ALIX system board
11
5/5/2010
P
toggles late PCI init – use for FPGA based miniPCI cards that take
a long time to come up. Symptom: no interrupt assigned.
R
toggles serial console enable. Push the switch S1 during startup to get into setup when
the serial console is disabled.
E
toggles PXE boot enable. Defaults to disable as the PXE module has a 60 second time-out.
X
Xmodem upload – start upload of an executable binary. Intended for flash BIOS update,
ask for more information if necessary.
Q
quit – asks whether to write back the changes to flash (Y) or not (N). Then the system will
restart.
BIOS upgrade
The current BIOS can always be found at
www.pcengines.ch/alix2.htm
.
To upgrade, boot from a CF card to FreeDOS (see www.pcengines.ch/freedos.htm) , then execute
the flash upgrader (sb.com). Please do NOT rename the BIOS files, sb.com will automatically pick
the correct one for your board.
Do not turn off power while the flash upgrade is running, otherwise the flash BIOS may be
corrupted. If this happens, the board can be revived using an LPC adapter available from PC
Engines.
PXE boot
PXE boot can be activated either through the E option in setup (always), or by pressing N during
memory test (one time). PC Engines cannot provide technical support for the PXE module, too
many possible failure points (Intel / Via PXE module, DHCP server, TFTP server, boot image etc).
To avoid premature link failure on cold start, please also enable HDD delay in BIOS setup.
Power over Ethernet
ALIX implements a passive power over Ethernet scheme, using the unused pairs of LAN1 for
power. Power can be injected using a passive POE splitter such as PC Engines POE.1A. .
ALIX is NOT compatible with 48V / IEEE 802.3af POE. Please use an external splitter if
required.
When power is fed in through POE, it is possible to “steal” unregulated power through the DC jack.
Please note that this port is not fused. The POE input diode is rated for a current of 2A.
Hardware compatibility
The Commell MP-541D dual port Gigabit Ethernet card uses non-standard PCI ID select
assignment. Ask for a modified BIOS if required, use in the primary miniPCI socket only.
Alix.2c / alix.3c: High power radio cards require implementation of ECN.027 (see below).
