============================================= Information for Phoenix BIOS on EKF CD1-OPERA ============================================= Howtos, Tips and Hints: ----------------------- * How to reset CMOS when it is not possible to enter BIOS Setup: If the BIOS is configured in such a way, that it is not possible anymore to enter Setup (F2 key) and to reset CMOS (F9 key), there exist now two further options to completely reset CMOS to factory defaults: 1. CTL-ALT-F9 Press CTL-ALT-F9 during POST. Timeframe to do this: Keyboard LED 'NUM' goes on until boot starts. If no keyboard is available, or BIOS setup is in a state, that no keyboard is enabled, use the following option to reset CMOS: 2. Reset-in-Series option Step A: Restart board either by pressing reset button in front panel, by making a Power-Off-ON sequence, by pressing CTL-ALT-DEL or whatever ... Step B: Now press Reset-Button (*1) again during the timeframe when green LED 'GP' in front panel goes on (this is normally immediately after reset) and BEFORE this LED is switched off for the first time. Repeat step B exactly two (2) times (*2), i.e. step B must be executed three times in series after any reset. Now wait until the BIOS prompts you to enter Setup ... Note *1: Instead of pressing reset button, a Power-Off-ON sequence can be made similarly. It should be noted that this requires a full battery. Note *2: The counter, which is used for this option, is cleared when LED 'GP' goes off the first time during POST. If you want to reset CMOS and if reset button is pressed to late (i.e. LED GP is off again), restart with step 2A. With both options the BIOS loads - after next reset - factory defaults into CMOS. * How to reset ESCD when it is not possible to enter BIOS Setup: Press SHIFT-ALT-F9 during POST. The allowed timeframe for this: keyboard LED 'NUM' goes on until boot starts. The system restarts immediately after SHIFT-ALT-F9 and ESCD (Extended System Configuration Data) will be reset. * The fastest boottime is achieved by selecting the following Setup options: Setup (F2) -> Advanced -> ATA/IDE Configuration -> Hard Disk Pre-Delay -> Disabled Setup (F2) -> Advanced -> BIOS/POST Options -> Summary Screen -> Disabled Setup (F2) -> Advanced -> Memory Configuration -> Post Extended Memory Test -> Mode 4 * Win2k cannot be installed from an USB2.0 device (e.g. CDROM) if boot from USB2.0 is enabled in BIOS setup. This is a problem of Win2k. To allow installation of such a device set BIOS option -> Setup (F2) -> Advanced -> USB Configuration -> 'Boot from USB 2.0 Devs in HS Mode' to disabled. Note that this is not necessary under WinXP. * Do NOT press Reset button (or do NOT make a system power off) when BIOS updates Flash tables for ESCD and custom setup data. This short period of time (~2s) is signalled by a yellow warning message. LEDs in front panel of EKF CD1-OPERA: ------------------------------------- * Green diagnostic LED (undermost, left): Information is valid for EKF CD1 Phoenix BIOS since Build #030. - Green LED is always off during Reset - Green LED is switched on immediately when BIOS/POST starts. This indicates that correct program code is loaded from the FWH (FWH = Flash device with BIOS code). In other words, if the LED is still off after reset, this indicates ... a) the CPU is not able to load program code from the FWH (hardware fault) b) bad program code is read from FWH (i.e. FWH is unprogrammed or programmed with wrong data) - Green LED is switched off immediately after Video BIOS initialization. - Green LED is switched on again if Memory has been tested - Green Led is switched off again just before the BIOS starts the operating system. If this fails, the LED remains off. * Yellow diagnostic LED (middle): Information is valid for EKF CD1 Phoenix BIOS since Build #030. - Yellow LED is switched on DURING Video BIOS initialization * Red diagnostic LED (right): Information is valid for EKF CD1 Phoenix BIOS since Build #040. - Red LED is switched on if BIOS detects illegal values in any RTC register for date and time. Red LED mode can be controlled with the following BIOS option: Setup (F2): Advanced -> POST/BIOS Options -> Select mode of red LED in FP - For CD1 Phoenix BIOS since Build #108 red LED in front panel shows error codes additionally to error beeps. For a list of error codes see chapter 'Error Codes ...'. Error codes with Phoenix BIOS on EKF CD1-OPERA: ----------------------------------------------- Errors, which occur during POST (Phoenix BIOS) on EKF CD1-OPERA, are issued either as error codes (beeps and LED-Flash) or are shown as complete error messages on an attached monitor. If the CPU, the memory and a graphics device is already successfully initialized, the BIOS shows most errors as red error messages on an attached monitor. The display of these error messages is escorted by two short beeps to inform the user to have a look on the display. Error messages are shown for five seconds by default (can be changed per BIOS setup) before POST continues. If the BIOS is not (yet) able to show error messages on an attached monitor, it instead issues the error code as beeps on the speaker and additionally as flashes on red LED in front panel of EKF CD1-OPERA. BIOS error codes always have a size of 8 bits (one exception see bottom of this docu) and are broken down into four 2-bit groups. Each 2-bit group is made one-based, i.e. 00 -> one beep/flash 01 -> two beeps/flashes 10 -> three beeps/flashes 11 -> four beeps/flashes Here an example for error code 28h (28h means "Memory error"): 28h (hex) = 00101000 (binary) The four 2-bit groups are 00, 10, 10, 00 (from left to right) and can be heard/seen as 1 beep/flash (00), short pause 3 beeps/flashes (10), short pause 3 beeps/flashes (10), short pause 1 beep/flash (00), pause of approximately 7 seconds. After this pause the issue of the error code is repeated. The following table shows the possible error codes on EKF CD1-OPERA: Error Code | Beeps/Flashes | Description -----------+---------------+------------------------------------------------------------------ 16h | 1 - 2 - 2 - 3 | Phoenix BIOS checksum failed 20h | 1 - 3 - 1 - 1 | DRAM refresh failed 22h | 1 - 3 - 1 - 3 | Test of 8742 keyboard controller failed 28h | 1 - 3 - 3 - 1 | Memory error. 29h | 1 - 3 - 3 - 2 | Initialization of POST Memory Manager failed 2Ch | 1 - 3 - 4 - 1 | SDRAM address line error 34h | 1 - 4 - 2 - 1 | CMOS test failed 3Ah | 1 - 4 - 3 - 3 | Autosizing of cache failed 44h | 2 - 1 - 2 - 1 | Verification of BIOS Copyright message failed 58h | 2 - 2 - 3 - 1 | Unexpected interrupt occurred 90h | 3 - 2 - 1 - 1 | Multiboot allocation error C0h | 4 - 1 - 1 - 1 | Boot failed (INT 19h), A20 gate not disabled DFh | 4 - 2 - 4 - 4 | Keyboard controller error, A20 gate not enabled -----------+---------------+------------------------------------------------------------------ For historical reasons (IBM BIOS) there exists one additional error code, which does not fit in the table above: One long beep/LED-ON followed by two short beeps/flashes. This error code signals two things: 1. No graphics device or a graphics device without a Video-BIOS detected. If this error code occurs, there is normally nothing to see on the attached display. On EKF CD1-OPERA this error could be provoked if someone disables the internal/on-board graphics device (IGD, Intel 845GV) in the BIOS and at the same time no other graphics board on CompactPCI (e.g. EKF CV1-AMBIENT) is installed. 2. A ROM checksum error. This means an Expansion ROM is detected on a CompactPCI board and the checksum of that Expansion BIOS is bad. For any further questions contact EKF at: Email : support@ekf.de Internet : www.ekf.de or www.ekf.com 2006-06-01 EKF/cr