Battery
FAQ
An explanation of proper usage
of your notebook battery.
General
FAQ
A list of Frequently asked
questions (FAQ) applicable to all ChemBook™ notebook
computers.
Miscellaneous
FAQ
A list of FAQ pertaining to
using supplemental peripherals or softwares on ChemBook™
notebook computers.
Battery
FAQ
For more information, please go to General
FAQ.
AC Adapter
Caution:
- The AC adapter is designed for
use with your notebook only. Connecting the AC adapter to
another device can damage the adapter.
- The AC power cord supplied
with your notebook is for use in the country where you
purchased your notebook. If you plan to go overseas with the
notebook, consult your dealer for the appropriate power
cord.
The AC adapter serves as a
converter from AC (alternating current) to DC (direct current)
power because your notebook runs on DC power, but an electrical
outlet usually provides AC power. It operates on any voltage in
the range of 90-265V AC. The battery pack automatically
recharges while your notebook is connected to AC power.
Determining the Amount
of Battery Life Left
The battery is made up of chemical material and its capacity
cannot be measured physically. The only way of knowing the
battery charge is by estimation. However, the estimation may get
less accurate under some situations (for example, after a long
period of storage or after replacement of battery packs). If
this happens, you should fully recharge the battery.
By Gas Gauge (available
only for the notebooks equipped with Battery with Gas Gauge)
On the top or side of the battery pack is a gas gauge for
displaying the battery charge. If the battery pack is not
installed in the notebook and you want to know the battery
charge, you can press the on/off switch with a pointed device to
see the number of indicators that light green. The number of
green indicators indicates the relative percentage of the
battery charge.
By Operating System
(available only for notebooks equipped with Smart Battery)
While the notebook is in use, you
can know the battery charge with some operating systems, e.g.,
Windows. Windows can display a battery meter that shows the
battery charge.
Important Notes on Using
Battery Pack
Recharging
and discharging
Recharging will not start if the battery's temperature is
below 0ºC (32ºF) or above 45ºC (113ºC). Also, during
recharging, the recharging will stop if the battery's
temperature gets above 60ºC (140ºF). To avoid problems caused
by temperatures, make sure the battery is not too hot before you
begin to recharge or discharge the battery. Follow these general
advises:
- When the battery is fully
discharged, allow a 30-minute interval before you connect
the AC adapter to recharge the battery.
- When the battery is being
recharged, keep the notebook power off and wait until it is
fully recharged.
- When the battery is fully
recharged, disconnect the AC adapter and allow a 30-minute
interval before you begin to use the battery power.
- During recharging, do not
disconnect the AC adapter before the battery has been fully
charged; otherwise you will get a prematurely charged
battery.
- After the notebook has been
fully recharged, do not immediately disconnect and reconnect
the AC adapter to charge it again. Doing so may damage the
battery.
- Do not leave the battery
completely discharged for too long as this may affect the
battery's performance.
Maintaining
charge on NiMH battery
The operating time of a NiMH battery will get shorter
than expected if the notebook has not been used for a long time
(say, a few weeks). This is because NiMH batteries are
susceptible to self-discharge: the battery will discharge itself
even if not in use. Normally a fully-charged battery gets
totally self-discharged in one to one and a half months. If this
happens, solve the problem by charging and discharging the
battery for a minimum of three times. This means after you fully
charge the battery and then used up the battery power for three
times, the battery should regain its operating time.
Operating and
Handling
- Never remove the battery pack
while it is in use. If you need to replace the battery pack,
make sure you have turned off the notebook power.
- Leave the battery pack in
place unless you will replace it. If you remove the battery
pack, keep it away from conductors such as metals and water.
In case the battery's pins get into touch with conductors,
the battery may become unusable as a result of
short-circuit.
- When you disconnect the AC
adapter, disconnect from the electrical outlet first and
then from the notebook. To prevent data loss that may be
caused by low battery, develop the habit of frequently
saving your data to the hard disk or a diskette.
Maintenance of
the Battery
- When you install a new
battery, fully charge and discharge the battery at least
once and then fully charge the battery before you begin to
use the battery power for the first time.
