Xtended Xpress Errata (June '96) 

Release 2 

Release- 2 Baseboard/System Configurations Supported 

About This Errata 

Limitations in the BIOS and SCU 

Limitations with the XX15" Baseboard and Pentium Processor Modules 

Limitations with SCSI Add-in Cards, Hard Drives and Drivers 

Limitations with LAN Adapter Cards and Drivers 

Limitations with Miscellaneous Add-in Cards and Drivers 

Known Issues Specific to Microsoft Windows NT 3.5 and 3.51 Versions 

Known Issues Specific to SCO UNIX 

Known Issues Specific to Novell UnixWare 2.01 

Known Issues Specific to IBM OS/2 and LAN Manager 

Known Issues Specific to Novell NetWare versions 3.12 and 4.10 

Known Issues Specific to DOS 

Known Issues Specific to Solaris 2.4 

Known Issues Specific to Banyan Vines 

Release 2 

* All products and corporate names may be trademarks of their respective companies. 

Release- 2 Baseboard/System Configurations Supported 

About This Errata 

The following is a list of known errata divided into BIOS/SCU limitations, baseboard/CPU module limitations, SCSI/LAN adapter limitations, and eight different operating system specific issues. Many of these items are being worked by the various companies and in no way reflect that any adapter or operating system is any better than another. A full compatibility report is available and includes the full list of ISA/EISA/PCI add-in cards tested. This report, titled "Xtended Xpress Final Compatibility Test Report Summary, can be found in the secure area of the Intel Applications BBS (503-264-7999 Hillsboro, OR and 44-1793-432955 Swindon, England). 

All items listed below pertain to both the Xtended Xpress 15" and Xtended Xpress 12" baseboards unless otherwise noted. 

Limitations in the BIOS and SCU 

Go to  

Contents/Xrended Xpress Product History  

for a summary of items fixed in the latest BIOS / SCU releases. 

P2519  Restoring the SCU configuration from backup does not entirely restore all baseboard settings.  

  Solution: This is fixed by using SCU version 3.11 overlay 39 or later. 

  Status: Closed. 

P2222  Upon initialization, the user may see an "ECC Address Failure" message displayed the first time the ECC memory module is installed.  

  Solution: Fixed in BIOS 1.00.06.BG0. The message has been changed to display the proper error message of "ECC memory resize error". In any event, the user can execute the SCU to clear this message and insure the proper memory sized is saved in the system configuration file. 

P2802, R1900  The Xtended Xpress system does not attempt to re-read a diskette in Drive A: if the system was first started with a non-bootable diskette. 

  Solution: Fixed in BIOS 1.00.06.BG0. 

P2858,R1936  AIP component is not properly configured for full EPP/ECP support across the parallel port on the XX15" baseboard. 

  Solution: Use SCU 3.30 and BIOS 06 or later. 

R1964  A complete printout of all SCU settings is not available to the user. 

  Solution: To be fixed in a future release of the BIOS/SCU. 

R3309  Switch and jumper settings are displayed incorrectly after saving, when user modifies interrupt settings of PCI devices sharing interrupts.  

  Solution: Fixed in SCU version 3.40 ovl 1.3 

R2568  PCI devices using new class codes defined in the PCI Specification V2.1 are displayed as "undefined adapter".  

  Solution: Fixed in SCU version 3.40 ovl 1.3 

R2145  SCU reports missing !PNPFFFF.CFG when reinvoked after running Windows '95.  

  Solution: Fixed in SCU version 3.40 ovl 1.3 

R2492  Pressing <ESC> when editing resources for a PCI device does not reset the current field back to its original setting.  

  Solution: Fixed in SCU version 3.40 ovl 1.3 

Limitations with the XX15" Baseboard and Pentium Processor Modules 

P2413  When trying to use the CTRL-ALT-(numeric keypad)-1 and CTRL-ALT-(numeric keypad)-2 for "Turbo and Deturbo" settings, the XX15" may not properly switch back and forth.  

  Solution: The only time that the hot-keys are active is when running DOS. All higher operating systems disable BIOS access to the keyboard. 

  Status: Can not fix. 

R1024  During the simulation of all possible combinations of the PCI Lock (PLOCK#) signal, a possibility exists of PCI locked cycles not actually locking the target resource. The possibility exists of the operating system performing a locked cycle to memory on a PCI video card while concurrently an EISA master is attempting to access the ECC memory. A deadlock (system hang) would be the result of the failure mode. Intel has not duplicated this possible read-modify-write operation with current operating system tests, current PCI add-in cards, or specific test configurations. 

  Solution: Currently, PCI locking is disabled in the XX15 and XX12 baseboards.  

P1955  The Matsushita 5.25" floppy drive cannot be initialized correctly as Floppy B.  

  Solution: Some 5.25" floppy drives require 16mA drivers to correctly initialize and select the drive. The 82091 (AIP) component on the Xtended Xpress baseboard contains 12mA drivers. This is known errata concerning the 82091 AIP component and these particular floppy drives.  

----  Intel PRO100B network card fails with Windows NT. 

  Data corruption can occur with the Intel PRO/100B network card running Windows NT. This is caused by an unforeseen interaction between the PRO/100B card and the Xtended Xpress PCXB chipset.  

  Solution: Intel Network Products Group has developed a new driver which fixes the communication problem.  

----  EISA Bus Masters Can Cause System Hang in Posted Write Mode. 

  With write posting enabled in the system BIOS setup the Xtended Xpress system can hang during periods of intensive bus activity. 

  Solution: If EISA bus master cards are used, disable write posting in the BIOS setup. 

Limitations with SCSI Add-in Cards, Hard Drives and Drivers 

P1849  When using hard drives with the "write-caching bit" set to enabled with any SCSI disk controller in the Xtended Xpress system, Intel recommends to turn off the embedded disk cache circuitry in the hard drives to insure data integrity. Many disk controller manufacturers, disk drive manufacturers, and operating system manufacturers also recommend disabling the disk cache circuitry embedded on the hard drive if errors persist. 

  Solution: Contact the manufacturer of the hard drive in question for more details to determine a utility to view the setting and disable if appropriate. The manufacturer should also be contacted for the information on firmware upgrades, new product schedules, and other utilities which may affect performance and data integrity. 

R2567  Quantum Atlas XP34300S goes dead during disk initialization / format 

  The Quantum Atlas drive weighs in at a hefty 2.2 lbs which combined with normal disk vibration can cause intermittence in the electrical connection between the drive and the SCSI backplane. 

  Solution: Do not use the Quantum Atlas XP34300S hard drive in the Magellan chassis 

R1455  The PCI-based DPT 3224/90 or 3224/90W add-in disk controller cards cannot share the same IRQ as the onboard AIC-7870 SCSI controllers. 

  Solution: Don't share interrupts between the DPT and Adaptec cards. 

P1773  The DCP-286i and DCP/MUX ISA add-in cards fail their diagnostics. When the cards were run normally, no errors occurred.  

  Solution: The manufacturer of the DCP cards were notified of this diagnostic anomaly. This is a known issue with high speed Pentium processors in other systems.  

Limitations with LAN Adapter Cards and Drivers 

R700  When more then two EtherExpress PRO/100 PCI LAN cards are installed in the XX15" system, the third (or fourth) Pro/100 LAN card may not be correctly recognized by the Netware, SCO UNIX, UnixWare, OS/2 or Windows NT operating systems. 

  Solution: The latest drivers for the PRO/100B card fix this problem.  

R973  The PCI-based EtherExpress PRO/100 gives a Power On Self Test (POST) error upon bootup; "0804 PCI ROM not found".  

  Solution: Fixed in BIOS v1.00.06.BG0 

----  Intel PRO/100B Data corruption with Windows NT v3.5, v3.51. A minor anomaly exists in the Xtended Xpress PCXB PCI chip-set which becomes apparent when running an Intel EtherExpress PRO/100B LAN adapter card with Windows NT. The result of the anomaly is that clients receiving data from an Xtended Xpress server thus configured may receive corrupted data. 

  Solution: A new PRO/100B driver has been developed by Intel to work-around the anomaly. 

R1884  The ISA-based Novell Token Ring 2000 gives a Power On Self Test (POST) error upon bootup; "0805 Insufficient memory in shadow PCI ROM". 

  Solution: Fixed in BIOS 1.00.06.BG0 

R1885,P2914  The EISA-based Speicalix SIO gives a Power On Self Test (POST) error upon bootup; "0805 Insufficient memory in shadow PCI ROM". 

  Solution: The manufacturer of the Speicalix add-in card has been notified. The user can disable the AIC-7870 SCSI-B BIOS scan or change the address where the Specialix add-in card contains memory. Contact the add-in card vendor for more information on schedules, possible fixes, and general driver updates. 

P2801, R1917  The DigiBoard C/X add-in card is not allowed to share certain memoy ranges with other DigiBoard C/X add-in cards already configured in the XX15" server system. 

  Solution: DigiBoard and Intel are investigating this issue. This will likely be fixed in a future BIOS/SCU. 

R2026  The PCI-based EtherExpress PRO/100, 3COM 3C595, and IBM LAN Streamer give a Power On Self Test (POST) error upon bootup; "0804 PCI ROM not found". 

  Solution: Fixed in BIOS 1.00.06.BG0 

R2027  The PCI-based IBM LAN Streamer gives a Power On Self Test (POST) error upon bootup; "0803 Shadow of PCI ROM failed". 

  Solution: Fixed in BIOS 1.00.06.BG0. 

R1891  The PCI-based IBM Token Ring add-in card causes an NMI at POST when the Intel EtherExpress PRO/100 add-in card is also installed. 

  Solution: IBM and Intel Networks Products Division have been notified. If the user removes either the IBM or Intel LAN add-in card, there is no NMI reported to the XX15" system. If the user installs the IBM add-in into the PCI P0-3 slot and the Intel add-in into PCI P0-2 slot, there is no NMI reported to the XX15" system.  

P1782  Insure that the Intel TokenExpress32 LAN card is installed before any other EISA add-in card. If the TokenExpress32 card is not the first card scanned, the SCU hangs and displays this message: "performing syntax check on !INT1202.CFG".  

  Solution: Fixed in SCU v3.30 overlay 1.2 

Limitations with Miscellaneous Add-in Cards and Drivers 

----  Video cards are not supported in the PCI-1 PeerBus structure. This is due to the PCI Specification 2.1 standard which states video memory must be scanned in the first (PCI-0) bus structure only. 

P2800  When an ISA-based add-in card is installed into the Xtended Xpress baseboard which requires a 64KB contiguous block of memory starting at D0000h, the add-in may not be properly recognized. 

  Solution: The onboard AIC-7870 SCSI BIOS (when used as bootable devices) require 48KB of space starting at C8000h. The user may disable the AIC-7870 SCSI controllers and not utilizing them with bootable SCSI hard drives. Adding a EISA/PCI add-in card as the bootable device will insure the ISA add-in card gets the entire 64KB block required. Intel recommends utilizing newer add-in card technology which does not impose such limitations on the high-performance server system. 

R1890  The XXRAID4 firmware version 230PL will cause all the yellow fault LED lights to reamin lit when used with the XX15/MG system platform. 

  Solution: Fixed in firmware v2.35-INTL and greater. 

