Dell 4100 User Manual

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Dell 4100 User Manual Manual pdf 70 page image

Using the EISA Configuration Utility 5-1Chapter 5Using the EISA Configuration UtilityThe EISA Configuration Utility is used to tell the sys-tem what expansion cards are installed and whichexpansion slots they occupy. With this information, thesystem automatically configures Extended Industry-Standard Architecture (EISA) cards and can tell you howto configure Industry-Standard Architecture (ISA) cardsmanually by setting jumpers or switches. Before yoursystem was shipped from Dell, a technician used theEISA Configuration Utility to enter the correct informa-tion for the expansion cards initially installed in yourcomputer.The EISA Configuration Utility also monitors theresources required by any installed Peripheral Compo-nent Interconnect (PCI) expansion card. After installingor moving a PCI expansion card, you should run theEISA Configuration Utility to update the system’s data-base of available system resources stored in nonvolatilerandom-access memory (NVRAM).Configuring EISA, ISA, and PCIExpansion CardsWhenever a trained service technician adds, removes, orrepositions an EISA or ISA expansion card, use the EISAConfiguration Utility to reconfigure your system. Theutility reads the card’s corresponding configuration file(.cfg file), which describes the card’s characteristics andrequired system resources, and then uses this informationto create a conflict-free configuration. (You can also usethe EISA Configuration Utility to set certain systemoperating parameters known as system board options, aswell as to correct the system configuration information.)The EISA Configuration Utility is PCI aware and canalso be used to configure PCI expansion cards. Configu-ration information for PCI expansion cards is containedwithin the card, so no additional configuration (.cfg) fileis required. You should run the EISA Configuration Util-ity after installing or moving a PCI expansion card tokeep the system’s database of available resourcesaccurate.If the EISA Configuration Utility is not aware of aninstalled ISA or EISA expansion card, resource conflictscan arise. For this reason, it is extremely important toenter information about ISA expansion cards, as well asEISA expansion cards, into the EISA Configuration Util-ity. In addition, certain ISA graphics adapter cards andmultiport serial cards require some memory or cachingreconfiguration provided by the EISA ConfigurationUtility.NOTE: The System Setup program allows you to changethe interrupt requests (IRQs) for the serial and parallelports to maximize system performance. See “AdvancedMenu Categories” in Chapter 4 for instructions.System Board OptionsIn addition to configuring expansion cards, you can usethe EISA Configuration Utility to change certain systemboard options, as described in “Step 3: View or EditDetails” found later in this chapter.Many of the system board options in the EISA Configu-ration Utility correspond to categories in the SystemSetup program. Although the two utilities are separate,the EISA Configuration Utility automatically forwardschanges to, and reads changes from, the System Setupprogram. Thus, for configuration options that appear in