- Protect your notebook from
extremes in temperature. (See "Environmental
specifications" in Appendix A for temperature range.)
- Do not store fully-charged
NiMH battery in a bulky, densely packed condition, otherwise
the overheating of the battery pack and subsequently the
melting of the plastic case can happen.
Battery Low Signals and
Actions
Battery Low occurs when the
battery has approximately 10% of its charge remaining. The
notebook gives warning beeps to alert you to take actions. If
your notebook model has LED indicators, the Battery indicator
will blink orange.
Immediately save your date upon
Battery Low. The remaining operating time depends on how you are
using the notebook: if you are using the audio subsystem, PC
card, hard or floppy disk drives, the battery might run out of
charge very quickly.
Always respond to Battery low by
connecting the AC adapter or turning off the notebook, or
suspending your notebook to disk.
If you do not take any action,
after two minutes' warning beeps, the notebook will
automatically suspend to disk and turn off.
Caution:
- If the "Battery Low
warning beep" is set to [disable] in the SETUP program,
the notebook will not beep.
- If the suspend-to-disk
partition does not exist on your hard disk, the notebook
will not be able to suspend to disk. It will keep on beeping
until you take actions or until the battery runs out of
charge.
- If you are using a flash PC
card, do not access the card during low battery periods.
This is because the access may take longer than the time it
takes the battery to run out of charge, thus making your
access unsuccessful.
- If you fail to save your data
when the battery completely runs out of charge, then you
lose your data.
Power-Saving Tips
Your notebook implements Power
Management features that automatically conserve power for you.
You can also take the following measures in conserving battery
power:
- Lower the brightness of the
LCD display. Select the lowest brightness that you feel
comfortable with.
- Be conservative in setting the
"hard disk power down after." Power drain from
spooling up the drive can often outweigh the power savings
from shutting it down. If an application does not frequently
access the hard disk drive, you may shorten the time-out
period. This causes the hard disk drive to enter standby
mode after a shorted idle time and thus conserve power.
- Set up a disk cache, RAM disk,
or both. The best type of disk cache is one that can cache
disk reads as well as writes. A RAM disk, used like a hard
disk drive, can reduce drive access and save battery power.
General
FAQ
CPU
Memory
Video
Storage
PCMCIA
Input / Output
Battery
Power Management
Operating Systems
What is the CPU Voltage in my
ChemBook™ notebook?
The following chart lists the
voltages for different types of CPUs supported by ChemBook™
notebooks. Please note that for each ChemBook™ model, not all
CPU types are supported.
| Intel® Pentium®
processor 75 - 200 MHz |
3.3V |
| Intel® Pentium®
processor with MMX™ technology 166 - 233 MHz |
2.8V |
| Intel® mobile Pentium®
processor with MMX™ technology 166 - 233 MHz |
1.8V |
| Intel® mobile Pentium®
processor with MMX™ technology 266 MHz |
2.0V |
| Intel® mobile Pentium®
II processor 233-300 MHz |
1.7V / 1.6V |
If you are installing the CPU
yourself, you will need to manually adjust dip switches which
corresponds to the speed and voltage requirement of the CPU. For
ChemBook™ 6800 and 6800XL, you will need to obtain the
appropriate CPU Power board. For systems using the Intel®
Mobile Module, there is no need for CPU voltage switches or
jumpers. The voltage regulator is embeeded on the Mobile Module
itself.
What is the optimal memory
size?
Although ChemBook™ notebook
computers are capable of supporting system memory sizes up to
128MB or 256MB, the optimal memory size, i.e., the memory size
which provides maximum performance and efficiency, is determined
by the core logic chipset, specifically, the maximum cacheable
memory range of the core logic chipset. The Intel® 430TX Core
Logic chipset for Intel® Pentium® processor with MMX™
technology systems supports a maximum of 64MB of cacheable
memory size, which the Intel® 440BX Core Logic chipset for
Intel® Pentium® II processors supports a maximum of 512MB of
maximum cacheable memory size. This means that for 430TX
systems, if your system memory size exceeds 64MB, you may
experience an overall performance decrease.
