Datatech Enterprises Apex 386SX/20 User Manual Download Page 26

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1-8 Rear Panel

The rear panel has all the connections that lead from the system unit
to external peripherals and the power source.

Turn off all power

switches before connecting or disconnecting cables/wires!

En-

sure that cables/wires are attached to the peripheral device first and
connect to the outlet unit later. Turn the system unit power switch off

before you plug the

power cable into an electrical outlet.

Figure 1-7: Rear Panel

Chapter 1: System Overview

Summary of Contents for Apex 386SX/20

Page 1: ...PEER 2030 2 O M H z 3 8 6 S X S Y S T E M U ser s Manual ...

Page 2: ...istered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation MS DOS is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation Intel is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation The typeface used in the text of this manual is Helvetica and is used under licence from the Allied Corporation the owner of the typeface All other brand names are registered trademarks of their respective companies The PEE...

Page 3: ...er Ž Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected Ž Consult the dealer or an experienced radio TV technician for help Any special accessories needed for compliance must be specified in the instruction manual Warning A shielded type power cord is required in order to meet FCC emission limits and also to prevent interference to nearby radio...

Page 4: ...puter from being damaged NEVER recon figure the board while the power is ON l If you wish to reconfigure the computer at any time ensure that the power is turned OFF before changing any hardware set tings such as DIP switches or jumpers III ...

Page 5: ...ntrol Panel R e s e t B u t t o n T u r b o B u t t o n I n d i c a t o r L i g h t s K e y b o a r d L o c k System Power Switch l 8 Rear Panel K e y b o a r d C o n n e c t o r Power Cord Connector Display Port Power Voltage Setting 8 8 8 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 l 9 Other Peripherals 16 l 10 Disk Drives 17 Floppy Disks 18 Hard Disks 20 l 11 Keyboard 21 l 1 2 Maintaining Your Equipment 22 IV ...

Page 6: ...ystem 1 3 1 An Introduction to DOS 2 Loading DOS 2 System Messages 2 3 2 DOS Operations Starting MS DOS Formatting Disks Backing up Your Diskettes and Files Deleting Your Diskettes and Files Finding Out What is on Your Disk 3 3 4 5 6 7 3 3 Hard Disk Drive Format 8 Step 1 Preformat 8 Step 2 Partition 8 Step3 Format 9 3 4 Helpful Hints 10 3 5 System Setup Program 11 Entering the Setup Program 12 Run...

Page 7: ...tion Keys Numeric Keypad Mode Indicator Lights Special Keys QWERTY keys Cursor Keys Key Combinations 3 3 3 5 6 7 8 8 4 3 Keyboard Tilt Adjustment 9 Chapter 5 Troubleshooting 1 5 l Command Problems 2 5 2 System Error Messages 4 Examples of System Error Messages 5 5 3 System BIOS Error Messages 6 VI ...

Page 8: ...0 Shadow RAM Enable 10 EMS Driver Setup 10 6 4 Quick Reference for Jumper Settings 14 6 5 Moving Your Computer and Peripherals 16 Short Move I 6 Long Move 1 6 6 6 Technical information 17 Microprocessor 17 Protected Virtual Address Mode 17 Real Address Mode 18 System Timers 18 System Interrupts 19 ROM Subsystem 20 RAM Subsystem 20 Direct Memory Access 2 1 DMAChannel 21 I O Channel Slots 23 Math Co...

Page 9: ...F Position 10 Figure 1 7 Rear Panel 11 Figure 1 8 Connecting the Keyboard Cable 12 Figure 1 9 System Power Cord 13 Figure 1 10 Two Kinds of Display Connectors 14 Figure 1 11 VoltageSwitch 1 5 Figure 1 12 System Unit Connected to Peripherals 16 Figure 1 1 3 Installing Floppy and Hard Disk Drives 17 Figure 1 14 Copy Protection for a 3 5 Floppy Disk 1 9 Figure 1 15 Copy Protection for a 5 25 Floppy D...

Page 10: ...Onboard System Memory 13 Figure 2 1 0 2MB Total Onboard System Memory A 14 Figure 2 11 2MB Total Onboard System Memory B 14 Figure 2 12 3MB Total Onboard System Memory 15 Figure 2 13 4MB Total Onboard System Memory 16 Figure 2 14 5MB Total Onboard System Memory 17 Figure 2 15 Installing ROM 1 9 Figure 2 1 6 Unpacking Your Main System 2 0 Figure 2 1 7 Connecting to a Power Supply 21 Chapter 3 Opera...

Page 11: ...lling a 5 25 Disk Drive 2 Figure 6 2 Screwing the 5 25 Disk Drives 3 Figure 6 3 Connecting a Floppy Disk Drive 4 Figure 6 4 Connecting a Floppy Disk Drive to an FDC Card 4 Figure 6 5 Connecting a Hard Disk Drive 5 Figure 6 6 Connecting a Hard Disk Drive to an HDC Card 5 Figure 6 7 Cables for Disk Drives 6 Figure 6 8 Installing a 3 5 Disk Drive 7 Figure 6 9 Screwing the 3 5 Disk Drives 8 Figure 6 1...

