Epson NB3s Product Support Bulletin
Contents
1. CD backlight and disables the display parks the hard drive read write heads and powers the drive down disables the keyboard and stops all processing by the CPU If you are accessing any disk drive at the time the access is completed before the power save mode is enabled The CPU speed on the LCD status bar blinks and shows 0 0 MHz To resume normal operations simply press the power save button again PSB No S 0130B Page 7 of 8 Q28 What if the computer has entered the Standby timeout mode and a keystroke doesn t bring it back to normal operating mode A28 There are some applications that may intercept any keystrokes before they can be seen by the system BIOS You may have to disable the timeout in SETUP to use the problem application on battery power Q29 Any other power saving tips A29 One more use the keyboard command lt Ctrl gt lt Alt gt lt gt to change the CPU speed from 16 MHz to 8 MHz This can save a significant amount of power and with several types of applications Such as word processing will not appear to be appreciably slower COMPATIBILITY Q30 How s the software compatibility with the Epson NB3s A30 Very good Virtually every type of software that s been tried on the Epson NB3s has worked as it should You may need to experiment with the different display options for a given package some will work fine as standard VGA others will have a special option for an LCD display You can also experime2. EPSON AMERICA INC EPSON Product Support Bulletin Subject Epson NB3s Questions and Answers Date 8 7 91 PSB No S 0130B Page s 1 of 8 Originator MWT GENERAL Q1 What is the Epson NB3s A1 The Epson NB3s is Epson s first modern notebook computer Epson actually pioneered the notebook field back in 1982 with the HX 20 The NB3s offers the full functionality of an AT compatible computer with excellent expansion capabilities Q2 What are some of the standard features A2 The Epson NB3s includes a 16 MHz 80386SX microprocessor support for an optional 80387SX numeric coprocessor 1 MB of RAM 0 wait state on page hit 2 removable rechargeable NiCad batteries a 3 5 1 44MB floppy disk drive 640 x 480 paper white VGA compatible LCD parallel external FDD RS 232C serial and external VGA analog monitor ports connector for an external 10 key numeric keypad MS DOS 4 01 Q3 What are some of the options and expansion capabilities A3 The 1 MB of system RAM can be expanded to either 2MB or 5MB total 20MB 40MB and 60MB removable hard drive cartridges can be installed and the expansion unit which provides 2 16 bit AT type expansion slots power supply and a slot for a removable 120MB hard drive cartridge Q4 How much does the Epson NB3s weigh A4 5 8 pounds with the hard drive cartridge and battery installed The Epson NB3s and expansion unit together weigh 9 5 pounds At 1 72 by 8 5 by 11 8 the Epson NB3s f
3. its easily in a standard briefcase PSB No S 0130B Page 2 of 8 BATTERY Q5 What kind of battery life can you expect from the Epson NB3s A5 Testing has revealed under typical operating conditions an estimated battery life of 1 to 1 5 hours Depending on the configuration and usage the battery life could be more or less Since 2 batteries are included this equates to 2 to 3 hours of working time Q6 Are additional batteries available How are the batteries charged A6 Yes additional batteries are available as an option The batteries can be charged in the Epson NB3s by either connecting the standard AC adapter or installing the NB3s in the expansion unit There is also an external battery charger available that can charge up to 2 batteries at a time Q7 Can batteries be changed on the fly A7 No The Epson NB3s must be powered off before changing the battery Attempting to change it while the computer is powered on will damage the battery or computer possibly both and void the warranty Q8 How long does it take to fully charge the battery A8 In the Epson NB3s either with the AC adapter or the expansion unit it takes 5 hours with the computer turned off to fully charge the battery When you re using the computer it takes 8 hours for a full charge The external charger produces a full charge after 5 hours Note that if you do not completely charge a new battery and attempt to use the computer you may experience a
4. nt with reversing the display mode and with adjusting the gray scale mapping Q31 What about hardware A31 Again very good The expansion unit allows the installation of a wide variety of option cards and adapters It will accept full length 13 30 AT type cards with the provided expansion cover installed in both slots Without the expansion cover cards of up to 10 63 can be installed Note that the front slot can accept a card only 6 12 long if the 120MB hard drive is installed PSB No S 0130B Page 8 of 8 Q32 How well does the NB3s work with local area networks A32 Very well It has been tested with Novell s Advanced NetWare 286 version 2 19 NetWare 386 3 0 and 3 1 and 3Com s 3 Open version 1 1 A variety of network interface cards NICs have been tested as well These include Novell s NE1000 and NE2000 Ethernet NICs 3Com s EtherLink Plus NIC Standard Microsystem s PC 110 Arcnet NIC and IBM s Token Ring Il and Token Ring 16 4 NICs When configuring those NICs that are not self configurable we recommend staying with fairly standard settings In our testing we typically used I O port address 0300h and interrupt request lines 2 3 or 5 By following these guidelines networking the NB3s should be relatively painless
5. ons and the Diagnostics utility What about memory management software The standard Microsoft memory manager EMM386 SYS is included For more flexibility in memory management you may wish to purchase a third party program such as QEMM386 from Quarterdeck Office Systems or 386MAX from Qualitas Software Is MS DOS 3 3 compatible That s what we use for the local area network nodes in my Office Yes Epson s MS DOS 3 3 product code A806851 has been installed and tested There are 2 points to make note of first there is no memory management software included with MS DOS 3 3 so you ll have to go with a third party package Secondly the computer powers up with NUM LOCK enabled You can either remember to press the NUM LOCK key or you can create a small 15 byte program to turn NUM LOCK off from your AUTOEXEC BAT file Create a straight ASCII text file called NUMOFF SCR that consists of the following lines a100 xor ax ax mov ds ax mov ax 0417 and ax 0000 mov 0417 ax int 20 rcx OOOf nnumoff com Ww q PSB No S 0130B Page 6 of 8 Enter the above exactly as it appears including the blank line End each line by pressing the lt Enter gt key Then at the DOS prompt enter the command DEBUG lt NUMOFF SCR This will pipe the script file to DEBUG which will create the program NUMOFF COM Then all you need to do is include NUMOFF in your AUTOEXEC BAT file POWER SAVE FEATURES Q27 Are there any special powe
