Chapter 1 Overview AX6B Plus is a new generation Pentium II based system board that features an onboard Adaptec AIC-7880 SCSI chip. It utilizes Intel 82440BX AGPset on ATX PCI/ISA platform. This AGPset is designed for Pentium II CPU, and supports new architectures such as high speed AGP graphic port, SDRAM, Ultra DMA/33, Bus master IDE and USB port. It has four Dual in-line Memory Module (DIMM) that allow to install SDRAM memory and expand up to a maximum of 1GB. Since the cache is on the Pentium II CPU card (connector SLOT1), there is no second level cache onboard. Also, AX6B Plus uses 2M bit Flash ROM BIOS to reserve for future new functions. Not only above features, AX6B Plus also implements many special features as following. Jumper-less Design Pentium II VID signal and SMbus clock generator provide CPU voltage auto-detection and allows user to set CPU frequency through CMOS setup, no jumper or switch is needed. The correct CPU information is saved into EEPROM, with these technologies, the disadvantages of Pentium base jumper-less design are eliminated. There will be no worry of wrong CPU voltage detection and no need to re-open the housing if CMOS battery loss. The only jumper left is to clear CMOS, which is a safety hook if you forget the password. Battery-less Motherboard AX6B Plus implements EEPROM and special circuit (patent applied) that allows you to save your current CPU and CMOS Setup configurations without the need of battery. The RTC (real time clock) can also keep running as long as power cord is plugged. If you lose your CMOS data by accident, you can just reload the CMOS configurations from EEPROM and the system will recover as usual. Suspend To Hard Drive "Immediately" turns on system and goes back to the original screen before power down. You can resume your original work directly from hard disk without go through the Win95 booting process and run your application again. Suspend to Hard Drive saves your current work (system status, memory image) into hard disk. Note that you have to use VESA 1-1 Overview compatible PCI VGA, Sound Blaster compatible sound card with APM driver, for Suspend to Hard Drive to work properly. Zero Voltage Modem Wake Up In conjunction with ATX soft power On/Off, it is possible to have system totally power off and wakeup to automatically answer a phone call such as answering machine or to send/receive fax. The most important break through is not only external box modem but also internal modem card can be used to support Modem Wake Up. The AX6B Plus and MP56 internal modem card implement special circuit (patent applied) to make sure the modem card work properly without any power. LAN Wake Up This feature is very similar as Modem Wake Up, but it is through local area network. To use LAN Wake Up function, you must have a network card that supports this feature and also need to install a network management software, such as ADM. RTC Wake Up Timer The Wake Up Timer is more like an alarm, which wakes up and power on your system at a pre-defined time for specific application. It can be set to wake up everyday or on specific date within a month. The date/time accurate is second. High Efficient Synchronous Switching Regulator Most of the current switching designs are Asynchronous mode, which from the technical point of view, still consumes very high power as well as heat. AX6B Plus implements high efficient synchronous switching design that the temperature of MOS FET is far less than Schottky diode of Asynchronous design. Over Current Protection Circuit The Over Current Protection was very popular implemented on the Baby AT or ATX 3.3V/5V/12V switching power supply. But unfortunately, the new generation Pentium II CPU uses different voltage that have regulator to transfer 5V to CPU voltage (for example, 2.8V), and make 5V over current protection useless. AX6B Plus with switching regulator onboard support CPU over current protection, in conjunction with 3.3V/5V/12V power supply provide the full line over current protection. CPU and Housing Fan Monitoring AX6B Plus has one more "fan monitoring" function to prevent system overheat. There are two fan connectors, one is for CPU and the other can be an extra housing fan. The system will report and alarm fan malfunction though utility software such as Hardware