User`s guide

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Motherboard User’s Guide

This publication, including photographs, illustrations and software, is under the

guide, nor any of the material contained herein, may be reproduced without the

express written consent of the manufacturer.

The information in this document is subject to change without notice. The manufac-

turer makes no representations or warranties with respect to the contents hereof

and specifically disclaims any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for

any particular purpose. Further, the manufacturer reserves the right to revise this

publication and to make changes from time to time in the content hereof without

obligation of the manufacturer to notify any person of such revision or changes.

Trademarks

IBM, VGA, and PS/2 are registered trademarks of International Business Machines.

AMD, Athlon 64 Sempron are registered trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices

Inc.

Microsoft, MS-DOS and Windows 2000/XP/Vista are registered trademarks of

Microsoft Corporation.

Award is a registered trademark of Phonex Award.

Other names used in this publication may be trademarks and are acknowledged.

Static Electricity Precautions

1. Don’t take this motherboard and components out of their original static-

proof package until you are ready to install them.

2. While installing, please wear a grounded wrist strap if possible. If you

don’t have a wrist strap, discharge static electricity by touching the bare

metal of the system chassis.

3. Carefully hold this motherboard by its edges. Do not touch those compo-

nents unless it is absolutely necessary. Put this motherboard on the top of

static-protection package with component side facing up while installing.

Pre-Installation Inspection

1. Inspect this motherboard whether there are any damages to components

and connectors on the board.

2. If you suspect this motherboard has been damaged, do not connect power

to the system. Contact your motherboard vendor about those damages.

A15G Series, V1.0

November 2007

Summary of content (55 pages)

