MEB-VM

Socket 370 AGP Motherboard

USERS MANUAL

USER'S NOTICE
No part of this manual, including the products and software described in it, may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any language in any form or by any means, except documentation kept by the purchaser for backup purposes, without the express written permission of ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. (ASUS). ASUS PROVIDES THIS MANUAL AS IS WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL ASUS, ITS DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES OR AGENTS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF BUSINESS, LOSS OF USE OR DATA, INTERRUPTION OF BUSINESS AND THE LIKE), EVEN IF ASUS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES ARISING FROM ANY DEFECT OR ERROR IN THIS MANUAL OR PRODUCT. Product warranty or service will not be extended if: (1) the product is repaired, modified or altered, unless such repair, modification of alteration is authorized in writing by ASUS; or (2) the serial number of the product is defaced or missing. Products and corporate names appearing in this manual may or may not be registered trademarks or copyrights of their respective companies, and are used only for identification or explanation and to the owners benefit, without intent to infringe. Intel, LANDesk, and Pentium are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation. IBM and OS/2 are registered trademarks of International Business Machines. Symbios is a registered trademark of Symbios Logic Corporation. Windows and MS-DOS are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. XGstudio and Soft Synthesizer is a trademark of the Yamaha Corporation. Adobe and Acrobat are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated. The product name and revision number are both printed on the product itself. Manual revisions are released for each product design represented by the digit before and after the period of the manual revision number. Manual updates are represented by the third digit in the manual revision number. For previous or updated manuals, BIOS, drivers, or product release information, contact ASUS at http://www.asus.com.tw or through any of the means indicated on the following page. SPECIFICATIONS AND INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS MANUAL ARE FURNISHED FOR INFORMATIONAL USE ONLY, AND ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE AT ANY TIME WITHOUT NOTICE, AND SHOULD NOT BE CONSTRUED AS A COMMITMENT BY ASUS. ASUS ASSUMES NO RESPONSIBILITY OR LIABILITY FOR ANY ERRORS OR INACCURACIES THAT MAY APPEAR IN THIS MANUAL, INCLUDING THE PRODUCTS AND SOFTWARE DESCRIBED IN IT. Copyright 1998 ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. All Rights Reserved.
Product Name: Manual Revision: Release Date:
ASUS MEB-VM 1.01 E325 January 1999

ASUS MEB-VM Users Manual

ASUS CONTACT INFORMATION
ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. (Asia-Pacific)

Marketing

Address: Telephone: Fax: Email: Tel (English): Tel (Chinese): Fax: Email: Newsgroup: WWW: FTP: 150 Li-Te Road, Peitou, Taipei, Taiwan 112 +886-2-2894-3447 +886-2-2894-3449 info@asus.com.tw +886-2-2894-3447 ext. 706 +886-2-2894-3447 ext. 701 +886-2-2895-9254 tsd@asus.com.tw news2.asus.com.tw www.asus.com.tw ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS

Technical Support

ASUS COMPUTER INTERNATIONAL (America)
Address: Fax: Email: Fax: BBS: Email: WWW: FTP: 6737 Mowry Avenue, Mowry Business Center, Building 2 Newark, CA 94560, USA +1-510-608-4555 info-usa@asus.com.tw +1-510-608-4555 +1-510-739-3774 tsd-usa@asus.com.tw www.asus.com ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS
ASUS COMPUTER GmbH (Europe)
Address: Telephone: Fax: Email: Hotline: BBS: Email: WWW: FTP: Harkort Str. 25, 40880 Ratingen, BRD, Germany 49-2102-445011 49-2102-442066 info-ger@asus.com.tw 49-2102-499712 49-2102-448690 tsd-ger@asus.com.tw www.asuscom.de ftp.asuscom.de/pub/ASUSCOM

CONTENTS

I. INTRODUCTION... 7 How this manual is organized... 7 Item Checklist... 7 II. FEATURES.... 8 The ASUS MEB-VM Motherboard.. 8 Introduction to ASUS Smart Series Motherboards.. 9 Parts of the ASUS MEB-VM Motherboard.. 11 III. HARDWARE SETUP... 12 ASUS MEB-VM Motherboard Layout.. 12 1. Jumpers.... 14 HARDWARE SETUP Steps... 14 2. System Memory (DIMM)... 17 SPD Support... 17 DIMM Memory Installation.. 18 3. Central Processing Unit (CPU).. 19 4. Expansion Cards... 20 Expansion Card Installation Procedure:.. 20 Assigning IRQs for Expansion Cards. 20 Assigning DMA Channels for ISA Cards.. 21 5. External Connectors... 22 Power Connection Procedures... 33 Flash Memory Writer Utility.. 34 IV. BIOS SETUP... 34 Main Menu.... 34 Managing and Updating Your Motherboards BIOS. 36 6. BIOS Setup.... 37 Load Defaults.. 38 Standard CMOS Setup... 38 Details of Standard CMOS Setup:... 38 BIOS Features Setup.. 41 Details of BIOS Features Setup.. 41 Chipset Features Setup... 44 Details of Chipset Features Setup.. 44 Power Management Setup... 47 Details of Power Management Setup. 47 PNP and PCI Setup... 50 Details of PNP and PCI Setup.. 50 Load BIOS Defaults... 52 Load Setup Defaults... 52

How this manual is organized

Item Checklist

Check that your package is complete. If you discover damaged or missing items, please contact your retailer. (1) ASUS Motherboard (1) IDE ribbon cable for master and slave drives (1) Floppy ribbon cable for (1) 5.25 floppy and (2) 3.5 floppies (1) COM2 connector with bracket (1) Bag of spare jumper caps (1) Support CD with drivers and utilities (1) This Motherboard Users Manual ASUS PC100-compliant SDRAM (optional) IrDA-compliant infrared module (optional) ASUS PCI-L101 Wake-On-LAN 10/100 Fast Ethernet Card (optional)

II. FEATURES

The ASUS MEB-VM Motherboard
The ASUS MEB-VM motherboard is carefully designed for the demanding PC user who wants many intelligent features in a small package. Intel Processor Support: Supports Intels Celeron processor designed for the Socket 370 and packaged in a Plastic Pin Grid Array (PPGA). Intel AGPset: Features Intels 440BX AGPset with I/O subsystems and front side bus (FSB) platform which boosts the traditional 66MHz internal bus speed to 100MHz. AGP 3D AGP VGA: Features onboard ATI 3D Rage Pro AGP 2X (8MB SDRAM) or Rage IIC AGP (4MB SDRAM) for 3D hardware acceleration. Onboard Audio (optional): Provides Creative ES1373 PCI audio chipset with 3D surround and positioning capabiliy. Includes complete online help to guide you through the audio software. Audio Codec (optional): Features an 18-bit stereo, full duplex, audio codec that conforms to AC97 analog component specfications. Enhanced ACPI & Anti-Boot Virus BIOS: Programmable BIOS (Flash EEPROM), offering enhanced ACPI for Windows 98 compatibility, built-in hardware-based virus protection, and autodetection of most devices for virtually automatic setup. Versatile Memory: Equipped with two DIMM sockets to support Intel PC100compliant SDRAMs (8, 16, 32, 64, 128, or 256MB) up to 512MB. AGP Slot: Supports an Accelerated Graphics Port card for high performance, component level interconnect targeted at 3D graphical display applications using a 66MHz bus. PCI & ISA Expansion: Provides two 32-bit PCI expansion slots and one 16-bit ISA expansion slot. Wake-On-LAN Header: Supports Wake-On-LAN activity through an optional ASUS PCI-L101 Fast Ethernet card or a similar ethernet card. SB-Link: Features Creatives SB-Link, allowing SB16 compatibility using Intels PC-PCI and serialized IRQ protocols to AWE64D or compatible PCI audio cards. Super Multi-I/O: Provides two high-speed UART compatible serial ports and one parallel port with EPP and ECP capabilities. Desktop Management Interface (DMI): Supports DMI through BIOS, which allows hardware to communicate within a standard protocol creating a higher level of compatibility. (Requires DMI-enabled components.) Ultra DMA/33 BM IDE: Comes with an onboard PCI Bus Master IDE controller with two connectors that support four IDE devices in two channels, supports Ultra DMA/33, PIO Modes 3 and 4 and Bus Master IDE DMA Mode 2, and supports Enhanced IDE devices, such as Tape Backup, CD-ROM, and LS-120 drives. Easy Installation: Equipped with BIOS that supports autodetection of hard drives, PS/2 mouse, and Plug and Play devices to make setup of hard drives, expansion cards, and other devices virtually automatic. IrDA: Supports an optional infrared port module for wireless interface. 8 ASUS MEB-VM Users Manual

