HP OBXE-XE2 Specifications

Tips for Using the OmniBook XE and XE2

Configuring and Testing Your OmniBook

• Configuring the OmniBook with the BIOS Setup Utility

• Updating the OmniBook BIOS

• Testing the OmniBook with HP Diag Tools

• Using Power Management in Windows 95

• Using Enhanced Video and Dual Monitors (Windows 95 and Windows 98)

• Expanding the Hibernate Partition When Adding RAM

Recovering and Reinstalling Software

• Recovering Software

• Reinstalling the Online User’s Guide on an OmniBook XE

• Reinstalling Service Pack 4a (Windows NT 4.0)

Modem Information

• Modem Dialing in France, Belgium, and Spain (OmniBook XE)

• Modem Dialing in Spain (OmniBook XE2)

• Modem Specifications

Troubleshooting

• Audio Problems

• CD-ROM Drive Problems

• Display Problems

• Hard Disk Drive Problems

• Heat Problems

• Keyboard, Touch Pad, and Mouse Problems

• Infrared Problems

• Memory Problems

• Modem Problems

• PC Card (PCMCIA) Problems

• Performance Problems

• Port Replicator Problems

• Power and Battery Problems

• Printing Problems

• Serial, Parallel, and USB Problems

• Startup Problems

Specifications

• OmniBook XE Hardware Specifications

• OmniBook XE2 Hardware Specifications

• Software System Resources

Configuring the OmniBook with the BIOS Setup Utility

The BIOS (Basic Input and Output System) Setup utility is a menu-driven utility that enables you to make changes to the system configuration and tailor the operation of your OmniBook to your individual work needs.

The settings made in the BIOS Setup utility control the hardware and therefore have a fundamental effect on how the OmniBook operates.

This page describes the BIOS Setup utility menus and options in detail.

To run the BIOS Setup utility

1. Close all applications, then shut down Windows and restart the OmniBook.

2. When you see the HP logo, press F2 to enter the BIOS Setup utility.

3. The pointing devices are not active in the BIOS Setup utility. Press the RIGHT and LEFT

arrow keys to move among menus. Press the DOWN and UP arrow keys to move among options in a menu. Press F5 or F6 to move through values for the current option or press ENTER to display a list of choices. See the tables below for more information.

4. After you select the options you want, press F10 or use the Exit menu to exit the BIOS Setup

utility.

If the settings cause a conflict between devices during reboot, the system prompts you to run

BIOS Setup, and the conflicting settings are marked.

Main Menu Default

BIOS Revision Shows the current BIOS version. Detected

automatically.

System Time Sets the time using 24-hour format. Values set

take effect immediately.

System Date Sets the date using mm/dd/yyyy format.

Diskette A Sets the floppy drive type. Floppy disk drive

type detected and set automatically.

Primary Master Sets the hard disk drive type and various

parameters.

Secondary Master Sets the CD-ROM drive type and various

parameters.

Display Device Switches between the built-in display (LCD), an

external display (CRT) if attached, and both.

PS/2 Mouse Enables or disables the pointing devices. Enabled

ZV Port Sets whether zoomed video function is enabled,

to connect from a PC card to a VGA controller.

Hard disk drive detected and set automatically.

CD-ROM drive detected and set automatically.

LCD/CRT

Enabled

Quiet Boot When enabled, hides summary of

power-on self-test and messages during boot.

System Memory Shows the system memory size. 640KB

Extended Memory Shows the extended memory size. Detected

Enabled

automatically.

Advanced Menu Default

Serial port Sets how the serial port is configured by the

BIOS (specified or automatic).

Base I/O address Sets the I/O address and interrupt. 3F8 IRQ4

Enabled

IrDA port Sets how the infrared port is configured by the

BIOS (specified or automatic).

Mode When IrDA port is enabled, sets the hardware to

support SIR (Standard IR) or FIR (Fast IR) infrared communications. (Driver installation is required.)

Base I/O address When IrDA port is enabled, sets the I/O address

and interrupt.

