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System Setup Options: Dell™ OptiPlex™ GX115 System User's
Guide
AC Power Recovery determines what happens when AC
power is restored to the system.
When Off is selected, the system remains off when
AC power is restored. When On is selected, the system starts up when AC
power is restored.
When Last is selected, the system returns to the AC
power state existing at the time that AC power was lost. If the system is on when AC power
is lost, the system starts up when AC power is restored. If the system is off when AC
power is lost, the system remains off when AC power is restored.
Asset Tag displays the customer-programmable asset
tag number for the system if an asset tag number is assigned. You can use the Asset Tag
utility, which is included with your software support utilities, to enter an asset tag
number up to ten characters long into nonvolatile random-access memory (NVRAM).
Auto Power On allows you to set the time and days
of the week to turn on the computer system automatically. You can set Auto Power
On to turn on the system either every day or every Monday through Friday.
 |
NOTE: This feature does not work if you turn off
your system using a power strip or surge protector. |
Time is kept in a 24-hour format (hours:minutes). To change
the start-up time, press the right-arrow key to increase the number in the highlighted
field or press the left-arrow key to decrease the number. If you prefer, you can type
numbers in both the date and time fields.
The default for Auto Power On is Disabled.
Boot Sequence enables you to set the order of the devices
from which the system attempts to boot.
The term boot refers to the system's start-up procedure. When
turned on, the system "bootstraps" itself into an operational state by loading
into memory a small program, which in turn loads the necessary operating system. Boot
Sequence tells the system where to look for the files that it needs to load.
If you would like to change the boot order one time without going
into the setup options, press <Ctrl><Alt><F8>.
To set the boot device order, press <Enter> to access the
field's pop-up options menu. Press the up- and down-arrow keys to move through the list of
devices. Press the spacebar to enable or disable a device (enabled devices appear with a
check mark). Press plus (+) or minus (–) to move a selected device up or down the
list. The following subsections describe typical boot devices.
Diskette Drive A:
Selecting Diskette Drive A: as the first device causes the
system to try booting from drive A first. If the system finds a diskette that is not
bootable in the drive or finds a problem with the drive itself, it displays an error
message. If it does not find a diskette in the drive, the system tries to boot from the
next device in the boot sequence list.
Hard-Disk Drive
Selecting Hard-Disk Drive causes the system to attempt to
boot first from the hard-disk drive and then from the next device in the boot sequence
list.
IDE CD-ROM Device
Selecting IDE CD-ROM Device causes the system to try booting
from the CD-ROM drive first. If the system finds a CD that is not bootable in the drive or
finds a problem with the drive itself, it displays an error message. If it does not find a
CD in the drive, the system tries to boot from the next device in the boot sequence list.
MBA UNDI
Selecting MBA UNDI allows the system to boot from
the network server. The MBA UNDI option appears under Boot
Sequence only if the Network Interface Controller
option is set to On w/MBA. If the Network Interface Controller
option is set to On or Off, set it to On w/MBA
and then press <Alt><b> to save the change and reboot the system. MBA
UNDI then appears under Boot Sequence.
When you select this option, the system prompts you to press
<Ctrl><Alt><b> at the Dell logo screen during system boot. A menu then
appears that allows you to select PXE, RPL, BootP,
or NetWare as the active boot mode. If a boot routine is not available
from the network server, the system tries to boot from the next device in the boot
sequence list.
CPU ID provides the manufacturer's identification
code for the installed microprocessor.
CPU Speed indicates the processor speed at which
your system boots.
Press the left- or right-arrow key to toggle the CPU Speed
option between the resident microprocessor's rated speed (the default) and a lower
compatibility speed, which lets you accommodate speed-sensitive application programs. A
change to this option takes effect immediately (rebooting the system is not required).
To toggle between the rated processor speed and the compatibility
speed while the system is running in real mode, press <Ctrl><Alt><\>.
(For keyboards that do not use American English, press <Ctrl><Alt><#>.)
Bus Speed indicates the speed of the
microprocessor's system bus, or front-side bus (FSB).
Processor ID provides the manufacturer's
identification code(s) for the installed microprocessor.
Clock Speed indicates the core speed at which the
microprocessor(s) operates.
Cache Size displays the size of the
microprocessor's level 2 (L2) cache.
Diskette Drive A and Diskette Drive B
identify the type of diskette drives installed in your computer. With the standard cabling
configuration, Diskette Drive A (the boot diskette drive) is the 3.5-inch
diskette drive installed in the top externally accessible drive bay; Diskette
Drive B is a second diskette drive installed in any of the lower externally
accessible drive bays.
