Compaq Contura Aero Frequently Asked Questions
From: pwilk@socrates.berkeley.edu ()
Newsgroups: comp.sys.laptops,comp.answers,news.answers
Subject: Compaq Contura Aero Frequently Asked Questions
Followup-To: poster
Date: 11 Jun 1997 21:51:06 GMT
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
Message-ID: <5nn6ka$774@agate.berkeley.edu>
Summary: This posting should be read by anybody posting the aero-l mailing
list or posting to comp.sys.laptops with a question concerning the
Compaq Aero.
Archive-name: pc-hardware-faq/laptops/compaq-aero
Posting-Frequency: Random
Last-modified: 1997/05/26
Version: 3.2
URL: http://www.reed.edu/~pwilk/aero/aero.faq
------------------------------
Subject: Introduction
Compaq Contura Aero Frequently Asked Questions Version 3
Editors:
Philip Wilk (Version 3) Current
Ekkehard Rohwedder (Version 2.0)
Renee Roberts (Version 1.0)
To send submissions, corrections or deletions for this FAQ, please email
pwilk@reed.edu or post to the aero mailing list.
This document is to be freely distributed. Under _no_ circumstance should
a fee be charged for the procurement of this FAQ. It is the sole property
of everybody who has contributed (a whole bunch of way cool folks).
------------------------------
Subject: Short Contents
1 General
1.1 About this FAQ
1.2 Resources
1.3 Technical Data
1.4 User Opinions
1.5 Who's using an Aero
2 Hardware
2.1 Aero
2.2 Accessories
3 Software
3.1 Upgrades
3.2 Configuration
3.3 Operating Systems
------------------------------
Subject: Long Contents
1 General
1.1 About this FAQ
1.1.1 Where to find the FAQ
1.2 Resources
1.2.1 Internet
1.2.2 Mailing List
1.2.3 Companies that carry Aero supplies
1.3 Technical Data
1.3.1 Exploded View
1.3.2 System Unit
1.3.3 Passive Matrix Monochrome Display
1.3.4 Passive Matrix Color Display
1.3.5 Hard Drives
1.3.6 Internal Power Supply
1.3.7 Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) Battery Pack
1.3.8 AC Adapter
1.3.9 Convenience Base
1.3.10 External Diskette Drive
1.3.11 Video Controller
1.4 User Opinions
1.4.1 Is the machine really that bad?
1.4.2 Opinions on Aero features (The Quick FAQs)
1.5 Who's using an Aero
2 Hardware
2.1 Aero
2.1.1 CPU
2.1.1.1 Is it upgradeable?
2.1.1.2 Is it FPU upgradeable?
2.1.2 Memory
2.1.2.1 How do you upgrade?
2.1.2.3 How much are memory upgrades?
2.1.3 How to disassemble the Aero
2.1.3.1 The tale of a journey inside.
2.1.4 Hard Drive
2.1.4.1 Partitions
2.1.4.2 Noisy 84Mb hard drives
2.1.4.3 Upgrading the hard drive
2.1.4.4 Hard Drive installation
2.1.4.4.1 Prequel to the step-by-step tutorial
2.1.4.4.2 A step-by-step tutorial
2.1.4.5 Installing the old drive in your desktop
2.1.4.6 Fixing the Master Boot Record
2.1.4.7 Aero harddrive upgrade list
2.1.4.8 External harddrive solutions
2.1.5 Screen
2.1.5.1 The pulsing backlight puzzle
2.1.5.2 Screen connection
2.1.5.3 What if my screen is unevenly backlit?
2.1.5.4 800x600x16 VGA mode
2.1.5.5 Special supported 256 color VGA modes
2.1.5.6 Special supported text modes?
2.1.5.7 Screen hinge problem (the darn "clutch")
2.1.5.8 Screen Disassembly
2.1.5.9 Backlight Replacement
2.1.6 Keyboard
2.1.6.1 Aero keyboard diagrams
2.1.7 Trackball
2.1.7.1 Replacement Trackball
2.1.7.2 Cleaning Trackball
2.1.7.3 Ballistic Mouse driver?
2.1.7.4 Trackball and left-handedness?
2.1.8 Battery
2.1.8.1 Battery sources
2.1.8.2 Memory effect in NiMH batteries
2.1.8.2.1 Conditioning the Battery without a conditioner
2.1.8.3 Battery Warning
2.1.8.4 Batteries discharging too quickly when suspended
2.1.8.5 Super-fast recharge? Charge indicators?
2.1.8.6 Windows 3.1 Battery Monitor
2.1.8.7 Battery Loose?
2.1.8.8 Please explain the aero battery
2.1.8.9 Recharging in the auto
2.1.9 Ports
2.1.9.1 Is the printer port an EPP port?
2.1.9.2 Mouse on serial port
2.1.9.3 PS/2 Mouse port
2.1.9.4 Serial Port (16550AF UART)
2.1.10 Speaker
2.1.11 CMOS
2.1.11.1 Replacing the CMOS Battery
2.2 Accessories
2.2.1 PCMCIA
2.2.1.1 Floppy Drive and BIOS support
2.2.2.2 Compaq-approved cards
2.2.2.3 PCMCIA type III cards?
2.2.2.4 PCMCIA modems (& FAX/Modems), reviews
2.2.2.5 PCMCIA FAX/Modems and Suspend/Resume
2.2.3 External Monitor
2.2.4 Sound
2.2.5 Ethernet Adapters
2.2.6 Expanders
2.2.6.1 Can I make my own expander?
2.2.6.2 Mobile Port Expander
2.2.6.3 Convenience Base
2.2.8 Case
2.2.9 SCSI
2.2.10 Other things
3 Software
3.1 Upgrades
3.1.1 Service Files
3.1.1.2 PCMCIA Drivers and Utilities
3.1.1.3 Enhanced Parallel Port (EPP) Drivers
3.1.1.4 Windows Stuff
3.1.1.5 Utilities
3.1.1.6 Diagnostics and Portable Setup
3.1.1.7 Mouse Drivers
3.1.2 Softpaqs
3.1.2.1 Rundown on Softpaq installation procedure
3.1.2.2 ROMPaq versions
3.1.2.3 Install a Softpaq without using the floppy drive?
3.1.2.4 Determining the BIOS date
3.2 Configuration (see also appropriate operating system)
3.2.2 Power-Management
3.2.2.1 Problems when Power-up from standby
3.2.2.2 PCMCIA modems and Suspend/Resume crashing
3.2.2.3 Forcing hibernation
3.2.2.4 Spin down disk/disable powersaver when on AC power
3.2.2.5 Is there a disk sleep hotkey?
3.2.2.7 Windows vs. power management and the date problem
3.2.3 Networking/Linking
3.2.3.1 Questions about Lap2Desk and WinLink
3.2.3.2 WinLink problems
3.2.3.3 Network File System (NFS)
3.2.4 Diagnostics Partion
3.3 Operating Systems
3.3.1 MS-DOS
3.3.1.1 Standard CONFIG.SYS & AUTOEXEC.BAT
3.3.1.2 What is in CONFIG.SYS & AUTOEXEC.BAT?
3.3.1.3 Memory managers
3.3.1.4 Disk compression
3.3.2 Windows 3.1
3.3.2.1 Problems with WinFax Lite
3.3.2.2 Windows Video driver
3.3.2.3 Problems with Windows Speaker Driver
3.3.2.4 PCMCIA Stuff
3.3.2.5 Problems with Modems/Serial Devices
3.3.2.6 32 bit disk access or no?
3.3.2.7 Windows for Workgroups
3.3.3 Windows95
3.3.3.1 The path to '95 by copying setup to the aero
3.3.3.2 The path to '95 by installing via winlink
3.3.3.4 PCMCIA, the floppy drive, and getting it to work
3.3.3.5 Networking
3.3.3.6 Running Windows 95 and Windows 3.x
3.3.3.7 Repartioning
3.3.3.8 Contura Aero, EPP, and Parallel Port Zip Drive
3.3.4 Windows 97
3.3.5 Windows NT
3.3.6 Linux
3.3.6.1 Linux and the Aero
3.3.6.2 Recommended Kernel
3.3.6.3 Conserving memory
3.3.6.4 Installation without Floppy
3.3.6.5 X-configuration for color
3.3.6.6 X-configuration for mono
3.3.6.7 HD configs, Windows '95, and other musings
3.3.6.8 Parallel Port Zip Drives
3.3.6.9 Monkey Distribution
3.3.7 Other UNIX
3.3.8 OS/2
3.3.8.1 Can I run OS/2on the Aero?
3.3.8.2 OS/2 Installation Problems
3.3.8.3 OS/2 Warp in 4MB RAM?
3.3.8.4 Aero floppy under Warp?
3.3.8.5 PCMCIA supported under OS/2?
3.4 Original Compaq Software Disks
------------------------------
Subject: 1 General
------------------------------
Subject: 1.1 About this FAQ
This FAQ was compiled due to requests for various information that can best be
answered with a FAQ. It may help to reduce bandwidth for common questions and
problems relating to the Compaq Aero(tm). The authors are not affiliated with
Compaq Computer Corp, or any affiliate of theirs. We own Compaq Aeros,
and wish to help others with their questions regarding the Aero.
We hope to update this FAQ on a regular basis, but there are no guarantees.
This FAQ is actually a collaborative effort from many individuals on aero-l
whose questions and answers were incorporated. Although digestifying lots of
posts results in a less authoritative style for the FAQ, I believe it makes
for a more spellbinding reading (e.g. watching over somebody's shoulder as
they disassemble the Aero and upgrade the hard disk). Also, often there is
more than one possible answer, or the answer is not known (perhaps you know
it?).
Undoubtedly there are still many bugs, errors, or obscure things in this FAQ.
You are welcome to send us your contributions/corrections or suggestions. The
usual disclaimer applies: the authors and contributors disavow any respon-
sibility for the information contained in this document. If following the
FAQ makes your Aero go up in smoke, do not blame us (but, if it makes for good
reading, tell us about it. Heck, tell us about it even when it was not caused
by the FAQ). You have been warned!
- Ekkehard Rohwedder
This FAQ was converted into HTML with txt2html, written by Seth Golub.
------------------------------
Subject: 1.1.1 Where to find the FAQ
You can find the FAQ at:
http://www.reed.edu/~pwilk/aero_stuff.html
Because we are now an official FAQ (ie news.answers and comp.answers), You
can also find the FAQ at any Usenet FAQ archive such as <ftp://rtfm.mit.edu>.
It should be archived under:
pc-hardware-faq/laptops/compaq-aero
and at www.faq.org archive at the following URL:
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/pc-hardware-faq/laptops/compaq-aero
------------------------------
Subject: 1.2 Resources
------------------------------
Subject: 1.2.1 Internet
For additional information, please consult the following:
WWW Sites:
<http://www.compaq.com> - the Compaq WWW site
<http://domen.uninett.no/~hta/linux/aero-faq.html> - information
about running Linux on the Aero.
<http://www.reed.edu/~pwilk/aero_stuff.html> - Philip Wilk's WWW page
on the Aero with links to many avaliable resources.
<http://www.uni-passau.de/~gebhard/aero/aero.htm> - A Little Aero Page
Topical Usenet Newsgroups:
<news:comp.sys.laptops>, <news:comp.os.linux>,
<news:comp.os.ms-windows>, <news:comp.os.ms-dos>, and
<news:comp.os.os2>.
If you post to these groups, put the word "aero" somewhere in the
subject line so that it is easy for other aero owners to search
for topical posts. Avoid cross-posting.
You can also access the Aero Mailing List via newsgroup at
<news://news.aisb.org/aisb.lists.aero>.
FTP sites:
<ftp://ftp.compaq.com>.
<ftp://cs.utk.edu/pub/aero/> Archives of the old aero mailing
list.
Gopher/WAIS: [I don't know of any. If you do, let me know!]
------------------------------
Subject: 1.2.2 Mailing List
To receive the lastest info on the aero mailing list, please send mail to
majordomo@aisb.org with "info aero" as the body of the email message.
You can also access the mailing list as a unsenet newsgroup:
<news://news.aisb.org/aisb.lists.aero>.
------------------------------
Subject: 1.2.3 Companies that carry Aero supplies
Compaq Direct 1-800-888-6079.
Compaq Works 1-800-318-6919.
J&R Music World 1-800-221-8180
[C] WARNING, DO NOT DO BUISINESS WITH THESE PEOPLE!
Date: Sep 1996
Subject: Re: Looking for an Aero
>Barnett's Cptr Whse(NY,NY) has a package deal -
I bought my aero from these bastards, and the whole business was a nightmare.
I would strongly advise no member of the list to deal with this company-they
are the most dishonest, rude bunch you will meet. It's not just me either:
comp.sys.laptops has nothing good to say about them.
Go somewhere else.
------------------------------
Subject: 1.2.2.2 Does the Aero ship in a wrapper?
No!! I got two factory sealed units, and both just had the Aero sitting in
the foam supports.
------------------------------
Subject: 1.3 Technical Data
The specifications below are from Compaq Computer Corp WWW Page
http://www.compaq.com.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS -- Publication Date: April 1995 Source Document:
Product Bulletin Document Number: 024A/0395
------------------------------
Subject: 1.3.1 Exploded View
See <http://www.reed.edu/~pwilk/aero_stuff.html> for diagrams.
------------------------------
Subject: 1.3.2 System Unit
Dimensions (Height x Width x Depth):
Contura Aero 4/25 1.5 x 10.25 x 7.5 inches
(3.8 x 26 x 19 cm)
Contura Aero 4/33c 1.7 x 10.25 x 7.5 inches
(4.3 x 26 x 19 cm)
Weight (Contura Aero 4/25):
Model 170 standard battery 3.5 lb (1.63 kg)
Model 170 extended life battery 4.0 lb (1.81 kg)
Weight (Contura Aero 4/33C):
Model 170 4.2 lb (1.9 kg)
Model 250
Power Requirements 10.8 V
Temperature Range:
Operating 50oF to 104oF (10oC to 40oC)
Nonoperating -4oF to 140oF (-20oC to 60oC)
Relative Humidity (noncondensing):
Operating 10% to 90%
Nonoperating 5% to 95%
Shock:
Operating 10G, 11 ms, half sine
Nonoperating 60G, 11 ms, half sine
Vibration:
Operating 0.25G, 5 - 500 Hz 1/2 octave/min
sweep 1 hour duration
Nonoperating 1G, 5 - 500 Hz, 1 hour duration
Maximum Altitude (unpressurized):
Operating 10,000 ft (3,658 m)
Nonoperating 30,000 ft (12,192 m)
------------------------------
Subject: 1.3.3 Passive Matrix Monochrome Display
Dimensions (Height x Width) 4.82 x 6.42 inches
(12.24 x 16.32 cm)
Diagonal Size 8.03 inches (20.4 cm)
Mounting Internal
Display Type MSTN-Backlit LCD
Gray Scales 16 inch 640 x 480
64 inch 320 x 200
Brightness/Contrast Adjustable through keyboard
Maximum Pixel Resolution 640 x 480
Character Display 80 x 25
Horizontal Frequency 31.2 KHz (CRT mode); 32 KHz (LCD mode)
Vertical Frequency 125 Hz (60 VGA/70 CGA)
Display Inverter Board:
Operating Voltage (Backlight) +5.1 V, +9 V, +18.7 V
Operating Output Voltage 310 Vrms
Maximum Input Power 1.8 W
Maximum Output Power 1.25 Wrms
------------------------------
Subject: 1.3.4 Passive Matrix Color Display
Dimensions (Height x Width) 4.74 x 6.32 inches
(12.05 x 16.1 cm)
Diagonal Size 7.75 inch (19.69 cm)
Mounting Internal
Display Type CSTN-Backlit LCD
Color Resolution 256 colors - low resolution
(320 x 200)
16 colors - high resolution
(640 x 480)
Brightness/Contrast Adjustable through keyboard
Maximum Pixel Resolution 640 x 480
Character Display 80 x 25
Horizontal Frequency 31.2 KHz (CRT mode) 32 KHz (LCD mode)
Vertical Frequency 125 Hz (70 VGA/70 CGA)
Display Inverter Board:
Operating Voltage (Backlight) +26 V, +34 V, +38 V
Maximum Input Power 2.8 W
Maximum Output Power (Backlight) 2.0 Wrms
------------------------------
Subject: 1.3.5 Hard Drives
Hard drive specifications may vary slightly depending on vendor.
170 MB 250 MB
=================================
Formatted Capacity Per Drive 171.6 MB 256.0 MB
Drives Supported One One
Drive Height (with drive frame) 0.5 inch 0.5 inch
(12.7 mm) (12.7 mm)
Drive Size 2.5 x 0.5 inches 2.5 x 0.5 inches
(6.35 x 1.27 cm) (6.35 x 1.27 cm)
Drive Type 65 65
Transfer Rate:
Media 14.3 - 22.1 Mbits/sec 35.9 Mbits/sec
Interface 4 MB/sec 4 MB/sec
Seek Times (including settling):
Track-to-Track 7 ms 5.0 ms
Average 20 ms 17 ms
Maximum 28 ms 24.0 ms
Physical Configuration:
Cylinders 1440 1704
Heads 4 4
Sectors/Track 48 - 72 92 - 54
Bytes Per Sector 512 512
Logical Configuration:
Cylinders 873 723
Head 16 11
Sectors/Track 24 63
Bytes Per Sector 512 512
NOTE 1: Hard drive specifications may vary slightly depending on vendor.
------------------------------
Subject: 1.3.6 Internal Power Supply
Input Requirements:
Input Voltage 10.8 - 17.5 VDC
Standby 10.8 - 17.5 VDC
Power Output:
Steady State 10 W
Peak 17 W
VDC Output V01 (+5) V02 (+12) 60 0 mA V03 (+40)
Nominal Voltage 5.10 V 12.0 V 43.0 V
Continuous Current 1.25 A 60.0 mA 40.0 mA
Peak Current 3.0A 60.0 mA 40.0 mA
Regulation Tolerance +/- 3% +/- 5% +/- 5%
------------------------------
Subject: 1.3.7 Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) Battery Pack
Dimensions (Height x Width x Depth):
Standard .725 x 2.04 x 5.37 inches
(1.84 x 5.18 x 13.64 cm)
Extended Life .725 x 2.04 x 8.07 inches
(1.84 x 5.18 x 20.5 cm)
Weight:
Standard .696 lb (.316 kg)
Extended Life 1.09 lb (.494 kg)
Power Supply:
Nominal Voltage 10.8
Capacity 1500 mAh (standard)
2300 mAh (extended life)
Battery Life (NOTE 2):
Contura Aero 4/25 2.5 to 4 hours (standard)
Contura Aero 4/33 C 2.5 to 4 hours
Environmental Requirements:
Operating 50oF to 104oF (10oC to 40oC)
Nonoperating -4oF to 122oF (-20oC to 50oC)
NOTE 2: Battery life is based on an estimated typical use pattern of an
average user. Battery life will vary based on the configuration
of the computer and the usage pattern of the individual user. To
maximize battery life, Compaq recommends that power conservation
be set to high.
------------------------------
Subject: 1.3.8 AC Adapter
Dimensions (Height x
Width x Depth) 1.1 x 2.24 x 2.4 inches
(2.79 x 11.68 x 6.1 cm)
Weight (without cords) 6 oz (0.227 kg)
Voltage 17.5 - 20 volts, 1.4 amps
Power:
Minimum 17
Maximum 20
Minimum Charge Time 1.0 hour
------------------------------
Subject: 1.3.9 Convenience Base
Dimensions (Height x
Width x Depth) 2.63 x 12.4 x 12.0 inches
(6.67 x 31.6 x 30.5 cm)
Weight 2.9 lb (1.32 kg)
Environmental Requirements:
Operating 50oF to 104oF (10oC to 40oC)
Nonoperating -7.6oF to 140oF (-20oC to 60oC)
Relative Humidity (noncondensing):
Operating 10% to 90%
Nonoperating 5% to 95%
Shock:
Operating 10 g, 11 ms, half sine
Nonoperating 60 g, 11 ms, half sine
Vibration:
Operating 0.25 g, 5 - 500 Hz/octave/min sweep
Nonoperating 1.00 g, 5 - 500 Hz/octave/min sweep
Maximum Unpressurized Altitude:
Operating 10,000 ft (3,658 m)
Nonoperating 40,000 ft (15,750 m)
------------------------------
Subject: 1.3.10 External Diskette Drive
Dimensions (H x W x D):
Disk Drive 1.10 x 4.25 x 5.87 inches
(2.8 x 10.8 x 14.9 cm)
PCMCIA Interface Card .19 x 2.13 x 4.37 inches
(48 x 5.4 x 11.1 cm)
Diskette Size 3.5 inch (8.89 cm)
Weight 12.2 oz (340 g)
LED Indicator Green
Capacity Per Diskette 1.44 MB (720 KB)
I/O Space Configurations:
Primary 3FX
Secondary 37X
PCMCIA Interface Card Type II
Read/Write Heads 2
Voltage Requirement +5 Vdc
Environmental Requirements:
Operating 41oF to 113oF (5oC to 45oC)
Nonoperating -7.6oF to 140oF (-22oC to 60oC)
Relative Humidity (noncondensing):
Operating 10% to 90%
Nonoperating 5% to 90%
Shock:
Operating 8 G, 11 ms, half sine
Nonoperating 100 G, 11 ms, half sine
Vibration:
Operating 1.0 G, 5 - 500 Hz/octave/min sweep
Nonoperating 1.5 G, 5 - 500 Hz/octave/min sweep
Acoustic Noise 33 dBA
Maximum Unpressurized Altitude:
Operating 9,850 ft (3,077 m)
Nonoperating 50,000 ft (12,308m)
NOTE 1: Hard drive specifications may vary slightly depending on vendor.
2: Battery life is based on an estimated typical use pattern of an
average user. Battery life will vary based on the configuration
of the computer and the usage pattern of the individual user. To
maximize battery life, Compaq recommends that power conservation
be set to high.
------------------------------
Subject: 1.3.11 Video Controller
From: Christian.Rausch@physik.tu-muenchen.de
according to compaq:
http://www.compaq.com/productinfo/notebooks/video_specs/videospecs.htm
the Aero uses a SMOS 8108 LCD controller from SMOS/Epson.
Searching in questlink's IC Index (http://www.questlink.com) revealed the
following:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SPC 8108, S-MOS Systems, Inc.
Features
Low-power CMOS technology
Hardware VGA compatible
High performance 16-bit ISA support
One 256K x 16 self-refresh DRAM
Four-stage display pipeline
64 x 64 pixel hardware cursor
Two-terminal crystals support
Video BIOS, software driver and utility support
Five power-down modes
5 volt operation
QFP17-144 pin
Monochrome LCD panel interface, for sizes 320 x 200 to 640 x 480
On-chip 256 x 6 gray-scale look-up table 16 gray shades by frame
rate modulation Two programmable gray-scale weightings (RGB),
NTSC (30, 59, 11), and text (0, 100, 0) 64 gray shades by frame
rate modulation and dithering Vertical centering and expansion
for LCDs Full CRT support with '477 RAMDAC
Description
The SPC8108FOC is a versatile VGA graphics controller capable of
driving liquid crystal displays and analog CRT monitors. The
controller integrates all LCD interface, sequencing and gray shading
logic into one small form factor 144 pin package. With the addition of
an industry standard '477 type RAMDAC, the SPC8108FOC will also drive
a VGA fixed frequency or multifrequency monitor.
The target products for this device are price and power sensitive 80 x
86 microprocessor based subnotebooks or other specialized LCD systems
where a high quality 16 or 64 gray shade VGA image on a 320 x 200 to
640 x 480 LCD panel display are the major design criteria.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
I do not know if this really is the controller inside the Aero, since
I haven't opened my Aero 4/25 yet (has anybody else looked at the LCD
controller's label ? Please, tell us what's written on it! Has
anybody seen the above mentioned '477 RAMDAC?).
The product brief above tells that the SPC8108 is a MONOCHROME LCD
controller, but according to Compaq it's also used on color Aeros! So,
maybe SMOS built a special version for Compaq, or Compaq uses some
tricks to use the SPC8108 for the color LCD screen.
If the Aero's controller is the SPC8108 above, or at least similar to
the SPC8108, then we're not lucky, because it seems to be restricted
to 256k video RAM, which is not enough for 640x480x256(colors).
The other 256k are used, according to Compaq, for the 'pop-up feature when
coming out of stand-by' and seem to be inaccessible by the LCD
controller.
cu Christian
BTW: Anybody out there who could get a datasheet of the SPC8108
(SMOS/Seiko/Epson) for us?
Dr. Christian Rausch
Fakultaet fuer Physik E21
Technische Universitaet Muenchen
James-Franck-Str.
D-85747 Garching, Germany
Tel. +49 89 289 12185
Fax +49 89 289 13776
email: crausch@physik.tu-muenchen.de
------------------------------
Subject: 1.4 User Opinions
Disclaimer: Do not expect unbiased opinions from Aero users!
------------------------------
Subject: 1.4.1 Is the machine really that bad?
[Q] Jeeez you guys are scaring me! I'm a new user of the Aero, so new I don't
even have the machine yet. But I'm seeing so many problems reported that I'm
getting worried. Is the machine really that bad!
[A] I think it is a great machine. I have had no problems with mine at all, I
don't think it can be beat for price/quality. Some of the problems that show up
here might be somewhat of the obscure variety. Most people do seem to be happy
with the machine overall.
[A] Overall, I am happy with my Aero and have generally had good experiences
with Compaq Tech Support. The two real problems I have had are that Warp
doesn't run perfectly (no PCMCIA or floppy support; the floppy problems make it
difficult to get Warp installed), and PCMCIA modem troubles under Windows.
While I would like to run Warp on my Aero, it is not critical that I do so.
There certainly exists some chance that Compaq will take care of these problems
eventually.
I have reasonable workarounds for the PCMCIA modem troubles I'm having; and
there are people who seem not to have any problems. I just don't like the fact
that my system doesn't work perfectly; I think the key is to not apply the June
8th BIOS update. The only other thing on my "wish list" is that I wish the Aero
supported more than 16 colors at 640x480. This really isn't critical or that
important to me though.
Those who consider themselves as having problems generally are more outspoken
than those who are content, and when you're trying to fight a problem it gets
very frustrating and it seems like the problem is much more important than it
really is. The real key to deciding whether or not to buy an Aero is how well
the machine fits you. If you don't like using your computer, you've wasted your
money regardless of what features it has over its competition. Find one and use
it for a while; when I was shopping for a subnotebook I first went out and sat
down with different machines. I found that the Aero keyboard suited me much
better than the Toshiba T3400, and I really liked the wrist rest (which the
Thinkpad 500 series lacks). So, I would still reccommend the Aero as a decent
subnotebook computer. It's not absolutely perfect; but what is?
[A] Yeah, it's so bad that I just bought my second one! :-) No, honestly, I
LOVE this thing. It's just that the couple of recent problem threads on this
list represent real problems.
Nobody posts: "Ooooo! I love the battery life" or "Wow - Check that great
keyboard layout" or "Only 4 pounds - How did I ever live with that old,
heavier, laptop" or "Man, was this a great price for such a nice system" or
"Isn't it great to have an integrated trackball instead of one of them
lame-brained dongle-pointer-dealies that are forever falling off or getting
caught on stuff or rubbing on the side of the chair you're sitting in?" See,
nobody complains when everything's coming their way. Relax - it's a GREAT
computer.
------------------------------
Subject: 1.4.2 Opinions on Aero features (The Quick FAQs)
[Q] What type of connectors does it have in the back? 1 serial, 1 parallel?
[A] It has a DB9 serial (COM1), DB25 parallel, and the "expansion" connector
for using the Convenience Base or Mobile Port Expander; the latter gives you
PS/2 mouse, keyboard, and VGA ports. The serial port has a 16550 UART.
[Q] If I buy additional RAM later (cheaper via 3rd party presumably) can I
install it myself without voiding the warranty? (I'm used to regular size PCs
and muck around inside them all the time).
[A] Adding memory won't void the warranty. The handbook even tells how to do
it.
[Q] How much battery life can I expect (main use word processing). How long to
recharge? Is there a separate power brick and recharger?
[A] Up to 4 hours maximum and 1 hour to recharge. You don't need a separate
recharger but you can buy one if you wish to recharge two batteries at once.
[A] I get two to three hours runtime on my 4/33 color machine using Windows.
Recharge time is about 1.5 hours; but that's also using the "extended" battery
which ships with the color Aeros. Of course, recharge time is longer if you're
using the machine; but you can use it while the battery is recharging. The AC
adapter is not your usual "wall-wart" brick. It's a block about 4.5" x 2.25" x
1.2" with an 18" cable to the plug which goes into the Aero. The other end has
a socket for the line cord that plugs into the wall. This unit serves as both
the battery charger and the AC adapter. Extras are available for $29 or so; I
bought a second one so I can have one at work and one at home. Note that the
battery must be recharged while within the Aero. The optional $99 Convenience
Base has a spot for recharging a second battery; without this you'd have to put
a spare battery into the Aero to recharge it.
[Q] What do you think about the ergonomic factors (e.g., screen size, keyboard
layout, trackball, etc?)
[A] Keyboard is great and silent. Screen size 8" is more than enough for
640x480 resolution screen. Think about it: on desktops people are using a 15"
screen with 1024x780.
[A] I like them. Screen size is just fine for me. The DOS text-mode font seems
fine; better than some laptops I've seen. I like the keyboard more than any
other subnote I've used, and the trackball is fine. However, these are all very
subjective things and what works for me may not work for you.
[Q] Are you happy with tech support?
[A] Yes, they are very friendly and helpful. But don't expect to get an answer
if your question is too technical :( Well, this is a problem of almost all
vendors.
[A] Reasonably so -- overall they seem quite good. I think the problem I had
with one fellow was just that particular person -- I wish I'd thought to write
down his name and such so I could see that he gets additional training. As Ali
mentioned, too technical a question will probably stump 'em. If the front-line
person can't help you make SURE that you get them to bump your case to the 2nd
level support people.
[A] No, they are idiots. They will tell you to install the wrong drivers and
screw you up even worse. Then when you call them back and get somebody else,
they tell you a different story that never fixes things. After you try this
a few time you finally get somebody that knows what they are doing. You are
better off with the aero mailing list.
[Q] Sorry to be asking so many questions.
[A] No problem -- feel free to ask all you want. It's better to know what
you're plunking down hundreds of dollars for than to find out later.
Asking the owners of a particular computer is a good way to learn all the stuff
you usually don't find out 'til you've had one for a while. However, make sure
you realize that you're probably not going to hear anything overly critical
here. Someone who seriously dislikes the Aero is most likely not going to be
subscribed to the list.
