er+aero@cs.cmu.edu
or post to the aero-l mailing list.
This file is copyright (c) 1994, 1995 by the author and contributors.
It can be obtained via WWW from
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/er/WWW/aero.html,
or in ASCII format via FTP from
ftp.cs.cmu.edu,
in the directory /afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/er/pub,
file aero.txt,
it is also available in Windows Help format (zipped) in the same place as
aero.zip.
The second author used the aero-l mailing list archives to update version 1.0 of the FAQ. Thus, this FAQ is actually a collaborative effort from many individuals on aero-l whose questions and answers were incorporated. Although digestifying lots of posts results in a less authoritative style for the FAQ, I believe it makes for a more spellbinding reading (e.g. watching over somebody's shoulder as they disassemble the Aero and upgrade the hard disk). Also, often there is more than one possible answer, or the answer is not known (perhaps you know it?).
Undoubtedly there are still many bugs, errors, or obscure things in this FAQ. You are welcome to send us your contributions/corrections or suggestions. The usual disclaimer applies: the authors and contributors disavow any responsibility for the information contained in this document. If following the FAQ makes your Aero go up in smoke, do not blame us (but, if it makes for good reading, tell us about it. Heck, tell us about it even when it was not caused by the FAQ). You have been warned!
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TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS -- Publication Date: April 1995 Source Document: Product Bulletin Document Number: 024A/0395
Numbers in illustration correspond to the following list.
(1) One-Button Latch.
(2) 7.8 Inch Passive Matrix Color Display.
(3) Special Feature Hotkeys.
(4) Palmrest.
(5) Type II PCMCIA Slot.
(6) NiMH Battery Pack.
(7) Memory Expansion Slot.
(8) Power On/Off Button.
(9) Isolated, Inverted "T" Cursor Keys.
(10) Hard Drive.
(11) Easy-Point Trackball.
(12) Integrated Speaker.
Dimensions (Height x Width x Depth):
Contura Aero 4/25 1.5 x 10.25 x 7.5 inches
(3.8 x 26 x 19 cm)
Contura Aero 4/33c 1.7 x 10.25 x 7.5 inches
(4.3 x 26 x 19 cm)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight (Contura Aero 4/25):
Model 170 standard battery 3.5 lb (1.63 kg)
Model 170 extended life battery 4.0 lb (1.81 kg)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight (Contura Aero 4/33C):
Model 170 4.2 lb (1.9 kg)
Model 250
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Power Requirements 10.8 V
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Temperature Range:
Operating 50oF to 104oF (10oC to 40oC)
Nonoperating -4oF to 140oF (-20oC to 60oC)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Relative Humidity (noncondensing):
Operating 10% to 90%
Nonoperating 5% to 95%
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shock:
Operating 10G, 11 ms, half sine
Nonoperating 60G, 11 ms, half sine
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vibration:
Operating 0.25G, 5 - 500 Hz 1/2 octave/min
sweep 1 hour duration
Nonoperating 1G, 5 - 500 Hz, 1 hour duration
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maximum Altitude (unpressurized):
Operating 10,000 ft (3,658 m)
Nonoperating 30,000 ft (12,192 m)
Dimensions (Height x Width) 4.82 x 6.42 inches
(12.24 x 16.32 cm)
Diagonal Size 8.03 inches (20.4 cm)
Mounting Internal
Display Type MSTN-Backlit LCD
Gray Scales 16 inch 640 x 480
64 inch 320 x 200
Brightness/Contrast Adjustable through keyboard
Maximum Pixel Resolution 640 x 480
Character Display 80 x 25
Horizontal Frequency 31.2 KHz (CRT mode); 32 KHz (LCD mode)
Vertical Frequency 125 Hz (60 VGA/70 CGA)
Display Inverter Board:
Operating Voltage (Backlight) +5.1 V, +9 V, +18.7 V
Operating Output Voltage 310 Vrms
Maximum Input Power 1.8 W
Maximum Output Power 1.25 Wrms
Dimensions (Height x Width) 4.74 x 6.32 inches
(12.05 x 16.1 cm)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Diagonal Size 7.75 inch (19.69 cm)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mounting Internal
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Display Type CSTN-Backlit LCD
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Color Resolution 256 colors - low resolution
(320 x 200)
16 colors - high resolution
(640 x 480)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brightness/Contrast Adjustable through keyboard
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maximum Pixel Resolution 640 x 480
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Character Display 80 x 25
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Horizontal Frequency 31.2 KHz (CRT mode) 32 KHz (LCD mode)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vertical Frequency 125 Hz (70 VGA/70 CGA)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Display Inverter Board:
Operating Voltage (Backlight) +26 V, +34 V, +38 V
Maximum Input Power 2.8 W
Maximum Output Power (Backlight) 2.0 Wrms
===========================================================================
170 MB 250 MB
===========================================================================
Formatted Capacity Per Drive 171.6 MB 256.0 MB
Drives Supported One One
Drive Height (with drive frame) 0.5 inch 0.5 inch
(12.7 mm) (12.7 mm)
Drive Size 2.5 x 0.5 inches 2.5 x 0.5 inches
(6.35 x 1.27 cm) (6.35 x 1.27 cm)
Drive Type 65 65
Transfer Rate:
Media 14.3 - 22.1 Mbits/sec 35.9 Mbits/sec
Interface 4 MB/sec 4 MB/sec
Seek Times (including settling):
Track-to-Track 7 ms 5.0 ms
Average 20 ms 17 ms
Maximum 28 ms 24.0 ms
Physical Configuration:
Cylinders 1440 1704
Heads 4 4
Sectors/Track 48 - 72 92 - 54
Bytes Per Sector 512 512
Logical Configuration:
Cylinders 873 723
Head 16 11
Sectors/Track 24 63
Bytes Per Sector 512 512
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE 1: Hard drive specifications may vary slightly depending on vendor.
Input Requirements:
Input Voltage 10.8 - 17.5 VDC
Standby 10.8 - 17.5 VDC
Power Output:
Steady State 10 W
Peak 17 W
VDC Output V01 (+5) V02 (+12) 60 0 mA V03 (+40)
Nominal Voltage 5.10 V 12.0 V 43.0 V
Continuous Current 1.25 A 60.0 mA 40.0 mA
Peak Current 3.0A 60.0 mA 40.0 mA
Regulation Tolerance +/- 3% +/- 5% +/- 5%
Dimensions (Height x Width x Depth):
Standard .725 x 2.04 x 5.37 inches
(1.84 x 5.18 x 13.64 cm)
Extended Life .725 x 2.04 x 8.07 inches
(1.84 x 5.18 x 20.5 cm)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight:
Standard .696 lb (.316 kg)
Extended Life 1.09 lb (.494 kg)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Power Supply:
Nominal Voltage 10.8
Capacity 1500 mAh (standard)
2300 mAh (extended life)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Battery Life (NOTE 2):
Contura Aero 4/25 2.5 to 4 hours (standard)
Contura Aero 4/33 C 2.5 to 4 hours
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Environmental Requirements:
Operating 50oF to 104oF (10oC to 40oC)
Nonoperating -4oF to 122oF (-20oC to 50oC)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE 2: Battery life is based on an estimated typical use pattern of an
average user. Battery life will vary based on the configuration
of the computer and the usage pattern of the individual user. To
maximize battery life, Compaq recommends that power conservation
be set to high.
Dimensions (Height x
Width x Depth) 1.1 x 2.24 x 2.4 inches
(2.79 x 11.68 x 6.1 cm)
Weight (without cords) 6 oz (0.227 kg)
Voltage 17.5 - 20 volts, 1.4 amps
Power:
Minimum 17
Maximum 20
Minimum Charge Time 1.0 hour
Dimensions (Height x
Width x Depth) 2.63 x 12.4 x 12.0 inches
(6.67 x 31.6 x 30.5 cm)
Weight 2.9 lb (1.32 kg)
Environmental Requirements:
Operating 50oF to 104oF (10oC to 40oC)
Nonoperating -7.6oF to 140oF (-20oC to 60oC)
Relative Humidity (noncondensing):
Operating 10% to 90%
Nonoperating 5% to 95%
Shock:
Operating 10 g, 11 ms, half sine
Nonoperating 60 g, 11 ms, half sine
Vibration:
Operating 0.25 g, 5 - 500 Hz/octave/min sweep
Nonoperating 1.00 g, 5 - 500 Hz/octave/min sweep
Maximum Unpressurized Altitude:
Operating 10,000 ft (3,658 m)
Nonoperating 40,000 ft (15,750 m)
Dimensions (H x W x D):
Disk Drive 1.10 x 4.25 x 5.87 inches
(2.8 x 10.8 x 14.9 cm)
PCMCIA Interface Card .19 x 2.13 x 4.37 inches
(48 x 5.4 x 11.1 cm)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Diskette Size 3.5 inch (8.89 cm)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weight 12.2 oz (340 g)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
LED Indicator Green
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Capacity Per Diskette 1.44 MB (720 KB)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
I/O Space Configurations:
Primary 3FX
Secondary 37X
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
PCMCIA Interface Card Type II
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Read/Write Heads 2
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Voltage Requirement +5 Vdc
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Environmental Requirements:
Operating 41oF to 113oF (5oC to 45oC)
Nonoperating -7.6oF to 140oF (-22oC to 60oC)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Relative Humidity (noncondensing):
Operating 10% to 90%
Nonoperating 5% to 90%
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shock:
Operating 8 G, 11 ms, half sine
Nonoperating 100 G, 11 ms, half sine
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vibration:
Operating 1.0 G, 5 - 500 Hz/octave/min sweep
Nonoperating 1.5 G, 5 - 500 Hz/octave/min sweep
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Acoustic Noise 33 dBA
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maximum Unpressurized Altitude:
Operating 9,850 ft (3,077 m)
Nonoperating 50,000 ft (12,308m)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE 1: Hard drive specifications may vary slightly depending on vendor.
2: Battery life is based on an estimated typical use pattern of an
average user. Battery life will vary based on the configuration
of the computer and the usage pattern of the individual user. To
maximize battery life, Compaq recommends that power conservation
be set to high.
[A] I think it is a great machine. I have had no problems with mine at all, I don't think it can be beat for price/quality. Some of the problems that show up here might be somewhat of the obscure variety. Most people do seem to be happy with the machine overall.
[A] Overall, I am happy with my Aero and have generally had good experiences with Compaq Tech Support. The two real problems I have had are that Warp doesn't run perfectly (no PCMCIA or floppy support; the floppy problems make it difficult to get Warp installed), and PCMCIA modem troubles under Windows.
While I would like to run Warp on my Aero, it is not critical that I do so. There certainly exists some chance that Compaq will take care of these problems eventually.
I have reasonable workarounds for the PCMCIA modem troubles I'm having; and there are people who seem not to have any problems. I just don't like the fact that my system doesn't work perfectly; I think the key is to not apply the June 8th BIOS update. The only other thing on my "wish list" is that I wish the Aero supported more than 16 colors at 640x480. This really isn't critical or that important to me though.
Those who consider themselves as having problems generally are more outspoken than those who are content, and when you're trying to fight a problem it gets very frustrating and it seems like the problem is much more important than it really is. The real key to deciding whether or not to buy an Aero is how well the machine fits you. If you don't like using your computer, you've wasted your money regardless of what features it has over its competition. Find one and use it for a while; when I was shopping for a subnotebook I first went out and sat down with different machines. I found that the Aero keyboard suited me much better than the Toshiba T3400, and I really liked the wrist rest (which the Thinkpad 500 series lacks). So, I would still reccommend the Aero as a decent subnotebook computer. It's not absolutely perfect; but what is?
[A] Yeah, it's so bad that I just bought my second one! :-) No, honestly, I LOVE this thing. It's just that the couple of recent problem threads on this list represent real problems.
Nobody posts: "Ooooo! I love the battery life" or "Wow - Check that great keyboard layout" or "Only 4 pounds - How did I ever live with that old, heavier, laptop" or "Man, was this a great price for such a nice system" or "Isn't it great to have an integrated trackball instead of one of them lame-brained dongle-pointer-dealies that are forever falling off or getting caught on stuff or rubbing on the side of the chair you're sitting in?" See, nobody complains when everything's coming their way. Relax - it's a GREAT computer.
[A] You can live with it.
[A] It takes a little getting used to, but is quite useable for me. I regularly do drawings under AmiPro and have no problems getting the pointer right on the pixel I want.
[Q] How "noisy" is the unit, could I use it in a quiet setting e.g., library?
[A] My hard disk is very noisy but here has been discussion about it and seems like it is problem of older Aeros.
[Q] Does the mono only come with 175 MB (not 250MB)?
[A] That's right. But you can buy a bigger drive for it. The biggest available drive currently is over 700 MB.
[A] It used to be 84 or 170M, but the 84 meg version appears to have been discontinued. I don't believe the mono is available with a 250 meg drive, but could be upgraded to such (at a cost that'd probably be higher than just buying a 250 meg color Aero to start with).
[Q] What type of connectors does it have in the back? 1 serial, 1 parallel?
[A] That's right and also one for extension dock.
[A] It has a DB9 serial (COM1), DB25 parallel, and the "expansion" connector for using the Convenience Base or Mobile Port Expander; the latter gives you PS/2 mouse, keyboard, and VGA ports. The serial port has a 16550 UART.
[Q] Is the CPU a "genuine" Intel chip or some clone CPU? Does this make a difference?
[A] It is 'Intel inside' :)
[Q] If I buy additional RAM later (cheaper via 3rd party presumably) can I install it myself without voiding the warranty? (I'm used to regular size PCs and muck around inside them all the time).
[A] Adding memory won't void the warranty. The handbook even tells how to do it.
