Vario L2 Small Form Factor PC User Guide Document Reference: Product User Guide Document Issue: 1.
Vario L2 Table Of Contents Contents Section 1 - Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 4 Copyright ............................................................................................................................................................ 5 Limitations of Liability ..................................................................................................................
Vario L2 Table Of Contents Advanced Setup Page ....................................................................................................................................... 24 Hard Disk Boot Priority ................................................................................................................................ 25 Advanced BIOS Features .............................................................................................................................
Vario L2 Introduction Picture 1: Vario L2 Section 1 - Introduction The Vario L2 is the latest in a line of successful Plasma Engines designed and manufactured in the United Kingdom by Blue Chip Technology. The Vario L2 is a powerful slim-line AMD Socket AM2 based Personal Computer (PC) specifically designed to drive large plasma and other large display panels. The unit is self-contained requiring as a minimum, only a power connection and a display.
Vario L2 Introduction Copyright All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopied, recorded or otherwise, without the prior permission, in writing, from the publisher. For permission in the UK please contact Blue Chip Technology. Information offered in this manual is believed to be correct at the time of printing.
Vario L2 Introduction Regulatory Statements CE This product meets the essential protection requirements of the European EMC Directive (2004/108/EC) and its amending Directives, and the Low Voltage Directive (2006/95/EC), and is eligible to bear the CE mark. Warning This is a Class A product. In a domestic environment this product may cause radio interference in which case the user may be required to take adequate measures.
Vario L2 Introduction Manual Organisation This manual describes in detail the Vario L2 range of Small Form-Factor PCs. We have tried to include as much information as possible but we have not duplicated information that is provided in the standard IBM Technical References, unless it proved to be necessary to aid in the understanding of the product. The manual is sectioned as follows: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Vario L2 Quick Start Section 2 - Quick Start The Vario L2 Small Form-Factor PC is designed to require minimal intervention from the customer once the OS has been installed and activated. First ensure that you are familiar with the contents of the section "General Precautions". It contains important information to avoid damage to the board. Usually the unit is supplied with a factory image containing a Microsoft Operating System.
Vario L2 General Precautions Section 3 - General Precautions The electronics inside the Vario L2 is susceptible to damage by electrostatic discharges. In order to avoid damage, you should work at an anti-static bench and observe normal anti-static precautions. Wear an anti-static wrist strap connected to an earth point before opening any packaging. Where a wrist strap is not available, discharge any static charge you may have built-up by touching an earth point.
Vario L2 General Precautions BIOS & CMOS Memory Please be aware that with personal computer products, it is possible to create configurations within the CMOS memory that make booting impossible. If this should happen, clear the CMOS settings; (see the description of the Jumper Settings for details). Electromagnetic Compatibility This product meets the requirements of the European EMC Directive and its amending Directives, and the Low Voltage Directive. It is eligible to bear the CE mark.
Vario L2 Product Summary Section 4 – Product Summary Specification CPU: AMD Athlon 64; AMD Athlon 64 X2 Chipset: Northbridge: AMD 690G SouthBridge: ATI SB600 I/O Controller – ITE IT8712F IEEE 1394 – VIA VT6307 HD Audio Codec – Realtek ALC883 Gbit LAN – Marvel 88E8056 Graphics – ATI Radeon Xpress 1250 Memory: DDR2 200 pin SO-DIMM (2 sockets) 2Gb Maximum capacity Supports non-ECC& unbuffered DDR2 667/533/400 SO-DIMMs Expansion: One PCI slot – rev 2.
Vario L2 Environmental: Product Summary Operating Temperature range 0˚C to +40˚C Storage Temperature range -20˚C to +70˚C Relative humidity 10-85% non-condensing Shock and vibration compatible with light industrial usage Note: Operating Temperature range is for the basic unit. This figure may be affected by any expansion card fitted. Contact Blue Chip Technology to discuss any specific requirements.
Vario L2 Installation Section 5 - Installation External Connectors On / Off Picture 4 connectors The above picture shows the connectors on the front of the Vario L2 unit.
