Gateway SOLO 9100 User Manual

Contents
Chapter 1: Checking Out Your Notebook ...............................	1
Keyboard and LCD Panel.......................................................................	2
System Status Indicators .........................................................................	4
Left side....................................................................................................	5
Back .........................................................................................................	6
Right Side ................................................................................................	8
Bottom .....................................................................................................	9
Chapter 2: Using Your System ..............................................	11
Connecting AC Power ..........................................................................	12
Starting Up.............................................................................................	13
LCD Panel .............................................................................................	14
Using the Keyboard...............................................................................	15
Function keys..................................................................................	16
Special keys ....................................................................................	18
Pad Lock keys.................................................................................	18
EZ Pad Pointing Device........................................................................	20
Customizing the EZ Pad ................................................................	21
Using an External Mouse or Keyboard ................................................	21
Swapping Option Bay Modules............................................................	22
Using the Audio.....................................................................................	25
Adjusting the volume.....................................................................	25
Making an Audio Recording .........................................................	26
Using Disc Media (CD-ROM) .............................................................	28
Playing an audio CD ......................................................................	28
Removing or Replacing the Hard Disk Drive ......................................	30
Using PC Cards .....................................................................................	32
About CardBus Cards ....................................................................	33
USB (Universal Serial Bus) Ports.........................................................	34
Using Fast IR Ports................................................................................	34
Using the Composite Video Ports.........................................................	35
Using the VidCap Demonstration Program ..................................	36
Chapter 3: Managing Power Consumption ..........................	39
Using the battery....................................................................................	40
Battery learning software...............................................................	40

Contents i

Battery status..................................................................................	41
Swapping the battery ............................................................................	42
Maximizing the battery life ..................................................................	44
Managing power ...................................................................................	45
Windows 98 ...................................................................................	45
Windows 95 and Windows NT ....................................................	48
Modifying the power button mode................................................	49
Using the BIOS Setup Utility...............................................................	49
Using the Power Menu ..................................................................	50
Status display .................................................................................	52
Appendix A: Solo Notebook Accessories ..............................	53
Accessories ...........................................................................................	54
Appendix B: Contacting Gateway ..........................................	55
Contacting Gateway..............................................................................	56
Calling Gateway ............................................................................	56
Index .......................................................................................	57

ii Using Your Gateway Solo™ 9100 Multimedia Notebook

Checking Out

Your Notebook

Keyboard and LCD Panel .......................................	2
System Status Indicators .........................................	4
Left side....................................................................	5
Back..........................................................................	6
Right Side.................................................................	8
Bottom......................................................................	9

Keyboard and LCD Panel

Component	Description
A. XGA Color Liquid Crystal	Provides sharp, crisp resolution with backlit
Display (LCD)	anti-glare screen.
B. Power button	Press to turn power ON or OFF. Can also be
	configured to Suspend/Resume mode.
C. Keyboard	Provides full functionality of a desktop com-
	puter keyboard. Many of these keys have
	been assigned alternate functions, including
	shortcut keys for Windows 95 and Windows
	98, Status Display menus, and numeric key-
	pad.

2 Using Your Gateway Solo™ 9100 Multimedia Notebook

Component	Description
D. Speakers	Provide high quality sound reproduction for
	software and audio CDs.
E. CD-ROM drive/Diskette	The CD-ROM drive reads data CDs or audio
drive combination mod-	CDs. The diskette drive accepts 3.5-inch dis-
ule	kettes.
F. EZ Pad™ TouchPad	Controls the cursor movement on the screen.
	Buttons below the pad function as left and
	right mouse buttons for clicking.
G. Hard drive access cover	Opens to reveal and remove hard disk drive.
panel
H. Power LED	Indicates that the power status mode:
	• Steady green light indicates power is on and
	computer is in operation.
	• Flashing green light indicates that the com-
	puter is in standby or suspend mode.
	• No LED indicates that the system power is
	off.
I. Battery LED	Indicates the battery status mode:

•Green light indicates that the battery is fully charged.

•Yellow light indicates that the battery is charging.

•Red light indicates that a battery malfunction.

•No LED indicates that the system is running on the battery because the AC adapter is either not connected or is not providing power to the computer.

