Intel S975XBX2 - Workstation Board Motherboard, Specification, Page: 79 / 102

Overview of BIOS Features
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Logical Block Addressing (LBA) and to PIO Mode 3 or 4, depending on the capability of
the drive. You can override the auto-configuration options by specifying manual
configuration in the BIOS Setup program.
To use ATA-66/100 features the following items are required:
• An ATA-66/100 peripheral device
• An ATA-66/100 compatible cable
• ATA-66/100 operating system device drivers
NOTE
Do not connect an ATA device as a slave on the same IDE cable as an ATAPI master
device. For example, do not connect an ATA hard drive as a slave to an ATAPI CD-
ROM drive.
3.3 System Management BIOS (SMBIOS)
SMBIOS is a Desktop Management Interface (DMI) compliant method for managing
computers in a managed network.
The main component of SMBIOS is the Management Information Format (MIF)
database, which contains information about the computing system and its components.
Using SMBIOS, a system administrator can obtain the system types, capabilities,
operational status, and installation dates for system components. The MIF database
defines the data and provides the method for accessing this information. The BIOS
enables applications such as third-party management software to use SMBIOS. The
BIOS stores and reports the following SMBIOS information:
• BIOS data, such as the BIOS revision level
• Fixed-system data, such as peripherals, serial numbers, and asset tags
• Resource data, such as memory size, cache size, and processor clock frequency
• Dynamic data, such as event detection and error logging
Non-Plug and Play operating systems, such as Microsoft Windows NT*, require an
additional interface for obtaining the SMBIOS information. The BIOS supports an
SMBIOS table interface for such operating systems. Using this support, an SMBIOS
service-level application running on a non-Plug and Play operating system can obtain
the SMBIOS information.
3.4 Watchdog Timer
The board includes a watchdog timer circuit. The watchdog timer provides automatic
recovery after two failed power-on self-tests (POSTs) following use of the BIOS
performance menu.