DFI AK76-SN User manual

AK76-SN
Rev. A+
System Board
Users Manual
46500051

Copyright
This publication contains information that is protected by copyright.
No part of it may be reproduced in any form or by any means or
used to make any transformation/adaptation without the prior
written permission from the copyright holders.
This publication is provided for informational purposes only. The
manufacturer makes no representations or warranties with respect to
the contents or use of this manual and specifically disclaims any
express or implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for any
particular purpose.The user will assume the entire risk of the use or
the results of the use of this document. Further, the manufacturer
reserves the right to revise this publication and make changes to its
contents at any time, without obligation to notify any person or
entity of such revisions or changes.
© 2000. All Rights Reserved.
Trademarks
Microsoft®MS-DOS®, WindowsTM, Windows®95, Windows®98,
Windows®98 SE, Windows®ME, Windows®2000 and Windows
NT®4.0 are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. AMD,
AthlonTM and DuronTM are registered trademarks of Advanced Micro
Devices, Inc. VIA is a registered trademark of VIA Technologies, Inc.
Award is a registered trademark of Award Software, Inc. Other
trademarks and registered trademarks of products appearing in this
manual are the properties of their respective holders.
Caution:
Danger of explosion if battery incorrectly replaced.
Replace only with the same or equivalent type recommended by the
manufacturer.
Dispose of used batteries according to the battery manufacturers
instructions.

FCC and DOC Statement on Class B
This equipment has been tested and found 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 residential
installation. 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. However, there is no guarantee that interference
will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause
harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be
determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is
encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the
following measures:
 Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
 Increase the separation between the equipment and the receiver.
 Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from
that to which the receiver is connected.
 Consult the dealer or an experienced radio TV technician for
help.
Notice:
1. The changes or modifications not expressly approved by the
party responsible for compliance could void the user's authority
to operate the equipment.
2. Shielded interface cables must be used in order to comply with
the emission limits.

Table of Contents
Chapter 1 - Introduction
1.1 Features and Specifications..................................................................................
1.2 Package Checklist.........................................................................................................
Chapter 2 - Hardware Installation
2.1 System Board Layout ..........................................................................................
2.2 System Memory...........................................................................................................
2.3 Selecting the CPU Frequency Ratio..........................................................
2.4 Selecting the CPU Core Voltage..................................................................
2.5 Jumper Settings for Selecting the CPUs Front Side Bus......
2.6 Jumper Settings for Clearing CMOS Data........................................
2.7 Ports and Connectors...........................................................................................
Chapter 3 - Award BIOS Setup Utility
3.1 The Basic Input/Output System.....................................................................
3.1.1 Standard CMOS Features.............................................................
3.1.2 Advanced BIOS Features..............................................................
3.1.3 Advanced Chipset Features ......................................................
3.1.4 Integrated Peripherals.........................................................................
3.1.5 Power Management Setup............................................................
3.1.6 PnP/PCI Configurations....................................................................
3.1.7 PC Health Status...................................................................................
3.1.8 Frequency/Voltage Control............................................................
3.1.9 Load Fail-Safe Defaults.....................................................................
3.1.10 Load Optimized Defaults..............................................................
3.1.11 Set Supervisor Password...............................................................
3.1.12 Set User Password..............................................................................
3.1.13 Save & Exit Setup.................................................................................
3.1.14 Exit Without Saving..............................................................................
6
11
38
39
42
46
50
54
59
62
63
64
64
65
65
66
66
12
13
15
16
17
18
20

71
71
Chapter 4 - Supported Softwares
4.1 Desktop Management Interface.....................................................................
4.2 Drivers and Utilities....................................................................................................
Appendix A - System Error Messages
A.1 POST Beep.......................................................................................................................
A.2 Error Messages..............................................................................................................
Appendix B - Troubleshooting
B.1 Troubleshooting Checklist....................................................................................
67
70
73

Introduction
1
6
1.1 Features and Specifications
1.1.1 Features
Chipset
AMD
®
761 and VIA®VT82C686B
Processor
The system board is equipped with Socket-A for 462-pin PGA
processor. It is also equipped with a switching voltage regulator that
automatically detects 1.100V to 1.850V (0.025V per step).
 AMD AthlonTM (Thunderbird) / DuronTM 500MHz and faster
processor
 200MHz/266MHz processor interface speed (DDR)
 Auto detect processor voltage
 Clock multiplier from 5.0 to 12.5
 Supports VID/FID Override
System Memory
 Two 184-pin DDR DIMM sockets
 Uses 64Mbit, 128Mbit, 256Mbit and 512Mbit technology
- Supports up to 2GB using 2.5V unbuffered DDR-200/DDR-
266 SDRAM DIMM
- Supports up to 4GB using 2.5V registered DDR-200/DDR-
266 SDRAM DIMM
 L2 cache memory
- DuronTM processor: built-in 64KB Level 2 pipelined burst
cache
- AthlonTM (Thunderbird) processor: built-in 256KB Level 2
pipelined burst cache
 ECC supported (uses x72 DDR SDRAM DIMM)
Chapter 1 - Introduction