  Status: Closed 

Known Issues Specific to Microsoft Windows NT 3.5 and 3.51 Versions 

P1481  When Microsoft Windows NT v3.5 converts from a FAT to NTFS file system, the operating system fails to send a "flush" command to any SCSI controller used in the system. This is a known Microsoft Windows NT anomaly. During installation, the operating system displays a message that tells the user to press any key to reboot the system to continue the installation process. By not sending a "flush" command at this time, the operating system assumes all data has been written from the disk controller to the hard drive(s), when in fact that action has not occurred. The problem was originally reported on any SCSI disk controller with disk cache on the add-in board, but it has also been seen with other non-caching disk controllers. 

  Solution: Wait 15-30 seconds after seeing this message "press any key to reboot the system...." before continuing with the installation process. This is a known Microsoft Windows NT 3.5 anomaly. 

  Windows NT v3.51 does not have this problem. 

P2275, R1929  When using an IDE CD-ROM to install Windows NT 3.5 or 3.51 to an IDE drive, the installation process will fail. 

  Solution: The issue is currently under investigation. 

P2841  Multiple Olicom PCI Token Ring adapters are not recognized by Windows NT 3.5 or 3.51. 

  Solution: Olicom and Intel are investigating this issue. Contact Olicom for the latest drivers for use with Microsoft Windows NT with the Olicom family of LAN adapters. 

R1896  The DEC PCI 21050 bridge component is integrated on the SMC 8434, AHA-3940, and Zynx 315 PCI add-in cards and will not be correctly recognized with Windows NT 3.51 when installed in the XX15/MG system platform. 

  Solution: Fixed in BIOS 1.00.06.BG0 

P2303  When using the Cogent EM946, SMC 8434, or AHA-3940W PCI add-in card controllers which utilize the DEC PCI 21050 bridge controller, Windows NT may not recognize the add-in card. 

  Solution: Fixed in BIOS 1.00.06.BG0. 

R669  With the onboard Cirrus 5424 and two XX-Series Pentium processor modules, the Windows NT 3.5 "WinClock" graphics frame is corrupted with running two winclocks.  

  Solution: Cirrus Logic and Intel will be testing updated video drivers. 

R1008  When using the ISA-based SMC 8115 Token-Ring adapter, the card fails to be initialized properly.  

  Solution: SMC has been notified. Contact SMC for the drivers which are released for the ISA-based 8115 Token-Ring card.  

P2539  Each time a CD is removed/inserted into the CD-ROM drive, Windows NT 3.5 & 3.51 enters a log entry concerning an error on the AIC-7870 SCSI controller.  

  Solution: Fixed in SCSI drivers v 1.2s2 .  

DCS2779 System can hang on the 10th of the month 

Windows NT fails to boot after displaying "OS loader v 3.51", or 2) a currently running Windows NT system hangs. The problem only occurs on the 10th of the month. The anomaly is a consequence of Testview (Intel's manufacturing test and diagnostics software module) setting the alarm registers of the real time clockon this date. The error creats an interrupt that Windows NT cannot handle. 

Solution: A special utility has been developed to disable the alarm registers of the real time clock. It is contained in the file RTC.ZIP which is available from the Intel Application Support BBS. In addition, Version 3.37 of Testview has been made available which includes the same utility. 

Known Issues Specific to SCO UNIX 

P1844  When installing SCO UNIX ODT 3.0 onto a hard drive attached to SCSI-B channel, this error message appears: "alad driver cannot be opened". The onboard SCSI-B controller cannot be used as the boot device on SCO UNIX according to Santa Cruz Operations, Inc. 

  Solution: The installation process can be completed with an AHA-2940 add-in card or by using the onboard SCSI-A channel. 

P2907  When trying to install SCO Release 5 beta using the DPT 3224/90W PCI add-in controller in PCI slot P2-1, the installation cannot be completed. 

  Solution: DPT and SCO have been notified of this anomoly. 

P2782  The DPT 3224/90W PCI add-in controller and onboard AIC-7870 SCSI disk controller cannot share the same interrupt (IRQ). 

  Solution: DPT has been notified of this anomoly. 

P2613  SCO UNIX ODT 3.0 cannot be installed onto Fast/Wide hard drives when the AIC-7870 SCSI controller settings are in the negotiate narrow mode. 

  Solution: Contact Seagate for a new version of firmware to fix this anomoly. 

Known Issues Specific to Novell UnixWare 2.01 

P1904  UnixWare 2.01 does not recognize the PS/2 mouse when installed in the upper (top) PS/2 port, although the keyboard is recognized in either PS/2 port on the XX15" server baseboard.  

  Solution: Place the PS/2 mouse in the lower port. Then both the mouse and keyboard are recognized by the UnixWare operating system. Novell has been notified of this anomaly.  

P2203  When executing a disk stress test, along with three (or more) disk controllers, data corruption will occur after approximately 12 hours. 

  Solution: Novell has issued an O/S patch to fix this issue. 

P2024  When operating the Intel PRO/100 LAN card in the PCI1-1 or PCI1-2 slots, UnixWare 2.01 will panic and fault.  

  Solution: Fixed by a new rev of the PLX controller chip on the PRO/100 card. 

P2377  When operating the AMD PCNet LAN card, UnixWare 2.01 will log an excessive amount of log messages.  

  Solution: The AMD LAN division has been notified of this behavior. 

Known Issues Specific to IBM OS/2 and LAN Manager 

P1563  The SMC 8432T PCI LAN adapter fails to be recognized by the OS/2 2.11SMP operating system.  

  Solution: SMC has been notified, and they working on the drivers for OS/2 at the time of this writing. 

P2168  When performing a moderate network stress test with one LAN card, a trap message will appear between 30-60 minutes. The test involves copying files between two DOS clients and one OS/2 client. The LAN cards used were the Zynx 342 or the Intel PRO/100.  

  Solution: Fixed in current Adaptec OS/2 driver. 

P2049  OS/2 2.11SMP scans the PCI bus when determining the bootable C: drive before scanning for any bootable EISA bus devices. This scan order is different then OS/2 3.0 Warp and other available operating systems. A system lockup will occur at boot-up, if hard drives are connected on both EISA and PCI bus structures. The system BIOS will assume the EISA hard drive is the bootable device while OS/2 2.11SMP assumes the bootable device to be on the PCI hard drive.  

  Solution: IBM has been contacted and is working on service pack to fix this anomaly. Contact IBM for information concerning the service pack existence, schedule of a possible fix, and any other errata concerning OS/2 2.11SMP. 

P2153  OS/2 2.11, 2.11SMP and 3.0 Warp all display an icon for Floppy drive B: in the DRIVES folder even when there is no floppy B: device in the Xtended Xpress server system. 

  Solution: IBM is aware of the anomaly. If the icon is invoked, the object will access the floppy drive A: and will not cause a system lockup. IBM considers this a feature. 

P2697  OS/2 2.11SMP will not execute properly in a moderate network stress test with the XX-Series dual Pentium Processor module. 

  Solution: Fixed in current release of OS/2. 

Known Issues Specific to Novell NetWare versions 3.12 and 4.10 

P2622  The user must load ASPI8DOS.SYS before any other file in the CONFIG.SYS file. 

  Solution: Fixed in v1.2s2 version of Adaptec drivers. 

P2621  The user is unable to load any module after AIC7870.DSK is loaded. After loading the AIC7870.DSK, the next module being loaded will display "invalid load format" error.  

  Solution: Will be fixed in BIOS 1.00.07.BG0 and SCSI drivers v1.2s2.  

P2578  With one (or two) XX-Series dual Pentium Processor module installed, the XX15" server system will not operate properly with Novell 3.12 or 4.10 versions. 

  Solution: Fixed in BIOS 1.00.06.BG0. 

Known Issues Specific to DOS 

R579  A customized version of DOS 5.0-J cannot execute a program larger then 10 KB from a 3-mode or 2-mode floppy drive when connected to the XX15" server system. MS-DOS 5.0, 6.20, 6.21, 6.22; DR DOS 6.21, 6.24; and Japanese DOS 6.20V do not display the problem. 

  Solution: This anomaly will likely be fixed in a future release of the BIOS/SCU.  

R1937  The MS-DOS 5.0 and DOS 5.0-J himem.sys is incompatible with the AMI/Intel SCU 3.11 overlay 39 executable. 

  Solution: A memory manager is required for use with the AMI/Intel System Configuration Utility. The standard himem.sys program with MS-DOS 5.0 and DOS 5.0-J contains known errata which results in erratic behavior with used with the SCU. The himem.sys program sent with MS-DOS 6.20, 6.21, 6.22; DR DOS 6.21, 6.24; and Japanese DOS 6.20V is tested and support for used with the AMI/Intel SCU. This anomoly will likely not be fixed in a future release of the BIOS/SCU since himem.sys is upgradable through the DOS manufacturer.  

Known Issues Specific to Solaris 2.4 

P2743  Solaris 2.4 will lockup right before the build to perform the /devices directories when booting the kernel. 

  Solution: This anomoly is being worked on by Intel and SunSoft. Solaris 2.4 (driver update 7) with the kernel patch version 12 is currently be tested. Another patch version of /kernel/mach/pcplusmp after installation is also being tested. Contact SunSoft for availability of any updated drivers, scheduled kernel updates, and kernel patches. 

Known Issues Specific to Banyan Vines 

P2095  The ISA-based Banyan ICA card cannot be used in the Xtended Xpress system with more then 16MB of memory installed. 

  Solution: Fixed in BIOS 1.00.06.BG0 

  Status: Closed 

P2470  The IBM 16/4 ISA-based token ring fails to properly intialize when installed in the XX15" server system. 

  Solution: Fixed in BIOS 1.00.06.BG0.  

P2578  With one (or two) XX-Series dual Pentium Processor module installed, the XX15" server system will not operate properly with Banyan Vines 5.53 and 6.0 versions. 

  Solution: Fixed in BIOS 1.00.06.BG0 

General Product Info 

Operating System Certifications 

Compatibility Test Results (June '96) 

Approved SIMM / Memory / Peripherals Vendor List (June '96) 

Spares List 

Product Codes 

Bills of Material 

Operating System Certifications 

[blank page] 

Compatibility Test Results (June '96) 

HARDWARE 

HARDWARE 

NETWORK 

SOFTWARE 

HARDWARE  

VALIDATED IN HARDWARE INTEROPERABILITY TESTING 

CD-ROM DRIVES 

MicroSolutions Backpack 4X (external, EPP) 

NEC CDR 271 (internal, IDE) 

NEC CDR 601 (internal, SCSI) 

Creative Labs CT-531 (external, proprietary) 

NEC CDR 74-1 (external, SCSI) 

NEC CDR 600 (internal, SCSI) 

Pioneer DRM-604X (external, SCSI) 

Plextor PX-43CH (internal, SCSI)  

Plextor PX-6CH (internal, SCSI)  

Sony CDU76E (internal, IDE) 

Sony CSD76SB (internal, SCSI II) 

TEAC TE6i (internal, IDE) 

Toshiba XM-3301E1 (external, SCSI)  

Toshiba XM-3401 (internal, SCSI) 

Toshiba XM-3501B (internal, SCSI) 

Toshiba XM-3501 (internal, SCSI) 

Toshiba XM-3701 (internal, SCSI) 

Toshiba XM-5302B (internal, IDE) 

DISK CONTROLLERS 

Onboard Adaptec 7870 (PCI/SCSI wide) 

Onboard Intel AIP, rev 2 (ISA/IDE) 

*Adaptec 1532P (PnP/SCSI) 

Adaptec 1542CF (ISA/SCSI) 

Adaptec 2740T (EISA/SCSI) 

