Tyan Computer GX21, B5102 manual Appendix BIOS Setup, Installation

Appendix

BIOS Setup

Installation

The BIOS is the basic input/output system, the firmware on the motherboard that enables your hardware to interface with your software. The BIOS determines what a computer can do without accessing programs from a disk. The BIOS contains all the code required to control the keyboard, display screen, disk drives, serial communications, and a number of miscella- neous functions. This chapter describes the various BIOS settings that can be used to configure your system.

The BIOS section of this manual is subject to change without notice and is provided for reference purposes only. The set- tings and configurations of the BIOS are current at the time of print and are subject to change, and therefore may not match exactly what is displayed on screen.

This section describes the BIOS setup program. The setup program lets you modify basic configuration settings. The set- tings are then stored in a dedicated, battery-backed memory (called NVRAM) that retains the information even when the power is turned off.

This motherboard’s BIOS is a customized version of the industry-standard BIOS for IBM PC AT-compatible personal computers. The BIOS provides critical, low-level support for the system’s central processing unit (CPU), memory, and I/O subsystems.

This BIOS has been customized by adding important features such as virus and password protection, power management, and chipset “tuning” features that control the system. This section will guide you through the process of configuring the BIOS for your system setup.

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