Shuttle HOT-569 Mainboard Specifications

Shuttle HOT-569 Specifications

General

Baby AT Motherboard
- The Shuttle HOT-569 is a 220mm x 280mm 3/4 Baby-AT motherboard. It has a 5-pin DIN AT-style keyboard connector built onto it. A PS/2 mouse header allows for the addition of a 6-pin mini-DIN connector for PS/2-style mice. There are a pair of 10-pin headers for a 9-pin D-Sub serial port and a 25-pin D-Sub serial port that accept cables that run to the port connectors attached to an expansion slot plate. The 25-pin D-Sub parallel port also attaches to an expansion slot plate and connects to the motherboard via 26-pin cable connector. The expansion slot plate takes up one of the spaces on the back of the computer that is used by the first PCI slot, rendering this slot useless. But in some cases, you can unscrew the serial and parallel ports from the default expansion slot plate and attach them through special holes in the back of the case. This is what I did with my In-Win Q500 so they wouldn't take the space where a PCI card should go. See the installation page for more details about mounting the external ports.
- My motherboard is revision 2.0. Actually, since I had to return the old board (it died), I now have Rev. 2.1. The revision number is written near the end of the last ISA slot. Revision 2.x boards differ from revision 1.x boards by adding dip switches to set the CPU bus speed and multiplier. Revision 1.x boards use jumpers. The only revisions that exist are: 1.2, 2.0, 2.1, and 2.2. Rev. 1.0 was a pre-production model. I don't know what the differences are between the later versions.
- Shuttle has released a new version of the HOT-569 called the 569A. It has only 2 DIMM slots and replaces the dip switches on SW1 with jumpers. It also adds a wake-on-LAN feature. Atleast one revision (1.3) of this new board exists. This board has its own unique BIOS (569aWIQ1). I don't know if this BIOS is compatible with current 569 boards or if older 569 BIOSes will work with the new 569a board. My guess would be that it doesn't work. Personally, I'm not willing to try the new BIOS with my older 2.1 board. Flashing the wrong BIOS to your motherboard can easily render the computer non-bootable. If you have anymore info about this board, please email me (chare@erols.com).
Socket 7
- The 321-pin ZIF (zero-insertion force) socket has a lever which raises to allow the CPU to be inserted and then closes to secure the chip in the socket. The board accepts most Socket-5 and Socket-7 processors:
  1. AMD K5 PR75~PR200
  2. AMD K6 166~300 (even the power hog 233)
  3. AMD K6-2 266~333
  4. Cyrix/IBM 6x86 PR120+~PR200+ (both the 3.3v and 3.52v versions, but not the PR90+ which ran on a 40MHz bus)
  5. Cyrix/IBM 6x86L PR120+~PR200+ (low-power version of the 6x86)
  6. Cyrix/IBM 6x86MX PR166~PR266
  7. Cyrix M-II 300~333
  8. IBM 6x86MX PR300~PR333
  9. IDT Winchip 180~240 (C6)
  10. IDT Winchip-2 225~240 (C6+)
  11. Intel Pentium Classic 75~200
  12. Intel Pentium w/ MMX 166~233
  13. Intel Pentium OverDrive 125~166
  14. Intel Pentium OverDrive w/ MMX 125~200
- The socket will also accept many of the various third-party voltage adapters. Although because of the board's wide range of voltage, bus speed, and multiplier selection, the use of a voltage adapter isn't required.
- In addition, the board can supply the proper voltages and multipliers required by the AMD K6-2 (formerly K6-3D), Cyrix M-II, and IDT Winchip-2. However, many of these chips run on a 100MHz bus, which this motherboard cannot supply. Although there is no reason why one of these chips shouldn't function at a lower bus speed in the board. Also, the upcoming AMD K6-3 (formerly K6Plus-3D) may work too, since the 569 should provide the proper multipliers and voltages for that chip as well (but not at 100MHz bus speed). The biggest concern with these chips is if the motherboard misidentifies the chip, it may respond badly by turning off the L1 or L2 cache in order to make the mainboard more 'compatible' with the unknown processor. Since these processors are meant to run on a 100MHz bus, Shuttle may not include proper identification for these chips in future BIOS updates.
  - Update: The 569WIQ0b BIOS update (and all later versions) adds proper support for the IDT Winchip-2 3D and Cyrix M-II chips. And corrects the 'K6 3D' identification to now say 'K6(tm)-2' on bootup.
- The Model 7 K6 chips (233, 266, and 300) run at a very low 2.2v core voltage, which the motherboard can handle nicely. Newer BIOS revisions have added proper CPU and voltage identification for the 2.2v Model 7 K6 chip and the Model 8 K6-2 chip. See the links page for which BIOS updates contain which features. You definitely want to install a new BIOS before installing one of these chips or you might damage the chip if the machine autodetects a K6 and attempts to give it 3.2v CORE. Although the chip shouldn't even come on if it senses a core voltage greater than 2.5v. The Model 8 K6-2 and upcoming Model 9 K6-3 will run natively on a 100MHz bus, which the 569 can't deliver. But it should run fine at a lower bus speed but with higher clock multipliers (assuming AMD doesn't clock-lock its future chips) as high as 6.0x.
  - Side Note 1: All of the different HOT-569 2.x models (2.0 through 2.2) support the 2.2v AMD K6 chips. But the pre-production Rev. 1.0 board does not. And reportedly, Shuttle now says that Rev 1.2 boards will not function with the 2.2v chips either.
  - Side Note 2: Some people have had problems using the BIOS voltage auto-detect with the 2.2 volt K6 and K6-2 chips (it seems to run for a bit, and then quits). You may need to set the voltage manually (either through the BIOS or with jumpers on SW1).
  - Side Note 3: The 2.2v/3.45v AMD K6-300 prefers a 3.45v I/O on one of its pins (rather than the normal 3.3v I/O). So using the fix for Seagate hard drive listed at the bottom of this page, you can set the I/O voltage for the chip at 3.45v. It's the same as the setting for a dual voltage processor and the 5V Seagate drive. Set JP44 to 1-2, and JP45 to 'Off' (not jumpered). The Core voltage should still be set at 2.2v.
  - Update 1: From information on this chart from Shuttle, it appears that K6-2 processors faster than 333MHz may draw too much amperage through the motherboard to be considered reliable. The HOT-569 apparently maxes out at ~10 amps on the core voltage side. So even if you have your 400MHz K6-2 processor set up correctly (66x6.0), the system may be flakey. And you even run the risk of damaging the motherboard by drawing too much current through it. And unfortunately the K6-III, with its on-Die 256KB of L2 cache, will likely draw atleast the same amount of amperage as a similarly clocked K6-2. Damn. And I was hoping to be able to upgrade directly to a K6-III. It looks like that may not be possible now. :-(
  - Update 2: It's been pointed out that most all switching voltage regulator modules have over-amperage protection, and any problems dealing with excessive amperage draw will only result in the VRM shutting down the computer; it's unlikely that physical damage will occur when using a chip with a high maximum amperage draw in the HOT-569.
- Note that the Cyrix 6x86MX-PR266 is meant to run on an 83MHz bus speed. The 430TX chipset is only designed to run reliably at 66MHz. In order to run this chip properly, you would need to lower the bus speed and run it like a PR233 on a 66MHz bus. The computer may function at 83MHz, but reliability is greatly reduced. Especially since an 83MHz bus speed forces the synchronous PCI bus to run at 41.6MHz (beyond it's 33.3MHz limit), which has been known to destroy the occasional hard drive partition. Be careful with higher bus speeds. Even 75MHz may be problematic.
- The initial version(s) of the Cyrix M-II chip are based on the M2 (6x86MX) chip and should run fine in the motherboard. Although the newer M-II chips are 100MHz-based chips and won't be able to run at their native 100MHz bus speed.
- The CPU socket is surrounded by capacitors and has one voltage regulator nearby, but using a large 60mm x 60mm heatsink still isn't a problem; there is plenty of room around the socket. It won't bump into any nearby components; although it may prevent the ZIF handle from being opened. I used the huge 60mm x 60mm GlobalWin CPM25603-16 with some very thinly applied heatsink compound between the top of the CPU and the heatsink, and didn't have any problems.
- As with most AT form factor boards, the 321-pin processor socket on the HOT-569 is situated near the ends of the PCI slots. Unfortunately, this prevents longer PCI cards (such as many Voodoo 2 cards) from being used in any of the PCI slots. Well, actually, that's not completely true. When using one of the cards that conform to the standard 3Dfx layout, the card overhangs the Socket a bit, so using an extra large 60mm x 60mm heatsink is impossible. But a smaller heatsink may allow the video card enough space to fit.
  - Update: I installed a Diamond Monster II (a 3DFx reference-size card) into my rev. 2.1 HOT-569 board in the slot nearest the ISA slots. It *just* slips by the 60mm x 60mm heatsink (it virtually touches the heatsink). It wouldn't fit in any other slot because the extra large heatsink prevents it from overhanging the Socket 7 header at all. To fit the video card in any of the first three PCI slots, the heatsink would have to be small enough that it doesn't overhang the Socket header at all.
  The HOT-569A board is a bit different than the original 569. Shuttle rotated and moved the CPU socket so that a PCI card in Slot 1 can now freely get by even the largest fan/heatsink. The original 2.x boards have 7 3/4" worth of space between the edge of the socket and where the metal expansion slot attaches to the case. One of the larger 8 1/8" Voodoo 2 cards may fit if the end of the video card is allowed to hang over the socket header. Unfortunately, the fit will be very tight (maybe too tight) even with a very small heatsink. One other possibility is to try to sneak it past the heatsink by sticking it in Slot 1. In this configuration, the PCI card will hang over the socket lever a bit. But those that have had success using a Voodoo 2 board said that PCI Slot 2 seems to be the best choice so long as the card is allowed to overhang the socket header somewhat.

