Fic a440 Service Manual HW FAQ

Hardware FAQ for A440

1.1 Question:

What are the available processors supported by A440?

Answer:

Currently, the supported processors are list as below,

- Intel Mobile Pentium III at 650//700/750/800/850MHz

- Intel Celeron 500/533/566/600/633/667MHz

We recommend the mobile processors which are tuned for optimal performance versus

lowest power in the notebook computing environment. Take note that the A440 support socket

370 FC-PGA packaging only!

1.2. Question:

The Brightness ( Fn+F8, F9 ) and contrast ( Fn+F10, F11 ) keys do not work?

Answer:

Usually, the brightness adjustment is so trivial that human eyes cannot tell the difference. It is

easier to see the changing of brightness in W indows environment rather than DOS

environment. Please also note that the contrast control keys ( Fn+F10, F11 ) do not work with

TFT but DSTN/HPA notebooks. For a better sense of brightness adjustment, please change

the background to white color if possible.

1.3 Question:

How to erase the password if the password is forgotten?

Answer:

You could adjust DIP SWITCH 5 to clear CMOS ( RTC ) data. The DIP SW5 position under

Memory socket door. You can use small flat screw driver to adjust position#4 switch to ON

and waiting for 3 to 5 minutes, then, please switch back to OFF position in the DIP SW3.

Warning!! Before clear CMOS ( RTC ) data, you must remove the AC adapter and Battery

first.

1.4. Question:

The battery life becomes shorter, How can I rebuild it ?

Answer:

Battery life will vary from user to user depending on how the computer is being used. To help

increase your battery life, you can configure the power management features within the

Power Management properties of Windows 98 Second Edition.

To access Power Management properties click on the Start button, go to Settings and choose

Control Panel. Next, click on the Power Management Icon. You can customize these settings

as you choose. You should be aware that any power management features will be of benefit

only if there are periods of inactivity which allow the settings to engage. Please note that the

battery in the A440 takes about 2.5 hours to fully charge with the machine turned OFF.

1.5 Question:

Why does a brand-new system have an empty battery?

Answer:

Due to the reason that the Ni-MH battery has self-discharged during shipping and shelf period.

Since the battery capacity is very low, it may take a few hours to prompt the battery voltage to

its normal stage. Please note the AC adapter LED will remain green even the battery is fully

recharged.

Also, the problem might be caused by BAD battery or drained battery. The drained battery is

caused by excessively self-discharge of Ni-MH battery. It will happen after the battery has

been stocked or shelved more than 3 months.

1.6 Question:

How do I do the battery learning cycle progress?

Answer:

Cycling your battery every month or so will extend the life expectancy of your A440 battery.

Important! Before beginning this process make sure your AC adapter is plugged in. The best

way to do this is to turn the unit ON and press the F2 key when prompted to enter Setup. Go

to the Power Management Setup menu and press Enter. Arrow down to Battery Auto

Calibration, and change it to enabled. By pressing the Pg Dn key, you will get a message

stating. “Please make sure that the AC adapter & battery are present. Do you wish to do

battery auto-learning? (Y/N)” Press Y and then Enter. Once calibration is completed the

computer will prompt you to shutdown and restart.

1.7 Question:

What is the function of PHDISK.EXE program and how to use it?

Answer:

The PHDISK utility of the notebook allows you to create a Suspend-To-Disk (STD) partition or

file that is used to save the opened files when you activate STD mode and power off the

computer. If you want to make use of the STD feature, you need first to run the PHDISK

utility.

You could see a message appear in a red column during Power On Self Test before you

execute the PHDISK.EXE. The red column displays ?Save To Disk file not found. Save to

Disk feature is disabled. Run Phdisk for information.

File: creat new. Partition: consult manual. Hit any key to exit. ?The above message will

disappear after you have execute the Phdisk.exe.

The Phdisk program has support FAT 16 and FAT 32 format also. To know the more detail

information about PHDISK, you could execute Phdisk /? on the command from the directory

where the PHDISK command is located.

1.8 Question:

How to adjust the CPU jumper switch setting?

You could find the string on the CPU surface , ex 700/256/100/1.65V, the 700 means CPU

frequency, 256 means cache size, 100 means external frequency, and in the last, the 1.65V

means core voltage.

The A440 could detects the CPU frequency automatically. For the CPU, you just need to

adjust the external frequency only. for your reference. ( Remove the heat sink plate then you

could see the S4 jumper, in the upper side of CPU socket. )