AOpen AX5TC User manual

AX5TC
User's Guide
Printed in Taiwan
PART NO.:49.87801.211
DOC. NO.:AX5TC-1-E9801A

AX5TC
Mainboard
User's Guide
Document Number : AX5TC-1-E9801A
Model and Revision : For AX5TC revision 1.xx
Manual Revision : English, revision A
Release Date : Jan 13, 1998
More help for latest information:
Taiwan http://www.aopen.com.tw
USA http://www.aopen-usa.com
http://www.aopenamerica.com
Europe http://www.aopen.nl

ii
Copyright
Copyright 1998 by this company. All rights reserved. No part of this
publication may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval
system, or translated into any language or computer language, in any form or
by any means, electronic, mechanical, magnetic, optical, manual or otherwise,
without the prior written permission of this company.

iii
Disclaimer
This company makes no representations or warranties, either expressed or
implied, with respect to the contents hereof and specifically disclaims any
warranties, merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose. Any software
described in this manual is sold or licensed "as is". Should the programs
prove defective following their purchase, the buyer (and not this company, its
distributor, or its dealer) assumes the entire cost of all necessary servicing,
repair, and any incidental or consequential damages resulting from any defect
in the software. Further, this company reserves the right to revise this
publication and to make changes from time to time in the contents hereof
without obligation to notify any person of such revision or changes.
Intel and Pentium are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation.
XT/AT is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation.
AMI is a registered trademark of American Megatrends Inc.
AWARD is a registered trademark of Award Software Inc.
Other brand and product names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their
respective holders.

iv
Organization
Chapter 1, Overview, covers the introduction and specifications of the system
board and special features.
Chapter 2, Hardware Installation, describes hardware jumpers, connectors and
memory configuration. There are user friendly drawings to locate jumper and
connector.
Chapter 3, AWARD BIOS, explains the system BIOS and tells how to configure
the system by setting the BIOS parameters.
Appendix A, Frequently Asked Question, collects most frequently asked
question of this product.
Appendix B, Troubleshooting Guide, includes first aid information you need if
you meet trouble, the WWW address and worldwide service telephone/fax are
also included.
Appendix C, Jumper Table Summary, gives you a tabular summary of the
jumper settings discussed in Chapter 2.

v
Conventions
The following conventions are used in this manual:
Text entered by user,
default settings,
recommended selections
Represent text input by the user,
default settings and recommended
selections
<Enter>, <Tab>,<Ctl>, <Alt>,
<Ins>, <Del>, etc Represent the actual keys that you have to press on the keyboard.
Note:
Gives bits and pieces of additional
information related to the current topic.
Warning:
Alerts you to any damage that might
result from doing or not doing specific
actions.
Caution:
Suggests precautionary measures to
avoid potential hardware or software
problems.
Important:
Reminds you to take specific action
relevant to the accomplishment of the
procedure at hand.
Tip:
Tells how to accomplish a procedure
with minimum steps through little
shortcuts.

vi
Contents
Chapter 1 Overview
1.1 Specifications.................................................................. 4
1.2 Suspend to Hard Drive.................................................... 6
1.3 0V Modem Wake Up........................................................ 9
1.4 System Voltage Monitoring.......................................... 11
1.5 Fan Monitoring............................................................... 11
1.6 CPU Thermal Protection............................................... 12
1.7 Multi-language BIOS..................................................... 13
1.8 PCI Sound Card connector........................................... 13
Chapter 2 Hardware Installation
2.1 Jumper and Connector Locations................................. 2
2.2 Jumpers............................................................................ 4
2.2.1 Setting the CPU Voltage............................................ 5
2.2.2 Selecting the CPU Frequency ................................... 8
2.2.3 Clearing the CMOS.................................................. 12
2.3 Connectors..................................................................... 13
2.3.1 Power Cable............................................................ 13
2.3.2 ATX Soft-Power Switch Connector.......................... 13
2.3.3 Fan............................................................................14
2.3.4 PS/2 Mouse............................................................. 14
2.3.5 Keyboard ................................................................. 15
2.3.6 Serial Devices (COM1/COM2) ................................ 15
2.3.7 Printer...................................................................... 16
2.3.8 USB Device ............................................................. 16
2.3.9 Floppy Drive............................................................. 16
2.3.10 IDE Hard Disk and CD ROM................................. 17
2.3.11 Hard Disk LED....................................................... 18
2.3.12 Panel Connector.................................................... 19

