Peanuts NeXT Software Archives/Peanuts-1.iso/CDROM/FAQs/PC-Hardware/compaq-aero

Internet Message Format | 1996-08-14 | 199.8 KB

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From: [e-mail] (Philip A. Wilk)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.laptops,comp.answers,news.answers
Subject: Compaq Contura Aero Frequently Asked Questions
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Date: 13 Aug 1996 23:29:11 GMT
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
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Summary: This posting should be read by anybody posting the aero-l mailing
         list or posting to comp.sys.laptops with a question concerning the
         Compaq Aero.
Xref: informatik.tu-muenchen.de comp.sys.laptops:87058 comp.answers:20389 news.answers:78996

Archive-name: pc-hardware-faq/laptops/compaq-aero
Posting-Frequency: Random
Last-modified: 1996/08/12
Version: 3.0
URL: http://www.reed.edu/~pwilk/aero/aero.faq


------------------------------

Subject: Introduction

Compaq Contura Aero Frequently Asked Questions Version 3

Editors:

     Philip Wilk         (Version 3.0) Current
     Ekkehard Rohwedder  (Version 2.0)
     Renee Roberts       (Version 1.0)

To send submissions, corrections or deletions for this FAQ, please email
[e-mail] or post to the aero mailing list.

This document is to be freely distributed. Under _no_ circumstance should
a fee be charged for the procurement of this FAQ. It is the sole property
of everybody who has contributed (a whole bunch of way cool folks).

------------------------------

Subject: Short Contents

  1 General
  1.1 About this FAQ
  1.2 Resources
  1.3 Technical Data
  1.4 User Opinions
  1.5 The Aero Survey
  2 Hardware
  2.1 Aero
  2.2 Accessories
  3 Software
  3.1 Upgrades
  3.2 Configuration
  3.3 Operating Systems

------------------------------

Subject: Long Contents

  1 General
  1.1 About this FAQ
U 1.1.1 Where to find the FAQ
  1.2 Resources
  1.2.1 Internet
  1.2.2 Compaq
  1.2.2.1 Companies that carry Aero supplies
  1.2.2.2 Does the Aero ship in a wrapper?
  1.3 Technical Data
  1.3.1 Exploded View
  1.3.2 System Unit
  1.3.3 Passive Matrix Monochrome Display
  1.3.4 Passive Matrix Color Display
  1.3.5 Hard Drives
  1.3.6 Internal Power Supply
  1.3.7 Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) Battery Pack
  1.3.8 AC Adapter
  1.3.9 Convenience Base
  1.3.10 External Diskette Drive
  1.4 User Opinions
  1.4.1 Is the machine really that bad?
  1.4.2 Opinions on miscellaneous Aero features (The Quick FAQs)
  1.5 The Aero Survey
  2 Hardware
  2.1 Aero
  2.1.1 CPU
  2.1.1.1 Is it upgradeable?
  2.1.1.2 Is it FPU upgradeable?
  2.1.2 Memory
  2.1.2.1 How do you upgrade?
  2.1.2.3 How much are memory upgrades?
  2.1.3 How to disassemble the Aero
  2.1.3.1 There, and Back again: the tale of a journey inside.
  2.1.4 Hard Drive
  2.1.4.1 Partitions
  2.1.4.2 Noisy 84Mb hard drives
  2.1.4.3 Upgrading the hard drive
  2.1.4.4 A step-by-step tutorial for a 720MB Hard Drive installation
  2.1.4.5 Installing the old drive in your desktop
  2.1.4.6 Fixing the Master Boot Record (LILO ate my hard drive)
  2.1.5 Screen
  2.1.5.1 The pulsing backlight puzzle
  2.1.5.2 Loose screen connection
  2.1.5.3 What if my screen is unevenly backlit?
  2.1.5.4 800x600x16 VGA mode
  2.1.5.5 Special supported 256 color VGA modes
  2.1.5.6 Special supported text modes?
  2.1.5.7 Screen hinge problem (the darn "clutch")
  2.1.5.8 Screen Disassembly
  2.1.5.9 Backlight Replacement
  2.1.6 Keyboard
  2.1.6.1 Aero keyboard diagrams
  2.1.7 Trackball
  2.1.7.1 Replacement Trackball
  2.1.7.2 Cleaning Trackball
  2.1.7.3 Ballistic Mouse driver?
  2.1.7.4 Trackball and left-handedness?
  2.1.8 Battery
  2.1.8.1 Battery sources
  2.1.8.2 Memory effect in NiMH batteries
  2.1.8.2.1 Conditioning the Battery without External Apparatus
  2.1.8.3 Battery Warning
  2.1.8.4 Batteries discharging too quickly when Aero suspended
  2.1.8.5 Super-fast recharge? Charge indicators?
  2.1.8.6 Windows 3.1 Battery Monitor
  2.1.8.7 Battery Loose?
  2.1.8.8 Please explain the aero battery
N 2.1.8.9 Recharging in the auto
  2.1.9 Ports
  2.1.9.1 Is the printer port an EPP port?
  2.1.9.2 Mouse on serial port
  2.1.9.3 PS/2 Mouse port
  2.1.9.4 16550AF UART
N 2.1.10 Speaker
  2.2 Accessories
  2.2.1 Floppy
  2.2.1.1 Floppy Drive and BIOS support
  2.2.1.2 Connection w/out powering down?
  2.2.1.3 Aero does not recognize floppy drive
  2.2.1.4 Problems reading/formatting disks
  2.2.1.5 Do you need a floppy?
  2.2.1.6 You still do not think you need a floppy?
  2.2.2 PCMCIA
  2.2.2.1 Should I install the new V1.25 PCMCIA driver disk?
  2.2.2.2 Compaq-approved cards
  2.2.2.3 PCMCIA type III cards?
U 2.2.2.4 PCMCIA modems (& FAX/Modems)
  2.2.2.5 PCMCIA FAX/Modems and Suspend/Resume
  2.2.3 External Monitor
  2.2.3.1 Simultaneous Output
  2.2.4 Sound
  2.2.4.1 What can I do for sound on an Aero?
  2.2.5 Ethernet Adapters
  2.2.6 Expanders
  2.2.6.1 Can I make my own expander?
  2.2.6.2 Mobile Port Expander
  2.2.6.3 Convenience Base
  2.2.7 Leglets
  2.2.8 Case
  2.2.9 SCSI Adapters
  2.2.10 Other things
  3 Software
  3.1 Upgrades
  3.1.1 Service Files
  3.1.1.1 Firmware ROMPaqs
  3.1.1.2 PCMCIA Drivers and Utilities
  3.1.1.3 Enhanced Parallel Port BIOS Drivers (EPP problems?)
  3.1.1.4 Windows Stuff
  3.1.1.5 Utilities
  3.1.1.6 Diagnostics
  3.1.1.7 Mouse Drivers
  3.1.2 ROMPaqs
  3.1.2.1 Rundown on ROMPaq installation procedure
  3.1.2.2 ROMPaq versions
  3.1.2.3 Install a ROMPaq without using the floppy drive?
  3.1.2.4 Determining the BIOS date
  3.1.3 Original Compaq Software Disks
  3.2 Configuration
  3.2.1 DOS Setup
  3.2.1.1 Standard CONFIG.SYS & AUTOEXEC.BAT
  3.2.1.2 What is in CONFIG.SYS & AUTOEXEC.BAT?
  3.2.1.3 Memory managers
  3.2.1.4 Disk compression
  3.2.2 Power-Management
  3.2.2.1 Problems when Power-up from standby
  3.2.2.2 PCMCIA modems and Suspend/Resume crashing
  3.2.2.3 Forcing hibernation
  3.2.2.4 Spin down disk/disable powersaver when on AC power
  3.2.2.5 Is there a disk sleep hotkey?
  3.2.2.6 How long does Standby last?
  3.2.2.7 Windows vs. Aero power management
  3.2.3 Networking/Linking
  3.2.3.1 Questions about Lap2Desk and WinLink
  3.2.3.2 WinLink problems
  3.2.3.3 Network File System (NFS)
  3.2.4 Diagnostics Partion
  3.3 Operating Systems
  3.3.1 Windows 3.1
  3.3.1.1 Problems with WinFax Lite
  3.3.1.2 Windows Video driver
  3.3.1.3 Problems with Windows Speaker Driver
  3.3.1.4 PCMCIA Stuff
  3.3.1.5 Problems with Modems/Serial Devices
  3.3.1.6 32 bit disk access or no?
  3.3.2 Windows for Workgroups
  3.3.3 Windows95
  3.3.3.1 The path to '95 by copying setup to the aero
  3.3.3.2 The path to '95 by installing via winlink
  3.3.3.4 PCMCIA, the floppy drive, and getting it all to work
  3.3.3.5 Networking
  3.3.4 PC-DOS 7.0
  3.3.5 OS/2
  3.3.5.1 Can I run OS/2on the Aero?
  3.3.5.2 OS/2 Installation Problems
  3.3.5.3 OS/2 Warp in 4MB RAM?
  3.3.5.4 Aero floppy under Warp?
  3.3.5.5 PCMCIA supported under OS/2?
  3.3.6 Linux
  3.3.6.1 Linux and the Aero
  3.3.6.2 Recommended Kernel
  3.3.6.3 Conserving memory
  3.3.6.4 Installation without Floppy
  3.3.6.5 X-configuration for color
  3.3.6.6 X-configuration for mono
  3.3.6.7 HD configs, Windows '95, and other musings
  3.3.6.8 Parallel Port Zip Drives
  4 Contributors to FAQ versions 1.0 and 2.0

