setup Option Highlight this item and press to save the changes that you have made in the Setup Utility and exit the Setup Utility.
3-30 VA-20 Chapter 3
Driver Installation Chapter 4. 4-1 Driver Installation All the necessary drivers are included within the Drivers & Utilities CD that came packaged with your board. The display shown in the following figure should appear after inserting this CD into your CD-ROM drive, if not, enter [My Computer] [CD-ROM] Drive double click [autorun.exe]. Please follow the on-screen instruction.
4-2 Chapter 4 4.1. Setup Items • VIA 4in1 Driver Install the VIA 4-in-1 driver for Windows Operating System. • VIA VGA Driver Install the VIA VGA graphic driver for Windows Operating System. • Audio Driver Install the audio driver for Windows Operating System. • LAN Driver Install the LAN driver for Windows Operating System. • VIA USB 2.0 Driver (1) Install the VIA USB 2.0 driver for Windows 98/ME Operating System. (2) Update the VIA USB 2.
How to Get Technical Support A-1 Appendix A. How to Get Technical Support (From our website) http://www.abit.com.tw (In North America) http://www.abit-usa.com (In Europe) http://www.abit.nl Thank you for choosing ABIT products. ABIT sells all our products through distributors, resellers and system integrators; we have no direct sales to end-users.
A-2 Appendix A alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.abit comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.chips alt.comp.hardware.overclocking alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt 5. Ask your reseller. Your ABIT authorized distributor should be able to provide the fastest solution to your technical problem. We sell our products through distributors who sell to resellers and stores.
How to Get Technical Support North America and South America RMA Center UK and Ireland Germany and Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg), France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Switzerland Austria, Czech, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, and Macedonia Shanghai Russia and CIS Poland Japan Taiwan Head Office (Serving all other territories not listed above. Taiwan is 8+ GMT time, and may have different holiday calendar from yours.
A-4 Appendix A Technical Support Form Company Name: Phone Number: Contact Person: Fax Number: E-mail Address: Model * Motherboard Model No.