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PCComplete Technical Notes
for Sable Computers
Table of Contents
Table of Contents  ........................................................................................................................................a
Foreword .....................................................................................................................................................c
Obtaining PCComplete Service  ..................................................................................................................d
Processor Jumper Settings 
Identifying the main board  .........................................................................................................................1
Identifying the AMD-K6 speed  ...................................................................................................................1
Identifying the Pentium II/III (Slot 1) speed ..............................................................................................1
Identifying the Pentium III (FPGA) speed  .................................................................................................1
Identifying the Celeron (Slot 1) speed ........................................................................................................1
Identifying the Celeron (Socket 370/PPGA) speed  ....................................................................................2
Underclocking for compatibility .................................................................................................................2
ASUS TXP4-X ..............................................................................................................................................2
ASUS P5A ....................................................................................................................................................3
ASUS P2L97 ................................................................................................................................................4
ASUS P2B ....................................................................................................................................................4
ASUS P2B-F .................................................................................................................................................5
ASUS P2-99 .................................................................................................................................................6
AMD K6-2/333 processor stall fix ...............................................................................................................8
I/O Card Jumper & Software Settings 
Identifying the I/O card .............................................................................................................................11
STB DSP/550  .............................................................................................................................................11
SIIG Serial Expander 4S ............................................................................................................................12
SIIG CyberSerial Dual PCI ........................................................................................................................13
SIIG CyberSerial Single PCI ......................................................................................................................15
LAVA SSerial-PCI .......................................................................................................................................17
Power Selection Switch 
Power selection switch ..............................................................................................................................19
BIOS Settings 
Information about using BIOS ..................................................................................................................21
Recommended BIOS settings  ....................................................................................................................21
Standard CMOS Setup ...............................................................................................................................21
BIOS Features Setup ..................................................................................................................................22
Chipset Features Setup  .............................................................................................................................23
Power Management Setup .........................................................................................................................24
PNP and PCI Setup  ...................................................................................................................................25
Password Prompts 
a
revision 0.2.8.7
This guide was created exclusively for Sable Technologies by PCComplete Corporate Sales.
Written by Darryl Wattenberg with Fred Hodge, Marshall Miller, and Patrick Obloy.
© PCComplete, 1998-2000, All rights reserved

Summary of content (50 pages)

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revision 0.2.8.7 PCComplete Technical Notes for Sable Computers Table of Contents Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................................a Foreword .....................................................................................................................................................c Obtaining PCComplete Service ....................................................................................
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PCComplete Technical Information for Sable Techs/Installers Windows NT .............................................................................................................................................27 BIOS passwords .........................................................................................................................................27 Clearing BIOS passwords once they have been set ...................................................................................
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revision 0.2.8.7 Foreword This technical information has been assembled for use by Sable Installers and Technicians. The information in this guide is targeted for people with technical knowledge of PC hardware and Windows NT. As such, we ask that this information not be distributed to end users without a technical background. Information in this guide is the most current available at time of printing. As with the rest of the computer industry, this information is subject to change on a regular basis.
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PCComplete Technical Information for Sable Techs/Installers Obtaining PCComplete Service PCComplete has developed special warranties and service plan for the Sable computers. These include original warranty and extended warranty (for machine 2-3 years old) for PCComplete assembled computers, and the extended service agreement for PCComplete and non-PCComplete assembled computers.
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revision 0.2.8.7 Processor Jumper Settings Identifying the main board Before setting the speed of the processor, it is necessary to identify the type of board which you are working on. An AMD K-6 or K6-2 should be using either the ASUS TXP4-X or P5A main boards. Intel Pentium II computers may use one of five main boards (P2L97, P2B, P2B-F, P2-99, or P3B-F).
