AMPTRON PM-9800 User manual

PM-9800
PENTIUM®75MHz to233MHz
PCI,UltraDMA/33&HighSpeedMultiI/O
Intel®430TXChipsetSystemBoard
User’s Guide
Revision1.0

PM-9800 MAINBOARD MANUAL
2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Though the information presented in this manual has been checked for accuracy and reviewed, Amptron
International Inc, assumes no responsibilities for any inaccuracies that might be in this manual nor will it be
liable for damage resulting from the use of this manual. Amptron International Inc, reserves the right to make
changes to the manual at any time and without notice.
Visitourwebsite forupdates: www.amptron.com
MAINBOARD SPECIFICATIONS.......................................................
• Processor Compatibility List • Board Features
MAINBOARD DIAGRAM.....................................................................
• Board Layout • Glossary of Board Components
INSTALLATION GUIDE......................................................................
•Step-by-Step InstallationProcedures
CONNECTOR PIN CONFIGURATIONS...........................................
•ATPower SupplyConnector •Keyboard Connector• InfraredModule
Connector• UniversalSerial BusConnector
CASE SWITCH PIN CONFIGURATIONS..........................................
• Reset Switch Connector • HDD LED Connector • Suspend LED Connector
• Suspend Switch Connector • Keylock & Power LED Connector • Speaker
Connector• CaseFan Connector
MISCELLANEOUS PIN CONFIGURATIONS...................................
• CMOS RAM Discharge Selector • CPU Fan Connector • DIMM Voltage
Selector • CPU External Clock Selector • CPU Core Voltage Selector • CPU
ClockMultiplier Selector
CPU CONFIGURATION JUMPERS..................................................
•CPU ConfigurationJumpersChart
MEMORY CONFIGURATIONS..........................................................
•Memory Installation •Memory Considerations
ATX POWER FEATURES...................................................................
• ATX Power Supply Connector Pinouts • Power Switch • Modem Ring
Power-On• RTCSoft Power-On• Windows95 ShutDown
BIOS OVERVIEW AND SPECIFICATIONS.......................................
• Warning • Installing a New Bios • Entering the WinBios Setup • Default
Settings
STANDARD AND ADVANCED BIOS SETTINGS.............................
• Primary Master & Slave, Secondary Master & Slave • Floppy Drive A & B •
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Boot Device • SMART for Hard Disks • Quick Boot • PS/2
Mouse Support • Password Check • Internal Cache • External Cache
POWER, PCI/PnP & PERIPHERAL BIOS SETTINGS....................
• Power Management/APM • Green PC Monitor Power States • Video
Power Down Mode • Plug and Play Aware OS • Offboard PCI IDE Card • PCI
Slot 1/2/3/4 IRQ Priority • IRQ 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15 • Onboard FDC •
Onboard Serial Port 1 & 2 • Onboard Parallel Port, Mode & IRQ • Onboard
IDE
HELPFUL HINTS AND TROUBLESHOOTING TIPS......................
• What To Do First... • If You Are Still Having Problems...
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15

