NOVA-7898

Socket 370 Based Embedded Board with

Gigabit, 10/100Mbps Ethernet, VGA, Audio

PCB Version 2.0

User Manual
Version 1.1

August 6, 2003

@Copyright 2003 by ICP Electronics Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright Notice
The information in this document is subject to change
without prior notice in order to improve reliability,
design and function and does not represent a
commitment on the part of the manufacturer.
In no event will the manufacturer be liable for direct,
indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages
arising out of the use or inability to use the product or
documentation, even if advised of the possibility of such
damages.
This document contains proprietary information
protected by copyright. All rights are reserved. No part
of this manual may be reproduced by any mechanical,
electronic, or other means in any form without prior
written permission of the manufacturer.

Trademarks
NOVA-7898 is registered trademarks of ICP Electronics
Inc., IBM PC is a registered trademark of International
Business Machines Corporation. Intel is a registered
trademark of Intel Corporation. Award is registered
trademarks of Award Software International, Inc. Other
product names mentioned herein are used for
identification purposes only and may be trademarks
and/or registered trademarks of their respective
companies.

2
 Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION ......................................................5
1.1 SPECIFICATIONS: ..........................................................6
1.2 PACKAGE CONTENT ........................................................8
2. INSTALLATION........................................................9
2.1 NOVA-7898’S LAYOUT ...................................................9
2.2 CLEAR CMOS SETUP .................................................... 12
3. CONNECTION ........................................................13
3.1 FLOPPY DISK DRIVE CONNECTOR ...................................... 14
3.2 ULTRA ATA33/66/100 IDE DISK DRIVE CONNECTOR ............ 15
3.3 PARALLEL PORT ........................................................... 17
3.4 SERIAL PORTS ............................................................ 18
3.5 KEYBOARD CONNECTOR ................................................. 19
3.6 USB PORT CONNECTOR ................................................. 19
3.7 IRDA INFRARED INTERFACE PORT ..................................... 20
3.8 FAN CONNECTOR ......................................................... 20
3.9 LAN RJ45 CONNECTOR ................................................. 21
3.10 VGA CONNECTOR ...................................................... 23
3.11 AUDIO CONNECTORS ................................................... 23
3.12 EXTERNAL SWITCHES AND INDICATORS ............................. 24
3.13 ATX POWER CONNECTOR ............................................. 25
3.14 PCI SLOTS .............................................................. 26
4. AWARD BIOS SETUP..............................................29
4.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................... 29
4.2 STARTING SETUP ......................................................... 29
4.3 USING SETUP ............................................................. 30
4.4 MAIN MENU ............................................................... 31
4.5 STANDARD CMOS SETUP ............................................... 34
4.6 ADVANCED BIOS FEATURES ............................................ 38
4.7 ADVANCED CHIPSET FEATURES......................................... 42
4.8 INTEGRATED PERIPHERALS .............................................. 45
4.9 POWER MANAGEMENT SETUP ........................................... 49

3
 4.10 PNP/PCI CONFIGURATION SETUP.................................... 52
4.11 FREQUENCY/VOLTAGE CONTROL ..................................... 54
4.12 DEFAULTS MENU ........................................................ 56
4.13 SUPERVISOR/USER PASSWORD SETTING ........................... 57
4.14 EXIT SELECTING ........................................................ 58
APPENDIX A. WATCHDOG TIMER...................................59

APPENDIX B. ADDRESS MAPPING..................................61

IO ADDRESS MAP ............................................................. 61
1ST MB MEMORY ADDRESS MAP ............................................ 62
IRQ MAPPING TABLE .......................................................... 62
DMA CHANNEL ASSIGNMENTS............................................... 62
APPENDIX C. HOW TO UPGRADE A NEW BIOS ..............63

4
1. Introduction

Welcome to the NOVA-7898 Socket 370 Intel® Celeron®

®
and Pentium III ( FC-PGA ) with Multimedia & Multi-
LAN Ethernet Embedded Little Board. , which comes
with high performance Pentium® III, or economical
Celeron Processor with the Intel advanced chipset 815E.
This product is designed for the system manufacturers,
integrators, or VARs that want to provide all the
performance, reliability, and quality at a reasonable
price.

In addition, the NOVA-7898 provides on chip VGA, which

provides up to 1600x1200 resolution and shares the
main memory.

An advanced high performance super I/O chip – W83627

is used in the NOVA-7898 board. Which provide two
UARTs that are compatible with the NS16C550. The
parallel port and IDE interface are compatible with IBM
PC/AT architectures.

NOVA-7898 supports up to six network controllers in all.

There are two onboard controllers, Intel 82801BA
integrated LAN controller and Intel 82559 controller.
Other network controllers are connected through the two
special PCI connectors – PCI1 and PCI2, and specially
designed modules are provided to be inserted into these
connectors. PCI1 can support dual Gigabit LAN module
or dual 10/100BASE-TX LAN module, but PCI2 can only
support dual 10/100BASE-TX LAN module.

NOVA-7898 uses the advanced INTEL 815E Chipset,

which supports up to 133MHz FSB CPU and 133MHz
SDRAM memory modules.

5
1.1 Specifications:
CPU Supports socket 370 based CPU, such as
Celeron® Processor, 700MHz –1.2GHz or
above and Pentium® III(FC-PGA) Processor,
1.26GHz or above
DMA Channels 7
Interrupt
15
Levels
Chipset Intel 815E
Memory Two 168 pin DIMM sockets. Maximum
memory capability up to 512MB/133MHz
Ultra z Two PCI enhanced IDE channels (4 IDE
ATA/33/66/100 devices).
IDE Interface z The south bridge ICH2 supports Ultra
ATA/33/66/100 IDE interface.
z In order to support Ultra ATA66/100
Hard disk, a specific cable (maximum
length of 45 cm) is available
Floppy disk Supports one single 2.88 MB, 1.44MB,
drive interface 1.2MB, 720KB, or 360KB floppy disk drive.
Serial ports z Two high-speed 16C550 compatible
UARTs with 16-byte FIFO buffer.
z Maximum data transfer speed up to
115Kbps.
Parallel Port z One IEEE1284 compatible Bi-directional
ports.
z Supports SPP/ECP/EPP.
IrDA Supports Serial Infrared(SIR) and Amplitude
Shift Keyed IR(ASKIR) Interface.
USB Supports two USB 1.1 compatible ports.
Audio Onboard AC’97Codec supports two channel
Left/Right Line IN, and Left/Right Speaker
Out, MIC IN, CD IN.

6
Watchdog z Software programmable –
timer enable/disabled.
z Timer interval is 1 ~ 255 second.
z System Reset will be generated while
time out.
VGA Controller z Embedded VGA controller
z Screen Resolution: up to 1600x1200 in
256 Colors at 85Hz Refresh.
Intel 82801BA z IEEE 802.3u Auto-Negotiation support for
embedded LAN 10BASE-T/100BASE-TX.
and 82559 PCI z Fast back-to-back transmission support with
LAN Controller minimum interframe spacing.
z Connected to the userr LAN through RJ45
connector.
Keyboard
8042 compatible for keyboard and PS/2 mouse
Controller
Power 5V/9A and 12V/0.1A, as running by PIII 933MHz
Consumption and 256MB
Operating 0° ~ 55° C
Temperature (CPU needs Cooler)

7
1.2 Package Content
In addition to this User's Manual, the NOVA-7898
package includes the following items:
• NOVA-7898 socket 370 bases Single Board Computer
• One FDD cable
• One HDD cable
• One VGA cable
• One LPT cable
• One RS-232 serial ports Cable
• One AUDIO ports Cable
• One Keyboard/Mouse Cable

8
1. Installation

This chapter describes how to install the NOVA-7898. At first,

the layout of NOVA-7898 is shown, then the unpacking
information that the user should be careful with is described.
After that comes jumpers and switches settings for the NOVA-
7898’sconfiguration, such as CPU type selection, system clock
setting, watch dog timer and other such information.

