59
M
M
X
X
3
3
6
6
/
/
M
M
X
X
3
3
6
6
L
L
O
O
n
n
l
l
i
i
n
n
e
e
M
M
a
a
n
n
u
u
a
a
l
l
Hardw
a
re
Ins
ta
lla
tion
There is a Tick Routine (that goes live around every 50m sec) in the BIOS to keep record of
date/time information. In general the BIOS, this Tick Routine does not update the CMOS every
time because the CMOS is a very slow device that degrades system performance. The Tick
Routine of the AOpen BIOS has 4 digits for year coding, as long as applications and the
operating system follow the rule to get date/time information. There will be no Y2K problem
(such as NSTL’s test program). But unfortunately again, we found some test programs (such as
Checkit 98) accesses RTC/CMOS directly.
This motherboard has hardware Y2K checking
and protection that ensures risk free operation.
Applications
Operating System (such as Windows 98)
BIOS (Tick Routine)
RTC and CMOS data