------------------------------

Subject: 1 General

------------------------------

Subject: 1.1 About this FAQ

This FAQ was compiled due to requests for various information that can best be
answered with a FAQ. It may help to reduce bandwidth for common questions and
problems relating to the Compaq Aero(tm). The authors are not affiliated with
Compaq Computer Corp, or any affiliate of theirs. We own Compaq Aeros,
and wish to help others with their questions regarding the Aero.
We hope to update this FAQ on a regular basis, but there are no guarantees.

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 respon-
sibility 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!
                                    - Ekkehard Rohwedder

------------------------------

Subject: 1.1.1 Where to find the FAQ

You can find the FAQ at:

http://www.reed.edu/~pwilk/aero_stuff.html

Because we are now an official FAQ (ie news.answers and comp.answers), You
can also find the FAQ at any Usenet FAQ archive such as <ftp://rtfm.mit.edu>.
It should be archived under:

pc-hardware-faq/laptops/compaq-aero

------------------------------

Subject: 1.2 Resources

------------------------------

Subject: 1.2.1 Internet

For additional information, please consult the following:

     WWW Sites:

         <http://www.compaq.com> - the Compaq WWW site

         <http://domen.uninett.no/~hta/linux/aero-faq.html> - information
         about running Linux on the Aero.

         <http://www.reed.edu/~pwilk/aero_stuff.html> - Philip Wilk's WWW page
         on the Aero with links to many avaliable resources.

     Topical Usenet Newsgroups:

         <news:comp.sys.laptops>, <news:comp.os.linux>,
         <news:comp.os.ms-windows>, <news:comp.os.ms-dos>, and
         <news:comp.os.os2>.

         If you post to these groups, put the word "aero" somewhere in the
         subject line so that it is easy for other aero owners to search
         for topical posts. Avoid cross-posting.

     FTP sites:

         <ftp://ftp.compaq.com>.

     Gopher/WAIS: [I don't know of any. If you do, let me know!]

------------------------------

Subject: 1.2.2 Compaq

------------------------------

Subject: 1.2.2.1 Companies that carry Aero supplies

      Compaq Direct       1-800-888-6079.
      Compaq Works        1-800-318-6919.
      J&R Music World     1-800-221-8180

------------------------------

Subject: 1.2.2.2 Does the Aero ship in a wrapper?

No!! I got two factory sealed units, and both just had the Aero sitting in
the foam supports.

------------------------------

Subject: 1.3 Technical Data

The specifications below are from Compaq Computer Corp WWW Page
http://www.compaq.com.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS -- Publication Date: April 1995 Source Document:
Product Bulletin Document Number: 024A/0395

------------------------------

Subject: 1.3.1 Exploded View

    See <http://www.reed.edu/~pwilk/aero_stuff.html> for diagrams.

------------------------------

Subject: 1.3.2 System Unit


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)

------------------------------

Subject: 1.3.3 Passive Matrix Monochrome Display

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

------------------------------

Subject: 1.3.4 Passive Matrix Color Display


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

------------------------------

Subject: 1.3.5 Hard Drives

Hard drive specifications may vary slightly depending on vendor.


                                   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.

------------------------------

Subject: 1.3.6 Internal Power Supply


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%

------------------------------

Subject: 1.3.7 Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) Battery Pack

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.

------------------------------

Subject: 1.3.8 AC Adapter

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

------------------------------

Subject: 1.3.9 Convenience Base

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)

------------------------------

Subject: 1.3.10 External Diskette Drive

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.

------------------------------

Subject: 1.4 User Opinions

Disclaimer: Do not expect unbiased opinions from Aero users!

------------------------------

Subject: 1.4.1 Is the machine really that bad?

[Q] Jeeez you guys are scaring me! I'm a new user of the Aero, so new I don't
even have the machine yet. But I'm seeing so many problems reported that I'm
getting worried. Is the machine really that bad!

[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.

------------------------------

Subject: 1.4.2 Opinions on miscellaneous Aero features (The Quick FAQs)

[Q] How do you like the tracking ball? I have used those little rubber
eraserhead on the IBM ThinkPad and like those a lot.

[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 170 MB (not 250MB)?

[A] That's right. But you can buy a bigger drive for it. The biggest available
drive currently is over 1.3 GB.

[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] 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.

[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.

[A] No, they are idiots. They will tell you to install the wrong drivers and
screw you up even worse. Then when you call them back and get somebody else,
they tell you a different story that never fixes things. After you try this
a few time you finally get somebody that knows what they are doing. You are
better off with the aero mailing list.

[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.

------------------------------

Subject: 1.5 The Aero Survey

  -- Ed. Note: Gayle Fischer <[e-mail]> wrote and compiled
this survey. You have to participate in the survey to get the results. Last
survey was returned on 12 July 1996.

------------------------------

Subject: 2 Hardware

------------------------------

Subject: 2.1 Aero

------------------------------

Subject: 2.1.1 CPU

Intel inside!

------------------------------

Subject: 2.1.1.1 Is it upgradeable?

There has been some talk about doing one of those "Make it a 586" upgrade
deals. As of yet, nobody has even *tried* to upgrade the processor for lack
of a good method.       -Philip Wilk

------------------------------

Subject: 2.1.1.2 Is it FPU upgradeable?

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.

------------------------------

Subject: 2.1.2 Memory

------------------------------

Subject: 2.1.2.1 How do you upgrade?

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, 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.

------------------------------

Subject: 2.1.2.3 How much are memory upgrades?

* As of 27 Jun 96, you can get a Kensington 16 meg module for about $350, but
I have heard rumors of 4 meg modules for as low as $90. Part number
KTC-AERO/16   - Philip

* From: <[e-mail]>
Date: Sat, 13 Jul 1996 22:43:06 -0400
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Aero memory

If anyone is looking for 16MB memory upgrades for their Aero, WorldWide
Memory is selling a Transcend version for $205. I installed it and it works
fine. Comes with a lifetime warranty. Phone number is 800-666-6117. They
advertise in the back of Computer Shopper.

*Date: Sat, 20 Jul 1996 22:28:47 -0700
From: Steven Lawson <[e-mail]>

I just ordered one, it was a little higher.  They quoted $245, but
I got them down to $220.  I'll let the list know if it goes well.
If you order memory from them let them know you were referred on
the Aero mailing list.


------------------------------

Subject: 2.1.3 How to disassemble the Aero

BE CAREFUL, boys and girls. If you get frustrated, STOP! Go do something else
for a while and then come back to it. One little slip-up will result in very
costly repair bills. Warning aside, there is nothing magical inside consumer
electronics. Everything is very modular and replacible if you can find the
part. Have fun, and don't break anything.         - Philip

------------------------------

Subject: 2.1.3.1 There, and Back again: the tale of a journey inside.

Note: this was the first story ever on an Aero disassembly. We now know better
and will not disassemble that one screw in the back that holds the Aero display
together.

[ 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 If anyone were to consider opening up their machine, remember that if you
break anything it's YOUR fault. This is NOT a trivial thing like opening up a
desktop's case. If you're not (a) willing to accept the consequences of
something breaking and (b) confident in your ability, then STOP HERE. Do not
continue.

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

------------------------------

Subject: 2.1.4 Hard Drive

------------------------------

Subject: 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?

[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] 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 ...

------------------------------

Subject: 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?

[A] Unfortunately yes. I claimed Compaq for that and they replaced my HD to
another 84MB and the new one was even worse.