Page 12: ...s for Different Types of BIOS 18 Table 2 5 Power Supply Pinouts 22 Chapter 4 Keyboard Table 4 1 Functions of Numeric Keypad Keys 4 Table 4 2 Functions of Special Keys 6 Table 4 3 Functions of Special QWERTY Keys 7 Table 4 4 Special Functions 8 Chapter 6 Appendix Table 6 1 Channel Table 6 2 Channel 1 Table 6 3 Channel 2 Table 6 4 Interrupt Level Assignment Table 6 5 DMA Channels Table 6 6 I O Hex A...

Page 13: ...ystem Chapter 3 Operaring Your System shows you the MS DOS functions and the basics of the system setup program Chapter 4 Keyboard explains the keyboard s features layout and basic functions Chapter 5 Trubleshooring covers a simple troubleshooting procedures and provides directions for additional help Chapter 6 Appendix provides some technical specifications for your system Chapter 7 Glossary expl...

Page 14: ...art section at the beginning of chapter one Quick Startwill provide you all the information you need to set up the hardware For the beginner Chapter 1 gives you the basic information you need to use this system Chapter 2 provides greater detail on the hardware and on how to upgrade your system Your system is quite simple to set up However if you are unsure of yourseff find an experienced PC hand t...

Page 15: ...Chapter 1 System Overview ...

Page 16: ...wants to get to work as soon as possible the Quick Start section at the beginning of this chapter provides you all the information you need to set up the hardware If you want to upgrade your hardware later read Section 2 2 Installa tion If you want to gain a more thorough understanding of your computer read the entire manual Note You may refer to Chapter 7 Glossary for definitions of computer term...

Page 17: ...vides the performance benefits of a 32 bit programming architecture and the cost savings associated with 16 bit hardware systems Moreover it is 100 object code compatible with the 386 286 and 8086 microprocessors Therefore your system op timizes both for performance and cost It can access the world s largest existing microcomputer software base including the growing collection of 32 bit software Q...

Page 18: ...computer observe the figure below to set up your personal computer You will still want to use this manual later as a reference book Note Save all packing materials in case you need to ship or resell your computer in the future Figure 1 1 Quick Start Chapter I System Overview 3 ...

Page 19: ... CMOS configuration table and a real time clock RAM subsystem of 512Kl3 640KB 1 MB 1 5MB 2MB 3MB 4MB and 5MB Eight expansion slots six 16 bit slots and two 8 bit slots Sixteen level interrupt Seven channel DMA for disk and special I O 64KB legal BIOS Four layer mainboard LIM 4 0 EMS support Shadow RAM support Choice of either 44256 DIP or 256k 1M SIMM DRAM modules with 80ns Page Interleaved DRAM a...

Page 20: ...em of 512KB 640KB 1 MB 1 5MB 2MB 3MB 4MB and 5MB ROM 64KB legal BIOS Expansion slots Six 16 bit slots and two 8 bit slots Disk Drive s Three 5 25 bays and two 3 5 bays Power Size 165mm X 150mm X 150mm Options Math coprocessor 80387SX 20 Chapter 1 System Overview 5 ...

Page 21: ...m is pictured below You may choose peripherals and upgrades for the system as your needs require Even if your system is different from the one pictured it should operate in the same basic manner Figure 1 2 System Configuration 6 Chapter 1 System Overview ...

Page 22: ...1 6 System Unit The system unit may house a motherboard disk drives a power supply and an optional expansion cards Figure 1 3 System Unit Case Chapter 1 System Overview 7 ...

Page 23: ...m the RAM test stage by pressing the reset button Note however that any data which have not been saved to disk will be lost Turbo Button The Turbo button allows you to change the running speed of the microprocessor to accommodate software requirements Some software applications must be run at a slow clock speed Indicator Lights These lights indicate the operation status of your computer The green ...

Page 24: ...disables the keyboard In the unlock mode the keyboard is activated In the lock mode the keyboard is disabled to deny unauthorized users access to the computer Figure 1 5 Keylock and Two Security Lock Keys Chapter 1 System Overview 9 ...

Page 25: ...ch is located on the right side of the case toward the rear Figure 1 6 ON OFF Switch in OFF Position You should always be certain that the power is turned off before modifying the hardware configuration in any way 10 Chapter 1 System Overview ...

Page 26: ... Turn off all power switches before connecting or disconnecting cables wires En sure that cables wires are attached to the peripheral device first and connect to the outlet unit later Turn the system unit power switch off before you plug the power cable into an electrical outlet Figure 1 7 Rear Panel Chapter 1 System Overview 11 ...

