Manuals

DTA: System Setup and EISA Configuration Options System Setup Options
Time
System Password
Date
Setup Password
Diskette Drive A and Diskette Drive B
Boot Sequence
Hard-Disk Drives
Power Management
Base Memory
Serial Port 1 and Serial Port 2
Extended Memory
Parallel Port
Fast Video BIOS
Parallel Mode
Cache
Hard-Disk Drives
CPU Speed
Diskette
Num Lock
Speaker
Keyboard Errors
System Data Categories

Screen 1                          Screen 2

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, 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 in numbers in each of the appropriate fields.

Date
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 3 fields that follow (MONTH, DAY-OF-THE-MONTH, and YEAR).
To change the date, 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 in numbers in the MONTH and DAY-OF-THE-MONTH fields.

Diskette Drive A and Diskette Drive B
DISKETTE DRIVE A and DISKETTE DRIVE B identify the types of diskette drives installed in the accessible drive bays. The category names (but not the settings) switch places whenever the setting for DRIVE A LOCATION is changed.
The options are:

  5.25 INCH, 360 KB

5.25 INCH, 1.2 MB
3.5 INCH, 720 KB
3.5 INCH, 1.44 MB
NOT INSTALLED

Hard Disk Drives
The DRIVE 0, DRIVE 1, DRIVE 2, and DRIVE 3 subcategories under HARD DISK DRIVE refer to the IDE hard-disk, CD ROM, and tape drives installed in your computer. The first 2 IDE hard-disk drives correspond to the HARD DISK DRIVE 0 (the boot drive) and HARD DISK DRIVE 1 categories; these are attached to the PRIMARY IDE connector. The HARD DISK DRIVE 2 and HARD DISK DRIVE 3 categories refer to additional IDE devices installed in the drive cage and attached to the SECONDARY IDE connector.
The options are:

  AUTO

USER
NONE
You can set these subcategories to AUTO to automatically identify the type(s) of IDE drives installed; alternatively, you can use one of the USER settings to manually set the parameters for an IDE hard-disk drive.

NOTE: For IDE devices such as IDE CD ROM drives and IDE tape drives that are using the computers built-in IDE controller, set the DRIVE category to AUTO.

IDE Devices
For most IDE drives, the system provides an automatic drive-type detect feature.
During the POST, the BIOS identifies the manufacturer, capacity, and model number of each installed IDE hard-disk drive and displays that information on the screen. If a drive lacks the necessary identification code, the POST message indicates only that a drive is installed.
Using the Auto-Detect Feature
To use the auto-detect feature, highlight the appropriate subcategory and use the right- and left-arrow keys to select the AUTO option, and press <ENTER> to bring up the IDE ADAPTER 0 MASTER hard-disk drive submenu screen. Then highlight the AUTOTYPE FIXED DISK: and press <ENTER>. The system automatically detects the drive parameters and lists them.
If a second IDE hard-disk drive is connected to the primary IDE interface, highlight HARD DISK DRIVE 1 category and repeat the process to list the information on the second drive.
Assigning the Drive Parameters Manually
If your IDE hard-disk drive does not support automatic drive-type detection, use the USER option to manually define a set of drive parameters and assign them to the installed drive.
Highlight the appropriate drive category, and press <ENTER> to bring up the IDE ADAPTER 1 MASTER hard-disk drive submenu screen. Then highlight the HARD DISK DRIVE 1 category, and use the arrow keys to cycle through the choices until USER is displayed. Edit the following parameters according to the information in your drive documentation:

  CYLINDERS is the number of logical cylinders.

  HEADS is the number of logical heads in the drive.

  SECTORS/TRACK is the number of logical sectors per track.

  WRITE PRECOMP is the cylinder number at which the electrical current for the drive head changes to      
  compensate for differences in data density across the disk surface.

Base Memory
BASE MEMORY displays the amount of memory available to MS-DOS� programs that do not use extended or expanded memory. This category has no user-selectable options.
The default value for the BASE MEMORY category is 640 KB, which includes 1 KB reserved for system use.

Extended Memory
EXTENDED MEMORY (which has no user-selectable options) indicates the amount of system memory available as extended memory.
The value given in the EXTENDED MEMORY category is in kilobytes rather than megabytes. To convert kilobytes to megabytes, divide the kilobyte total by 1024.

Fast Video BIOS
FAST VIDEO BIOS offers the options for shadowing and caching the video BIOS for improved performance.
The options are:

  ON  The system boots and immediately copies the video BIOS code into write-protected memory locations in 
  RAM.

  ON AND CACHED (the default option)  The system boots and not only copies the video BIOS code into       
  write-protected memory locations in RAM, but also allows it to be cached.

  OFF  This setting is used for older, slower ISA video cards.

Cache
CACHE turns ON (the default) or OFF the systems cache

both internal to and external to the microprocessor.