II. FEATURES Features

Introduction to ASUS Smart Series Motherboards
Performance ACPI Ready: ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) is also implemented on all ASUS smart series motherboards. ACPI provides more Energy Saving Features for future operating systems (OS) supporting OS Direct Power Management (OSPM) functionality. With these features implemented in the OS, PCs can be ready around the clock, yet satisfy all the energy saving standards. To fully utilize the benefits of ACPI, an ACPI-supported OS such as the successor of Windows 95 must be used. Double the IDE Transfer Speed: IDE transfers using UltraDMA/33 Bus Master IDE can handle rates up to 33MB/sec. The best of all is that this new technology is compatible with existing ATA-2 IDE specifications so there is no need to upgrade current hard drives or cables. Concurrent PCI: Concurrent PCI allows multiple PCI transfers from PCI master buses to memory to CPU. PC98 Compliant: Both the BIOS and hardware levels of the motherboard meet PC98 compliancy. The new PC98 requirements for systems and components are based on the following high-level goals: Support for Plug and Play compatibility and power management for configuring and managing all system components, and 32-bit device drivers and setup procedures for Windows 95/98/NT. SDRAM Optimized Performance: ASUS smart series motherboards support the new generation memory, Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), which increases the data transfer rate from 264MB/s max using EDO memory to 528MB/s max using SDRAM.
II. FEATURES Smart Series
Power Management System Resources Alert: Todays operating systems such as Windows 95, Windows NT, and OS/2, require much more memory and hard drive space to present enormous user interfaces and run large applications. The system resource monitor will warn the user before the system resources are used up to prevent possible application crashes. Suggestions will give the user information on managing their limited resources more efficiently. Auto Fan Off: The system fans will power off automatically even in sleep mode. This function reduces both energy consumption and system noise, and is a important feature to implement silent PC systems. Dual Function Power Button: The system can be in one of two states, one is Sleep mode and the other is the Soft-Off mode. Pushing the power button for less than 4 seconds places the system into Sleep mode. When the power button is pressed for more than 4 seconds, it enters the Soft-Off mode. Remote Ring On (requires modem): This allows a computer to be turned on remotely through an internal or external modem. With this benefit on-hand, any user can access vital information from their computer from anywhere in the world! Message LED (requires ACPI OS support): Chassis LEDs now act as information providers. Through the way a particular LED illuminates, the user can determine the stage the computer is in. A simple glimpse provides useful information to the user.

Socket 370 CPU (Top) Socket 370 CPU (Bottom)

MEB-VM Socket 370

III. H/W SETUP CPU

4. Expansion Cards

WARNING! Make sure that you unplug your power supply when adding or removing expansion cards or other system components. Failure to do so may cause severe damage to both your motherboard and expansion cards.
Expansion Card Installation Procedure:
1. Read your expansion card documentation on any hardware and software settings that may be required to setup your specific card. 2. Set any necessary jumpers on your expansion card. 3. Remove your computer systems cover. 4. Remove the bracket on the slot you intend to use. Keep the bracket for possible future use. 5. Carefully align the cards connectors and press firmly. 6. Secure the card on the slot with the screw you removed in step 4. 7. Replace the computer systems cover. 8. Setup the BIOS if necessary 9. Install the necessary software drivers for your expansion card.
III. H/W SETUP Expansion Cards 20
Assigning IRQs for Expansion Cards
Some expansion cards need to use an IRQ (Interrupt Request) to operate. Generally an IRQ must be exclusively assigned to one use. In a standard design there are 16 IRQs available but most of them are already in use by parts of the system which leaves 6 free for expansion cards. If your motherboard has PCI audio onboard, an extra IRQ will be used, leaving 5 IRQs free. If your motherboard has ISA audio onboard, an extra 3 IRQs will be used, leaving 3 IRQs free. Both ISA and PCI expansion cards may need to use IRQs. System IRQs are available to cards installed in the ISA expansion bus first, and any remaining IRQs are then used by PCI cards. Currently, there are two types of ISA cards. The original ISA expansion card design, now referred to as Legacy ISA cards, requires that you configure the cards jumpers manually and then install it in any available slot on the ISA bus. You may use Microsofts Diagnostic (MSD.EXE) utility included in the Windows directory to see a map of your used and free IRQs. For Windows 95/98 users, the Control Panel icon in My Computer, contains a System icon, which gives you a Device Manager tab. Double-clicking on a specific device give you Resources tab which shows the Interrupt number and address. Make sure that no two devices use the same IRQs or your computer will experience problems when those two devices are in use at the same time.
To simplify this process, this motherboard complies with the Plug and Play (PNP) specification which was developed to allow automatic system configuration whenever a PNP-compliant card is added to the system. For PNP cards, IRQs are assigned automatically from those available. If the system has both Legacy and PNP ISA cards installed, IRQs are assigned to PNP cards from those not used by Legacy cards. The PCI and PNP configuration of the BIOS setup utility can be used to indicate which IRQs are being used by Legacy cards. For older Legacy cards that do not work with the BIOS, you can contact your vendor for an ISA Configuration Utility. An IRQ number is automatically assigned to PCI expansion cards after those used by Legacy and PNP ISA cards. In the PCI bus design, the BIOS automatically assigns an IRQ to a PCI slot that has a card in it that requires an IRQ. To install a PCI card, you need to set something called the INT (interrupt) assignment. Since all the PCI slots on this motherboard use an INTA #, be sure that the jumpers on your PCI cards are set to INT A.

III. H/W SETUP Connectors 30
25. System Management Interrupt (SMI) Lead (2-pin SMI) This allows the user to manually place the system into a suspend mode or Green mode where system activity will be instantly decreased to save electricity and expand the life of certain components when the system is not in use. This 2-pin connector (see the figure below) connects to the case-mounted suspend switch. If you do not have a switch for the connector, you may use the Turbo Switch since it does not have a function. SMI is activated when it detects a short to open moment and therefore leaving it shorted will not cause any problems. May require one or two pushes depending on the position of the switch. The keyboard will always allow wake-up (the SMI lead cannot wake-up the system). 26. System Warning Speaker Connector (4-pin SPEAKER) This 4-pin connector connects to the case-mounted speaker. You may leave this disconnect as this motherboard has an onboard buzzer which can replace the chassis speaker. When connected, you will hear system warnings though both sources. III. H/W SETUP Connectors 31 NOTE: Some sound cards allow you to connect to the system speaker signal so that the warnings can be heard and adjusted through your multimedia system.
27. ATX Power Supply Connector (20-pin block ATXPWR) This connector connects to an ATX power supply. The plug from the power supply will only insert in one orientation because of the different hole sizes. Find the proper orientation and push down firmly making sure that the pins are aligned. IMPORTANT: Make sure that your ATX power supply can supply at least 10mA on the 5-volt standby lead (+5VSB). You may experience difficulty in powering on your system if your power supply cannot support the load. For Wake-OnLAN support, your ATX power supply must supply at least 720mA +5VSB.
+3.3 Volts -12.0 Volts Ground Power Supply On Ground Ground Ground -5.0 Volts +5.0 Volts +5.0 Volts
+3.3 Volts +3.3 Volts Ground +5.0 Volts Ground +5.0 Volts Ground Power Good +5V Standby +12.0 Volts
III. H/W SETUP Connectors 32
MEB-VM ATX Power Connector
Power Connection Procedures
1. After all connections are made, close the system case cover. 2. Be sure that all switches are off (in some systems, marked with ). 3. Connect the power supply cord into the power supply located on the back of your system case according to your system users manual. 4. Connect the power cord into a power outlet that is equipped with a surge protector. 5. You may then turn on your devices in the following order: a. Your monitor b. External SCSI devices (starting with the last device on the chain) c. Your system power. For ATX power supplies, you need to switch on the power supply if a switch is provided as well as press the ATX power switch on the front of the case. 6. The power LED on the front panel of the system case will light. For ATX power supplies, the system LED will light when the ATX power switch is pressed. The LED on the monitor may light up or switch between orange and green after the systems if it complies with green standards or if it has a power standby feature. The system will then run power-on tests. While the tests are running, additional messages will appear on the screen. If you do not see anything within 30 seconds from the time you turn on the power, the system may have failed a power-on test. Recheck your jumper settings and connections or call your retailer for assistance. 7. During power-on, hold down <Delete> to enter BIOS setup. Follow the instructions in the next section, BIOS SETUP. * Powering Off your computer: You must first exit or shut down your operating system before switching off the power switch. For ATX power supplies, you can press the ATX power switch after exiting or shutting down your operating system. If you are using Windows 95/98, click the Start button, click Shut Down, and then click Shut down the computer?. The power supply should turn off after Windows shuts down. NOTE: The message You can now safely turn off your computer will not appear when shutting down with ATX power supplies.