[A] Yes -- it's very easy both the online help and the printed docs tell you how to do it. The Aero can be expanded to 8, 12, or 20 meg of RAM. Going to 20 meg requires a 16 meg module from Kingston, Compaq doesn't sell one. In any case, third party memory seems to be a lot cheaper than Compaq memory, and I've seen nothing in the docs which claims that using 3rd party memory affects the warranty in any way. Note that there's only space for one memory module. If you buy a 4M module (for 8M total), and later want to go to 12 or 20 meg, you must replace the 4M module.
[Q] How much battery life can I expect (main use word processing). How long to recharge? Is there a separate power brick and recharger?
[A] Up to 4 hours maximum and 1 hour to recharge. You don't need a separate recharger but you can buy one if you wish to recharge two batteries at once.
[A] I get two to three hours runtime on my 4/33 color machine using Windows. Recharge time is about 1.5 hours; but that's also using the "extended" battery which ships with the color Aeros. Of course, recharge time is longer if you're using the machine; but you can use it while the battery is recharging. The AC adapter is not your usual "wall-wart" brick. It's a block about 4.5" x 2.25" x 1.2" with an 18" cable to the plug which goes into the Aero. The other end has a socket for the line cord that plugs into the wall. This unit serves as both the battery charger and the AC adapter. Extras are available for $29 or so; I bought a second one so I can have one at work and one at home. Note that the battery must be recharged while within the Aero. The optional $99 Convenience Base has a spot for recharging a second battery; without this you'd have to put a spare battery into the Aero to recharge it.
[Q] What do you think about the ergonomic factors (e.g., screen size, keyboard layout, trackball, etc?)
[A] Keyboard is great and silent. Screen size 8" is more than enough for 640x480 resolution screen. Think about it: on desktops people are using a 15" screen with 1024x780.
[A] I like them. Screen size is just fine for me. The DOS text-mode font seems fine; better than some laptops I've seen. I like the keyboard more than any other subnote I've used, and the trackball is fine. However, these are all very subjective things and what works for me may not work for you.
[Q] Are you happy with tech support?
[A] Yes, they are very friendly and helpful. But don't expect to get an answer if your question is too technical :( Well, this is a problem of almost all vendors.
[A] Reasonably so -- overall they seem quite good. I think the problem I had with one fellow was just that particular person -- I wish I'd thought to write down his name and such so I could see that he gets additional training. As Ali mentioned, too technical a question will probably stump 'em. If the front-line person can't help you make SURE that you get them to bump your case to the 2nd level support people.
[Q] Sorry to be asking so many questions.
[A] No problem -- feel free to ask all you want. It's better to know what you're plunking down hundreds of dollars for than to find out later.
Asking the owners of a particular computer is a good way to learn all the stuff you usually don't find out 'til you've had one for a while. However, make sure you realize that you're probably not going to hear anything overly critical here. Someone who seriously dislikes the Aero is most likely not going to be subscribed to the list.
What you're doing is the equivalent of walking into an espresso bar and asking for peoples opinions on coffee; you'll generally get positive responses, perhaps with some mild criticism. You're not going to find a coffee hater in such a place.
[A] Good luck, and let us know how it went 8-)
[A] I am using Q386 3.65, a math accelerator and coprocessor emulator for 386SX and higher machines. (Copyright Quickware) It works nice. (e.g. with Mathematica) You should be able to find it on any SIMTEL mirror in the directory mathcopr. The name of the newest version seems to be q87_371.zip. I do not think that there is any possibility to plug in a real coprocessor.
[A] I'm pretty sure there is not a co-pro for the Aero; Or for almost any other 486sx/slc notebook computers either. Last time I knew of a notebook that could add a co-pro was a 386. You might try a software emulator. I heard that they do help somewhat.
[A] I just bought 8MB of Kingston Memeory for my Aero. The literature that came with the 8MB memory show all 3 expansion modules from Kingston (4MB, 8MB and 16MB). There is an order number for it. So yes, it would seem to be true! BTW: Kingston is the manufacturer. They don't sell direct, but through dealers. Look for advertisements in Byte magazine/Computer Shopper etc.
[A] Best I've seen in the national ads was about $180 for a 4Mb module and about $320 for an 8Mb module.
[A] You have to be very careful when you open it. You might easily break something - like I did break my celluloid display cable. Thank God I could fix it...
When you are opening the Aero, first take off only the upper screw of those two in the back of the Aero (beside the power plug). This is important. Of course you also have to remove those in the bottom. Then lift it up. (no, don't use legs). Most tricky is the part in the upper left corner. You just have to use some power for it (no, don't use legs:).
When taking off the main board of the machine be careful with the small screws: they disappear easily and get stuck under the PCMCIA slot or the processor board and you have to remove them to find the screws.
As I said, the biggest mistake you can make is try to remove the top (the one around the keyboard) when both of the screws beside the power plug have been removed. That is where I broke my display cable. Opening the Aero is extremely dangerous and there is a big risk you will void the warranty. I take no responsibility for any damage you have caused to your machine by applying my 'instructions'. Don't even mail me if something happens .) Wish you good luck.
[ this one is a bit wordy; but I felt it should go out to everyone on the list rather than languish on an ftp site -- lrj ]
Just for the record, this was all in a dream. It is not true. I would
never
do something as silly as opening up my Aero 4/33c, because that would
void the warranty or let the smoke out or something. Would I do that? Of
course not! cough
AT ALL TIMES REMEMBER TO GO SLOW. IF SOMETHING ISN'T WORKING OUT, RELAX;
EXAMINE IT AND THINK ABOUT HOW IT OUGHT TO GO. IT'S ALWAYS BETTER TO TAKE YOUR
TIME THAN TO BREAK SOMETHING.
As a first step, shut down windows and turn off the power. I mean the actual
Fn+StandbyButton power-off sequence. Remove the battery. Find a nice flat
table and put something soft on it; make sure you follow proper electrostatic
discharge procedures. I reccommend a wrist-strap.
Remove all the screws from the bottom of the case, and the two from the back
of the right-hand side. (the two on the right-side back anchor that side of
the display, so be ready for it to become a little floppy :) THERE ARE NO
HIDDEN SCREWS. Happily, Compaq did not hide any under stickers or anything.
I used a flat-blade screwdriver, but the appropriate Torx driver would be best.
Now you have to remove the plastic from the top; the stuff surrounding the
keyboard. It's a snap-down setup, and to disengage the clips you have to push
in on the top half while sorta pulling out on the bottom, while lifting the
top. Yah, one of those three-hand jobs.
ALSO: the speaker is one of those 3/4" piezo thingies that lives in front
of the trackball. Make sure it doesn't get smooshed or jammed into something
when you're popping the case.
There's one clip right next to where the battery cover goes, on the front
side of the machine. It's a good one to examine and get a feel for how it
works. The next one is in the middle of the front, right where the display
locks down.
The nasty one is on the right side between the back and the trackball
buttons. I finally got it by having the display up at 90 degrees, with the
whole machine sitting on it's left side. I inserted the corner of a credit
card between the top/bottom case halves from the back to put lifting pressure
on the clip as I pressed/pulled/etc. BE GENTLE HERE THOUGH, there's definite
breakage potential if you just force it.
Next, there are a set a small tabs which hold the back of the top down. You
can see the line running under the display. Just kind of gently lift, wiggle,
lever, etc. 'til they pop out.
Now for the real fun; seperating the "top" from the display. I haven't
figured a good way to do it; as you lift the top over the hinges, it hits the
bottom of the display. Carefully applied flexing and bending (never too much)
was the only way I got the thing off of there. Just be careful and look it
over a bit.
At this point, your machine should still work. I figured I'd try mine out,
so I plugged in the AC adapter and powered it up. :) I of course powered it
down and unplugged it before continueing. :)
Next thing is to remove the keyboard. You'll find one screw in the middle
below the spacebar and three smaller ones across the top. That's it. Remove
'em, tip the back of the keybd up and push backwards 'til it disengages from
the metal tab in the bottom right (closest to you). Watch the two ribbon
cables under it.
To disengage the cables, lay the keybd upside down over the battery
compartment. You'll see a couple slider things on the two cable slots on the
motherboard. Pull the sliders towards you; now the cables will come out
easily and you can set the keybd aside.
In order to remove the hard disk, you must first pull out the flat cable
running across the drive, which goes to the trackball and buttons. Small
needlenose pliers are good for this if you're very gentle and go slowly.
One the cable's off, slide the hard disk to the right until it disengages
from the connector. Tilt the back upwards 'til it clears the motherboard and
lift it out. Voila! :) You could take the "carrier" off the existing drive
and put it on another 2.5" drive if you wished.
Reassembling the machine is pretty much the reverse of what I've described.
When reinstalling the hard drive, make sure that one "tab" on the carrier
lines up with the screwhole so it'll get locked down when you put the screws
back in. When you put the keyboard back on, make sure to engage that metal
tab at the bottom-right.
I would suggest checking the machine out before putting the plastic lid back
on; after the keybd's back on, plug it in/turn it on and make sure everything
still works. Then turn it of, put the top back on, and button it up.
In summary, it looks like the hard drive is user-replaceable if
you have
the confidence and ability to go in there and do it. It is probably not
something which Joe Consumer should try. I've broken a lot of plastic tabs
over the years as I learned how to finesse these things. :)
Put it this way; when it comes time to put in a 400-500M disk sometime next
year, I will
be talking to the local service shop (which sells Compaq) to
see how much it'd cost to have them do the work. I am not sure that I won't
break a plastic tab or something next time.
Remember, this is all a dream. Nothing here is true. cough
[A]
The machine actually comes with two DOS partitions: the main one that you see,
and a tiny (2M) one which runs the setup utilities. You almost certainly want
to keep the latter around forever. As for the main DOS partition, it contains
lots of otherwise unavailable documentation about how your machine works, and
some setup utilities that do things that the setup partition can't do.
In particular, the utility to control whether the PCMCIA slot remains powered
during suspend seems only to be available in Windows, and at least a few of us
configured our machine to leave power on in the slot and are now regretting
that choice (because it uses up power during suspend).
[A]
That partition is FAT, it has DOS 6.2 on it, and it has
config.sys/autoexec.bat files that run the setup program for the aero.
You install it by using the setup program, which you can transfer onto a
1.44MB disk if you have the PCMCIA floppy drive. That's what I've done,
seeing as I don't run DOS or Windows but would like to be able to setup
my machine without a 2MB partition sitting on my drive doing nothing
99.99% of the time ...
[A]
Unfortunately yes. I claimed Compaq for that and they replaced my
HD to another 84MB and the new one was even worse.
Now for the setup. I had made a floppy version of the Setup and Diags
partitions ahead of time and proceeded to use these to set up the
cylinders/heads/sectors and run a full diags sweep of the disk. I made three
partitions on the new drive -- 50M for DOS, 30 MB for shared swap and the
remaining 273 MB for Linux. I didn't make the diags partition; I'll just use
the floppies again if I ever need something from the there again some day.
So, it can be done. I was a little hesitant at first after calling Laptop
Solutions in Houston because they tried to tell me the BIOS wouldn't
support different sized drives without their proprietary changes. Well,
maybe there are cases where their changes are needed but I've not found them
yet.
The drive is a Toshiba 1824FCV (682 cyl, 16 heads, 63 sectors); I just
reprogrammed the drive type 65 entries with these values. Only down side
is that it seems to spin up a bit slower than the old drive. But I'm
convinced the battery life is better, at least a little. The noise is
distinctly different too; maybe a little lower pitched but still as loud.
Warranty? Well, yes, compaq tech support told me what I did voids the warranty.He said my only option, if I need service, is to put back the old drive and tryto convince them the problem is not related to the change. I'm not worried
about it but it might be a factor for some.
[A]
I can second Elwood's story. I have had the Toshiba disk in my Aero for
about 2 weeks now. Its great to have 330 MB of disk. Also, I think Elwood
is correct, in that the battery lasts longer with the Toshiba disk. Seems
to draw less power.
The difficulties I had in doing the exchange were much the same as Elwood
related. Namely the clip on the right hand side next to the mouse buttons.
In addition, I could not get the cable unplugged that feeds the trackball,
mouse buttons and speaker. So, it was easy enough to unscrew the track ball
assembly. The speaker, buttons and trackball could then be lifted out of
the way while still plugged in.
Also, Ali, your instructions to me on not removing the lower screw supporting
the screen were correct. It is not necessary and helps keep the assembly
stable while trying to pry the cover off!
The Toshiba drive cost about $400 with tax. I bought it from Micro Sense
in San Diego, CA. (Micro Sense's Phone number is 1-800-544-4252.)
They were very helpful in telling me that the drive
would work in the Aero without any BIOS mods. They also told me I could put
in a bigger capacity drive, but I would need some BIOS mods to do that.
[A]
My theory is that the BIOS automatically recognizes certain 84, 170 and
250 disks but using other sizes and types requires changing parameters
with the setup utility.
The Bios supports almost any kind of IDE.
By that I mean all those which
are listed in HD section of setup. Howewer only few of them are
recognized automatically when the machine is booted for the first time
with the
new drive. Otherwise you have to set parameters of your new drive from
your setup before replacing the HD. If you set the parameters wrong
you have to put back your old HD to access setup again or create
a setup floppy (I'd prefer the latter choise).
[Q]
What do you mean by "BIOS mods"? Would I have to replace
the BIOS chip on the motherboard? Hope would I accomplish
the modification?
[A] You have to spend $59 for a program that loads as part of the disk boot
and modifies the BIOS parameters in memory. You don't have to do anything
to the motherboard.
The Aero recognized a different drive was installed upon its next power up.
It asked if I wanted to save the new drive parameter by pressing F1. So,
I did and from there ran FDISK, re-applied the COMPAQ diagnostic partition,
added a DOS partition, Linux swap and Linux partition. I was off and running!
I don't want to encourage anybody. It was a long task and you can easily
damage your Aero if you are not careful!
[Q]
After saving the automatically recognized drive parameters, how
did you get FDISK to run on the PCMCIA FDD? I thought the
PCMCIA drive needed drivers loaded before it was recognized or
is that something that's built into the BIOS already?
[A] Yes. The FDD runs out of the BIOS.