------------------------------

Subject: 2.1.4.3 Upgrading the hard drive

  -- Ed. Note: For those of you who wonder why you can not get much more than
500 Mb of HD on your Aero: The BIOS when running DOS or windows 3.x can
only recognize 1024 cylinders. This usually works out to about 502 or 512 Mb
depending on the rest of the hard drive parameters. You can get around this
by using either a special driver or a utility to modify the Master
Boot Record. If your hard drive needs this, then one should be included with
the hard drive and if not, then contact the distributor. It is interesting to
note that LINUX is not limited in this way.    - Philip

  -- Ed. Note: The harddrive can be no thicker than 12.7 mm.  - Philip

[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.

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] 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.

[A]Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 13:30:35 -0700
From: Paul Mathews <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Aero Hard Drive Replacement

There have been some questions about large capacity hard drives to fit
the Aero.  The following is from a journal for notebook computer
designers (some of the models may not be available at retail):

Mfg        Model        Storage(Gig)    Height (mm)
-----------------------------------------------------------
IBM        3LP        1.44        12.5
IBM        2LP        1.08        12.5
Integral    Platinum    1.2        12.7
Maxtor        Laramie        1.34        12.7
Toshiba        MK1301        1.35        12.7

[A]From: Gary H <[e-mail]>
Date: Mon, 22 Jul 1996 01:12:04 -0700
Sender: [e-mail]

Rick Lobrecht <[e-mail]> wrote:
|Can we use a 12.7 mm drive?

Yes, the Aero supports up to a 12.7mm thick drive like the Toshiba
mk1926 810MB and the mk1301 1.3gig HD.

------------------------------

Subject: 2.1.4.4 A step-by-step tutorial for a 720MB Hard Drive installation

Date: Thu, 6 Apr 95 00:27:44 EDT
From: Bill Flynn <[e-mail]>

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 [phone]. 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.

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

  1.  Go into Compaq setup by pressing F10 on bootup when the cursor goes to
     the upper right corner of the screen.
  2.  Select the option to "Create a Diagnostics Diskette". From here feed the
     required diskettes and then feel safe that you will be able to restore
     this neat little setup partition. NOTE: The setup partition must be the
     fist partition on the hard drive so it must be installed before making any
     other partitions!
  3.  Go into "Computer Setup", then into "Storage", then "Configure Fixed Disk
     Drives". Write down the all information under "Fixed Disk Drive
     Information".
  4.  Back up any data you need to secondary media ;*)

Drive installation

  1.  I strongly suggest using a grounding strap. These should be available
     from local electronics or hobby shops, if you dont have on already.
  2.  Carefully disassemble the Aero. There are 4 screws on the bottom, and two
     in the rear. All the screws to be removed are black.

!!!!Note!!!!
Date: Tue, 18 Jun 1996 17:05:05 -0500 (CDT)
From: Peter Barrette <[e-mail]>

   I would like to make a correction in the HDD replacement instructions.
Step 2 has the user removing both of the rear screws. Only removal of the
top screw is neccessary while removing both can create difficulty in
handling the screen.


  3.  There is a "shell" surrounding the keyboard which snaps apart in the
     front. Be careful not to scratch the case if prying this with a sharp
     object. This peice is somewhat difficult to remove from the hinges of the
     display. BE CAREFUL with the ribbon connecting the LCD display to the
     internal assembly.
  4.  The system board and hard drive are located under the keyboard. Unscrew
     this again being careful with the ribbon cables connecting the keyboard to
     the system board. The keyboard can be laid toward the front, out of the
     way.
  5.  The hard drive can now be accessed. It slides away from the system board(
     to the right). Once disconnected, it can be lifted out. Lift it out front
     first or the screws on the back may put too much pressure on one of the
     circuit boards. There is a vertical tab on the disk mount which has to
     clear the ridge across the front of the aluminum system board mount.
  6.  My IBM drive came with one jumper installed. Without this jumper, the
     system didn't recognize the drive at all. I left it off as the 170mb
     Segate had pins in the same position non-jumpered. I suspect this has to
     do with the IDE master/slave stuff. (my drive expertise is more with SCSI
     drives on UNIX workstations and servers).
  7.  If you are using the IBM DBOA2720, it's drive parameters should be on the
     drive label. Mine are as follows: Type: 65
     Cylinders: 1400
     Heads: 16
     Sectors: 63
     ECC: 4
     Capacity resulting from above = 722.0 MBytes
     1400cyls * 16heads * 63sectors/track * 512k blocks = 722534400bytes
  8.  Switch the drive bracket to the new drive.
  9.  The installation is the reverse of removal keeping in mind the following
     points:

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.

      Use caution reassembling the "shell" surrounding the keyboard.
      The first time the system is booted, it will notice the drive and ask for
     confirmation before updating the CMOS drive parameters. Allow this.

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.

Good Luck.

------------------------------

Subject: 2.1.4.5 Installing the old drive in your desktop

From: Douglas Kocher - [e-mail]

An adapter for attaching a 2.5" notebook hard drive to a regular desktop's
IDE cable is available for $14.95 + COD charges from DD&TT Enterprise, Inc.,
5680 Rickenbacker Rd., Bell, CA  90201.  Their phone number is 213-780-0099.
They will not ship on charge cards, only CODs, which adds about another
$9.00 to the overall price via UPS.

The part # is DT-1958.

The adapter includes an aluminum carrier that allows you to screw the 2.5"
drive onto the carrier, which will then fit into a regular 3.5" drive bay.

My adapter worked flawlessly on an 84MB Quantum HD that I took out of my
Compaq Aero when I upgraded to a 540 MB HD.

NOTE: this adapter also plugs into the right four pins on the 2.5" drive,
which may pose a problem if the drive needs to be jumpered (you can add jumper
pins to the DT-1958 if you don't mind soldering--look closely at the diagram
that accompanies the adapter).

Another source for an adapter, which does not cover the right four pins and
thus allows you to use existing jumpers on the 2.5" drive if needed, is sold
by:

PS Solutions, Inc.
1800 N. Glenville Dr.
Richardson, TX  75081
214-783-6996
214-783-6997 (fax)

I paid $15.00 per adapter for two, plus $3.76 shipping.  The part number is

PCB 2.5-3.5-I

Unlike the DT-1958, no carrier is provided for the 2.5" drive to fit in a
3.5" bay.

------------------------------

Subject: 2.1.4.6 Fixing the Master Boot Record (LILO ate my hard drive)

From: Philip Wilk
Date: 30 June 1996

So you diddled with your master boot record huh? A good way to futz things
up is to use LILO followed by another program that tries to "fix" things.
The problem will that your second program will get awefully confused by LILO
and to punish you for straying from the Microsoft Path, will make your
computer unbootable.

To fix things, type "fdisk /MBR" from DOS, where MBR stands for master boot
record. This will fix everything, or at least it did for me. Thank you Ryan
Davis for letting me know about this.            -Philip

------------------------------

Subject: 2.1.5 Screen

The Compaq aero sports 512kb of display memory and a Tseng chipset, but the
aero reserves half of this memory for Other Stuff. This leave you with only
256kb of display RAM for display purposes. What is this Other Stuff? Hmmm,
I am not sure but I think it has to do with those little pop up windows you
get when you use the Fn key. Some people think it has to do with standby.
                                    - Philip

If you want a PCMCIA adapter that give you SVGA output in windows all for
the low, low price of $315 get in touch with:

EZShow Systems Inc.
7688 Aubrey St., Burnaby, BC V5A 1K7 Canada
Phone: [phone],  Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail] (Michael W Lee)
(as of April, 1996)

------------------------------

Subject: 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.

[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.

------------------------------

Subject: 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?

[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.

------------------------------

Subject: 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.

------------------------------

Subject: 2.1.5.4 800x600x16 VGA mode

As of yet there is no driver avaliable that provides this mode for an
external monitor, but there is a healthy amount of speculation out there that
it is possible. The aero's built in screen does not have the physical
capacity for such a mode.              - Philip

[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).

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.

[A] I have a couple of reasons to think that 800x600x16 WOULD be possible, at
least in theory.

      Back when I owned a 286 desktop machine, I had a Trident video card with
     256K of graphics memory. I was able to do 800x600 graphics in 16 colors.
     In fact, I had Windows drivers (at the time, Windows 3.0 would work on a
     286 in real or standard mode, just not 386 enhanced mode) which would run
     the display at 800x600x16.
      In Fractint (DOS version), I remember that there were several video modes
     supported which entailed reprogramming the video hardware; if a VGA
     chipset is register-compatible with the IBM VGA spec, then in theory those
     chips can be reprogrammed to display 800x600x16, whether or not the chips
     can natively handle that resolution! Such tweaked modes worked fine on my
     286 system, although the aspect ratio was a little "off" (i.e., the screen
     was squashed a bit). Naturally, the native Trident 800x600x16 mode looked
     better.