Page 27: ...or The keyboard supplied with your system may be plugged into sockets at the back of the case Plug the keyboard cable into the socket as shown below Figure 1 8 Connecting the Keyboard Cable 12 Chapter 1 System Overview ...

Page 28: ...e supplies power to a monitor the other connects to the main power source If your monitor power plug does not fit the system unit s monitor power outlet you should plug it into a wall electrical outlet I Figure 7 9 System Power Cord Chapter 1 System Overview 13 ...

Page 29: ...w the cable connector down securely Your computer gives you a wide range of video options to meet your needs You have a wide choice of the following video standards MGA Monochrome Graphics Adapter also referred to as Hercules CGA Color Graphics Adapter EGA Enhanced Graphics Adapter VGA Video Graphics Adapter Refer to the figures below for mono and color display connectors Figure 1 10 Two Kinds of ...

Page 30: ...er 115V or 230V as indicated in Figure 1 11 The voltage setting switch is located above the monitor power outlet Refer to Table 1 1 for power cord specifications Figure l l 1 Voltage Switch Table 1 1 Power Cord Specifications Chapter 1 System Overview 15 ...

Page 31: ... card manuals or peripheral manuals to determine which ports are to be used Your may consult your dealer for more about the expan sion cards available for your system Typical peripherals are shown as the figure below Figure 1 12 System Unit Connected to Peripherals 16 Chapter 1 System Overview ...

Page 32: ...n by installing 5 25 or 3 5 size of floppy or hard disk drives You can decide the composition according to your need More information about how to install disk drives may be found in Chapter 6 Figure 1 13 Installing Floppy and Hard Disk Drives Chapter 1 System Overview 17 ...

Page 33: ...to 1 2MB of data One standard 3 5 floppy disk can store up to 720KB of data One high density 3 5 floppy disk can store up to 1 44MB of data Table 1 2 Floppy Disk Specifications Note Only high density floppy disks can be formatted to high capacities of either 1 2M for 5 25 or 1 44M for 3 5 floppy disks You may lose data if you use a low density floppy disk formatted for high density You can t use a...

Page 34: ... disk to expose the hole Refer to the figures below for how to copy protect floppy disks When a disk is copy protected you cannot add new information to it or change any information on it To enable copying to the disk remove the copy protecting tab on a 5 25 floppy disk or slide the tab to show the hole on a 3 5 floppy disk Figure 1 14 Copy Protection for a 3 5 Floppy Disk Figure 1 15 Copy Protect...

Page 35: ...ties it is best to use a hard disk A hard disk can raise your efficiency because the hard disk keeps programs and data available at your fingertips Moreover your system gives you a wide range of half high or full high hard disk s of 3 5 or 5 25 to meet your needs 20 Chapter 1 System Overview ...

Page 36: ...board has a set of function keys cursor keys and a numeric keypad The figure below shows a typical keyboard Refer to Chapter 4 for a more detailed description of the keyboard Figure 1 15 Keyboard Chapter 1 System Overview 21 ...

Page 37: ... mechanical power failure or damage do not attempt to repair the system unit monitor s cables wires Refer all such problems to experienced service personnel Ensure that the back of the system unit is at least 3 away from anything that might obstruct the ventilation outlets and cause overheating Ensure that the power source is grounded correctly This product is equipped with a 3 wire grounding type...

Page 38: ...Chapter 2 Setting Up Your System ...

Page 39: ...the system set up you are now ready to load your application software and begin work This chapter covers topics you are less likely to need to know right away You may also skip this chapter unless you want to add to or alter your system unit hardware yourself It is recommended to have your dealer or technician upgrade your system if you are a novice Ensure that the power is off before modifying th...

Page 40: ...0 processor a 80387SX math coprocessor socket BIOS chips and expansion slots These parts of your system that you can see and touch are called hardware Below is an illustration of the board layout Figure 2 1 Motherboard Layout 2 Chapter 2 Setting Up Your System ...

Page 41: ...an handle Concurrent processing Hardware based multitasking Superior extended memory support and Virtual machines Virtual machines can create discrete non interfering operating en vironments for application programs giving each application its own working environment Virtual machines can be created within the ex tended memory by using appropriate control software Your system is switchable between ...

Page 42: ...per W9 is used to enable or disable the 80387SX math coprocessor Remember that you must make sure the dotted end of the chip is lined up with the notched end of the socket Refer to the illustrations below and on the next page to install the Intel 80387SX 20 Refer to Table 2 1 below for jumper W9 and Figure 2 2 on the next page for the 80386SX and the 80387SX Table 2 1 Math Coprocessor Jumper W9 4 ...

Page 43: ...Figure 2 2 The Location of W9 80386SX and 80387SX Chapter 2 Setting Up Your System 5 ...

Page 44: ...you must make sure that the notched or the dotted end of the chip is lined up with the notched end of the socket Gently push the chip into the socket and be careful not to bend the pins Notch Figure 2 3 Chip insertion 6 Chapter 2 Setting Up Your System ...