2.1 NOVA-7898’s Layout

<This area is intentionally left blank>

9
NOVA-7898’s Layout

10
11
2.2 Clear CMOS Setup
The CMOS RAM holds the board’s configuration data, which
had to be set by means of system BIOS. In case the user
want to clear the CMOS RAM, for example, if the user
forgets the password and needs to clear the CMOS setting
then set password again.), the user need to close the JP2
for about 3 seconds, then open it again. For normal
operation, JP2 must be open at all times.

• JP2: Clear CMOS Setup

JP2 DESCRIPTION
1-2 Keep CMOS Setup
(Normal Operation)
2-3 Clear CMOS Setup

12
2. Connection

This chapter describes how to connect peripherals,

switches and indicators to the NOVA-7898 board.
Connectors on NOVA-7898 are listed in the following table:

Table of Connectors
LABEL DESCRIPTION
ATX1 ATX Power Connector
CD1 CD-IN Connector
CN1 External Switch and Indicators
CN2 DIN Connector for Keyboard/Mouse
CN5 VGA Connector
CN7 LAN Connector for PCI 1
CN8 LAN Connector for PCI 2
CN9 Audio Connector
CN10 Secondary IDE Connector
CN12 LAN LED Connector
CN13 LAN Connector for Onboard LAN
CN24 ATX Power On/Off Button Connector
COM1 Serial Port 1
COM2 Serial Port 2
FAN1 ~ 3 Fan Connectors
FDC1 FDD Connector
IDE1 Primary IDE Connector
IR1 IrDA Connector
LPT1 Parallel Port Connector
PCI1 SOCKET PCI Slot
PCI2 SOCKET PCI Slot
PCI3 Standard PCI Slot
USB1 USB Connector

13
3.1 Floppy Disk Drive Connector
NOVA-7898 board is equipped with a 34-pin daisy-
chain driver connector cable.

FDC1 : FDC CONNECTOR

PIN NO. DESCRIPTION PIN NO. DESCRIPTION

1 2
1 GROUND 2 REDUCE
WRITE
3 GROUND 4 N/C
5 GROUND 6 N/C
7 GROUND 8 INDEX#
9 GROUND 10 MOTOR
ENABLE A#
11 GROUND 12 DRIVE
SELECT B#
13 GROUND 14 DRIVE
SELECT A#
15 GROUND 16 MOTOR
ENABLE B#
17 GROUND 18 DIRECTION#
19 GROUND 20 STEP#
21 GROUND 22 WRITE DATA# 33 34
23 GROUND 24 WRITE GATE#
25 GROUND 26 TRACK 0#
27 GROUND 28 WRITE
PROTECT#
29 N/C 30 READ DATA#
31 GROUND 32 SIDE 1
SELECT#
33 N/C 34 DISK
CHANGE#

14
3.2 Ultra ATA33/66/100 IDE Disk Drive
Connector
The user can attach two IDE( Integrated Device
Electronics) hard disk drives onto the NOVA-7898 IDE
controller.

IDE 1 : Primary IDE Connector

PIN NO. DESCRIPTION PIN NO. DESCRIPTION

1 RESET# 2 GROUND 1 2
3 DATA 7 4 DATA 8
5 DATA 6 6 DATA 9
7 DATA 5 8 DATA 10
9 DATA 4 10 DATA 11
11 DATA 3 12 DATA 12
13 DATA 2 14 DATA 13
15 DATA 1 16 DATA 14
17 DATA 0 18 DATA 15
19 GROUND 20 N/C
21 N/C 22 GROUND
23 IOW# 24 GROUND
25 IOR# 26 GROUND
27 N/C 28 BALE - DEFAULT
29 N/C 30 GROUND - DEFAULT
31 INTERRUPT 32 IOCS16#-DEFAULT
33 SA1 34 N/C 39 40
35 SA0 36 SA2
37 HDC CS0# 38 HDC CS1#
39 HDD ACTIVE# 40 GROUND

15
 CN10 ( IDE 2 ) : Secondary IDE Connector

PIN NO. DESCRIPTION PIN NO. DESCRIPTION

1 RESET# 2 GROUND 1 2
3 DATA 7 4 DATA 8
5 DATA 6 6 DATA 9
7 DATA 5 8 DATA 10
9 DATA 4 10 DATA 11
11 DATA 3 12 DATA 12
13 DATA 2 14 DATA 13
15 DATA 1 16 DATA 14
17 DATA 0 18 DATA 15
19 GROUND 20 N/C
21 N/C 22 GROUND
23 IOW# 24 GROUND
25 IOR# 26 GROUND
27 N/C 28 BALE - DEFAULT
29 N/C 30 GROUND - DEFAULT
31 INTERRUPT 32 IOCS16#-DEFAULT
33 SA1 34 N/C 43 44
35 SA0 36 SA2
37 HDC CS0# 38 HDC CS1#
39 HDD ACTIVE# 40 GROUND
41 +5V 42 +5V
43 GROUND 44 NC

16
3.3 Parallel Port
This port is usually connected to a printer. The NOVA-7898
includes an on-board parallel port that can be accessed
through a 26-pin flat-cable connector as well as supports
the following three modes –SPP, EPP and ECP.

LPT1 : Parallel Port Connector

PIN NO. DESCRIPTION PIN NO. DESCRIPTION

1 STROBE# 2 DATA 0
3 DATA 1 4 DATA 2
5 DATA 3 6 DATA 4
7 DATA 5 8 DATA 6
9 DATA 7 10 ACKNOWLEDGE
11 BUSY 12 PAPER EMPTY
13 PRINTER SELECT 14 AUTO FORM FEED #
15 ERROR# 16 INITIALIZE
17 PRINTER SELECT LN# 18 GROUND
19 GROUND 20 GROUND
21 GROUND 22 GROUND
23 GROUND 24 GROUND
25 GROUND 26 NC

2 2 6

1 2 5

17
3.4 Serial Ports
The NOVA-7898 offers two high speed NS16C550
compatible UARTs with Read/Receive 16 byte FIFO in each
serial port.

COM1 : D_SUB 9-PIN Connector

PIN NO. DESCRIPTION
1 DATA CARRIER DETECT (DCD)
2 RECEIVE DATA
(RXD)
3 TRANSMIT DATA (TXD)
4 DATA TERMINAL READY (DTR)
5 GROUND
6 DATA SET READY (DSR)
7 REQUEST TO SEND (RTS)
8 CLEAR TO SEND (CTS)
9 RING INDICATOR (RI)

COM2 : 10-pin Connector

PIN NO. DESCRIPTION
1 DATA CARRIER DETECT (DCD)
2 RECEIVE DATA
(RXD)
1 6
3 TRANSMIT DATA (TXD)
4 DATA TERMINAL READY (DTR)
5 GROUND
6 DATA SET READY (DSR)
7 REQUEST TO SEND (RTS) 5 10
8 CLEAR TO SEND (CTS)
9 RING INDICATOR (RI)
10 NC

18
3.5 Keyboard Connector
The NOVA-7898 provides 6-PIN Header keyboard/mouse
connector.

CN2 : 6-pin Mini-DIN Keyboard/Mouse Connector

PIN NO. DESCRIPTION
1 +5V STBY
2 MOUSE DATA
3 MOUSE CLOCK
4 KEYBOARD DATA
5 KEYBOARD CLOCK
6 GROUNG

3.6 USB Port Connector

The NOVA-7898 provides Two USB ports.

USB1 : USB 8-PIN HEADER

1. VCC
2. GROUND 2 8
3. DATA0-
4. DATA1+
5. DATA0+
6. DATA1-
7. GROUND 1 7
8. VCC

19
3.7 IrDA Infrared Interface Port
The NOVA-7898 has a built-in IrDA port that supports
Serial Infrared(SIR) or Amplitude Shift Keyed IR(ASKIR)
interface. When using the IrDA port, the user have to set
SIR or ASKIR model in the BIOS’s Peripheral Setup’s
COM 2. Then the normal RS-232 COM 2 will be disabled.

