Nec POWERMATE P user Manual

PROPRIETARY NOTICE AND LIABILITY DISCLAIMER

The information disclosed in this document, including all designs and related materials, is the valuable property of NEC Corporation (NEC) and/or its licensors. NEC and/or its licensors, as appropriate, reserve all patent, copyright and other proprietary rights to this document, including all design, manufacturing, reproduction, use, and sales rights thereto, except to the extent said rights are expressly granted to others.

The NEC product(s) discussed in this document are warranted in accordance with the terms of the Warranty Statement accompanying each product. However, actual performance of each such product is dependent upon factors such as system configuration, customer data, and operator control. Since implementation by customers of each product may vary, the suitability of specific product configurations and applications must be determined by the customer and is not warranted by NEC.

To allow for design and specification improvements, the information in this document is subject to change at any time, without notice. Reproduction of this document or portions thereof without prior written approval of NEC is prohibited.

MultiSync and PowerMate are registered trademarks of NEC Technologies, Inc.

FastFacts is a U.S. trademark of NEC Technologies, Inc.

All other product, brand, or trade names used in this publication are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective trademark owners.

First Printing — August 1995

Copyright 1995	Copyright 1995
NEC Technologies, Inc.	NEC Corporation
1414 Massachusetts Avenue	7-1 Shiba 5-Chome, Minato-Ku
Boxborough, MA 01719	Tokyo 108-01, Japan
All Rights Reserved	All Rights Reserved

Contents

Using This Guide
	Text Conventions .....................................................	vi
	Related Documents...................................................	vii
1	Taking a Look at Your Computer
	On the Front.............................................................	1-2
	CD-ROM Reader ................................................	1-2
	Diskette Drive A .................................................	1-3
	IR Window .........................................................	1-5
	System Controls and Lamps ................................	1-6
	On the Back .............................................................	1-8
	External Connectors ............................................	1-8
	Power Supply Features........................................	1-11
	Speakers ..................................................................	1-11
	Microphone..............................................................	1-12
2	Getting Started
	Using Your Mouse ...................................................	2-1
	Using Online Documentation ....................................	2-4
	Where to Go from Here ............................................	2-6
3 24-Hour Information Services
	NEC's FastFacts Service..........................................	3-2
	NEC Bulletin Board Service .....................................	3-4
	America Online Service ............................................	3-6
	CompuServe Online Service .....................................	3-7
	AT & T Interchange .................................................	3-8
	E-Mail/Fax Technical Support Service .....................	3-9
	Internet ....................................................................	3-10
	NEC Technical Support Services..............................	3-11

Contents iii

4 If You Have a Problem
What to Do if You Have a Problem ..........................	4-2
Solutions to Common Problems ................................	4-3
System Problems.................................................	4-3
Diskette Drive Problems ......................................	4-5
Monitor Problems................................................	4-6
Keyboard/Mouse Problems..................................	4-7
CD-ROM Problems.............................................	4-7
Speaker Problems................................................	4-8
Microphone Problems..........................................	4-8
Replacing the CMOS Battery ...................................	4-9
Online Diagnostics ...................................................	4-11
Getting Help.............................................................	4-11
Getting Help from Your Company .......................	4-12
Getting Help from Your NEC Dealer ...................	4-12
Getting Help from NEC's Technical Support
Center .............................................................	4-12
NEC Warranty/Non-Warranty Repair Service .....	4-13
A Setting Up a Healthy Work Environment
Making Your Computer Work for You .....................	A-1
Arrange Your Equipment..........................................	A-3
Adjust Your Chair....................................................	A-4
Adjust Your Input Devices .......................................	A-6
Adjust Your Monitor ................................................	A-8
Vary Your Workday.................................................	A-10
Pre-Existing Conditions and Psychosocial Factors.....	A-11
Checking Your Comfort: How Do You Measure Up? A-12
Checking Your Chair...........................................	A-12
Checking Your Keyboard ....................................	A-12
Checking Your Mouse .........................................	A-12
Checking Your Monitor.......................................	A-12
Checking You .....................................................	A-13
Tables
Quick Reference to Information About
Your Computer ....................................................	2-6

iv Contents

Contents v

Using This Guide

The PowerMate P Series User's Guide provides a quick reference to information about your computer.

