Chapter 3 Award BIOS This chapter tells how to configure the system parameters. You may update your BIOS via AWARD Flash Utility. Important: Because the BIOS code is the most often changed part of the mainboard design, the BIOS information contained in this chapter (especially the Chipset Setup parameters) may be a little different compared to the actual BIOS that came with your mainboard.
AWARD BIOS 3.1 Entering the Award BIOS Setup Menu The BIOS setup utility is a segment of codes/routines residing in the BIOS Flash ROM. This routine allows you to configure the system parameters and save the configuration into the 128 byte CMOS area, (normally in the RTC chip or directly in the main chipset). To enter the BIOS Setup, press during POST (Power-On Self Test). The BIOS Setup Main Menu appears as follows. Tip: Choose "Load Setup Defaults" for recommended optimal performance.
AWARD BIOS 3.2 Standard CMOS Setup The "Standard CMOS Setup" sets the basic system parameters such as the date, time, and the hard disk type. Use the arrow keys to highlight an item and or to select the value for each item. Standard CMOS à Date To set the date, highlight the Date parameter. Press current date. The date format is month, date, and year. or to set the Standard CMOS à Time To set the time, highlight the Time parameter. Press or to set the current time in hour, minute, and second format.
AWARD BIOS Standard CMOS à Primary Master à Type Standard CMOS à Primary Slave à Type Standard CMOS à Secondary Master à Type Standard CMOS à Secondary Slave à Type Type Auto User None This item lets you select the IDE hard disk parameters that your system supports. These parameters are Size, Number of Cylinder, Number of Head, Start Cylinder for Precompensation, Cylinder number of Head Landing Zone and Number of Sector per Track.
AWARD BIOS Standard CMOS à Drive A Standard CMOS à Drive B Drive A None 360KB 5.25" 1.2MB 5.25" 720KB 3.5" 1.44MB 3.5" 2.88MB 3.5" These items select the floppy drive type. The available settings and types supported by the mainboard are listed to the left. Standard CMOS à Video Video EGA/VGA CGA40 CGA80 Mono This item specifies the type of video card in use. The default setting is VGA/EGA. Since current PCs use VGA only, this function is almost useless and may be disregarded in the future.
AWARD BIOS 3.3 BIOS Features Setup This screen appears when you select the option "BIOS Features Setup" from the main menu. BIOS Features à Virus Warning Virus Warning Enabled Disabled Set this parameter to Enabled to activate the warning message. This feature protects the boot sector and partition table of your hard disk from virus intrusion. Any attempt during boot up to write to the boot sector of the hard disk drive stops the system and the following warning message appears on the screen.
AWARD BIOS BIOS Features à External Cache External Cache Enabled Disabled Enabling this parameter activates the secondary cache (currently, PBSRAM cache). Disabling the parameter slows down the system. Therefore, we recommend that you leave it enabled unless you are troubleshooting a problem. BIOS Features à CPU L2 Cache ECC Checking CPU L2 Cache ECC Checking Enabled Disabled This item lets you enable or disable L2 Cache ECC checking.
AWARD BIOS BIOS Features à Boot Sequence Boot Sequence A,C,SCSI C,A,SCSI C,CDROM,A CDROM,C,A CDROM,A,C D,A,SCSI E,A,SCSI F,A,SCSI SCSI,A,C SCSI,C,A C only LS/ZIP,C This parameter allows you to specify the system boot up search sequence. The hard disk ID are listed below: C: Primary master D: Primary slave E: Secondary master F: Secondary slave LS: LS120 Zip: IOMEGA ZIP Drive BIOS Features à Swap Floppy Drive Swap Floppy Drive Enabled Disabled This item allows you to swap floppy drives.
AWARD BIOS BIOS Features à Typematic Rate Setting Typematic Rate Setting Enabled Disabled Set this parameter to Enable/Disable the keyboard repeat function. When enabled, continually holding down a key on the keyboard will generate repeatedly keystrokes. BIOS Features à Typematic Rate (Chars/Sec) Typematic Rate 6 8 10 12 15 20 24 30 This item allows you to control the speed of repeated keystrokes. The default is 30 characters/sec.
