American Megatrends Megathon User manual

Megathon®AMD Athlon®PCI ISA
Motherboard User's Guide
MAN-804
2/9/00

Megathon PCI Motherboard User’s Guideii
© Copyright 2000 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 obligated only 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
AMD Athlon is a registered trademark of Advanced Micro Devices.
VESA is a registered trademark of the Video Electronics Standards Association.
MS-DOS, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft
Windows, Windows NT, and Windows 95 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.
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NEC is a registered trademark of NEC Corporation.
Micron is a registered trademark of Micron Corporation.
SCO, Unix, and UnixWare are registered trademarks of the Santa Cruz Operation, Inc.
All other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
Revision History
2/9/00 Initial release.

Preface iii
Table of Contents
1Hardware Installation..................................1
Overview.....................................................................................1
Megathon PCI Motherboard Layout.....................................3
Installation Steps.......................................................................4
Step 1 Unpack the Motherboard............................................5
Avoid Static Electricity.............................................................5
Step 2 Clear CMOS RAM.........................................................6
Step 3 Install Memory...............................................................7
Step 4 Install CPU......................................................................9
Step 5 Connect CPU Fan........................................................13
Step 6 Connect System Case Fan.........................................13
Step 7 Install the Motherboard.............................................14
Step 8 Attach Cables..............................................................15
Step 9 Connect I/O..................................................................20
Step 10 Install Drivers.............................................................27
Step 11 Test and Configure...................................................28
2AMIBIOS Setup............................................29
AMIBIOS Main Setup Menu................................................30
Advanced Setup......................................................................33
Security Setup..........................................................................34
Exit Setup..................................................................................37
3Programming Flash ROM.........................39
Bootblock Code Checkpoint Codes.....................................42
4Deleting a Password.................................43
Avoid Static Electricity...........................................................44
ASpecifications..............................................45
Engineering Specifications....................................................45
Index..........................................................................47

Megathon PCI Motherboard User’s Guideiv
Preface
To the OEM Thank you for purchasing the high performance American Megatrends
MegathonAMD Athlon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 Megathon 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 Megathon PCI motherboard. It explains how to assemble a system
based on the Megathon 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.
Disclaimer
AMI certifies only that this product will work correctly when this
product is used with the same jumper settings, the same system
configuration, the same memory module parts, and the same
peripherals that were tested by AMI with this product. The complete
list of tested jumper settings, system configurations, peripheral
devices, and memory modules are documented in the AMI
Compatibility Report for this product. Call your AMI sales
representative for a copy of the Compatibility Report for this product.

Preface v
Technical Support
AMI provides technical support only for AMI products purchased directly from
AMI or from an AMI-authorized reseller.
If…Then…
You purchased this product from AMI or
from a certified AMI reseller, Call AMI technical support at 770-246- 8600. Please be prepared to specify the
serial number of the product.
This AMI product was installed as part of a
system manufactured by a company other
than AMI or you purchased an AMI
product from an unauthorized reseller,
Call the technical support department of
the computer manufacturer or the
unauthorized reseller. AMI does not
provide direct technical support in this
case.
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-
8600.
Web Site We invite you to access the American Megatrends world wide web site at:
http://www.ami.com.
Packing List
You should have received the following:
•a Megathon AMD Athlon motherboard,
•on AGP miniport driver diskette for Windows 98,
•one retention mechanism for the AMD Athlon CPUs,
•a warranty card, and
•the American Megatrends MegathonAMD AthlonPCI ISA
Motherboard User's Guide.

Megathon PCI Motherboard User’s Guidevi

Chapter 1 Hardware Installation 1
1Hardware Installation
Overview
The Megathon motherboard is powered by the AMD Athlon processors at
speeds up to 600 MHz. The Megathon provides the high speed data transfer and
data integrity required for graphics and audio applications, and supports Ultra
DMA/33, and Ultra DMA/66.
Megathon features include:
•support for one AMD Athlon CPU operating at 500, 550, 600, 700, or 750
MHz,
•up to 768 MB RAM available using three DIMMs (up to 256 MB in each
slot), with support for SDRAM (66/100MHz),
•one 32-bit AGP bus with a dedicated 66MHz/133MHz path from the graphics
card to system memory,
•support for 3D/NOWtechnology,
•system memory parity checking or ECC (Error Checking and Correction),
•AMD-751 system controller for the North Bridge, and VIA Super South
(686A) for the South Bridge,
•PCI local bus throughput of 132 MB/s,
•five 32-bit PCI expansion slots, and
•one 16-bit ISA expansion slot.
Cont’d

Megathon PCI Motherboard User’s Guide2
Overview, Continued
CPUs This motherboard will support all AMD Athlon CPUs operating at 500 MHz, 550
MHz, 600 MHz, 700 MHz, or 750MHz.
PCI Bus Speed AMIBIOS automatically configures the PCI slots. The PCI slots are synchronous
with the CPU clock:
CPU External Clock Frequency PCI Expansion Slot Frequency
100 MHz 33 MHz
200 MHz 33 MHz
Onboard I/O The Megathon AMD Athlon motherboard includes:
•two 40-pin IDE connectors for 1 – 4 IDE drives,
•a 34-pin floppy drive connector,
•two serial bus connectors, along with a connector, J4, to connect USB
devices,
•a 25-pin parallel port connector,
•a 6-pin keyboard DIN connector, and
•a 6-pin mouse connector.

Chapter 1 Hardware Installation 3
Megathon PCI Motherboard Layout

Megathon PCI Motherboard User’s Guide4
Installation Steps
Use the following steps to install the motherboard, memory, jumpers, and
connectors.
Step Action
1Unpack the motherboard.
2Clear CMOS RAM.
3Install memory.
4Install CPU.
5Connect CPU Fan.
6Connect System Case Fan.
7Install the motherboard.
8Attach cables.
9Connect I/O (input/output).
10 Install drivers.
11 Test and configure.