What you're doing is the equivalent of walking into an espresso bar and asking
for peoples opinions on coffee; you'll generally get positive responses,
perhaps with some mild criticism. You're not going to find a coffee hater in
such a place.
------------------------------
Subject: 1.5 Who's using an Aero
[C] Date: Thu, 17 Apr 1997 21:45:15 -0600
Reply-To: adavie@geocities.com
Subject: Media appearances of Aero
I noticed that one of the characters of Fox's "Living Single" show (the
character played by Queen Latifah) uses an Aero. I think this is my
first television sighting (other than the Aero commercials) of our
little friend, but i don't watch much t.v. outside of the Simpsons...
Has the Aero appeared in any movies or other t.v. shows?
[C] From: mccann@ms.com
Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 09:08:05 -0400
Subject: Media appearances of Aero
It's hardly Hollywood, but I have noticed that the
facilities engineers use Aeros in the modern office building
where I work. It looks like they plug them into something
to take environmental readings (office air quality,
humidity, temperature).
Andy
------------------------------
Subject: 2 Hardware
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1 Aero
The aero has an ISA bus.
[C] Date: Fri, 02 May 1997 20:59:32 +0200
From: Arnaud Hubert <hubert@worldnet.fr>
Subject: Aero's serial number
Hi fellow Aeronauts,
I finally got back my Aero 10 days after taking it to maintenance for
having broken of the pins of the PCMCIA connector (I inserted the PCMCIA
SCSI card upside down, God I'm stupid).
The guy there explained to me what the serial number means:
Mine is 7435HMR40135:
7 is the factory unit.
4 is the year ('94).
35 is the week of manufacturing (the 35th of 94).
The rest is meaningless.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.1 CPU
Intel inside!
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.1.1 Is it upgradeable?
There has been some talk about doing one of those "Make it a 586" upgrade
deals. As of yet, nobody has even *tried* to upgrade the processor for lack
of a good method. -Philip Wilk
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.1.2 Is it FPU upgradeable?
I am using Q386 3.65, a math accelerator and coprocessor emulator for
386SX and higher machines. (Copyright Quickware) It works nice. (e.g. with
Mathematica) You should be able to find it on any SIMTEL mirror in the
directory mathcopr. The name of the newest version seems to be q87_371.zip. I
do not think that there is any possibility to plug in a real coprocessor.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.2 Memory
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.2.1 How do you upgrade?
Both the online help and the printed docs tell you how to do it. The Aero
can be expanded to 8, 12, or 20 meg of RAM. Going to 20 meg requires a 16 meg
module, Compaq doesn't sell one. In any case, third party memory seems to be
a lot cheaper than Compaq memory, and I've seen nothing in the docs which
claims that using 3rd party memory affects the warranty in any way. Note
that there's only space for one memory module. If you buy a 4M module (for 8M
total), and later want to go to 12 or 20 meg, you must replace the 4M module.
[C] Date: Thu, 01 May 1997 10:55:04 -0800
From: "Gerry M." <gdm@hkstar.com>
Subject: Re: Memory port cover
The memory slot cover does not usually break!!! It looks like it's going to
when you try to pry it with a screw driver but it shouldn't. Take your time
and do it slowly. Its supposed to be make from very flexible plastic at
least thats what the Compaq rep told me. I managed to open the slot by
using a wide flat head screw driver and a coin. You twist the screw driver
slowly assisted by the coin. Refer to the diagram below...
-----------------
| |
| |
Screw Driver---> || <== |
here | |
| |
--------\/-------
Coin Here
[C] From: Philip Wilk
Date: Thu, 5 Sep 1996 16:24:04 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: sp1992 warning
I almost had a cardiac arrest last night. I purchased my 16Mb memory module
and installed it but my aero only recognized 16Mb. So I proceeded to install
sp1992 not noticing that it was a *patch* for sp1487. I was running a 6/94
bios (hey, if its not broke don't fix it). Sp1992 got rather confused,
attempted to install itself and then crashed. When I rebooted, it kept on
getting memory configuration errors. *Moment of panic*. My aero will not
start up. I kept on choosing the save-config option and after a couple times
through of recognizing/not recognizing the 20Mb of memory; it finally
booted. I quickly installed the full ROM upgrade sp1487 and since then have
not had any problems. *whew*
Somebody prolly already noticed this, but I thought I would mention this to
others. The 20Mb of memory for $150 is fantastic! Only six months ago it was
a grand ... The memory will breathe new life into my machine.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.2.3 How much are memory upgrades?
[C] Date: Mon, 26 May 1997 12:53:23 -0700 (PDT)
From: Elizabeth Yip <elyip@WOLFENET.com>
I upgraded the memory to 20M ($119 at Components Direct (888)426-6799,
Sales Rep.: Nicholas).
[C] From: Temp Berdan <temp@mail.org>
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 1997 10:51:33 -0800
Subject: 16 mb ram board update
Hiyah,
I'm a 4/25 owner (read: frequent delays/crashes). Just a quick update on
the Southland Micro. ram source. When I called their number, I was
referred to Components Direct (a reseller for Viking memory). Phone:
888-426-6766. Sales rep.: Nicholas @ ext 2345. He originally quoted me
$154 for the 16mb plugin. I told him that was higher than what I had seen
on the Aero mailing list. He went off line and came back and tried to sell
me a closeout price on the 8 mb plugin for $45.00 (US). I told him I
wanted 16 mb and a deal was made for $109 plus $16 for UPS red. Here by 10
am next morning). It didn't arrive. Called Nicholas back and he
immediately conferenced in his Viking memory rep(wholesale only) and he
said it had gone out that very morning via FedEx. Even supplied me with
tracking number (I'm now in AZ "boonies" and was concerned about it
getting delivered here). Sure enough, it arrived following afternoon.
VArrrRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMmmmmmm!!!!!!! Thanks to whom ever posted the
information on this honest and fine source.
"Tis a good one.
Temp Berdan
Santa Barbara
Vacationing in No. AZ
[C] Date: Thu, 27 Feb 1997 09:32:46 -0800
From: "Randy, Evelyn & Mark" <leemania@pacbell.net>
I just ordered a 16M memory module from Impediment Incorporated, 541
Plain St., Marshfiedl, MA 02050-2713. Kathleen Leu at
kathy@impediment.com is the person that handles portable memory sales.
She quoted $75 for an 8M module (PN: KTC-AERO8) and $135 for a 16M
module (PN: KTC-AERO16). S&H came to $10.
There's another outfit in El Segundo, CA called En Pointe Tech. Call
Gentry Richardson ar (310) 725-5248 for ordering. Their quotes were as
follows: 4M $65, 8M $85, 16M $135.
Another source is Ariston Technologies - (714) 846-7676, 16892 Bolsa
Chica Street, Suite 204, Huntington Beach, California. Their quotes: 4M
$52, 8M $84, 16M $149.
Memory Plus, Inc.46 East Main Street Westboro, MA 01581 TO ORDER, CALL:
(800)388-7587 or (508)366-2240 FAX: (508)366-7344 Internet Address:
parts@memoryplus.com. Their latest quotes: $60, $90, and $169 resp.
McGlen Micro, Inc. 17748 Skypark Circle Suite 252 Irvine, CA 92614, USA
Sales, Customer Support: (714)851-8078 (800)899-8849 Fax: (714)851-0251
Their quotes: $52, $84, and $149
Found these folks by search engine on computer memory and calling.
There's lots more available.
Evelyn
[C] From: <mccann@morgan.com>
Date: Thu, 19 Sep 1996 17:49:51 -0400
FYI, I just bought a 16mb RAM module over the phone from
Southland Micro <http://www.southlandmicro.com/>.
The price was $128 plus $9.50 shipping (it's to be delivered
Monday, so I can't speak to quality; others on this list say
they work, though). Not bad, considering Southland was
quoting $150 last week.
Southland's number is 1-800-255-4200, and I spoke to Kay
(who handles new accounts).
The 16mb RAM part number is: SMC 16MB-AERO. They also sell
8mb and 4mb, I think.
Best,
Andy
[C] From sylvains@francomedia.qc.ca ("Sylvain Soulieres"), on 8/19/96
For those of you who are looking for a cheap 16 MB RAM upgrade module for
their Compaq Aero, I just ordered one from "Southland Micro Systems". I
should receive it by the end of the week... At that time, I will post a
final status on the module...
Note that their WEB site specified a price of U$ 215 for the module (P/N
"SMC 16MB-AERO"), but I just talked to Nadia from sales (phone extension
160), and their current price is U$ 150 + shipping + insurance charges !!!
Here are the coordinates :
Vendor : Southland Micro Systems
Location : Irvine, California 92618
Web site : www.southlandmicro.com
Phone : (800) 255-4200 or (714) 380-1958
You should also note that they offer an unconditionnal lifetime warranty on
their modules.
[C] Sylvain had no problem with his memory from Southland, so I went and bought
me 16 Mb for the same price. Works great! - Philip Wilk
[C] From: <Paynecd@aol.com>
Date: Sat, 13 Jul 1996 22:43:06 -0400
If anyone is looking for 16MB memory upgrades for their Aero, WorldWide
Memory is selling a Transcend version for $205. I installed it and it works
fine. Comes with a lifetime warranty. Phone number is 800-666-6117. They
advertise in the back of Computer Shopper.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.3 How to disassemble the Aero
BE CAREFUL, boys and girls. If you get frustrated, STOP! Go do something else
for a while and then come back to it. One little slip-up will result in very
costly repair bills. Warning aside, there is nothing magical inside consumer
electronics. Everything is very modular and replacible if you can find the
part. Have fun, and don't break anything. - Philip
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.3.1 The tale of a journey inside
Note: this was the first story ever on an Aero disassembly. We now know better
and will not disassemble that one screw in the back that holds the Aero display
together.
[ this one is a bit wordy; but I felt it should go out to everyone on the list
rather than languish on an ftp site -- lrj ]
Just for the record, this was all in a dream. It is not true. I would never do
something as silly as opening up my Aero 4/33c, because that would void the
warranty or let the smoke out or something. Would I do that? Of course not!
cough If anyone were to consider opening up their machine, remember that if you
break anything it's YOUR fault. This is NOT a trivial thing like opening up a
desktop's case. If you're not (a) willing to accept the consequences of
something breaking and (b) confident in your ability, then STOP HERE. Do not
continue.
AT ALL TIMES REMEMBER TO GO SLOW. IF SOMETHING ISN'T WORKING OUT, RELAX;
EXAMINE IT AND THINK ABOUT HOW IT OUGHT TO GO. IT'S ALWAYS BETTER TO TAKE YOUR
TIME THAN TO BREAK SOMETHING.
As a first step, shut down windows and turn off the power. I mean the actual
Fn+StandbyButton power-off sequence. Remove the battery. Find a nice flat table
and put something soft on it; make sure you follow proper electrostatic
discharge procedures. I reccommend a wrist-strap.
Remove all the screws from the bottom of the case, and the two from the back of
the right-hand side. (the two on the right-side back anchor that side of the
display, so be ready for it to become a little floppy :) THERE ARE NO HIDDEN
SCREWS. Happily, Compaq did not hide any under stickers or anything. I used a
flat-blade screwdriver, but the appropriate Torx driver would be best.
Now you have to remove the plastic from the top; the stuff surrounding the
keyboard. It's a snap-down setup, and to disengage the clips you have to push
in on the top half while sorta pulling out on the bottom, while lifting the
top. Yah, one of those three-hand jobs.
ALSO: the speaker is one of those 3/4" piezo thingies that lives in front of
the trackball. Make sure it doesn't get smooshed or jammed into something when
you're popping the case.
There's one clip right next to where the battery cover goes, on the front side
of the machine. It's a good one to examine and get a feel for how it works. The
next one is in the middle of the front, right where the display locks down.
The nasty one is on the right side between the back and the trackball buttons.
I finally got it by having the display up at 90 degrees, with the whole machine
sitting on it's left side. I inserted the corner of a credit card between the
top/bottom case halves from the back to put lifting pressure on the clip as I
pressed/pulled/etc. BE GENTLE HERE THOUGH, there's definite breakage potential
if you just force it.
Next, there are a set a small tabs which hold the back of the top down. You can
see the line running under the display. Just kind of gently lift, wiggle,
lever, etc. 'til they pop out.
Now for the real fun; seperating the "top" from the display. I haven't figured
a good way to do it; as you lift the top over the hinges, it hits the bottom of
the display. Carefully applied flexing and bending (never too much) was the
only way I got the thing off of there. Just be careful and look it over a bit.
At this point, your machine should still work. I figured I'd try mine out, so I
plugged in the AC adapter and powered it up. :) I of course powered it down and
unplugged it before continueing. :)
Next thing is to remove the keyboard. You'll find one screw in the middle below
the spacebar and three smaller ones across the top. That's it. Remove 'em, tip
the back of the keybd up and push backwards 'til it disengages from the metal
tab in the bottom right (closest to you). Watch the two ribbon cables under it.
To disengage the cables, lay the keybd upside down over the battery
compartment. You'll see a couple slider things on the two cable slots on the
motherboard. Pull the sliders towards you; now the cables will come out easily
and you can set the keybd aside.
In order to remove the hard disk, you must first pull out the flat cable
running across the drive, which goes to the trackball and buttons. Small
needlenose pliers are good for this if you're very gentle and go slowly.
One the cable's off, slide the hard disk to the right until it disengages from
the connector. Tilt the back upwards 'til it clears the motherboard and lift it
out. Voila! :) You could take the "carrier" off the existing drive and put it
on another 2.5" drive if you wished.
Reassembling the machine is pretty much the reverse of what I've described.
When reinstalling the hard drive, make sure that one "tab" on the carrier lines
up with the screwhole so it'll get locked down when you put the screws back in.
When you put the keyboard back on, make sure to engage that metal tab at the
bottom-right.
I would suggest checking the machine out before putting the plastic lid back
on; after the keybd's back on, plug it in/turn it on and make sure everything
still works. Then turn it of, put the top back on, and button it up.
In summary, it looks like the hard drive is user-replaceable if you have the
confidence and ability to go in there and do it. It is probably not something
which Joe Consumer should try. I've broken a lot of plastic tabs over the years
as I learned how to finesse these things. :)
Put it this way; when it comes time to put in a 400-500M disk sometime next
year, I will be talking to the local service shop (which sells Compaq) to see
how much it'd cost to have them do the work. I am not sure that I won't break a
plastic tab or something next time.
Remember, this is all a dream. Nothing here is true. cough
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.4 Hard Drive
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.4.1 Partitions
[Q] Does anyone have any information on the little (2mb) partition which the
Aero boots from if you hold down the 'F10' key to run setup during boot? Is
there a FAT filesystem hidden there somewhere?
[A] The machine actually comes with two DOS partitions: the main one that you
see, and a tiny (2M) one which runs the setup utilities. You almost certainly
want to keep the latter around forever. As for the main DOS partition, it
contains lots of otherwise unavailable documentation about how your machine
works, and some setup utilities that do things that the setup partition can't
do.
In particular, the utility to control whether the PCMCIA slot remains powered
during suspend seems only to be available in Windows, and at least a few of us
configured our machine to leave power on in the slot and are now regretting
that choice (because it uses up power during suspend).
[A] it has DOS 6.2 on it, and it has
config.sys/autoexec.bat files that run the setup program for the aero. You
install it by using the setup program, which you can transfer onto a 1.44MB
disk if you have the PCMCIA floppy drive. That's what I've done, seeing as I
don't run DOS or Windows but would like to be able to setup my machine without
a 2MB partition sitting on my drive doing nothing 99.99% of the time ...
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.4.2 Noisy 84Mb hard drives
[Q] My 4/25's 84mb hard drive is very noisy when it reads and writes, but works
just fine. A friend of mine has a 4/25 with the 170mb drive, and it seems to
work like a whisper. Does anyone know if this is just a characteristic of the
84mb drive?
[A] Unfortunately yes. I claimed Compaq for that and they replaced my HD to
another 84MB and the new one was even worse.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.4.3 Upgrading the hard drive
[Q]From: DOUGLAS KOCHER [SMTP:DKOCHER@EXODUS.VALPO.EDU]
Subject: fdisk and Partition Magic only see the first 500 MB or so.
Aeronauts--Help, please, with this one. Many of you have reported installing
drives of various manufacturers greater than 540 MB, even > 1G, _without_
having to resort to Disk Mangler to overcome that barrier.
I had a Toshiba MK 1924FCV 540 MB that I needed to replace as it was full.
This is a _dog_ of a drive, so I was eager to do so.
I have it replaced with a Maxtor MobileMax 1.35G drive, but guess what?
Even with the latest Compaq bios, and even though the bios sees all 1.35G,
both fdisk and Partition Magic only see the first 500 MB or so.
What gives? BTW, the diagnostic partition installed perfectly. The drive,
based on its interactions with the diag. partition, is much quicker and
quieter than the Toshiba it replaced.
[A] From: John David Steffes <steffes@web.cc.cst.cmich.edu>
Subject: RE: fdisk and Partition Magic only see the first 500 MB or so.
Date: Mon, 17 Feb 1997 12:23:39 -0500
First wipe all fdisk stuff off. NO Diag Partition no MSDOS/windows Partition
NOTHING!. Then Boot with first Diag disk in. and set the drive up under the
setup there is a disk icon under that there is advanced under that there is
another tab which specifies which operating system. Click if DOS/WINDOWS
click Other. Then exit and let the machine reboot. Then go back and reset
the tab to DOS/WINDOWS this feature is what turn on LBA translation which is
what ONTRACK Overlay manager does. I also want you to know you must be on the
latest and greatest BIOS and DIAG utilities other wise things may not work.
JDS
PS Just a suggestion I am not liable for anything that may go wrong from
following these directions.
-- Ed. Note: For those of you who wonder why you can not get much more than
500 Mb of HD on your Aero: The BIOS when running DOS or windows 3.x can
only recognize 1024 cylinders. This usually works out to about 502 or 512 Mb
depending on the rest of the hard drive parameters. You can get around this
by using either a special driver or a utility. If your hard drive needs this,
then one then contact the distributor or you can use the previously described
method for gaining full access. It is interesting to note that LINUX is not
limited in this way. - Philip
-- Ed. Note: The harddrive can be no thicker than 12.7 mm. - Philip
[A] I would like to share my success in swapping out the original 170 MB disk
for a 353 MB disk in my 4/33C. I just carefully took the Aero apart (take care
with the clip on the right side), pulled the Seagate ST9190AG drive from its
carrier, put in the new one, and put it all back together (and fixed a slightly
erratic graphics cable along the way). I was mighty impressed with the
technology in there.
Now for the setup. I had made a floppy version of the Setup and Diags
partitions ahead of time and proceeded to use these to set up the
cylinders/heads/sectors and run a full diags sweep of the disk. I made three
partitions on the new drive -- 50M for DOS, 30 MB for shared swap and the
remaining 273 MB for Linux. I didn't make the diags partition; I'll just use
the floppies again if I ever need something from the there again some day.
So, it can be done. I was a little hesitant at first after calling Laptop
Solutions in Houston because they tried to tell me the BIOS wouldn't support
different sized drives without their proprietary changes. Well, maybe there are
cases where their changes are needed but I've not found them yet.
The drive is a Toshiba 1824FCV (682 cyl, 16 heads, 63 sectors); I just
reprogrammed the drive type 65 entries with these values. Only down side is
that it seems to spin up a bit slower than the old drive. But I'm convinced the
battery life is better, at least a little. The noise is distinctly different
too; maybe a little lower pitched but still as loud.
Warranty? Well, yes, compaq tech support told me what I did voids the
warranty.He said my only option, if I need service, is to put back the old
drive and tryto convince them the problem is not related to the change. I'm not
worried about it but it might be a factor for some.
[A] I can second Elwood's story. I have had the Toshiba disk in my Aero for
about 2 weeks now. Its great to have 330 MB of disk. Also, I think Elwood is
correct, in that the battery lasts longer with the Toshiba disk. Seems to draw
less power.
The difficulties I had in doing the exchange were much the same as Elwood
related. Namely the clip on the right hand side next to the mouse buttons. In
addition, I could not get the cable unplugged that feeds the trackball, mouse
buttons and speaker. So, it was easy enough to unscrew the track ball assembly.
The speaker, buttons and trackball could then be lifted out of the way while
still plugged in. Also, Ali, your instructions to me on not removing the lower
screw supporting the screen were correct. It is not necessary and helps keep
the assembly stable while trying to pry the cover off!
The Toshiba drive cost about $400 with tax. I bought it from Micro Sense in San
Diego, CA. (Micro Sense's Phone number is 1-800-544-4252.) They were very
helpful in telling me that the drive would work in the Aero without any BIOS
mods. They also told me I could put in a bigger capacity drive, but I would
need some BIOS mods to do that.
[Q] After saving the automatically recognized drive parameters, how did you get
FDISK to run on the PCMCIA FDD? I thought the PCMCIA drive needed drivers
loaded before it was recognized or is that something that's built into the BIOS
already?
[A] Yes. The FDD runs out of the BIOS. You can boot from it with nothing on the
hard disk. This assumes you have a current COMPAQ BIOS too. Very old ones did
not support the FDD correctly.
A word of warning. When I took apart the case it took me 2 1/2 hours. I was
very careful. I stopped twice during the process because of frustration.
However, once the top of the machine is off, then removing the old disk is not
a big deal. You move the drive holder from one driver to the other. Push the
new drive into place on the connector.
You can then power up the machine and test it to make sure the disk works.
(Have a boot floppy with FDISK.) If you have done it correctly, you will see
lots of disk space. Putting the cover on only took 10 minutes. The hard part is
prying the cover over the screen support rods. Also, do NOT remove the bottom
screw as seen from the back of the Aero which supports the screen. The screen
is really loose if you do this and as Ali told me, you can tear the flexible
cable that goes to the screen!
As has been said before, this is not for the faint of heart. If you take your
time, walk away from it if you get frustrated, and do not force anything very
hard you should be OK. The most difficult part is the clip near the mouse
buttons. If you do not have the original case disassembly instructions, I can
resend them.
[Q] Which brand(s) and model(s) can replace the 84Mb and 170Mb drive in the
Aero 4/25...anyone know if the drives are higher than the drives sitting in the
4/33c or is the height difference merely the colour screen as opposed to the
mono screen?
[A] Correct. The height difference is in the screen and not in the base. The
Toshiba MK1824FCV was an exact fit at 12.5mm. The Toshiba has 335MB on it. It
should also work in the 4/33c. The drive in the color model is the same size as
in mono. They're both 2,5" slim IDEs.
[C] From: "Steve Sims" <SimsS@Infi.Net>
Date: Mon, 29 Jul 1996 06:44:30 -0400
> From: Erik A Hansen <hansen_e@cmr.fsu.edu>
>
> Anyone deal with Drive Outlet Center?
> They have Toshiba notebook drives:
> 540MB TOHDDNB540 $199
> 810MB TOHDDNB810 $239
I've dealt with them on some SCSI stuff. They we somebody I'd buy again
from.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.4.4 Hard Drive Installation
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.4.4.1 Prequel to the step-by-step tutorial
Date: Sun, 16 Mar 1997 19:09:12 -0600 (CST)
From: DOUGLAS KOCHER <DKOCHER@EXODUS.VALPO.EDU>
Subject: Installing MobileMax: A How-To
It looks like a number of aeronauts are about to embark on installing a Maxtor
MobileMax 1.3G drive in their Aeros. I have had one in mine for about two
months; here are my installation tips:
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
DISCLAIMER: I'm not responsible for the consequences of your following these
suggestions. They worked for me, but I have changed out many a notebook
hard drive. If you think what follows is beyond your skill level, get someone
to do it for you. And regardless, ANY disassembly of the Aero presents even
an experienced person many opportunities to ruin the computer inadvertently.
In addition, the following procedure will surely void any warranty you have
on your Aero.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Make sure you ground yourself when dismantling the Aero, and especially when
touching the hard drive. Wear a wrist strap that is grounded, or repeatedly
touch a well-grounded object during dismantling and reassembly.
1. Make sure you have the latest ROM upgrade installed on your Aero. Check
the Aero FAQ for where to get it if you're not sure.
2. Be sure you have Compaq Setup Disk 1, SP2054, and Compaq Diagnostics Disk
2, SP2373. These versions appear necessary to allow all 1.3G of the disk to be
seen during fdisk and format (there may be an earlier version that works, but I
_know_ these do. Check the Aero FAQ for locations if you don't have them.
Make sure the disks work by running them before proceeding further.
3. Familiarize yourself with the disassembly procedure outlined in the FAQ for
replacing the HD. DISCONNECT ALL EXTERNAL POWER AND REMOVE BATTERY BEFORE
PROCEEDING.
- note: The harddrive replacement tutorial should be the section
following this primer. (Subject: 2.1.4.4.2 A step-by-step
tutorial) - PW
4. Do _not_ remove the lower of the two screws on back of the Aero next to the
external power supply jack. As the FAQ notes, it isn't necessary and will
greatly increase the chances you'll damage the video ribbon cable or other
parts of the display.
5. I recommend removing the bezel surrounding the screen, as it makes removal
of the upper case half of the Aero much easier. See the FAQ for details on how
to do this. Work slowly and carefully, and don't force anything. Then, remove
the upper case half--again, see the FAQ (as there is no point in my repeating
all of that here).
6. Once the upper case half is removed, unscrew the small screws securing the
keyboard, and fold it over toward you. Do not disconnect the keyboard as it
isn't necessary. Be very careful not to stress the keyboard ribbon cable.
Just let the keyboard lie flat in front of the Aero.
7. Remove the long screw securing the drive carrier to the Aero. Do not try
to disconnect the ribbon cable which runs across the top of the drive and then
makes a right angle turn towards the trackball. It is very easy to damage.
Instead, unscrew the trackball housing. Before lifting the assembly up, pay
particular notice to how the purple trackball buttons fit in the side casing,
as you'll need to put them back exactly that way. Now, lift the trackball
assembly, purple button assembly, and ribbon cable, all attached together,
and lay them over on the left side of the Aero. The drive can now be
accessed for easy removal.
8. Carefully grasp the drive and pull it straight back, then lift it by the
back, up and out. MAKE SURE YOU ARE GROUNDED. DO NOT TOUCH THE UNDERSIDE OF
THE DRIVE OR ANY OF ITS CONNECTORS. Handle the drive by its sides only.
9. Notice how the drive carrier is screwed to the old drive. Unscrew it and
attach it in the same way to the MobileMax. GROUND YOURSELF WHEN TOUCHING
THE MOBILEMAX; HANDLE IT ONLY BY ITS SIDES. Put the old drive in the
MobileMax's static bag for safekeeping. Check with DALCO for inexpensive
adapters to let you use your old 2.5" drive in a desktop (see the FAQ for
parts numbers and phone).
10. Place the MobileMax with carrier properly attached in the Aero, and slide
it firmly forward until it stops. Replace the long carrier screw.
Reassemble the trackball/purple buttons asssembly. Be sure those buttons
go back in the right way, or you'll mash their connector when you replace the
upper case half.
11. Check to make sure the keyboard cable did not pull out of its connectors,
and that the video cable is also firmly attached. Place the keyboard back
in its location and attach the small screws. Do not replace the upper case
half and bezel until you see if the drive works--otherwise you'll just have to
tear into it all over again.
12. Insert the floppy drive card into the PCMCIA slot.
13. Put Setup Disk 1 into the drive (SP2054).
14. Apply external power (DON'T use the battery--it could fail during this
critical setup) and turn on the Aero. It will boot from the Setup floppy
if you have properly copied to the disk. You should hear the MobileMax power
up. It has a strange, two-stage spinup that sounds something like a car
shifting up through gears (at least, after it is installed properly).
15. Follow the directions on the screen.
NOTE: After you fdisk and format the drive, you will not have 1.3G, but
something less (1280MB or therabouts). This is NORMAL; you're not being
cheated by Maxtor--it has to do with how formatted disk space is calculated.
So many people freak out when they see the "missing" MB's. Don't worry!
If you find that you cannot get fdisk to recognize more than 500 MB or so, it
is almost certainly because (a) you do not have the latest ROM upgrade and/or
(b) you don't have the proper Setup/Diagnostic disks. Get the right ones and
things should work.
16. Replace the upper case half and screen bezel, and enjoy that fast little
drive.
Finally, you don't need Disk Mangler or any other dynamic disk overlay program
to use the full capacity of this drive. It just isn't needed, and will add
many complications. Don't use it! The Aero's latest ROM bios fully supports
the capacity of this drive.
Douglas Kocher
dkocher@exodus.valpo.edu
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.4.4.2 A step-by-step tutorial
Date: Thu, 6 Apr 95 00:27:44 EDT
From: Bill Flynn <billf@gandalf.engr.sgi.com>
with modifications by Philip Wilk
I just upgraded my Aero 4/33c's hard drive from 170mb to 720mb. This process
was remarkably simple. The new drive is an IBM DBOA2720, 12mm 13ms. It was $699
from Micro Sense, CA (800)544-4252. I run Linux and the X Window system on this
and maintain a small dos partition for maintenance tasks not accesible to
PC-UNIX (essentially, a 640k PROM ;-<). I summarize the process below.
These is a procedure that I followed to replace my drive. Use at your own risk.
Replacing your own hardware may likely interfere with your Compaq warranty. I
can not be responsible for any damages incurred should you set out on this
course.
Before removing drive
1. Go into Compaq setup by pressing F10 on bootup when the cursor goes to
the upper right corner of the screen.
2. Select the option to "Create a Diagnostics Diskette". From here feed the
required diskettes and then feel safe that you will be able to restore
this neat little setup partition. NOTE: The setup partition must be the
fist partition on the hard drive so it must be installed before making any
other partitions!
3. Go into "Computer Setup", then into "Storage", then "Configure Fixed Disk
Drives". Write down the all information under "Fixed Disk Drive
Information".
4. Back up any data you need to secondary media ;*)
Drive installation
1. I strongly suggest using a grounding strap. These should be available
from local electronics or hobby shops, if you dont have on already.
2. Carefully disassemble the Aero. There are 4 screws on the bottom, and two
in the rear. All the screws to be removed are black.
!!!!Note!!!!
Date: Tue, 18 Jun 1996 17:05:05 -0500 (CDT)
From: Peter Barrette <barrette@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu>
I would like to make a correction in the HDD replacement instructions.
Step 2 has the user removing both of the rear screws. Only removal of the
top screw is neccessary while removing both can create difficulty in
handling the screen.
3. There is a "shell" surrounding the keyboard which snaps apart in the
front. Be careful not to scratch the case if prying this with a sharp
object. This peice is somewhat difficult to remove from the hinges of the
display. BE CAREFUL with the ribbon connecting the LCD display to the
internal assembly.
4. The system board and hard drive are located under the keyboard. Unscrew
this again being careful with the ribbon cables connecting the keyboard to
the system board. The keyboard can be laid toward the front, out of the
way.