AWARD BIOS BIOS Features à PCI/VGA Palette Snoop PCI/VGA Palette Snoop Enabled Disabled Enabling this item informs the PCI VGA card to keep silent (and to prevent conflict) when palette register is updated (i.e., accepts data without responding any communication signals). This is useful only when two display cards use the same palette address and plugged in the PCI bus at the same time (such as MPEQ or Video capture). In such case, PCI VGA is silent while MPEQ/Video capture is set to function normally.
AWARD BIOS BIOS Features à C800-CBFF Shadow BIOS Features à CC00-CFFF Shadow BIOS Features à D000-D3FF Shadow BIOS Features à D400-D7FF Shadow BIOS Features à D800-DBFF Shadow BIOS Features à DC00-DFFF Shadow C8000-CBFFF Shadow Enabled Disabled These six items are for shadowing ROM code on other expansion cards. Before you set these parameters, you need to know the specific addresses of that ROM code. If you do not know this information, enable all the ROM shadow settings.
AWARD BIOS 3.4 Chipset Features Setup The "Chipset Features Setup" includes settings for the chipset dependent features. These features are related to system performance. Caution: Make sure you fully understand the items contained in this menu before you try to change anything. You may change the parameter settings to improve system performance. However, it may cause your system to be unstable if the setting is not correct for your system configuration.
AWARD BIOS Chipset Features à SDRAM CAS Latency Chipset Features à SDRAM RAS# to CAS# Delay SDRAM CAS Latency 2T 3T Auto These are timing of SDRAM CAS Latency and RAS to CAS Delay, calculated by clocks. They are important parameters affects SDRAM performance, default is Auto. If you install DIMMs with SPD and set this item to Auto, BIOS will automatically detect your DIMMs and then set to a appropriate timing; If you use DIMMs without SPD and set this item to Auto, BIOS will set it to 3/3.
AWARD BIOS Chipset Features à 8 Bit I/O Recovery Time 8 Bit I/O Recovery Time 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 NA For some old I/O chips, after the execution of an I/O command, the device requires a certain amount of time (recovery time) before the execution of the next I/O command. Because of new generation CPU and mainboard chipset, the assertion of I/O command is faster, and sometimes shorter than specified I/O recovery time of old I/O devices.
AWARD BIOS Chipset Features à Delayed Transaction Delayed Transaction Enabled Disabled This item lets you control the Delayed Transaction function of the PIIX4E chipset (Intel PCI to ISA bridge). This function is used to meet latency of PCI cycles to or from ISA bus. Try to enable or disable it, if you have ISA card compatibility problem. Chipset Features à AGP Aperture Size (MB) AGP Aperture Size (MB) 4 8 16 32 64 128 256 This item lets you determine the effective size of the AGP Graphic Aperture.
AWARD BIOS Chipset Features à Clock Spread Spectrum Clock Spread Spectrum On Off This item is used to set clock spread spectrum for EMI testing. Normally, you don’t need to change the default setting. Chipset Features à System Frequency System Frequency 233 MHz 266 MHz 300 MHz 333 MHz 350 / 100 366 MHz 400 MHz 400 / 100 433 MHz 450 / 100 466 MHz 500 MHz 500 / 100 550 / 100 Manual 3-16 This item lets you set CPU frequency.
AWARD BIOS Chipset Features à CPU Clock Frequency CPU Clock Frequency 66.8 MHz 68.5 MHz 75.0 MHz 83.3 MHz 100 MHz 103 MHz 112 MHz 117 MHz 124 MHz 129 MHz 133.3 MHz 138 MHz 143 MHz 148 MHz 153 MHz This item lets you set external clock (bus clock). The correct setting may vary because of different CPU products, refer to your CPU specification for more details. Chipset Features à CPU Clock Ratio CPU Clock Ratio 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 6.0 6.5 7.0 7.5 8.
AWARD BIOS Chipset Features à Y2K CMOS Update Y2K CMOS Update Enabled Disabled 3-18 This item is designed for some Y2K testing programs, for example, Check It 98. If you are using this kind of program to test your system and fails, enable this item and redo the test again.
AWARD BIOS 3.5 Power Management Setup The Power Management Setup screen enables you to control the mainboard green features. See the following screen. Power Management à ACPI Function ACPI Function Enabled Disabled If your OS is ACPI enabled you have to set this item to Enabled, or there may be unexpected errors. If your OS is APM mode, you can remain the Disabled setting.