IR1 : IrDA connector

1
PIN NO. DESCRIPTION 2
1 VCC5V 3
2 N/C
3 IR-RX 4
4 Ground 5
5 IR-TX

3.8 Fan Connector

The NOVA-7898 provides CPU cooling fan connector and
system fan connector. CPU connectors can supply
12V/500mA The Fan’s rotation is in full speed.

FAN1~FAN3 : Fan Connector

PIN NO. DESCRIPTION

1 Sensor
2 12V
3 Ground

3 2 1

20
3.9 LAN RJ45 Connector
NOVA-7898 is equipped with two built-in 10/100Mbps
Ethernet Controllers. The user can connect it to LAN
through RJ45 LAN connector. The pin assignments is as
listed in the following tables:

CN13(UP) : Intel 82562ET LAN RJ45 Connector

CN13(DOWN) : Intel 82559 LAN RJ45 Connector

PIN NO. DESCRIPTION PIN NO. DESCRIPTION

1 TX+ 5. N/C
2 TX- 6. RX-
3. RX+ 7. N/C
4. N/C 8. N/C

CN8(UP/DOWN) : SOCKET PCI RJ45 LAN Connector

PIN NO. DESCRIPTION PIN NO. DESCRIPTION

1 TX+ 5. N/C
2 TX- 6. RX-
3. RX+ 7. N/C
4. N/C 8. N/C

CN7(UP/DOWN) : SOCKET PCI RJ45 LAN Connector

PIN NO. DESCRIPTION PIN NO. DESCRIPTION

1 TXA+ ( TX+ ) 5. TXC-( N/C )
2 TXA-( TX- ) 6. TXB-( RX- )
3. TXB+( RX+ ) 7. TXD+( N/C )
4. TXC+( N/C ) 8. TXD-( N/C )

PS:

LM-102N : Dual Intel 82559 10/100BASE-TX LAN

MODULE

21
LM-102R : Dual RTL8100 10/100BASE-TX LAN
MODULE
LM-2G : Dual Broadcom Gigabit LAN MODULE

CN12 : LAN LED Connector

CN7 1 ACT+ 2. ACT-
(UP) 3 LINK+ 4. LINK-
CN7 5. ACT+ 6. ACT-
(DOWN) 7. LINK+ 8. LINK-
CN8 9 ACT+ 10 ACT-
(UP) 11 LINK+ 12 LINK-
CN8 13 ACT+ 14 ACT-
(DOWN) 15 LINK+ 16 LINK-
CN13 17 ACT+ 18 ACT-
(UP) 19 LINK+ 20 LINK-
CN13 21 ACT+ 22 ACT-
(DOWN) 23 LINK+ 24 LINK-

22
3.10 VGA Connector
NOVA-7898 built-in 15-pin VGA connector can be used
to connected to user’s CRT monitor directly.

CN5 : 15-pin Female Connector

1 RED 2 DDCCLK
3 GREEN 4 DDC DAT
5 BLUE 6 GROUND
7 HSYNC 8 GROUND
9 VSYNC 10 GROUND
2 10

1 9
3.11 Audio Connectors
The AC’97 compliant CODEC support several audio
functions. The connector is described as below.

CN9 : AUDIO CONNECTOR

1. LEFT SPEAKER OUT SIGNAL (WITH AMPLIFIER)
2. RIGHT SPEAKER OUT SIGNAL (WITH AMPLIFIER)
3. GROUND(FOR SPK CONNECTOR)
4. GROUND
5. NC
6. NC
7. LEFT LINE IN SIGNAL
8. RIGHT LINE IN SIGNAL
9. GROUND(FOR LINE IN CONNECTOR)
10. GROUND(NO USE)
11. MIC IN
12. GROUND(FOR MIC IN CONNECTOR)

23
 CD1 : CD-IN
1. CD LEFT SIGNAL
2. GROUND
3. GROUND
4. CD RIGHT SIGNAL 1 2 3 4

3.12 External Switches and Indicators

There are several external switches and indicators for
monitoring and controlling user’s CPU board. All the
functions are in the CN1 connector.

CN1 : Multi Panel

PIN NO. DESCRIPTION PIN DESCRIPTION
NO.
1. POWER-LED + 2 SPEAKER +
3. N/C 4 N/C
5. POWER-LED - 6 N/C
7. KEYLOCK+ 8 SPEAKER -
9. KEYLOCK- 10 RESET SW PIN1
11. GROUND 12 RESET SW PIN2
13 HDD LED+ 14 HDD LED -

ATX Power On/Off Button Connector(CN24)

PIN NO. DESCRIPTION

1 BUTTON PIN1
2 BUTTON PIN2

24
3.13 ATX Power Connector
The NOVA-7898 have one ATX power connector for power
supply.

ATX1 : ATX Power Supply Connector

ATX1 is a 20-pin ATX Power Supply Connector. Please

refer to the following table for the pin assignments.

PIN NO. DESCRIPTION PIN NO. DESCRIPTION

11 3.3V 1 3.3V
12 -12V 2 3.3V
13 GND 3 GND
14 PSON# 4 +5V
15 GND 5 GND
16 GND 6 +5V
17 GND 7 GND
18 -5V 8 Power good
19 +5V 9 +5VSB
20 +5V 10 +12V

25
3.14 PCI Slots
The NOVA-7898 have two SOCKET PCI slots for PCI module and
one standard PCI slot for common PCI card.

PCI1, PCI2 : SOCKET PCI Slots

PCI3: Standard PCI Slot

PCI1 and PCI2 are special defined PCI slots. The pin
assignment is listed in the following table. Do not insert
incompatible PCI module into these slots, or the
module could be damaged inadvertently.

PCI1/PCI2
PIN NO. DESCRIPTION PIN NO. DESCRIPTION
1 TRDP3_1 / NC 2 TRDM0
3 TRDM3_1 / NC 4 TRDP0
5 NC 6 NC
7 TRDP2_1 / NC 8 TRDM1
9 TRDM2_1/ NC 10 TRDP1
11 NC 12 NC
13 TRDP1_1 14 TRDM2 / NC
15 TRDM1_1 16 TRDP2 / NC
17 TANS HIGH_1 18 TANS_HIGH
19 TRDP0_1 20 TRDM3
21 TRDM0_1 22 TRDP3
23 GROUND 24 GROUND
25 LANACT#_1 26 LINK#
27 LINK#_1 28 LANACT#
29 5VCCL_2 30 GROUND
31 L_HSYNC_2 32 L_BLUE_2
33 L_VSYNC_2 34 L_GREEN_2
35 5VCDA_2 36 L_RED_2

26
37 PIRQ#C/PIRQ#A 38 GROUND
39 GROUND 40 PIRQ#D/PIRQ#
B
41 PIRQ#A/PIRQ#C 42 PIRQ#B/PIRQ#
D
43 PCI_RST# 44 GROUND
45 VCC5DUAL 46 REQ64#1
47 PCI_PME# 48 +5V
49 AD31 50 GROUND
51 AD30 52 PCLK_2 /
PCLK4
53 AD29 54 NC
55 AD28 56 PCLK_3 /
PCLK5
57 AD26 58 V3SB
59 AD27 60 V3SB
61 NC 62 V3SB
63 +3.3V 64 PREQ#2 /
PREQ#4
65 AD24 66 C_BE#3
67 AD25 68 +3.3V
69 GROUND 70 SMBCLK
71 AD23 72 SMBDATA
73 AD21 74 PGNT#1 /
PGNT#3
75 +3.3V 76 PREQ#1 /
PREQ#3
77 AD19 78 GROUND
79 GROUND 80 AD18 / AD20
81 AD16 82 +3.3V
83 GROUND 84 AD22
85 +3.3V 86 GROUND
87 AD17 88 AD20
89 FRAME# 90 AD18