PM-9800 MAINBOARD MANUAL
CPUs SUPPORTED
•Intel®Pentium®P54C (75MHzto 200MHz)
•Intel®Pentium®with MMX™Technology P55C(166MHz to233MHz)
•Cyrix®/IBM®6x86MX(PR166)
•Cyrix®/IBM®6x86L (PR166+)
•Cyrix®/IBM®6x86 (PR120+ to PR200+)
•AMD™K6 (PR2-166to PR2-233)
•AMD™K5 (PR75 toPR166)
•IDTWinChipC6™ (200MHz)
•HighPerformanceIntel®430TXChipset
•Switching voltage regulator supports 3.5, 3.3, 3.2, 3.0, 2.9, 2.8 & 2.5 volt processors
MEMORY
•Up to 256MB of main memory in 4 (2 banks) auto banking 72-pin SIMM slots for Fast
Page Mode or EDO DRAM, and 2 168-pin DIMM sockets for SDRAM, Fast Page Mode
DRAM,or EDO DRAMmodules.
•Supports64M-bit (16M X4, 8MX 8,4M X16) technologyDRAM/SDRAM
CACHE
•On-Board512KB PipelineBurst Cache
•Up to 64MB Cacheable Main Memory Size
ENHANCED IDE CONTROLLER
•TwoPCIEIDE Interfacesforupto fourEIDEdevicesin twochannels. Individuallysupports
PIOMode 0to 4and UltraDMA/33 forall fourdevices -all fourdevices mayhave different
PIOmodes andperformance willbe optimizedfor eachdevice
BUS ARCHITECTURE
•Four 32-bit PCI Local Bus Slots with Master Mode
•Four 16-bit ISA Bus Slots
•Compliant to PCI 2.1
ON-BOARD I/O CONTROLLER
•On-BoardInterfaces forHighSpeed Multi-I/Os
•Two 16550Fast SerialPorts
•One SPP, EPP & ECP Mode Capable Parallel Port
•OneHigh SpeedFloppyDrive Connector
(Supports2.88MB floppydrives &1Mb/sec floppytransfer rates)
•OnePS/2-type MouseHeader.
POWER MANAGEMENT FEATURES
•SMM/SMIPower ManagementwithAPM SoftwareInterface- MonitorCPU andI/Ostatus
withfully userconfigurable parametersin BIOS
•Supportsfollowing ATX powerfunctions: PowerSwitch,Modem Ring-On,RTCSoft-On
•AdvancedConfigurationPowerInterface
BIOS FEATURES
•AMI “Plug and Play” Flash ROM for easy BIOS upgrades
3
MAINBOARD SPECIFICATIONS

PM-9800 MAINBOARD MANUAL
4
MAINBOARD DIAGRAM
A
BC
D
E
AZIF SOCKET
Plug the processor into this socket.
Makesurethe cpuiscorrectly aligned
before you insert it.
AT POWER SUPPLY
CONNECTOR
Plug the dual connectors from the
power supply directly into the board
connectors. Onmostpower supplies,
you must orient the black (ground)
wires such that all the black wires on
both connectors are in the middle.
B
CATX POWER SUPPLY
CONNECTOR
Plug the single 20 pin connector into
theboard connector. It shouldonly fit
inone direction.
AT STYLE KEYBOARD
CONNECTOR
Plugastandard5-pinfemale DINkey-
board connector into this port.
PS/2 MOUSE CONNECTOR
Plug a PS/2 mouse connector into
this port.
PS/2 MOUSE HEADER
Use this when you want to relocate
thePS/2mouseconnectorplug offthe
mainboard
D
F
E
F

PM-9800 MAINBOARD MANUAL
BE SURE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING!
•It’s easy to get overly excited about your purchase, and to jump right into installing the
system board into your case. Too many times, people fail to read the manual or insist on
installing it themselves, only to find out later that they’ve permanently damaged their
motherboard andas wellas theircomponents. Thoughthis manualwill makeinstallation
seem like a fairly simple procedure, it is not. So, if you’re not a technophile or have little
or no computer knowledge, consider asking your vendor or a trained technician to install
this board.
SET SW1, SW2, SW3 TO CONFIGURE THE BOARD FOR YOUR CPU
•It’s fairly easy to forget a jumper or two, so before you power on your system, make sure
to check & double check your settings so that you don’t prematurely burn out your CPU.
INSERT THE CPU INTO THE ZIF SOCKET
•Pullup thehandleand insertthe CPUwiththe dottedcorner alignedwiththe cornerof the
ZIF socket that looks like its missing a pinhole. Plug it in and pull down on the handle.
INSTALL YOUR MEMORY INTO THE CORRECT SOCKETS
•Insert your memory into the corresponding DIMM or SIMM sockets. Follow the instruc-
tions outlined in the memory section of this manual.
INSTALL THE MAINBOARD ONTO THE SYSTEM CHASSIS
•Makesure the mainboardis properlygrounded andmounted intothe case. Taketime to
do this properly as it makes the installation of your cards and cables easier.
CONNECT AND INSTALL YOUR CARDS & I/O CABLES
•Besureyour cablesandcards areproperlyoriented andpluggedin firmly. Seethehelpful
hint page for tips on connecting your i/o cables.
CONNECT YOUR CASE LED & SWITCH CABLES TO THE BOARD
CONNECT THE POWER SUPPLY CABLES TO THE BOARD
•Seethe mainboard diagrampage fortips onconnecting yourpower cables.
POWER ON AND GO INTO BIOS AND SETUP YOUR SYSTEM
•Press<del> duringmemory checkphase of POSTand seethe BIOSsetup pagesof this
manual for more details on setting up your system’s configuration. If you get a blank
screen, refer to the troubleshooting section for some tips on solving this problem.
GET YOUR OPERATING SYSTEM UP AND RUNNING
•Bootupyour OSandsee iftheboard andallyour peripheralsarerecognized andworking.
CLOSE UP YOUR CASE
5
INSTALLATION GUIDE

