ADLINK AmITX-SL-G Mini ITX Motherboard Deployment and SEMA Guide

ADLINK AmITX-SL-G Mini ITX Industrial Motherboard Deployment and SEMA Management Guide

In the fields of industrial automation, machine vision, edge computing and digital signage, the Mini ITX plate type, with its compact size of 170mm × 170mm, flexible expansion capability and standardized installation hole location, is an ideal choice for space constrained high-performance applications. The AmITX-SL-G launched by ADLINK is a desktop level 6/7 generation Intel based product ®  Core ™  I7/i5/i3 and Pentium ®/ Celeron ®  Mini ITX embedded motherboard with Intel processor ®  Q170 or H110 chipset, supporting LGA1151 slot CPU, up to 64GB DDR4 memory, and providing three independent DisplayPort display outputs, dual Gigabit Ethernet (supporting Intel) ®  AMT/vPro, USB 3.0/2.0, SATA 6Gb/s, PCIe x16 expansion and other rich I/O. The board is equipped with ADLINK's unique SEMA (Smart Embedded Management Agent) onboard management controller, which enables hardware monitoring, watchdog, dual BIOS fault recovery, intelligent fan speed regulation, and remote management. This article will provide a detailed deployment and debugging reference for system integration engineers from the aspects of hardware architecture, interface definition, jumper configuration, installation points, SEMA functions, BIOS tuning, and system resource allocation.

Product positioning and technical specifications overview

AmITX-SL-G follows the Mini ITX specification (170mm × 170mm), is compatible with Micro ATX and standard ATX chassis, and is powered by a standard ATX power supply (12V ± 5% and 5VSb ± 5%). The board offers two chipset versions:

Q170 version: Supports Intel ®  vPro ™、 AMT 11.0, 3 x DisplayPort, USB 3.0 internal pin layout and richer management functions.

H110 version: Supports 2 x DisplayPort and USB 2.0 internal pin placement for more economical positioning.

The processor is compatible with 6th generation (Skylake) and 7th generation (Kaby Lake) Core/Pentium/Celeron desktop CPUs, including standard 65W and low-power 35W (TE suffix) models, with TDP coverage ranging from 35W to 65W, and requires corresponding heat dissipation solutions. Chipset paired with Intel ®  HD Graphics 530/630 integrated graphics card, supports DirectX 12, OpenGL 4.4, and up to three screens with 4K independent display.

Core specifications:

Memory: 2 x DDR4 SO-DIMM slots, supporting 2133/2400 MHz non ECC memory, maximum 64GB.

Display: Q170 version 3 x DisplayPort 1.2 (up to 4096 x) 2160@24Hz ）； H110 version 2 x DP; optional eDP or LVDS (via daughter card), LVDS supports single/dual channel 24 bit up to 1920 x 1080@60Hz .

Network: Dual Intel ®  Ethernet - i219-LM (Q170 supports AMT)/i219-V (H110)+i211AT (MAC/PHY), supports both PCIe and WoL.

Storage: 3 x SATA 6Gb/s (SATA1/2 can optionally provide 3.3V/5V DOM power through pin 7).

Expansion: 1 x PCIe x16 (Gen3), 1 x PCIe x1 (Gen2), 1 x Half height Mini PCIe (PCIe/USB 2.0), 1 x Full height Mini PCIe (optional mSATA/PCIe/USB 2.0).

I/O interface: rear 4 x USB 3.0+4 x USB 2.0; Onboard 2 x USB 3.0 pin (Q170) or 2 x USB 2.0 pin (H110); 4 × COM (SER1 supports RS-232/422/485 with power supply selection, SER2-4 only supports RS-232); PS/2 KB/MS； 7.1 channel HD Audio (ALC886).

Security features: optional TPM 1.2 (Atmel) or TPM 2.0 (Infineon SLB9665, A3 hardware version only); BIOS write protection.

SEMA management: voltage/current monitoring, watchdog, dual BIOS fault recovery, intelligent fan, runtime statistics, abnormal code diagnosis, etc.