III. H/W SETUP Power Connections

IV. BIOS SETUP

Flash Memory Writer Utility
AFLASH.EXE: This is the Flash Memory Writer utility that updates the BIOS by uploading a new BIOS file to the programmable flash ROM chip on the motherboard. To determine the BIOS version of your motherboard, check the last four numbers of the code displayed on the upper left-hand corner of your screen during bootup. Larger numbers represent a newer BIOS file. This file works only in DOS mode. NOTE: The following screen displays are provided as examples only and may not reflect the screen contents displayed on your system.
IV. BIOS SETUP Flash Memory Writer 34
IMPORTANT! If unknown is displayed after Flash Memory:, the memory chip is either not programmable or is not supported by the ACPI BIOS and therefore, cannot be programmed by the Flash Memory Writer utility.

Main Menu

1. Save Current BIOS To File
This option allows you to save a copy of the original motherboard BIOS in case you need to reinstall it. It is recommended that you save AFLASH.EXE and the BIOS file to a bootable floppy disk. To save your current BIOS, type [1] at the Main Menu and then press <Enter>. The Save Current BIOS To File screen appears. Type a filename and the path, for example, A:\XXX-X and then press <Enter>.
2. Update BIOS Including Boot Block and ESCD
This option updates the boot block, the baseboard BIOS, and the ACPI extended system configuration data (ESCD) parameter block from a new BIOS file. See the next page for procedures on downloading an updated BIOS file. To update your current BIOS, type [2] at the Main Menu and then press <Enter>. The Update BIOS Including Boot Block and ESCD screen appears. Type the filename of your new BIOS and the path, for example, A:\XXXXXXX.AWD, and then press <Enter>. When prompted to confirm the BIOS update, press Y to start the update.
The utility starts to program the new BIOS information into the flash ROM. When the programming is finished, Flashed Successfully will be displayed.
Follow the onscreen instructions to continue.
IV. BIOS SETUP Flash Memory Writer
Managing and Updating Your Motherboards BIOS
Upon First Use of the Computer System 1. Create a bootable system floppy disk by typing [FORMAT A:/S] from the DOS prompt without creating AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files. 2. Copy AFLASH.EXE to the just created boot disk. 3. Run AFLASH.EXE from this new disk and select option 1. Save Current BIOS to File. See 1. Save Current BIOS To File on the previous page for more details and the rest of the steps. Updating BIOS Procedures (only when necessary) 1. Download an updated ASUS BIOS file from the Internet (WWW or FTP) or a BBS (Bulletin Board Service) (see ASUS CONTACT INFORMATION on page 3 for details) and save to the disk you created earlier. 2. Boot from the disk you created earlier. 3. At the A:\ prompt, type AFLASH and then press <Enter>. 4. At the Main Menu, type 2 and then press <Enter>. See 2. Update BIOS Including Boot Block and ESCD on the previous page for more details and the rest of the steps. WARNING! If you encounter problems while updating the new BIOS, DO NOT turn off your system since this might prevent your system from booting up. Just repeat the process, and if the problem still persists, update the original BIOS file you saved to disk above. If the Flash Memory Writer utility was not able to successfully update a complete BIOS file, your system may not be able to boot up. If this happens, your system will need service.

IV. BIOS SETUP Updating BIOS 36

6. BIOS Setup

The motherboard supports two programmable Flash ROM chips: 5-Volt and 12Volt. Either of these memory chips can be updated when BIOS upgrades are released. Use the Flash Memory Writer utility to download the new BIOS file into the ROM chip as described in detail in this section. All computer motherboards provide a Setup utility program for specifying the system configuration and settings. If your motherboard came in a computer system, the proper configuration entries may have already been made. If so, invoke the Setup utility, as described later, and take note of the configuration settings for future reference; in particular, the hard disk specifications. If you are installing the motherboard, reconfiguring your system or you receive a Run Setup message, you will need to enter new setup information. This section describes how to configure your system using this utility. The BIOS ROM of the system stores the Setup utility. When you turn on the computer, the system provides you with the opportunity to run this program. This appears during the Power-On Self Test (POST). Press <Delete> to call up the Setup utility. If you are a little bit late pressing the mentioned key(s), POST will continue with its test routines, thus preventing you from calling up Setup. If you still need to call Setup, reset the system by pressing <Ctrl> + <Alt> + <Delete>, or by pressing the Reset button on the system case. You can also restart by turning the system off and then back on again. But do so only if the first two methods fail. When you invoke Setup, the CMOS SETUP UTILITY main program screen will appear with the following options:
IV. BIOS SETUP BIOS Setup

Load Defaults

The Load BIOS Defaults option loads the minimum settings for troubleshooting. Load Setup Defaults, on the other hand, is for loading optimized defaults for regular use. Choosing defaults at this level, will modify all applicable settings. A section at the bottom of the above screen displays the control keys for this screen. Take note of these keys and their respective uses. Another section just below the control keys section displays information on the currently highlighted item in the list.

PS/2 Mouse Function Control (Auto) The default of Auto allows the system to detect a PS/2 mouse on bootup. If detected, IRQ12 will be used for the PS/2 mouse. IRQ12 will be reserved for expansion cards if a PS/2 mouse is not detected. Enabled will always reserve IRQ12, whether on bootup a PS/2 mouse is detected or not. OS/2 Onboard Memory > 64M (Disabled) When using OS/2 operating systems with installed DRAM of greater than 64MB, you need to set this option to Enabled otherwise leave this on Disabled.... PCI/VGA Palette Snoop (Disabled) Some display cards that are nonstandard VGA such as graphics accelerators or MPEG Video Cards may not show colors properly. The setting Enabled should correct this problem. Otherwise leave this on the setup default setting of Disabled. Video ROM BIOS Shadow (Enabled) This field allows you to change the video BIOS location from ROM to RAM. Relocating to RAM enhances system performance, as information access is faster than the ROM. C8000-CBFFF to DC000-DFFFF (Disabled) These fields are used for shadowing other expansion card ROMs. If you install other expansion cards with ROMs on them, you will need to know which addresses the ROMs use to shadow them specifically. Shadowing a ROM reduces the memory available between 640K and 1024K by the amount used for this purpose. IV. BIOS SETUP BIOS Features 43 Boot Up NumLock Status (On) This field enables users to activate the Number Lock function upon system boot. Typematic Rate Setting (Disabled) When enabled, you can set the two typematic controls listed next. Setup default setting is Disabled. Typematic Rate (Chars/Sec) (6) This field controls the speed at which the system registers repeated keystrokes. Options range from 6 to 30 characters per second. Setup default setting is 6; other settings are 8, 10, 12, 15, 20, 24, and 30. Typematic Delay (Msec) (250) This field sets the time interval for displaying the first and second characters. Four delay rate options are available: 250, 500, 750, and 1000. Security Option (System) When you specify a Supervisor Password and/or User Password (explained later in this section), the Security Option field determines when the system prompts for the password. The default setting is System, where the system prompts for the User Password every time you start your system. The other option is Setup, where the system goes through its startup routine unless the Setup utility is called, when the system prompts for the Supervisor Password.

IV. BIOS SETUP Power Management 48
PWR Up On Modem Act (Enabled) This allows either settings of Enabled or Disabled for powering up the computer (turns the ATX power supply on) when the modem receives a call while the computer is Soft-off. NOTE: The computer cannot receive or transmit data until the computer and applications are fully running, thus connection cannot be made on the first try. Turning an external modem off and then back on while the computer is off causes an initialization string that will also cause the system to power on. AC PWR Loss Restart (Disabled) This allows you to set whether you want your system to boot up after the power has been interrupted. Disabled leaves your system off after reapplying power and Enabled boots up your system after reapplying power. Power Up By Keyboard (Disabled) This allows the computer to be powered on by pressing any key on the keyboard. Set of Enabled to set this feature. WARNING! This setting must coincide with the keyboard power (wake) up jumper setting or else conflicts will occur. Wake On LAN (Enabled) This allows you to remotely power up your system through your network by sending a wake-up frame or signal. With this feature, you can remotely upload/download data to/from systems during off-peak hours. Enabled sets this feature. IMPORTANT: This feature requires the optional network interface and an ATX power supply with at least 720mA +5V standby power. Automatic Power Up (Disabled) This allows you to have an unattended or automatic power up of your system. You may configure your system to power up at a certain time of the day by selecting Everyday, which will allow you to set the time or at a certain time and day by selecting By Date.
IV. BIOS SETUP Power Management

PNP and PCI Setup

The PNP and PCI Setup option configures the PCI bus slots. All PCI bus slots on the system use INTA#, thus all installed PCI cards must be set to this value.
Details of PNP and PCI Setup
PNP OS Installed (No) This field allows you to use a Plug-and-Play (PnP) operating system to configure the PCI bus slots instead of using the BIOS. Thus interrupts may be reassigned by the OS when Yes is selected. When a non-PnP OS is installed or to prevent reassigning of interrupt settings, select the default setting of No. IV. BIOS SETUP Plug & Play / PCI 50 Slot 1 IRQ / Slot 2 IRQ (Auto) These fields set how IRQ use is determined for each PCI slot. The default setting for each field is Auto, which uses auto-routing to determine IRQ use. The other options are manual settings of NA, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14 or 15 for each slot. PCI Latency Timer (32 PCI Clock) The default setting of 32 PCI Clock enables maximum PCI performance for this motherboard. IRQ xx Used By ISA (No/ICU) These fields indicate whether or not the displayed IRQ for each field is being used by a legacy (non-PnP) ISA card. Two options are available: No/ICU and Yes. The first option, the default value, indicates either that the displayed IRQ is not used or an ISA Configuration Utility (ICU) is being used to determine if an ISA card is using that IRQ. If you install a legacy ISA card that requires a unique IRQ, and you are not using an ICU, you must set the field for that IRQ to Yes. For example: If you install a legacy ISA card that requires IRQ 10, then set IRQ10 Used By ISA to Yes....