1
Introduction
7
Expansion Slots
The system board is equipped with 1 universal AGP slot. AGP is an
interface designed to support high performance 3D graphics cards. It
utilizes a dedicated pipeline to access system memory for texturing,
z-buffering and alpha blending.The universal AGP slot supports AGP
2x with up to 533MB/sec. bandwidth and AGP 4x with up to
1066MB/sec. bandwidth for 3D graphics applications. AGP in this
system board will deliver faster and better graphics to your PC .
The system board is also equipped with 6 dedicated PCI slots that
comply to PCI Local Bus Specification rev. 2.2.
ATX Double Deck Ports (PC 99 color-coded connectors)
 Two USB ports
 Two NS16C550A-compatible DB-9 serial ports
 One SPP/ECP/EPP DB-25 parallel port
 One mini-DIN-6 PS/2 mouse port
 One mini-DIN-6 PS/2 keyboard port
Connectors
 One connector for 2 additional external USB por ts
 One connector for IrDA interface
 Two IDE connectors
 One floppy drive interface supports up to two 2.88MB floppy
drives
 One ATX power supply connector
 One Wake-On-LAN connector
 One Wake-On-Ring connector
 Connectors for CPU fan 1, CPU fan 2, chassis fan 1, chassis fan
2 and chip fan

Introduction
1
8
PCI Bus Master IDE Controller
 Two PCI IDE interfaces support up to four IDE devices
 Supports ATA/33, ATA/66 and ATA/100 hard drives
 PIO Mode 3 and Mode 4 Enhanced IDE (data transfer rate up
to 16.6MB/sec.)
 Bus mastering reduces CPU utilization during disk transfer
 Supports ATAPI CD-ROM, LS-120 and ZIP
IrDA Interface
The system board is equipped with an IrDA connector for wireless
connectivity between your computer and peripheral devices. It
supports peripheral devices that meet the HPSIR or ASKIR standard.
USB Ports
The system board supports 4 USB ports. Two onboard USB ports
are located at the ATX double deck ports of the board. The J6
connector on the system board allows you to connect the optional
3rd and 4th USB ports. These optional USB ports, which are
mounted on a card-edge bracket, will be provided as an option.
USB allows data exchange between your computer and a wide
range of simultaneously accessible external Plug and Play peripherals.
BIOS
 Award BIOS, Windows®95/98/2000/ME Plug and Play compat-
ible
 Supports SCSI sequential boot-up
 Flash EPROM for easy BIOS upgrades
 Supports DMI 2.0 function
 2Mbit flash memory
Desktop Management Interface (DMI)
The system board comes with a DMI 2.0 built into the BIOS. The
DMI utility in the BIOS automatically records various information
about your system configuration and stores these information in the
DMI pool, which is a part of the system board's Plug and Play
BIOS. DMI, along with the appropriately networked software, is
designed to make inventory, maintenance and troubleshooting of

1
Introduction
9
BIOS. DMI, along with the appropriately networked software, is
designed to make inventory, maintenance and troubleshooting of
computer systems easier. Refer to chapter 4 for instructions on using
the DMI utility.
1.1.2 System Health Monitor Functions
The system board is capable of monitoring the following system
health conditions.
 Monitors CPU/system temperature
 Monitors 2.5V/3.3V/5V/12V/VCORE voltages
 Monitors the fan speed of CPU fan 1 and chassis fan 1
 Read back capability that displays temperature, voltage and fan
speed
Refer to the PC Health Status section in chapter 3 for more
information.
1.1.3 Intelligence
Over Voltage
The Over Voltage function allows you to manually adjust to a higher
core voltage that is supplied to the CPU. Although this function is
supported, we do not recommend that you use a higher voltage
because unstable current may be supplied to the system board
causing damage. Refer to Selecting the CPU Core Voltage in
chapter 2 for more information.
CPU Overclocking
The CPU Overclocking function allows you to adjust the CPUs bus
clock in 1MHz increment. However, overclocking may result to the
processors or systems instability and are not guaranteed to provide
better system performance. Refer to CPU Clock in the Frequency/
Voltage Control section in chapter 3 for more information.