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).

------------------------------

Subject: 2.1.5.5 Special supported 256 color 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.

Date: Tue, 16 Apr 1996 13:42:38 -0700
From: Steven Lawson <[e-mail]>

You can't get 256 colors in 640x480 mode because not enough video
ram is available (only 262144 bytes is available, 256 colors needs
307200 bytes).  This eliminates hi-res Windows and anything else
needing 640x480.  You CAN get 256 colors in DOS with certain
image viewers in a 360x480 mode.  Compushow (CSHOW) does this
very well and it's what I use.

There's also a viewer for Windows someone on the list mentioned
which does a pretty good job dithering with 16 colors.  I've
played with it and it was the best I've seen under Windows, but
still nowhere near as clean as CSHOW under DOS (or a DOS session)

This is the biggest limitation of the Aero.... :(

   Note: I think the program for windows is lprint.   - Philip

------------------------------

Subject: 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.

------------------------------

Subject: 2.1.5.7 Screen hinge problem (the darn "clutch")

* For pictures of this problem check out the aero page at:
"http://www.reed.edu/~pwilk/aero_stuff.html" and look for "photos of the
hinge problem (aka the clutch)".

* For a diagram of the clutch area look at Figure 3-12 under "Diagrams of the
Aero" on the previously mentioned page.

[Q]Wait a minute.. There are two part #'s for the right hinge? What's the
difference between the two hinges?

[A]From: Land Shark <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Hinge replacement part #
 Actually FOUR numbers, depending on 4/25 or 4/33 and whether the "assembly" or
 "spare part" (you want the spare part). Here's the data ..

                Assembly                Spare Part
 4/25           190638-001              185099-001
 4/33           190638-002              199336-001


[Q]How do I keep the clutch from breaking?

[A]Date: Thu, 9 May 1996 11:43:31 +0800 (WST)
From: Denis Cheong
Subject: Re: Reinforcing the clutch with washers (was Re: Spare parts?)

> Should the washer go between the head of the screw and the outer case?
> Also, which of the two screws? Top or bottom? I open the aero to put my
> 810meg HD in it but can't remember the details of that area inside the
> aero.

It should go between the bar of the clutch and the head of the screw.
The bottom hole (the one closest to the keyboard with the screen open) is
the one where the clutch always breaks, so I would suggest you put it on
that one.  There is a sound physics reason for this, which I was going to
try to explain, but my physics is rather weak so after writing it all out
I decided it would only confuse everybody.


[Q] Can you buy the replacement clutch separately if my waranty has expired?

[A] Try PC Service at: 1-800-340-2667 and use the previously mentioned
spare part numbers.

[A] Date: Thu, 27 Jun 1996 19:13:24 -0500 (CDT)
From: Peter Barrette <[e-mail]>

I just picked up my new Aero (4/25) clutch today. The spring mechanism is
the same old stuff; spring steel wrapped around the axle to provide
friction. The difference is in the part that attaches to the monitor. The
aluminum is now about 1.5-2 times as thick at the lower screw hole (the
one where the breakage occurs), but it is the same thickness as the old
one at the top.
               _                                        _    *=Screw
(Side View)   | | _Top Screw hole       (Front View)   | |     hole
              | |_                                     |*|
              |  | _Bottom screw hole                  |*|________
              |  |                                     |_____| * |
              |()|                                           | * |
                ^                                            |___|
                |__Axle

The process of recieving my new clutch went like this:
    Step 1) Go to compaq dealer. "What's that thing called?", "A clutch."
            "Are you sure that's the right part number?", "Yes."
            "That's not in our computer.", "It's the right part number."
            "Well, if that's the right number we'll order it and it will be
            in about 3 weeks from now.", "OK."

    Step 2) Go to compaq dealer _one_ week later. Pay $33.60 and walk out
            with new clutch.

I have found that getting the CPU cover off is much easier if the display
bezel is removed first.

* Date: Sat, 29 Jun 1996 02:09:27 -0500 (CDT)
From: Peter Barrette <[e-mail]>

Yes, I am not covered under the three year warranty since I bought my
Aero used. I also did not want to pay $80/hr to my local compaq dealer
for "labor". I ordered part number 185099-001 and received the "clutch
kit" for $33.60 including tax. The kit included:
   * The reenforced right clutch
   * One screw to attach right clutch to screen
   * One axle for left hinge (attached to screen by 2 screws)
   * One collar to connect axle to base (slips into collar on base)
   * Two screws for left hinge axle
   * One improved metal hold-down for screen cable (holds plastic lock in
         place)
   * Two screws for screen bezel
   * Two black adhesive disks to cover screw holes on screen bezel
   * One black screw to attach right clutch to base

All screws (except the black one) had coated threads to prevent them from
twisting out. The metal hold-down is much better than the original one
which allowed the plastic lock to slip thus creating many display
problems. The screw to attach the right clutch to the screen is a little
bit short in my opinion. It is the same length as the old one, but should
be a few millimeters longer to account for the increase in metal
thickness on the replacement clutch. As soon as I get the time I will
take some pictures of the parts and send them to whomever would like them.

------------------------------

Subject: 2.1.5.8 Screen Disassembly

From: [e-mail] (Heiko Purnhagen)
Whilst taking my aero apart, I also managed to disassemble the (B/W) display:
After having removed the upper half of the aero, unplug the display cable
from the mainboard and remove the lower of the two screws in the back of
your aero that kept the display in place. Now you can take of the whole
display. To disassemble it, you have to remove the two small round plastic
plates in the lower left and right corner of the display to gain access to the
screws covered by them. Remove these screws and than CAREFULLY unsnapp the
upper half of the display casing (the one arround the screen). If I
remeber it correctly, there are three of these "snapp-in" things on the
lower edge, three on the left and right edges and about four on the
upper edge of the display. Again, you really have to be very careful when
doing this! The display itself is a single unit with a metal chassis - and
below it there is a small PCB containing the circuit to power the backlight.

------------------------------

Subject: 2.1.5.9 Backlight Replacement

*Date: Wed, 24 Jul 1996 18:43:56 -0500 (CDT)
From: Peter Barrette <[e-mail]>

  If it isn't one thing, it's always another. Having recently replaced
the infamous right clutch I had hoped to get more use out of my Aero.
However I managed to drop the damn thing and break the backlight. The LCD
screen itself is without damage

The backlight in the Aero 4/25 is a small flourescent tube approx. 143mm
long and 3mm in diameter. It is called a CCFL which stands for Cold
Cathode Flourescent Light. Mine also has the number 3121 printed on one
end. I have yet to find a replacement since Compaq only offers the entire
display assembly. I have, nonetheless, outlined the procedure.

If you know where I can get a replacement please let me know.

The Replacement Procedure:

  1. Remove the screen bezel (The FAQ has an excellent description).

  2. The backlight is located in the white plastic rectangle just to
     the right of the LCD screen.

  3. Using a small phillips screwdriver, remove the three screws in the
     white plastic case. Lift the right edge of the plastic panel up and
     pull to the right to remove it. You should now be able to see a
     thin, white, plastic film gently folded over.

  4. Upon unfolding it can be seen that the other side is reflective
     (like mylar). You should also now be able to see a long, white tube
     with a white wire coming off of each end. This is the backlight.

  5. To remove it, you must unplug the wires from the Backlight inverter
     (the small rectangular board at the base of the screen).

  6. The wires are also held underneath a small, metal grounding tab
     that is held down by the display clutch's top screw.

  7. Remove the screw and the grounding tab and remove the CCFL tube.


------------------------------

Subject: 2.1.6 Keyboard

------------------------------

Subject: 2.1.6.1 Aero keyboard diagrams

[Q] I know that this is a screwball request, but I'm looking for a diagram of
an Aero keyboard (English) key layout.

[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.

------------------------------

Subject: 2.1.7 Trackball

------------------------------

Subject: 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.

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 [phone]. 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.

or you can sand it down:

From: [e-mail] (Beloved Recordings)
I don't recall whose brilliant idea it was to sand down his track ball to
create a less sensitive device, but I would like to thank him.  I tried it
out with some sand paper I have in the house and I have not had any
problems with the ball yet.

------------------------------

Subject: 2.1.7.2 Cleaning Trackball

[Q] What can I do when my trackball is not responding?

[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 or sand it slightly (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.

------------------------------

Subject: 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.

