Small Form Factor PC

Shuttle SN41G2 XPC with ATI AIW 9800 Pro

Hardware

Shuttle SN41G2, FN41 1.4 mainboard, FN41S019 BIOS, Achme power supply
AMD Athlon XP 2700+ @ 2163MHz 333MHz FSB
2x512 MB PC3200 V-Data 333MHz CAS-2.5-7-2-2
ATI All-In-Wonder 9800 Pro

SN41G2 Analog Audio

Double check your input levels and mute settings before getting too frustrated.

For audio debugging, I recommend a stereo mini-(head)phone Y adapter, e.g., Gold-Plated Y-Adapter or Dual 1/8" Jack Adapter. For audio sources like ATI TV made available via a plug, insert the source into one Y jack, and then plug your headphones into the other Y jack to monitor it. Now you can insert the Y plug into the input jack on the computer that you want to test. I have an older stereo headphone Y cable that I prefer because the Y adapter cant fit directly into some jacks with adjacent jacks that are occupied. A stereo mini-phone extension cable is also helpful as the source plug cables are too short to reach from the rear to the front of the computer.

Here's my best guess at what's what. The jacks are all 3.5mm aka 1/8 inch mini-phone jacks.

Device	Location	Comment
CD IN	MPC-2 CN6 Motherboard	use this for ATI TV audio, as CDs and DVDs can play audio digitally through IDE ATA
FRONT OUT	green jack Rear	main L/R Front speakers
HEADPHONE	green jack Front	mutes FRONT OUT when a plug is installed
LINE IN/REAR OUT	blue jack Rear	also Surr. (Surround) sound L/R Rear speakers, see Master Volume Advanced Controls 1
MIC1/CENTER-BASS	pink jack Rear	also C/B Center-channel/Bass-sub-woofer speakers, see Master Volume Advanced Controls 2
MIC2	pink jack Front	select Mic2 on the NVIDIA nForce Main panel to get the front MIC-IN to function

Download the NVIDIA Corporation multimedia software update (released on June 17 2003) via Microsoft Software Update to get the advanced audio controls.

Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > Audio > Sound Playback > [Volume(button)]
or NVIDIA nForce Control Panel > Applications > Sound Volume

Master Volume > Options > check Advanced Controls > [Advanced(button)] > Other Controls
[ ]1 Rear Speakers connected to Line In
[ ]2 Center speaker and subwoofer connected to Microphone

There's a thread in the SFF forum discussing LINE IN. I haven't been able to get LINE IN and MIC1 to work, yet.

Software

Windows XP SP1, Direct X 9.0a
Windows 98
Linux - RedHat 9.0 (pending)

Benchmarks and Measurements

PCMark2002

Memory	6408
CPU	5114
HDD	725

3DMark03 - Free Version

	3DMark®2001 Free Version	3DMark®03 Free Version
3DMarks		5593

Power Consumption

Usage	IGP	AIW	AIW - IGP	AIW - AIW idle	AIW - IGP idle
startup peak	132	179	47	43	86
idle	93	136	43		43
audio conversion	130	176	46	40	83
audio conversion peak	134	179		43	86
3DMark03		202		66	109
3DMark03 peak		206		70	113
off	2.8	2.8

All measurements are in Watts. Measurements were taken using the Brand Electronics Digital Power Meter.

ATI All-In-Wonder 9800 Pro

Everything that I've looked into so far works as advertized, including ATI Multimedia Center functions for CD, DVD, Remote Wonder, video Player, and TV with recording. However, here are some notes that may be helpful.

ATI TV

CD-IN for TV audio

I recommend connecting the AIW CD-OUT connector J4 (SoundBlaster-style) to the FN41 motherboard CD-IN connector CN6 (MPC-2) using an appropriate CD audio cable, ex., http://www.cablestogo.com/product.asp?cat%5Fid=2003&sku=07083

Reference "ALL-IN-WONDER® 9800 Series Installation and Setup User's Guide"
Page 51 - CD Audio Connectors - the CD OUT connector is labeled J4 on my AIW 9800 Pro.
Page 52 - Internal Audio/Video Input Header - the closest match that I see is JU3 to the left of CD OUT, but the header/connector is missing.

ATI TV Close Caption on mute

If you mute the selected Audio Input, Close Captions are enabled. Select the Audio Input via Setup > Display > Installation Wizard ... Sound Initialization Wizard ... Audio Inputs [pull-down-menu-item].

Multiple TV audio connections

There seems to be increased noise and significant loss of level if you connect both the AIW CD OUT and the AIW LINE OUT from the Video Out DIN - hey, I did this only because I wasn't getting any TV audio at all for a while. I suggest using only one of the inputs, preferably the stereo CD IN and not the mono MIC2 IN.

ATI Multimedia Center 8.5 - FAQ

To setup button F to switch to the previously selected channel:

Taskbar > ATI Remote Wonder > Properties > Program
When [TV] is in focus
F [Goes to previously selected channel]
OK

MMC must be restarted in order for the above to take effect.

When playing from the Media Library, pressing buttons for various unimplemented functions turns the video off, and I haven't yet found a way to restore it. You would expect various functions like << and >> to work, not just || pause.

Integrated Graphics Processor

IGP works fine for desktop use, but for games requiring 3D/GL graphics, IGP was unstable with the couple of types of memory DIMMs that I tried. Some games restarted the PC quickly, while others ran for 10-15 minutes. This experience pushed me further toward the purchase of separate graphics card like the AIW 9800 Pro.

The configuration was: NVIDIA GeForc4 Integrated GPU - IGP on-chip graphics, 64MB frame buffer, 64MB aperture, AGP fast write disabled.

Note: Windows 98 will not start with 128MB IGP shared memory - it hangs after msmouse.vxd before switching video mode. Windows/XP works fine with 128MB IGP shared memory.

References and Links

Shuttle Computer Group, Inc., US - http://us.shuttle.com/
NVIDIA - http://www.nvidia.com/

SFF Tech - Small Form Factor - http://www.sfftech.com/
Sudhain Media - http://www.sudhian.com/
nForcersHQ.com - http://www.nforcershq.com/

ATI Technologies - http://www.ati.com/

NoBell Home - gjm - last update 4/21/2004