27
91 IRDY# 92 +3.3V
93 GROUND 94 AD17 / AD19
95 TRDY# 96 C_BE#2
97 DEVSEL# 98 GROUND
99 +3.3V 100 PGNT#2 /
PGNT#4
101 STOP# 102 +3.3V
103 GROUND 104 VGA_EN#
105 PLOCK# 106 GROUND
107 PERR# 108 SMLINK0
109 SMLINK1 110 C_BE#0
111 GROUND 112 AD8
113 SERR# 114 GROUND
115 C_BE#1 116 AD7
117 +5V 118 AD6
119 PAR 120 AD5
121 AD15 122 +5V
123 GROUND 124 AD4
125 AD14 126 GROUND
127 AD13 128 AD3
129 AD11 130 AD2
131 +5V 132 GROUND
133 AD12 134 AD0
135 +5V 136 GROUND
137 AD10 138 ACK64#
139 AD9 140 +5V
141 +12V 142 AD1
143 GROUND 144 GROUND

28
3. Award BIOS Setup

4.1 Introduction
This chapter discusses the Setup program built into the BIOS.
It will give users a step-by-step guidance to configure the
system. The user-defined configuration is then stored in
battery-backed CMOS RAM so that it retains the Setup
information while the power is off.

4.2 Starting Setup

The BIOS is immediately active when the computer has been
turned on. While the BIOS is in control, the Setup program can
be activated in one of the following two ways:
1. By pressing <Del> immediately after switching the system
on, or
2. By pressing the <Del> key when the following message
appears briefly at the bottom of the screen during the POST
(Power On Self-Test):
Press DEL to enter SETUP.
If the message disappears before the user can respond to it and
the user still wish to enter Setup, please restart the system by
turning off the power first then switch it back on or simply
pressing the "RESET" button on the system case to reboot the
system. The alternative way to restart the system is by
simultaneously pressing <Ctrl>, <Alt>, and <Delete> keys. If
the user do not press these keys at the right timing and the
system does not boot, an error message will be displayed and
the user will again be prompted to...
PRESS F1 TO CONTINUE, DEL TO ENTER SETUP

29
4.3 Using Setup
In general, the user can use the arrow keys to highlight items,
then press <Enter> to select the item. Use the PageUp and
PageDown keys to change entries, press <F1> for help and
press <Esc> to quit. The following table provides more details
about how to navigate in the Setup program using the keyboard.

Key Function
Up Arrow Move to the previous item
Down Move to the next item
Arrow
Left Arrow Move to the item on the left (menu bar)
Right Move to the item on the right (menu bar)
Arrow
Esc Main Menu: Quit without saving changes
Submenus: Exit Current page to the next
higher level menu
Move Move to the item the user desired
Enter
PgUp key Increase the numeric value or make changes
PgDn key Decrease the numeric value or make changes
+ key Increase the numeric value or make changes
- key Decrease the numeric value or make changes
Esc key Main Menu -- Quit and not save changes into
CMOS
Status Page Setup Menu and Option Page
Setup Menu -- Exit current page and return to
Main Menu
F1 key General help on Setup navigation keys
F5 key Load previous values from CMOS
F6 key Load the fail-safe defaults from BIOS default
table
F7 key Load the optimized defaults
F10 key Save all the CMOS changes and exit

30
4.4 Main Menu

Once the user enters the AwardBIOS™ CMOS Setup Utility, the
Main Menu will appear on the screen. The Main Menu allows
the user to select from several setup functions and two exit
choices. Use the arrow keys to select among the items and
press <Enter> to accept and enter the sub-menu.

CMOS Setup Utility - Copyright ( C ) 1984-2000 Award

Software

Standard CMOS Features Frequency/Voltage Control

Advanced BIOS Features Load Fail-Safe Defaults
Advanced Chipset Features Load Optimized Defaults
Integrated Peripherals Set Supervisor Password
Power Management Setup Set User Password
PnP/PCI Configurations Save & Exit Setup
PC Health Status Exit Without Saving

Esc : Quit ↑ ↓ ← → : Select Item

F10 : Save & Exit Setup

Time, Date, Hard Disk Type….

Note: A brief description of each highlighted selection appears

at the bottom of the screen.

31
4.4.1 Setup Items
The main menu includes the following main setup categories.
Please note that some systems may not include all of the
following entries.

Standard CMOS Features

Use this menu for basic system configuration. See Section 4.5
for the details.

Advanced BIOS Features

Use this menu to set the advanced features available on the
user’s system. See Section 4.6 for the details.

Advanced Chipset Features

Use this menu to change the values in the chipset registers and
optimize the system's performance. See section 4.7 for the
details.

Integrated Peripherals
Use this menu to specify the settings for integrated peripherals.
See section 4.8 for the details.

Power Management Setup

Use this menu to specify the settings for power management.
See section 4.9 for the details.

PnP / PCI Configuration

This entry appears if the system supports PnP / PCI. See
section 4.10 for the details.

PC Health Status
Use this menu to display CPU/System Temperature and FAN
speed

Frequency/Voltage Control
Use this menu to specify the settings for frequency/voltage
control. See section 4.11 for the details.

32
Load Fail-Safe Defaults
Use this menu to load the BIOS default values for the
minimal/stable performance for the system to operate. See
section 4.12 for the details.

Load Optimized Defaults

Use this menu to load the BIOS default values that are factory
settings for optimal performance system operations. While
Award has designed the custom BIOS to maximize performance,
the factory has the right to change these defaults to meet their
needs. See section 4.12 for the details.

Supervisor / User Password

Use this menu to set User and Supervisor Passwords. See
section 4.13 for the details.

Save & Exit Setup

Save CMOS value changes to CMOS and exit setup. See section
4.14 for the details.

Exit Without Save

Abandon all CMOS value changes and exit setup. See section
4.14 for the details.

33
4.5 Standard CMOS Setup
The items in Standard CMOS Setup Menu are divided into 10
categories. Each category includes no, one or more than one
setup items. Use the arrow keys to highlight the item and then
use the <PgUp> or <PgDn> keys to select the value the user
want in each item.

CMOS Setup Utility - Copyright ( C ) 1984-2000 Award Software

Standard CMOS Features

Date: Mon, Feb 8 2000 Item Help

Time: 16:19:20
Menu Level
¾ IDE Primary Master HD Model Name ¾
¾ IDE Primary Slave <Press Enter> None
¾ IDE Secondary Master <Press Enter> None Change the
¾ IDE Secondary Slave <Press Enter> None day, month,
year and
Drive A 1.44M, 3.5 in. century
Drive B None

Video EGA/VGA
Halt On All,But Keyboard

Based Memory 640K

Extended Memory 129024K
Total Memory 130048K

↑↓←→Move Enter: Select +/-/PU/PD: Value F10:Save ESC: Exit

F1:General Help
F5:Previous Values F6:Fail-safe defaults F7:Optimized Defaults

Figure 1: The Main Menu

34
 Main Menu Selections
Item Options Description
Date MM DD YYYY Set the system date.
Time HH : MM : SS Set the system time
IDE Options are in its sub Press <Enter> to enter the sub
Primary menu menu of detailed options
(described in Table 3)
IDE Options are in its sub Press <Enter> to enter the sub
Primary menu menu of detailed options
(described in Table 3)
IDE Options are in its sub Press <Enter> to enter the sub
Secondary menu menu of detailed options
Master (described in Table 3)
IDE Options are in its sub Press <Enter> to enter the sub
Secondary menu menu of detailed options
(described in Table 3)
Drive A None Select the type of floppy disk
Drive B 360K, 5.25 in drive installed in the system
1.2M, 5.25 in
720K, 3.5 in
1.44M, 3.5 in
2.88M, 3.5 in
Video EGA/VGA Select the default video device
CGA 40
CGA 80
MONO
Halt On All Errors Select the situation in which the
No Errors user want the BIOS to stop the
All, but Keyboard POST process and notify the user
All, but Diskette
All, but Disk/Key
Base N/A Displays the amount of
Memory conventional memory detected
during boot up
Extended N/A Displays the amount of extended
Memory memory detected during boot up
Total N/A Displays the total memory
Memory available in the system
Table 2 Main Menu Selections

35
IDE Adapters
The IDE adapters control the hard disk drive. Use a separate
sub menu to configure each hard disk drive.
Figure 2 shows the IDE primary master sub menu.