You can boot from it with nothing on the hard disk.
This assumes you have a current COMPAQ BIOS too. Very old ones did not
support the FDD correctly.
A word of warning. When I took apart the case it took me 2 1/2 hours.
I was very careful. I stopped twice during the process because of
frustration. However, once the top of the machine is off, then removing
the old disk is not a big deal. You move the drive holder from one
driver to the other. Push the new drive into place on the connector.
You can then power up the machine and test it to make sure the disk
works. (Have a boot floppy with FDISK.) If you have done it correctly,
you will see lots of disk space. Putting the cover on only took 10
minutes. The hard part is prying the cover over the screen support rods.
Also, do NOT remove the bottom screw as seen from the back of the Aero
which supports the screen. The screen is really loose if you do this and
as Ali told me, you can tear the flexible cable that goes to the screen!
As has been said before, this is not for the faint of heart. If you take
your time, walk away from it if you get frustrated, and do not force anything
very hard you should be OK. The most difficult part is the clip near the
mouse buttons. If you do not have the original case disassembly instructions,
I can resend them.
[Q]
Which
brand(s) and model(s) can replace the 84Mb and 170Mb drive in the Aero
4/25...anyone know if the drives are higher than the drives sitting in the
4/33c or is the height difference merely the colour screen as opposed to the
mono screen?
[A] Correct. The height difference is in the screen and not in the base.
The Toshiba MK1824FCV was an exact fit at 12.5mm. The Toshiba has 335MB on it.
It should also work in the 4/33c.
The drive in the color model is the same size as in mono.
They're both 2,5" slim IDEs.
These is a procedure that I followed to replace my drive. Use at your own
risk. Replacing your own hardware may likely interfere with your Compaq
warranty. I can not be responsible for any damages incurred should you set
out
on this course.
Before removing drive
Good Luck.
[A] I have the same problem and I do like you when it appears, I
disconnect the power supply or put away the battery.
[A] I experienced the problem under the MS-DOS 6.2 which came with the system.
I was watching it for a while last night; 70 pulses, each lasting about 1
second, for a period of 4 minutes, every hour--like clockwork.
Business Depot exchanged the unit today; if the problem persists, it was
recommended that the POWER.EXE line be rem'd out of the CONFIG.SYS. We'll
see once the battery is fully charged.
[A]
Yes. When I opened the case of Aero that ribbon-like cable slipped
off the hinge. I doubt whether it ever was properly seated. Ask them
to replace it with a longer cable if they have one. The original one is
definitely too short.
The Aero has 256k of video RAM. This should be doable according to the math.
It is also mentioned in the on-line docs under the section which deals with
"External VGA Monitor connection", but Compaq tech support has disavowed any
knowledge of this driver. When I point their tech support to the mention
of it in the on-line docs, they just say it must have been a mistake. I
think they just did not get it out the door, and no one has pressed them
enough to get it shipped.
Compaq tech support also could not provide the video chip manufacturer, or
chip number, and the tech had no idea what chip it was other than telling me
his docs just said "SLSI video ". I believe that the chip is a Tseng Labs
ET4000, which is capable of 800x600 support.
[Q]
in reading through the message archives, I noticed that
one user seemed to be saying he was running at 640x400x256. Did I read that
right and, if so, can anyone tell me how this is set on the Aero? Many thanks.
[A]
You tell me and we'll both know. Compaq denies it's existence. The video
chip set in the Aero is rumored to be a Tseng ET4000. The Aero has 256k video
RAM, and should do it. Give COMPAQ a buzz on this.
Or try sending mail to support@compaq.com.
I recently pestered tseng.com
and got the following rather nice (IMHO) brush-off back:
Tseng Labs is an OEM supplier. As such, product support is provided solely
to its OEM customers. End-users are encouraged to contact the manufacturers
of their components for support issues. Tseng Labs does offer an electronic
bulletin board service, freely accessible by all users at 215-579-7536
(2400-28.8Kbps N,8,1) that provides generic information and software for its
chips. The generic nature of this information, such as software drivers, may
limit its effectiveness given the variety of design impementations in
circulation.
CompuShow seems to think that the chip it autodetects might
have some enhanced capabilities. Of course, the Aero's built-in display
can't sync to 800x600 display modes (not enough physical pixels).
The question is ...
Lets say you are COMPAQ, and you can give the customer this driver... how do you
handle it in terms of support. It would require some manipulations by the
user in order to have it work. The user would have to be astute enough to
ONLY try using it on an external monitor, and to use windows setup to change
drivers every time they go form external to internal monitors. Novice users
may find it baffling to have Windows refuse to start if they forgot to
change back to 640x480 while still connected to the external monitor.
[A]
I have a couple of reasons to think that 800x600x16 WOULD be
possible, at least in theory.
[A] Yes, you do get used to it ... and it's
not difficult to go back to a normal
keyboard; I have a Lexmark 101-key keyboard on my desktop that I am
very fond
of, but I still love my Aero keyboard because it is so quiet, and very fast
to type on. The smaller distance that your fingers hvae to travel on the
keyboard allows you to type very quickly and your fingers don't get tired at
all; I've had three hour lectures (3 in a row) where I type solidly
throughout them - all my lecture notes - and it doesn't bother me one bit.
As you can probably see, I type quite a bit on it - and unfortunately my 'n'
and 'm' keys have the writing wearing off, along with the rough surface on
the space bar. This is my only qualm about the keyboard; I'm going to ring
up compaq support when I get a chance and ask them to replace it, as it's not
normal wear and tear after 6 months; but as I said, I have typed a
lot on it...
The problem was one of being too slick. The ball was polished and
shiny. Any oil, dirt, fluff, etc. that would get under the trackball would
cause it to not work properly. Compaq came out with a "roughed up" version
that fixes the problem. Call Compaq at 1 (800) 841-2761. I believe that
this is the only 800 number to call. If you are outside the US, call your
local distributor, or call Compaq directly. They will send you, free,
a trackball cleaning kit and a high-friction replacement trackball.
All you have to supply is a serial number and a shipping address.
[A]
First make sure you do not still have the original smooth trackball.
This is a known and very common problem.
Replace it with the new matte-finish ball
from Compaq (see above).
In order to clean the trackball you
suspend the machine (turning off is probably
better), twist the locking ring to the left, remove it, tip the unit 'til the
ball falls out, and then clean rollers and such with a lint-free cloth and at
least 70% isopropyl alcohol. Camera lens paper is good for this, or use
SPONGE-tipped swabs. Cotten-tip swaps such as Q-tips can leave fibers in
there which will mess things up.
[A]
Sounds like a case of the classic dirty trackball. Use the "Compaq Learning
Center" and read how to get it out and clean it. One of the rollers is slipping
which makes it look like one dimension is fixed. It happened to me all the time
until I got the new trackball from Compaq. Now it just happens maybe once
every other week and I just wipe around inside the trackball hole for a few
seconds using my shirt tail and pencil.
[A] The file I've got is lmouse64.zip -- a new
version of the Logitech mouse driver which vastly improves on the one
bundled with the Aero.
[Q] What is the location of this file? [- the FAQ maintainer]
[A]
The problem is
that people who like to vandalize store property see how easy it is to
remove the trackball from the Aero.
At all the stores I've been
to, the trackballs haven't been missing, but the salespeople don't clean
the trackball well, either. This causes the mouse cursor control to
practically disappear (can't move the cursor if the works are gummed up).
[A]
It's pretty easy to get the trackball out if you have to clean it in the
field -- unfortunately, this also means it's pretty easy for kids to add one to
their marble collection.
The locking ring which holds the in the trackball has never even
thought
about turning on its own in the three and a half months I've had my Aero.
[Q] Has anyone found a good source for batteries? Since
Compaq Direct sells the large ones for $95 ($85 educational[institutional]),
I see no
reason to pay $150 from the oh-so competent folks at computer city. Are
they cheaper elsewhere?
[A]
Best I've seen from a local computer shop was $95-99/U.S. I try to find
an A.C. outlet whenever possible. If you do come across a cheaper
mail-order location, could you pass it on?
[A]
From what I've read, NiMH does suffer from the memory problem as do
the Litihium-ion batteries. It's just that they are not as suseptible
to this malady. It's still a good idea to condition the battery every
now and then.
[A]
Do you have anything set so that the PCMCIA or parallel/serial ports remain
powered when in standby? I know you can do this on the PCMCIA port, and 30 hrs
sounds about right for a PCMCIA modem draining the battery.
[A]
I would expect the standby to die after 30 hours.
I have set my Aero to "stdby to hibernate mode". It works OK most of the time,
but sometimes when I restart, my mouse is WHACKO!
For now my favorite is just to "FN+Purple Button", and reboot every time
which is 100% reliable. I prefer a cold boot
before every session. It is worth the 42 second wait. Besides I can use that
42 seconds to lean back and stretch or scratch or something.
[Q]
How do I change the settings so that the power to the pcmcia port is shut off
on standby? I couldn't find it using the power management utility.
[A]
It's under PowerManagement&Hibernation->PCMCIA -- there's a checkbox labelled
"Leave Card On During Standby". I believe you have to have a card in the
PCMCIA slot in order to get this option listed.
It's also the same window that is displayed when you insert a card (if you
have "Display Message When A Card Is Inserted" turned on) -- to get to the
display message checkbox, go to the PCMCIA page as above and select the OPTIONS
button.
Is my battery recharging too fast?
Are NiMH cells damaged by rapid recharging?
How much do those battery check marks mean, anyway? Mine seems to go
"5554444444444444442222222222222111000". I don't think I've ever seen
three marks displayed. I assume they represent a voltage measurement.
Is there a way to get higher resolution indications, or technical data
on the existing one? How much computing should I expect after I see
zero marks?
[A]
I just downloaded this program from cica.indiana.edu and it works
pretty good. I think it is more useful than the hot-key utility that
the Aero comes with.
[A]
The PowerMonitor does this job very well on my Aero. You can find it
as pwrm151.zip on CICA or it's mirrors in the desktop-directory, I
think.
[A]
Yes, I've been using it as well -- very nice little utility.
To make things a little easier (CICA & its mirrors can be tough to get to),
I have placed a copy in /pub/Aero/Software on lassp.cornell.edu (anon ftp).
[A]
This doesn't seem right, since the battery should be parallel with the
external power. I can take the battery out when the external power is plugged
in, and it continues to work.
[A]
Contact Compaq. You can't do anything to fix this problem on your end.
I had this problem. I complained to Compaq. They sent me another unit.
[A]
They are BOTH duracell batteries, long and oval, with an indentation running
up one side. The mono (my mono 4/25 84 meg drive) came with the short one,
which only fits because of a plastic spacer. The compartment is 2" longer than
the battery. The extended battery fills the whole compartment.
[A]
The
color Aero 4/33c comes with the extended. The extended fits in the monochrome
Aero 4/25 though.
[Q]
How much battery life do people get with a standard
4/80 mono? PcMag said 7 hours, I think, and that was with the
Duracell battery.
Do Aero owners out there really get such long life?
[A]
Runtime estimates are variable, but it is a whole new world compared with my
Epson luggable. If you keep the light low, and don't use the disk much, you
can get 5-7 hours of continuous use with the extended battery.
In practice, though, you tend to get distracted, do something else. Then
the Aero goes to sleep. I used it on an all-day train trip without
swapping batteries. 10 hours of this sort of use is standard.
I usually use the longer battery. The shorter one lasts about 2/3 as long.
[A]
The PCMag tests were pretty low usage; look at the sidebar regarding how
they did the tests. I wouldn't expect that long a life in real-world use.
I normally run my Aero 4/33c (with 12 meg memory) at "medium" battery
conservation, two to three hours at a time running AmiPro. The hard drive
seldom spins down and the display is on during (~100% brightness) the entire
time. I normally have around 2 of the five blocks still filled in on the
battery "status", or supposedly around 40% of the charge left. I haven't yet
managed to fully drain the battery through actual use (only by intentionally
turning off all battery conservation and letting it sit). Unfortunately, I
also haven't had the opportunity to time the length of time it takes to drain
a full battery.
If anyone has gotten the parallel port on the Aero to act as an EPP,
I'd really like to hear about it. Does anyone have or know of a
program which can reliably test for an EPP? I have laplink 5 and it
doesn't detect an EPP, either.
[A]
Sadly, I never got the EPP to work on my AERO. I've tried
with my original BIOS and a new BIOS but to no avail.
I have a parallel SCSI cable and it only works only in
standard mode. I also have LapLinkV for Windows and it doesn't detect
an EPP either.
[A]
There have been two updates of the EPPBIOS driver, and a just released in early
January [95] System ROM BIOS.
I have the new BIOS in, and the EPPBIOS in my CPQDOS
directory, but have not tested it yet.
[Q] So what about it? [- the FAQ maintainer]
[A]
This is what I did: in the mouse subdirectory in the file
mousedrv.ini you need to change two entries in the [Global] section:
[Q] Problem Two: The dorky port expander only takes a PS/2 mouse and I have a
fairly new logitech serial mouse that I like. Is there a adapter to go from
DB9 to PS/2? I have not been able to find one. I don't want to buy the
port expander till I know it will be useful... I am on a budget (read:
poor student). Perhaps somebody knows the pin mapping on the PS/2 and DB9
so that I can make an adapter myself ...
[A]
I haven't seen one for the mouse - I was looking for one a while ago, and
only found a 9-pin DIN to mini-din for the keyboard. The mapping is very
similiar - you can get various mice (including a microsoft mouse I saw
for A$110 the other day) that have a PS/2 connection but also have an
adapter to turn them into DB9 connections ... I looked in our local Dick
Smith catalogue but it has no documentation, I don't know where else you
could look except in a hardware reference book (which I don't have)...
[A]
That is normal. If you machine keeps power during suspend drivers
will remain. But if you pull out the connector they will dissappear
and connector card must be reinitialized.
