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Chapter 3 Award BIOS Setup
3 - 2
3.1 System Test and Initialization
These routines test and initialize board hardware. If the
routines encounter an error during the tests, you will either
hear a few short beeps or see an error message on the
screen. There are two kinds of errors: fatal and non-fatal. The
system can usually continue the boot up sequence with
non-fatal errors. Non-fatal error messages usually appear on
the screen along with the following instructions:
Press <F1> to RESUME
Write down the message and press the F1 key to continue
the boot up sequence.
System configuration verification
These routines check the current system configuration
against the values stored in the CMOS memory. If they do
not match, the program outputs an error message. You will
then need to run the BIOS setup program to set the
configuration information in memory.
There are three situations in which you will need to change
the CMOS settings:
1. You are starting your system for the first time
2. You have changed the hardware attached to your system
3. The CMOS memory has lost power and the configuration
information has been erased.
The CMOS memory has an integral lithium battery backup for
data retention. However, you will need to replace the
complete unit when it finally runs down.