5. The hard drive can now be accessed. It slides away from the system board(
to the right). Once disconnected, it can be lifted out. Lift it out front
first or the screws on the back may put too much pressure on one of the
circuit boards. There is a vertical tab on the disk mount which has to
clear the ridge across the front of the aluminum system board mount.
6. My IBM drive came with one jumper installed. Without this jumper, the
system didn't recognize the drive at all. I left it off as the 170mb
Segate had pins in the same position non-jumpered. I suspect this has to
do with the IDE master/slave stuff. (my drive expertise is more with SCSI
drives on UNIX workstations and servers).
7. If you are using the IBM DBOA2720, it's drive parameters should be on the
drive label. Mine are as follows: Type: 65
Cylinders: 1400
Heads: 16
Sectors: 63
ECC: 4
Capacity resulting from above = 722.0 MBytes
1400cyls * 16heads * 63sectors/track * 512k blocks = 722534400bytes
8. Switch the drive bracket to the new drive.
9. The installation is the reverse of removal keeping in mind the following
points:
AGAIN, BE CAREFUL WITH THE RIBBON CABLES. Be sure they are all fully seated in
the sockets. When I put mine back together, the display cable was not fully
seated and upon power on, the screen went blue with BRIGHT yellow lines. I then
reseated the cable and when the system came up, the yellow lines were etched
into the display. Fortunately, these gradually went away by the next day. The
display was only up for about 5 seconds like this. I suspect much more may have
fried it so again, please be careful.
Use caution reassembling the "shell" surrounding the keyboard.
The first time the system is booted, it will notice the drive and ask for
confirmation before updating the CMOS drive parameters. Allow this.
Reinstalling setup Boot system the first time from the "setup" diskette. It
will notice that the new hard disk has no diagnostics partition, and suggest
that you create one. Select the option to do so.
Good Luck.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.4.5 Installing the old drive in your desktop
[C] Date: Mon, 02 Jun 1997 12:51:51 +0200
From: Markus Gebhard <gebhard@fmi.uni-passau.de>
The 2,5"-drive connector has 44pins, this is 4 more than the AT-Bus. They
can be connected by using an adaptor.
I first thought they were counted one row down and the other row up, but
as I found out the standard way is like this:
1 o o 2
3 o o 4
. . . .
. . . .
39 o o 40
so the pin table has to be:
44pin: 40pin:
1 - 40 1 - 40
41, 42 +5V (red)
43 GND (black)
44 N.C. / Jumper??
[C] Phil--I wrote the little part in the FAQ. I don't know the pinouts, but
there are really cheap alternatives to what was in the FAQ available now:
DALCO 1-800-445-5342
48760 2.5 adapter cable w/PS connector $9.50
48755 2.5 hard drive adapter w/PS connector 5.75
50960 2.5 drive ribbon cable 4.85
If your time is worth anything, these prices should discourage you from
making your own cable!
48760 is 48755 with a 12" standard IDE cable. 48755 is just the
adapter, to which you would attach an ordinary IDE ribbon cable leading from
your 3.5" drive to the adapter.
Yes, PS means a power supply connector (the kind that would plug into a
standard computer power supply lead. Only two wires are attached, of course
(for +5V plus neg.).
Doug Kocher
dkocher@exodus.valpo.edu
[C] From: Douglas Kocher - dkocher@exodus.valpo.edu
An adapter for attaching a 2.5" notebook hard drive to a regular desktop's
IDE cable is available for $14.95 + COD charges from DD&TT Enterprise, Inc.,
5680 Rickenbacker Rd., Bell, CA 90201. Their phone number is 213-780-0099.
They will not ship on charge cards, only CODs, which adds about another
$9.00 to the overall price via UPS.
The part # is DT-1958.
The adapter includes an aluminum carrier that allows you to screw the 2.5"
drive onto the carrier, which will then fit into a regular 3.5" drive bay.
My adapter worked flawlessly on an 84MB Quantum HD that I took out of my
Compaq Aero when I upgraded to a 540 MB HD.
NOTE: this adapter also plugs into the right four pins on the 2.5" drive,
which may pose a problem if the drive needs to be jumpered (you can add jumper
pins to the DT-1958 if you don't mind soldering--look closely at the diagram
that accompanies the adapter).
Another source for an adapter, which does not cover the right four pins and
thus allows you to use existing jumpers on the 2.5" drive if needed, is sold
by:
PS Solutions, Inc.
1800 N. Glenville Dr.
Richardson, TX 75081
214-783-6996
214-783-6997 (fax)
I paid $15.00 per adapter for two, plus $3.76 shipping. The part number is
PCB 2.5-3.5-I
Unlike the DT-1958, no carrier is provided for the 2.5" drive to fit in a
3.5" bay.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.4.6 Fixing the Master Boot Record
From: Philip Wilk
Date: 30 June 1996
So you diddled with your master boot record huh? A good way to futz things
up is to use LILO followed by another program that tries to "fix" things.
The problem will that your second program will get awefully confused by LILO
and to punish you for straying from the Microsoft Path, will make your
computer unbootable.
To fix things, type "fdisk /MBR" from DOS, where MBR stands for master boot
record. This will fix everything, or at least it did for me. Thank you Ryan
Davis for letting me know about this. -Philip
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.4.7 Aero harddrive upgrade list
-- wow! talk about a complete resource! thanks Christian.
The current list can be found at:
http://www.reed.edu/~pwilk/aero/aerohard.txt
Aero harddisk upgrade list Ver. 1.9: (June 9, 1997)
This list is intended as an aid for Aero users who want to upgrade
their harddisks in choosing the right one (of course, without any
guarantees).
Note that only 2.5 '' IDE or EIDE harddisks with heights of less
than 12.7 mm fit into the Aero.
Read also http://www.reed.edu/~pwilk/aero/aero_drive_install.txt
before upgrading your Aero. It helped me a lot.
Please send any comments on (hopefully) successful (or unsuccessful) harddisk
upgrades to Christian Rausch (crausch@physik.tu-muenchen.de).
I will add them to this list as soon as possible.
If you have time, then please check the performance of your harddisk
with cthdben.exe from the German c't magazine. It can be obtained via ftp
(ftp://ftp.ix.de/pub/ct/pci/cthdben.zip) and reports the weighted
average and the minimum/maximum transfer rate of your harddisk. Note that
you should use plain MSDOS
(no emm386 loaded, no smartdrv or other caches loaded) and
your disk should be as unfragmented as possible to get meaningful
results. It would be best to run this program right after
installation of your new disk. Please tell me the min/max and avg
transfer rates of your disk then. I will add them to this list also.
NEW: The cthdben harddisk benchmark program is now also available from
<http://www.uni-passau.de/~gebhard/aero/ftp/cthdben.zip>
together with an English translation from Markus Gebhard!
Christian
*******************************************************************************
Quantum GLS85A, 84 MB
(Compaq's original Aero 4/25 drive)
cthdben transfer rate:
weighted average = 623 kb/sec,
max. 1058 kB/sec
(measured by Christian Rausch <crausch@physik.tu-muenchen.de>)
Quantum Daytona 256, 721 cyl., 11 heads, 63 sectors
(Compaq's original 4/33c harddrive)
cthdben transfer rate:
weighted average = 873.7 kB/sec,
max. 1420.3 kB/sec
(measured by Markus Gebhard <gebhard@fmi.uni-passau.de>)
Toshiba MK1824FCV, 353 MB, 682 cyls., 16 heads, 63 sectors
(remarks see aero.faq)
IBM DBOA2720, 720 MB, 12mm, 13ms, 1400 cyls., 16 heads, 63 sectors
(upgraded by Bill Flynn <billf@gandalf.engr.sgi.com>,
Peter Barrette <barrette@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu>, see aero.faq and
Bob Geer <bgeer@xmission.com>)
Remark:
According to Bill and Bob, this drive needs a master/slave jumper:
the master jumper goes on the pin-pair nearest controller connection pins.
Toshiba MK1926FCV, 814 MB
(upgraded by Philip Lim <plim@uclink.berkeley.edu>
and Bob Dyas <dyas@ukraine.corp.mot.com>)
Western Digital WDAL2540, 540 MB
(upgraded by Kevin Stock <KStock@auspex.com>)
cthdben transfer rate:
weighted average = 602.2 kb/sec,
max. 887.8 kB/sec
(measured by Kevin Stock <KStock@auspex.com>)
IBM DMCA 21440, 1.44 GB, 12.5mm, 700 cyls., 64 heads, 63 sectors
(upgraded by Denis Cheong <dcheong@student.ecel.uwa.edu.au>
and Markus Gebhard <gebhard@fmi.uni-passau.de>)
cthdben transfer rate:
min. 38.9 kb/sec,
weighted average = 1062.6 kb/sec,
max. 1804.5 kB/sec.
(measured by Markus Gebhard <gebhard@fmi.uni-passau.de>)
Conner 340 MB
(upgraded by Denis Cheong <dcheong@student.ecel.uwa.edu.au>)
Seagate 170 MB
(upgraded by Denis Cheong <dcheong@student.ecel.uwa.edu.au>)
Toshiba MK1001MAV, 1 GB, 2098 cyls., 16 heads, 63 sectors
(upgraded by Christian Rausch <crausch@physik.tu-muenchen.de>)
cthdben transfer rate:
weighted average = 1055.4 kb/sec,
max. 1666.7 kB/sec
(measured by Christian Rausch <crausch@physik.tu-muenchen.de>)
Toshiba MK1002MAV, 1083 MB
(upgraded by Werner Kuehnert <kue@zerberus.hai.siemens.co.at>)
Toshiba MK1301MAV, 1.3 GB, 2633 cyls., 16 heads, 63 sectors
(upgraded by Thomas Ott <Thomas.Ott@rz.ruhr-uni-bochum.de>
and Guillo Kleinlein <geklein%pegasus@unser.com.ar>)
cthdben transfer rate:
weighted average = 995.5 kb/sec,
max. 1652.7 kB/sec.
(measured by Thomas Ott <Thomas.Ott@rz.ruhr-uni-bochum.de>)
Toshiba MK1003MAV, 1083 MB, 2098 cyls., 16 heads, 63 sectors
(upgraded by Dieter Collischon <collisch@ld3330tn.esa.nbg.scn.de>)
cthdben transfer rate:
weighted average = 1118,3 kB/sec,
max. 1803.3 kB/sec.
(measured by Dieter Collischon <collisch@ld3330tn.esa.nbg.scn.de>)
Toshiba MK2103MAV, 2.1 GB
(upgraded by Javier Hernandez <fjherna@ctv.es>)
cthdben transfer rate:
min = 40.8 kB/sec
weighted average = 998.2 kB/sec
max = 1617.3 kB/sec
(measured by Javier Hernandez <fjherna@ctv.es>)
Quantum Europa 540AT, 518 MB
(upgraded by Peter Barrette <pbarrette@hotmail.com>
or <ia91166@medicare1.iasd.usa.com>)
cthdben transfer rate:
min = 32.3 kB/sec
weighted average = 885.4 kB/sec
max = 1541.6 kB/sec
(measured by Peter Barrette <pbarrette@hotmail.com>
or <ia91166@medicare1.iasd.usa.com>)
QUANTUM EUROPA540A, 540 MB, 12.5 mm, 14 ms, 3800 rpm, 85 KB Cache
cyl/hd/sec:1179/15/60, BIOS translation: 588/30/60
PWR: Standby 0.5 W, Idle 1.1 W, Read 2.3 W
(upgraded by Karl-Heinz Wietzke <wietzke@physik.uni-paderborn.de>)
cthdben transfer rate:
min 34.4 kb/sec
weighted average = 1074.5 kb/sec
max. 1712.1 kb/sec
(measured at the end of the first 240 MB Partition)
(measured by Karl- Heinz Wietzke
<wietzke@physik.uni-paderborn.de>)
------------------------------
2.1.4.8 External harddrive solutions
[C] Philip Wilk, 06-Feb-97
There are several companies out there that sell kits to convert 2.5" or
3.5" harddrives into external harddrives. This can be either by PCMCIA or
Parallel. I think the best best company is H45 Techonologies, this is the
one I use. I do not think it will work with LINUX. They can be
found at http://www.h45.com/ or 1-800-220-6346. You can also order from
PC-Connection. Right now the parallel kit is $98 and the PCMCIA kit is
$98, but the the PCMCIA kit requires an additional $100 PCMCIA card from
this company. They have drivers for Win 3.1 and Win 95, and possibly
others.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.5 Screen
The Compaq aero sports 512kb of display memory and a Tseng chipset, but the
aero reserves half of this memory for Other Stuff. This leave you with only
256kb of display RAM for display purposes. What is this Other Stuff? Hmmm,
I am not sure but I think it has to do with those little pop up windows you
get when you use the Fn key. Some people think it has to do with standby.
- Philip
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.5.1 The pulsing backlight puzzle
[Q] Has anyone noticed that, when running on AC with a fully charged battery
pack inside, the backlight gets noticeably brighter and dimmer at three second
intervals for about a minute every hour or so? I've got a 4/33C with the
extended life NiMH battery, and thought it might have something to do with the
battery being "topped off" when already full. The symptoms disappear when
running on AC without the battery pack, with the battery alone, or while the
battery is charging.
[A] I have the same problem and I do like you when it appears, I disconnect the
power supply or put away the battery.
[A] I experienced the problem under the MS-DOS 6.2 which came with the system.
I was watching it for a while last night; 70 pulses, each lasting about 1
second, for a period of 4 minutes, every hour--like clockwork. Business Depot
exchanged the unit today.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.5.2 Screen connection
[C] From: <GStew@aol.com>
Date: Thu, 15 Aug 1996 08:34:39 -0400
... try pressing firmly on the ramp on the
case just above the F3 and F4 keys. If this causes the display to light, then
the contacts on the cable from the screen to the motherboard are dirty...
[Q] My 2 month-old Aero 4/25 monochrome recently developed a "loose connection"
in the wiring between the screen and the CPU so that the screen blanks out when
the clamshell hinge is opened...and the screen works only after you open it
almost fully and then slowly, carefully bring it back to about 110 degrees. The
backlighting still works. I just get a bright, blank screen. I've called
Compaq's product support here in Canada, and they've told me that the "tape
that holds down the ribbon that goes to the screen probably became unseated
within the hinge," and they would fix it under warranty. Has anyone else had
this problem?
[A] Yes. When I opened the case of Aero that ribbon-like cable slipped off the
hinge. I doubt whether it ever was properly seated. Ask them to replace it with
a longer cable if they have one. The original one is definitely too short.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.5.3 What if my screen is unevenly backlit?
[A] The first one I got had a real uneven screen with a "swirling vortex" of
darkness in the upper left. I returned it for this, and the replacement is MUCH
better. I think that the assemblers used their fingers a lot on the screen when
they assembled them. If you get a nice soft wide FLAT object and rub it across
the screen you can smooth this out somewhat. If you poke your finger on the
screen it will mush out the "LIQUID" in the LCD, and make the screen lighter at
that point. You can use this to your advantage to "even" out the liquid a
little bit. Mine was really spotty from the assemblers fingers, but looks MUCH
better now.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.5.4 800x600x16 VGA mode
As of yet there is no driver avaliable that provides this mode for an
external monitor, but there is a healthy amount of speculation out there that
it is possible. The aero's built in screen does not have the physical
capacity for such a mode. - Philip
[Q] The on-line documentation states that there is a video driver available for
the Aero which will support 800x600x16 windows video on an external monitor on
the Aero subnotebooks. This video mode would require ... (800x600)pixels x .5
bytes/pixel= 240k video ram (4 bits required per pixel for 16 color depth).
The Aero has 256k of video RAM. This should be doable according to the math. It
is also mentioned in the on-line docs under the section which deals with
"External VGA Monitor connection", but Compaq tech support has disavowed any
knowledge of this driver. When I point their tech support to the mention of it
in the on-line docs, they just say it must have been a mistake. I think they
just did not get it out the door, and no one has pressed them enough to get it
shipped.
Compaq tech support also could not provide the video chip manufacturer, or chip
number, and the tech had no idea what chip it was other than telling me his
docs just said "SLSI video ". I believe that the chip is a Tseng Labs ET4000,
which is capable of 800x600 support.
[A] I have a couple of reasons to think that 800x600x16 WOULD be possible, at
least in theory.
Back when I owned a 286 desktop machine, I had a Trident video card with
256K of graphics memory. I was able to do 800x600 graphics in 16 colors.
In fact, I had Windows drivers (at the time, Windows 3.0 would work on a
286 in real or standard mode, just not 386 enhanced mode) which would run
the display at 800x600x16.
In Fractint (DOS version), I remember that there were several video modes
supported which entailed reprogramming the video hardware; if a VGA
chipset is register-compatible with the IBM VGA spec, then in theory those
chips can be reprogrammed to display 800x600x16, whether or not the chips
can natively handle that resolution! Such tweaked modes worked fine on my
286 system, although the aspect ratio was a little "off" (i.e., the screen
was squashed a bit). Naturally, the native Trident 800x600x16 mode looked
better.
As I said, I was able to get 800x600x16 video on my 256K Trident card. Whether
this will work on the Aero's external display remains to be seen -- the VGA
chip in the Aero might not handle things the same way as the Trident chip(s).
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.5.5 Special supported 256 color VGA modes
[C] Date: 8 May 1997
From: Philip Wilk
Markus Gebhard <gebhard@fmi.uni-passau.de> has compiled a lot of
information about the 256 color barrier on the aero. These data can be
found at: <http://www.uni-passau.de/~gebhard/aero/video.htm>. Basically,
the gist of it is that there are many different video modes avaliable to
the aero. Some of these video modes require an external monitor that is
about to sync at specific, non-standard frequencies. So far, the only
viewer program that can access these video modes is fractint, which can be
found at: <ftp://ftp.tu-chemnitz.de/pub/coast/msdos/graphics/frain192.zip>.
Also, you may want to check out the 640 x 480 video mode that uses 16
greyscales; according to Mr. Gebhard it looks great. The only downside is
that some of those modes require a 45MHz H-sync. Not all monitors can do
this (mine can not).
[C]
The Aero does provide support for the "unofficial" 360x480x256 mode which is
available (if undocumented) on most video cards. I'm not sure of the mode
number, but I know that it runs full-screen rather than as the chopped-off
320x200 mode. Remember, on an LCD display you can't change physical display
resolution, so things that don't divide into 640x480 evenly (like 640x200,
320x200, 320x400, etc...) are going to get chopped off. 360x480 is in my
opinion a far better solution than 320x200, assuming your program supports it.
[C] Date: Tue, 16 Apr 1996 13:42:38 -0700
From: Steven Lawson <SLawson@alphamicro.com>
You can't get 256 colors in 640x480 mode because not enough video
ram is available (only 262144 bytes is available, 256 colors needs
307200 bytes). This eliminates hi-res Windows and anything else
needing 640x480. You CAN get 256 colors in DOS with certain
image viewers in a 360x480 mode. Compushow (CSHOW) does this
very well and it's what I use.
There's also a viewer for Windows someone on the list mentioned
which does a pretty good job dithering with 16 colors. I've
played with it and it was the best I've seen under Windows, but
still nowhere near as clean as CSHOW under DOS (or a DOS session)
This is the biggest limitation of the Aero.... :(
Note: I think the program for windows is lprint. - Philip
[C] From: Miguel Angel <magalan@lander.es>
Subject: INTERNET PHOTOS IN 256 COLORS
Many people in the Aero list have said that they cannot recognize photos
while they are in Internet. Well, there is a trick I use to view them in 256
colors; I use a picture viewer called PV, in the Netscape helpers you can
set the JPG and GIF (and all the others) to launch this application that
runs in Dos, and when you click with the right mouse button to view a
picture then launches the PV in Dos and I can view the image in 256 colors
in low resolution.
I don't know exactly where I get this application, i think I downloaded it
from Shareware.com and it works great with all formats.
Best regards.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.5.6 Special supported text modes?
It all depends on the number of vertical lines. On a CRT display it doesn't
matter how big the screen that is projected by the guns is, the phosphors will
be lit where they get hit - hence you can display 640x480, 640x400, etc in the
same vertical sized screen, the pixels are in no fixed position on the front of
the display On a LCD display such as your Aero, there is only 480 vertical
lines of display, and each pixel is fixed - you can't display 400 lines over
the whole of the vertical screen without some rows becoming 2 physical lines,
which would be a hassle to implement and would look terrible. The result is
that when you use other than a complete multiple of 480 vertical scan lines
then it displays it on only 400 or so of them, and centres those used
vertically, resulting int what you were describing. In my travels, I've found
that either one of 43 (EGA) or 50 (VGA) vertical lines have produced a full
screen of text... try one of those.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.5.7 Screen hinge problem (the darn "clutch")
[C] For pictures of this problem check out the aero page at:
"http://www.reed.edu/~pwilk/aero_stuff.html" and look for "photos of the
hinge problem (aka the clutch)".
[C] For a diagram of the clutch area look at Figure 3-12 under "Diagrams of the
Aero" on the previously mentioned page.
[Q]Wait a minute.. There are two part #'s for the right hinge? What's the
difference between the two hinges?
[A]From: Land Shark <lndshrk@xmission.com>
Subject: Re: Hinge replacement part #
Actually FOUR numbers, depending on 4/25 or 4/33 and whether the "assembly" or
"spare part" (you want the spare part). Here's the data ..
Assembly Spare Part
4/25 190638-001 185099-001
4/33 190638-002 199336-001
[Q]How do I keep the clutch from breaking?
[A]Date: Thu, 9 May 1996 11:43:31 +0800 (WST)
From: Denis Cheong
Subject: Re: Reinforcing the clutch with washers (was Re: Spare parts?)
> Should the washer go between the head of the screw and the outer case?
> Also, which of the two screws? Top or bottom? I open the aero to put my
> 810meg HD in it but can't remember the details of that area inside the
> aero.
It should go between the bar of the clutch and the head of the screw.
The bottom hole (the one closest to the keyboard with the screen open) is
the one where the clutch always breaks, so I would suggest you put it on
that one. There is a sound physics reason for this, which I was going to
try to explain, but my physics is rather weak so after writing it all out
I decided it would only confuse everybody.
[Q] Can you buy the replacement clutch separately if my waranty has expired?
[A] Try PC Service at: 1-800-340-2667 and use the previously mentioned
spare part numbers.
[A] Date: Thu, 27 Jun 1996 19:13:24 -0500 (CDT)
From: Peter Barrette <barrette@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu>
I just picked up my new Aero (4/25) clutch today. The spring mechanism is
the same old stuff; spring steel wrapped around the axle to provide
friction. The difference is in the part that attaches to the monitor. The
aluminum is now about 1.5-2 times as thick at the lower screw hole (the
one where the breakage occurs), but it is the same thickness as the old
one at the top.
_ _ *=Screw
(Side View) | | _Top Screw hole (Front View) | | hole
| |_ |*|
| | _Bottom screw hole |*|________
| | |_____| * |
|()| | * |
^ |___|
|__Axle
The process of recieving my new clutch went like this:
Step 1) Go to compaq dealer. "What's that thing called?", "A clutch."
"Are you sure that's the right part number?", "Yes."
"That's not in our computer.", "It's the right part number."
"Well, if that's the right number we'll order it and it will be
in about 3 weeks from now.", "OK."
Step 2) Go to compaq dealer _one_ week later. Pay $33.60 and walk out
with new clutch.
I have found that getting the CPU cover off is much easier if the display
bezel is removed first.
[C] Date: Sat, 29 Jun 1996 02:09:27 -0500 (CDT)
From: Peter Barrette <barrette@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu>
Yes, I am not covered under the three year warranty since I bought my
Aero used. I also did not want to pay $80/hr to my local compaq dealer
for "labor". I ordered part number 185099-001 and received the "clutch
kit" for $33.60 including tax. The kit included:
* The reenforced right clutch
* One screw to attach right clutch to screen
* One axle for left hinge (attached to screen by 2 screws)
* One collar to connect axle to base (slips into collar on base)
* Two screws for left hinge axle
* Improved metal hold-down for screen cable (holds plastic lock in place)
* Two screws for screen bezel
* Two black adhesive disks to cover screw holes on screen bezel
* One black screw to attach right clutch to base
All screws (except the black one) had coated threads to prevent them from
twisting out. The metal hold-down is much better than the original one
which allowed the plastic lock to slip thus creating many display
problems. The screw to attach the right clutch to the screen is a little
bit short in my opinion. It is the same length as the old one, but should
be a few millimeters longer to account for the increase in metal
thickness on the replacement clutch. As soon as I get the time I will
take some pictures of the parts and send them to whomever would like them.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.5.8 Screen Disassembly
From: purnhage@tnt.uni-hannover.de (Heiko Purnhagen)
Whilst taking my aero apart, I also managed to disassemble the (B/W) display:
After having removed the upper half of the aero, unplug the display cable
from the mainboard and remove the lower of the two screws in the back of
your aero that kept the display in place. Now you can take of the whole
display. To disassemble it, you have to remove the two small round plastic
plates in the lower left and right corner of the display to gain access to the
screws covered by them. Remove these screws and than CAREFULLY unsnapp the
upper half of the display casing (the one arround the screen). If I
remeber it correctly, there are three of these "snapp-in" things on the
lower edge, three on the left and right edges and about four on the
upper edge of the display. Again, you really have to be very careful when
doing this! The display itself is a single unit with a metal chassis - and
below it there is a small PCB containing the circuit to power the backlight.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.5.9 Backlight Replacement
[C]Date: Wed, 24 Jul 1996 18:43:56 -0500 (CDT)
From: Peter Barrette <barrette@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu>
If it isn't one thing, it's always another. Having recently replaced
the infamous right clutch I had hoped to get more use out of my Aero.
However I managed to drop the damn thing and break the backlight. The LCD
screen itself is without damage
The backlight in the Aero 4/25 is a small flourescent tube approx. 143mm
long and 3mm in diameter. It is called a CCFL which stands for Cold
Cathode Flourescent Light. Mine also has the number 3121 printed on one
end. I have yet to find a replacement since Compaq only offers the entire
display assembly. I have, nonetheless, outlined the procedure.
If you know where I can get a replacement please let me know.
The Replacement Procedure:
1. Remove the screen bezel (The FAQ has an excellent description).
2. The backlight is located in the white plastic rectangle just to
the right of the LCD screen.
3. Using a small phillips screwdriver, remove the three screws in the
white plastic case. Lift the right edge of the plastic panel up and
pull to the right to remove it. You should now be able to see a
thin, white, plastic film gently folded over.
4. Upon unfolding it can be seen that the other side is reflective
(like mylar). You should also now be able to see a long, white tube
with a white wire coming off of each end. This is the backlight.
5. To remove it, you must unplug the wires from the Backlight inverter
(the small rectangular board at the base of the screen).
6. The wires are also held underneath a small, metal grounding tab
that is held down by the display clutch's top screw.
7. Remove the screw and the grounding tab and remove the CCFL tube.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.6 Keyboard
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.6.1 Aero keyboard diagrams
[Q] I know that this is a screwball request, but I'm looking for a diagram of
an Aero keyboard (English) key layout.
[A] There is layout of all keyboards available in your Aero's manual titled
"keyboard guide" or something. If you don't have one you should ask Compaq to
send it to you since it belongs to product. I don't have scanner around so this
is all I can do for you right now.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.7 Trackball
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.7.1 Replacement Trackball
There was a problem with the first trackball that was shipped with the Aero's.
This occured on all models of the Aero. New units are now shipping with the new
trackball.
The problem was one of being too slick. The ball was polished and shiny. Any
oil, dirt, fluff, etc. that would get under the trackball would cause it to not
work properly. Compaq came out with a "roughed up" version that fixes the
problem. Call Compaq at 1 (800) 841-2761. I believe that this is the only 800
number to call. If you are outside the US, call your local distributor, or call
Compaq directly. They will send you, free, a trackball cleaning kit and a
high-friction replacement trackball. All you have to supply is a serial number
and a shipping address.
or you can sand it down:
From: beloved@pipeline.com (Beloved Recordings)
I don't recall whose brilliant idea it was to sand down his track ball to
create a less sensitive device, but I would like to thank him. I tried it
out with some sand paper I have in the house and I have not had any
problems with the ball yet.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.7.2 Cleaning Trackball
[Q] What can I do when my trackball is not responding?
[A] First make sure you do not still have the original smooth trackball. This
is a known and very common problem. Replace it with the new matte-finish ball
from Compaq or sand it slightly (see above).
In order to clean the trackball you suspend the machine (turning off is
probably better), twist the locking ring to the left, remove it, tip the unit
'til the ball falls out, and then clean rollers and such with a lint-free cloth
and at least 70% isopropyl alcohol. Camera lens paper is good for this, or use
SPONGE-tipped swabs. Cotten-tip swaps such as Q-tips can leave fibers in there
which will mess things up.
[A] Sounds like a case of the classic dirty trackball. Use the "Compaq Learning
Center" and read how to get it out and clean it. One of the rollers is slipping
which makes it look like one dimension is fixed. It happened to me all the time
until I got the new trackball from Compaq. Now it just happens maybe once every
other week and I just wipe around inside the trackball hole for a few seconds
using my shirt tail and pencil.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.7.3 Ballistic Mouse driver?
[Q] Does anyone have drivers/programs which give you "ballistic" mouse
response? The Microsoft Ballpoint Mouse driver has this sort of feature. The
faster you move the trackball, the more distance is covered by every mouse
tick. If you move the mouse very slowly, it might take several revolutions to
get to the other side of the screen. Move it quickly, and you're over with a
flick of your thumb.
[A] The file I've got is lmouse64.zip -- a new version of the Logitech mouse
driver which vastly improves on the one bundled with the Aero.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.7.4 Trackball and left-handedness?
I'm left handed and I like the trackball. Some of the Aero reviewers have
treated left-handedness as a disability. Left handers grow up in a right-handed
world. The Aero trackball is no big deal to worry about.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.8 Battery
[C] From: Christian.Rausch@Physik.TU-Muenchen.DE
Date: Tue, 15 Oct 1996 18:33:34 +0000
Subject: 3 C functions
Hi folks,
thanks for your recent answers to my upgrade questions.
Yesterday I disassembled Compaqs charge.com (SP0993) and figured
out how Compaq checks for an Aero, for AC-powering and how the charge
level can be read (Hopefully this was not already discussed here recently,
I am new to this list, so do not blame me, please!)