Adaptec 2930 (PCI/SCSI) 

Adaptec 2940 (PCI/SCSI) 

Adaptec 2940W (PCI/SCSI wide) 

Adaptec 3940W (PCI/SCSI wide) 

Bus Logic BT747D (EISA/SCSI) 

Bus Logic BT946C (PCI/SCSI) 

DPT 2022 (EISA/SCSI) 

DPT 2122 (EISA/SCSI) 

*DTC 2290B (EISA/IDE) 

Future Domain 1630 (PnP/SCSI) 

Future Domain 1680 (ISA/SCSI) 

Future Domain 3260 (PCI/SCSI) 

Inito (PCI/SCSI) 

Intel XXPCIRAID4 (PCI SCSI) 

Mylex DAC960P (PCI/SCSI) 

NCR 8250S (PCI SCSI) 

*QLogic FastSCSI IR (PCI/SCSI) 

Western Digital 7197 (PCI/SCSI) 

Western Digital 7193 (PCI/SCSI) 

FAX/MODEMS & MODEMS 

Intel 14.4/14.4 Faxmodem 

Intel 2400ex 

Intel SatisFAXtion® 400 

SupraFAXModem 288i 

FLOPPY DRIVES 

TEAC FD-235J (3.5-in. 2.88MB floppy) 

TEAC FD-505 (dual 1.44/1.2MB floppy) 

TEAC FD-55GFR (5.25-in. 1.2MB floppy) 

HARD DRIVES 

Conner CFP1060W (SCSI wide) 

Digital DSP 1370L (SCSI) 

Fujitsu M1606SAU (SCSI) 

Fujitsu M2694ESA (SCSI) 

Maxtor MXT7131A (IDE) 

Maxtor MXT7345A (IDE) 

Maxtor MXT1240S (SCSI) 

Micropolis 4110 (SCSI) 

Quantum ELS 170A (IDE) 

Quantum LPS 140S (SCSI) 

Quantum LPS 170S (SCSI) 

Quantum LPS 240S (SCSI) 

Quantum LPS 270AT (IDE) 

Quantum LPS 270S (SCSI) 

Quantum LPS 540S (SCSI) 

Seagate ST12450W (SCSI wide) 

Seagate ST11950N (SCSI) 

Seagate ST31220A (IDE) 

Seagate ST3145A (IDE) 

Seagate ST32550W (SCSI wide) 

Seagate ST32550N (SCSI) 

Seagate ST32550W (SCSI wide) 

Seagate ST3390N (SCSI 

Seagate ST5660N (SCSI) 

Western Digital AC2100 (IDE) 

Western Digital AC1270 (IDE) 

Western Digital AC2550 (IDE) 

Western Digital AC3100 RTL (IDE) 

Western Digital AC31200 (IDE) 

Western Digital WD170A (IDE) 

KEYBOARDS 

Alps GlidePoint 

BTC AT 

Cirque GlidePoint 

Hi-Tek PS/2  

KeyCat II 

Kinesis Ergo Model 120 

Microsoft Natural PS/2 

Dell Quietkey SK-1000 

MEMORY BOARDS 

Above® Board ISA 

AST Rampage  

JRAM 

MICE 

Logitech PS/2 Ergo mouse 

Logitech PS/2 Trackball 

Microsoft Ergo PS/2 mouse 

Microsoft Home Serial mouse 

Microsoft Natural PS/2 

MISCELLANEOUS 

Bernoulli Box II 

DCP 286i Diagnostic v1.10 

DCP/MUXi Diagnostic  

Hardcard 85MB 

Intel EtherExpress™ 16 

Intel EtherExpress™ /Pro 100 (PCI) 

IRMA 2 & IRMA 3 

ZNYX ZX312 EtherAction (PCI) 

SOUND BOARDS 

*Gravis UltraSound 

Sound Blaster 16 Value 

Sound Blaster Pro II 

TAPE DRIVES 

Exabyte 8200T (SCSI, Tape) 

VIDEO ADAPTERS 

AT&T VDC 800 

ATI Graphics Wonder 1MB (ISA) 

ATI UltraPro PCI 2MB 

ATI Graphics Xpression 2MB (PCI) 

ATI Pro Turbo 4MB (ISA) 

ATI Pro Turbo 4MB (PCI) 

ATI UltraPro EISA 2MB 

ATI Win Boost PCI 1MB 

Cirrus 5424 512K (PCI) (Onboard) 

Cirrus Logic 5430 

Cirrus Logic 5434 

*Diamond Stealth 32 2MB (PCI) 

Diamond Stealth 64 4MB (PCI) 

*Diamond Stealth 64 DRAM 2MB (PCI) 

Diamond Viper Pro 2MB(PCI) 

Diamond SpeedStar Pro SE 2MB (PCI) 

#9 GXE 64 2MB (PCI) 

#9 GXE 64 Pro 2MB (PCI) 

#9 GXE 64 Trio 2MB (PCI) 

#9 9FX Motion531 2MB (PCI) 

* #9 GXE PCI 1MB 

Hercules Graphics Card Plus GB112 (ISA) 

#9 Imagine 1600 2MB (PCI) 

#9 Imagine 128 2MB (1600, PCI) 

*Matrox MGA II PCI 

Matrox Impression Plus PCI 

Orchid Fahrenheit 64 2MB (PCI) 

Paradise Bahamas 64 1 MB (PCI) 

Paradise Bali 32 1 MB (PCI) 

Paradise Barbados 64 2 MBWD Paradise Barbados 64 1MB (PCI) (PCI)Orchid Fahrenheit 64 2MB (PCI)Orchid Kelvin 64 2MB (PCI) 

STB PowerGraph 64 1MB (PCI) 

STB PowerGraph 64V+ 1MB (PCI) 

VIDEO EXTENSIONS 

ProShare VC200 v1.6 

ISDN Adapter 

Smart Video Capture 

ReelMagic Lite 

HARDWARE  

USED IN CONFIGURING TEST PLATFORMS 

CD-ROM DRIVES 

Sony CDU76E (internal, IDE) 

Toshiba XM-3401 (internal, SCSI) 

DISK CONTROLLERS 

Onboard Adaptec 7870 (PCI/SCSI wide) 

Onboard Intel AIP (ISA/IDE) 

Adaptec 1542CF (ISA/SCSI) 

*Adaptec 3940 (PCI/SCSI) 

Mylex DAC960 RAID 

FAX/MODEMS & MODEMS 

Penril 2382-01 

FLOPPY DRIVES 

NEC FD-1138H (3.5-in. 1.44MB floppy) 

NEC FD-1157C (5.25-in. 1.2MB floppy) 

TEAC FD-235HF (3.5-in. 1.44MB floppy) 

TEAC FD-505 (dual 1.44/1.2MB floppy) 

TEAC FD-55GFR (5.25-in. 1.2MB floppy) 

HARD DRIVES 

Conner CFA540S (SCSI) 

Conner CFP 1080S (SCSI) 

Quantum LPS 1050S (SCSI) 

Seagate ST12450W (SCSI wide) 

Seagate ST32550W (SCSI wide) 

Seagate ST3390N (SCSI) 

Seagate ST5660N (SCSI) 

Western Digital AC1270 (IDE) 

Western Digital AC2250A (IDE) 

Western Digital AC2340 (IDE) 

Western Digital AC2520 (IDE) 

Western Digital AC2540 (IDE) 

KEYBOARDS 

AT&T PS/2 

Compaq RT101 

IBM PS/2 

Key Tronic AT 

NMB RT-101 

MICE 

Compaq PS/2 

Digital PS/2 

Logitech PS/2 Serial mouse 

Logitech PS/2 Standard mouse 

Microsoft PS/2 mouse 

Microsoft Serial mouse 

Mitsumi PS/2 

MISCELLANEOUS 

*ZNYX ZX312 EtherAction (PCI) 

MONITORS 

AT&T AC 120V 

CTX 6468GM 

MAG MX15H 

Mitsubishi AUM 1381A 

Nanao FlexScan F550i W 

NEC MultiSync 3D 

NEC MultiSync 5FGP 

Panasonic PanaSync C1381i 

Sony CPD 1302 

ViewSonic 6E  

PRINTERS 

Hewlett-Packard LaserJet 4L 

Hewlett-Packard LaserJet IIP 

Hewlett-Packard LaserJet IIIP 

Panasonic KX-P1124i 

Panasonic KX-P2023 

Panasonic KX-P2123 

Panasonic KX-P2130 

SOUND BOARDS 

Sound Blaster 16 Value 

Sound Blaster Pro 

Sound Blaster Pro II 

TAPE DRIVES 

Archive Viper 2150S (SCSI, Tape) 

VIDEO ADAPTERS 

Onboard Cirrus 5424 512K (PCI) 

Paradise Accelerator 24 (ISA) 

NETWORK 

OPERATING SYSTEMS AND HARDWARE VALIDATED IN NETWORK TESTING 

BANYAN VINES 

V6.00(0), Server 

V5.54(0), Server 

Client Workstation 

Network Adapters: 

Banyan ICA 

IBM Token Ring II 

IBM Token Ring 16/4 

IBM Token Ring II 16/4 

Intel EtherExpress™ 16 

ProNet P1392 

IBM LAN SERVER 

v4.0, Advanced 

v3.0, Advanced 

DOS/Windows Requester 

OS/2 Requester 

IBM OS/2 v2.11SMP 

*IBM OS/2 Warp v3.0 

Network Adapters: 

3COM 3C509 

3COM Etherlink III 

IBM Auto LAN Streamer 

IBM Token-Ring 16/4 II 

IBM Token-Ring Auto 16/4 

IBM Token Ring 16/4 II w/ RPL 

Intel EtherExpress™ 16 

*Intel EtherExpress™ 32 (EISA) 

Intel EtherExpress™ PRO/10 (PCI) 

Intel EtherExpress™ PRO/100 (PCI) 

Intel EtherExpress™ PRO/100B (PCI) 

Intel TokenExpress™ 16/4s 

Intel TokenExpress™ 32 (EISA) 

Olicom PCI 16/4 

ZNYX ZX312 EtherAction (PCI) 

MICROSOFT WINDOWS NT 

v3.51 Advanced Server 

*v3.5 Advanced Server 

Network Adapters: 

AMD PCnet (PCI) 

3Com 3C579 Etherlink III (EISA) 

IBM Auto LAN Streamer 

IBM Token-Ring 16/4 II 

Intel EtherExpress™ 16 

Intel EtherExpress™ PRO/10 (PCI) 

Intel EtherExpress™ PRO/100B (PCI) 

Intel TokenExpress™ 32 (EISA) 

ZNYX ZX312 EtherAction (PCI) 

NOVELL NETWARE 

*v4.1, Server 

v3.12, Server 

SFT III 

Workstations 

Network Adapters: 

*AMD PCnet (PCI) 

3Com 3C509 

3Com 3C579 EtherLink III (EISA) 

3Com 3C590 EtherLink III (PCI) 

3Com 3C595 

3Com TokenLink III 

AMD PCnet (PCI) 

Cogent eMaster+ EM960 PCI 

Cogent eMaster+ EM964 PCI 

DEC Etherworks (PCI) 

Digiboard 8-Port 

Eagle NE2000+ 

*Eagle NTR2000 

Eagle NE32000 

IBM Token Ring 16/4 ISA-16 

IBM Token-Ring 16/4 II 

IBM Token-Ring Auto 16/4 ISA 

IBM Token Ring 16/4 II w/ RPL 

Intel EtherExpress™ 16 

Intel EtherExpress™ PRO (ISA PnP) 

