Chip 1994 February

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Chip 1994 February / CHIP0294.ISO / digital / best100 / dosutils / amisetup / amisetup.doc < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1994-03-17 | 92KB | 2,056 lines

┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╖ │ ║ █ │ ║ █ │ A M I s e t u p ║ █ │ ║ █ │ Documentation ║ █ │ ║ █ │ Copyright (c) Robert Muchsel 1992-1994 ║ █ │ All rights reserved. ║ █ ╘═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ █ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ AMIsetup is an external setup program for 386/486 PCs with modern AMI BIOS (AMI Hi-Flex BIOS). If you ever considered your built-in setup as incomprehensible, boring, inconvenient or incomplete, you've been waiting for AMIsetup. AMIsetup can save your configuration on disk and restore it. You can even change setup options missing in your BIOS! AMIsetup cracks your password and prints your setup as a list. You can install IDE hard disks automatically! Add comprehensive on-line help, Soundblaster support and an on-line reference that explains many setup options. Of course you can protect AMIsetup itself with a password. For diagnostic purposes, AMIsetup can on many machines measure the DMA frequency (avoid burnout of the DMA chip due to overload) and display the CMOS error flags. You can compare the CMOS real time clock and DOS time, change setup registers manually (experts only) and display the BIOS ID. Switch AMIsetup to high resolution video mode (EGA/VGA) and use the mouse... And once you are finished, AMIsetup can reboot your computer. Professionals will like the batch mode of AMIsetup. Configure identical computers in blitz speed! Important ───────── ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ USE AT YOUR OWN RISK! │ │ This program is based on undocumented data structures. │ │ Improper use, program errors or bad luck can cause hardware, │ │ software and stored data of the computer be irreversibly damaged! │ │ The user is advised always to make adequate Back Ups of all │ │ valuable files or Data. Because he can have no control over how │ │ this program is used │ │ THE AUTHOR ACCEPTS NO LIABILITY FOR ANY DAMAGE! │ │ │ ╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ No part of this documentation may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in any retrieval system, or translated into any other language or computer language in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, whether it be electronic, mechanical, magnetic, optical, manual or otherwise, without prior written consent of the author, Robert Muchsel. The author disclaims all warranties as to this software, whether express or implied, including without limitation any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, functionality, data integrity or protection, in so far as permitted by applicable legislation. All trademarks are property of their respective owners and appear for identification purposes only. Shareware ───────── ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Writing this program has taken lots of work. If you continue │ │ using it after a reasonable trial period of 30 days, you have │ │ to pay a small fee to the author. │ │ │ │ SHAREWARE is NOT FREE SOFTWARE. You can, however, test shareware │ │ before purchasing it. │ │ │ │ For detailed information, see appendix A. │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ You are encouraged to copy and pass on the unregistered shareware version of this program, if - the program is distributed in its original form (complete, unmodified, uninstalled) - the distribution fee does not exceed the equivalent of DM 15.-. It is forbidden to distribute the program bundled with books, magazines, etc. (including "bookware"). The information contained in the on-line reference for registered users must not be copied, published or separated from the program. The author has taken every care to ensure the technical correctness of the information, but cannot accept any liability in case of any error. If you have comments or find an error, please send them to the author! Contents ──────── 1 Caution! 2 Starting the program 3 Menus in detail 3.1 ≡ (System) menu 3.2 BIOS menu 3.3 CMOS menu 3.4 Setup 1. Standard setup 2. Extended/chipset setup 3. Change register 4. Password 5. Load ROM setup defaults, load ROM power-on defaults 6. Print current setup 7. Analyze ID string 8. Save changes and quit 9. Exit without saving 3.5 Options dialogue 3.6 Help menu 4 Key shortcuts Appendix A Registration, limits of the shareware version, addresses, upgrades, about the author B AMIsetup and OS/2 2.x, AMI BIOS and OS/2, Windows, Windows NT C Known problems 1. Is AMIsetup compatible with your BIOS? 2. Frequent errors with compatible BIOS versions 3. Stopgap: -OVERRIDE 4. Additional trouble shooting options D Glossary E If the machine won't boot... F Switching to the English user interface G Soundblaster H EISA I Batch mode J Obtaining new or bug fixed program revisions K Tested BIOS revisions What's new Changes are described in a separate file, AMISETUP.NEW. 1 Caution! ─────────── If you are not familiar with setup options or if you don't know what they do, please consider whether changing the setup options is really necessary. ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ On many PCs, the DMA clock speed can be changed. │ │ This may work at first, but later the DMA chip may be destroyed, │ │ thus making the motherboard useless! │ │ │ │ Another critical point is the password option. Since you cannot │ │ erase CMOS RAM on some main boards (see appendix E), it may │ │ happen that because of - forgetfulness, BIOS errors, different │ │ keyboard layout, etc. - you are irreversibly locked out of your │ │ computer. │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Before making ANY change, ask yourself: - is it necessary? - what are the consequences? AMIsetup saves your configuration into a file after installation and whenever you invoke the program. However, this works only if you don't use AMIsetup on a write protected diskette. ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ N E V E R C H A N G E A R U N N I N G S Y S T E M !!! │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ WHEN DID YOU DO YOUR LAST COMPLETE BACKUP??? 2 Starting the program ─────────────────────── First of all, please read the manual and the file "AMISETUP.NEW". The program needs write access to the current directory. Diskettes must not be write protected if file operations are to be used. Normally, you start AMIsetup without additional command-line options. There are exceptions though (see appendix C). You should read appendix B if you want to use AMIsetup under OS/2. If you are using an LCD screen, invoke AMIsetup by "AMISETUP -MONO". If using AMIsetup for the first time, you have to choose the desired language: ┌──────────── Welcome / Willkommen ! ────────────┐ │ │ │ This is a bilingual version of AMIsetup. │ │ For English help texts and user interface, │ │ press [E]. │ │ │ │ Dies ist eine zweisprachige Version von │ │ AMIsetup. Drücken Sie [D] für deutsche Hilfe- │ │ texte und Benutzeroberfläche. │ │ │ │ [E] English version [D] deutsche Version │ │ │ └───────────────────────────────────────AMIsetup─┘ Should you decide on the German version, please continue reading in the file "AMISETUP.DOK". Next you must to accept the warning message with a "Y": ┌───────────────── C A U T I O N ────────────────┐ │ │ │ USE AT YOUR OWN RISK! │ │ │ │ This program is based on undocumented data │ │ structures. Hard- and software and stored │ │ data could be damaged irrevocably! │ │ │ │ THE AUTHOR WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES! │ │ │ │ [Y] accept and start program [N] back to DOS │ │ │ └───────────────────────────────────────AMIsetup─┘ If you have set a password in the "Options" dialogue (3.5), you will be prompted to enter it. ╔══════════════ Password ══════════════╗ ║ ║ ║ AMIsetup is password protected. ║ ║ Please enter the current password. ║ ║ ║ ║ Password **** ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ OK ▄ Help ▄ ║ ║ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════════╝ Next, a dialogue box containing program revision and registration number (or "UNREGISTERED") appears. If you haven't yet paid for AMIsetup and a registration number appears anyway, you've got an (illegal) pirated copy. Please contact the author. ╔═[■]══════════ Information ══════════════╗ ║ ║ ║ AMIsetup v2.60 ║ ║ REGISTERED (#.........) ║ ║ ║ ║ Copyright (c) 1992-94 Robert Muchsel ║ ║ All rights reserved ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ Heap memory: 84080 ║ ║ ISA System ║ ║ ║ ║ OK ▄ Help ▄ ║ ║ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ║ ╚═════════════════════════════════════════╝ ║ You can also view this entire file from AMIsetup ("Help|View ║ AMISETUP.DOC"). Quick start ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ The most frequent error stems from use of AMIsetup with a memory manager (386MAX, QEMM-386, EMM386) loaded - EMM386 is installed automatically by the DOS 5/6 and Windows setup. Please note para 3.2 "BIOS|Write image to file" and appendix C. 3 Menus in detail ────────────────── Using the mouse or pressing <F10>, you get to the main menu bar. There, you have the following pull down menus at your disposal: ≡ BIOS CMOS Setup Options Help ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ Pressing <F1> gets you help. The on-line help contains nearly all of the manual. Hint for mouse users: The right button is equivalent to <Esc>. 3.1 ≡ (System) menu ─────────────────── ≡ BIOS CMOS Setup Options Help ┌─────────────────────────┐ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ │ About Shift-F10 │ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ │ Evaluate DMA clock │ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ │ Test coprocessor status │ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ├─────────────────────────┤ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ │ Video mode Alt-V │ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ├─────────────────────────┤ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ │ Reboot │ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ │ Exit Alt-X │ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ └─────────────────────────┘ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ About Shows a dialogue box containing program revision and registration number (if any). Evaluate DMA clock Tries to determine the current DMA clock speed (this operation is very hardware dependent and it is possible it won't work - "Error" is displayed then). The measured clock speed is displayed in green (up to 4.25 MHz): Everything OK yellow (up to 5.10 MHz): Caution, possibly decrease DMA clock speed red (from 5.10 MHz): The clock is too fast and can cause damage! Conditioned by "DMA waits" it is possible that too low a clock is shown (especially on fast i486 systems). I.e.: If AMIsetup detects a "red" DMA clock, then it is truly time to decrease it - the DMA chip can be destroyed by overclocking! On many systems, DMA clock is coupled with bus clock (e.g. ETEQ, OPTI, SIS, UMC). You can compute the bus clock using the following formula: Bus Clock = 2 * DMA Clock Depending on the DMA waitstates, the factor can be 2.75 (1 Waitstate) or 3 (2 Waitstates) instead of 2. It is neither possible to measure the bus clock nor the number of DMA waitstates directly. The routine doesn't work on some faster machines (i.e. Overdrive (tm), 66DX2) (it displays garbage values then). This function is disabled under OS/2. Test coprocessor status This function performs a coprocessor hardware check and compares the result with the BIOS coprocessor presence bit, which is set during system boot. If both results correspond (i.e. "Coprocessor present" and "Status bit set" or "No coprocessor present" and "Status bit not set"), everything is OK. If both results do not correspond ("*ERROR*" is displayed in addition), the BIOS most probably doesn't sense the coprocessor. If you have problems with applications which support a math coprocessor and the above error is shown, you should first look into "Setup|Extended Setup" and see if you can enable "Numeric Coprocessor" or "Numeric Coprocessor Test". If no such setting is available, you can create a small "SETNPU" program and add it to your AUTOEXEC.BAT. Please copy all characters exactly as shown: C:\> DEBUG SETNPU.COM The specified file name expression was not found. -a ....:0100 mov ax,40 ....:0103 mov ds,ax ....:0105 or byte ptr [10],2 ....:010A mov ax,4c00 ....:010D int 21 ....:010F [Press Enter] -rcx CX 0000 :0f -w Writing 000F bytes -q C:\> Video mode Toggles the display mode between 25 lines and 43/50 lines and requires an EGA/VGA graphics adapter. AMIsetup automatically stores the last used video mode. Reboot Executes a cold boot. The keyboard controller is programmed to trigger a hardware reset. The "Reboot" function can be turned off using the "Options" dialogue. CAUTION! If you use a hard disk cache or disk doubler, this function could possibly cause data loss. AMIsetup first tries to flush the SmartDrive cache (if it is installed, you can disable this feature using the command line argument "-NOSM"), waits 2 seconds and then resets the computer (OS/2: only the program is closed). Exit Exits the program. 3.2 BIOS menu ───────────── ≡ BIOS CMOS Setup Options Help ░░░ ┌─────────────────────┐ ░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░ │ Test version │ ░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░ ├─────────────────────┤ ░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░ │ Write image to file │ ░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░ └─────────────────────┘ ░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ Test version Verifies whether the BIOS and AMIsetup are compatible. This check is executed automatically whenever you start "Setup". If this test fails ("*ERROR*") and you use a memory manager (e.g. QEMM-386, EMM386, 386MAX), you may have to create a BIOS image (see below), or reboot from a plain vanilla DOS diskette. Please read appendix C for more information about compatible BIOS versions. Write image to file Using this function, you can create a "BIOS image" file. This file is necessary if you use a memory manager like QEMM-386, EMM386 or 386MAX. Otherwise you don't need an image file. "BIOS|Test version" tells you whether you need an image file. To create a "BIOS image" file, do the following: 1. Reboot the PC WITHOUT memory manager and WITHOUT shadow RAM (if possible). It's best to boot from a floppy disk. Example: To disable the DOS 6 memory manager, type "MEMMAKER /UNDO" 2. Start AMIsetup. 3. Turn off "Use BIOS image" in the "Options" dialogue. 4. Select "BIOS|Test version" and verify that everything checks out OK. 5. Select and execute "BIOS|Write image to file" (you can change the file name in the "Options" dialogue, if need be. Default is "BIOS.DAT"). 6. Finally don't forget to turn on "Use BIOS image" in the "Options" dialogue to use the newly created BIOS image. 7. Now you can use both AMIsetup and your memory manager. 3.3 CMOS menu ───────────── S CMOS Setup Options Help ░ ┌──────────────────────────────┐ ░░░ ░ │ Test checksums │ ░░░ ░ ├──────────────────────────────┤ ░░░ ░ │ Print │ ░░░ ░ ├──────────────────────────────┤ ░░░ ░ │ Write image to file │ ░░░ ░ │ Restore from image │ ░░░ ░ │ Write EISA NVRAM to file │ ░░░ ░ │ Restore EISA NVRAM from file │ ░░░ ░ ├──────────────────────────────┤ ░░░ ░ │ Reset CMOS RAM │ ░░░ ░ ├──────────────────────────────┤ ░░░ ░ │ Information │ ░░░ ░ │ Time compare │ ░░░ ░ └──────────────────────────────┘ ░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ Test checksums Verifies the CMOS RAM checksums. There are two areas - the first is in all AT computers, the second only in PCs with an AMI BIOS. If one of these two tests fails, the program declines to run "Setup". If you have written your Setup to a file before this error occurred, you can correct the problem through "Restore from image". AMIsetup saves your configuration automatically - when you first use the program into the file SAVECMOS.SAV - whenever you invoke the program into the file CMOSBKUP.SAV. Print Prints the CMOS RAM contents and is used for diagnostic and reference purposes only. To get a readable, plain English print, use "Setup|Print current setup". ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░╔═[■]═════════ Print CMOS ═════════════╗░ ░║ ║░ ░║ »Print to file ║░ ░║ PRN ║░ ░║ ║░ ░║ ║░ ░║ [ OK ] [Cancel ] [ Help ] ║░ ░║ ║░ ░╚══════════════════════════════════════╝░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ If you enter a name different from "PRN", the output will be redirected to a file, e.g. "CMOS.TXT". Of course you can also use device names (e.g. "LPT2") If your printer cannot print graphic characters, you must turn off "Extended character set" in the "Options" dialogue. Data is written in the following format: Reg │ Current value ────┼────────────── 00 │ 13 00010011 01 │ 23 00100011 ... ... 7E │ 00 00000000 7F │ 00 00000000 Opposite to the register number (hexadecimal), the current value is printed in hexadecimal and binary format. If you don't want a form feed at the end, turn it off in the "Options" dialogue. Write image to file Copies contents of CMOS RAM to a file. You can change the default directory in the "Options" dialogue. Restore from image Reads this file back to CMOS RAM and restores the saved state. Time and date are not set, however! Write EISA NVRAM to file Restore EISA NVRAM from file On some EISA computers, you can also save and restore the EISA NVRAM (parts of the configuration data are stored in the EISA NVRAM on these machines). See appendix H for more information. Reset CMOS RAM Caution: Reset CMOS erases the complete CMOS RAM contents, including checksums, date/time, hard disk parameters, etc. Please make a paper backup of your configuration before resetting the CMOS RAM! Information Shows the date of the RTC, the alarm time and information about errors at system boot. ╔════ Information about CMOS RAM contents ═════╗ ║ ║ ║ Date ────────────────────┐ ║ ║ │ 03/19/1993 │ ║ ║ └────────────────────────┘ ║ ║ ║ ║ Alarm ───────────────────┐ ║ ║ │ 00:00:00 off │ OK ▄ ║ ║ └────────────────────────┘ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ║ ║ ║ ║ Status ──────────────────┐ Print ▄ ║ ║ │ Battery: √ │ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ║ ║ │ Power: √ │ ║ ║ │ Checksum: √ │ Help ▄ ║ ║ │ Configuration: √ │ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ║ ║ │ Memory size: √ │ ║ ║ │ Hard disk C: √ │ ║ ║ │ Time: √ │ ║ ║ │ Cache: √ │ ║ ║ └────────────────────────┘ ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════╝ Date The current system date of the real time clock (RTC). Alarm The RTC supports an "alarm clock" mode. You need an external program (TSR) that processes the RTC message and then activates. Status Shows possible errors from the last system boot. A "√" means "no error found". - Battery: CMOS battery is discharged and CMOS contents were invalid - Power: RTC power supply failed - Checksum: CMOS checksums were invalid - Configuration: Self test results and CMOS configuration were different - Memory size: Memory size determined by self test and memory size stored in CMOS were different - Hard disk C: Hard disk C: (if available) couldn't be initialized and couldn't be booted from - Time: Time was invalid - Cache: Self test revealed cache error The cache status bit is set by the BIOS at boot time and shows an *ERROR*, when the cache is bad, missing or disabled. This information is is to be taken seriously, but not implemented on all machines. In any case you should check the cache: If performance ratings of your test program are the same with enabled and disabled cache, the cache is most probably kaput. A program you can trust is e.g. PC-Config by Michael Holin. Errors often disappear after a reboot (e.g. Checksum). Time compare Compares the current DOS time and the RTC time and is used for reference purposes only. If the difference is more than approx. 2 seconds, you should check hard and software. 3.4 Setup ───────── ≡ BIOS CMOS Setup Options Help ┌─────────────────────────────────── Setup ──────────────────────────── │ │05/05/91(C)1990 American Megatrends Inc., All Rights Reserved │ROM BIOS (C)1990 American Megatrends Inc., │ │ │ ┌───────────────────────────────┐ │ │ Standard setup │ │ │ Extended/chipset setup │ │ │ Change register │ │ │ Password │ │ DATE: │ Load ROM setup defaults │ WARNING: │ 05/05/91 │ Load ROM power-on defaults │ Improper │ ├───────────────────────────────┤ Setup may │ │ Print current setup │ severe pr │ │ Analyze ID string │ │ ├───────────────────────────────┤ │ │ Save changes and quit │ │ │ Exit without saving │ │ └───────────────────────────────┘ │ │ 30-0201-ABCDEF-00101111-050591-OPWB └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── If the CMOS RAM checksums and the internal BIOS copyright strings are valid, the above Setup screen is displayed. If you are a registered user (see appendix A), you can begin with this screen automatically at program start. Simply set "Options|Auto start setup" to on. AMIsetup searches for two specific copyright strings at several locations. One of these is displayed at the top. At the left is the BIOS date, at the bottom the BIOS ID string (as displayed at system boot). 3.4.1 Standard setup ──────────────────── You can change the following settings: ╔═[■]═════════════════════ Standard setup ═════════════════════════╗ ║ ║ ║ Base memory: 640K ║ ║ Extended memory: 16384K Auto detect hard disks ▄ ║ ║ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ║ ║ Drive A Drive B HDD 0 ▄ HDD 1 ▄ ║ ║ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ║ ║ ( ) None ( ) None Type: 47 NONE / SCSI ║ ║ ( ) 360K 5¼" ( ) 360K 5¼" Cyl: 1024 ║ ║ ( ) 1.2M 5¼" (x) 1.2M 5¼" Heads: 64 ║ ║ ( ) 720K 3½" ( ) 720K 3½" S/Trk: 26 ║ ║ (x) 1.44M 3½" ( ) 1.44M 3½" Size: 832M ║ ║ ( ) 2.88M 3½" ( ) 2.88M 3½" ║ ║ ║ ║ Display adapter Options ║ ║ ( ) Not installed [X] Keyboard installed ║ ║ ( ) Color 40x25 ║ ║ ( ) Color 80x25 ║ ║ ( ) Monochrome ║ ║ (x) VGA/PGA/EGA OK ▄ Cancel ▄ Help ▄ ║ ║ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ At top, the memory size as determined by the BIOS is displayed. Drive A Drive B Allows you to change the type of installed floppy disk drives. 2.88 MB disk drives: Using AMIsetup, you can configure the drive type "2.88 MB" on any computer. To run a ED drive, you need a diskette controller capable of the 1 Mbps data rate (e.g. AHA1542CF). If your BIOS does not support 2.88 MB drives, AMIsetup displays a warning message (BIOS versions earlier than 06/12/91). Lack of BIOS support can cause the following problems: - Problems booting from diskette (especially 720 KB diskettes) - The built-in ROM "Standard setup" displays a line containing garbage characters (this does not adversely affect other setup functions). - You'll need software support for your floppy drive. OS/2 2.1 automatically detects 2.88 MB drives. DOS 5.0 or later requires a device "DRIVER.SYS" (please consult your DOS manual). The author is currently developing a flexible BIOS enhancement which must be installed in CONFIG.SYS, supporting 360 KB to 2.88 MB floppy drives on any port, IRQ or DMA channel. - Dependent on your hardware, it might be better instead to tell the BIOS the drive was 1.44 MB. You can disable the warning message (displayed if your BIOS does not support 2.88 MB drives) using the command line parameter "-288". Display adapter With this you set the type of the installed graphics adapter. ( ) Not installed ( ) Color 40x25 ( ) Color 80x25 = CGA ( ) Monochrome = MDA, Hercules (x) VGA/PGA/EGA Often you have to change a jumper on the main board besides this setting. Options - Keyboard installed If the keyboard should be checked at system boot, check this box. Should the keyboard not be checked or if there is no keyboard installed (e.g. LAN server), leave it empty. Auto detect hard disks You don't need to enter the parameters of your hard disks manually if you have