DMA x Used By ISA (No/ICU) These fields indicate whether or not the displayed DMA channel for each field is being used by a legacy (non-PnP) ISA card. Available options include: No/ICU and Yes. The first option, the default setting, indicates either that the displayed DMA channel is not used or an ICU is being used to determine if an ISA card is using that channel. If you install a legacy ISA card that requires a unique DMA channel, and you are not using an ICU, you must set the field for that channel to Yes. ISA MEM Block BASE (No/ICU) This field allows you to set the base address and block size of a legacy ISA card that uses any memory segment within the C800H and DFFFH address range. If you have such a card, and you are not using an ICU to specify its address range, select a base address from the six available options; the ISA MEM Block SIZE field will then appear for selecting the block size. If you have more than one legacy ISA card in your system that requires to use this address range, you can increase the block size to either 8K, 16K, 36K, or 64K. If you are using an ICU to accomplish this task, leave ISA MEM Block BASE to its default setting of No/ICU. Symbios SCSI BIOS (Auto) Auto allows the BIOS to detect whether you have a Symbios SCSI card, if detected the onboard Symbios BIOS will be enabled, if not then it will be disabled. Disabled prevents the onboard Symbios BIOS to be enabled so that the external Symbios SCSI cards own BIOS can be used instead. Note: If your Symbios SCSI card does not have a BIOS, the Symbios SCSI card will not function. IV. BIOS SETUP Plug & Play / PCI 51 USB IRQ (Enabled) Enabled reserves an IRQ# for the USB to work, Disabled does not allow the USB to have an IRQ# and therefore prevents the USB from functioning. If you are not using any USB devices, you may set this feature to Disabled to save an extra IRQ# for expansion cards. ONB VGA BIOS First (No) This allows you to select whether you want to use the onboard VGA BIOS as the primary BIOS. No allows external VGA cards to take precedent when detected. Yes always uses the onboard VGA cards BIOS, even when an external VGA card is installed.

Load BIOS Defaults

The Load BIOS Defaults option allows you to load the troubleshooting default values permanently stored in the BIOS ROM. These default settings are non-optimal and disable all high performance features. To load these default settings, highlight Load BIOS Defaults on the main screen and then press <Enter>. The system displays a confirmation message on the screen. Press <Y> and then <Enter> to confirm. Press <N> and then <Enter> to abort. This feature does not affect the fields on the Standard CMOS Setup screen.

IV. BIOS Hard Disk Detect
IMPORTANT: If your hard disk was already formatted on an older previous system, incorrect parameters may be detected. You will need to enter the correct parameters manually or use low-level format if you do not need the data stored on the hard disk. If the parameters listed differ from the ones used when the disk was formatted, the disk will not be readable. If the auto-detected parameters do not match the ones that should be used for your disk, do not accept them. Press <N> to reject the presented settings and enter the correct ones manually from the Standard CMOS Setup screen.

Save & Exit Setup

Select this option to save into the CMOS memory all modifications you specified during the current session. To save the configuration changes, highlight the Save & Exit Setup option on the main screen, type Y, and then press <Enter>.

Exit Without Saving

Select this option to exit the Setup utility without saving the modifications you specify during the current session. To exit without saving, highlight the Exit Without Saving option on the main screen and then press <Enter>.
IV. BIOS SETUP Save & Exit
(This page was intentionally left blank.)
IV. BIOS SETUP 56 ASUS MEB-VM Users Manual

V. SOFTWARE SETUP

V. S/W SETUP

V. SOFTWARE SETUP... 57

Operating Systems... 59 Windows 98 First Time Installation.. 59 MEB-VM Support CD... 60 Support CD Autorun Menu.. 60 Installing the Video Driver and Utility.. 61 Installing the Audio Driver... 62 Installing PCCillin... 63 Installing Adobe Acrobat Reader.. 64
V. S/W SETUP 58 ASUS MEB-VM Users Manual

Operating Systems

You should always use the latest operating system and updates when using new hardware in order to ensure full compliancy. For Windows 95, you must use OSR 2.0 or later. For Windows NT 4.0, you must use Service Pack 3.0 or later.
Windows 98 First Time Installation
When you start Windows for the first time after the installation of your motherboard, Windows 98 will detect the onboard audio and video chips and may attempt to install a driver from its system registry. When prompted to restart, select No and then follow the normal setup procedures later in this section. IMPORTANT: Selecting No for the initial restart prompt is a necessary step because Windows may load an older display driver that is incompatible with the onboard ATI 3D Rage chip. Always use the driver available on the ASUS Support CD or an applicable driver update from your ASUS vendor or from the ASUS web site.

Installing the Audio Driver
Insert the Support CD that came with your motherboard into your CD-ROM drive or double-click the CD drive icon in My Computer to bring up the autorun screen.
1. Click here. 2. Click here.

3. Click here.

4. Click here.

5. Click here.

6. Click and then click here.
7. Click here. 8. Click here and then click Finish to restart.

Installing PCCillin

3. Enter your name and company and then click here.
6. Insert a floppy disk and then click here. 5. Click Express Install and then click here.
7. Once the Emergency Clean disk is created, click here. Follow the onscreen instructions to complete installation.
Installing Adobe Acrobat Reader

2. Click here.

V. S/W SETUP Windows 98 64

VI. SOFTWARE REFERENCE

Creative Multimedia Decks.. 68 Common operations... 68 Creative CD Player... 69 Using the CD Playlist.. 69 Creative MIDI Player... 70 Using the MIDI Playlist.. 70 Creative Remote... 71 Creative Wave Player... 72 SB AudioPCI 64V Mixer.. 73 Real-Time Effects... 73 Creative WaveStudio.. 74 ATI Player.... 75 Features.... 75 Playing Audio CDs (Only in window 95).. 76 Playing Media Files... 77 Playing Interactive Discs (Video CD 2.0).. 77 Desktop Management Interface (DMI).. 78 Introducing the ASUS DMI Configuration Utility. 78 Starting the ASUS DMI Configuration Utility.. 78 Using the ASUS DMI Configuration Utility.. 79 ASUS PCI-L101 Fast Ethernet Card.. 81 Features... 82 Software Driver Support... 82 Question and Answer... 82 VI. S/W REFERENCE Contents 65
VI. S/W REFERENCE Creative Multimedia Decks 66
Creative Multimedia Decks
Creative Multimedia Decks is a collection of players that allows you to independently or concurrently control multimedia devices such as your CD-ROM drive and MIDI device. It consists of Creative Remote and other players such as Creative CD, Creative Wave, and Creative MIDI.

Common operations

Touch Sensitive Display Repeat Mode Intro Mode Power Off Menu Minimize Tracks Volume Playlist Skip Backward Rewind Fast Forward Skip Forward
NOTE: The terms "track" and "file" are used interchangeably throughout this section.
Creative CD operates like a home CD player, letting you play audio CDs from CDROM drives on your PC. In addition, it has some advanced features which include: Ability to be controlled by the Creative Remote OLE Automation support Plug and Play support Power management support "Touch-sensitive" display Multiple display forms Fine control of track's playing position Introduction Mode, Repeat Playlist Mode, Repeat Track Mode and Shuffle Mode for playback Playlist compilation of CD tracks into a collection Fast track selection Direct volume control for multiple sound cards

CD Title Stop Play Pause Eject

CD Selectors

Track Name

Using the CD Playlist

To access the Playlist dialog box, click
Enter CD Title Displays sequence of tracks to be played Displays all the tracks on the CD

on the CD player.

