Glossary

LBA - An acronym for Logical Block Addressing. Any IDE hard drive that is larger than 528MB.

Math Coprocessor - A microprocessor designed specifically for performing mathematical calculations. A math coprocessor performs these calculations faster than the CPU, and by doing so, frees the CPU for other activities.

Megabyte (MB) - 1,024 Kilobytes or 1,048,576 bytes.

Mini AT - A standard system board size measuring approximately 8.5" x 9.5".

Mode 1 - An IDE data transfer standard that supports transfer rates of up to 5.22 Mbytes/sec.

Mode 2 - An IDE data transfer standard that supports transfer rates of up to 8.33 Mbytes/sec.

Mode 3 - An IDE data transfer standard that supports transfer rates of up to 11.1 Mbytes/sec.

Mode 4 - An IDE data transfer standard that supports transfer rates of up to 15.5 Mbytes/sec.

Parallel - A form of data transmission in which the data is sent one byte at a time over several wires that each carry one byte. In parallel transmission, all the bytes arrive simultaneously, as opposed to serial transmission in which bits arrive one by one.

Parallel Port - A connection for a printer or similar peripheral. Generally, parallel ports are output only. See Bidirectional Parallel Port and ECP.

PCI - An acronym for Peripheral Component Interconnect. A high performance 32-bit or 64-bit bus developed by Intel Corporation. PCI is designed to be independent of the hardware architecture to ensure compatibility with future computer systems. See VESA, EISA, and ISA.

Pentium - A high performance 64-bit CISC processor designed and manufactured by Intel Corporation. As of this writing, Pentium is the highest performing X86 processor available.

Plug and Play - A standard developed to ensure easy installation of peripherals. Theoretically, a newly installed card will automatically configure itself and work properly without requiring jumper configuration or device drivers.

POST - An acronym for Power On Self Test. A diagnostic program that is run whenever the system is cold booted.

RAM - An acronym for Random Access Memory. A type of memory that is used as the “working memory” of a computer system. See DRAM and SRAM.

ROM - An acronym for Read Only Memory. A type of memory that retains its data without requiring power. Once written, it cannot be modified. See EPROM and Flash ROM.

SCSI - An acronym for Small Computer Systems Interface. An interface standard used to interface hard disk drives, removable cartridge drives, tape drives, and CD-ROMs to the computer system. SCSI allows multiple, high-performance peripheral devices to be connected in a chain. Each has its own address. Data and control signals are sent along the chain and only the specifically addressed device responds.

M54E2 System Board Manual

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