CMOS Setup Utility – Copyright © 1984-2000 Award Software

IDE Primary Master
IDE HDD Auto-Detection Press Enter
Item Help
Menu Level ¾¾
IDE Primary Master Auto
Access Mode Auto
To auto-detect the
Capacity 15362 MB HDD’s size, head... on
this channel
Cylinder 29765
Head 16
Precomp 0
Landing Zone 29764
Sector 63
↑↓←→Move Enter: Select +/-/PU/PD: Value F10:Save ESC: Exit
F1:General Help
F5:Previous Values F6:Fail-safe defaults F7:Optimized Defaults

Figure 2 IDE Primary Master sub menu

36
 Use the legend keys to navigate through this menu and
exit to the main menu. Use Table 3 to configure the
hard disk.

Item Options Description

IDE HDD Auto-detection Press Enter Press Enter to auto-
detect the HDD on this
channel. If detection is
successful, it fills the
remaining fields on this
menu.
IDE Primary Master None Selecting ‘manual’ lets
Auto the user set the
Manual remaining fields on this
screen. Selects the type
of fixed disk. "User
Type" will let the user
select the number of
cylinders, heads, etc.
Note: PRECOMP=65535
means NONE !
Capacity Auto Disk drive capacity
Display the (Approximated). Note
system that this size is usually
disk drive slightly greater than the
size size of a formatted disk
given by a disk checking
program.
Access Mode CHS Choose the access mode
LBA for this hard disk
Large
Auto

Table 3 Hard disk selections

37
4.6 Advanced BIOS Features

This section allows the user to configure the userr system for
basic operation. The user have the opportunity to select the
system’s default speed, boot-up sequence, keyboard operation,
shadowing and security.

CMOS Setup Utility – Copyright © 1984 – 2000 Award

Software
Advanced BIOS Features
Virus Warning Disabled Item Help
CPU Internal Cache Enabled ________________
External Cache Enabled
CPU L2 Cache ECC Checking Enabled Menu Level ¾
Process Number feature Enabled
Quick Power On Self Test Disabled Allows the user to
First Boot device Floppy choose the VIRUS
Second Boot device HDD-0 warning feature for
Third Boot device LS120 IDE Hard Disk boot
Boot other device Enabled sector protection. If
Swap Floppy Drive Disabled this function is
Boot Up Floppy Seek Enabled enabled and
Boot Up NumLock Status On someone attempt to
Gate A20 Option Fast write data into this
Typematic Rate Setting Disabled area, BIOS will show
Typematic Rate (Chars/Sec) 6 a warning message
Typematic Delay (Msec) 250 on screen and alarm
Security Option Setup beep
OS Select For DRAM > 64MB Non-OS2
Report NO FDD For Win 95 No

↑↓←→Move Enter: Select +/-/PU/PD: Value F10:Save ESC: Exit

F1:General Help
F5:Previous Values F6:Fail-safe defaults F7:Optimized Defaults

38
Virus Warning
Allows the user to choose the VIRUS Warning feature for IDE
Hard Disk boot sector protection. If this function is enabled and
someone attempt to write data into this area, BIOS will show a
warning message on screen and the alarm beep will go off.
Enabled Activates automatically when the system boots
up causing a warning message to appear when
anything attempts to access the boot sector or
hard disk partition table.
Disabled No warning message will appear when anything
attempts to access the boot sector or hard disk
partition table.

CPU Internal Cache/External Cache

These two categories speed up memory access. However, it
depends on CPU/chipset design.
Enabled Enable cache
Disabled Disable cache

CPU L2 Cache ECC Checking

This item allows the user to enable/disable CPU L2 Cache ECC
checking.
The Choice: Enabled, Disabled.

Processor Number Feature

This item allows the user to enable/disable support KLAMATH.
The Choice: Enabled, Disabled.

Quick Power On Self Test

This category speeds up Power On Self Test (POST) after the
user power up the computer. If it is set to Enable, BIOS will
shorten or skip some check items during POST.
Enabled Enable quick POST
Disabled Normal POST

39
First/Second/Third/Other Boot Device
The BIOS attempts to load the operating system from the
devices in the sequence selected in these items.
The Choice:
Floppy, LS120, HDD0-3, SCSI, CDROM, ZIP 100 , LAN,
Disabled.

Swap Floppy Drive

If the system has two floppy drives, the user can swap the
logical drive name assignments.
The Choice: Enabled/Disabled.

Boot Up Floppy Seek

Seeks disk drives during boot up.
Disabling speeds boot up.
The Choice: Enabled/Disabled.

Boot Up NumLock Status

Select power on state for NumLock.
The Choice: On/Off.

Gate A20 Option

Select if chipset or keyboard controller should control GateA20.
Normal A pin in the keyboard controller controls
GateA20
Fast Lets chipset control GateA20

Typematic Rate Setting

Key strokes repeat at a rate determined by the keyboard
controller. When enabled, the typematic rate and typematic
delay can be selected.
The Choice: Enabled/Disabled.

40
Typematic Rate (Chars/Sec)
Sets the number of times a second to repeat a key stroke when
the user hold the key down.
The Choice: 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 20, 24, 30.

Typematic Delay (Msec)

Sets the delay time after the key is held down before it begins
to repeat the keystroke.
The Choice: 250, 500, 750, 1000.

Security Option
Select whether the password is required every time the system
boots or only when the user enter setup.
System The system will not boot and access to Setup will
be denied if the correct password is not entered at
the prompt.
Setup The system will boot, but access to Setup will be
denied if the correct password is not entered at the
prompt.
Note: To disable security, select PASSWORD SETTING at Main
Menu and then the user will be asked to enter password. Do
not type anything and just press <Enter> and this it will disable
security. Once the security is disabled, the system will boot
and the Setup page can be accessed freely.

OS Select For DRAM > 64MB

Select the operating system that is running with greater than
64MB of RAM on the system.
The Choice: Non-OS2, OS2.

Report No FDD For Win 95

Whether report no FDD for Win 95 or not.
The Choice: Yes, No.

41
4.7 Advanced Chipset Features

CMOS Setup Utility – Copyright © 1984 – 2000 Award

Software
Advanced Chipset Features

SDRAM CAS Latency Time 3 Item Help

SDRAM Cycle Time Tras/Trc 7/9 ________________
SDRAM RAS-to-CAS Delay 3 Menu Level ¾
SDRAM RAS Precharge Time 3
System BIOS Cacheable Disabled
Video BIOS Cacheable Disabled
CPU Latency Timer Disabled
Delay Transaction Enabled
AGP Graphics Aperture Size 64MB
System Memory Frequency Auto
On-Chip VGA Enable
Flash BIOS Disable
↑↓←→Move Enter: Select +/-/PU/PD: Value F10:Save ESC: Exit
F1:General Help
F5:Previous Values F6:Fail-safe defaults F7:Optimized Defaults

This section allows the user to configure the system based on

the specific features of the installed chipset. This chipset
manages bus speeds and access to system memory resources,
such as DRAM and the external cache. It also coordinates
communications between the conventional ISA bus and the PCI
bus. Please note that these items should never need to be
altered. The default settings have been chosen because they
provide the best operating conditions for the system.