IDE type drives installed (maybe this works with ESDI drives, too). AMIsetup can detect the correct cylinder/head/sector values automatically (non-OS/2 systems only). ╔═[■]═════════════════ Confirm ══════════════════════╗ ║ ║ ║ Install the following ║ ║ hard drives into setup? ║ ║ ║ ║ HDD 0: Conner Peripherals 170MB, CP30174E ║ ║ HDD 1: Not installed / SCSI ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ Yes ▄ No ▄ Help ▄ ║ ║ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ If no hard disks are found, it's most likely you have SCSI type drives (or old MFM or RLL drives). In the case of MFM/RLL type drives, you must enter the disk parameters manually; this also holds true for some SCSI controllers. HDD 0 HDD 1 With this you can set the type of installed MFM, RLL or IDE hard drives. Using a SCSI controller, you mustn't define a hard disk here - please read your controller and hard disk manual to prevent momentous wrong settings! The current parameters are displayed below the push-button - type (number) of the disk, cylinders, heads, sectors per track and the calculated size. Note: The disk size is displayed in real Megabytes, 2^20 bytes. Many disk vendors calculate in 10^6 bytes (this number is larger!). If you push the button, a list of predefined disk types appears: ╔═[■]═════════ Hard disk 0 parameters ═════════════╗ ║ Type│ Cyls. │Heads│ Precomp│ LZone │S/Trk│ Size ║ ║─────┼───────┼─────┼────────┼───────┼─────┼───────║ ║ 32 │ 1024 │ 15 │ NONE │ 1024 │ 17 │ 128M > ║ 33 │ 1024 │ 5 │ 1024 │ 1024 │ 17 │ 43M ▒ ║ 34 │ 816 │ 15 │ NONE │ 816 │ 32 │ 191M ▒ ║ 35 │ 1024 │ 9 │ NONE │ 1024 │ 17 │ 77M ▒ ║ 36 │ 1024 │ 8 │ 512 │ 1024 │ 17 │ 68M ▒ ║ 37 │ 615 │ 8 │ 128 │ 615 │ 17 │ 41M ▒ ║ 38 │ 745 │ 4 │ 512 │ 745 │ 28 │ 41M ▒ ║ 39 │ 987 │ 7 │ 987 │ 987 │ 17 │ 57M ▒ ║ 40 │ 820 │ 6 │ 820 │ 820 │ 17 │ 41M ▒ ║ 41 │ 977 │ 5 │ 977 │ 977 │ 17 │ 41M ▒ ║ 42 │ 981 │ 5 │ 981 │ 981 │ 17 │ 41M ▒ ║ 43 │ 755 │ 16 │ NONE │ 755 │ 17 │ 100M ▒ ║ 44 │ 887 │ 13 │ NONE │ 887 │ 34 │ 191M ▒ ║ 45 │ 968 │ 10 │ NONE │ 968 │ 34 │ 161M ▒ ║ 46 │ 751 │ 8 │ 0 │ 751 │ 17 │ 50M ■ ║» 47 │ USER DEFINED│ │ │ │ «< ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ The columns contain type (number) of the disk, number of cylinders, heads, the precompensation cylinder (see glossary), landing zone, number of sectors per track and the calculated size (rounded) in megabytes. Please compare these items with the data sheet of your hard disk. It's likely you CANNOT find the specifications of the hard disk to be installed in this list. In this case, select type 47 (USER DEFINED). The following dialogue appears: ╔═[■]═══════ Change type 47 parameters ════════════╗ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ 615 »Cylinders ║ ║ ║ ║ 4 Heads ║ ║ ║ ║ 300 Precompensation (65535 for NONE) ║ ║ [ Save ] ║ ║ 615 Landing zone ║ ║ [ Cancel ] ║ ║ 17 Sectors/track ║ ║ [ Help ] ║ ║ ║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ Here you can set the parameters yourself. Note that the value of precompensation has a special meaning: 65535 means DISABLED for the whole hard disk. 0 means ENABLED for the whole disk. Modern drives ignore precompensation and landing zone. For reasons of software compatibility, set precompensation to "NONE" and landing zone to the highest available cylinder+1. 3.4.2 Extended/chipset setup ──────────────────────────── A list of options and their current settings is displayed: ╔═[■]═══════════════════════ Extended setup ═══════════════════════════ ║ Option │Register│Bits │ Current setting ║──────────────────────────────┼────────┴─────┼──────────────────────── ║»Typematic Rate Programming │ 11 10000000 │ 10000000 Enabled « ║ Typematic Rate Delay (msec) │ 11 01100000 │ 00000000 250 ║ Typematic Rate (Chars/Sec) │ 11 00011111 │ 00000011 21.8 ║ ¿ Mouse Support Option │ 13 10000000 │ 10000000 <1> ║ Above 1 MB Memory Test │ 13 01000000 │ 00000000 Disabled ║ Memory Test Tick Sound │ 13 00100000 │ 00000000 Disabled ║ Memory Parity Error Check │ 13 00010000 │ 00010000 Enabled ║ Hit <ESC> Message Display │ 13 00001000 │ 00000000 Disabled ║ Hard Disk Type 47 Data Area │ 13 00000100 │ 00000000 0:300 ║ Wait For <F1> If Any Error │ 13 00000010 │ 00000010 Enabled ║ System Boot Up Num Lock │ 13 00000001 │ 00000001 On ║ ■ Numeric Processor │ 14 00000010 │ 00000010 Present ║ Weitek Processor │ 2D 10000000 │ 00000000 Absent ║ Floppy Drive Seek At Boot │ 2D 01000000 │ 00000000 Disabled ║ System Boot Up Sequence │ 2D 00100000 │ 00000000 C:, A: ║ System Boot Up Speed │ 50 00000100 │ 00000000 High ║ Cache Memory │ 2D 00001000 │ 00001000 Enabled ║ ¿ Internal Cache Memory │ 2D 00000100 │ 00000100 <1> ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ The four columns have the following meaning: Option The name of the setting to be changed, peeked from the BIOS. The signs "■" and "¿" denote options that cannot be changed from the BIOS and are marked as "disabled" (see explanation under "Options|Display ..."). If you change settings of options marked in this way, be especially careful. You can disable the display of these options selectively in the "Options" dialogue. By the way, blame the BIOS manufacturer for reversed letters in this row, not AMIsetup. Register Hexadecimal number of the CMOS register that stores the setting. This information may help experienced users to change settings by hand using "Change register". If a "+" sign is displayed behind the register number, possibly more than one registers are affected. Bits Bit mask for the setting. Only Bits marked with a "1" are used for the specified setting (see also Register). Current setting Bit mask of the setting stored in the program copy of CMOS RAM and the corresponding text in clear. If plain language is not available, a decimal value in acute brackets is shown. E.g.: <2> denotes the third possible setting, since <0> is valid, too. If there is the possibility that more than 8 bits are used for the setting, the bit mask is not shown. Now you can select an option with the mouse or the enter key, as appropriate. A new window is displayed (see below). Instead of pressing the enter key, <Ctrl><RightArrow>, <Ctrl><Enter> or <Ctrl><LeftArrow> increase or decrease the current setting respectively by one (for the hurried user, not available for options marked with a "+"). List: Radio buttons: ╔═[■]════════ Typematic Rate (Chars/Sec) ╔═[■]════ Typematic Rat ║ ║ ║ »Options Bits ║ »Options ║ 30.0 < 00000011 ║ »(x) Disabled« ║ 26.7 ▒ └00011111┘ ║ ( ) Enabled ║ 24.0 ■ ║ ║ »21.8 «▒ [ ║ ║ 20.0 ▒ ║ ║ 18.5 ▒ [ ║ ║ 17.1 ▒ ║ ║ 16.0 ▒ [ ║ ║ 15.0 > ║ ║ [ ║ ║ ║ ╚═══════════════════════════════════════ ╚══════════════════════ Marked below "Options" or "Setting" is the current setting. To change the setting, scroll the list or press the appropriate button. The "Bits" field shows you which bit mask corresponds to the selected setting. Listed below the bit field are once again the bits that can be affected by the option. "Save" copies the changed setting into the program copy of CMOS RAM (use "Save changes and quit" to make the change permanent), "Cancel" cancels the operation. Caution: Some settings are "Reserved" or "RESERVED". Do consider whether you really want to set an option to "Reserved". For safety reasons, these changes have to be confirmed. "BIOS help": Sometimes, the BIOS ROM has an own (English) help text to the respective option. You can view this text using "BIOS help", e.g.: ╔═[■]═════════ BIOS help ══════════════╗ ║The base address changes in ║ ║steps of 16k and 512k ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════════╝ "Reference": Registered users can look up explanations to the setup options. Options that are controlled entirely by the BIOS (these usually change more than eight bits and are marked with a "+") display a window containing the buttons "« < > »"; you can also use (<Ctrl>)<RightArrow> and (<Ctrl>)<LeftArrow>. The buttons "« »" are intended for fast leafing and don't work on all machines. On some machines, a window appears after pressing "« < > »". Here you can enter data - this input window is controlled by the BIOS, so mouse input and function keys are disabled. Setting controlled by BIOS: ╔═[■]════════ Non-Cacheable Block-0 Base ════════════╗ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ [BIOS help] ║ ║ Setting ║ ║ _0 KB_______________________ [Reference] ║ ║ ║ ║ [ « ] [ < ] [ > ] [ » ] [ Save ] ║ ║ ║ ║ [ Cancel ] ║ ║ ║ ║ [ Help ] ║ ║ ║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ Note that some options affect each other! 