How can I display full screen
on my SVGA or XGA LCD?
If you have a SVGA screen, you
might see a 1" border around the display (or 1.5" for
XGA screens). This is due to the fact that the VGA mode is used
by default in DOS and Windows. If you wish to use the VGA mode
with the full screen, follow these steps. (only available for
2600, 5400, 6800, and 6800XL)
- Turn on the notebook.
- Enter System Configuration
Utility Setup (BIOS Setup).
- Either check the option for
Video Expansion Mode or uncheck the option for disabling
Video Expansion Mode (depending on the model).
- Save the setting and reboot
the computer.
DOS does not use the SVGA mode.
However, the DOS VGA utility diskette (included with the
notebook) does have drivers that allow SVGA display with some
programs, such as Autocad.
To enable the SVGA mode in
Windows 95, follow these steps.
- From Windows, go to Control
Panel / Display Properties / Settings.
- Go into Advanced Properties
(Win95B) or Display Settings (Win95/95a), and change the
monitor type to Laptop Display 800x600 (or Laptop Display
1024x768 for XGA).
- Move the slider bar for
Desktop Area to the right to 800 by 600 pixels (or 1024 by
768 for XGA screens).
- Click on OK. Windows will
resize the desktop. Be sure to confirm the new desktop size
within 5 seconds, or else Windows will return to the
original desktop size.
How should I partition a large
capacity hard drive during Windows NT installation?
Because of limitations in the
files systems, you cannot partition hard disk drives larger than
4GB with one single partition. Here are some example partition
schemes for specific hard disk drive models. (All partition
sizes are approximate, and may not add up to the total drive
capacity.)
- IBM DYLA-28100 8.1GB HDD : 4GB
+ 4GB
- IBM DADA-25400 5.4GB HDD : 3GB
+ 2.5GB
- Toshiba MK6409MAV 6.4GB HDD :
3.2GB + 3.2GB
- IBM DTCA-24090 4.09GB HDD :
Single Partition of 4GB
- Toshiba MK4006MAV 4.1GB HDD:
Single Partition of 4GB
You should also format the
partitions with NTFS file system, since the maximum partition
size for FAT is 2GB.
Are the modular devices
hot-swappable?
Unless otherwise specified, none
of the modular devices on ChemBook™ notebook computers are
swappable. You must turn off the computer before you can remove
or insert these devices. The only exceptions to this rule are
PCMCIA cards, batteries, and AC adapters.
How can I get the fax modem to
work with DOS programs on ChemBook™ notebooks?
By default, the fax modem, as
installed on ChemBook™, is configured to be on COM 3, IRQ 10
or 11. There are some older DOS programs which do not support
interrupt requests over 7. To use the fax modem for these DOS
programs, the best way is to disable the Infrared Port built-in
in each ChemBook™, which is on COM 2, IRQ 3. After disabling
the Infrared Port, the new setting for the Modem will be on COM
2, IRQ 3.
For instructions on how to
disable the built-in Infrared Port in the CMOS BIOS setup,
please read the user's manual, since the settings varies between
different notebook models.
By disabling the IrDA port, the
overall performance of the computer is not affected. The only
disadvantage would be that you can no longer use the Infrared
wireless communication feature of the computer.
What are the limitations of
the TV Out Port?
On all systems or docking
stations where TV-Out capabilities are supported, the following
two limitations apply due to the limited bandwidth of the
television :
- For systems with RCA jacks,
the maximum resolution is 640 x 480 for NTSC, and 800 x 600
for PAL.
- For systems with S-Video
jacks, including ChemBook™ 6000 and 7000, the maximum
resolution is 800 x 600 for both NTSC and PAL.
- Simultaneous display on TV and
LCD is not supported.
Does my notebook computer have
a smart battery?
