Foxconn A85GM manual

A85GM Series Motherboard User ’ s Manual[...]

Statement: This manual is the intellectual property of Foxconn, Inc. Although the information in this manual may be changed or modied at any time, Foxconn does not obligate itself to inform the user of these changes. T rademark: All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. V ersion: User ’s Manual V1.0 for A85GM Series motherboa[...]

Declaration of conformity HON HAI PRECISION INDUSTRY COMP ANY L TD 66 , CHUNG SHAN RD., TU-CHENG INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT , T AIPEI HSIEN, T AIW AN, R.O.C. declares that the product Motherboard A85GM is in conformity with (reference to the specication under which conformity is declared in accordance with 89/336 EEC-EMC Directive) ■ EN 55022:1998/A2[...]

Declaration of conformity T rade Name: FOXCONN Model Name: A85GM Responsible Party: PCE Industry Inc. Address: 458 E. Lambert Rd. Fullerton, CA 92835 T elephone: 714-738-8868 Facsimile: 714-738-8838 Equipment Classication: FCC Class B Subassembly T ype of Product: Motherboard Manufacturer: HON HAI PRECISION INDUSTRY COMP ANY L TD Address: 66 , C[...]

Installation Precautions Please carefully read the following procedures to install your computer : ■ It is suggested to select high-quality , certied fans in order to avoid damage to the motherboard and CPU due to high temperature. Never turn on the computer if the CPU fan is not properly installed. ■ We cannot guarantee that your system can[...]

T ABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1 Product Introduction Product Specications .............................................................................. 2 Layout....................................................................................................... 4 Back Panel Connectors .............................................................[...]

About & Help .................................................................................... 64 FOX LOGO ............................................................................................. 65 FOX DMI ................................................................................................ 66 Chapter 5 RAID Conguration R[...]

Th a nk y ou f o r bu y in g Fo x co nn A 8 5G M S er i es m ot h er bo a rd . Foxconn products are engineered to maximize computing power, providing only what you need for break-through performance. With advanced overclocking capability and a range of connectivity features for today multi-media computing requirements, A85GM enables you to unleash [...]

1 2 1-1 Product Specications CPU Supp ort the AMD PhenomII, Phenom, AMD Athlon II, Athlon, AMD Sempron processor families, AM2/AM2+/AM3 socket processors HyperT ransport Up to 5200MT/s (HT3.0) Chipset North Bridge: AMD 785G South Bridge: AMD SB750 Memory 4 x 240-pin DDR2 DIMM sockets Support up to 8GB of system memory Dual channel DDR2 1066/800/[...]

1 3 1 x Front Audio connector 1 x IrDA connector 1 x Chassis intrusion alarm header (INTR) 1 x Speaker connector 1 x COM1 connector Back Panel 1 x PS/2 Mouse port Connectors 1 x PS/2 Keyboard port 1 x VGA port 1 x HDMI port 1 x DVI-D port 6 x USB 2.0 ports 1 x RJ-45 LAN port 8-channel Audio ports Hardware Monitor System voltage detection CPU/System[...]

1 4 1. 4-pin A TX 12V Power Connector 2. PCI Express x1 Slot 3. PCI Express x16 Slot 4. PCI Slots 5. Front Audio Connector 6. CD_IN Connector 7. SPDIF_OUT Connector 8. Speaker Connector 9. South Bridge: AMD SB750 10. Front USB Connectors 1 1. Clear CMOS Jumper 12. Front Panel Connector 13 . SA T A Connectors 14. System Fan Header 15. COM1 Connector[...]

1 5 1-3 Back Panel Connectors 1. PS/2 Mouse Port Use the upper port (green) to connect a PS/2 mouse. 2. PS/2 Keyboard Port Use the lower port (purple) to connect a PS/2 keyboard. 3. VGA Port T o connect with external display devices, such as monitor or LCD display . 4. DVI-D Port The DVI-D port supports DVI-D specication. Connect a monitor that [...]

1 6 8. Audio Ports For the denition of each audio port, please refer to the table below : Port 2-channel 4-channel 5.1-channel 7.1-channel Blue Line In Line In Line In Line In Green Line Out Front Speaker Out Front Speaker Out Front Speaker Out Pink Microphone In Microphone In Microphone In Microphone In Orange - - Center/Subwoofer Out Center/Su[...]