3.4.3 Change register ───────────────────── You may not be able to set the CMOS the way you want from the "Extended/chipset setup" menu. In this case, you can make the change manually. Caution: Use this function only if you are absolutely, positively sure about what you're doing! ╔═[■]═════ Change register ═════════╗ ║ ║ ║ Enter register number: ║ ║ __ Range 10 to 7F (hex) ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ [ Change ] [ Cancel ] [ Help ] ║ ║ ║ ╚═══════════════════════════════════╝ ╔═[■]═══ Change register 12 ════════╗ ║ Current value: 00 ║ ║ ║ ║ Enter new value: ║ ║ __ Range 00 to FF (hex) ║ ║ ║ ║ [ Set ] [ Cancel ] [ Help ] ║ ║ ║ ╚═══════════════════════════════════╝ First, you have to enter the register number in hexadecimal and then the new value. 3.4.4 Password ────────────── This function enables you to display the current CMOS password and to change it. This password can be called for at system boot or when entering the ROM setup. ╔═[■]══════════ Password ══════════════╗ ║ ║ ║ Current password is "AMISET". ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ [Change] [Cancel] [ Help ] ║ ║ ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════════╝ ╔═[■]══════ Change password ═══════════╗ ║ ║ ║ New password: FIDO__ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ [ OK ] [Cancel] [ Help ] ║ ║ ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════════╝ Caution! If you use a foreign language keyboard (i.e. non-USA), note that no foreign keyboard support is loaded at boot time. Example: On German keyboards, "Z" and "Y" are reversed. Often you can enable the US-American keyboard by pressing <Ctrl><Alt><F1> and then test which keys are which. Use <Ctrl><Alt><F2> to re-enable the foreign keyboard. On some machines the password function has to be activated by the "Password" option in "Extended/chipset setup" (3.4.2). CAUTION! If you set the "Password" option to "Always", you cannot boot your machine if you forget the password! Hint: Try the setting "Setup" first. 3.4.5 Load ROM setup defaults, load ROM power-on defaults ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────── There are two tables of predefined CMOS settings in the ROM. One of those, the "power-on defaults" is used to eliminate all possible hardware problems; thus the processor is switched to low speed, the cache is turned off, etc. Using "power-on defaults", the machine should boot in any case. Using this function, you can load a predefined configuration or simply view it for reference purposes, since all settings will be written to the program copy of CMOS RAM first and only be saved if you use "Save changes and quit". 3.4.6 Print current setup ───────────────────────── With this function, you can print the current settings of the program copy of CMOS RAM to the printer or to a file. ╔═[■]════════ Print current setup ════════════╗ ║ ║ ║ »Print to file ║ ║ PRN______________________________ ║ ║ ║ ║ Format ║ ║ (x) Standard (current/possible) Margin ║ ║ ( ) Alternate (current bin&hex) 79_ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ [ OK ] [Cancel] [ Help ] ║ ║ ║ ╚═════════════════════════════════════════════╝ First the settings of "Standard setup" will be printed; then, a list: Standard The list is formatted as follows: Option │ Current │ Possible settings ─────────────────────────────┼──────────┼───────────────────── Typematic Rate Programming │ Enabled │ Disabled Typematic Rate Delay (msec) │ 250 │ 500 750 1000 Typematic Rate (Chars/Sec) │ 24.0 │ 30.0 26.7 21.8 [...] ¿ Mouse Support Option │ <1> │ Above 1 MB Memory Test │ Disabled │ Enabled ... "Margin" (61-254) is the maximum width of the list. "Possible settings" will be truncated to "[...]" if exceeding the maximum width. Alternate The list looks as the list displayed in "Extended/chipset setup". "Margin" is ignored. Option │Register│Bits │ Current setting ─────────────────────────────┼────────┴─────┼─────────────────── Typematic Rate Programming │ 13 10000000 │ 10000000 Enabled Typematic Rate Delay (msec) │ 13 01100000 │ 00000000 250 Typematic Rate (Chars/Sec) │ 13 00011100 │ 00010000 15 ■ Mouse Support Option │ 11 10000000 │ 10000000 Enabled ... Note: If your printer cannot print extended characters, disable them in the "Options" dialogue. Hint: If you disable "■" and "¿" in the "Options" dialogue, you can create a list of those settings that can be changed from the ROM setup. This list you can distribute e.g. to your customers as a reference. 3.4.7 Analyze ID string ─────────────────────── This function explains the meaning of the BIOS ID string displayed in the lower left corner. Note: The information determined by AMIsetup is not always 100 per cent correct, since not all manufacturers adhere to the standard (this is especially true for "Required processor"). The ID string displayed at boot time shows the keyboard controller revision level in addition to the information displayed by AMIsetup. Example: 30-0201-ABCDEF-00101111-050591-OPWB-KF, where F is the revision level. ╔═══════════════ Analyze BIOS ID string ═══════════════╗ ║ ║ ║ 30-0201-ABCDEF-00101111-050591-OPWB ║ ║ 23H-0-0000-00-00-0000-00-00-000 ║ ║ 23H-1-0000-00-00-0000-00-00-00-2 ║ ║ ║ ║ Required processor: 386 OK ▄ ║ ║ BIOS size: 64 KB ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ║ ║ Version: 2.01 ║ ║ Reference number: ABCDEF Print ▄ ║ ║ BIOS date: 05/05/91 ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ║ ║ Chipset ID: OPWB ║ ║ Clock switching pin: 23 Help ▄ ║ ║ Cache control pin: 23 ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ║ ║ BIOS modified flag: 02 ║ ║ ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ Use "Print" to print the information or to write it into a file. 3.4.8 Save changes and quit ─────────────────────────── Not until you use this function will changes be made permanent. "Save changes and quit" writes all CMOS settings from the program copy of CMOS RAM into the real CMOS RAM and exits setup. If "Options|Enable reboot" is enabled, you will be asked whether you want to reboot your computer (cf. "Reboot"). 3.4.9 Exit without saving ───────────────────────── Quits setup without changing the CMOS RAM. 3.5 Options dialogue ──────────────────── ╔═[■]══════════════════════ Options ═══════════════════════════╗ ║ ║ ║ Setup Display ║ ║ [ ] Use BIOS image [X] ■ Options ║ ║ [X] Auto start setup [ ] ¿ Options ║ ║ [ ] Print form feed ║ ║ [X] Extended character set [ ] Soundblaster ║ ║ [ ] Enable reboot command ║ ║ [X] Beep on error ║ ║ [ ] Reverse mouse buttons Password ▄ ║ ║ [ ] German language ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ║ ║ ║ ║ BIOS image file CMOS and EISA image files ║ ║ C:\SETUP\BIOS.DAT C:\SETUP\ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ Save ▄ Cancel ▄ Help ▄ ║ ║ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ Customize the program to your own needs using this dialogue. Use BIOS image Usage of an image file instead of peeking directly into the ROM. See "BIOS|Write image to file" for more information. Auto start setup Instead of selecting "Setup" manually each time using the menu, "Setup" can also be started automatically at program start (registered copies only). Print form feed Do a form feed after printing. Extended character set This box must be left blank if your printer doesn't print the extended character set (code page 437), e.g. characters like "½" or "■". Enable reboot command If this box is blank, the "Reboot" function in the "≡" menu is disabled and you will not be asked whether you want to reboot after saving your setup. Beep on error If this option is checked, the program beeps if you enter incorrect values in (hexa-) decimal input boxes. Reverse mouse buttons You can reverse right and left mouse buttons (for left-handers or southpaws). German language You can disable the English user interface and work with the German one instead. Display ... ■ ... ¿ There are two types of disabled options in the ROM BIOS. 1. Some options are actually there, but marked as "inadmissible". This can be e.g. redundant options. AMIsetup displays a "■" in front of the option. Mostly the "■" options work perfectly. 