Introduction
Compaq Aero™ Frequently Asked Questions

Short Contents

Long Contents

Contributors

 Compaq Aero™ Frequently Asked Questions Version 2.0. Author: Ekkehard Rohwedder (Version 2.0). Version 1.0 of the FAQ was created by Renee Roberts. To send submissions, corrections or deletions for this FAQ, please email er+aero@cs.cmu.edu or post to the aero-l mailing list.

This file is copyright © 1994, 1995 by the author and contributors. It can be obtained via WWW from http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/er/WWW/aero.html, or in ASCII format via FTP from ftp.cs.cmu.edu, in the directory /afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/er/pub, file aero.txt, it is also available in Windows Help format (zipped) in the same place as aero.zip.


1 General

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™. The authors are not affiliated with Compaq Computer Corp, or any affiliate of theirs. We own Compaq Aeros (and love this machine), 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.

The second author used the aero-l mailing list archives to update version 1.0 of the FAQ. Thus, 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 responsibility 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!


1.2 Resources

1.2.1 Internet

For additional information, please consult the following:

• Usenet Newsgroups: comp.sys.laptops, comp.os.linux, comp.os.ms-windows, comp.os.ms-dos, and comp.os.os2

• FTP sites: lassp.cornell.edu in /pub/Aero (includes the Mailing List archive) and ftp.compaq.com.

• Mailing Lists: To subscribe, send email to “listproc@lassp.cornell.edu” with the message:

subscribe aero-l PutYourRealNameHereInsteadOfThisText

• WWW Sites: http://www.compaq.com - the Compaq WWW site with:

an Aero page (text), an Aero page (graphics), a FAQ on portables, and PCMCIA information.

http://domen.uninett.no/~hta/linux/aero-faq.html - information on running Linux on the Aero, and http://www.reed.edu/~pwilk/aero_stuff.html - Philip Wilk's WWW page on the Aero

• Gopher/WAIS: [I don't know of any. If you do, let me know!]


1.2.2 Compaq

1.2.2.1 Compaq Phone Numbers

• Compaq Direct 1-800-888-6079.

• Compaq Works 1-800-318-6919.


1.2.2.2 Does the Aero ship in a wrapper?

[A] No!! I got two factory sealed units, and both just had the Aero sitting in the foam supports.


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

1.3.1 Exploded View

Numbers in illustration correspond to the following list. (1) One-Button Latch. (2) 7.8 Inch Passive Matrix Color Display. (3) Special Feature Hotkeys. (4) Palmrest. (5) Type II PCMCIA Slot. (6) NiMH Battery Pack. (7) Memory Expansion Slot. (8) Power On/Off Button. (9) Isolated, Inverted “T” Cursor Keys. (10) Hard Drive. (11) Easy-Point Trackball. (12) Integrated Speaker.


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)


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


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


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.


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%


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.


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


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)


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.


1.4 User Opinions

 Disclaimer: Do not expect unbiased opinions from Aero users!

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.


1.4.2 Opinions on miscellaneous Aero features (The Quick FAQs)

[Q] How do you like the tracking ball? I have used those little rubber eraserhead on the IBM ThinkPad and like those a lot.

[A] You can live with it.

[A] It takes a little getting used to, but is quite useable for me. I regularly do drawings under AmiPro and have no problems getting the pointer right on the pixel I want.

[Q] How “noisy” is the unit, could I use it in a quiet setting e.g., library?

[A] My hard disk is very noisy but here has been discussion about it and seems like it is problem of older Aeros.

[Q] Does the mono only come with 175 MB (not 250MB)?

[A] That's right. But you can buy a bigger drive for it. The biggest available drive currently is over 700 MB.

[A] It used to be 84 or 170M, but the 84 meg version appears to have been discontinued. I don't believe the mono is available with a 250 meg drive, but could be upgraded to such (at a cost that'd probably be higher than just buying a 250 meg color Aero to start with).

[Q] What type of connectors does it have in the back? 1 serial, 1 parallel?

[A] That's right and also one for extension dock.

[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] Is the CPU a “genuine” Intel chip or some clone CPU? Does this make a difference?

[A] It is 'Intel inside' :)

[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.

[A] Yes — it's very easy 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 from Kingston, 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.

[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.

[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.


2 Hardware

2.1 Aero

2.1.1 CPU

2.1.1.1 Is it upgradeable?

[Q] Well I have recently purchased an Aero 25/170 and am already interested in attempting to upgrade the CPU. I have opened the unit and taken it all apart and am curious if anyone has considered soldering out the CPU and replacing it with another. Any conflicts? Thoughts?

[A] Good luck, and let us know how it went 8-)


2.1.1.2 Is it FPU upgradeable?

[A] To date, nobody has reported an empty FPU socket in the Aero. Somebody suggested FP-emulation TSRs for programs that require a floating point processor.

 [A] 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.

 [A] I'm pretty sure there is not a co-pro for the Aero; Or for almost any other 486sx/slc notebook computers either. Last time I knew of a notebook that could add a co-pro was a 386. You might try a software emulator. I heard that they do help somewhat.


2.1.2 Memory

2.1.2.1 How do you upgrade?

[A] 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 from Kingston, 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.