This chapter introduces the hardware installation process, including the installation of the CPU, memory , power supply , slots, pin headers and the mounting of jumpers. Caution should be exercised during the installation of these modules. Please refer to the motherboard layout prior to any installation and read the contents in this chapter careful[...]

2 8 2-1 Install the CPU and CPU Cooler Install the CPU Locate the Pin-1 CPU triangle mark and the Pin-1 of the CPU socket. Pin-1 triangle marking of CPU Pin-1 corner of the CPU socket 1. Release the CPU socket lever . 2. A lign Pin-1 of the CPU with the CPU so cke t, a nd ge ntl y p ut t he C PU onto the socket. Read the following guidelines before[...]

2 9 3. W h e n C P U is p r o pe r ly s e at e d , push the CPU socket lever back to its locked position. Install the CPU Cooler Follow the steps below to correctly install the CPU cooler. (The following procedures use Foxconn cooler as the example.) 1. Apply and spread an even thermal grease on the surface of CPU. 2. Buckle the heatsink rmly at[...]

2 10 2-2 Install the Memory Dual Channel Memory Conguration This motherboard provides four DDR2 memory sockets and supports Dual Channel T echnology . When memory is installed, the BIOS will automatically check the memory in your system. Four DDR2 memory sockets are divided into two channels : Channel 0 : DIMM1, DIMM3 Channel 1 : DIMM2, DIMM4 Th[...]

2 1 1 Installing a Memory If you take a look at fron t side of mem ory mod ule, it has asymm etric pin cou nts on both sides sep arate d by a notch in the middle, so it can only t in one direction. Follow the steps below to correctly install your memory modules into the sockets. Step 1: Spread the clips at both ends of the memory socket. Place t[...]

2 12 2-3 Install an Expansion Card Follow the steps below to correctly install your expansion card in the expansion slot. 1. Locate an expansion slot that supports your card. Remove the metal slot cover from the chassis back panel. 2. Align the card with the slot, and press down on the card until it is fully seated in the slot. 3. Make sure the met[...]

2 13 2-4 Install other Internal Connectors Power Connectors This motherboard uses an A TX power supply . In order not to damage any device, make sure all the devices have been installed properly before applying the power supply . 24-pin A TX power connector : PWR1 PWR1 is the A TX power supply connector. Make sure that the power supply cable and pi[...]

2 14 Front Panel Connector : FP1 This motherboard includes one connector for connecting the front panel switch and LED Indicators. Hard Disk LED Connector (HDD-LED) Connect to the chassis front panel IDE indicator LED. It indicates the active status of the hard disks. This 2-pin connector is directional with +/- sign. Reset Switch (RESET -SW) Attac[...]

2 15 COM Connector : COM1 This motherboard supports one serial RS232 COM port for legacy compatibility . User must purchase another RS232 cable with a 9-pin D-sub connector at one end to connect with the external RS232 device and another end with 10- pin female connector to connect with COM1 connector in the motherboard. IrDA Connector : IR This co[...]

2 16 Audio Connector : F_AUDIO The audio connector supports HD Audio standard. It provides the Front Audio output choice. Audio Connector : CD_IN CD_IN is a Sony standard audio connector, it can be connected to a CD/DVD-ROM drive through a CD/DVD audio cable. Fa n Hea de rs : C PU _F A N, S YS _FAN1 , S YS _ F AN2 There are ve main fan headers o[...]

2 17 2-6 Jumpers For some featur es needed, user s can chang e the jumper sett ings on this moth erboard to modify them. This section explains how to use the various functions of this motherboard by changing the jumper settings. Users should read the following content carefully prior to modifying any jumper setting. Description of Jumpers 1. For an[...]

Since BIOS could be updated some other times, the BIOS information described in this manual is for reference only . We do not guarantee the content of this manual will remain consistent with the newly released BIOS at any given time in the future. Please visit our website for updated manual if it is available. This chapter tells how to change syste[...]

3 19 Enter BIOS Setup The BIOS is the communication bridge between hardware and software, correctly setting up the BIOS parameters is critical to maintain optimal system performance. Power on the computer , when the message " Press <DEL> to enter Setup, <ESC> to boot menu ". appears at the bottom of the screen, you can press &[...]

3 20 ► Power Management Setup All the items related with Green function features can be set up through this menu. ► PC Health Status This setup enables you to read/change Fan speeds, and displays temperatures and voltages of your CPU/System. ► BIOS Security Features The Supervisor/User password can be set up through this menu to prevent unaut[...]