Enter track name Enter artist name Enter track notes
VI. S/W REFERENCE Creative CD Player

Creative CD Player

VI. S/W REFERENCE Creative MIDI Player 68

Creative MIDI Player

Creative MIDI is the player in the Multimedia Decks suite of players that lets you play MIDI files. It also has some advanced features which include: Ability to be controlled by the Creative Remote OLE Automation support Plug and Play support Power management support "Touch-sensitive" display Multiple display forms Fine control of a track's playing position Introduction Mode, Repeat Playlist Mode, Repeat Track Mode and Shuffle Mode for playback Playlist compilation of different MIDI files Fast track selection Direct volume control for multiple sound cards

Stop Play Pause

Using the MIDI Playlist
To access the Playlist dialog box, click on the MIDI player.
Select a collection (a saved playlist) Displays the Playlist (a sequence of the tracks to be played)
Adds the selected tracks in the File list to the Playlist Displays the files in the current directory Selects the directory, path, and type of files to be displayed in the File list
Displays the directory of the file selected Enter artist name Enter track notes

Creative Remote

Creative Remote is the main component of the Creative Multimedia Decks group of players. Like a home remote control, it lets you control different Creative Multimedia Decks players from a single control interface. If you require more control over a player, you can also invoke the player from Creative Remote. In addition, it consists of several advanced features like: Ability to launch any of the available Creative Multimedia Decks players for more direct control over a device "Touch-sensitive" display Multiple display forms Fast track selection Color scheme selection VI. S/W REFERENCE Creative Remote 69
Select an active player Invoke player Displays the Playlist dialog box of the active player Starts recording

SPD Support

This motherboard supports SPD DIMMs, and it is recommended that SPD DIMMs be used. General DIMM Notes For the system CPU bus to operate above 100MHz, use only PC100-compliant DIMMs. When this motherboard operates at 100MHz, most system will not even boot if non-compliant modules are used because of the strict timing issues involved under this speed. If your DIMMs are not PC100-compliant, set the CPU bus frequency to 66MHz for system stability. Two possible memory chips are supported: SDRAM with and without ECC. SDRAM chips are generally thinner with higher pin density than EDO (Extended Data Output) chips. BIOS shows SDRAM memory on bootup screen. 8 chips/side modules do not support ECC, only 9 chips/side modules support ECC. Single-sided DIMMs come in 16, 32, 64,128MB; double-sided come in 32, 64, 128, 256MB.
III. H/W SETUP System Memory

DIMM Memory Installation

Insert the module(s) as shown. Because the number of pins are different on either side of the breaks, the module will only fit in the orientation as shown. DIMM modules are longer and have different pin contact on each side and therefore have a higher pin density. SIMM modules have the same pin contact on both sides.

20 Pins 60 Pins 88 Pins

III. H/W SETUP System Memory 18
MEB-M 168-Pin DIMM Sockets
The DIMMs must be 3.3V Unbuffered for this motherboard. To determine the DIMM type, check the notches on the DIMMs (see figure below).
168-Pin DIMM Notch Key Definitions (3.3V)
DRAM Key Position Unbuffered RFU Buffered
Voltage Key Position 5.0V 3.3V Reserved
The notches on the DIMM module will shift between left, center, or right to identify the type and also to prevent the wrong type from being inserted into the DIMM slot on the motherboard. You must ask your retailer the correct DIMM type before purchasing. This motherboard supports four clock signals.
3. Central Processing Unit (CPU)
The motherboard provides a ZIF Socket 370. The CPU that came with the motherboard should have a fan attached to it to prevent overheating. If this is not the case then purchase a fan before you turn on your system. WARNING! Be sure that there is sufficient air circulation across the processors heatsink by regularly checking that your CPU fan is working. Without sufficient circulation, the processor could overheat and damage both the processor and the motherboard. You may install an auxiliary fan, if necessary. To install a CPU, first turn off your system and remove its cover. Locate the ZIF socket and open it by first pulling the lever sideways away from the socket then upwards to a 90-degree right angle. Insert the CPU with the correct orientation as shown. The notched corner should point towards the end the of the lever. Because the CPU has a corner pin for two of the four corners, the CPU will only fit in the one orientation as shown. The picture is for reference only; you should have a CPU fan that will cover the face of the CPU. With the added weight of the CPU fan, no force is required to insert the CPU. Once completely inserted, close the sockets lever while holding down the CPU. NOTE: Set the bus frequency and multiple for your Socket 370 processor.

PS/2 Mouse (6-pin Female)
2. PS/2 Keyboard Connector (6-pin PS2KBMS) This connection is for a standard keyboard using an PS/2 plug (mini DIN). This connector will not allow standard AT size (large DIN) keyboard plugs. You may use a DIN to mini DIN adapter on standard AT keyboards.
PS/2 Keyboard (6-pin Female)
III. H/W SETUP DMA Channels Connectors
3. Universal Serial BUS Ports 1 & 2 (Two 4-pin USB) Two USB ports are available for connecting USB devices.
Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2
4. Parallel Port Connector (25-pin PRINTER) You can enable the parallel port and choose the IRQ through Onboard Parallel Port in Chipset Features Setup of BIOS SETUP. NOTE: Serial printers must be connected to the serial port. III. H/W SETUP Connectors 24
Parallel (Printer) Port (25-pin Female)
5. Serial Port Connectors (Two 9-pin COM1/COM2) The two serial ports can be used for pointing devices or other serial devices. See Onboard Serial Port in Chipset Features Setup of BIOS SETUP.
COM 1 COM 2 Serial Ports (9-pin Male)
6. Joystick/Midi Connector (15-pin GAME_AUDIO) You may connect game joysticks or game pads to this connector for playing games. Connect MIDI devices for playing or editing audio.
Joystick/Midi (15-pin Female)
Line Out Line In Mic 1/8" Stereo Audio Connectors
8. ATX Power Supply Connector (20-pin block ATXPWR) This connector connects to an ATX power supply. The plug from the power supply will only insert in one orientation because of the different hole sizes. Find the proper orientation and push down firmly making sure that the pins are aligned. IMPORTANT: Make sure that your ATX power supply can supply at least 10mA on the +5-volt standby lead (+5VSB). You may experience difficulty in powering on your system if your power supply cannot support the load. For Wake-OnLAN support, your ATX power supply must supply at least 720mA +5VSB.
+3.3Volts -12.0Volts Ground Power Supply On Ground Ground Ground -5.0 Volts +5.0 Volts +5.0 Volts
+3.3 Volts +3.3 Volts Ground +5.0 Volts Ground +5.0 Volts Ground Power Good +5V Standby +12.0Volts
MEB-M ATX Power Connector
III. H/W SETUP Connectors
7. Audio Port Connectors (Three 1/8 GAME_AUDIO) Line Out can be connected to headphones or preferably powered speakers. Line In allows tape players or other audio sources to be recorded by your computer or played through the Line Out. Mic allows microphones to be connected for inputing voice.
9. Primary / Secondary IDE Connectors (Two 40-1pin IDE) These connectors support the provided IDE hard disk ribbon cable. After connecting the single end to the board, connect the two plugs at the other end to your hard disk(s). If you install two hard disks, you must configure the second drive to Slave mode by setting its jumper accordingly. Please refer to the documentation of your hard disk for the jumper settings. BIOS now supports SCSI device or IDE CD-ROM bootup (see HDD Sequence SCSI/IDE First & Boot Sequence in BIOS Features Setup of BIOS SETUP) (Pin 20 is removed to prevent inserting in the wrong orientation when using ribbon cables with pin 20 plugged). TIP: You may configure two hard disks to be both Masters using one ribbon cable on the primary IDE connector and another ribbon cable on the secondary IDE connector. You may install one operating system on an IDE drive and another on a SCSI drive and select the boot disk through BIOS Features Setup.

NOTE: Orient the red markings (usually zigzag) on the IDE ribbon cable to PIN 1

Secondary IDE Connector

MEB-M IDE Connectors
10. Floppy Disk Drive Connector (34-1pin FLOPPY) This connector supports the provided floppy drive ribbon cable. After connecting the single end to the board, connect the two plugs on the other end to the floppy drives. (Pin 5 is removed to prevent inserting in the wrong orientation when using ribbon cables with pin 5 plugged).
NOTE: Orient the red markings on the floppy ribbon cable to PIN 1
MEB-M Floppy Disk Drive Connector

Primary IDE Connector

11. Chassis, CPU , & Power Supply Fan Connectors (3-pin CHA_, CPU_, PWR_FAN) These connectors support cooling fans of 500mAMP (6 Watts) or less. Orientate the fans so that the heat sink fins allow airflow to go across the onboard heat sink(s) instead of the expansion slots. Depending on the fan manufacturer, the wiring and plug may be different. The red wire should be positive, while the black should be ground. Connect the fans plug to the board taking into consideration the polarity of the this connector. NOTE: The Rotation signal is to be used only by a specially designed fan with rotation signal. WARNING! The CPU and/or motherboard will overheat if there is no airflow across the CPU and onboard heatsinks. Damage may occur to the motherboard and/or the CPU fan if these pins are incorrectly used. These are not jumpers, do not place jumper caps over these pins.