DMA channel When Fast IR mode is enabled, sets the DMA

channel.

Parallel Port Sets how the parallel port is configured by the

BIOS (specified or automatic).

Mode Sets the port to output only, bi-directional, ECP

mode, or EPP mode.

Base I/O address Sets the I/O address. 378 IRQ7

DMA channel When ECP mode is enabled, sets the DMA

channel.

Local Bus IDE Adapter Enables the primary (hard drive) and secondary

(CD-ROM drive) controllers.

Floppy disk controller Enables the floppy disk drive. Enabled

Disabled

SIR

2F8 IRQ3

DMA 3

Enabled

Bi-directional

DMA 1

Both

Security Menu Default

User Password Is Shows if a user password is set. Clear

Supervisor Password Is Shows if a supervisor password is set. Clear

Set User Password Press ENTER to set, change, or clear user

password. Password length can be no longer than 8 characters, 0-9, A-Z.

Set Supervisor Password

Password on boot Sets whether a user password is required when

Power (APM)

Press ENTER to set, change, or clear supervisor password. This password protects BIOS Setup settings.

Enabled

the computer boots.

Default

Menu*

PM Control Disables power management, or enables it Battery Powered

either always or when on battery power only. Only

When Battery Exists

Only

Power Savings Sets the combination of power management

features for your usage. (Choose Customize if you want to set any of the Timeout options.)

Standby Timeout Sets the period of inactivity after which the

computer goes from On to Standby power mode.

Suspend Timeout Sets the period of inactivity after which the

computer goes from Standby to Suspend power mode.

Hibernate Timeout Sets whether the computer goes from Suspend

to Hibernate power mode after the indicated period of inactivity.

Hard Disk Timeout Sets the period of inactivity after which the hard

disk stops spinning.

Video Timeout Sets the period of hard disk inactivity after which

the screen is turned off.

Power Button Mode Sets the action (Suspend or Off) of the blue

power button when pressed for less than 4 seconds.

Resume on Modem Ring Sets whether the system resumes from Suspend

if a ring signal is received.

Resume on Time Sets whether the system resumes from Suspend

at a defined time of day.

Maximum Battery Life

2 minutes

2 hours

1 minute

Off

Suspend

Off

Resume Time Sets the 24-hour time when the system resumes

from Suspend if enabled.

Cooling Control Sets mode for reduction of CPU temperature to

Silence (less cooling) or Performance (more cooling).

Performance

Boot Menu Default

Removable Devices Hard Drive ATAPI CD-ROM Drive

Shows the order of boot devices. Move the entries to change the order. Removable Devices include the floppy disk drive.

1. Removable Devices

2. Hard Drive

3. ATAPI CD-ROM Drive

Exit Menu

Exit Saving Changes Saves Setup changes to CMOS, exits, and

reboots.

Exit Discarding Changes Discards Setup changes since last save, exits,

and reboots. Does not affect security, date, or time changes.

Load Setup Defaults Restores default settings, stays in Setup. Does

not affect security, date, or time changes.

Discard Changes Discards Setup changes since last save, stays in

Setup. Does not affect security, date, or time

changes.

Save Changes Saves Setup changes to CMOS and stays in

Setup. Security settings are saved when changed.

Updating the OmniBook BIOS

Hewlett-Packard may provide updates to the BIOS to enhance the capabilities of the OmniBook. Updates will be available from HP Customer Care. Visit the Support website at

http://www.hp.com/omnibook. Download the BIOS update to a floppy disk.

CAUTION: Because a BIOS update replaces the previous version, it is important you follow these instructions exactly. Otherwise, the OmniBook may be damaged. The BIOS update process resets the configuration settings in the BIOS Setup utility, and it erases any BIOS passwords.

To update the BIOS

1. Remove any PC Cards.

2. If the OmniBook is docked, undock it.

3. Connect the AC adapter to the OmniBook.

4. Insert the BIOS Update disk in the floppy disk drive.

5. Restart the computer.

6. Follow the onscreen instructions. This starts a process that takes approximately 1 minute.

Once the update process begins, do not interrupt it.