Introduction
1
10
Dual Function Power Button
Depending on the setting in the Soft-Off By PBTN field of the
Power Management Setup, this switch will allow the system to enter
the Soft-Off or Suspend mode.
Wake-On-Ring
This feature allows the system that is in the Suspend mode or Soft
Power Off mode to wake-up/power-on to respond to calls coming
through an internal or external modem. Refer to Wake-On-Ring
Connector in chapter 2 and RI Resume in the Power Management
Setup section in chapter 3 for more information.
Important:
If you are using a modem add-in card, the 5VSB power source
of your power supply must support a minimum of ≥ 720mA.
Wake-On-LAN
The Wake-On-LAN function allows the network to remotely wake
up a Soft Power Down (Soft-Off) PC.Your LAN card must support
the remote wakeup function. Refer to Wake-On-LAN Connector in
chapter 2 and RI Resume in the Power Management Setup section
in chapter 3 for more information.
Important:
The 5VSB power source of your power supply must support a
minimum of ≥ 720mA.
RTC Timer to Power-on the System
The RTC installed on the system board allows your system to
automatically power-on on the set date and time. Refer to RTC
Resume in the Power Management Setup section in chapter 3 for
more information.

1
Introduction
11
AC Power Failure Recovery
When power returns after an AC power failure, you may choose to
either power-on the system manually, let the system power-on
automatically or return to the state where you left off before power
failure occurs. Refer to PWRON After PWR-Fail in the Power
Management Setup section in chapter 3 for more information.
ACPI
The system board is designed to meet the ACPI (Advanced
Configuration and Power Interface) specification. ACPI has energy
saving features that enables PCs to implement Power Management
and Plug-and-Play with operating systems that support OS Direct
Power Management.
Virus Protection
Most viruses today destroy data stored in hard drives. The system
board is designed to protect the boot sector and partition table of
your hard disk drive.
1.2 Package Checklist
The system board package contains the following items:
þThe system board
þA users manual
þOne IDE cable for ATA/33, ATA/66 or ATA/100 IDE drives
þOne 34-pin floppy disk drive cable
¨One card-edge bracket with 2 USB ports (optional)
þOne Main Board Utility CD
If any of these items are missing or damaged, please contact your
dealer or sales representative for assistance.

2
12
Hardware Installation
2.1 System Board Layout
Chapter 2 - Hardware Installation

2
Hardware Installation
13
2.2 System Memory
Warning:
Electrostatic discharge (ESD) can damage your system board,
processor, disk drives, add-in boards, and other components. Perform
the upgrade instruction procedures described at an ESD workstation
only. If such a station is not available, you can provide some ESD
protection by wearing an antistatic wrist strap and attaching it to a
metal part of the system chassis. If a wrist strap is unavailable,
establish and maintain contact with the system chassis throughout
any procedures requiring ESD protection.
The system board is equipped with two 184-pin DDR DIMM (Dual
In-line Memory Module) sockets that support unbuffered or registered
DDR SDRAM DIMM. Double Data Rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM) is
a type of SDRAM that doubles the data rate through reading and
writing at both the rising and falling edge of each clock. This
effectively doubles the speed of operation therefore providing two
times faster data transfer.
The system board also supports the ECC (Error Checking and
Correction) function.To use this function, you must install DIMM that
supports parity. Refer to chapter 1 (System Memory section) for
detailed specification of the memory supported by the system
board.

2
14
Hardware Installation
1. Pull the tabs which are at the ends of the socket to the side.
2. Position the DIMM above the socket with the notches in the
module aligned with the keys on the socket.
3. Seat the module vertically into the socket. Make sure it is
completely seated.The tabs will hold the DIMM in place.
Pin 1
2.2.1 Installing the DIM Module
A DIM module simply snaps into a DIMM socket on the system
board. Pin 1 of the DIM module must correspond with Pin 1 of the
socket.
Notch
Key
Tab Tab

2
Hardware Installation
15
2.3 Selecting the CPU Frequency Ratio
SW1: Pin 5
On: Auto - the system will run according
to the CPUs default ratio. Settings
on pins 1 to 4 will have no effect.
Off: Manual - use pins 1, 2, 3 and 4 to
select the desired ratio.
Ratio
5x
5.5x
6x
6.5x
7x
7.5x
8x
8.5x
1
On
Off
On
Off
On
Off
On
Off
Ratio
9x
9.5x
10x
10.5x
11x
11.5x
12x
12.5x
2
On
On
Off
Off
On
On
Off
Off
3
Off
Off
Off
Off
On
On
On
On
4
On
On
On
On
Off
Off
Off
Off
1
On
Off
On
Off
On
Off
On
Off
2
On
On
Off
Off
On
On
Off
Off
3
Off
Off
Off
Off
On
On
On
On
4
Off
Off
Off
Off
On
On
On
On
CPU Frequency Ratio Select - SW1
The table above shows the available frequency ratios and their
corresponding DIP switch setting. Make sure SW1 is set correctly
before applying power, otherwise you will not be able to power-on
the system.
Set pin 5 to On if you wish to use the CPUs default ratio. The
settings on pins 1 to 4 will have no effect. If you wish to manually
select the CPUs ratio, set pin 5 to Off then refer to the table for
the appropriate settings.
SW1s default
setting.