J.System status indicaIndicates that the system status modes. tors

(LCM - Liquid Crystal Module)

Chapter 1: Checking Out Your Notebook 3

System Status Indicators

Indicator	Icon Description
A. Hard drive	Indicates that the hard drive is in use.
access light
B. CD-ROM/Dis-	Indicates that the CD-ROM or the diskette
kette disk drive	drive is in use.
C. Caps lock	Indicates that the caps lock in on. When the
	Caps lock light is on, you type in all capital
	letters.
D. Pad lock	Indicates that the pad lock is on. When the
	Pad lock light is on, you can access the
	embedded numeric keypad.
E. Scroll lock	Indicates that the scroll lock is on. When
	Scroll lock light is on, some programs allow
	you to scroll through large volumes of text.

4 Using Your Gateway Solo™ 9100 Multimedia Notebook

Left side

Component	Icon Description
A. Volume wheel	Adjusts built-in speaker volume, external
	speaker, and headphone volume. Other port
	volume levels are controlled by multimedia soft-
	ware.
B. PC Card slots	Accepts two Type II PC Cards or one Type II
	Card.
C. Eject buttons	Ejects the PC Cards from the PC Card slots.
D. Speaker	Provides high quality sound reproduction for
	software and audio CDs.

Chapter 1: Checking Out Your Notebook 5

Back

Port	Icon Description
A. Parallel port	Connect parallel device such as a printer to
(LPT1)	this port.
B. Joystick/MIDI	Connect a game joystick or an electronic
port	MIDI musical instrument this port. The port
	provides both MIDI In and Out capabilities.
C. Fast IR (Infra-	Sends infrared signals between the notebook
red) port	and a remote device that uses infrared (for
	example, another computer, printer, or other
	peripheral). Place infrared devices up to 3
	feet (1 meter) apart.
D. Mic	Connect an external microphone to this port.
	Connecting an external microphone will dis-
	able the built-in microphone.
E. Line in	Records from another computer, stereo
	equipment, or a VCR.
F. Line out	Connect an amplified speaker to this port.
	The Line out port is not capable of driving
	unamplified speakers or headphones.
G. Speaker out/	Connect external speakers or headphones to
Headphone jack	this port. Supports small unamplified speak-
	ers. (1/8-inch/3.5-mm jack.)

6 Using Your Gateway Solo™ 9100 Multimedia Notebook

Port	Icon Description
H. Composite	Lets you view your notebook’s display on a
Video Out port	TV screen by connecting the notebook to the
	TV or VCR using a standard video cable.
I. Composite	Lets you display NTSC/PAL format video on
Video In port	your notebook’s screen from a VCR or video
	camera using a standard video cable.
J. Reset switch	Restarts the notebook, if necessary. Insert a
	paper clip to press switch.
K. Kensington lock	Attach Kensington lock to this port.
L. PS/2 port	Connect an external mouse or keyboard to
	this port.
M.Serial port	Connect an optional serial device to this port.
N. VGA port	Connect a VGA monitor cable to this port.
O. Docking station	Connect an optional docking station to this
port	port.

Chapter 1: Checking Out Your Notebook 7

Right Side

Component	Icon Description
A. Speaker	Provides high quality sound reproduction for
	software and audio CDs.
B. USB ports	Plug optional USB serial devices into these
	ports.
C. Power connector	Connect an AC power adapter to this port.

8 Using Your Gateway Solo™ 9100 Multimedia Notebook

Bottom

Component	Description
A. Flip foot	Flips out to tilt the notebook.
B. Back ports cover (open	Flips open to reveal ports.
position)
C. System identification	Provides product model number, serial num-
label	ber, display type, and processor speed.
D. Memory bay	Open the memory bay cover to install or
	remove SO-DIMM memory modules.
E. Battery pack bay	Slide battery pack into bay for battery power
	and battery charging.
F. Battery release latch	Slide the latch to release the battery pack
	from the battery pack bay.
G. Combination module	Slide the latch to release the combination
release latch	drive module from the bay.
H. Combination module	Pull here to remove combination module
	after sliding the release latch.

Chapter 1: Checking Out Your Notebook 9

10 Using Your Gateway Solo™ 9100 Multimedia Notebook

Using Your
System
Connecting AC Power...........................................	12
Starting Up.............................................................	13
LCD Panel..............................................................	14
Using the Keyboard...............................................	15
EZ Pad Pointing Device ........................................	20
Using an External Mouse or Keyboard ................	21
Swapping Option Bay Modules............................	22
Using the Audio.....................................................	25
Using Disc Media (CD-ROM)..............................	28
Removing or Replacing the Hard Disk Drive ......	30
Using PC Cards .....................................................	32
USB (Universal Serial Bus) Ports.........................	34
Using Fast IR Ports................................................	34
Using the Composite Video Ports.........................	35

Caution!