Intel EtherExpress™ PRO/10 (PCI) 

Intel EtherExpress™ PRO/100 (PCI) 

*Intel EtherExpress™ Flash 32 (EISA) 

*Intel EtherExpress™ Pro (ISA PnP) 

*Intel EtherExpress™ Pro 100 (EISA) 

Intel EtherExpress™ PRO/100B (PCI) 

*Intel TokenExpress™ 16/4s 

Intel TokenExpress™ 32 (EISA) 

Intel TokenExpress™ Pro (ISA) 

Madge Smart 16/4 AT Ringnode 

*Olicom PCI 16/4 

Proteon 1990 (EISA) 

*Racal Interlan PCI T2 

NOVELL NETWARE (continued) 

*SMC Elite16C Ultra 

SMC EtherPower PCI  

SMC PC600FS 

SMC8432T/BT PCI  

*SMC Token Elite 

Thomas-Conrad TC3045 

*Thomas-Conrad TC4045 

*Thomas-Conrad TC5045 

Thomas-Conrad TC5048-T/2 (PCI) 

Thomas-Conrad TC6242 

Xircom Pocket Adapter 

ZNYX ZX312 EtherAction (PCI) 

PEER TO PEER NETWORKS 

LANtastic v.6.0 

Intel EtherExpress™ 16 

Intel EtherExpress™ Pro (ISA PnP) 

Intel TokenExpress™ Pro (ISA) 

Novell Personal NetWare v.1.0 

Intel EtherExpress™ 16 

Intel TokenExpress™ Pro (ISA) 

Windows for Workgroups v.3.11 

Intel EtherExpress™ 16 

Intel EtherExpress™ Pro (ISA PnP) 

Intel TokenExpress™ Pro (ISA) 

SERVER MANAGEMENT CARDS 

LANDesk Server Monitor   Module (SERVERMON) 

SOFTWARE 

VALIDATED IN ALL TESTING, INCLUDING OPERATING SYSTEMS 

BENCHMARKS & DIAGNOSTICS 

DisplayMate Professional v1.1 

DOS Utilities 

Floating Point Sequencer v1 

GST Diagnostic v1.01 

Intel Manufacturing Diagnostics 

Landmark Benchmarks v2.0 

Microsoft Windows 3.11 Hardware Compatibility Test 

P3 Test 

PC Bench v9.0 

PCI.EXE 

QAPlus v4.70 

Winstone 95 

Workbench v3.1 

Workbench 95 

COMMUNICATION SOFTWARE 

DOSFax PRO v2.0 

Crosstalk v2.0 

Faxability Plus OCR 

Intel MTEZ v1.03 

Procomm Plus v1.02 (Windows) 

ProShare Premiere v1.6 

ProShare Video v1.8 

WinFax PRO v4.0 

MEMORY & DRIVE MANAGERS 

386MAX v7.0 

Disk Optimizer v4.05 

DOS Mem Maker 

EMM386.sys v4.0 

HIMEM.sys v2.04 

Netroom 

QEMM v7.0 

Qualitas 386MAX v7.3 

RAMdrive.sys v2.12 

Smartdrive.sys v2.10 

MISC. SOFTWARE 

Flight Simulator v4.0 

MULTIMEDIA APPLICATIONS 

Aces of the Pacific 

Animotion MCS Stereo v1.04 

Battle Chess (1991) for Windows 

Blown Away v1.0 

Bookshelf (1992) for Windows 

Fury³ 

The Hive v1.0 

Magic Carpet 

Mammals (1990 NGS) 

Nascar Racing 

OPERATING SYSTEMS 

Banyan VINES V.6.00(0) 

Banyan VINES V.5.54(0) 

IBM LAN Server 3.0 Advanced 

IBM LAN Server 4.0 Advanced 

IBM OS/2 v2.11GA 

IBM OS/2 Warp v3.0 

*IBM OS/2 v2.11 SMP 

LANtastic 6.0 

Microsoft DOS v5.00A 

Microsoft DOS v6.22 

Microsoft Windows v3.1 

Microsoft Windows v3.11 

*MS Windows NT v3.5 Advanced Server 

MS Windows NT v3.51 Advanced Server 

MS Windows NT v3.51 Workstation 

MS Windows NT v3.5 Workstation 

MS Windows for Workgroups v3.11 

Microsoft Windows 95 

*Novell NetWare v3.12 

Novell NetWare v4.10 

Novell NetWare SFT III 

Novell Personal NetWare 1.0 

*SCO UNIX MPX 

*SCO UNIX Open Desktop v3.0 

SCO UNIX Vr3. 

SCO UNIX OpenServer v5.0 

SunSoft Solaris v2.4 

*SunSoft Solaris v2.1 

Sun OS Vr5.1 

SunSoft Solaris v2.5 MP 

UnixWare v2.1 MP 

UnixWare v1.1 

Unix Vr4.2 

*UnixWare v2.0 

Unix Vr4.2MP 

OS/2 SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS 

CorelDRAW v2.5 

SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS
Tested under DOS 

Ami Pro for Windows v3.0 

AutoCAD 12 

AutoCAD 11 

CorelDRAW v4.0 

dBASE IV v1.1 

Excel v3.0 for Windows 

Excel v4.0 for Windows 

Grammatik v2.0 for Windows 

Grammatik v5.0 for Windows 

Harvard Graphics v2.13 

Harvard Graphics v2.3 

Lotus 1-2-3 r4.0 for Windows 

Lotus 1-2-3 r3.1 

Lotus 1-2-3 r4.0 

Mathematica v1.2 

Mathematica v2.0 

Minitab v7.2 

Norton Utilities v8.0 

PageMaker v4.0 for Windows 

Paradox v3.5 

PowerPoint v3.0 for Windows 

PowerPoint v4.0 for Windows 

Quattro Pro v3.0 

Symphony v2.2 

Word v6.0 for Windows 

Word v2.0 for Windows 

Word v1.1 for Windows 

WordPerfect v6.1 

WordPerfect v6.0 

WordPerfect v5.1 

WordPerfect v5.1 for Windows 

SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS
Tested Under Windows 95 

Doom II: Hell on Earth 

Excel v5.0 for Windows 

Lotus 1-2-3 r4.0 

Magic Carpet 

Mammals (1990 NGS) 

Nascar Racing 

PowerPoint v4.0 for Windows 

TV Guide CrossWords, Vol. 1 

Word v6.0 for Windows 

WordPerfect v6.1 for Windows 

Indicates that the latest version (at test time) of the diagnostics was used. 

Approved SIMM / Memory / Peripherals Vendor List (June '96) 

Intel Approved and Qualified SIMM Modules 

Intel Approved and Qualified Video RAM 

SIMM Modules Qualification Schedule 

Known Incompatible SIMM Modules 

Intel Approved and Qualified SIMM Modules 

Intel Approved and Qualified Video RAM 

SIMM Modules Qualification Schedule 

Known Incompatible SIMM Modules 

Spares List 

Product Codes 

Bills of Material 

Xtended Xpress 15" / Magellan 

Xtended Xpress 12" / Magellan 

Xtended Xpress 12" / Columbus 

Xtended Xpress 15" / Magellan 

[blank page] 

Xtended Xpress 12" / Magellan 

[blank page] 

Xtended Xpress 12" / Columbus 

[blank page] 

Tips and Configuration 

Using SCA Hard Drives 

Windows NT v3.5 

SCO UNIX 

Network Cards with Boot ROM Sockets 

Programming the LCD 

Using SCA Hard Drives 

Installing 

Note: The SCA SCSI backplane is configured to not spin up hard drives on power up. In order for the drives to be spun up the 'Send Start Unit Command' option in the SCSI Select configuration utility must be set to 'Yes'. This tells the SCSI controller that it needs to spin up the SCSI drive before trying to access it. 

Windows NT v3.5 

Windows NT v3.5 

Windows NT v3.51 

Windows NT v3.5 

Setting up Windows NT v 3.5 requires a few additional steps. 

First:    BIOS Setup Requirements 

In the advanced chipset setup area in the BIOS setup you must set the MPS table to v1.4 (pre-approval). This allows Windows NT to see the Seconday PCI bus and the integratated Adaptec SCSI Controllers. 

Also, some CD-ROM drives will not be recognized unless the Wide/Narrow setting in the SCSI Select (CTRL-A during POST) is set to narrow for the SCSI ID that the CD-ROM is set to. 

Second:  Boot-time Requirements 

Insert the Windows NT v3.5 setup boot disk and power up the system. When the message; "Setup is checking hardware" hit the F5 key. This tells Windows NT not to use the default HAL provided on the setup disk and prompt the user for a different on.  

After the F5 Key is pressed, Windows NT will not provide any imediate acknowledgement that a key has been hit. A little bit further down the installation process Windows NT will prompt for the user to insert a disk which contains the HAL for Xtended Xpress. This disk is provided with the Xtended Xpress system or is available from Intel. 

Third:  Adaptec Driver 

The last step involves installing the latest driver for the on-board Adaptec SCSI controllerss.  

When Windows NT asks if it should try to detect installed SCSI controllers it should be told to skip this process by hitting the 'S' key. Hit the 'S' key again to specify a controller, and select 'other' from the list. The user will once again be prompted to insert a driver diskette. This diskette is provided with the Xtended Xpress system. 

Last:    Continue Installation as normal 

From now on out the installation will proceed normally.  

Windows NT v3.51 

All the necessary drivers ship with Windows NT v3.51. The only thing special which needs to be done is to use the BIOS setup to set the MPS specification level to 1.4. 

SCO UNIX 

In order to run SCO UNIX with multiprocessing on Xtended Xpress two patches from SCO are required. They can be obtained from ftp.sosco.com and the file names are: 

uod393a.Z 

uod393ltr.Z 

Network Cards with Boot ROM Sockets 

Error 804 PCI ROM not found 

When using an add-in LAN card there is the probability that the system BIOS will generate the error message "804 PCI ROM not found, Hit <F1> for setup or <ESC> to continue". This message is caused by the system BIOS checking PCI register 30h for the LAN card and receiving the response that no boot-rom is installed. 

Most LAN cards have the option to add a ROM to allow the system to boot from the network rather than from a local hard or floppy drive. When this ROM is not installed the system BIOS generates an error message.  

When this message is received it can be ignored because it is a more of a warning rather than  

Programming the LCD 

Intel-Specific INT 15h Functions 

LCD Services, Function = DA08h 

Intel-Specific INT 15h Functions 

These functions are provided via invocation of the software interrupt 15h. 

The following functions are provided by the Xtended Xpress BIOS in addition to the IBM AT standard INT 15h functions: 

The Xtended Xpress system BIOS provides the capability to program the LCD display using INT 15h BIOS calls.  

The following is a summary of these calls: 

LCD Services, Function = DA08h 

AX = 0da08h    Function/Subfunction for LCD support 

BH = subfunction #  Described below 

On exit, carry is set if the function could not be performed. Otherwise, carry is clear. 

The LC Display on XXpress/Altair can be thought of as a 16 X 2 line video terminal. It has cursor positioning, textual printing, and the functions below respond to standard ASCII strings. On powerup, the display is blank, the cursor is off, and the cursor is positioned at 0,0. X Coordinates are set to 0-15 and Y coordinates are 0 or 1. 

