The ZimaCube BIOS gives you control over boot order, fan speeds, power behavior, and hardware settings. Most users will not need to touch it, but a few settings are worth knowing about.
Entering the BIOS
- Plug in a keyboard and monitor to the ZimaCube.
- Power on the device.
- Press F11 repeatedly during the boot screen until the boot menu appears.
- Select Enter Setup to open the BIOS interface.
If F11 does not work, try Delete or F2 — the exact key depends on your BIOS version.
Boot Order
If you need to boot from a USB drive (for OS installation or recovery), change the boot order:
- In the BIOS, go to the Boot tab.
- Find Boot Option Priorities.
- Move your USB device to the top of the list using the +/- keys.
- Press F10 to save and exit.
The ZimaCube will now attempt to boot from USB first. Remember to change this back after you are done, or remove the USB drive before rebooting.
Fan Control
The ZimaCube has two system fans. You can adjust their behavior in the BIOS:
- Go to Advanced > Hardware Monitor.
- Find CPU Fan Settings and System Fan Settings.
- Choose a mode:
- Standard: Fans ramp up as temperature rises. Good for everyday use.
- Silent: Lower fan speeds, quieter operation. Use this if the Cube is in a living space and not under heavy load.
- Full Speed: Maximum cooling. Use this if the Cube is in a hot environment or under constant load.
- Press F10 to save.
Power Settings
- Restore on AC Power Loss: Determines what happens after a power outage. Set to Power On if you want the Cube to start automatically when power returns. See the Auto Power-On guide for details.
- Wake on LAN: Enable this if you want to power on the Cube remotely over the network. After enabling in BIOS, you will also need to configure it in ZimaOS. See Enable Wake-on-LAN.
Hardware Configuration
Most hardware settings should be left at their defaults unless you have a specific reason to change them:
- VT-d / Virtualization Technology: Enabled by default. Leave this on if you plan to run virtual machines.
- SATA Mode: Should be set to AHCI. Do not change this unless you know what you are doing — switching to RAID mode without proper setup can make your drives unreadable.
- Above 4G Decoding: Enables support for large PCIe devices like GPUs. Enable this if you are installing a dedicated graphics card.
If you make changes that prevent the system from booting, see the CMOS Reset guide to restore BIOS defaults.