2
16
Hardware Installation
2.4 Selecting the CPU Core Voltage
Voltage
1.475V
1.500V
1.525V
1.550V
1.575V
1.600V
1.625V
1.650V
1
Off
On
Off
On
Off
On
Off
On
Voltage
1.675V
1.700V
1.725V
1.750V
1.775V
1.800V
1.825V
1.850V
2
Off
Off
On
On
Off
Off
On
On
3
Off
Off
Off
Off
On
On
On
On
4
Off
Off
Off
Off
Off
Off
Off
Off
1
Off
On
Off
On
Off
On
Off
On
2
Off
Off
On
On
Off
Off
On
On
3
Off
Off
Off
Off
On
On
On
On
4
On
On
On
On
On
On
On
On
SW2: Pin 5
Off: Auto - the system will run according
to the CPUs default core voltage.
Settings on pins 1 to 4 will have no
effect.
On: Manual - use pins 1, 2, 3 and 4 to
select the desired core voltage.
CPU Core Voltage Select - SW2
SW2 allows you to manually adjust the core voltage that is supplied
to the CPU. If you wish to use the CPUs default core voltage, set
pin 5 to Off. The CPUs Vcore will be generated according to the
CPU VID configuration. Settings on pins 1 to 4 will have no effect. If
you wish to manually select the CPUs core voltage, set pin 5 to On
then refer to the table for the appropriate settings.
Important:
Although this function is supported, we do not recommend that
you use a higher voltage because unstable current may be
supplied to the system board causing damage.
SW2s default
setting.

2
Hardware Installation
17
2.5 Jumper Settings for Selecting the CPUs Front
Side Bus
CPU Front Side Bus Select - Jumpers JP2, JP3 and JP4
Set these jumpers according to the front side bus of the CPU
installed on the system board.
2-3 On:
100MHz
(200MHz DDR) CPU
(default)
1-2 On:
133MHz
(266MHz DDR) CPU
32 1 32 1
JP2
JP3
JP4
JP2
JP3
JP4

2
18
Hardware Installation
2.6 Jumper Settings for Clearing CMOS Data
Clear CMOS Data - Jumper JP1
If you encounter the following,
a) CMOS data becomes corrupted.
b) You forgot the supervisor or user password.
c) You are unable to boot-up the computer system because the
CPUs external system bus clock was incorrectly set in the BIOS.
you can reconfigure the system with the default values stored in the
ROM BIOS.
To load the default values stored in the ROM BIOS, please follow
the steps below.
1. Power-off the system and unplug the power cord.
2. Set JP1 pins 1 and 2 to On. Wait for a few seconds and set JP1
back to its default setting, pins 2 and 3 On.
1-2 On:
Clear CMOS Data 2-3 On: Normal (default)
32 1 32 1

2
Hardware Installation
19
3. Plug the power cord and power-on the system.
If your reason for clearing the CMOS data is due to incorrect
setting of the CPUs external system bus clock in the BIOS,
please proceed to step 4.
4. After powering-on the system, press <Del> to enter the main
menu of the BIOS.
5. Select the Frequency/Voltage Control submenu and press
<Enter>.
6. Set the CPU Clock field to its default setting or an appropriate
bus clock. Refer to the Frequency/Voltage Control section in
chapter 3 for more information.
7. Press <Esc> to return to the main menu of the BIOS setup
utility. Select Save & Exit Setup and press <Enter>.
8. Type <Y> and press <Enter>.

2
20
Hardware Installation
2.7 Ports and Connectors
2.7.1 Serial Ports
COM 1
Serial Port COM 2
Serial Port
The system board is equipped with onboard serial ports (COM 1:
CN3 and COM 2: CN5) - both in Teal/Turquoise color located at
the ATX double deck ports of the board.
These ports are RS-232C asynchronous communication ports with
16C550A-compatible UARTs that can be used with modems, serial
printers, remote display terminals, and other serial devices. You can
set the serial ports I/O address in the Integrated Peripherals
submenu of the BIOS.