Vario L2 Installation Internal Connections Picture 5: Motherboard Layout Page | 14
Vario L2 Installation Jumper Locations The processor board used in the VARIO ELITE PC is largely free of selection jumpers. Most settings are controlled from the BIOS, and stored in the CMOS memory. Only the following jumpers are significant. CMOS Clear The CMOS clear jumper JP1 is located at the end of the PCI slot. Position Function 1-2 2-3 Normal Operation Clears CMOS This is used when the CMOS settings have become corrupt or if you have forgotten your password.
Vario L2 Installation Software Setup and Drivers Your Vario L2 Small Form-Factor PC may have been supplied complete with a software operating system, in which case the appropriate drivers will have been loaded. If it has been supplied without an operating system, one must be loaded following the instructions supplied with the software. It is then necessary to add driver programs for the specific hardware of the motherboard and any additional expansion cards.
Vario L2 Installation Upgrading the System Hardware Warning Before attempting any upgrade to the Vario L2 computer, please read the section "Precautions". For your personal safety it is important that you ensure that the unit is switched off, and the DC supply is disconnected. Remember that the unit incorporates an ATX-type of power supply unit.
Vario L2 Installation Removing the CPU Fan Plate Picture 7: CPU Fan Assembly In order to gain access to the Motherboard, it is necessary to remove the Fan Cover Assembly. This is held in place by the 3 screws shown in Picture 7. The assembly should be removed and replaced in an upwards direction to allow the smooth removal of the PCI riser card from the on-board PCI slot.
Vario L2 Installation Picture 9: Compact Flash The compact Flash Adapter is mounted onto a plate which utilises the same mounting holes and screws as the HDD. Consequently, only one of these items can be fitted at any one time PCI Device Removal Picture 10: PCI Devices Before PCI Devices (shown as A in Picture 10 above) can be removed, it is necessary to remove screw B and Insulator C. The Insulator is to prevent any pins or components on the rear of the PCI card from shorting against the LID.
Vario L2 Installation Memory and/or CPU Removal Picture 11: Memory and CPU Access to the Memory slots is gained as soon as the Fan Assembly cover is removed. To access the CPU, the Heatsink must first be removed, by unscrewing the 4 screws marked D in Picture 11 above.
Vario L2 BIOS Setup Section 6 – BIOS SETUP BIOS Setup To enter the BIOS setup Pages, press during POST. Navigation through the different menus is via the Arrow Keys as explained in the bottom panel. Up/Down arrows navigate through the items in a particular menu, and Left/Right arrows navigate between Menu’s. If entering a sub-menu, will take you back up to the previous level.
Vario L2 BIOS Setup Main Setup page Figure B: Main Setup Page Figure A shows the options available under the Main section with their default values. IDE Channel Options: Channel 0 refers to Parallel ATA, and Channel 2 and 3 refer to Serial ATA. By selecting the particular channel, default Automatic recognition can be turned off and settings can be manually entered.
Vario L2 BIOS Setup The Security sub menu allows the user to set/disable passwords for entering the BIOS and for booting the unit Memory This area shows the amount of conventional memory detected during boot, the amount of extended memory detected and the total memory available in the system Page | 23
Vario L2 BIOS Setup Advanced Setup Page Figure D: Advanced Menu The following options do not have a sub-menu First Boot Device: Set to HDD Second Boot Device: Set to either removable or CDROM Third Boot Device: Set to either removable or CDROM Boot Other Device: Set to Enabled if you want the BIOS to search for other boot devices if it can’t find a boot device on the first three devices.
Vario L2 BIOS Setup Hard Disk Boot Priority This section allows the user to pre set the boot order if more than one HDD is present. Some USB Flash devices are regarded as “HDD’s” by the BIOS. TIP: During POST, if the key is pressed, the BIOS automatically shows a temporary BOOT menu. If there are two “HDD” devices present in the unit, then by selecting “HDD” at the menu, the user will be presented with a choice of which “HDD” to boot to.
Vario L2 BIOS Setup External Cache – Options Enabled (default) Disabled This option allows you to enable or disable “level 2” secondary cache on the CPU to enhance performance Quick Power on Self Test – Options Enabled (default) Disabled If enabled, this allows the system to skip certain tests while booting.
Vario L2 BIOS Setup Advanced Chipset Features Figure F: Advanced Chipset features DRAM Configuration Figure G: This sub menu offers the user the ability to change the memory clock and timing values. Note: users should exercise caution when making changes here, as it may result in the system becoming unstable.