Processor Voltages

The Shuttle HOT-569 allows for a wide range of voltage selections from 2.0 volts up through 3.5 volts in 0.1 volt increments. The voltage can be set automatically through the motherboard's auto-voltage detection or it can be set from within the BIOS or it can be manually set with jumpers. For the automatic voltage detection or the BIOS settings, Jumper Switch 1 (SW1) must have the Mini Jumper Pack covering all the pins on rows 2 and 3. If the voltage is to be set manually, the Mini Jumper Pack should be set on rows 3 and 4 to allow rows 1 and 2 to accept the jumpers. Jumper pins 7 through 12 can then be used to select the various voltages.

Automatic Settings: (for auto-voltage detection or setup through the BIOS)

Mini Jumper Pack covers all the pins on rows 2 and 3:

row 4  o  o  o  o  o  o

row 3  o==o==o==o==o==o
       |              |
row 2  o==o==o==o==o==o

row 1  o  o  o  o  o  o
       7  8  9  10 11 12

Manual Settings:

Mini Jumper Pack covers all the pins on rows 3 and 4.
Jumpers 7 through 12 are then set across pin rows 1 and 2.
The setting below has a jumper across pin 10 for 2.8 volts:

row 4  o==o==o==o==o==o
       |              |
row 3  o==o==o==o==o==o

row 2  o  o  o  o  o  o
                |
row 1  o  o  o  o  o  o
       7  8  9  10 11 12

Jumper Pins

Core
Voltage

2.0V

off

2.8V

off

2.1V

off

2.9V

off

2.2V

off

3.0V

off

2.3V

off

3.1V

off

2.4V

off

3.2V

off

2.5V

off

3.3V

off

2.6V

off

3.4V

off

2.7V

off

3.5V

off

Single
Voltage

STD (3.3V)

off

VR (3.38V)

off

VRE (3.5V)

off

'on' means that the pins across rows 1 and 2 should be jumpered closed.
'off' means the pins should remain open (no jumper).
According to the manual, 3.3v CORE and 3.4v CORE are the same setting. The 3.3v setting is written wrong. The 3.3v CORE setting is printed correctly on the motherboard (between PCI slots J17 and J23). But the motherboard itself has a single voltage 3.3v setting (between PCI slots J17 and J18) that is written incorrectly. It should read 3.4v. So if you followed the manual to set up your motherboard for a Standard voltage chip (3.3v), it's actually getting 3.4v. Also, if you followed the motherboard to set up a single voltage chip, it's getting 3.4 volts. The correct Standard voltage setting (3.3 volts across the entire chip) is written between PCI slots J17 and J23. Although neither mistake is worth worrying about.
Be sure to take a look at the little jumpers themselves. If they don't have any metal inside them, they're not going to work (jumpers are supposed to close an electrical connection), and pins you thought you jumpered closed may actually still be open. So if you tried to jumper pin 10 to set the core to 2.8 volts and the jumper doesn't have any metal inside of it, the pin won't be closed and your chip will receive only 2.0 volts rather than the expected 2.8 volts. The CPU won't receive a high enough voltage to operate and the computer won't boot. It's the little annoyances like this that can drive you up a wall. :-)
If you have a K6 chip that requires a 2.2v CORE and a 3.45v I/O, use jumpers JP44 and JP45 to set the I/O voltage. On a dual-voltage chip, I/O is generally assumed to be 3.3v, so to give your chip 3.45v I/O instead, jumper pins 1-2 on JP44 and leave JP45 open (unjumpered).
The motherboard should come with the Mini Jumper Pack set over rows 2 and 3 to allow for automatic voltage selection. My board didn't come with any jumpers to allow the board to be set manually. :-(
The CPU voltage selection in the BIOS goes as low as 1.8 volts.
Note that jumper pins 11 and 12 are not used here (they're always off).
What voltage the individual chips need is outlined in the manual. This setting will also be written on the chip itself. Giving the chip the wrong voltage can permanently damage the processor. Be sure about the setting.
After glancing through the HOT-569A mini-manual, the voltage settings on the two boards are the same except the jumper numbers written on the boards are exactly BACKWARDS. Jumpers 7, 8, 9, and 10 on the HOT-569 correspond to jumpers 6, 5, 4, and 3 on the 569A.

Extra Settings:

	Jumper Pins							Jumper Pins
Core Voltage	7	8	9	10	11	12	Core Voltage	7	8	9	10	11	12
1.30V	off	off	off	off	on	off	1.70V	off	off	off	on	on	off
1.35V	on	off	off	off	on	off	1.75V	on	off	off	on	on	off
1.40V	off	on	off	off	on	off	1.80V	off	on	off	on	on	off
1.45V	on	on	off	off	on	off	1.85V	on	on	off	on	on	off
1.50V	off	off	on	off	on	off	1.90V	off	off	on	on	on	off
1.55V	on	off	on	off	on	off	1.95V	on	off	on	on	on	off
1.60V	off	on	on	off	on	off	2.00V	off	on	on	on	on	off
1.65V	on	on	on	off	on	off	2.05V	on	on	on	on	on	off

The 'Extra' settings in the above table actually come from the AMD K6 datasheets. They are the defined VID (voltage ID) codes that motherboard manufacturers may or may not follow. This table adds jumper 11 into the mix to allow for even lower core voltages. I don't know for sure that the HOT-569 follows this standard properly. It's entirely possible that pins 11 and 12 were added simply to allow for easy conversion of future versions of the motherboard and the pins may not currently be connected to anything at all. Contact Shuttle if you have a reason to set a voltage this low to confirm that the setting is correct. Jumper pin 12 is not used here (it's always off).
Pin 12 on my rev 2.0 board doesn't respond to a multimeter at all. Pins 7 through 11 do, however.

