Supero SUPER P3TDDE, User Manual

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Chapter 4: BIOS/Setup
4-1
Chapter 4
BIOS
4-1 Introduction
This chapter describes the Award BIOS for the P3TDDE. The Award
ROM BIOS is stored in a Flash chip and can be easily upgraded using a
floppy disk-based program.
Note: Due to periodic changes to the BIOS, some settings may have been
added or deleted and might not yet be recorded in this manual. Refer to the
M a n u a l D o w n l o a d a r e a o f t h e S u p e r m i c r o w e b s i t e
(located at http://www.supermicro.com) for any changes to BIOS that may
not be reflected in this manual.
System BIOS
The BIOS is the Basic Input Output System used in all IBM ® PC, XT™, AT ® ,
and PS/2 ® compatible computers. The AwardBIOS Flash chip stores the
system parameters, such type of disk drives, video displays, etc. in the
CMOS. The CMOS memory requires very little electrical power. When the
computer is turned off, a back-up battery provides power to the BIOS Flash
chip, enabling it to retain system parameters. Each time the computer is
powered-on the computer is configured with the values stored in the BIOS
ROM by the system BIOS, which gains control at boot-up.
How To Change the Configuration Data
The CMOS information that determines the system parameters may be
changed by entering the BIOS Setup utility. This Setup utility can be ac-
cessed by pressing <Del> at the appropriate time during system boot, see
below.
Starting the Setup Utility
Normally, the only visible POST (Power On Self Test) routine is the memory
test. As the memory is being tested, press the <Delete> key to enter the
main menu of the BIOS Setup utility. From the main menu, you can access
the other setup screens, such as the Chipset and Power menus. Section 4-
3 gives detailed descriptions of each parameter setting in the Setup utility.