2. Some options are marked as "inadmissible" AND there are no valid known settings. AMIsetup then displays a "¿". Often "¿" options don't work. You can enable and disable both types. If neither "■" nor "¿" are enabled, then AMIsetup shows the same set of options as the ROM setup. Soundblaster See appendix G. BIOS image file CMOS and EISA image files You can change file name/directory of these files. Password You can define a password that will be needed at program start. Password protection reduces misuse of the AMIsetup. ╔═[■]══════ Change password ═══════════╗ ║ ║ ║ New password: **** ║ ║ ║ ║ Confirm: **** ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ OK ▄ Cancel ▄ Help ▄ ║ ║ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════════╝ For security reasons, you have to enter the same password in both lines. If you enter an empty password (simply press Enter), the password protection will be disabled. Changes of the password are written into the file AMISETUP.EXE, which must not be write protected for this operation. 3.6 Help menu ───────────── ≡ BIOS CMOS Setup Options Help ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ┌───────────────────┐ ░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ │ Contents │ ░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ │ View AMISETUP.DOC │ ░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ │ Print order form │ ░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ├───────────────────┤ ░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ │ On-line reference │ ░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ └───────────────────┘ ░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ Contents Gives an overview about on-line help. View AMISETUP.DOC You can view AMISETUP.DOC without leaving AMIsetup. It is necessary that AMISETUP.DOC be installed in the same directory as AMISETUP.EXE. You can leave the AMISETUP.DOC window in the background while working with AMIsetup. Print order form To order AMIsetup, you can print an order form to the printer or to a file. On-line reference Registered users (read appendix A how to become a registered user) can read explanations of approx. 100 of the most widespread setup options. Select "On-line reference", and the index is displayed. ╔═[■]══════════════════════════ On-line reference ══════════════════ ║ ║ ▄ Index ║ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ║ ║ General advice ║ ────────────── ║ ║ Caution! ║ Beep codes ║ ║ ║ Tuning tips ║ ─────────── ║ ║ ║ Setup options ║ ───────────── ║ ║ 256KB Memory Relocation ║ 256K/384K Memory Relocation ║ 7CLK2 CAS Pulse Width ╚═■▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ You can mark one of the bold terms using <Tab> or the mouse and get a closer explanation: ╔═[■]══════════════════════════ On-line reference ══════════════════ ║ ║ Fast Gate A20 Option [Disabled] [Enabled] ║ Gate A20 Emulation Option ║ ║ Activates a faster method for enabling and disabling address line ║ needed for accessing extended memory. ║ ║ The address line A20 is normally toggled by the keyboard controlle ║ comparably slow 8042 processor. ║ ║ For reasons of compatibility with PC/XT systems (8086/8088), addre ║ A20 is disabled under DOS in most cases. PCs with the 8088 had onl ║ address lines up to A19. When on the 8088 PC address FFFF:XXXX (se ║ first 64KB was actually addressed. ║ ║ In order to access memory above 1MB (extended memory) on 286 or ne ║ address line A20 must be toggled. This also holds for switching be ║ line A20, allowing the first 63 KB of extended memory to be access ║ mode (and used as "high memory"). ║ ║ Control by the keyboard controller can be replaced by a faster tec ║ option became famous as "OS/2 optimization". ║ ║ Modern software uses other methods of switching (triple fault or 3 ╚═■▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ Use the <Tab> key to switch to the next highlighted topic (the cursor keys are for scrolling only). 4 Key shortcuts ─────────────── <F1> Help <Alt><F3> Close active window <F5> Zoom active window <Ctrl><F5> Move active window (Cursor keys) Change window size (<Shift>+Cursor keys) <F9> Start Setup <F10> Activate main menu <Shift><F10> Show program information <Alt><X> Exit Setup or program or <Alt><F4> NB: <> = <Shift> <Return>, <┘> = <Enter> <> = <Tab> A P P E N D I X ─────────────── A Registration ─────────────── If you want to continue using AMIsetup after 30 days, you have to register. The shareware version is limited in the following ways: ■ The on-line reference is disabled ■ Starting the setup automatically doesn't work See REGISTER.FRM for the registration fee valid for your country (DM 40.- to DM 55.- depending on the country). Commercial users in the European Union ONLY: Please provide your VAT registration number and save 15% VAT! Inquire for more than 2 licenses! Send DM Eurocheques (other cheques: add DM 10.-), cash or postal money order to the following address: Robert Muchsel Hegaublick 2 D-78465 Konstanz Germany FAX +49-7533-3151 ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Please use the form "REGISTER.FRM" included with this program. │ │ You can print it using "Help|Print order form" directly from │ │ AMIsetup. │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Email: │ │ FidoNet 2:246/8100.11 │ │ mccs BBS, Singen/Germany, +49-7731-69523 │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ AMIsetup is shipped on 3.5" disks. If you really need a 5.25" disk, please indicate <5.25"> in BIG letters in the upper right corner of the order form. Upgrades ──────── If the user has a modem, upgrades are free. Other registered users only have to pay the fee of their shareware vendor (usually DM 5). However, upgrades will cost DM 10 ($6) to DM 20 ($12), if - there are too many illegal pirated copies - there are major enhancements Read README.!!! on your registration diskette for more information. The Author ────────── ...studies Computer Science at the ETH (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) in Zurich/Switzerland (this is the explanation of the "Additional contributions" field on the order form). B AMIsetup and OS/2 2.x, Windows, Windows NT ───────────────────────────────────────────── OS/2 Version 2.1 ──────────────── The program will run in a DOS session of OS/2 2.1. DMA clock speed detection and "Auto detect hard disks" will be disabled, however. OS/2 Version 2.0 ──────────────── The program will not run in a DOS session of OS/2 2.0, not even in a DOS image (VDM). Write accesses to the CMOS RAM are redirected to a buffer by OS/2, which is discarded when exiting the virtual machine (source: "Redbooks, Vol. 2: DOS and Windows-Environment, Virtual CMOS Device Driver"; IBM Document Number GG24-3731-00). An OS/2 version of AMIsetup is impossible, since AMIsetup directly executes code of the real mode BIOS. If you create a DOS boot disk and copy AMIsetup as well as a disk editor there, then you've got a sort of "emergency disk". AMI BIOS and OS/2 ───────────────── There are NO general problems with OS/2 2.x and the BIOS versions supported by AMIsetup. OS/2 runs with BIOS versions PRIOR to 05/05/91 and with keyboard controller revision -K8. However, problems might arise e.g. when using faulty memory chips, too low refresh rates, wrongly installed cache memory or wrong bus clock. Because of the protected mode architecture, OS/2 is much more sensitive to errors than DOS software, which often ignores or doesn't even notice them. Windows ─────── Running AMIsetup under Windows is not recommended. The icon