The guide contains the following information:

nChapter 1, Taking a Look at Your System, provides a look at system components. See this chapter to familiarize yourself with your system.

nChapter 2, Getting Started, gives you information about using a mouse, using online documentation, and what you should do after your system is up and running.

The chapter includes a quick-reference chart for finding information about a variety topics.

nChapter 3, 24-Hour Information Services, lists the services available to you for information and help and describes how to access the services.

nChapter 4, If You Have a Problem, contains troubleshooting tips for solving simple problems and provides where you can find help when you cannot solve a problem yourself.

! WARNING

Prolonged or improper use of a computer workstation may pose a risk of serious injury. To reduce your risk of injury, set up and use your computer in the manner described in Appendix A, Setting Up a Healthy Work Environment.

Using This Guide v

nAppendix A, Setting Up a Healthy Work Environment, contains guidelines to help you use your computer productively and safely. This appendix also instructs you on how to set up and use your computer to reduce your risk of developing nerve, muscle, or tendon disorders.

TEXT CONVENTIONS

This guide uses the following text conventions.

nWarnings, cautions, and notes have the following meanings:

! WARNING

Warnings alert you to situations that could result in serious personal injury or loss of life.

! CAUTION

Cautions indicate situations that can damage the hardware or software.

NOTE

Notes give important information about the material being described.

vi Using This Guide

nNames of keyboard keys are printed as they appear on the keyboard, for example, Ctrl, Alt, or Enter.

nText or keystrokes that you enter appear in boldface type. For example, type return and press Enter.

nFile names are printed in uppercase letters.

RELATED DOCUMENTS

In addition to this guide, the following printed documentation ships with your PowerMate® P Series system.

nNEC PowerMate P Series Quick Setup/ Quick-Reference Roadmap

Quick Setup contains information for quickly getting your system up and running. Read this information to set up the system for the first time.

The Quick-Reference Roadmap gives you a look at the documentation, NEC tools, software applications, and services available to you.

nHow Does Your Workplace Measure Up?

This brochure provides information for setting up and using your computer productively and safely. Information includes guidelines to reduce the risk of injury associated with using a computer.

nTabWorks User’s Guide

This guide describes how to us TabWorks™ for organizing your work and launching your applications from a notebook-like location.

nTranXit Quick Reference Guide

This guide describes wireless data transfers between your computer and a laptop using the TranXit™ software.

Using This Guide vii

nWindows 95 User’s Guide

This is a quick reference guide that comes with Windows 95 systems.

Your system comes with the following online documentation on the hard disk:

nPowerMate P Series System Documentation

This online documentation is your comprehensive source of information about your system. It contains a System Tour, User’s Guide, Hardware Reference Guide, Option Installation Guide, and Support Guide.

nErgonomics

This is an online version of the “How Does Your Workplace Measure Up?” brochure.

nMS-DOS Quick-Start Guide

Comes with MS-DOSâ/Windowsâ for WorkGroups systems. Provides information for using

MS-DOS.

nWindows Quick-Start Guide

Comes with MS-DOSâ/Windowsâ for WorkGroups

systems. Provides information for using Windows for WorkGroupsä.

nUsing Windows 95

Comes with Windows 95 systems. Contains information for using Windows 95.

Most of your application programs provide extensive online help. Some programs provide separate online user’s guides for specific applications.

Windows 95 provides extensive online help and “wizards” to guide you through procedures.

viii Using This Guide

In addition to the documentation that ships with the system, the following documentation is available from NEC:

nPowerMate P Series Service and Reference Manual provides information for maintaining,

troubleshooting, and repairing the PowerMate P Series system. This guide also includes hardware and interface information for programmers, engineers, and others who need to know how the system is designed.

To purchase the service and reference manual, call NEC at 1-800-632-4525 and select spare part sales at the

prompt.

nNEC FastFactsä

NEC FastFacts is an automated service that sends the latest information about NEC and its products directly to a fax machine. The service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

With FastFacts, you can obtain product literature and technical information bulletins. By using FastFacts, you can be kept up-to-date on the latest technical information for your system.

See “NEC’s FastFacts Service” in Chapter 3 for information about using FastFacts.