vii
2.3.13 IrDA Connector...................................................... 20
2.3.14 SB-LINK................................................................. 21
2.3.15 Wake-up Connector .............................................. 22
2.4 Configuring the System Memory................................. 23
Chapter 3 Award BIOS
3.1 Entering the Award BIOS Setup Menu.......................... 2
3.2 Standard CMOS Setup.................................................... 3
3.3 BIOS Features Setup....................................................... 6
3.4 Chipset Features Setup................................................ 11
3.5 Power Management Setup............................................ 17
3.6 PNP/PCI Configuration Setup....................................... 24
3.7 Load Setup Defaults...................................................... 28
3.8 Load TurboDefaults...................................................... 28
3.9 Integrated Peripherals................................................... 29
3.10 Password Setting........................................................ 34
3.11 IDE HDD Auto Detection............................................. 34
3.12 Save & Exit Setup........................................................ 34
3.13 Exit without Saving..................................................... 35
3.14 NCR SCSI BIOS and Drivers....................................... 35
3.15 BIOS Flash Utility......................................................... 35
Appendix A Frequently Asked Question
Appendix B Troubleshooting
Appendix C Jumper Table Summary

1-1
Chapter 1
Overview
The AX5TC is a high-performance Pentium¿ø»~! '|¥…'w‚q ¯¡C -based
system board that utilizes the PCI/ISA architecture and ATX form factor. It
integrates the Intel 82430TX PCIset, an Ultra I/O controller, and a PCI mode 4
enhanced IDE controller with bus master and Ultra DMA/33 to enhance system
performance. It has 512KB pipeline-burst second-level cache onboard and
support three Dual in-line memory modules (DIMM) that allow to mix EDO
and SDRAM memory and expansion up to a maximum of 256MB. AX5TC uses
2M bit Flash ROM BIOS to reserve for future new functions.
Not only above features, AX5TC implements most advanced technology such
as High-quality DIP switch, CMOS and RTC battery-less backup, Synchronous
switching regulator, CPU thermal protection, Fan monitoring, System voltage
monitoring, Modem Wake Up and Suspend to Hard Drive.
In addition, AX5TC also implements many special features as following.
Suspend To Hard Drive "Immediately" turns on system and goes back to the
original screen before power down. You can resume your original work directly
from hard disk without go through the Win95 booting process and run your
application again. Suspend to Hard Drive saves your current work (system
status, memory image) into hard disk. Note that you have to use VESA
compatible PCI VGA, Sound Blaster compatible sound card with APM driver,
for Suspend to Hard Drive to work properly.
0V Modem Card Wake-up In conjunction with ATX soft power On/Off, it is
possible to have system totally power off and wakeup to automatically answer a
phone call such as answering machine or to send/receive fax. The most
important break through is not only external box modem but also internal
modem card can be used to support Modem Wake Up. The AX5TC and MP56
internal modem card implement special circuit (patent applied) to make sure
the modem card work properly without any power.