I also wrote 3 C functions for these tasks. So, here are the
functions (I hope you are interested. I also wrote a commented
assembler source file of charge.com and 2 C-programs that
deal with charge.com and the following 3 functions. In case you are
interested, just drop me a short message. I will send you the files
then (17 kB, zipped)):
int isaero()
{
union REGS inregs, outregs;
inregs.x.ax=0xe800;
int86(0x15,&inregs,&outregs);
if( (outregs.x.cflag) || ((outregs.x.bx & -4) != 0x20c) )
return 0;
return 1;
}
int isacpowered()
{
if( inp(0x1c65) & 0x40 )
return 0;
return 1;
}
int readcharge()
{
int charge;
_disable; /* 8086 CLI instruction */
outp( 0x2065, 0x84 );
charge = inp( 0x2465 );
_enable; /* 8086 STI instruction */
return charge;
}
cu Christian
Dr. Christian Rausch
Fakultaet fuer Physik E21
Technische Universitaet Muenchen
James-Franck-Str.
D-85747 Garching, Germany
Tel. +49 89 289 12185
Fax +49 89 289 13776
email: crausch@physik.tu-muenchen.de
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.8.1 Battery sources
One of the most interesting features of the Aero is that it takes a battery
that can be purchased at many locations. Fry's Electronics in the San Fransisco
Bay area, Comp USA, Office Depot, Office Max, even Long's Drugs (some
locations) carry this battery. The battery is a Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) ,
which is less polluting than Nickel-Cadmium batteries. They also do not have
the "memory" problems which plague Ni-Cads. However, the NiMH batteries
discharge at a faster rate when not in use (24-72 hours typically).
[A]From: Phil Salisbury[SMTP:philsal@ix2.ix.netcom.com]
Sent: Thursday, April 18, 1996 12:53 PM
Compaq Direct at 800-888-3406 is a source for most of the Aero accessories.
Some examples as of 4/17/96 are: Standard Battery #190528-001 is $39
(.696 lb 1500 mAh). Enhanced Battery #190529-001 is $95 (1.09 lb 2300 mAh).
The standard battery is approximately 140mm long. The enhanced
battery is about 212 mm long. The extension is a plastic part that is
required to have the standard battery fit into the Aero. The batteries were
on back-order. These prices are the cheapest that I have found.
[A]From: Paul Mathews <optoeng@whidbey.com>
Date: Thu, 18 Apr 1996 20:12:00 -0700
As I explained in an earlier posting, I have purchased 'Compaq' extended
batteries for $65 each plus $4 shipping from Netstream
International, Richardson, TX phone 214 664 0383. They have other Aero
accessories for low prices as well. I found them by doing an Altavista
search on "Compaq Aero accessories". You will find other vendors that way
as well.
[A] Best I've seen from a local computer shop was $95-99/U.S. I try to find an
A.C. outlet whenever possible. If you do come across a cheaper mail-order
location, could you pass it on?
[A]From: Paul Mathews <optoeng@whidbey.com>
Have a look at "http://www.wwtrading.com/".
Among other items, they have the extended life batteries for $65.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.8.2 Memory effect in NiMH batteries
[Q] I have an Aero 4/25 with only the small battery. I purchased it used from a
friend, tho he had only a few months on it (wanted money for a car). When I
bought it, the battery would charge up to a reading of 165 or so, while now it
only goes to 157. Being Ni-MH, it shouldn't (as far as I know) suffer from
memory problems as a NiCd would. Any comments?
[A] From what I've read, NiMH does suffer from the memory problem as do the
Litihium-ion batteries. It's just that they are not as suseptible to this
malady. It's still a good idea to condition the battery every now and then.
--Ed. Note: Yes indeedy, the aero battery will develope a nasty memory
unless you discharge it down every now and again. However, do not discharge
it all the way to 0 volts or you CAN DO IRREVERSIBLE DAMAGE. Several
methods have been tried to achieve this goal; everything from car
headlamps and electric fans to power cycling the aero. The important thing
to remember is just letting the aero run till _power down_ does not seem to
be enough. You should condition your battery every 45 days or so. At the very
minimum let it discharge three times from full charge without hibernation.
- Philip
Date: Sat, 1 Jun 1996 16:09:59 +0800 (WST)
From: Denis Cheong <dcheong@rand.gp3.ecel.uwa.edu.au>
I was speaking to somebody at a shop called "Batteries Plus" in Osborne
Park, WA Australia the other day about battery dischargers, and he said
that you have to be *VERY* careful about discharging the battery too
much.. He suggested that it should not be discharged below 1V per cell
in the battery pack - i.e. probably 8 volts on our Aeros, assuming there
are 8 cells in it (I think that'd be right). I would tend to believe him
a) because he seemed to know his batteries pretty well; and b) when I was
getting 4+ hours out of a battery and accidentally left it on my 200mA
discharger overnight it only lasted 2 1/2 hours the next charge. It's
okay now after 10 or 15 complete cycles, but it's something to keep in mind.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.8.2.1 Conditioning the Battery without a conditioner
Date: Fri, 31 May 1996 08:57:47 -0700
To: aero@cs.utk.edu
From: Steven Lawson <SLawson@alphamicro.com>
This is really screwy, but until I build a discharger it's worked
for me:
1) boot into DOS mode (F8, command prompt only)
2) turn on drain mode with the popup function
3) run looping virus checks or something that moves the heads
4) wait till the Aero suspends
5) pop out the battery, pop it in, go to #1
At some point the Aero will do it's 'low battery' beep during the
bootup. At this point, step #4 will never happen. Instead, the
Aero will *EVENTUALLY* shut itself off (no, not a nasty low
voltage crash, power management clicks it off intentionally)
Believe it or not, once I got to this point my Aero ran for another
30 minutes before turning off! I did this a couple of times and
my battery life appears to be back to where it used to be when
it was new... Step #3 is just to make the system discharge
faster - I can't imagine what that 30 minutes would have been
without the heads seeking around.
NOTE - the above is a pretty rude way around the power management
so I can't recommend it. If you try it and YOUR Aero explodes
into a million pieces (or fails in any other way) DON'T BLAME
ME! - any other legalese to avoid court insert here -
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.8.3 Battery Warning
From: Gary Hong <garyh@sco.COM>
Date: Wed, 21 Feb 96 14:06:57 PST
>Also, my power management seems to be out of whack. My battery life
>indicator does not seem to reflect the reality of my battery. The trend
>seems to be like this:
>
>Full char e -> XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
>4/5 -> XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
>3/5 -> XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
>2/5 -> XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
>1/5 -> XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (BEEP!)
If you charge your battery only when it's fully discharge, then it should
fix your problem a bit. Mine does this:
Full charge -> XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
4/5 -> XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
3/5 -> XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
2/5 -> XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
1/5 -> XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (BEEP!)
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.8.4 Batteries discharging too quickly when suspended
[Q] There was a discussion about problems with batteries running out of charge
too quickly. I wonder whether mine could be the same: When I use my Aero with
batteries I can work ca 2-3 hours as usual. But when I suspend a fully charged
machine and resume it after, say, 30 hours nothing happens. It has run out of
charge! I have read that the Aero should be able to stay suspended for weeks.
What's wrong?
[A] Do you have anything set so that the PCMCIA or parallel/serial ports remain
powered when in standby? I know you can do this on the PCMCIA port, and 30 hrs
sounds about right for a PCMCIA modem draining the battery.
[A] I would expect the standby to die after 30 hours. I have set my Aero to
"stdby to hibernate mode". It works OK most of the time, but sometimes when I
restart, my mouse is WHACKO! For now my favorite is just to "FN+Purple Button",
and reboot every time which is 100% reliable. I prefer a cold boot before every
session. It is worth the 42 second wait. Besides I can use that 42 seconds to
lean back and stretch or scratch or something.
[Q] How do I change the settings so that the power to the pcmcia port is shut
off on standby? I couldn't find it using the power management utility.
[A] It's under PowerManagement&Hibernation->PCMCIA -- there's a checkbox
labelled "Leave Card On During Standby". I believe you have to have a card in
the PCMCIA slot in order to get this option listed. It's also the same window
that is displayed when you insert a card (if you have "Display Message When A
Card Is Inserted" turned on) -- to get to the display message checkbox, go to
the PCMCIA page as above and select the OPTIONS button.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.8.5 Super-fast recharge? Charge indicators?
[Q] My battery seems to recharge in about fifteen minutes. That's not with the
machine running, and not from absolutely zero (as in "left on over the
weekend"), but it is from 0 marks to 5 on the battery check icon. Which brings
up some questions:
Is my battery recharging too fast? Are NiMH cells damaged by rapid recharging?
How much do those battery check marks mean, anyway? Mine seems to go
"5554444444444444442222222222222111000". I don't think I've ever seen three
marks displayed. I assume they represent a voltage measurement. Is there a way
to get higher resolution indications, or technical data on the existing one?
How much computing should I expect after I see zero marks?
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.8.6 Windows 3.1 Battery Monitor
[Q] The Aero provides low-level support for querying the battery status, so any
program that advertises "APM compliance" should run on the Aero. It's fairly
simple to fetch it, so it would be strange if nobody has written such a
program.
[A] The PowerMonitor does this job very well on my Aero. You can find it as
pwrm151.zip on CICA or it's mirrors in the desktop-directory, I think.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.8.7 Battery Loose?
[Q] I have the aero plugged into the wall, and yet the aero doesn't think so
(the little light isn't on). I thought I recalled someone saying something
about the battery, so I took it out and sort of wiped it off. This worked.
Transiently.
[A] This doesn't seem right, since the battery should be parallel with the
external power. I can take the battery out when the external power is plugged
in, and it continues to work.
[A] Contact Compaq. You can't do anything to fix this problem on your end. I
had this problem. I complained to Compaq. They sent me another unit.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.8.8 Please explain the aero battery
[Q] I am completely confused about the battery situation. Are there different
batteries, an extended and a normal? Is the extended battery a different
size/weight? Which of the batteries is this new standard size Duracell? Which
battery comes standard?
[A] They are BOTH duracell batteries, long and oval, with an indentation
running up one side. The mono (my mono 4/25 84 meg drive) came with the short
one, which only fits because of a plastic spacer. The compartment is 2" longer
than the battery. The extended battery fills the whole compartment.
[A] The color Aero 4/33c comes with the extended. The extended fits in the
monochrome Aero 4/25 though.
[Q] How much battery life do people get with a standard 4/80 mono? PcMag said 7
hours, I think, and that was with the Duracell battery. Do Aero owners out
there really get such long life?
[A] Runtime estimates are variable, but it is a whole new world compared with
my Epson luggable. If you keep the light low, and don't use the disk much, you
can get 5-7 hours of continuous use with the extended battery. In practice,
though, you tend to get distracted, do something else. Then the Aero goes to
sleep. I used it on an all-day train trip without swapping batteries. 10 hours
of this sort of use is standard. I usually use the longer battery. The shorter
one lasts about 2/3 as long.
[A] The PCMag tests were pretty low usage; look at the sidebar regarding how
they did the tests. I wouldn't expect that long a life in real-world use. I
normally run my Aero 4/33c (with 12 meg memory) at "medium" battery
conservation, two to three hours at a time running AmiPro. The hard drive
seldom spins down and the display is on during (~100% brightness) the entire
time. I normally have around 2 of the five blocks still filled in on the
battery "status", or supposedly around 40% of the charge left. I haven't yet
managed to fully drain the battery through actual use (only by intentionally
turning off all battery conservation and letting it sit). Unfortunately, I also
haven't had the opportunity to time the length of time it takes to drain a full
battery.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.8.9 Recharging in the auto
[Q]From: mike_sankey@prodigy.com (MR MICHAEL E SANKEY)
Date: 8/2/96 11:06 PM
If the aero only takes 12 V to operate, does anyone have any
experience plugging the Aero directly into a car's 12 V outlet via
direct wiring? If the output current isn't too strong for the
notebook, this should be possible instead of going through a costly
adapter. At peak output, a car alternator usually puts out about 14
V, still less than the power supply's max output.
[A]Date: Fri, 02 Aug 96 17:46:09 CST
From: dwiebold@cclink.aus.etn.com
Yes! It works just fine. Sometimes I charge my aero on the way to
work using the cigar adaptor and power wire that came with a whistler
radar detector. A fuse in the line is a good idea I would suggest.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.9 Ports
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.9.1 Is the printer port an EPP port?
See also section 3.1.1.3 on EPP upgrade software.
[C] From: Martin Ramsch <ramsch@fmi.uni-passau.de>
Date: Sat, 3 May 1997 21:50:17 +0200 (MET DST)
Hello!
As you might know, I have the parallel port version of Iomega's Zip
Drive and tried to get fast EPP transfers with my Aero.
I don't have much hopes anymore of getting it to work.
The facts as far as I know them are:
1) There exist two slightly different EPP standards:
a) 'old style' EPP aka EPP 1.7
b) IEEE 1284 EPP 1.9
For further details you might have a look at the manual of the
"parallel.exe" utility
<URL: ftp://ftp.mcc.ac.uk/pub/micro-controllers/PIC/para14.zip >
or see
<URL: http://www.fapo.com/ieee1284.htm >.
2) Our Aero has an IEEE 1284 EPP 1.9 style parallel port.
Compaq Technical Support answered me:
| Correct Compaq used EPP 1.9 for the LPT port of the Aero. Compaq
| does not offer a special driver to convert this backwards to 1.7,
| sorry.
3) The Zip Drive software (and hardware?) only supports EPP 1.7.
I called Iomega's European hot-line and they seem to be quite
competent. Unfortunately they told me, that it's actually EPP 1.7
only. And there won't be any futher development (at least for Win
3.1, that's what I asked for).
And Iomega European Technical Support, Ireland, answered me by
email:
| Ihre Nachforschungen stimmen. Es funktioniert nicht mit EPP 1.9.
| Wir senden keine Source-Codes aus.
(Your investigations are right. It doesn't work with EPP 1.9.
We don't send source codes.)
BTW, beside the ASPIPPM1.SYS driver (with *.ILM files) there also
exists an ASPIPPM2.SYS driver (with *2.ILM files), but I tested
all of them and it doesn't help either.
==> Conclusion: we're stuck with byte or nibble mode.
(at least for Win3.1, not sure about Win95)
I hope with this article I can save someone all the time I spent on
figuring out the details ...
Regards,
Martin
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.9.2 Mouse on serial port
[Q] Problem One: I got a serial mouse to work in DOS no problem with the driver
that they supplied. However, the windows environment defaulted to the
trackball. So I used setup to modify it for use with a logitec mouse (what I
have) but then I lost the ability to return usage to the compaq trackball and
its nifty driver. I had to restore the setup using my tape backup. Is there an
easy way to switch back and forth between serial and trackball?
[A] This is what I did: in the mouse subdirectory in the file mousedrv.ini you
need to change two entries in the [Global] section:
ForcedConnection=Off
SearchOrder=Serial, PS2, Bus, Inport
(Read the file mousedrv.txt to understand what you are doing.) This will cause
the mouse driver to search for a mouse on the serial ports first before looking
for the trackball. Reboot the machine, whenever you attach or remove a mouse.
It works fine with my el-cheapo mouse when it is set to emulate a Microsoft
mouse. Automatic recognition does not appear to work with the PC-Mouse
(Mouse-Systems?) mode.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.9.3 PS/2 Mouse port
[Q] Problem Two: The dorky port expander only takes a PS/2 mouse and I have a
fairly new logitech serial mouse that I like. Is there a adapter to go from DB9
to PS/2? I have not been able to find one. I don't want to buy the port
expander till I know it will be useful... I am on a budget (read: poor
student). Perhaps somebody knows the pin mapping on the PS/2 and DB9 so that I
can make an adapter myself ...
[A] Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 17:12:55 +0200
From: Kristjan Plaetzer <kristjan@sepp.che.sbg.ac.at>
A normal serial mouse can not be used on the PS/2 mouse port. Even the
available "serial-to-PS/2" adapters do not help. The signals and the
protocol is too different. Only a PS/2 mouse does work on a PS/2 port. By
the way there are some kind of "combined-mice" just as Microsofts
"Serial/Mouse Port Compatible Mouse 2.0" (Nr. 58264) and Logitechs MouseMan
M-CJ13 and TrackMan T-CC2-9F. The owner of such a Logitech-mouse can use a
Sub-D-plug. Here is the pin-mapping for such an adapter:
6 # 5 1 2 3 4 5
4 3 6 7 8 9
2 1
PS/2 Sub-D-plug for Logitech
1 -------------------- 9 (Data)
3 -------------------- 5 (Gnd)
4 -------------------- 8 (+5 V)
5 -------------------- 1 (Clock)
The diagram shows the view onto the contacts and not onto the soldering
side. This special solution is only possible for those two Logitech-types,
no other serial mouse is able to use the PS/2 signals.
Kristjan Plaetzer
[A]Subject: Mouse pin diagrams
Date: Wed, 19 Jun 1996 16:18:48 -0400
From: Reed Wade <wade@cs.utk.edu>
http://csgrad.cs.vt.edu/~tjohnson/pinouts/
is a fine collection of pinouts and likely has what you
need whether it's a sun2 vme connector or something useful
[A]From: Philip Wilk
Beware of the serial to PS/2 adapters. They do not always work, from
experience I know that the brand of mouse is an important variable.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.9.4 Serial Port (16550AF UART)
Yes the aero has a 16550AF UART. Try running MSD _after_ you exit windows.
- Philip
[C] Date: Wed, 09 Apr 1997 23:08:39
Subject: Re: modem problem
From: geklein%pegasus@unser.com.ar (Guillo Kleinlein)
I just remembered that at http://www.usr.com you can acces
USRobotics' ftp site, where many utilities can be found.
There are some that come very handy to test COM ports.
The program's name is DIAGNOSE.EXE.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.10 Speaker
[C] Date: Mon, 12 Aug 1996 09:50:14 +0800 (WST)
From: Denis Cheong <dcheong@rand.gp3.ecel.uwa.edu.au>
Fn-F5 turns off the *system* beeps - i.e. "I am going into suspend", "I
am coming out of suspend", "I am booting up", etc. It does *NOT* affect
any other software-generated sounds from windows, OS/2, applications, etc.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.11 CMOS
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.11.1 Replacing the CMOS Battery
[C] From: Scott Thompson <scottt@nol.net>
Subject: RE: CMOS Battery
Date: Sun, 30 Mar 1997 12:59:46 -0600
You'll have to open up your Aero - the battery is about the size and shape
of a dime, located (as I recall) almost dead center on the system board.
You can use an x-acto knife/small screwdriver/paper clip to pop it out.
Also, shorting across the contacts once the battery is removed is how you
clear the CMOS on the unit.
(I guess my suggestion of using an x-acto knife/small screwdriver/paper
clip to remove it doesn't inspire confidence eh?)
ScottT
------------------------------
Subject: 2.2 Accessories
------------------------------
Subject: 2.2.1 PCMCIA
[C] From: GStew@aol.com
Date: Tue, 22 Apr 1997 00:09:22 -0400 (EDT)
I vote for my Panasonic 4x PCMCIA CD... installed flawlessly, works well.
Also its PCMCIA card is supposed to be an Adaptec SCSI card, so I suspect
I can use it to connect other SCSI devices.
I've had good luck with my Megahertz XJ2288 and a borrowed Zoom 28.8
PCMCIA modems in my Aero also.
[C]Subject: Re: PCMCIA memory allocation
From: JYaroch@aol.com [SMTP:JYaroch@aol.com]
Sent: Friday, January 31, 1997 8:13 PM
John David Steffes <steffes@web.cc.cst.cmich.edu> writes:
<<
I own a PCMCIA Panasonic KXL-745 as well it should work. I never had a
problem when I jumped from 4M to 12M to 20M. What I would do is go into
Device manager and delete three added keys under Multi-function adapter
(Panasonic KXLC101), under Disk Drives Delete CD-ROM, under Sound, video, and
game controllers ESS ES1688 Audiodrive (no DMA) and last but not least delete
under SCSI controllers Panasonic KXLC101. Then using the floppy copy the
Panasonic drivers to a temp directory and reinsert the card if it still fails
make sure it is assigning a valid drive letter for the CD-ROM IE NOT C or D
which is used by you PCMCIA drive or Iomega Zip Drive. JDS
Just a Few Hints...
>>
This turned out to be the key. What had happened is that I installed the
CD-ROM drivers immediately when I installed W95. It was only after that that
Windows installed the Compaq IDE driver. The IDE driver had a yellow
excalamation point indicating a conflict, but I ignored that because the HD
worked fine. The fix was to remove all the drivers associated with the
CD-ROM unit, then restart. At that point there was no indication of a
conflict on the Compaq IDE icon. Then, when I re-installed the CD-ROM
drivers, everything worked fine.
What this means is that, under W95 plug-and-pray, the order of installation
is significant. There was a conflict when the CD-ROM driver was installed
before the IDE driver, but not the other way around. This is
counter-intuitive, but true.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.2.1.1 Floppy Drive and BIOS support
FDD drivers are built into the BIOS. You can boot from it with nothing on the
hard disk. This assumes you have a current COMPAQ BIOS too. Very old ones did
not support the FDD correctly.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.2.1.2 Connection w/out powering down?
[Q] The docs (skimpy, as I mentioned), suggest that I should be able to connect
the floppy w/o powering the system down: go to standby, plug the floppy in,
back out of standby. When we do this, and, say, go to filemgr, MSW says the
floppy in unformatted. If we power down, plug in the floppy, then reboot, all
is ok.
[A] That is normal. If you machine keeps power during suspend drivers will
remain. But if you pull out the connector they will dissappear and connector
card must be reinitialized.
[A] You should also be able to hot-swap your floppy (i.e. plug in and out
while the computer is on and not suspended). The aero will notify you of this
fact when you perform this operation. This is a perfectly acceptable thing to
do, infact that is what the PCMCIA slot was designed to do. This may require
an updated BIOS and/or PCMCIA drivers. - Philip
------------------------------
Subject: 2.2.1.3 Aero does not recognize floppy drive
[Q] I have recently purchased the COMPAQ PCMCIA disk drive. My problem is that
I cannot get the Aero to properly recognize the drive. If the drive is plugged
in when I boot the computer, I can use the drive fine. The PCMCIA configuration
window in Windows, however, will report that the card is "not configured." If I
try to plug the drive in after the computer is already booted, it will not let
me use the drive at all. I have the latest SOFTPAQ (version 1.45, rev. A) and
PCMCIA drivers (version 1.25, rev. A). Also, my X-Jack modem seems to operate
fine in the PCMCIA slot. Any suggestions on how to get the floppy up and
running? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
[A] The easiest way to fix the problem is to get the very original CONFIG.SYS
of Aero which is well configured to work with the drive.
Note: see FAQ sections on the config.sys file
[A] Try removing some of your third party software (non-Compaq stuff).
Sometimes these packages futz with the floppy drive, like for instance
Colorado Backup.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.2.1.4 Problems reading/formatting disks
[Q] A floppy will work fine, then all of a sudden I get missing sector (not bad
sector) errors, and I take the floppy out and put it back in and I can't even
FORMAT the thing. It was a brand new floppy, BTW.
[A] I recently ran into the same problem, 2 disk in a row. It was some
inexpensive, unbranded diskettes. My symptoms were nearly identical to yours,
including the inability to reformat the disks on the Aero, however, I could
reformat them on each an every (other) computer I tried!
[A] I've found that this problem tends to appear when you have smartdrive
running and fail to include "a-" in the command line. Even when drives
supposedly support floppy change detection, I've just never had good luck with
smartdrive & floppies. (By default, it read-caches them.) Try running "smartdrv
a-" and see what happens.
[A] I'll second at least some of this floppy trouble. When running dos or
windows I had a heck of a time getting floppys formatted. I finally got to the
point where I'd never bother trying to format disks on my Aero but use some
other machine. After getting them formatted (elsewhere) I had no troubles with
the disks. I haven't had this problem since I switched to Linux.
[A] I haven't had any trouble, and I have formatted about 30 disks of about 3
different varieties. Maybe there is a change in floppy supplier or model
somewhere, or maybe I've just been lucky.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.2.1.5 Do you need a floppy?
[Q] For people that say "I dont want to spend the $99 for the floppy"?
[A] Try making friends with a local Compaq dealer. The floppy drive is really
worth the extra money, but if you bought your Aero after Compaq announced
that they were going to bundle the floppy WITH the Aero on Nov 1, and call
COMPAQ and ask real nice you may get a free one shipped to you like I did.
[A] Well, I am still holding out without a floppy. You can install Linux on the
Aero without floppy (which I did, but 4 MB is too akward for X), or the ROMpaqs
(which I have not yet tried). Better spend that money on an Ethernet adapter...
------------------------------
Subject: 2.2.1.6 You still do not think you need a floppy?
The following story illustrates how you may end up needing a floppy, even if
you think you won't need one in the first place.
I decided to run my machine until the battery gave out if for no other reason
than to see how long it would last. In order to prevent damage to the
filesystems, I did a: smartdrv c- And then loaded dblspace and told it to
unmount my compressed drive which contains, among other things, my \UTILS and
\DOS directories. What I didn't know was that dblspace saves the fact that I
unmounted the disk to dblspace.ini on drive C:. This file is read-only, hidden,
system. This means that without changing attributes, I can't remove or change
it. I can't change attributes (or run dblspace) because the .ini file is
telling dblspace.bin not to auto-mount drive D:. I can't mount D: manually,
because it contains my DBLSPACE.EXE. (Yes, I feel like a fool.) I even tried
using Compaq's configuration utilities to overwrite dblspace.ini, but compaq
was nice enough to make it so it won't overwrite read-only files. I can't
figure out a way to force setup to let me go to a dos prompt, and I can't find
a way to force dblspace.bin to mount drive D:. It seems I need a floppy drive
to boot from so I can run a copy of dblspace.exe, remount my D: drive, and
(this time) copy the most important of my system files over to my uncompressed
drive. Would anyone be willing to let me use a floppy drive for a few minutes,
or is this something an authorized compaq service center would have?
------------------------------
Subject: 2.2.2 PCMCIA
For information on PCMCIA sound cards, please see section 2.2.4 Sound.
[C] From: Gary H <garyh@sco.COM>
Date: Mon, 22 Jul 1996 01:25:36 -0700
"Andy (Sang-heum) Park" <gibson@plaza.snu.ac.kr> wrote:
|Hi. Sometimes, when I wake the Aero up from standby, the PCMCIA port
|(occupied with a modem most of the time) is totally blackened out. No beeps
|when I insert/eject a card, and the Compaq Control Center says that the
|PCMCIA drivers aren't loaded. When I reboot the machine, it works just fine.
|I've reinstalled the PCMCIA supplemental disk just to see if this solves the
|problem. Am I the only one who's having this trouble?
|
I sometimes have this problem. And sometimes when the aero does recognize
the modem, I get "modem is in use by ???" (or something like that) after
I dail my ISP. To fix this, I put my aero in standby and turn it on again.
This fixes my problem.
Gary
[C] From: Gary H <garyh@sco.COM>
Date: Tue, 17 Sep 1996 11:21:48 -0700
Get one of those PCMCIA Y adapters that makes your 1 slot pcmcia
slot into two! I saw one on a PC110 - original type II slot used
to house a type 2 and 3 PCMCIA device.
I don't have one, but I've seen 'em in action. They are about $50 and they
do work. I'm not sure where you live, but in the Bay Area, I believe Fry's
Electronics (a discount electronic shop) has 'em. They were being sold in
Japan for about $50 (prob. less expensive in the US).
Gary
------------------------------
Subject: 2.2.2.1 Should I install the new V1.25 PCMCIA driver disk?
[A] Yes and no... It will cause problems when your machine comes back out of
sleep mode with the mouse clicking on evrything in sight, but, if you comment
out with a ";" the line in Config.Sys that loads the PCMSMIX driver the problem
will go away. The V1.25 drivers do have an expanded card library so you can use
more cards without having to link their library in by listing it in the correct
place in one of the files in the C:\COMPAQ directory.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.2.2.2 Compaq-approved cards
Compaq's faxback (1-800-345-1518,1) document no. is 4610 for "approved" PCMCIA
cards for notebooks (including Aero).
------------------------------
Subject: 2.2.2.3 PCMCIA type III cards?
[Q] Regarding tying up the pcmcia slot, I heard there was a device that will
plug into a type II slot and expand to a type III supporting either two type II
cards, or one type III card. Has anyone heard of such an animal?
[A] What you want is called a type adapter; email jluning@delphi.com. He is
Operations Manager for Micro Solutions in Connecticut. They had them for about
$50 the last time I checked. I'm not sure that it will support 2 Type II cards,
though. Jon is very helpful and the service was great when I ordered a modem.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.2.2.4 PCMCIA modems (& FAX/Modems), reviews
[C] From: pbarrette@wilson09.res.iastate.edu (Peter Barrette)
Date: Tue, 22 Apr 1997 17:15:11 -0500
My MHz XJ1144 Modem worked perfectly from the day I got it. Just popped it
in and dialed in to my ISP.
[C] Date: Tue, 06 Aug 1996 09:31:19 -0700
From: Gary H <garyh@sco.COM>
I have a Hayes Optima 28.8k. It works great. Only thing is that
the card is a little thick so it's sometimes tough to pull out the card.
[C] From: Mark Sailer <msailer@ix.netcom.com>
I have been using a Megahertz Modem/Ethernet Card now since I got my Aero.
I have had no problems using the card under WIN95.
Great having both in one.... no need to swap.
[C] From: "Ygal Giramberk" <ysg@cello.qnet.com>
I have a Megahertz 14,400 PCMCIA which works fine
I bought it at Office Depot for $69.00
[C] Date: Tue, 6 Aug 1996 17:51:01 -0500 (CDT)
From: Matt Lawrence <matt@zilker.net>
I'm using a Megahertz 14.4 modem I bought at the Dell Outlet store. $49. I
like it a lot -- it's much faster than my external 14.4.
[C] From: Mike Parkerson <mcppas@ix.netcom.com>
Expecting perfect compatibility, I sprung for the Compaq 192 modem. I
haven't been disappointed. It connects reliably at good speeds considering
the phone line quality I get while on the road. I think it can be had for
about $95 (US) now. I'm sure others will work as well for less, but I
didn't want to hassle with the what-ifs. Good luck!
[C] From: <JYaroch@aol.com>
I use an Intel 14.4 PCMCIA fax modem. It was $149 two years ago. I never
have gotten the fax to work right, although I haven't tried very hard. Also,
the installation routine neither detected nor enabled the FIFO buffer.
[C] Date: Wed, 7 Aug 1996 13:38:10 +0200 (MET DST)
From: Javier Hernandez <fjherna@ibm.net>
I am using Megahertz XJ2288 V34 28.8 XJack and it is working pretty well.
Preivously I had during two years an Apex PCMCIA FAX/MODEM 28800
VFast Class and it also worked pretty well, I did send it to a
friend when I decided to go for the Megahertz
[C] I have an Intel 14.4 PCMCIA faxmodem, and have not had ANY problems with
it. As a matter of fact, I have a feeling that the Compaq and Intel modems are
actually the same units, but with different labels on them. They both use the
exact same cord, and these are the only two that I've seen that use this cord.
