Hercules-EBX CPU User Manual V1.02
Page 45
7. BIOS
7.1 BIOS Settings
Hercules-EBX uses a BIOS from Phoenix Technologies modified to support the custom features
of the Hercules-EBX board. Some of these features are described here.
To enter the BIOS during system startup (POST – power on self-test), press F2.
Serial Ports
-The address and interrupt settings for serial ports COM1 – COM4 may be modified. COM1 and
COM2 address and interrupt settings are done in the BIOS, Advanced menu, I/O Device
Configuration. See page 50 for details.
-The addresses of COM3 and COM4 are configurable on the board via J5. These selections are
detected in the BIOS automatically. The IRQ selections for COM3 and COM4 are configured on
J4. These selections are not automatically detected and must be manually configured to match
the jumper settings for the two COM ports.
Select Advanced menu, Advanced Chipset Control, I/O Chip Device Configuration. See page 47
for details.
IDE Settings
The IDE controller provides two separate IDE channels:
•
PRIMARY IDE – this IDE Channel is available via J16 (44-pin laptop-type IDE connector).
•
SECONDARY IDE – This IDE Channel is available via J17 (40-pin, standard UDMA
connector)
Be aware of which channel is which if you are attempting to disable one unused channel in order
to free up IRQ resources.
“32-bit I/O” settings can be manually activated for each drive. Note that this setting only affects
low-level BIOS accesses to the drives when using BIOS system calls (typically under DOS) and
may cause system instability for OSes or applications that do not support these types of
accesses. For general operation, this will not grant a noticeable performance boost: the setting
should be left “disabled” unless absolutely necessary.
LCD Video Settings
The Hercules-EBX provides direct digital support for LVDS-based LCD interfaces only. As such,
there are two settings that affect this support during BIOS boot:
•
Boot Video Device – By default, this is set to “AUTO”. With the AUTO setting, the system will
attempt to identify an RGB monitor (via DDC) and, if no RGB monitor is detected then the
system enables LCD support. If you wish to use the LCD display regardless of standard
monitor connection (i.e., with both connected at once), then set “Boot Video Device” to “Both”.
•
Panel Type – This setting defaults to “7”. Do not alter this setting unless specifically
instructed to do so. This setting affects the LCD display modes supported; mode “7” is the
only setting currently supported.