42
DRAM Settings
The first chipset settings deal with CPU access to dynamic
random access memory (DRAM). The default timings have
been carefully chosen and should only be altered if data has
being lost. Such a scenario might well occur if the system had
mixed speed DRAM chips installed so that greater delays may
be required to preserve the integrity of the data held in the
slower memory chips.

SDRAM CAS Latency Time

When synchronous DRAM is installed, the number of clock
cycles of CAS latency depends on the DRAM timing.
The Choice: 2, 3

SDRAM Cycle Time Tras/Trc

Select the number of SCLKs for an access cycle.
The Choice: 5/7, 6/8.

SDRAM RAS-to-CAS Delay

z This field lets the user insert a timing delay between the
CAS and RAS strobe signals
z It is used when DRAM is written to, read from, or refreshed.
Fast gives faster performance; and Slow gives more stable
performance.
z This field applies only when synchronous DRAM is installed
in the system.
The Choice: 2, 3.

SDRAM RAS Precharge Time

z If an insufficient number of cycles is allowed for the RAS to
accumulate its charge before DRAM refresh, the refresh
may be incomplete and the DRAM may fail to retain data.
Fast gives faster performance; and Slow gives more stable
performance.
z This field applies only when synchronous DRAM is installed
in the system.
The Choice: 2, 3.

43
System BIOS Cacheable
Selecting Enabled allows caching of the system BIOS ROM at
F0000h-FFFFFh, resulting in better system performance.
However, if any program writes to this memory area, a system
error may result.
The Choice: Enabled, Disabled.

Video BIOS Cacheable

Select Enabled allows caching of the video BIOS , resulting in
better system performance. However, if any program writes to
this memory area, a system error may result.
The Choice: Enabled, Disabled.

CPU Latency Timer

Enabled :CPU cycle will only be Deferred after in has been in a
“Snoop Stall” for 31 clocks and another ADS# has arrived.
Disabled: CPU cycle will only be Deferred immediately after the
GMCH receives another ADS#.
The Choice: Enabled, Disabled.

Delay Transaction
The chipset has an embedded 32-bit posted write buffer to
support delay transactions cycles. Select Enabled to support
compliance with PCI specification version 2.1.
The Choice: Enabled, Disabled.

On-Chip VGA

Select the on-chip Enabled or Disabled.

Flash BIOS
The NOVA-7898 has an BIOS write-protect select ion.

Enabled : The user can use flash utility update BIOS.

Disabled: BIOS can’ t update by software.

44
4.8 Integrated Peripherals
CMOS Setup Utility – Copyright © 1984 – 2000 Award
Software
Integrated Peripherals
On-Chip Primary PCI IDE Enabled Item Help
On-Chip Secondary PCI IDE Enabled ___________
IDE Primary Master PIO Auto Menu Level
IDE Primary Slave PIO Auto ¾
IDE Secondary Master PIO Auto If the IDE hard
IDE Secondary Slave PIO Auto drive supports
IDE Primary Master UDMA Auto block mode
IDE Primary Slave UDMA Auto select Enabled
IDE Secondary Master UDMA Auto for automatic
IDE Secondary Slave UDMA Auto detection of
USB Controller Disabled the optimal
USB Keyboard Support Disabled number of
AC97 Audio Auto block
IDE HDD Block Mode Enabled read/write per
Onboard FDC Controller Enabled sector the drive
Onboard Serial Port 1 3F8/IRQ4 can support
Onboard Serial Port 2 2F8/IRQ3
UART Mode Select Normal
Onboard Parallel Port 378/IRQ7
Parallel Port Mode SPP
Watch Timer Unit Select Second
↑↓←→ Move Enter: Select +/-/PU/PD: Value F10:Save
ESC: Exit F1:General Help
F5:Previous Values F6:Fail-safe defaults F7:Optimized
Defaults

There are some item in bottom of scroll.

45
On-Chip Primary/Secondary PCI IDE
The integrated peripheral controller contains an IDE interface
that supports two IDE channels. Select Enabled to activate
each channel separately.
The Choice: Enabled, Disabled.

IDE Primary/Secondary Master/Slave PIO

The four IDE PIO (Programmed Input/Output) fields let the user
set a PIO mode (0-4) for each of the four IDE devices that the
onboard IDE interface supports. Modes 0 through 4 provide
successively increased performance. In Auto mode, the system
automatically determines the best mode for each device.
The Choice: Auto, Mode 0, Mode 1, Mode 2, Mode 3, Mode 4.

IDE Primary/Secondary Master/Slave UDMA

Ultra DMA-33/66 implementation is possible only if the IDE
hard drive supports it and the operating environment includes a
DMA driver (Windows 95 OSR2 or a third-party IDE bus master
driver). If the hard drive and the system software both support
Ultra DMA-33/66, select Auto to enable BIOS support.
The Choice: Auto, Disabled.

USB Controller
Select Enabled if the system contains a Universal Serial Bus
(USB) controller and the user have USB peripherals.
The Choice: Enabled, Disabled.

USB Keyboard Support

Select Enabled if the system contains a Universal Serial Bus
(USB) controller and the user have a USB keyboard.
The Choice: Enabled, Disabled.

46
AC97 Audio
This item allows the user to decide to enable/disable the 810E
chipset family to support AC97 Audio.
The Choice: Auto, Disabled.

IDE HDD Block Mode

Block mode is also called block transfer, multiple commands, or
multiple sector read/write. If the IDE hard drive supports block
mode (most new drives do), select Enabled for automatic
detection of the optimal number of block read/writes per sector
the drive can support.
The Choice: Enabled, Disabled

Onboard FDC Controller

Select Enabled if the system has a floppy disk controller (FDC)
installed on the system board and the user wish to use it. If the
user install and-in FDC or the system has no floppy drive, select
Disabled in this field.
The Choice: Enabled, Disabled

Onboard Serial Port 1/Port 2

Select an address and corresponding interrupt for the first and
second serial ports.
The Choice:
3F8/IRQ4, 2E8/IRQ3, 3E8/IRQ4, 2F8/IRQ3, Disabled, Auto

UART Mode Select

Select a serial port 2 operation mode.
The Choice: Normal, IrDA, ASKIR, SCR

Onboard Parallel Port

Select an address and corresponding interrupt for the parallel
ports.
The Choice: 378/IRQ7, 278/IRQ5, 3BC/IRQ7, Disabled,

47
Parallel Port Mode
Select a parallel operation mode.
The Choice: SPP, EPP, ECP,ECP+EPP

Watchdog Timer Unit Select

Select the WatchDog Timer unit.
The Choice: Second, Minute

48
4.9 Power Management Setup
The Power Management Setup allows the user to configure the
user system to most effectively save energy while user defined
environment.

CMOS Setup Utility – Copyright © 1984 – 2000 Award

Software
Power Management Setup
Power Management User Define Item Help
Video Off Method DPMS ___________________
Video Off In Suspend Yes Menu Level ¾
Suspend Type Stop Grant
Suspend Mode Disabled
HDD Power Down Disabled
Soft-off by PWR-BTTN Instant-off
Wake-up by PCI card Disabled
Power On by Ring Enabled
CPU Thermal-Throttling 50.0%
Resume by Alarm Disabled

** Reload Global Timer Events **

Primary IDE 0 Disabled
Primary IDE 1 Disabled
Secondary IDE 0 Disabled
Secondary IDE 1 Disabled
FDD,COM,LPT Port Disabled
PCI, PIRQ[A-D]# Disabled
↑↓←→Move Enter: Select +/-/PU/PD: Value F10:Save ESC: Exit
F1:General Help
F5:Previous Values F6:Fail-safe defaults F7:Optimized Defaults

49
Power Management
This category allows the user to select the type (or degree) of
power saving and is directly related to the following modes:
1. HDD Power Down
2. Doze Mode
3. Suspend Mode
There are four selections for Power Management, three of which
have fixed mode settings.
Disable (default) No power management. Disables all four
modes
Min. Power Minimum power management. Doze Mode = 1
Saving hr. Standby Mode = 1 hr., Suspend Mode = 1
hr., and HDD Power Down = 15 min.
Max. Power Maximum power management -- ONLY
Saving AVAILABLE FOR SL CPU’s. Doze Mode = 1
min., Standby Mode = 1 min., Suspend Mode
= 1 min., and HDD Power Down = 1 min.
User Defined Allows the user to set each mode individually.
When not disabled, each of the ranges are
from 1 min. to 1 hr. except for HDD Power
Down which ranges from 1 min. to 15 min.
and disable.