Page 45: ... should save the cap for future use by covering only one pin of a jumper This has no effect on the function of the board while it keeps the cap handy The illustration below shows the side and top views of a three pin jumper in which pins two and three are shorted Figure 2 4 An Example of Three Pin Jumper Setting Chapter 2 Setting Up Your System 7 ...

Page 46: ...inboard The DIP and SIMM DRAM banks can contain from 512KB 640KB 1 MB 1 5MB 2MB 3MB 4MB to 5MB by means of setting jumpers W1 W6 Refer to Figure 2 5 below for the location of jumpers W1 W6 and the RAM banks Figure 2 5 RAM Banks Jumpers for Bank Selection 8 Chapter 2 Setting Up Your System ...

Page 47: ...o set the watt state and the page interleave mode Particularly you cannot set both 0 wait state and disabled page interleave mode in Turbo mode otherwise your system cannot operate normally even cannot display the screen In order to set both modes normally you should switch the button from Turbo mode to Normal mode Table 2 3 Total Onboard System Memory Size Chapter 2 Setting Up Your System 9 ...

Page 48: ...Figure 2 6 512KB Total Onboard System Memory 10 Chapter 2 Setting Up Your System ...

Page 49: ...Figure 2 7 640 KB Total Onboard System Memory Chapter 2 Setting Up Your System 11 ...

Page 50: ...Figure 2 8 1 MB Total Onboard System Memory 12 Chapter 2 Setting Up Your System ...

Page 51: ...Figure 2 9 1 5 MB Total Onboard System Memory Chapter 2 Setting Up Your System 13 ...

Page 52: ...Figure 2 11 2MB Total Onboard System Memory B 14 Chapter 2 Setting Up Your System ...

Page 53: ...Figure 2 12 3MB Total Onboard System Memory Chapter 2 Setting Up Your System 15 ...

Page 54: ...Figure 2 13 4MB Total Onboard System Memory 16 Chapter 2 Setting Up Your System ...

Page 55: ...Figure 2 14 5MB Total Onboard System Memory Chapter 2 Setting Up Your System 17 ...

Page 56: ...time clock disk drives and the computer s peripheral equipment Refer to the Figure 2 l 5 for the location of jumper W7 and BIOS chips For selection and installation of the ROM BIOS chips refer to the table below and the figure on the next page Table 2 4 Jumper Settings for Different Types of BIOS 18 Chapter 2 Setting Up Your System ...

Page 57: ...Figure 2 15 Installing ROM If you are not sure what BIOS chips you have you may need to consult your dealer for the right chips Chapter 2 Setting Up Your System 19 ...

Page 58: ...of the unit This is easily ac complished with the following tools a small flat blade screwdriver and a small Philips screwdriver Be sure that the power to the system is switched OFF before you open the case Your computer interior is as below Figure 2 16 Unpacking Your Main System 20 Chapter 2 Setting Up Your System ...

Page 59: ...ector J9 which is beside the power supply on the motherboard There are some cables on the power supply Be sure the four black wires of the power supply cables are located at the middle of the power connectors Refer to the figure below Pin 1 is numbered in the picture for your convenience Figure 2 17 Connecting to a Power Supply Chapter 2 Setting Up Your System 21 ...

Page 60: ...Table 2 5 Power Supply Pinouts The pinouts for the connectors at J9 are as follows 22 Chapter 2 Setting Up Your System ...

Page 61: ...Chapter 3 Operating Your System ...

Page 62: ...this computer uses is Microsoft Corporation s MS DOS the world s most widely used operating sys tem for PC XT ATs Next there is the application software what you use for work and play Finding application software is a simple matter of going to your nearest PC store Note This is not an MS DOS manual It mentions only a few of the DOS functions available To learn more about DOS refer to your MS DOS U...

Page 63: ...prompts displayed on the monitor Starting DOS when the computer is on If you don t have a DOS disk in your disk drive when you start your computer you will see the following message on the screen following the RAM test Non system disk or disk error Replace and strike any key when ready Then you should Insert DOS disk 1 into disk drive A and close the drive lever Press the reset button on your fron...

Page 64: ...u are using a floppy disk drive insert the DOS system disk in drive A and switch on your computer You will see a message similar to the following C u r r e n t d a t e i s F r i 01 01 1990 Enter new date MM DD YY For the new date key in the month day and year separated by hyphens Press Enter Time is displayed and corrected as follows Current time is 0 02 15 00 Enter new time 2 20 Your computer is ...

Page 65: ...atted you will see the following prompt Format another diskette Y N Press N if you do have nothing else to be formatted Fomatting a low density disk To format a lowdensity disk type the following at the drive prompt C Format A 4 Enter After your disk has been formatted you will see the following prompt Format another diskette Y N Press N if you have nothing else to be formatted 4 Chapter 3 Operati...