6. r saving features to help prolong battery life A27 Yes In SETUP there are two power save options Standby timeout and Hard disk timeout Standby timeout lets you set the elapsed time from 1 to 63 minutes between keystrokes before the NB3s goes to power save mode This mode shuts off the LCD backlight slows the CPU speed down to 8 MHz and turns off the display You return to normal operation by pressing any key Note that this mode is active only when running from the battery if you re using AC power this mode is disabled The Hard disk timeout lets you define the elapsed time from 1 to 18 minutes before the hard drive powers itself down If there is no drive access within the timeout period the hard drive parks the read write heads and powers the drive down The next time a drive access is requested the hard drive powers back up Be patient as it can take up to 15 seconds for the hard drive to reach the correct operating speed Remember that frequent drive start ups can consume more power than the mode saves and can cause needless wear to the drive Start with a timeout value of 5 minutes and adjust it accordingly Note that these settings should be disabled for operating systems other than MS DOS as they may access these resources in a totally different manner Finally there is the manual power save button located directly above the power switch When running from battery and this button is pressed the computer turns off the L
7. stalled on the expansion unit will get a SETUP error A15 No The BIOS was written to take that possibility into account Q16 If have the expansion unit hard drive and no hard drive in the Epson NB3s will the system boot from the expansion unit hard drive A16 No the expansion unit drive is treated as a strictly non bootable device To be able to access the expansion unit drive you must have a hard drive installed in the NB3s Q17 What floppy disk drive is used A17 The Seiko Epson SMD 1040 This is the smallest lowest power consumption 3 5 1 44MB floppy disk drive currently available Q18 A18 LCD Q19 A19 Q20 A20 Q21 A21 Q22 A22 Q23 A23 PSB No S 0130B Page 4 of 8 What external floppy drives can be used Any external 5 25 floppy drive that is Toshiba compatible may be used Simply run SETUP and change the parallel port setting from printer to ext FDD DISPLAY What type of LCD display is used It is an FTN Film compensated Super Twisted Nematic LCD with 640 by 480 pixel resolution It provides VGA compatibility with the desirable paper white appearance Are there any special display drivers needed for Microsoft Windows 3 0 or OS 2 1 1 1 2x Presentation Manager No simply select standard VGA during the installation What about SCO Xenix 386 SCO Xenix 386 has been installed and tested on the NB3s It works fine with the standard VGA driver Ho
8. typical operation Q9 Are there any other power supply options A9 Yes an automotive cigarette lighter adapter is available Q10 How much do the batteries weigh A10 Approximately 8 ounces each PSB No S 0130B Page 3 of 8 DISK DRIVES Q11 What hard drives are being used A11 All of the Epson NB3s hard drives are made by Conner Peripherals the acknowledged leader in very small low power hard drives The models used are the CP 2024 CP 2044 and CP 2064 for the 20 40 and 60MB removable drives for the Epson NB3s itself The CP 30104 120MB is used for the expansion unit Q12 Can the hard drives be changed on the fly A12 No As with the battery changing the drives while the computer is powered on will damage the hard drive and or computer and will void the warranty Q13 Why do get a hard drive SETUP error if change from a 20MB to a 40MB or 60MB hard drive A13 The different drives have different physical parameters This is why you have to run SETUP and adjust the drive size when you changes drives Q14 If the expansion unit hard drive is 120MB why does it only format out to 112MB A14 The ROM BIOS drive type table only provides standard AT drive types Drive type 9 900 cylinders 15 heads 17 sets track 112MB is the closest match to the translate mode parameters of the CP 30104 hard drive Q15 If have the 120MB hard drive installed in the expansion unit and boot the Epson NB3s when it s not in
9. w do you control normal versus reverse video display Three ways SETUP keyboard control or a utility program called MODE2 SETUP determines the default configuration Normal is black characters on a white background At the DOS prompt and from most applications you can type lt Ctrl gt lt Alt gt lt gt that s the comma punctuation mark to toggle the video Also from the DOS prompt you can run the MODE2 NOR or MODE2 REV to change the video mode m using the Epson NB3s the expansion unit and an external monitor and keyboard Is there any way I can close the LCD without having the computer beep at me No The beep is not only to warn you that the computer is turned on it s to prevent the computer from overheating When the LCD is closed it covers the ventilation slots If you want to get the LCD out of the way simply remove it with the power off by pulling the 2 spring loaded release latches to the left and right and lifting the LCD assembly up Be sure and put it someplace where the front of the LCD panel will be protected PSB No S 0130B Page 5 of 8 SOFTWARE Q24 A24 Q25 A25 Q26 A26 MS DOS 4 01 is included Is there any other Epson NB3s specific software Yes In addition to the MODE2 utility mentioned above the Reference diskette also contains SETLCD which allows you to change the gray scale mapping RESPRG for TSR programs that conflict with the computer s hot key functi
Download Pdf Manuals
Related Search