Corvalent C246AX User manual

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C246AX USER MANUAL
Part Number: C24AX

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Table of Contents
REVISION HISTORY ................................................................................................................. 4
PREFACE 5
SAFETY PRECAUTIONS WARNING!....................................................................................... 6
Static Electricity Warning! ..................................................................................................................... 6
FCC Notice ........................................................................................................................................... 6
CE Notice ............................................................................................................................................. 6
Conventions Used in this Manual ......................................................................................................... 6
CHAPTER 1 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS ..................................................................... 7
Embedded Processor (1151 LGA package) ........................................................................................ 7
Non-Embedded Processors ................................................................................................................. 7
Chipset ................................................................................................................................................. 8
Peripheral Chips ................................................................................................................................... 8
System Memory .................................................................................................................................... 8
BIOS ..................................................................................................................................................... 8
Embedded I/0 ....................................................................................................................................... 9
Miscellaneous ....................................................................................................................................... 9
Power connectors ................................................................................................................................. 9
Fan Headers ....................................................................................................................................... 10
Form Factor and Dimensions ............................................................................................................. 10
Environmental Requirements ............................................................................................................. 10
CHAPTER 2 HARDWARE CONFIGURATION ...................................................................11
Handling Precautions ......................................................................................................................... 11
Jumper Locations ............................................................................................................................... 12
Header Locations ............................................................................................................................... 12
Connector Locations........................................................................................................................... 14
Setting the Jumpers............................................................................................................................ 17
Jumpers .............................................................................................................................................. 18
Headers .............................................................................................................................................. 24
Connectors ......................................................................................................................................... 34
Installing Memory ............................................................................................................................... 40
Installing CPU ..................................................................................................................................... 41
Installing HEAT SINK/FAN ................................................................................................................. 42
Installing FAN(s) ................................................................................................................................. 42
Installing Power Cables ...................................................................................................................... 42
Back Panel Connections .................................................................................................................... 43
CHAPTER 3 AMIBIOS SETUP ...........................................................................................44
BIOS Boot Sequence ......................................................................................................................... 44
Starting BIOS Setup ........................................................................................................................... 44
BIOS Setup Main Menu ...................................................................................................................... 45
Main Setup ......................................................................................................................................... 47
Advanced BIOS Setup ....................................................................................................................... 49
Chipset Setup ..................................................................................................................................... 54
Security Setup .................................................................................................................................... 58
Boot Setup .......................................................................................................................................... 59
Save & Exit Menu ............................................................................................................................... 61

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APPENDIX A TECHNICAL SUMMARY ...............................................................................62
System Memory Map.......................................................................................................................... 62
Interrupt Map ...................................................................................................................................... 63
Graphics Features .............................................................................................................................. 64
APPENDIX B FLASH BIOS PROGRAMMING .....................................................................66
How to Reflash the BIOS ................................................................................................................... 66
APPENDIX C EFI BIOS BEEP CODES ...............................................................................67
Standard Checkpoints ........................................................................................................................ 67
APPENDIX D SATA INTERFACES .....................................................................................68
RAID 0 ................................................................................................................................................ 68
RAID 1 ................................................................................................................................................ 68
RAID 10 .............................................................................................................................................. 69
RAID 5 ................................................................................................................................................ 69
APPENDIX E POWERED SATADOM .................................................................................70
APPENDIX F RS422 AND RS485 .......................................................................................71
APPENDIX G TERMINOLOGY ............................................................................................72

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Revision History
Revision Revision History Date
01 First Release 09/30/19
Notice
The company reserves the right to revise this publication or to change its contents without notice.
Information contained herein is for reference only and does not constitute a commitment on the part
of the manufacturer or any subsequent vendor. They are in no way responsible for any loss or
damage resulting from the use (or misuse) of this publication.
This publication and any accompanying software may not, in whole or in part, be copied,
photocopied, translated or reduced to any machine readable form without prior consent from the
vendor, manufacturer or creators of this publication, except for copies kept by the user for backup
purposes.
Brand and product names mentioned in this publication may or may not be copyrights and/or
registered trademarks of their respective companies. They are mentioned for identification purposes
only and are not intended as an endorsement of that product or its manufacturer.
August 2019