3 21 System Information This sub-menu is used to set up the standard BIOS features, such as the date, time, oppy drive and so on. Use the arrow up/down keys to select an item, then use the <+> or <-> keys to change the setting. CMOS Setup Utility - Copyright (C) 1985-2006, American Megatrends, Inc. System Information Date (mm:dd:yy) [...]

3 22 halt condition can be enabled/disabled in the next three settings. ► Keyboard Th e s ys t em b o ot w i ll n o t st o p fo r a k e yb oa r d er r or i f y ou en ab l ed t h is i t em . ► Mouse Th e s ys t em b o ot w i ll n o t st o p fo r a m o us e e rr or if y o u en a bl ed th is it em . ► Floppy Th e s ys t em b o ot w i ll n o t st[...]

3 23 Advanced BIOS Features CMOS Setup Utility - Copyright (C) 1985-2006, American Megatrends, Inc. Advanced BIOS Features IDE Detect T ime Out [5] Help Item MPS Revision [1.1] PCI Latency T imer [64] Select the time out Quiet Boot [Enabled] value for detecting Quick Boot [Enabled] A T A/A T API device(s) Bootup Num-Lock [On] in second . Floppy Dri[...]

3 24 [Disabled] : Displays the normal POST messages. [Enabled] : Displays OEM customer logo instead of POST messages. ► Quick Boot While Enabled, this option allows BIOS to skip certain tests while booting, this will shorten the time needed to boot the system. ► Bootup Num-Lock This item denes if the keyboard Num Lock key is active when your[...]

3 25 Fox Central Control Unit CMOS Setup Utility - Copyright (C) 1985-2006, American Megatrends, Inc. Fox Central Control Unit Super BIOS Protect [Disabled] Help Item Auto Detect PCI Clock [Disabled] ► Smart BIOS [Press Enter] ► Fox Intelligent Stepping [Press Enter] ► V oltage Options [Press Enter] Disabled ► CPU Conguration [Press Ente[...]

3 26 ► Smart Power LED Smart Power LED is a feature built on your motherboard to indicate different states during Power On System T est (POST). The LED is located at the front panel, and it displays POST state by different long-short blinking intervals. Y ou can always leave this state enabled. System Status Power LED Status Stop Blinking Conditi[...]

3 27 contains important information about the module’s speed, size, addressing mode and various other parameters, so that the motherboard memory controller (chipset) can better access the memory device. Select [Auto] for SPD enable mode.Select [Limit], the DRAM speed will not exceed the specied value listed in the “Memory Speed Adjust” ite[...]

3 28 V oltage Options CMOS Setup Utility - Copyright (C) 1985-2006, American Megatrends, Inc. V oltage Options CPU V oltage Control [Disabled] Help Item Memory V oltage Control [Disabled] NB V oltage Control [Disabled] HT/SB V oltage Control [Disabled] Disabled +25mV +50mV +75mV +100mV +125mV +150mV +175mV +200mV +225mV +250mV +275mV +300mV +325mV [...]

3 29 This menu shows most of the CPU specications. ► Cool ’N’ Quiet This option helps lowering down the CPU frequency and voltage when system is idling. When the CPU speed is slowing down, the temperature will drop as well. ► C1E Support C1E represents Enhanced HAL T State. It is a feature which CPU uses to reduce power consumption when [...]

3 30 Advanced Chipset Features CMOS Setup Utility - Copyright (C) 1985-2006, American Megatrends, Inc. Advanced Chipset Features Northbridge Chipset Conguration Help Item ► Memory Configuration [Press Enter] ► DRAM T iming Configuration [Press Enter] CAS Latency :5.0 RAS/CAS Delay :5 CLK Row Precharge T ime :5 CLK Min Active RAS :15 CLK RAS/[...]

3 31 concept, wherein a static amount of page-locked graphics memory is allocated during driver initialization. This xed amount of memory will provide the user with a guaranteed graphics memory at all times, and will no longer be available to the OS. ► Primary Video Controller This item is used to select which graphics controller is used as th[...]

3 32 ■ DCT channels A and B can be ganged as a single logical 128-bit DIMM. ■ Offers highest DDR2 bandwidth. ■ Requires both DIMMs in a logical pair to have identical size and timing parameters, both DCT s programmed identically . Unganged channels ■ DCT channels A and B operate as two completely independent 64-bit channels (both chan - nel[...]