This board supports Windows 7/8.1/10 (64 bit) and mainstream Linux distributions.

Detailed explanation of board layout and connectors

1. Rear I/O

DisplayPort (3 Q170 versions, 2 H110 versions): DP 1.2, highest 4K@24Hz .

Dual Gigabit Ethernet ports (LAN1/LAN2): RJ-45, built-in Link/Activity (orange/green) and Speed (green/orange) LEDs.

USB 3.0 (4 blue Type-A) and USB 2.0 (4 black Type-A): A total of 8 rear USB ports, powered by 5V, supporting S3/S4 wake-up.

Audio interface: 5 3.5mm sockets (7.1 channels)+S/PDIF output (RCA coaxial).

2. Onboard internal connectors (Component Side)

CPU socket: LGA1151, supports 6/7 generation Core processors.

SODIMM slots: Two, angled plug-in.

SATA (SATA1/2/3): 7P L-type, supporting 6Gb/s. SATA1/2 can provide DOM power (NA/3.3V/5V) through jumper selection pin 7.

SATA power supply (ST-PWR1/2): 5-pin power supply interface (12V/5V/3.3V).

PCIe Expansion: 1 x PCIe x16 (Gen3), 1 x PCIe x1 (Gen2), 1 x Half Height Mini PCIe e, 1 x Full Height Mini PCIe e (switchable to mSATA via jumper).

USB Pin: Q170 version 2 x USB 3.0 (19 pin); H110 version 2 x USB 2.0 (2 x 5-pin).

Serial ports: SER1~SER4 (2 × 5-pin, 2.0mm pitch). SER1 supports RS-232/422/485 mode switching and power supply (NC/5V/12V); SER2-4 only uses RS-232.

PS/2: 6-pin pin arrangement (requires optional Y-wire).

Audio pin: 2 × 13 pin, sharing signal with rear audio.

LVDS interface (optional): 30 pin FFC (1mm pitch), supports single/dual channel 24 bit, maximum 1920 × 1080@60Hz (via eDP to LVDS converter).

LVDS auxiliary interface: backlight control (PWM), backlight enable, backlight power supply (5V/12V optional).

Front panel pin arrangement: 2 × 12 pins, providing PWRBTN, reset HDD LED、SUS LED、 Audio Mic/Line in.

Feature Connector: 2x14 pin, providing Case Open, I ² C, SMBus, 10 GPIO, SUS_S3/S4/S5, PWR_OK, etc.

SPI pin: Used for BIOS Flash programming.

Fan interface: CPU fan+2 x system fans (all 4-pin PWM, controlled by SEMA).

ATX power interface: proprietary 14 pin interface (with adapter cable to standard ATX 24 pin).

DB-40 debugging interface: 40 pin FPC, used in conjunction with debugging modules to implement POST code, SPI programming, LPC bus monitoring, etc.

3. Jumpers and switches

JPATX: ATX/AT mode selection (1-2=ATX, 2-3=AT).

CMOS: Clear CMOS (1-2=normal, 2-3=clear).

JPMSATA2: Mini PCIe/mSATA selection (1-2=Mini PCIe, 2-3=mSATA).

SWS1M: SER1 mode switch (RS-232/422/485).

JPS3P2: SER1 power supply selection (1-2=5V, 2-3=NC, 3-4=12V).

JPL4: LVDS backlight power supply (1-2=12V, 2-3=5V).

JPL6/JPL8: LVDS panel power supply (5V/3.3V/12V combination).

JPL5: Backlight enable polarity (1-2=Active High, 2-3=Active Low).

SW2: Dual BIOS selection and mode (select onboard BIOS/socket BIOS for position 1, select Normal/Folsafe for position 2).

JPL9/JPL10: BIOS write protect selection (BMC control/Enable).

JPL11: SATA1/2 DOM power supply selection (NA/3.3V/5V).

Jumper configuration and key installation points

1. AT/ATX mode selection (JPATX)

ATX mode (default 1-2): Supports soft switching, ACPI power management, and remote wake-up.