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Preface
Thank you for your purchase of the C24AX industrial embedded motherboard. This design was
based on the Intel® C246 (Coffee Lake) chipset and the 8th and 9th generation Intel Core and XEON
single processor family providing the ideal platform to industrial applications that require reliability
and high performance. With proper installation and maintenance, your board will provide years of
high performance and trouble free operation.
This manual provides a detailed explanation into the installation and use of the C24AX industrial
embedded motherboard. It is written for the novice PC user/installer. However, as with any major
computer component installation, previous experience is helpful and should you not have prior
experience, it would be prudent to have someone assist you in the installation.

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Safety Precautions Warning!
Static Electricity Warning!
The C24AX motherboard has been designed as rugged as possible but can still be damaged if jarred
sharply or struck. Handle the motherboard with care.
It contains delicate electronic circuits that can be damaged or weakened by static electricity. Before
removing the board from its protective packaging, it is strongly recommended that you use a
grounding wrist strap. The grounding strap will safely discharge any static electricity build up in your
body and will avoid damaging the motherboard. Do not walk across a carpet or linoleum floor with
the bare board in hand.
FCC Notice
This equipment has been designed to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to
part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against
harmful interference when the equipment is operated in a commercial environment. This equipment
generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance
with the instruction manual, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. Operation of
this equipment in a residential area is likely to cause harmful interference in which case the user will
be required to correct the interference.
You are cautioned that any change or modifications to the equipment not expressly approved by the
party responsible for compliance could void your authority to operate such equipment.
CE Notice
This equipment has been designed to comply with CE. In a domestic environment this product may
cause radio interference in which case the user may be required to take adequate measures.
Conventions Used in this Manual



Notes - Such as a brief discussion of memory types.
Important Information - such as static warnings, or
very important instructions.
When instructed to enter keyboard keystrokes, the
text will be noted by this graphic.

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Chapter 1 Technical Specifications
The C24AX is a long-life industrial motherboard with multi-core processor technology and PCI
Express 3.0 support. Powered by the Intel® C246 chipset (Coffee Lake), the C24AX motherboard
was designed specifically for embedded applications such as Medical, Security, Imaging, Industrial
Automation, and Manufacturing that require a smaller, compact footprint with or without ECC
memory support.
Embedded Processor (1151 LGA package)
Intel® Xeon™ E-2278GEL GEN9 2.00GHz, 8 core/ 16 threads, 16M cache, 35W
Intel® Xeon™ E-2278GE GEN9 3.30GHz, 8 core/ 16 threads, 16M cache, 80W
Intel® Xeon™ E-2226GE GEN9 3.40GHz, 6 core/ 6 threads, 12M cache, 80W
Intel® Xeon™ E-2176G GEN8 3.70GHz, 6 core/ 12 threads, 12M cache, 80W
Intel® Xeon™ E-2124G GEN8 3.40GHz, 4 core/ 4 threads, 8M cache, 71W
Intel® Core™ i7-9700TE GEN9 1.80GHz, 8 core/ 8 threads, 12M cache, 35W
Intel® Core™ i7-9700E GEN9 2.60GHz, 8 core/ 8 threads, 12M cache, 65W
Intel® Core™ i7-8700 GEN8 3.20GHz, 6 core/ 12 threads, 12M cache, 65W
Intel® Core™ i7-8700T GEN8 2.40GHz, 6 core/ 12 threads, 12M cache, 35W
Intel® Core™ i5-9500TE GEN9 2.20GHz, 6 core/ 6 threads, 9M cache, 35W
Intel® Core™ i5-9500E GEN9 3.00GHz, 6 core/ 6 threads, 9M cache, 65W
Intel® Core™ i5-8500 GEN8 3.00GHz, 6 core/ 6 threads, 9M cache, 65W
Intel® Core™ i5-8500T GEN8 2.10GHz, 6 core/ 6 threads, 9M cache, 35W
Intel® Core™ i3-9100TE GEN9 2.20GHz, 4 core/ 4 threads, 6M cache, 35W
Intel® Core™ i3-9100E GEN9 3.10GHz, 4 core/ 4 threads, 6M cache, 65W
Intel® Core™ i3-8100T GEN8 3.10GHz, 4 core/ 4 threads, 6M cache, 25W
Intel® Core™ i3-8100 GEN8 3.60GHz, 4 core/ 4 threads, 6M cache, 65W
Non-Embedded Processors
For additional supported processors, please contact your Sales Representative.