file, AMISETUP.ICO, contains an OS/2 icon which cannot be displayed under Windows. Windows NT ────────── The Windows NT DOS emulator is not compatible with AMIsetup. C Known problems ───────────────── 1. Is AMIsetup compatible with your BIOS? For technical reasons, AMIsetup only works with the newer generation of the AMI BIOS, the so-called "Hi-Flex BIOS". On one hand, the BIOS must be manufactured by "American Megatrends Inc." ("AMI") (this you can see when powering on your computer). Example of power-on screen: ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ 05/05/91(C)1990 American Megatrends Inc., All Rights Reserved │ │ │ │ (C)1990 American Megatrends Inc., │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ 30-0101-ABCDEF-00011001-050591-FORX │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ On the other hand, a compatible BIOS has a colored ROM setup (or built-in setup) and normally three levels of setup ("Standard", "Advanced" and "Advanced Chipset"), "Password" and "Hard Disk Utility". ╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ BIOS SETUP PROGRAM-AMI BIOS SETUP UTILITIES ║ ║ (C) 1990 American Megatrends Inc., All Rights Reserved ║ ╠══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣ ║ ║ ║ STANDARD CMOS SETUP ║ ║ ADVANCED CMOS SETUP ║ ║ ADVANCED CHIPSET SETUP ║ ║ AUTO CONFIGURATION WITH BIOS DEFAULTS ║ ║ AUTO CONFIGURATION WITH POWER-ON DEFAULTS ║ ║ CHANGE PASSWORD ║ ║ HARD DISK UTILITY ║ ║ WRITE TO CMOS AND EXIT ║ ║ DO NOT WRITE TO CMOS AND EXIT ║ ║ ║ ╠══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣ ║ ║ ║ Standard CMOS Setup for Changing Time, Date, Hard Disk, etc.║ ║ ║ ╚═════╡ ESC:Exit |-|-:Sel F2/F3:Color F10:Save & Exit ╞════════╝ Custom-made BIOS versions are NOT compatible with AMIsetup, even though they are from AMI. These have a so-called "XCMOS Setup" (and they are black & white). ┌────────────┐ 2. Frequent errors with │ compatible │ BIOS versions └────────────┘ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Checking 34 .. 3F: *ERROR* │ └─────────────────────────────────────────┘ Possible causes: - A program has overwritten your CMOS. Restart your PC and follow the instructions of the ROM BIOS. ┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Checking "AAAAMMMMIIII": *ERROR* │ └─────────────────────────────────────────┘ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Checking "American Megatrends": *ERROR* │ └─────────────────────────────────────────┘ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ CX overflow - BIOS not compatible! │ └─────────────────────────────────────────┘ Possible causes: - You are using a memory manager that overwrites parts of your BIOS. Create a BIOS image following instructions in 3.2. - You are using an image file that is faulty (it was created while a memory manager was loaded?). Repeat the procedure EXACTLY following instructions (part 3.2) - Your version of AMIsetup is obsolete ┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Checking 16 bit checksum: *ERROR* │ └─────────────────────────────────────────┘ Normally (if all runs well) you can ignore this error. Possible cause: - Memory manager, see above - It might be necessary to disable "(Main) BIOS Shadow RAM" before creating the BIOS image file. ┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Setup incomplete - may not work! │ └─────────────────────────────────────────┘ Your BIOS seems to be hacked. There could be some options that AMIsetup doesn't display. If your image file is OK (see above), your BIOS may have been patched by the manufacturer. ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ The BIOS register table contains invalid entries! │ │ Register: XXh, CMOS RAM = ... Bytes │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Your ROM setup defines values for CMOS registers that don't exist. AMIsetup ignores all missing registers, so pressing "OK" is perfectly OK. All entries where AMIsetup reports a register >= XXh will contain garbage values, changes made to these registers will be ignored. This error is caused either by an EISA BIOS (additional setup information is stored in a separate EISA NVRAM, see appendix H) or a BIOS that doesn't fit to your hardware. This error also occurs when running AMIsetup under OS/2 2.0 (not 2.1). If you have Headland's SHASTA chip set, you can modify your computer (you'll need a new clock chip and a BIOS patch). Other than this, there is no way to circumvent the problem. 3. Stopgap: -OVERRIDE As a last resort you can start the program with the command-line option "-OVERRIDE". This option disables all error messages; faulty operation or a locked-up computer may result, though. 4. Additional trouble shooting options While loading, AMIsetup displays the current initalisation phase. If the program hangs, you might try the following phase dependent switches: "-NOPCI" (on ISA/EISA systems) or "-PCI" (on PCI systems), if the PCI check fails. If the EISA detection hangs, edit EISA.CFG. If the program fails in any other phase, please contact the author. If the program hangs when you start the "Extended setup", you may want to try the parameter "-NOROMJUMPS". There are two more parameters built into the program, "-EOBIOS:xxxx" and "-IMAGE:xxxx". Please use these two parameters only if the author tells you to do so. D Glossary ─────────── Some frequently used abbreviations and terms (explanations for setup options only on-line and only for registered users): AMI American Megatrends Inc., a BIOS manufacturer BIOS Basic routines contained in a nonvolatile memory (ROM) of the PC which e.g. drive the hard disk, but are also needed for system boot and system setup. BIOS Checksum AMIsetup calculates a 16 bit checksum (addition w/ overflow) over the BIOS ROM. If this checksum is 0, AMIsetup assumes that the BIOS is OK. Else, it is possible that parts of the BIOS have been overwritten (e.g. by memory managers). Overwritten parts of the BIOS can cause AMIsetup to hang, since it executes BIOS code directly. CMOS RAM This chip can be read from and written to; unlike normal memory the contents are buffered by a battery or an accumulator after turning off the PC. CMOS RAM contains data like type of installed floppy disk drives, the time, etc. CMOS RAM Checksum A checksum is calculated for parts of the CMOS and stored in CMOS. If checksum and CMOS RAM contents differ, either the battery is defect or the CMOS RAM contents are invalid. In any case you must reenter the data, possibly replace the battery or accumulator, too. EISA See appendix H. Extended Character Set, Graphic characters Characters like äöü or µ■¿. Some printers cannot print these. NVRAM See appendix H. Precompensation Precompensation is used with some hard disks to compensate for the higher recording density in the inner tracks during write. Normally, precompensation and reduced write current begin approximately at half the cylinder count. The precompensation logic shifts certain bit patterns by +/- 12-15ns. Precompensation only affects writing, not reading of data. Many hard drives work perfectly with or without precompensation, newer hard disks ignore the setting (you should turn it off then). ROM Read Only Memory - memory that can only be read from and not written to. E If the machine won't boot... ─────────────────────────────── If the setup has been altered so that the PC doesn't even display "Press <DEL> for Setup", some models have the following possibilities: 1. On newer models, you can press <Ins> while powering on. All settings will be reset to standard values. 2. On many machines there is a jumper on the main board which you can use to erase CMOS RAM. Sometimes this takes several hours. 3. Often there is the possibility of connecting an external battery pack. To install it, you have to remove a jumper residing on a 4 pinned connector. This jumper does the same as (2). 