Specifications

3–1
CHAPTER 3
SOFTWARE CONFIGURATION
3.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter provides the information you will need to software-configure your Little Board/P5. It
describes how to configure onboard options using the SETUP function. It also provides technical details
about each functional block of the board, from a software point-of-view.
This chapter presumes you have some familiarity with DOS (PC-DOS, MS-DOS, or DR DOS). It does
not attempt to describe the standard DOS and ROM BIOS functions. Refer to the appropriate DOS and
PC reference manuals for information about DOS, its drivers, and utilities. Where Ampro has added to or
modified standard functions, these will be described. The Ampro Common Utilities manual contains
detailed descriptions of the Ampro utility programs.
3.2 SETUP OVERVIEW
Many options provided on the Little Board/P5i are controlled by the SETUP function. The parameters are
displayed on separate screens, selected from a main menu screen. To configure the board, you modify the
fields in these screens and save the results in the onboard configuration memory. The configuration
memory consists of portions of the CMOS RAM in the battery-backed real-time clock chip and an
Ampro-unique configuration EEPROM. To enhance embedded-system reliability, the contents of the
EEPROM mirror the contents of the CMOS memory. The EEPROM retains your configuration
information even if the clock’s backup battery should fail.
The SETUP information is retrieved from configuration memory when the board is powered up or when
it is rebooted with a CTL-ALT-DEL key combination. Changes made to the SETUP parameters (with the
exception of the real-time clock time and date settings) do not take effect until the board is rebooted.
The SETUP function is located in the ROM BIOS. It can be accessed by pressing DEL while the
computer is in the Power On Self Test (POST), just prior to booting up. This is called hot key access. The
screen will display a message indicating when you can enter DEL.
Table 3–1 summarizes the choices found on each SETUP page.