Rotation

MEB-M 12-Volt Cooling Fan Power
12. Wake-On-LAN Connector (3-pin WOL_CON) These connector connects to LAN cards with a Wake-On-LAN output, such as the ASUS PCI-L101 (see section on ASUS LAN Card). The connector powers up the system when a wakeup packet or signal is received through the LAN card. IMPORTANT: This feature requires that the WAKE On LAN Power Up Control is set to Enabled (see Power Management Setup under BIOS SETUP) and that your system has an ATX power supply with at least 720mA +5V standby power.

Ground

PME +5 Volt Standby
IMPORTANT: Requires an ATX power supply with at least 720mA +5-volt standby power
MEB-M Wake-On-LAN Connector
CPU Fan Power Power Supply Fan Chassis Fan Power
13. Wake-On-Ring Header (2-pin WOR) These connector connects to internal modem cards with a Wake-On-Ring output. The connector powers up the system when a ringup packet or signal is received through the internal modem card. NOTE: For external modems, Wake-On-Ring is detected through the COM port. IMPORTANT: This feature requires that the PWR UP On Modem Act Power Up Control is set to Enabled (see Power Management Setup under BIOS SETUP) and that your system has an ATX power supply with at least 720mA +5V standby power.
III. H/W SETUP Connectors 28

Ground SMBDATA

MEB-M SMBus Connector
19. Stereo Audio In Connectors (4-pin AUX, CD1) These connectors allow you to receive stereo audio input from such sound sources as a TV tuner or MPEG card.
AUX CD1 Left Audio Channel Ground Ground Right Audio Channel
NOTE: AUX has the same pin definitions as CD1.
MEB-M Stereo Audio In Connectors
20. Stereo Audio In Connector (4-pin CD2) This connector allows you to receive stereo audio input from an internal CDROM drive or other sound sources such as a TV tuner or MPEG card.
Right Audio Channel Ground Left Audio Channel Ground CD2
MEB-M Stereo Audio In Connector
21. Voice Modem In Connector (4-pin MODEM) This connector allows the onboard audio to interface with a voice modem card. It also allows the sharing of microphone and speaker between the onboard audio and the voice modem card. NOTE: Your voice modem card requires a similar connector to use this feature.
Modem-In Ground Ground Modem-Out
MEB-M Modem Card Voice In Connector
III. H/W SETUP Connectors For Items 22-28
System Speaker Keyboard Lock

GND GND

Reset Switch Power Switch

Power LED

SMI Switch Message LED
MEB-M System Panel Connectors
22. Message LED Lead (2-pin MSG.LED) This indicates whether a message has been received from a fax/modem. The LED will remain lit when there is no signal and blink when there is data transfer or waiting in the inbox. This function requires ACPI OS and driver support.
23. System Management Interrupt Lead (2-pin SMI) This allows the user to manually place the system into a suspend mode or Green mode where system activity is decreased to save electricity and expand the life of certain components when the system is not in use. This 2-pin connector connects to the case-mounted suspend switch. If you do not have a switch for the connector, you may use the Turbo Switch. SMI is activated when it detects a short to open moment and therefore leaving it shorted will not cause any problems. This may require one or two presses depending on the position of the switch. Wake-up can be controlled by settings in the BIOS but the keyboard will always allow wake-up (the SMI lead cannot wake up the system). If you want to use this connector, set Suspend Mode under Power Management Setup of BIOS SETUP section to the preferred time after which the system must go into suspend mode when you press the switch. 24. ATX Power Switch / Soft Power Switch (2-pin PWR.SW) The system power is controlled by a momentary switch connected to this lead. Pressing the button once will switch the system between ON and SLEEP or ON and SOFT OFF depending on the PWR Button setting under Power Management Setup of BIOS SETUP section. Pressing the switch while in the ON mode for more than 4 seconds will turn the system off. The system power LED shows the status of the systems power. 25. Reset Switch Lead (2-pin RESET) This 2-pin connector connects to the case-mounted reset switch for rebooting your computer without having to turn off your power switch. This is a preferred method of rebooting to prolong the life of the systems power supply. 26. System Power LED (3-1 pin PWR.LED) This 3-1 pin connector connects the system power LED, which lights when the system is powered on and blinks when it is in sleep mode. 27. Keyboard Lock Switch Lead (2-pin KEYLOCK) This 2-pin connector connects to the case-mounted key switch to allow keyboard locking. 28. System Warning Speaker Connector (4-pin SPEAKER) This 4-pin connector connects to the case-mounted speaker. You may leave this disconnect as this motherboard has an onboard buzzer which can replace the chassis speaker. When connected, you will hear system warnings through both sources. NOTE: Some sound cards allow you to connect to the system speaker signal so that the warnings can be heard and adjusted through your multimedia system.

III. H/W SETUP Connectors 34 ASUS MEB-M Users Manual
Power Connection Procedures
1. After all connections are made, close the system case cover. 2. Be sure that all switches are off (in some systems, marked with ). 3. Connect the power supply cord into the power supply located on the back of your system case according to your system users manual. 4. Connect the power cord into a power outlet that is equipped with a surge protector. 5. You may then turn on your devices in the following order: a. Your monitor b. External SCSI devices (starting with the last device on the chain) c. Your system power. For ATX power supplies, you need to switch on the power supply if a switch is provided as well as press the ATX power switch on the front of the case. 6. The power LED on the front panel of the system case will light. For ATX power supplies, the system LED will light when the ATX power switch is pressed. The LED on the monitor may light up or switch between orange and green after the systems if it complies with green standards or if it has a power standby feature. The system will then run power-on tests. While the tests are running, additional messages will appear on the screen. If you do not see anything within 30 seconds from the time you turn on the power, the system may have failed a power-on test. Recheck your jumper settings and connections or call your retailer for assistance. 7. During power-on, hold down <Delete> to enter BIOS setup. Follow the instructions in the next section, BIOS SETUP. * Powering Off your computer: You must first exit or shut down your operating system before switching off the power switch. For ATX power supplies, you can press the ATX power switch after exiting or shutting down your operating system. If you use Windows 95/98, click the Start button, click Shut Down, and then click Shut down the computer?. The power supply should turn off after Windows shuts down. NOTE: The message You can now safely turn off your computer will not appear when shutting down with ATX power supplies.
III. H/W SETUP Power Connections

IV. BIOS SETUP

Flash Memory Writer Utility
AFLASH.EXE: This is the Flash Memory Writer utility that updates the BIOS by uploading a new BIOS file to the programmable flash ROM chip on the motherboard. To determine the BIOS version of your motherboard, check the last four numbers of the code displayed on the upper left-hand corner of your screen during bootup. Larger numbers represent a newer BIOS file. This file works only in DOS mode. NOTE: The following screen displays are provided as examples only and may not reflect the screen contents displayed on your system.
IV. BIOS SETUP Flash Memory Writer 36
IMPORTANT! If unknown is displayed after Flash Memory:, the memory chip is either not programmable or is not supported by the ACPI BIOS and therefore, cannot be programmed by the Flash Memory Writer utility.

Details of PNP and PCI Setup
PNP OS Installed (No) This field allows you to use a Plug-and-Play (PnP) operating system to configure the PCI bus slots instead of using the BIOS. Thus interrupts may be reassigned by the OS when Yes is selected. When a non-PnP OS is installed or to prevent reassigning of interrupt settings, select the default setting of No. IV. BIOS SETUP Plug & Play / PCI 52 Slot 1/Audio IRQ (5) This field sets the IRQ for PCI slot 1 which is shared with the onboard audio. The default setting for this field is 5. Slot 2 IRQ / Slot 3 IRQ (Auto) These fields set how IRQ use is determined for each PCI slot. The default setting for each field is Auto, which uses auto-routing to determine IRQ use. The other options are manual settings of NA, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14 or 15 for each slot. PCI Latency Timer (32 PCI Clock) The default setting of 32 PCI Clock enables maximum PCI performance for this motherboard....
IRQ xx Used By ISA (No/ICU) These fields indicate whether or not the displayed IRQ for each field is being used by a legacy (non-PnP) ISA card. Two options are available: No/ICU and Yes. The first option, the default value, indicates either that the displayed IRQ is not used or an ISA Configuration Utility (ICU) is being used to determine if an ISA card is using that IRQ. If you install a legacy ISA card that requires a unique IRQ, and you are not using an ICU, you must set the field for that IRQ to Yes. For example: If you install a legacy ISA card that requires IRQ 10, then set IRQ10 Used By ISA to Yes. DMA x Used By ISA (No/ICU) These fields indicate whether or not the displayed DMA channel for each field is being used by a legacy (non-PnP) ISA card. Available options include: No/ICU and Yes. The first option, the default setting, indicates either that the displayed DMA channel is not used or an ICU is being used to determine if an ISA card is using that channel. If you install a legacy ISA card that requires a unique DMA channel, and you are not using an ICU, you must set the field for that channel to Yes. ISA MEM Block BASE (No/ICU) This field allows you to set the base address and block size of a legacy ISA card that uses any memory segment within the C800H and DFFFH address range. If you have such a card, and you are not using an ICU to specify its address range, select a base address from the six available options; the ISA MEM Block SIZE field will then appear for selecting the block size. If you have more than one legacy ISA card in your system that requires to use this address range, you can increase the block size to either 8K, 16K, 36K, or 64K. If you are using an ICU to accomplish this task, leave ISA MEM Block BASE to its default setting of No/ICU. Symbios SCSI BIOS (Auto) Auto allows the BIOS to detect whether you have a Symbios SCSI card, if detected the onboard Symbios BIOS will be enabled, if not then it will be disabled. Disabled prevents the onboard Symbios BIOS to be enabled so that the external Symbios SCSI cards own BIOS can be used instead. Note: If your Symbios SCSI card does not have a BIOS, the Symbios SCSI card will not function. USB IRQ (Enabled) Enabled reserves an IRQ# for the USB to work, Disabled does not allow the USB to have an IRQ# and therefore prevents the USB from functioning. If you are not using any USB devices, you may set this feature to Disabled to save an extra IRQ# for expansion cards. VGA BIOS Sequence (PCI/AGP) You can select the search order for your VGA card(s). PCI/AGP will detect PCI VGA cards before AGP, and AGP/PCI will detect AGP cards before PCI VGA.