PM-9800 MAINBOARD MANUAL
6
CONNECTIOR PIN CONFIGURATIONS
J3 - Keyboard Connector
PIN DESCRIPTION
1 KeyboardClock
2 KeyboardData
3 NotConnected
4 Ground
5 +5V
J4 - PS/2 Mouse Connector
PIN DESCRIPTION
1 MouseClock
2 Ground
3 NotConnected
4 MouseData
5 NotConnected
6 NotConnected
7 NotConnected
8 VCC
USB1 - Universal Serial Bus Connector
PIN DESCRIPTION
1 +5V
2DATA-
3DATA+
4 Ground
Note that the pin orientations of each USB channel
(pins1-4) areinvertedin comparisionwith eachother.
J5 - Infrared Module Connector
PIN DESCRIPTION
1 VCC
2 NotConnected
3 IRRXL
4 Ground
5 IRTX
6 VCC
7 IRRXH
8 VCC
J2 - AT Power Supply Connector
PIN DESCRIPTION
1 PowerGood
2 +5V
3 +12V
4 -12V
5 Ground
6 Ground
PIN DESCRIPTION
7 Ground
8 Ground
9 -5V
10 +5V
11 +5V
12 +5V

PM-9800 MAINBOARD MANUAL
7
CASE SWITCH PIN CONFIGURATIONS
J7 RST - Reset Switch Connector
PIN DESCRIPTION
1 Signal
2 Ground
J7 HD-LED - HDD LED Connector
PIN DESCRIPTION
1 VCC
2 Signal
J7 SUS-LED - Suspend LED Connector
PIN DESCRIPTION
1 Signal
2 Ground
J7 SUS-SW - Suspend Switch
PIN DESCRIPTION
1 Signal
2 Ground
J7 KB-LOCK - Keylock & Power LED
PIN DESCRIPTION
1 LEDOutput
2 NotConnected
3 Ground
4 Keylock
5 Ground
J7 SPK - Speaker Connector
PIN DESCRIPTION
1 DataOut
2 NotConnected
3 Ground
4 +5V
JPX2 - Case Fan Connector
PIN DESCRIPTION
1 Data
2 +12V
3 Ground