AT mode (2-3): Power on and start immediately, suitable for forced self start applications.

2. Power input

Using a proprietary 14 pin ATX interface (with standard ATX adapter), it provides+12V,+5V,+5Vsb,+3.3V, and PSON #/PWR_OK signals.

5VSb must be connected to support S3/S4 wake-up function.

3. Mini PCIe/mSATA selection (JPMSATA2)

If using an mSATA solid-state drive, set JPMSATA2 to 2-3 (mSATA), and this slot only supports mSATA.

If using Mini PCIe wireless/expansion card, set it to 1-2 (Mini PCIe, default).

4. SER1 mode and power supply (key)

Select RS-232 (default), RS-422, or RS-485 through SWS1M.

Select the power supply for pin 10 through JPS3P2: 1-2=5V, 2-3=NC (default), 3-4=12V.

This feature allows the board to directly supply power to external serial devices such as touch screens and scanners, simplifying wiring.

5. SATA DOM power supply (JPL11)

The pin 7 of SATA1/2 can choose to output 3.3V (1-2), 5V (2-3), or NA (default), which is used to directly power SATA DOM (Disk On Module) without the need for an additional power cord.

6. LVDS display settings (optional daughter card)

Panel voltage (JPL6/JPL8): Select 3.3V (default), 5V, or 12V according to the LCD specifications.

Backlight voltage (JPL4): 5V (default) or 12V.

Backlight Enable Polarity (JPL5): Active High (1-2) or Active Low (2-3, default).

The backlight brightness can be adjusted in BIOS or through SEMA (0~255).

Maximum load: The panel power supply does not exceed 1A (total of two circuits), and the backlight power supply does not exceed 1A per circuit.

7. Dual BIOS and write protection (SW2, JPL9/JPL10)

SW2: Position 1 ON for booting from onboard BIOS (default), OFF for booting from socket BIOS (requires physical insertion and removal of BIOS chip); Position 2 OFF is in Fail safe mode (default), and ON is in Normal BIOS mode.

JPL9 (onboard BIOS) and JPL10 (socket BIOS): 1-2=BMC control (default), 2-3=Enable write protection. After enabling write protection, there are the following restrictions:

S3/S4 sleep state is not supported;

Intel AMT functionality is unavailable;

The ME version information in the BIOS menu is displayed as "zero";

Cannot install OS in write protected state;

Unable to update MAC address;

The user is unable to refresh the BIOS.

8. Selection of radiator

The board provides multiple LGA1150 compatible heat sinks (height 30~61.4mm), suitable for 45W and 95W thermal design power consumption, depending on CPU TDP and chassis height selection

In depth analysis of SEMA onboard management function

The SEMA (Smart Embedded Management Agent) built into AmITX-SL-G enables industrial grade system management through BMC microcontrollers, without relying on an OS, providing the following key capabilities:

1. Running status statistics

Total runtime (accumulated S0 status in minutes).

This runtime (second level timing, power off reset).

Power on and startup times (including hardware/software reset and power on startup).

Startup reason: Record the last reset source (power failure, BIOS failure, watchdog reset, internal/external reset, etc.).

2. Voltage and current monitoring

BMC samples multiple voltages in real-time and provides values through SEMA API:

Monitoring object ADC channel

CPU‑Vcore 0

GFX‑Vcore 1

Vmem 3

RTC 5

3.3V 6

3.3VSB 7

5V 8

VIN(12V) 9

5VSB 11

Main current monitoring: Sample every 250ms and return the last 4 current values (unit: 8.06mA/LSB).

3. Temperature monitoring and intelligent fan

Real time reading of CPU temperature and board temperature, recording startup value, minimum value, and maximum value.

Smart Fan supports multi-level temperature control curves (4 trigger points, each point can set temperature and PWM percentage), and can set temperature sources (CPU Sensor/System Sensor) for both CPU and system fans separately.

4. Watchdog Timer (Type II)

The timeout value (in seconds or minutes) can be set through SEMA API or BIOS.

Automatically trigger system reset after timeout.