Processor Bus Speeds

The Shuttle HOT-569 has various bus speed settings for different CPUs. They range from 50MHz up through the unofficial 83MHz. Since the motherboard is based on the Intel 430TX chipset, it can only achieve a maximum bus speed of 66MHz according to the Intel specification. 68, 75, and 83MHz are not officially supported. Setting the bus speed to higher than 66MHz is considered overclocking (or atleast over-bussing), and can cause system instability as well as contribute to data loss. More than a few hard drive partitions have been destroyed by the 83MHz bus speed. So be careful.
Like most all motherboards, the HOT-569 uses a synchronous bus clock. This means that all of the different bus speeds (memory, PCI, ISA) run off of one clock oscillator. When running at the typical 66MHz bus speed, the data bus between the processor and main memory is running at 66.66MHz. The PCI bus is on the same clock, but is running at half bus speed (33.33MHz). And the ISA bus runs at one quarter the speed of the PCI bus (8.33MHz). If you turn the main bus speed up to 75MHz, the PCI bus climbs to 37.5MHz and the ISA bus goes up to 9.38MHz. Many PCI and ISA devices are rather sensitive to running at higher than normal bus speeds. SCSI cards, LAN cards, and some hard drives don't like higher bus speeds. And can cause intermittent failures (lock up the computer) as well as produce data errors (such as trashing the registry on Windows 95). Getting the motherboard to run at its fastest speed is part of the fun of tinkering with your own computer, but it can be pushed too far.

Dip Switch Settings: (SW1)

Fingers 1 through 3 set the bus speed:

ON
+---------+
| o  o  o |
| |  |  | |
| o  o  o |
+---------+
  1  2  3

Finger Switches

Bus
Speed

50MHz

55MHz

off

60MHz

off

66MHz

off

68MHz

off

75MHz

off

83MHz

off

90MHz

off

'on' means that the switch should be in the 'ON' position (up).
'off' means that the switch should be in the 'OFF' position (down).
66MHz actually runs at 66.66MHz.
68MHz actually runs at 68.33MHz. 68MHz is a 'turbo' setting for 66MHz and is used by the manufacturer to test the motherboard's stability.
83MHz actually runs at 83.33MHz.
The 68MHz setting isn't documented in the manual, but it's written on the board itself.
The 90MHz setting was found by turning down everything in the BIOS and booting up at 180MHz (90x2.0). I turned off the L1 and L2 caches, set the CPU speed to 'Low', and added every RAM wait-state and PCI/ISA delay I could find. In this configuration, the machine would boot fine. But it was dog slow. Setting the CPU speed back to 'High' made even ctcm choke; it wouldn't fully run. So basically, the 90MHz setting exists, but it's unusable. And even if it were, I don't think you would want to run your PCI bus at 45MHz anyway. Pity the poor data on your hard drive! BTW, I only booted with the floppy; I didn't let it touch my hard drives.
I noticed that the BIOS was surprisingly reliable at telling me the correct CPU speed on bootup, although it doesn't break it down into bus speed and multiplier setting, unfortunately.

Processor Clock Multipliers

The HOT-569 lists clock multipliers from 1.5x up through 6.0x. But of all the attributes that the motherboard dictates to the processor (voltage, bus speed, multiplier), the multiplier is the one thing the processor actually has control over. Setting multiplier jumpers on a motherboard simply suggests to the chip what speed it should run at. It's up to the CPU to interpret internally what that setting means. For example, some versions of the AMD K5 have the very unusual 1.75x multiplier. But very few motherboards even list this as a possibility. That's because AMD redefined the typical '2.5x' setting to produce a 1.75x multiplier in the chip. Other chips play this game too. Setting the AMD K6 to 1.5x on the motherboard will produce 3.5x in the chip. The IDT C6 interprets a 1.5x setting as 4.0x (the chip only has whole number multipliers). Knowing which multiplier to use can become very confusing. The proper settings will be written on the top of the chip. Some of the better manuals (like the HOT-569) will explain this or simply have a huge chart of all the possible processors listing all of their specific settings. See the Multipliers Chart on my Processor Speeds page for a listing of which chips have what multipliers.
One other confusing issue surrounds the chips that have a Pentium Rating. The worst case of using a Pentium Rating comes from the Cyrix/IBM 6x86 chips. These chips can be damaged if set to run at the wrong speed, so take care when setting the bus speed and multiplier. Running a 6x86L PR200+ at 200MHz (66x3.0) would be a bad thing. The chip is supposed to run at 150MHz (75x2.0). It gets it's PR200 rating because it runs like a Pentium 200 under the Winstone benchmark. See the section on Pentium Ratings in the Processor Upgrading FAQ for a little more information. The 586 Processors Chart lists all of the individual chips and their appropriate bus speeds and multipliers.

Dip Switch Settings: (SW1)

Fingers 4 through 6 set the clock multiplier:

ON
+---------+
| o  o  o |
| |  |  | |
| o  o  o |
+---------+
  4  5  6

Finger Switches

Clock
Multiplier

1.5x

off

1.75x

off

2.0x

off

2.5x

off

3.0x

off

3.5x

off

4.0x

off

4.5x

5.0x

off

5.5x

off

6.0x

off

'on' means that the switch should be in the 'ON' position (up).
'off' means that the switch should be in the 'OFF' position (down).
Only the AMD K5 has a 1.75x multiplier (it uses the 2.5x setting). And not all versions of the K5 have it.
Only the Model 8 K6-2 CXT and Model 9 K6-3 have a 6.0x multiplier.
The 1.5x and 3.5x settings are the same (but different chips will interpret it differently).
The Cyrix 6x86, 6x86L, and the IDT C6 (Winchip) only have whole number multipliers.

