Motherboard User’s Guide This publication, including photographs, illustrations and software, is under the protection of international copyright laws, with all rights reserved. Neither this user’s guide, nor any of the material contained herein, may be reproduced without the express written consent of the manufacturer. The information in this document is subject to change without notice.
Motherboard User’s Guide Table of Contents Trademark ............................................................................................................ i Static Electricity Precautions ......................................................................................... i Pre-Installation Inspection ............................................................................................. i Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................
Motherboard User’s Guide Chapter 5: VIA VT8237 RAID Setup Guide .................................................. 35 VIA RAID Configuration ............................................................................................. 3 5 Installing RAID Software & Drivers ........................................................................... 4 3 Using VIA RAID Tool ...................................................................................................
Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 1 Introduction This motherboard has an LGA775 socket for the latest Intel ®CoreTM 2 Duo/ Pentium D/Pentium 4/ Celeron D processors with Hyper-Threading Technology and Front-Side Bus (FSB) speeds up to 1066/800/533 MHz. Hyper-Threading Technology, designed to take advantage of the multitasking features in Windows XP, gives you the power to do more things at once.
Motherboard User’s Guide Note: P4M890 chipset can only support mixed 2048/1024/512/256/128/ 64Mb x8/16 DDR2 SDRAMs. • • • • • • • Supports 16-bit 66 MHz Ultra V-Link Host interface with total bandwidth of 1066 MB/s Compliant with PCI 2.2 specification at 33 MHz, supporting up to 6 PCI masters Integrated Serial ATA Host Controllers, supporting data transfer rates up to 1.5 Gb/s Integrated Dual channel UltraDMA 133/100/66 Master Mode EIDE Controller USB 2.0 Controller, supporting up to 8 USB 2.
Chapter 1: Introduction Onboard I/O Ports • Two PS/2 ports for mouse and keyboard • One serial port • One parallel port • One VGA port • One LAN port (optional) • Four back-panel USB2.
Motherboard User’s Guide Package Contents Your motherboard package ships with the following items: The motherboard The User’s Guide One diskette drive ribbon cable (optional) One IDE drive ribbon cable The Software support CD Optional Accessories You can purchase the following optional accessories for this motherboard. The Extended USB module The CNR v.
Chapter 2: Motherboard Installation Chapter 2 Motherboard Installation To install this motherboard in a system, please follow these instructions in this chapter: Identify the motherboard components Install a CPU Install one or more system memory modules Make sure all jumpers and switches are set correctly Install this motherboard in a system chassis (case) Connect any extension brackets or cables to headers/connectors on the motherboard Install peripheral devices and make the appropriate conn
Motherboard User’s Guide Motherboard Components ITEM LABEL COMPONENTS LGA775 Socket for Intel® CoreTM 2 Duo/ Pentium D/ Pentium D/ Celeron D processors 1 CPU Socket 2 CPU_FAN1 CPU Fan connector(4-pin) 3 DDRII1-2 240-pin DDR2 SDRAM sockets 4 ATX1 Standard 24-Pin ATX Power connector 5 IDE1 Primary IDE connector 6 IDE2 Secondary IDE connector 7 CLR_CMOS1 Clear CMOS jumper 8 SATA1~2 Serial ATA connectors 9 SPK1 Speaker header 10 USB_PWR2 USB Power Select jumper 11 PANEL1 Front
Chapter 2: Motherboard Installation I/O Ports The illustration below shows a side view of the built-in I/O ports on the motherboard. PS/2 Mouse Use the upper PS/2 port to connect a PS/2 pointing device. PS/2 Keyboard Use the low er PS/2 port to connect a PS/2 keyboard. Parallel Port (LPT1) Use the Parallel port to connect printers or other parallel communications devices. COM1 Use the COM port to connect serial devices such as mice or fax/modems. COM1 is identified by the system as COM1.
Motherboard User’s Guide CPU Installation Procedure Follow these instructions to install the CPU: A. Unload the cap • Use thumb & forefinger to hold the lifting tab of the cap. • Lift the cap up and remove the cap completely from the socket. B. Open the load plate • Use thumb & forefinger to hold the hook of the lever, pushing down and pulling aside unlock it. • Lift up the lever. • Use thumb to open the load plate. Be careful not to touch the contacts. C.
Chapter 2: Motherboard Installation G. Make sure the CPU fan is plugged to the CPU fan connector. Please refer to the CPU cooling fan user’s manual for more detail installation procedure. Note1: Note2: Note3: Note4: To achieve better airflow rates and heat dissipation, we suggest that you use a high quality fan with 3800 rpm at least. CPU fan and heatsink installation procedures may vary with the type of CPU fan/ heatsink supplied. The form and size of fan/heatsink may also vary.