Support Power Up Watchdog, which can be temporarily disabled during startup by pressing F12.

5. Dual BIOS fault recovery

BMC monitors the BIOS boot process. If the main BIOS fails to start, the hardware signal will automatically switch to Fail safe BIOS startup to ensure system recovery.

Users can manually select the boot BIOS and mode through SW2.

6. Exception Codes

BMC outputs error codes by flashing the blue status LED and records them in the BMC Flags register. Partial key code:

Explanation of Code Error Messages

0 NOERROR is normal

2 NOSUSCLK SUSCLK signal missing

3 NOSLP_S5 SLP_S5 signal missing

4 NOSLP_S4 SLP_S4 signal missing

5 NOSLP_S3 SLP_S3 signal missing

7 BIOs_FAIL BIOS startup failure

8 RESET_SAIL reset failed

10 CRITICAL_TEMP temperature critical

11 POWER_SAIL power failure

12 VOLTAGE-FAIL voltage abnormality

18 NOVCORE. PG CPU core power supply good signal missing

7. User flash storage area

Provide a 1kB read-write Flash area (customer data).

Provide a 128 byte protected Flash area (write protected, clear protected), suitable for storing keys, IDs, and other information.

Core points of BIOS settings

BIOS is based on AMI EFI, press<Del>to enter when booting up. Main menus and key settings:

1. Main Menu

System information: project version, BIOS build date.

Processor information: model, frequency, number of cores, GT speed, IGFX VBIOS version, total memory.

PCH information: chipset name, SKU, stepping, ME firmware version.

System Management (SEMA): includes board information, temperature/fan speed, power consumption monitoring (VCORE/VGFX/VMEM/3.3V/5V/12V, etc.), runtime statistics (total runtime, startup times, startup reasons), BMC Flags, Power Up watchdog settings, LVDS backlight brightness adjustment, Smart Fan temperature control configuration (4 trigger points), SPI ROM write protection.

2. Advanced

CPU configuration: Virtualization (VT-x/VT-d), Speed Shift, SpeedStep, Turbo Mode can be enabled/disabled, and Active Processor Cores can be set.

Audio: HD Audio enabled/disabled/automatic, PME enabled, select audio output device (audio pin/rear/7.1 channels).

SATA: Enable/disable controller, mode (IDE/AHCI/RAID), speed (Gen1/Gen2/Gen3), RAID 0/1/10/5 independently enabled.

Thermal management: DTS SMM mode, Critical/Active/Passive Cooling Trip Point, ACPI passive cooling parameters (TC1/TC2/TSP).

Memory: Memory frequency, timing (tCL tRCD tRP tRAS), TOLUD settings MRC Fast Boot、Memory Remap。

graphical: Primary Display（Auto/IGFX/PEG/PCIe），Internal Graphics，GTT/Aperture/DVMT  Video memory allocation, LVDS backlight mode (PCH/BMC control), LCD Panel Type (supporting 20+pre-defined resolutions), Panel Scaling, LVDS data format/polarity/output mode.

USB: Legacy USB support, XHCI Hand off, USB Mass Storage driver, port disable overwrite.

ACPI Power Management: ACPI Auto Configuration, Hibernation, ACPI Sleep State (S3), AT/ATX simulation.

PCI/PCIe: PEG port configuration (enabled/disabled, Max Link Speed, Slot Power Limit), PCIe Root Port 6-9 configuration (ASPM, hot swappable, speed).

Super IO: Enable/disable SER1~SER4 and address/IRQ settings.

Serial console redirection: Each COM port is independently enabled, terminal type (VT100/VT-UTF8/ANSI), baud rate (9600~115200), flow control (None/Hardware RTS/CTS), VT-UTF8 combination key support.

Network: Network Stack, PCH LAN i219LM/i211 controller, Wake on LAN, AMT configuration (MEBx hotkeys, selection screen,...) USB Provisioning、 Watchdog timer, etc.).

Security: Intel TXT (LT) support, RTC Lock, BIOS Lock, Trusted Computing (TPM 1.2/2.0 selection and status).