AWARD BIOS Mode Min Saving Max Saving Doze 1 hour 1 min Standby 1 hour 1 min Suspend 1 hour 1 min HDD Power Down 15 min 1 min Power Management à PM Controlled by APM PM Controlled by APM Yes No If "Max Saving" is selected, you can turn on this item, transfer power management control to APM (Advanced Power Management) and enhance power saving function. For example, stop CPU internal clock.
AWARD BIOS Power Management à Standby Mode Standby Mode Disabled 1 Min 2 Min 4 Min 8 Min 12 Min 20 Min 30 Min 40 Min 1 Hour This item lets you set the period of time after which the system enters into Standby mode. In this mode, the monitor power-saving feature activates. Any activity detected returns the system to full power. The system activity (or event) is detected by monitoring the IRQ signals or other events (such as I/O).
AWARD BIOS Power Management à Wake On LAN Wake On LAN Enabled Disabled This option lets you specify enable or disable Wake On LAN function. Power Management à Suspend Mode Option Suspend Mode Option PowerOn Suspend Suspend to Disk You can select suspend mode by this item. Power On Suspend is the traditional Green PC suspend mode, the CPU clock is stop, all other devices are shut off. But power must be kept On to detect activities from modem, keyboard/mouse and returns the system to full power.
AWARD BIOS Power Management à VGA Active Monitor VGA Active Monitor Enabled Disabled To enable or disable the detection of VGA activity for power down state transition. Power Management à Soft-Off by PWR-BTTN Soft-Off by PWRBTTN Delay 4 sec. Instant-Off This is a specification of ACPI and supported by hardware. When Delay 4 sec. is selected, the soft power switch on the front panel can be used to control power On, Suspend and Off.
AWARD BIOS Power Management à Time (hh:mm:ss) Time (hh:mm:ss) hh:mm:ss This item is displayed when you enable the Wake On RTC Timer option. Here you can specify what time you want to wake up the system. Power Management à IRQ 8 Clock Event IRQ 8 Clock Event Enabled Disabled To enable or disable the detection of IRQ8 (RTC) event for power down state transition. OS2 has periodically IRQ8 (RTC) interruptions, If IRQ8 is not set to Disabled, OS/2 may fail to go into Doze/Standby/Suspend mode.
AWARD BIOS 3.6 PNP/PCI Configuration Setup The PNP/PCI Configuration Setup allows you to configure the ISA and PCI devices installed in your system. The following screen appears if you select the option "PNP/PCI Configuration Setup" from the main menu. PNP/PCI Configuration à PnP OS Installed PnP OS Installed Yes No Normally, the PnP resources are allocated by BIOS during POST (Power-On Self Test).
AWARD BIOS PNP/PCI Configuration à Reset Configuration Data Reset Configuration Data Enabled Disabled In case conflict occurs after you assign the IRQs or after you configure your system, you can enable this function, allow your system to automatically reset your configuration and reassign the IRQs, DMAs, and I/O address.
AWARD BIOS PNP/PCI Configuration à PCI IDE IRQ Map To PCI IDE IRQ Map To ISA PCI-Slot1 PCI-Slot2 PCI-Slot3 PCI-Slot4 PCI-Auto Some old PCI IDE add-on cards are not fully PnP compatible. These cards require you to specify the slot in use to enable BIOS to properly configure the PnP resources. This function allows you to select the PCI slot for any PCI IDE add-on card present in your system. Set this item to Auto to allow BIOS to automatically configure the installed PCI IDE card(s).
AWARD BIOS PCI Slot Slot 1 Slot 2 Slot 3 Slot 4 Slot 5 (if any) Location 1 (pin A6) INTA INTB INTC INTD INTD Location 2 (pin B7) INTB INTC INTD INTA INTA Location 3 (pin A7) INTC INTD INTA INTB INTB Location 4 (pin B8) INTD INTA INTB INTC INTC PNP/PCI Configuration à Modem Use IRQ Modem Use IRQ N/A 3 4 5 7 9 10 11 This item lets you set an IRQ for the modem.
AWARD BIOS PNP/PCI Configuration à Used MEM Length Used MEM Length 8K 16K 32K 64K If your ISA card is not PnP compatible and requires special memory space to support its function, specify the memory size in this parameter to inform the PnP BIOS to reserve the specified memory space for installed legacy ISA card. PNP/PCI Configuration à Assign IRQ for USB Assign IRQ for USB Enabled Disabled This item lets you set an IRQ for USB.