7. When the process is completed, reboot the computer again.

Testing the OmniBook with HP Diag Tools

The OmniBook HP Diag Tools provide two levels of system hardware testing:

• Automated testing using the basic hardware test.

• Advanced testing using the individual hardware tests.

The tests are designed to run after the system reboots. This ensures that the computer will be in a predictable state, so the diagnostic program can properly test the hardware components. The tests are non-destructive and are designed to preserve the state of the computer. The OmniBook reboots when you exit the program so drivers can be loaded.

To create a diagnostic floppy disk

You will need to create a diagnostic floppy disk to run the diagnostic tests on an OmniBook XE.

NOTE: If you have an OmniBook XE2, you do not need to run the diagnostics

from a floppy disk; however, it’s a good idea to create a diagnostic disk in case something happens to your hard drive.

After inserting a formatted floppy disk in the floppy drive, do one of the following to create a diagnostic floppy disk:

• On an OmniBook with a factory software installation, run diaginst from the \Dmi\Hpdiags

directory on the hard disk.

• On any computer with World Wide Web access, download the diagnostic software package

from the OmniBook website (http://www.hp.com/omnibook), run this file to unpack the files, then run diaginst to create the diagnostic disk.

To run the diagnostic test

1. If you have an OmniBook XE or XE2, insert the diagnostic disk in the floppy drive and

restart the computer. or If you have an OmniBook XE2, restart the computer; when you see the HP logo, press F10 to

start the diagnostics utility.

2. When you see the initial diagnostics screen, press F2 twice to continue.

In case the initial diagnostics screen does not appear:

• If you ran the diagnostics from a floppy disk, run scandisk on the floppy disk. If you

discover errors on the disk, create a new diagnostic disk, using a different floppy disk, before running the test again.

• If you ran the diagnostics from the hard disk, create a diagnostics floppy disk (according

to the procedure above) and then follow step 1 above.

3. When the hardware detection finishes, check the list of detected hardware.

If a device is not detected or fails its test below, it may be configured incorrectly in the BIOS Setup utility. You can confirm the problem by running BIOS Setup and checking the settings.

4. Run the basic test. Press F2 twice to start the basic hardware test.

5. Wait until the test has finished.

6. If you intend to exit without running advanced tests, press F4 twice to save system and test

information in the Support Ticket log file, HPSUPPT.TXT. Then remove the diagnostic disk (if you used one) and press F3 twice to exit.

7. Optional: Run the advanced tests. Press F2 twice to open the advanced test screen.

8. Select and run the appropriate tests. Tests are not listed if no such hardware is detected. Press

the following keys to run tests:

ENTER Runs the highlighted test.

F5 or SPACE Marks or unmarks the highlighted test.

F6 Marks or unmarks all tests in the current menu.

F7 Marks or unmarks all tests in all menus.

F10 Runs all marked tests.

9. When you have finished running tests, press ESC to exit the advanced tests.

10. Optional: Save system and test information. Press F4 to create the Support Ticket log file,

HPSUPPT.TXT.

NOTE: If you ran the diagnostics from a floppy disk, the log file is stored on the

diskette. If you ran the diagnostics from the hard disk (by pressing F10), the log file is stored on a hidden partition on the hard disk.

11. To exit, remove the diagnostic disk (if you used one), and press F3 twice to exit and reboot.

12. Optional: Check the Support Ticket log. The Support Ticket log file contains a list of all

test results and errors. If you ran the diagnostics from a floppy disk, you can open the HPSUPPT.TXT file with a text editor, such as Notepad. To open a log file that was stored on your hard disk, go to the C:\DMI\DiagTools directory and double-click HPSUPPT.EXE; this displays the log file in Notepad.

Using Power Management in Windows 95

Several power management features are built directly into the Windows 95 operating system. For example, there is a battery meter, you can put the IDE disk drive into low power mode, and you can manually suspend the system from the taskbar. You set these features using the Power applet in the Windows 95 control panel.