3 33 This item allows you to select the row precharge time (in clock cycles). ► tRTP (Internal Read to Precharge Command Delay) Internal READ Command to PRECHARGE Command delay . ► TRAS (Active-to-Precharge Delay) This item allows you to set the minimum RAS# active time (in clock cycles). ► TRC (Active-to-Active/Auto-Refresh Command Period) T[...]

3 34 Integrated Peripherals CMOS Setup Utility - Copyright (C) 1985-2006, American Megatrends, Inc. Integrated Peripherals ► IDE Conguration [Press Enter] Help Item ► USB Conguration [Press Enter] ► SuperIO Conguration [Press Enter] Congure the IDE ► T rusted Computing [Press Enter] device(s) . OnBoard LAN [Enabled] OnBoard LAN [...]

3 35 [Disabled]: Disable the integrated IDE controller . [Enabled]: Enable both IDE controllers. ► OnChip SA T A Channel [Disabled] : Disable SA T A ports 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, ESA T A. [Enabled] : Enable SA T A ports 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, ESA T A. ► OnChip SA T A T ype This item is used to set the operating mode of your SA T A ports. Options : [Native IDE];[...]

3 36 This item is used to set the transmission rate mode of USB 2.0. This function only works under DOS mode. The available settings are: [High Speed] in 480Mbps; [Full Speed] in 12Mbps. SuperIO Conguration CMOS Setup Utility - Copyright (C) 1985-2006, American Megatrends, Inc. SuperIO Conguration SuperIO Configuration Help Item OnBoard Flopp[...]

3 37 T rusted Computing CMOS Setup Utility - Copyright (C) 1985-2006, American Megatrends, Inc. Trusted Computing Trusted Computing Help Item TCG/TPM SUPPORT [No] Enable/Disable TPM TCG (TPM 1.1/1.2) support in BIOS ↑↓←→:Move Enter:Select +/-/:V alue F10:Save ESC:Exit F1:General Help F9:Optimized Defaults [No] ► TCG/TPM SUPPORT T rusted C[...]

3 38 Power Management Setup CMOS Setup Utility - Copyright (C) 1985-2006, American Megatrends, Inc. Power Management Setup ACPI Suspend T ype [S3 (STR)] Help Item PWRON After PWR- Fail [Power Off] HPET Support [Enabled] Select the ACPI Resume by LAN [Disabled] State used for Resume by PCI Card [Disabled] System Suspend. Resume by PCIE Card [Disable[...]

3 39 This item is used to set which state the PC will take with when it resumes after an AC power loss. ► HPET Support HPET stands for High Precision Even Timer . If you have the HPET disabled, then windows does not have access to it and therefore falls back to less accurate timing methods. This item is used to enable or disable the HPET Suppport[...]

3 40 PC Health Status CMOS Setup Utility - Copyright (C) 1985-2006, American Megatrends, Inc. PC Health Status Warning T emperature [Disabled] Help Item Shut Down T emperature [Disabled] Case Open Warning [Disabled] CPU T emperature :49 o C/120 o F System T emperature :41 o C/105 o F Disabled CPU Fan Speed :2242 RPM 50 o C/122 o F System Fan1 Speed[...]

3 41 BIOS Security Features ► Change Supervisor Password This item is used to install or change supervisor password. After you input Supervisor password, it then will ask you to input user password optionally . If you have installed the Supervisor Password, the following items will appear: Load Optimal Defaults Optimal defaults are the best setti[...]

The utility CD that came with the motherboard contains useful software and several utility drivers that enhance the mother- board features. This chapter includes the following information: ■ Utility CD Introduction ■ Install driver and utility ■ FOX ONE ■ FOX LiveUpdate ■ FOX LOGO ■ FOX DMI Note : Because each module is independent, so [...]

4 43 Utility CD Introduction This mothe rboard comes with o ne DVD. Y ou can simpl y put it in to you r DVD-ROM drive, and the main menu will be displayed on your PC screen to guide you how to install. 1. Install Driver Use these options to install all the drivers for your system. Y ou should install the drivers in order , and you need to restart y[...]

4 44 Install driver and utility 1. Install Driver Y ou must click "AMD Chipset Driver" to install it rst. After that, you can click ”One Click Setup” to install all the other drivers left, or you can click on each individual driver to install it manually . 2. Install Utility Y ou can select the specic utility to install. Manual [...]

