Instruction/ maintenance manual of the product A7N8X-VM Asus
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Motherboard A7N8X-VM User Manual.
ii Checklist Copyright © 2003 ASUST eK COMPUTER INC. All Rights Reserved. No part of this manual, including the products and software described in it, may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, sto.
iii Features Contents Notices ........................................................................................................ v Safety information ...................................................................................... vi About this manual .
iv Safeguards Contents 2.5 Power Menu ................................................................................ 2-14 2.5.1 Power-up control ............................................................ 2-15 2.5.2 Hardware Monitor ...............
v Notices Federal Communications Commission Statement This device complies with FCC Rules Part 15. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: • This device may not cause harmful interference, and • This device must accept any interference received including interference that may cause undesired operation.
vi Safety information Electrical safety • T o prevent electrical shock hazard, disconnect the power cable from the electrical outlet before relocating the system. • When adding or removing devices to or from the system, ensure that the power cables for the devices are unplugged before the signal cables are connected.
vii Conventions used in this guide T o make sure that you perform certain tasks properly , take note of the following symbols used throughout this manual. Where to find more information Refer to the following sources for additional information and for product and software updates.
viii ASUS contact infor mation ASUST eK COMPUTER INC. (Asia-Pacific) Address: 150 Li-T e Road, Peitou, T aipei, T aiwan 1 12 General T el: +886-2-2894-3447 General Fax: +886-2-2894-3449 General Email: info@asus.
ix A7N8X -VM specifications summar y (continued next page) Socket A T ype 462 for AMD Athlon ™ XP up to 3000+ processors NVIDIA ® nForce2 IGP North bridge NVIDIA ® nForce2 MCP South bridge 333/266 MHz 2 x 184-pin DDR DIMM sockets support up to maximum 2 GB unbuf fered PC3200/2700/2100/1600 non-ECC DDR SDRAM memory .
x A7N8X - VM specifications summar y BIOS features Industry standard Manageability Support CD contents Accessories Form Factor * Specifications are subject to change without notice. 4Mb Flash ROM, AMI BIOS, ACPI, DMI2.0, WfM2.0, Green, PnP , TCA V , SMBIOS 2.
Chapter 1 This chapter describes the features of the A7N8X-VM motherboard. It includes brief descriptions of the motherboard components, and illustrations of the layout, jumper settings, and connectors.
1-2 Chapter 1: Product Information 1 . 1 W elcome! Thank you for buying the ASUS ® A7N8X-VM motherboard! The ASUS A7N8X-VM motherboard is loaded with the most advanced technologies to deliver maximum performance for Socket A processors. This motherboard is packed with value-added features for guaranteed consumer satisfaction.
ASUS A7N8X-VM motherboard user manual 1-3 1 .3 Special features Dual Channel DDR memory support With the 128-bit T winbank DDR memory architecture, the A7N8X-VM doubles the DDR400 bandwidth thus eliminating system bottlenecks. The A7N8X-VM is capable of performing at peak bandwidth of up to 6.
1-4 Chapter 1: Product Information 1 .4 Motherboard com ponents Before you install the motherboard, learn about its major components and available features to facilitate the installation and future upgrades. Refer to the succeeding pages for the component descriptions.
ASUS A7N8X-VM motherboard user manual 1-5 Onboard LED. This onboard LED lights up if there is a standby power on the motherboard. This LED acts as a reminder to turn off the system power before plugging or unplugging devices. A TX power connector . This standard 20-pin connector connects to an A TX 12V power supply .
1-6 Chapter 1: Product Information AGP Slot. The Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) slot only supports 1.5V AGP 8X/4X mode graphics cards for 3D graphical applications. The AGP slot also supports digital visual interface (DVI) cards for digital display on LCD monitors and projectors.
ASUS A7N8X-VM motherboard user manual 1-7 1 .5 Motherboard layout 24.5cm (9.64in) PRI_IDE FLOPPY1 A7N8X-VM Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP8X1) nV idia nForce2 IGP A TX Power Connector Super I/O 4Mb BIO.
1-8 Chapter 1: Product Information 1 .6 Motherboard ins tallation The A7N8X-VM uses the Micro A TX form factor , measuring 24.5 cm (9.6 in.) x 24.5 cm (9.
ASUS A7N8X-VM motherboard user manual 1-9 1 .7 Before you proceed T ake note of the following precautions before you install motherboard components or change any motherboard settings. 1. Unplug the power cord from the wall socket before touching any component.
