SUPER MICRO Computer X7DBU, X7DGU 1-5 ACPI Features

Chapter 1: Introduction

This feature is available when used with Supero Doctor III in the Windows OS

environment or used with Supero Doctor II in Linux. Supero Doctor is used to

notify the user of certain system events. For example, if the system is running low

on virtual memory and there is insufﬁ cient hard drive space for saving the data,

you can be alerted of the potential problem. You can also conﬁ gure Supero Doctor

to provide you with warnings when the system temperature goes beyond a pre-

deﬁ ned range.

1-5 ACPI Features

ACPI stands for Advanced Conﬁ guration and Power Interface. The ACPI speciﬁ -

cation deﬁ nes a ﬂ exible and abstract hardware interface that provides a standard

way to integrate power management features throughout a PC system, including

its hardware, operating system and application software. This enables the system

to automatically turn on and off peripherals such as CD-ROMs, network cards, hard

disk drives and printers. This also includes consumer devices connected to the PC

such as VCRs, TVs, telephones and stereos.

In addition to enabling operating system-directed power management, ACPI

provides a generic system event mechanism for Plug and Play and an operating

system-independent interface for conﬁ guration control. ACPI leverages the Plug

and Play BIOS data structures while providing a processor architecture-independent

implementation that is compatible with Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows

2003 Server Operating Systems.

When the CPU goes into a suspend state, the chassis power LED will start blinking

to indicate that the CPU is in suspend mode. When the user presses any key, the

CPU will wake-up and the LED will automatically stop blinking and remain on.

When an ATX power supply is used, the power button can function as a system sus-

pend button to make the system enter a SoftOff state. The monitor will be suspended

and the hard drive will spin down. Pressing the power button again to "wake-up" the

whole system. During the SoftOff state, the ATX power supply provides power to

keep the required circuitry in the system "alive." In case the system malfunctions and

you want to turn off the power, just press and hold the power button for 4 seconds.

This option can be set in the Power section of the BIOS Setup routine.