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Chipset
GL82C246 PCH
Four DDR4 2666MHz 288-pin DIMM sockets
Up to 128GB of ECC memory
Intel® Gen 9 Integrated Graphics.
Two DisplayPort DP++ at 4096x2160@60Hz
One VGA Port at 1920x1200@60Hz
Four SATAIII 6Gb/s ports with Intel® Rapid Storage
Technology RAID support (0, 1, 5 and 10)
Intel® AMT 12.0 support
Multi-monitor support
Peripheral Chips
Nuvoton NCT6116D SIO chip Six full handshake COM ports, COM1 and COM3
configurable to RS-232C, RS-422 or RS-485
Hardware voltage monitor /CPU temp. monitor
Watchdog timer
PWM fan control outputs / tachometer inputs
CPU thermal diode monitoring
System Memory
Four U-DIMM sockets, supporting up to 128GB of unbuffered ECC or non-ECC DDR4 memory. Up to
2666MHz
BIOS
AMI UEFI BIOS 128Mb SPI

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Embedded I/0
Serial Ports (6) 6 full handshake RS232 serial ports
COM1 and COM3 configurable to RS-232C, RS-
422 and RS485
USB Interfaces (12) 2 USB3.1 GEN1 ports on back I/O
4 USB3.1 GEN2 ports on back I/O
2 USB3.1 GEN1 ports on 2x10 header
4 USB2.0 ports on 2x5 10-pin headers
Video Support 2 DisplayPort connectors on back I/O (DP++)
VGA connector on back I/O
Audio ALC888 6 channel HD Audio codec
Line-in, Line-out, MIC stacked connector and front
panel audio header
Intel i211AT Gigabit Ethernet PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet controller
10/100/1000 Mbps full and half duplex operation
Intel i219-LM Gigabit Ethernet PCH Integrated Gigabit Ethernet controller
10/100/1000 Mbps full and half duplex operation
TPM Infineon SLB9665 TPM2.0
Miscellaneous
CMOS/Battery RTC integrated in PCH
CR2032 lithium battery or equivalent
Watchdog Timer Reset: 1~65535 sec./min and 1 min./step
Expansion 1x PCI Express x16 Slot (x8 if bifurcation enabled)
1x PCI Express x8 Slot (if bifurcation enabled)
2x PCI Express x4 Slots
3x PCI Express x1 Slots
1x M.2 2280 M-key slot (SATA and PCIex4)
1x M.2 2230 E-key slot
1x LPC header
Power connectors
24 pin ATX power connector (compatible with 20 pin connector)
8 pin 12V power connector

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Fan Headers
CPUFAN – 4 pin header (PWM)
SYSFAN1 – 4 pin header (compatible with 3-pin)
SYSFAN2 – 4 pin header (compatible with 3-pin)
SYSFAN3 – 3 pin header
SYSFAN2 – 3 pin header
Form Factor and Dimensions
12.0" x 9.6" (305mm x 244mm)
Environmental Requirements
RoHS compliant assembly
CATEGORY OPERATING NON-OPERATING
TEMPERATURE 0C to 60C -40C to 70C
HUMIDITY 0 to 90% non-condensing 5 to 95% @ 40C non-
condensing

