Owner`s manual

Page 2-15Installation
System Versatility
The AM319-20 system board was designed to work in both the Eagle chassis and the
AM-990 system chassis with the capabitlity to use either type of front panel status
display. The 20-pin connector is used for the Eagle status display, and the 26-pin
connector is used for the AM-990 status display. When system requirements increase
beyond the physical capacity of the Eagle chassis, you can expand your system by
simply migrating all internal components to the larger AM-990 chassis.
Serial I/O Paddle Card Expansion Bus
The AM319-20 system board will accept standard Alpha Micro serial I/O paddle cards.
Although you can use the older AM-355 serial I/O paddle cards with this system, it is
highly recommended that the AM359-00 optically isolated serial I/O card be used for
system stability. This is the first Eagle product to offer the optical isolation feature.
Additionally, the main system board comes with four RJ-45 Super I/O compatible serial
ports built on-board. The RJ-45 ports are pin-for-pin compatible with the AM-359 serial
I/O paddle card ports, so the same type cabling can be used for both.
AM-219 Floppy Controller Interface
The AM-319-20 system board provides on-board connection for the AM-219 enhanced
floppy controller board. The AM-219 board can interface with a 5-1/4" and/or a 3-1/2"
floppy drive. A maximum of two floppy drives can be used in the system.
New Ethernet Interface
The Eagle 550 Ethernet interface design has been improved over other Eagle systems.
The new design allows more data to be buffered before the CPU has to service the
request. The new interface also puts the Ethernet data into main system memory faster
than other system models, and has both the AUI and TPI interface connectors built right
on the main system board. Selecting which port will be active is controlled by the CMOS
setup menu.
NOTE: As of this writing the AM-319-20 Ethernet interface is AlphaTCP
compatible only, with AlphaNet not currently supported.
THE EAGLE 550 CMOS MENU
The boot switch on the Eagle 550 has been eliminated and its previous functions have
been enhanced and expanded. All system boot parameters are now stored in CMOS
RAM which is battery backed-up. The CMOS RAM is also write-protected so runaway
user programs will not distroy your settings.
There are a few requirements connected with using this feature. The boot PROM on the
Roadrunner board must be revision L00 or later. To edit the CMOS configuration menu
a terminal configured for 19.2K baud must be attached to port 0 on the Eagle 550
system board. If you wish to use the floppy boot feature, the most recent 219DVR.DVR
floppy driver must be used when creating the new boot monitor (MONGEN) and saved
on the diskette.
Eagle Series Computer Owner’s Manual, Rev. 03