CPU Speed
CPU SPEED specifies the processor speed at which your system boots and runs.
Press the left- or right-arrow key to toggle the CPU SPEED category between the installed microprocessor's rated speed (MAXIMUM, the default) and a lower compatibility speed, COMPATIBLE, which lets you accommodate speed-sensitive application programs.
You can toggle between the rated processor speed and the compatibility speed at any time while the system is running. 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 your 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 the 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 will still operate properly.

System Password
SYSTEM PASSWORD displays the current status of your system's password security feature and allows you to assign and verify a new system password when this category is set to NOT ENABLED.
The current status options that can be displayed in the SYSTEM PASSWORD category are:

  NOT ENABLED (the default)

  ENABLED

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.

Setup Password
The SETUP PASSWORD category lets you restrict access to your computer's system setup program in the same way that you restrict access to your system with the system password feature. The options are:

  NOT ENABLED (the default option)

  ENABLED

See Assigning a Setup Password.

Boot Sequence
The BOOT SEQUENCE category can be set to DISKETTE FIRST (the default option) 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 ONLY causes the system to boot only from the hard-disk drive, even if there is a bootable diskette in drive A. You might select the HARD DISK ONLY option to prevent an unauthorized person from accessing the system by booting from a diskette.

Power Management
POWER MANAGEMENT allows you to reduce system power consumption for certain types of monitors and most IDE hard-disk drives. With POWER MANAGEMENT enabled, these monitors and drives automatically switch into low-power mode during periods of system inactivity.
POWER MANAGEMENT can be implemented at 3 levels

options are MAXIMUM, REGULAR, and MINIMUM. The category can also be set to DISABLED (the default option).

NOTE: The different levels apply to the monitor only; hard-disk drive operation is the same for all 3.

The power time-out periods are:

Power           IDE Drives      Monitor         
Management      Spindown        Off             
Setting         Time-Outs       Time-Outs

MAXIMUM         20 min          20 min

REGULAR         20 min          40 min

MINIMUM         20 min          60 min

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 (the default option) 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 you set a serial port to AUTO and then add an expansion card containing a port configured to the same designation, the system automatically remaps the built-in port to the next available port designation if the interrupt is not assigned. That is, COM1 is remapped to COM3; COM2 is remapped to COM4. Note that two COM ports cannot share an IRQ setting, you can use either port, as necessary, but you may not 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 378H (IRQ 7), 278H (IRQ5), or 3BC8H (I/O address 3BCh and uses IRQ7) to automatically configure the port, or to OFF to disable the port.

NOTE: The built-in parallel port is automatically disabled if the system detects an installed expansion card containing a parallel port configured to the same address as specified in this category.

Parallel Mode
PARALLEL MODE controls the mode used by the system's built-in parallel port. Set this category according to the type of device connected to the parallel port:

NOTE: The system also provides hardware support for Extended Capabilities Port (ECP) mode. Options that use ECP mode may come with special drivers that need to be installed in order to use this mode.

  AT (the default) for a unidirectional device.

  PS/2 for a bidirectional device.

  ECP for an ECP device.

See the documentation that came with your peripheral device to determine the correct mode for the parallel port.

Hard-Disk Drives
PRIMARY HARD DISK and SECONDARY HARD DISK control the operation of the systems built-in primary and secondary IDE interfaces.
Selecting AUTO allows the system to turn off the IDE interface as necessary to accommodate a controller card installed in an expansion slot.
When the PRIMARY HARD DISK is set to AUTO during the boot routine, the system checks for a primary controller card installed on the PCI bus. If none is found, the system then checks the ISA bus for a primary controller. If a primary controller is found on either bus, the system disables the built-in primary IDE interface.
When SECONDARY HARD DISK is set to AUTO, during the boot routine the system checks for a secondary controller card, first on the PCI bus and then on the ISA bus. If a secondary controller is found on either bus, the system disables the built-in secondary IDE interface.
Selecting OFF disables the corresponding built-in IDE interface.

Diskette
DISKETTE controls the operation of the system's built-in diskette drive controller.
With AUTO selected, the system turns off the built-in diskette drive controller as necessary to accommodate a controller card installed in an expansion slot.
With WRITE-PROTECT selected, nothing can be written to the diskette drives and tape drives using the systems built-in diskette drive controller.
Selecting OFF turns off the built-in diskette drive controller. This option is used primarily for troubleshooting purposes.

Speaker
SPEAKER determines whether the on-board speaker is ON (the default) or OFF.

System Data Categories
The following categories, which are not selectable, display information about the system:

  MICROPROCESSOR displays the type of microprocessor installed in the computer.

  EXTERNAL CACHE displays the amount of external cache memory.

  SYSTEM MEMORY indicates the entire amount of installed memory detected in your system, except for memory 
  on EMS expansion cards.  After adding memory, check this category to confirm that the new memory is      
  installed correctly and is recognized by the system.  This value is given in kilobytes rather than       
  megabytes.

  VIDEO MEMORY displays the amount of video memory detected in your system.

  SERVICE TAG displays the system's service tag number, which Dell programmed into NVRAM during the       
  manufacturing process.