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Motherboard User’s Guide This publication, including photographs, illustrations and software, is under the protection of international copyright laws, with all rights reserved. Neither this guide, nor any of the material contained herein, may be reproduced without the express written consent of the manufacturer. The information in this document is subject to change without notice.
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Motherboard User’s Guide Table of Contents Trademark ............................................................................................................ i Chapter 1: Introduction ..................................................................................... 1 Key Features .................................................................................................................... 1 Package Contents .......................................................................................
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Motherboard User’s Guide Notice: 1. Owing to Microsoft’s certifying schedule is various to every supplier, we might have some drivers not certified yet by Microsoft. Therefore, it might happen under Windows XP that a dialogue box (shown as below) pops out warning you this software has not passed Windows Logo testing to verify its compatibility with Windows XP. Please rest assured that our RD department has already tested and verified these drivers.
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Motherboard User’s Guide Chapter 1 Introduction This motherboard has a socket AM2+/AM2 supporting the newest and advanced TM TM TM TM AMD Phenom /Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core/Athlon 64/Sempron CPUs TM with 2000 MT/s HyperTransport (HT) interface Speeds. This motherboard is based on NVIDIA® MCP61P/MCP61S that supports the Serial ATA interface for high-performance and mainstream desktop PCs, and the built-in USB 2.0 providing higher bandwidth, implementing USB 2.0 EHCI and USB 1.1 OHCI.
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Motherboard User’s Guide Memory Support • Two 240-pin DIMM slots for DDR2 SDRAM memory modules • Supports Dual Channel DDR2 800/667/533/400 memory bus • Maximum installed memory is 16* GB (* Duo to the DRAM maximum size is 2 GB at present, the memory maximum size we have tested is 4 GB.
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Chapter 1: Introduction Onboard I/O Ports • Two PS/2 ports for mouse and keyboard • One parallel port • One serial port • One VGA port • Four back-panel USB2.0 ports • One LAN port • Audio jacks for microphone, line-in and 6/8-channel (optional) line-out Fast Ethernet LAN • 10Base-T/100BASE-TX IEEE 802.3u fast Ethernet transceiver • Low-power mode • MII and 7-wire serial interface USB 2.0 • Compliant with Universal Serial Bus Specification Revision 2.
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Motherboard User’s Guide Package Contents Your motherboard package ships with the following items: The motherboard The User’s Guide One diskette drive ribbon cable (optional) One IDE drive ribbon cable The Software support CD Optional Accessories You can purchase the following optional accessories for this motherboard.
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Chapter 2: Motherboard Installation Chapter 2 Motherboard Installation To install this motherboard in a system, please follow these instructions in this chapter: Identify the motherboard components Install a CPU Install one or more system memory modules Make sure all jumpers and switches are set correctly Install this motherboard in a system chassis (case) Connect any extension brackets or cables to headers/connectors on the motherboard Install peripheral devices and make the appropriate conn
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Motherboard User’s Guide Motherboard Components ITEM LABEL COMPONENTS Socket AM 2+/AM 2 for AM D PhenomTM/AthlonTM 64 1 CPU Socket 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 DIM M 1~2 FDD PWR1 IDE1 SPK1 SATA1~4 CLR_CM OS PANEL1 X2 Dual-Core/AthlonTM 64/SempronTM processors 240-pin DDR2 SDRAM slots Floppy disk drive connector Standard 24-pin ATX power connector Primary IDE connector Speaker header Serial ATA connectors Clear CM OS jumper Front panel switch/LED header 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 USBPWR_F F_USB1~3 SYS_
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Chapter 2: Motherboard Installation I/O Ports (optional) The illustration below shows a side view of the built-in I/O ports on the motherboard. PS/2 Mouse Use the upper PS/2 port to connect a PS/2 pointing device. PS/2 Keyboard Use the low er PS/2 port to connect a PS/2 keyboard. Parallel Port (LPT) Use the Parallel port to connect printers or other parallel communications devices. Serial Port (COM1) Use the COM port to connect serial devices such as mice or fax/modems.
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Motherboard User’s Guide Installing the Processor This motherboard has an AM2+/AM2 processor socket. When choosing a processor, consider the performance requirements of the system. Performance is based on the processor design, the clock speed and system bus frequency of the processor, and the quantity of internal cache memory and external cache memory. CPU Installation Procedure Follow these instructions to install the CPU: 1 2 3 4 5 6 Unhook the locking lever of the CPU socket.