Video Off Method

This determines the manner in which the monitor is blanked.
V/H SYNC+Blank This selection will cause the system to
turn off the vertical and horizontal
synchronization ports and write blanks
to the video buffer.
Blank Screen This option only writes blanks to the
video buffer.
DPMS Initial display power management
signaling.

50
Video Off In Suspend
This determines the manner in which the monitor is blanked.
The Choice: Yes, No.

SuspendType
Select the Suspend Type.
The Choice: PWRON Suspend, Stop Grant.

Suspend Mode
When enabled and after the set time of system inactivity, all
devices except the CPU will be shut off.
The Choice:
1Min, 2Min, 4Min, 8Min, 12Min, 20Min, 30Min, 40Min, 1Hour,
Disabled.

HDD Power Down

When enabled and after the set time of system inactivity, the
hard disk drive will be powered down while all other devices
remain active.
The Choice: 1Min, 2Min, 3Min, 4Min, 5Min, 6Min, 7Min, 8Min,
9Min, 10Min, 11Min, 12Min, 13Min, 14Min, 15Min, Disabled.

Wake-up by PCI card

Enable support wake on LAN (WOL) function.

PM EVENTS
PM events are I/O events whose occurrence can prevent the
system from entering a power saving mode or can awaken the
system from such a mode. In effect, the system remains alert
for anything which occurs to a device which is configured as
Enabled , even when the system is in a power down mode.
Primary IDE 0
Primary IDE 1
Secondary IDE 0
Secondary IDE 1
FDD, COM, LPT Port
PCI PIRQ[A-D] #

51
4.10 PnP/PCI Configuration Setup
This section describes configuring the PCI bus system. PCI, or
Personal Computer Interconnect, is a system which allows I/O
devices to operate at speeds nearing the speed the CPU itself
uses when communicating with its own special components.
This section covers some very technical items and it is strongly
recommended that only experienced users should make any
changes to the default settings.

CMOS Setup Utility – Copyright © 1984-2000 Award

Software
PnP/PCI Configurations
Reset Configuration Data Disabled Item Help
--------------------
Resources Controlled By Auto(ESCD) Menu Level ¾
x IRQ Resources Press Enter
Default is Disabled.
Select Enabled to
reset Extended
System
PCI/VGA Palette Snoop Disabled Configuration
Data(ESCD) when
the user exit Setup
if the user have
installed a new
add-on and the
system
reconfiguration has
caused such a
serious conflict that
the OS cannot boot
↑↓←→Move Enter: Select +/-/PU/PD: Value F10:Save ESC: Exit
F1:General Help
F5:Previous Values F6:Fail-safe defaults F7:Optimized
Defaults

52
Reset Configuration Data
Normally, the user leave this field Disabled. Select Enabled to
reset Extended System Configuration Data (ESCD) when the
user exit Setup if the user have installed a new add-on and the
system reconfiguration has caused such a serious conflict that
the operating system can not boot.
The Choice: Enabled, Disabled .

Resource controlled by
The Award Plug and Play BIOS has the capacity to automatically
configure all of the boot and Plug and Play compatible devices.
However, this capability means absolutely nothing unless the
user are using a Plug and Play operating system such as
Windows95. If the user set this field to “manual” choose
specific resources by going into each of the sub menu that
follows this field (a sub menu is preceded by a “¾”).
The Choice: Auto(ESCD), Manual.

IRQ Resources
When resources are controlled manually, assign each system
interrupt a type, depending on the type of device using the
interrupt.

IRQ3/4/5/7/9/10/11/12/14/15 assigned to
This item allows the user to determine the IRQ assigned to the
ISA bus and is not available to any PCI slot. Legacy ISA for
devices compliant with the original PC AT bus specification,
PCI/ISA PnP for devices compliant with the Plug and Play
standard whether designed for PCI or ISA bus architecture.
The Choice: PCI Device, Reserved.

PCI/VGA Palette Snoop

Leave this field at Disabled.
The Choices: Enabled, Disabled.

53
4.11 Frequency/Voltage Control

CMOS Setup Utility – Copyright © 1984-2000 Award Software

Frequency/Voltage Control
Auto Detect DIMM/PCI Clk Disabled Item Help
Spread Spectrum Disabled ------------------------
CPU Host/PCI Clock Default Menu Level ¾
CPU Clock Ratio X4

↑↓←→ Move Enter: Select +/-/PU/PD: Value F10:Save ESC: Exit

F1:General Help
F5:Previous Values F6:Fail-safe defaults F7:Optimized Defaults

Auto Detect DIMM/PCI Clk

This item allows the user to enable/disable auto detect
DIMM/PCI Clock.
The Choice: Enabled, Disabled.

Spread Spectrum
This item allows the user to enable/disable the spread spectrum
modulate.
The Choice: Enabled, Disabled.

CPU Host / PCI Clock

This item allows the user to select CPU Host and PCI clock.
The Choice:
Default,130/33,133/33,137/34,140/35,145/36,150/38( M )

54
CPU Clock Ratio
This item allows the user to select CPU clock ratio.
The Choice:
4, 4.5, 5, 5.5, 6, 6.5, 7, 7.5, 8,8.5,9,9.5,10,10.5,11,11.5,12.

55
4.12 Defaults Menu
Selecting “Defaults” from the main menu shows the user
two options which are described below

Load Fail-Safe Defaults

When the user press <Enter> on this item the user get a
confirmation dialog box with a message similar to:

Load Fail-Safe Defaults (Y/N) ? N

Pressing ‘Y’ loads the BIOS default values for the most
stable, minimal-performance system operations.

Load Optimized Defaults

When the user press <Enter> on this item the user get a
confirmation dialog box with a message similar to:

Load Optimized Defaults (Y/N) ? N

Pressing ‘Y’ loads the default values that are factory

settings for optimal performance system operations.

56
4.13 Supervisor/User Password Setting

The user can set either supervisor or user password, or both of

then. The differences between are:

Supervisor Password : for entering and changing the settings

of the system

User Password : for just entering the system but do not

have the right to change any settings of the system.

If this function is enabled, the following message will appear at

the center of the screen to guide the user to create a password.

ENTER PASSWORD:

Type the password, up to eight characters in length, and press

<Enter>. The password typed now will clear any previously
entered password from CMOS memory. The user will be asked
to confirm the password. Type the password again and press
<Enter>.

Note: The user may also press <Esc> to abort the selection and
not enter a password.

To disable a password, just press <Enter> when the user are

prompted to enter the password. A message will confirm the
password will be disabled. Once the password is disabled, the
system will boot and the user can enter Setup freely.

PASSWORD DISABLED.

When a password has been enabled, the user will be prompted

to enter it every time the user try to enter Setup. This prevents
an unauthorized person from changing any part of the system
configuration.

57
Additionally, when a password is enabled, the user can also
require the BIOS to request a password every time the system
is rebooted. This would prevent unauthorized use of the
computer.

The user determines when the password is required within the

BIOS Features Setup Menu and its Security option (see Section
3). If the Security option is set to password will be required
both at boot and at entry to Setup. If set to “Setup”, prompting
only occurs when trying to enter Setup.

