BIOS Information

Simple BIOS utility settings

The BIOS can be used to set your notebook's system parameters. The system date, time, power settings and other functions are set in the BIOS. This information is stored on a non-volatile, battery-backed CMOS RAM. This simply means that the settings are saved even when the notebook itself is switched off.

To access the BIOS,when you see the message <CTRL-ALT-S> to enter System Configuration Utility (or similar) press the appropriate keys. This message is not on screen for long, and should you miss it you will need to reboot your notebook.

This page is intended merely as a guide, should you do any severe damage to your computer whilst in the BIOS, we can accept no responsibility.
The following options are available in the BIOS.

Menu	Menu Items
Startup	Date and time, Fast Boot, Boot Device, Display, Enable battery Low Beep, Enable LCD support, Display OEM logo, Enable S/PDIF digital output, Boot Password, BIOS Password.
Memory	Cache systems, VGA shared memory.
Disks	Diskette Drives, IDE Settings
Components	COM Ports, LPT port, PS/2 Mouse Port, Keyboard numlock, keyboard repeat.
Power	Enable Power Saving, Low Power saving, Medium Power saving, High Power saving, Customize, Suspend Controls, Resume Timer, Enable Modem Ring Resume, Enable battery Low suspend.
Exit	Save and Exit, Exit (no save), Default settings, Restore settings, Version Info.

Use the following keys to navigate around the BIOS options.

Keys	Action
Alt	Highlights the menu bar
Left Arrow Right Arrow Highlighted Letters	Selects a Menu Bar option.
Left Mouse Button Down Arrow Spacebar Enter	Opens the Menu Bar option.
Right Mouse Button Esc	Cancels current action

Working with the pull-down menus. Once your desired menu item is highlighted, press Enter or the down arrow to see the pull-down menu options. You move about the pull-down menu using the following keys:

Keys	Action
Tab	Moves from one record to another
Up/Down arrows	Changes the value of a field
Spacebar	Selects a field
Enter	Allows you to choose: <OK> to save any changes. <Cancel> to ignore any changes.
Esc	Quits the current session

Some pull-down menu options have an arrow to the right of the entry. Choose these extra options by pressing enter or the right-arrow and another screen will be displayed. Navigate the new screen with the following keys:

Keys	Action
Up/Down arrows Highlighted Letters	Selects a pull-down menu item
Enter	Enables/Disables the specified function. A 'tick' mark indicates the function is on.
Esc	Closes the pull-down menu and saves the changes.

Startup Menu

Note: if an option is not listed in the following menus, then it should remain at the factory default setting.

The Startup menu provides many options for the initial bootup of the notebook, including the order in which the computer looks for bootable drives (i.e, Hard Disk, Floppy Disk, CD). Also, there is an option to automatically expand the display to fill the whole available space of the notebook's screen, and for a beep to sound when the battery is getting low.

Item	Setting/Option		Function
Date and Time	Day/Month/Year Hour/Minute/Second		Sets the date and time
Boot Device	1st Boot Device	Hard Disk C	Specify the system's first choice for the boot drive
		CD-ROM drive
		Diskette A
	2nd Boot Device	Hard Disk C	Specify the system's second choice for the boot drive
		CD-ROM Drive
		Diskette A
	3rd Boot Device	Hard Disk C	Specify the system's third choice for the boot drive
		CD-ROM Drive
		Diskette A
Enable battery low beep	Enable		A series of beeps will sound when the battery is low
	Disable		Disable the above
Enable LCD expand mode	Enable		Stretch the display to fill the entire screen of the LCD panel.
	Disable		Disable the above
Enable power on beep	Enable		Enable power on Beep
	Disable		Disable power on Beep

Memory Menu

Using the Memory menu, the quantity of the internal memory which is used for the video display can be set.

Item	Settings/Options	Function
VGA Shared Memory	8mb	Select the VGA shared memory size
	16mb
	32mb
	64mb

Warning - NEVER set the shared Memory to be the same size as the total memory of your notebook. (i.e. if you only have 64mb memory, do not set the shared memory to 64mb). If you do this, your notebook will not boot and you will have to add more physical RAM before you can access your notebook!

Components Menu

From the Components menu, the type of the Printer port can be set, also the trackpad can be switched on or off to allow the use of an external PS/2 mouse. If an external television is being used, it's type can be set to NTSC or PAL as applicable.

Item	Setting/Option		Function
LPT Port	Port Address	None	Specify the LPT Port configuration
		LPT1, Addr 378, IRQ7
		LPT2, Addr 278, IRQ5
		LPT3, Addr 3BC, IRQ7
	Port Definition	Standard AT (Centronics)
		Bi-Directional (PS/2)
		Enhanced Parallel (EPP)
		Extended Capabilities (ECP)
	DMA Setting for ECP mode	DMA 1	Specify the ECP DMA configuration
		DMA 3
	EPP Type	EPP 1.7	Specify the EP type
		EPP 1.9
PS/2 Mouse Port	Enable		Enable the system's trackpad or external PS/2 Mouse
	Disable		Disable the trackpad or PS/2 mouse if an external mouse is connected to a COM A port
TV Mode	TV Mode Selection	NTSC	Select the television standard you intend to use with the TV-Out port
		PAL

Power Menu

The Power menu provides a wide range of options for conserving (or otherwise) a notebook's battery power. How much of a delay there is between the HDD last being accessed and going into standby mode. what happens to the computer when the power button is pressed. Also, wether or not the contents of the notebook's memory is saved to disk when the battery is running flat, and options of this sort.

Item	Setting/Option		Function
Enable Power Saving	Enable		Enable/Disable all power saving features
	Disable
Low Power Saving	Enable		This setting results in maximum performance and shortest battery life.
	Disable
Medium Power Saving	Enable		This setting results in moderate performance and battery life.
	Disable
High Power Saving	Enable		This setting results in minimum performance and maximum battery life.
	Disable
Customize	Disk Standby	5 Sec	The Hard Disk will enter standby mode if it is not accessed within the specified period. Hard Disk power will be restored when the disk drive is accessed
		10 Sec
		20 Sec
		30 Sec
		1 Min
		5 Min
		10 Min
		Always On
Suspend Controls	Power Button Function	Power On/Off	The Power Button is used to turn the system on or off.
		Suspend/Resume	Pressing the power button for more than four seconds will generate a power button override event to switch the system from a working state to the soft-off state.
	Suspend Type	Suspend to disk	Specify the suspend mode for power management
		Powered On Suspend
Resume Timer	Alarm Resume	Enable	System resumes from the configured suspend mode when the resume alarm timer expires.
		Disable	Disable the above.
	Resume Month/Day/Hour/Minute		The system will resume at the specified time (month, day, hour and minute)
Enable Modem ring resume	Enable		Resume the system from STR or POS mode when a modem ring is detected (the modem should be connected to the serial port)
	Disable		Disable the above
Enable battery low suspend	Enable		Automatically suspend the system to disk upon a low battery condition
	Disable		Disable the above

Exit Menu

The exit menu provides the user with options for leaving the BIOS, with or without saving any changes which have been made, as well as the options for restoring default settings or returning to previous settings. From here, the user can also find out which version of the appropriate BIOS they are using.

Item	Function
Save and Exit	Save the current settings and reboot the system
Exit (no save)	Exit without saving any of the changes
Default Settings	Restore the default factory settings (the original ROM settings)
Restore settings	Restore the current setup to the previous one.
Version Info	Show the current BIOS version information.