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Chapter 2: Motherboard Installation Installing Memory Modules This motherboard accommodates two 240-pin DIMM sockets (Dual Channel Memory Module) for unbuffered DDR2 800/667/533/400 memory modules (Double Data Rate SDRAM), and maximum 16* GB installed memory. Over its predecessor, DDR2-SDRAM offers greater bandwidth and density in a smaller package along with a reduction in power consumption.
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Motherboard User’s Guide Note for dual-channel DDR2: 1. You CAN NOT use only one DIMM2 for it might cause the system shutdown. 2. You need to use DIMM1 and DIMM2 with the same size of memory modules. Jumper Settings Connecting two pins with a jumper cap is SHORT; removing a jumper cap from these pins, OPEN. CLR_CMOS: Clear CMOS Jumper Use this jumper to clear the contents of the CMOS memory.
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Chapter 2: Motherboard Installation USBPWR_R: REAR USB PS/2 POWER SELECT Jumper Use this jumper to set the Rear USB PS/2 Power function. 1 USBPWR_R Function VCC5 VCC5_DUAL Jum per Setting Short Pins 1-2 Short Pins 2-3 Note:1. Make sure the power supply provides enough VCC5_DUAL voltage before selecting the VCC5_DUAL function. 2. It is required that users place the USBPWR_F & USBPWR_R cap onto 2-3 pin rather than 1-2 pin as default if you want to wake up the computer by USB/PS2 KB/Mouse.
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Motherboard User’s Guide Here is a list of the PANEL1 pin assignments. Pin 1 3 5 7 9 Signal HD_LED_P(+) HD_LED_N(-) RESET_SW_N(-) RESET_SW_P(+) RSVD Pin 2 4 6 8 10 Signal FP PWR/SLP(+) FP PWR/SLP(-) POWER_SW_P(+) POWER_SW_N(-) KEY Connecting Optional Devices Refer to the following for information on connecting the motherboard’s optional devices: SPK1: Speaker Header Connect the cable from the PC speaker to the SPK1 header on the motherboard.
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Chapter 2: Motherboard Installation F_USB1~3: Front Panel USB Headers The motherboard has USB ports installed on the rear edge I/O port array. Additionally, some computer cases have USB ports at the front of the case. If you have this kind of case, use auxiliary USB headers F_USB1~3 to connect the front-mounted ports to the motherboard. Here is a list of USB pin assignments.
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Motherboard User’s Guide Install Other Devices Install and connect any other devices in the system following the steps below. Floppy Disk Drive The motherboard ships with a floppy disk drive cable that can support one or two drives. Drives can be 3.5" or 5.25" wide, with capacities of 360K, 720K, 1.2MB, 1.44MB, or 2.88MB. Install your drives and connect power from the system power supply. Use the cable provided to connect the drives to the floppy disk drive connector FDD.
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Chapter 2: Motherboard Installation Serial ATA Devices The Serial ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) is the standard interface for the IDE hard drives, which is designed to overcome the design limitations while enabling the storage interface to scale with the growing media rate demands of PC platforms. It provides you a faster transfer rate of 3.0 Gb/s. If you have installed a Serial ATA hard drive, you can connect the Serial ATA cables to the Serial ATA hard drive or the connector on the motherboard.
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Motherboard User’s Guide Here is a list of CD_IN pin assignments. Pin 1 2 3 Signal CD_L GND GND 4 CD_R Expansion Slots This motherboard has one PCI Ex16 slot (MCP61S only supports PCI Express x8), one PCI Ex1 slot and two 32-bit PCI slots.
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Chapter 2: Motherboard Installation Follow the steps below to install an PCI Express x16/PCI Express x1/PCI expansion card. 1. Locate the PCI Express x16, PCI Express x1 and PCI slots on the mainboard. 2. Remove the blanking plate of the slot from the system chassis. 3. Install the edge connector of the expansion card into the slot. Ensure the edge connector is correctly seated in the slot. 4. Secure the metal bracket of the card to the system chassis with a screw.
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Motherboard User’s Guide Chapter 3 BIOS Setup Utility Introduction The BIOS Setup Utility records settings and information of your computer, such as date and time, the type of hardware installed, and various configuration settings. Your computer applies the information to initialize all the components when booting up and basic functions of coordination between system components. If the Setup Utility configuration is incorrect, it may cause the system to malfunction.