Page 66: ...respond to the prompts on your screen Backing up a diskette on a single floppy disk drive system At the A prompt type the following A diskcopy Press Enter and respond to the prompts on your screen After your target disk has been copied you will see the following prompt Copy another diskette Y N Press N if you have nothing else to be copied Backing up a file To back up a single file key in the back...

Page 67: ...her data Erasing a diskette To erase a whole directory of files type the following at the drive prompt A d e l Ž Enter All the files in the open directory are now erased Deleting a file To delete a single file type the following at the drive prompt A del filename ext Enter 6 Chapter 3 Operating Your System ...

Page 68: ...e following command DIR A After you hit the enter key all the file information will display on the screen If you use the DIR command without a drive letter MS DOS lists the directory of the disk in the default drive There are three ways to stop the screen from scrolling Ž pressing the Ctrl and the S keys simultaneous Ž pressing Pause Ž typing DIR P to see one screen each time Chapter 3 Operating Y...

Page 69: ...artitioning process Insert your DOS diskette in drive A and type a to get A prompt Then type A FDISK 8 The FDISK command displays a serial of menus to help you partition your hard disk for MS DOS With the FDISK command you can l create a primary partition create an extended partition l change the active partition l delete an partition l display partition data and select the next fixed disk drive f...

Page 70: ...e command should be keyed in as A FORMAT D If you want to use the partition 1 drive C to start DOS you have to specify the S option when formatting the disk You can use this system disk to boot your system later Note that you don t need to perform this procedure if you want to use new partition for other operating systems like Xenix Novell or Unix Refer to their manuals for details Chapter 3 Opera...

Page 71: ...cifying the name of a drive Spell the filename correctly Use the appropriate extension such as DOC or EXE Ž Refer to the DOS Reference for additional information if a command still doesn t work Ž Print contents of a disk if you have a printer and keep the list with the diskette Ž All commands except DISKCOPY and DISKCOMP are files that will work on both diskettes and hard disk drives Ž The date an...

Page 72: ...ystem BIOS is fully compatible with IBM BIOS In addition many special functions are supported like Ž a low level fixed disk format utility Ž three system utilities a calculator a hard disk park and a timer Ž system password Ž user defined hard disk types Ž NEAT chip set The setup program is simple to be used It is extremely important that you respond correctly to the prompts about your computer Th...

Page 73: ...s changed If the battery for CMOS chip is dead or the system configuration does not match your actual hardware configuration you will have to recon figure your system The computer will give you this screen message Press the F1 key to enter the setup program or press any other key to continue Under the above three conditions pressing F1 will automatically start the setup program Under any condition...

Page 74: ...ars the following message will appear on the screen SETUP utility will be starting When the system self test is completed the setup program will take over Once you have entered the setup program you will see the following initial screen ROM SETUP PROGRAM VERSION 2 0 C COPYRIGHT DATATECH ENTERPRISES CO LTD 1990 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 1 SET UP SYSTEM CONFIGURATION 2 PREFORMAT HARD DISK 3 SET UP BUILT I...

Page 75: ...screen does not match your configuration you have two ways to make modifications You may either highlight selections and press 8 to enter the command or use the left and right arrows to show different options and select from them If you want to exit a current screen you may press Esc or select the exit item of the screen The following are some examples of setup program screens you will see in usin...

Page 76: ...t Up System Configuration Screen Once you have entered all appropriate information and exited by choosing item 9 you will be asked to confirm that the configuration data are correct If at a later date you alter the configuration of your system you will need to go through the program again and make the appropriate changes Chapter 3 Operating Your System 15 ...

Page 77: ...you want to preformat your hard disks reenter the setup program by pressing Esc and select item 2 on the initial screen The program will then proceed as below Figure 3 3 Preformat Hard Disk Screen 16 Chapter 3 Operating Your System ...

Page 78: ...y the setup pro gram Note that these utilities can be used in the SO column text display mode only The calculator and the hard disk park can be used if you press Ctrl Alt and 5 on the key pad Pressing Esc will exit these Utilities The following is the figure for the calculator CALCULATOR V1 41 Figure 3 4 Calculator Chapter 3 Operating Your System 17 ...

Page 79: ...y press F1 to see the present password status 5 Setting Up User Defined Hard Disk Type If none of the drive types 1 47 match the fixed disk drive specifica tions you have select item 5 in the setup menu to set a user defined hard disk type 6 Setting Up NEAT Chip Set Choose item 6 in the setup menu to select a chip set configuration The screen will show as below Figure 3 5 NEAT Chip Setup Configura...

Page 80: ...Chapter 4 Keyboard ...

Page 81: ...your keyboard and its functions n how to adjust your keyboard angles A computer keyboard sends messages from you to the computer It has QWERTY keys Function keys Cursor control keys A numeric keypad Special keys Keyboard indicator lights Chapter 4 Keyboard 1 ...