Monitor utility (Small Icon for Hardware Monitoring). CPU Thermal Protection AX6B Plus has a special thermal detection circuit to have warning through application software when the temperature is higher than a predefined value. System Voltage Monitoring Further more, AX6B Plus implements a voltage monitoring system, As you turn on your system, this smart design will continue to monitor your system working voltage. If any of the system voltage is over the component's standard. There will be alarm though utility software such as 1-2 Overview Hardware Monitor utility (Small Icon for Hardware Monitoring) for a warning to user. Full-range CPU core voltage This motherboard supports the CPU core voltage from 1.3V to 3.5V, that can be applied to various CPU type in future. FCC DoC certificate AX6B Plus has passed FCC DoC test. The radiation is very low, you can use any kind of housing. Sound Blaster Link The SB-LINK connector can be used to link Creative PCI sound card. If you have a Creative PCI sound card installed, it is necessary to link the card to this connector for compatibility issue under DOS environment. Powerful utility softwares supported AOpen Bonus Pack bundled CD contains many useful utilities, such as ADM (Advanced Desktop Manager), AOchip, Hardware Monitor utility, AcePhone, EasyAxess, Suspend to Hard Drive utility, and BIOS flash utility. Multi-language BIOS This breakthrough will help you set BIOS items without the language barrier. 1-3 Overview 1.1 Specifications ATX 305 mm x 244 mm Intel Pentium II Processor SDRAM or Registered SDRAM, 168-pin DIMM x4, maximum 1GB. On the CPU card (Slot1 connector) Intel 82440BX AGPset ISA x3, PCI x4 and AGP x1 Two serial ports UART 16C550 compatible, and the 3rd UART for IR function. One parallel port supports standard parallel port (SPP), enhanced parallel port (EPP) or extended capabilities port (ECP). Floppy interface supports 3.5 inches drives with 720KB, 1.44MB or 2.88MB format or 5.25 inches drives with 360KB, 1.2MB format Dual-channel IDE interface support maximum 4 IDE hard disks or CDROM, mode 4 , bus master hard disk drives and Ultra DMA/33 mode hard drives are also supported. Adaptec AIC-7880 onboard. Two USB ports supported by USB bracket, the BIOS also supports USB driver to simulate legacy keyboard. Mini-Din PS/2 mouse connector onboard. Mini-Din PS/2 keyboard connector onboard. RTC within Intel PIIX4E chipset. Lithium (CR-2032) battery is an option, no battery is needed if power cord is plugged. AWARD Plug-and-Play, 2M bit Flash ROM BIOS. Multi-language versions supported. Form Factor Board Size CPU System Memory Second-level Cache Chipset Expansion Slots Serial Port Parallel Port Floppy Interface IDE Interface SCSI USB Interface PS/2 Mouse Keyboard RTC and Battery BIOS 1-4 Overview Suspend to Hard Drive Supported by BIOS, save your work to hard disk and resume within a very short time. VESA compatible VGA and Sound Blaster compatible sound card required. Special circuit (patent applied) to support modem ring wake up by external box modem or internal AOpen F56/MP56 modem card. By using a network card that supports this feature and a network management software (such as ADM), you can wake up a system through a local area network. Program the date/time to wake up your system. High efficient synchronous switching regulator. CPU core voltage over-current protection to prevent any accident short circuit. Warning when CPU temperature is overheat. Option for OEM to have sensor at CPU heatsink. Two 3-pin fan connectors, warning when CPU or housing fan is malfunction. Warning when system voltage (5V,12V,3.3V and CPU core) are abnormal The SB-LINK connector can be used to link Creative PCI sound card. Zero Voltage Modem Wake Up LAN Wake Up RTC Wake Up Timer Synchronous Switching Regulator Over-current Protection CPU Thermal Protection Fan Monitoring System Voltage Monitoring SB-LINK 1-5 Overview 1.2 Suspend to Hard Drive Suspend to Hard Drive saves your current work (system status, memory and screen image) into hard disk, and then the system can be totally power off. Next time, when power is on, you can resume your original work directly from hard disk within few second without go through the Win95 booting process and run your application again. If your memory is 16MB, normally, you need to reserve at least 16MB HDD space to save your memory image. Note that you have to use VESA compatible PCI VGA (AOpen PV70/PT70), Sound Blaster compatible sound card and sound driver that supports APM (AOpen AW32/AW35) for Suspend to Hard Drive to work properly. Of course, we recommend to use AOpen products for best compatibility. To use Suspend to Hard Drive: 1. Go into BIOS setup, Power Management à Suspend Mode Option, select "Suspend to Disk". 