The specific motherboard revisions are:
FIC VA 503+ v1.0 through 1.2A
FIC PA 2013 v1.0 through 2.0

The revision number of the motherboard is located at the left rear corner, near the last ISA slot. Only the number is shown (ie. #.# rather than Rev#.#).

SECTION ONE: JUMPER SETUP

The AT format power supply provides two flat-panel connectors with red, yellow and black wiring. These attach side-by-side, lengthwise, to the power connection.

*WARNING: when using AT power, the black wires go toward the centre, where the two connectors abut one another.*

The ATX format provides a keyed slot. The clip on the cable plug locks over the tab on the motherboard socket.

*MOTHERBOARD ERROR: on some early VA 503+ v1.2, the silkscreened AT/ATX labels are reversed.*
*MANUAL ERROR: in early VA 503+ manuals, the description regarding which wires go towards centre is incorrect.*

1.2 SYSTEM CLOCK - CLK1 CLK2 CLK3

The clock chip provides the timing signals for all devices. The system clock frequency - sometimes referred to as Front Side Bus (FSB), is set with the CLK1/2/3 jumpers. Each system clock speed has a Clk1/2/3 setting with corresponding fixed PCI and AGP Bus frequencies. The CPU speed is determined by combining the system frequency with a multiplier. These issues will be discussed in sections 1.3, 1.4 and 1.5.

*MANUAL ERROR: early VA 503+ motherboards using the W48S87-27A clock chip have additional clock settings not documented.*

*WARNING: It is possible to set a baseline clock speed that will result in some devices running at speeds faster than spec. Some devices may not be compatible with the faster speed.*

1.3 CPU MULTIPLIER - FREQ1, FREQ2, FREQ3

The CPU speed is determined by multiplying the system clock speed (see section 1.2). The multiplier is set with the FREQ1/2/3 jumpers but specific settings may result in different multipliers than what is marked on the motherboard, depending upon the specific CPU. With 3 signal lines, there are 8 possible settings and a given processor may or may not allow the use of all of them. For example, one processor may interpret the setting as a 1.5x multiplier, while another may interpret it as 3.5x

Refer to the motherboard manuals regarding the multipliers set by various jumper settings. The range will fall between 2x and 6x the system clock setting.

*NOTE: Since the CPU multiplier settings vary dependent on the CPU in use, it is entirely possible for a particular model of CPU to interpret the multiplier settings differently than what is documented for the motherboard.

Always consult the documentation for the specific processor being used*

*WARNING: it is possible to set multiplier such that the CPU runs at a speed faster than spec. This may result in system instability due to overheating or may damage the CPU. Ensure adequate cooling!*
*ADVICE: use heatsink compound (a white paste available from electronics parts stores), a good-sized (1/2" or taller) heatsink and a high-quality ball-bearing fan.*

1.4 PCI/AGP FREQUENCY - VA 503+: SDRAM2, SDRAM3 PA 2013: NBCLK1, NBCLK2

The AGP bus contains a single, unique 32-bit card slot for video cards; the PCI bus contains a series of card slots for other peripheral devices.

The AGP slot can be differentiated from the PCI slots by it's location, and usually by color. The AGP slot is usually brown, while the PCI slots are usually white. In addition, the AGP slot is set back farther from the back edge of the motherboard and appears slightly smaller.

There is another set of slots, the ISA bus, designed for 16-bit 'legacy' cards. They are located furthest from the CPU , are longer than the PCI and AGP slots and are black in color. There are three ISA slots on the VA 503+ and two on the PA 2013; three PCI on the VA 503+ and four on the PA2013; and a single AGP on either.

SDRAM2/3 inform the VT82C598 which PCI Bus ratio is in use: sync /2 or /3 or pseudo-sync /2.5. The chip reads these jumpers at system Reset on HA27-26. The SDRAM2/3 settings are determined by the CLK1/2/3 jumper settings.