4 45 FOX ONE FOX ONE is a powerful utility for easily modifying system settings. It also allows users to monitor various temperature values, voltage values, frequencies and fan speeds at any time. With FOX ONE, you can : ■ Modify system performance settings, such as the CPU and memory bus speeds, CPU voltages, fan speeds, and other system perform[...]

4 46 1. Main Page T oolbar Use the toolbar to navigate to other pages. Alert Lamp When the system is in healthy state, the color of alert lamp is green. When the system is in abnormal state, the alert lamp color is red. Switch Button Click this button, it will simplify the whole FOX ONE control panel to a smaller information bar (i.e. Simple Mode) [...]

4 47 Skin Button There are more choices of FOX ONE screen panels. Click this button, you can select your favorite skin (FOX ONE Panel). Exit Click this button to exit the program. Minimum Click this button to drop the FOX ONE to Windows system tray located at the lower right corner of your screen. Homepage Click this button to visit Foxconn motherb[...]

4 48 Conguration This menu allows you to congure : 1). Monitor interval (ms) : This is to dene the interval of different messages of system settings which are to be displayed on Simple Mode screen. Minimum value is 1 second. 2). Simple Mode : T o select which message of system settings are to be displayed in the Simple Mode. Messages such [...]

4 49 Step 1 : Click Calibration icon, a message pops out to ask for continue. Select Y es. Step 2 : After data is collected, it will ask you to restart your computer now . Later on, when the FOX ONE program is activated, and F .I.S. feature (in CPU Page) is also enabled, FOX ONE will automatically adjust your CPU clock according to your system load[...]

4 50 2. CPU Page - CPU Control This page lets you select (or overclock) CPU clock to meet the current performance level of the system. The fastest and suitable CPU clock running for current system can be calculated by FOX ONE automatically or manually input by yourselves. Manual : Y ou can press the up/down button to adjust your CPU clock. Auto : C[...]

4 51 Y ou can see the system is raising CPU clock until the system hangs. Push RESET button on the front panel of your system to restart the computer . Run FOX ONE program again, it will inform you the previous test found that 255MHz is the recommended CPU clock for your system. Click Y es to apply it to your system. Now , your system is running at[...]

4 52 FOX Intelligent Stepping (F .I.S., Optional) Select FOX Intelligent Stepping will allow your system to automatically adjust your CPU clock rate based on different system loadings. For example, if you select Power Gaming, CPU clock will be driven to run at its maximum speed. While in Energy Saving, CPU will lower down its speed to a minimum. Th[...]

4 53 4. Limit Setting 4.1 Limit Setting - CPU T emperature This page lets you to set CPU high limit temperature and enable the alert function. 4.2 Limit Setting - System T emperature This page lets you to set system high limit temperature and enable the alert function. Go to Limit Setting page Set high limit by dragging the lever Show current CPU t[...]

4 54 4.3 Limit Setting - CPU Fan This page lets you to set CPU fan low limit rpm and enable the alert function. 4.4 Limit Setting - System Fan This page lets you to set system fan low limit rpm and enable the alert function. Set low limit rpm by dragging the lever Show current CPU fan rpm value Enable alert function when the CPU fan runs slower tha[...]

4 55 4.5 Limit Setting - F AN1 Fan This page lets you to set F AN1 fan low limit rpm and enable the alert function. 5. V oltage Page - V oltage Control (Optional) This page lets you set CPU voltage, memory voltage and North Bridge voltage manually . CPU voltage can be stepped up/down by a unit of 12.5mV , while memory is 0.05V/step, and North Bridg[...]

4 56 6. Fan Page - Fan Control This page lets you enable Smart Fan function or set the fan speed by manual. When Smart Fan is selected, you must use a 4-pin CPU cooler in your system. Go to Fan page Set fan speed by dragging the lever Enable or disable smart fan function Apply the changes[...]

4 57 FOX LiveUpdate FOX LiveUpdate is a useful utility to backup and update your system BIOS, drivers and utilities by local or online. Supporting Operating Systems : ■ Windows XP (32-bit and 64-bit) ■ Windows Vista (32-bit and 64-bit) Using FOX LiveUpdate : 1. Local Update 1-1 Local Update - BIOS Information This page lets you know your system[...]