Anyone know if this is true?
[C] Ah! pet peeve... stay away from the Motorola Power PCMCIA 14.4, I fried a
bunch of them in my 4/33/250/c. Subsequently tried MHz C4414 and ATT
KeepInTouch PCMCIA both seem to have no problems; I kept the ATT KIT and am
waiting for the Motorola cellular cable. The Power would have saved me some
money over other solutions had it worked, since the cell cable was included.
[C] Date: Wed, 07 Aug 96 09:39:00 PDT
From: "Doug Monroe (monroe)" <monroe@sequent.com>
I purchased a Zoom Telephonics 14.4 fax modem 18 months ago. I'm on my 4th
one. With this last one I stopped hot plugging it, and it has lasted 9
months. The replacements Zoom has sent have been problematic, one dropped
the 7th bit all the time, one got through quality control with the labels
on upside down. Their help desk line was busy most of the time, when I could
get through I felt I was not listened too (if it worked for two months then
stopped working then it certainly can't be the software I'm using,can it).
Faxing worked out best for getting through to them.
My advice is to use another brand.
[C] Here's an update to my premature depression. I was doing things according
to Megahertz's instructions which basice said to; run installation diskette,
insert modem card / listen for "beep-beep", rock 'n roll (run communications
program).
The software installation failed as I'd mentioned before (it didn't recognize
the controller) but the card did chirp twice when the PCMCIA card was inserted
which means that the card was automatically recognized by the Aero. Tossing
caution to the winds, I decide to try the modem anyway, without the Megahertz
Installation Disk. Bringing up Window's Terminal program I got a dial tone and
was able to successfully connect with a local BBS. Needless to say, I'm a happy
camper now.
[C] Megahertz installation failed on the Aero for me, too. Turned out it didn't
need any installation; just plug it in, and it plays.
[C] When the logical fails to produce an answer, do the illogical. I did
exactly that last week and discovered what you just related. Go figure...
[Q] Anyone using [ AT&T Keep In Touch PCMCIA Modem ] in their Aero?
[A] I am, and it's wonderful. I haven't had a single glitch. Lot of folks
complained about the MegaHurts modems, and I was a little anxious about using a
non-Compaq product, but it was literally plug-n-play.
[Q] What about the Motorola Power or Compaq's Speedpaq cellular modem.
[A] My Aero 4/33c killed 3 (three) Motorola Power PCMCIA 14.4 modems in 2.5
weeks. I'd be able to power it up once, use it, and then the next power up, the
POWER flakes out and returns an "Card not configured" error. Tech support at PC
Connection, where I bought the unit, got the same problem and burned a few of
their Motorola Power's. Compaq and Motorola Tech support kept blaming each
other; but I found Mot. to be much more courteous... Compaq... Motorola...
jeez, you'd think one or the other would be interested in this problem with the
product(s)...
[C] Date: Fri, 16 Aug 1996 14:16:47 -0400
From: Steve Pells <pells@HELIX.MGH.HARVARD.EDU>
Subject: Re: IBM Home and away modem/ethernet card
David T.S. Fraser wrote:
>
> I just saw an ad which advertised the IBM "Home and Away" combination card
> (14.4 modem and 10-base-T ethernet) for about $70 (Canadian). I recall there
> being some mention of the card on this list about three months ago, but I
> don't remember what was mentioned about it.
It was me who started the thread on this card. I've been using it for a
couple of months now; brief summary of experience follows:
(i) Windows 3.1. Only used it as a modem. The included communications
software was crap. Using other software it worked, but required the
extra initialisation strings listed in the manual, which was a hassle.
(ii) Linux. Ethernet, running TCP/IP and Appletalk has been a dream.
This is really what I use it for anyway, leaving the card at work to
hook my aero up to the LAN. I dial in as a dumb terminal from home,
where my 2400baud Intel modem still provides sterling service.
Haven't got the modem to work in Linux/Seyon. Even with the recommended
initialisation strings, I can get it to dial, but it chokes with "No
Carrier" before getting through. If anyone knows the answer to this I'd
be pleased to hear it. Something to do with the shared interrupt,
perhaps?
Overall-6/10 for the aero. Works, but hard to set up in some situations.
[C] Date: Sat, 24 Aug 1996 01:43:58 -0300
From: "David T.S. Fraser" <fraserd@fox.nstn.ca>
Subject: Re: IBM Home and away modem/ethernet card
I ordered the IBM Home & Away card and so far it has been great. It has been
giving me much more reliable connections (via Winsock) to my ISP than the
external USRobotics Sportster 28.8 that I had borrowed from work. Not a
single dropped carrier since I got it! And, compared to running through the
serial port, not a single overflow error either.
So far, I haven't had the opportunity to try out the network aspects of the
card, but I'll find out next week when school starts again.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.2.2.5 PCMCIA FAX/Modems and Suspend/Resume
[C] From: Paul Gallivan <gallivan@ix.netcom.com>
Subject: Re: Win95 SR2 and Aero?
>I just bought a desktop PC that came with Win95 SR2. One of the features
>intrigued me: it wakes up the computer (assuming it was in standby) when
>the modem detects a ring. Now, what an intersting feature for a portable
>computer.
>Has anyone tried this on a laptop or even on his/her Aero? I mean, I
>know you're not supposed to do this since the SR2 comes only with a new
>PC, but well...
>--
The feature is already there. In the Compaq PCMCIA control panel deselect
"force power off slot in standby" then run a fax recieve program, let it go
into standby, and send it a fax. See what happens.
[C]
I just got an Angia SafeJack 19.2 PCMCIA FAX/modem and am having problems with
the Aero crashing (hard) when coming out of Suspend in Windows if I have it set
to turn off power to the PCMCIA card during Suspend.
After talking with Angia Tech Support, and Compaq Tech Support, I've found that
I'm basically out of luck. Tried some stuff with the Compaq guy on the phone
with me, and ended up at the conclusion that I have to keep power applied to
the card.
[A] I am seeing similar bad behavior with a USR Worldport 14400 modem. The
machine crashes if I insert the card while windows is running. Removing the
card does it sometimes. Suspend/Resume does it always. If I exit windows to
insert/remove, things go fine.
[A] I now have an XJACK 1144 and it's showing the same problem the Angia had --
if I access it with some comm program, quit the program, and put the machine
into suspend, it will crash when I try to resume unless I remove the modem
first. By crash I mean black text-screen, Ctrl-Alt-Del or power to regain
control.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.2.3 External Monitor
[C] A PCMCIA adapter (EZPresenter) enable you to have a Simultaneous VGA
Output(in 16 colors or in 256 colors) without VGA adaptor and it makes
possible to play CD-Titles in 256 colors 640x480 on Aero Mono in Windows 3.1
and Win 95. For the low, low price of $315 get in touch with:
EZShow Systems Inc.
7688 Aubrey St., Burnaby, BC V5A 1K7 Canada
Phone: (604)299-2033, Fax: (604)299-5118
E-mail: Mike Lee <mike@ezshow.com>
[C] I have used the Aero with the VGA adapter and the VGA-TV Elite adapter from
ADS to show my Aero screen on a large tv. It works pretty good and is a very
mobile package.
[C] From: donson@sprynet.com
Date: Sat, 15 Mar 1997 11:08:36 -0800
Subject: Voyager VGA
Has anyone got information about how the following PCMCIA Card works with the
Aero?
Voyager VGA, manufactured by Colorgraphics.
It's supposed to give you 1024x768x16 or 640x480x256 resolution on an
external monitor.
This might be a way to overcome the "most serious limitation" of the Aero.
Their web page is: http://www.colorgfx.com:80/voyager.html
------------------------------
Subject: 2.2.4 Sound
[C] From: gdm@hkstar.com
Date: Fri, 7 Mar 1997 12:25:34 +0800 (HKT)
Subject: RE: net based telephone
I'm using a Port-Able Sound Plus from DSP Solution. They have a web page.
(Please search on either DSP Solutions or Potable Sound Plus key words).
It has Windows 95 drivers, is full duplex, and is Sound blaster/ADLIB
compatible.
I have used this card with. Freetel (http://www.freetel.com) and Internet
phone (http://www.vocaltec.com). Unfortunately the quality of the voice
connection varies with the modem speed and actual modem connection speed.
Sometimes it does work well but sometimes the voice comming from the
opposite end sounds like Donald Duck's.
[C] Try the "Disney Sound Source" from Walt Disney Software. It sells for less
than $15 at Best Buy. It hooks to your parallel port, and provides a passthru
Sound is OK, but long .wav files sound grainy if you move the mouse around
during playback (interrupt processing I guess0. It uses a 9V battery as it's
power supply and is fairly light. It JUST does ".WAV" files.
I give it 3.5 Mikeys (Mikeys go 1 to 5). You get your $15 worth from it.
[A] A cheap way to get sound with windoze is to use the Aero's internal
speaker. All you need is a little dittle from Microsoft that they do not send
with winders. Its called speak.zip or something like that. Its the driver for
the internal speaker. You get real sounds, not just beeps. The quality depends
on the internal speaker ... the aero's is OK.
[we should put a reference to that file in here, folks - the FAQ maintainer]
[C] Date: Tue, 08 Oct 1996 14:58:22 -0700
John David Steffes wrote:
> Speak.exe does work with WIN95 here is how to do it!
> Go to add new hardware.
> When it asks to search for new hardware click "no" then click on
> "next" go to sound, video ... then click next then click have disk
> and it will say Speaker driver for PC-speaker click install I Think
> that will do it JDS
[A] This really isn't the solution I want. Also, it kind of causes the machine
to stop task switching while the sound is playing. Not good.
[Q] I've been considering my options for adding sound to my Aero, and while the
Port*Able Sound Plus (parallel port sound blaster compatible adapter) seems
like a good deal, I worry about its current incompatibility with protected mode
DOS apps. I've been looking with interest at the PCMCIA based SB compatible
sound cards. has anyone played with one of these cards?
[A] Well, Compaq was reasonably prompt about replying to my request for info on
PCMCIA audio cards they've tested on the Aero. According to Compaq's rep, they
haven't (to date) tested ANY PCMCIA audio cards on the Aero. I'm going to do a
FAX request tonight and have them FAX me a list of all the PCMCIA cards they've
tested with the Aero. (I'm kinda in the market for a SCSI controller, and I
don't really want to go the parallel port SCSI route.)
------------------------------
Subject: 2.2.5 Ethernet Adapters
[Q] I'm very seriously considering purchasing a Compaq Aero for home and office
use, but there's two issues that still need to be resolved. First, I have to
hook the Aero up to a LAN at work, but need access to the network at home via
modem. Rather than buying separate PCMCIA cards, I'd like to get the combo
cards that Megahertz and Xircom both sell. Has anyone had any experience in
using either or both of these with the Aero?
[Q] I'm about ready to hook my aero/linux to my lan. The choices are PCMCIA and
using the parallel port. Linux seems to support several PCMCIA cards (I'm
leaning towards a LinkSys I saw advertised for $159) and the DE-600 port
adaptor. I know the parallel port will be slower (Ethernet HOWTO suggests
~80KB/S) but it might be more convenient if I want to use the floppy or modem
at about the same time (SLIP service perhaps). Is the EPP an issue (I've
gathered it's not 100% compatable)? Any thoughts? experiences? comments? war
stories? conquests? recommendations? warnings? (any more synonyms? :-))
[A] I'm using a LinkSys parallel port adapter on my 10base2 LAN at home. My
only complaint is that the network connection hangs if the Aero goes into sleep
mode. I chose this route over a PC Card (isn't that what they're calling PCMCIA
these days?) for maximum flexibility.
[A] I have been using the 3-Com 3c589 pcmcia with linux on an aero 4/33c. It
works great. I don't have any experience with the parallel port adapters,
however using a pcmcia net card under linux has some advantages. The pcmcia
card services package written by David Hinds, works GREAT. It provides most of
the functionality that the Compaq windows stuff had; hot swap, graphical tool,
automatic configuration including setting up the interface's address, netmask,
etc. (ifconfig), and tearing this down upon card removal. I seem to get good
throughput although I have not measured it. I would recommend the pcmcia.
[A] I've heard that Xircom will not release the programming details for their
cards, so you may want to stay away from them if this matters to you, or if you
ever wanted to run Linux on your Aero.
[A] Thanks to all who responded with their experiences with ethernet on the
Aero 4/33c under Linux. I am happy to report that I am now running Linux 1.2.1
and Don Hind's pcmcia package (v 2.5.5) with a Linksys ethercard and the compaq
14.4 modem cards and am very pleased with the results. I have X running and
picked up the latest beta version of netscape (1.1b) which runs remarkably well
over SLIP as well.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.2.6 Expanders
------------------------------
Subject: 2.2.6.1 Can I make my own expander?
[Q] Does anyone know if you need one of the expansion boxes to connect your
Aero to a standard monitor/keyboard? The instruction manual came with the
pinouts for the expansion port, and it looks like I could build the connector
pretty easily and save myself $50.00 or so. I'd like to do it by finding a
source for the strange connector, but I might end up just winging it and
connecting pins manually. Does anyone not think this would work?
[A] I thought about doing this but I figured the pain in the butt of finding
the connecters and dicking with all the wires was worth $50. Anyway, I just
pulled mine open and there seems to be a few C's and R's, probably to protect
the machine from this and that. I dropped it on the scanner so you can have a
look, see- http://www.netlib.org/utk/people/ReedWade/cpq_expbox.gif
------------------------------
Subject: 2.2.6.2 Mobile Port Expander
[Q] What does the "mobile port expander" do for $39? I thought I saw this in
the Compaq Direct catalog.
[A] It spreads out the 40 pin expansion port to 1 external VGA port (DB15), 1
PS/2 mouse port, and 1 PS/2 Keyboard port (normal size DIN).
------------------------------
Subject: 2.2.6.3 Convenience Base
[Q] Does anybody know if the bigger convenience base thing gives you any more
than the mobile port expander?
[A] In addition to the spot for recharging a second battery pack as mentioned
in other responses, the Convenience Base offers the following ports: VGA, PS/2
Mouse, Keyboard (PS/2 style), Serial, Parallel.
The serial and parallel connectors on the Convenience Base are pass-through
connectors. The S & P ports on the back of the Aero are passed through the
expansion port. This means that you could leave a printer and an external modem
(or other serial/parallel devices) attached to the convenience base. Just slide
the Aero into it you're all set -- it looks like it'd be a lot more convenient
than finding your printer cable and serial cable and plugging it in every time
you wanted to print or transfer files to/from your desktop machine. The base
comes with its own AC adapter. It will recharge a spare battery and the one in
the Aero (however, not simultaneously: it will charge the Aero battery fully
before it charges the spare).
------------------------------
Subject: 2.2.8 Case
There are presently a few cases for the Aero.
The Wetsuit 3.0(tm)
This case seems to have the best fit for the Aero. This is a case made of
wetsuit material. It is water resistant, has a screen shock protector, and
has a zipper at the base for easy access to the ports on the back of the
Aero. It has a small zipper pouch in the front of the case, which can hold
the floppy drive OR the power supply. It has carrying handles as well as a
shoulder strap. This case is zipper closed.
Targa(tm) Cases
Targa makes a small case for laptops, and this one will hold the computer,
the power supply, the floppy drive, and a few extra components. It has
pockets on the outside, inside, and has a zippered closure. It also has a
fair amount of padding.
Compaq(tm) Case
A black vinyl bag which fits primarily the Aero. One pouch on the inside
is suitable for a stack of papers. No provision to use any ports while the
Aero is in the case. It's nice and small but not meant for hauling
accessories around as well.
Micro Center(?) Case
This is a black leather case (well, sort of leather looking). I believe it
is made by MicroCenter, because it has "WIN BOOK" on one side of the case.
It is fairly small (smaller than most of Kensington cases). I can fit AERO
(or a 6-lb notebook), AC adapter, mobile expander, floppy driver, and some
cables in it. Two compartments. It is not as good looking/sturdy as
Kensington's cases, but it costs only $20.00.
Do-it-yourself
Here is an idea for a cheap case for the Aero: A nylon covered, padded 3
ring binder from Mead for $10. Line it with some 1/2" foam cut out for the
Aero and it's power brick and floppy, and away you go.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.2.9 SCSI
[C] From: Philip Wilk
Adaptec makes two adapters - a parallel port version and a PCMCIA version.
The parallel port version (APA-358 SlimSCSI EPP) costs about $155 and the
PCMCIA port version (APA-1460 SlimPCMCIA SCSI Card) costs about $170. I have
heard good things about Adaptec products, but they are not dirt cheap.
[C] From: <JYaroch@aol.com>
In Computer Shopper, there's an ad for ValuStor,
1-800-873-VALU, address 1609B Regetta Lane, San Jose, CA 95112. They have
them for $99 US. They also have parallel-IDE hard drive kits for the same
price, and parallel-IDE CDROM kits for the same price. They have assembled
parallel port 4x CDROM drives for $239.
[C] Date: Mon, 2 Sep 1996 17:53:09 +0800 (WST)
From: Denis Cheong <dcheong@rand.gp3.ecel.uwa.edu.au>
I am using a SCSI Zip drive with a Tekram DC-550P Parallel to SCSI
adapter on my Aero. I also have a MediaVision RENO 2x CD-ROM drive that
I connect to my Aero through the same parallel to SCSI adapter.
The Tekram controller is brilliant - it has NT, OS/2 & DOS drivers (no
linux drivers as far as I'm aware but I'm not using linux anymore); it
supports EPP mode, and transfers *MUCH* faster than the Adaptec MiniSCSI
Plus (which is admittedly not EPP, but is more expensive than the Tekram).
It is also significant to note that while the directory access speed
between the MiniSCSI Plus & the CD-ROM drive is acceptable, when
connecting the Zip drive to it, you can sit there for 10 seconds waiting
for a "dir" to come up. The Tekram has no problems at all, and the speed
is quite acceptable (but I haven't managed to do any benchmarks).
Also note that the Adaptec controller *MUST* be supplied with termination
power from the SCSI device. I would guess that most portable SCSI
devices do *NOT* do this. My MediaVision RENO does; the Zip drive
doesn't. Most hard disks do. If you go for an Adaptec, make sure
beforehand that your device provides termination power to the SCSI bus,
or it will not work, no matter how hard you try! (Unless you connect
something else that provides termination power to the bus).
The Tekram on the other hand comes with two pass-through keyboard
adaptors that will take power from your keyboard (9-pin mini-DIN or
maxi-DIN) if your device does not provide termination power. You could
even connect an AC adapter into the plug if you didn't want to take it
from the computer. It works fine connecting the plug into the Aero's
port expander.
The other thing that you'll have to note is that pretty much all Parallel
to SCSI adapters that I've seen come with a Centronics *MALE* connector
on them. This means that if you want to connect to a Honda connector on
the device, you must somehow get a centronics *FEMALE* to honda male
adaptor (I have managed to get one, but it's not easy!!). The best thing
I've found with the Tekram is to buy a Centronics F-F gender bender
(which wasn't that difficult), and then use a standard 25-pin male to
50-pin centronics cable to connect to the Zip drive without a problem.
Hope this helps... if you have any further questions you can contact me
directly (or through the mailing list if anybody else is interested...)
------------------------------
Subject: 2.2.10 Other Things
[C] From: pbarrette@wilson09.res.iastate.edu (Peter Barrette)
Date: Tue, 22 Apr 1997 17:15:11 -0500
I had some problems with the Panasonic 4x-CDROM. When I put the card in,
Win95 configured 8 different CDROM drives all of which referred back to the
same CD. It was fixed easily enough by deleting the extraneous SCSI ID
references in the registry though. It's also a bit loud.
[C] From: gdm <gdm@hkstar.com>
I use the PS/2 port to draw 5V power for my ZIP when using it with or
near a Desktop. I use a cable with a keyboard passthrough plugged into
the PS/2 port. The PS/2 port has a 5 volt supply. I think you can make
the cable yourself or buy them from your favorite computer stores.
[C] From: Steven Lawson <root@sdl.continet.com>
Subject: Final Clean Track report
Well, as the instructions say, my Clean Track has loosened up
and it quite comfortable now. It looks like it should solve
the cat-hair-around-the-rollers problem. It might even
solve the shiny trackball problem as it wipes skin oil off
the ball (I have the matte one, so I'd be curious if anyone
has the shiny one with a Clean Track on it).
I received email from Mr. Chambers (jdc@inventech.com) with
a nice overview of his business and the hows and whys of the
various Clean Track styles and why it needs to be priced
the way it is. It was very interesting and I hope he does
well, he certainly has addressed a huge Aero problem!
He was kind enough to extend a special deal to members of
the list: If you order by email (jdc@inventech.com) or
FAX (707-769-3040), and mention you are a member of the
Compaq Aero mailing list you can get them for $6/pack and
he'll waive the shipping! Cool.. Since I assume this
makes it a credit card deal you might prefer going the FAX
route and avoid sending your credit card info via open
email (depends on your paranoia level). My package says
it's 'Size - S12A'.
[C] From: Denis Cheong <dcheong@rand.gp3.ecel.uwa.edu.au>
I recently bought an Epson GT-9000 colour flatbed scanner (It's the
ES-1200C in the US). It is rather unique in that it has both SCSI and
parallel interfaces on it, which makes it ideal for users wishing to
connect the scanner to a desktop as well as their Aero. If anybody is
considering buying a scanner and needs to connect it to their
Aero, I would thoroughly recommend one of the Epson range (I have
nothing to do with Epson aside from being a very happy customer), two of
which have both SCSI & parallel and one only parallel. If you have any
questions on scanning with the Aero I'm always happy to help.
[C] Date: 02 Sep 96 16:05:42 EDT
From: Andreas Domanski <100412.540@CompuServe.COM>
Subject: Re: make your own winlink parallel cable adapter?
Philip Wilk wrote:
>I have a D-25 serial cable. Does anybody know the pin out of the winlink
>parallel cable? Is it just a D-25 null modem cable? I was thinking of
>modifying a gender reverser to provide the pin switch ...
It is like the cable used with "Laplink" and should be available in most
computer shops.
To make your own cable connect 2-15, 3-13, 4-12, 5-10, 6-11,11-6, 10-5, 12-4,
13-3, 15-2, shortcut AND connect the pins 18...25 (ground) of both plugs. Needs
11 lines to connect both plugs.
That's all.
------------------------------
Subject: 3 Software
------------------------------
Subject: 3.1 Upgrades
------------------------------
Subject: 3.1.1 Service Files
------------------------------
Subject: 3.1.1.2 PCMCIA Drivers and Utilities
See sections for specific operating systems for more up to date information.
sp1045.zip -- 493 K -- (17 November 94)
This is a SoftPaq of the Compaq PCMCIA software, Version 1.25 Rev. A
Superceeds SP0890
sp1034.zip -- 214 K -- (28 November 94)
PCMCIA Modem Enabler for DOS/Windows Version 1.01 720KB Media After
running SP1034, please view SP1034 for help.
sp0936.zip -- 12 K -- (16 September 94)
MDMCOM1.SYS allows Windows-based apps to communicate with a PCMCIA modem
that is assigned to COM1.
sp0890.zip -- 435 K -- (23 August 94)
PCMCIA Version 1.24 - English for use with Compaq Concerto, Compaq Contura
Aero, Compaq Elite
sp0840.zip -- 434 K -- (15 July 94)
PCMCIA Version 1.24 - English for use with Compaq Concerto, Compaq Contura
Aero, Compaq Elite
sp0800.zip -- 400 K -- (07 June 94)
PCMCIA V1.23 PN: 144974-006 DRIVERS AND SUPPORT FOR PCMCIA PRODUCTS
sp0710.zip -- 12 K -- (25 February 94)
Allows DOSFAX by Delrina to function properly in Compaq PCMCIA computers
when going into standby or hot-plugging/unplugging the modem.
------------------------------
Subject: 3.1.1.3 Enhanced Parallel Port (EPP) Drivers
SP2158.EXE -- 41 K -- (26 September 96)
Setport is a utility that utilizes the IEEE 1284 BIOS specification to
configure the parallel port into various modes.<p>
SP1630.EXE -- /pub/softpaq/Software-Solutions/ -- 42 K -- (11 June 96)
This softpaq contains four versions of EPP BIOS to use in conjunction
with EPP aware devices. Each EPP mode has been known to fix particular
problems related to these devices (including tape backup systems).
EPPBIOS.SYS - standard EPP mode EPPFIFO.SYS - standard EPP mode with
FIFOs enabled EPPSLCOM.SYS - SL compatible EPP mode
EPPSLFIF.SYS - SL compatible EPP mode with FIFOs enabled Only one of
the above files should be loaded in your CONFIG.SYS.
SUPERSEDES: SP1147
sp1147.zip -- 38 K -- (27 February 95)
EPPBIOS.SYS is a driver which will load IEEE 1284 EPP (Draft Rev. 3) Bios
Support on Compaq Contura Aero or Contura 400 Family machines. IEEE 1284
EPP (Draft Rev. 3) Bios support is needed for adapters to use IEEE 1284
(Draft Rev. 3) specified EPP functions.
sp0937.zip -- 12 K -- (16 September 94)
EPPBIOS.SYS (Ver. 1.4) is a driver that gives IEEE 1284 EPP BIOS Draft
Revision 3 Support For Contura Aero and Contura 400 Family. This softpaq
supercedes sp0935.exe.
sp0935.zip -- 12 K -- (15 September 94)
EPPBIOS.SYS (Ver. 1.3) gives IEEE 1284 EPP BIOS Draft Revision 3 Support
for Contura Aero and Contura 400 Family. Supersedes Softpaq sp0889.exe.
sp0889.zip -- 12 K -- (17 August 94)
EPPBIOS.SYS is a driver which will load IEEE 1284 EPP Bios Support on
Compaq Contura Aero machines. IEEE 1284 EPP Bios support is needed for
adapters to use IEEE 1284 specified EPP functions.
------------------------------
Subject: 3.1.1.4 Windows Stuff
See the following sections on the windows operating systems (3.3.1 etc)
for more information.
SP2041.EXE -- 534 K -- (08 August 96)
Supplemental Programs for Windows 3.1 ver 2.03 Rev A.
(intended for the Armada)
SP2035.EXE -- 485 K -- (01 August 96)
Portable Supplemental Programs (for Windows 95) ver. 2.03 Rev. A<P>
SP2024.EXE -- 1407 K -- (30 July 96)
Compaq PCMCIA Support (for Windows 95) Ver: 1.00 Rev. C
sp1350.exe (?-?-96)
Fix Contura Aero PCMCIA Floppy Drive in Windows 95 This update to Compaq
PC Card Manager (CPCM.VXD) is for the Contura Aero sub-notebook computer.
It corrects read errors that can occur when attempting to use the
optional PCMCIA External Floppy Drive as a hot-pluggable device under
Windows 95.
sp1329.exe (?-?-96)
Compaq Portables Supplemental Programs for Windows 95, Version 2.00
Revision B, SUPESEDES: SP1328 The Portables Windows 95 Supplemental
Programs Diskette 2.00, provides the following support for Compaq Laptop
products running Windows 95: 1) Compaq 192 Modem Drivers for Windows 95
2) Tabworks conversion utility 3) Modification of Windows 3.1 Items from
Windows 95 "Start" menu(s) 4) Provides Compaq Value Added Support for
Windows 95 (Hotkey, Security Management, Power Concservation, and PC Card
Manager) One (1) formatted 1.44 MB floppy is required to continue with
the operation of this softpaq. Please view the README.TXT contained on
the diskette built from this softpaq for installation instructions.
sp1009.zip -- 768 K -- (11 November 94)
Windows Supplemental Program Disk (WSPD) v1.45 - English This softpaq
reuiqres either SP0891 or SP0958 to be downloaded. After running SP1009,
please view the SP1009.DOC file for help.
sp0891.zip -- 919 K -- (23 August 94)
Computer Setup for Windows Version 1.50 - English. For use on a
Concerto,Contura Aero,LTE Elite,Prolinea MT, Enhanced Prolinea, Presario
600s w/TAM, and Presario 800s running MS-Windows 3.1.
sp0854.zip -- 19 K -- (25 July 94)
SSCOMM.DRV (dated 07-12-94) has been modified to help Windows programs
avoid file transfer failures and dropped characters when using 14400 baud
PCMCIA modems on COMPAQ laptops.
sp0843.zip -- 919 K -- (18 July 94)
Computer Setup for Windows Version 1.50 - English. For use on a
Concerto,Contura Aero,LTE Elite,Prolinea MT, Enhanced Prolinea, Presario
600s w/TAM, and Presario 800s running MS-Windows 3.1.
sp0738.zip -- 20 K -- (11 March 94)
The CPQVKD.386 device driver provided in this SoftPaq fixes the keyboard
hang problem that appears when using Microsoft Windows for Workgroups
version 3.11 on the Compaq Aero and Compaq LTE Elite computers.
------------------------------
Subject: 3.1.1.5 Utilities
sp1125.zip -- 38 K -- (15 February 95)
KBSPEED resolves an anomaly with the Compaq Elite Family, Contura 400
Family, and Aero Family of computers. These computers do not retain their
typematic settings after standby. KBSPEED will allow restoration of the
typematic settings on the above products after both standby and
hibernation.
sp1168.zip -- 38 K -- (10 March 95)
MASKIRQ.EXE Some DOS communication programs are unable to load or unable
to talk to the serial port/modem on AERO, ELITE and Contura 400.
MASKIRQ.EEXE allows the user to selectively mask or unmask IRQ lines 3,4,5
or 7 to allow those programs to work correctly.
sp0993.zip -- 12 K -- (01 November 94)
CHARGE.COM allows Contura Aero users to display battery level on the
screen and also set DOS ERRORLEVEL based on battery level.
sp0801.zip -- 12 K -- (08 June 94)
STBY_HIB.COM allows Contura Aero users to choose between normal standby
functionality and "hibernate on standby".
sp0759.zip -- 11 K -- (15 April 94)
MODADAPT.COM modifies ADAPT.COM so that it will function with Compaq Aero
laptop computers.
sp0743.zip -- 20 K -- (22 April 94)
COMFIFO.EXE is a DOS utility to allow control of the FIFOs in a
16550-based serial port. COMFIFO may help Contura Aero users with DOS
communications programs that are crashing or not working.
------------------------------
Subject: 3.1.1.6 Diagnostics and Portable Setup
[C] Date: Tue, 15 Apr 1997 20:01:55 +0200
From: Martin Ziessler <khafendo@aixterm1.urz.uni-heidelberg.de>
Subject: Diagnostics Partition Upgrade
I just upgraded the Diagnostics partition and thought that, since the
information in the FAQ is a little sparse, I'd let people know how it works.
