BIOS Updates forum

Hi all -

Has anyone ever looked at the APM in AWARD 4.51G?

The BIOS timeout for my HD only goes up to 15 mins. I would like to change that so it can go up to 60 mins by either adding more selections, or replacing ones that are kinda dumb (it steps up in the beginning by 1 min intervals).

Do you know if this can be done (easily)?

Thanks.

No, you can't do that. BIOS only sends "sleep after xx minutes" command to the drive during POST and the drive itself is then responsible for spindown. The limitation of this command is 15 minutes (it might have changed in later ATA specifications). Why do you need these BIOS settings? I always turn off all the power management timers in BIOS and use the power management support in Windows (you can specify more than 15 minutes there).

I'm trying to sort out my new OS (W2K Professional, SP4).

I have the HD timeout "disabled" in the BIOS (as I did with Win98SE), and the Windows APM set for HD shutdown in 30 mins. The drive does not appear to be going to sleep with W2K, though it did in 98.

Note that the APM box is not checked. I'm in the BIOS "neutral" category, though my manual says the BIOS is APM 1.2 compliant. When I did check the box, the machine would restart instead of shutdown, so I can't use that.

One of the things mentioned in the W2K "bible" was to set the BIOS HD timeout to longer than the Windows one, but I can't do that with only 15 mins on-board.

Am I to assume then that Windows will issue the same command that the BIOS would to shutdown the drive? What things could be causing the drive to need to be active, and not go to sleep at the desired time?

Regarding the restart instead of shutdown, have you checked the hidden devices in your Device Manager? Oftentimes, you'll see "NT Legacy APM node" (I think it's called this way in the English Windows 2000) with a red X on it. You'll have to enable it for APM to work.

Note: on some boards, this'll force a reboot instead of shutdown too, but not on others. You'll have to try.

Note2: I'm assuming you haven't tried this yet, Kachi. BTW, is this problem affecting your DFI?

Note3: regarding your DFI with the "08/13/97-i430VX-W977-2A59GD4BC-00" BIOS ID, I don't know if you're aware of the "10/24/97-i430VX-W977-2A59GD4BC-00" beta, but I don't know if it's for your particular PCB revision (A or AD+).

AJZ -

Yes, there was a red X in the "NT Legacy APM node". I will check into this. This is probably what I read about in the W2K Release Notes, but thought it meant checking the APM box in the Power Options Control Panel.

Yes...it is on the DFI.

Yes...we tried that BIOS way back when. The serial ports didn't work, even though they were enabled in the Device Manager. I never though to give that one to Jan to see exactly what the differences were inside. Maybe next time I hear from him I will...just to see what's up with that.

I'm actually going to have to sit and listen. This drive is so quiet that it may be shutting down, and I just don't hear it wake up.