In addition to these Windows 95 features, the OmniBook BIOS provides additional capabilities. Through the BIOS Setup utility, you can:

• Enable or disable the power management feature.

• Specify the amount of time before the computer goes into Standby, Suspend, or Hibernate

mode.

• Automatically turn off the hard disk or monitor after a period of inactivity.

• Set the action of the blue power button.

• Set options for resuming from Suspend mode.

To customize the system power management settings

1. Close all applications, then shut down Windows and restart the OmniBook.

2. When you see the HP logo, press F2 to enter the BIOS Setup utility.

3. Press the RIGHT arrow key to point to the Power menu.

4. Press the DOWN arrow key to go to the option you wish to change. (See the Power (APM)

Menu table for descriptions of the various options).

NOTE: In order to change any of the timeout settings, you must first set the

Power Savings option to Customize.

5. Press F5 or F6 until you have selected the desired value.

6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 to change other power settings

7. When you’re finished, press F10 or use the Exit menu to exit the BIOS Setup utility.

Using Enhanced Video and Dual Monitors (Windows 95 and Windows 98)

Standard video drivers are installed on your OmniBook for various settings of screen area and colors, as well as for screen zoom capabilities. If you wish to use additional video features such as Stretch and Rotate, you can install a supplemental video driver. You also need to install this video driver in order to use your OmniBook with dual monitors in Windows 95.

To install the supplemental video driver

1. In Windows Explorer, open the folder c:\omnibook\drivers\video\control.

2. Double-click Setup.

3. Click Start, Settings, Control Panel

4. Double-click Display.

5. Select the Settings tab, choose either High Color (16 bit) or True Color (24 bit), and click

OK.

Do not select 256 colors, since the background is sometimes distorted.

To use the video control panel

After you have installed the supplemental video driver, a video control panel is available.

1. Click Start, Settings, Control Panel.

2. Double-click Display.

3. Select the LynxE tab and use the controls available there for additional features, such as

Stretch and Rotate, turning LCD (built-in display) and CRT (external monitor) on and off, and enabling video hot keys.

To use two monitors in dual mode

You can use two monitors with your OmniBook, either in dual mode, effectively expanding your screen real estate, or in simultaneous mode, displaying the same screen twice.

NOTE: Windows NT 4.0 does not support dual display mode.

The LCD monitor that is part of the OmniBook is the primary display (Monitor 1), and a second CRT monitor attached to the rear video port is the secondary display (Monitor 2). You can also switch from one monitor to the other (using only one at a time) by pressing Fn+F12.

To enable the dual monitor display in Windows 95 or Windows 98:

NOTE: In Windows 95, you must first install the supplemental video driver (see

instructions above).

1. Click Start, Settings, Control Panel.

2. Double-click Display.

3. Select the Settings tab.

4. Position the second monitor to the right or left of your OmniBook display to match your

monitor location.

5. Select each monitor and set the colors and screen area to the desired values. The following

settings support dual display mode:

• Set a 12.1-inch display to 256 colors or High Color (16 Bit) with an 800

(If you have upgraded your video memory to 4MB, your settings should be the same as for 2MB.)

• Set a 13.3-inch display to 256 colors with a 1024

your video memory to 4MB, you can choose 256 colors or High Color.)

6. Make sure that the Settings box “Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor” is checked.

Here are some other limitations to be aware of as you choose your monitor settings:

• The sum of the video memory used by both monitors must be less than the total video

memory size. Your OmniBook comes with 2 MB memory installed.

• Monitor 1 has to be in the same resolution as the panel size. For example, if the panel is

800

×600, the resolution selected for the Monitor1 must be exactly 800×600 in order to enable

dual display mode.

• Monitor 1 can be set to 256 colors or High Color (16 Bit), not True Color (24 bit), since

Virtual Refresh can be supported only in 256 color and High Color (16 Bit) modes. Monitor 2 can be set to 256 colors or High Color (16 Bit) only, unless you have added video memory to the standard 2 MB configuration.

• Monitor 1 and Monitor 2 cannot both be in 256 color mode.