Using This Guide ix

1	Taking a Look at
	Your Computer

! WARNING

Prolonged or improper use of a computer workstation may pose a risk or serious injury. To reduce your risk of injury, set up and use your computer in the manner described in Appendix A, Setting Up a Healthy Work Environment.

After unpacking your computer, familiarize yourself with your system. The following information provides a brief look at features on the front and rear of your system.

For a comprehensive source of information about your computer, see the online NEC PowerMate P Series System Documentation in the Windows® NEC Information group.

Taking a Look at Your Computer 1-1

ON THE FRONT

The following figure show the features on the front of the systems. A brief description of the features follows the figure.

CD-ROM Reader

System Controls

and Lamps

Diskette Drive A

IR Window

Front features

CD-ROM Reader

A quad-speed CD-ROM reader is a standard feature in multimedia models. The CD-ROM reader is assigned as drive E.

Use the CD-ROM reader to load and start programs from a compact disc (CD). You can also use the CD-ROM reader to play your audio CDs. The CD-ROM reader is fully compatible with Kodak Multisession Photo CDs™ and standard audio CDs.

1-2 Taking a Look at Your Computer

The CD-ROM reader operates at different speeds depending on whether the CD you are using contains data or music. This allows you to get your data faster and to see smoother animation and video.

The CD-ROM reader has the following features (see the following figure):

nHeadphone jack

Allows the connection of an optional set of headphones with a stereo mini-jack plug.

nVolume control knob

Lets you adjust the volume of an optional set of headphones.

nCD busy lamp

Lights when the reader is retrieving data, music, or graphics/audio from a CD. Do not eject the CD or turn off the system unit when the lamp is on.

nEject/retract button

Ejects or retracts the reader’s loading tray. Press this button when the computer power is on to insert or remove a CD into or out of the reader.

nCD tray

Provides a surface for loading a CD into the reader. Press the eject/retract button to eject or retract the CD tray.

nEmergency eject hole

Allows the manual ejection of a CD if the eject function is disabled by software or if a power failure occurs.

Taking a Look at Your Computer 1-3

NOTE

The CD-ROM reader in your system might look different from the one shown here.

CD Tray				CD Busy					Emergency
				Lamp					Eject Hole

Volume

Control Knob

Headphone		Eject/Retract
Jack		Button

CD-ROM reader features

Diskette Drive A

Diskette drive A loads and starts programs from a diskette. Diskette drive A is your primary “bootable” drive. Your diskette drive has the following features (see the following figure):

nDiskette drive busy lamp

Lights when your diskette drive is reading to or writing from a diskette.

1-4 Taking a Look at Your Computer

nDiskette release button

Press this button to release a diskette from the diskette drive.

Diskette Release Button

Diskette Drive

Busy Lamp

Diskette drive A features

IR Window

The IR (infrared) window is the system’s IR port. The IR port supports two-way wireless communications. The interface uses infrared as the transmission medium instead of a traditional cable.

The IR port lets you transfer files to or from portable devices such as laptops and personal digital assistance (PDA) products using application software supporting IrDA data transfer. Your system comes with Puma TranXit™ software for wireless data transfer.

With IrDA software, you can transfer data at speeds of up to 115 kilobytes per second and at distances up to 3 feet from the IR window.

Taking a Look at Your Computer 1-5

System Controls and Lamps

System controls let you select specific system operations. Lamps let you know the status of system operation. Your computer has the following controls and lamps:

Power Lamp

Disk Lamp

Power Button

Reset Button

Suspend Button

System controls and lamps

nPower lamp

The power lamp indicates whether system power is on or off. It also lets you know if the system is operating in a power-saving mode.

A steady green lamp indicates that the power is on to all system components. A blinking green lamp indicates that the system is in Suspend mode with full power reduction.

nDisk lamp

Indicates if your hard disk is doing anything. A green lamp tells you that the hard disk is reading or writing data.

1-6 Taking a Look at Your Computer

! CAUTION

Do not turn off the system, unless absolutely necessary, while the disk lamp is lit. To do so can damage your hard disk or data.

nPower button

Press this button to turn on system power. Press it again to turn off the power.

nReset button

The reset button lets you manually restart your system when it does not respond to keyboard commands.