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Chapter 3: BIOS Setup Utility Some options on the main menu page lead to tables of items with installed values that you can use cursor arrow keys to highlight one item, and press PgUp and PgDn keys to cycle through alternative values of that item. The other options on the main menu page lead to dialog boxes requiring your answer OK or Cancel by selecting the [OK] or [Cancel] key. If you have already changed the setup utility, press F10 to save those changes and exit the utility.
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Motherboard User’s Guide f IDE Devices Your computer has one IDE channel which can be installed with one or two devices (Master and Slave). Use these items to configure each device on the IDE channel. Phonex-AwardBIOS CMOS Setup Utility IDE Channel 0 Master IDE HDD Auto-Detection [Press Enter] IDE Channel 0 Master Access Mode [Auto] [Auto] Capacity 80 GB Cylinder Head Precomp Landing Zone Sector 38309 16 0 38308 255 Item Help Menu Level ff To auto-detect the HDD’s size, head...
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Chapter 3: BIOS Setup Utility Drive A This item define the characteristics of any diskette drive attached to the system. You can connect one or two diskette drives. Video This item defines the video mode of the system. The motherboard has a built-in VGA graphics system; you must leave this item at the default value. Halt On This item defines the operation of the system POST (Power On Self Test) routine. You can use this item to select which types of errors in the POST are sufficient to halt the system.
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Motherboard User’s Guide f CPU Feature (Press Enter) Scroll to this item and press to view the following screen: Phonex-AwardBIOS CMOS Setup Utility CPU Feature Virtulization AMD K8 Cool&Quit control Item Help [Enabled] [Auto] Menu Level ff : Move Enter: Select +/-/: Value F10: Save Esc: Exit F1: General Help F5: Previous Values F6: Fial-Safe Defaults F7: Optimized Defaults Virtualization Hardware Virtualization Technology enables processor feature for running multiple simultaneous Virtual Mac
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Chapter 3: BIOS Setup Utility f Hard Disk Boot Priority (Press Enter) Scroll to this item and press to view the following screen: Phonex-AwardBIOS CMOS Setup Utility Hard Disk Boot Priority Item Help 1. Ch2 M : WDCWD1600JS-22MHB0 2. Bootable Add-in Cards Menu Level ff Use < m > or < n > to select a device, then press <+> to move it up, or <-> to move it down the list. Press < ESC > to exit this menu.
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Motherboard User’s Guide Quick Power On Self Test Enable this item to shorten the power on testing (POST) and have your system start up faster. You might like to enable this item after you are confident that your system hardware is operating smoothly. First/Second/Third Boot Device Use these three items to select the priority and order of the devices that your system searches for an operating system at start-up time.
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Chapter 3: BIOS Setup Utility Small Logo (EPA) Show Enables or disables the display of the EPA logo during boot. Summary Screen Show Enables or disables the display of the summary screen during boot. ATA 66/100 IDE Cable Msg. This item enables or disables the display of the ATA 66/100 Cable MSG. Press to return to the main menu setting page. Advanced Chipset Features Page These items define critical timing parameters of the motherboard.
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Motherboard User’s Guide f DRAM Configuration (Press Enter) Scroll to this item and press to view the following screen: Phonex-AwardBIOS CMOS Setup Utility DRAM Configuration Timing Mode X Memory Clock value or Limit DDR2 400 DQS Training Control DCTs Mode CKE base power down mode CKE based powerdown Memclock tri-stating Auto Optimaze Bottom IO X Bootom of [31:24] IO space E0 Bottom of URAM [31:24] [FC] Item Help [Auto] [Skip DQS] [Ganged] [Disabled] [Per Channel] [Disabled] [Enabled] Menu Level
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Chapter 3: BIOS Setup Utility Bottom of UMA DRAM [31:24] (FC) This item is used to set the bottom of UMA DRAM [31:24]. We strongly recommend that you leave this item at its default setting. Press to return to Advanced Chipset Features page. PCIE Spread Spectrum This item, when enabled, can significantly reduce the EMI (Electromagnetic Interference) generated by the PCIE.
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Motherboard User’s Guide Integrated Peripherals Page These options display items that define the operation of peripheral components on the system’s input/output ports.
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Chapter 3: BIOS Setup Utility Primary/Secondary Master/Slave UDMA Each IDE channel supports a master device and a slave device. This motherboard supports UltraDMA technology, which provides faster access to IDE devices. If you install a device that supports UltraDMA, change the appropriate item on this list to Auto. You may have to install the UltraDMA driver supplied with this motherboard in order to use an UltraDMA device.
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Motherboard User’s Guide X Onboard Device Setup (Press Enter) Scroll to this item and press to view the following screen: Phonex-AwardBIOS CMOS Setup Utility Onboard Device Setup USB 2.
