HP Vectra VL5 4 Product manual

Technical Reference
Manual
Hardware and BIOS
HP Vectra VL 5/xx series 4 PC
and
HP Vectra VL 5/xx MT series 4 PC
December 1995

NOTICE
Information contained in this document is subject to change without notice.
Hewlett-Packard makes no warranty of any kind with regard to this material, including,
but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular
purpose. Hewlett-Packard shall not be liable for errors contained herein or for incidental
or consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, performance, or use of
this material.
Hewlett-Packard shall not be liable for errors contained herein or for incidental or consequential
damages in connection with the furnishing, performance, or use of this material.
Hewlett-Packard assumes no responsibility for the use or reliability of its software on equipment
that is not furnished by Hewlett-Packard.
This document contains proprietary information which is protected by copyright. All rights are
reserved. No part of this document may be photocopied, reproduced, or translated into another
language without the prior written consent of Hewlett-Packard Company.
Centronics® is a U.S. registered trademark of Centronics Data Computer Corporation.
LANManager, Microsoft Windows, Windows 95 and OS/2 are products of Microsoft
Corporation.
Microsoft® and MS-DOS® are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
Novell® and Netware® are registered trademarks of Novell Inc.
Pentium™ is a trademark of Intel Corporation.
©1995 Hewlett-Packard Company

Table of Contents
NOTICE 2
PREFACE 5
ORDERING INFORMATION FOR THE PHOENIX BIOS MANUAL 5
CONVENTIONS 5
BIBLIOGRAPHY 6
1 SYSTEM OVERVIEW 7
SYSTEM OVERVIEW 7
HP VECTRA VL 5/XX SERIES 3 – VL 5/XX SERIES 4 COMPARISON 7
HP VECTRA VL 5/XX SERIES 4 DESKTOP – MINI-TOWER
COMPARISON 8
VL 5/XX SERIES 4 PC BLOCK DIAGRAM 9
PRINCIPAL COMPONENTS AND FEATURES 9
VL 5/XX SERIES 4 SYSTEM BOARD 10
VL 5/XX MT SERIES 4 DESKTOP BACKPLANE 11
VL 5/XX MT SERIES 4 MINI-TOWER BACKPLANE 11
PROCESSOR 11
SUPERSCALAR ARCHITECTURE 12
FLOATING POINT UNIT (FPU) 12
DYNAMIC BRANCH PREDICTION 12
INSTRUCTION AND DATA CACHE 12
DATA INTEGRITY 13
PCI CHIP SET 13
PCI, CACHE AND MEMORY CONTROLLER (82437FX) 14
DATA PATH UNIT (82438FX) 15
THE PCI/ISA BRIDGE AND IDE CONTROLLER (82371FB) 15
THE 82438FX AND 82371FB FEATURE SUMMARY 16
SUPER I/O CHIP 17
NS PC87332VF FEATURE SUMMARY 17
FLEXIBLE DRIVE CONTROLLER (FDC) 17
SERIAL/PARALLEL PORTS 18
GRAPHICS/INTEGRATED VIDEO 18
IDE TO PCI CONTROLLER 19
FLASH ROM 19
SECURITY FEATURES 19
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS 19
ELECTRICAL SPECIFICATIONS 20
POWER AVAILABILITY (CONTINUOUS OPERATION): 20
ENVIRONMENTAL SPECIFICATIONS 21
2 SUMMARY OF THE HP/PHOENIX BIOS 22
HP/PHOENIX BIOS DESCRIPTION 22
OVERVIEW OF ADDRESS SPACE 22
I/O ADDRESSES USED BY THE SYSTEM* 22
BIOS I/O PORT MAP 23