Motherboard User’s Guide Note1: Do not remove any memory module from its antistatic packaging until you are ready to install it on the motherboard. Handle the modules only by their edges. Do not touch the components or metal parts. Always wear a grounding strap when you handle the modules. Memory Module Installation Procedure These modules can be installed with up to 4 GB system memory. Refer to the following to install the memory module. 1. Push down the latches on both sides of the DIMM socket. 2.
Chapter 2: Motherboard Installation Jumper Settings Connecting two pins with a jumper cap is SHORT; removing a jumper cap from these pins, OPEN. CLR_COMS1: Clear CMOS Jumper Use this jumper to clear the contents of the CMOS memory. You may need to clear the CMOS memory if the settings in the Setup Utility are incorrect and prevent your motherboard from operating.
Motherboard User’s Guide Install the Motherboard Install the motherboard in a system chassis (case). The board is a Micro ATX size motherboard. You can install this motherboard in an ATX case. Make sure your case has an I/O cover plate matching the ports on this motherboard. Install the motherboard in a case. Follow the case manufacturer’s instructions to use the hardware and internal mounting points on the chassis. Connect the power connector from the power supply to the PWR1 connector on the motherboard.
Chapter 2: Motherboard Installation Connecting Optional Devices Refer to the following for information on connecting the motherboard’s optional devices: SPK1: Speaker Header Connect the cable from the PC speaker to the SPK1 header on the motherboard. Pin 1 3 Signal SPKR GND Pin 2 4 Signal NC +5V F_AUDIO1: Front Panel Audio Header This header allows the user to install auxiliary front-oriented microphone and line-out ports for easier access.
Motherboard User’s Guide USB2/USB3: Front panel USB Headers The motherboard has USB ports installed on the rear edge I/O port array. Additionally, some computer cases have USB ports at the front of the case. If you have this kind of case, use auxiliary USB headers USB2/USB3 to connect the front-mounted ports to the motherboard. Pin 1 3 5 7 9 1. 2. 3.
Chapter 2: Motherboard Installation Install Other Devices Install and connect any other devices in the system following the steps below. Floppy Disk Drive The motherboard ships with a floppy disk drive cable that can support one or two drives. Drives can be 3.5" or 5.25" wide, with capacities of 360 K, 720 K, 1.2 MB, 1.44 MB, or 2.88 MB. Install your drives and connect power from the system power supply. Use the cable provided to connect the drives to the floppy disk drive connector FDD1.
Motherboard User’s Guide Serial ATA Devices The Serial ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) is the standard interface for the IDE hard drives, which is designed to overcome the design limitations while enabling the storage interface to scale with the growing media rate demands of PC platforms. It provides you a faster transfer rate of 1.5 Gb/s. If you have installed a Serial ATA hard drive, you can connect the Serial ATA cables to the Serial ATA hard drive or the connector on the motherboard.
Chapter 2: Motherboard Installation Expansion Slots This motherboard has one PCI Express x16, CNR and three 32-bit PCI slots. Follow the steps below to install an PCI Express x16/CNR/PCI expansion card. 1 Locate the PCI Express x16, CNR or PCI slots on the motherboard. 2 Remove the blanking plate of the slot from the system chassis. 3 Install the edge connector of the expansion card into the slot. Ensure the edge connector is correctly seated in the slot.
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Chapter 3: BIOS Setup Utility Chapter 3 BIOS Setup Utility Introduction The BIOS Setup Utility records settings and information of your computer, such as date and time, the type of hardware installed, and various configuration settings. Your computer applies the information to initialize all the components when booting up and basic functions of coordination between system components. If the Setup Utility configuration is incorrect, it may cause the system to malfunction.
Motherboard User’s Guide You can use cursor arrow keys to highlight anyone of options on the main menu page. Press Enter to select the highlighted option. Press the Escape key to leave the setup utility. Press +/-/ to modify the selected field’s values. Some options on the main menu page lead to tables of items with installed values that you can use cursor arrow keys to highlight one item, and press + and - keys to cycle through alternative values of that item.
Chapter 3: BIOS Setup Utility Advanced Setup Page This page sets up more advanced information about your system. Handle this page with caution. Any changes can affect the operation of your computer. CMOS SETUP UTILITY – Copyright (C) 1985-2005, American Megatrends, Inc.
