Laboratory Manual

This is the laboratory manual for Computer Science 40: Parallel Computation, Spring Semester, 1999, 10:30-11:50, TTh, Dennis Hall 214, Ray Ontko and Joy Williams Lind, Department of Computer Science, Earlham College.

This manual provides instructions for assembly of a computer system intended to be used in Earlham's Computer Science PVM cluster, a collection of 16 identical machines, connected using high-speed (100Mbps), off-the-shelf networking hardware. These instructions are meant to be a guide to the overall process of assembling a node, not a complete reference. You will need to also consult the instructions that come with some of the hardware we'll be integrating into each node of the cluster.

Each node is comprised of the following:

1 motherboard
1 processor
1 processor cooling fan
1 memory module
1 floppy disk drive
1 hard disk drive
4 100Mbps network cards
1 10Mbps network card
1 case with power supply

During assembly, each node will also have:

1 monitor
1 keyboard
1 mouse

Part I: The Motherboard

Obtain a motherboard.
Obtain a processor.
Obtain a processor cooling fan.
Obtain a memory module.
Read the motherboard documentation.
Identify all the configuration jumpers, and set them correctly.
Mount the processor in the motherboard.
Mount the processor cooling fan to the processor.
Mount the memory in the motherboard.
Have someone review your work.

Part II: The Case

Obtain a case.
Obtain the cable sets for the motherboard.
Obtain a floppy disk drive.
Obtain a hard disk drive.
Mount the motherboard in the case.
Mount the floppy disk drive in the case.
Mount the hard disk drive in the case.
Attach video port cable to the case and motherboard.
Attach sound port cables to the case and motherboard.
Attach I/O port cables to the case and motherboard.
Attach floppy disk drive cables to floppy disk drive and motherboard.
Attach hard disk drive cables to hard disk drive and motherboard.
Attach the power cable to the motherboard.
Attach the power cable to the floppy disk drive.
Attach the power cable to the hard disk drive.
Attach the power cable to the processor cooling fan.
Have someone review your work.

Part III: First Bench Test

Obtain a monitor.
Obtain a keyboard.
Attach the monitor to the video port.
Attach the keyboard to the keyboard port.
Turn on the power to the monitor.
Turn on the system power.
Note carefully what happens, including the number of beeps as the system boots, and anything that gets displayed on the monitor.
At this point, you will need to configure the "BIOS", the Basic Input Output System which is stored on one of the chips on the motherboard.
Set the time on the system clock to Universal Coordinated Time (5 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time (EST)).
Configure the floppy disk drive, if necessary.
Configure the hard disk drive, if necessary.
Have someone review your work.
Reboot the machine and notice whether your changes had the appropriate effect.
Power down the machine and remove the power cable.

Part IV: Configure the Hardware

The purpose of this step is to make sure that the hardware-level configurations are set correctly on the machine. Please do each of the following steps even if you think your machine is correctly configured.

This step assumes that you have a monitor and keyboard attached to your system, that your system boots correctly, and that the power is off.

It also assumes that your 3C509B-TPO (ISA) network card is configured to use IRQ10, which is the factory default. If your card is somehow configured to use some other IRQ, it should be reconfigured to use IRQ10 before proceeding.

Turn the power on.
While the machine is counting the amount of available memory, type the Del key to enter Setup mode. You should see a blue screen entitled AMIBIOS Simple Setup Utility.
Use the arrow keys to select Load Best Performance Settings, and then type Y to confirm. This clears a number of hardware settings and restores them to reasonable defaults.
Use the arrow keys to select Standard CMOS Setup.
Check to make sure that the date and time is set to GMT (5 hours ahead of EST).
Type the Esc key to return to the setup menu.
Use the arrow keys to select Advanced CMOS Setup.
Set the 1st Boot Device to Floppy.
Set the 2nd Boot Device to IDE-0.
Set the 3rd Boot Device to Disabled.
Type the Esc key to return to the setup menu.
Use the arrow keys to select PCI / Plug and Play Setup.
Verify that all the PCI Slotx IRQ Priority are set to Auto.
Set IRQ10 to ISA/EISA.
Verify that all the other IRQx are set to PCI/PnP.
Type the Esc key to return to the setup menu.
Use the arrow keys to select Peripheral Setup
Set the On Board Parallel Port to Disabled.
Type the Esc key to return to the setup menu.
Use the arrow keys to select Save and Exit, and type Y to confirm.
Your machine should reboot. Watch to be sure that the 4 3C905B (PCI) network cards get assigned IRQs 5, 7, 9, and 11.