ADDRESSING SYSTEM BOARD COMPONENTS 24
3 DESKTOP MANAGEMENT INTERFACE 26
DMI INFORMATION STRUCTURE 26
ACCESSING BIOS DMI INFORMATION 27
THE DMI HEADER 28
VERIFYING THE DMI INFORMATION STRUCTURE 28
DMI SUB-STRUCTURE TABLES 29
4 POWER-ON SELF-TESTS AND ERROR MESSAGES 32
POWER-ON SELF TEST (POST) 32
SHADOW RAM 32
ERROR MESSAGES 34
BEEP CODES 36
5 THE ULTRA VGA VIDEO CONTROLLERS 37
THE MATROX MGA MILLENNIUM VIDEO ADAPTER BOARD 37
VIDEO MEMORY 37
AVAILABLE VIDEO RESOLUTIONS 37
VESA CONNECTOR 38
FURTHER INFORMATION 38
THE INTEGRATED ULTRA VGA VIDEO CONTROLLER 38
VIDEO MEMORY 39
VIDEO MODES 39
AVAILABLE BIOS VIDEO RESOLUTIONS 42
VESA CONNECTOR 43
DB15 CONNECTOR PINOUT 43
VIDEO CONTROLLER SUMMARY 43

PREFACE
This manual is a technical reference and BIOS document for engineers and technicians
providing system level support. It is assumed that the reader possesses a detailed
understanding of AT-compatible microprocessor functions and digital addressing techniques.
Technical information that is readily available from other sources, such as manufacturer’s
proprietary publications, has not been reproduced.
This manual contains summary information only. For additional reference material, refer to the
bibliography.
ORDERING INFORMATION FOR THE PHOENIX BIOS MANUAL
System BIOS for IBM PCs, Compatibles, and EISA Computers (ISBN 0-201-57760-7) by
Phoenix Technologies is available in many bookstores. It can also be ordered directly from the
publisher as follows:
In the U.S.A.
Call Addison-Wesley in Massachusetts at [phone], and be prepared to give a credit
card number and expiry date.
In Europe
Send your request to Addison-Wesley at the address given below, and be prepared to give a
credit card number and expiry date.
Addison-Wesley
Concertgebouwplein 25
1071 LM Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
CONVENTIONS
The following conventions are used throughout this manual to identify specific elements:
• Hexadecimal numbers are identified by a lower case h.
For example, 0FFFFFFFh or 32F5h
• Binary numbers and bit patterns are identified by a lower case b.
For example, 1101b or 10011011b

BIBLIOGRAPHY
• System BIOS for IBM PCs, Compatibles, and EISA Computers (ISBN 0-201-57760-7) by
Phoenix Technologies. Addison-Wesley (publisher).
The following Hewlett-Packard publications may also assist the reader of this manual.
• HP Vectra VL 5/xx series 4 PC
User’s Guide (supplied with PC).
• HP Vectra VL 5/xx MT series 4 PC
User’s Guide (supplied with PC).
• HP Vectra VL 5/xx series 4 PC and HP Vectra VL 5/xx MT series 4 PC
Familiarization
Guide
(D3645-90901)
•
HP Vectra PC Service Handbook - 9th edition (Available January 1996)
The following Intel® publication provides more detailed information:
•
Pentium Processor (241595-1)

1 SYSTEM OVERVIEW
This chapter provides a description of the HP Vectra VL 5/xx series 4 desktop and HP Vectra
VL 5/xx MT series 4 mini-tower PC with detailed system specifications.
SYSTEM OVERVIEW
The HP Vectra VL 5/xx series 4 PC is a Pentium processor, ISA/PCI-based PC and features
the Intel Triton chip set.
HP VECTRA VL 5/XX SERIES 3 – VL 5/XX SERIES 4 COMPARISON
Vectra VL 5/xx series 3 Vectra VL 5/xx series 4
Processor Pentium 75 (VL 5/75)
Pentium 90 (VL 5/90)
Pentium 100 (VL 5/100)
Pentium 120 (VL 5/120)
Pentium 90
Pentium 100
Pentium 120
Pentium 133
Pentium 150
Pentium 166
Level-two cache memory 256 KB asynchronous cache 256 KB synchronous cache
Main memory 8 MB or 16 MB standard
192 MB maximum 8 MB or 16 MB standard
128 MB maximum
Video controller Cirrus Logic GD 5434
integrated on PCI bus Trio 765 64V+ or 764 integrated on
PCI bus or
Matrox MGA Millennium video card
Video memory 1 MB standard
upgradable to 2 MB 1 MB standard
upgradable to 2 MB
Matrox Models
2 MB standard
upgradable to 4 MB or 8 MB*
Enhanced IDE hard disk controller CMD PCI0640B
Integrated on PCI bus
dedicated for hard disk drives
Integrated in chip set (part of
82371FB multipurpose chip)
Integrated on PCI bus
Primary channel dedicated for hard
disk drives
Secondary channel recommended for
CD-ROM drives
Secondary IDE controller Integrated in NS 87332 Super I/O
chip on ISA bus
dedicated for CD-ROM drives
No secondary IDE controller
(Two channels on enhanced IDE
controller - see above)
Flexible disk controller Integrated in NS 87332 Super I/O
chip on ISA bus Integrated in SMC 932 Super I/O chip
on ISA bus
Serial / parallel port controller Integrated in NS 87332 Super I/O
chip on ISA bus Integrated in SMC 932 Super I/O chip
on ISA bus
*The 6 MB video upgrade module is available only from Matrox Electronic Systems Limited.