*NOTE: As of this writing, all PCI devices manufactured for the PC platform are designed to run at 33.3MHz.*
*WARNING: It is possible for the PCI and AGP buses to run at speeds faster than spec. This may cause system instability or damage to peripherals.*
*MOTHERBOARD ERROR: On the VA 503+, a /2.5 divisor is indicated. It is not functional: the clock will never output a PCI signal that is /2.5 the baseline system speed.*

1.5 DRAM SPEED - CLK4, SDRAM1

PC-100 Certified memory is expected to run at the baseline clock speeds, up to 112MHz. Non-certified PC-100 memory is expected to run at system clock speeds up to 100MHz and may work at higher speeds.

SDRAM (non-PC-100) memory is expected to run at AGP bus speeds, and may work at speeds up to 90MHz. Antique EDO and FPM memory is expected to run at AGP bus speeds.

CLK4 sets the frequency used for the SDRAM clocks (all 12 of them, 4 per DIMM on the PA-2013 and 4 unused on the VA-503+), while SDRAM1 tells the VT82C598 chip which frequency to use for the timing of memory bus signals (FSB or AGP) and is read by the chip at System Reset on HA25. Note that since EDO/FPM memory is not "synchronous" CLK4 has no effect on it.

*WARNING: The CLK4 and SDRAM1 jumpers must be set at opposites: when one is at 1-2, the other must be at 2-3.*

*MANUAL ERROR: Some manuals have the jumpering for CLK4 reversed. The above chart shows the correct jumpering.*
*WARNING: It is possible to set DRAM speed faster than the memory's functioning range. This may result in damage to the memory.*
*ADVICE: When the baseline clock is set to 100MHz or faster and you are using lower-quality (non-certified PC- 100 memory or older memory), use the AGP speed setting. When the baseline clock is set to 83MHz or slower, use the baseline setting. In between those speeds, it's a crapshoot.*

1.6 CPU CORE VOLTAGE - VR

The CPU uses two voltages. The system voltage is used when it exchanges data with other devices. The internal (or core) voltage is used within the CPU as it does its calculations.

The system voltage is set at 3.3v and can not be changed.

Core voltage can be set in 0.1v increments. For motherboards with four pair of jumpers, the voltage ranges from 2.0-3.5v. For motherboards with five pair of jumpers, the range is 1.8-3.5v. Consult the motherboard manual for details.

*WARNING: It is possible to set the voltage at a level higher than the CPU is rated for. This may allow previously unstable CPU speeds to become stable. Running the CPU at a higher voltage will cause it to generate more heat. This may result in system instability or damage to the CPU. Ensure adequate cooling!*
*ADVICE: use heatsink compound (a white paste available from electronics parts stores), a good-sized (1/2" or taller) heatsink and a high-quality ball-bearing fan.*

1.7 CYRIX/IBM TOGGLE - SRAM

These CPUs "burst" data to memory in a different fashion than Intel and AMD CPUs. Without this jumper set the Cyrix/IBM CPUs must run in "1+4" mode which means an extra memory access for every burst sequence. This jumper must be set to get optimal performance from a Cyrix CPU.

You should also set "Linear Burst Mode" to "ON" in the BIOS. See Section Three for details.

For AMD and Intel CPUs, this jumper must NOT be set.

1.8 CLEAR PASSWORD - CPW

If you enabled the BIOS password functions, or if you have buggered up a BIOS update, you will need to jumper the CPW pins.

Otherwise, leave them unconnected and untouched.

SECTION TWO: OVERCLOCKING

2.1 OVERVIEW

As noted in the jumper warnings, it is possible to create a system in which various components are being run faster than is specified by the manufacturer. This is known as "overclocking" and results in a faster system while at the same time introducing the possibility of system instability or damage.

Overclocking does, of course, void all guarantees and warranties. You must weight the costs, risks and benefits for yourself.

2.2 CPU VS SYSTEM

Imagine the CPU to be a Lamborghini. It can do 450MPH. Whiplash when you accelerate.

Imagine the system bus to be an old logging access road. You can't do more than 8MPH on it. And even then, it's really no place for your sports car.

When overclocking, aim to strike a balance between maximum CPU speed and maximum bus speed. A 30MHz gain in CPU speed may not be as important as a 10MHz gain in system speed.

The only way to tell is to run tests at different combinations of settings.