Intel 430TX Chipset
- The HOT-569 comes with the Intel 82430TX chipset. This chipset supports all the flashy new features (SDRAM, UDMA, USB, Bus Mastering). It supports up to 256MB of system memory but only 64MB of that is cacheable (any memory accesses above 64MB will not utilize the fast L2 cache, slowing down the performance of the computer). This is particularly troublesome under Windows 95 since Win95 loads from the top of memory down. Usually, you can never have too much RAM, but in this case it may cost you a bit of performance (about 5%~20% depending on the application). The 430TX also does not support multiple processors or Parity/ECC memory. See The PC Guide's page on Intel chipsets for more information on the 430TX.
- Just because the the motherboard supports a feature doesn't automatically make it available. In many cases, support must also come from other components or from the operating system. The Ultra DMA mode on hard drives, for example, will only work on drives that support it.
- Windows 95 was released too early to provide proper identification for the 430TX chipset and the universal serial bus. See the section on Driver Installation on the HOT-569 Installation page.
- Be aware that there is an incompatibility between the Intel 430TX chipset and some Seagate hard drives. Go to the bottom of this page to see how to fix it.
Award 4.51PG BIOS
- The Award BIOS is a fairly rich BIOS when it comes to choices and configurations. You can manually set the hard drive PIO mode, DRAM timings, and many more settings. With the HOT-569 BIOS, you can even set the CPU voltage within the BIOS. See the 569 BIOS page for more details on the various features contained in the BIOS.
- The computer's BIOS can be flashed (updated) to add features to the BIOS. One important feature that is added with a BIOS update is support for Int13 Extensions. Current BIOSes that ship with the 569 motherboard only support hard drive translation through Int13. This limits the maximum hard drive size to 8.4GB (actually 7.8GB, but it's 8.4 billion bytes). Starting with flash revision 569WIQ0a, support for Int13 Extensions is added. This allows hard drives up to 9.4 sextillion bytes, though the IDE interface is still limited to 128GB per drive. However revision 569WIQ0a isn't available on Shuttle's site, but revision 569WIQAA is. 569WIQAA is a later revision than 569WIQ0a, but it contains all of the previous updates. To get all of the previous additions from the various updates available on Shuttle's site, all you need to do is download the latest version. It will have all of the additions from previous updates. See the links page for which features are contained in each update.
- Note that flashing a computer's BIOS can be a dangerous procedure. If you flash the wrong one or for some reason the new BIOS doesn't take, the computer may be completely unbootable. Be sure you have the correct BIOS and follow the instructions in the manual to the letter or you may not like the results you get. If things go really bad, you may have to order a new BIOS chip from Shuttle. See the 569 BIOS page for instructions on flashing the BIOS.
- If you kill the BIOS, you can get a new BIOS chip from Shuttle for $10 US funds plus shipping.
- The BIOS chip is the large socketed chip at the end of the ISA slots. The socket has a notch. The BIOS chip also has a notch. To insert the new chip, align the chip with the notches and insert the leads into the socket. It should be somewhat tight, but not difficult to insert.

