Time
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, use the right-arrow key to increase the number in the highlighted field or the left-arrow key to decrease the number, or type in numbers in each of the fields.
Date
DATE resets the date on the computer's internal calendar.
The system automatically displays the day of the week corresponding to the settings in the 3 fields that follow (MONTH, DAY-OF-THE-MONTH, and YEAR).
To change the date, use the right-arrow key to increase the number in the highlighted field or the left-arrow key to decrease the number, or type in numbers in the MONTH and DAY-OF-THE-MONTH fields.
Diskette Drive A and B
DISKETTE DRIVE A (the boot drive, the top drive) and DISKETTE DRIVE B identify the type of diskette drives installed in the drive cage. The category options always match the physical location of the drives in the computer.
Options:
5.25 INCH, 360 KB
Drive A Location
DRIVE A LOCATION identifies which diskette drive
TOP (default) or BOTTOMis used as drive A, the boot drive.
When DRIVE A LOCATION is changed, DISKETTE DRIVE A and DISKETTE DRIVE B switch places automatically to reflect the new configuration.
If an external diskette drive controller is used, DRIVE A LOCATION has no selectable option.
Hard-Disk Drives: Drive 0 and Drive 1
DRIVE 0 and DRIVE 1 refer to the IDE hard-disk drives installed in the computer. For each drive, 7 parameters can be chosen as a group by drive-type number, or set automatically.
Options:
To use the automatic settings, highlight DRIVE 0 and type
ato set the TYPE parameter to AUTO. If there are 2 IDE drives, highlight DRIVE 1 and type
a.Reboot the system, and the System Setup program sets the correct drive-type number and parameters.
Assigning the Drive Parameters Manually
Highlight DRIVE 0 or DRIVE 1, and either type in the drive-type number (if known) or type
uto set the TYPE parameter to USER. Then press the <TAB> key to highlight each of the parameter fields, and enter the appropriate number for each field for the drive:
PRE, LZ, and SIZE have no user-selectable options.
SCSI Drives
SCSI hard-disk drives do not use the built-in hard-disk drive controller, so DRIVE 0 and DRIVE 1 do not apply to them. Set DRIVE 0 for any IDE drive that is in the system and set DRIVE 1 to AUTO (the IDE drive will be the boot drive). If there are only SCSI drives in the system, set both categories to AUTO.
Base Memory
BASE MEMORY (no user-selectable options) displays the amount of memory available to MS-DOSŪ programs that do not use extended or expanded memory.
The default value is 640 KB, which includes 1 KB reserved for system use.
Board Memory
BOARD MEMORY is used to specify how much of the system's base memory is to be derived from SIMMs on the system board (usually 640 KB).
Change the default setting only under special circumstances; for example, a memory expansion card may need to be addressed starting at 80000h (512 KB). Only part of the base memory can come from the SIMMs on the system board when this card is used; the remainder of the 640 KB comes from the memory expansion card.
Options:
Extended Memory
EXTENDED MEMORY (no user-selectable options) indicates the amount of system memory available as extended memory.
The value is in KB rather than MB. To convert KB to MB, divide the KB total by 1024.
Fast Video BIOS
FAST VIDEO BIOS offers the option of shadowing and caching the video BIOS.
Options:
NOTE: If the system uses a PCI video card, the default setting cannot be changed. The category can only be changed if an ISA video card is being used.
If the ISA video card cannot operate under shadowed memory speeds, set FAST VIDEO BIOS to OFF.
Video Feature Card
VIDEO FEATURE CARD has 2 options; NOT INSTALLED (default) and INSTALLED. Change to INSTALLED before a video-feature expansion card is installed in the system. Otherwise the monitor's display may not work.
PCI IRQ
PCI IRQ settles interrupt requests between PCI and ISA expansion cards.
Options:
The default setting makes IRQ10 available to all PCI expansion cards that need an IRQ. Change the default only in order to install an ISA expansion card that also uses IRQ10.
Selecting OFF reserves IRQ9, IRQ10, and IRQ11 for ISA expansion cards.
CPU Speed
CPU SPEED specifies the processor speed at which the system boots and runs.
Press the left- or right-arrow key to toggle the CPU SPEED category between the installed microprocessor's rated speed, 60 MHZ (default), and a lower compatibility speed, COMPATIBLE, that accommodates speed-sensitive application programs.
To change speeds in real mode, press and hold down the <CTRL-ALT-\> keys. For keyboards that do not use American English, press <CTRL-ALT-#>.
Num Lock
NUM LOCK chooses whether the system boots with the Num Lock mode activated on 101- or 102-key keyboards (it does not apply to 84-key keyboards).
Keyboard Errors
KEYBOARD ERRORS enables or disables reporting of keyboard errors during POST.
This category is useful when applied to self-starting servers or host systems that have no permanently attached keyboard.