The Diskette Drive A and Diskette Drive B
options have the following possible settings:
|
NOTE: Tape drives are not reflected in the Diskette
Drive A and Diskette Drive B options. For example, if you have a
single diskette drive and a tape drive attached to the diskette/tape drive interface
cable, set Diskette Drive A to match the characteristics of the diskette
drive and set Diskette Drive B to Not Installed. |
The Fastboot option allows your system to boot in 10 seconds or less.
By default, this option is set to Off. However, if you have Windows 2000,
you may turn this option on and skip certain configurations and tests during boot.
The Integrated Devices option configures the following
devices integrated with the system board:
Press <Enter> to configure these options as explained in the
following subsections.
Sound determines whether the optional integrated
audio controller is On or Off. The default is On.
Network Interface Controller determines whether the integrated NIC is On,
Off, or On w/ MBA. The default is On. If
you select On w/ MBA, you are prompted to press
<Ctrl><Alt><b> at the Dell logo screen during system boot. A menu then
appears that allows you to select PXE, RPL, BootP,
or NetWare as the active boot mode.
Mouse Port enables or disables the system's
integrated Personal System/2 (PS/2)-compatible mouse port. Disabling the mouse allows an
expansion card to use interrupt request (IRQ)12.
Serial Port 1 and Serial Port 2
configure the system's integrated serial ports. You can set these options to Auto
(the default) to automatically configure a port, to a particular designation (COM1
or COM3 for Serial Port 1; COM2 or COM4
for Serial Port 2), or to Off to disable the
port.
If you set a serial port to Auto and add an
expansion card containing a port configured to the same designation, the system
automatically remaps the integrated port to the next available port designation that
shares the same IRQ setting as follows:
- COM1 (input/output [I/O] address 3F8h), which shares
IRQ4 with COM3, is remapped to COM3 (I/O address 3E8h).
- COM2 (I/O address 2F8h), which shares IRQ3 with COM4,
is remapped to COM4 (I/O address 2E8h).
|
NOTE: When two COM ports share an IRQ setting, you
can use either port as necessary, but you may not be able to use them both at the same
time. If you are running the Microsoft® Windows® 95 or IBM® OS/2® operating system,
you cannot use both serial ports at the same time. If the second port (COM3
or COM4) is also in use, the integrated port is turned off. |
Parallel Port configures the system's integrated
parallel port. Press <Enter> to configure the Parallel Port options
explained in the following subsections.
You can set this option to PS/2, EPP,
ECP, AT, or Off to disable the port.
Set this option according to the type of peripheral device connected
to the parallel port. To determine the correct mode to use, see the documentation that
came with the device.
This option determines the I/O address used by the parallel port and
appears except when Mode is set to Off. You can set I/O
Address to 378h (the default), 278h, or 3BCh.
|
NOTE: You cannot set the parallel port to 3BCh
if Mode is set to EPP. |
This option determines the direct memory access (DMA) channel used
by the parallel port and appears only when Mode is set to ECP.
The available options are DMA 1, DMA 3, and Off.
IDE Drive Interface enables or disables the
system's integrated enhanced integrated drive electronics (EIDE) hard-disk drive
interface.
With Auto (the default) selected, the system turns
off the integrated EIDE interface when necessary to accommodate a controller card
installed in an expansion slot.
As part of the boot routine, the system first checks for a primary
hard-disk drive controller card installed in an expansion slot. If no card is found, the
system enables the integrated EIDE interface to use IRQ14 and IRQ15.
If a primary controller is detected on the expansion bus, the
integrated EIDE interface is disabled.
Selecting Off disables the integrated EIDE
interface.
Diskette Interface controls the operation of the
system's integrated diskette drive controller.
With Auto (the default) selected, the system turns
off the integrated diskette drive controller when necessary to accommodate a controller
card installed in an expansion slot.
With Read Only selected, nothing can be written to
any diskette drive or tape drive using the system's integrated diskette/tape drive
controller. (The system can still read from the drives.) When Read Only
is selected, Auto is also in effect, meaning that the system turns off
the integrated diskette drive controller as necessary.
Selecting Off turns off the integrated
diskette/tape drive controller; this setting is used primarily for troubleshooting
purposes.
