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PM-8900 BIOS SETTINGS
 SYSTEM BIOS SETUP
 ENTERING BIOS SETUP PROGRAM
 LOAD SETUP DEFAULTS
 STANDARD CMOS SETUP OPTION
     
Hard disk primary & secondary drive types
     Floppy drives A & B       
 BIOS FEATURES SETUP
     
Virus warning
     CPU internal & external cache
     Security option
 CHIPSET FEATURES SETUP
     
DRAM RAS# precharge time
     DRAM R/W leadoff timing
     Fast RAS to CAS Delay
     DRAM Read (EDO/FP) / Write Burst Timing
     Fast MA to RAS# Delay CLK & Refresh RAS# Assertion
     Fast EDO path select
     ISA bus clock
     SDRAM (CAS Lat/RAS-to-CAS)
     Peer concurrency
 POWER MANAGEMENT SETUP
     
Power management
     Doze, standby, and suspend modes 
 PCI CONFIGURATION SETUP
 INTEGRATED PERIPHERALS SETUP
     IDE HDD block mode
     IDE primary & secondary, master & slave PIO modes
     Primary & secondary PCI IDE, FDD controller, serial ports
     On-Board parallel port, parallel mode, and ECP DMA channel  
 EXITING SETUP UTILITY  
 
System BIOS Setup
After you have configured the system board and assembled all the components, you need to enter the system configuration information to the system BIOS through the Award PnP BIOS Setup programs. This Award PnP BIOS Setup program and the system configuration information are embedded in the system board and it is backup by the Dallas Real Time Clock.
 
Due to frequent update of system BIOS, the actual options available in your system board BIOS setups may vary comparing with this manual. If technically necessary, we would provide a special insert for instruction of the difference in regard to any changes of the BIOS setup option.
 
Entering BIOS Setup Program
Turn on or reboot the system. After the system finished testing the on-board memory, the message "Hit DEL if you want to run SETUP" will appear. Press "DEL" key at this time will bring you into the BIOS Setup program.
 
Use "Arrow" keys to high-light items, and use the "Enter" key to select option or you may use the mouse to "Click" on item you want to select and change.
 
After the BIOS Setup program is entered, you may want to choose the "Standard CMOS Setup" option for date, time, and all disk drives information. If you have IDE Hard Drive(s) installed, the "IDE HDD Auto Detection" option can be used to automatically enter your hard drive(s) information.
 
At any time you may press "ESC" key to exit the window, and choose the "Exit Without Saving" option to keep the original configuration.
 
Load Setup Defaults
There is a set of BIOS values stored in the ROM files: The "Setup" default values The "Setup" default values are those settings which should provide optimum performance for the system. They are the best case default values. This set of default values can be loaded by using the "Load Setup Defaults" option in the main BIOS menu when you first entered the setup utility.
 
Standard CMOS Setup Option
Primary Master & Slave, Secondary Master & Slave Drive Types According to your actual equipment, you can select the type of hard disks for C, D, E, & F from 'Not Installed' to type 46 for standard hard disks. As for type 47, user may define by himself. If a ATAPI IDE CD-ROM is connected to any on-board IDE port, the HARD DISKS "Type" should be set to "None". The DOS CD-ROM driver or the Win95 built-in driver will handle the communication by themselves. You may also use the "IDE HDD Auto Detection" option in the Main Menu to allow the system to detect and enter these information for you.
 
It is strongly recommended that the HARD DISK "Type" and "Mode" be set to "Auto" to allow the BIOS to detect and configure the hard disk(s) since hard disks are becoming increasingly complicated. If the "Auto" modes are enabled, the BIOS will perform a very reliable operation which it will read the detail information about the hard disk that is embedded in the drive by the manufacturer. This information is the true and optimal setting for the drive and it will allow the BIOS to properly configure the system.
 
As it is proven, manually setting the hard disk parameters often causes unnecessary troubles; from being unable to format the disk to its full capacity to the system simply refusing to boot. Therefore, it is only wise to leave these settings to "Auto" and let the system do the job it does best.
 
Primary Master & Slave are the 2 IDE drives connected to the Primary IDE port as shown in the drawing under the "Board Description" at the beginning of Chapter 2. The Secondary Master & Slave are the 2 IDE drives connected to the Secondary IDE port. If there are IDE device(s) installed on any of these 2 port, you must make sure the corresponding "On-Chip Primary PCI IDE" and/or "On-Chip Secondary PCI IDE" in "Integrated Peripherals Setup" is enabled.
 
Floppy Drives A & B
According to your actual equipment, set floppy drive A & B whose five options are as highlighted.
 
BIOS Features Setup
Virus Warning
This function, If enabled, will detect boot sector viruses and warning will be given when a program attempted to change boot sector information.
 
CPU Internal & External Cache
These options allows user to enable or disable the on-board (External) and the on-chip(CPU Internal) cache memories (SRAM) when special peripheral or software implemented indicate such requirement. System over all speed will slow down considerably if any of these options are disabled.
 