4 58 1-2 Local Update - Backup This page can backup your system BIOS. Y ou can click “Backup”, and key in a le name, then click “Save” to nish the backup operation. The extension of this backup le is ".BIN" for Award BIOS and ".ROM" for AMI BIOS. Default directory is "C:DesktopMy Documents" in Window[...]

4 59 2. Online Update 2-1 Online Update - Update BIOS This page lets you update your system BIOS from Internet. Click “start”, it will search the new BIOS from Internet. Then follow the wizard to nish the update operation. 2-2 Online Update - Update Driver This page lets you update your system drivers from Internet. Click “start”, it wil[...]

4 60 2-3 Online Update - Update Utility This page lets you update utilities from Internet. Click “start”, it will search the new utilities from Internet. Then follow the wizard to nish the update operation. Browse detailed information Install the selected driver Close the window Select the driver to update Click here Current information Sear[...]

4 61 2-4 Online Update - Update All This page lets you update your system drivers from Internet. Click “start”, it will search all new BIOS/drivers/utilities from Internet. Then follow the wizard to nish the update operation. Click here Current information Search all new BIOS/ drivers/utilities from Internet Browse detailed BIOS information [...]

4 62 3. Congure 3-1 Congure - option This page lets you set auto search options. After you enable the auto search function, FOX LiveUpdate will start its searching from Internet and if any qualied item found, it will pop out a message on the task bar to inform you to do the next step. Double click on the icon as show below , you can see th[...]

4 63 When you enable "Auto Search FOX LiveUpdate", if your FOX LiveUpdate version is older , it will auto search from internet and prompt you to install the new version. 3-2 Congure - System This page lets you set the backup BIOS location and change different skin of the FOX LiveUpdate utility . Click here Set the location of download [...]

4 64 3-3 Congure - Advance This page lets you select to ash BIOS / Boot Block and clear CMOS. If you choose Flash Boot Block, it means BIOS is not protective, and you must make sure the ash process is continuous and without any interruption. 4. About & Help This page shows some information about FOX LiveUpdate. C A U T I O N ! We recom[...]

4 65 FOX LOGO FOX LOGO is a simple and useful utility to backup, change and delete the boot time Logo. The boot Logo is the image that appears on screen during POST (Power-On Self-T est). Y ou can prepare a JPG image (1024x768) le, then use FOX LOGO to open it and change the boot time Logo. Boot time Logo will be displayed if you enable the BIOS[...]

4 66 FOX DMI FOX DMI is a full Desktop Management Interface viewer , and it provides three DMI data formats : Report, Data Fields and Memory Dump. With DMI information, system maker can easily analyze and troubleshoot your mother- board if there is any problem occurred. Supporting Operating Systems : ■ Windows XP (32-bit and 64-bit) ■ Windows V[...]

This chapter will cover two topics : ■ Creating a Bootable Array - Installing a new Windows XP (or Vista) in a brand new RAID system. ■ Creating a Non-Bootable Array - Existing Windows XP (or Vista) system with new RAID built as data storage. It includes the following information : ■ RAID Conguration Introduction ■ Option ROM Utility ■[...]

5 68 Creating a Bootable Array - Installing a new Windows XP (or V ista) in a brand new RAID system. 1. Follow 5-1 to create a RAID driver diskette. 2. Follow 5-2 to set RAID enabled in BIOS. 3. Follow 5-3 to select a RAID array for use. 4. Follow 5-4 to Install a new Windows Operating System. What kinds of hardware and software you need here : 1. [...]

5 69 RAID Conguration Introduction RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) is a method for computer data storage schemes that divide and/or replicate data among multiple hard drives. RAID can be designed to provide increased data reliability (fault tolerance) or increased I/O (input/ output) performance, or both. The following RAID congur[...]

5 70 RAID 0 (Striped) RAID 0 reads and writes sectors of data interleaved among multiple drives. If any disk member fails, it affects the entire array . The disk array data capacity is equal to the number of drive members times the capacity of the smallest member . RAID 0 does not support fault tolerance. RAID 1 (Mirror) RAID 1 writes duplicate dat[...]

5 71 Option ROM Utility The Option ROM Utility supports RAID 0, RAID 1 and RAID10 functions. It allows you to get high performance with fault tolerance, big capacity , or data safety provided by different RAID functions. Here, we will use four SA T A hard disks as an example to guide you through how to congure your RAID system. Assume four hard [...]

