Radified User's Guide for the Asus CUSL2

Page 3

* Earlier bioses have probs with temperature readings. I use 1006 final. My CPU temp responds appropriately (climbs fast) when Prime95 starts. Depending on ambient temp, my CPU (as measured by Motherboard Monitor 5) reads 90-100 F at idle. Climbs steadily to ~120 F within a few minutes after Prime95 starts. So it seems to be responding correctly. I have a P3-700 @ 938MHz (1.80v) with a Golden Orb, military-spec thermal paste. 

* MBM can also monitor mobo/case temps. Mine reads between 80 & 90 F while the PC is running, depending on ambient temps. This is the first mobo I've owned that has any CPU temp readings at all. I set-up MBM to display both case ambient & CPU temps in my system tray (lower right), with bright-yellow backgrounds. MBM4 is not recommended for the CUSL2, only MBM5.

* (updated 10aug2001) MBM_509 is out. 

* Best way to update your bios is by loading the Set-up defaults both before and after flashing the bios, and that you should use the DOS flash, and that you should boot to DOS using a DOS boot floppy. You should execute the aflash from your hard drive, not your floppy, cuz floppies are less reliable. 

But you also want the aflash utility and bios on the floppy, too - in case something goes wrong, and you can't get to your hard drive (be prepared for anything). Boot floppy should contains nothing but Command.com (92kb). IO.sys (217kb) & msdos.sys (& aflash.exe + the BIOS itself). See here for some files you might need. 

* I would flash to latest release bios (currently 1006) before installing Windows. Can't think of any reason why you wouldn't want to. Most of the beta bios'es that Asus Germany has been releasing are good. Asus Germany has been cranking out bios'es versions faster than MacDonald's burgers. Nice to know we have good support. 

* Asus supplies a temp monitoring system of their own, called Asus PC Probe, but I don't use it. I use Motherboard Monitor instead. Many use PC Probe. I am not familiar with it & will not comment, but have received a message from Dferg who says that the latest version of PC Probe works fine with all bios versions. 

* updated 10/24 - Asus kicks up the +3.3 voltage to 3.4v (by default). Supposedly they do this for extra stability. Mine reads 3.48v (ave), and 3.54v (max). Page 21 of the manual details jumper settings that you can use to set your 3.3 voltage back to 3.3v, or up to 3.6v (default is 3.4v). Thx to UncleJoe for pointing out the I/O voltage jumpers. 

* Lots of folks complaining about probs with SB Live & Live Value. Dang soundcards. Some say they conflict w/ Intel's new ATA drivers. I have both the SB Live Value & a CardDeluxe w/ no probs (two soundcards). Choose the PCI slot for your soundcard carefully, especially if you have a Live. My Live Value is in PCI slot #3, which shares its IRQ with the 2nd USB controller (see page 28 of the manual for IRQ settings). 

Once I disabled the 2nd USB controller (not needed for me), all my weird probs went away. Others have had similar experiences. I have two USB devices - an HP scanner, and a ViCAM webcam (to talk to grandma with it).

Creative's FAQ says: Q: During the installation of Liveware 3.0 (web), I am prompted for joystick drivers, which cannot be found. What should I do?

A: This problem occurs only in Windows 98 (2nd Edition) with ACPI enabled. Click the Skip File button when prompted for the drivers' location and continue with the installation. You may have to do this twice.

Also this Q: Since I installed the Sound Blaster Live! 5.1, I can't get Hibernate to work in Windows Me.

A: The drivers that are included in the Live!Ware3 for Windows Me are .vxd drivers. The use of the Hibernate function in Windows Me requires the use of .wdm (Windows Driver Model) format drivers. Creative will be releasing a new version of CreativeWare in the future that will feature .wdm drivers for both Window Me and Windows 2000.

Paul from Connecticut reports: this one drove me nuts for a day. Installed everything but SCSI card -> no conflicts. Installed Adaptec 29160 -> conflicts. Removed 29160 and installed 2940 -> same conflict. Removed SB Live 5.1 Platinum, installed 29160 -> no conflicts. Installed SB Live 5.1 Platinum -> conflict returns. Could not move SB Live 5.1 from IRQ9. SCSI insisted being on IRQ9. 

Solution: I disabled COM2 (COM2 not used anyways, keeping COM1).  Forced IRQ on BIOS for slot with SCSI Card to IRQ 3 (SCSI home of Zip drive & scanner, non-priority). Reboot -> SB Live 5.1 moved to IRQ10, Adaptec 29160 shared with USB on IRQ3, and I have this "SCI used by ACPI Bus" all by itself on IRQ9. Magic, but it did worked. ACPI has been problematic for SB Live 5.1 on Win98SE, as noted on Creative website with incompatibility with Gameport (I can feel the finger-pointing already). Thanks Paul. 

* Disable 2nd USB controller in the Device Manager -> Rt-click My Computer -> Properties (in W98/SE/ME) Manage (in W2K) -> Device Manager -> (near the bottom find) Universal Serial Bus Controllers -> Rt-click on the 2nd Universal Host Controller (in W2K now, might be diff in W98/SE/ME) I think it's number 2444 -> select Disable -> should get a red X. Shouldn't have to, but I'd reboot anyway. If you're dual-booting, you'll need to disable in both OS'es.   

* I have 3Com 905C NIC in PCI slot #1, Tekram U2W SCSI adapter in PCI slot #2 (PCI slot #2 doesn't share an IRQ), Live Value is PCI #3 (this slot shares with the 2nd USB controller, which I had to disable). Slots 4 & 5 are open, CardDeluxe (pro sound card) is in last PCI slot (#6). Radeon DDR (32MB) in AGP slot (1280x1024x32). Working nice for me. 

* If you don't have a USB mouse or keyboard, disable Legacy USB sppt in the bios. It is enabled by default. This was one of the first tips I read about when I found cusl2.com forums. Nobody said why, but it makes sense if you're not using it.

* Heard of one person not being able to access CD-ROM on secondary channel before loading OS, and chipset drivers. Solution was to slave out CD-ROM on primary channel, load OS + chipset drivers, then move CD-ROM to secondary channel. Sounds weird, but I've seen weirder.

The Intel 815e chipset is limited to an AGP aperture of 64MB (BX was 128). This limitation applies to the CUSL2 only cuz it uses the Intel chipset. You can read more about it here (pdf) .. see page 49 of 172 .. refer to bit 25. Also, from a review at Anand's here:

"The last little trick Intel has managed to pull on us with the i815 chipset is to limit the AGP Aperture size to a maximum of 64MB. We've seen settings of 128 or 256MB on i440BX and VIA 133A motherboards, and it once again seems like Intel is doing this intentionally to cripple the i815. That means your graphics card cannot use more than 64MB of system memory for AGP texturing, but fortunately, we've yet to see a performance loss due to this limitation. And we most likely won't in the near future since AGP texturing is simply entirely too slow. So don't blame your motherboard when you can't set this higher than 64MB, blame Intel."

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