Slots, Ports, and Connectors

Memory Banks - J2, J3, J4, J5, DIM1, DIM2, DIM3
- There are 5 total banks of memory on the motherboard: two 72-pin SIMM banks (4 slots) and three 168-pin DIMM banks. The SIMMs can hold a total of 256MB (four 64MB SIMMs) of main memory (RAM). The DIMMs can hold as much as 256MB (two 128MB DIMM modules) in its first two banks. However, if either of the first two banks contain a DIMM module that is 64MB or 128MB and uses 64Mbit DRAM, the third DIMM bank cannot be populated by a DIMM (actually, you can put one in there, but the computer won't recognize the module at all). You also cannot put a 64MB DIMM that has only 8 chips on the module or a 128MB DIMM that has only 16 chips into DIMM slot 3; the third slot cannot accept 64Mbit DRAM. The other two DIMM slots don't have this limitation. The HOT-569 does not support the newest 128Mbit and 256Mbit DRAM cells in any slot.
- The SIMM slots can accept either FPM (fast page mode) or EDO (extended data out) modules. The DIMM slots can accept FPM, EDO, and SDRAM (synchronous DRAM) modules. See The PC Guide's RAM page for more details on the various memory types. There's some really good stuff in there.
- There are four SIMM slots. The first two slots comprise memory bank zero (0). The second pair make up memory bank one (1). Each subsequent single DIMM slot constitutes another bank of memory (for a total of 5 banks). DIMM slot 1, however, is not considered the third bank of memory. SIMM and DIMM modules shouldn't be used at the same time because SIMM modules run at 5 volts and most DIMM modules run at 3.3 volts. The motherboard will automatically detect that SIMM modules are installed and run all the banks at 5 volts. Most DIMMs require 3.3 volts, and will eventually be damaged by the excessive voltage.
- The DIMM slots have '3.3v' molded in small letters in the middle of the slot.
- Because they're 32-bit modules, the SIMM modules are paired to make one bank of memory. DIMM modules are 64-bit, and so it only takes one to make up a single bank of memory. This means that DIMM modules can be installed one at a time. But SIMMs must be installed in exact matching pairs. They must be the same size (MB), speed (ns), and type (FPM/EDO). Mixing memory types within one bank doesn't work well. In fact, the computer likely won't boot at all. You may also have trouble if you try using mixed memory at all, even between banks. Fast Page Mode DRAM and Extended Data Out DRAM weren't designed to work together, even though many times they will. But it's still best to stick with just one type of memory.
- Both parity (error detection) and ECC (error correction code) memory modules will work fine as non-parity modules in the motherboard. But their error detection and correction capabilities will not be used by the motherboard. The Intel 430TX chipset doesn't support it.
- SDRAM modules come in many flavors. These different attributes can allow DIMMs to work in some motherboards but prevent them from working in others. SDRAM comes in ECC/non-ECC, buffered/unbuffered, 2-clock/4-clock, and with SPD (serial presence detect) and without. For more info on SDRAM see The PC Guide's SDRAM pages. I used some good name-brand Micron (Crucial) 4-clock unbuffered non-ECC 10ns SDRAM with SPD EEPROM in my HOT-569. Other modules that seem to work well with the HOT-569 include Corsair, Hitachi, LGS (Lucky Goldstar), and Megatrends.
- If you're going to spend the extra money to get the better RAM that comes with a lifetime warranty, be sure to get both chips and modules made by the same manufacturer. There is a lot of 'quality' memory around that has name-brand chips in cheap no-name modules. There's really no point to paying extra when you don't get the quality you expect.
- The leads in the SIMM slots are tin (silver in color). And the DIMM slots are gold. You should definitely try to match metals between the module and the slot. Mixing gold SIMMs with tin SIMM slots will, over time, cause the leads to corrode. This is especially true if you live near an ocean. Salt air does a number on electrical contacts that are made of different metals (especially those in a heated environment that have electricity flowing through them). See The PC Guide's page on mixing gold and tin for some more information.
- I'm not going to re-create the large memory table that is contained in the manual. It's fairly self-explanatory. Although you should note that if you have different size modules (say a pair of 8MB SIMMs and a pair of 16MB ones), the smaller ones should go into the first available bank. This is because larger modules are generally newer (and hence faster) than smaller modules. Because the computer looks at the first bank that contains a module for what speed the RAM should run at, putting the faster modules in first will cause the motherboard to run at that faster speed (which sounds like a great idea). But the computer won't get through the booting process because it will eventually run into the slower modules in the second bank and simply freeze. If you put the slower modules in first, the computer will run all the modules at that slower speed. While this may not be the best configuration performance-wise, atleast the computer will boot! :-)
- DIMMs can often be very difficult to seat all the way into the slots. Be careful. There are two notches in the bottom of a DIMM module. These line up with raised bumps in the bottom of the DIMM slot. If you bought 5-volt or buffered DIMMs, the notches won't line up properly. Don't force a DIMM that isn't supposed to fit down into the slot.
PCI Slots - J23, J17, J18, J19
- There are four white 32-bit 188-pin PCI slots on the motherboard. The slot nearest the black ISA slots is a 'shared' slot. Meaning that you can use either the PCI slot or the ISA, but not both at the same time (they're mounted too close together). Typical PCI devices include video cards, SCSI adapters, and LAN cards. The PCI bus is designed to run at a maximum of 33.333MHz.
- Even though they are both 32-bits, the older VESA video cards will not work in the PCI slots. The older 116-pin VESA slots were generally brown or black while the PCI are white or sometimes blue.
ISA Slots - J20, J21, J22
- There are three black 16-bit 98-pin ISA slots on the motherboard. The slot nearest the white PCI slots is a 'shared' slot. Meaning that you can use either the PCI slot or the ISA, but not both at the same time (they're mounted too close together). Typical ISA devices include internal modems, sound cards, and LAN cards. The ISA bus is designed to run at a maximum of 8.333MHz
