ADLINK NuPRO-770 Full length SBC Configuration and Maintenance

ADLINK NuPRO-770 Series PICMG Full Length Card SBC: A Complete Guide to Architecture Configuration and Engineering Maintenance

In the field of industrial computers, Full size SBC has long occupied a core position in high-end industrial control and telecommunications applications due to its excellent scalability, good heat dissipation structure, and strict adherence to PICMG standards. The NuPRO-770 series launched by ADLINK is a representative full-length card product based on the Intel Socket-370 processor and i82810 chipset. This series supports Intel Celeron and Pentium III FC-GGA processors, with onboard integrated VGA controller, 10/100Mbps Ethernet (NuPRO-770 only), dual EIDE channels (supporting Ultra DMA/66), high driver ISA bus (64mA), and embedded hardware monitoring and programmable watchdog timer, providing a computing platform that combines performance and reliability for harsh industrial environments.

Although NuPRO-770 is no longer the latest product, there are still a large number of equipment in service in numerous automated production lines, rail transit, and military systems. Mastering the hardware configuration, jumper settings, BIOS tuning, driver deployment, and watchdog programming details is of great significance for system maintenance, rapid fault location, and extending equipment service life. This article is based on the official user manual and systematically outlines the core specifications, installation steps, key jumpers, serial port mode selection, VGA/network card driver installation, watchdog programming, and hardware monitoring applications of NuPRO-770 (and the same series NuPRO-771), providing on-site engineers with a highly operational technical reference document.

Product series overview and model differentiation

The NuPRO-770 series includes two main models:

NuPRO-770: Standard model, onboard Intel 82559 10/100Mbps Ethernet controller, supports Wake On LAN and optional Alert on LAN II.

NuPRO-771: Similar to 770, but without onboard network interface, suitable for applications that do not require a network or require the use of independent network cards.

The two models are highly consistent in terms of jumper, BIOS, and driver installation, and can be considered as the same platform except for the network part.

Core hardware architecture and technical characteristics

1. Processor and chipset

CPU socket: Socket-370, supports Intel Celeron (PPGA/FC-GGA) and Pentium III FC-GGA processors, external frequency 66/100 MHz, with built-in L2 cache in the CPU.

Chipset: Intel i82810 (810) integrated chipset, including AGP 2X graphics controller (supporting dynamic shared system memory as video memory, adjustable from 1 to 11 MB), and integrated 230 MHz RAMDAC, with a maximum CRT resolution of 1600 × 1200@8bpp (85Hz refresh rate).

Memory: Two 168 pin DIMM slots, supporting PC-100 non buffered SDRAM, with a maximum capacity of 512 MB (up to 256 MB per pin). The official statement clearly states that the i82810 chipset does not support PC-133 SDRAM, please make sure to use the PC-100 specification to ensure stability.

2. Storage and I/O

EIDE: Dual channel (Primary and Secondary), supports PIO Mode 3/4 and Ultra DMA/66, can connect up to four IDE devices (hard drive, optical drive, LS-120, ZIP, etc.). The 20 pins of the Primary IDE connector (CN1) provide+5V power and can directly support DiskOnModule (DOM flash drive).

FDD: Single floppy drive interface, supporting 360KB~2.88MB.

Serial port: COM1 (CN6) is RS-232; COM2 (CN5) can select RS-232, RS-422 or RS-485 (default RS-232) through jumper, with ESD protection of 2KV.

Parallel port (CN3): Supports SPP/EPP/ECP mode, ESD protection 4KV, downstream equipment protection 30V.

USB: Two USB 1.1 interfaces (via 8-pin pins) with independent overcurrent protection.

PS/2: The keyboard (CN17) and mouse (CN16) have independent Mini DIN pins, and an internal keyboard interface (CN13) is also provided.

3. Network (NuPRO-770 only)

Intel 82559 Fast Ethernet Controller, 32-bit PCI bus master, supports 10/100Mbps adaptive, full duplex, flow control, Wake On LAN (requires ATX power supply+5VSB). Onboard RJ-45 connector (CN14) with dual color LED indicating link and speed.

4. High driving capability of ISA bus

The ISA bus of NuPRO-770 provides up to 64mA driving capability on all data, address, and control lines, which is crucial for driving ISA expansion cards with high loads such as data acquisition cards and motion control cards, avoiding signal distortion or system instability caused by insufficient driving of traditional ISA buses.

5. Hardware monitoring

Monitoring IC: Winbond W83627HF (Super I/O chip with built-in hardware monitoring function).

Monitoring items: CPU temperature, system temperature (via CN10 external thermistor), CPU fan speed, chassis open status (JP6), system voltage (VCORE,+3.3V,+5V,+12V, -12V,+5VSB).

Supporting software: Hardware Doctor (supports Windows 98/NT), can set alarm thresholds, pop up warnings and emit beeps when exceeded.