2.1.2.2 Is it possible to upgrade to 20 Mb?

[Q] Can anyone confirm that Kingston has a 16 meg memory module for the Aero?

[A] I just bought 8MB of Kingston Memeory for my Aero. The literature that came with the 8MB memory show all 3 expansion modules from Kingston (4MB, 8MB and 16MB). There is an order number for it. So yes, it would seem to be true! BTW: Kingston is the manufacturer. They don't sell direct, but through dealers. Look for advertisements in Byte magazine/Computer Shopper etc.


2.1.2.3 How much are memory upgrades?

[A] They cost 4MB $192, 8MB $365 and 16MB was $795.

[A] Best I've seen in the national ads was about $180 for a 4Mb module and about $320 for an 8Mb module.


2.1.3 How to disassemble the Aero

[Q] Has anybody taken their Aero apart? I wanted to take off the bottom of the aero to see where the disk drive was located. I removed the screws I could see. The bottom did not lift off. It looks like you have to pry on a few things and I did not want to do that since I might break something. Is there a step by step disassembly procedure that anybody knows of?

[A] You have to be very careful when you open it. You might easily break something - like I did break my celluloid display cable. Thank God I could fix it...

When you are opening the Aero, first take off only the upper screw of those two in the back of the Aero (beside the power plug). This is important. Of course you also have to remove those in the bottom. Then lift it up. (no, don't use legs). Most tricky is the part in the upper left corner. You just have to use some power for it (no, don't use legs:).

When taking off the main board of the machine be careful with the small screws: they disappear easily and get stuck under the PCMCIA slot or the processor board and you have to remove them to find the screws.

As I said, the biggest mistake you can make is try to remove the top (the one around the keyboard) when both of the screws beside the power plug have been removed. That is where I broke my display cable. Opening the Aero is extremely dangerous and there is a big risk you will void the warranty. I take no responsibility for any damage you have caused to your machine by applying my 'instructions'. Don't even mail me if something happens .) Wish you good luck.

2.1.3.1 There, and Back again: 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 <apr> 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


2.1.4 Hard Drive

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] That partition is FAT, 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 ...


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.


2.1.4.3 Upgrading the hard drive

[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.

[A] My theory is that the BIOS automatically recognizes certain 84, 170 and 250 disks but using other sizes and types requires changing parameters with the setup utility. The Bios supports almost any kind of IDE. By that I mean all those which are listed in HD section of setup. Howewer only few of them are recognized automatically when the machine is booted for the first time with the new drive. Otherwise you have to set parameters of your new drive from your setup before replacing the HD. If you set the parameters wrong you have to put back your old HD to access setup again or create a setup floppy (I'd prefer the latter choise).

[Q] What do you mean by “BIOS mods”? Would I have to replace the BIOS chip on the motherboard? Hope would I accomplish the modification?

[A] You have to spend $59 for a program that loads as part of the disk boot and modifies the BIOS parameters in memory. You don't have to do anything to the motherboard.

The Aero recognized a different drive was installed upon its next power up. It asked if I wanted to save the new drive parameter by pressing F1. So, I did and from there ran FDISK, re-applied the COMPAQ diagnostic partition, added a DOS partition, Linux swap and Linux partition. I was off and running! I don't want to encourage anybody. It was a long task and you can easily damage your Aero if you are not careful!

[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.


2.1.4.4 Yet Another Installation Story — A 720MB Hard Drive

 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.

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.


2.1.5 Screen

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; if the problem persists, it was recommended that the POWER.EXE line be rem'd out of the CONFIG.SYS. We'll see once the battery is fully charged.


2.1.5.2 Loose screen connection

[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.


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.


2.1.5.4 800x600 or 640x400x256 video modes?

[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.

[Q] in reading through the message archives, I noticed that one user seemed to be saying he was running at 640x400x256. Did I read that right and, if so, can anyone tell me how this is set on the Aero? Many thanks.

[A] You tell me and we'll both know. Compaq denies it's existence. The video chip set in the Aero is rumored to be a Tseng ET4000. The Aero has 256k video RAM, and should do it. Give COMPAQ a buzz on this. Or try sending mail to support@compaq.com.

I recently pestered tseng.com and got the following rather nice (IMHO) brush-off back:  Tseng Labs is an OEM supplier. As such, product support is provided solely to its OEM customers. End-users are encouraged to contact the manufacturers of their components for support issues. Tseng Labs does offer an electronic bulletin board service, freely accessible by all users at 215-579-7536 (2400-28.8Kbps N,8,1) that provides generic information and software for its chips. The generic nature of this information, such as software drivers, may limit its effectiveness given the variety of design impementations in circulation.

CompuShow seems to think that the chip it autodetects might have some enhanced capabilities. Of course, the Aero's built-in display can't sync to 800x600 display modes (not enough physical pixels).

The question is ... Lets say you are COMPAQ, and you can give the customer this driver... how do you handle it in terms of support. It would require some manipulations by the user in order to have it work. The user would have to be astute enough to ONLY try using it on an external monitor, and to use windows setup to change drivers every time they go form external to internal monitors. Novice users may find it baffling to have Windows refuse to start if they forgot to change back to 640x480 while still connected to the external monitor.

[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).


2.1.5.5 Special supported VGA modes

  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.


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.