3. Security

Administrator/user password settings.

Secure Boot control (requires disabling CSM and registering PK).

4. Boot

Set waiting time, NumLock status, Quiet/Fast Boot, CSM configuration (UEFI/Legacy boot filtering, Option ROM execution strategy).

Start device priority.

5. Save&Exit

Save changes and exit, discard changes, restore default values, user default values, start EFI Shell, etc.

System resource allocation reference

1. System memory mapping

0~1MB: DOS compatible area (including video buffer and PCI extension ROM).

1MB~15MB: Main memory.

15MB~16MB: ISA cavity.

FEC00000~FECFFFFF: APIC configuration space.

FEE00000~FEEFFFFF: MSI interrupt space.

FFE00000~FFFFFF: High BIOS area.

2. I/O mapping key addresses

Serial port: COM1=3F8h（IRQ4），COM2=2F8h（IRQ3），COM3=3E8h（IRQ5），COM4=2E8h（IRQ7）。

Super I/O：02E-02Fh。

VGA：3B0-3BBh、3C0-3DFh。

PCI configuration space: CF8~CFB (address registers), CFCs~CFF (data registers).

3. IRQ allocation (APIC mode)

Typical IRQs 3/4/5/7 are assigned to COM2/COM1/COM3/COM4 respectively, and can be reused by PCI devices (when onboard devices are disabled).

IRQ 16~23 is assigned to HD Audio, xHCI, ME, network cards, PCIe root ports, etc.

4. PCI configuration space

Bus 0: Host Bridge, PEG port IGD、xHCI、ME、AHCI、PCIe Root Ports（1/6/7/8/9）、ISA Bridge、SMBus、i219  network card.

Bus 1 (or device dependent): i211AT network card.

5. SMBus from device address

DIMM A：A0h

DIMM B：A4h

BMC（SEMA）：50h

Extended GPIO: 40h

Common troubleshooting and engineering recommendations

Possible causes and solutions for the fault phenomenon

Power on, no display, CPU not installed/memory not properly plugged in/insufficient power supply. Check LGA1151 CPU installation and re plug SODIMM to ensure ATX power is compatible

SATA hard drive does not recognize SATA mode, improper setting or DOM power supply error. Check SATA Mode in BIOS and confirm JPL11 jumper setting

MSATA does not recognize JPMSATA2. JPMSATA2 is not set to mSATA mode. Change JPMSATA2 to 2-3

SER1 communication abnormal mode switch does not match with external device; Power supply setting error check SWS1M mode, verify JPS3P2 power supply selection

LVDS shows no display or backlight does not light up. Panel voltage/backlight voltage/polarity settings are incorrect. Check JPL6/JPL8/JPL4/JPL5 and confirm that they are consistent with LCD specifications

The system does not start automatically (after AC power failure). In the BIOS, the Power Up Mode is set to 'Remain off' and changed to 'Turn On' or 'Last State'

Watchdog not triggered Power Up Watchdog disabled by F12 or not enabled to check watchdog settings, does not press F12 when restarting

SEMA status LED flashes with specific code BMC detects hardware abnormality and checks against abnormal code table (such as BIOD_FAIL, NOVCORE, PG)

Dual BIOS unable to switch SW2 switch not set correctly Confirm switch status for positions 1 and 2

Unable to refresh BIOS BIOS write protection enabled check JPL9/JPL10, short circuit 1-2 (BMC control) and retry

AMT function is unavailable. BIOS write protection enabled or ME is not configured correctly to disable write protection. Enter MEBx to set AMT

Power consumption reference (measured data):

The typical load of the 7th generation Core i7-7700 is about 87W, and the full load is about 123W.

The low-power i7-7700T (35W) has a typical load of about 46W and a full load of about 102W.

The typical load of i3-7101TE (35W) is about 39.8W, and the full load is about 54.7W.

S3 sleep mode power consumption is about 0.45W（ 5Vsb@0.09A ）.

Suitable heat sinks and power supplies (recommended ≥ 150W) need to be selected according to the CPU TDP.