Page 82: ...s are available for PC AT XT com patible computers The most popular are the PC keyboard the PC AT keyboard and the enhanced keyboard Figure 4 1 below illustrates the basic layout of a typical enhanced keyboard Figure 4 1 Keyboard Layout 2 Chapter 4 Keyboard ...

Page 83: ...e left or at the top of the keyboard Function keys have specially defined uses preassigned by the software you use They are used independently or in combination with other keys Figure 4 2 Function Keys Numeric Keypad This is located on the right of the keyboard At the center of the keypad are nine numeric keys These keys are used to move the cursor as well as to enter numbers when either the Caps ...

Page 84: ... is activated Activating Num Lock makes 5 operative Activating Num Lock makes 6 operative Otherwise the cursor key is activated Activating Num Lock makes 1 operative Otherwise end moves the cursor to the end of the line it is on Activating Num Lock makes 2 operative Otherwise the cursor key is activated Activating Num Lock makes 3 operative Otherwise page down is activated Activating Num Lock make...

Page 85: ...r functions are explained as follows Figure 4 4 lndicator Lights Caps Lock When this light is on characters are in uppercase mode Num Lock When this light is off the cursor control function of the numeric keypad is disabled and the numeric mode is activated Scroll Lock When this light is on text can be scrolled without moving the cursor Chapter 4 Keyboard 5 ...

Page 86: ...cial Keys Below are some special keys on your keyboard Figure 4 5 Special Keys Check out the above key functions in the table below and in Table 4 1 Table 4 2 Functions of Special Keys 6 Chapter 4 Keyboard ...

Page 87: ...QWERTY Keys These are the same keys which are used on a typewriter Figure 4 6 QWERTY Keys Chapter 4 Keyboard 7 Table 4 3 Functions of Special QWERTY Keys ...

Page 88: ...ction Figure 4 7 Cursor Keys Key Combinations The keys shown below have special functions when pressed simul taneously Keys I Function There three keys reset the system so that the machine is at the RAM test stage Table 4 4 Special Functions 8 Chapter 4 Keyboard ...

Page 89: ...oard Tilt Adjustment Under the rear of the keyboard are two small legs that can be pulled out or pushed in to change the keyboard angles to suit you Figure 4 8 Adjustment of Keyboard Angles Chapter 4 Keyboard 9 ...

Page 90: ...Chapter 5 Troubleshooting ...

Page 91: ...e But if some problems do occur more likely than not you will be able to solve them by referring to this chapter No matter whether you are a new or experienced user you should become familiar with the material in this chapter For detailed explana tions of computer problems and how to solve them you are urged to buy personal computer troubleshooting books from your nearest hardware or software deal...

Page 92: ...blem is with software you should probably talk to your software dealer lf the problem is with the hardware try to narrow down the source of the problem Is it your disks or disk drives Keyboard Printer Screen If some messages appear on the screen refer to your MS DOS manual for an explanation of the message You may want to write down the message or print it out with the Shift PrtSc key combination ...

Page 93: ... because some softwares program can only run on the MGA display mode Is the power fuse burned out If you have gone through the above checklist and your system still does not function properly check the following pages The following instruc tions will help you solve some common problems However you should be aware that other problems might stem from system software applications or other peripherals...

Page 94: ...oot the computer If the problem persists you will need to contact the software dealer from whom you purchased the package He she should replace the package depending on the ser vice contract or have it repaired Hardware error messages These messages are related to the computer s internal components your monitor mouse or printer Hardware problems are usually ones that the user cannot solve alone Pr...

Page 95: ... the same procedure If the problem persists contact your software dealer System does not boot This can be caused by defective hardware or a faulty system disk Turn off your computer and try again If unsuccessful try using your backup system disk because your working disk may be damaged If the problem persists you might have a hardware problem You should contact the dealer from whom you purchased y...

Page 96: ... 8742 controller failure Check Battery Indicates a system backup battery disconnection or power loss RTC Checksum Error Indicates that the system memory refresh function does not work Refresh Indicator Error Indicates that the system memory refresh does not work Base 84K Memory Error Indicates that the system s first 64K memory does not work FDC Error User Check Indicates that the floppy diskette ...

Page 97: ...ey to Continue Indicates that the NMI circuit has detected a RAM parity error System Memory Mismatch Run SETUP Indicates a mismatch of memory size in the CMOS RAM and onboard You need to run the setup program Display Card Mismatch Run SETUP Indicates a mismatch of a record in the CMOS RAM and onboard You need to run the setup program Chapter 5 Troubleshooting 7 ...

Page 98: ...Appendix ...

Page 99: ... information on moving your computer This manual is not a technical reference manual however this chapter provides some technical information about your system If you need more information you can go to a technical library or bookstore to find technical reference books Chapter 6 Appendix 1 ...