2.3 REALITY VS STATISTICS

Ultimately, the only real test that matters is whether *you* can detect a difference, not whether some piece of software claims it can.

*ADVICE: when you can't detect a difference, go for the least overclocked settings. This minimizes the risks of system instability or component damage.*

2.4 RAMPING UP

The key to quick success is to make one change at a time. Change only one of your CPU speed, PCI/AGP bus speed, DRAM speed or voltage settings, while keeping all the others constant. When trouble arises, you'll know exactly what the cause is.

Remember: changing the baseline system speed changes three other speeds simultaneously. Do your best to bring two of the three speeds back to their original value, so that only one speed is changed.

*ADVICE: start by seeing how fast you can get your CPU to go, while holding PCI/AGP and DRAM speed at spec values (33MHz/66MHz and 66 or 100MHz, repectively). When you have confirmed what speeds it performs reliably at, begin at the lowest setting and adjust PCI/AGP speeds upward while attempting to keep the CPU at the lowest settings. When you have confirmed what PCI/AGP speeds are stable, adjust the DRAM speed.*

2.5 TROUBLE-SHOOTING

Try to isolate the component that is causing the problem.

Remove all the devices that are not essential to starting your computer (ie. soundcard, CDROM). If the problem goes away, start replacing them. With any luck, it will become obvious which is the cause of the problem.

If the problem involves one of the components that is essential to booting the system, set your BIOS to use minimal settings. For hard drives, disable UDMA and set the PIO mode to 3.

If this solves the problem (ie. you are now able to boot completely), you will have to decide whether the overclocked settings make up for the decreased hard drive performance.

If the problem still exists, perhaps your memory is unstable. Adjust the DRAM speed setting to 66MHz or slower.

If still you do not have a stable system, perhaps the CPU is unhappy with the overclocked speed. Make sure you have excellent cooling -- a quality fan, heatsink and heatsink compound. Perhaps try increasing the voltage a fraction.

There are BIOS setting tweaks that may make a difference in performance or stability. See section three for details.

2.6 CPU ADVICE

You can use most old non-MMX Pentium-Class CPUs in these motherboards. Some antique Pentium CPUs require 5v power, but it would be foolish to use a Pentium-90 on such a good motherboard. Any relatively modern Pentium CPU will work at the 3.3v or lower core voltage setting.

Cyrix/IBM CPUs tend to be less capable of overclocking, especially the older 0.35 micron variety. They tend to run very hot, and require a superlative cooling system. Finally, you must set the SRAM jumper and enable "Linear Burst" mode in BIOS.

AMD CPUs tend to be capable of overclocking. The newer (K6-266 and beyond) CPUs use a 0.25 or lower micron process; as a result, they run cooler than the older (K6- 233 and lower) CPUs that use the larger 0.35 micron process.

AMD CPUs running at 350MHz or faster speeds will require that Microsoft Windows be patched. Windows contains an error that causes it to crash at the higher speeds. See details in Section Four.

AMD CPUs may benefit from slightly increased power when attempting overclocking. This will, however, increase operating temperatures and will require an effective cooling system.

Intel CPUs come in a gazillion forms. Overclockability can be guaranteed for some... and absolutely impossible for others. It is a complex crapshoot, and you need to find a model/revision number chart in order to load the dice in your favour when purchasing.

2.7 MEMORY ADVICE

Memory has evolved over the years. These motherboards can use the oldest-style FPM memory; the slightly newer EDO memory; the reasonably recent SDRAM memory, or the latest PC-100 SDRAM memory.

There are two module formats for memory: Single In-line Memory Module (SIMM) and Dual In-line Memory Module (DIMM). SIMMs have 72 contact pins; DIMMs are larger and have 168 contact pins.

Although the newer memories are faster than the older ones, different speed ratings are possible within a category and are indicated in nanoseconds (ns). Due to the differences in operation between synchronous (SDRAM) and asynchronous (FPM and EDO) memory the speeds are determined differently. Both FPM and EDO memory speeds include the amount of time necessary for all internal operations, while SDRAM memory speed measures only the 'read cycle time', or the amount of time necessary to output the data once all the internal 'setup' operations have completed.