[A]
The easiest way to fix the problem is to get the very original
CONFIG.SYS of Aero which is well configured to work with the drive.
[A]
I recently ran into the same problem, 2 disk in a row. It was some
inexpensive, unbranded diskettes.
My symptoms were nearly identical to yours, including
the inability to reformat the disks on the Aero, however, I could
reformat them on each an every (other) computer I tried!
[A]
I've found that this problem tends to appear when you have
smartdrive running and fail to include "a-" in the command line. Even
when drives supposedly support floppy change detection, I've just never
had good luck with smartdrive & floppies. (By default, it read-caches
them.) Try running "smartdrv a-" and see what happens.
[A]
I'll second at least some of this floppy trouble.
When running dos or windows I had a heck of a time
getting floppys formatted. I finally got to the point
where I'd never bother trying to format disks on my
Aero but use some other machine.
After getting them formatted (elsewhere) I had no
troubles with the disks.
I haven't had this problem since I switched to Linux.
[A]
This happens to me occasionally also. I don't really trust the Aero's PCMCIA
floppy drive for formatting any more. It's OK for file transfers, but not
reliable for formatting. Some disks seem to get damaged -- maybe I (we)
should take the drive back.
[A]
I haven't had any trouble, and I have formatted about 30 disks of about 3
different varieties.
Maybe there is a change in floppy supplier or model somewhere, or maybe I've
just been lucky.
[A]
Try making friends with a local Compaq dealer. The floppy drive is really
worth the extra money, but .. if you bought your Aero after Compaq announced
that they were going to bundle the floppy WITH the Aero on Nov 1, and call
COMPAQ and ask real nice you may get a free one shipped to you like I did.
[A]
Well, I am still holding out without a floppy. You can install Linux on the
Aero without floppy (which I did, but 4 MB is too akward for X), or the
ROMPaqs (which I have not yet tried).
Better spend that money on an Ethernet adapter...
I decided to run my machine until the
battery gave out if for no other reason than to see how long it would
last. In order to prevent damage to the filesystems, I did a:
[A] What you want is called a type adapter; email
jluning@delphi.com. He is Operations Manager for Micro Solutions in
Connecticut. They had them for about $50 the last time I checked. I'm
not sure that it will support 2 Type II cards, though. Jon is very
helpful and the service was great when I ordered a modem.
[A]
Here's an update to my premature depression. I was doing things
according to Megahertz's instructions which basice said to; run
installation diskette, insert modem card / listen for "beep-beep",
rock 'n roll (run communications program).
The software installation failed as I'd mentioned before (it didn't
recognize the controller) but the card did chirp twice when the PCMCIA
card was inserted which means that the card was automatically recognized
by the Aero. Tossing caution to the winds, I decide to try the modem
anyway, without the Megahertz Installation Disk. Bringing up Window's
Terminal program I got a dial tone and was able to successfully connect
with a local BBS. Needless to say, I'm a happy camper now.
[A]
Megahertz installation failed on the Aero for me, too.
Turned out it didn't need any installation; just plug it in, and
it plays.
[A]
When the logical fails to produce an answer, do the illogical. I did
exactly that last week and discovered what you just related. Go
figure...
[Q]
Anyone using [ AT&T Keep In Touch PCMCIA Modem ] in their Aero?
[A] I am, and it's wonderful. I haven't had a single glitch.
Lot of folks complained about the MegaHurts modems, and I was a
little anxious about using a non-Compaq product, but it was literally
plug-n-play.
[Q] What about the Motorola Power or Compaq's Speedpaq cellular modem.
[A]
My Aero 4/33c
killed 3 (three) Motorola Power PCMCIA 14.4 modems in 2.5 weeks. I'd be
able to power it up once, use it, and then the next power up, the POWER
flakes out and returns an "Card not configured" error. Tech support at
PC Connection, where I bought the unit, got the same problem and burned a
few of their Motorola Power's. Compaq and Motorola Tech support kept
blaming each other; but I found Mot. to be much more courteous...
Compaq... Motorola... jeez, you'd think one or the other would be
interested in this problem with the product(s)...
[A]
I have an Intel 14.4 PCMCIA faxmodem, and have not had ANY problems with it.
As a matter of fact, I have a feeling that the Compaq and Intel modems are
actually the same units, but with different labels on them. They both use
the exact same cord, and these are the only two that I've seen that use this
cord. Anyone know if this is true?
After talking with Angia Tech Support, and Compaq Tech Support, I've found
that I'm basically out of luck. Tried some stuff with the Compaq guy on the
phone with me, and ended up at the conclusion that I have to keep power
applied to the card.
[A]
I am seeing similar bad behavior with a USR Worldport 14400 modem.
The machine crashes if I insert the card while windows is running.
Removing the card does it sometimes. Suspend/Resume does it always.
If I exit windows to insert/remove, things go fine.
[A]
I now have an XJACK 1144 and it's showing the same problem the Angia had --
if I access it with some comm program, quit the program, and put the machine
into suspend, it will crash when I try to resume unless I remove the modem
first. By crash I mean black text-screen, Ctrl-Alt-Del or power to regain
control.
[A]
According to the Compaq literature you can't. If you ever find a way,
please share it with us because I would like to do the same thing. I have
used the Aero with the VGA adapter and the VGA-TV Elite adapter from ADS to
show my Aero screen on a large tv. It works pretty good and is a very
mobile package.
I give it 3.5 Mikeys (Mikeys go 1 to 5). You get your $15 worth from it.
[A]
A cheap way to get sound with windoze is to use the Aero's internal
speaker. All you need is a little dittle from Microsoft that they do not
send with winders. Its called speak.zip or something like that. Its the
driver for the internal speaker. You get real sounds, not just beeps.
The quality depends on the internal speaker ... the aero's is OK.
[we should put a reference to that file in here, folks - the FAQ maintainer]
[A]
This really isn't the solution I want. Also, it kind of causes the machine
to stop task switching while the sound is playing. Not good.
[Q]
I've been considering my options for adding sound to my Aero, and while
the Port*Able Sound Plus (parallel port sound blaster compatible adapter)
seems like a good deal, I worry about its current incompatibility with
protected mode DOS apps.
I've been looking with interest at the PCMCIA based SB compatible sound
cards. has anyone played with one of these cards?
[A]
Well, Compaq was reasonably prompt about replying to my request for info on
PCMCIA audio cards they've tested on the Aero. According to Compaq's rep,
they haven't (to date) tested ANY PCMCIA audio cards on the Aero. I'm going
to do a FAX request tonight and have them FAX me a list of all the PCMCIA
cards they've tested with the Aero. (I'm kinda in the market for a SCSI
controller, and I don't really want to go the parallel port SCSI route.)
[Q] I'm about ready to hook my aero/linux to my lan. The choices are PCMCIA and
using the parallel port. Linux seems to support several PCMCIA cards (I'm
leaning towards a LinkSys I saw advertised for $159) and the DE-600 port
adaptor. I know the parallel port will be slower (Ethernet HOWTO suggests
~80KB/S) but it might be more convenient if I want to use the floppy or modem
at about the same time (SLIP service perhaps). Is the EPP an issue (I've
gathered it's not 100% compatable)? Any thoughts? experiences? comments? war
stories? conquests? recommendations? warnings? (any more synonyms? :-))
[A] I'm using a LinkSys parallel port adapter on my 10base2 LAN at home. My only
complaint is that the network connection hangs if the Aero goes into sleep
mode. I chose this route over a PC Card (isn't that what they're calling
PCMCIA these days?) for maximum flexibility.
[A] I have been using the 3-Com 3c589 pcmcia with linux on an aero 4/33c.
It works
great. I don't have any experience with the parallel port adapters, however
using a pcmcia net card under linux has some advantages. The pcmcia card
services package written by David Hinds, works GREAT. It provides most of the
functionality that the Compaq windows stuff had; hot swap, graphical tool,
automatic configuration including setting up the interface's address, netmask,
etc. (ifconfig), and tearing this down upon card removal. I seem to get good
throughput although I have not measured it. I would recommend the pcmcia.
[A] I've heard that Xircom will not release the programming details for their
cards, so you may want to stay away from them if this matters to you, or if
you ever wanted to run Linux on your Aero.
[A] Thanks to all who responded with their experiences with ethernet on the
Aero 4/33c under Linux. I am happy to report that I am now running Linux
1.2.1 and Don Hind's pcmcia package (v 2.5.5) with a Linksys ethercard and the
compaq 14.4 modem cards and am very pleased with the results. I have X
running and picked up the latest beta version of netscape (1.1b) which runs
remarkably well over SLIP as well.
[A]
I thought about doing this but I figured the pain in the butt
of finding the connecters and dicking with all the wires was
worth $50.
Anyway, I just pulled mine open and there seems to be a few
C's and R's, probably to protect the machine from this and that.
I dropped it on the scanner so you can have a look, see-
http://www.netlib.org/utk/people/ReedWade/cpq_expbox.gif
[A]
It spreads out the 40 pin expansion port to 1 external VGA port (DB15),
1 PS/2 mouse port, and
1 PS/2 Keyboard port
(normal size DIN).
[A]
In addition to the spot for recharging a second battery pack as mentioned
in other responses, the Convenience Base offers the following ports:
VGA,
PS/2 Mouse,
Keyboard (PS/2 style),
Serial,
Parallel.
The serial and parallel connectors on the Convenience Base are pass-through
connectors. The S & P ports on the back of the Aero are passed through the
expansion port. This means that you could leave a printer and an external
modem (or other serial/parallel devices) attached to the convenience base.
Just slide the Aero into it you're all set -- it looks like it'd be a lot more
convenient than finding your printer cable and serial cable and plugging it in
every time you wanted to print or transfer files to/from your desktop
machine.
The base comes with its own AC adapter.
It will recharge a spare battery and the one in the Aero (however, not
simultaneously: it will charge the Aero battery fully before it charges the
spare).
I have one *teeny weeeeeen* little beef though. I have no
leglets. You know, those little fold down feet that prop
up the back end of the machine for that ergonomic typing
angle? I'm forever finding something wherever I work to put
under the back end 'cause it actually does hurt my wrists
not to.
Does anybody share my complaint? What have you managed to
do about it? Anyone found leglets? I've become obsessed with
finding them now, but although people have referred to them
I can't find a supplier.
[A] I've got a small felt bag I use for the computer;
I fold it in half and toss
it under the backside, and it works perfectly. The front two rubber feet hold
the unit in place, and the bag gives it the necessary height.
[A] It's not quite leglets, but I have one of the mini wrist
cushions. It can be used as intended in front or slipped under the back
to incline the keyboard. Where are the Model 100 legs when you need them?
[A]
ROM version 6. March 1994 is the first one which includes support
for booting from floppy. However, it is also best for running
any operating system other than DOS.
In later versions many of the built-in features of Aero like a few
described in above quote, have dissapeared. Probably those are
now implemented as DOS drivers or something... I don't know.
Here are a few problems of version 7. June 1994 which have appeared
under Linux:
[A]
Isn't it as easy as just running MSD. Click on the button "Computer..."
It shows a BIOS date.
[A]
To get the date of your bios currently in your aero
go into debug and type: df00:ffe6.
[Q] What I still am worried about is that I cannot tell the BIOS date
from the information in a ROMPaq *without* installing it.
[A]
To find the date of the BIOS image, just create the ROMPaq install
disk and look at the date of the "shadow" file.
On most ROMPaqs there are more than one different ROM image for the
various different Compaq portables ... the one named "shadow" something
or other is for the Aero ..
[A]
The cost is supposed to cover costs of media, labels, delivery and
handling as well as any documentation they provide with the
diskettes. I also understand 4/25 and the 4/33 and the 4/33c's with
differing size hard drives allow you different software bundles.
[A] If you don't need plug and play for your floppy, don't use any
additional PCMCIA devices and don't need automatic system clock
resetting then commenting out those lines should not cause any
troubles.
[Q]
What is PCMSMIX supposed to do, anyway?
[A]
PCMSMIX was supposed to allow a computer in "STANDBY" to receive a
fax (or other modem comm.) and process it.
Sort of a "wake-up" driver.
HOWEVER, per Compaq tech support, this is impossible with the Aero since
the HARDWARE to do so is absent in the Aero design.
Turns out that PCMSMIX can cause a bevy of problems in the Aero, depending
upon which BIOS, PCMCIA, etc releases you run.
The programs left in memory after mine boots:
[A]
Why are you running the Intel card manager?
I thought the compaq manual says not to run foreign card managers
for cards that compaq can recognize.
I'm running my intel14.4 PCMCIA beast with just the stock areo software.
I have run into one nasty problem with delrina winfax lite that
I think is due to badly restoring the hard drive.
winfax is the only program that doesn't recognize com2 (I have
to go an set the com port to 2 and then use it) yet every
other peice of software works like a charm with the modem
Anybody else on this list running the intel 14.4 modem
without the intel card manager or did I goof reading the manual?
[A]
I am also running the Intel with only the Compaq software without a problem.
With QEMM and Stacker I can get 607 k free. I had to use the Sept BIOS to get
this Config to work the latest one caused my machine to crash. Nearest I
could figure it was due to the floppy drive.
I've been running qemm 7.04 on the Aero, as well as Stacker 4.0,
without any serious problems. The only difficulty is that you can't use
the QEMM Stealth mode if the floppy's plugged in. I think Stealth mode
remaps some of the BIOS stuff, including compaq's unusual floppy setup.
I've got Stacker 4.0 running on my aero with no problems. It takes only
about 7k of conventional and upper memory. It uses some weird DPMS cloaking
thing that loads it above high memory. Works great...
[A]
The mouse problem is something inherent to the aero. To avoid it, don't
touch the mouse till you have come all the way out of standyby after
hitting the purple(tm) button. It should be OK then.
[Q]
After starting up again from hibernation (ie., when I failed to get the
power plugged in at the very short power out warning :-( ), the screen
blanks out every few seconds. Only way to stop it is to reboot. Do others
get this?