- The ISA slots can accept both 8-bit and 16-bit cards. A PCI card may seem like it should fit into an ISA slot. But it doesn't.
IDE Port Headers - J6, J7
- There are two white framed 40-pin IDE ports on the motherboard. Each port is one IDE channel and each channel can support up to two IDE or ATAPI (IDE-based CD-ROM) devices.
- The IDE cable that connects the drives to the motherboard is 18 inches long. It is 12 inches from one end to the middle connector and 6 inches from the middle connector to the other end. It's easier to connect two hard drives (or a hard drive and CD-ROM) to the two closer connectors. Otherwise, the remaining part of the cable may not be able to reach the header on the motherboard. Header J6 is IDE channel 1, and should be used before J7.
- Be aware that older CD-ROMs (1X and 2X) that have a 40-pin interface may actually be proprietary Panasonic or Mitsumi drives. These two are not ATAPI CD-ROMs and won't work on an IDE (ATAPI) interface.
- There may be an incompatibility with some ATAPI CD-ROMs on the secondary IDE port. See Intel's page for more on the problem.
- The IDE port headers are framed so that the IDE cables can't be inserted incorrectly.
Floppy Port Header - CN1
- There is one white framed 34-pin floppy port on the motherboard. The one floppy cable controls up to two floppy drives (A: and B:). The drive defined as 'A:' is connected to the part of the cable that has the twist in it. The 'B:' drive (if any) connects to the middle of the cable (no twist). 3½" drives plug into the smaller cable port. 5¼" drives connect to the larger port on the cable.
- The floppy port header is framed so that the floppy cable can't be inserted incorrectly.
Serial Port Headers - CN2, CN3
- There are two white framed 10-pin serial port headers that connect the cable from the 9-pin D-Sub serial ports to the motherboard.
- Serial port 1 (CN2) is automatically configured for IRQ3 in the BIOS. This corresponds to COM ports 2 and 4. If you use an internal modem on COM2, you'll need to disable Serial Port 1 in the BIOS.
- Serial port 2 (CN3) is automatically configured for IRQ4 in the BIOS. This corresponds to COM ports 1 and 3. If you use a serial mouse on COM1, the 9-pin cable is plugged into this serial port.
- The serial port headers are framed so that the serial cables can't be inserted incorrectly.
Parallel Port Header - CN4
- There is one white framed 26-pin parallel port header that connects the cable from the 25-pin D-Sub parallel port to the motherboard.
- The parallel port header is framed so that the parallel cable can't be inserted incorrectly.
PS/2 Mouse Header - J99
- There is one 5-pin PS/2 mouse header that connects the cable from the 6-pin mini-DIN mouse port to the motherboard. The cable is generally an option when purchasing the motherboard.
- In order for a mouse to work as a PS/2 mouse, it must have the proper circuitry to be compatible with the PS/2 port. There are adapters to change a 9-pin serial mouse to a 6-pin PS/2 mouse but the mouse itself must also be compatible with the PS/2 standard. Mice which support both are called 'combo' mice. Simply getting an adapter for your serial mouse may not be enough. Of course, there's no reason why you can't use your serial mouse on the serial port. :-)
- Likewise, if you have a PS/2 mouse and aren't sure whether it will function as a serial mouse, it would be best to buy the PS/2 header along with the motherboard. Simply getting a PS/2-to-serial adapter may not work.
- On the plug that plugs into the header on the motherboard, pin 1 goes nearest the edge of the board. The second pin hole is empty. The sixth pin hole (it's also empty) hangs over the edge of the 5-pin header.
USB Headers - J10, J11
- There are two 5-pin USB (universal serial bus) headers that connect the cables from the 4-pin USB ports to the motherboard. The cables are generally an option when purchasing the motherboard; be sure to get the correct ones.
- Universal serial bus is not supported by Windows versions earlier than OSR 2.1. There is an update available through OEMs (computer manufacturers such as Dell, Gateway, etc.) and MSDN (Microsoft Developer's Network). But this can only update OSR2 2.0. The retail version of Windows 95 (even with Service Pack 1 installed) is incompatible. See the OSR2 FAQ and USB.org for more details.
- Unfortunately, most USB peripherals only have drivers for Windows 98.
IrDA Header - JP3
- There is one 5-pin IrDA (infrared) header that connects the cables from the 5-pin IrDA port to the motherboard.
- The Windows 95 update for IrDA drivers is available at: IrDA Drivers.
ATX Power Connector - PW1
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
  o o o o o o o o o o
  o o o o o o o o o o
  11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
- Orange - Orange - Black - Red - Black - Red - Black - Gray - Purple - Yellow
  Orange - Blue - Black - Green - Black - Black - White - Red - Red.
- There is one 20-pin ATX-style power connector on the motherboard. The power connector is keyed so that it cannot be reversed.
- When using the ATX power connector, you can enter the Chipset section of the BIOS and choose ATX power supply. When combined with the 'Soft-Off Power Button' setting in the Power Management section, this allows for the soft-off features to function properly. It will also shut down your computer immediately after you exit Windows 95. Yet another highly irritating 'feature' on newer motherboards.
AT Power Connector - J15
- o o o o o o o o o o o o
  1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
- Orange - Red - Yellow - Blue - Black - Black - | - Black - Black - White - Red - Red - Red.
- There are two 6-pin AT-style power connectors (P8 and P9) right next to each other on the motherboard. Notice how all the black wires are grouped together in the middle. This is important. The plugs are keyed so that they can only be inserted into the slots one way. But each connector will fit into the other's slot. If these are reversed and the computer is powered on, the motherboard will fry. It may even produce a nice little fireworks show. Be absolutely sure you have these correct. Check twice, plug once. You won't get a second shot at this. Remember: BLACK to BLACK.