[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.

------------------------------

Subject: 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.

------------------------------

Subject: 2.1.8 Battery

------------------------------

Subject: 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).

[A]From: Phil Salisbury[SMTP:[e-mail]]
Sent: Thursday, April 18, 1996 12:53 PM

Compaq Direct at 800-888-3406 is a source for most of the Aero accessories.
Some examples as of 4/17/96 are: Standard Battery #190528-001 is $39
(.696 lb 1500 mAh). Enhanced Battery #190529-001 is $95 (1.09 lb 2300 mAh).
The standard battery is approximately 140mm long.  The enhanced
battery is about 212 mm long. The extension is a plastic part that is
required to have the standard battery fit into the Aero. The batteries were
on back-order. These prices are the cheapest that I have found.

[A]From: Paul Mathews <[e-mail]>
Date: Thu, 18 Apr 1996 20:12:00 -0700
As I explained in an earlier posting, I have purchased 'Compaq' extended
batteries for $65 each plus $4 shipping from Netstream
International, Richardson, TX  phone [phone].  They have other Aero
accessories for low prices as well.  I found them by doing an Altavista
search on "Compaq Aero accessories".  You will find other vendors that way
as well.

[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: Paul Mathews <[e-mail]>

Have a look at "http://www.wwtrading.com/".
Among other items, they have the extended life batteries for $65.

------------------------------

Subject: 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?

[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.

  --Ed. Note: Yes indeedy, the aero battery will develope a nasty memory
unless you discharge it down every now and again. However, do not discharge
it all the way to 0 volts or you CAN DO IRREVERSIBLE DAMAGE. Several
methods have been tried to achieve this goal; everything from car
headlamps and electric fans to power cycling the aero. The important thing
to remember is just letting the aero run till _power down_ does not seem to
be enough. You should condition your battery every 45 days or so. At the very
minimum let it discharge three times from full charge without hibernation.
                               - Philip

Date: Sat, 1 Jun 1996 16:09:59 +0800 (WST)
From: Denis Cheong <[e-mail]>

I was speaking to somebody at a shop called "Batteries Plus" in Osborne
Park, WA Australia the other day about battery dischargers, and he said
that you have to be *VERY* careful about discharging the battery too
much..  He suggested that it should not be discharged below 1V per cell
in the battery pack - i.e. probably 8 volts on our Aeros, assuming there
are 8 cells in it (I think that'd be right).  I would tend to believe him
a) because he seemed to know his batteries pretty well; and b) when I was
getting 4+ hours out of a battery and accidentally left it on my 200mA
discharger overnight it only lasted 2 1/2 hours the next charge.  It's
okay now after 10 or 15 complete cycles, but it's something to keep in mind.

------------------------------

Subject: 2.1.8.2.1 Conditioning the Battery without External Apparatus

Date: Fri, 31 May 1996 08:57:47 -0700
To: [e-mail]
From: Steven Lawson <[e-mail]>

This is really screwy, but until I build a discharger it's worked
for me:

  1) boot into DOS mode (F8, command prompt only)
  2) turn on drain mode with the popup function
  3) run looping virus checks or something that moves the heads
  4) wait till the Aero suspends
  5) pop out the battery, pop it in, go to #1

At some point the Aero will do it's 'low battery' beep during the
bootup.  At this point, step #4 will never happen.  Instead, the
Aero will *EVENTUALLY* shut itself off (no, not a nasty low
voltage crash, power management clicks it off intentionally)

Believe it or not, once I got to this point my Aero ran for another
30 minutes before turning off!  I did this a couple of times and
my battery life appears to be back to where it used to be when
it was new...  Step #3 is just to make the system discharge
faster - I can't imagine what that 30 minutes would have been
without the heads seeking around.

NOTE - the above is a pretty rude way around the power management
so I can't recommend it.  If you try it and YOUR Aero explodes
into a million pieces (or fails in any other way) DON'T BLAME
ME!  - any other legalese to avoid court insert here -

------------------------------

Subject: 2.1.8.3 Battery Warning

From: Gary Hong <[e-mail]>
Date: Wed, 21 Feb 96 14:06:57 PST

>Also, my power management seems to be out of whack. My battery life
>indicator does not seem to reflect the reality of my battery. The trend
>seems to be like this:
>
>Full char e -> XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
>4/5         -> XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
>3/5         -> XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
>2/5         -> XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
>1/5         -> XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (BEEP!)

If you charge your battery only when it's fully discharge, then it should
fix your problem a bit.  Mine does this:

Full charge -> XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
4/5         -> XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
3/5         -> XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
2/5         -> XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
1/5         -> XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (BEEP!)


------------------------------

Subject: 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?

[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.

------------------------------

Subject: 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:

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?

------------------------------

Subject: 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.

[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).

------------------------------

Subject: 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.

[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.

------------------------------

Subject: 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?

[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.

------------------------------

Subject: 2.1.8.9 Recharging in the auto

[Q]From:  [e-mail] (MR MICHAEL E SANKEY)
Date:    8/2/96 11:06 PM

If the aero only takes 12 V to operate, does anyone have any
experience plugging the Aero directly into a car's 12 V outlet via
direct wiring?  If the output current isn't too strong for the
notebook, this should be possible instead of going through a costly
adapter.  At peak output, a car alternator usually puts out about 14
V, still less than the power supply's max output.

[A]Date: Fri, 02 Aug 96 17:46:09 CST
From: [e-mail]

     Yes!  It works just fine.  Sometimes I charge my aero on the way to
     work using the cigar adaptor and power wire that came with a whistler
     radar detector.  A fuse in the line is a good idea I would suggest.


------------------------------

Subject: 2.1.9 Ports

------------------------------

Subject: 2.1.9.1 Is the printer port an EPP port?

See section 3.1.1.3 on EPP upgrade software.

------------------------------

Subject: 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?

[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:

ForcedConnection=Off
SearchOrder=Serial, PS2, Bus, Inport

(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.

------------------------------

Subject: 2.1.9.3 PS/2 Mouse port

[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] Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 17:12:55 +0200
From: Kristjan Plaetzer <[e-mail]>

A normal serial mouse can not be used on the PS/2 mouse port. Even the
available "serial-to-PS/2" adapters do not help. The signals and the
protocol is too different. Only a PS/2 mouse does work on a PS/2 port. By
the way there are some kind of "combined-mice" just as Microsofts
"Serial/Mouse Port Compatible Mouse 2.0" (Nr. 58264) and Logitechs MouseMan
M-CJ13 and TrackMan T-CC2-9F. The owner of such a Logitech-mouse can use a
Sub-D-plug. Here is the pin-mapping for such an adapter:

  6 # 5                 1 2 3 4 5
 4     3                 6 7 8 9
  2   1

  PS/2           Sub-D-plug for Logitech

    1 -------------------- 9 (Data)
    3 -------------------- 5 (Gnd)
    4 -------------------- 8 (+5 V)
    5 -------------------- 1 (Clock)

The diagram shows the view onto the contacts and not onto the soldering
side. This special solution is only possible for those two Logitech-types,
no other serial mouse is able to use the PS/2 signals.

Kristjan Plaetzer

[A]Subject: Mouse pin diagrams
Date: Wed, 19 Jun 1996 16:18:48 -0400
From: Reed Wade <[e-mail]>

http://csgrad.cs.vt.edu/~tjohnson/pinouts/

is a fine collection of pinouts and likely has what you
need whether it's a sun2 vme connector or something useful

[A]From: Philip Wilk
Beware of the serial to PS/2 adapters. They do not always work, from
experience I know that the brand of mouse is an important variable.

------------------------------

Subject: 2.1.9.4 16550AF UART

Yes the aero has a 16550AF UART. Try running MSD _after_ you exit windows.
                            - Philip

------------------------------

Subject: 2.1.10 Speaker

* Date: Mon, 12 Aug 1996 09:50:14 +0800 (WST)
From: Denis Cheong <[e-mail]>

Fn-F5 turns off the *system* beeps - i.e. "I am going into suspend", "I
am coming out of suspend", "I am booting up", etc.  It does *NOT* affect
any other software-generated sounds from windows, OS/2, applications, etc.

------------------------------

Subject: 2.2 Accessories

------------------------------

Subject: 2.2.1 Floppy

------------------------------

Subject: 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.

------------------------------

Subject: 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.

[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] You should also be able to hot-swap your floppy (i.e. plug in and out
while the computer is on and not suspended). The aero will notify you of this
fact when you perform this operation. This is a perfectly acceptable thing to
do, infact that is what the PCMCIA slot was designed to do. This may require
an updated BIOS and/or PCMCIA drivers.        - Philip

------------------------------

Subject: 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!