2.1.6 Keyboard

2.1.6.1 Aero keyboard help

 [Q] I know that this is a screwball request, but I'm looking for a diagram of an Aero keyboard (English) key layout. Why, you ask? Well, I purchased an Aero with a French keyboard, and I have a couple of plans for working around this:

1. Order replacement keys, swap 'em out, and remove the DOS KEYB line that instructs DOS to use a French layout.

2. Remove the DOS KEYB command, so that DOS thinks its an English layout, and printing some high quality :) stick-on labels for the keys that are different, just so that I can find my way around.

3. Learn French.

 As you can tell, this is going to be a budget job. But it would be a lot easier if I had a copy of the English keyboard, so that I knew what it was supposed to look like when I am done with my butchering — oops, I mean 'modifications.'   [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.


2.1.6.2 The Aero Keyboard

 [Q] Finally, I'm still a bit concerned about the keyboard. It's a bit on the small side (I use a Mac Powerbook right now) — is this something I can get used to, or?

[A] Yes, you do get used to it ... and it's not difficult to go back to a normal keyboard; I have a Lexmark 101-key keyboard on my desktop that I am very fond of, but I still love my Aero keyboard because it is so quiet, and very fast to type on. The smaller distance that your fingers hvae to travel on the keyboard allows you to type very quickly and your fingers don't get tired at all; I've had three hour lectures (3 in a row) where I type solidly throughout them - all my lecture notes - and it doesn't bother me one bit.

As you can probably see, I type quite a bit on it - and unfortunately my 'n' and 'm' keys have the writing wearing off, along with the rough surface on the space bar. This is my only qualm about the keyboard; I'm going to ring up compaq support when I get a chance and ask them to replace it, as it's not normal wear and tear after 6 months; but as I said, I have typed a lot on it...


2.1.7 Trackball

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.


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 (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.


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.

[Q] What is the location of this file? [- the FAQ maintainer]


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.


2.1.7.5 Trackball a bit loose?

[Q] On visiting stores where the Aero's are on display I have been struck by the number that have missing trackballs. I would not expect a trackball to fall out so easily. Is this a general problem with the Aeros?

[A] The problem is that people who like to vandalize store property see how easy it is to remove the trackball from the Aero. At all the stores I've been to, the trackballs haven't been missing, but the salespeople don't clean the trackball well, either. This causes the mouse cursor control to practically disappear (can't move the cursor if the works are gummed up).

[A] It's pretty easy to get the trackball out if you have to clean it in the field — unfortunately, this also means it's pretty easy for kids to add one to their marble collection.  The locking ring which holds the in the trackball has never even thought about turning on its own in the three and a half months I've had my Aero.


2.1.8 Battery

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).

[Q] Has anyone found a good source for batteries? Since Compaq Direct sells the large ones for $95 ($85 educational[institutional]), I see no reason to pay $150 from the oh-so competent folks at computer city. Are they cheaper elsewhere?

[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?


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.


2.1.8.3 Battery Warning

[Q] I have looked high and low on my Aero to find something that will change the 5 sec or so battery/hibernation warning. Can it be changed? [What about it, folks? - the FAQ maintainer]


2.1.8.4 Batteries discharging too quickly when Aero 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.


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?


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] I just downloaded this program from cica.indiana.edu and it works pretty good. I think it is more useful than the hot-key utility that the Aero comes with.

[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.

[A] Yes, I've been using it as well — very nice little utility.  To make things a little easier (CICA & its mirrors can be tough to get to), I have placed a copy in /pub/Aero/Software on lassp.cornell.edu (anon ftp).


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.


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.


2.1.9 Ports

2.1.9.1 Is the printer port an EPP port?

[Q] I was able to locate the EPP bios drivers from ftp.compaq.com (pub/softpaq/Drivers/sp0937.zip). This file contains EPPBIOS.SYS version 1.4. I installed this driver in my CONFIG.SYS (DRIVER=EPPBIOS.SYS) and it loads in fine but the software I am using still does not detect an EPP port. Namely, my Parallel/SCSI cable's software does not detect an EPP so its transfer rate is a lot slower (360K/s versus 1M/s EPP). I am using the ParaSCSI Plus and its packaged software.

If anyone has gotten the parallel port on the Aero to act as an EPP, I'd really like to hear about it. Does anyone have or know of a program which can reliably test for an EPP? I have laplink 5 and it doesn't detect an EPP, either.

[A] Sadly, I never got the EPP to work on my AERO. I've tried with my original BIOS and a new BIOS but to no avail. I have a parallel SCSI cable and it only works only in standard mode. I also have LapLinkV for Windows and it doesn't detect an EPP either.

[A] There have been two updates of the EPPBIOS driver, and a just released in early January [95] System ROM BIOS. I have the new BIOS in, and the EPPBIOS in my CPQDOS directory, but have not tested it yet.

[Q] So what about it? [- the FAQ maintainer]


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.

[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] I haven't seen one for the mouse - I was looking for one a while ago, and only found a 9-pin DIN to mini-din for the keyboard. The mapping is very similiar - you can get various mice (including a microsoft mouse I saw for A$110 the other day) that have a PS/2 connection but also have an adapter to turn them into DB9 connections ... I looked in our local Dick Smith catalogue but it has no documentation, I don't know where else you could look except in a hardware reference book (which I don't have)...