Page 100: ...structions below to do so Be certain to refer to the manuals for both the disk drive and the controller card for any additional specific information regarding them that may be of importance 5 25 Disk Drives To install or remove 5 25 disk drives follow the steps below Open the system unit case as described on Figure 2 16 Screw the metal guides to the disk drive as shown below Figure 6 1 Installing ...

Page 101: ...s Next connect the floppy hard disk controller cable and one of the four cables from the power supply The power cable is simple to connect simply plug it in to the correct adapter The shape of the plug ensures that no mistakes will be made See the figures on the following pages Chapter 6 Appendix 3 ...

Page 102: ...Figure 6 3 Connecting a Floppy Disk Drive Figure 6 4 Connecting a Floppy Disk Drive to an FDC Card 4 Chapter 6 Appendix ...

Page 103: ...Figure 6 5 Connecting a Hard Disk Drive Figure 6 6 Connecting a Hard Disk Drive to an HOC Card Chapter 6 Appendix 5 ...

Page 104: ...ed to the card Pin 1 is clearly marked on the card See the figure below Figure 6 7 Cables for Disk Drives Follow the same procedure for any additional drives you want to install Removal To remove a drive just reverse the procedure described above Dis connect the cables undo the screws and slide the drive out 6 Chapter 6 Appendix ...

Page 105: ...o that for a 5 25 disk drive Follow the steps below Fasten the drive to the bracket as follows Figure 6 8 installing a 3 5 Disk Drive Ž Place the disk drive inside the bay and fasten the bracket to the chassis Refer to the figure on the next page Chapter 6 Appendix 7 ...

Page 106: ...of the connectors so it is impossible to make a mistake The two hard disk controller cables are of different sizes the red wires on the cables should be connected so that they are toward the central portion of the case Removal To remove a 3 5 disk drive reverse the procedure described above Disconnect the cables undo the mounting screws slide the drive out and remove the mounting guides 8 Chapter ...

Page 107: ...clock speed when you turn the system on will be 10MHz or 20MHz To switch the speed to 20MHz or l0MHz do the following press and hold down the control Ctrl and alternate Alt keys on the keyboard while you press the minus key The Turbo LED on your panel if you have one will light For more information on the Turbo LED refer to the Connectors section Hardware Turbo Switch If your hardware Turbo switch...

Page 108: ...EPROMs Your system can support shadow RAM for BIOS and video To enable shadow RAM follow the steps below ž Hold down the Esc key to enter the setup program as you turn the power on Select item 6 to enter the NEAT Chip Setup Configuration menu Select item 1 to enable BIOS or video shadow RAM Refer to the BIOS manual for details EMS Driver Setup The mainboard supports LIM 4 0 EMS Toset up the EMS dr...

Page 109: ... screen The next screen will be as below if you continue setup Indicate the path name where NEMM SYS is to be located If you want the program to create a directory with the default name NEMS on your hard drive press the Enter key Otherwise type in the path and directory name of your choice Chapter 6 Appendix 11 ...

Page 110: ...and frame start address Choose the correct configuration as you desire then press F1 to complete setup You will get a warning if you give an incorrect response For example if you give D000H as your frame start segment and shadow RAM in the same area the following message will appear 12 Chapter 6 Appendix ...

Page 111: ... this DTK NEAT Expanded Memory Manager Ver 1 10 1990 C Copyright Datatech Enterprise Co Ltd A l l R i g h t s R e s e r v e d 11060790 User specified PAGE PORT 208H User specified PAGE FRAME D000H Test Expanded Memory Page 128 There are 128 PAGES for EMS NEMM SYS has been installed Chapter 6 Appendix 13 ...

Page 112: ... 2 3 shorted 27128 chip selected W8 Pipeline 1 2 shorted Pipeline disable 2 3 shorted Pipeline enable W9 80387SX 1 2 shorted Coprocessor enable 2 3 shorted Coprocessor disable W11 Power Good Selection 1 2 shorted Onboard 2 3 shorted External W12 Display Mode 1 2 shorted Mono 2 3 shorted Color W13 Battery Selection 1 2 shorted External 2 8 3 shorted Onboard 14 Chapter 6 Appendix ...

Page 113: ...J1 CPU Frequency indicator J2 Keylock Power LED J3 Turbo Switch J4 Speaker J5 Turbo LED J6 Hardware Reset J7 External Battery Connector J8 Keyboard Connector J9 Power Connector Chapter 6 Appendix 15 ...

Page 114: ...nto flop py disks Enter the DOS system program and invoke the PARK com mand This command will lock up your hard disk to protect it from damage while the computer is being moved Turn off all power switches Insert the cardboard diskette s supplied with the system unit into the disk drive s and close the disk drive levers Detach all cables and cords Next coil and tie them to protect the connectors Mo...

Page 115: ...ire operation system to execute The virtual 8086 tasks can be isolated and protected from one another and the host 386SX microprocessor opera tion system by use of paging Protected mode will use one of two different address spaces depend ing on whether or not paging is enabled Every selector has a logical base address of up to 32 bits in length This 32 bit logical base address is added to the effe...