6. Watch dog timer

Based on logic device 8, the CRF5/CRF6/CRF7 registers have programmable timeout values ranging from 0 to 255 seconds or minutes.

The counter can be interrupted through keyboard/mouse or reloaded through software; Trigger system reset after timeout.

Key jumper settings and serial port mode configuration

Proper configuration of jumpers is the foundation for stable system operation. The main jumpers of NuPRO-770 include JP1~JP5, with the following functions:

1. COM2 mode selection (JP1, JP2, JP3)

COM2 (CN5) can be switched between RS-232, RS-422, and RS-485 through three sets of jumpers, with RS-232 being the default:

Mode JP1 JP2 JP3

RS-232 (default) 4-5 1-2 1-2

RS-422 5-6 2-3 3-4

RS-485 5-6 2-3 5-6

When selecting RS-485, the communication is in half duplex mode, suitable for multi station bus connection; RS-422 is a full duplex point-to-point or multipoint (note terminal resistance). In practical operation, it is necessary to turn off the power before adjusting the jumper to avoid damaging the serial port chip.

2. CPU and SDRAM frequency settings (JP4, JP5)

JP4 and JP5 jointly determine the CPU external frequency and SDRAM operating frequency:

CPU external frequency SDRAM frequency JP5 JP4

66 MHz 100 MHz 1-2 2-3

100 MHz 100 MHz 2-3 2-3

66/100 MHz automatic 100 MHz 3-4 2-3

(Reserved) -1-2-

The factory default setting is "automatic mode" (JP5=3-4, JP4=2-3), and the BIOS can automatically recognize external frequencies based on the CPU model. But if using a 66MHz external frequency Celeron, the system will automatically set the SDRAM frequency to 100MHz (i.e. asynchronous memory operation), and it is necessary to ensure the reliable quality of the memory module.

Attention: The i82810 chipset only supports PC-100, do not use PC-133 memory, otherwise it may fail to start or cause instability.

Detailed explanation of onboard connectors and external interfaces

1. IDE（CN1 Primary / CN4 Secondary）

Standard 40 pin interface, supporting master-slave devices. Important feature: The 20 pin CN1 provides+5V power supply, which can directly power the DiskOnModule (DOM) without the need for an external power cord, making it suitable for industrial diskless systems without mechanical hard drives.

2. Serial port (CN6 COM1/CN5 COM2)

All are 10 pin pins (2.54mm spacing), which lead out DCD, RXD, TXD, DTR, GND, DSR, RTS, CTS, RI. It needs to be converted to standard DB-9 or DB-25 through the accompanying serial cable.

3. VGA（CN8）

15 pin D-sub standard VGA interface, supporting DDC2B, can be directly connected to CRT or LCD monitors.

4. USB（CN7）

8-pin pin, providing two USB ports, pins defined as: 1 VCC, 2 VCC, 3 USB0-, 4 USB1-, 5 USB0+, 6 USB1+, 7 GND, 8 GND.

5. Front panel universal signal (CN15)

20 pin pin pin, collecting the following control and indication signals:

Pin 1-5: Power LED+Keylock

Pin 6-10: ATX power control (PS-ON,+5VSB)

Pin 11-14: Speak (buzzer)

Pin 15-16: Reset switch

Pin 17-18: HDD LED

Pin 19-20: ATX power switch (soft switch)

6. Fan power supply (FN1)

3-pin connector, providing+12V, GND, and speed detection signals, used for CPU fan (requires 12V/3-pin with speed measuring fan).

7. IrDA（CN11）

5-pin infrared interface, supports IrDA 1.0 (SIR), up to 115.2Kbps, can be used for wireless debugging or communication.

8. Chassis opening detection (JP6)

2-pin pin, connected to the micro switch on the chassis cover, short circuit indicates that the chassis is closed, open circuit indicates that it is open, and hardware monitoring software can issue an alarm based on this.

9. System temperature sensor (CN10)

2-pin interface, can be connected to an external thermistor (such as AD590 or NTC) to expand the temperature monitoring range of the system.

Watchdog Timer Programming Guide

The watchdog of NuPRO-770 is based on logic device 8 of Winbond W83627HF super I/O chip. It can be configured through I/O ports 2Eh/2Fh (or 3F0h/3F1h, depending on the chip model). For the convenience of users, ADLINK provides encapsulated function libraries and testing tools.

1. Register Introduction

CRF6: Overtime meter value (0~255), determined by the bit6 of CRF5 (0=minute, 1=second).

CRF5: Control triggering conditions (keyboard/mouse interrupts can be reloaded).

CRF7: Used to enable/disable watchdog and select interrupt type.

2. Simplified programming interface

The official provides the following function prototypes (applicable to DOS, Windows 95/98/NT):

c out_port(int IOPort_number, int Counter_value);

IOPort_numbers: If W83977EF, use 0x3F0; If it is W83627HF (this board), use 0x2E.