Fast Page Mode (FPM) - FPM was introduced to the PC marketplace in the mid-1980s and were widely used on 486 class systems as well as the first Pentium based systems. Most FPM chips will be marked as either 60ns or 70ns, though some slower ones may still be in use. They will generally work at 75MHz memory bus speeds and the faster 60ns memory may work at 83MHz speeds.

Extended Data Out (EDO) - EDO was introduced in the early 1990s, and was the most commonly used memory for Pentium systems until the end of 1997.

Most EDO chips are rated as 60ns, though some manufacturers released 50ns and 45ns chips. If rated at 50ns or lower, 100MHz memory bus speeds may be possible though the performance will be slightly less than SDRAM at the same speed due to differences in operation.

Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) - SDRAM was introduced in 1997 as an alternative to EDO. It provided improved performance through synchronous operation and burst mode. Speeds for SDRAM are 15ns and faster (lower numbers are faster). There is no direct comparison between SDRAM and FPM/EDO speeds, however a 10ns SDRAM is roughly equivalent in speed to a 55ns EDO DRAM. Because of this difference, SDRAM originally was marketed using a MHz rating (i.e., 66MHz, 83MHz, etc.) so that modules could be matched more easily with the bus speeds it would be running under. Unfortunately, this did not catch on, which as helped to create much confusion in the marketplace for choosing the appropriate SDRAM modules.

The MHz rating of an SDRAM chip can be determined by dividing one billion by the speed of the SDRAM in nanoseconds (one billion nanoseconds equals one second). The resulting number is the rated speed in MHz. Due to various issues, an SDRAM module is generally rated one speed grade slower than the chips are rated for. For example, a module with 10ns (100MHz) SDRAM chips would be rated as an 83MHz module. This does not mean that the module will not operate on a 100MHz memory bus, but that reliable operation at that speed cannot be guaranteed.

Due to implementation differences (and therefore problems) with the original SDRAM specification, Intel developed the PC-100 spec which identified specific timings for chips and modules to operate on a 100MHz memory bus. These include an 8ns read cycle time and 6ns access time along with a number of other timings. PC-100 memory modules may be certified or non-certified. The latter has a "PC-100" sticker, while the former includes the timing specs for the memory, reading "PC-100 xxx nn". The Intel website lists Intel-approved memory modules and their manufacturers. See the URL listing for details.

FPM chips required a 5v input, while EDO could accept either a 5v or 3.3v input. SDRAM chips all require 3.3v input. The VA 503+ can use the older 5v or 3.3v SIMM memory modules or the newer 3.3v DIMM modules. FIC does not recommend mixing SIMM and DIMMs

SIMMs must be installed in pairs, while DIMMs are installed singlely. A pair of SIMM sockets is a "bank"; a single DIMM socket is also a "bank." As indicated in the manual, bank 1 can not be used before bank 0 has been filled.

The VA 503+ accepts combinations of 4Mb to 128Mb SIMMs and combinations of 8Mb to 256Mb DIMMs, to a total of 512Mb of memory.

*WARNING: Do not mix voltages. While you can use 5v SIMMs and DIMMs simulataneously, you can not use them in the same bank (some of the bank numbers are shared between SIMMs and DIMMs).*

The PA 2013 has three DIMM sockets. It can accept combinations of 8Mb to 256Mb modules, to a total of 768Mb. These must be 3.3v DIMM memory modules. These are available in the older EDO modules, and the newer SDRAM and PC-100 modules.

SECTION THREE: BIOS SETTINGS

3.1 OVERVIEW

Before your operating system can start, the motherboard has to know how to talk to the CPU, memory, hard drive and other peripherals. In essence, the motherboard has a little operating system of its own. This is the "Basic Input Output System," or BIOS.

If you press the DEL key while powering up, the BIOS settings screen will be displayed (provided, of course, that the CPU, memory and video card are all happy with the clock settings you have chosen; if not, you'd best do some re-jumpering!).

Through this interface you can adjust such things as whether the CPU will use its extremely fast, extremely tiny internal memory; how quickly the main memory can be accessed; whether the hard drive will use advanced features; and so on.