Overview
1-2
LAN Wake up This feature is very similar as Modem Wake Up, but it is through
local area network. To use LAN Wake Up function, you must have a network
card that supports this feature and also need to install a network management
software, such as ADM.
RTC Wake Up Timer The Wake Up Timer is more like an alarm, which wakes
up and power on your system at a pre-defined time for specific application. It
can be set to wake up everyday or on specific date within a month. The
date/time accurate is second.
High Efficient Synchronous Switching Regulator Most of the current
switching designs are Asynchronous mode, which from the technical point of
view, still consumes very high power as well as heat. AX5TC implements high
efficient synchronous switching design that the temperature of MOS FET is far
less than Schottky diode of Asynchronous design.
CPU Thermal Protection AX5TC has a special thermal detection circuit to
have warning through application software when the temperature is higher than
a predefined value.
CPU core current protection AX5TC implements CPU core voltage 15A over-
current protection to prevent any accident short circuit and prevent system
damage.
CPU and Housing Fan Monitoring AX5TC has one more "fan monitoring"
function to prevent system overheat. There are two fan connectors, one is for
CPU and the other can be a extra housing fan. The system will report and
alarm fan malfunction though utility software such as Hardware Monitor utility
(named AOhw100, where 100 means version number).
System Voltage Monitoring Further more, AX5TC implements a voltage
monitoring system, As you turn on your system, this smart design will continue
to monitor your system working voltage. If any of the system voltage is over the
component's standard. There will be alarm though software such as Hardware
Monitor utility for a warning to user.
Full-range CPU core voltage This motherboard supports the CPU core
voltage from 1.3V to 3.5V, that can be applied to various CPU type in future.
FCC DoC certificate AX5TC has passed FCC DoC test. The radiation is very
low, you can use any kind of housing.
Powerful utility softwares supported AOpen Bonus Pack bundled CD
contains many useful utilities, such as ADM (Advanced Desktop Manager),
AOchip, Hardware Monitor utility, AcePhone, EasyAxess, Suspend to Hard
Drive utility, and BIOS flash utility.

Overview
1-3
Resetable Fuse AX5TC implements resetable fuses to prevent any accidental
short circuit caused by keyboard or USB devices hot plug.
PCI Sound Card connector The SB-LINK connector can be used to link
Creative-compatible PCI sound card. If you have a Creative PCI sound card
installed, it is necessary to link the card to this connector for compatibility issue
under DOS environment.
Multi-language BIOS This breakthrough will help you set BIOS items without
the language barrier.

Overview
1-4
1.1 Specifications
Form Factor ATX
Board Size 305 mm x 208 mm
CPU Intel Pentium Processor P54C, PP/MT (P55C), AMD
K5/K6 and Cyrix 6x86/M2.
System Memory 3V EDO or SDRAM, 168-pin DIMM x3, maximum
256MB.
Second-level Cache 512KB pipeline-burst cache onboard
Chipset Intel 82430TX PCIset
Expansion Slots ISA x4 and PCI x4
Serial Port Two serial ports UART 16C550 compatible, and the
3rd UART for IR function.
Parallel Port One parallel port supports standard parallel port
(SPP), enhanced parallel port (EPP) or extended
capabilities port (ECP).
Floppy Interface Floppy interface supports 3.5 inches drives with
720KB, 1.44MB or 2.88MB format or 5.25 inches
drives with 360KB, 1.2MB format.
IDE Interface Dual-channel IDE interface support maximum 4 IDE
hard disks or CDROM, mode 4 , bus master hard disk
drives and Ultra DMA/33 mode hard drives are also
supported.
USB Interface Two USB ports supported by USB bracket, the BIOS
also supports USB driver to simulate legacy
keyboard.
PS/2 Mouse Mini-Din PS/2 mouse connector onboard.
Keyboard Mini-Din PS/2 keyboard connector onboard.
RTC and Battery RTC within Intel PIIX4 chipset. Lithium (CR-2032)
battery is an option, no battery is needed if power
cord is plugged.
BIOS AWARD Plug-and-Play, 2M bit Flash ROM BIOS.
Multi-language versions supported.