USB Emulation determines whether the system's basic
input/output system (BIOS) controls Universal Serial Bus (USB) keyboards and mice. When On
is selected, the BIOS controls USB keyboards and mice until a USB driver is loaded by the
operating system. When Off is selected (the default), the BIOS does not
control USB keyboards and mice, although they function during the boot routine. Set USB
Emulation to Off if you are using a PS/2-compatible keyboard and
mouse.
Primary Video Controller determines which video
controller to use when the system boots. When Auto is selected, the
system uses a video expansion card, if one is installed or the onboard video controller if
a video expansion card is not installed. When Onboard is selected, the
system uses the onboard video controller even if a video expansion card is installed.
Video DAC Snoop lets you correct video problems
that may occur when you use certain video expansion cards. The default is Off.
If you are using a video expansion card and problems such as incorrect colors or blank
windows occur, set Video DAC Snoop to On.
Keyboard NumLock determines whether your system
boots with the Num Lock mode activated on 101- or 102-key keyboards (it does not apply to
84-key keyboards).
When Num Lock mode is activated, the rightmost bank of keys on your
keyboard provides the mathematical and numeric functions shown at the top of each key.
When Num Lock mode is turned off, these keys provide cursor-control functions shown by the
label on the bottom of each key.
Installed System Memory indicates the amount of installed memory
detected in your system, the system memory speed, the amount of video memory, and the size
of the display cache. After you add memory, check this option to confirm that the new
memory is installed correctly and is recognized by the system.
PCI IRQ Assignment specifies which IRQ lines are
assigned to the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) devices installed in the computer.
Press <Enter> to configure these devices. Then select the device whose IRQ line you
want to change, and press the plus (+) or minus (–) key to scroll through the
available IRQ lines. Normally you do not need to change the IRQ lines assigned to PCI
devices unless a particular device, device driver, or operating system requires a specific
IRQ line already in use by a PCI device.
Primary Drive n identifies drives attached
to the primary EIDE interface connector (labeled "IDE1") on the system board; Secondary
Drive n identifies drives connected to the secondary EIDE interface
connector (labeled "IDE2"). Use the secondary EIDE interface connector for EIDE
CD-ROM drives and EIDE tape drives.
|
NOTES: For all devices obtained from Dell that use
the integrated EIDE controller, set the appropriate Drive option to Auto.
You must have an EIDE device connected to the primary
EIDE interface if you have an EIDE device connected to the secondary EIDE interface. |
The following settings identify the type of EIDE devices installed
in the computer:
- Auto (use this setting for all EIDE devices from
Dell)
- A specific drive-type number
To choose a setting for each option, press <Enter> to access
the field's pop-up settings menu. Then type characters from the keyboard or press the
left- or right-arrow key to cycle through the settings.
A drive-type number specifies the parameters of a hard-disk
drive, based on a table recorded in the system's basic input/output system (BIOS).
|
NOTE: Operating systems that bypass the system BIOS
may not obtain optimum hard-disk drive performance. |
If the system generates a drive error message the first time you
boot your system after you install an EIDE drive, it may mean that your particular drive
does not work with the automatic drive-type detect feature. If you suspect that your
problem is related to drive type, try entering your drive-type information in one of the
following ways:
Use the drive-type number found in the documentation that came with
the drive, or if the drive was installed by Dell when you purchased your system, access
the Manufacturing Test Report from the Dell Accessories folder.
To set the drive-type number in System Setup, highlight the
appropriate drive option (Primary Drive 0 or Primary Drive 1)
and type the correct drive-type number. If you prefer, you can press the right- or
left-arrow key to increase or decrease, respectively, the drive-type number until the
correct one is displayed.
The Drive 0 and Drive 1 options
display the following parameters for each drive:
- Drive Type is the drive-type number for the selected
hard-disk drive.
- Capacity (automatically calculated by the system)
indicates the number of millions of bytes of storage provided by the drive.
- Cylinders is the number of logical cylinders.
- Heads indicates the number of logical heads in the
drive.
- Sectors indicates the number of logical sectors per
track.
If none of the supported drive types match the parameters of your
new drive, you can enter your own parameters. To do so, highlight the Drive 0
option and type u to display User
1. You can then press the right- or left-arrow key to switch between the User
1 and User 2 settings (only two user-defined drive types are
allowed). Then press the <Tab> key to highlight each of the parameter fields in
succession, and enter the appropriate number for each field.
|
NOTE: You can use the User 1
and User 2 drive types for both the Primary and Secondary
Drive 0 and Drive 1 options. However, if you select the User
1 or User 2 drive type, you may not obtain optimum hard-disk
drive performance. Also, you cannot use the User 1 and User 2
drive types for hard-disk drives with a storage capacity that is greater than 528
megabytes (MB). |
Remote Wake Up allows you to set the Remote Wake Up
feature to On or Off. You must reboot your system before
a change takes effect.