[A]
I think I may have a fix.
I have the Windows power management stuff installed; exit Windows, run SETUP,
and make sure you're using a "DOS Machine with APM" -- it may need a disk or
two from the Windows disks.
If it still doesn't work, you could try dropping back to the workaround I was
using and will probably go back to: turn off PCMCIA power except when you need
the modem.
Put a copy of the PowerManagement&Hibernation icon on the button bar in
TabWorks. Double-click it, hit "." to go to PCMCIA setup, "f" or "n" to turn
power off or on as appropriate, then hit RETURN twice to get out.
An alternative is to eject the modem partially and reinsert it to get the
PCMCIA setup page (if you have "display window" set). Do this to turn it on,
use it, and do this again to turn it off when done.
[Q]
Does anyone know if it is possible to make the Aero hibernate without
getting a low battery first?
I would have thought this would be a useful facility (i.e., overnight),
but haven't found a way to do it. Have I missed something obvious?
When the
machine hibernates a memory image is written to disk and the machine
switches off completely. Suspend shuts down most functions but still
uses a small amount of power.
The problem with suspend is that it still drains the battery if you
leave the machine suspended overnight or some equivalent time.
(Incidentally, have you noticed the led flashing every so often when
suspended!).
It would be nice to hibernate the machine if you know you won't be
using it for a while. It avoids having to close everything down and
then bootup next time the machine is switched on.
[A]
Compaq sent me a utility that switches the function of 'purp' back and forth
between hibernation and standby. It worked great.
[A]
Here's one for all of you Aero owners: on ftp.compaq.com there's a
utility that tells the computer to hibernate when you press the power button
(without pressing function)
rather than just going into standby mode. I
remember someone asking about this at some point. It seems to work just
fine.
[The pointer to this file should go here. - the FAQ maintainer]
[A]
I just put mine to sleep (suspend). It drains a little, but won't lose much
overnight. All it keeps alive are the RAM chips.
[A]
There is an interesting point which some people might get surprised by.
In order for hibernate to work properly, it must be able to write the
contents of RAM to the hard disk quickly. Therefore, the space for this is
set up ahead of time; do a DIR/A C:\ and look for the file HIBRN8.DAT. You'll
find a file that is a little bigger than your RAM capacity; mine is 13,212,160
bytes.
What this means is that if you have an Aero wth 4 meg of RAM and add an 8 meg
RAM upgrade, HIBRN8.DAT will GROW by 8 meg or so.
In other words, if you upgrade your memory, you will LOSE about the same
amount of hard disk space as the amount of additional RAM you added. You could
have problems if you added an 8 meg upgrade when you had only 5 meg of hard
disk space.
Also, this means that if you become REALLY tight on disk space, you could
turn off hibernation, remove C:\CPQDOS\HIBRN8.EXE from AUTOEXEC.BAT, and
remove the C:\HIBRN8.DAT file. You wouldn't have hibernation, but you'd have
an additional 4 meg of disk space (or more if you have more RAM).
[Q]
How does one get the disk to spin down automatically if AC adaptor
is plugged in? It would seem that the system goes into "drain mode"
any time the adaptor is plugged in - and of course, you cant change
any of the values in drain mode.
I'm also still looking for some sort of TSR to spindown the hard
drive given some key combination. Does a program exist, can it be
written?
[A]
Yes, there is a utility to spin down the hard disk. It can be found at
FTP.COMPAQ.COM.
I don't remember the name of the compressed file, but the expanded file is
called
HDSDOWN3.COM.
Fetch the index and search for this file, and you will find it.
[A]
Anything (almost) is possible. But for now just go into Compaq's Power
Management program while in windows,and set the hard drive spin down time to
1 minute. 1 minute later brrrrrrrrrrr Click
It's fast, it's free ,it works, and it's already done
[A]
Get HDSDOWN3 (from ftp.compaq.com) to set
the HD spindown time.
[A]
My Aero does exactly the same thing. I checked the control panel for
the power routine, and sure enough it is set to Advanced
management. I am certain I did not set this, so I wonder if it
happened during the initial system install ... way back many months
ago. This problem has been occuring for some time.
I've also noticed another funny power management event. Recently, if
I have just fully charged the battery and done a full power down
(Fn+power button), the next time I use the Aero ... running off battery,
the system will run for a period of time then put out the "Your battery
is low and you must shut down or use the adapter" message (or whatever it
says, you know what I mean). Upon checking the battery charge status,
Fn+F8, it shows the battery with all 5 indicators lit (full charge). If
I do not shut down it goes to hibernation. If I power-up and check the
battery it shows NO indicators (no charge) and will almost immediately
go back into hibernation. However, if when I receive
the warning message I shut down using a full power down (Fn+power button),
then turn the machine on, it shows all 5 indicators and then continues
to operate normally. I then get multiple hours of use. I wonder if this
might also somehow be related to the Windows power management routine
being active.
[A]
I have set the power management in
the Control Panel to "off". The main problem with this utility is that it
makes Aero fail to shut down its drive and screen and rapidly switch
them on and off (this was especially happening with an active
application on screen).
I don't know how turning off the power managemet in Contol Panel
affects battery life (I only turned it off a couple of
days ago). I suspect it is better to have it off
since Aero is able to do its own power management effectively.
Anyway I'm not going to have the stupid Microsoft utility messing
with my computer :-)
[A]
Well, I discovered a problem with setting the Windows/Control Panel/power
utility to "off" : aero does not go to hybernation when the battery
discharges.
The proper setting is "Standard" ( not "advanced" ). "Standard"
means that the computer's own power management facilities are in
charge. Again "Advanced" creates problems in my Aero.
Read the help of Control-Panel/power for more info.
Sorry for the confusion but it was trial-error experimenting so
far.
[A]
I just use the Windows WinLink software over the
parallel port with similar performance results. Why are you using L2D?
An even better deal is to use the InterLnk.EXE and InterSvr.EXE stuff that
comes with DOS - I use that for all my backups - even to the point of making
the laptop the "server" and backing the data directly to the tape drive on my
desktop. (I use Central Point Backup for Windoze, but I guess any backup
software would work.)
[I'm sure you know the drill - I put "DEVICE=InterLnk.EXE /Drives:3" in the
desktop Config.SYS and run InterSvr from the DOS command line on the laptop;
that way, the laptop C: drive magically shows up as drive H: on my desktop.]
[A]
Try:
Speaking of l2d, is there any way to both map the desktop's printer and
drives and the Aero's drive? I've got it to work for a while, but if both
machines attempt to access each others resources at the same time. Is there
any other software I might look at?
[Q]
For some reason, my Winklink/L2D connection will conk out after
a while. If I try to reestablish the connection, the laptop will tell
me that it can't find the desktop, and both machines will begin to
act sluggishly. Often I end up having to reboot one or both computers.
Also, if I use L2D to connect to the desktop, the Aero will not let
me access the external floppy, even if I specified "b:" as the remote
drive in L2D. Unmapping the drive doesn't help. Again, the only
solution is to reboot.
Any ideas?
[A] I bought the exact
same cable as you have (Actually, two; one at work,
one at home) and they work great.
The only problem I've seen with WL.EXE (and, to a lesser degree,
WinLink.EXE) is that if I use, say, the serial connection at 115K to
transfer to another box and then try to use the parallel connection to the
same (or even a different) machine, I have to:
Actually, I really am not overly impressed with either of these products.
I like the fact that they're functional for a "Quick-n-Dirty" transfer to
another box, but in the main, I find that they are prone to hangage,
lockage, and buggage; especially when connecting to a really slow (386-16,
for example) remote. I get LOTS of transfer failures, both reading &
writing.
For the most part, I use the InterLnk.EXE and InterSvr.EXE on the desktop I
connect to most. (You know, the ones that came with DOS.) I just put:
What I'm most
impressed with is the new "Direct Cable Connection" stuff
that's in Chicago/Win'95.... (What are they calling it today?)
This lets me connect, via the parallel cable, to another machine running
Win'95 and use it as a gateway to all of the network resources that the
desktop is connected to. I can use printers, local and network drives,
CD-ROMs; whatever the desktop can see on the network. Really slick.
[A]
Yeah, I've been thinking about this for a while - I never got XFS to work
quite right (but this was an old version - maybe 7 months ago?), nor PC-NFS,
nor any of the others. But in defense of these products, I didn't try TOO
hard.
One thing you probably want to look at is the rsize and wsize NFS params -
I've had a lot of trouble with NFS (on a lot of different platforms) unless
I use 1024 for both read and write size. (This seems to be a problem with
the whole NFS world - Doesn't it stand for "Nightmare File System"?)
[A]
I had XFS working ('til I wiped my OS/2 2.1 desktop and installed Warp; I
haven't put the tcp/ip NFS back on the desktop yet) for the most part. It
just seemed to hang the machine partway into reading a large file from the
desktop's hard disk. Writing to the desktop worked fine; I could use TAR or
ZIP to backup the laptop C: to a file very quickly.
I never did put much effort into it because what I really needed was an NFS
server on the laptop, so I could backup/restore the Aero's hard disk from the
desktop system's tape drive.
I'll have to look at rsize & wsize -- maybe they were causing the problem.
[Q]
After installing the june rom, winfax is the only program
not to recognize comm two. It tells me something is wrong
with config.sys or autoexec even though the rest of windows
or dos more than happily recognizes com2.
[A]
Weird! I never had this problem, and I had the June ROM image already on
my machine. Of course, I'm using a Compaq PCMCIA modem.. go fig.
[A] I had the same problem with it. It turned out that I had removed
all the wave files from the system many moons earlier to save space (no
soundcard, why waste space on sound files?) and I forgot about it. I
reloaded several waves from my desktop in the c:/windows, including
DING.WAV (or is it BELL.WAV) which the test button uses, and after the
files were there, the test button started working.
Have you tried playing any files with a player like WPLANY.EXE or
with the sound recorder applet? They should work ok as long as the
driver is properly installed even if the test button isn't there. Mine
did. The documentation mentions that media player worn't work with
the speaker driver.
Anyway, I've had great luck with it playing WAV, VOC, and AU files
from the web. It even does sounds for some games, though it causes all
animation to pause.
[Q]
WFWG Hangs my Aero.
Anyone else have this problem? It seems to work fine though setup, but then
it hangs on restart.
[A]
You have to get a new keyboard-driver. It's called CPQVKB.386, and can be
found at FTP.COMPAQ.COM.
[Again, let's point to it right here. - the FAQ maintainer]
To install the CPQVKD.386 device driver:
[A] I don't suppose Microsoft would object since my comments are largely
favorable. PCMCIA support is excellent with my National Semi Ethernet
card and Microcom modem. The floppy is also supported, though it is a
little flaky.
Performance on my 4 MB system is marginal, but about what you'd expect
for any Windows machine.
[A] I picked it up yesterday and installed it on my Aero witho no problems, in
general. But I am having a bit of a problem with the RAMsetup utility and
its partner, ramboost. Has anyone else installed PCDOS? Gotten this to
work fine? Each time I turn the machine on, it wants to reconfigure itself
for optimization... what is the config.sys syntax to stop this?
[Q]
Is anybody other than me running OS/2 on their Aero on a regular basis?
At the moment the only reasons I switch back to DOS are to copy things
OFF floppies or to use winlink.
To that extent, I have found a way to access the floppy perfectly under
OS/2 ... is anybody interested?
Those who are interested should read on...
[A] I never developed a problem with installing from response files, but from
memory I was actually using images I copied to it to the hard disk.
I do remember that printers for me got installed properly; you just have
to put them into the response file properly. There's a separate list of
printer drivers in another file that you have to find the index for (so
it knows which one), then you just put that next to the port in the
response file.
[A] Hmmm... I remember that I specified the correct bit in the response file
to install the printer driver(s), but apparently it didn't work
correctly. sigh
It's just a screwy business. Anyway, by extracting all
the printer drivers into a temp directory on my hard drive, I had the
ability to change printer drivers at will without worrying about floppies.
[A]I have no problems printing, but I only use serial (all my printers I
have accessible have computers attached to the parallel ports, and the
others don't have centronics ports).
To change to interrupt IO you change a line to:
[A] Yup, saw that trick in OS/2 magazine.
Apparently, a lot of users were having
problems with the polling printer I/O --- the timing is very sensitive, and
often won't work with your particular setup. The interrupt driven I/O seems
to solve the problem for most Warp users, so this probably would have
worked for the Aero.
[A] OS/2 requires 4 megs to boot, but to really use it you need 8. Because
the aero has a very slow hard disk, it will still seem sluggish in 8 ...
but there's lots of things you can do to speed it up when you're at the 8
meg mark. My bit of advice: Don't install TCP/IP on the aero - it takes
up about a meg of memory :-( and keep your swapfile as large as you can
handle - otherwise it'll get fragmented when it increases its size.
[A] I dunno... I was able to do some stuff in 4 megs. Like, for instance,
run Mahjongg solitaire and a couple other doo-dads. :-) Oh, and the terminal
program worked just fine on my Aero. (Nobody can beat serial I/O under OS/2.)
But IBM Works was dog slow.
Warp is great, but it really needs a bigger machine to run on. Maybe if I
get an 8-meg upgrade for my Aero, I'll reconsider making my Aero an OS/2-only
machine. Now that I know much more...
[A] IBM Works ... the trick is to deregister the WPS objects, as the
registering of the DLL's (with SOM 1.0) with the WPS takes up a
reasonable amount of memory (so others have said ... my testing shows
that those DLLs had nothing allocated to them in physical memory, it was
all swapped out). Anyway, I have IBM Works installed but I have
deregistered the objects.
If you want a word processor that runs really well on the Aero try
ClearLook - that's what I use for all of my lecture notes, and it's
great! Describe would probably be just as fast on an 8mb machine, but
you could probably get away with CL with only 4MB. Mind you, there are
other things about describe that I won't go into detail about, suffice to
say that if somebody has an archive of comp.os.os2.apps there is a rather
large argument on there about it :-)
I couldn't stand running OS/2 in 4MB, but it's possible ... 8MB is OK, I
can live with it, upgrade to 12 or 20 and you'll never look back :-)
Unfortunately I don't have the money at the moment.