1. For Windows users, Compaq provides two kinds of diagnostics utilities.
One is Compaq Diagnostics for Windows. The latest version I found is
version 1.12, revision D. It can be obtained from the Compaq FTP server as
SP2640. Installation is no problem. In Win 95, a shortcut to Diagnostics
is placed in a directory/folder for Compaq Utilities.
The other kind of diagnostics runs at the OS level (more precisely, it
doesn't depend on a specific platform, because it brings its own MS DOS),
either from floppy disk or from the diagnostics partition on the harddisk.
This is what I just upgraded, and in the process, I ran into a problem or
two. That's what the following is about.
2. The Compaq web page (<http://compaq.emea.net/support/files/index.html>,
then select Portables, then Microsoft Windows 95, then Contura Aero, then
Contura Aero 4/33C) points in two different directions for the upgrade.
One is PC Diagnostics/Test, or SP2373, listed under ROMPaqs and System
Software. The other is Computer Setup and Diagnostics for Portables, or
SP2054, listed under Utilities.
3. The right one is SP2054. Strangely, this is a more current release
(dated 11/6/96) than SP2373, which is dated 9/27/96).
SP2054 creates two floppies, one with the latest Computer Setup for
Portables, version 1.12 B, the other with the latest Personal Computer
Diagnostics, which includes the TEST, INSPECT, and RemotePAQ utilities, and
is version 10.11, revision C. Both disks are needed to upgrade the
Diagnostics partition.
By contrast, SP2373 unfolds into only one disk, the Diagnostics disk, and
this is only revision B of version 10.11. It doesn't make much sense to me
to download this, since the second disk, the Setup disk, is still needed,
but not included.
It took me a while to figure this out because one of the disk images I
created from SP2054 was corrupt and so I got confused by Compaq
instructions on the Diagnostics disks from SP2054 which can be read to
indicate that this Diagnostics disk from SP2054 wouldn't work with the
Aero. But it does.
4. The disks can be used for Setup or Diagnostics when booting from the
floppy. That should come in handy after a harddisk crash, which I expect
to occur pretty soon on my Aero with the original 250 MB disk. The disks
can be used to install the Diagnostics partition from scratch or to update
it. Also, disks can be created from the Diagnostics partition.
Hope this is useful.
Cheers,
Martin
[C] From: John David Steffes <34lz5ap@cmuvm.csv.cmich.edu>
Subject: RE: Info for novices re Something old, something new...
Date: Sat, 7 Dec 1996 23:05:27 -0500
The Portable Setup disc V1.11g and the Portable Diagnostic V10..11b
are the two setup disc's. If you wish to have them installed on your drive
you must first unfdisk all partitions and then install the diagnostic
partition then reinstall you old Win95/Win3.1/Linux/Free-BSD/Solaris ...
partitions and there you go. Other wise you can boot from the floppy's or
install the Portable Supplement For Win3.1/Win95 (no Supplement for
DOS/Linux/Free-BSD/Solaris) which let you do the same except. I have
noticed the Portable Setup v1.11g talks to the bios about HD but once you
install your HD that should no longer be a problem. JDS
[C]
SP2054.EXE
SP2039.EXE -- 1166 K -- (02 August 96)
Portable Computer SETUP for Windows 3.1 ver: 3.10 Rev A.
(intended for the Armada)
SP2037.EXE -- 1030 K -- (01 August 96)
Computer SETUP for Portables ver. 1.11 Rev. G
SP1363.EXE -- 704 K -- (11 October 95)
Compaq Personal Computer Diagnostics/SETUP, Version 10.06 Rev E P/N
196328-409 SUPERSEDES: SP1245 Use with:Deskpro/M Family, Deskpro/i
Family, Deskpro XE Family Deskpro XL Family, Presario Family, ProLinea
Family Contura, Contura Aero, and Contura 400 Families LTE Lite, LTE
Elite, and LTE 5000 Families, Portable 486/486c One (1) formatted 1.44
MB floppy is required to continue with the operation of this softpaq.
Please view the SP1363.DOC contained on the diskette built from this
softpaq for installation instructions.
SP1364.EXE -- 1262 K -- (11 October 95)
Compaq Personal Computer Diagnostics/TEST, Version 10.06 Rev E P/N
196327-409 SUPERSEDES: SP1244 Use with:Deskpro/M Family, Deskpro/i
Family, Deskpro XE Family Deskpro XL Family, Presario Family, ProLinea
Family Contura, Contura Aero, and Contura 400 Families LTE Lite, LTE
Elite, and LTE 5000 Families, Portable 486/486c One (1) formatted 1.44
MB floppy is required to continue with the operation of this softpaq.
Please view the SP1364.DOC contained on the diskette built from this
softpaq for installation instructions.
sp1150.exe -- 681 K -- (01 March 95)
Compaq PC Diagnostics/SETUP Version P10.03 Rev A. P/n 196328-402 For Use
with: Deskpro/M Family, Deskpro/i Family, Deskpro XE Family, Deskpro XL
Family, Presario Family, ProLinea Family, Contura Family, Contura Aero
Family, Contura 400 Family, LTE Lite Family, LTE Elite, Portable 486,
Portable 486c
sp1149.exe -- 1252 K -- (01 March 95)
Compaq PC Diagnostics Version P10.03 Rev A. P/n 196327-402 For Use with:
Deskpro/M Family, Deskpro/i Family, Deskpro XE Family, Deskpro XL Family,
Presario Family, ProLinea Family, Contura Family, Contura Aero Family,
Contura 400 Family, LTE Lite Family, LTE Elite, Portable 486, Portable
486c
------------------------------
Subject: 3.1.1.7 Mouse Drivers
Date: Mon, 15 Jul 1996 09:10:22 +0200
From: KStock@auspex.com (Kevin Stock)
> Mbadone@aol.com wrote:
> >
> > I am searching for the driver for my compaq aero that allows me to use an
> > external mouse. Compaq will not send it to me without serial number,
> > there is none on the laptop and I baught it used from a person that is in
> > the military overseas SOMEWHERE. I do not know her name, she was just
> > the person I met who had a lap top i was willing to buy. I need a file
> > called MOUSEDRV.INI, do you know where I can get it? Any help is greatly
> > appreciated.
Strange reaction on the part of Compaq, because the Logitech mouse
driver package v6.44 can be downloaded from their Web site. This
supports searching for an external mouse or the trackball.
Go to http://www.compaq.com. Then select:
Service and Support
Downloadable Software Support Files
Drivers/Misc
SP1714.EXE 590K 02 May 96 Mouse/Trackball Rev A Version 6.44
Kevin
------------------------------
Subject: 3.1.2 Softpaq
------------------------------
Subject: 3.1.2.1 Rundown on Softpaq installation procedure
I have found that each SP****.EXE is generally accompanied with a corresponding
SP****.DOC file with some basic info and instructions. I have found they are
all the same though really:
1. get the .exe onto your system somehow
2. execute it and follow the instructions
They generally ask you to stick in a scratch floppy and reboot. I appreciate
that they generally store the previous/old contents of what they are replacing
back onto the same floppy so you can roll back if you want to later. If you
ever do boot your setup partition, I highly recommend making three floppies
while you are there:
1. setup
2. diagnostics
3. minimal boot floppy (format a:/s) with goodies like format and fdisk.
There's a little menu to guide you though the first two. These have helped me
several times straighten things out such as for the new disk and when I
installed Linux.
------------------------------
Subject: 3.1.2.2 ROMPaq versions
[C] Run a "patch" ROMPaq only on the ROM upgrade that is was meant to patch
(ie. do a full upgrade and then run the patch).
[C] Among other problems that have been reported with this Nov ROM
(service pack from Dec 20, 1994, file sp1073.zip), I have found that the
battery indicator that I use under OS/2 does not work anymore, and that
Fn-F8 no longer works properly. I know there's problems under Linux as
well. As soon as I find the time I'm going back to the old one.
[C] ROM version 6. March 1994 is the first one which includes support for
booting from floppy. However, it is also best for running any operating system
other than DOS. In later versions many of the built-in features of Aero like a
few described in above quote, have dissapeared. Probably those are now
implemented as DOS drivers or something... I don't know. Here are a few
problems of version 7. June 1994 which have appeared under Linux:
fn+F6 wont lock the machine,
fn+F7 won't switch the power consuming mode properly: only screen light
changes.
[C] These are the "ROMPAQS" available from www.compaq.com or ftp.compaq.com
which have direct or indirect connection to the beloved Compaq Aero
computer.
SP1992.EXE -- 375 K -- (05 July 96)
System ROMPAQ for an Contura Aero dated 05/16/96. This ROM is a patch
ROM and is derived from the 07/19/95 System ROM. It resolves the
following issues:
- Properly restores the speed setting through a standby.
- Properly updates the RTC through a standby.
- Flushes the disk cache before entering standby.
- Solves problems reclaiming upper memory blocks.
- Solves Int 14 test failures on extended stop bits.
SUPERCEDES: SP1487
sp1487.exe (24 April 95)
Contura Aero System ROM (24 APR 95) This Compaq ROMPaq Firmware Upgrade
diskette will upgrade a Contura Aero to a 7 Dec 1995 System ROM. One (1)
formatted 1.44 MB floppy disk is required to continue. Once the Compaq
ROMPaq Firmware diskette is created, please power down your Contura Aero,
place the Rompaq in Drive A and power up the unit. Please ensure that you
are connect to AC power, and DO NOT power off. Please view README.TXT
contained on this diskette for instruction on updating the Contura Aero
system ROM.
sp1124.zip -- 633 K -- (07 March 95)
Compaq ROMPaq Firmware Upgrade for the Contura Aero Ver. 011995. The
Compaq ROMPaq diskette for the Contura Aero allows you to upgrade the
Firmware for a Contura Aero to a January 19, 1995 System ROM. Please view
SP1124.DOC contained on this diskette for instruction on updating the
Contura Aero system ROM.
sp1073.zip -- 335 K -- (21 December 94)
Compaq Aero User ROMPaq Upgrade Diskette Version 4S_110194 Rev A 720 KB
Media After running SP1073, please view SP1073.DOC for help
sp0946.zip -- 1140 K -- (06 October 94)
Portable ROMPaq Version 2.08 Rev A Firmware Upgrade Diskette For Elite,
Lites, Contura 400, Contura 486, Concerto, Contura Aero P/n 181148-007 --
Type SP0946 and view the SP0946.DOC file for help.
sp0896.zip -- 1104 K -- (30 August 94)
Portable ROMPaq for Elite, Lites, Contura 486, Concerto, and Aero Firmware
Upgrade Diskette Version 2.06 Rev A P/n 181148-006 -- Type SP0896 and view
the README.TXT file for help.
sp0762.zip -- 311 K -- (20 April 94)
Firmware Upgrade diskette for the Compaq Contura Aero. Version
486S_0416.94 Revision A. P/N. 199283-002
sp0723.zip -- 343 K -- (10 March 94)
Diskette for the Compaq Contura Aero Version 486S_0307.94 Revision A.
PFirmware Upgrade part Number 190634-003 720-KB.
------------------------------
Subject: 3.1.2.3 Install a Softpaq without using the floppy drive?
[C] Date: Sun, 15 Sep 1996
From: N V Fitton <NV.Fitton@UC.Edu>
Use some other machine, let's say a desktop, that does have a floppy drive.
Copy or download file SP????.exe to the desktop machine and run it there,
using its floppy drive as directed.
Copy the files created on the floppy disk to a new directory on the Aero.
Cold-boot the Aero, holding the F5 key to prevent config.sys and
autoexec.bat from being loaded and run.
Change to the new directory on the Aero and run the program rompaq.exe.
------------------------------
Subject: 3.1.2.4 Determining the BIOS date
A way to find the BIOS date on an Aero:
Cold boot your Aero.
When the cursor goes to the top right corner press F10
If you have not repartitioned your Aero, it will boot the DIAG partition
on your internal hard disk
Press return through two screens, then choose the top choice in the
Setup/Diagnostics menu....
the BIOS date prints under the CPU ICON, and the Video ROM date prints
out under the VIDEO ICON.
[A] Isn't it as easy as just running MSD. Click on the button "Computer..." It
shows a BIOS date.
[A] To get the date of your bios currently in your aero go into debug and type:
df00:ffe6.
[Q] What I still am worried about is that I cannot tell the BIOS date from the
information in a ROMPaq *without* installing it.
[A] To find the date of the BIOS image, just create the ROMPaq install disk and
look at the date of the "shadow" file. On most ROMPaqs there are more than one
different ROM image for the various different Compaq portables ... the one
named "shadow" something or other is for the Aero ..
------------------------------
Subject: 3.2 Configuration
------------------------------
Subject: 3.2.2 Power-Management
------------------------------
Subject: 3.2.2.1 Problems when Power-up from standby
[Q] When I power back up from standby (in Windows) the mouse doesn't work again
unless I quit and restart Windows. Keyboard commands are fine, but the mouse is
frozen. This only happens after it has been in standby.
[A] The mouse problem is something inherent to the aero. To avoid it, don't
touch the mouse till you have come all the way out of standyby after hitting
the purple(tm) button. It should be OK then.
[Q] After starting up again from hibernation (ie., when I failed to get the
power plugged in at the very short power out warning :-( ), the screen blanks
out every few seconds. Only way to stop it is to reboot. Do others get this?
------------------------------
Subject: 3.2.2.2 PCMCIA modems and Suspend/Resume crashing
[Q] When I come out of a long standby my pointer freaks out. It jumps around
and clicks on everything. I have to reboot windows. Anybody have similar
problems and a fix? (besides windows sucks)
[A] Don't touch the mouse till your Aero beeps at you that its awake.
[A] I think I may have a fix. I have the Windows power management stuff
installed; exit Windows, run SETUP, and make sure you're using a "DOS Machine
with APM" -- it may need a disk or two from the Windows disks.
Check the POWER.EXE line in CONFIG.SYS -- I had to add "STD" to the end
of it to prevent Windows from crashing on resume if I'd used the modem
before suspending.
In Windows, go into ControlPanels->Power and set it to "Standard" instead
of "Advanced" (or turn it Off).
I seem to have problems with the trackball if PCMSMIX.EXE is loaded, you
may want to check it out for yourself. I'm not too clear on what it does.
I had to comment out the PCMSMIX driver from CONFIG.SYS to avoid crashes
and/or trackball weirdness on resume.
-- ed. note: PCMSMIX.EXE is not needed at all, see discussion elsewhere ...
Another thing is to make sure the line:
RUN=C:\WINDOWS\CPQWIN\CPQEVENT.EXE is still in your \WINDOWS\WIN.INI file
under the "[windows]" heading. Something took mine out a couple days ago
-- I think it might have been the Lotus SmartSuite 3.0 install, but I
can't be sure.
Also, make sure WINDOWS\SYSTEM.INI is using COMM.DRV=SSCOMM.DRV and not
COMM.DRV=COMM.DRV (or something else) under the [boot] section --
Quicklink II changed this when I was trying out the Angia SafeJack PCMCIA
modem.
Test by booting the machine with the modem installed, access it somehow, quit
the comm program, suspend, wait a few minutes, and resume. If it didn't work,
your machine should crash -- otherwise you should be fine.
If it still doesn't work, you could try dropping back to the workaround I was
using and will probably go back to: turn off PCMCIA power except when you need
the modem. Put a copy of the PowerManagement&Hibernation icon on the button bar
in TabWorks. Double-click it, hit "." to go to PCMCIA setup, "f" or "n" to turn
power off or on as appropriate, then hit RETURN twice to get out. An
alternative is to eject the modem partially and reinsert it to get the PCMCIA
setup page (if you have "display window" set). Do this to turn it on, use it,
and do this again to turn it off when done.
------------------------------
Subject: 3.2.2.3 Forcing hibernation
[Q] Does the aero support user-initiated hibernation? The skimpy hardcopy docs
and the SW is vague. The version of "compaq control center" we have is
inconsistent between the help pages and the SW. The help pages for power
mgnt->show settings lists a number of options that the software
(ctrlcntr->pwrmgmt/hib->show settings) doesn't have: modem, hibernation
timeout, AC HD idle, AC screensave. If nothing else, I'd be happy if we could
set the standby-to-hibernate threshold to a short period of time.
[Q] Does anyone know if it is possible to make the Aero hibernate without
getting a low battery first? I would have thought this would be a useful
facility (i.e., overnight), but haven't found a way to do it. Have I missed
something obvious?
When the machine hibernates a memory image is written to disk and the machine
switches off completely. Suspend shuts down most functions but still uses a
small amount of power. The problem with suspend is that it still drains the
battery if you leave the machine suspended overnight or some equivalent time.
(Incidentally, have you noticed the led flashing every so often when
suspended!). It would be nice to hibernate the machine if you know you won't be
using it for a while. It avoids having to close everything down and then bootup
next time the machine is switched on.
[A] Here's one for all of you Aero owners: on ftp.compaq.com there's a utility
that tells the computer to hibernate when you press the power button (without
pressing function) rather than just going into standby mode. I remember someone
asking about this at some point. It seems to work just fine.
-- ed. Note: see http://www.reed.edu/~pwilk/aero_stuff.html
[A] I just put mine to sleep (suspend). It drains a little, but won't lose much
overnight. All it keeps alive are the RAM chips.
[A] There is an interesting point which some people might get surprised by. In
order for hibernate to work properly, it must be able to write the contents of
RAM to the hard disk quickly. Therefore, the space for this is set up ahead of
time; do a DIR/A C:\ and look for the file HIBRN8.DAT. You'll find a file that
is a little bigger than your RAM capacity; mine is 13,212,160 bytes.
What this means is that if you have an Aero wth 4 meg of RAM and add an 8 meg
RAM upgrade, HIBRN8.DAT will GROW by 8 meg or so. In other words, if you
upgrade your memory, you will LOSE about the same amount of hard disk space as
the amount of additional RAM you added. You could have problems if you added an
8 meg upgrade when you had only 5 meg of hard disk space. Also, this means that
if you become REALLY tight on disk space, you could turn off hibernation,
remove C:\CPQDOS\HIBRN8.EXE from AUTOEXEC.BAT, and remove the C:\HIBRN8.DAT
file. You wouldn't have hibernation, but you'd have an additional 4 meg of disk
space (or more if you have more RAM).
------------------------------
Subject: 3.2.2.4 Spin down disk/disable powersaver when on AC power
[Q] is it possible to disable powersaver mode (i.e. set to drain) whenever the
unit is running off the A/C Adapter?
[Q] How does one get the disk to spin down automatically if AC adaptor is
plugged in? It would seem that the system goes into "drain mode" any time the
adaptor is plugged in - and of course, you cant change any of the values in
drain mode. I'm also still looking for some sort of TSR to spindown the hard
drive given some key combination. Does a program exist, can it be written?
[A] From: "Liu, Bin" <BinL@AMB.NIDDK.NIH.GOV>
Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 16:48:00 -0500
Yes, there is a utility to spin down the hard disk. It can be found at
ftp.compaq.com. I have called Compaq and found out that the softpage number
for HDSDOWN3.COM is SP0414. I have it installed in my machine. Apparently,
the utiluty is only working with DOS not with Windows. The Compaq support
technichian had confirmed this.
------------------------------
Subject: 3.2.2.5 Is there a disk sleep hotkey?
[Q] I'm looking for some way to quickly spin down the disk. If I'm in a
situation where I know the disk won't be needed, it would be nice to be able to
shut it up on demand. Is there any way to do that now? Is it possible to write
a program that does this via ARM (or whatever)?
[A] Anything (almost) is possible. But for now just go into Compaq's Power
Management program while in windows,and set the hard drive spin down time to 1
minute. 1 minute later brrrrrrrrrrr Click It's fast, it's free ,it works, and
it's already done
[A] Get HDSDOWN3 (from ftp.compaq.com) to set the HD spindown time.
------------------------------
Subject: 3.2.2.7 Windows vs. power management and the date problem
[C] From: Martin Ziessler [SMTP:khafendo@aixterm1.urz.uni-heidelberg.de]
Sent: Thursday, April 17, 1997 4:41 PM
Subject: Hibernation Woes--the Answer
At 12:00 16.04.97 -0600, Jonathan Griffitts wrote:
>There is another power management option that I haven't seen discussed
>here recently:
>
> Control Panel
> System
> Device Manager
> System Devices
> Advanced Power Management Support
> Settings
> Force APM 1.0 mode
>
>I have my Aero 4/25 running Win95, latest BIOS, Windows power management
>set to "advanced", and this "Force APM 1.0 mode" turned on. I have no
>problems with date/time anomalies, and suspend/hibernate seems to work
>in a sensible fashion.
>
>When I had "Force APM 1.0 mode" turned off, the timeout for automatic
>suspend/hibernate did not work well. Instead of turning off after the
>timeout period, it would spin the disk back up and turn the display on.
>
>I have never seen the date/time problems at all.
> Jonathan Griffitts
Jonathan,
That's pretty nifty. I think you've provided the answer. I've set the
Aero to "Force APM 1.0 Mode" and Windows 95 Power Management to
"Advanced." All the problems I reported previously have miraculously
vanished. In particlur, I note the following:
(1) I let the Aero hibernate on low battery as well as forced hibernation
on AC power and on a well-charged battery (using STBY_HIB) several times.
Unlike before, waking up the Aero resulted in no crashes or any other
obvious problems. This is true even for going into hibernation with my
IBM 14.4 Home and Away modem/ethernet card plugged in and with several
applications with unsaved work running, such as Word for Windows 95 or
Netscape.
(2) I left the Aero in Standby mode overnight. The clock and date
settings advanced normally. (I didn't have a problem with time and date
before. Perhaps the latest System ROM, dated May 16, 1996, downloadable
as SP1992 from Compaq, is the fix for that problem.)
(3) The system seems to be cured from blank-screen syndrome when I plug
into AC power on a low battery warning. Previously, the screen would
oscillate between on and off. I would have to keep hitting keys every
couple of seconds to keep the display on.
(4) The purple button seems to operate properly with any of the three
Windows Power Management Settings, Advanced, Standard, or Off.
(5) The harddisk spins down and the display blanks the way they're
supposed to, after the time-outs set with the pop-up icons or in the
Control Panel.
(6) Another detail: The battery charge indicator on the Task Bar
functions better now. When the charge is down to 20%, a red exclamation
mark appears to its right and the blue charge level drops to about
one-fourth. I've never seen that exclamation mark before. The charge
level used to drop directy from half-empty to wiped-out.
Jonathan, much obliged for your quick-fix answer to what seemed to be a
complicated problem. I'm still ripping out my hair for not finding it
myself. I believe I've been before to the well-hidden settings location
in the Device Manager to which you pointed us. "Force APM Mode 1.0" is
the default setting, right? I think I changed it deliberately because
Windows 3.1 compatibility mode sounded wroung, and then I forgot about it
completely. Again, great suggestion! I recommend this for inclusion in
the FAQ.
Now I'd be perfectly happy if it weren't for the remaining questions:
(1) How does one keep Windows 95 from spinning up the harddisk, at
irregular intervals, and for no reason that I can see?
(2) Is it possible to configure the Aero under Windows 95 to
automatically resume from standby when a PCMCIA modem card detects an
incoming phone call?
(3) The battery charged to full while the Aero was in standby. I then
powered up briefly, forced hibernation, and unplugged AC power. Upon
waking up from hibernation on battery power, everything is fine except the
Win 95 battery gauge says it can't detect the charge level and displays a
question mark. More precisely, it keeps switching between the question
mark and a reading of "critical" (battery symbol crossed out), prompting
low battery warnings that result in nothing. Is this normal?
Cheers to all,
Martin
[C] From: John David Steffes <steffes@web.cc.cst.cmich.edu>
Subject: RE: Hibernation Woes--the Answer
Date: Tue, 22 Apr 1997 17:28:32 -0400
Martin,
This fix is not a TRUE fix. The Compaq Aero has power management
built in to the system. However, The Aero does have problems in versions
win95, win95a. You must set it up to be compatible with version 1.0. Under
Win95b or Win97 you will have power management features version 1.2, which
also fixes the problems. The new problems with the battery explanation
mark in NORMAL for Win95 (under other Notebooks) but is not NORMAL for the
Aero. Why? Because the Compaq Aero is not designed around Win95. I posted
this fix you mentioned about one year ago. I have now sense noticed more
bugs than what you mention. I would also note that the Aero Runs much
better under the new v1.2 power management. JDS
[C] Subject: Re: date problem
From: Wagner Yotov <yotovw@ere.umontreal.ca>
Date: Thu, 06 Mar 1997 11:00:01 -0500
It is the same problem, in fact what I believe is the most common case
is when only the date advance is not working. The reason being the
conflict between the Compaq and Microsoft power management utilities,
you can follow Gary's advice and turn the "standard" mode of MS Windows
power management to "advanced" to fix the date change. At the other
hand, in "advanced mode" you get all those other problems that are
discussed in 3.2.2.7 and, according to Gary again, "However, setting the
aero to advance will cause the aero to flicker in and out of power
saving mode at odd times. Putting it in standard mode fixes this, but
you don't get the date advance. Take your pick which bug you want"
(Aero FAQ list).
[C] There's a power management utility in windows hidden in the control
panel. This stupid utility upsets Aero's own power management. In
particular I had the microsoft thing set to "advanced" (don't ask me how
it happened or why :-) and whenever the Aero tried to shut down its disk
and/or the screen it failed! It was rapidly switching the disk and screen
on and off (a few minutes later however it would shut down both disk and
screen normally only to repeat the rapid on/off later). The rapid on/off
switch of the drive and screen got me worried if something was wrong.
Aero's power managment seemed OK. Finally I discovered that I had the
microsoft utility on. After setting it to off, Aero's power management
worked fine. Comments ?
[C] Well, I discovered a problem with setting the Windows/Control
Panel/power utility to "off" : aero does not go to hybernation when the
battery discharges. The proper setting is "Standard" ( not "advanced" ).
"Standard" means that the computer's own power management facilities are
in charge. Again "Advanced" creates problems in my Aero. Read the help of
Control-Panel/power for more info. Sorry for the confusion but it was
trial-error experimenting so far.
[C] From: Gary Hong <garyh@sco.COM>
Date: Wed, 21 Feb 96 14:06:57 PST
>I've got a minor problem I've had since I bought my Aero 4/33c last summer.
>Every time, when running Win 3.1, that the computer is suspended, the system
>clock seems to be suspended too. So if I suspend the computer at 10:30 and
>turn it back on at 12:00, the system clock in Windows will say that it is
>still 10:30. When running straight DOS, there's no problem. Of course, this
>ain't a critical flaw, but I'm juggling a number of different versions of my
>thesis and it would be nice to have some confidence in the time stamps.
You need to set your power saving mode to advance mode for the clock to
advance. It's under the control panel icon I believe. However, setting
the aero to advance will cause the aero to flicker in and out of power saving
mode at odd times. Putting it in standard mode fixes this, but you don't
get the date advance. Take your pick which bug you want :).
[C] From: konrad <konrad@fix.net>
Date: Thu, 06 Mar 1997 10:56:29 -0800
Subject: Re: date problem
I've found that the easy "band-aid" fix with Win95 is just to have the
Date/Time Properties window pop up at boot time. This way I can just
click adjust the date, close the window and get on with my life.
Works for me, your mileage may vary...
------------------------------
Subject: 3.2.3 Networking/Linking
------------------------------
Subject: 3.2.3.1 Questions about Lap2Desk and WinLink
[Q] At the end of last week I got a parallel laplink cable and tried it out
with my Aero. It works like a charm -- more than twice as fast as using the
serial port connection with the included cable. I would definitely suggest
getting a parallel cable for any significant data transfers, such as doing a
full backup of the Aero on a desktop system's tape drive. It took me 1.5hrs to
backup about 105 megs, as compared to 3 hours or more over the serial cable.
However, it's annoying to reboot the Aero to get rid of the L2D tsr. Does
anyone know how to pop that thing out of memory once it's running?
[A] I just use the Windows WinLink software over the parallel port with similar
performance results. Why are you using L2D? An even better deal is to use the
InterLnk.EXE and InterSvr.EXE stuff that comes with DOS - I use that for all my
backups - even to the point of making the laptop the "server" and backing the
data directly to the tape drive on my desktop. (I use Central Point Backup for
Windoze, but I guess any backup software would work.)
[I'm sure you know the drill - I put "DEVICE=InterLnk.EXE /Drives:3" in the
desktop Config.SYS and run InterSvr from the DOS command line on the laptop;
that way, the laptop C: drive magically shows up as drive H: on my desktop.]
[A] Try: l2d /free for any other question try l2d /? -- that will show a list
of other options.
Speaking of l2d, is there any way to both map the desktop's printer and drives
and the Aero's drive? I've got it to work for a while, but if both machines
attempt to access each others resources at the same time. Is there any other
software I might look at?
[Q] For some reason, my Winklink/L2D connection will conk out after a while. If
I try to reestablish the connection, the laptop will tell me that it can't find
the desktop, and both machines will begin to act sluggishly. Often I end up
having to reboot one or both computers.
Also, if I use L2D to connect to the desktop, the Aero will not let me access
the external floppy, even if I specified "b:" as the remote drive in L2D.
Unmapping the drive doesn't help. Again, the only solution is to reboot. Any
ideas?
------------------------------
Subject: 3.2.3.2 WinLink problems
[Q] I wondered whether WinLinks needs a special parallel cable. The story is as
follows: I purchased a laplink parallel cable (made by PC Accessories) from
CompUSA. This cable works fine with l2d / l2dmap (and the response is really
snappy as compared to using a serial connection). However, WinLink (and its DOS
counterpart WL) just get stuck in attempting to connect. Has anybody
experienced a similar situation? Is the WinLink cable different from the
standard parallel laplink cable? P.S.: I am running Novell DOS 7.0 on the host
(and yes, I unloaded everything except for the memory management stuff like EMM
and DPMS).
[A] I bought the exact same cable as you have (Actually, two; one at work, one
at home) and they work great. The only problem I've seen with WL.EXE (and, to a
lesser degree, WinLink.EXE) is that if I use, say, the serial connection at
115K to transfer to another box and then try to use the parallel connection to
the same (or even a different) machine, I have to:
Start WinLink (without connecting to remote)
Configure Comms to use LPT1:
Save Configuration
Exit WinLink
Start WinLink
If I do this on both the local and remote machines, the parallel transfer works
fine; I can connect and transfer fine. BTW: Little known fact: You can run
WinLink (under WinDoze) and exchange files with a DOS machine that's running
WL.EXE. I couldn't get this to work for a while, and Compaq said it wouldn't
work, but after going thru the steps above, it does work. There seems to be a
bug of some esoteric flavor in the "connect" logic of both W*L* programs (I
suspect they share some "core" code.)
Actually, I really am not overly impressed with either of these products. I
like the fact that they're functional for a "Quick-n-Dirty" transfer to another
box, but in the main, I find that they are prone to hangage, lockage, and
buggage; especially when connecting to a really slow (386-16, for example)
remote. I get LOTS of transfer failures, both reading & writing.