Report Keyboard Errors enables or disables
reporting of keyboard errors during the power-on self-test (POST), which is a series of
tests that the system performs on the hardware each time you turn on the system or press
the reset button.
This option is useful when applied to self-starting servers or host
systems that have no permanently attached keyboard. In these situations, selecting Do
Not Report suppresses all error messages relating to the keyboard or to the
keyboard controller during POST. This setting does not affect the operation of the
keyboard itself if a keyboard is attached to the computer.
The following information about the system is displayed in the
system data area of the System Setup screen:
- The microprocessor type and BIOS level.
- The size of the integrated level 2 (L2) cache.
- The system's five-character service tag number, which was programmed
into NVRAM by Dell during the manufacturing process. Refer to this number during technical
assistance or service calls. The service tag number is also accessed by certain Dell
support software, including the diagnostics software.
System Date resets the date on the computer's
internal calendar.
Your system automatically displays the day of the week corresponding
to the settings in the month, day-of-month, and year
fields.
To change the date, press the left- or right-arrow key to select a
field, and then press plus (+) or minus (–) to increase or decrease the number. If
you prefer, you can type numbers in the month, day-of-month,
and year fields.
System Security configures the following password and chassis
intrusion options:
Press <Enter> to configure these options as explained in the
following subsections.
System Password displays the current status of your
system's password security feature and allows you to assign and verify a new password. No
one can assign a new password unless the current status is Not Enabled,
which is displayed in bright characters.
The System Password option has the following
settings:
- Not Enabled (the default)
When Setup Password is set to Enabled,
Password Status allows you to prevent the system password from being
changed or disabled at system start-up.
To lock the system password, you must first assign a setup password
in Setup Password and then change the Password Status
option to Locked. When Setup Password has a password
assigned and Password Status is set to Locked, the
system password cannot be changed through the System Password option and
cannot be disabled at system start-up by pressing <Ctrl><Enter>.
To unlock the system password, you must enter the setup password in Setup
Password and then change the Password Status option to Unlocked.
When the Password Status option is set to Unlocked, you
can disable the system password at system start-up by pressing <Ctrl><Enter>.
Then change the password through the System Password option.
Setup Password lets you restrict access to System
Setup in the same way that you restrict access to your system with the System
Password feature. Dell strongly recommends that you enable and use this feature
to prevent unauthorized changes to System Setup settings.
The settings are:
- Not Enabled (the default)
Chassis Intrusion displays the status of the system chassis
intrusion monitor and can be set to Enabled, Enabled-Silent, or Disabled.
The default is Enabled.
If the computer cover is removed while the intrusion monitor is set
to Enabled, a Desktop Management Interface (DMI) event is generated, the setting
changes to Detected, and the following message appears during the boot routine at
the next system start-up:
Alert! Cover was previously removed.
If the computer cover is removed while the intrusion monitor is set
to Enabled-Silent, a DMI event is generated and the setting changes to Detected,
but the alert message does not appear during the boot sequence at the next system
start-up.
If the intrusion monitor is set to Disabled, no intrusion
monitoring occurs and no messages appear.
To reset the Detected setting, enter System Setup during the
system's POST. In the Chassis Intrusion option, press the left- or right-arrow key
to select Reset, and then choose Enabled, Enabled-Silent,
or Disabled.
|
NOTE: When the setup password is enabled, you must
know the setup password before you can reset the Chassis Intrusion option. |
CPU Serial Number determines whether the
microprocessor serial number (if any) is provided to programs that request it. When Enabled
is selected, the system provides the microprocessor serial number to programs that request
it. When Disabled is selected, the system never provides the
microprocessor serial number.
System Time resets the time on the computer's
internal clock.
Time is kept in a 24-hour format (hours:minutes:seconds). To
change the time, press the left- or right-arrow key to select a field, and then press plus
(+) or minus (–) to increase or decrease the number. If you prefer, you can type
numbers in each of the fields.
ZIP Floppy Support enables or disables the support
of Advanced Technology Attachment Packet Interface (ATAPI) Zip devices by the system BIOS.
When Enabled is selected, ATAPI Zip devices are supported as diskette
drives, and the first Zip device is listed as a bootable device under Boot Sequence. When Disabled
is selected, the system BIOS ignores ATAPI Zip devices, although the operating system may
still support them.
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