4.14 Exit Selecting

Save & Exit Setup

Pressing <Enter> on this item asks for confirmation:

Save to CMOS and EXIT (Y/N)? Y

Pressing “Y” stores the selections made in the menus in

CMOS – a special section of memory that stays on after
the user turn the userr system off. The next time the
user boot the userr computer, the BIOS configures the
userr system according to the Setup selections stored in
CMOS. After saving the values the system is restarted
again.

Exit Without Saving

Pressing <Enter> on this item asks for confirmation:

Quit without saving (Y/N)? Y

This allows the user to exit Setup without storing in

CMOS any change. The previous selections remain in
effect. This exits the Setup utility and restarts the
computer.

58
 Appendix A. Watchdog Timer

The Watchdog Timer is provided to ensure that standalone

systems can always recover from catastrophic conditions
that cause the CPU to crash. This condition may have
occurred by external EMI or a software bug. When the CPU
stops working correctly, hardware on the board will either
perform a hardware reset (cold boot) or a Non-Maskable
Interrupt (NMI) to bring the system back to a known state.

A BIOS function call (INT 15H) is used to control the

Watchdog Timer:

INT 15H:

AH – 6FH
Sub-function:
AL – 2 : Set the Watchdog Timer’s period
BL : Time-out value(the time unit--second or
minute, is dependent on the item
“Watchdog Timer unit selected in BIOS
setup).

The user have to call sub-function 2 to set the time-out

period of Watchdog Timer first. If the time-out value is not
zero, the Watchdog Timer will start counting down. When
the timer value reaches zero, the system will reset. To
ensure that this reset condition does not occur, the
Watchdog Timer must be periodically refreshed by calling
sub-function 2. However the Watchdog timer will be
disabled if the user set the time-out value to be zero.

A tolerance of at least 10% must be maintained to

avoid unknown routines within the operating system
(DOS), such as disk I/O that can be very time-
consuming.
Note: when exiting a program it is necessary to disable the
Watchdog Timer, otherwise the system will reset.

59
Example program:

; INITIAL TIMER PERIOD COUNTER

;
W_LOOP:

MOV AX, 6F02H ;setting the time-out value

MOV BL, 30 ;time-out value is 48 seconds
INT 15H
;
; ADD THE USERR APPLICATION PROGRAM HERE
;
CMP EXIT_AP, 1 ;is the userr application over?
JNE W_LOOP ;No, restart the userr application

MOV AX, 6F02H ;disable Watchdog Timer

MOV BL, 0 ;
INT 15H
;
; EXIT
;

60
Appendix B. Address Mapping

IO Address Map
I/O address Description
Range
000-01F DMA Controller #1
020-021 Interrupt Controller #1, Master
040-05F 8254 Timer
060-06F 8042 (Keyboard Controller)
070-07F Real time Clock, NMI Mask
080-09F DMA Page Register
0A0-0BF Interrupt Controller #2
0C0-0DF DMA Controller #2
0F0 Clear Math Coprocessor Busy
0F1 Reset Math Coprocessor
0F2 Core Logic Programming Configuration
0F8-0FF Math Coprocessor
1F0-1F8 Fixed Disk
200-207 Game I/O
278-27F Parallel Printer Port 2 (LPT3)
2E8-2EF Serial Port 4
2F8-2FF Serial Port 2
300-31F Prototype Card
360-36F Reserved
378-37F Parallel Printer Port 1 (LPT2)
3B0-3BF Monochrome Display and Printer Adapter
(LPT1)
3C0-3CF Reserved
3D0-3DF Color/Graphics Monitor Adapter
3E8-3EF Serial Port 3
3F0-3F7 Diskette Controller
3F8-3FF Serial Port 1

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1st MB Memory Address Map
Memory address Description
00000-9FFFF System Memory
A0000-BFFFF VGA buffer
C0000-C7FFF VGA BIOS
F0000-FFFFF System BIOS
1000000- Extend BIOS
*Default setting

IRQ Mapping Table

IRQ0 System Timer IRQ8 RTC clock
IRQ1 Keyboard IRQ9 Available
IRQ2 Cascade to IRQ Controller IRQ10 Intel 82559 LAN
IRQ3 COM2 IRQ11 Intel 82562ET
LAN
IRQ4 COM1 IRQ12 PS/2 mouse
IRQ5 AC’97 CODEC IRQ13 FPU
IRQ6 FDC IRQ14 Primary IDE
IRQ7 Printer IRQ15 Secondary IDE

DMA Channel Assignments

Chann Function
el
0 Available
1 Available
2 Floppy disk ( 8-bit transfer )
3 Available
4 Cascade for DMA controller 1
5 Available
6 Available
7 Available

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Appendix C. How to Upgrade a New BIOS

The user can install an upgrade BIOS for the NOVA-7898 that
the user can download from the manufacturer’s web site
( www.e-icp.com.tw ). New BIOS may provide support for new
peripherals ,improvements in performance or fixes to addressed
known bugs.

BIOS Update Procedure:

PS :(Into the Advanced Chipset Features item then

change the values of flash BIOS to Enabled.)

1. Make a boot disk. Go to the DOS command prompt in MS-

DOS or Windows 9x and, with an available floppy disk in "A",
type "format A: /s" That will format the floppy and transfer the
needed system files to it.

NOTES:
A. This procedure will erase any prior data on that floppy, so
please Proceed accordingly.
B. Typically four files will be transferred, only COMMAND.COM
being visible when running a simple directory listing.
C. Please leave the diskette UN-write protected for the balance
of this procedure.

2. Download the BIOS upgrade file and awdflash.exe utility

from a ICP web site to a temp directory on the hard drive, or
directly to the floppy the user made in step 1..

3. Copy ( BIOS file and awdflash.exe )two files to the boot

floppy.

4. Reboot the system to the DOS command prompt using the

boot diskette the user just made.

5. At the DOS command prompt type , "awdflash filename.xxx",

where filename.xxx is the file name of the BIOS file . Hit enter.

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6. The user’s first option, in sequence, will be to save the old
BIOS. We recommend that the user do that in case, for
whatever reason, the user decide the user don't wish to use the
new version once it is installed.

NOTES:
A. If the user decide to save the old BIOS, PLEASE make sure
the user do NOT save it to the same file name as the new
BIOS - if the user use the same BIOS name the old file will
be written over the new file with NO warning prompt. A
simple file name to save the old BIOS to is OLDBIOS.BIN.
B. If the user do NOT decide to save the old BIOS, PLEASE at
least write down the version number of the old BIOS and
store that information with user’s important computer
documents. Enter N (for "no") and skip to step 9.

7. To save the old BIOS, hit Y (for "yes")

8. Enter a name for the OLD BIOS file and hit enter.
NOTE:PLEASE be sure the user do NOT save the old BIOS file to
the same file name as the new BIOS - if the user use the same
BIOS name, the old file will write over the new BIOS file
WITHOUT a warning prompt. A simple file name for saving the
old BIOS to is OLDBIOS.BIN.

9. User’s second option, in sequence, will be whether the user

want to flash the BIOS. Enter Y (for "yes").

NOTE: This is the critical step. Once the user kit the enter key,
do NOT touch the keyboard, the reset button, or power
switch while the flashing is in progress. There will be bar
progressing across the screen while the flashing is
progressing.

10. When the flashing process is complete, the user will be

asked to reset or power off the system. Remove the floppy
diskette from the floppy drive and either hit the reset button or
the power button.

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11. Reboot the system and note that the BIOS version on the
initial boot-up screen has changed to the new BIOS version.
BIOS upgrade is now complete.

Recovering User’s Old BIOS:

1. Assuming the user have the floppy made during the upgrade
procedure noted above, boot the system with that diskette in
the floppy drive. If the user do not have floppy made during the
upgrade procedure noted above, the user will need to repeat
steps 1 though 3 (above) for the version of the BIOS the user
wish to recover to.

2. Complete steps 4, 5, 6B, 9, 10, and 11 (above) substituting

the name of the BIOS the user wish to recover for the upgrade
BIOS at step 5.

Install screen :

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