1-10 Chapter 1: Product Information 1 .8 Central Pr ocessing Unit (CPU) The motherboard provides a Socket A (462) for CPU installation. The A7N8X-VM supports Athlon ™ XP processors with “ QuantiSpeed ” data processing, large data caches, 3D enhancements and 333/266MHz bus speeds.
ASUS A7N8X-VM motherboard user manual 1-11 1 .9 System memor y The motherboard has two Double Data Rate (DDR) DIMM sockets that supports up to 2GB non-ECC PC3200/2700/2100/1600 DDR Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memorry (SDRAM) DIMMs. Each DIMM socket/module is two- sided.
1-12 Chapter 1: Product Information IRQ assignments for this motherboard A BCDE F G PCI slot 1 used –––––– PCI slot 2 – –– used ––– PCI slot 3 –– used –––– AGP slot – used ––––– 1. 10 Expansion slots The A7N8X-VM motherboard has three (3) PCI and one (1) Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP).
ASUS A7N8X-VM motherboard user manual 1-13 1.10.4 PCI slots Three 32-bit PCI slots are available on this motherboard. The slots support PCI cards such as LAN card, SCSI card, USB card, and other cards that comply with PCI specifications. This figure shows a typical PCI card installed into a slot: 1.
1-14 Chapter 1: Product Information 1 . 1 1 Jumpers This section describes and illustrates the jumpers on the motherboard. 1. USB device wake-up (3-pin USBPW12, USBPW34, USBPW56) Set these jumpers to +5V to wake up the computer from S1 sleep mode (CPU stopped, DRAM refreshed, system running in low power mode) using the connected USB devices.
ASUS A7N8X-VM motherboard user manual 1-15 2. Clear RTC RAM (CLRTC1) This jumper clears the Real T ime Clock (RTC) RAM of date, time and system setup parameters in CMOS. The RAM data in CMOS is powered by the onboard button cell battery . T o erase the RTC RAM: 1.
1-16 Chapter 1: Product Information 1 . 1 2 Connectors This section describes and illustrates the connectors on the motherboard. 1. IDE connectors (40-1 pin PRI_IDE, SEC_IDE) This connector supports the provided UltraDMA133/100 IDE hard disk ribbon cable.
ASUS A7N8X-VM motherboard user manual 1-17 3. A TX power connectors (20-pin A TXPWR1) These connectors connect to an A TX 12V power supply . The plugs from the power supply are designed to fit these connectors in only one orientation. Find the proper orientation and push down firmly until the connectors completely fit.
1-18 Chapter 1: Product Information 4. USB header (10-1 pin USB56) If the USB 2.0 port connectors on the back panel are inadequate, a USB header is available for two additional USB port connectors. Connect a 2-port USB connector set to a USB header and mount the USB bracket to an open slot in the chassis.
ASUS A7N8X-VM motherboard user manual 1-19 6. CPU and Chassis Fan Connectors (3-pin CPU_F AN1, CHA_F AN) The fan connectors support cooling fans of 350mA~740mA (8.88W max). Connect the fan cables to the fan connectors on the motherboard, making sure that the black wire of each cable matches the ground pin of the connector .
1-20 Chapter 1: Product Information 9. Internal audio connectors (4 pin CD1, AUX1) These connectors allow you to receive stereo audio input from sound sources such as a CD-ROM, TV tuner , MPEG card or modem. A7N8X-VM A7N8X-VM Internal Audio Connectors AUX1 (White) CD1 (Black) Right Audio Channel Left Audio Channel Ground 8.
ASUS A7N8X-VM motherboard user manual 1-21 1 1. Digital Audio Connector (6-1 pin SPDIF1) This connector is for optional S/PDIF audio module that allows digital instead of analog sound input and output. A7N8X-VM A7N8X-VM Digital Audio Connector SPDIF1 GND +5V SPDIF_IN SPDIF_OUT 1 GND 10.
1-22 Chapter 1: Product Information 12. Serial Port 2 connector (10-1 pin COM2) This connector accommodates a second serial port using an optional serial port bracket. Connect the bracket cable to this connector then install the bracket into a slot opening at the back of the system chassis.
ASUS A7N8X-VM motherboard user manual 1-23 13. System panel connector (20-pin P ANEL1) This connector accommodates several system front panel functions.