Related Topics: 

Subfunction 00h - Enable display/Clear display/Home cursor or Disable display6QFJ6D 

Subfunction 01h - Display text string at cursor positionKUTJYV 

Subfunction 02h - Set cursor statusQPCLDK 

Subfunction 03h - Display decimal number at cursor positionBQO3GW 

Subfunction 04h - Position cursor4MZH.8E 

Subfunction 05h - Display number in lower left hand corner0GKIHV 

Subfunction 06h - Display character at current cursor positionE2I68I 

Subfunction 00h - Enable display/Clear display/Home cursor or Disable display 

Input: BL = 0, Display is disabled. 

BL = 1, Display is enabled, display is cleared and cursor is homed. 

Output: None 

This function will disable the LCD display, or alternately enable and clear the LCD display, and home the cursor. The cursor's on/off status is retained. 

Subfunction 01h - Display text string at cursor position 

Input: DS:SI=ASCIIZ String to display 

Output: None 

This function will display an ASCIIZ text string (null terminated ASCII string) at the current cursor location. If the cursor goes past the end of the line, it wraps to the first character on the beginning of the next line. If the cursor goes past the end of the LC Display, it wraps back up to the upper left hand corner position (no scrolling takes place). In addition to regular ASCII characters, this routine will also respond to several control characters: 

  \n (0x0a) - Linefeed. Moves cursor down one line without altering column. 

  \r (0x0d) - Carriage return. Moves cursor to beginning of current line. 

  \b (0x08) - Backspace. Moves cursor back one character position. If the cursor is on the first character on the current line, it is moved to the last character position on the previous line. If a backspace is issued with the cursor in the upper left and corner of the display, it wraps around to the lower right hand corner of the display. The backspace command is not destructive. 

Subfunction 02h - Set cursor status 

Input: BL=Cursor status to set 

Output: None 

This function will turn the LC Display cursor on or off. If BL is set to zero, the cursor is turned off. If BL is non-zero, the cursor is turned on. 

Subfunction 03h - Display decimal number at cursor position 

Input:   BL=# Of significant digits to display 

  ECX = Decimal number to display 

  DH=Space field count 

  DL=Leading zero specifier 

Output: None 

This function displays an ASCII decimal number at the current cursor location within a field of characters specified by DH, and with a leading zero count specifier in DL. For example (spaces are represented by *'s): 

DH=10, DL=6,ECX=1234 would produce: ****001234 

DH=10,DL=3,ECX=4567 would produce: ******4567 

DH=0,DL=10,ECX=7890 would produce: 0000007890 

If either the space field count or the leading zero specifier is set to zero, the numeric value displayed is not zero or space padded. If the number to be displayed can't fit in the field specified on input, the number is truncated. 

Subfunction 04h - Position cursor 

Input: DH=X coordinate, DL=Y coordinate 

Output: Carry is set if the X/Y coordinates are invalid 

This procedure will position the cursor at the X/Y coordinate given in DX. DH=X coordinate (0-15) and DL=Y Coordinate (0 or 1). Any values outside this range will result in an error being returned as indicated by the carry flag. 

Subfunction 05h - Display number in lower left hand corner 

Input : CX=# To display in lower left hand corner 

Output : Nothing. 

This will display a 3 digit decimal number in the lower left hand corner of the LC display. It is space padded. 

Subfunction 06h - Display character at current cursor position 

Input: BL=Character to display at cursor 

Output: Carry is set if the function failed 

This function will display an ASCII character (in BL) at the current cursor position. Normal ASCII characters from 32 decimal and above are displayed. Anything below 32 decimal will be ignored unless it is one of the following control characters: 

  \n (0x0a) - Linefeed. Moves cursor down one line without altering column. 

  \r (0x0d) - Carriage return. Moves cursor to beginning of current line. 

  \b (0x08) - Backspace. Moves cursor back one character position. If the cursor is on the first character on the current line, it is moved to the last character position on the previous line. If a backspace is issued with the cursor in the upper left hand corner of the display, it wraps around to the lower right hand corner of the display. The backspace command is not destructive. 

Xtended Xpress Product History (June '96) 

Baseboard History 

XTENDED XPRESS SYSTEM REVISION SUMMARY 

Driver / Country Kit History 

XX-SERIES PROCESSOR MODULE REVISION SUMMARY 

BIOS History 

SCU History 

System History 

Product Codes 

Baseboard History 

XTENDED XPRESS SYSTEM REVISION SUMMARY 

Driver / Country Kit History 

XX-SERIES PROCESSOR MODULE REVISION SUMMARY 

BIOS History 

BIOS version 1.00.00.BG0 

BIOS version 1.00.02.BG0 

BIOS version 1.00.03.BG0 

BIOS version 1.00.04.BG0 

BIOS version 1.00.06.BG0 

BIOS version 1.00.00.BG0 

About This Release 

Procedure for flashing this Release: 

Issues Resolved in this Release: 

Features Added or Changed in this Release: 

Outstanding issues: 

About This Release: 

1.  This is the production 1.0 release of BIOS version 1.00.00 and provides individual BIOS tailored for each specific XXpress platform: 

    1.00.00.BG0  Medusa (XX-15") 

2.  NOTE:  AMISCU System Configuration Utility Disk, Release 3.07, OVL 00.25 or later should be used with this BIOS. 

3.  NOTE:  When previous BIOS is Beta 1.5 or eariler Beta, OR Alpha 34 or eariler Alpha: 

    When FMUP is used to update the System BIOS you MUST clear NVRAM  RAM. 

    NOTE:  To clear CMOS RAM: 

      1. Allow the system to boot with the CMOS CLEAR switch in the        CLEAR position. 

      2. Put the CMOS CLEAR jumper back to the normal position. 

      3. Reboot the machine. 

  Failure to follow this procedure can result in unpredictable behavior. 

4.  This BIOS operates with FAB 4, FAB 4 Prime and FAB 5. This BIOS is formally released with Fab 5. Fab 4 and Fab 4 prime boards will be supported as much as possible. However, be aware that certain conditions may require the user to upgrade to FAB 5. 

5.   IRQ12 is not available for any resource except the mouse. The System BIOS reserves the IRQ12 resource when a mouse is not detected. 

6.  IDE drives default to Standard CHS translation. Use the System BIOS Setup program or the SCU to re-configure the IDE sub-system if this mode is incorrect for your IDE drive configuration. 

7.  When either the <Space Bar> or <ESC> key is pressed during the POST Memory Test the display of the amount of system memory tested stops. The test continues in the background. Pressing the <Space Bar> or <ESC> key to terminate the memory test will be removed in the next BIOS release. 

8.   If the boot device is a Hard disk, and that hard disk is not initialized, but does contain the 55AAh boot signature, the system will hang on boot. 

9.  This BIOS release is in English only. 

Procedure for flashing this Release: 

1.   Execute FMUP utility and select to update system BIOS into Flash. Then Select BIOS 1.00.00.BG0_  

2.  Enter Setup through <F1> and Check out and note the following: 

a)  Check the SYSTEM DATE for correct year. 

b)  Note the IDE settings in the HARD DISK menus.  

  The IDE TRANSLATION MODE default is Standard CHS. 

  If no IDE drive is installed, set the INITIALIZTION TIMEOUT to 0 seconds. 

c)  If running NT go into the ADVANCED CHIPSET CONFIGURATION and change the MPS TABLE VERSION to 1.4 (Pre-Approved). 

d)  Go to the SECURITY Menu and set the RESET AND POWER SWITCH LOCKING to Disable unless desired. 

e)  Press <F10> to Save and Exit the configuration. 

3  Boot from the SCU diskette and ... 

  Note: When executing SCU from a floppy diskette, DOS V6.22 or later is required. 

a)  There is not initial Password so when the SCU prompts for a password, press <ESC> to bypass setting of passwords. 

b)  Copy both CFG and OVL files from any additional addin cards needed to the SCU floppy diskette. 

c)  If no CFG file exists for any ISA card to be inserted into system board preform the following steps: 

  1.  Press <F9> Utilities and then Press <F7> to Define ISA BOARDS. 

  2.  Fill in the ISA Board Definition Menu as appropriate. 

  3.  Press <F10> to save definition. 

d)  From the Main mnu go to STEP 2 and add the appropriate EISA and or ISA cards as desired. Note for ISA configurations, Press INSERT twice. 

  When Finished addin cards, Press <ESC> to get to main menu. 

e)  From Main Menu go to STEP 3. THen Pres enter at the SYTEM BOARD entry. 

  For any changes that are required for the system board, press enter on the function item and then select the desired choice followed by the enter key.  

  Slow ISA cards require that the shadow RAM region that their ROM occupies be disabled.  

  Press <ESC> when finished with change with the SYSTEM BOARD. 

  Next pres Enter for each of the SLot Entries. For PCI devices also Check each of their current selected resource hy pressing <F6>. 

  When finished viewing all the Slot entries, PRess <F9> and then select GLOBAL RESOURCE MAP for viewing. 

f)  From Main Menu go to STEP 4 to Save and Exit. 

4.  If any problems occur in the above process, then clear NVRAM using the procedure noted above in the About This Release section, step 3. Then repeat steps 1 through 3. 

Issues Resolved in this Release: 

1.  Beta 12 banner is removed. Release banner is inserted. 

Features Added or Changed in this Release: 

1.  None. 

Outstanding issues: 

1.  MP specification is not finalized. The current BIOS supports V1.1 and pre-approved V1.4. 

2.  When using the AMISCU option to enable the memory 1Mb hole between 15Mb and 16Mb note the following: 

    a) A memory conflict error will be reported on the CRT. Ignore the error. 

    b) Do not install more than 14Mb of physical memory. 

    c) The maximum ISA memory hole supported on this BIOS is 1Mb. 

Note: this feature will be removed in a future BIOS release and is not supported. 

3.  Add-in floppy and IDE hard drive cards are not supported in this BIOS release. 

4.  IC2 addresses will be changed to 0CA0H and 0CA1H in the next release. 

5.  There is no error message reported when there is not enough below 1 Meg memory to install a PCI option ROM. 

6.  Under unknown conditions the Time Date Stamp will erroniously report the year as being 100 years in the future. 

7.  The Time can not be advanced past the 20th hour in the day. 

BIOS version 1.00.02.BG0 

About This Release: 

Issues Resolved in this Release: 

Features Added or Changed in this Release: 

About This Release: 

1.  This is the Release 2 of this BIOS. It provides individual BIOS tailored for each specific XXpress platform: 

    1.00.02.BG0_  Medusa (XX-15") 

2.  NOTE:  AMISCU System Configuration Utility Disk, Release 3.09, OVL 00.33 or later should be used with this BIOS. 

3.  NOTE:  When booting for the first time after updating to this BIOS revision, several error log messages may appear on the screen. If this occurs please clear the error log prior to proceeding. Then reboot the system. 

4.  NOTE:  When clearing CMOS RAM you MUST allow the system to boot with the CMOS CLEAR switch in the CLEAR position. Then put the CMOS CLEAR jumper back to the normal position and reboot the machine. Failure to follow this procedure can result in unpredictable behavior. 

5.  This BIOS supports FAB 4 Prime, FAB 5 and FAB 5A. 

6.  This BIOS is equivalent to revision 0.13.02.BG0_. Only the sign-on banner has been modified to reflect the Release 2 level. Revision 0.13.02.BG0_ was tested by the Intel Compatibility Lab. 

