User manual TYAN TOMCAT I815T

[. . . ] TM Tomcat i815T S2080 User's Manual Revision 1. 00 Copyright © Tyan Computer Corporation, 2001. No part of this manual may be reproduced or translated without prior written consent from Tyan Computer Corp. All registered and unregistered trademarks and company names contained in this manual are property of their respective owners including, but not limited to the following: Tyan, Tomcat i815T S2080 are trademarks of Tyan Computer Corporation. IBM, PC, AT, PS/2 are trademarks of IBM Corporation. Information contained in this document is furnished by Tyan Computer Corporation and has been reviewed for accuracy and reliability prior to printing. Tyan assumes no liability whatsoever, and disclaims any express or implied warranty, relating to sale and/or use of Tyan products including liability or warranties relating to fitness for a particular purpose or merchantability. [. . . ] Please refer to the URL link here for more details: http://www. tyan. com/support/html/rma_faq. html Q: How do I upgrade my BIOS?BIOS update files, flash utilities, and instructions on how to install them are also available from the Tyan website at: http://www. tyan. com Q: Why do I get a "CMOS checksum invalid" error message during POST?A: If you get the above error message or "Invalid configuration, run Setup" message, it is an indication that the CMOS battery needs to be changed. Once you've replaced your battery or flashed your BIOS, don't forget to check the Clear CMOS section (see p. 11) so that you can reset your CMOS. * If your chassis supports frontside USB connectors, it will usually come with the necessary cables. Please check with your chassis vendor for details. 28 http://www. tyan. com Chapter 3: BIOS Setup Introduction to the BIOS setup The BIOS is the basic input/output system, required by the computer to perform functions such as CPU and hard drive support. This chapter describes different settings for the BIOS that can be used to configure your system. The BIOS section of the manual is subject to change without notice and is provided here for reference purposes only. The settings and configurations of the BIOS are current at the time of print, and therefore they may not be exactly the same as that displayed on your screen. This manual describes the BIOS setup program. The settings are then stored in a dedicated battery-backed memory, called NVRAM, that retains the information when the power is turned off. The BIOS in your motherboard is a customized version of an industry-standard BIOS for IBM PC AT-compatible personal computers. The BIOS provides critical low-level support for the system central processing, memory, and I/O subsystems. The BIOS has been customized by adding important, but non-standard, features such as virus and password protection, power management, and detailed fine-tuning of the chipset controlling the system. The rest of this manual is intended to guide you through the process of configuring your system using this BIOS setup program. Starting Setup The BIOS is immediately activated when you first turn on the computer. The BIOS reads system configuration information in CMOS RAM and begins the process of checking out the system and configuring it through the Power-On Self Test (POST). When these preliminaries are finished, the BIOS seeks an operating system on one of the data storage devices (HDD, floppy drive, etc. ) If one is found, the BIOS will launch that operating system and hand control of system operations to it. You can start the setup program by pressing the [DEL] key while the system is booting up. Tomcat i815T S2080 29 Setup Keys The table below shows how to navigate in the setup program using the keyboard. Key Tab Function Moves from one selection to the next Left/Right Arrow Keys Change from one menu to the next Up/Down Arrow Keys Move between selections Enter Opens highlighted section PgUp/PgDn Keys Change setting Getting Help Press [F1] to display a small help window that describes the appropriate keys to use and the possible selections for the highlighted item. To exit the Help Window press [ESC] or the [F1] key again. In Case of Problems If you discover that you have trouble booting the computer after making and saving changes with the BIOS setup program, you can restart the computer by: Holding the power button down until the computer shuts off The best advice is to alter only settings that you thoroughly understand. In particular, do not change settings in the Chipset screen unless you absolutely sure that you need to. The Chipset defaults were carefully chosen by Tyan or your system manufacturer for the best performance and reliability. Even a seemingly small change to the Chipset setup may cause the system to become unstable. Setup Variations Not all systems have the same setup program. While the basic look and function of the setup program remains more or less the same for all systems, the appearance of your Setup screen may differ from the screens shown here. Each system design and chipset combination require custom configurations. In addition, the final appearance of the setup program depends on your system designer. Your system designer can decide that certain items should not be available for user configuration, and remove them from the BIOS setup program. 30 http://www. tyan. com 3. 1 Main Setup In this screen, you can alter general features such as the date and time, as well as access the IDE configuration screens. Note that the options listed below are for options that can directly be changed within the Main Setup screen. [. . . ] This memory is available to any program running on the computer. ROM (Read-Only Memory): a storage chip which contains the BIOS; the basic instructions required to boot the computer and start up the operating system. SDRAM (Synchronous Dynamic RAM): called as such because it can keep two sets of memory addresses open simultaneously. By transferring data alternately from one set of addresses and then the other, SDRAM cuts down on the delays associated with non-synchronous RAM, which must close one address bank before opening the next. Serial port: called as such because it transmits the eight bits of a byte of data along one wire, and receives data on another single wire (that is, the data is transmitted in serial form, one bit after another). Tomcat i815T S2080 53 SIMM (Single In-line Memory Module): formerly the most common form of RAM for motherboards. They must be installed in pairs, and do not have the carrying capacity or the speed of DIMMs. Sleep/Suspend mode: in this mode, all devices except the CPU shut down. SRAM (Static RAM): unlike DRAM, this type of RAM does not need to be refreshed in order to prevent data loss. Thus, it is faster, and more expensive. Standby mode: in this mode, the video and fixed disk drive (usually the HDD) shuts down; all other devices continue to operate normally. Striping: see RAID. UltraDMA/33/66/100: a fast version of the old DMA channel. [. . . ]