• Settings cannot be changed on Monitor 2 if DirectDraw is enabled—for example, if video is

playing—since the display driver cannot reallocate the display memory for dual display support.

×768 screen area. (If you have upgraded

×600 screen area.

• Under dual display mode, only the software cursor can be used. There is no hardware cursor

available under Virtual Refresh mode.

• Dual display mode is not available if you are currently in a special mode from the LynxE

video control panel settings, such as Rotation or Stretch.

• Games that use the DirectDraw API cannot run in dual display mode. You will be prompted

to disable Monitor 2 before running the game.

Expanding the Hibernate Partition When Adding RAM

The OmniBook comes with either 32 or 64 megabytes (MB) of random access memory (RAM) installed, and the size of the Hibernate partition is set appropriately. You can add up to 128 MB of additional RAM without changing the size of the Hibernate partition.

However, if you add more than 128 MB of additional RAM, so that your total RAM is greater than 192 MB, you must change the size of the Hibernate partition. This partition is automatically used to save your current session from RAM when battery level is low. As a result, you must provide a sufficiently large Hibernate partition to accommodate all the information stored in RAM; otherwise, you risk losing work in progress.

Expanding the Hibernate partition on an OmniBook XE Expanding the Hibernate partition on an OmniBook XE2

Expanding the Hibernate Partition on an OmniBook XE

You can create the Hibernate partition by booting from the Recovery CD. The partitioning and

recovery process takes approximately 20 minutes—do not interrupt the process or unplug the AC adapter until the process is completed.

CAUTION: This procedure will format the hard disk drive and erase all data on the disk. Be sure to back up all data from your hard disk before you

begin this procedure. After the hard disk drive is formatted, you’ll need to reinstall any applications.

To expand the hibernate partition

1. Back up all data from your hard disk.

2. If you wish to install additional RAM, do so now.

3. Connect the AC adapter to the OmniBook.

4. Insert the bootable Recovery CD in the CD-ROM drive.

5. Restart the computer and, when you see the HP logo, press ESC twice.

6. Select the CD-ROM drive as the boot device, and press ENTER.

7. Select your keyboard layout, and press ENTER, and follow the onscreen instructions.

8. When prompted, select Create Hibernate Partition. Accept the recommended hibernate

partition size.

The size is calculated automatically based on your total RAM; for example, if you use two

128 KB memory cards, it is 256 KB. The Hibernate partition is never smaller than 192 KB.

The file system for Windows 98 can be FAT16 or FAT32.

Expanding the Hibernate Partition on an OmniBook XE2

You can create the Hibernate partition by booting from the Recovery CD. The partitioning and

recovery process takes approximately 20 minutes—do not interrupt the process or unplug the AC adapter until the process is completed.

CAUTION: This procedure will format the hard disk drive and erase all data on the disk. Be sure to back up all data from your hard disk before you

begin this procedure. After the hard disk drive is formatted, you’ll need to reinstall any applications.

To expand the hibernate partition

1. Back up all data from your hard disk.

2. Connect the AC adapter to the OmniBook.

3. Insert the Recovery CD in the CD-ROM drive. (If your system came with two Recovery CDs,

insert Disc 1.)

4. Restart the computer, and when you see the HP logo, press ESC twice.

5. Select the CD-ROM drive as the boot device, and press ENTER.

6. Choose Continue.

7. Choose Advanced.

8. Select a size from the Hibernate Partition Size drop-down list.

9. If you want to create a hibernate partition without recovering the operating system, select the

“Do not load operating system” checkbox and select one of the partition options.

10. Choose Continue.

11. Click OK to begin.

NOTE: If your system came with two Recovery CDs, you may be prompted to

insert the other Recovery CD during the partitioning process.

12. When you are prompted to reboot your computer, press Ctrl+Alt+Delete and follow the

onscreen instructions.

13. If you are recovering Windows 95 or Windows 98, you can choose to install either one of

these operating systems.

The file system for Windows 95 and for Windows 98 can be FAT16 or FAT32; Windows NT

4.0 can be FAT16 or NTFS.

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