PM-9800 MAINBOARD MANUAL
8
MISCELLANEOUS PIN CONFIGURATIONS
JP1 - CMOS RAM Discharge Selector
PIN DESCRIPTION
1-2 NormalMode(default)
2-3 ClearCMOS
Make sure that JP1 is set to Normal Mode (pins
1-2)beforeinstalling themainboard.
JPX1 - CPU Fan Connector
PIN DESCRIPTION
1 Data
2 +12V
3 Ground
JPX4 - DIMM Voltage Selector
JPX4A JPX4B DESCRIPTION
1 - 2 1 - 2 5V
2 - 3 2 - 3 3.3V(default)
SW1 - CPU External Clock Selector
SW1-1 SW1-2 SW1-3 DESCRIPTION
ON ON ON 50MHz
OFF OFF ON 60MHz
OFF OFF OFF 66MHz
ON OFF OFF 75MHz
OFF ON ON 83MHz
SW2 - CPU Core Voltage Selector
SW2-1 SW2-2 SW2-3 DESCRIPTION
ON OFF ON 2.5V
ON OFF OFF 2.8V
OFF ON ON 2.9V
OFF OFF OFF 3.0V
ON ON ON 3.0V
OFF ON OFF 3.2V
OFF OFF ON 3.3V
ON ON OFF 3.5V
SW3 - CPU Clock Multiplier Selector
SW3-1 SW3-2 SW3-3 DESCRIPTION
OFF OFF N/A 1.5X
ON OFF N/A 2.0X
ON ON N/A 2.5X
OFF ON N/A 3.0X
OFF OFF OFF 3.5X
ON OFF ON 4.0X
ON ON ON 4.5X

PM-9800 MAINBOARD MANUAL
9
CPU CONFIGURATION JUMPERS
CYRIX®
IBM®6x86
(3.5V)
CYRIX® IBM
®
6x86 (L & MX)
AMD™
K5
(3.5V)
CPU TYPE CPU CLOCK SW1 SW2 SW3
PR# MHz 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3
SW1, SW2 & SW3 CPU Configuration Jumpers
75
90
100
120
133
150
166
180
200
166
200
233
100
120
133
133
133
75
100
90
100
150
166
166
200
233
200
ON
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
ON
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
ON
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
PR120+
PR150+
PR166+
PR166+L
PR166MX
PR75
PR100
PR120
PR133
PR150
PR166
PR2-166
PR2-200
PR2-233
ON
ON
OFF
ON
OFF
ON
OFF
ON
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
ON
ON
OFF
OFF
OFF
ON
OFF
ON
OFF
ON
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
ON
ON
ON
ON
ON
ON
ON
ON
ON
ON
ON
ON
ON
ON
ON
ON
OFF
ON
ON
ON
ON
ON
ON
OFF
OFF
OFF
ON
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
ON
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
ON
ON
ON
OFF
ON
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
ON
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
ON
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
ON
ON
ON
ON
ON
ON
ON
ON
ON
OFF
OFF
OFF
ON
ON
ON
OFF
ON
ON
ON
ON
ON
ON
ON
ON
ON
ON
ON
INTEL®
PENTIUM®
P54C
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
OFF
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
OFF
N/A
INTEL®
PENTIUM®
MMX™
P55C
AMD™
K6
OFF
OFF
OFF
ON
ON
ON
ON
OFF
OFF
ON
OFF
OFF
ON
ON
ON
ON
ON
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
ON
ON
ON
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
ON
ON
ON
ON
ON
ON
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
OFF
ON
ON
ON
ON
OFF
ON
N/A MEANS THAT THE PARTICULAR JUMPER HAS NO EFFECT ON THE SETTING. IT CAN BE SET EITHER
ON “ON” OR “OFF.”
THE CYRIX 6X86 PROCESSORS CAN HAVE A SETTING OF EITHER 3.3V OR 3.5V, DEPENDING ON THE
MODEL OF THE PROCESSOR. CHECK THE PROCESSOR’S LABEL FOR MORE DETAILS.
THE CYRIX 6X86MX PROCESSOR MAY HAVE DIFFERENT CLOCK MULTIPLIER SETTINGS, DEPENDING
ON THE MODEL OF THE PROCESSOR. CHECK THE PROCESSOR’S LABEL FOR MORE DETAILS.
IDT WinChip™