The BIOS is a scary place. There is a jumper on the motherboard to reset the BIOS to safe defaults if all goes to hell. Consult the motherboard manual for details.

Make one change at a time. That way, you'll know what causes problems and how to fix it.

3.2 CPU

Under BIOS features, ensure that CPU INTERNAL CACHE and EXTERNAL CACHE are both enabled, always. Disabling them will turn your system into an antique 486-class machine.

Under CHIPSET features, ensure that CPU PIPELINE is enabled, always. Disabling it will handicap your system. If using a Cyrix/IBM CPU, it is best to have LINEAR BURST MODE enabled (coupled with the SRAM Jumper being set; see section 1.6).

3.3 HARD DRIVE

There are four settings for hard drives: Primary or Secondary channel, in either Master or Slave mode. Drives 0 and 1 are on the primary channel; drives 2 and 3 are on the secondary channel.

It is recommended that you place slower drives (ie. your CDROM) on the secondary channel. Attempt to keep your fastest, main drive on the primary channel, on its own.

If you are forced to place two drives on one channel, you must jumper them to have one as master and the other as slave. Place the faster drive as master. The jumpers will be on the drives themselves; you will need to consult the drive documentation for instructions.

If you have a Java-enabled browser, you may find the information you need at: http://www.ontrack.com/hc/sc_1/sc_1.asp

Newer-model drives will register themselves with the BIOS. Go to the STANDARD CMOS page and set the drive type to AUTO and the mode to LBA. Unused drives should be set to NONE. Don't bother with the IDE AUTO DETECTION feature; it's obsolete.

Under STANDARD FEATURES, you should see your hard drive correctly listed.

*WARNING: changing the MODE after-the-fact will destroy data!*

Under BIOS FEATURES, you may wish VIRUS WARNING to be enabled. This will, however, pop up an alert if you then attempt to install an operating system, Partition Magic or some other forms of software. You can always turn it back off if it becomes too annoying (just be sure that what's annoying you isn't really a virus, first!)

Still under BIOS FEATURES, you may wish to alter the BOOT SEQUENCE to list the C drive first.

Under CHIPSET FEATURES, the default settings are sensible settings. With some extreme overclocking it may be necessary to throttle back the IDE PRI/SEC MASTER/SLAVE PIO settings to mode 3 or more 2.

Under POWER MANAGEMENT you may wish to adjust the settings. Consult the manual for details. You may discover that Windows doesn't enjoy having the hard drive power down on its own.

Under PCI CONFIGURATION the defaults are sensible. With some extreme overclocking it may be necessary to disable IDE PRI/SEC MASTER/SLAVE UDMA settings.

3.4 PCI BUS SETTINGS

Under PCI CONFIGURATION the default settings are sensibly defaulted. With some extreme overclocking it may be necessary to experiment with toggling the settings.

Under PNP CONFIGURATION you should set PNP OS INSTALLED to yes if you are using Windows95/98; otherwise set it to no. The default IRQ SEQUENCE is good. There is a good chance that your video card will require ASSIGN IRQ FOR VGA to be enabled.

If you have any non-PNP devices -- such as old ISA or PCI network or soundcards -- you will need to set RESOURCES CONTROLLED BY to manual, and then individually pick out those IRQs and DMAs that those devices will require, by setting them to legacy ISA mode; leave all the others to PCI/ISA PnP mode.

If you run out of IRQs or DMAs, you are probably out of luck. If the cards are PCI PnP cards, you may be able to enable Windows95 "IRQ Steering." See section four.

It may pay to enable the RESET CONFIGURATION DATA entry whenever you modify this page. This will ensure that the CMOS has the new entries, and not entries that Windows may have inserted. Windows will recognize that there has been a change, and update itself accordingly.

There is documentation available on the Internet that will explain a lot of the mysteries of PCI configuration.

3.5 MEMORY SETTINGS

There is near-infinite tweaking possible here. Fiddling them can be a hassle. However, such is required for maximum system performance, particularly when overclocking.

On the CHIPSET FEATURES page, you may enable the SYSTEM BIOS CACHEABLE for slow-speed (sub-200MHz) systems; otherwise, it should probably be disabled.