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Chapter 3: BIOS Setup Utility X SuperIO Device (Press Enter) Scroll to this item and press to view the following screen: Phonex-AwardBIOS CMOS Setup Utility SuperIO Device Onboard FDC Controller Onboard Serial Port 1 Onboard Parallel Port Parallel Port Mode X ECP Mode Use DMA [Enabled] [3F8/IRQ4] [378/IRQ7] [SPP] 3 Item Help Menu Level ff : Move Enter: Select +/-/: Value F10: Save Esc: Exit F1: General Help F5: Previous Values F6: Fial-Safe Defaults F7: Optimized Defaults Onboard FDC Controller
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Motherboard User’s Guide Power Management Setup Page This option lets you control system power management. The system has various power-saving modes including powering down the hard disk, turning off the video, suspending to RAM, and software power down that allows the system to be automatically resumed by certain events.
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Chapter 3: BIOS Setup Utility Resume by WOM/RING An input signal on the serial Ring indicator (RI) line (in other words, and incoming call on the modem)/LAN awakens the system from a soft off state. Resume By USB (S3) This item allows users to enable or disable the USB device Walk-up from S3 mode. Resume By PS2 MS/KB (S3) These items enable or disable you to allow mouse or keyboard activity to awaken the system from power saving mode.
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Motherboard User’s Guide PnP/PCI Configurations Page These options configure how PnP (Plug and Play) and PCI expansion cards operate in your system. Both the the ISA and PCI buses on the motherboard use system IRQs (Interrup ReQuests) and DMAs (Direct Memory Access). You must set up the IRQ and DMA assignments correctly through the PnP/PCI Configurations Setup utility for the motherboard to work properly.
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Chapter 3: BIOS Setup Utility f Smart Fan Function (Press Enter) Scroll to this item and press to view the following screen: Phonex-AwardBIOS CMOS Setup Utility Smart Fan Function X X X X CPU Smart Fan Function CPU FAN Low PWM CPU FAN Temp of Low PWM CPU FAN Slope(PWM/oC) CPU SMART FAN Delta T [Disabled] 0 0 0 0 Item Help Menu Level ff : Move Enter: Select +/-/: Value F10: Save Esc: Exit F1: General Help F5: Previous Values F6: Fial-Safe Defaults F7: Optimized Defaults CPU Smart Fan Function
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Motherboard User’s Guide Load Fail-Safe Defaults This option opens a dialog box that lets you install fail-safe defaults for all appropriate items in the Setup Utility: Press and then to install the defaults. Press and then to not install the defaults. The fail-safe defaults place no great demands on the system and are generally stable. If your system is not functioning correctly, try installing the fail-safe defaults as a first step in getting your system working properly again.
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Chapter 3: BIOS Setup Utility Save & Exit Setup Highlight this item and press to save the changes that you have made in the Setup Utility and exit the Setup Utility. When the Save and Exit dialog box appears, press to save and exit, or press to return to the main menu. Exit Without Saving Highlight this item and press to discard any changes that you have made in the Setup Utility and exit the Setup Utility.
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Motherboard User’s Guide Chapter 4 Software & Applications Introduction This chapter describes the contents of the support CD-ROM that comes with the motherboard package. The support CD-ROM contains all useful software, necessary drivers and utility programs to properly run our products. More program information is available in a README file, located in the same directory as the software. To run the support CD, simply insert the CD into your CD-ROM drive.
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Chapter 4: Software & Applications The Exit button closes the Auto Setup window. To run the program again, reinsert the CD-ROM disc in the drive; or click the CD-ROM driver from the Windows Explorer, and click the Setup icon. The Application button brings up a software menu. It shows the bundled software that this mainboard supports. The ReadMe brings you to the Install Path where you can find out path names of software driver.
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Motherboard User’s Guide 3 The support software will automatically install. Once any of the installation procedures start, software is automatically installed in sequence. You need to follow the onscreen instructions, confirm commands and allow the computer to restart as few times as needed to complete installing whatever software you selected. When the process is finished, all the support software will be installed and start working.
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Chapter 4: Software & Applications Follow these instructions to Disable Vista UAC function: 1. Go to Control Panel. 2. Select Classic View. 3. Set User Account.