1-24 Chapter 1: Product Information.
Chapter 2 This chapter tells how to change system settings through the BIOS Setup Menus. Detailed descriptions of the BIOS parameters are also provided.
2-2 Chapter 2: BIOS information 2. 1 Managing and updating your BIOS • The original BIOS file for this motherboard is in the support CD. • Copy the original BIOS to a bootable floppy disk in case you need to restore the BIOS in the future. 2.1.1 Creating a bootable floppy disk 1.
ASUS A7N8X-VM motherboard user manual 2-3 1. Download an updated ASUS BIOS file from the Internet (see ASUS CONT ACT INFORMA TION on page ix for details) and save to the boot floppy disk you created earlier . 2. Copy the AFUDOS.EXE utility from the support CD to the bootable floppy disk that contains the BIOS file.
2-4 Chapter 2: BIOS information 2.1.3 Using ASUS EZ Flash to update the BIOS The ASUS EZ Flash feature allows you to easily update the BIOS without having to go through the long process of booting from a diskette and using a DOS-based utility .
ASUS A7N8X-VM motherboard user manual 2-5 2.2 BIOS Setup progr am Because the BIOS software is constantly being updated, the following BIOS setup screens and descriptions are for reference purposes only , and may not exactly match what you see on your screen.
2-6 Chapter 2: BIOS information 2.2.2 Legend bar At the bottom of the Setup screen is a legend bar . The keys in the legend bar allow you to navigate through the various setup menus. The following table lists the keys found in the legend bar with their corresponding functions.
ASUS A7N8X-VM motherboard user manual 2-7 2.3 Main Menu When you enter the Setup program, the following screen appears. Sub-menu Note that a right pointer symbol (as shown on the left) appears to the left of certain fields. This pointer indicates that you can display a sub-menu from this field.
2-8 Chapter 2: BIOS information System Date [XX/XX/XXXX] Sets the system to the date that you specify (usually the current date). The format is month, day , year . V alid values for month, day , and year are Month: (1 to 12), Day: (1 to 31), Y ear: (up to 2099).
ASUS A7N8X-VM motherboard user manual 2-9 PIO Mode [Auto] This option lets you set a PIO (Programmed Input/Output) mode for the IDE device. Modes 0 through 4 provide successive increase in performance. Configuration options: [0] [1] [2] [3] [4] Ultra DMA Mode [Auto] This field enables you to select the DMA mode.
2-10 Chapter 2: BIOS information 2.4 Advanced Menu 2.4.1 Chipset V ideo Frame Buffer Size [ 32 MB] This field sets the size of the video frame buffer .
ASUS A7N8X-VM motherboard user manual 2-11 MDA Access Control [PCI] This field selects the MDA Access cycles direction. Configuration options: [AGP] [PCI] Primary Video [PCI] This will switch the PCI Bus scanning order while searching for a video card.
2-12 Chapter 2: BIOS information Parallel Port Mode [Disabled] This field allows the BIOS to select the Parallel Port Mode. Configuration options: [Normal] [EPP] [ECP] [EPP+ECP] ECP Mode DMA Channel [DMA3] This field allows the BIOS to select the Parallel Port ECP DMA.
ASUS A7N8X-VM motherboard user manual 2-13 2.4.3 PCIPnP Plug and Play O/S [No] This field configures the Plug and Play O/S feature. If set to [No] the BIOS configures all the devices attached to the system.
2-14 Chapter 2: BIOS information 2.5 Power Menu The Power menu allows you to reduce power consumption. This feature turns of f the video display and shuts down the hard disk after a period of inactivity . PCI IDE BusMaster [Disabled] This field allows the BIOS, when [Enabled], to use PCI busmastering for reading and writing to IDE drives.
ASUS A7N8X-VM motherboard user manual 2-15 2.5.1 Power Up Control Restore on AC Power Loss [Power Off] When set to Power Off, the system goes into of f state after an AC power loss.
2-16 Chapter 2: BIOS information 2.5.2 Hardware Monitor MB T emperature [xxxC/xxxF] CPU T emperature [xxxC/xxxF] The onboard hardware monitor automatically detects and displays the motherboard, CPU, a.
ASUS A7N8X-VM motherboard user manual 2-17 2.6 Boot Menu 1st, 2nd, 3rd Boot Device This field specifies the boot sequence from the available devices. Additional plug-in boot devices installed appear in sequence after the list of current boot devices .