The SUSTAINED 3T WRITE enables or disables cache write- through (vs. write-back) mode. This is a trade-off situation, as disabling it halves your cacheable memory. This is not a concern if you have less than 64Mb of memory.

*MANUAL ERROR: FIC tends to claim cacheable memory is 128Mb, 256Mb or some other even number. In fact, the cacheable memory is 1Mb less than that. As a result, if you were to have 64Mb of main memory and a motherboard claim of caching 128Mb (reality: 127Mb), write-through mode would cache all 64Mb (with 63Mb to spare) but write-back would cache only 63Mb of it.*
*ADVICE: the Cyrix CPUs benefit immensely when used in write-back mode. AMD and Intel CPUs benefit very little. If using less than 128Mb of memory, disable the SUSTAINED 3T WRITE; if using exactly 128Mb of memory, you will have to run tests to discover which trade-off pays better; with more than 128Mb, AMD and Intel CPUs should have SUSTAINED 3T WRITE enabled, while you'll again have to perform some testing to discover which trade- off benefits the Cyrix CPU more.*

Disabling the SUSTAINED 3T WRITE may be worthwhile. Note that this will halve the maximum cacheable main memory on your system.

On the same page, DRAM TIMING CONTROL may be capable of being tweaked to turbo setting, or may need to be set back to normal for extreme overclocking. SDRAM CYCLE LENGTH, if using SDRAM memory, can be set to 2 if you have high-quality memory (ie. Intel-certified).

As for SDRAM BANK INTERLEAVE, applicable only when SDRAM DIMMs are installed, you may fiddle the numbers; 2 may work for 16-chip 32MB panels while 4 may work with 8- chip 64MB panels. All you can do is try.

There are other settings, and tweaking maximum performance is an artform. Experiment; the tweaked settings are used after the BIOS is up and running, so you will always be able to break into setup mode.

*NOTE: for Cyrix/IBM CPUs, enable LINEAR BURST MODE and set the SRAM jumper (see section 1.6).*

3.6 VIDEO SETTINGS

Under BIOS features you may wish to enable PCI/VGA PALETTE SNOOP. (?????)

Under CHIPSET features you may need to disable the WRITE CACHE PIPELINE or CACHE PIPELINE setting, and perhaps the READ AROUND WRITE setting, if you are having difficulty getting bus mastering to work (see section 4.8).

Don't enable the AGP MODE 2X setting unless you are actually going to use it.

Under PCI CONFIGURATION, there is a good chance that your video card will require ASSIGN IRQ FOR VGA be enabled.

3.7 USB PORT SETTINGS

If you plan on installing Win98, save yourself endless grief by going to CHIPSET FEATURES and enabling ONCHIP USB and, if appropriate, BIOS SUPPORT USB KEYBOARD.

If you do not have USB devices attached, disable the ONCHIP USB support.

3.8 SERIAL PORT SETTINGS

If you are using a modem that is not PnP and uses COM1 or COM2 ports, go to the CHIPSET FEATURES and disable the corresponding on-board serial port. You can't have two COM1 or two COM2 ports!

If it is not PnP and uses another port setting, remember to go to the PCI CONFIGURATION page and set the corresponding IRQ to legacy ISA mode.

If it is PnP, Windows95/98 will probably find a suitable setting for it. This may require you to enable "IRQ Steering"; see section four.

3.9 PARALLEL PORT SETTINGS

On the CHIPSET FEATURES page, the ONBOARD PARALLEL PORT setting is defaulted sensibly, but you may need to modify ONBOARD PARALLEL MODE to match whatever mode your printer manual gives (SPP, EPP/SPP, ECP or ECP/EPP).

If you are using MANUAL mode in the PCI CONFIGURATION page and you are using ECP mode for the parallel port, you may need to ensure that there is no conflicting legacy ISA DMA setting versus your ECP MODE USE DMA setting.

3.10 BIOS UPDATES

Don't update your BIOS if you're not sure you need to.