5 72 T wo topics will be covered in the following sections : 1). Creating a Bootable Array - Installing a new Windows XP in a brand new RAID system. 2). Creating a Non-Bootable Array - Existing Windows XP system with new RAID built as data storage. Install SA T A Hard Disks before we continue : ■ Shut down your computer . ■ Install SA T A hard [...]

5 73 1. Find a PC, put a diskette into its oppy drive A:, this diskette will be formatted later . Put the driver CD into DVD-ROM drive. 2. Depending on which platform your system is, normally , it is a 32-bit XP system. Use Windows explorer , and go to CD:Driver AMDRAIDFloppyWinXP , click on RaidT ool icon to start the creation. 3. Click &[...]

5 74 6. Y ou can input a volume label for this diskette, click on "Start" to format. 7. Click on "OK" to go through this warning message. 8. Format nished. Click "OK" to continue copying of RAID driver into this diskette. 9. Check if the diskette contains the driver les.[...]

5 75 5-2 RAID Enable in BIOS 1. Enter the BIOS setup by pressing <DEL> key when boot up. 2. Select the “Integrated Peripherals” from the “Main menu”, then select the “SA T A Conguration” menu and press <Enter> to go to the conguration items. 3. Enable RAID function and individual SA T A port for hard drive or DVD conne[...]

5 76 Create RAID 0 (Striped) Here, we will show you how to create two RAID 0 Logical Drives (LD) by using two hard disks. 1. Select [2] from the main menu, "Dene LD Menu" appears. 2. Press [Enter], the screen appears as below , select RAID 0. 3. Use [↓] key to select the hard disks, press [Space] key to change its assignment status t[...]

5 77 5. A message prompts. Press [Ctrl-Y] to erase the RAID array . 6. Another screen prompts. Press [Ctrl-Y]. Input 80GB to select the rst logical drive (LD1) and press [Enter]. 7. The selection of LD1 array is completed. As we want to introduce how to create two logical drives by using the same two hard drives here, so we will press [↓] to s[...]

5 78 8. When LD2 is selected, press [Enter] to continue. 9. Y ou can see in the previous example, about 40GB of Channel 1 and 2 hard disks were allocated. Select the remaining spaces from them for RAID 0 again. Press [Ctrl-Y] to save the setting. [ Dene LD Menu ] LD No RAID Mode T otal Drv Capacity(GB) Status LD 1 RAID 0 2 79.99 Functional LD 2 [...]

5 79 10. A message prompts. Press [Ctrl-Y] to erase the RAID array . 1 1. The remaining disk spaces are assigned to LD2. The size is about 42GB*2 = 84GB. [ Dene LD Menu ] LD No RAID Mode T otal Drv Capacity(GB) Status LD 1 RAID 0 2 79.99 Functional LD 2 −−−− −−−− −−−−−−−− −−−− LD 3 −−−− −−−?[...]

5 80 Create RAID 1 (Mirror) Here, we will show you how to create one Mirrored Logical Drives (LD) by using two hard disks. 1. Select [2] from the main menu, "Dene LD Menu" appears. 2. Press [Enter], the screen appears as below , select RAID 1. 3. Use [↓] key to select the hard disks, press [Space] key to change its assignment status [...]

5 81 5. A message prompts. Press [Ctrl-Y] to erase the RAID array . 6. Another screen prompts. Press any key to use the maximum capacity . 7. The creation of RAID 1 is completed. The nal capacity of 249.99GB (250GB) is the smaller size of the two hard drives. [ Dene LD Menu ] LD No RAID Mode T otal Drv Capacity(GB) Status LD 1 −−−− ?[...]

5 82 Create RAID 10 (Striped Mirror) Here, we will show you how to create one Striped Mirror Logical Drives (LD) by using four hard disks. 1. Select [2] from the main menu, "Dene LD Menu" appears. 2. Press [Enter], the screen appears as below , select RAID 10. 3. Use [↓] key to select the hard disks, press [Space] key to change its a[...]

5 83 5. A message prompts. Press [Ctrl-Y] to erase the RAID array . 6. Another screen prompts. Press any key to use the maximum capacity . 7. The creation of RAID 10 is completed. The nal capacity of 163.99GB (81.995GB*2) is twice capacities of the smallest size of the four hard drives. [ Dene LD Menu ] LD No RAID Mode T otal Drv Capacity(GB)[...]