Motherboard User’s Guide Hyper Threading Technology You can set “Disabled” or “Enabled” to control HT CPU support in O.S. Set “Enabled” to test HT CPU function. Auto detect DIMM/PCI Clock When this item is enabled, BIOS will disable the clock signal of free DIMM/PCI slots. Spread Spectrum If you enable spread spectrum, it can significantly reduce the EMI (Electro-Magnetic Interference) generated by the system.
Chapter 3: BIOS Setup Utility Features Setup Page This page sets up some parameters for peripheral devices connected to the system. CMOS SETUP UTILITY – Copyright (C) 1985-2005, American Megatrends, Inc.
Motherboard User’s Guide OnBoard PCI IDE Use this item to enable or disable the onboard PCI IDE channel. OnBoard SATA-IDE Use this item to select RAID mode, IDE mode or Disabled for onboard SATAIDE. Audio Device This item enables or disables the AC’97 audio chip. MODEM Device This item enables or disables the MC’97 modem chip. Ethernet Device This item enables or disables the onboard Ethernet LAN. OnBoard LAN Boot ROM Use this item to enable or disable the LAN Boot ROM function.
Chapter 3: BIOS Setup Utility Suspend Time Out This item sets up the timeout for Suspend mode in minutes. If the time selected passes without any system activity, the computer will enter power-saving Suspend mode. Resume on RTC Alarm The system can be turned off with a software command. If you enable this item, the system can automatically resume at a fixed time based on the system’s RTC (realtime clock). Use the items below this one to set the date and time of the wake-up alarm.
Motherboard User’s Guide Allocate IRQ to PCI VGA If this item is enabled, an IRQ will be assigned to the PCI VGA graphics system. You set this value to No to free up an IRQ. PCI IDE BusMaster This item enables or disables the DMA under DOS mode. We recommend you to leave this item at the default value. BIOS Security Features Setup Page This page helps you install or change a password. CMOS SETUP UTILITY – Copyright (C) 1985-2005, American Megatrends, Inc.
Chapter 3: BIOS Setup Utility CPU PnP Setup Page This page helps you manually configure the mainboard for the CPU. The system will automatically detect the type of installed CPU and make the appropriate adjustments to the items on this page. CMOS SETUP UTILITY – Copyright (C) 1985-2005, American Megatrends, Inc. CPU PnP Setup Manufacturer: Ratio Actual Value: DRAM Frequency CPU Over-clocking Func.
Motherboard User’s Guide Hardware Monitor Page This page sets up some parameters for the hardware monitoring function of this motherboard. CMOS SETUP UTILITY – Copyright (C) 1985-2005, American Megatrends, Inc. Hardware Monitor ***System Hardware Monitor*** CPU Vcore VDIMM +3.3V +5V 5VSB VBAT CPU FAN Speed SYSTEM FAN Speed CPU Temperature SYSTEM Temperature Smart FAN Control 1.296 V 1.808 V 3.280 V 4.919 V 4.945 V 3.
Chapter 3: BIOS Setup Utility Load Optimal Defaults This option opens a dialog box to ask if you are sure to install optimized defaults or not. You select [OK], and then press , the Setup Utility loads all default values; or select [Cancel], and then press , the Setup Utility does not load default values. Save Changes and Exit Highlight this item and press to save the changes that you have made in the Setup Utility configuration.
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Chapter 4: Software & Applications Chapter 4 Software & Applications Introduction This chapter describes the contents of the support CD-ROM that comes with the motherboard package. The support CD-ROM contains all useful software, necessary drivers and utility programs to properly run our products. More program information is available in a README file, located in the same directory as the software. To run the support CD, simply insert the CD into your CD-ROM drive.
Motherboard User’s Guide The Exit button closes the Auto Setup window. To run the program again, reinsert the CD-ROM disc in the drive; or click the CD-ROM driver from the Windows Explorer, and click the Setup icon. The Application button brings up a software menu. It shows the bundled software that this motherboard supports. The ReadMe brings you to the Install Path where you can find out path names of software driver.
Chapter 4: Software & Applications Once any of the installation procedures start, software is automatically installed in sequence. You need to follow the onscreen instructions, confirm commands and allow the computer to restart as few times as needed to complete installing whatever software you selected. When the process is finished, all the support software will be installed and start working. Bundled Software Installation All bundled software available on the CD-ROM is for users’ convenience.