For the most part, I use the InterLnk.EXE and InterSvr.EXE on the desktop I
connect to most. (You know, the ones that came with DOS.) I just put:
?DEVICE=C:\DOS\INTERLNK.EXE in my CONFIG.SYS and DOS asks me when I boot if I
want to load the driver; if I'm connecting to my "main" desktop, I tell 'im
Yes, and I'm connected! (I concede that this is probably a religious
preference; flames to /dev/null, please!)
What I'm most impressed with is the new "Direct Cable Connection" stuff that's
in Chicago/Win'95.... (What are they calling it today?) This lets me connect,
via the parallel cable, to another machine running Win'95 and use it as a
gateway to all of the network resources that the desktop is connected to. I can
use printers, local and network drives, CD-ROMs; whatever the desktop can see
on the network. Really slick.
------------------------------
Subject: 3.2.3.3 Network File System (NFS)
[Q] I'd be interested in any freeware (or shareware) NFS server programs for
the Aero under DOS. I've use XFS (client) a little; works pretty well with the
exception that it seems to choke and hang the machine if too much data comes
across the net too quickly (like doing a "tar xvf e:aero.tar").
[A] Yeah, I've been thinking about this for a while - I never got XFS to work
quite right (but this was an old version - maybe 7 months ago?), nor PC-NFS,
nor any of the others. But in defense of these products, I didn't try TOO hard.
One thing you probably want to look at is the rsize and wsize NFS params - I've
had a lot of trouble with NFS (on a lot of different platforms) unless I use
1024 for both read and write size. (This seems to be a problem with the whole
NFS world - Doesn't it stand for "Nightmare File System"?)
[A] I had XFS working ('til I wiped my OS/2 2.1 desktop and installed Warp; I
haven't put the tcp/ip NFS back on the desktop yet) for the most part. It just
seemed to hang the machine partway into reading a large file from the desktop's
hard disk. Writing to the desktop worked fine; I could use TAR or ZIP to backup
the laptop C: to a file very quickly.
I never did put much effort into it because what I really needed was an NFS
server on the laptop, so I could backup/restore the Aero's hard disk from the
desktop system's tape drive. I'll have to look at rsize & wsize -- maybe they
were causing the problem.
------------------------------
Subject: 3.2.4 Diagnostics Partion
Correct parameters for setup partition are:
begin cylinder: 1
end cylinder: 12
total blocks: 3089
system id: 12
bootflag: yes
-Ali-
------------------------------
Subject: 3.3 Operating Systems
I recommend checking out Reed Wade's page on OSs at:
http://www.netlib.org/utk/people/ReedWade/aero_oss.html
------------------------------
Subject: 3.3.1 MS-DOS
------------------------------
Subject: 3.2.1 DOS Setup
------------------------------
Subject: 3.2.1.1 Standard CONFIG.SYS & AUTOEXEC.BAT
As saved in the hidden directory C:\SYSTEM.SAV.
----- BEGIN CONFIG.SYS -----
SHELL=C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM /P /E:1536
STACKS=9,256
DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS
DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS X=D000-DFFF
DOS=UMB
REM *** Begin PCMCIA Drivers
REM Warning: Do not move, reorder, or delete any of these lines.
REM
DEVICE=C:\CPQDOS\PCMSMIX.EXE
DEVICEHIGH=C:\CPQDOS\SSVLSI.EXE
DEVICEHIGH=C:\CPQDOS\CS.EXE
DEVICE=C:\CPQDOS\CSALLOC.EXE
DEVICEHIGH=C:\CPQDOS\ATADRV.EXE /D:1
DEVICEHIGH=C:\CPQDOS\CARDID.EXE C:\CPQDOS\CARDID.INI
DEVICEHIGH=C:\CPQDOS\MEMDRV.EXE
;DEVICEHIGH=C:\CPQDOS\DBLFLASH.EXE
;DEVICEHIGH=C:\CPQDOS\MS-FLASH.SYS
REM *** End PCMCIA Drivers
DOS=HIGH
BUFFERS=20
FILES=35
DEVICEHIGH=C:\CPQDOS\POWER.EXE
----- END CONFIG.SYS -----
----- BEGIN AUTOEXEC.BAT -----
SET PATH=C:\CPQDOS;C:\;C:\DOS;C:\WINDOWS;C:\MOUSE;C:\WINDOWS\CPQWIN
SET LMOUSE=C:\MOUSE
SET PROMPT=$P$G
SET TEMP=C:\WINDOWS\TEMP
C:\CPQDOS\HIBRN8.EXE
IF NOT EXIST C:\CPQDOS\SAVEDONE.CPQ CALL SAVEALL /A
C:\DOS\SMARTDRV.EXE
LH C:\MOUSE\MOUSE SWAP
C:\CPQDOS\MODE.COM CO80
C:\WINDOWS\WIN
----- END AUTOEXEC.BAT -----
------------------------------
Subject: 3.2.1.2 What is in CONFIG.SYS & AUTOEXEC.BAT?
-- Ed. Note: There has been some discussion on exactly where to put the
power driver and what setting to put it in. Some people say put it before
the PCMCIA drivers or the Aero will hot-swap correctly. I have just checked
my config.sys and it is at the very end of mine. I have been using my aero
for a very long time with no problems, hot swapping the floppy drive often.
As for the setting ... some discussion will follow in a bit.
- Philip
[Q] Are all those utilities that are loaded in my config.sys & autoexec.bat
really needed? I've been pretty spoiled by my desktop system that has 610K
lower memory free. On my Aero 4/25/84, the best I can get is about 560K using
MemMaker.
[A] If you don't need plug and play for your floppy, don't use any additional
PCMCIA devices and don't need automatic system clock resetting then commenting
out those lines should not cause any troubles.
[Q] What is PCMSMIX supposed to do, anyway?
[A] PCMSMIX was supposed to allow a computer in "STANDBY" to receive a fax (or
other modem comm.) and process it. Sort of a "wake-up" driver. HOWEVER, per
Compaq tech support, this is impossible with the Aero since the HARDWARE to do
so is absent in the Aero design. Turns out that PCMSMIX can cause a bevy of
problems in the Aero, depending upon which BIOS, PCMCIA, etc releases you run.
-- Ed. Note: This mean nix the PCMSMIX! (comment it out with a semicolon)
[C] From: Jim Conforti
The programs left in memory after mine boots:
Name Conventional Upper Source Function
MSDOS 16,557 0 M DOS
HIMEM 1,168 0 M implements XMS and HMA
EMM386 4,144 0 M implements UMBs
POWER 80 4,544 M Microsoft power manager.
COMMAND 4,208 0 M shell
MOUSE 20,768 0 M mouse driver
SMARTDRV 27,488 0 M disk cache
DOSKEY 4,144 0 M command line editing
RAMDRIVE 0 5,328 M ramdisk
SHARE 0 16,944 M file-sharing and locking
CARDID 0 19,968 C SystemSoft CardID
CS 0 39,136 C SystemSoft Card Services
SSVLSI 3,728 0 C SystemSoft socket services
CMGRDRVR 16,768 0 I Intel card manager driver
Free 556,176 7,120
Other CONFIG.SYS drivers not taking up memory, and what I've been able to learn
about them:
DEVICE=C:\CARDMGR\CPR.SYS comm port recover driver
DEVICE=C:\CPQDOS\CSALLOC.EXE SystemSoft Plug-N-Play Card Services
Allocation Utility Version 2.04 (2243-05)
INSTALL=C:\CARDMGR\CCMGR.EXE /D=0 Intel card configuration manager
ver 3.01
DEVICE=C:\CPQDOS\PCMSMIX.EXE PCMSMIX Version 0.03.01 Copyright 1994
SystemSoft Corporation "Supposed to allow a computer in 'standby' to
receive a fax (or other modem comm) and process it. However, per
Compaq tech support, this is impossible with the Aero"
- Jim Conforti
[Q] From what I read somewhere, I need "Socket Services" and "Card Services"
to use the modem. I would like to know more about them, though. Judging from
Jim's comment (above), I can eliminate PCMSMIX. I am more curious about
CARDID, SHARE, CMGRDRVR, and the others that aren't left in memory. Will I
run into trouble if I remove them?
[A] Why are you running the Intel card manager? I thought the compaq manual
says not to run foreign card managers for cards that compaq can recognize. I'm
running my intel14.4 PCMCIA beast with just the stock areo software. I have run
into one nasty problem with delrina winfax lite that I think is due to badly
restoring the hard drive. winfax is the only program that doesn't recognize
com2 (I have to go an set the com port to 2 and then use it) yet every other
peice of software works like a charm with the modem Anybody else on this list
running the intel 14.4 modem without the intel card manager or did I goof
reading the manual?
[A] I am also running the Intel with only the Compaq software without a
problem.
------------------------------
Subject: 3.2.1.3 Memory managers
I've run memmaker on DOS and managed to boost my available RAM to 571K of
conventional memory.
With QEMM and Stacker I can get 607 k free. I had to use the Sept BIOS to get
this Config to work the latest one caused my machine to crash. Nearest I could
figure it was due to the floppy drive.
I've been running qemm 7.04 on the Aero, as well as Stacker 4.0, without any
serious problems. The only difficulty is that you can't use the QEMM Stealth
mode if the floppy's plugged in. I think Stealth mode remaps some of the BIOS
stuff, including compaq's unusual floppy setup.
------------------------------
Subject: 3.2.1.4 Disk compression
I'd tried DoubleSpace on a friends desktop system before and was not very happy
with the speed degradation I experienced. Don't know how much of an improvement
Stacker would be but that experience turned me off to compression utilities.
I've got Stacker 4.0 running on my aero with no problems. It takes only about
7k of conventional and upper memory. It uses some weird DPMS cloaking thing
that loads it above high memory. Works great...
------------------------------
Subject: 3.3.2 Windows 3.1
Look in section 3.2.2 for information on power management and windows.
------------------------------
Subject: 3.3.2.1 Problems with WinFax Lite
When I got a message from support@compaq.com about problems with WinFax Lite
and some other comm. problems I was having, they mentioned about installing a
ROM upgrade to see if that helped. The ROM image on my Aero was dated from June
of 1994, and the new image (which I got from ftp.compaq.com in the file
sp1073.zip) was dated from November 1994 (although the service pack itself was
dated December 20, 1994). I installed the service pack today, and encountered
no problems. My Aero seems to be happy and healthy.
[Q] After installing the june rom, winfax is the only program not to recognize
comm two. It tells me something is wrong with config.sys or autoexec even
though the rest of windows or dos more than happily recognizes com2.
[A] Weird! I never had this problem, and I had the June ROM image already on my
machine. Of course, I'm using a Compaq PCMCIA modem.. go fig.
------------------------------
Subject: 3.3.2.2 Windows Video driver
Some folks seem to thing w31et4.zip is a better windows video driver. One
possible source (from Martin Ramsch <m.ramsch@ieee.org>) is
ftp://ftp.winsite.com/pub/pc/win3/drivers/video/w31et4.zip.
Markus Gebhard replied:
> As far as I have tested it with Windows 95 it is not better (in fact it
> slows down the Aero, tested with Wintach).
> I do not know what happens if you use it with Win3.1...
------------------------------
Subject: 3.3.2.3 Problems with Windows Speaker Driver
You can get it at ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/Softlib/MSLFILES/SPEAK.EXE. I use
it and it works great! -Philip
[Q] Has anyone had luck running the PC Speaker driver for Windows? I've tried
to no avail. The driver loads fine, but doesn't do anything. In setup, I can
change the few options it gives, but the test button is disabled.
[A] I had the same problem with it. It turned out that I had removed all the
wave files from the system many moons earlier to save space (no soundcard, why
waste space on sound files?) and I forgot about it. I reloaded several waves
from my desktop in the c:/windows, including DING.WAV (or is it BELL.WAV) which
the test button uses, and after the files were there, the test button started
working.
Have you tried playing any files with a player like WPLANY.EXE or with the
sound recorder applet? They should work ok as long as the driver is properly
installed even if the test button isn't there. Mine did. The documentation
mentions that media player worn't work with the speaker driver. Anyway, I've
had great luck with it playing WAV, VOC, and AU files from the web. It even
does sounds for some games, though it causes all animation to pause.
------------------------------
Subject: 3.3.2.4 PCMCIA stuff
[C] From: Martin Ramsch <ramsch@fmi.uni-passau.de>
Date: Sat, 3 May 1997 21:17:37 +0200 (MET DST)
But for all the fellow Aeronauts who are still running Win 3.1 this
might be interesting:
Older versions of the PCMCIA software have a bug, that forces you to
have ATADRV.EXE in the CONFIG.SYS, if you want hot plugging of the
floppy drive. The floppy drive will work without it, too, but not
after removing and reinserting the floppy drive. (Unfortunately I
didn't make a note of my former version numbers, but it was the stuff
already installed when I bought my Aero.)
Normally you wouln't need ATADRV.EXE, as it's intended as IDE/ATA card
driver only. And it has the nasty side effect, that you get a
superfluous drive letter.
Win 3.1 users should upgrade to SoftPaq 1645 (thanks to Kevin Stock).
This installs new versions of the PCMCIA software which solve these
problems.
[C] From: <JYaroch@aol.com>
Date: Sun, 16 Jun 1996 18:04:51 -0400
Subject: SP1473 Updated PCMCIA support
I have been messing with the Softpaq, SP1473, downloaded from www.compaq.com,
and would like to let everyone know my experience. This Softpaq contains
PCMCIA drivers and a program, Systemsoft CardWizard verion 1.00.02
Prior to installing this, I found that there was an annoying bug, such that
after using the modem, I could not swap in the floppy drive. IF I tried, the
floppy would not be "Configured" by Cardid.exe, and would not work unless I
rebooted.
With CardWizard, there is a section to "show ranges." If I set it to show
"included" then add 03F0h-03F7h to the included range, the problem goes away.
Just thought you all might like to know.
Oh, Win 3.1, the one that came with the aero. I also found that, after I
made the fix I mentioned previously, that the modem would not work if I: used
modem, swapped in the floppy, then tried to use the modem again. So, I
rebooted, inserted the modem, checked the Card Wizard to see that the modem
used 02F8h-02FFh for I/O, then marked that range as reserved. Now, it seems
that I can swap back and forth infinitely.
------------------------------
Subject: 3.3.2.5 Problems with Modems/Serial Devices
From: Philip Wilk
Date: 27 Jun 97
The original communications driver that came with windows does not allow
for high speed serial port use. This is due to non-idenification of the
FIFO and poor time sharing of the processor. The original commdrv will not
let you run your modem at 28.8. Things to do to fix things:
1) Add COM1FIFO=1 to the [386Enh] section of the window's system.ini file
2) Replace commdrv with a better driver. I suggest cyberdrv.zip. You do
this by changing the commdrv=commdrv line in your system.ini file to
something else, like commdrv=cybercom.drv for instance. CyberCom is free
and can be found around the internet. There are other ones avaliable,
like the one included with winfax.
------------------------------
Subject: 3.3.2.6 32 bit disk access or no?
From: Gary Hong <garyh@sco.COM>
Date: Wed, 21 Feb 96 14:06:57 PST
>Also, has anyone had any problems using 32-bit disk access on their Aero?
>When you select that option, Win tells you that it could be a Bad Thing on a
>battery powered portable. Does that include the Aero?
If you use 32 bit access you'll have problems with "hdsdown3". This utility
shuts down the hard disk on demand or at specified intervals after last
keypress. If you don't use this utility (available on wade's
site or compaq) then go ahead and use 32 bit access.
------------------------------
Subject: 3.3.2.7 Windows for Workgroups
It appears that Windows for Workgroups 3.11 works on the Aero. 32-bit file
access also appears to work without a problem.
[Q] WFWG Hangs my Aero. Anyone else have this problem? It seems to work fine
though setup, but then it hangs on restart.
[A] You have to get a new keyboard-driver. It's called CPQVKB.386, and can be
found at ftp.compaq.com. To install the cpqvkd.386 device driver:
1. Exit Windows.
2. Copy CPQVKD.386 to your WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory.
3. In the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory, use any text editor such
as DOS Edit to change the following line in the [386Enh]
section of the SYSTEM.INI file:
keyboard=*vkd
to
keyboard=cpqvkd.386
4. Save the SYSTEM.INI file.
5. Restart Windows so the change takes effect.
------------------------------
Subject: 3.3.3 Windows95
Look in section 3.2.2.7 for information on power management and windows 95.
[C] From: John David Steffes <34lz5ap@cmuvm.csv.cmich.edu>
Cc: "aero@aisb.org" <aero@aisb.org>
Subject: RE: Info for novices re Something old, something new...
Date: Fri, 6 Dec 1996 13:57:32 -0500
Encoding: 48 TEXT
Sender: owner-aero@aisb.org
Win95,
Has several files it call system: io.sys (which is now io.sys and
msods.sys), msdos.sys (just a text file for settings now), command.com
(enhanced command processor), config.sys (It loads drivers if you don't put
them in here), autoexec.bat (100% user definitions), dosstart.bat (in the
windows directory, has all the files to create a good msdos mode, depends
on user and how user upgrade (IE if you had a mouse driver it will be moved
to dosstart.bat). Dosstart.bat get executed when restart system in msdos
mode (you can also create it to reboot the system which I did load the
PCMCIA driver (creates a new config.sys, autoexec.bat connected to
shutdwntodos.lnk) and all the other compaq stufff I end up with dos7.0 with
638 Mem freee, Under dos6.22 I never got more than 617 mem free and it
seems to run slower! Got rid of DOS6.22 and now I have win3.11 running off
dos7.0 and win95 running with dos7.0. JDS
[C] From: Paul Gallivan <gallivan@ix.netcom.com>
Subject: My SoftPaqs recommends for Win95 and Aero
Hello list,
Well, Win 95 is installed and running on my Aero/25 with 12meg ram and the
little 170Meg drive.
-APM functioning, suspends with button and by itself at medium and high
conservation.
-Hibernate worked but currently off so I would have more than 1meg free space!
-Direct Cable Connection is working, although my desktop doesn't have an
ECP port so Aero's ECP is connecting to std LPT.
-Briefcase working, although not quite sure how to best implement it yet.
-PCMCIA hot swap functions with my IBM 14.4 modem card (its the only one I
got!) and series 2 floppy I'll be returning tomorrow. Occasionally inserted
cards won't be recognized. Occurs when Control Panel/PC card
(PCMCIA)/Resources gets set to manual config somehow (I did it once, and
now whenever I install a new software component it reverts to it).
Solvation is to enable Use Automatic Settings.
SoftPaqs Used:
-SP1992.EXE - RomPaq to upgrade system rom to 5/16/96
-Computer Setup for Portables Rev 1.11G - Upgraded Diag Partition.
-Computer Diagnostics Rev 10.07B - Compaqs website now includes a locator
which lists the latest Diag version as 10.10C, but there is no English
version!
-Disabled (rem off) everything except for Himem.sys, EMM386.EXE,
SmartDrv.exe, (wasn't using any disk compression drivers) Lmouse.exe.
(using version 6.60, Compaq has Version 6.46 dated August '96 on their web
site)
-Added l2d.exe and l2dmap.exe at end of autoexec.bat to enable me to run
setup off my Win95 setup "CDRom" on my desktop. Once I got Direct cable
connection working I deleted those entries.
SP1329>EXE - Supplemnetal Programs for Win95 Ver 2.00B (specified for Aero)
I tried Ver2.03A & 2.03B which are slated for the Armada and I don't
recomend them. Version 2.00B integfrates with your other controls much
better and includes a PCCard manager for protected mode Win95 that works
well. The Armada files were inconsistant in the Aero environment and the
contols were a pain!
-There is no need for any other PCMCIA support files like CardWorks, etc.
Currently my CONFIG.SYS file has only 6 enabled lines (and 20+ disabled
ones!) HIMEM, EMM386, FILES=, DOS=, FCBS=, SHELL=.
Likewise my AUTOEXEC.BAT file has only 5 enabled lines - Set Path=, Set
Lmouse=, Set Prompt=, Set Temp=, AND C:\CPQDOS\HIBRN8.EXE (added by Sup
Prog Ver 2.00B setup) Hib32.exe may work just fine, but who cares if your
computer completely shuts you out 23 nano-seconds faster.
[C] Date: Mon, 16 Sep 1996 09:55:00 -0400
From: "B. Chandrasekaran" <chandra@cis.ohio-state.edu>
On Sunday 15 Sep, Micronic said:
> I recently installed Win95 on my Aero 4/33C. There are no problems in
> recognizing the floppy drive for Win95. ....The problem is when I try to
> install software from the floppy drive. It
> starts up fine but half way through the first disk the Aero Freezes up and
> the Floppy Drive's light stays on.ng the floppy drive for Win95. ....The
> problem is when I try to install software from the floppy drive. It
> starts up fine but half way through the first disk the Aero Freezes up and
> the Floppy Drive's light stays on.
I had the same problem for almost a month and all the calls to Compaq
and Microsoft were to no avail. I had followed all the rules and
suggestions just as the above poster did. It was extremely
frustrating. The problem ultimately turned out to be a driver from the
16-bit version of the Colorado Tracker. What you need to do is to first
run it in safe mode, and see if the problem occurs. If it doesn't, then
you are lucky, since you are on the way to solving the problem. Remove
all the other applications -- even the ones that you didn't know you had
since you hadn't used it for a while and test the working of the
floppy. If you have the old Tracker, that is almost certainly the cause
of the problem -- you need to get rid of that driver and install the
32-bit Win 95 Tracker driver.
Hope the above suggestion works out.
[Q] Paul Gallivan wrote:
I have upgrade my system to Win95 and I have the following problem:
In System Properties I have this advice "Some drives are using the MS-DOS
compatibility
[A] From: Pat Quigley <quiglep@UCBEH.SAN.UC.EDU>
Date: May 5, 1997
If I may make a suggestion.
Rename your autoexec.bat and config.sys files so they don't run
during startup. (You can call them anything, but autoexe.ba_ and
config.sy_ is simple and minimizes confusion). Then restart Windows 95.
It will recognize your drives and load its own 32 bit drivers where
appropriate.
There doesn't seem to be much use for the autoexec.bat or config.sys
files as Windows keeps track of such things automatically. The only
time you need these drivers is when you run a straight DOS session from
startup. I find it much easier to just open a full screen DOS window
from Windows 95 and not worry about it.
Good luck.
Pat Q
------------------------------
Subject: 3.3.3.1 The path to '95 by copying setup to the aero
From: Steven Lawson <SLawson@alphamicro.com>
Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 12:06:59 -0700
Yes, this really does need to be documented in a step-by-step
format. I've had mine on Win95 since beta so it's hard to
recall everything.
THE FOLLOWING IS LIKELY INCOMPLETE!!! IT'S NOT MY FAULT
IF YOU FOLLOW THIS AND IT FAILS!!! THIS IS ALL FROM
MEMORY!!
Seems to me the sequence would be (assuming no cd-rom on the
Aero and a cd-rom Win95 on a desktop, plus the Aero floppy
NOT installed)
1. Backup everything
2. Update the BIOS
3. Remove as much as possible
(you CAN remove Win3.1 if you have the floppy and
map the desktop A: drive in step 7)
4. Rename the WINDOWS directory if not removed
5. copy INTERLNK.EXE and INTERSVR.EXE to root (\)
(Win95 has none & you'll later toss \DOS)
6. add INTERLNK to config.sys
(use /LPT1 /AUTO)
7. on desktop:
copy cd \WIN95 subdir to hard drive
run INTERSVR /LPT1 /X:A /X:B
(no /X:A if you erased Win 3.1!!)
8. connect parallel cable & boot Aero
(verify drive mapping)
9. XCOPY the \WIN95 subdir to the Aero
10. go to \WIN95 and SETUP
Install new Windows into /WINDOWS. Eventually it'll finish
the install... If you erased Win 3.1 you'll have to put
the 3.1 disk 1 in the server A: for verification. I leave
the Aero floppy out so Win95 won't see it during setup and
hopefully it's the reason I've had less trouble than others
getting the floppy to work later..
If you can try and keep the \WIN95 subdir for a few weeks, it's
likely you'll reconfig something and need it available..
Since you want drive compression I'd get the Plus! pack
for Drivespace 3, it works great. Do the same trick as
you did pulling the \WIN95 subdir before. (I leave
INTERLNK in config.sys with /AUTO on mine, it comes in
REAL handy. 'Direct Cable Connection' in Win95 sucks.
Someone else will have to assist on the order of the
updates. There is also a step to do to make sure Win95
doesn't have a default floppy driver loaded which messes
up the PCMCIA one.
Eventually you'll want to remove the \DOS and old windows
subdirectories. Make sure you placed copies of INTERLNK
and INTERSVR into root or you'll lose 'em (and they're
too handy to lose!)
Hope I didn't leave anything out, but I likely did. There
are other ways to do this but this is what I've found
works well (at least the few times I've done it..)
------------------------------
Subject: 3.3.3.2 The path to '95 by installing via winlink
Date: Wed, 27 Sep 1995 13:04:25 -0400 (EDT)
From: Steve <haleysj@HIRAMF.hiram.edu>
Yes!
You can install Win95 from CD through Winlink. I succeeded in doing so.
Here's a rough idea of how:
First, get a parallel laplink cable if you do not have one.
On desktop computer, in a DOS prompt (anywhere)
type:
C:\WINLINK\L2D /LPT1
On your laptop add these lines to the Autoexec.bat:
C:\WINLINK\L2D /LPT1
C:\WINLINK\L2D /LPT1 e=e (supposing that e is your cd rom drive)
Strip out anything that might interfere with Win95 install.
(i.e. I got rid of 386max, and multiconfigs, just to be safe)
Reboot your laptop.
You now can run the setup from the Cd on your desktop.
After the install completes, remove the L2D lines from the autoexec.bat.
All done. =)
Kind of surprised me that it worked, but I'm not complaining.
------------------------------
Subject: 3.3.3.4 PCMCIA, the floppy drive, and getting it to work
[C] From: Steven Lawson <SLawson@alphamicro.com>
Subject: Aero and Win95
Date: Jan 1996?
Here is the floppy procedure I received from my Compaq service contact. He
says the web page is missing some steps. BTW - I have a 01XXX series
drive but have not noticed whatever problems he's talking about.
>Flash Upgrade the firmware to 071995 or later.
>
>Remove any "Standard Floppy Controller" from Device Manager. The only
>driver that should be listed is "Compaq PCMCIA Floppy Controller"
>
>Hilight "Compaq PCMCIA Floppy Controller" and press the Properties button.
>Then select the Resources tab, and press Set Configuration Manually. Press
>Change Settings. Press OK on the error message that appears. Make sure that
>Use Automatic Settings is NOT marked. Press OK on the Resource tab window.
>The configuration for the floppy controller in Device Manager should now
>be:
>
> I/O range: 03F0 - 03F5
> I/O range: 03F7 - 03F7
> Int. Req: 06
>
>Install the latest Compaq Portable Supplemental Programs for Windows 95.
---- Ed. Note - this is sp1329
>Install the patch in SP1350 (Only necessary with the 01XXX floppy drive).
>
>If it STILL fails, check that the floppy drive works at all (in DOS). Also,
>check the number in the upper right corner on the label at the back of the
>drive. If the number is 01XXX, it is recognized as a Canon drive, and may
>cause problems. Check with your dealer if you can try a drive marked 02XXX.
>This is recognized as a Compaq drive.
[C] From: hansen_e@cmr.fsu.edu (Erik A Hansen)
Date: Sun, 15 Sep 1996 22:33:37 -0400 (EDT)
Earlier someone wrote:
>
> > starts up fine but half way through the first disk the Aero Freezes up and
> > the Floppy Drive's light stays on.
If I remeber correctly...
There are 01*** FDD's and 02*** FDD's.
If you have a 01*** FDD, I think you have to install the supplement
file/program cpcm.vxd. I called Compaq before I installed Win95 and
they sent we all the upgrades I needed, PPP/SLIP connection was down.
I think that is the only choice if you have the 01*** FDD.
If you have a 02*** FDD, I think Win95 aitomatically installs the
Compaq PCMCIA controller under:
My Computer/control panal/system/device manager/PCMCIA socket.
So all that you have to do is uninstall/remove the other controller
that is installed under there as well.
Hope this helps (and is right),
erik
------------------------------
Subject: 3.3.3.5 Networking
[C] From: "Rick Lobrecht" <rudedog@neosoft.com>
Subject: Re: Parallel Port Remote Drive Mapping with Windows 95
Date: Sun, 1 Sep 1996 16:50:59 -0500
Use the Direct Cable Connection. Check out the description under start,
find. It works pretty good. Basically what you do is set up a peer to
peer network over the parallel cable. Then you can map a drive (or any
folder as a drive.) If you don't have direct cable connection, add it with
the Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs.
[C] From: "Attila Kozma" <attila@intekom.co.za>
Date: Mon, 17 Mar 1997 21:05:31 +0200
there is a good page about the Direct Cable Connection on
http://www.tecno.demon.co.uk/dcc.htm
Attila
[C]From: Gary H <garyh@sco.COM>
Date: Mon, 22 Jul 1996 01:21:48 -0700
Bill Chute <bill@doemail.sbi.com> wrote:
|What kinds of throughput are people getting when they go web crawling
|with an Aero and Win95? Running my 486/25, 20MB RAM, 170MB disk (20MB free)
|I get horrible throughput -- usually around 300-500 bytes per second, often
|down around 10 bytes per second. Netscape Navigator 2.0, TCP dialup over a
|28.8Kbps connection to my ISP.
I am using an Aero 33 with 20mb ram AND 810mb HD. I am using a Hayes
Optima 28.8k modem. When I am connected at 28.8k I get about 3.6k bytes/sec
downloading files with netscape.
I just got back from Tokyo and when I downloaded files with netscape
through our frame relay from the US to Japan, I was getting about 2.0
bytes/sec.
Sounds like you might have a problem with your ISP or you are getting alot
of overruns (it's probably not an Aero problem).
[C]From: "Steve Sims" <SimsS@Infi.Net>
Date: Mon, 22 Jul 1996 07:51:48 -0400
FWIW, I still see TERRIBLE (i.e.: 300-500 bytes / sec) performance on
dial-up E-Net traffic when I use an Aero that has DriveSpace / DblSpace
enabled.
Using uncompressed media solved this for me.
(Obviously, Your Mileage May Vary.)
[C] Date: Mon, 12 Aug 1996 07:19:06 -0700
From: Paul Mathews <optoeng@whidbey.com>
nigel richard wrote:
> I have WIN95 on both my aero and desktop. I am trying to use the direct
> cable connection using the compaq supplied serial cable. After working
> through the help files and setting-up procedures I am still unable yo
> succesfully connect. I think I have set the protocols etc correctly
> (according to the help files). Despite having files to 'share' I get a
> message on the aero that says 'connected' but warns 'Cannot find the
> host computer'. I have my desktop set up as host. Can anyone advise as
> to what I can do to succesfully connect?
