American Megatrends MegaPro User manual

MegaPro
Dual Pentium® Pro
PCI ISA Motherboard
User's Guide
MAN–745
2/5/97

MegaPro Dual Pentium Pro PCI ISA Motherboard User’s Guideii
© Copyright 1997 American Megatrends, Inc.
All rights reserved.
American Megatrends, Inc.
6145F Northbelt Parkway
Norcross, GA 30071
This publication contains proprietary information which is protected by copyright. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, translated into any language or computer language, or transmitted in any
form whatsoever without the prior written consent of the publisher, American Megatrends, Inc.
Limited Warranty
Buyer agrees if this product proves to be defective, that American Megatrends, Inc. is only obligated to replace or refund the
purchase price of this product at American Megatrend's discretion according to the terms and conditions on the motherboard
warranty card. American Megatrends shall not be liable in tort or contract for any loss or damage, direct, incidental or
consequential. Please see the Warranty Registration Card shipped with this product for full warranty details.
Limitations of Liability
In no event shall American Megatrends be held liable for any loss, expenses, or damages of any kind whatsoever, whether
direct, indirect, incidental, or consequential, arising from the design or use of this product or the support materials provided
with the product.
Trademarks
Intel, Pentium Pro, and Pentium are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation.
MS–DOS, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
Windows 95, Microsoft Windows, and Windows NT are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
IBM, AT, XT, CGA, VGA, PS/2, OS/2, and EGA are registered trademarks of International Business
Machines Corporation.
Fujitsu is a registered trademark of Fujitsu America, Inc.
Motorola is a registered trademark of Motorola Corporation.
Hitachi is a registered trademark of Hitachi America, Ltd.
PNY is a registered trademark of PNY Corporation.
Oki is a registered trademark of Oki America, Inc.
NEC is a registered trademark of NEC Corporation.
Samsung is a registered trademark of Samsung Electronics Corporation.
Siemens is a trademark of Siemens Corporation.
Mitsubishi is a registered trademark of Mitsubishi Electronics of America.
Micron is a registered trademark of Micron Corporation.
SCO, Unix, and UnixWare are registered trademarks of the Santa Cruz Operation, Inc.
Toshiba is a registered trademark of Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba.
All other brand and product names mentioned in this manual are trademarks or registered trademarks of
their respective companies.
Revision History
2/5/97 Initial release of preliminary version.

Preface iii
Preface
To the OEM
Thank you for purchasing the high performance American Megatrends
MegaPro Dual Pentium Pro PCI ISA motherboard. This product is a
state of the art motherboard that includes the famous AMIBIOS. It is
assumed that you have also licensed the rights to use the American
Megatrends documentation for the American Megatrends MegaPro
motherboard.
This manual was written for the OEM to assist in the proper installation
and operation of this motherboard. This manual describes the
specifications and features of the MegaPro PCI motherboard. It explains
how to assemble a system based on the MegaPro PCI motherboard and
how to use the AMIBIOS that is specifically designed for this
motherboard.
This manual is not meant to be read by the computer owner who
purchases a computer with this motherboard. It is assumed that you, the
computer manufacturer, will use this manual as a sourcebook of
information, and that parts of this manual will be included in the
computer owner's manual.
Technical Support
If an American Megatrends motherboard fails to operate as described or
you are in doubt about a configuration option, please call technical
support at 770–246–8645.

Preface v
Packing List
You should have received the following:
• a MegaPro PCI motherboard,
• two serial cables,
• one parallel cable,
• one VGA cable,
• VGA driver diskettes for Windows 95 and Windows NT V3.5x,
• diskette containing the American Megatrends DMI Wizard
software utility and the Server Management Software for Windows
NT,
• a Warranty Card, and
• the American Megatrends MegaPro PCI Pentium Pro Motherboard
User's Guide.
Warning
Do not use 16 MB x 36 64 MB SIMMs that have 36 chips per
SIMM. This type of 16 MB SIMM does not work reliably because of
excessive loading on the motherboard circuitry. If you must use 64
MB SIMMs, use only SIMMs that have 12 or 8 chips per SIMM.
Seethe memory section for information about approved system
memory parts and vendors.
Do not use 70 ns SIMMs. The system memory timing cycle on this
motherboard are very sensitive. This motherboard does not work
reliably with 70 ns SIMMs.