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PCComplete Technical Information for Sable Techs/Installers white background with the second line of text reading similar to this, “333/66 COSTA RICA”. The “333” is the processor speed. This processor is set exactly the same as the Pentium II. Identifying the Celeron (Socket 370/PPGA) speed More recent Celeron based systems from PCComplete use Socket 370 (a.k.a. PPGA) processors. When installed on the Slot 1 main boards they use a Socket 370 to Slot 1 adapter.
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revision 0.2.8.7 ASUS P5A The following jumper settings are only for AMD-K6 & K6-2 processors on the ASUS P5A main board.
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PCComplete Technical Information for Sable Techs/Installers ASUS P2L97 The following jumper settings are only for Intel Pentium II and Celeron processors under 350MHz on the ASUS P2L97 main board. FS0 FS1 FS2 FS0 FS1 FS2 FS0 FS1 FS2 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 BF3 BF2 BF1 BF0 BF3 BF2 BF1 BF0 266MHz 1 2 3 300MHz BF3 BF2 BF1 BF0 333MHz ASUS P2B The following jumper settings are only for Intel Pentium II processors on the ASUS P2B main board.
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revision 0.2.8.7 ASUS P2B-F The following jumper settings are only for Intel Pentium II/III processors on the ASUS P2B-F main board.
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PCComplete Technical Information for Sable Techs/Installers ASUS P2-99 The following jumper settings are only for Intel Pentium II/III processors on the ASUS P2-99 main board.
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revision 0.2.8.7 The following jumper settings are only for Intel Celeron processors on the ASUS P2-99 main board.
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PCComplete Technical Information for Sable Techs/Installers AMD K6-2/333 processor stall fix 1. Shut down the computer and after the power is off, unplug the power to the computer and remove the monitor’s connection to the computer. Remove the computer’s cover (there are six screws on the minitower case). 123 BS2 BS1 BS0 123 FS0 FS1 FS2 FS3 B A C K O F C O M P U T E R 2. Remove the screw holding in the video card. Remove the video card. 3. Locate the “FS” series of jumpers.
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revision 0.2.8.7 7. Make sure all cables are connected and secure, then power on the computer, press and hold the “Delete” key to enter BIOS. 8. Use the arrow keys to select “BIOS Features Setup” and press the “Enter” key. Use the arrow keys again to select the “Quick Power On Test,” use the “Page Up” key to set it to “Disable”. Press “Esc” to return to the main BIOS screen. Press “F10” to save and exit, confirm with “y” and press return. 9.
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revision 0.2.8.7 I/O Card Jumper & Software Settings Identifying the I/O card There have been five different I/O cards used in the Sable computers as of April 2000. The original card used was the STB DSP/550 which has two DB9 ports and is ISA. The next card was the SIIG Serial Expander 4S which has one DB9 and one DB25 and is again ISA. The original PCI card used was the SIIG Dual CyberSerial PCI controller which has two DB9 ports. The SIIG Single CyberSerial PCI controller has only one DB9 port per card.
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PCComplete Technical Information for Sable Techs/Installers SIIG Serial Expander 4S S4 S4_IRQ 460800 230400 115200 IRQ15 IRQ12 IRQ11 IRQ10 IRQ9 IRQ7 IRQ5 IRQ4 IRQ3 S3 270 COM12 460800 268 COM10 368 COM9 260 COM8 S3_IRQ 2E0 COM7 S3 3E0 COM6 S2 2F0 COM5 S2_IRQ 2E8 COM4 S2 3E8 COM3 S1 2F8 COM2 S1_IRQ 3F8 COM1 S1 360 COM11 230400 115200 IRQ15 IRQ12 IRQ11 IRQ10 IRQ9 IRQ7 IRQ5 IRQ4 IRQ3 270 COM12 360 COM11 268 COM10 368 COM9 260 COM8 2E0 COM7 3E0 COM6 2F0 CO
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revision 0.2.8.7 SIIG CyberSerial Dual PCI The SIIG CyberSerial is the first PCI serial card used on Sable POS systems. Though this card is more costly than the traditional ISA alternatives, PCI is better supported by the operating system and pcAnywhere. These PCI cards use only one IRQ for both COM ports. The CyberSerial card has shipped in two different version. The early version is a mid-size card while the second version is a short card.