Counter value: 0~15300 (corresponding to 0~255 minutes, but the actual maximum value is 255), writing 0 indicates disabling.

3. Testing methods

DOS/Windows 98: Execute X:  NuPRO  Drivers  WDT  test<seconds>at the command prompt (tool automatically detects chip model).

Windows NT: You need to first run the setup program under NT to load the driver, and then execute test627<seconds>(specify W83627HF).

Engineering suggestion: In practical applications, watchdog overload operations can be embedded in the main loop or timed interrupts to ensure that the system can automatically recover even in the event of software exceptions. Note that the timeout period should be slightly greater than the maximum cycle period to avoid accidental triggering.

Key BIOS Settings Points

Although the manual does not provide a complete BIOS screenshot, based on the Award BIOS interface, the following points are worth noting:

Chipset options: The video shared memory size can be configured (1-11 MB), and it is recommended to allocate it reasonably according to the display resolution requirements (such as allocating 8 MB for 1024 × 768 × 16bpp).

Power Management: If Wake On LAN or modem wake-up is required, enable the corresponding event in the "Power Management Setup" and ensure that the+5VSB power supply capability of the ATX power supply is sufficient (Intel 82559 wake-up current is approximately 100mA).

PCI configuration: For users using traditional ISA cards, specific IRQs can be set to "Legacy ISA" in the "PNP/PCI Configuration" to avoid PCI device occupancy.

Integrated peripherals: The onboard VGA or LAN can be disabled separately (if an external graphics card or network card is required) to save interrupt resources.

CPU temperature alarm: The critical temperature of the CPU (such as 70 ° C) can be set in "PC Health" or similar options, and the system will automatically shut down or alarm when exceeded.

Driver installation process

1. Intel 810 chipset INF installation (key steps)

Windows 95/98/2000 must first install the chipset INF file to correctly identify the internal devices of i82810 (including AGP, USB, LPC, etc.). Run  NuPRO  Drivers  Chipset  Intel  Win9x2k  Disk1  SETUP.EXE from the CD, follow the prompts to complete and restart.

2. VGA driver installation

Windows 98/95/2000: Run  NuPRO  Drivers  VGA  V810  Win9x  Graphics  SETUP.EXE (Win2k corresponds to the Win2k directory).

Windows NT 4.0: Run  NuPRO  Drivers  VGA  V810  Wt40  Graphics  SETUP.EXE (requires NT Service Pack 5 or later to be installed first).

3. Intel 82559 LAN driver

Windows 2000/98: Manually update drivers through Device Manager, point to the path  NuPRO  Drivers  LAN  82559 on the CD, and select oemsetup.inf or net82557.inf.

Windows NT: You need to first create a driver floppy disk (run  NuPRO  Drivers  LAN  82559  Makedisk  MakediskNT), and then select "Install from Disk" in the network installation.

4. Hardware monitoring tools

Hardware Doctor is located in  NuPRO  Drivers  HWDoctor  WIN98 (or WINNT), and executing Hwm-98.exe can start real-time monitoring.

Typical troubleshooting and maintenance recommendations

The system cannot start (black screen):

Check if the CPU is fully inserted into Socket-370 (pay attention to foolproof notches).

Confirm that the memory module is PC-100 SDRAM and is securely installed (it is recommended to test with a single module first).

Clear CMOS (if JP2 is present, short-circuit the corresponding pin to restore default).

Check if JP4/JP5 matches the CPU external frequency (66MHz corresponds to 66/100 automatic mode).

COM2 cannot work on RS-422/485:

Confirm that all JP1 to JP3 are set correctly according to the table (especially note that JP3 is 5-6 when RS-485).

Check if the external terminal resistors match (RS-422/485 long wires require terminal resistors).

IDE device cannot recognize or UDMA is invalid:

Confirm that "IDE Primary/Secondary Master/Slave UDMA" is set to Auto in the BIOS.

Check if the 40 pin IDE cable supports UDMA/66 (requires 80 core cable).

The onboard network card is not working (only 770):

Confirm that the Onboard LAN is set to Enabled in the BIOS.

Check if the LED indicator light of the RJ-45 connector is normal (upper green=100Mbps, lower yellow=link/activity).

If using Wake On LAN, confirm that the+5VSB current of the ATX power supply is sufficient.

Watchdog does not trigger reset:

Confirm that the timeout value is set correctly (non-zero).

Check if the automatic reload caused by keyboard/mouse interruption never times out (this feature can be disabled).

Confirm that the relevant interrupts are not blocked in the BIOS.

Abnormal system temperature or failure to display fan speed:

Check if the CPU heat sink is in good contact and if the FN1 fan is connected and of 3-pin speed measurement type.

If the external system temperature sensor is not connected, the corresponding monitoring item can be disabled in Hardware Doctor to avoid false alarms.