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Motherboard User’s Guide 4. Select Turn User Account Control on or off and press Continue. 5. Disable User Account Control (UAC) to help protect your computer item and press OK, then press Restart Now. Then you can restart your computer and continue to install drivers without running blocked programs. Bundled Software Installation All bundled software available on the CD-ROM is for users’ convenience.
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Chapter 5: Setting Up NVIDIA RAID Configuration Chapter 5 Setting Up NVIDIA RAID Configuration Setting Up a Non-Boota b le RAID Ar Non-Bootab Arrr a y RAID arrays can be created/deleted using both MediaShield RAID BIOS and the MediaShield RAID Manager from Windows. This section only covers basic BIOS setup required for non-bootable array. See the section "Setting Up a Bootable RAID Array” for instructions on configuring the RAID array in BIOS.
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Motherboard User’s Guide 3 Use the arrow keys to select the RAID Config (see Figure 2.2), then press Enter. The RAID Config window appears. Figure 2.3 4 RAID Config Window From the RAID Config window, globally enable RAID, then enable the SATA ports with disks that you want to use for RAID. If RAID is enabled globally but not enabled on the individual SATA port, disks on that port can only be used for non-RAID applications. In the example in Figure 2.
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Chapter 5: Setting Up NVIDIA RAID Configuration 2 Select the modules that you want to install. Make sure that the “NVIDIA IDE Driver” is selected. You must install the NVIDIA IDE driver in order to enable NVIDIA RAID. If you do not install the NVIDIA IDE driver, NVIDIA RAID will not be enabled. 3 Click Next and then follow the instructions. 4 After the installation is completed, be sure to reboot the PC. 5 After the reboot, initialize the newly created array.
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Motherboard User’s Guide Setting Up a Boota b le RAID Ar Bootab Arrr a y This section explains how to configure a bootable NVIDIA RAID array. Setting Up the BIOS 1 Start your computer, then press Delete to enter the BIOS setup. The BIOS CMOS Setup Uyility screen appears. Figure 2.5 2 BIOS CMOS Setup Utility Main Screen Use the arrow keys to select Integrated Peripherals (see Figure 2.5), then press Enter. The Integrated Peripherals screen (or a screen similar to it) appears. Figure 2.
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Chapter 5: Setting Up NVIDIA RAID Configuration The RAID Config window appears. Figure 2.7 5 RAID Config Screen From the RAID Config window, globally enable RAID, then enable the SATA ports with disks that you want to use for RAID. If RAID is enabled globally but not enabled on the individual SATA port, disks on that port can only be used for non-RAID applications. In the example in Figure 2.7, three SATA ports are enabled, so the non-bootable RAID array can include up to 3 SATA disks.
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Motherboard User’s Guide The NVIDIA RAID Utility—Define a New Array screen appears (Figure 2.8). Figure 2.8 NVIDIA RAID Utility By default, RAID Mode is set to Mirroring and Striping Block is set to Optimal. Using the Define a New Array Screen If necessary, press the tab key to move from field to field until the appropriate field is highlighted. • Selecting the RAID Mode By default, this is set to Mirroring.
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Chapter 5: Setting Up NVIDIA RAID Configuration Figure 2.9 illustrates the Define a New Array screen after two disks have been assigned as RAID1 array disks. Figure 2.9 MediaShield Utility—Array Disks Assigned Completing the RAID BIOS Setup 1 After assigning your RAID array disks, press F7. The Clear disk array prompt appears. Figure 2.
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Motherboard User’s Guide 2 Press Y to clear the disk data. The Array List screen appears, where you can review the RAID arrays that you have set up. Figure 2.11 Array List Window 3 Use the arrow keys to select the array that you want to set up, then press B to specify the array as bootable. 4 Press Enter to view and verify details. The Array Detail screen appears. Figure 2.
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Chapter 5: Setting Up NVIDIA RAID Configuration Installing the RAID Drivers Your system may come with a Windows install CD that already includes NVIDIA RAID drivers. If so, then this section is not relevant. If that is not the case (or you are trying to install a new version of Windows), then you will need an NVIDIA RAID driver F6 install floppy. Check to see if one came with your system. If not, you can create one by downloading the appropriate driver package and following the steps in this section.
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Motherboard User’s Guide b Select “NVIDIA RAID CLASS DRIVER (required)” and then press Enter. c Press S again at the Specify Devices screen, then press Enter. d Select “NVIDIA NForce Storage Controller (required)” and then press Enter. The following Windows Setup screen appears listing both drivers:. Figure 2.15 5 Windows Setup—NVIDIA drives listed Press Enter to continue with Windows XP Installation.