7.  Integrated Adaptec SCSI BIOS is V1.15s. 

8.  Integrated Cirrus CL-GD542X VGA BIOS is V1.41. 

Issues Resolved in this Release: 

Note that all items below should be verified. 

1.  DCS 1879: 100VG EISA + LS/AMI ECU can't agree on a legal mem. mapped address 

2.  DCS 1954: Memory Resize Post error logged at type 8h instead of type 7h 

3.   DCS 1995: SMI Logs event 10h (system limit exceeded) incorrectly 

4.  DCS 2124: Video BIOS defaulted to non-shadowed OVL 28 

6.   DCS 2134: BIOS does not clean unused memory after installing PCI SCSI BIOS 

7.  DCS xxxx: Server will hang on an SMI event if the ESC chip is closed 

8.  DCS 1269: Need to have error message for "Insufficient space for BIOS" 

9.  DCS 2183: POST errors are logged with length 9h instead of 0Ah 

10.  DCS 2180: Post Errors not logged when Pause F1 on Errors enabled 

11.  DCS 2181: ASR logged as type 11 followed by type 8 entry 

12.  DCS 1888: System Hangs if Hard disk is not initialized to boot 

Features Added or Changed in this Release: 

1.  This BIOS supports FAB 4 Prime, FAB 5 and FAB 5A standard and customs. 

BIOS version 1.00.03.BG0 

About This Release: 

Issues Resolved in this Release: 

Features Added or Changed in this Release: 

About This Release: 

1.  This is the Release 2 of this BIOS. It provides individual BIOS tailored for each specific XXpress platform: 

    1.00.03.BG0_  Medusa (XX-15") 

2.  NOTE:  AMISCU System Configuration Utility Disk, Release 3.09, OVL 00.35 or later should be used with this BIOS. 

3.  NOTE:  When booting for the first time after updating to this BIOS revision, several error log messages may appear on the screen. If this occurs please clear the error log prior to proceeding. Then reboot the system. 

4.  NOTE:  When clearing CMOS RAM you MUST allow the system to boot with the CMOS CLEAR switch in the CLEAR position. Then put the CMOS CLEAR jumper back to the normal position and reboot the machine. Failure to follow this procedure can result in unpredictable behavior. 

5.  This BIOS supports FAB 4 Prime, FAB 5 and FAB 5A. 

6.  This BIOS is equivalent to revision 0.03.03.BG0_. Only the sign-on banner has been modified to reflect the Release 3 level. Revision 0.03.03.BG0_ was tested by the Intel Compatibility Lab. 

7.  Integrated Adaptec SCSI BIOS is V1.19s6. 

8.  Integrated Cirrus CL-GD542X VGA BIOS is V1.41. 

9.  This BIOS utilizes new Flash Tables. The FMUP diskette contains a special batch file that must be used to flash this BIOS into a ROM that contains a pre-release 3 version of a BG0_ System BIOS (BG0_BG0_.BAT): 

   1) Insert a copy of the FMUP disk into Drive A: 

   2) Type 'A:' to select drive A: 

   3) Type 'BG0_BG0_' 

   4) The System BIOS will be updated without further user intervention. 

   5) The System will automatically reboot with the new System BIOS. 

   6) Use the FMUP.EXE program to update this BIOS with later revisions of the   BG0_ System BIOS. 

10.  The FMUP diskette also contains a special Autoexec.Bat batch file that must be used in the recovery of the System BIOS. Do not use a standard FMUP Autoexec.Bat file. 

Issues Resolved in this Release: 

1.  Compatibility LAB tested as revision 0.03.03.BG0_. 

2.  D-2445  Eisa cards are now detected in slot 6 

3.  D1996  Hobbes keylock control is implemented in the System BIOS 

4.  D1949  32-bit EISA NVRAM access via INT15h is now supported 

5.  D2367  Add-in 787x cards are no longer disabled when on-board SCISI BIOS scan is       disabled 

6.  D2041  PCIPOST test errors are no longer reported 

7.  D2321  Flash recovery with custom System BIOSs now supported 

8.  D2434  IRQ12 is not missasigned when mouse is not attached 

9.  D2413  Turbo/Deturbo fails on FAB 5A 

10.  D-2423  Error log now matches INT15h, Function 21H 

11.  Three mode floppy now works on Drive B: 

12.  D-2940  Extended CMOS RAM PAB bit (reg. 4A Bit 3) is now cleared on power-up 

13.  D2167  Cancel WB is now defaults to Autodetect 

14.  D2409  Cache size is now correctly reported for Twin Oaks 

15.  Intel 15H Function DA88H now returns correct extended memory size in a 16M system 

16.  User Binary scan function 0x40 now enabled. 

Features Added or Changed in this Release: 

1.  This BIOS supports FAB 4 Prime, FAB 5 and FAB 5A standard and customs. 

2.  This BIOS includes SCSI CD ROM boot code.Three mode 

3.  Cancel Write Back is now set automatically. Users also have the option of disabling Cancel Write Back; however they cannot manually enable the feature 

4.  The user is no longer requested to press a key to continue when an error occurs and no keyboard is attached to the system 

5.  Custom BIOS support is implemented in this release due to updated Flash Tables 

6.  THE LCD display during POST has been modified. It now displays the BIOS version string on the second line of the display. The countdown codes now appear in the top left corner. This was done to prevent the BIOS version string from wrapping to the second LCD line. 

BIOS version 1.00.04.BG0 

About This Release: 

Issues Resolved in this Release: 

Features Added or Changed in this Release: 

About This Release: 

1.  This is the Release 4 of this BIOS. It provides individual BIOS tailored for each specific XXpress platform: 

    1.00.04.BG0_  Medusa (XX-15") 

  This Bios is similar to Beta 4.03 with banner change to reflect Release 4. 

2.  NOTE:  AMISCU System Configuration Utility Disk, Release 3.09, OVL 00.35 or later should be used with this BIOS. 

3.  NOTE:  When booting for the first time after updating to this BIOS revision, several error log messages may appear on the screen. If this occurs please clear the error log prior to proceeding. Then reboot the system. 

4.  NOTE:  When clearing CMOS RAM you MUST allow the system to boot with the CMOS CLEAR switch in the CLEAR position. Then put the CMOS CLEAR jumper back to the normal position and reboot the machine. Failure to follow this procedure can result in unpredictable behavior. 

5.  This BIOS supports FAB 4 Prime, FAB 5 and FAB 5A. 

6.  Integrated Adaptec SCSI BIOS is V1.19s6. (No CD-ROM Boot Support) 

7.  Integrated Cirrus CL-GD542X VGA BIOS is V1.41. 

8.  This BIOS utilizes new Flash Tables. The FMUP diskette contains a special batch file that must be used to flash this BIOS into a ROM that contains a pre-release 3 version of a BG0_ System BIOS (BG0_BG0_.BAT): 

   1) Insert a copy of the FMUP disk into Drive A: 

   2) Type 'A:' to select drive A: 

   3) Type 'BG0_BG0_' 

   4) The System BIOS will be updated without further user intervention. 

   5) The System will automatically reboot with the new System BIOS. 

   6) Use the FMUP.EXE program to update this BIOS with later revisions of the   BG0_ System BIOS. 

9.  The FMUP diskette also contains a special Autoexec.Bat batch file that must be used in the recovery of the System BIOS. Do not use a standard FMUP Autoexec.Bat file. 

Issues Resolved in this Release: 

1.  DCS #2301 DMA 7 is released, when no IDE is present in the System. 

2.  Release DCS #678 Fix for Netware spurious interrupt. 

3.  DCS #2536 Intel Specific Services test Passes. 

4.  DCS#2537 NSP Bios test Passes. 

5.  DCS#2535 133MHz Cyclops, speed detection corrected. 

6.  DCS#2566 Int-15 AH=88h returns correct memory size with memory hole. 

7.  DCS#2570 SCU displays proper memory configuration with memory hole. 

8.  DCS#2150 NVRAM is loaded with default values during CMOS clear. 

9.  DCS#1812 System reports CPU info as per Intel-15 services. 

10.  DCS#2501 NSPDIAG test passes. 

11.  DCS#2244 FMUP works when ESC chip is closed. 

12.  Fix: Post error 41 and 43 miss the slot number if they are not both displayed in one Post session. 

Features Added or Changed in this Release: 

1.  Added Console Redirection feature. 

2.  Option added for disabling APIC at boot for Novell Netware spurious interrupt fix. This option should be used with great caution. This option when disabled makes the system Uniprocessor and will not work with MP operating system. 

BIOS version 1.00.06.BG0 

About This Release: 

Issues Resolved in this Release: 

Features Added or Changed in this Release: 

About This Release: 

1.  This is the Release 6 of this BIOS. It provides individual BIOS tailored for each specific XXpress platform: 

    1.00.06.BG0_  Medusa (XX-15") 

2.  NOTE:  AMISCU System Configuration Utility Disk, 3.21 OVL 1.11 should be used with this BIOS (refer to SCU release notes for updates). 

3.  NOTE:  When clearing CMOS RAM you MUST allow the system to boot with the CMOS CLEAR switch in the CLEAR position. Then put the CMOS CLEAR jumper back to the normal position and reboot the machine. Failure to follow this procedure can result in unpredictable behavior. 

4.  This BIOS supports FAB 4 Prime, FAB 5 and FAB 5A. 

5.  Integrated Adaptec SCSI BIOS is V1.19s6. 

6.  Integrated Cirrus CL-GD542X VGA BIOS is V1.41. 

7.  This BIOS utilizes new Flash Tables. The FMUP diskette contains a special batch file that must be used to flash this BIOS into a ROM that contains a pre-release 3 version of a BG0_ System BIOS (BG0_BG0_.BAT): 

   1) Insert a copy of the FMUP disk into Drive A: 

   2) Type 'A:' to select drive A: 

   3) Type 'BG0_BG0_' 

   4) The System BIOS will be updated without further user intervention. 

   5) The System will automatically reboot with the new System BIOS. 

   6) Use the FMUP.EXE program to update this BIOS with later revisions of the   BG0_ System BIOS. 

10.  The FMUP diskette also contains a special Autoexec.Bat batch file that must be used in the recovery of the System BIOS 

11. This version of the FMUP diskette will clear cmos for choice 1 or 3. This is automatic now and  

   does not require the cmos jumper to be moved when using the recovery mode or choice 1 or 3  

   from the fmup batch file. To run fmup without clearing cmos type flupd. 

12. All files such as 645754BI.103 (recover disk files) are now in pkzip format. They are no longer 

   self extracting and now require pkunzip.exe ver 2.4g. 

Issues Resolved in this Release: 

Fixes in Release 5 

1.) Eisa Rom scan fix. 

2.) Less than 16k resolution for r/w cache assignment to rom/rams for EISA/ISA Roms. 

3.) Int 18h and Int19h now have common behavior. 

4.) Fixed warm reset vector problem with certain PCI cards (increased BIOS devnode size  

to accommodate GateA20 assertion during reset).  

5.) Mp table for revision 1.4 updated. 

6.) Mp fixes for fault resilient booting (failed CPU's are removed from the MP table). 

7.) PCI SERR support and event logging of SERR and NMI are enabled. 

8.) IRQ's behind PCI bridge are assigned according to PCI spec. 

9.) Production ID for BIOS now in fixed location for Manufacturing. 

10.)Support of dual processor CPU modules in uniprocessor mode for some operating systems. New drivers required to avoid reprogramming APIC. 

11.) Int 15-da88h fix for memory allocation. 