2.2 Accessories

2.2.1 Floppy

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.


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.


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.


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] This happens to me occasionally also. I don't really trust the Aero's PCMCIA floppy drive for formatting any more. It's OK for file transfers, but not reliable for formatting. Some disks seem to get damaged — maybe I (we) should take the drive back.

[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.


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...


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?


2.2.2 PCMCIA

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.


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).


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.


2.2.2.4 PCMCIA modems

[A] 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.

[A] 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.

[A] Megahertz installation failed on the Aero for me, too. Turned out it didn't need any installation; just plug it in, and it plays.

[A] 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)...

[A] 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?


2.2.2.5 PCMCIA FAX/Modems and Suspend/Resume

 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.


2.2.3 External Monitor

2.2.3.1 Simultaneous Output

[Q] Does anybody know of any way that I can connect to an external monitor and also see the output on the screen. I want to use my Aero to connect to a datashow.

[A] According to the Compaq literature you can't. If you ever find a way, please share it with us because I would like to do the same thing. 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.


2.2.4 Sound

2.2.4.1 What can I do for sound on an Aero?

[A] 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]

[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.)


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.


2.2.6 Expanders

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


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).


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).


2.2.7 Leglets

  [Q] I'm almost embarrassed to admit it, but I think I'm in love with a machine. My aero 4/25. I know it's a pathetic dependence, but owning a subnotebook has really changed the way I do my work and organize my activities. I had to do a few things to set it up right at first, such as boosting memory to 12meg, getting an extended battery and the replacement trackball, not to mention individualizing the software platform. But that said, I've never worked better before.

I have one *teeny weeeeeen* little beef though. I have no leglets. You know, those little fold down feet that prop up the back end of the machine for that ergonomic typing angle? I'm forever finding something wherever I work to put under the back end 'cause it actually does hurt my wrists not to. Does anybody share my complaint? What have you managed to do about it? Anyone found leglets? I've become obsessed with finding them now, but although people have referred to them I can't find a supplier.

 [A] I've got a small felt bag I use for the computer; I fold it in half and toss it under the backside, and it works perfectly. The front two rubber feet hold the unit in place, and the bag gives it the necessary height.

 [A] It's not quite leglets, but I have one of the mini wrist cushions. It can be used as intended in front or slipped under the back to incline the keyboard. Where are the Model 100 legs when you need them?


2.2.8 Case

There are presently a few cases for the Aero.

The Wetsuit 3.0™  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™ 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™ 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.


3 Software

3.1 Upgrades

3.1.1 Service Files

 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.

3.1.1.1 Firmware ROMPaqs

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.


3.1.1.2 PCMCIA Drivers and Utilities

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.


3.1.1.3 Enhanced Parallel Port BIOS Drivers

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.


3.1.1.4 Windows Stuff

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.


3.1.1.5 Utilities

sp1169.zip — 44 K — (10 March 95) EX_BOX.EXE is utility to allow users of COMPAQ laptop computers to detect whether or not they are plugged into the Expansion Base and use that information to branch a batch file. This program will run under either DOS or OS/2 operating systems. NOTE: Contura 400 family can only detect Ethernet Expansion Base.

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.


3.1.1.6 Diagnostics

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


3.1.2 ROMPaqs

3.1.2.1 Rundown on ROMPaq 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.


3.1.2.2 ROMPaq versions

 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.

[A] 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.


3.1.2.3 Install a ROMPaq without using the floppy drive?

[A] The instructions for installing the ROMpaq reference booting from the floppy only to load MSDOS without any drivers. Pressing the F5 key, when MSDOS begins loading from the hard drive, does the same thing. Where you load the ROMpaq from doesn't matter. Removing the drivers does.


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 ..


3.1.3 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.


3.2 Configuration

3.2.1 DOS Setup

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 -----


3.2.1.2 What is in CONFIG.SYS & AUTOEXEC.BAT?

[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.

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 <jec@us.dynix.com>

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.


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.


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...


3.2.2 Power-Management

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™ 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?


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] 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.

• 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.


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] Compaq sent me a utility that switches the function of 'purp' back and forth between hibernation and standby. It worked great.

[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.

[The pointer to this file should go here. - the FAQ maintainer]

[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).


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] Yes, there is a utility to spin down the hard disk. It can be found at FTP.COMPAQ.COM. I don't remember the name of the compressed file, but the expanded file is called HDSDOWN3.COM. Fetch the index and search for this file, and you will find it.


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.


3.2.2.6 How long does Standby last?

[Q] How long will standby last on a full battery before powering down? It would be nice if it would at least sync the filesystems first.


3.2.2.7 Windows vs. Aero power management

 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 ?

[A] My Aero does exactly the same thing. I checked the control panel for the power routine, and sure enough it is set to Advanced management. I am certain I did not set this, so I wonder if it happened during the initial system install ... way back many months ago. This problem has been occuring for some time.