Your BIOS is identified when you boot your machine. It appears at the bottom of your screen as you boot and looks something like ##xx##. You might press the PAUSE button as your system boots, to freeze the screen whilst you write the number down. Also take note of your motherboard version, as described at the beginning of this document.

Go to the FIC BIOS update site. !READ THE FREAKIN' INSTRUCTIONS! Print them out. Download the appropriate new BIOS *AND* download the BIOS that corresponds to your current, working BIOS. !MAKE SURE YOU ALSO DOWNLOAD THE APPROPRIATE 'FLASH' PROGRAMS -- FOR *BOTH* BIOS!

The above paragraph aggressively indicates that you need to do those things. It stands in stark contrast to the tone of the rest of this document. If it does not convey some idea as to how important it is that you follow the instructions, then you are advised to NOT attempt updating your BIOS.

Make a bootable floppy disk. Save a copy of the original BIOS and BIOS installation utilities to it. Do not bother with creating an AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS file.

Make another bootable floppy. Save a copy of the update BIOS and installation utility (which may be a different installation utility than for the older BIOS).

Reboot and go to the BIOS setup. On the BIOS FEATURES page, set the boot sequence to try A drive first.

Reboot with the original floppy in the drive, to determine that it is a good, bootable floppy. When successful, you may switch to the update floppy.

Do the update, as per instructions that you printed. Cross your fingers as you do it.

If your update has utterly failed, all may not be lost. You can attempt to re-flash the BIOS. The procedure: remove the motherboard battery and jumper the CPW (Clear Password) pins; wait five minutes. Unjumper CPW and reinstall the battery. Cross your fingers and burn incense to the white smoke godz (they live inside the little black boxes that litter your motherboard. When the white smoke godz are allowed out the the black boxes, poof-soot!, your motherboard is fried...). Attempt to boot. If this fails, get ahold of an antique ISA VGA video card. Install it and attempt to boot from the floppy disk. Attempt to re-install the original BIOS from floppy.

If all still seems hopeless, an intensively high-risk operation is to find a sucke-- I mean, friend, with the same motherboard. Boot to the floppy on the working machine. Make small sacrifices to the white smoke gods (Cheeze Doodles are popular with them) and ohhhhh-so- carefully pry out his BIOS chip and put yours in. Attempt to re-installl the original BIOS from floppy. Buy your friend supper, in any case. Do this procedure ONLY if you are prepared to purchase TWO new motherboards if something goes wrong.

SECTION FOUR: WINDOWS SETUP

4.1 Overview

Windows can be a remarkably stable system when things go well. This isn't to say that you won't experience system crashes, but that usually they will be the fault of problematic applications, not Windows itself. Remarkable is, of course, a prejorative term: what is remarkable is that *Windows* can be stable. One doesn't expect it.

However, there are some things that need to be done in order to get a good Windows system.

4.2 ACCESSING THE DEVICE MANAGER

The device manager panel contains many Windows system settings for the various devices that make up your computer, from video cards to CPUs to motherboards.

You can access this list of devices by right-clicking the MY COMPUTER icon and selecting PROPERTIES. A multiply- tabbed window will show. One of the tabbed pages will be titled DEVICE MANAGER. Click the tab, and you will see a list; click the plus-signs (+) to expand the lists.

You can double-click any of the expanded devices to view or change its properties. Naturally, if you do not have an excellent understanding of what you are doing, you shouldn't do it!

4.3 ACCESSING THE PERFORMANCE SETTINGS

There are a number of system settings you can tweak.

Access these settings by right-clicking the MY COMPUTER icon and selecting PROPERTIES. A multiply-tabbed window will show. One of the tabbed pages will be titled PERFORMANCE.

The network server setting adjusts how much main memory cache Windows devotes to buffering the hard drive. More is better, and worth the decrease in free memory.

*ADVICE: Under FILE SYSTEM>HARD DISK give your machine the role of NETWORK SERVER using full READ-AHEAD OPTIMIZATION.*

The CD-ROM cache is analogous to the hard drive cache. It, too, uses up free memory. If you don't use your CDROM for much of anything (ie. you only install programs once in a while), then you are better off maximizing your free memory. On the other hand, if you actually run programs from CD (ie. Corel WordPerfect Suite can be run from CD), then you'd best maximize the CD's performance!