12.) DMA page registers programmed to 0ffh. 

13.) PnP code is updated. 

14.) Updated Error messaging capability. Custom error messaging for users now available. 

15.) New boot selection order in Setup. Up to 4 devices may be selected in boot order. 

16.) NVRAM checksum errors are logged. 

17.) Fixed PCI Locking bug that set all PCI devices to the "locked" state in the ESCD when PCI Resource Locking is disabled via the configuration utility. 

18.) A message is now displayed on the crt when no boot media is present. 

Fixes in Beta 6.04 

1.)  Removed error message display for error #804 (PCI ROM not found). 

2.)  VGA memory mapping to PCI is disabled to support Hobbes Console redirection. 

3.)  Shadow fix for boards having less than 16K of expansion ROM. 

4.)  Fix for double beep before boot. 

5.)  Reserved 0c0000h-0c7fffh memory area in resource manager for on-board ISA VGA. 

6.)   Fix for selection bytes in ESCD . The selection size is always 1 and data is 0. 

Features Added or Changed in this Release: 

Features added in Release 5 

1.) PCI Resource Locking option for on board SCSI devices. 

  The PCI Resource Locking option in the Advanced Chipset Configuration menu of Setup permits the enable or disable of this feature. The current SCU does not support this option. The default state for this option is disabled. 

2.) Serial Redirection. 

SCU History 

Release Notes for AMI System Configuration Utility 3.4 and Overlay 1.30 

Release Notes for AMI System Configuration Utility 3.31 and Overlay 1.20 

Release Notes for AMI System Configuration Utility 3.11 and Overlay 00.39 

Release Notes for AMI System Configuration Utility 3.4 and Overlay 1.30 

About This Release: 

Issues Resolved in this Release: 

Features Added or Changed in this Release: 

Functional Considerations: 

AMI SCU Usage: 

About This Release: 

1.  This is the release of Overlay 1.30 and the AMI System Configuration Utility 3.40 for use on the following platforms: 

    Xxpress 15" (Medusa) -- int3190 (P/N: 696996-001) 

2.  NOTE:  AMI System Configuration Utility 3.40 and Overlay 1.30 should only be used with the following BIOS versions: 

    Platform   First Compatible BIOS Latest Compatible Release 

    Xxpress 15" (Medusa)  R1.00.5        R1.00.7 

Issues Resolved in this Release: 

1.  Switch and jumper settings are displayed correctly after saving, when user modifies interrupt settings of PCI devices sharing interrupts. (DCS #3309)  

2.  PCI devices using new class codes defined in the PCI Specification V2.1 are no longer displayed as "undefined adapter". (DCS #2568) 

3.  SCU no longer reports missing !PNPFFFF.CFG when reinvoked after running Windows '95. (DCS #2145) 

4.  Pressing <ESC> when editing resources for a PCI device resets the current field back to its original setting. (DCS #2492) 

  Features Added or Changed in this Release: 

1.  User can specify name of .cms, .inf, and .set files created during a save operation. (DCS #2489) 

2.  When invoking the AMI SCU, a message indicating that user should manually verify configuration settings before saving if adapters are added to, removed from, or moved within the system has been removed. 

3.  OVL code now detects BIOS version information and will warn user if OVL is known to be incompatible with BIOS. 

4.  Startup menu provided in autoexec.bat no longer includes references to OVL Lite. 

5.  Additional support added to configure EISA adapters on system running Windows '95. 

6.  Support for multifunction PCI devices enhanced. 

7.  User no longer prompted for a configuration file when not necessary for device type. 

8.  Informational message provided when multiple PCI devices must be configured to the same interrupt. 

9.  All system processors now referred as Pentium ®. 

10.  Several minor spelling mistakes updated. 

11.  If a restore from CMS file is detected, the user will be prompted to restore the baseboard settings also. 

12.  Added the word "BIOS" to the 'Language Options' menu on the baseboard OVL. 

  Functional Considerations: 

1.  The SCSI BIOS version information is not available in the System Information Log (record 12h). (DCS #2183) 

2.  The AMI SCU requires exclusive access to ISA PnP adapters during configuration. Exclusive access can be insured by booting the system with the autoexec.bat and config.sys file included on the distribution diskette. 

3.  Running a PnP OS with either a PCI on an ISA PnP video adapter will cause the AMI SCU to report that no video resources have been reserved. This message is expected since the resources for the video device is managed by the PnP OS. Help text is available for more information. 

4.  IRQ 12 is always assigned to the Mouse and can not be freed for other resources. 

5.  The AMI SCU may not used with extended memory managers such as "EMM386." 

6.  If himem.sys does not load, viewing help when editing functions in an adapter card or baseboard may result in an "Out of Memory" error. If less than 600KB of conventional memory is available to the AMI SCU, viewing help when editing functions in an adapter card or baseboard may result in an "Out of Memory" error. 

  In order to help track memory usage, the AMI SCU includes two memory features: 

·  Pressing <CTRL-M> at the main menu will display the largest free memory block (this value is effectively the amount of free memory in the system.)  

·  Pressing <CTRL-F> at the main menu will toggle-on (or toggle-off) a dynamic memory meter that appears in the upper left-hand corner of the screen. This "gas gauge" meter will be erased at every screen update by the AMI SCU and is sometimes covered up. Asking for "Help (F1)" will usually provide a menu that displays this meter without being "covered up" right away. 

  The <CTRL-M> and <CTRL-F> features are only available at the main menu.  

  AMI SCU Usage: 

Main Boot Menu for AMI SCU 

Perform the following steps to obtain a working version of the AMI SCU: 

1)  Format and 'sys' a new diskette with MS-DOS. 

2)  Copy the contents of the provided System Configuration Diskette onto the newly created bootable diskette. 

3)  Copy the file "himem.sys" from the "DOS" directory onto the bootable diskette. 

4)  Boot the server system using the diskette. 

5)  When the system boots, the user will be presented a main menu with a number of choices: 

  1. Execute AMI SCU 

  2. Execute AMI SCU For System With PnP OS 

  3. Execute SCSISelect (TM) Utility (int31A0/ALTServer baseboard only) 

The user must choose one of the options presented. 

Execute AMI SCU Selection 

By selecting this option, the AMI SCU will automatically locate all EISA/ISA PnP/PCI devices and configure them into the system per the Plug-N-Play and PCI specifications. 

Execute AMI SCU For System With PnP OS Selection  

This option should be selected when a PnP OS is used on the server system. In this mode, the user will be able to configure all devices except for ISA PnP and PCI devices whose resources are managed by the PnP OS. 

Execute SCSISelect(TM) Utility Selection 

This option is only for use on the ALTServer system platform. This option was installed to select the onboard AIC-7870 fast/wide SCSI controller. The SCSISelect utility enables and configures the AIC-7870 SCSI controller on the ALTServer platform. The SCSISelect configuration menu can be enabled on either Xtended Xpress platforms or the Alder platform by pressing <CTRL-A> during system initialization.  

Release Notes for AMI System Configuration Utility 3.31 and Overlay 1.20 

About This Release: 

Features Added or Changed in this Release: 

AMI SCU Usage: 

About This Release: 

1.  This is the release of Overlay 1.20 and the AMI System Configuration Utility 3.31 for use on the following platforms: 

    Xxpress 15" (Medusa) -- int3190 

    Xxpress 12" (Valcor) -- int3180 

2.  NOTE:  AMI System Configuration Utility 3.31 and Overlay 1.20 should only be used with the following BIOS versions: 

     Platform   First compatible BIOS Latest Compatible Release 

    Xxpress 15" (Medusa)  Release 1.00.6      R1.00.6 

    Xxpress 12" (Valcor)  Release 1.00.4      R1.00.4 

  Features Added or Changed in this Release: 

1.  When reading the diskette volume serial number to verify the correct diskette during data transfers/copies, the AMI SCU will insure that no DMA transfers across 64KB boundaries are attempted. This will prevent the AMI SCU from erroneously identifying the AMI SCU diskette and/or source diskettes. (DCS #2312, #2422)  

  In order to help track memory usage, the AMI SCU includes two memory features: 

·  Pressing <CTRL-M> at the main menu will display the largest free memory block (this value is effectively the amount of free memory in the system.)  

·  Pressing <CTRL-F> at the main menu will toggle-on (or toggle-off) a dynamic memory meter that appears in the upper left-hand corner of the screen. This "gas gauge" meter will be erased at every screen update by the AMI SCU and is sometimes covered up. Asking for "Help (F1)" will usually provide a menu that displays this meter without being "covered up" right away. 

  The <CTRL-M> and <CTRL-F> features are only available at the main menu. 

  AMI SCU Usage: 

Main Boot Menu for AMI SCU 

Perform the following steps to obtain a working version of the AMI SCU: 

1)  Format and 'sys' a new diskette with MS-DOS. 

2)  Copy the contents of the provided System Configuration Diskette onto the newly created bootable diskette. 

3)  Copy the file "himem.sys" from the "DOS" directory onto the bootable diskette. 

4)  Boot the server system using the diskette. 

5)  When the system boots, the user will be presented a main menu with a number of choices: 

  1. Execute AMI SCU 

  2. Execute AMI SCU (baseboard configuration only) 

  3. Execute AMI SCU using the Overlay Lite  

    4. Execute SCSISelect (TM) Utility (int31A0/ALTServer baseboard only) 

The user must choose one of the options presented. 

Execute AMI SCU Selection 

By selecting this option, the AMI SCU will automatically locate all EISA/ISA PnP/PCI devices and configure them into the system per the Plug-N-Play and PCI specifications. 

Execute AMI SCU (baseboard configuration only) Selection  

This option is no longer available. Overlay Lite is no longer available--the issues forcing its use have been resolved. 

Execute AMI SCU Using the Overlay Lite Selection  

This option is no longer available. Overlay Lite is no longer available--the issues forcing its use have been resolved. 

Execute SCSISelect(TM) Utility Selection 

This option is only for use on the ALTServer system platform. This option was installed to select the onboard AIC-7870 fast/wide SCSI controller. The SCSISelect utility enables and configures the AIC-7870 SCSI controller on the ALTServer platform. The SCSISelect configuration menu can be enabled on either Xtended Xpress system platforms by pressing <CTRL-A> during system initialization.  

Release Notes for AMI System Configuration Utility 3.11 and Overlay 00.39 

About This Release: 

Issues Resolved in this Release: 

Features Added or Changed in this Release: 

Outstanding issues: 

Overlay Lite User's Guide 

Main Menu for SCU 3.09, Overlay 00.35 

About This Release: 

1.  This is the release of Overlay 00.39 and the AMI System Configuration Utility 3.11 for use on the following platforms: 

    Medusa (XX-15") -- int3190 (BG0) 

    Valcor (XX-12") -- int3180 

2.  NOTE:  AMI System Configuration Utility 3.11 and Overlay 00.39 should only be used with the following BIOS versions (or more recent BIOS versions): 

     Platform   First compatible BIOS Latest Compatible Release 

    Medusa (XX-15")  Alpha 00.00.01     R1.00.03 / R1.00.04 

    Valcor (XX-12")    Beta 0.01.03      R1.00.02 

  AMISCU 3.07 and OVL 00.26 should be used for earlier BIOS versions. 