Page 116: ...its and adds the result to the effective address to form the linear address This linear address is limited to 1 megabyte In addition real mode has no paging capability System Timers The system has three programmable timer counters controlled by the Intel 8254 2 chip These are channels 0 through 2 defined as follows Table 6 1 Channel 0 Table 6 2 Channel 1 NOTE Channel 1 is programmed to generate a ...

Page 117: ...ted as counters the fourth is a control register for mode programming System interrupts Si an interrupt level assignments decreasing priority xteen levels of system interrupts are provided by the 80386SX NMI d two 8259A interrupt controller chips The following shows the Table 6 4 Interrupt Level Assignment Chapter 6 Appendix 19 ...

Page 118: ...m RAM Subsystem The RAM subsystem starts at address hex 000000 of the 16M address space It consists of either 640KB or 1MB in the form of 256K or 64K by l bit RAM modules Memory refresh forces one memory cycle every 15 microseconds through channel 1 of the timer counter The following functions are performed by the RAM initialization program Write operation to any memory location Initialization of ...

Page 119: ...ystem memory are supported by these channels Each of these channels will transfer in 64KB blocks throughout the 16 megabyte system address space Channels 4 through 7 are contained in DMA controller 2 To cascade channels 0 through 3 to the microprocessor use channel 4 Transfers of 16 bit data between 16 bit adapters and 16 bit system memory are supported by channels 5 6 and 7 DMA channels 5 through...

Page 120: ...9 008A 008F Address generation for the DMA channels is as follows Table 6 7 DMA Channel 3 Through 0 Note To generate the addressing signal byte high enable BHE invert address line AO Table 6 8 DMA Channels 7 Through 5 Note The BHE and A0 addressing signals are forced to a logical 0 DMA channel addresses do not increase or decrease through page boundaries 64KB for channels 0 through 3 and 128KB for...

Page 121: ...bit memory addresses 16MB I O wait state generation I O address space hex 100 to hex 3FF Open bus structure allowing multiple micro processors to share the system s resources including memory DMA channels The pinouts of the expansion bus I O channels are shown as below and on the next page Figure 6 10 62 Pin Expansion Bus l O Channels B A Chapter 6 Appendix 23 ...

Page 122: ...O ports The busy signal sent by the processor forces the microprocessor to wait until the coproces sor is finished executing The following describes the math coprocessor controls OF0 The latched math coprocessor busy signal can be cleared with an 8 bit out command to port F0 The coprocessor will latch busy if it asserts its error signal Data output should be zero OF1 The math coprocessor will rese...

Page 123: ...Chapter 7 Glossary ...

Page 124: ...there will be an address conflict ASCII This is an acronym for the American Standard Code for Information Interchange The ASCII code includes both control and graphic characters and is used for exchang ing information between data processing systems data communication systems and related equipment asynchronous communication A type of information vehicle whereby data can be trans mitted at any time...

Page 125: ...nnel is 32 bit this means the data travels at least twice as fast as data on a 16 bit data bus A group of data units forming a single unit of data There are eight bits in a single byte clock processing speed This measurement usually given in MHz megahertz tells how fast the microprocessor in your computer hand les data The higher the number the faster your com puter CPU Central Processing Unit Als...

Page 126: ...file and the dates they were created and up dated It is always good to organize all the related files in the same directory diskette This refers to removable data storage disks sometimes also called floppies or floppy disks Diskettes generally come in two sizes 5 25 and 3 5 disk drive A device that stores and retrieves data display The information graphics visible on the monitor screen DOS Disk Op...

Page 127: ...ts a filename and an extension In DOS filenames are from one to eight characters long An extension starts with a period has three characters and follows immediately after the filename fixed or hard disk This is a non removable disk used for storage of large volumes of data format The arrangement of data on a magnetic disk Format also means to prepare a disk hardware All physical components of a co...

Page 128: ...iven to a memory loca tion microprocessor This is an integrated circuit that receives coded instruc tions for execution It is also referred to as a CPU modem A modem lets your computer communicate with other computers over telephone lines motherboard It is the main printed circuit board in the system case It is also known as a mainboard or systemboard MS DOS The Microsoft Disk Operating System Thi...

Page 129: ... drive letter peripheral Output devices which are driven by the computer port A communication channel between a computer and its peripheral components printed circuit board An electronic circuit board sandwiched between fiberglass plates program A series of instructions that command the computer to perform certain tasks prompt A screen message or position of the cursor at the begin ning of a line ...

Page 130: ...eful read ing of this section will help you to ensure the long life and troublefree operation of your computer software Computer programs such as a word processor operating system or programming languages synchronous transmission Syncopated transmission of signals between devices Turbo High speed virtual disk Also referred to as a RAM disk this is a portion of memory used to simulate a hard disk w...

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