User manual AOPEN AK77 PLUS

[. . . ] Overview Troubleshooting & Technical Support Hardware Installation Drivers & Utilities AWARD BIOS Setup Glossary Online Manual AK77 Plus / AK77 Pro DOC. NO. : AK77P-OL-E0110E AK77 Plus / AK77 Pro 1 AK77 Plus / AK77 Pro W h a t 's i n t h i s m a n u a l Online Manual AK77 Plus / AK77 Pro. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 What's in this manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 You Must Notice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Before You Start. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [. . . ] ATX Stand-by Power Battery Auto Switch RTC (Real Time Clock) 00:00:00 Auto switching to ATX standby power as long as AC power line is plugged. This smart design can increases battery life if you still had battery plugged on motherboard. Flash ROM CMOS Backup by EEPROM 58 AK77 Plus / AK77 Pro O v e r - c ur r e n t P r o t e c t i o n Online Manual It is very popular that the Over Current Protection was implemented on ATX 3. 3V/5V/12V switching power supply. However, the new generation CPU uses different voltages that has regulator to transfer 5V to CPU voltage (for example, 2. 0V), and thus makes 5V over current protection useless. This motherboard is equipped with switching regulator onboard which supports CPU over-current protection; in conjunction with 3. 3V/5V/12V power supply to provide the full line over-current protection. 12V (Protected by power supply) ATX Switching Power Supply 3. 3V (Protected by power supply) 5V (Protected by power supply) Onboard Power Regulator Over-Current Protection Circuit CPU Core Voltage Note: Although we have implemented protection circuit try to prevent any human operating mistake, there is still certain risk that CPU, memory, HDD, add-on cards installed on this motherboard may be damaged because of component failure, human operating error or unknown nature reason. AOpen cannot guaranty the protection circuit will always work perfectly. 59 AK77 Plus / AK77 Pro H a r d w a r e M o ni t o r i n g Online Manual This motherboard implements a hardware monitoring system. As you turn on your system, this smart design will continue to monitor your system's working voltage, fan status and CPU temperature. If any of these systems' status go wrong, there will be an alarm through the AOpen Hardware Monitoring Utility to warn the user. Fan Fan Speed Detection CPU CPU Temperature CPU Voltage AOpen H/W Monitoring Utility Circuit Power System Voltage 60 AK77 Plus / AK77 Pro R e se t ta b l e F u s e Online Manual Traditional motherboard has fuse for Keyboard and USB port to prevent over-current or shortage. These fuses are soldered onboard that user cannot replace it when it is damaged (did the job to protect motherboard), and the motherboard remains malfunction. With expensive Resettable Fuse, the motherboard can resume back to normal function after fuse had done its protection job. Resettable Fuse 61 AK77 Plus / AK77 Pro Year 2000 (Y2K) Online Manual Y2K is basically a problem of the identification of year code. To save storage space, traditional software uses only two digits for year identification. For example, 98 for 1998 and 99 for 1999, but 00 will be confused with 1900 and 2000. There is an RTC circuit (Real Time Clock) in conjunction with 128 bytes of CMOS RAM data in the chipset of the motherboard. The RTC has only two digits and the CMOS has another 2 digits. Unfortunately, this circuit's behavior is like this 1997 1998 1999 1900, that means it may have the Y2K problem. Below is a diagram of how applications work with the OS, BIOS and RTC. In order to keep the best compatibility in the PC industry there is a rule that applications must call the OS to get services and OS must call the BIOS, and then only BIOS is allowed to access the hardware (RTC) directly. Applications Operating System (such as Windows 98) BIOS (Tick Routine) RTC and CMOS data There is a Tick Routine (that goes live around every 50m sec) in the BIOS to keep record of date/time information. In general the BIOS, this Tick Routine does not update the CMOS every time because the CMOS is a very slow device that degrades system performance. The Tick Routine of the AOpen BIOS has 4 digits for year coding, as long as applications and the operating system follow the rule to get date/time information. There will be no Y2K problem (such as NSTL's test program). But unfortunately again, we found some test programs (such as Checkit 98) accesses RTC/CMOS directly. This motherboard has hardware Y2K checking and protection that ensures risk free operation. 62 AK77 Plus / AK77 Pro 22 0 0 f L o w E S R C a p ac i t o r Online Manual The quality of low ESR capacitor (Low Equivalent Series Resistance) during high frequency operation is very important for the stability of CPU power. The idea of where to put these capacitors is another know-how that requires experience and detail calculation. [. . . ] You can find this bar code label on the outside packing, on ISA/CPU slot or on component side of PCB. For example: Part No. Serial No. Part No. Serial No. P/N: 91. 88110. 201 is part number, S/N: 91949378KN73 is serial number. 107 AK77 Plus / AK77 Pro Mo d e l n a m e a n d B I O S v e r s i o n Online Manual Model name and BIOS version can be found on upper left corner of first boot screen (POST screen). For example: AK77 Plus R1. 00 FEb. 01. 2001 AOpen Inc. Award Plug and Play BIOS Extension v1. 0A Copyright © 1998, Award Software, Inc. AK77 Plus is model name of motherboard, R1. 00 is BIOS version. 108 AK77 Plus / AK77 Pro Online Manual Produ c t R egis tration Thank you for choosing AOpen product. [. . . ]