[A] I did ... by booting DOS 6.21 under OS/2. But I started farquing around
with a device driver called 'reserve.sys' which seems to tell OS/2 to NOT
use specific areas of memory. Sounded great - possibly OS/2 using
D000-DFFF was what was causing the floppy to die; unfortunately I
couldn't get reserve.sys to work (there's no documentation), and when I
removed it it killed my setup so that my 'DOS w/ floppy' wasn't working
anymore!!! I'm going to retry getting it to work again when I get the
time (sigh) ... then it will eventually go on my web page (sigh)
[A] I'm using Warp with the "Compaq Concerta"
pcmcia drivers. It seems to work but my understanding is that
the Concerta uses the Cirrus chip, and the Aero and Elite both
use the VLSI chip.
[A] If anybody is interested ... I know some people are (there must be!
grin) the URL
file://ftp.europe.ibm.com/psmea/pcmcia
contains:
NB: *.sys basedev's are loaded before *.add basedevs, I tried renaming
ibm1flpy.add to ibm1flpy.sys and loading it before the socket services
driver and it still clobbered it.
I haven't tested the PCMCIA port, because I don't have any supported
PCMCIA devices other than my network card (Accton - if anybody knows of
OS/2 drivers then please tell me!) and my floppy card; but both are
noted as being inserted/removed and the OEM id's are displayed, so I
assume that if you have a standard PCMCIA modem or other device it will
work; check the above URL for drivers for SCSI & other widgets ...
Until you get your PCMCIA modem I wouldn't really worry about
changing anything. When you do get your modem though you don't
need to touch the kernel as all the PCMCIA stuff is implemented as
loadable modules.
You will need to either compile the modules yourself or get a copy
of the binaries. Compiling the modules is pretty straight
forward, but you do need the kernel sources to compile the modules.
[A]
I disagree. The stock "bare" slackware kernel has a lot of stuff that will
add to your overhead and is useless to the aero. Definitely re-compile, and
use a kernel that can support the apm patches: the patches I got required at
least 1.1.78. That's the kernel I have, and it is FAR better in speed, as
well as being able to handle suspend-resume much better. The pcmcia stuff is
not important until you get a modem, as the floppy isn't supported by the
driver, and works OK if it's plugged in at boot and you don't suspend.
the loadable modules have to be attached, so you
need a kernel that supports modules, which the slackware kernels do not do as
of yet.
[A]
You almost certainly want the PCMCIA stuff and the APM patch. Other than the
obvious things, you may want to use only (say) 4 rather than the normal 8
virtual terminals.
[Q]
I'm hoping that I see a significant speed improvement
when I switch from the UMSDOS filesystem to EXT2 and when I compile a
smaller kernel. Does anyone have a pointer to the Kernel sources w/ APM
support? I want to set one up with APM & IDE but no PCMCIA, as I don't
use my PCMCIA slot and I need to save & swap.
[A]
You should consider to comment out starting of klogd, syslogd, lpd,
update, crond and sendmail daemons from rc.* files from /etc/rc.d/
directory (of course only if each of them ain't mandatory to you).
Also you should consider to configure kernel to use only say 2
virtual consoles + the one which is allocated for X.
Point is that every single process in Linux requires 40 kB of
non swapable memory. By doing all described above you will get
440 kB more pure hard RAM! And by recompiling Slackware's kernel
with minimum options you will get ca 80 kB more!
So, I'm sure you will be amazed when you get this half megabyte
of static stuff off.
[A]
You would
be best off by finding someone who could do the first phase of the
install on an UMSDOS system, use ZIP to make a zipfile out of it,
install the zipfile under DOS, and then try to boot a kernel with
UMSDOS support off that.
[A]
Well, the one sensible way to install Linux for DOS-machine without
floppy is to use LOADLIN command from DOS. That requires root
filesystem installed to your DOS-partition and of course kernel file,
which is loaded by LOADLIN.
You can find LOADLIN from linux-sites from .../slackware/contents
directory. There should be also more detailed instructions available.
[A]
It can be done (I did it) - there are at least two Linux distributions
on sunsite.unc.edu that can be installed directly over an MS-DOS
filesystem (usually in the directory C:\linux). They take 15 to 20 MB of
harddisk space (plus any swap space you may want).
Since X did not work satisfactorily for me in 4 MB of RAM, I removed
Linux - (yeah, wouldn't it be nice to have that 20MB RAM and 700MB HD 8-).
2.1.4 Hard Drive
2.1.4.1 Partitions
[Q]
Does anyone have any information on the little (2mb) partition which
the Aero boots from if you hold down the 'F10' key to run setup during
boot? Is there a FAT filesystem hidden there somewhere?
2.1.4.2 Noisy 84Mb hard drives
[Q]
My 4/25's 84mb hard drive is very noisy when it reads and writes, but works
just fine. A friend of mine has a 4/25 with the 170mb drive, and it seems to
work like a whisper.
Does anyone know if this is just a characteristic of the 84mb drive?
2.1.4.3 Upgrading the hard drive
[A]
I would like to share my success in swapping out the original 170 MB disk
for a 353 MB disk in my 4/33C. I just carefully
took the Aero apart (take
care with the clip on the right side), pulled the Seagate ST9190AG drive from
its carrier, put in the new one, and put it all back together (and fixed a
slightly erratic graphics cable along the way). I was mighty impressed with
the technology in there.
2.1.4.4 Yet Another Installation Story --- A 720MB Hard Drive
I just upgraded my Aero 4/33c's hard drive from 170mb to 720mb. This process
was remarkably simple. The new drive is an IBM DBOA2720, 12mm 13ms. It was
$699 from Micro Sense, CA (800)544-4252. I run Linux and the X Window system
on this and maintain a small dos partition for maintenance tasks not accesible
to PC-UNIX (essentially, a 640k PROM ;-<). I summarize the process below.
Drive installation
AGAIN, BE CAREFUL WITH THE RIBBON CABLES. Be sure they are all fully seated
in the sockets. When I put mine back together, the display cable was not
fully
seated and upon power on, the screen went blue with BRIGHT yellow lines. I
then reseated the cable and when the system came up, the yellow lines were
etched into the display. Fortunately, these gradually went away by the next
day. The display was only up for about 5 seconds like this. I suspect much
more may have fried it so again, please be careful.
Type: 65
Cylinders: 1400
Heads: 16
Sectors: 63
ECC: 4
Capacity resulting from above = 722.0 MBytes
1400cyls * 16heads * 63sectors/track * 512k blocks = 722534400bytes
Reinstalling setup
Boot system the first time from the "setup" diskette. It will notice that the
new hard disk has no diagnostics partition, and suggest that you create one.
Select the option to do so.
2.1.5 Screen
2.1.5.1 The pulsing backlight puzzle
[Q] Has anyone noticed that, when running on AC with a fully charged battery
pack inside, the backlight gets noticeably brighter and dimmer at three
second intervals for about a minute every hour or so?
I've got a 4/33C with the extended life NiMH battery, and thought it might
have something to do with the battery being "topped off" when already
full. The symptoms disappear when running on AC without the battery pack,
with the battery alone, or while the battery is charging.
2.1.5.2 Loose screen connection
[Q]
My 2 month-old Aero 4/25 monochrome recently developed a "loose
connection" in the wiring between the screen and the CPU so that the
screen blanks out when the clamshell hinge is opened...and the screen
works only after you open it almost fully and then slowly, carefully
bring it back to about 110 degrees. The backlighting still works.
I just get a bright, blank screen.
I've called Compaq's product support here in Canada, and they've told me
that the "tape that holds down the ribbon that goes to the screen probably
became unseated within the hinge," and they would fix it under warranty.
Has anyone else had this problem?
2.1.5.3 What if my screen is unevenly backlit?
[A]
The first one I got had a real uneven screen with a "swirling vortex" of
darkness in the upper left. I returned it for this, and the replacement
is MUCH better. I think that the assemblers used their fingers a lot on
the screen when they assembled them. If you get a nice soft wide FLAT object
and rub it across the screen you can smooth this out somewhat. If you poke
your finger on the screen it will mush out the "LIQUID" in the LCD, and
make the screen lighter at that point. You can use this to your
advantage to "even" out the liquid a little bit. Mine was really spotty
from the assemblers fingers, but looks MUCH better now.
2.1.5.4 800x600 or 640x400x256 video modes?
[Q]
The on-line documentation states that there is a video driver available for the
Aero which will support 800x600x16 windows video on an external monitor on the
Aero subnotebooks.
This video mode would require ...
(800x600)pixels x .5 bytes/pixel= 240k video ram
(4 bits required per pixel for 16 color depth).
As I said, I was able to get 800x600x16 video on my 256K Trident card.
Whether this will work on the Aero's external display remains to be seen --
the VGA chip in the Aero might not handle things the same way as the Trident
chip(s).
2.1.5.5 Special supported VGA modes
The Aero does provide support for the "unofficial" 360x480x256
mode which is available (if undocumented) on most video cards. I'm not
sure of the mode number, but I know that it runs full-screen rather than
as the chopped-off 320x200 mode. Remember, on an LCD display you can't
change physical display resolution, so things that don't divide into 640x480
evenly (like 640x200, 320x200, 320x400, etc...) are going to get chopped
off. 360x480 is in my opinion a far better solution than 320x200,
assuming your program supports it.
2.1.5.6 Special supported text modes?
It all depends on the number of vertical lines. On a CRT display it
doesn't matter how big the screen that is projected by the guns is, the
phosphors will be lit where they get hit - hence you can display 640x480,
640x400, etc in the same vertical sized screen, the pixels are in no
fixed position on the front of the display
On a LCD display such as your Aero, there is only
480 vertical lines of
display, and each pixel is fixed - you can't display 400 lines over the
whole of the vertical screen without some rows becoming 2 physical lines,
which would be a hassle to implement and would look terrible.
The result is that when you use other than a complete multiple of 480
vertical scan lines then it displays it on only 400 or so of them, and
centres those used vertically, resulting int what you were describing.
In my travels, I've found that either one of 43 (EGA) or 50 (VGA)
vertical lines have produced a full screen of text... try one of those.
2.1.6 Keyboard
2.1.6.1 Aero keyboard help
[Q] I know that this is a screwball request, but I'm looking for a diagram of an
Aero keyboard (English) key layout.
Why, you ask? Well, I purchased an Aero with a French keyboard, and I have a
couple of plans for working around this:
As you can tell, this is going to be a budget job. But it would be a lot
easier if I had a copy of the English keyboard, so that I knew what it was
supposed to look like when I am done with my butchering --- oops, I mean
'modifications.'
[A] There is layout of all keyboards available in your Aero's manual
titled "keyboard guide" or something. If you don't have one you
should ask Compaq to send it to you since it belongs to product.
I don't have scanner around so this is all I can do for you right now.
2.1.6.2 The Aero Keyboard
[Q] Finally, I'm still a bit concerned about the keyboard. It's a bit on the
small side (I use a Mac Powerbook right now) --- is this something I can get
used to, or?
2.1.7 Trackball
2.1.7.1 Replacement Trackball
There was a problem with the first trackball that was shipped with
the Aero's. This occured on all models of the Aero. New units are now
shipping with the new trackball.
2.1.7.2 Cleaning Trackball
[Q] What can I do when my trackball is not responding?
2.1.7.3 Ballistic Mouse driver?
[Q]
Does anyone have drivers/programs which give you "ballistic" mouse response?
The Microsoft Ballpoint Mouse driver has this sort of feature. The faster
you move the trackball, the more distance is covered by every mouse tick. If
you move the mouse very slowly, it might take several revolutions to get to
the other side of the screen. Move it quickly, and you're over with a flick of
your thumb.
2.1.7.4 Trackball and left-handedness?
I'm left handed and I like the trackball. Some of the Aero reviewers have
treated left-handedness as a disability. Left handers grow up in a
right-handed world. The Aero trackball is no big deal to worry about.
2.1.7.5 Trackball a bit loose?
[Q]
On visiting stores where the Aero's are on
display I have been struck by the number that have missing trackballs.
I would not expect a trackball to fall out so easily.
Is this a general problem with the Aeros?
2.1.8 Battery
2.1.8.1 Battery sources
One of the most interesting features of the Aero is that it takes
a battery that can be purchased at many locations. Fry's Electronics in
the San Fransisco Bay area, Comp USA, Office Depot, Office Max, even
Long's Drugs (some locations) carry this battery. The battery is a Nickel
Metal Hydride (NiMH) , which is less polluting than Nickel-Cadmium
batteries. They also do not have the "memory" problems which plague
Ni-Cads. However, the NiMH batteries discharge at a faster rate when not
in use (24-72 hours typically).
2.1.8.2 Memory effect in NiMH batteries
[Q]
I have an Aero 4/25 with only the small battery. I purchased it used from a
friend, tho he had only a few months on it (wanted money for a car). When I
bought it, the battery would charge up to a reading of 165 or so, while now
it only goes to 157. Being Ni-MH, it shouldn't (as far as I know) suffer
from memory problems as a NiCd would. Any comments?
2.1.8.3 Battery Warning
[Q]
I have looked high and low on my Aero to find something that will change
the 5 sec or so battery/hibernation warning. Can it be changed?
[What about it, folks? - the FAQ maintainer]
2.1.8.4 Batteries discharging too quickly when Aero suspended
[Q]
There was a discussion about problems with batteries running out of
charge too quickly. I wonder whether mine could be the same:
When I use my Aero with batteries I can work ca 2-3 hours as usual.
But when I suspend a fully charged machine and resume it after, say, 30
hours nothing happens. It has run out of charge!
I have read that the Aero should be able to stay suspended for weeks.
What's wrong?
2.1.8.5 Super-fast recharge? Charge indicators?
[Q]
My battery seems to recharge in about fifteen minutes.
