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. )

The S4 Jumper setting PIN1 PIN2 PIN3 PIN4

For 66 External Frequency ON OFF OFF OFF

For 100 External Frequency ON ON ON OFF

For 133 External Frequency OFF OFF ON OFF

S4 – CPU/PCI BUS CLOCK

Pos #4 Pos #3 Pos #2 Pos #1 CPU PCI

OFF OFF OFF OFF 91.5 30.5
OFF OFF OFF ON 66.82 33.41
OFF OFF ON OFF 96.22 32.07
OFF OFF ON ON 90 33
OFF ON OFF OFF 133.33 33.33
OFF ON OFF ON 83.1 27.77
OFF ON ON OFF 95 31.67
OFF ON ON ON 100 33.3
ON OFF OFF OFF 75 37.5
ON OFF OFF ON 137 34.25
ON OFF ON OFF 83.31 41.65
ON OFF ON ON 105 35
ON ON OFF OFF 109.99 36.66
ON ON OFF ON 114.99 38.33
ON ON ON OFF 120 40
ON ON ON ON 124 41.33

S3 –GPI6/CPUSET

S3 ON OFF

#1 TBD TBD

S3 – K/B ID

S3 Pos #2 POS #3

US KEYBOARD OFF OFF
JP KEYBOARD OFF ON
GR KEYBOARD ON OFF
RESERVE ON ON

S3 – CLEAR RTC

S3 ON OFF

#4 CLEAR CMOS(RTC) DATA RTC BATTERY NORMAL

Before clear RTC ,must remove adapter and battery.

1.9 Question:

What is an S-Video output?

Answer:

Super Video is a cable connection that produces sharper video images than standard

composite video cables. It accomplishes this by sending the video signal over the cable in two

channels one for color the other for brightness, rather than one.

Connect your S-Video cable to the television and the S-Video port on the computer. Set your

TV to the proper video input (refer to your TV’s documentation for instructions). Click on the

Settings tab. Click on the Advanced button. Click on the ATI Displays tab. Put a check in the

box next to Television. Click in OK to close the menu.

1.10 Question:

How come of my Power Saving Function key can not work with windows 98 ACPI

environment?

Answer:

In the ACPI environment, Power Saving Function was controlled by OS. That's why the

Power Saving Function key can not work.

1.11 Question:

How come of my Power saving Function key cannot work with windows 2000 environment?

Answer:

In the ACPI environment, Power Saving Function was controlled by OS

2000 was an ACPI OS. That's why the Power Saving Function key can not work.

and the Windows

1.12 Question:

Why the system detected 60MB during POST only? I have use 64MB RAM module into

system.

Answer:

Due to the reason that the VGA memory share with system memory. Therefore, if the frame

buffer under BIOS setting is set to 4MB, you can only see 60MB.

1.13 Question:

What is Card Bus?

Answer:

CardBus devices combine the best features of 16-bit PC Cards with the performance of 32-bit

PCI adapters. The CardBus specification provides a standard interface for peripherals.

CardBus delivers increased throughput and functionality through 32-bit data transfers, bus

mastering, and other PCI features, while maintaining backward compatibility with 16-bit PC

Card adapters. The following are the CardBus key features:

• True 32-bit I/O with high speed 33MHz bus, compared with an 8.33MHz bus for 16-bit

I/O.

• Bus mastering allows peer-to-peer CardBus data transfers.

• Burst-mode data transfers.

• Low power consumption using 3.3-volt CMOS devices.

• Hot Insertion and automatic configuration.

• Support for 16-bit PC Card and 32-bit CardBus devices in the same slot.

• True processor independence.

1.14 Question :

What is ZV port?

Answer:

ZV Port is the short form of Zoomed Video Port, which is one of the major multimedia data

transports nowadays. ZV Port is also a low cost and compact solution requiring no additional

chips or space on the motherboard. ZV port delivers a high performance video data

transmission rate up to 27Mbytes/sec and supporting full motion/full screen video on a

notebook. This alternative path for multimedia data transfer minimizes CPU utilization and

PCI bus contention since video data is transferred directly to the video and audio system

through a dedicated bus. Also, the only the upper slot of A440 series supports ZV port.

1.15 Question

Which PCMCIA Card did you tested on A440 machine?

Answer :

SRAM/ATA PC Card

Brand Model Win98SE WinME Win2000

SunDisk 1.8 MB Flash Disk (ATA card) 9 9 9
SunDisk 5 MB Flash Disk (ATA card) 9 9 9
SunDisk 4 MB Flash Disk (ATA card) 9 9 9

Data/ Fax/ Modem PC Card

Brand Model Win98SE WinME Win2000

USRobotics Megahertz Megahertz 56kbps PC Card Modem

(XJ-5560)

Simple 56K Communication 9 9 N/A
US Robotics US Robotics 28800 9 9 9

9 9 9

Network Interface (Ethernet/CardBus) PC Card

Brand Model Win98SE WinME Win2000

Billionton 100Base-TX Ethernet CardBus PC Card

(Realtek RTL8139A)

Xircom RealPort CardBus EthernetII 10/100

(RBE-100)
3Com
Megahertz
D-Link CardBus Fast Ethernet Adapter

Intel EthernetExpress PRO/100 9 9 9
Xircom Credit Card Ethernet Adapter 10/100 ready

3Com EtherLink III LAN PC Card (3C589D-TP) 9 9 9

10/100 Lan CardBus PC Card

(3CCFE575CT)

(DFE-660TX)

(CE3B-100BTX)AP

9 9 9

9 9 9

9 9 9

9 9 9

9 9 9

Combo (Lan/ Fax/ Modem) PC Card

Brand Model Win98SE WinME Win2000

Intel PRO/100 Lan+56K Modem CardBus II

Adapter

3Com Megahertz 10/100 Lan+56K Modem

(3CCFEM556B)

Xircom RealPort Ethernet 10/100+Modem56 9 9 9

9 9 9

9 9 9

IEEE1394 PC Card

Brand Model Win98SE WinME Win2000

(No brand) IEEE1394 to CardBus Interface PC

Cardn

9 9 9