! CAUTION

Resetting your system can result in the loss of data. Press the reset button only when all other methods of restarting your computer fails.

nSuspend button

Lets you initiate a power-saving mode of operating your computer. Press this button to suspend system operation when you plan to be away from your computer for a short time. Press any key or move your mouse to resume system operation to where you stopped it.

A blinking system unit power lamp lets you know that the system is in Suspend mode.

Taking a Look at Your Computer 1-7

ON THE BACK

On the back of your computer, you’ll find external connectors, power supply features, and expansion board slots. The following figures show these features.

		Voltage Selector
		Switch
	Fan	Power Supply
		Switch
		Printer Port 1
	Keyboard Port	Serial Port 1
	Mouse Port	Serial Port 2
	Audio
	Connectors
	VGA Monitor
	Connector

Rear features

External Connectors

External connectors let you attach peripheral devices, such as a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and printer to your system. Your system has the following external connectors:

nVGA monitor connector

Attach the signal cable from your monitor to this connector. Supports an NEC MultiSync® monitor or

other video graphics array (VGA)-compatible monitor with 15-pin connector.

1-8 Taking a Look at Your Computer

nAudio connectors

These connectors come integrated on multimedia models. The connectors include a microphone in, line in, and line out jack along with a musical instrument digital interface (MIDI)/joystick connector.

MIDI/Joystick

Connector

Line Out Jack

Line In Jack

Microphone In

Jack

Audio connectors

¾The microphone in jack lets you connect a microphone for recording audio information in your data system files and allows hands-free speakerphone functions.

¾The line in jack lets you connect a stereo audio device such as a stereo amplifier or a cassette or minidisc player for playback or recording.

¾The line out jack allows you to connect an amplified output device such as powered speakers, stereo tape recorder, or an external amplifier for audio output.

Use this jack to connect the stereo speakers that come with your system.

Taking a Look at Your Computer 1-9

¾The MIDI/Joystick connector allows you to connect a joystick or MIDI kit to your system.

The joystick connector on your system is identical to that on a standard PC game control adapter or game I/O connector. You can connect any analog joystick with a 15-pin D-sub connector. It also works well with any application that is compatible with the standard PC joystick. To use two joysticks, you need a Y-cable splitter.

nPrinter Port

Use this port to connect a parallel printer with a 25-pin connector to the system.

nSerial Ports

Attach a serial device with a 9-pin connector to each serial port. Serial devices include a pointing device, serial printer, or modem.

nKeyboard port

Attach the keyboard that comes with your computer to this connector.

The keyboard port supports a personal system (PS)/2® - compatible, 101-key or 104-key keyboard (in the U.S. and Canada) or a 102-key keyboard (in the United Kingdom and Germany) with a 6-pin mini DIN connector.

nMouse port

Attach the mouse that comes with your computer to this port. The mouse port supports a PS/2-compatible mouse.

1-10 Taking a Look at Your Computer

Power Supply Features

Your system has the following power supply features:

nPower supply fan

Keep this area clear for proper ventilation. The power supply fan cools system components and prevents them from overheating.

nVoltage selector switch

Sets the voltage for your system to 115 volts or 230 volts.

! CAUTION

Set the switch correctly for the voltage in your area. Most wall outlets in the United States and Canada are 115 volts. Outlets in Europe, Australia, and Asia (except Taiwan) are 230 volts. Taiwan uses 115-volt outlets.

nPower supply switch

Powers on the power supply. The power supply must be powered-on before the power button on the front of the system will operate.

nPower socket

Connect your power cable to this socket.

SPEAKERS

Multimedia models come with a pair of high-quality stereo speakers that you can arrange to suit your work environment.

An AC adapter comes with the system. Set up the speakers with the AC adapter. The speakers connect to the line out jack on the back of the system unit.

Taking a Look at Your Computer 1-11

The speaker set features a power button, power lamp, bass control, treble control and volume knob.

Treble Control

Base Control

Volume Control

Power Button

Power Lamp

Speaker features

Adjust the speaker volume by using the volume control on the front of the right speaker or by using the preinstalled sound system software. Use the sound software to balance the speakers.

The software to operate the computer’s sound system is

AudioStation™.

MICROPHONE

Multimedia models come with a microphone. The microphone allows you to record voice and sound into your computer data files. See the online documentation in your sound software.

1-12 Taking a Look at Your Computer