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Overview | |
Advanced Menu |
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Starting the RCU | |
Resolving Resource Conflicts |
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Main Menu |
The Resource Configuration Utility (RCU) is used to tell the system what expansion cards are installed and which expansion slots they occupy. With this information, the system automatically configures Plug and Play expansion cards and Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) expansion cards. Before your system was shipped from Dell, a technician used the RCU to enter the correct information for the expansion cards initially installed in your computer.
The RCU also monitors the resources required by any installed PCI expansion card. After installing or moving a PCI expansion card, you should run the RCU to update the system's database of available system resources stored in nonvolatile random-access memory (NVRAM).
NOTICE: Whenever you make changes to the System Setup program or change settings for integrated devices, you must run the RCU, make any necessary changes, and save the system configuration information. Failure to do so may cause resource conflicts between PCI devices (such as PCI expansion cards, the integrated video controller, or the integrated small computer system interface [SCSI] host adapter). See "Configuring Expansion Cards" for more information about how PCI devices are configured based on settings in the RCU.
The RCU is PCI-aware and can also be used to configure PCI expansion cards. Configuration information for PCI expansion cards is contained within the card, so no additional .cfg file is required. You should run the RCU after installing or moving a PCI expansion card to keep the system's database of available resources accurate.
The RCU is included on the Dell OpenManage Server Assistant CD shipped with your system. This CD includes an RCU directory that contains the main program.
You can run the RCU directly from the CD or from a diskette that you create using the CD's main menu. Dell recommends that you run the RCU from a diskette because the RCU is not compatible with all operating systems. Also, using a diskette to run the utility allows you to copy any system configuration changes to the diskette for safekeeping. See "Using the Dell OpenManage Server Assistant CD" for instructions on creating an RCU diskette.
PCI expansion cards do not require a configuration file. The PCI configuration utility in ROM automatically uses the information maintained by the RCU to assign resources for PCI expansion cards.
Whenever you add or remove expansion cards, you must run the RCU to ensure that no two cards attempt to use the same resources (such as interrupt request [IRQ] lines).
After you have run the RCU and it has configured all your expansion cards, you can use the utility to lock the configuration of your PCI expansion cards so that they are always assigned the same resources.
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NOTE: If your system detects a card configuration problem during operation, you receive a warning message directing you to run the RCU to correct the problem. |
The RCU uses menus to guide you through the configuration process. The menus and their options are accessed through keyboard commands.
To make a menu selection, press the up- or down-arrow key to highlight the desired option, and then press <Enter>. In the Help menu or Advanced menu, you can also select an option by pressing the key that corresponds to the highlighted letter in the selection list.
To scroll up or down a screen, press the <Page Up> or <Page Down> key, respectively.
The RCU has online instructions for each of its procedures. If you need help at any time, press <F1> to see a help screen that offers more details about the task you are doing.
If you are running the RCU from your hard-disk drive, remove any terminate-and-stay-resident (TSR) programs from memory before starting the utility. These programs take up space in system memory even when they are not running, thus reducing the amount of memory available to the RCU. See the documentation that accompanied these programs for instructions on removing them from memory.
If you start the utility and there is not enough memory to run it, a message is displayed. If you receive such a message, run the utility from a diskette.
Perform the following steps the first time you use the RCU. Later,
if a card is added, removed, or repositioned, you must follow the procedure described in
"Step 2: Add or Remove Boards."
Learn about configuring your computer The first option in the menu is already highlighted.
To run the program from your hard-disk drive, switch to the c:\rcu subdirectory,
type sd at the operating system prompt, and press
<Enter>.
To run the program from the Dell OpenManage Server Assistant CD, restart the system
from the CD. Select Run RCU from the CD's main menu.
The Main Menu appears:
Main Menu
Configure computer
Set date
Set time
Maintain system configuration diskette
Exit from this utility
After reading the online overview, you are ready to use the program to configure your
computer for any PCI expansion cards currently installed.
The following sections describe each of the menu options in the Main Menu and the submenus for those options.
The Learn about configuring your computer option presents an overview of the configuration process. As you finish reading a screen, press <Enter> to view the next screen. Press <F10> to return to the Main Menu.
The Configure computer option takes you through the configuration process step by step. Use this option the first time you configure your system and every time you change your configuration through the RCU.
When you select Configure computer, the following menu appears on the screen:
Steps in configuring your computer
Step 1: Important resource configuration information
Step 2: Add or remove boards
Step 3: View or edit details
Step 4: Examine switches or print report
Step 5: Save and exit
The Step 1: Important resource configuration information option uses seven information screens to explain the configuration process. After you read the first screen, press <Enter> to see the next one. When you finish reading all seven screens, press <Esc> to return to the Steps in configuring your computer menu.
To review the information screens at any time while you are in the RCU, press <F1> and select Resource Configuration from the Help menu.
When you select the Step 2: Add or remove boards option, the RCU lists all the expansion slots in your computer. (You may have to press <Page Down> to view the entire list.)
