User manual

ATHENA CPU User Manual V1.40 Page 29
7. BIOS
7.1 BIOS Settings
Athena uses a BIOS from Phoenix Technologies modified to support the custom features of the
Athena board. Some of these features are described here.
To enter the BIOS during system startup (POST – power on self-test), press F2.
Serial Ports
-The address and interrupt settings for serial ports COM1 and COM2 may be modified. COM1
and COM2 address and interrupt settings are done in the BIOS, Advanced menu, I/O Device
Configuration. See page 32 for details.
-The addresses of COM3 and COM4 are fixed. The IRQ selections for COM3 and COM4 are
configured on J10.
Select Advanced menu, Advanced Chipset Control, I/O Chip Device Configuration.
Parallel Port
The parallel port is configured in the Advanced -> I/O Chip Device Configuration menu. It is set
by default to ECP mode and located at address 0x378, IRQ 7 and DMA 3.
You can move the base address to 0x278 or 0x3BC. The IRQ can be set to 5 or 7. The DMA
can be set to 1 or 3.
LCD Video Settings
Athena provides direct digital support for LVDS-based LCD interfaces only. As such, there are
two settings that affect this support during BIOS boot:
• Boot Video Device – By default, this is set to “AUTO”. With the AUTO setting, the system will
attempt to identify an RGB monitor (via DDC) and, if no RGB monitor is detected then the
system enables LCD support. If you wish to use the LCD display regardless of standard
monitor connection (i.e., with both connected at once), then set “Boot Video Device” to
“Both”.
• Panel Type – This setting defaults to “7”. Do not alter this setting unless specifically
instructed to do so. This setting affects the LCD display modes supported; mode “7” is the
only setting currently supported. Not all LCD displays are supported.
Miscellaneous
-Memory Cache Settings:
Unless there is a specific reason to change these settings, it is best to keep these settings as-is.
Certain system functions (such as USB keyboard support under BIOS menus) may be adversely
affected by changes to these settings, due mainly to a heavy reduction in performance. These
cache settings can make a huge difference for low-level BIOS calls and, as such, can severely
limit performance if they are disabled.
-On the Advanced Chipset Control screen, the following settings should be retained:
Frame Buffer Size: 8MB
AGP Rate: 4X
Expansion Bus Performance: Normal