[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.

     Note: see FAQ sections on the config.sys file

[A] Try removing some of your third party software (non-Compaq stuff).
Sometimes these packages futz with the floppy drive, like for instance
Colorado Backup.

------------------------------

Subject: 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.

[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] 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.

------------------------------

Subject: 2.2.1.5 Do you need a floppy?

[Q] For people that say "I dont want to spend the $99 for the floppy"?

[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...

------------------------------

Subject: 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.

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: 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?

------------------------------

Subject: 2.2.2 PCMCIA

------------------------------

Subject: 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.

------------------------------

Subject: 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).

------------------------------

Subject: 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?

[A] What you want is called a type adapter; email [e-mail]. 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.

------------------------------

Subject: 2.2.2.4 PCMCIA modems (& FAX/Modems)

* Date: Tue, 06 Aug 1996 09:31:19 -0700
From: Gary H <[e-mail]>
I have a Hayes Optima 28.8k.  It works great.  Only thing is that
the card is a little thick so it's sometimes tough to pull out the card.

* From: Mark Sailer <[e-mail]>
I have been using a Megahertz Modem/Ethernet  Card now since I got my Aero.
I have had no problems using the card under WIN95.
Great having both in one.... no need to swap.

* From: "Ygal Giramberk" <[e-mail]>
I have a Megahertz 14,400 PCMCIA which works fine
I bought it at Office Depot for $69.00

* Date: Tue, 6 Aug 1996 17:51:01 -0500 (CDT)
From: Matt Lawrence <[e-mail]>
I'm using a Megahertz 14.4 modem I bought at the Dell Outlet store.  $49.  I
like it a lot -- it's much faster than my external 14.4.

* From: Mike Parkerson <[e-mail]>
Expecting perfect compatibility, I sprung for the Compaq 192 modem.  I
haven't been disappointed.  It connects reliably at good speeds considering
the phone line quality I get while on the road.  I think it can be had for
about $95 (US) now.  I'm sure others will work as well for less, but I
didn't want to hassle with the what-ifs.  Good luck!

* From: <[e-mail]>
I use an Intel 14.4 PCMCIA fax modem.  It was $149 two years ago.  I never
have gotten the fax to work right, although I haven't tried very hard.  Also,
the installation routine neither detected nor enabled the FIFO buffer.

* Date: Wed, 7 Aug 1996 13:38:10 +0200 (MET DST)
From: Javier Hernandez <[e-mail]>
I am using Megahertz XJ2288 V34 28.8 XJack and it is working pretty well.
Preivously I had during two years an Apex PCMCIA FAX/MODEM 28800
VFast Class and it also worked pretty well, I did send it to a
friend when I decided to go for the Megahertz

* 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?

* 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.

* Date: Wed, 07 Aug 96 09:39:00 PDT
From: "Doug Monroe (monroe)" <[e-mail]>
I purchased a Zoom Telephonics 14.4 fax modem 18 months ago.  I'm on my 4th
one. With this last one I stopped hot plugging it, and it has lasted 9
months. The replacements Zoom has sent have been problematic, one dropped
the 7th bit all the time, one got through quality control with the labels
on upside down.  Their help desk line was busy most of the time, when I could
get through I felt I was not listened too (if it worked for two months then
stopped working then it certainly can't be the software I'm using,can it).
Faxing worked out best for getting through to them.
My advice is to use another brand.

* 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.

* Megahertz installation failed on the Aero for me, too. Turned out it didn't
need any installation; just plug it in, and it plays.

* 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)...

------------------------------

Subject: 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.

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.

------------------------------

Subject: 2.2.3 External Monitor

------------------------------

Subject: 2.2.3.1 Simultaneous Output

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.

------------------------------

Subject: 2.2.4 Sound

------------------------------

Subject: 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.

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.)

------------------------------

Subject: 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?

[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.

------------------------------

Subject: 2.2.6 Expanders

------------------------------

Subject: 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?

[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

------------------------------

Subject: 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.

[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).

------------------------------

Subject: 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?

[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).

------------------------------

Subject: 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.

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?

------------------------------

Subject: 2.2.8 Case

There are presently a few cases for the Aero.

The Wetsuit 3.0(tm)
     This case seems to have the best fit for the Aero. This is a case made of
     wetsuit material. It is water resistant, has a screen shock protector, and
     has a zipper at the base for easy access to the ports on the back of the
     Aero. It has a small zipper pouch in the front of the case, which can hold
     the floppy drive OR the power supply. It has carrying handles as well as a
     shoulder strap. This case is zipper closed.
Targa(tm) Cases
     Targa makes a small case for laptops, and this one will hold the computer,
     the power supply, the floppy drive, and a few extra components. It has
     pockets on the outside, inside, and has a zippered closure. It also has a
     fair amount of padding.
Compaq(tm) Case
     A black vinyl bag which fits primarily the Aero. One pouch on the inside
     is suitable for a stack of papers. No provision to use any ports while the
     Aero is in the case. It's nice and small but not meant for hauling
     accessories around as well.
Micro Center(?) Case
     This is a black leather case (well, sort of leather looking). I believe it
     is made by MicroCenter, because it has "WIN BOOK" on one side of the case.
     It is fairly small (smaller than most of Kensington cases). I can fit AERO
     (or a 6-lb notebook), AC adapter, mobile expander, floppy driver, and some
     cables in it. Two compartments. It is not as good looking/sturdy as
     Kensington's cases, but it costs only $20.00.
Do-it-yourself
     Here is an idea for a cheap case for the Aero: A nylon covered, padded 3
     ring binder from Mead for $10. Line it with some 1/2" foam cut out for the
     Aero and it's power brick and floppy, and away you go.

------------------------------

Subject: 2.2.9 SCSI Adapters

[A]From: Philip Wilk
Adaptec makes two adapters - a parallel port version and a PCMCIA version.
The parallel port version (APA-358 SlimSCSI EPP) costs about $155 and the
PCMCIA port version (APA-1460 SlimPCMCIA SCSI Card) costs about $170. I have
heard good things about Adaptec products, but they are not dirt cheap.

[A]From: <[e-mail]>
In Computer Shopper, there's an ad for ValuStor,
1-800-873-VALU, address 1609B Regetta Lane, San Jose, CA 95112.  They have
them for $99 US.  They also have parallel-IDE hard drive kits for the same
price, and parallel-IDE CDROM kits for the same price.  They have assembled
parallel port 4x CDROM drives for $239.

------------------------------

Subject: 2.2.10 Other Things

From: Denis Cheong <[e-mail]>
I recently bought an Epson GT-9000 colour flatbed scanner (It's the
ES-1200C in the US).  It is rather unique in that it has both SCSI and
parallel interfaces on it, which makes it ideal for users wishing to
connect the scanner to a desktop as well as their Aero. If anybody is
considering buying a scanner and needs to connect it to their
Aero, I would thoroughly recommend one of the Epson range (I have
nothing to do with Epson aside from being a very happy customer), two of
which have both SCSI & parallel and one only parallel.  If you have any
questions on scanning with the Aero I'm always happy to help.

------------------------------

Subject: 3 Software

------------------------------

Subject: 3.1 Upgrades

------------------------------

Subject: 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.

------------------------------

Subject: 3.1.1.1 Firmware ROMPaqs

[A]Date: Fri, 24 Mar 95 10:03:19 EST
From: "Elwood C. Downey" <[e-mail]>

Mark Purcell, [e-mail], writes:

> In the past I have had a browse through and even downloaded a couple
> of ROMPAQS, but could never successfully install them.
>
> Could someone please give a quick rundown on the installation
> procedure for the ROMPAQS.

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:

    1) get the .exe onto your system somehow
    2) execute it and follow the instructions

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.

> My second question is how do you tell what you have now and what
> you need to upgrade?

Probably the easiest way to tell what you have now is to run the Compaq Control
Center and then select Computer Setup. You will get a little display of all the
major subsystems and their rev levels and other details.

You can also get this and more from the stuff on the diagnostics/setup
partition. I tossed this partition when I upgraded my hard disk to 353MB and I
can not recall exactly how to boot from it but I think you just mess with the
keyboard during the early boot phase to cause a keyboard error and then you are
given a little menu of whether to boot diagntistics or normally. Maybe someone
has a more politically correct procedure and can jump in for me.

If you ever do boot your setup partition, I highly recommend making three
floppies while you are there:
    1) setup
    2) diagnostics
    3) minimal boot floppy (format a:/s) with goodies like format and fdisk.
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.