PM-9800 MAINBOARD MANUAL
10
MEMORY CONFIGURATIONS
MEMORYINSTALLATION
BANK# DESCRIPTION MEMORYMODULE
0 SIMM1 &SIMM2 2 X 4MB / 8MB / 16MB / 32MB / 64MB
(72PIN SIMM)OR OR
DIMM2 4MB / 8MB / 16MB / 32MB /
(168PINDIMM) 64MB / 128MB
1 DIMM1 4MB / 8MB / 16MB / 32MB /
(168PINDIMM) 64MB / 128MB
2 SIMM3 &SIMM4 2 X 4MB / 8MB / 16MB / 32MB / 64MB
(72PIN SIMM)
MEMORY CONSIDERATIONS
•Themainboardlets youaddup to256MBofsystem memorythrough4 SIMMand2DIMM
sockets on the board
•Each bank consists of two 72-pin SIMM modules, or a 168-pin DIMM module.
•You cannot install memory into SIMM1 & SIMM2 and DIMM2 sockets at the same time
•Thespeed of allSIMMs andDIMM modules haveto be fasterthan 70ns
•Uses Fast Page Mode or Externded DATA Out (EDO) for the SIMM sockets
•UsesFast PageMode, ExtendedDATA Out(EDO) orSynchronous DRAM(SDRAM) for
the DIMM sockets.
•Thefunction ofBank 2will notbe availablefor usewhen using64M-bittype ofSDRAM in
any DIMM slot.

PM-9800 MAINBOARD MANUAL
11
ATX POWER FEATURES
J1 - ATX Power Supply Connector
PIN DESCRIPTION
1 3.3V
2 3.3V
3 Ground
4 +5V
5 Ground
6 +5V
7 Ground
8 PowerOK
9 5VSB
10 +12V
11 3.3V
12 -12V
13 Ground
14 PS-On
15 Ground
16 Ground
17 Ground
18 -5V
19 +5V
20 +5V
The functions that described in this chapter will not be available unless the ATX power
connector is being used.
JP2 (POW SW) - POWER SWITCH
•When the system is off, push the power button to turn the system on.
•When the system is on, push the power button rapidly to switch the system to the
Suspend modeandby pushingand holdingthebutton formore than4seconds, itwill turn
the system completely off.
•When the system is in the Suspend mode, push the power button rapidly to turn the
system on.
MODEM RING POWER-ON
•While in soft-off/suspend state, if an external modem ring-up signal occurs, the system
wakes up and can be remotely accessed.
•Makesure thatthe ResumeOn Ringoptionis setto ENABLEDin theBIOS setupsection
(Refer to thePower Managementsection inChapter 4).
RTC SOFT POWER-ON
•If you want to auto boot the system at a certain time, set the function of RTC Alarm time
properly and the function of RTC Alarm Resume From Soft-Off option in the BIOS Setup
section will be set to ENABLED.
WINDOWS 95 SHUT DOWN
•If ATX Power is used, the “It is now safe to turn off your computer” message will not be
shown when you are shutting down the computer.

PM-9800 MAINBOARD MANUAL
12
BIOS OVERVIEW AND SPECIFICATIONS
Afteryouhave configuredthemainboardand haveassembledthecomponents,turn onthe
computer and run the software setup to ensure that the systems information is correct.
WARNING
•Dueto thefrequent upgradesof theAMI WINBIOS,this manualmay notincludedescrip-
tions of all the features available to you in your current BIOS.
•Donot changethesettings inthe BIOSunlessyou knowEXACTLYwhat youare doingor
whentold todo sobya trainedtechnician. Changing anyofthe BIOS settings,may affect
the performance of your system and can also cause your system to hang.
INSTALLING A NEW BIOS
•When installing a new BIOS into this mainboard, JP1 must be set to the clear CMOS
positionfor amoment. Replace thejumperback tothe normalpositionbefore flashingthe
bios. You can also hold down the <END> key and then power on to clear the CMOS.
ENTERING THE WINBIOS SETUP
•WhenthecomputerisPOSTingduringbootup(goingthroughaseriesofdiagnosticchecks),
hit the <DEL> key when prompted to enter the BIOS setup screen.
DEFAULT SETTINGS
•Thereare threedefault valuesforthe BIOS:
Original- Theoriginal defaultvalues recoverthe modifiedsettings tothe originalsettings.
Optimal- Theoptimal defaultvalues providethe optimumsettings forall devicesand sys-
temfeatures.
Best - The best default values provide the best performance settings for all devices and
system features but it may cause your system to be unstable.