I've also noticed another funny power management event. Recently, if I have just fully charged the battery and done a full power down (Fn+power button), the next time I use the Aero ... running off battery, the system will run for a period of time then put out the “Your battery is low and you must shut down or use the adapter” message (or whatever it says, you know what I mean). Upon checking the battery charge status, Fn+F8, it shows the battery with all 5 indicators lit (full charge). If I do not shut down it goes to hibernation. If I power-up and check the battery it shows NO indicators (no charge) and will almost immediately go back into hibernation. However, if when I receive the warning message I shut down using a full power down (Fn+power button), then turn the machine on, it shows all 5 indicators and then continues to operate normally. I then get multiple hours of use. I wonder if this might also somehow be related to the Windows power management routine being active.

[A] I have set the power management in the Control Panel to “off”. The main problem with this utility is that it makes Aero fail to shut down its drive and screen and rapidly switch them on and off (this was especially happening with an active application on screen).  I don't know how turning off the power managemet in Contol Panel affects battery life (I only turned it off a couple of days ago). I suspect it is better to have it off since Aero is able to do its own power management effectively.  Anyway I'm not going to have the stupid Microsoft utility messing with my computer :-)

[A] 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.


3.2.3 Networking/Linking

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?


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.


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.


3.3 Operating Systems

3.3.1 Windows 3.1

3.3.1.1 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.


3.3.1.2 Windows Video driver

 Get w31et4.zip for a better windows video driver! [Where to get it from, so that it can be pointed to? - the FAQ maintainer]


3.3.1.3 Problems with Windows Speaker Driver

  [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.


3.3.2 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. [Again, let's point to it right here. - the FAQ maintainer] 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.


3.3.3 Windows95

[Q] Can you please tell us how Windows 95 runs on the Aero?

[A] I don't suppose Microsoft would object since my comments are largely favorable. PCMCIA support is excellent with my National Semi Ethernet card and Microcom modem. The floppy is also supported, though it is a little flaky. Performance on my 4 MB system is marginal, but about what you'd expect for any Windows machine.


3.3.4 PC-DOS 7.0

 Well, for those of you who didn't notice, IBM just released version 7.0 of PC-DOS. PC-DOS is sort of a “better MS-DOS than MS-DOS,” to coin a phrase. :-) Among the things you get:

• Stacker 4.0 built in (makes me feel stupid for buying Stacker 4.0 separately)

• Better memory optimizer than MS-DOS's memmaker

• Built in PCMCIA drivers/services

• E — a better editor than Microsoft's EDIT

I'm wondering if anyone could comment on PC-DOS 7.0's compatibility with the Contura Aero. Are there compatibility problems? Will PC-DOS's PCMCIA drivers work with the Aero? How about its memory management software? How does it compare to Microsoft's HIMEM and Quarterdeck's QEMM?  Is there a good reason why I shouldn't install PC-DOS 7.0 on my Aero? Of course, I already have Stacker on my machine — not sure if PC-DOS will install on an already stacked machine. (Don't see why it shouldn't...)  PC-DOS 7.0 retails for $50. (That's $10 cheaper than buying Stacker 4.0 separately.) Of course, that's the “upgrade” edition, but anyone with a machine which already has DOS on it should be able to use it.

 [A] I picked it up yesterday and installed it on my Aero witho no problems, in general. But I am having a bit of a problem with the RAMsetup utility and its partner, ramboost. Has anyone else installed PCDOS? Gotten this to work fine? Each time I turn the machine on, it wants to reconfigure itself for optimization... what is the config.sys syntax to stop this?


3.3.5 OS/2

3.3.5.1 Can I run OS/2on 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...


3.3.5.2 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.


3.3.5.3 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.


3.3.5.4 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)


3.3.5.5 PCMCIA supported under OS/2?

 [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 ...


3.3.6 Linux

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.


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.


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.


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-).


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).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

--------------------------------------------------------------------------


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

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

 er+aero@cs.cmu.edu


Short Contents

1 General

1.1 About this FAQ

1.2 Resources

1.3 Technical Data

1.4 User Opinions

2 Hardware

2.1 Aero

2.2 Accessories

3 Software

3.1 Upgrades

3.2 Configuration

3.3 Operating Systems


Long Contents

1 General

1.1 About this FAQ

1.2 Resources

1.2.1 Internet

1.2.2 Compaq

1.2.2.1 Compaq Phone Numbers

1.2.2.2 Does the Aero ship in a wrapper?

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

1.4 User Opinions

1.4.1 Is the machine really that bad?

1.4.2 Opinions on miscellaneous Aero features (The Quick FAQs)

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?

2.1.2.2 Is it possible to upgrade to 20 Mb?

2.1.2.3 How much are memory upgrades?

2.1.3 How to disassemble the Aero

2.1.3.1 There, and Back again: 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 Yet Another Installation Story — A 720MB Hard Drive

2.1.5 Screen

2.1.5.1 The pulsing backlight puzzle

2.1.5.2 Loose screen connection

2.1.5.3 What if my screen is unevenly backlit?

2.1.5.4 800x600 or 640x400x256 video modes?

2.1.5.5 Special supported VGA modes

2.1.5.6 Special supported text modes?

2.1.6 Keyboard

2.1.6.1 Aero keyboard help

2.1.6.2 The Aero Keyboard

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?