4. Only when encountering password errors and only with BIOS from 12/12/91 on: Pin 32 of the keyboard controller can be grounded to erase the password. Please note that after these steps all configuration data must be reentered. Make certain that you set the correct hard disk parameters! If you are not a hardware expert, you should contact your dealer first before destroying your hardware by wrong handling! F Switching to the English user interface ────────────────────────────────────────── If you have installed the German version and want to switch, do the following: Disable "German language" or "Deutsche Oberfläche" in the "Options" dialogue. Select OK, exit and restart AMIsetup. G Soundblaster ─────────────── To make the monotonous task of setting up computers a little more fun, AMIsetup supports the Soundblaster audio card. Soundblaster support must be explicitly enabled (AMIsetup is, after all, a serious program). - Turn on "Soundblaster" in the "Options" dialogue (default: OFF) - The environment variable "BLASTER" must be set correctly, e.g.: SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 The BLASTER variable has the following meaning: A220 : Port address of Soundblaster card I5 : IRQ (Interrupt) level D1 : DMA channel (all other settings, e.g. T4, will be ignored) If the variable is NOT set, the default values A220 I7 D1 will take effect. Note: The program could crash if a wrong DMA channel is given! - You must have the VOC files. Included are: CONFIRM.VOC - Confirmation COPYRIGH.VOC - About AMIsetup ERROR.VOC - Replaces the error beep ERRORBOX.VOC - Error EXIT.VOC - Program exit WARNING.VOC - Warning Not included: HELP.VOC - Help AMIsetup has its own, built-in Soundblaster driver. This built-in driver should work with all Soundblaster and compatible cards with DSP level 1.05 and higher. If the driver CTVDSK.DRV is included with your Soundblaster card, AMIsetup can use it and adapt itself to the special features of your card (e.g. Stereo sound). AMIsetup looks for CTVDSK.DRV in the following directories: 1. in the current directory 2. in the directory of AMISETUP.EXE 3. in the subdirectory "DRV\" of the directory specified by the environment variable "SOUND" 4. in the subdirectory "DRV\" of the directory specified by the environment variable "CPSPRO4" 5. in the PATH The built-in driver will only be activated if CTVDSK.DRV cannot be found. You can delete single VOC files and the corresponding action will be "quiet". You can replace these files with your own. VOC replay should sound exactly the same way as VPLAY (included with your Soundblaster) does. Please send your own, better collection of VOC files to the author! AMIsetup can play files any size you want; if disk activity is too heavy, you can increase the replay buffer which defaults to 4*4 KB. Set the DOS enviroment variable SBBUF to the desired value. Example: SET SBBUF=16 -> replay buffer will be set to 4*16 KB. All sounds are turned off immediately when the corresponding action is aborted/finished. H EISA ─────── EISA is an "Extended" and faster bus architecture found in better machines. AMIsetup tells you whether you have a standard "ISA" or EISA system. On some EISA computers, parts of the setup data are stored in the EISA NVRAM (Non Volatile RAM). On these machines, AMIsetup needs to access the NVRAM. On others, AMIsetup doesn't need to know about EISA NVRAM and simply ignores it. Since EISA NVRAM access is chipset dependent, AMIsetup uses EISA.CFG (see EISA.CFG for explanation of the syntax). If AMIsetup detects an EISA system and EISA.CFG contains valid data, "CMOS│Write EISA NVRAM to file" and "CMOS│Restore EISA NVRAM from file" are automatically enabled. Setup registers 40h to 7F are mapped into the EISA NVRAM. However, it is possible that AMIsetup doesn't know about YOUR particular EISA computer and displays "The BIOS register table contains invalid entries!". Please mail a copy of your BIOS.DAT, CMOS.SAV and EISANVR.SAV (if available). EISA.CFG can then be extended to include your computer. I Batch mode ────────────── You can use AMIsetup in batch mode. This is especially useful if you - want to configure several identical machines (you don't have to use time consuming ECU, CMOS setup any more!) - want to document CMOS settings and/or save CMOS/EISA NVRAM automatically The batch mode of AMIsetup understands the following commands: -SAVE:CMOS:FILENAME Save CMOS RAM into FILENAME. -SAVE:EISA:FILENAME Save EISA NVRAM into FILENAME. -RESTORE:CMOS:FILENAME Restore CMOS RAM from FILENAME. -RESTORE:EISA:FILENAME Restore EISA NVRAM from FILENAME. -PRINT:DEVICE Print setup to DEVICE. -PRINT:ALT:DEVICE Print setup (alternate style) to DEVICE. Examples: You want to save CMOS & EISA NVRAM in a file: AMISETUP -SAVE:CMOS:CMOS.BIN AMISETUP -SAVE:EISA:EISA.BIN And now configure several more machines with the same settings: AMISETUP -RESTORE:CMOS:CMOS.BIN AMISETUP -RESTORE:EISA:EISA.BIN Finally, print setup to a parallel printer: AMISETUP -PRINT:LPT1 J Obtaining new or bug fixed program revisions ──────────────────────────────────────────────── There are lots of different BIOS/chipset combinations out there. If the program doesn't work with your machine, please do the following: 1. Read the manual, especially appendix C (you did, didn't you?). 2. Use the newest version of the program only. You can get it from your shareware vendor or, if you have a modem, from the mccs BBS in Singen/Germany. mccs BBS Singen/Germany (Sysop Martin Grass, Fido 2:246/8100-8103) Line 1: +49-7731-65833 Line 2: +49-7731-69523 Line 3: +49-7731-69524 Line 4: +49-7731-69525 Line 5: +49-7731-60195 FidoNet users: Request the file using the "magic" name AMISETUP. Others: Please log in as "GAST", password "GAST" and download AMISETUP directly from the main menu. 3. ONLY if the NEWEST version doesn't work and you are sure it should work (appendix C!): Send a BIOS image and a CMOS RAM image produced by AMIsetup to the author. Please follow the instructions in the manual; ensure that NO memory manager is loaded. Thank you. K Tested BIOS revisions ───────────────────────── The program has been successfully tested on the following chip set/BIOS combinations: Chip set │ BIOS date │ ID string ─────────┼────────────┼────────── Opti │ 04/15/91 │ OPWB │ 05/05/91 │ OPWB │ 05/05/91 │ 386WB │ 05/05/91 │ OP386WB │ 06/06/91 │ OPWBSX │ 06/06/91 │ OPWB493 │ 07/07/91 │ OPWBSX │ 07/07/91 │ OPWB3/B │ 07/07/91 │ OP3DX/PI │ 07/07/91 │ OPTIEISA │ 08/31/91 │ OPWBDS │ 12/12/91 │ OPEISA │ 12/12/91 │ OPTIDXBB │ 12/12/91 │ OPSXPI │ 12/12/91 │ OPTI8290 │ 12/12/91 │ 0495AUTO │ 06/06/92 │ OPT495SX │ 06/06/92 │ OPWB4SXB │ 06/06/92 │ OPT4 498 │ │ Eteq │ 02/02/91 │ ET/386H │ 02/02/91 │ ET/486H │ 05/05/91 │ ET/486H │ 07/07/91 │ ETEQ486C │ 12/12/91 │ BENG486 │ 12/12/91 │ BENG386 │ │ Forex │ 05/05/91 │ FORX │ 07/07/91 │ FORX │ 12/12/91 │ FORX │ │ SIS │ 05/05/91 │ SIS-486 │ 07/07/91 │ SISAUTO │ 07/07/91 │ SISD │ 07/07/91 │ SIS486 │ 12/12/91 │ SIS-EISA │ 06/06/92 │ SISAUTO │ 06/06/92 │ SIS3486 │ 06/06/92 │ SIS486 │ 06/06/92 │ SISEISA │ 06/06/92 │ SIS-EISA │ 11/11/92 │ SIS3486 │ 11/11/92 │ SIS461 │ 12/12/92 │ SIS-EISA │ │ Symphony │ 03/15/91 │ SYMP │ 05/05/91 │ SYM-486 │ 05/05/91 │ SYMP │ 05/05/91 │ SYM_386B │ 07/07/91 │ SYM486 │ 10/25/91 │ SYMPH_1B │ 10/25/91 │ SYM_386B │ 12/12/91 │ SYMP │ 01/20/92 │ SYM486B │ │ Contaq │ 07/07/91 │ CTQ486 │ 12/12/91 │ CTQ 386 │ 12/12/91 │ CTQ386&486 │ 12/12/91 │ CTQAUTO │ 06/06/92 │ CTQ596 │ 11/11/92 │ CTQ596 │ │ c&t Peak │ 02/02/91 │ PEAKDM │ 05/05/91 │ PEAKDM_B │ │ c&t NEAT │ 07/07/91 │ ACER1409 │ │ Headland │ 12/12/91 │ SUMMIT_C │ 11/11/92 │ SHASTA (may have problems accessing │ │ registers >= 40h) │ │ UMC │ 05/05/91 │ UMCWB │ 07/07/91 │ UMC480A │ 07/07/91 │ UMCWB │ 07/07/91 │ U391B │ 07/07/91 │ UCF/1 │ 12/12/91 │ UMCBAUTO │ 12/12/91 │ UMCAUTO │ 06/06/92 │ UMC480 │ 11/11/92 │ UMC480B │ 08/08/93 │ UMC491F │ │ Intel │ 05/05/91 │ ITOPDX IntelEISA│ 07/07/91 │ 80486 │ │ PC Chip │ 07/07/91 │ PC CHIP │ 12/12/91 │ PC CHIP │ │ ACT │ 07/07/91 │ ACT │ │ ACC │ 12/12/91 │ ACC2046 │ 06/06/92 │ ACC2046 │ │ Acer │ 07/07/91 │ ACER1217 │ │ UNI │ 12/12/91 │ UNI480 │ 12/12/91 │ UNICHIP │ 06/06/92 │ UNI-4800 │ │ Morse │ 05/05/91 │ KP386DX │ │ USER │ 12/12/91 │ USER │ │ PICO │ 06/06/92 │ PICO168 │ │ TOPCAT │ 05/05/91 │ TOPCATSX March 17th, 1994