Replace the power cord if it becomes damaged. The replacement cord must be of the same type and voltage rating as the original cord.

Warning!

Do not attempt to disassemble the AC adapter. The AC adapter has no user-replaceable or user-serviceable parts inside. The AC adapter has dangerous voltages that can cause serious personal injury or death. Contact Gateway about returning defective AC adapters.

Connecting AC Power

Your notebook is powered by one of the longest-lasting batteries available and was shipped to you charged, ready to use. You might, however, want to use the AC adapter to provide a constant supply of power while you are checking out some of the features.

Connecting the AC adapter

1. Connect the power cord to the AC adapter.

2. Plug the AC adapter into your notebook’s power connector.

3. Plug the power cord into an electrical outlet.

12 Using Your Gateway Solo™ 9100 Multimedia Notebook

Starting Up

Slide the latch on the front face of your notebook to the right to release the cover and open up your notebook. To turn on your notebook, press the power button, located in the upper left corner on the notebook surface, close to the left LCD hinge.

The power button on your system is preset in On/Off mode. However, you can set it to function either in On/Off or Suspend/Resume mode using the setup screens (see “Using the BIOS Setup Utility” on page 49).

Power button

Chapter 2: Using Your System 13

Note:

This system ships with the “Auto dim with battery” feature enabled. Auto dim cuts LCD power 50% when your notebook is operating on battery power.

LCD Panel

Your notebook features a color LCD XGA panel providing sharp, crisp resolution and up to 256K (18 bits per pixel) color depth.

Tilt your notebook’s entire cover forward or backward to adjust the viewing angle. Press the FN key together with the up arrow and down arrow keys to control display brightness.

Some screens may have a small number of colored dots. This is normal and does not affect the overall screen image.

14 Using Your Gateway Solo™ 9100 Multimedia Notebook

Using the Keyboard

Your notebook features a full-size keyboard that has the full functionality of a desktop computer keyboard. Many of the keys have been assigned alternate functions, including shortcut keys for Windows, function keys for specific system operations, and pad lock keys for the numeric keypad.

Function keys for function key combinations

Function Key

Chapter 2: Using Your System 15

Function keys

Press the FN key together with one of the following keys (with blue letters) to get these “on-the-fly” functions:

Key Description

Combination

+

Displays the power status in the upper left corner of the Windows desktop. Press the key combination again to make the display disappear.

Toggles between the LCD display, external monitor, both displays at the same time, or TV display (NTSC or PAL format). See “LCD Panel” on Page 14.

Windows 95: LCD and Hard Drive shut off. Pressing any key will bring them back within a few seconds. Windows 98: System goes to sleep. Pressing the power button will bring the system out of sleep mode.

Makes temporary changes to the power management (PM) mode settings by toggling the setting options:

•PM ON enables power management with AC or battery power.

•PM DC enables power management when the notebook is using battery power only.

•PM OFF disables power management.

The selected option is not saved when the system is turned off. The power management settings selected in the BIOS setup program take effect when the system is restarted.

16 Using Your Gateway Solo™ 9100 Multimedia Notebook

Key Description

Combination

+

Makes changes to the video source (VIDEOSRC) settings by toggling the settings from:

DVD, select if using your DVD drive (optional)

TV IN, select if using the Composite Video In port PCMCIA, select if using a zoomed video card in PCMCIA slot

DISABLED

After about 30 seconds, the display disappears.

Enables the Pad Lock function so you can use the numeric keypad.

The Pad Lock icon stays lit while this function is enabled. Press the key combination again to make the display disappear.

In some programs you can scroll through large volumes of text.

The Scroll Lock icon stays lit as long as this function is enabled.

In some programs this key combination pauses the display when text is scrolling quickly. Press any key to continue the text flow.

In some programs this key combination breaks text scrolling in a DOS screen.

Increases LCD brightness and displays the brightness meter for the Popup Status Display reflecting the changes. Use the FN+F2 key combination to make the display disappear

Chapter 2: Using Your System 17

Key Description

Combination

+

Decreases LCD brightness and displays the brightness meter for the Popup Status Display reflecting the changes. Use the FN+F2 key combination to make the display disappear.

Special keys

The following keys help you use shortcuts when working with some

software:

Key	Description
	Use this key to display the Windows Start menu.

Use this key to provide quick access to shortcut menus and help assistants in Windows.

18 Using Your Gateway Solo™ 9100 Multimedia Notebook