HP VECTRA VL 5/XX SERIES 4 DESKTOP – MINI-TOWER COMPARISON
Desktop Mini-Tower
IDE Controller
Primary channel connectors Two connectors for hard disk drives Two connectors for hard disk drives
IDE Controller
Secondary channel connectors One red connector recommended for CD-ROM Two red connectors recommended for
CD-ROM and supplementary hard
disk drive
Flexible disk controller connectors Two connectors for 3.5-inch
flexible disk drive or tape drive Two connectors for 3.5-inch flexible
disk drive or tape drive
One connector for 5.25-inch flexible
disk drive
Maximum two devices connected
simultaneously
Accessory board slots (on
backplane) One 16-bit ISA (short 16cm/ 6.3-inch)
One 16-bit ISA (full-length)
One 32-bit PCI/16-bit ISA
Combination (full-length)
One 32-bit PCI (full-length)
Three 16-bit ISA (full-length)
One 32-bit PCI/16-bit ISA
Combination (short 16cm/ 6.3-inch)
Two 32-bit PCI (full-length)
Internal device shelves One for hard disk drive Two for hard disk drives
Front-access device shelves One 3.5-inch
One 5.25-inch
One 5.25-inch, 1-inch high
One 3.5-inch
Three 5.25-inch

VL 5/XX SERIES 4 PC BLOCK DIAGRAM
Pentium
Processor 256 KB
Level-Two
Cache
Intel Triton
82437/8FX
Chipset
Memory
(8 MB -
128 MB)
PCI
Accessory
Board Slots
PCI Bus
Intel
82371FB
PCI/ISA
Bridge
IDE Controller Channel 1
IDE Controller Channel 2
S3 Trio
Video
Controller
ISA Bus
SMC932
Super I/O
Controller
I/O
Decode
Logic
BIOS
Flash
ROM
ISA
Accessory
Board Slots
Keyboard
Mouse
Serial 2 Serial 1
Parallel
FDD
Flash
Support
Host Bus
PRINCIPAL COMPONENTS AND FEATURES
The main features of the system board are:
• supports Pentium processors of several different clock speeds (90, 100, 120 or 133 MHz,
and 150 and 166 MHz when available) with accompanying voltage regulator module
(VRM)
• a PCI bus video controller: most models of the Vectra VL 5/xx series 4 have an integrated
64-bit Ultra VGA controller on the PCI bus (S3 Trio 765 64V+ on D3xxxA models and S3
Trio 764 on D3xxxB models)
• an Enhanced IDE controller with two channels on the PCI bus
• a primary IDE channel for two IDE hard disk drives
• a secondary IDE channel for an IDE CD-ROM drive and, in the mini-tower models, a
fourth IDE device (such as a third IDE hard disk drive)

• a combined controller on the ISA bus for
• 2 flexible disk drives and/or tape drives
• 2 serial ports
• 1 parallel port
• sockets for DRAM main memory: the Vectra VL 5/xx series 4 PCs provide six sockets for
main memory, allowing installation of up to 128 MB
• a system ROM (using flash ROM technology) that can be easily updated with the latest
firmware, using the
Phlash.exe program supplied with the firmware upgrade. The system
ROM contains:
• the BIOS (system BIOS, video BIOS and low option ROM)
• a power-on hardware test that allows you to view the results of the diagnostics as well
as a corrective action message (error message utility)
• menu-driven SETUP with context-sensitive help (in US English only)
• a keyboard/mouse controller and interface.
VL 5/XX SERIES 4 SYSTEM BOARD
*This video upgrade applieso nly to themodels with integrated video controller.