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
o	o	o	o	o	o	o	o	o	o
o	o	o	o	o	o	o	o	o	o
11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20

o	o	o	o	o	o		o	o	o	o	o	o
1	2	3	4	5	6		1	2	3	4	5	6

Pin Connectors

Reset - JP12
- A two-pin header.
- The Reset switch resets the computer, forcing it to do another POST (power-on self test). This is a hard reset (as opposed to the Ctrl-Alt-Del soft reset which doesn't perform the POST).
ATX Power Switch - JP2
- A two-pin header.
- Even though the HOT-569 is a Baby-AT motherboard, it supports ATX power supplies. The power switch in an ATX system differs from the AT power switch in that it isn't directly connected to the power supply itself. Instead, the main button on the front of the computer connects to the motherboard. And the motherboard has its own connection (through the power plug) to the power supply. This configuration allows ATX boards to have a soft-off mode which doesn't fully turn off the computer and allows a user to quickly bring the machine back up. The actual power off button on most ATX machines is integrated into the P/S on the back of the case (but not all ATX P/S units have this).
- Don't connect any switches to these pins if you're using an AT-style power supply.
- Depending on your BIOS settings, pushing the momentary power button on the front of the computer will place the computer into a soft-off mode (drawing almost no power, but will awake quickly when the button is pressed again) or turn off the machine (if you hold the button in for four or more seconds). This happens if you choose 'ATX' power supply in the Chipset section of the BIOS and '4-Sec Delay' in the Power Managament section. If you choose 'AT' in the Chipset section, the computer will immediately shut off whenever the power button is pressed.
EPMI - JP15
- A two-pin header.
- Allows the user (with the use of a toggle switch) to place the computer into suspend mode. A turbo switch would work nicely for this.
Green LED - JP33
- A three-pin header.
- The Green LED pins connect to the LED light on the front of the computer to indicate what state the computer is in. If placed across pins 1 and 2, LED is off when the computer is functioning normally and on when in suspend mode. When placed across pins 2 and 3, LED is on during normal operation and off when in suspend mode.
Speaker - J12
- A four-pin header.
- The PC speaker has mainly been replaced by sound cards and their speakers for producing sound in games and applications. The speaker however still performs an important function by letting you know what condition your system is in. When the computer first comes on, it should give one short BEEP to indicate everything is ok. A long beep or a series of beeps indicates that something is wrong. The beep codes can be found at: Computer Craft, PC Mechanic, and The PC Guide.
Keylock - J14
- A five-pin header.
- For cases which have keylocks on them, this can be connected to provide a small level of security (someone would have to open the case to disable this feature).
IDE LED - JP22
- A two-pin header.
- LED light for hard drive. Shows when the hard drive is active (reading or writing data).
System Fan - JP4
- o o o
  1 2 3
  Yellow - Red - Black
- A 12 volt 3-pin power plug that provides power to a secondary system fan.
CPU Fan - JP5
- o o o
  1 2 3
  Yellow - Red - Black
- A 12 volt 3-pin power plug that provides power to the fan on the CPU's heatsink fan.
EISCA Cooler Connector - JP6
- A 12-pin connector for the enhanced intelligent system cooler architecture. Connection for an external device that monitors hardware temperature, voltages, and interrupts.