2-18 Chapter 2: BIOS information Full Screen Logo [Enabled] When [Enabled], MyLogo is displayed instead of the POST messages. Setting to [Disabled] displays the normal POST messages. Configuration options: [Disabled] [Enabled] Make sure that the above item is set to [Enabled] if you wish to use the ASUS MyLogo2 feature.
ASUS A7N8X-VM motherboard user manual 2-19 A note about passwords The BIOS Setup program allows you to specify passwords in the Boot menu. The passwords control access to the BIOS during system startup. Passwords are not case sensitive, meaning, passwords typed in either uppercase or lowercase letters are accepted.
2-20 Chapter 2: BIOS information 2.7 Exit Menu When you have made all of your selections from the various menus in the Setup program, save your changes and exit Setup.
Chapter 3 This chapter describes the contents of the support CD that comes with the motherboard package. Software support.
3-2 Chapter 3: Software support 3. 1 Installing an oper ating system This motherboard supports Windows ® 98SE/ME/NT/2000/XP as well as Linux Red Hat, SuSE, T urboLinux and Caldera operating systems (OS). Always install the latest OS version and corresponding updates so you can maximize the features of your hardware.
ASUS A7N8X-VM motherboard user manual 3-3 3.2.2 Drivers menu The drivers menu shows the available device drivers if the system detects installed devices. Install the necessary drivers to activate the devices. 3.2.3 Utilities menu The Utilities menu shows the applications and other software that the motherboard supports.
3-4 Chapter 3: Software support Settings Lets you set threshold levels and polling intervals or refresh times of the PC ’ s temperature, fan rotation, and voltages.
ASUS A7N8X-VM motherboard user manual 3-5 History Lets you record the monitoring activity of a certain component of your PC for future reference. Hard Drives Shows the used and free space of the PC ’ s hard disk drives and the file allocation table or file system used.
3-6 Chapter 3: Software support Device Summary Shows a summary of devices present in your PC. DMI Explorer Shows information pertinent to the PC, such as CPU type, CPU speed, and internal/external frequencies, and memory size. Utility Lets you run programs outside of the ASUS Probe modules.
ASUS A7N8X-VM motherboard user manual 3-7 2. Select your desired update method, then click Next. 1. Launch the utility from your Windows Start menu: Programs/AsusUpdate Vx.
3-8 Chapter 3: Software support 4. From the selection that appears, choose a logo image. Click Next. If you wish, you may create your own boot logo image in GIF , JPG, or BMP file formats. ASUS MyLogo2™ The ASUS MyLogo2 ™ is automatically installed when you install the ASUS Update utility from the software menu.
ASUS A7N8X-VM motherboard user manual 3-9 6. The next screen prompts you to flash the original BIOS to update it with the new boot logo. Click Flash to update the BIOS. 7. When finished, click Exit, then reboot your computer . Y our system boots with the new boot logo.
3-10 Chapter 3: Software support PC-CILLIN 2002 This item installs the PC-cillin 2002 anti-virus program. View the PC-cillin online help for detailed information. Adobe Acrobat Reader This item installs the Adobe Acrobat Reader . The Acrobat Reader software is for viewing files saved in Portable Document Format (PDF).
An important point after buying a device Asus A7N8X-VM (or even before the purchase) is to read its user manual. We should do this for several simple reasons:
If you have not bought Asus A7N8X-VM yet, this is a good time to familiarize yourself with the basic data on the product. First of all view first pages of the manual, you can find above. You should find there the most important technical data Asus A7N8X-VM - thus you can check whether the hardware meets your expectations. When delving into next pages of the user manual, Asus A7N8X-VM you will learn all the available features of the product, as well as information on its operation. The information that you get Asus A7N8X-VM will certainly help you make a decision on the purchase.
If you already are a holder of Asus A7N8X-VM, but have not read the manual yet, you should do it for the reasons described above. You will learn then if you properly used the available features, and whether you have not made any mistakes, which can shorten the lifetime Asus A7N8X-VM.
However, one of the most important roles played by the user manual is to help in solving problems with Asus A7N8X-VM. Almost always you will find there Troubleshooting, which are the most frequently occurring failures and malfunctions of the device Asus A7N8X-VM along with tips on how to solve them. Even if you fail to solve the problem, the manual will show you a further procedure – contact to the customer service center or the nearest service center