The default setting is REPORT. Selecting DO NOT REPORT suppresses all POST error messages relating to the keyboard or the keyboard controller. However, an attached keyboard still operates properly.
System Password
SYSTEM PASSWORD displays the current status of the system's password security feature and allows the assignment and verification of a new system password.
Options:
A new system password cannot be assigned unless the current status is NOT ENABLED, which is displayed in bright characters. See Using the System Password Feature.
Boot Sequence
BOOT SEQUENCE can be set to DISKETTE FIRST (default), HARD DISK FIRST, or HARD DISK ONLY.
Selecting DISKETTE FIRST causes the system to try booting from drive A first. If it finds a diskette that is not bootable in the drive or finds a problem with the drive itself, the system displays an error message. If it does not find a diskette in the drive, the system then tries to boot from the hard-disk drive (drive 0).
Selecting HARD DISK FIRST causes the system to try booting from the hard-disk drive (drive 0) first. If the system finds a problem with the hard-disk drive, it displays an error message. If there are no boot files on the hard-disk drive, the system tries booting from diskette drive A.
Selecting HARD DISK ONLY causes the system to boot only from the hard-disk drive, even if there is a bootable diskette in drive A.
Password Entry
PASSWORD ENTRY has 2 options: BEFORE BOOT (default) and AFTER BOOT. With BEFORE BOOT, the system prompts for a password before POST; with AFTER BOOT the system boots normally, but the keyboard is disabled until the password is entered.
Setup Password
SETUP PASSWORD provides restricted access to the computer's System Setup program in the same way that access to the system can be restricted with the SYSTEM PASSWORD feature.
Options:
See Assigning a Setup Password.
PCI Memory Block
PCI MEMORY BLOCK allows the increase of the amount of memory allocated to PCI expansion cards.
The default values satisfy the memory requirements of most PCI cards. Do not change the settings unless the following message appears:
WARNING:To change the settings, press <TAB> to highlight the START field, then press the right- or left-arrow key to select a memory address between EC000 and C8000. Then press <TAB> to highlight the LENGTH field, and press the right- and left-arrow keys to select one of the available memory options.
Insufficient PCI Memory Block.
Use Setup to Increase the PCI Memory Block Size.
NOTE: Increasing the amount of memory allocated to PCI expansion cards reduces the amount of memory available for ISA expansion cards.
Reserved Memory
RESERVED MEMORY supports the use of certain expansion cards by reserving a range of memory addresses for use by those cards. The default setting is 0 KB. Change this setting if the expansion card needs to reside in the system address space above 1 MB.
Serial Port 1 and Serial Port 2
SERIAL PORT 1 and SERIAL PORT 2 configure the system's built-in serial ports. These categories can be set to AUTO (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 a port.
If a serial port is set to AUTO and then an expansion card containing a port configured to the same designation is added, the system automatically remaps the built-in port to the next available port designation that shares the same IRQ setting. That is, COM1 is remapped to COM3; COM2 is remapped to COM4. Note that when 2 COM ports share an IRQ setting, the user can use either port, as necessary, but may not be able to use them both at the same time. If the alternate port address (COM3 or COM4) is also in use, the built-in port is turned off.
Parallel Port
PARALLEL PORT configures the system's built-in parallel port. This category can be set to AUTO to automatically configure the port or to OFF to disable the port.
Parallel Mode
PARALLEL MODE controls the mode used by the system's built-in parallel port.
Options:
Select AT if a unidirectional device is connected to the parallel port. Select PS/2 if a bidirectional PS/2 device is attached to the parallel port. Select ECP MODE if an ECP device is attached to the parallel port.
Hard Disk
HARD DISK enables or disables the system's built-in hard-disk drive interface.
Selecting AUTO (default) allows the system to turn off the built-in IDE interface, as necessary, to accommodate a controller card installed in an expansion slot. During the boot routine, the system checks for a primary hard-disk drive controller card installed in an expansion slot. If no card is found, the built-in IDE interface is enabled, and the controller on the master IDE drive is designated as the primary controller using IRQ14.
NOTE: For IRQ purposes, a master/slave pair of IDE drives is considered as 1 drive. IRQ14 attaches to the controller on the master drive, which controls both drives.
If a primary controller is found, the built-in IDE interface is disabled.
Selecting OFF disables the built-in IDE interface.
Diskette
DISKETTE controls the operation of the system's built-in diskette drive controller.
With AUTO (default) selected, the system turns off the built-in diskette drive controller, as necessary, to accommodate a controller card installed in an expansion slot.
Selecting OFF turns off the built-in diskette drive controller. This option is used primarily for troubleshooting purposes.
System Data Categories
The following categories (not selectable) display information about the system:
After adding memory, check this category to confirm that the new memory is installed correctly and is
recognized by the system.