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Special Warranty Note:
Products returned for warranty repair will be inspected for damage caused by
improper installation and misuse as described in the previous section and the static
warning below. Should the board show signs of abuse, the warranty will become void
and the customer will be billed for all repairs and shipping and handling costs.
Chapter 2 Hardware Configuration
This chapter provides all the necessary information for getting the C24AX ready to use. Topics
discussed include installing the DRAM and jumper settings.
Handling Precautions
The C24AX has been designed to be as rugged as possible but it can be damaged if dropped, jarred
sharply or struck. Damage may also occur by using excessive force in performing certain installation
procedures such as forcing the system board into the chassis or placing too much torque on a
mounting screw.
Take special care when installing or removing the system memory DIMMs. Never force a memory
into a socket. Screwdrivers slipping off a screw and scraping the board can break a trace or
component leads, rendering the board unusable. Always handle the C24AX with care.

Static Warning
The C24AX contains delicate electronic semiconductors that are highly sensitive to static electricity.
These components, if subjected to a static electricity discharge, can be weakened thereby reducing
the serviceable life of the system board. BEFORE THE BOARD IS REMOVED FROM ITS
PROTECTIVE ANTISTATIC PACKAGING, TAKE PROPER PRECAUTIONS! Work on a conductive
surface that is connected to the ground. Before touching any electronic device, ground yourself by
touching an unpainted metal object or, and highly recommended, use a grounding strap.

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Jumper Locations
JP7
JP30
JP5
JP24
JP25
JP27
JP26
JP23
JP31
JP28

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Header Locations
CPUFAN
COM3
COM4
DIO
COM5
SYS_FAN4
Front Audio
Front Panel
LAN LED
LPC
SPDIF
SYS_FAN1
SYS_FAN2
SPI
SYS_FAN3
USB2_11/12
USB2_9/10
COM6
USB3_5/6

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Connector Locations
+12V Power
SATA2
ATX Power
PCIE4
PCIE3
PCIE2
PCIE1
PCIE5
PCIE6
PCIE7
AUDIO
LAN2/USB
LAN1/USB
VGA1/DP2
COM1/COM2
USB3.1/DP1
M.2-M
CPU
DIMMs
SATA0/1
M.2-E
SATA3

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Jumpers, Connectors and Headers Quick Reference Table
Jumpers Name Description
JP5 CMOS Reset 3x1 header, pitch 2.54mm
JP7 COM2 RI Function Selection 3x2 header, pitch 2.00mm
JP23 COM4 RI Function Selection 3x2 header, pitch 2.00mm
JP24 COM1 RI Function Selection 3x2 header, pitch 2.00mm
JP25 COM3 RI Function Selection 3x2 header, pitch 2.00mm
JP26 COM5 RI Function Selection 3x2 header, pitch 2.00mm
JP27 COM6 RI Function Selection 3x2 header, pitch 2.00mm
JP28 DIO Voltage Selection 3x2 header, pitch 2.00mm
JP29 Bifurcation 3x1 header, pitch 2.00mm
JP30 DIO 0~3 Power Selection 3x1 header, pitch 2.00mm
JP31 DIO 4~7 Power Selection 3x1 header, pitch 2.00mm
Header Name Description
COM3/COM4/COM5/COM6 Serial Port headers 5x2 header, pitch 2.54mm
CPUFAN Processor Fan header (PWM) 4x1 header, pitch 2.54mm
Front Audio Front Panel AUDIO header 5x2 header, pitch 2.54mm
J42 DIO GPIO header 5x2 header, pitch 2.54mm
Front Panel Front Panel header 5x2 header, pitch 2.54mm
J12 3x2 header, pitch 2.00mm
J20 SPI header 4x2 header, pitch 2.00mm
LAN LED External Ethernet LED 4x2 header, pitch 2.54mm
LPC LPC header 7x2 header, pitch 2.00mm
S/PDIF S/PDIF header 5x1 header, pitch 2.54mm
SYS_FAN1 System Fan header 4x1 header, pitch 2.54mm
SYS_FAN2 System Fan header 4x1 header, pitch 2.54mm
SYS_FAN3 System Fan header 3x1 header, pitch 2.54mm
SYS_FAN4 System Fan header 3x1 header, pitch 2.54mm
J6 USB2_9/10 USB2.0 header 5x2 header, pitch 2.54mm
J5 USB2_11/12 USB2.0 header 5x2 header, pitch 2.54mm
USB3_5/6 USB3.1 GEN1 header 10x2 header, pitch 2.00mm