Vario L2 BIOS Setup IGX Configuration Figure I This sub menu allows the user to enable or disable UMA mode, set the UMA frame buffer size, set the TV Out standard and set the Video Display Device Video Display device options are: Auto (default), CRT Only, LCD Only, DFP Only, TV Only, CRT Force Other Auto, TV force Other Auto, CRT Force TV force TV Standard options are; NTSC (default0, PAL, PAL-M, PAL-60, NTSC-JAP, PAL-CN, PAL-N, SCART_RGB Memory Hole – Option Disabled (defaut) Enabled When enabled you ca
Vario L2 BIOS Setup PnP/PCI Configurations Figure J: PnP/PCI Configuration PCI/VGA Palette Snoop – Options Disabled (default) Enabled This is for graphics controllers which are not VGA compatible to allow them to take the output from a VGA controller and map it to their display as a way to provide boot information and VGA compatibility PCI Latency Timer (CLK) = Options 64 (defaul0t, 0-255 PCI latency timers are a mechanism for PCI bus-mastering devices to share the PCI bus fairly.
Vario L2 BIOS Setup Integrated Peripherals Page Figure L: Peripheral Setup South On Chip IDE Device Figure M: South On Chip Page | 30
Vario L2 BIOS Setup The Vario L2 has limited expansion capability, and so the settings in the South On Chip IDE sub menu should be left at default South On Chip PCI Figure N: South On Chip PCI ATI Azalia Audio – Options Auto (default) Disabled This options allows you to turn of the on board Audio USB Functions Vario L2 does not have a PS/2 Keyboard or Mouse port, and therefore USB must be enabled if a USB Keyboard or Mouse is to be used.
Vario L2 BIOS Setup Power Setup Page Figure P: Power menu This Menu section sets up the unit so that it can automatically go into power saving modes, thus utilizing energy saving features, as well as providing power-up, power-down options ACPI Suspend Type ACPI Operating System options are S1 (POS) Default S3 (STR) S1 & S3 Power on Suspend Suspend to RAM POS & STR C2 Disable/Enable This controls whether ACPI C2 state is used Power Management Option Options for this are User Defined, Minimum Power Savi
Vario L2 BIOS Setup Video Off Option – Options Suspend →Off (default), Always On This section controls whether the Video goes into power states or not Video Off Method This setting determines the manner in which the video is turned off V/H Sync + Blank (default) Blank Screen DPMS Support turns off vertical and horizontal syncs and writes blanks to the video buffer writes blanks to the video buffer uses display power management signalling Modem Use IRQ This option sets the IRQ line the modem will use.
Vario L2 BIOS Setup Hardware Monitor Setup Page Figure Q: Hardware Monitor This page shows the measured system voltages and temperatures. Smart Fan Control – Options Disabled (default), Enabled When enabled, this allows the system to monitor the CPU temperature and intelligently adjust the CPUFAN speed to maintain a safe temperature for the CPU.
Vario L2 BIOS Setup Defaults Setting Page Figure R: Defaults As well as allowing the System Setting to be restored to their default settings, the user can save the CMOS settings to a file and then restore them again. This is useful when configuring multiple systems with customised settings. You can set the settings on one system, verify they work successfully, save them, and then restore them onto all your other units.
Vario L2 BIOS Setup Exit Setup Page Figure S: Exit Setup menu The Exit page allows the user to exit with and without saving any BIOS setting changes made.
Vario L2 Maintenance Maintenance On a regular basis the inside of the VARIO L2 unit should be cleaned out to prevent dust build up which could eventually clog the fans and prevent efficient operation. If the optional Fan Filter is fitted, then this should be checked on a regular basis and cleaned or replaced as required. Generally the enclosure design and the wiring layout will ensure that the cooling is stable.
Vario L2 History Amendment History Issue Level Issue Date Author Amendment Details 1.0 20-12-2007 T Mck First Release Contact Details Blue Chip Technology Ltd. Chowley Oak Tattenhall Chester CH3 9EX U.K. Telephone: +44 (0)1829 772000 Facsimile: +44 (0)1829 772001 www.bluechiptechnology.co.uk Plasma PC Sales PlasmaPC@bluechiptechnology.co.uk Single Board Computer Sales singleboardcomputer@bluechiptechnology.co.uk Rack mount PC Sales rackmountpc@bluechiptechnology.co.