Certain ChemBook™ notebooks are
shipped with smart batteries, which allows you to see the
remaining battery life in Windows, as well as a gas gauge on the
battery itself. A common misconception is that Lithium Ion
batteries are smart batteries. In reality, there is no relation
between whether a battery is smart or not and whether a battery
is Lithium Ion or Nickel Metal Hydride.
Why doesn't my system enter
sleep/suspend mode in Windows 95?
When APM is enabled in Windows
95, the operating system will periodically poll the status of
the CD-ROM drive, the drive controller reports that the drive is
still in use, preventing the computer from being suspended.
Please perform the following procedures to correct this problem:
- Click Start/Settings/Control
Panel/System/Device Manager.
- Double click CD-ROM/TEAC-xxE
(or Masushita, Mitsumi, or Toshiba)/Settings. Click on
"Auto Insert Notification" check box to disable
it. Click OK.
- Restart Windows for the
changes to take effect.
How do I determine the size of
the suspend-to-disk partition?
The minimum size of the
suspend-to-disk partition must be greater than the sum of the
system and video memory. For example, if your system is equipped
with 64MB, and your system has 4MB Video RAM, then your suspend
partition should be a minimum of 68MB. You should also follow
these two recommendations:
- Allocate a minimum of 4 MB
extra in addition to the system+video memory size.
- If you plan on increasing the
memory size of your system in the future, allocate for the
maxmimum amount of memory supported by the system.
- For systems supporting maximum
of 128MB: Recommended S2D Partition size = 136MB.
- For ChemBook™ 9780M
supporting maximum of 192MB: Maximum Recommended S2D
Partition size = 200MB.
- For ChemBook™ 6000
supporting maximum of 144MB: Maximum Recommended S2D
Partition size = 150MB.
- For ChemBook™ 3300
supporting maximum of 96MB: Maximum Recommended S2D
Partition size = 100MB.
- For ChemBook™ 9750
supporting maximum of 80MB: Maximum Recommended S2D
Partition size = 84MB.
Why do I get Suspend-to-Disk
partition error messages when I increase the system memory size?
The error messages occur to
indicate that your suspend-to-disk partition is too small to
support the new, larger system memory size. To remove the error
message and to re-activate the suspend-to-disk function, you
will need to remove all partitions on the hard disk, recreate
the suspend-to-disk partition using the new memory size, and
re-install your operating system and all applications. Please
take the necessary precautions of backing up all your important
data before you remove the partitions.
Does my ChemBook™ support
Windows 98?
As a general rule, if your
notebook system was purchased more than 6 months before Windows
98 was released, you should not install Windows 98 on that
system. Our currently available models do support Windows 98. If
you have an older model and wish to install Windows 98, please
contact CHEM USA Technical support via E-mail
at custserv@chemusa.com
or phone at (510) 608-8818 BEFORE you proceed.
Which version of Windows 95 do
I have?
Since Windows 95 was introduced
in August 1995, there has been several versions of Windows 95
released.
- Windows 95, version 4.00.950,
which is the original version.
- Windows 95 A (Service Release
1), version 4.00.950a, which is upgraded from the original
version with Service Pack 1, and fixes several bugs in
Windows 95.
- Windows 95 B (OEM Service
Release 2), version 4.00.950B, which is a major revision
from Windows 95 A. This version included several
improvements over the other versions, including Internet
Explorer 3.0, support for FAT32, etc.
- Windows 95 B (OEM Service
Release 2.1), version 4.00.950B. This version is identical
to OSR2, except that USB support has been added.
- Windows 95 C (OEM Service
Release 2.5), version 4.00.950C. This version includes OSR
2.1, with Internet Explorer 4.0 added.
The Setup Boot Disk for Windows
95 and Windows 95 A are interchangeable. However, the Setup Boot
Disk for Windows 95 B and C is different from the Setup Boot
Disk for either Windows 95 or 95A.
To distinguish between Windows 95
B CD-ROM and other versions, the Windows 95 B CD-ROM contains
the mark "Includes CD Sampler! with Free Games". To
distinguish between Windows 95 C CD-ROM and other versions, the
Windows 95 C CD-ROM contains the hologram "Genuine
Microsoft" in the center of the CD, as well as the
"Includes CD Sampler! with Free Games" logo.