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Connector Name Description Type
ATX Power ATX Power Connector 12x2 connector
+12V power ATX 12V Connector 4x2 connector
AUDIO Line-out/Line-in/Microphone 3 phone Jack
COM1 Serial Port connector DB-9M
COM2 Serial Port connector DB-9M
CPU Processor Socket 1151 pin LGA socket
DIMM DDR4 U-DIMM memory sockets 288 pin
DP1 DisplayPort (DP++)
DP2 DisplayPort (DP++)
VGA Analog VGA connector DB-15F
LAN1 NIC1 stacked with dual USB3.1 GEN2 Stacked RJ-45
LAN2 NIC2 stacked with dual USB3.1 GEN2 Stacked RJ-45
M.2-E (CN17) M.2 module slot M.2 2230 E-key
M.2-M (CN14) M.2 module slot M.2 2280 M-key (SATA and
PCIex4)
PCIE1 PCI Express x4 Open slot
PCIE2 PCI Express x16
PCIE3 PCI Express x1 Open slot
PCIE4 PCI Express x8 Open slot
PCIE5 PCI Express x1
PCIE6 PCI Express x4
PCIE7 PCI Express x1
SATA0~1 Dual Stacked Serial ATAIII Connectors
SATA2~3 Shrouded Serial ATAIII Connectors SATADOM Power ready

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Setting the Jumpers
Jumper Types
Jumpers or headers are small pins attached to the system board. Covering two pins with a shunt
closes the connection between them. The C24AX examines these jumpers to determine specific
configuration information. There are two different categories of jumpers on the C24AX.
A. Two pin jumpers are used for binary selections such as enable, disable. Instructions for this type
of jumper are open, for no shunt over the pins or closed, when the shunt covers the pins.
B. Three or four pin jumpers are used for multiple selections. Instructions for these jumpers will
indicate which two pins to cover. For example: for JP1 2-3 the shunt will be covering pins 2 and 3
leaving pin 1 exposed.
How to identify pin number 1 on Figure: Looking to the solder side (The board side with fewer
components) of the PCB (Printed Circuit Board), pin number 1 will have a squared pad. Other pins
will have a circular pad. They are numbered sequentially.
Double row jumpers are numbered alternately, i.e. pin number 2 is in the other row, but in the same
column of pin number 1. Pin number 3 is in the same row of pin 1, but in the next column and so
forth.

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2-3: Clear CMOS 1-2: Normal
1 3
1 3
Jumpers
Use the diagram below and the tables on the following pages to locate and set the on-board
configuration jumpers.
JP5: CMOS Reset
JP7: COM2 RI Function Selection
3-4 closed : RI 1-2 closed: +12V 5-6 closed : +5V

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JP23: COM4 RI Function Selection
3-4 closed : RI 1-2 closed: +12V 5-6 closed : +5V
JP24: COM1 RI Function Selection
3-4 closed : RI 1-2 closed: +12V 5-6 closed : +5V

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JP25: COM3 RI Function Selection
3-4 closed : RI 1-2 closed: +12V 5-6 closed : +5V
JP26: COM5 RI Function Selection
3-4 closed : RI 1-2 closed: +12V 5-6 closed : +5V