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Chapter 5: VIA VT8237 SATA RAID Setup Guide Chapter 5 VIA VT8237 SATA RAID Setup Guide VIA RAID Configurations The motherboard includes a high performance Serial ATA RAID controller integrated in the VIA VT8237 Southbridge chipset. It supports RAID 0, RAID 1 and JBOD with two independent Serial ATA channels. RAID: (Redundant Array of Independent Disk Drives) use jointly several hard drives to increase data transfer rates and data security.
Motherboard User’s Guide Follow these steps to install the SATA hard disks for RAID configuration. i Before setting up your new RAID array, verify the status of your hard disks. Make sure the Master/Slave jumpers are configured properly. ii Both the data and power SATA cables are new cables. You cannot use older 40-pin 80-conductor IDE or regular IDE power cables with Serial ATA drives.
Chapter 5: VIA VT8237 SATA RAID Setup Guide On the upper-right side of the screen is the message and legend box. The keys on the legend box allow you to navigate through the setup menu options. The message describes the function of each menu item. The following lists the keys found in the legend box with their corresponding functions.
Motherboard User’s Guide 4 Select Block Size, then press to set array block size. Lists of valid array block sizes are displayed on a pop-up menu. Tip For server systems, it is recommended to use a lower array block size. For multimedia computer systems used mainly for audio and video editing, a higher array block size is recommended for optimum performance. Use arrow keys to move selection bar on items and press to select.
Chapter 5: VIA VT8237 SATA RAID Setup Guide 3 4 5 Select task and press . The screen returns to Create Array menu items. From this point, you may choose to auto-configure the RAID array by selecting Auto Setup for Data Security or manually configure the RAID array for mirrored sets. If you want to manually configure the RAID array continue with next step, otherwise, proceed to step #5. Select Select Disk Drives, then press .
Motherboard User’s Guide Serial Number View 1 In the VIA RAID BIOS utility main menu, select Serial Number View then press the key. The focus is directed to the list of channel used for IDE RAID arrays. Move the selection bar on each item and the serial number is displayed at the bottom of the screen. This option is useful for identifying same model disks.
Chapter 5: VIA VT8237 SATA RAID Setup Guide Rebuild Broken RAID 1 Array When booting up the system, BIOS will detect if any member disk drives of RAID has failed or is absent. If BIOS detects any disk drive failures or missing disk drives, the status of the array will be marked as broken. If BIOS detects a broken RAID 1 array but there is a spare hard drive available for rebuilding the broken array, the spare hard drive will automatically become the mirroring drive.
Motherboard User’s Guide 3. Choose Replacement Drive and Rebuild: This item enables users to select an already-connected hard drive to rebuild the broken array. After choosing a hard drive, the channel column will be activated. Highlight the target hard drive and press , a warning message will appear. Press Y to use that hard drive to rebuild, or press N to cancel. Please note selecting option Y will destroy all the data on the selected hard drive. 4.
Chapter 5: VIA VT8237 SATA RAID Setup Guide Installing RAID Software & Drivers Install Driver in Windows OS New Windows OS (2000/XP/NT4) Installation The following details the installation of the drivers while installing Windows XP. 1 Start the installation: Boot from the CD-ROM. Press F6 when the message “Press F6 if you need to install third party SCSI or RAID driver’ appears. 2 When the Windows Setup window is generated, press S to specify an Additional Device(s).
Motherboard User’s Guide Installation of VIA SATA RAID Utility The VIA SATA RAID Utility is the software package that enables highperformance RAID 0 arrays in the Windows*XP operating system. This version of VIA SATA RAID Utility contains the following key features: • Serial ATA RAID driver for Windows XP • VIA SATA RAID utility • RAID0 and RAID1 functions Insert the ECS CD and click on the Setup to install the software. The InstallShield Wizard will begin automatically for installation.
Chapter 5: VIA VT8237 SATA RAID Setup Guide Put a check mark in the check box to install the feature you want. Then click Next button to proceed the installation. Using VIA RAID Tool Once the installation is complete, go to Start---> Programs---> VIA---> raid_tool.exe to enable VIA RAID Tool. After the software is finished installation, it will automatically started every time Windows is initiated.
Motherboard User’s Guide The main interface is divided into two windows and the toolbar above contain the main functions. Click on these toolbar buttons to execute their specific functions. The left windowpane displays the controller and disk drives and the right windowpane displays the details of the controller or disk drives.
Chapter 5: VIA VT8237 SATA RAID Setup Guide Click on the plus (+) symbol next to Array 0--RAID 0 to see the details of each disk. You may also use the same Array 0--RAID 1.
Motherboard User’s Guide Click on the plus (+) symbol next to Array 0; RAID 1 to see the details of each disk.