Please go to Microsoft
Home Page for more information.
What is the PCMCIA Card
Services listed in Windows 95B's Device Manager?
If you have Windows 95B OSR2, you
may see a device called PCMCIA Card Services listed under Other
Devices. Do not remove this device. It is necessary for the
power management functions of PCMCIA cards.
Which Windows versions support
Cardbus?
Among all of the currently
released versions of Microsoft Windows, only Microsoft Windows
95B/C (OSR2.x) supports Cardbus. Windows NT 4.0 provides limited
support for Cardbus devices if Service Pack 1 or later is
installed. Future releases of Windows, including Windows 98 and
Windows NT 5.0 are expected to provide full support for Cardbus.
Miscellaneous
FAQ
IC Card Ethernet PCMCIA Card
Ambicom Cardbus Fast Ethernet
Card
Registration Card
How do I set up IC Card
Network Cards in Windows 95 or Windows 95 a?
To set up IC Card in Windows 95
original version or Windows 95 (a) version, follow these steps.
- Start Windows 95.
- Make sure that the PCMCIA
socket is installed correctly in Device Manager.
- Insert the IC Card into one of
the PCMCIA slots.
- Windows 95 will tell you that
it has found new hardware, and give four choices. Choose the
last choice, which is "Select from an alternate list of
drivers."
- For the type of device, choose
Network Adapter.
- For the manufacturer, choose
D-Link Corporation. For the model number, choose D-Link
DE650 Ethernet Card PCMCIA.
- Windows will ask you to insert
the Windows 95 CD-ROM. After the files are copied, you will
hear two tones.
- The IC Card is installed.
How do I set up IC Card
Network Cards in Windows 95 B?
Note : This method only works for
the Twisted Pair 10BaseT connection. If you are using 10Base2
coaxial connections, please go here
for instructions.
- Insert the IC Card into the
socket.
- The Update Device Driver
Wizard will appear. Click on Next to let it look for an
updated driver. It will eventually determine that it cannot
find the driver. Click finish to return to Windows 95
Desktop.
- From the Start button, go to
Settings/Control Panel/System/Device Manager.
- Click on the + sign next to
Other devices. You will see a yellow exclamation mark next
to "ICARD-ICARD".
- Click on "ICARD-ICARD"
and click on properties/Driver/Update Driver.
- Choose No to select from a
list of device drivers.
- For the device type, choose
Network Adapters.
- Choose D-Link Corporation as
the manufacturer, and DE-650 PCMCIA Card as the model
number.
- Windows will start copying
some files from the Windows 95B CD-ROM. It may also ask you
input your computer name and Workgroup name.
- After Windows finishes copying
files, restart the computer, and the network card should
function properly.
Can I use IC Card Network Card
with a Coaxial 10Base2 Network?
If you are having trouble
connecting to your network IC Card with a coaxial 10Base2
connection, insert the driver diskette for the IC Card into
drive A, and type from the a:\ prompt:
dmcu /bnc
Click here
to go to the file list for the driver. The file (icarddrv.exe)
contains a complete set of drivers for all operating systems.
Use the -d parameter to extract all subdirectories, and look for
the correct directory for your operating system.
Is there a device driver
available for using IC Card Network Card in Windows NT 4.0?
A new IC Card driver
for Windows NT 4.0 has been released. This version allows the
card to be identified as a valid device in Control Panel /
PCMCIA Devices, but does not allow Coaxial 10Base2 connections.
Recommended settings are IRQ 5, I/O Address 300, Memory Address
D0000.
Why do I get the error message
"Not Enought Server Storage" on ChemBook™ 3300 in
Windows NT after installing the Ambicom Cardbus Fast Ethernet
Card?
If you see the "Not Enought
Server Storage" error message, please re-apply Windows NT
4.0 Service Pack 3.
What do I write as the PGM-ID
on the ChemBook™ Registration Card?
You do not have to fill-in the
PGM-ID field on the ChemBook™ Registration Card.
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