You MUST use a TRUE null modem cable. The DCC Troubleshooter for Win95
explicitly says that LapLink type cables WILL NOT WORK! 9 pin null
modem cables are hard to find. I ended up using the parallel
connection, which works fine.
------------------------------
Subject: 3.3.3.6 Running Windows 95 and Windows 3.x
[C] From: "Pres Waterman" <pres@112motors.com>
Subject: Info for novices re Something old, something new...
Date: Thu, 5 Dec 1996 17:10:25 -0500
DISCLAIMER
the following is for information only
if you are unsure about doing this, buy a bag of cheetos and a bottle of
coke and find a geek to help
The following is a discussion about running classic DOS and WIndows 3.x AND
Win95
A really good idea if you're willing to devote the disk space ( costs an
extra 16 MB or so ) is to install Windows 95 to a separate directory such
as c:\WIN95
Do a custom install and specify the directory to install to.
The advantages to this would be the possibility to boot to prior dos for
the speed and simplicity of the earlier system.
It is important to realize that Windows 95 does not need or want any
config.sys or autoexec.bat. All card and socket services and power
management are built in. So, when you DON'T install 95 over prior DOS, it
takes your config.sys and autoexec.bat and msdos.sys and renames them
config.w40, autoexec.w40 and msdos.w40. Hold that thought for a second.
After you boot with 95 installed, press F8 when it says "Now starting
Windows 95" and choose "Command prompt only"
type in the following:
attrib -s -h -r msdos.sys
edit msdos.sys
add (after Boot Multi=1) "Boot Menu=1"
(the quotes are for reference only)
ALT F X Y to close and save
attrib +s +h +r msdos.sys
ren config.sys config.16b or config.bak or whatever
ren autoexec.bat autoexec.16b or autoexec.bak or whatever
NOTE: you have actually renamed the config.sys and autoexec.bat that WIN95
is using- this is good because you don't want any real-mode drivers gunking
up 95
At this point you will be given a menu at boot time to boot to prior dos
6.2x or Win95
Notice that there are files called config.w40 and msdos.w40 and
autoexec.w40.
THESE ARE RENAMED CONFIG.SYS AND AUTOEXEC.BAT AND MSDOS.SYS on the fly as
you choose "boot to prior DOS"
These are your original files, and will be renamed *.w40 if you boot back
to 95.
They should contain card and socket services, including cs_apm.exe in
config and power.exe in autoexec.
When you boot to prior DOS you can check.
At this point prior DOS will be the same as when the Aero was shipped, and
you'll have a clean Windows 95 without 16 bit drivers confusing the system
and taking up valuable RAM.
Some people will say you should have himem.sys and emm386.exe even in
Win95, but I think 95 does a good job of memory management. It's up to you.
Go mess up your computers and I don't want any complaints!
Pres Waterman
WA2ORS
c/o Patchogue 112 Ford
GO BILLS!
[C] From: John David Steffes <34lz5ap@cmuvm.csv.cmich.edu>
Subject: RE: Info for novices re Something old, something new...
Date: Thu, 5 Dec 1996 19:49:49 -0500
Correct,
But the files io.sys, msdos.sys, config.sys, autoexec.bat, and command.com
change with a .dos for old dos and w40 for the new win95 (under dos 6X.)!
Win95 does load himem.sys automatically however it does not load emm386.exe
and we can make more room for windows 95 and other.
Win97 NOTE: Under windows97 things on an Aero change there are no more start
butttons and the soft-paq's for win95 do NOT work correctly PLEASE note
There is a lot of changes in the power management (instead of just battery,
suspend, and shutdown) Now they have a hibernation that is build it to win97
and ON-NOW demand loads win97 in about 10 seconds instead of about 1 minute
for win95! WIN97 Looks more stable and acts more stable I am only on BETA3
SO when final release hits it should be close to NT Stability!
JDS
[Win95, WinNT, Cario, WinCE, Win97, And Linux Beta tester]
------------------------------
Subject: 3.3.3.7 Repartioning
[C] From: pbarrette@wilson09.res.iastate.edu (Peter Barrette)
Date: Sat, 3 May 1997 18:48:02 -0500
Recently, I deleted and rebuilt my Windows95 partition. I have decided to
tell you all the story in the hope that it may help some of you (and make
some others laugh).
I have two partitions on my HD. One is the F10 Diagnostics partition
from Compaq which I installed from my original disks when I got my Aero
4/25. I purchased mine used from someone in New York (If you are out there,
thank you) who had taken the precaution of deleting everything and
reinstalling the original software, but must have forgotten about the F10
partition.
My other partition is running Win95. I have been running 95 ever
since I put in a new 540MB HD and upgraded to the Southland Micro 16MB
memory module (for a total of 20MB RAM), but there were several problems.
Most of them due to my fiddling with the Registry, but some due to the
install since it was slightly bootlegged. My floppy never did hotplug
correctly, and power management always seemed like a chore.
So, finally, I decided to delete my main partition and reinstall Win95.
So, I got my own set of installation disks (that's right, all 29 of them),
FDISK'ed my partition and formatted it. So the steps I followed, in order,
were:
1) Update system Bios using sp1992 (This was done long ago)
2) Create Win95 rescue disk
3) Delete Primary partition using FDISK
4) Create Primary partition using FDISK
5) Boot from floppy using Win95 rescue disk
6) Format HD using "FORMAT C:\"
7) Reboot from floppy using Win95 install disk #1
8) Swap disks for hours while Win95 installs itself
9) Dial in to local ISP and search for: sp0414, sp2646, and sp2035
10) Apply softpaqs in this order: sp0414 - HD powerdown utility
sp2646 - Diagnostics for Windows
sp2035 - Supplemental Programs for W95
(Includes power mgmt., etc.)
11) Tell you all about it.
All my PCMCIA devices (Including my 02XXX floppy) are working and
hotplugging perfectly. I still have the clock advancement problem although
it is very seldom that my Aero is suspended overnight. I usually have it
plugged in or turned off.
From Compaq Diagnostics for Windows:
Hard Drive 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . Type 65 (543.3 Megabyte)
Cylinders . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1179
Heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Sectors per Track . . . . . . . . . 60
From Chkdsk:
Volume AERO_4-25 created 04-30-1997 2:33p
Volume Serial Number is 106A-15EE
468,385,792 bytes total disk space
4,718,592 bytes in 55 hidden files
753,664 bytes in 90 directories
152,895,488 bytes in 2,234 user files
310,018,048 bytes available on disk
8,192 bytes in each allocation unit
57,176 total allocation units on disk
37,844 available allocation units on disk
655,360 total bytes memory
590,592 bytes free
peterb
------------------------------
Subject: 3.3.3.8 Contura Aero, EPP, and Parallel Port Zip Drive
[C] Date: Wed, 05 Mar 1997 21:02:27 -0500
From: Wagner Yotov <yotovw@ere.umontreal.ca>
Subject: Re: Contura Aero, EPP, and Parallel Port Zip Drive
Martin Ziessler wrote:
> >If you are using W95 you will need to F8 the boot sequence to
> >load the drivers before entering the full W95 boot.
> How does F8 allow me to load drivers? It only gives me a menu to choose
> between standard Win 95, protected mode Win 95, DOS prompt (under Win 95),
> and plain DOS (and a few others I keep forgetting about). Does he mean I
> should put something in my config or autoexec?
First: my interpretation of the answer you got from COMPAQ:
You do not neet autoexec.bat or config.sys under Windows'95, because
Win'95 is a DOS-independent operating system, while the Win 3.x is a
"shell" built over DOS. Therefore under Win 3.x your C:\...\GUEST.EXE
will load automatically from AUTOEXEC.BAT, however under Win'95 you have
to hit F8 when you see "starting Win'95" on the screen. Then you choose
"command promt only" and from the command promt you type GUEST and hit
"Enter" button. If the machine responds with an error message, you go
to the directory C:\...\ where the GUEST.EXE is, and you type again
GUEST <Enter> and it should work. You will see a response like:
"THEDRIVERFORTHEDAMNEDZIPDRIVE loaded successfully", or similar, and you
will see a drive letter assigned to it, if applicable in your case. At
the end, you type WIN and press Enter to continue loading Win'95.
Second: Now, my humble opinion on this subject. I do not have a ZIP drive,
but I do not believe you have to hit F8 and go to manually load the
drivers. My Aero's portable (parallel port) CD-ROM loads from
AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS during the normal startup of Windows'95. I
see the loading message and the letter assigned to the CD-ROM drive
during normal Win'95 startup process (while still in the initial
DOS-like B&W screen mode) and if I REM out the two lines in AUTOEXEC.BAT
and CONFIG.SYS, I do not see those loading messages and the drive does
not work. Remember that you do not need the two files to run Win'95 (on
my desktop I do not have those two files or even a DOS directory), but
as long as you still keep them in the root directory of the startup
disk, they will be consulted during normal loading of Win'95.
Therefore, the F8-load manually stuff is bull.
------------------------------
Subject: 3.3.4 Window s97
Many good things have been said about this OS. Look in the windows 95
section 3.3.3 for now till more information is compiled.
Until the OS goes public, information can not really be released about
Win97. However, I have been told that Win97 and the aero work very well
together (much better than Win95). There is also the added bonus in the
fact that NT and Win97 use the same device drivers. Also the power
management has been enhanced.
[C] From: John David Steffes <steffes@web.cc.cst.cmich.edu>
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 1997 13:22:32 -0400
I beta tested Memphis (Windows 97/98) and use FAT32 on the volume you must
still have a 16 bit fat for the hibernation file (~30M). I also tested
OSR2 and OSR2.1 please let me know if I can help in any way. JDS
------------------------------
Subject: 3.3.5 Windows NT
[C] PCMCIA cards will not hotswap under Windows NT 4.0. This will be
corrected under 5.0 supposedly. Version 5.0 is due out sometime in 1998
they say. - Philip
[C] Date: Mon, 12 May 1997 17:56:20 -0400
From: John David Steffes <steffes@web.cc.cst.cmich.edu>
Subject: RE: NT 4.0 in Aero
NT does not and is not PLUG and PREY compatible wait until Cario NT5.0.
releases for that... JDS
PS also the NTFS file system does not handle the hibrn8.dat file you have
to have a fat partition for that.
------------------------------
Subject: 3.3.6 Linux
------------------------------
Subject: 3.3.6.1 Linux and the Aero
Linux works on the Aero. There are a few other resources for info on how to
install Linux, and its nuances with the Aero. One of these sites on WWW is
http://domen.uninett.no/~hta/linux/aero-faq.html We definitely recommend that
you check this out if you want to run Linux.
------------------------------
Subject: 3.3.6.2 Recommended Kernel
[A] The default slackware kernal works fine, so you should start out with that.
If you really want to optimise then just install the sources which come with
slackware and compile yourself. But it doesn't really make that much
difference.
Until you get your PCMCIA modem I wouldn't really worry about changing
anything. When you do get your modem though you don't need to touch the kernel
as all the PCMCIA stuff is implemented as loadable modules.
You will need to either compile the modules yourself or get a copy of the
binaries. Compiling the modules is pretty straight forward, but you do need the
kernel sources to compile the modules.
[A] I disagree. The stock "bare" slackware kernel has a lot of stuff that will
add to your overhead and is useless to the aero. Definitely re-compile, and use
a kernel that can support the apm patches: the patches I got required at least
1.1.78. That's the kernel I have, and it is FAR better in speed, as well as
being able to handle suspend-resume much better. The pcmcia stuff is not
important until you get a modem, as the floppy isn't supported by the driver,
and works OK if it's plugged in at boot and you don't suspend. the loadable
modules have to be attached, so you need a kernel that supports modules, which
the slackware kernels do not do as of yet.
------------------------------
Subject: 3.3.6.3 Conserving memory
[Q] Once it's all loaded up, I want to optimize the kernel for the machine (4
meg ram for the moment). Any suggestions as to what to add/delete
[A] You almost certainly want the PCMCIA stuff and the APM patch. Other than
the obvious things, you may want to use only (say) 4 rather than the normal 8
virtual terminals.
[Q] I'm hoping that I see a significant speed improvement when I switch from
the UMSDOS filesystem to EXT2 and when I compile a smaller kernel. Does anyone
have a pointer to the Kernel sources w/ APM support? I want to set one up with
APM & IDE but no PCMCIA, as I don't use my PCMCIA slot and I need to save &
swap.
[A] You should consider to comment out starting of klogd, syslogd, lpd, update,
crond and sendmail daemons from rc.* files from /etc/rc.d/ directory (of course
only if each of them ain't mandatory to you).
Also you should consider to configure kernel to use only say 2 virtual consoles
+ the one which is allocated for X. Point is that every single process in Linux
requires 40 kB of non swapable memory. By doing all described above you will
get 440 kB more pure hard RAM! And by recompiling Slackware's kernel with
minimum options you will get ca 80 kB more! So, I'm sure you will be amazed
when you get this half megabyte of static stuff off.
------------------------------
Subject: 3.3.6.4 Installation without Floppy
[Q] I'd like to also install Linux on my new Aero. The problem is, I don't have
a floppy drive.
[A] You would be best off by finding someone who could do the first phase of
the install on an UMSDOS system, use ZIP to make a zipfile out of it, install
the zipfile under DOS, and then try to boot a kernel with UMSDOS support off
that.
[A] Well, the one sensible way to install Linux for DOS-machine without floppy
is to use LOADLIN command from DOS. That requires root filesystem installed to
your DOS-partition and of course kernel file, which is loaded by LOADLIN. You
can find LOADLIN from linux-sites from .../slackware/contents directory. There
should be also more detailed instructions available.
[A] It can be done (I did it) - there are at least two Linux distributions on
sunsite.unc.edu that can be installed directly over an MS-DOS filesystem
(usually in the directory C:\linux). They take 15 to 20 MB of harddisk space
(plus any swap space you may want). Since X did not work satisfactorily for me
in 4 MB of RAM, I removed Linux - (yeah, wouldn't it be nice to have that 20MB
RAM and 700MB HD 8-).
------------------------------
Subject: 3.3.6.5 X-configuration for color
This is a condensed version of the Xconfig file. This should work with the
VGA16 server (as well as VGA2).
--- begin file ---
Section "Files"
RgbPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/"
EndSection
Section "ServerFlags"
EndSection
Section "Keyboard"
Protocol "Standard"
AutoRepeat 500 5
ServerNumLock
EndSection
Section "Pointer"
Protocol "PS/2"
Device "/dev/mouse"
Emulate3Buttons
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "My Monitor"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "Unknown"
HorizSync 30-50
VertRefresh 50-70
Modeline "640x400" 25.175 640 664 760 800 400 409 411 450
Modeline "640x480" 25.175 640 664 760 800 480 491 493 525
Modeline "640x480A" 28.322 640 680 720 864 480 488 491 521
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "Generic VGA"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Driver "vga16"
Device "Generic VGA"
Monitor "My Monitor"
Subsection "Display"
Modes "640x480" "640x400" "640x480A"
ViewPort 0 0
EndSubsection
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Driver "vga2"
Device "Generic VGA"
Monitor "My Monitor"
Subsection "Display"
Modes "640x480" "640x480A" "640x400"
ViewPort 0 0
Virtual 640 480
EndSubsection
EndSection
------------------------------
Subject: 3.3.6.6 X-configuration for mono
Another Xconfig file. This should work with the VGA2 server (as well as VGA16).
- - - - - - - - - start of /etc/XF86Config - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Section "Files"
RgbPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/"
EndSection
Section "ServerFlags"
EndSection
Section "Keyboard"
Protocol "Standard"
AutoRepeat 500 5
ServerNumLock
LeftAlt Meta
RightAlt ModeShift
EndSection
Section "Pointer"
Protocol "PS/2"
Device "/dev/mouse"
Emulate3Buttons
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "LCD"
VendorName "Compaq"
ModelName "Unknown"
Bandwidth 31.5
HorizSync 25-40
VertRefresh 50-80
Mode "640x480"
DotClock 28.3
HTimings 640 680 720 864
VTimings 480 488 491 521
EndMode
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "dispcard"
VendorName "Tseng"
BoardName "ET4000"
Chipset "generic"
Clocks 28.3
VideoRam 512
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Driver "vga16"
Device "dispcard"
Monitor "LCD"
Subsection "Display"
Modes "640x480"
ViewPort 0 0
Virtual 640 480
EndSubsection
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Driver "vga2"
Device "dispcard"
Monitor "LCD"
Subsection "Display"
Modes "640x480"
ViewPort 0 0
Virtual 640 480
EndSubsection
EndSection
------------------------------
Subject: 3.3.6.7 HD configs, Windows '95, and other musings
ftp://ftp.engr.uark.edu/pub/linux/sunsite/docs/HOWTO/mini/Linux+Win95
> Linux and Windows 95 can get along quite well on the same hard disk.
> Not only that, Linux can mount, read, and write to Win95's VFAT
> partitions (only using the 8.3 standard though). I have heard rumors
> (some from #linux) that there is a VFAT kernel patch. If this does
> exist please mail me about it and I can try to help. It helps having
> SCSI working before you embark on a project of this magnitude.
> So, your C: drive is sliced up into:
>
> |---------------
> 300M |/dev/hda1 C: DOS/FAT (Win 3.11/DOS 6.22)
> BIOS C: |---------------
> 528 M 212M |/dev/hda2 / (root partition) Linux ext2
> |---------------
> 16M |/dev/hda3 /dev/swap (linux Swap partition, 16M of it ;)
> |---------------
>
>
>
> Before you do anything, make sure you have LILO installed on your HD
> and working AND have a working bootdisk!
>
> GO ahead and install Windows 95 right over Win3.11/DOS 6.22. This
> re-routes your MBR to boot-up Windows 95 directly, but it should work
> (It has for me multiple times, with multiple betas and the final
> release of Win95.)
>
> If you didn't pick up on it already, you won't get a LILO prompt when
> you boot up. DON'T PANIC! Simply drop that boot-disk into drive A: and
> reboot. If this is a boot disk you made with your current (or
> previous) kernel image, it should boot right into your Linux partition
> right away. If you are like me and didn't keep a boot disk around get
> the boot144 (or boot122) Slackware install floppy off of tsx-11 and
> create that disk. The first time you get a pause type "mount
> /dev/hda2" (or whatever your Linux partiton is).
>
> At this point you should be back in Linux. Login as root and run the
> program 'liloconfig'. Hit '6' to recycle your current lilo
> configuration. do a shutdown -r now to reboot to see if it works (it
> should). You'll get your LILO prompt back and should be able to dual
> boot into either OS.
>
> Multiple HD Configs:
>
>
>
> Many people wnat to keep a separate HD for Linux, and a separate one
> for DOS, with good reason. There are about 3 possible ways to do this.
>
> 1: 2 separate disks, C: just DOS/FAT and D: just Linux/ext2
> 2: 2 'overlapping disks', physical C: partitioned into a small DOS
> partition with the rest of the disk for Linux while D: is totally
> DOS/FAT running Win95
> 3: ????? (help me on this one ;)
>
>
>
> Two is the situation I have on my own machine (known as
> litterbox.in.net).
>
> For all of these situations just adapt my instructions from the first
> 1/2 of this HOWTO: make sure you use YOUR partition names and not
> mine. (imagine running mkswap /dev/hdb1 when that is your root
> partition!).
>
> Jonathan Katz <jkatz@in.net>
>
> EOF
------------------------------
Subject: 3.3.6.8 Parallel Port Zip Drives
From: david_burnette@MENTORG.COM (David Burnette)
Date: Thu, 11 Jul 96 13:03:11 PDT
Yes, there is an excellent mini-Howto available at:
http://sunsite.unc.edu/mdw/HOWTO/mini/ZIP-Drive
It talks about the device drivers, disk formatting, etc.
------------------------------
Subject: 3.3.6.9 Monkey Distribution
[C] Date: Mon, 26 May 1997 12:53:23 -0700 (PDT)
From: Elizabeth Yip <elyip@WOLFENET.com>
I want to report that I have installed "Monkey Linux" on my aero 4/25.
Monkey Linux is a UMSDOS distribution that comes in 5 floppies and takes
up about 20Mb of hard disk space. The latest version uses kernel 1.2.30.
The best part is it comes with X.
I have to change a few things to make it work on the aero:
(1) relink /dev/mouse to /dev/psaux
(2) change the 'gpm' line in /etc/rc.d/rc.local to
gpm -t PS/2
(3) download X32VG16.tgz and relink /var/X11R6/bin/X to it
(4) change XF86Config in /etc according to Subject 3.3.6.5 of the
compaq aero FAQ.
Monkey Linux can be found in the sunsite and the mirror of sunsite in
Georgia Tech.
[C] From: Philip Wilk
Date: May 26, 1997
WWW homepage: http://www.spsselib.hiedu.cz/monkey/
Primary site: ftp://ftp.spsselib.hiedu.cz/pub/linux/monkey/
Mirror sites: ftp://ftp.vslib.cz/pub/unix/linux/monkey/
ftp://sunsite.mff.cuni.cz/OS/Linux/Distributions/Monkey/
ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/distributions/monkey/
------------------------------
Subject: 3.3.7 Other UNIX
[C] Subject: A better version of Linux for Aero users...
From: adavie@varney.idbsu.edu (Andrew Davie)
Date: Tue, 18 Feb 1997 15:50:38 -0600
I couldn't fit it all on the subject line, but i know that there are some
MiniLinux users here, and there is a better distribution of Linux for Aero
users that want to use the UMSDOS file system. It's called DosLinux and
Version 5 (dated 1/23/97) can be found at..
http://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/Incoming/
It uses kernal 2.0.28, 100% ELF, etc...
MiniLinux was kernal 1.0.9 if i remember correctly...
------------------------------
Subject: 3.3.8 OS/2
I recommend checking out Reed Wade's page on OS/2 and the Aero at:
"http://www.netlib.org/utk/people/ReedWade/aero_os2.html". - Philip
------------------------------
Subject: 3.3.8.1 Can I run OS/2 on the Aero?
There appear to be problems with Installing OS/2 and it recognizing the PCMCIA
floppy drive. Most users get to disk 7 of the installation before they have
problems. This is the point that OS/2 starts conversing with the interrupts
directly. At the present time, Compaq has no fix for this problem, and IBM does
not either.
[Q] Is anybody other than me running OS/2 on their Aero on a regular basis? At
the moment the only reasons I switch back to DOS are to copy things OFF
floppies or to use winlink. To that extent, I have found a way to access the
floppy perfectly under OS/2 ... is anybody interested?
Those who are interested should read on...
------------------------------
Subject: 3.3.8.2 OS/2 Installation Problems
Here's a summary of problems with installing Warp: (and some answers from
someone else):
Warp does not support the Aero's PCMCIA adapter. They may have released a
patch, but I'm not aware of it. This means that if you try to do the
standard install, after about disk 6 Warp will reboot the system and try
to do the rest of the install from inside Warp after booting off the hard
drive. Since Warp only recognizes the floppy if you boot OS/2 from the
floppy drive, this won't work (and any floppy access will hang the Aero).
I found out about response file installation -- write a response file to
automate the install process, so that you don't reboot the Aero, but
install everything off the floppies in one shot. The problems with this
were: (a) The response file processor is buggy. When it prompts you to
insert a particular floppy, it may develop amnesia and not remember the
name of the floppy, so then you have to play Russian roulette with the
floppy disks. (b) Apparently, printer drivers do not get installed. What
you then have to do is boot OS/2 from floppy (after creating a special
boot disk that puts you directly into the OS/2 command line) and then
extract the printer drivers en masse from one of the Warp floppies onto a
subdirectory on your hard drive. When you go to create a printer object on
the PM desktop, you can opt to get a printer driver from a hard disk
directory.
[A] I never developed a problem with installing from response files, but
from memory I was actually using images I copied to it to the hard disk. I
do remember that printers for me got installed properly; you just have to
put them into the response file properly. There's a separate list of
printer drivers in another file that you have to find the index for (so it
knows which one), then you just put that next to the port in the response
file.
[A] Hmmm... I remember that I specified the correct bit in the response
file to install the printer driver(s), but apparently it didn't work
correctly. sigh It's just a screwy business. Anyway, by extracting all the
printer drivers into a temp directory on my hard drive, I had the ability
to change printer drivers at will without worrying about floppies.
After I had gone through all this crap, I was left with two problems: (a)
The floppy disk was still inaccessible from Warp. (b) I could not print.
An IBM tech support guru told me that Warp defaults to using polling in
its printer driver instead of interrupt driven printing, because some
sound card owners had complained that previous versions of OS/2 wouldn't
allow them to share an interrupt between their sound card and the parallel
port. There is a way to go into the config.sys file and set a certain
option such that the printer / parallel port driver uses interrupt driven
I/O. Apparently, you have to do this if you want to do printing on the
Aero, but I'm not sure if that even works because of the Aero's funky
hardware.
[A]I have no problems printing, but I only use serial (all my printers I
have accessible have computers attached to the parallel ports, and the
others don't have centronics ports).
To change to interrupt IO you change a line to: device=print01.sys /irq
(It's in the command reference book). The serial port's fine for printing,
but I don't know about the printer port.
[A] Yup, saw that trick in OS/2 magazine. Apparently, a lot of users were
having problems with the polling printer I/O --- the timing is very
sensitive, and often won't work with your particular setup. The interrupt
driven I/O seems to solve the problem for most Warp users, so this
probably would have worked for the Aero.
After I ran into the printing problem, I gave up and returned Warp for a
refund. It just wasn't worth the aggravation.
------------------------------
Subject: 3.3.8.3 OS/2 Warp in 4MB RAM?
4 megs of RAM is barely acceptable for running Warp on a notebook computer. I'd
say don't bother even trying unless you have 8 megs or more.
[A] OS/2 requires 4 megs to boot, but to really use it you need 8. Because the
aero has a very slow hard disk, it will still seem sluggish in 8 ... but
there's lots of things you can do to speed it up when you're at the 8 meg mark.
My bit of advice: Don't install TCP/IP on the aero - it takes up about a meg of
memory :-( and keep your swapfile as large as you can handle - otherwise it'll
get fragmented when it increases its size.
[A] I dunno... I was able to do some stuff in 4 megs. Like, for instance, run
Mahjongg solitaire and a couple other doo-dads. :-) Oh, and the terminal
program worked just fine on my Aero. (Nobody can beat serial I/O under OS/2.)
But IBM Works was dog slow.
Warp is great, but it really needs a bigger machine to run on. Maybe if I get
an 8-meg upgrade for my Aero, I'll reconsider making my Aero an OS/2-only
machine. Now that I know much more...
[A] IBM Works ... the trick is to deregister the WPS objects, as the
registering of the DLL's (with SOM 1.0) with the WPS takes up a reasonable
amount of memory (so others have said ... my testing shows that those DLLs had
nothing allocated to them in physical memory, it was all swapped out). Anyway,
I have IBM Works installed but I have deregistered the objects.
If you want a word processor that runs really well on the Aero try ClearLook -
that's what I use for all of my lecture notes, and it's great! Describe would
probably be just as fast on an 8mb machine, but you could probably get away
with CL with only 4MB. Mind you, there are other things about describe that I
won't go into detail about, suffice to say that if somebody has an archive of
comp.os.os2.apps there is a rather large argument on there about it :-)
I couldn't stand running OS/2 in 4MB, but it's possible ... 8MB is OK, I can
live with it, upgrade to 12 or 20 and you'll never look back :-) Unfortunately
I don't have the money at the moment.
------------------------------
Subject: 3.3.8.4 Aero floppy under Warp?
[Q] I think someone on the Aero list has figured out how to get the floppy disk
access to work under Warp. I don't remember the details.
[A] I did ... by booting DOS 6.21 under OS/2. But I started farquing around
with a device driver called 'reserve.sys' which seems to tell OS/2 to NOT use
specific areas of memory. Sounded great - possibly OS/2 using D000-DFFF was
what was causing the floppy to die; unfortunately I couldn't get reserve.sys to
work (there's no documentation), and when I removed it it killed my setup so
that my 'DOS w/ floppy' wasn't working anymore!!! I'm going to retry getting it
to work again when I get the time (sigh) ... then it will eventually go on my
web page (sigh)
------------------------------
Subject: 3.3.8.5 PCMCIA supported under OS/2?
Check out:"http://godzilla.eecs.berkeley.edu/os2/pharmacy/aero.html" for the
official word on the subject.
[A] I have not tested to run Warp (and it's not officially supported) but there
is a Rompaq to be able to install it and there is also VLSI PCMCIA drivers
available from IBM (both for 2.11 and Warp). Take a look at
ftp://ftp.europe.ibm.com/psmemea/os2drivers/pcmcia/ It says it's for Elite but
as I understand it the important thing is that it is for VLSI.
[A] I'm using Warp with the "Compaq Concerta" pcmcia drivers. It seems to work
but my understanding is that the Concerta uses the Cirrus chip, and the Aero
and Elite both use the VLSI chip.
[A] If anybody is interested ... I know some people are (there must be! grin)
the URL ftp://ftp.europe.ibm.com/psmea/pcmcia contains:
sp1073.zip - A version of the BIOS that allows OS/2 to access the floppy
drive (if it's inserted at bootup)
cvlsi3.zip - A socket services driver for the Compaq LTE that uses the
same chipset as the Aero, and will allow you to use PCMCIA cards with full
plug and play support under OS/2
Unfortunately if you install both the floppy drive driver (ibm1flpy.add) and
the socket services driver (ssvlsi.sys) at the same time, the socket services
driver clobbers the floppy driver and you can't access the floppy drive. At
least we now have the option of using the floppy drive and the PCMCIA port now!
NB: *.sys basedev's are loaded before *.add basedevs, I tried renaming
ibm1flpy.add to ibm1flpy.sys and loading it before the socket services driver
and it still clobbered it.
I haven't tested the PCMCIA port, because I don't have any supported PCMCIA
devices other than my network card (Accton - if anybody knows of OS/2 drivers
then please tell me!) and my floppy card; but both are noted as being
inserted/removed and the OEM id's are displayed, so I assume that if you have a
standard PCMCIA modem or other device it will work; check the above URL for
drivers for SCSI & other widgets ...
------------------------------
Subject: 3.4 Original Compaq Software Disks
[Q] I need to get a set of the software disks for the Aero 4/25. I called
Compaq and they said it would cost $40. Since I bought the software with the
machine how can they justify this?
[A] The cost is supposed to cover costs of media, labels, delivery and handling
as well as any documentation they provide with the diskettes. I also understand
4/25 and the 4/33 and the 4/33c's with differing size hard drives allow you
different software bundles.
------------------------------
end of FAQ
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