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System Setup Options: Dell™ OptiPlex™ GX300 System User's
Guide
AC Power Recovery determines what happens when AC
power is restored to the system after it has been properly shut down. 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.
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 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.
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 boots from the next device in the boot sequence list.
CPU ID provides the manufacturer's identification
code(s) for the installed microprocessor(s).
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><#>.)
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. |
Integrated Devices 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 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 using 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: Do not set Parallel Port to 278h
if you have an Enhanced Capabilities Port (ECP) device connected to the port. |
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 drives and tape drives using the system's integrated diskette/tape drive
controller. (The system can still read from the drives.) When Read Only
is selected, Auto (whereby the system turns off the integrated diskette
drive controller as necessary) is also in effect.
Selecting Off turns off the integrated
diskette/tape drive controller; this setting is used primarily for troubleshooting
purposes.
USB Emulation determines whether the system basic
input/output system (BIOS) controls Universal Serial Bus (USB) keyboards and mice. When On
is selected, the system BIOS controls USB keyboards and mice until a USB driver is loaded
by the operating system. When Off is selected (the default), the system
BIOS does not control USB keyboards and mice, though they function during the boot
routine. Set USB Emulation to Off if you are using a
PS/2-compatible keyboard and mouse.
PC Speaker determines whether the integrated
speaker is On (the default) or Off. A change to this
option takes effect immediately (rebooting the system is not required).
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 tops of the keys.
When Num Lock mode is turned off, these keys provide cursor-control functions according to
the label on the bottom of each key.
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.
|
NOTE: Manually assigning a particular IRQ line to a
device may cause a conflict with another device trying to use the same IRQ line, which can
cause one of the devices or the system to become unstable or inoperable. |
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 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 you 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 is 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 <Tab> 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). |
Primary Video Controller determines whether the
system looks for a video card in a PCI slot during the boot routine. When Auto
is selected, the system uses any PCI video card it finds during the boot routine. If no
PCI video card is found, the system uses the video card in the accelerated graphics port
(AGP) slot. When AGP is selected, the system uses the video card in the
AGP slot and ignores any video cards installed in PCI slots.
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.
Second Processor enables or disables a second
microprocessor for troubleshooting purposes. If the system is having
microprocessor-related problems, you can disable the second microprocessor to see if the
problem is isolated to this microprocessor. This option appears only if the system has two
microprocessors.
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 seven-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 Memory indicates the entire amount of
installed memory detected in your system. After you add memory, check this option to
confirm that the new memory is installed correctly and is recognized by the system.
System Memory also indicates the number of memory
devices installed in the system. To display this information, highlight System
Memory and press <Enter>. Your system supports a maximum of 32 total memory
devices. For example, if your system has two Rambus in-line memory modules (RIMMs) each
with 16 memory devices, you cannot install a third RIMM.
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 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 System Password option has the following
settings:
- 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. |
Remote System Alert determines whether the system sends alert
information (such as a chassis intrusion alert when the computer cover has been removed)
over the network to a Dell OpenManage™ server. When Enabled is
selected, the system sends alert information. When Disabled is selected,
the system does not send alert information.
When your system is turned off, it does not send remote system alert information until
the next time the system is turned on.
CPU Serial Number determines whether the microprocessor serial
number(s) (if any) is provided to programs that request it. When Enabled
is selected, the system provides the microprocessor serial number(s) to programs that
request it. When Disabled is selected, the system never provides the
microprocessor serial number(s). The default is Disabled.
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, though the operating system may
still support them.
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