2.1.7.5 Trackball a bit loose?

2.1.8 Battery

2.1.8.1 Battery sources

2.1.8.2 Memory effect in NiMH batteries

2.1.8.3 Battery Warning

2.1.8.4 Batteries discharging too quickly when Aero 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

2.1.9 Ports

2.1.9.1 Is the printer port an EPP port?

2.1.9.2 Mouse on serial port

2.2 Accessories

2.2.1 Floppy

2.2.1.1 Floppy Drive and BIOS support

2.2.1.2 Connection w/out powering down?

2.2.1.3 Aero does not recognize floppy drive

2.2.1.4 Problems reading/formatting disks

2.2.1.5 Do you need a floppy?

2.2.1.6 You still do not think you need a floppy?

2.2.2 PCMCIA

2.2.2.1 Should I install the new V1.25 PCMCIA driver disk?

2.2.2.2 Compaq-approved cards

2.2.2.3 PCMCIA type III cards?

2.2.2.4 PCMCIA modems

2.2.2.5 PCMCIA FAX/Modems and Suspend/Resume

2.2.3 External Monitor

2.2.3.1 Simultaneous Output

2.2.4 Sound

2.2.4.1 What can I do for sound on an Aero?

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

2.2.7 Leglets

2.2.8 Case

3 Software

3.1 Upgrades

3.1.1 Service Files

3.1.1.1 Firmware ROMPaqs

3.1.1.2 PCMCIA Drivers and Utilities

3.1.1.3 Enhanced Parallel Port BIOS Drivers

3.1.1.4 Windows Stuff

3.1.1.5 Utilities

3.1.1.6 Diagnostics

3.1.2 ROMPaqs

3.1.2.1 Rundown on ROMPaq installation procedure

3.1.2.2 ROMPaq versions

3.1.2.3 Install a ROMPaq without using the floppy drive?

3.1.2.4 Determining the BIOS date

3.1.3 Original Compaq Software Disks

3.2 Configuration

3.2.1 DOS Setup

3.2.1.1 Standard CONFIG.SYS & AUTOEXEC.BAT

3.2.1.2 What is in CONFIG.SYS & AUTOEXEC.BAT?

3.2.1.3 Memory managers

3.2.1.4 Disk compression

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?

3.2.2.6 How long does Standby last?

3.2.2.7 Windows vs. Aero power management

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)

3.3 Operating Systems

3.3.1 Windows 3.1

3.3.1.1 Problems with WinFax Lite

3.3.1.2 Windows Video driver

3.3.1.3 Problems with Windows Speaker Driver

3.3.2 Windows for Workgroups

3.3.3 Windows95

3.3.4 PC-DOS 7.0

3.3.5 OS/2

3.3.5.1 Can I run OS/2on the Aero?

3.3.5.2 OS/2 Installation Problems

3.3.5.3 OS/2 Warp in 4MB RAM?

3.3.5.4 Aero floppy under Warp?

3.3.5.5 PCMCIA supported under OS/2?

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


Contributors

markl@sandy.corp.sun.com (Mark Massa-Lochridge)  (3.3.6.3)

m.purcell@pos.apana.org.au (Mark Purcell)  (3.3.6.2, 3.3.6.5)

Reed Wade <wade@cs.utk.edu>  (3.3.5.5)

mikaelg@compaq.se  (3.3.5.5)

Denis Cheong <dcheong@student.ecel.uwa.edu.au>  (3.3.5.2, 3.3.5.3, 3.3.5.4, 3.3.5.5)

Kelly Lute <ndanger@rahul.net>  (3.3.1.3)

Trey Valenta <fval_ltd@uhura.cc.rochester.edu>  (3.3.1.3, 3.3.4)

“Pavlov's Cat” <Pavlov's.Cat@infi.net>  (3.2.3.2)

“Curt A. Wohleber” <CURT@lrdc3.lrdc.pitt.edu>  (3.2.3.1)

kaxiras@cs.wisc.edu (Stefanos Kaxiras)  (3.2.2.7)

Tom Guptill <tgpt_ltd@uhura.cc.rochester.edu>  (3.2.2.5)

Steven Cobb <ps296au@sdcc4.ucsd.edu>  (3.2.2.5)

Einar.Vaagland@ifi.unit.no (Einar Vaagland)  (3.2.2.4, 3.3.2)

Tom Guptill <TGPT_LTD@db1.cc.rochester.edu>  (3.2.2.3)

Graham Roberts <G.Roberts@cs.ucl.ac.uk>  (3.2.2.3)

kgrandal@acs.ucalgary.ca  (3.2.1.3)

gmaster@spectre.remote.ualberta.ca (Paul Ayotte)  (3.2.1.3)

Luigi Perrotta <ouij@CAM.ORG>  (3.2.1.2, 3.3.1.1)

Michael Chan <mchan@laugher.dialix.oz.au>  (3.1.3)

Bill Nissley <billniss@kaiwan.com>  (3.1.3)

Jim Conforti <jec@us.dynix.com>  (3.1.2.4, 3.2.1.2)

Joel Roberts <SASJRO@VM.SAS.COM>  (3.1.2.4, 3.2.2.7)

wlobbppp@corcomsv.corcom.com (William M. Lobb)  (3.1.2.3)

CIVE1EM@Jetson.UH.EDU  (2.2.8)

dizzydev@netcom.com  (2.2.7)

“P. Forster” <pforster@clyde.ICS.UCI.EDU>  (2.2.7)