Jumpers and Dip Switches

Bus Speeds - SW1
- There are three Dip switches (fingers 1, 2, and 3) on Switch 1 (SW1) that set the bus speed the processor will run at. See the section on Processor Bus Speeds above for specific settings.
Clock Multipliers - SW1
- There are three Dip switches (fingers 4, 5, and 6) on Switch 1 (SW1) that set the clock multiplier on the processor. See the section on Processor Clock Multipliers above for specific settings.
CPU Voltages - SW1
- There are six jumpers (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12) across four rows (1, 2, 3, and 4) on Switch 1 (SW1) that set the voltage for the processor. See the section on Processor Voltages above for specific settings. The Mini Jumper Pack may be left on rows 2 and 3 to allow the motherboard to automatically choose the voltages for the CPU.
Flash EEPROM Vpp - JP19
- Allows the computer's BIOS to be updated. Be very careful when updating the BIOS. Follow all of the steps in the manual exactly. If it doesn't take for some reason, the computer will be completely unbootable and you would need to contact Shuttle for a replacement BIOS chip.
- The most important BIOS upgrade so far is revision 0a. Among other things, it adds support for hard drives larger than 8GB (adds support for Int13 Extensions). This upgrade is not listed on the server, but all upgrades after it (569WIQAA and later) will also add this feature. See the links page for which revisions include what enhancements.
- There are two type of flash BIOS: 5 volt and 12 volt. See Shuttle's page of BIOS chips for which voltage to use with your board. You'll have to remove the sticker with the sparkles on it to read the lettering.
- Use the jumper to close pins 2 and 3 for a 5 volt flash. Close pins 1 and 2 for a 12 volt flash (this was the factory setting on mine).
- It's best to boot into pure DOS mode from a floppy drive. You'll need to use a floppy to flash it anyway. Also, the flash procedure will give you a chance to backup the old BIOS. Do it! It may save your butt!
- If the computer doesn't want to boot fully after flashing, use the Clear CMOS jumper (JP40) and see if you can re-flash the old BIOS or try the new one again.
- You should get the system booting properly from the hard drive before bothering to update the BIOS. There may be other installation problems that need to be addressed first. And flashing the BIOS may just make things worse.
- Don't flash the BIOS just because there's a newer one available. In some cases, the new BIOS will have important new features (such as Int13 Extensions) or speed enhancements. But in many cases, they only offer fixes for obscure features that you never used and didn't even know existed. Post a message on one of the newsgroups to ask if you should bother. Flashing is a risky thing. Casually flashing every BIOS you can get your hands on may come back to bite you.
- See the BIOS Flashing Procedure section on the HOT-569 BIOS page for instructions on how to flash the BIOS.
Clear CMOS - JP40
- Clears the CMOS (restores all the entries in the BIOS to their default values). To clear the CMOS:
  1. Turn off the PC.
  2. Remove the jumper from pins 1 and 2 on JP40.
  3. Place the jumper on pins 2 and 3 on JP40 for a while.
  4. Remove the jumper from pins 2 and 3 on JP40.
  5. Place the jumper on pins 1 and 2 on JP40.
  6. Turn on the PC.

Seagate Hard Drives - JP44 and JP45

Some Seagate 5V IDE hard drives are incompatible with the Intel 430TX chipset. Setting jumpers 44 and 45 allow the hard drive to work with the HOT-569.

Jumper Settings:

	JP44	JP45	Comments
Default	1-2	On	Factory setting.
Single Voltage Processor and 5V Drive	2-3	Off	If you're using a single voltage processor such as the AMD K5, Cyrix/IBM 6x86, IDT C6, or Intel Pentium and a 5V Seagate hard drive that is on the incompatibility list, use this setting.
Dual Voltage Processor and 5V Drive	1-2	Off	If you're using a dual voltage processor such as the AMD K6, Cyrix/IBM 6x86L/6x86MX, or Intel Pentium w/ MMX and a 5V Seagate hard drive that is on the incompatibility list, use this setting.

Current URL: http://users.erols.com/chare/569_spec.htm
Designed by: Chris Hare (chare@erols.com)
© 1998-1999 by Chris Hare
Legal Stuff
Jun/21/1999