PM-9800 MAINBOARD MANUAL
13
STANDARD AND ADVANCED BIOS SETTINGS
PRIMARY MASTER & SLAVE, SECONDARY MASTER & SLAVE
•Choosethese iconsto configurethe harddiskdrive namedin theoption. When youclick
onanicon, thefollowingparameters arelisted:Type, LBA/LargeMode,BlockMode, 32-bit
Mode and PIO Mode. All parameters relate to IDE drives except Type
FLOPPY DRIVE A,B
•Choose the Floppy Drive A or B icon to specify the floppy drive type. The settings are
360KB 51/4”, 1.2MB 51/4”, 720KB 31/2”, 1.44MB 31/2” or 2.88MB 31/2”.
1ST, 2ND, 3RD, 4TH BOOT DEVICE
•Set these options to select the boot sequence from different booting devices.
SMART FOR HARD DISKS
•Thisallows you toenable ordisable theSMART functionof harddrives.
QUICK BOOT
•When this option is set to ENABLED, the BIOS skips many of the POST diagnostic
steps so that bootup is faster.
PS/2 MOUSE SUPPORT
•When this option is set to ENABLED, the BIOS supports a PS/2 type mouse.
PASSWORD CHECK
•This option specifies the type of BIOS password protection that is implemented. The
settings are:
Setup- Thepassword promptappearsonly whenan enduserattemptsto runBIOS setup.
Always- Apassword promptappearsevery timethe computerispowered onor rebooted.
•The BIOS password does not have to be enabled. The enduser sets the password by
choosing the password icon on the BIOS setup screen.
INTERNAL CACHE
•Set this option to ENABLED to enable the Internal CPU cache.
EXTERNAL CACHE
•Set this option to ENABLED to enable the external L2 cache.

PM-9800 MAINBOARD MANUAL
14
POWER, PCI/PnP & PERIPHERAL SETTINGS
POWERMANAGEMENT/APM
•Set this option to ENABLED to enable power management and APM features.
GREEN PC MONITOR POWER STATES
•This option specifies the power state that the green PC compliant video monitor enters
when BIOSplaces itin apower savingstate afterthe specifiedperiod ofdisplay inactivity
has expired.
VIDEO POWER DOWN MODE
•This option specifies the power conserving state that the VESA VGA video subsystem
enters after the specified period of display inactivity has expired.
HARD DISK POWER DOWN MODE
•This option specifies the power conserving state that the hard disk drive enters after the
specified periodof harddrive inactivityhas expired.
PLUGANDPLAYAWARE OS
•Set this option to YES if the operating system in this computer is PnP-aware.
OFFBOARD PCI IDE CARD
•This option specifies if an offboard PCI IDE controller adapter card is installed in the
computer. YoumustspecifythePCIexpansionsloton themotherboardwheretheoffboard
PCI IDE controller is installed. This disables the onboard PCI IDE controller. You must
also specify the IRQs for this PCI IDE card.
PCI SLOT 1/2/3/4 IRQ PRIORITY
•These options specify the priority IRQ to be used for any PCI devices installed in PCI
expansion slots 1 through 4.
IRQ 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15
•Theseoptions allowyou toreserve IRQs forlegacy (non-PnP)ISA adaptercards.
ONBOARD FDC
•Thisoption allowsyou toenabled thefloppy drivecontroller onthe motherboard.
ONBOARD SERIAL PORT 1 & 2
•This option specifies the base I/O port address of serial port 1 & 2
ONBOARD PARALLEL PORT, MODE, & IRQ
•Thisoption specifies thebase I/Oport address,type (Normal, Bi-Dir, EPPor EPP/ECP),
and IRQof theparallel port onthe motherboard.
ONBOARD IDE
•This option specifies the channel used by the IDE controller on the motherboard.