AWARD BIOS 3.7 Load Setup Defaults The "Load Setup Defaults" option loads optimized settings for optimum system performance. Optimal settings are relatively safer than the Turbo settings. All the product verification, compatibility/reliability test report and manufacture quality control are based on "Load Setup Defaults". We recommend you to use this settings for normal operation. "Load Setup Defaults" is not the slowest setting for this motherboard.
AWARD BIOS 3.9 Integrated Peripherals The following screen appears if you select the option "Integrated Peripherals" from the main menu. This option allows you to configure the I/O features. Integrated Peripherals à IDE HDD Block Mode IDE HDD Block Mode Enabled Disabled This feature enhances disk performance by allowing multisector data transfers and eliminates the interrupt handling time for each sector. Most IDE drives, except with old designs, can support this feature.
AWARD BIOS Integrated Peripherals à IDE Primary Master UDMA Integrated Peripherals à IDE Primary Slave UDMA Integrated Peripherals à IDE Secondary Master UDMA Integrated Peripherals à IDE Secondary Slave UDMA IDE Primary Master UDMA Auto Disabled This item allows you to set the Ultra DMA/33 mode supported by the hard disk drive connected to your primary IDE connector.
AWARD BIOS Integrated Peripherals à Power On Function Power On Function Button Only Keyboard 98 Password Hot Key Mouse Left Mouse Right This item is used to select Wake on Keyboard/Mouse mode. Button Only: Disable Wake on KB/MS function. You can boot up your system by power button only. Keyboard 98: If selecting this option, you can boot up the system by power button and the “Wake” key on keyboard which complies to Keyboard 98 standard.
AWARD BIOS Integrated Peripherals à Keyboard Power On Password Keyboard Power On Password You can specify 1-5 keys as a password. Note: Before setting a password you have to make sure JP28 has been enabled, or your system cannot be boot up properly any more. Under this situation, the only solution is to clear CMOS.
AWARD BIOS Power Management à AC PWR Auto Recovery AC PWR Auto Recovey Former-Sts On Off 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 item is used to solve this problem. Selecting On lets the system can automatically power-on after AC power resumes; in the other hand, the system will power-off if you select Off.
AWARD BIOS Note: If you are using a network card, make sure that the interrupt does not conflict. Integrated Peripherals à UART Mode Select UART Mode Select Standard HPSIR ASKIR • • • This item is configurable only if the "Onboard UART 2" is enabled. This allows you to specify the mode of serial port2. The available mode selections are: Standard - Sets serial port 2 to operate in normal mode. This is the default setting.
AWARD BIOS Integrated Peripherals à Onboard Parallel Port Onboard Parallel Port This item controls the onboard parallel port address and interrupt. 3BC/IRQ7 378/IRQ7 278/IRQ5 Disabled Note: If you are using an I/O card with a parallel port, make sure that the addresses and IRQ do not conflict. Integrated Peripherals à Parallel Port Mode Parallel Port Mode SPP EPP ECP ECP + EPP This item lets you set the parallel port mode.
AWARD BIOS 3.10 Password Setting Password prevents unauthorized use of your computer. If you set a password, the system prompts for the correct password before boot or access to Setup. To set a password: 1. At the prompt, type your password. Your password can be up to 8 alphanumeric characters. When you type the characters, they appear as asterisks on the password screen box. 2. After typing the password, press. 3. At the next prompt, re-type your password and press again to confirm the new password.
AWARD BIOS 3.13 Load EEPROM Default Except "Load Setup Default" and "Load Turbo Default", you may also use "Save EEPROM Default " to save your own settings into EEPROM, and reload by using this item. Note that you must make sure you’ve already executed “Save EEPROM Default” before choosing this command, otherwise, the system is likely to boot improperly. 3.14 Save EEPROM Default You may use this item to save your own settings into EEPROM.
AWARD BIOS 3.17 How to Upgrade the BIOS AOpen Easy Flash is more user friendly than traditional flash method. The BIOS binary file and flash routine are combined together and you simply run a single file to complete the flash process. 1. Get new BIOS upgrade program from AOpen's web site. For example, 6BCEZ200.EXE. It is recommended to save it to a bootable DOS floppy diskette for error recovery. 2. Reboot the system to DOS mode without loading any memory handler (such as EMM386) or device driver.