Overview
1-5
Suspend to Hard
Drive Supported by BIOS, save your work to hard disk and
resume within a very short time. VESA compatible
VGA and Sound Blaster compatible sound card
required.
0V Modem Wake Up Special circuit (patent applied) to support modem
wake up by external box modem or internal AOpen
F56/MP56 modem card.
LAN Wake Up By using a network card that supports this feature
and a network management software (such as
ADM), you can wake up a system through a local
area network.
RTC Wake Up Timer Program the date/time to wake up your system.
Synchronous
Switching Regulator High efficient synchronous switching regulator for
future CPU.
Over-current
Protection CPU core voltage 15A over-current protection to
prevent any accident short circuit.
CPU Thermal
Protection Warning when CPU temperature is higher than a
predefined value.
Fan Monitoring Three fan connectors, warning when CPU or housing
fan is malfunction.
System Voltage
Monitoring Warning when system voltage (5V,12V,3.3V,2.8V)
are abnormal.
SB-LINK connector
supported The SB-LINK connector can be used to link Creative
PCI sound card.

Overview
1-6
1.2 Suspend to Hard Drive
Suspend to Hard Drive saves your current work (system status, memory and
screen image) into hard disk, and then the system can be totally power off.
Next time, when power is on, you can resume your original work directly from
hard disk within few second without go through the Win95 booting process and
run your application again. If your memory is 16MB, normally, you need to
reserve at least 16MB HDD space to save your memory image. Note that you
have to use VESA compatible PCI VGA (AOpen PV70/PT70), Sound Blaster
compatible sound card and sound driver that supports APM (AOpen AW35 or
MP56) for Suspend to Hard Drive to work properly. Of course, we recommend
to use AOpen products for best compatibility.
Although Suspend to Hard Drive is so powerful, it is actually a little complicated
to set up this function. To use Suspend to Hard Drive, please make sure you
have read the following in detail.
1. Go into BIOS setup, Power Management àSuspend Mode Option, select
"Suspend to Disk".
2. Go into BIOS setup, PNP/PCI Configuration àPnP OS Installed, select
"No". This can give BIOS the capability to allocate system resources for
Suspend to Hard Drive.
3. Bootup your system into DOS command prompt. If you are Win'95 user,
Please restart your Windows 95 under "Command Prompt" by pressing "F8"
while system shows "Windows 95 Starting ...". Choose "Safe Mode
Command Prompt Only" from selection so that system will start in DOS
command prompt.
4. Copy AOZVHDD.EXE to the root directory of your C: drive.
5. Option 1: Use /file switch (applied to FAT16 file system):
Please use following command to create a hidden file in the root directory of
your hard disk for Suspend to Hard Drive to save the system status and
memory image.
C:>AOZVHDD /c /file
Please make sure that you have enough continuous HDD space for
creating this hidden file. For example, if you have 32MB of system memory
and 4MB of VGA memory, you need at least 36MB (32MB + 4MB) of
continuous HDD space. If AOZVHDD failed to allocate the HDD space, you
may run "DEFRAG" Utility or "Disk Defragmenter" which come with MS-
DOS or Win'95 to free HDD space.

Overview
1-7
Option2: Use /partiton switch (applied to FAT16/FAT32 file system):
To create a separate partiton for Suspend to Hard Drive, please make sure
you have allocated a free partition. We suggest you reserve the free
partition which space is appropriate for your future memory expansion. For
example, if you have 32MB of system memory and 4MB of VGA memory
currently, but you plan to upgrade system memory to 64MB in the near
future, then you may reserve a 68MB (64MB+4MB) space by using a disk
utility (such as fdisk). Next, use following command to create a suspend
partition:
C:>AOZVHDD /c /partition
If there is no extra free partition and you don't want your data lost, please do
not use this partition method.
6. After creating above partition or hidden file, please reboot your system.
7. Push suspend switch (momentary mode) or use Win95 Suspend icon to
force system goes into Suspend to Hard Drive mode and then turn system
power off by power switch of your power supply.
8. Next time when you turn on your system, it will resume to your original work
automatically.
Warning: Note that Intel Bus Master and Ultra
DMA/33 IDE driver are not fully compatible with
Suspend to Hard Drive function, installing these
drivers may cause the system unstable. Under this
situation, please uninstall the drivers.
Warning: This function does not support SCSI hard
disks.