PM-9800 MAINBOARD MANUAL
WHAT TO DO FIRST...
•Themostoverlooked andcommonproblems areactuallythe easiesttosolve. Even ifyou
are the mostseasoned ofall computertechnophiles and youcan tellBill Gates athing or
two, makesure youdouble check thefollowing threemost frequentlyrepeated mistakes:
(1)Thepower cableisnot pluggedfirmlyinto thepowersupply intheback ofthecomputer.
Or the motherboard is not connected to the power supply.
(2) You’ve got ide, floppy, serial, parallel, scsi cables that are either not plugged in firmly
into the respective ports or they are plugged in “backwards.”
(3)Yourjumpers forthe cpubusspeed, clockmultiplier, orvoltage arenot properlyconfig-
ured.
IF YOU STILL ARE HAVING PROBLEMS...
•The best way to solve any of your computer problems is to "start all over again." You've
probably accumulated many peripherals every since you've got your computer. So basi-
cally removeall yourcards except forthe videocard andyour harddrive controller(if you
have a SCSI hard drive or if you don't have an on-board i/o controller) and reboot your
system.
•Ifyou stillgeterror messagesafter thisreboot,try bootingin "safe"modeper Windows95
or try configuratingyour systemwith themost basicdrivers i.e.vga instead ofsvga etc.If
your problemis resolved,then itis mostlikely nota motherboardproblem andthe source
of thecrashes isdueto oneofyour cards.Seethe nextparagraphfor suggestionsonhow
to solvethese problems.If theproblem isnot resolvedthen checkyourbios andreset the
CMOS to factory defaults. You do this by hitting the specific hotkey (del or some other
key prompted for when you boot up) during the memory check period of "bootup." Then
select the function of resetting CMOS to factory defaults. Exit, save changes, and it will
reboot. Otherthings thatyou cantry ifthis doesn'thelp istocheck theconfiguration ofthe
motherboard andmakingsure thejumpers correctlymatchthe componentsyou've puton
it i.e. cpu type and clock speed, type and size of cache etc. check your manual for what
the correct jumper settings are. You can also check your memory, by booting your sys-
tem with the minimal number of memory chips (1 for 486/5x86, 2 for Pentiums) and
rotating them andrebooting aftereach rotationto seeif youcan successfully restartyour
system. Youcan alsotry turningoffyour externalcache viayour bios andseeing ifthat is
the problem.
•Basically,thebesttechniquefortroubleshootingistochangeone settingandthenrebooting,
until you can get it to work.
•Once you're at this step you need to place one of your other cards in, one at a time and
reboot aftereach installationof thecardand itsspecific drivers.Do thisuntil allyourcards
are in or until your system crashes or freezes again. If it crashes, then you will know that
it has to do with that card. So "start all over again" by taking out all cards except for the
video cardand yourhard drivecontrollerand placingthat particularcard withthe problem
into your system. If it works then, it is probably a compatibility or configuration problem
between two or more of your cards, so go back and check their IRQs, DMAs, I/O ad-
dresses, andmake suretocontact themanufacturer forthelatest driversand askfor their
tech support.
•Mostproblems withyour computercan be tracedto factorsother thanyour motherboard
and it issimply amatter ofgetting theright drivers orconfigurations from yourperipheral
manufacturer and you'll be on the right track in no time.
15
HELPFUL HINTS AND TROUBLESHOOTING TIPS

TrademarkAcknowledgment
Specifications are subject to change without notice.
Thoughthe informationpresented inthis User’sGuide hasbeen
reviewedcarefully,no responsibilityis assumedfor inaccuracies.
Published & Printed in the United States
Pentiumis a trademarkof theIntel Corporation.
AMI is a trademark of American Megatrends Inc.
MS-DOS,Windows95 aretrademarksofthe MicrosoftCorporation.
Othertrademarks belongto theirrespective owners.