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PCComplete Technical Information for Sable Techs/Installers When the card is configured this way, Windows NT Ports control panel should have the following port settings: COM 1 2 3 4 Windows NT’s Port control panel 14 IRQ 4 3 10 10 Address 3f8 2f8 3e8 2e8 The Advanced Settings
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revision 0.2.8.7 SIIG CyberSerial Single PCI The SIIG CyberSerial Single port is the second PCI card used on Sable POS systems. Though this card is more costly than the traditional ISA alternatives or even the dual port card, PCI is better supported by the operating system and pcAnywhere. Unlike the dual cards, these PCI cards use one IRQ for each card. The CyberSerial card has shipped in two different version. The early version is a mid-size card while the later version is a short card.
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PCComplete Technical Information for Sable Techs/Installers The Cyber PCI control panel The Advanced Port Settings When the card is configured this way, Windows NT Ports control panel should have the following port settings: COM 1 2 3 4 IRQ 4 3 5 10 Address 3f8 2f8 3e8 2e8 IRQ 4 3 10 Address 3f8 2f8 3e8 Or like this for a single card: COM 1 2 3 Windows NT’s Port control panel The Advanced Settings These cards maybe added individually to add one extra serial port.
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revision 0.2.8.7 LAVA SSerial-PCI The LAVA SSerial-PCI port is the fifth serial I/O card used on Sable POS systems. The switch was made to this card in mid-April 2000 due to problems with TCAs on other serial I/O cards. CANADA In order for these cards to function properly with Sable, it is vital that at least one PCI slot be left open between two of these cards (see the illustration to the right). Unlike the ISA cards, the PCI cards require a software driver.
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PCComplete Technical Information for Sable Techs/Installers In the LavaPort control panel, you should not have to change anything. If the setting do not match the screen shot below, remove the software and reinstall the driver from the floppy drive and not the CD-ROM or hard drive copy.
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revision 0.2.8.7 Power Selection Switch Power selection switch 115 On the back of the power supply is a switch to select between 115 and 230 volt current. This switch must be set for the 115 volt setting or the computer will not function properly. Occasionally, this switch has changed positions in shipping, so it is advisable to double check the power switch before turning on the computer.
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revision 0.2.8.7 BIOS Settings Information about using BIOS To access the BIOS, hold down the “delete” key during the memory count (right after the computer is powered on). Once in BIOS, use the arrow keys to navigate through the menus. The “Enter” key will select the current highlighted menu. Generally, the “page up” and “page down” keys will cycle through options. To return to the main menu from any of the sub-menus, press the “esc” key.
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PCComplete Technical Information for Sable Techs/Installers ROM PCI/ISA BIOS (XXXXXXXX) CMOS SETUP UTILITY AWARD SOFTWARE, INC. Date (mm:dd:yy) : Fri, Oct 9 1998 Time (hh:mm:ss) : 13 : 15 : 41 HARD DISKS Primary Master Primary Slave Secondary Master Secondary Slave : : : : TYPE SIZE User None None None 3241 0 0 0 Drive A : 1.44M, 3.5 in.
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revision 0.2.8.7 On the P2L97, P2B, P2B-F, and P2-99, we recommend disabling the “BIOS Update” option. This will avoid any accidental corruption of the BIOS. We have found that by setting the Boot Sequence to “C Only” we eliminate several service calls a week. This eliminates the possibility of having the customer accidentally leave a back-up or restore floppy in the drive which prevents the computer from booting.
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PCComplete Technical Information for Sable Techs/Installers Power Management Setup ROM PCI/ISA BIOS () POWER MANAGEMENT SETUP AWARD SOFTWARE, INC. Power Management Video Off Option Video Method ROM PCI/ISA BIOS (<>) POWER MANAGEMENT SETUP AWARD SOFTWARE, INC. : Disable : Susp.