Overview
1-8
Tip: Following VGA card have been tested &
recognized as VESA compatible VGA device.
AOpen PV90 (Trident 9680)
AOpen PT60 (S3 Virge/BIOS R1.00-01)
AOpen PV60 (S3 Tiro64V+)
AOpen PT70 (S3 Virge/DX)
ProLink Trident GD-5440
ProLink Cirrus GD-5430
ProLink Cirrus GD-5446
ATI Mach 64 GX
ATI 3D RAGE II
Diamond Stealth64D (S3 868)
Diamond Stealth64V (S3 968)
KuoWei ET-6000.
Tip: Following Sound card have been tested OK for
Suspend to Hard Drive.
AOpen AW32
AOpen AW35
AOpen MP56
Creative SB 16 Value PnP
Creative SB AWE32 PnP
ESS 1868 PnP
If your sound card can not work after resume from
Suspend to Hard Drive, check your sound card
vendor see if there is driver to support APM, and
install it again.
Note: The USB function has not been tested for
Suspend to Hard Drive. If you find any unstable
problem, please go into BIOS, Integrated Peripherals
àUSB Legacy Support. Disable the USB Legacy
function.

Overview
1-9
1.3 0V Modem Wake Up
The Modem Wake Up discussed here is to wakeup from true power off
(identified by fan of power supply is off), This motherboard still supports
traditional green PC suspend mode but it is not discussed here.
With the help ATX soft power On/Off, it is possible to have system totally power
off (The traditional suspend mode of power management function does not
really turn off the system power supply), and wakeup to automatically answer a
phone call such as answering machine or to send/receive fax. You may identify
the true power off by checking fan of your power supply. Both external box
modem and internal modem card can be used to support Modem Wake Up, but
if you use external modem, you have to keep the box modem always power-on.
AOpen AX5TC and internal modem card implement special circuit (patent
applied) and make sure the modem card works properly without any power. We
recommend you choose AOpen modem card (MP56) for Modem Wake Up
applications.
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Overview
1-10
For Internal Modem Card (AOpen MP56):
1. Go into BIOS setup , Power Management àModem Wake Up, select
Enable.
2. Setup your application, put into Windows 95 StartUp or use Suspend to
Hard Drive function.
3. Turn system power off by soft power switch.
4. Connect 4-pin Modem Ring-On cable from MP56 RING connector to
AX5TC connector WKUP.
5. Connect telephone line to MP56. You are now ready to use Modem Ring-
On.
For External Box Modem:
1. Go into BIOS setup , Power Management àModem Wake Up, select
Enable.
2. Setup your application, put into Windows 95 StartUp or use Suspend to
Hard Drive function.
3. Turn system power off by soft power switch.
4. Connect RS232 cable of external box Modem to COM1 or COM2.
5. Connect telephone line to external box Modem. Turn on Modem power (you
must keep Modem power always on). You are now ready to use Modem
Ring
Tip: External modem wake up signal is detected through
COM1 or COM2. Internal modem card wake up signal is
detected through cable from connector RING (on modem
card) to WKUP (on mainboard).
Tip: You can combine Suspend to Hard Drive, Modem
Wake Up and the software Acephone for the best solution
of answering machine or to send/receive fax.
Note: If you use external modem, the power of external
modem must be kept on to receive signal from telephone
line. Internal modem card has no such limitation.

Overview
1-11
1.4 System Voltage Monitoring
This motherboard implements a voltage monitoring system. As you turn on your
system, this smart design will continue to monitor your system working voltage.
If any of the system voltage is over the component's standard. There will be
alarm through application software such as Hardware Monitor utility for a
warning to user. System voltage monitoring function monitors CPU core
voltage. It is automatically implemented by BIOS and Hardware Monitor utility
(the file name is like aohw100.exe, where 100 means the version number, no
hardware installation is needed.
1.5 Fan Monitoring
There are three fan connectors, two is for CPU, the other can be a housing fan.
The fan monitoring function is implemented by connecting fan to 3-pin fan
connector FAN2 and installing ADM or Hardware Monitor utility.
Note: You need 3-pin fan that supports SENSE
signal for fan monitoring function to work properly.