IV. BIOS SETUP Plug & Play / PCI

Load BIOS Defaults

The Load BIOS Defaults option allows you to load the troubleshooting default values permanently stored in the BIOS ROM. These default settings are non-optimal and disable all high performance features. To load these default settings, highlight Load BIOS Defaults on the main screen and then press <Enter>. The system displays a confirmation message on the screen. Press <Y> and then <Enter> to confirm. Press <N> and then <Enter> to abort. This feature does not affect the fields on the Standard CMOS Setup screen.

Load Setup Defaults

The Load Setup Defaults option allows you to load the default values to the system configuration fields. These default values are the optimized configuration settings for the system. To load these default values, highlight Load Setup Defaults on the main screen and then press <Enter>. The system displays a confirmation message on the screen. Press <Y> and then <Enter> to confirm. Press <N> and then <Enter> to abort. This feature does not affect the fields on the Standard CMOS Setup screen.
IV. BIOS SETUP Load Defaults 54 ASUS MEB-M Users Manual
Supervisor Password and User Password
These two options set the system passwords. Supervisor Password sets a password that will be used to protect the system and the Setup utility; User Password sets a password that will be used exclusively on the system. By default, the system comes without any passwords. To specify a password, highlight the type you want and then press <Enter>. A password prompt appears on the screen. Taking note that the password is case sensitive, and can be up to 8 alphanumeric characters long, type in your password and then press <Enter>. The system confirms your password by asking you to type it again. After setting a password, the screen automatically reverts to the main screen.
To implement password protection, specify in the Security Option field of the BIOS Features Setup screen when the system will prompt for the password. If you want to disable either password, press <Enter> instead of entering a new password when the Enter Password prompt appears. A message confirms the password has been disabled. Forgot the password? If you forgot the password, you can clear the password by erasing the CMOS Real Time Clock (RTC) RAM. The RAM data containing the password information is powered by the onboard button cell battery. To erase the RTC RAM: (1) Unplug your computer, (2) Short the solder points, (3) Turn ON your computer, (4) Hold down <Delete> during bootup and enter BIOS setup to re-enter user preferences.

V. S/W SETUP Windows 98 62
Installing the ESS Audio Driver
Insert the Support CD that came with your motherboard into your CD-ROM drive or double-click the CD drive icon in My Computer to bring up the autorun screen.

1. Click here.

2. Select Search for the best driver for your device and then click here.
3. Browse to E:\AUDIO\W95 (assuming E is your CD-ROM drive) and then click here.

4. Click here.

5. Click here.

V. S/W SETUP Windows 98

Installing AudioRack32

2. Click here.

3. Click here.
4. Click here to start AudioRack32.
Installing the Software Wavetable
3. Select Install ESS Software Wavetable and then click here.

Installing PCCillin

3. Enter your name and company and then click here.
6. Insert a floppy disk and then click here. 5. Click Express Install and then click here.
7. Once the Emergency Clean disk is created, click here. Follow the onscreen instructions to complete installation.
Installing Adobe Acrobat Reader

Installing ASUS PC Probe

Insert the Support CD that came with your motherboard into your CD-ROM drive or double-click the CD drive icon in My Computer to bring up the autorun screen. NOTE: ASUS PC Probe will not run if Intels LDCM utility is installed. To uninstall Intels LDCM utility, see section on Uninstalling Programs.
4. Make any desired setting changes and then click here.

LDCM Local Setup

Insert the Support CD that came with your motherboard into your CD-ROM drive or double-click the CD drive icon in My Computer to bring up the autorun screen. NOTE: LDCM will not run if ASUS PC Probe utility is installed. To uninstall PC Probe, see section on Uninstalling Programs.
5. Select the components you want to install and then click here.

6. Click here.

(Contd)

7. Click here.

8. Click here.
9. Click here. 10. Click here.
11. Click here and then click Finish to restart.

LDCM Administrator Setup

Uninstalling Programs
Add/Remove Programs is a basic component within Windows. You may use this function if a program does not provide its own uninstallation program.
1. Double-click here to open the Add/Remove Programs Properties dialog box.
2. Select the program you wish to remove and click here.

VI. SOFTWARE REFERENCE

VI. S/W REFERENCE AudioRack
AudioRack32... The Command Center... The Miniature Mode.. The Audio Mixer... The Digital Audio Player... The MIDI Player... The Compact Disk Player... The Audio Recorder... Release Notes... ASUS PC Probe... Starting ASUS PC Probe... Using the ASUS PC Probe... Using the ASUS PC Probe... Intel LANDesk Client Manager.. Main Client Manager Window... Using the Taskbar icons.. Using the Select Computer Dialog Box.. To select a computer.. To discover new computers... To refresh PC health... To remove a computer from the list.. To wake up a computer... Displaying the Properties of a Client Computer.. Understanding the Computer Status Icons.. Desktop Management Interface (DMI).. 94 VI. S/W REFERENCE AudioRack 74

The AudioRack32 enables you to take advantage of your computers audio capabilities with all of the controls conveniently in one compact space. You can play audio CDs, wave files (in WAV and.AUD formats), and MIDI files (in.MID and.RMI formats). With the multisource Audio Mixer, you can blend these sources with linein and microphone sources any way you choose. You can then record your creations as wave files and edit them with the Audio Recorder. The AudioRack32 has six main parts: Command Centercustomizes the appearance of the AudioRack32. Audio Mixercontrols the volume and balance of the AudioRack32 devices. Digital Audio Playerplays and records files in the.WAV format. MIDI Playerenables you to play MIDI files. Compact Disk Playerenables you to play audio CDs on a CD-ROM drive. In addition, the AudioRack32 has a miniature mode enabling you to control the AudioRack32 while using minimal screen space. The Audio Recorder is a separate application from the AudioRack32. It can be used to add effects and edit files recorded with the Digital Audio Player or by the Audio Recorder itself. The Audio Recorder can be launched from the AudioRack32s Digital Audio Player or on its own. VI. S/W REFERENCE AudioRack 75

AudioRack32

VI. S/W REFERENCE AudioRack 76

The Command Center

The Command Center controls which parts of the AudioRack32 are displayed. You can display or hide any part of the AudioRack32 you choose, customizing its appearance to suit your needs or desires. It also displays information on the status of the different audio components.
Counters Component Icons (DAT, MIDI, CD)
Transport State Indicators

Track or File Names

Time Indexes
The Command Center Controls
closes the AudioRack32 window. enables the Miniature mode, minimizing the AudioRack32 display. displays/hides the Digital Audio Player. accesses On-line Help. displays/hides the Compact Disk Player. displays/hides the Audio Mixer. displays/hides the MIDI Player.
The Command Center Display
Counter: shows you which track or file in the playlist the component is playing. Component Icon: is displayed when the associated component is shown and is not displayed when the component is hidden. Transport State Indicator: shows the state of a component. It indicates when the component is playing, paused, has the Auto Repeat enabled, or in the case of the Digital Audio Player, is recording. Track or File Name: shows the name of the current track or file in the playlist. Time Index: displays the amount of time elapsed for the track or file in hours, minutes, seconds, and tenths of a second.