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revision 0.2.8.7 PNP and PCI Setup ROM PCI/ISA BIOS () PNP AND PCI SETUP AWARD SOFTWARE, INC.
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revision 0.2.8.7 Password Prompts Windows NT Windows NT prompts for a username and password at log-on. The default for pre-loaded software to to have both the “Sable” and “administrator” passwords empty. Remember that you should always log in as “Sable” while running the POS. BIOS passwords It is possible (and fairly easy) for someone to set passwords on the BIOS. There are two different types of BIOS passwords.
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revision 0.2.8.7 Video Driver/Black Screen Problem Overview In a few cases, users have either improperly configured their display adapter or had software corrupt the driver. The result is frequently a black screen after Windows NT loads. If the user selects VGA Mode the monitor will work properly, but only at 640 by 480 at 16 colors. Solution The best method to correct this problem is through pcAnywhere.
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PCComplete Technical Information for Sable Techs/Installers To avoid future problems the display adapter must be set for modes supported by the monitor. The manual for the monitor should provide a list of compatible resolutions and refresh rates (note that all refresh rates will not work at all resolutions). The safest resolution is 640x480 with a refresh rate of 60Hz (most multisyncing monitors support this mode).
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revision 0.2.8.7 Problems with Monitor Viewable Size Screen too wide Though the cause of this problem is not known, installers have have luck with this simple procedure. From display properties, change the resolution (is it is currently at 640 by 480 change it to 800 by 600, if current resolution is 800 by 600 change it to 640 by 480). Click the test button. When the Display properties window reappears set the desired resolution and refresh rate. Again, click test.
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revision 0.2.8.7 Problems Changing Video Driver Overview A problem has been encountered while trying to install or change video drivers on Sable POS computers. This problem will only occur if pcAnywhere is installed. Though Symantec’s technical support claims to provide an alternate method which does not require the removal of pcAnywhere, we have not been able to do so successfully. Therefore it is necessary to remove pcAnywhere from the system before installing or changing a video driver.
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revision 0.2.8.7 Booting from CD-ROM Without a ZIP drive Without a ZIP drive installed, enter BIOS and change the boot sequence to “CD-ROM, C, A.” (For more information see the BIOS section of this publication or the User Manual from the main board.) With a ZIP drive In order to boot from the CD-ROM drive with a ZIP drive installed, the ZIP drive must be temporarily disabled. This process involves opening the case.
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revision 0.2.8.7 pcAnywhere notes Start with Windows option Do not leave this option selected – it will corrupt the Windows telephony.dll.
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revision 0.2.8.7 PCComplete Assembled Sable Computers and the Year 2000 The main board All PCs shipped under the Sable Computer program should be Y2K compliant. To verify, check the BIOS revision against the chart below. In many cases, the machine will not be compliant if the BIOS revision is not as recent as the ones listed below, but will still work properly after December 31, 1999.
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revision 0.2.8.7 Appendix Web sites for drivers & updates Though we include drivers with all computers, you may have to download them at some point (either because the user has misplaced or damaged the driver or a newer version may be required). The following are some good places to look for the drivers.
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PCComplete Technical Information for Sable Techs/Installers Memory upgrades on PCComplete computers All computers supplied through the Sable program and that are covered in this Technical Note are capable of using PC100 168-pin SDRAM 3.3 volt DIMMs. Some earlier computers delivered by PCComplete to Elias Brother restaurants use EDO 72-pin SIMMs. The chart below should list all main boards used by PCComplete in systems for the Sable POS and what their RAM requirements are.
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revision 0.2.8.7 Hard Drive Master Versions The first version of the Sable POS hard drive shipped by PCComplete did not have any identifier. Version 2 and later have the drive label set by default to the master drive’s version number, and a text file with information about the master drive.
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