*ADVICE: Under FILE SYSTEM>CD-ROM adjust your SUPPLEMENTAL CACHE SIZE to small (if you don't often run programs off CD) or large (if you frequently run programs directly off the CD). Leave the speed setting alone.*

Virtual memory lives on your hard drive. It is a system file that Windows pretends is part of main memory. In essence, if you have 1Gb of free drive space, Windows can pretend that you have 1Gb of main memory!

However, as Windows expands and shrinks this file as need arises, the file can get broken up into parts that are scattered all over the drive. Accessing them gets to be slow. You're better off telling Windows to set aside a permanent amount of space.

*ADVICE: Before specifying your virtual memory setting, defragment your hard drive. It's good ju-ju.*

*ADVICE: Under VIRTUAL MEMORY specify your own settings. Set both the minimum and maximum sizes to three times your base memory size - example: if you have 32Mb of memory, use '96' as the minimum and maximum.*

4.4 DMA ENABLED

Direct Memory Access allows the CPU to continue processing while another device accesses the main memory. For example, a hard drive controller can load data while the CPU does something else.

*ADVICE: in the DEVICE MANAGER (see section 4.1) expand the SYSTEM DEVICES listing and double-click the DIRECT MEMORY ACCESS CONTROLLER device. Reserve a 64k buffer. It's good ju-ju.*

Installing the Bus Master driver is also helpful. See section 4.8.

4.5 IRQ STEERING

If you have multiple devices attempting to use the same IRQ, or you have a PnP device that is not being configured correctly, you may need to enable IRQ steering.

On the other hand, you may be able to disable IRQ steering. If you can, do.

IRQ steering is toggled in the DEVICE MANAGER (see section 4.1). Expand the SYSTEM DEVICES listing and find PNP BUS. Double-click that and select the IRQ STEERING tab, and toggle the IRQ steering as appropriate.

4.6 USB EXTENSIONS vs AGP MEMORY MANAGEMENT

It is necessary to enable USB in BIOS Setup and load the USBSUPP update to get the right memory management modifications to VMM32.VXD for an AGP Aperture. There is some debate as to whether one can Diasable USB in BIOS Setup without losing the require memory management.

4.7 WINDOWS UPDATES

There are multiple versions of Windows.

On the big-picture scale, there is the original release of Win95, named Win95 OSR1 ('Operating System Release 1'). There is a specific patchset for this version of Windows.

After the patchset for OSR1 was released, versions of Windows with the patches already included were sold. These are the Win95 OSR2 versions. There is another, seperate patchset for this version of Windows.

Eventually, Windows98 was released; presumably the pattern will repeat as Win98 OSR1, patchset, Win98 OSR2, patchset.

There are myriad Windows95/98 updates. Consult http://www.walbeehm.com/win95upd.html for the best advice.

DirectX v6.0 contains significant improvements over v5 or earlier. It is worth updating to.

4.8 VIA CHIPSET SOFTWARE PATCHES

FIC makes the motherboards; VIA makes the controller chips on the motherboards. There are some patches/updates to Windows that are specific to the chipsets used on the FIC/VIA motherboards.

The Busmaster (BM) driver may make your hard drive faster. The AGP driver may help your AGP video card work properly. The IRQMini patch updates Windows IRQ Steering and may allow multiple devices to share the same IRQ. Finally, the VIA Power Management (PCI Bridge) patch can alleviate some problems with power management.

Install the patches seperately. Reboot between installations. Double-check that the DEVICE MANAGER (right- click My Computer; select Properties) listing does not contain ? (question mark) entries; if it does, remove the questionable entry and reboot.

4.9 350MHz CPU PATCH

This patch, which should only be applied to Win95 OSR2, is available from Microsoft at ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/Softlib/MSLFILES/amdk6upd.exe. The patch fixes some I/O related problems with AMD K6-2 processors running at 350MHz and up. The AMDK6UPD.EXE patch also includes the fix for timing problems with some floppy drives (FLOPUPD2.EXE) which has never been made publicly available by Microsoft.

SECTION FIVE: URL LISTING