By clicking on the image of the floppy drive, you can display the length and name of the current MIDI file in the playlist. Click the display to return to the image of the floppy drive. The MIDI Player has an indicator to show when you are listening to ESFM. When the ESFM light to the left of the playlist button is lit, the MIDI Player is using ESFM synthesis. ESFM performs superior-quality music synthesis compared to that of traditional FM, producing richer timbre and greater depth of instrument voices. FM synthesis is a lower quality technology compared with Wave table synthesis. This card supports Wave table synthesis therefore ESFM is not supported on this card.
If you have a CD-ROM drive, you can play audio CDs. Check your hardware manual about setting up CD audio hardware and drivers. The Compact Disk Player uses intelligent CD playlist management: The Compact Disk Player maintains a record of each CD you play. It remembers the last playlist you used with each CD and loads that playlist automatically whenever you insert that CD. VI. S/W REFERENCE AudioRack 81

The Compact Disk Player

The Compact Disk Player Controls
plays the MIDI file currently loaded. goes back one file in the playlist. activates or deactivates the Pause goes forward one file in the playlist. stops the file currently playing. enables or disables the Auto Repeat. goes back one second in the MIDI file. opens the Set Playlist dialog box. goes forward one second in the MIDI file. ejects the CD from the CD-ROM drive.

The Audio Recorder

The Audio Recorder enables you to record, compress, store, and play back voice, music, and other sound. It provides settings for sound attributes such as mono/stereo, compression level, and sampling rate. You can use it to embed sound objects in documents created in applications that support object linking and embedding (OLE). The Audio Recorders edit, record, and playback capabilities are compatible with the Windows Sound Recorder and other recorders that record and play back in the PCM format. Like the Digital Audio Player, the Audio Recorder can record and play back.WAV and.AUD files. The Audio Recorder allows a choice of compression from low, medium, and high ESPCM and ADPCM. VI. S/W REFERENCE AudioRack 82

(This page was intentionally left blank) VI. S/W REFERENCE AudioRack 84
ASUS PC Probe is a convenient utility to monitor the computer systems vital components: fan rotations, voltages, and temperatures. VI. S/W REFERENCE ASUS PC Probe 85

ASUS PC Probe

Starting ASUS PC Probe
When ASUS PC Probe starts, a splash screen appears allowing you to Show Monitor or Hide. You can select whether you want the splash screen to show the next time it opens.
Click ASUS PC Probe from the Start button to run the utility if you exit the utility or did not set it to Run when Windows Starts.
will appear on the taskbars system tray indicating The PC Probe icon that ASUS PC Probe is running. Left-clicking the icon will allow you to see your PC status.

Using the ASUS PC Probe

Fan Rotation Status
Analog view of PCs fan rotation Digital view of PCs fan rotation PCs Fan warning threshold adjustment
VI. S/W REFERENCE ASUS PC Probe 86

PC Temperature Status

Temperature Warning threshold adjustment Analog view of PCs temperature Digital view of PCs temperature Digital view of PCs temperature warning threshold

PC Voltage Status

Upper warning threshold adjustment Analog view of PCs voltages Lower warning threshold adjustment Digital view of PCs voltages Digital view of PCs voltage warning thresholds

PC Status Summary

PCs Fan Rotations per minute
PCs Temperature C/F PCs Voltages

PC Probe System Info.

VI. S/W REFERENCE ASUS PC Probe 87
Get information on your mainboard and BIOS from this screen.

PC Probe Settings

Change PC Probe refresh times here Click here to start PC Probe each time you enter Windows. Click the items you wish to reset to its default values and click this button.

PC Probe Task Bar Icon

Right clicking the PC Probe icon will bring up a menu to turn on, off, or exit ASUS PC Probe.
The icon appears dimmed when off or unavailable.
When there is a problem, the icons head mirror flashes red, the PC speaker beeps, and the ASUS PC Probe monitor is displayed.
Intel LANDesk Client Manager
With the growth of the computer industry, computer systems have become more complex and difficult to manage. Intel LANDesk Client Manager is a computer management application that simplifies many aspects of managing a computer and assists in troubleshooting common computer problems. Use Client Manager to: Review system inventory View DMI-compliant component information Backup and restore system files Troubleshoot Monitor your computers health Receive notifications for system events VI. S/W REFERENCE Intel LDCM 88
Client Manager has been implemented in two different ways: The client version enables you to view information and manage alerts for a local computer. This version does not permit you to select remote computers, transfer files, or reboot other computers. The first time you run Client Manager, it seraches your network for other computers running Client Manager. Client Manager creates a list of the computers it finds and saves the list to the Windows registry. From this point on, when you run Client Manager or open the Select Computer dialog box, Client Manager checks to see if these computers (listed in the registry) are available and healthy.

When you open the Select Computer dialog box, each computer in the list displays an icon indicating the cureent status of that computer. The table below describes the seven states a computer may be in. Unavailable Wakeable Wake Pending The computer is currently in a powered-down state. The computer is currently in a powered-down state but supports Remote Wakeup technology. A temporary status (not to exceed five minutes) while Client Manager attempts to wake up a computer. (A computer that is in the process of booting without having received a wakeup instruction is listed as Unavailable, not Wake Pending.) The computer is operating within normal tolerances. A computer that has exceeded a warning tolerance level. For example, the PC Health indicator can be configured to display a warning icon if a hard disk is running low on space. A computer that has exceeded a creitical tolerance level. For example, if the hard disk is running critically low on available space, the PC Health indicator displays a critical icon. A computer that is powered on, bu the health status (Normal, Warning, or Critical) is not known. VI. S/W REFERENCE Intel LDCM 93
Understanding the Computer Status Icons

Normal Warning

Critical

Unknown

Normal (Mobile) A computer that includes support for mobile PC features, such as mobile battery. Mobile computers display the same array of health icons (above) used for non-mobile computers.
Desktop Management Interface (DMI)
Introducing the ASUS DMI Configuration Utility
This motherboard supports DMI within the BIOS level and provides a DMI Configuration Utility to maintain the Management Information Format Database (MIFD). DMI is able to auto-detect and record information pertinent to a computers system such as the CPU type, CPU speed, and internal/external frequencies, and memory size. The onboard BIOS will detect as many system information as possible and store those collected information in a 4KB block in the motherboards Flash EPROM and allow the DMI to retrieve data from this database. Unlike other BIOS software, the BIOS on this motherboard uses the same technology implemented for Plug and Play to allow dynamic real-time updating of DMI information versus creating a new BIOS image file and requiring the user to update the whole BIOS. This DMI Configuration Utility also allows the system integrator or end user to add additional information into the MIFD such as serial numbers, housing configurations, and vendor information. Those information not detected by the motherboard BIOS and has to be manually entered through the DMI Configuration Utility and updated into the MIFD. This DMI Configuration Utility provides the same reliability as PnP updating and will prevent the refreshing failures associated with updating the entire BIOS. VI. S/W REFERENCE DMI Utility 94
Starting the ASUS DMI Configuration Utility
The DMI Configuration Utility (DMICFG2.EXE) must be used in real mode in order for the program to run, the base memory must be at least 180K. Memory managers like HIMEM.SYS (required by windows) must not be installed. You can boot up from a system diskette without AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files, REM HIMEM.SYS in the CONFIG.SYS, or press <Shift>+<F5> during bootup to bypass your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files. 1. In Windows, copy DMICFG.EXE to your hard disk drive. 2. Restart your computer and press <Shift>+<F5> during bootup to enter safe mode command prompt. 3. Go to the directory containing DMICFG.EXE. 4. Type DMICFG and press <Enter> to run.

NOTE: The following screen displays are provided as examples only and may not reflect the screen contents on your system. Edit DMI (or delete) VI. S/W REFERENCE DMI Utility 95
Using the ASUS DMI Configuration Utility
Use the (left-right) cursors to move the top menu items and the (up-down) cursor to move between the left hand menu items. The bottom of the screen will show the available keys for each screen. Press enter at the menu item to enter the right hand screen for editing. Edit component appears on top. The reversed color field is the current cursor position and the blue text are available for editing. The orange text shows auto-detected information and are not available for editing. The blue text Press [ENTER] for detail contains a second pop-up menu is available, use the + - (plus-minus) keys to change the settings. Enter to exit and save, ESC to exit and not save. If the user has made changes, ESC will prompt you to answer Y or N. Enter Y to go back to the left-hand screen and save, enter N to go back to left-hand screen and not save. If editing has not been made, ESC will send you back to the left hand menu without any messages.
A heading, *** BIOS Auto Detect ***, appears on the right for each menu item on the left side that has been auto detected by the system BIOS. A heading, *** User Modified ***, will appear on the right for menu items that have been modified by the user.
Save MIFD VI. S/W REFERENCE DMI Utility 96
You can save the MIFD (normally only saved to flash ROM) to a file by entering the drive and path here. If you want to cancel save, you may press ESC and a message Bad File Name appears here to show it was not saved. Load MIFD
You can load the disk file to memory by entering a drive and path and file name here. Load BIOS Defaults
You can load the BIOS defaults from a MIFD file and can clear all user modified and added data. You must reboot your computer in order for the defaults to be saved back into the Flash BIOS.