Security Option
This option allow a password be set up so that a password will be needed to enter the CMOS Setup or to boot the system including entering CMOS Setup. After this option is enabled, you must use the "Password Setting" option in the main menu to setup your password. If in any case the password is lost or forgotten, the jumper JP7 - Clear CMOS can be used to clear the configuration.
 
WARNING - "JP7" will clear and reset ALL and EVERY configuration parameters. Make sure you know what you are doing or ask someone who does to help you.
 
Chipset Features Setup
Most of the options in this group have major influence to the system. If options are not set properly, it may not only greatly affect the performance, but also it may bring the system down unexpectedly in most cases. Therefore, it is only wise to leave the defaults alone unless there are specific reason to do any change.
 
DRAM RAS# Precharge Time
DRAM must continually refreshed or it will lose its data. This option allows you to determine the number of CPU clocks allocated for the Row Address Strobe to accumulate its electrical charge before the DRAM is refreshed. The default is "4".
 
DRAM Leadoff Timing
This number indicates the number of CPU clocks allowed before reads and writes to DRAM are performed. The default of 7 would set the leadoff timing for read to 7 clocks.
 
Fast RAS to CAS Delay
When DRAM is refreshed, both rows and columns are addressed separately. This option allows you to determine the timing of the transition from RAS to CAS. The default is "2"
  
DRAM Read (EDO/FP) / Write Burst Timing
These 2 options set the timing for Burst Mode reads and writes from and to the Fast Page Mode or EDO DRAM. The burst read and write requests are generated by the CPU in four separate parts. The four numbers indicate the actual data cycles. The lower the timing number, the faster the system will address the memory. The defaults are "x222/x333" & "x333" respectively.
 
Fast MA to RAS# Delay CLK, & Refresh RAS# Assertion
The defaults for these options are "1" and "5 ClKs" respectively.
 
Fast EDO Path select
If EDO DRAM is installed, the default should be "Enabled", otherwise it is not applicable.
  
ISA Bus Clock
Read the instruction of JP13 in the section "The Jumpers 3", and set this option accordingly.
 
SDRAM (CAS Lat/RAS-to-CAS)
If SDRAM is installed, the default should be "3/3", otherwise it is not applicable.
 
Peer Concurrency
Peer Concurrency, when enabled, and when there is a PCI Bus Master device installed, the CPU can run concurrently with a PCI bus mastering peripheral. This achieves significant faster data transfer rate without splitting resource utilization between CPU and bus mastering device. The default is "Enabled"
 
Power Management Setup
This system board is designed to fully support the SMM/SMI power management protocol. When the "Power Management" option is enabled, the system will enter into Doze and then Standby Mode after the length of time set at the Timer options when no system activities are detected.

Power Management
This option served as a master switch to turn-on the power management.

Doze, Standby, and Suspend Modes
Defined the length of time of continuous inactivity before the system enters into different PM modes. The Suspend Mode is not implemented.
 
PCI Configuration Setup
Unless otherwise required, do not change the default setting.
 
Integrated Peripherals Setup
IDE HDD Block Mode
This option, if enabled, instruct the hard disk to read multiple blocks of data from the disk for one read request. You must refer to your hard disk information to be certain your drive support this feature.
 
IDE Primary & Secondary, Master & Slave PIO Modes
Rather than have the BIOS issue a series of commands to effect a transfer to or from the hard drive, PIO(Programmed Input/Output) allows the BIOS to tell the hard drive controller what it wants and lets the controller and the CPU to perform the complete task themselves. This method is simpler, more efficient, and so is faster. The BIOS supports five modes(0 through 4) and can be set to "Auto" for each individual hard drive.
 
Warning : The default for the PIO Modes are "Auto", if you manually set this parameter to a mode that your hard drive does not support, it will cause the HDD to crash, lost data, and/or trash your hard drive completely. If you are not 100% certain, or your hard drives does not meet the ATA specification, set the PIO Mode to "0" for that hard disk.
 
Primary & Secondary PCI IDE, FDD Controller, Serial Port 1 & 2
Use these options to enable or disable the respective on-board controllers.
 
On-Board Parallel Port, Parallel Mode, and ECP DMA Channel
Use DMA LPT port address can be selected by using the first option. The second option allows the setting of the enhanced modes for the parallel port. If "ECP" or "EPP+ECP" is enabled in the "Parallel Mode" option, use the "ECP Mode Use DMA" to select DMA channel for the ECP Mode.
 
Exiting Setup Utility
At this point, you can either choose to confirm your setup entries and exit by using "ESC" key and taking the "Save & Exit Setup" or the "Exit Without Saving" option to restore the original setup parameters and exit.
 
After you highlight the desired option and press <<ENTER>>, the system will reset itself. The new or original setup parameters, depend on the option which you have chosen, will become the current setting.
 
 

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