Keith Edwards <keith@cc.gatech.edu>  (2.2.6.3)

tgpt_ltd@db1.cc.rochester.edu  (2.2.6.1)

donham@skipper.icd.teradyne.com (Perry Donham)  (2.2.5)

MikeD30786@aol.com  (2.2.5)

Martin D Schweitzer <martin@matilda.vut.edu.au>  (2.2.3.1)

mikehell@netcom.com (Kontrol Faktory - Mike Hell)  (2.2.2.4, 3.2.1.4)

<simss@Infi.Net>  (2.2.2.4)

ab286@rgfn.epcc.Edu (Jack Davis)  (2.2.2.3, 2.2.7)

Jonathan Chow <chow@uhunix.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu>  (2.2.2.2, 2.2.2.4)

Reed Wade <wade@cs.utk.edu>  (2.2.1.4, 2.2.2.5, 2.2.6.1, 2.2.6.3)

jbarta@golden.ncw.net (John Barta)  (2.2.1.4)

Ziad Munson <munson@isr.harvard.edu>  (2.2.1.3)

markl@sandy.Corp.Sun.COM (Mark Massa-Lochridge)  (2.2.1.2, 3.2.2.3, 3.2.2.6)

er+@cs.cmu.edu  (2.1.9.2, 2.2.1.5, 2.2.8, 3.2.3.2, 3.3.6.4)

pHilip wIlk <pwilk@reed.edu>  (2.1.9.2, 2.2.4.1, 3.2.2.1)

George Chang <geochang@gandalf.rutgers.edu>  (2.1.9.1)

ChrisDJ@aol.com  (2.1.9.1)

“james kreines” <jkreines@midway.uchicago.edu>  (2.1.8.8)

dlj0@chern.math.lehigh.edu (DAVID L. JOHNSON)  (2.1.8.7, 2.1.8.8, 2.2.1.4, 3.2.2.3, 3.3.6.2)

“Ellen M. Sentovich” <ellen@ic.EECS.Berkeley.EDU>  (2.1.8.7)

“Christof Tebbe” <RZ94-004@WSRZ1.WISO.UNI-ERLANGEN.DE>  (2.1.8.6)

Dale Chun <dchun@uhunix.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu>  (2.1.8.6, 2.1.8.7)

Harald.T.Alvestrand@uninett.no  (2.1.8.6, 2.2.2.4, 3.3.6.4)

Jim Van Zandt <jrv@vanzandt.mv.com>  (2.1.8.5, 3.2.1.2)

mike <ABU00MPD@UNCCVM.UNCC.EDU>  (2.1.8.4, 3.1.2.4)

Trey Valenta <fval_ltd@uhura.cc.rochester.edu>  (2.1.8.2)

Robert Poole <lionboy@PrimeNet.Com>  (2.1.7.5)

“Mike Olien” <molien@sherlock.dac.uga.edu>  (2.1.7.4, 2.2.3.1)

jpalmer@shadow.net (John Andrew Palmer)  (2.1.7.3, 3.3.1.2)

Joel Spolsky (spolsky@panix.com)  (2.1.7.1)

dcheong@student.ecel.uwa.edu.au (Denis Cheong)  (2.1.6.2)

Ali Albayrak <Ali.Albayrak@cs.Helsinki.FI>  (2.1.6.1)

tgpt_ltd <TGPT_LTD@db1.cc.rochester.edu>  (2.1.5.5, 2.2.1.4, 2.2.1.6, 3.3.6.3)

lionboy@PrimeNet.Com (Robert Poole)  (2.1.5.4, 2.2.4.1, 3.2.1.3, 3.3.1.1, 3.3.4, 3.3.5.2, 3.3.5.3, 3.3.5.4)

potyondi@cadvision.com  (2.1.5.4)

“c. kan” <ckan@julian.uwo.ca>  (2.1.5.2)

al249@freenet.carleton.ca (Michael Lee)  (2.1.5.1)

“Bill Flynn” <billf@gandalf.engr.sgi.com>  (2.1.4.4, 2.2.5)

mchan@laugher.DIALix.oz.au (Michael Chan)  (2.1.4.3)

ecdowney@noao.edu (Elwood C. Downey)  (2.1.4.3, 2.2.5, 3.1.2.1)

kupson@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu (Keith W. Upson)  (2.1.4.2, 2.1.6.1, 3.2.2.1, 3.3.2)

Denis Cheong <dcheong@student.ecel.uwa.edu.au>  (2.1.4.1, 2.1.9.2, 3.1.2.2, 3.3.5.1)

coleman@cstp.umkc.edu (Mike Coleman)  (2.1.4.1, 2.2.5, 3.3.6.3)

gallops@hdshq.com (Jim Gallops)  (2.1.3, 2.1.4.3)

galouie@ix.netcom.com (Gerald Louie)  (2.1.2.3, 2.1.4.3, 2.1.8.1, 2.1.8.2, 2.2.2.4, 3.2.1.2, 3.2.1.4)

jgallops@netcom.com (Jim Gallops)  (2.1.2.2, 2.1.2.3)

Soleil@utxvms.cc.utexas.edu (Brandon Hines)  (2.1.1.2, 3.2.2.3, 3.2.3.1)

Klaus.Liedl@uibk.ac.at (Klaus R. Liedl)  (2.1.1.2)