As to what to upgrade, that is a big matter of guessing! I tend to pick
updates that are a few months old and that have not been superceded for a
few months. The idea is to find things that give the appearance of some
stability.

SP1992.EXE  -- 375 K -- (05 July 96)
     System ROMPAQ for an Contura Aero dated 05/16/96.  This ROM is a patch
     ROM and is derived from the 07/19/95 System ROM.  It resolves the
     following issues:
           - Properly restores the speed setting through a standby.
           - Properly updates the RTC through a standby.
           - Flushes the disk cache before entering standby.
           - Solves problems reclaiming upper memory blocks.
           - Solves Int 14 test failures on extended stop bits.
     SUPERCEDES: SP1487

sp1487.exe (24 April 95)
     Contura Aero System ROM (24 APR 95) This Compaq ROMPaq Firmware Upgrade
     diskette will upgrade a Contura Aero to a 7 Dec 1995 System ROM. One (1)
     formatted 1.44 MB floppy disk is required to continue. Once the Compaq
     ROMPaq Firmware diskette is created, please power down your Contura Aero,
     place the Rompaq in Drive A and power up the unit. Please ensure that you
     are connect to AC power, and DO NOT power off. Please view README.TXT
     contained on this diskette for instruction on updating the Contura Aero
     system ROM.
sp1124.zip -- 633 K -- (07 March 95)
     Compaq ROMPaq Firmware Upgrade for the Contura Aero Ver. 011995. The
     Compaq ROMPaq diskette for the Contura Aero allows you to upgrade the
     Firmware for a Contura Aero to a January 19, 1995 System ROM. Please view
     SP1124.DOC contained on this diskette for instruction on updating the
     Contura Aero system ROM.
sp1073.zip -- 335 K -- (21 December 94)
     Compaq Aero User ROMPaq Upgrade Diskette Version 4S_110194 Rev A 720 KB
     Media After running SP1073, please view SP1073.DOC for help
sp0946.zip -- 1140 K -- (06 October 94)
     Portable ROMPaq Version 2.08 Rev A Firmware Upgrade Diskette For Elite,
     Lites, Contura 400, Contura 486, Concerto, Contura Aero P/n 181148-007 --
     Type SP0946 and view the SP0946.DOC file for help.
sp0896.zip -- 1104 K -- (30 August 94)
     Portable ROMPaq for Elite, Lites, Contura 486, Concerto, and Aero Firmware
     Upgrade Diskette Version 2.06 Rev A P/n 181148-006 -- Type SP0896 and view
     the README.TXT file for help.
sp0762.zip -- 311 K -- (20 April 94)
     Firmware Upgrade diskette for the Compaq Contura Aero. Version
     486S_0416.94 Revision A. P/N. 199283-002
sp0723.zip -- 343 K -- (10 March 94)
     Diskette for the Compaq Contura Aero Version 486S_0307.94 Revision A.
     PFirmware Upgrade part Number 190634-003 720-KB.

------------------------------

Subject: 3.1.1.2 PCMCIA Drivers and Utilities

See sections for specific operating systems for more up to date information.

sp1045.zip -- 493 K -- (17 November 94)
     This is a SoftPaq of the Compaq PCMCIA software, Version 1.25 Rev. A
     Superceeds SP0890
sp1034.zip -- 214 K -- (28 November 94)
     PCMCIA Modem Enabler for DOS/Windows Version 1.01 720KB Media After
     running SP1034, please view SP1034 for help.
sp0936.zip -- 12 K -- (16 September 94)
     MDMCOM1.SYS allows Windows-based apps to communicate with a PCMCIA modem
     that is assigned to COM1.
sp0890.zip -- 435 K -- (23 August 94)
     PCMCIA Version 1.24 - English for use with Compaq Concerto, Compaq Contura
     Aero, Compaq Elite
sp0840.zip -- 434 K -- (15 July 94)
     PCMCIA Version 1.24 - English for use with Compaq Concerto, Compaq Contura
     Aero, Compaq Elite
sp0800.zip -- 400 K -- (07 June 94)
     PCMCIA V1.23 PN: 144974-006 DRIVERS AND SUPPORT FOR PCMCIA PRODUCTS
sp0710.zip -- 12 K -- (25 February 94)
     Allows DOSFAX by Delrina to function properly in Compaq PCMCIA computers
     when going into standby or hot-plugging/unplugging the modem.

------------------------------

Subject: 3.1.1.3 Enhanced Parallel Port BIOS Drivers

SP1630.EXE -- /pub/softpaq/Software-Solutions/ -- 42 K -- (11 June 96)
     This softpaq contains four versions of EPP BIOS to use in conjunction
     with EPP aware devices.  Each EPP mode has been known to fix particular
     problems related to these devices (including tape backup systems).
     EPPBIOS.SYS - standard EPP mode EPPFIFO.SYS - standard EPP mode with
     FIFOs enabled EPPSLCOM.SYS - SL compatible EPP mode
     EPPSLFIF.SYS - SL compatible EPP mode with FIFOs enabled Only one of
     the above files should be loaded in your CONFIG.SYS.
     SUPERSEDES: SP1147
sp1147.zip -- 38 K -- (27 February 95)
     EPPBIOS.SYS is a driver which will load IEEE 1284 EPP (Draft Rev. 3) Bios
     Support on Compaq Contura Aero or Contura 400 Family machines. IEEE 1284
     EPP (Draft Rev. 3) Bios support is needed for adapters to use IEEE 1284
     (Draft Rev. 3) specified EPP functions.
sp0937.zip -- 12 K -- (16 September 94)
     EPPBIOS.SYS (Ver. 1.4) is a driver that gives IEEE 1284 EPP BIOS Draft
     Revision 3 Support For Contura Aero and Contura 400 Family. This softpaq
     supercedes sp0935.exe.
sp0935.zip -- 12 K -- (15 September 94)
     EPPBIOS.SYS (Ver. 1.3) gives IEEE 1284 EPP BIOS Draft Revision 3 Support
     for Contura Aero and Contura 400 Family. Supersedes Softpaq sp0889.exe.
sp0889.zip -- 12 K -- (17 August 94)
     EPPBIOS.SYS is a driver which will load IEEE 1284 EPP Bios Support on
     Compaq Contura Aero machines. IEEE 1284 EPP Bios support is needed for
     adapters to use IEEE 1284 specified EPP functions.

------------------------------

Subject: 3.1.1.4 Windows Stuff

See the following sections on the windows operating systems (3.3.1 etc)
for more information.

sp1350.exe (?-?-96)
     Fix Contura Aero PCMCIA Floppy Drive in Windows 95 This update to Compaq
     PC Card Manager (CPCM.VXD) is for the Contura Aero sub-notebook computer.
     It corrects read errors that can occur when attempting to use the
     optional PCMCIA External Floppy Drive as a hot-pluggable device under
     Windows 95.
sp1329.exe (?-?-96)
     Compaq Portables Supplemental Programs for Windows 95, Version 2.00
     Revision B, SUPESEDES: SP1328 The Portables Windows 95 Supplemental
     Programs Diskette 2.00, provides the following support for Compaq Laptop
     products running Windows 95: 1) Compaq 192 Modem Drivers for Windows 95
     2) Tabworks conversion utility 3) Modification of Windows 3.1 Items from
     Windows 95 "Start" menu(s) 4) Provides Compaq Value Added Support for
     Windows 95 (Hotkey, Security Management, Power Concservation, and PC Card
     Manager) One (1) formatted 1.44 MB floppy is required to continue with
     the operation of this softpaq. Please view the README.TXT contained on
     the diskette built from this softpaq for installation instructions.
sp1009.zip -- 768 K -- (11 November 94)
     Windows Supplemental Program Disk (WSPD) v1.45 - English This softpaq
     reuiqres either SP0891 or SP0958 to be downloaded. After running SP1009,
     please view the SP1009.DOC file for help.
sp0891.zip -- 919 K -- (23 August 94)
     Computer Setup for Windows Version 1.50 - English. For use on a
     Concerto,Contura Aero,LTE Elite,Prolinea MT, Enhanced Prolinea, Presario
     600s w/TAM, and Presario 800s running MS-Windows 3.1.
sp0854.zip -- 19 K -- (25 July 94)
     SSCOMM.DRV (dated 07-12-94) has been modified to help Windows programs
     avoid file transfer failures and dropped characters when using 14400 baud
     PCMCIA modems on COMPAQ laptops.
sp0843.zip -- 919 K -- (18 July 94)
     Computer Setup for Windows Version 1.50 - English. For use on a
     Concerto,Contura Aero,LTE Elite,Prolinea MT, Enhanced Prolinea, Presario
     600s w/TAM, and Presario 800s running MS-Windows 3.1.
sp0738.zip -- 20 K -- (11 March 94)
     The CPQVKD.386 device driver provided in this SoftPaq fixes the keyboard
     hang problem that appears when using Microsoft Windows for Workgroups
     version 3.11 on the Compaq Aero and Compaq LTE Elite computers.