Chapter 1 Hardware Installation 1
1Hardware Installation
Overview
The MegaPro motherboard features are:
• supports two Intel Pentium Pro CPUs operating at 133, 150, 166,
180, or 200 MHz,
• supports up to 512 MB of system memory,
• server management,
• onboard PCI VGA,
• parity checking or ECC Error Checking and Correction,
• PCI local bus throughput of 132 MBs,
• four ISA expansion slots, and
• four PCI expansion slots.
ISA DMA or Bus Masters
The MegaPro Pentium Pro PCI ISA motherboard conforms to the PCI
Version 2.1 specification, if the PCI 2.1 Compliance option in Chipset
Setup is set to Enabled. The Version 2.1 PCI specification requires a
deterministic latency for PCI devices. Computers that use ISA DMA or
ISA bus masters will experience longer access latencies if the PCI 2.1
Compliance Chipset Setup option is set to Enabled. AMIBIOS
automatically configures the PCI slots. The PCI slots are synchronous
with the CPU clock:
CPU External Clock Frequency PCI Expansion Slot Frequency
66 MHz 33 MHz
60 MHz 30 MHz
Onboard I/O The MegaPro motherboard includes:
• two 40–pin IDE connectors for 1 – 4 IDE drives,
• a 34–pin floppy drive connector,
• two serial port connectors,
• a 25–pin parallel port connector,
• a VGA connector,
• a keyboard DIN connector, and
• a 9–pin berg mouse connector.

MegaPro Dual Pentium Pro PCI ISA Motherboard User’s Guide2
Server Management Software
The server management software for Windows NT only monitors the
following hardware parameters:
• CPU ambient temperatures,
• system voltage levels,
• CPU heat sink and chassis fan operation,
• chassis intrusion, and
• memory failure reporting if ECC is enabled.

Chapter 1 Hardware Installation 3
VGA Specification
The PCI VGA on the MegaPro motherboard is supported by the ATI 3D
RAGE II 264GT PCI Graphics Controller chip. The PCI VGA features are:
• 2 MB SGRAM. This RAM cannot be upgraded,
• a VGA cable is included, and
• video drivers for Windows 95 and Windows NT will be provided.
You can download video drivers for all other operating systems from
the ATI BBS at 905–764–9404.
Make sure you load the ATI 3D RAGE II drivers from the diskette
provided. Windows 95 auto detection tries to load the ATI Mach 64
drivers, which will not function properly.

MegaPro Dual Pentium Pro PCI ISA Motherboard User’s Guide4
MegaPro PCI Dimensions
The motherboard is approximately 12” by 13.75”.
Expansion
Slots
0.62"
Keyboard
Connectors
0.85"
SIMM
Sockets
1.5"CPUFanand
VoltageRegulators
2"
PowerConnectors
1.5"
13.75"
12"
Warning
This motherboard contains sensitive electronic
components that can be easily damaged by static
electricity. Follow the instructions carefully to ensure
correct installation and to avoid static damage.

Chapter 1 Hardware Installation 5
Step 1 Unpack the Motherboard
Step Action
1Inspect the cardboard carton for obvious damage. If
damaged, call 770–246–8645. Leave the motherboard in its
original packing.
2Perform all unpacking and installation procedures on a
ground–connected anti–static mat. Wear an anti–static
wristband grounded at the same point as the anti–static
mat. Or use a sheet of conductive aluminum foil grounded
through a 1 megaohm resistor instead of the anti–static
mat. Similarly, a strip of conductive aluminum foil wrapped
around the wrist and grounded through a 1 megaohm
resistor serves the same purpose as the wristband.
3Inside the carton, the motherboard is packed in an anti–
static bag, and sandwiched between sheets of sponge.
Remove the sponge and the anti–static bag. Place the
motherboard on a grounded anti–static surface
component side up. Save the original packing material.
4Inspect the motherboard for damage. Press down on all
ICs mounted in sockets to verify proper seating. Do not
apply power to the motherboard if it has been damaged.
5If the motherboard is undamaged, it is ready to be
installed.
Set Jumpers Set all jumpers and install the CPU before placing the motherboard in
the chassis.

MegaPro Dual Pentium Pro PCI ISA Motherboard User’s Guide6
Avoid Static Electricity
Static electricity can damage the motherboard and other computer
components. Keep the motherboard in the anti–static bag until it is to
be installed. Wear an anti–static wrist grounding strap before handling
the motherboard. Make sure you stand on an anti–static mat when
handling the motherboard.
Avoid contact with any component or connector on any adapter card,
printed circuit board, or memory module. Handle these components by
the mounting bracket.