Sanjiv Koshal <koshal@bobcat.ent.ohiou.edu>  (2.1.1.1, 3.2.2.4)

Ali Albayrak <Ali.Albayrak@cs.Helsinki.FI>  (1.4.2, 2.1.2.2, 2.1.3, 2.1.4.2, 2.1.4.3, 2.1.5.2, 2.1.8.4, 2.2.1.2, 2.2.1.3, 3.1.2.2, 3.3.6.3, 3.3.6.4, 3.3.6.6)

“Pavlov's Cat” <STEVE@Imagination.Com>  (1.4.1, 3.2.3.1, 3.2.3.3)

lrj (Lew Jansen)  (1.4.1, 1.4.2, 2.1.3.1, 2.1.7.2, 2.1.7.5, 2.1.8.4, 2.1.8.6, 2.1.8.8, 2.2.2.5, 3.2.2.2, 3.2.2.3, 3.2.3.1, 3.2.3.3)

dreid1@agt.alta.net  (1.4.1, 3.1.2.4, 3.2.1.2)

Gwyn Williams <gwyn@ipied.tu.ac.th>  (1.4.1, 2.1.8.3, 3.2.2.1)

MPDAVIS@unccvm.uncc.edu (Michael P Davis)  (1.2.2.2, 2.1.5.3, 2.1.5.4, 2.1.9.1, 2.2.1.4, 2.2.1.5, 2.2.2.1, 2.2.4.1, 2.2.6.2, 2.2.8, 3.1.1, 3.2.2.5)

slcramer@cuok.cameron.edu  (1.2.2.1)


WWW Reference
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/er/WWW/home.html


WWW Reference
http://domen.uninett.no/~hta/linux/aero-faq.html


WWW Reference
ftp://ftp.europe.ibm.com/psmea/pcmcia


WWW Reference
ftp://ftp.europe.ibm.com/psmemea/os2drivers/pcmcia/


WWW Reference
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq/Diagnostic-Setup/sp1149.exe


WWW Reference
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq/Diagnostic-Setup/sp1150.exe


WWW Reference
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq/Drivers/sp0743.zip


WWW Reference
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq/Drivers/sp0759.zip


WWW Reference
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq/Software-Solutions/sp0801.zip


WWW Reference
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq/Drivers/sp0993.zip


WWW Reference
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq/Drivers/sp1168.zip


WWW Reference
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq/Drivers/sp1125.zip


WWW Reference
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq/Software-Solutions/sp1169.zip


WWW Reference
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq/Drivers/sp0738.zip


WWW Reference
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq/Drivers/sp0843.zip


WWW Reference
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq/Drivers/sp0854.zip


WWW Reference
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq/Drivers/sp0891.zip


WWW Reference
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq/Drivers/sp0889.zip


WWW Reference
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq/Drivers/sp0935.zip


WWW Reference
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq/Drivers/sp0937.zip


WWW Reference
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq/Drivers/sp1147.zip


WWW Reference
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq/Drivers/sp0710.zip


WWW Reference
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq/Drivers/sp0800.zip


WWW Reference
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq/Drivers/sp0840.zip


WWW Reference
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq/Drivers/sp0890.zip


WWW Reference
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq/Drivers/sp0936.zip


WWW Reference
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq/Drivers/sp1034.zip


WWW Reference
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq/ROMpaqs/sp0723.zip


WWW Reference
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq/ROMpaqs/sp0762.zip


WWW Reference
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq/ROMpaqs/sp0896.zip


WWW Reference
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq/ROMpaqs/sp0946.zip


WWW Reference
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq/ROMpaqs/sp1073.zip


WWW Reference
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq/ROMpaqs/sp1124.zip


WWW Reference
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq/


WWW Reference
http://www.compaq.com


WWW Reference
http://www.netlib.org/utk/people/ReedWade/cpq_expbox.gif


WWW Reference
http://www.compaq.com


WWW Reference
http://www.reed.edu/~pwilk/aero_stuff.html


WWW Reference
http://domen.uninett.no/~hta/linux/aero-faq.html


WWW Reference
http://www.compaq.com/cgi-bin/present/productinfo/portableinfo/pcmcia/pcmcia.html


WWW Reference
http://www.compaq.com/cgi-bin/present/support/faq_portables.html


WWW Reference
http://www.compaq.com/cgi-bin/present/graphics/productinfo/portableinfo/aero.pg.html


WWW Reference
http://www.compaq.com/cgi-bin/present/productinfo/portableinfo/aero.pg.html


WWW Reference
http://www.compaq.com


WWW Reference
file://ftp.compaq.com/


WWW Reference
file://lassp.cornell.edu/pub/Aero


WWW Reference
news:comp.os.os2


WWW Reference
news:comp.os.ms-dos


WWW Reference
news:comp.os.ms-windows


WWW Reference
news:comp.os.linux


WWW Reference
news:comp.sys.laptops


WWW Reference
file://ftp.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/er/pub/aero.zip


WWW Reference
file://ftp.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/er/pub/aero.txt


WWW Reference
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/er/WWW/home.html


WWW Reference
mail:er+aero@cs.cmu.edu


WWW Reference
mail:Renee@cup.portal.com


WWW Reference
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/er/WWW/home.html