Specifications

3–1
CHAPTER 3
SOFTWARE CONFIGURATION
3.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter provides the information you will need to configure your Little Board/486i from a software
or firmware point-of-view. The first section describes the SETUP function. It describes how to configure
onboard options. Additional sections cover each major functional block of the board.
Note
The SETUP descriptions in the following section also contain much
useful information about each SETUP topic. Review these sections
even if you already know how to set the SETUP parameters.
This chapter presumes you have some familiarity with DOS (PC-DOS, MS-DOS, or DR DOS). It does not
attempt to describe the standard DOS and ROM BIOS functions. Refer to the appropriate DOS and PC
reference manuals for further information about DOS, its drivers, and its utilities. Where Ampro has
added to or modified standard functions, these will be described. The Ampro Common Utilities manual
contains detailed descriptions of the Ampro utility programs.
3.2 SETUP
Many options provided on the Little Board/486i are controlled by the SETUP function. The parameters
are displayed on four screens. To configure the board, you modify the fields in these screens and save the
results in the onboard configuration memory. The configuration memory consists of portions of the
CMOS RAM in the battery-backed real-time clock chip and an Ampro-unique configuration EEPROM.
To enhance embedded-system reliability, the contents of the EEPROM mirror the contents of the CMOS
memory. The EEPROM retains your configuration information even if the clock’s backup battery should
fail.
The SETUP information is retrieved from configuration memory when the board is powered up or when it
is rebooted with a CTL-ALT-DEL key pattern. Changes made to the SETUP parameters (with the
exception of the real-time clock time and date settings) do not take effect until the board is rebooted.
The SETUP function is located in the ROM BIOS. It can be accessed using CTRL-ALT-ESC while the
computer is in the Power On Self Test (POST), just prior to booting up. This is called hot key access. The
screen will display a message indicating when you can enter CTRL-ALT-ESC. You may also enter the
SETUP function from the DOS command line using the SETUP.COM program provided on the Ampro
Common Utilities diskette .
Table 3-1 summarizes the choices found on each SETUP page.