If you copied a card's configuration file to your RCU diskette or to the RCU configuration subdirectory (rcu) on your hard-disk drive, the card name appears in the expansion slot in which the card is installed.
The first time you run the RCU, select Step 2: Add or remove boards to verify that the system has detected and acknowledged any expansion cards Dell installed when you purchased your system. Use this option whenever you add or remove an expansion card and every time you reposition a card from one expansion slot to another in your computer.
To add, reposition, or remove an expansion card, highlight the corresponding expansion slot and press <Ins> to add, <F7> to reposition, or <Del> to remove the card. The utility guides you through the steps required to add, reposition, or remove a card's configuration file within the RCU. If there are no resource conflicts, the system configuration information is saved to a system configuration (.sci) file when you exit the utility.
Use the following procedure after a PCI expansion card is repositioned. See "When to Run the Resource Configuration Utility" for more detailed information.
Perform the following steps after you remove a PCI expansion card. See "
When to Run the Resource Configuration Utility" for more detailed information.The RCU lets you set a variety of system options through the .sci file. Through this file, you can notify the system of changes to your hardware and memory configuration, manage input/output (I/O) ports, and set other system operating parameters.
Some of the categories do not offer options, but reflect installed hardware that is detected by the system. These items are displayed for your information only; you cannot change them through the utility.
To display the list of system board options, perform the following steps:
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NOTE: Whenever you add an expansion card to the computer, its presence is reflected by changes to the System Board Options screen. |
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NOTES: Several system board categories allow you to edit such
resources as memory address, I/O ports, IRQs, and direct memory access (DMA) channels. It
may be necessary to edit these resources to resolve a configuration conflict. To view the
resource screen for any category, highlight the option and press <F6>. The edit resources feature is intended for users who are technically knowledgeable. Do not change resource settings from their defaults if you do not understand how such a change will affect system performance. While in the Step 3: View or edit details menu, you can press <F7> to enter the Advanced menu. |
When you have finished making changes, perform the following steps to save the new system configuration information and exit the utility:
Figure 1 shows the system board options that are available on the View or edit details screen.
Figure 1. View or Edit Details Screen (Example)
The Step 4: Examine switches or print report option lists the required switch and jumper settings for each expansion card in your computer. To view the settings, highlight the card and press <Enter>.
Press <F7> to make a copy of or print the settings. If your computer is attached to a printer, you can print the information or copy it to a file.
The Step 5: Save and exit option allows you to save or cancel the configuration changes that you have made. When you select this option, follow the directions on the menu that displays.
If you save your changes, the utility saves the new configuration in your system's NVRAM and in a file on your RCU diskette. The utility automatically reboots your system.
If you cancel your changes, you can remain in the utility to make other changes or exit the utility without saving any changes.
Using the Maintain system configuration diskette option, you can create a backup copy of the .sci file or use a previously saved .sci file to reconfigure your system or to identically configure many other systems. You can also copy .cfg files and delete .sci and .cfg files from your RCU diskette, your diskette of .cfg files, or the configuration diskette(s) for any hardware option.
The Exit from this utility option allows you to exit from the RCU and reboot your computer system.
The Advanced menu lets you lock or unlock cards in a configuration, view detailed information about the system, and maintain .sci files.
To see the Advanced menu, press <F7> while in the Step 3: View or edit details menu. The following menu appears:
Advanced menu
Lock/unlock boards
View additional system information menu
Set verification mode menu
Maintain SCI files menu
Highlight the menu category that you want and press <Enter>. Then follow the online instructions.
The following subsections describe each category.
When you lock an expansion card, the RCU cannot change the resources allocated to that card. Unlocking the card allows the system to change the resources automatically as new cards are added. The default setting for the Lock/unlock boards category is Unlocked. Dell recommends that you keep your cards unlocked so that the RCU can do its job properly.
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NOTE: The RCU ignores the Lock/unlock boards setting for the PCI host bridge and the PCI-to-PCI bridge devices. |
The RCU contains detailed information about the system board and the used and available resources. The options for the View additional system information menu category are:
The Used Resources and Available Resources options contain detailed information about resources such as IRQs, DMA channels, and I/O ports, which may be useful if you need to resolve a resource conflict.
The settings for the Set verification mode menu category are Automatic (the default) and Manual. When this category is set to Automatic, the RCU automatically checks for resource conflicts and tries to resolve them. Unless you are technically knowledgeable, leave this category set to Automatic.
Each time you use the RCU to configure your system, the system configuration information is saved in a .sci file and in system memory. You should save the system configuration information to a backup file that can be used to restore the information if the .sci file is damaged or lost. The options for the Maintain SCI files menu category are Open (the default) and Save As.
The Open option creates a backup file that overwrites the existing configuration. The Save As option allows you to select the filename under which you want the .sci file saved.
The RCU automatically resolves resource conflicts between PCI expansion cards. It is extremely unusual for the RCU to fail in resolving a resource conflict between two PCI expansion cards. If the RCU fails to resolve the conflict, see "Getting Help" in your Installation and Troubleshooting Guide for information on obtaining technical assistance.