That's not with the
machine running, and not from absolutely zero (as in "left on over the
weekend"), but it is from 0 marks to 5 on the battery check icon. Which
brings up some questions:
2.1.8.6 Windows 3.1 Battery Monitor
[Q]
The Aero provides low-level support for querying the battery status,
so any program that advertises "APM compliance" should run on the
Aero.
It's fairly simple to fetch it, so it would be strange if nobody has
written such a program.
2.1.8.7 Battery Loose?
[Q]
I have the aero plugged into the wall, and yet the aero doesn't think
so (the little light isn't on). I thought I recalled someone saying
something about the battery, so I took it out and sort of wiped it
off. This worked. Transiently.
2.1.8.8 Please explain the aero battery
[Q]
I am completely confused about
the battery situation.
Are there different batteries, an extended
and a normal? Is the extended battery a different size/weight? Which of the
batteries is this new standard size Duracell? Which battery comes
standard?
2.1.9 Ports
2.1.9.1 Is the printer port an EPP port?
[Q]
I was able to locate the EPP bios drivers from
ftp.compaq.com (pub/softpaq/Drivers/sp0937.zip). This file contains
EPPBIOS.SYS version 1.4.
I installed this driver in my CONFIG.SYS (DRIVER=EPPBIOS.SYS)
and it loads in fine but the software I am using still does not detect
an EPP port. Namely, my Parallel/SCSI cable's software does not
detect an EPP so its transfer rate is a lot slower (360K/s versus
1M/s EPP). I am using the ParaSCSI Plus and its packaged
software.
2.1.9.2 Mouse on serial port
[Q]
Problem One: I got a serial mouse to work in DOS no problem with the
driver that they supplied. However, the windows environment defaulted to
the trackball. So I used setup to modify it for use with a logitec mouse
(what I have) but then I lost the ability to return usage to the compaq
trackball and its nifty driver. I had to restore the setup using my tape
backup. Is there an easy way to switch back and forth
between serial and trackball?
(Read the file mousedrv.txt to understand what you are doing.)
This will cause the mouse driver to search for a mouse on the serial ports
first before looking for the trackball. Reboot the machine, whenever you
attach or remove a mouse. It works fine with my el-cheapo mouse
when it is set to emulate a Microsoft mouse. Automatic recognition
does not appear to work with the PC-Mouse (Mouse-Systems?) mode.
ForcedConnection=Off
SearchOrder=Serial, PS2, Bus, Inport
2.2 Accessories
2.2.1 Floppy
2.2.1.1 Floppy Drive and BIOS support
FDD drivers are built into the BIOS.
You can boot from it with nothing on the hard disk.
This assumes you have a current COMPAQ BIOS too. Very old ones did not
support the FDD correctly.
2.2.1.2 Connection w/out powering down?
[Q]
The docs (skimpy, as I mentioned), suggest that I
should be able to connect the floppy w/o powering
the system down: go to standby, plug the floppy in,
back out of standby. When we do this, and, say, go
to filemgr, MSW says the floppy in unformatted. If
we power down, plug in the floppy, then reboot, all
is ok.
2.2.1.3 Aero does not recognize floppy drive
[Q]
I have recently purchased
the COMPAQ PCMCIA disk drive. My problem is that I cannot get the Aero
to properly recognize the drive. If the drive is plugged in when I
boot the computer, I can use the drive fine. The PCMCIA configuration
window in Windows, however, will report that the card is "not
configured." If I try to plug the drive in after the computer is
already booted, it will not let me use the drive at all.
I have the latest SOFTPAQ (version 1.45, rev. A) and PCMCIA drivers
(version 1.25, rev. A). Also, my X-Jack modem seems to operate fine in
the PCMCIA slot.
Any suggestions on how to get the floppy up and running? Any help
would be greatly appreciated!
2.2.1.4 Problems reading/formatting disks
[Q]
A floppy will work fine, then all of a sudden I get
missing sector (not bad sector) errors, and I take the floppy out
and put it back in and I can't even FORMAT the thing. It was
a brand new floppy, BTW.
2.2.1.5 Do you need a floppy?
[Q] For people that say "I dont want to spend the $99 for the floppy"?
2.2.1.6 You still do not think you need a floppy?
The following story illustrates how you may end up needing a floppy, even
if you think you won't need one in the first place.
smartdrv c-
And then loaded dblspace and told it to unmount my compressed
drive which contains, among other things, my \UTILS and \DOS
directories. What I didn't know was that dblspace saves the fact that
I unmounted the disk to dblspace.ini on drive C:. This file is
read-only, hidden, system. This means that without changing attributes,
I can't remove or change it. I can't change attributes (or run dblspace)
because the .ini file is telling dblspace.bin not to auto-mount drive
D:. I can't mount D: manually, because it contains my DBLSPACE.EXE.
(Yes, I feel like a fool.) I even tried using Compaq's configuration
utilities to overwrite dblspace.ini, but compaq was nice enough to make
it so it won't overwrite read-only files. I can't figure out a way to
force setup to let me go to a dos prompt, and I can't find a way to force
dblspace.bin to mount drive D:. It seems I need a floppy drive to boot
from so I can run a copy of dblspace.exe, remount my D: drive, and (this
time) copy the most important of my system files over to my uncompressed
drive. Would anyone be willing to let me use a floppy drive for a few
minutes, or is this something an authorized compaq service center would
have?
2.2.2 PCMCIA
2.2.2.1 Should I install the new V1.25 PCMCIA driver disk?
[A]
Yes and no... It will cause problems when your machine comes back out of
sleep mode with the mouse clicking on evrything in sight, but, if you comment out with a ";" the line in Config.Sys that loads the PCMSMIX driver the
problem will go away. The V1.25 drivers do have an expanded card library so
you can use more cards without having to link their library in by listing it
in the correct place in one of the files in the C:\COMPAQ directory.
2.2.2.2 Compaq-approved cards
Compaq's faxback (1-800-345-1518,1) document no. is 4610 for "approved"
PCMCIA cards for notebooks (including Aero).
2.2.2.3 PCMCIA type III cards?
[Q] Regarding tying up the pcmcia slot, I heard there was a device
that will plug
into a type II slot and expand to a type III supporting either two type II
cards, or one type III card. Has anyone heard of such an animal?
2.2.2.4 PCMCIA modems
[A]
Ah! pet peeve... stay away from the Motorola Power PCMCIA 14.4, I fried
a bunch of them in my 4/33/250/c. Subsequently tried MHz C4414 and ATT
KeepInTouch PCMCIA both seem to have no problems; I kept the ATT KIT and
am waiting for the Motorola cellular cable. The Power would have saved
me some money over other solutions had it worked, since the cell cable
was included.
2.2.2.5 PCMCIA FAX/Modems and Suspend/Resume
I just got an Angia SafeJack 19.2 PCMCIA FAX/modem and am having problems
with the Aero crashing (hard)
when coming out of Suspend in Windows if I have it set
to turn off power to the PCMCIA card during Suspend.
2.2.3 External Monitor
2.2.3.1 Simultaneous Output
[Q]
Does anybody know of any way that I can connect to an external monitor
and also see the output on the screen. I want to use my Aero
to connect to a datashow.
2.2.4 Sound
2.2.4.1 What can I do for sound on an Aero?
[A]
Try the "Disney Sound Source" from Walt Disney Software. It sells for less
than $15 at Best Buy. It hooks to your parallel port, and provides a passthru
Sound is OK, but long .wav files sound grainy if you move the mouse around
during playback (interrupt processing I guess0. It uses a 9V battery as it's power supply and is fairly light. It JUST does ".WAV" files.
2.2.5 Ethernet Adapters
[Q] I'm very seriously considering purchasing a Compaq Aero for home and office
use, but there's two issues that still need to be resolved. First, I have to
hook the Aero up to a LAN at work, but need access to the network at home via
modem. Rather than buying separate PCMCIA cards, I'd like to get the combo
cards that Megahertz and Xircom both sell. Has anyone had any experience in
using either or both of these with the Aero?
2.2.6 Expanders
2.2.6.1 Can I make my own expander?
[Q]
Does anyone know if you
need one of the expansion boxes to connect your Aero to a standard
monitor/keyboard? The instruction manual came with the pinouts for the
expansion port, and it looks like I could build the connector pretty
easily and save myself $50.00 or so. I'd like to do it by finding a
source for the strange connector, but I might end up just winging it and
connecting pins manually. Does anyone not think this would work?
2.2.6.2 Mobile Port Expander
[Q] What does the "mobile port expander" do for $39?
I thought I saw this in the Compaq Direct catalog.
2.2.6.3 Convenience Base
[Q]
Does anybody know if the bigger convenience base thing gives you any more
than the mobile port expander?
2.2.7 Leglets
[Q] I'm almost embarrassed to admit it, but I think I'm in love with a
machine. My aero 4/25. I know it's a pathetic dependence, but
owning a subnotebook has really changed the way I do my work and
organize my activities. I had to do a few things to set it up
right at first, such as boosting memory to 12meg, getting an
extended battery and the replacement trackball, not to mention
individualizing the software platform. But that said, I've
never worked better before.
2.2.8 Case
There are presently a few cases for the Aero.
3 Software
3.1 Upgrades
3.1.1 Service Files
These are the "ROMPAQS" available from
www.compaq.com
or
ftp.compaq.com
which have direct or indirect connection to the beloved Compaq Aero computer.
3.1.1.1 Firmware ROMPaqs
3.1.1.2 PCMCIA Drivers and Utilities
3.1.1.3 Enhanced Parallel Port BIOS Drivers
3.1.1.4 Windows Stuff
3.1.1.5 Utilities
3.1.1.6 Diagnostics
3.1.2 ROMPaqs
3.1.2.1 Rundown on ROMPaq installation procedure
I have found that each SP****.EXE is generally accompanied with a corresponding
SP****.DOC file with some basic info and instructions. I have found they are
all the same though really:
They generally ask you to stick in a scratch floppy and reboot. I appreciate
that they generally store the previous/old contents of what they are replacing
back onto the same floppy so you can roll back if you want to later.
If you ever do boot your setup partition, I highly recommend making three
floppies while you are there:
There's a little menu to guide you though the first two. These have helped me
several times straighten things out such as for the new disk and when I
installed Linux.
3.1.2.2 ROMPaq versions
Among other problems that have been reported with this Nov ROM
(service pack from Dec 20, 1994, file sp1073.zip),
I have found that the battery indicator that I use under OS/2 does not
work anymore, and that Fn-F8 no longer works properly. I know there's
problems under Linux as well. As soon as I find the time I'm going back
to the old one.
3.1.2.3 Install a ROMPaq without using the floppy drive?
[A]
The instructions for installing the ROMPaq reference booting from the floppy
only to load MSDOS without any drivers.
Pressing the F5 key, when MSDOS begins loading from the hard drive, does the
same thing.
Where you load the ROMPaq from doesn't matter. Removing the drivers does.
3.1.2.4 Determining the BIOS date
A way to find the BIOS date on an Aero:
3.1.3 Original Compaq Software Disks
[Q]
I need to get a set of the software disks for the Aero 4/25. I called
Compaq and they said it would cost $40. Since I bought the software with
the machine how can they justify this?
3.2 Configuration
3.2.1 DOS Setup
3.2.1.1 Standard CONFIG.SYS & AUTOEXEC.BAT
As saved in the hidden directory C:\SYSTEM.SAV.
----- BEGIN CONFIG.SYS -----
SHELL=C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM /P /E:1536
STACKS=9,256
DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS
DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS X=D000-DFFF
DOS=UMB
REM *** Begin PCMCIA Drivers
REM Warning: Do not move, reorder, or delete any of these lines.
REM
DEVICE=C:\CPQDOS\PCMSMIX.EXE
DEVICEHIGH=C:\CPQDOS\SSVLSI.EXE
DEVICEHIGH=C:\CPQDOS\CS.EXE
DEVICE=C:\CPQDOS\CSALLOC.EXE
DEVICEHIGH=C:\CPQDOS\ATADRV.EXE /D:1
DEVICEHIGH=C:\CPQDOS\CARDID.EXE C:\CPQDOS\CARDID.INI
DEVICEHIGH=C:\CPQDOS\MEMDRV.EXE
;DEVICEHIGH=C:\CPQDOS\DBLFLASH.EXE
;DEVICEHIGH=C:\CPQDOS\MS-FLASH.SYS
REM *** End PCMCIA Drivers
DOS=HIGH
BUFFERS=20
FILES=35
DEVICEHIGH=C:\CPQDOS\POWER.EXE
----- END CONFIG.SYS -----
----- BEGIN AUTOEXEC.BAT -----
SET PATH=C:\CPQDOS;C:\;C:\DOS;C:\WINDOWS;C:\MOUSE;C:\WINDOWS\CPQWIN
SET LMOUSE=C:\MOUSE
SET PROMPT=$P$G
SET TEMP=C:\WINDOWS\TEMP
C:\CPQDOS\HIBRN8.EXE
IF NOT EXIST C:\CPQDOS\SAVEDONE.CPQ CALL SAVEALL /A
C:\DOS\SMARTDRV.EXE
LH C:\MOUSE\MOUSE SWAP
C:\CPQDOS\MODE.COM CO80
C:\WINDOWS\WIN
----- END AUTOEXEC.BAT -----
3.2.1.2 What is in CONFIG.SYS & AUTOEXEC.BAT?
[Q]
Are all those utilities that
are loaded in my config.sys & autoexec.bat really needed? I've
been pretty spoiled by my desktop system that has 610K lower
memory free. On my Aero 4/25/84, the best I can get is about
560K using MemMaker.
Other CONFIG.SYS drivers not taking up memory, and what I've been able
to learn about them:
Name Conventional Upper Source Function
MSDOS 16,557 0 M DOS
HIMEM 1,168 0 M implements XMS and HMA
EMM386 4,144 0 M implements UMBs
POWER 80 4,544 M Microsoft power manager.