5 84 Create RAID Ready A "RAID Ready" system is a specic system conguration that, with the addition of a second Serial A T A hard drive, can be seamlessly migrated to a conguration that provides either improved storage performance or data protection from a single hard drive failure. 1. Select [2] from the main menu, "Dene[...]

5 85 5. A message prompts. Press [Ctrl-Y] to erase the RAID array . 6. The creation of RAID Ready is completed. [ Dene LD Menu ] LD No RAID Mode T otal Drv Capacity(GB) Status LD 1 RAID 0 2 163.99 Functional LD 2 −−−− −−−− −−−−−−−− −−−− LD 3 −−−− −−−− −−−−−−−− −−−− L[...]

5 86 Create JBOD Here, we will show you how to create a JBOD Logical Drives (LD) by using four hard disks. 1. Select [2] from the main menu, "Dene LD Menu" appears. 2. Press [Enter], the screen appears as below , select JBOD. 3. Use [↓] key to select the hard disks, press [Space] key to change its assignment status to "Y". [...]

5 87 5. A message prompts. Press [Ctrl-Y] to erase the RAID array . 6. The creation of JBOD is completed. T otal size is 82.34+120.03+250.05+320.07 = 772.49GB LD No RAID Mode T otal Drv LD 1 JBOD 4 Stripe Block: 64 KB Fast Init: ON Gigabyte Boundary: ON Cache Mode: WriteThru Channel :ID Drive Model Compatibilities Capacity(GB) Assignment 1 :Mas HDS[...]

5 88 5-4 Install a New Windows XP Assume a Mirrored array (249.99GB) was created as introduced in section 5-3, after the system restarts : 1. Press <DEL> to enter BIOS Setup during POST . 2. Insert the Windows installation CD into the optical drive. 3. Set the “1st Boot Device” to “CD/DVD-ROM”, save changes and exit BIOS. 4. The compu[...]

5 89 5. After some les are copied to your system, the following picture appears, press <S> to continue the specic driver installation. 6. It will ask you to insert the RAID driver diskette into your oppy drive. Press <Enter> after it is done. Windows Setup Please insert the disk labeled manufacturer-supplied hardware support di[...]

5 90 7. There are two drivers, for your 32-bit XP system, press [Enter] to select the rst driver - "AMD AHCI Compatible RAID Controller-x86 platform". 8. A conrmation message appears to double check if the driver is really what we wanted, press <Enter> to continue. Windows Setup Setup will load support for the following mass s[...]

5 91 9. Windows will display the partition of your system. As we are using a Mirrored RAID array as an example, its size 232.88GB is now displayed as 238410MB. Y ou can press [C] to create partitions as many as you wish, assign them C:, D: or E: logical drive names. (Note : 238410MB/1024 = 232.82GB) 10. In this example, we will create a 30GB partit[...]

5 92 5-5 Setting Up a Non-Bootable RAID Array This section assumes the following setup : ■ Boot Disk with Windows XP installed : One hard disk HDS728090PLA T20 (80GB) is connected to the IDE channel, and set to Master . ■ A Mirrored RAID Array Disk : T wo SA T A hard disks are congured as a mirrored RAID1 array , they are : Hitachi HDT725025[...]

5 93 2. Select a RAID array for use (also can refer to section 5-3) After rebooting your computer , you will see the RAID software prompting you to press [Ctrl-F]. Press [Ctrl-F] to enter the Option ROM Utility and congure the mirrored RAID array as described in the 5-3 section. Finally , you can reach this step as depicted. 3. Exit Option ROM U[...]

5 94 5. After the AMD RAID driver is installed, it will ask you to click "Finish" to restart your computer . 6. When Windows starts, a message is prompting you to reboot again. Click "Y es" to restart your computer .[...]

5 95 7. After PC starts, the RAID array is now ready to be initialized under Windows. Launch Computer Management by clicking Start -> (Settings ->) Control Panel then open the Administrative T ools folder and double click on Computer Management. Click Disk Management (under the Storage section). The Initialize and Convert Disk Wizard appears.[...]

5 96 1 1. The Computer Management window appears. The actual disks listed will depend on your system. In below gure, you can see there is a 232.82 GB unallocated partition. Y ou must format the unallocated disk space before using it. Right click "Unallocated space", select "New Partition…" and follow the Wizard instructions[...]

5 97 17. The format of disk array (Disk1) is in processing. 18. Format completed, now you can start using your RAID array .[...]