2. Go into BIOS setup, PNP/PCI Configuration à PnP OS Installed, select "No". This can give BIOS the capability to allocate system resources for Suspend to Hard Drive. 3. Bootup your system into DOS command prompt. If you are Win'95 user, Please restart your Windows 95 under "Command Prompt" by pressing "F8" while system shows "Windows 95 Starting ...". Choose "Safe Mode Command Prompt Only" from selection so that system will start in DOS command prompt. 4. Copy AOZVHDD.EXE to the root directory of your C: drive. 5. Option 1: Use /file switch (applied to FAT16 file system): Please use following command to create a hidden file in the root directory of your hard disk for Suspend to Hard Drive to save the system status and memory image. C:>AOZVHDD /c /file Please make sure that you have enough continuous HDD space for creating this hidden file. For example, if you have 32MB of system memory and 4MB of VGA memory, you need at least 36MB (32MB + 4MB) of continuous HDD space. If AOZVHDD failed to allocate the HDD space, you may run "DEFRAG" Utility or "Disk Defragmenter" which come with MSDOS or Win'95 to free HDD space. 1-6 Overview Option2: Use /partiton switch (applied to FAT16/FAT32 file system): To create a separate partiton for Suspend to Hard Drive, please make sure you have reserved a free partition. We suggest you reserve the free partition which space is appropriate for your future memory expansion. For example, if you have 32MB of system memory and 4MB of VGA memory currently, but you plan to upgrade system memory to 64MB in the near future, then you may reserve a 68MB (64MB+4MB) space by using a disk utility (such as fdisk). Next, use following command to create a suspend partition: C:>AOZVHDD /c /partition If there is no extra free partition and you don't want your data lost, please do not use this partition method. 6. After creating above partition or hidden file, please reboot your system. 7. Push suspend switch (momentary mode) or use Win95 Suspend icon to force system goes into Suspend to Hard Drive mode and then turn system power off by power switch of your power supply. 8. Next time when you turn on your system, it will resume to your original work automatically. Warning: Note that Intel Bus Master and Ultra DMA/33 IDE driver are not fully compatible with Suspend to Hard Drive function, installing these drivers may cause the system unstable. Under this situation, please uninstall the drivers. Warning: This function does not support SCSI hard disks. 1-7 Overview Tip: The following VGA cards have been tested & recognized as VESA compatible VGA device. AOpen PV90 (Trident 9680) AOpen PT60 (S3 Virge/BIOS R1.00-01) AOpen PV60 (S3 Tiro64V+) AOpen PT70 (S3 Virge/DX) ProLink Trident GD-5440 ProLink Cirrus GD-5430 ProLink Cirrus GD-5446 ATI Mach 64 GX ATI 3D RAGE II Diamond Stealth64D (S3 868) Diamond Stealth64V (S3 968) KuoWei ET-6000 ATI 3D RAGE PRO 2x (AGP) PLOTECH 3D IMAGE 9850 (AGP) CARDEX S3 Virge/GX (AGP) Tip: The following sound cards have been tested OK for Suspend to Hard Drive. AOpen AW32 AOpen AW35 AOpen MP32 Creative SB 16 Value PnP Creative SB AWE32 PnP ESS 1868 PnP If your sound card can not work after resume from Suspend to Hard Drive, check your sound card vendor see if there is driver to support APM, and install it again. Note: The USB function has not been tested for Suspend to Hard Drive. If you find any unstable problem, please go into BIOS, Integrated Peripherals à USB Legacy Support. Disable the USB Legacy function. 1-8 Overview 1.3 Zero Voltage Modem Wake Up The Modem Wake Up discussed here is to wakeup from true power off (identified by fan of power supply is off), This motherboard still supports traditional green PC suspend mode but it is not discussed here. With the help ATX soft power On/Off, it is possible to have system totally power off (The traditional suspend mode of ...