COMMAND 4,208 0 M shell
MOUSE 20,768 0 M mouse driver
SMARTDRV 27,488 0 M disk cache
DOSKEY 4,144 0 M command line editing
RAMDRIVE 0 5,328 M ramdisk
SHARE 0 16,944 M file-sharing and locking
CARDID 0 19,968 C SystemSoft CardID
CS 0 39,136 C SystemSoft Card Services
SSVLSI 3,728 0 C SystemSoft socket services
CMGRDRVR 16,768 0 I Intel card manager driver
Free 556,176 7,120
From what I read somewhere, I need "Socket Services" and "Card
Services" to use the modem. I would like to know more about them,
though.
Judging from Jim's comment (above), I can eliminate PCMSMIX.
I am more curious about CARDID, SHARE, CMGRDRVR, and the others that
aren't left in memory. Will I run into trouble if I remove them?
3.2.1.3 Memory managers
I've run memmaker on DOS and managed to boost my available RAM to 571K of
conventional memory.
3.2.1.4 Disk compression
I'd tried DoubleSpace on a friends desktop
system before and was not very happy with the speed degradation I
experienced. Don't know how much of an improvement Stacker would be but
that experience turned me off to compression utilities.
3.2.2 Power-Management
3.2.2.1 Problems when Power-up from standby
[Q]
When I power back up from standby (in Windows) the mouse doesn't work
again unless I quit and restart Windows. Keyboard commands are fine, but the
mouse is frozen. This only happens after it has been in standby.
3.2.2.2 PCMCIA modems and Suspend/Resume crashing
[Q] When I come out of a long standby my pointer freaks out. It jumps around
and clicks on everything. I have to reboot windows. Anybody have
similar problems and a fix? (besides windows sucks)
Test by booting the machine with the modem installed, access it somehow,
quit the comm program, suspend, wait a few minutes, and resume. If it didn't
work, your machine should crash -- otherwise you should be fine.
RUN=C:\WINDOWS\CPQWIN\CPQEVENT.EXE
is still in your \WINDOWS\WIN.INI file under the "[windows]" heading.
Something took mine out a couple days ago -- I think it might have
been the
Lotus SmartSuite 3.0 install, but I can't be sure.
3.2.2.3 Forcing hibernation
[Q]
Does the
aero support user-initiated hibernation? The skimpy
hardcopy docs and the SW is vague. The version
of "compaq control center" we have is inconsistent
between the help pages and the SW. The help
pages for power mgnt->show settings lists a number
of options that the software (ctrlcntr->pwrmgmt/hib->show settings)
doesn't have: modem, hibernation timeout, AC HD idle,
AC screensave. If nothing else, I'd be happy if we could set the
standby-to-hibernate threshold to a short period of time.
3.2.2.4 Spin down disk/disable powersaver when on AC power
[Q]
is it possible to disable powersaver mode (i.e. set to
drain) whenever the unit is running off the A/C Adapter?
3.2.2.5 Is there a disk sleep hotkey?
[Q]
I'm looking for some way to quickly spin down the disk. If I'm in
a situation where I know the disk won't be needed, it would be nice
to be able to shut it up on demand. Is there any way to do that
now? Is it possible to write a program that does this via ARM
(or whatever)?
3.2.2.6 How long does Standby last?
[Q]
How long will standby last
on a full battery before powering down? It would be nice
if it would at least sync the filesystems first.
3.2.2.7 Windows vs. Aero power management
There's a power management utility in windows hidden in the
control panel. This stupid utility upsets Aero's own power
management. In particular I had the microsoft thing set to "advanced"
(don't ask me how it happened or why :-) and whenever the Aero tried to
shut down its disk and/or the screen it failed! It was rapidly switching
the disk and screen on and off (a few minutes later however it would shut down
both disk and screen normally only to repeat the rapid on/off later).
The rapid on/off switch of the drive and screen got me worried if
something was wrong. Aero's power managment seemed OK. Finally I
discovered that I had the microsoft utility on. After
setting it to off, Aero's power management worked fine.
Comments ?
3.2.3 Networking/Linking
3.2.3.1 Questions about Lap2Desk and WinLink
[Q]
At the end of last week I got a parallel laplink cable and tried it out with
my Aero. It works like a charm -- more than twice as fast as using the serial
port connection with the included cable. I would definitely suggest getting a
parallel cable for any significant data transfers, such as doing a full backup
of the Aero on a desktop system's tape drive. It took me 1.5hrs to backup
about 105 megs, as compared to 3 hours or more over the serial cable.
However, it's annoying to reboot the Aero to get rid of the L2D tsr. Does
anyone know how to pop that thing out of memory once it's running?
l2d /free for any other question try
l2d /? -- that will show a list of other options.
3.2.3.2 WinLink problems
[Q] I wondered whether WinLinks needs a special parallel cable.
The story is as follows:
I purchased a laplink parallel cable (made by PC Accessories) from CompUSA.
This cable works fine with l2d / l2dmap (and the response is really snappy as
compared to using a serial connection).
However, WinLink (and its DOS counterpart WL) just get stuck in attempting to
connect.
Has anybody experienced a similar situation? Is the WinLink cable different
from the standard parallel laplink cable?
P.S.: I am running Novell DOS 7.0 on the host (and yes, I unloaded everything
except for the memory management stuff like EMM and DPMS).
If I do this on both
the local and remote machines, the parallel transfer
works fine; I can connect and transfer fine. BTW: Little known fact: You
can run WinLink (under WinDoze) and exchange files with a DOS machine
that's running WL.EXE. I couldn't get this to work for a while, and Compaq
said it wouldn't work, but after going thru the steps above, it
does work.
There seems to be a bug of some esoteric flavor in the "connect" logic of
both W*L* programs (I suspect they share some "core" code.)
?DEVICE=C:\DOS\INTERLNK.EXE
in my CONFIG.SYS and DOS asks me when I boot if I want to load the driver;
if I'm connecting to my "main" desktop, I tell 'im Yes, and I'm connected!
(I concede that this is probably a religious preference; flames to
/dev/null, please!)
3.2.3.3 Network File System (NFS)
[Q]
I'd be interested in any freeware (or shareware) NFS server programs
for the Aero under DOS. I've use XFS (client) a little; works pretty well
with the exception that it seems to choke and hang the machine if too much
data comes across the net too quickly (like doing a "tar xvf e:aero.tar").
3.3 Operating Systems
3.3.1 Windows 3.1
3.3.1.1 Problems with WinFax Lite
When I got
a message from support@compaq.com about problems with WinFax Lite and some
other comm. problems I was having, they mentioned about installing a ROM
upgrade to see if that helped. The ROM image on my Aero was dated from June
of 1994, and the new image (which I got from ftp.compaq.com in the file
sp1073.zip) was dated from November 1994 (although the service pack itself
was dated December 20, 1994).
I installed the service pack today, and encountered no problems. My Aero
seems to be happy and healthy.
3.3.1.2 Windows Video driver
Get w31et4.zip for a better windows video driver!
[Where to get it from, so that it can be pointed to? - the FAQ maintainer]
3.3.1.3 Problems with Windows Speaker Driver
[Q] Has anyone had luck running the PC Speaker driver for Windows? I've tried
to no avail. The driver loads fine, but doesn't do anything. In setup, I
can change the few options it gives, but the test button is disabled.
3.3.2 Windows for Workgroups
It appears that Windows for Workgroups 3.11 works on the Aero.
32-bit file access also appears to work without a problem.
1. Exit Windows.
2. Copy CPQVKD.386 to your WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory.
3. In the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory, use any text editor such
as DOS Edit to change the following line in the [386Enh]
section of the SYSTEM.INI file:
keyboard=*vkd
to
keyboard=cpqvkd.386
4. Save the SYSTEM.INI file.
5. Restart Windows so the change takes effect.
3.3.3 Windows95
[Q] Can you please tell us how Windows 95 runs on the Aero?
3.3.4 PC-DOS 7.0
Well, for those of you who didn't notice, IBM just released version 7.0 of
PC-DOS. PC-DOS is sort of a "better MS-DOS than MS-DOS," to coin a phrase.
:-) Among the things you get:
I'm wondering if anyone could comment on PC-DOS 7.0's compatibility with
the Contura Aero. Are there compatibility problems? Will PC-DOS's
PCMCIA drivers work with the Aero? How about its memory management
software? How does it compare to Microsoft's HIMEM and Quarterdeck's
QEMM?
Is there a good reason why I shouldn't install PC-DOS 7.0 on my Aero?
Of course, I already have Stacker on my machine -- not sure if PC-DOS will
install on an already stacked machine. (Don't see why it shouldn't...)
PC-DOS 7.0 retails for $50. (That's $10 cheaper than buying Stacker 4.0
separately.) Of course, that's the "upgrade" edition, but anyone with a
machine which already has DOS on it should be able to use it.
3.3.5 OS/2
3.3.5.1 Can I run OS/2on the Aero?
There appear to be problems with Installing OS/2 and it recognizing
the PCMCIA floppy drive. Most users get to disk 7 of the installation
before they have problems. This is the point that OS/2 starts conversing
with the interrupts directly. At the present time, Compaq has no fix for
this problem, and IBM does not either.
3.3.5.2 OS/2 Installation Problems
Here's a summary of problems with installing Warp:
(and some answers from someone else):
After I ran into the printing problem, I gave up and returned Warp for a
refund. It just wasn't worth the aggravation.
device=print01.sys /irq
(It's in the command reference book). The serial port's fine for
printing, but I don't know about the printer port.
3.3.5.3 OS/2 Warp in 4MB RAM?
4 megs of RAM is
barely acceptable for running Warp on a notebook computer. I'd say don't
bother even trying unless you have 8 megs or more.
3.3.5.4 Aero floppy under Warp?
[Q] I think someone on the Aero list has figured out how to get the floppy disk
access to work under Warp. I don't remember the details.
3.3.5.5 PCMCIA supported under OS/2?
[A] I have not tested to run Warp
(and it's not officially supported) but there is a Rompaq to be able to install
it and there is also VLSI PCMCIA drivers available from IBM (both for 2.11 and
Warp).
Take a look at
file://ftp.europe.ibm.com/psmemea/os2drivers/pcmcia/
It says it's for Elite but as I understand it the important thing is that it is
for VLSI.
Unfortunately if you install both the floppy drive driver (ibm1flpy.add)
and the socket services driver (ssvlsi.sys) at the same time, the socket
services driver clobbers the floppy driver and you can't access the
floppy drive. At least we now have the option of using the floppy drive
and the PCMCIA port now!
3.3.6 Linux
3.3.6.1 Linux and the Aero
Linux works on the Aero. There are a few other resources for info
on how to install Linux, and its nuances with the Aero. One of these sites
on WWW is
http://domen.uninett.no/~hta/linux/aero-faq.html
We definitely recommend that you check this out if you want to run Linux.
3.3.6.2 Recommended Kernel
[A] The default slackware kernal works fine, so you should start out
with that. If you really want to optimise then just install the
sources which come with slackware and compile yourself. But it
doesn't really make that much difference.
3.3.6.3 Conserving memory
[Q]
Once it's all loaded up, I want to optimize the kernel for
the machine (4 meg ram for the moment).
Any suggestions as to what to add/delete
3.3.6.4 Installation without Floppy
[Q] I'd like to also install Linux on my new Aero.
The problem is, I don't have a floppy drive.
3.3.6.5 X-configuration for color
This is a condensed version of the Xconfig file. This should work with
the VGA16 server (as well as VGA2).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Section "Files"
RgbPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/"
EndSection
Section "ServerFlags"
EndSection
Section "Keyboard"
Protocol "Standard"
AutoRepeat 500 5
ServerNumLock
EndSection
Section "Pointer"
Protocol "PS/2"
Device "/dev/mouse"
Emulate3Buttons
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "My Monitor"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "Unknown"
HorizSync 30-50
VertRefresh 50-70
Modeline "640x400" 25.175 640 664 760 800 400 409 411 450
Modeline "640x480" 25.175 640 664 760 800 480 491 493 525
Modeline "640x480A" 28.322 640 680 720 864 480 488 491 521
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "Generic VGA"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Driver "vga16"
Device "Generic VGA"
Monitor "My Monitor"
Subsection "Display"
Modes "640x480" "640x400" "640x480A"
ViewPort 0 0
EndSubsection
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Driver "vga2"
Device "Generic VGA"
Monitor "My Monitor"
Subsection "Display"
Modes "640x480" "640x480A" "640x400"
ViewPort 0 0
Virtual 640 480
EndSubsection
EndSection
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.3.6.6 X-configuration for mono
Another Xconfig file. This should work with the
VGA2 server (as well as VGA16).
- - - - - - - - - start of /etc/XF86Config - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Section "Files"
RgbPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/"
EndSection
Section "ServerFlags"
EndSection
Section "Keyboard"
Protocol "Standard"
AutoRepeat 500 5
ServerNumLock
LeftAlt Meta
RightAlt ModeShift
EndSection
Section "Pointer"
Protocol "PS/2"
Device "/dev/mouse"
Emulate3Buttons
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "LCD"
VendorName "Compaq"
ModelName "Unknown"
Bandwidth 31.5
HorizSync 25-40
VertRefresh 50-80
Mode "640x480"
DotClock 28.3
HTimings 640 680 720 864
VTimings 480 488 491 521
EndMode
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "dispcard"
VendorName "Tseng"
BoardName "ET4000"
Chipset "generic"
Clocks 28.3
VideoRam 512
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Driver "vga16"
Device "dispcard"
Monitor "LCD"
Subsection "Display"
Modes "640x480"
ViewPort 0 0
Virtual 640 480
EndSubsection
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Driver "vga2"
Device "dispcard"
Monitor "LCD"
Subsection "Display"
Modes "640x480"
ViewPort 0 0
Virtual 640 480
EndSubsection
EndSection
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
er+aero@cs.cmu.edu