Issues Resolved in this Release: 

1.  Slot numbers are now displayed for ISA adapter cards. (DCS #2711) 

2.  When errors occur during the configuration of the baseboard configuration (i.e. an invalid password) the system will return to the main menu instead of "hanging" the system. (DCS #2360) 

3.  Locking resources at a car-level granularity is supported for ISA and EISA adapter cards. (DCS #2256) 

4.  Adding or removing an EISA adapter card from the system only invalidates the particular slot that was modified preventing the loss of adapter card settings or configurations. (DCS #2426 & #2427) 

5.  An option to allow the restoration of the baseboard settings/ISA CMOS was added to the baseboard password menu. (DCS #2519) 

6.  All references to "Memory Above/Below 512M" were removed from platforms int31A0 and int3180. (DCS #2399) 

7.  Added chassis switch enable/disable option to the int3180 platform. (DCS #2506) 

8.  Added "Define ISA" option in the "Add and Remove Boards" option of the SCU. 

9.  Increased general reliability of memory and virtual memory handling routines eliminating various "Out of memory" conditions. (DCS #2560) 

10.  Synchronized BIOS Setup and SCU options for IDE Sectors/Block. (DCS #2231) 

11.  Corrected jumper displays for int31A0 platform to match the latest board fabs. (DCS #2476) 

12.  Provided new 7870CFG.EXE (SCSISelect Utility) to correspond to a new SCSI BIOS for platform int31A0. (DCS #2660) 

13.  Defined all ports/resources present in the System PnP Device Nodes in the System configuration files. (DCS #2196) 

14.  Added code to allow sharing of port resources. (DCS #2473) 

15.  Added "Posted Write Buffers" options for HP version of int3190 platform. (DCS #2567) 

16.  Changed text for "Processor Status" from "Pass/Fail" to "Failures Detected/No Failures Detected" to avoid implying the presence of a non-existent processor. (DCS #2390) 

17.  Removed code indicating a "fatal" error if configuration conflict occur with the system baseboard and an adapter card. (DCS #2561) 

18.  Changed "Automatic/Manual" labels on PCI and PnP configurations to "Current/Manual." (DCS #2563) 

19.  Added code to set certain defaults in ISA CMOS if a "clear CMOS" condition is detected. (DCS #2568) 

20.  Added warning message to indicate invalid password. (DCS #2569) 

21.  Added code to detect the BIOS version present on the system and perform certain functions if appropriate. (DCS #2504) 

22.  Added "Arbitration Mode" options for HP version on int3190 platform. (DCS #2571) 

23.  Fixed "On" text in jumper and software description tables to correctly align text. (DCS #2589) 

Features Added or Changed in this Release: 

1.  Overlay Lite will be included with all AMI SCU releases starting with AMI SCU 3.09 until the issues forcing its use are resolved. 

Outstanding issues: 

1.  The SCSI BIOS version information is not available in the System Information Log. 

2.  When configuring multiple EISA cards or EISA cards requiring large amount of memory for the CFG/OVL combination, the AMISCU may terminate abnormally with an "Out of memory, can not continue." error. This problem will be addressed in a future release of the AMISCU/OVL. 

3.  PCI video devices are not special cased resulting in a blank screen DCS #2198. If an EISA or ISA non-video device requests memory at C0000 it will receive this resource and a PCI video device will be relocated because it is scanned by the AMISCU last. Video should always be given precedence for this memory location. 

4.  IRQ 12 is always assigned to the Mouse and can not be freed for other resources. 

5.  ISA cards added in a previous configuration with the SCU may be reset to defaults upon subsequent configurations. 

6.  The system baseboard overlay may not display the correct physical parameters of an IDE drive when in "Customize" mode. 

7.   When attempting to load a configuration file from an OEM diskette a false "Configuration file contains syntax errors" error may occur. If the user experiences this problem, he/she should attempt to add the desired card a second time (immediately after the error message.) If the "syntax errors" message is displayed on the sencond try, the file has one or more invalid commands. If the card is successfully added or an unresolvable conflict is reported, the configuration file is error free and the appropriate results of the configuration will be displayed (either suesfull addition or unresolvable conflict.) 

Overlay Lite User's Guide 

AMI System Configuration Utility 3.09, Overlay 00.35 and "Overlay Lite" 

Note: The following instructions shall also apply to the "Overlay Lite" utility supplied with subsequent versions of the SCU and OVL. 

The AMI SCU operates in Real Mode and is limited to using the 640KB memory space associated with DOS. In some configurations, users of the PCI/EISA server systems may experience "Out of Memory" errors when attempting to configure certain combinations of adapter cards.  

In the unlikely event of this error being seen , "Overlay Lite" has been developed. By implementing a paging scheme in the AMI SCU 3.08 overlay 00.31, the available amount of memory for add-in card OVL/CFG files dramatically doubled. However, even with 115K-130KB available for the add-in card's OVL/CFG files it is mathematically possible to produce system configurations to exceed this limit. The "Overlay Lite" program frees approximately 130KB of additional memory for use by ISA/EISA/PCI adapter card OVL/CFG files. This additional memory is useable by the elimination of the very large server baseboard overlay file. The consequences of eliminating the baseboard overlay is the effective "locking" of the baseboard's resources. Locking the baseboard's resources does not produce any immediate problems, but it does prevent the user from changing any of the choices provided by the standard AMISCU overlay. The use of "Overlay Lite" can reduce memory requirements for system configuration to an extent that virtually no EISA/ISA/PCI configuration will be affected by the 640KB memory limitation. 

The AMI System Configuration Utility 3.09 Overlay 00.35 should be used on the following platforms: 

    XX-15" -- int3190 

    XX-12" -- int3180 

    ALTServer -- int31A0 

AMI System Configuration Utility Overlay 00.35 should only be used with the following BIOS versions (or more recent BIOS versions): 

   Platform        Compatible BIOS* 

  XX-15", Release 1       Alpha 00.00.01, 1.00.01 BG0 

  XX-15", Release 2       Beta 0.13.02, 1.00 02 BG0 

  XX-12"          Beta 0.01.03, 1.00.01 BH0 

  ALTServer        1.00.04 BI0, 1.00.07 BI0 

    *AMISCU 3.07 and OVL 00.26 should be used for earlier BIOS versions. 

This document provides easy-to-perform instructions, functional considerations, and some special features for the use with "Overlay Lite." The special features related to the AMISCU 3.09 Overlay 00.35 are implemented to assist sophisticated users to monitor available memory and determine when "Overlay Lite" should be used. 

Main Menu for SCU 3.09, Overlay 00.35 

Perform the following steps to obtain a working version of Overlay Lite: 

1)  Format and 'sys' a new diskette with DOS 6.22. 

2)  Copy the contents of the provided System Configuration Diskette onto the newly created bootable diskette. 

3)  Boot the server system using the diskette. 

4)  When the system boots, the user will be presented a main menu with a number of choices: 

  1. Execute AMISCU 

  2. Execute AMISCU (baseboard configuration only) 

  3. Execute AMISCU using the Overlay Lite 

    4. Execute SCSISelect (TM) Utility (int31A0/ALTServer baseboard only) 

The user has ten seconds to make a selection or menu item (1) will be automatically selected. 

  In order to help our customers determine when memory problems might occur, the AMISCU 3.09 includes two new features: 

·  Pressing <CTRL-M> at the main menu will display the largest free memory block (this value is effectively the amount of free memory in the system.)  

·  Pressing <CTRL-F> at the main menu will toggle-on (or toggle-off) a dynamic memory meter that appears in the upper left-hand corner of the screen. This "gas gauge" meter will be erased at every screen update by the AMISCU and is sometimes covered up. Asking for "Help (F1)" will usually provide a menu that displays this meter without being "covered up" right away. 

  The <CTRL-M> and <CTRL-F> features are only available at the main menu. 

Execute AMISCU Selection 

The majority of system configurations should work without incident. By selecting this option, the AMISCU will automatically locate all EISA/PCI devices and configure them into the system per the Plug-N-Play and PCI specifications. If this is the first time the system has been configured after shipment or after a "clear NVRAM" the user should choose "Execute AMISCU." The vast majority of OEMs are not expected to ever have a problem during the configuration of ISA/EISA/PCI add-in cards when executing this selection. However, if "Out of Memory" errors occur, the user should reboot using the System Configuration Utility and choose either "Execute AMISCU (baseboard configuration only)" if this is the first time the system has been configured since shipment or a "clear NVRAM" or "Execute AMISCU Using the Overlay Lite" if the system has been successfully configured since the last "clear NVRAM" or initial receipt of the system. 

Execute AMISCU (baseboard configuration only) Selection 

The user should configure the baseboard as desired, save the configuration, exit the AMISCU, and reboot the system using the AMISCU diskette and choose Execute AMISCU Using the Overlay Lite. Note: choosing "Execute AMISCU (baseboard configuration only)" will result in the configuration of the baseboard only; the previous settings of any adapter cards will be lost. 

Execute AMISCU Using the Overlay Lite Selection 

If configuring the system through the "Execute AMISCU" selection is unsuccessful (i.e. "Out of Memory" errors), the user may with to execute "Overlay Lite". This option locks the system baseboard configuration and increases the available memory by eliminating the very large server baseboard overlay file. Locking the baseboard's resources does not produce any immediate problems, but it does prevent the user from changing any of the choices provided by the standard AMISCU baseboard overlay. Any future system configuration changes/additions/deletions must be performed using this selection. The total time to configure the system will be approximately 5 minutes in some cases. Note: "Execute AMISCU Using the Overlay Lite" will only provide a reliable configuration if either "Execute AMISCU" or "Execute AMISCU (baseboard configuration only)" has been run successfully since the last "clear NVRAM" or initial receipt of the system. 

Execute SCSISelect(TM) Utility Selection 

This option is only for use on the ALTServer system platform. This option was installed to select the onboard AIC-7870 fast/wide SCSI controller. The SCSISelect utility enables and configures the AIC-7870 SCSI controller on the ALTServer platform. By selecting this option on either Xtended Xpress system platforms, this action will either lock up the system or cause unpredictable results. The SCSISelect configuration menu can be enabled on either Xtended Xpress system platforms by pressing <CTRL-A> during system initialization. 

System History 

Base Chassis 

Power Supply 

SCA Hot Swap Back-Plane 

Base Chassis 

Power Supply 

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SCA Hot Swap Back-Plane 

[blank page] 

Product Codes 

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Xxpress Help File Revision Summary 

Items yet to be added: 

Items yet to be added: 

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Technical Product Summary 

System Architecture 

Jumpers 

Baseboard Components 

Board Resource Maps 

CPU Module Compatibility 

Chassis 

Hot Swap Drive Bay Configuration 

System Architecture 

Xtended Xpress Scalable Architecture 

The Xtended Xpress Bus Interface is a 64-bit version of the 32-bit Xpress Bus Interface. 

Two separate PCI channels are implemented to maximize system performance. 

Jumpers 

Figure Error! Reference source not found.-1. Switch and Jumpers 

J4H1Test development vehicle (TDV) 

J6A1Video sleep (starting addresses)  

J7C1Program boot block ( BIOS protect/write) 

J7D2Boot block (BIOS recovery) 

J9C3PWR CTRL (power control) 

J9B1FD1 (floppy drive 1) 

J9C1FD0 (floppy drive 0)  

S8C1Configuration switch 

Related Topics: 

Configuration Switch S8C1 

Configuration Jumpers 

Configuration Switch S8C1 

The dip switch (Figure Error! Reference source not found.-Error! Bookmark not defined.) on the system board contains three switches. To change a setting, slide the switch to the desired position. 

Table Error! Reference source not found.-1. Switch S8C1