------------------------------

Subject: 3.1.1.5 Utilities

sp1125.zip -- 38 K -- (15 February 95)
     KBSPEED resolves an anomaly with the Compaq Elite Family, Contura 400
     Family, and Aero Family of computers. These computers do not retain their
     typematic settings after standby. KBSPEED will allow restoration of the
     typematic settings on the above products after both standby and
     hibernation.
sp1168.zip -- 38 K -- (10 March 95)
     MASKIRQ.EXE Some DOS communication programs are unable to load or unable
     to talk to the serial port/modem on AERO, ELITE and Contura 400.
     MASKIRQ.EEXE allows the user to selectively mask or unmask IRQ lines 3,4,5
     or 7 to allow those programs to work correctly.
sp0993.zip -- 12 K -- (01 November 94)
     CHARGE.COM allows Contura Aero users to display battery level on the
     screen and also set DOS ERRORLEVEL based on battery level.
sp0801.zip -- 12 K -- (08 June 94)
     STBY_HIB.COM allows Contura Aero users to choose between normal standby
     functionality and "hibernate on standby".
sp0759.zip -- 11 K -- (15 April 94)
     MODADAPT.COM modifies ADAPT.COM so that it will function with Compaq Aero
     laptop computers.
sp0743.zip -- 20 K -- (22 April 94)
     COMFIFO.EXE is a DOS utility to allow control of the FIFOs in a
     16550-based serial port. COMFIFO may help Contura Aero users with DOS
     communications programs that are crashing or not working.

------------------------------

Subject: 3.1.1.6 Diagnostics

SP1363.EXE -- 704 K -- (11 October 95)
     Compaq Personal Computer Diagnostics/SETUP, Version 10.06 Rev E P/N
     196328-409 SUPERSEDES: SP1245 Use with:Deskpro/M Family, Deskpro/i
     Family, Deskpro XE Family Deskpro XL Family, Presario Family, ProLinea
     Family Contura, Contura Aero, and Contura 400 Families LTE Lite, LTE
     Elite, and LTE 5000 Families, Portable 486/486c One (1) formatted 1.44
     MB floppy is required to continue with the operation of this softpaq.
     Please view the SP1363.DOC contained on the diskette built from this
     softpaq for installation instructions.
SP1364.EXE -- 1262 K -- (11 October 95)
     Compaq Personal Computer Diagnostics/TEST, Version 10.06 Rev E P/N
     196327-409 SUPERSEDES: SP1244 Use with:Deskpro/M Family, Deskpro/i
     Family, Deskpro XE Family Deskpro XL Family, Presario Family, ProLinea
     Family Contura, Contura Aero, and Contura 400 Families LTE Lite, LTE
     Elite, and LTE 5000 Families, Portable 486/486c One (1) formatted 1.44
     MB floppy is required to continue with the operation of this softpaq.
     Please view the SP1364.DOC contained on the diskette built from this
     softpaq for installation instructions.
sp1150.exe -- 681 K -- (01 March 95)
     Compaq PC Diagnostics/SETUP Version P10.03 Rev A. P/n 196328-402 For Use
     with: Deskpro/M Family, Deskpro/i Family, Deskpro XE Family, Deskpro XL
     Family, Presario Family, ProLinea Family, Contura Family, Contura Aero
     Family, Contura 400 Family, LTE Lite Family, LTE Elite, Portable 486,
     Portable 486c
sp1149.exe -- 1252 K -- (01 March 95)
     Compaq PC Diagnostics Version P10.03 Rev A. P/n 196327-402 For Use with:
     Deskpro/M Family, Deskpro/i Family, Deskpro XE Family, Deskpro XL Family,
     Presario Family, ProLinea Family, Contura Family, Contura Aero Family,
     Contura 400 Family, LTE Lite Family, LTE Elite, Portable 486, Portable
     486c

------------------------------

Subject: 3.1.1.7 Mouse Drivers

Date: Mon, 15 Jul 1996 09:10:22 +0200
From: [e-mail] (Kevin Stock)

> [e-mail] wrote:
> >
> > I am searching for the driver for my compaq aero that allows me to use an
> > external mouse.  Compaq will not send it to me without serial number, there
> > is none on the laptop and I baught it used from a person that is in the
> > military overseas SOMEWHERE.  I do not know her name, she was just  person I
> > met who had a lap top i was willing to buy.  I need a file called
> > MOUSEDRV.INI, do you know where I can get it?  Any help is greatly
> > appreciated.

Strange reaction on the part of Compaq, because the Logitech mouse
driver package v6.44 can be downloaded from their Web site. This
supports searching for an external mouse or the trackball.

Go to http://www.compaq.com. Then select:

    Service and Support
    Downloadable Software Support Files
    Drivers/Misc
    SP1714.EXE  590K  02 May 96  Mouse/Trackball Rev A Version 6.44

Kevin

------------------------------

Subject: 3.1.2 ROMPaqs
------------------------------

Subject: 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:

  1.  get the .exe onto your system somehow
  2.  execute it and follow the instructions

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:

  1. setup
  2. diagnostics
  3. minimal boot floppy (format a:/s) with goodies like format and fdisk.

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.

------------------------------

Subject: 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.

[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:

     fn+F6 wont lock the machine,
     fn+F7 won't switch the power consuming mode properly: only screen light
     changes.

------------------------------

Subject: 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.

------------------------------

Subject: 3.1.2.4 Determining the BIOS date

A way to find the BIOS date on an Aero:

      Cold boot your Aero.
      When the cursor goes to the top right corner press F10
      If you have not repartitioned your Aero, it will boot the DIAG partition
     on your internal hard disk
      Press return through two screens, then choose the top choice in the
     Setup/Diagnostics menu....
      the BIOS date prints under the CPU ICON, and the Video ROM date prints
     out under the VIDEO ICON.

[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 ..

------------------------------

Subject: 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?

[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.

------------------------------

Subject: 3.2 Configuration

------------------------------

Subject: 3.2.1 DOS Setup

------------------------------

Subject: 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 -----

------------------------------

Subject: 3.2.1.2 What is in CONFIG.SYS & AUTOEXEC.BAT?

  -- Ed. Note: There has been some discussion on exactly where to put the
power driver and what setting to put it in. Some people say put it before
the PCMCIA drivers or the Aero will hot-swap correctly. I have just checked
my config.sys and it is at the very end of mine. I have been using my aero
for a very long time with no problems, hot swapping the floppy drive often.
As for the setting ... some discussion will follow in a bit.
                              - Philip

[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.

[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.

 -- Ed. Note: This mean nix the PCMSMIX! (comment it out with a semicolon)

The programs left in memory after mine boots:


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

Other CONFIG.SYS drivers not taking up memory, and what I've been able to learn
about them:

      DEVICE=C:\CARDMGR\CPR.SYS comm port recover driver
      DEVICE=C:\CPQDOS\CSALLOC.EXE SystemSoft Plug-N-Play Card Services
     Allocation Utility Version 2.04 (2243-05)
      INSTALL=C:\CARDMGR\CCMGR.EXE /D=0 Intel card configuration manager ver
     3.01
      DEVICE=C:\CPQDOS\PCMSMIX.EXE PCMSMIX Version 0.03.01 Copyright 1994
     SystemSoft Corporation "Supposed to allow a computer in 'standby' to
     receive a fax (or other modem comm) and process it. However, per Compaq
     tech support, this is impossible with the Aero" - Jim Conforti

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?

[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.

------------------------------

Subject: 3.2.1.3 Memory managers

I've run memmaker on DOS and managed to boost my available RAM to 571K of
conventional memory.

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.

------------------------------

Subject: 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.

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...

------------------------------

Subject: 3.2.2 Power-Management

------------------------------

Subject: 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.

[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?

------------------------------

Subject: 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)

[A] Don't touch the mouse till your Aero beeps at you that its awake.

[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.

      Check the POWER.EXE line in CONFIG.SYS -- I had to add "STD" to the end
     of it to prevent Windows from crashing on resume if I'd used the modem
     before suspending.
      In Windows, go into ControlPanels->Power and set it to "Standard" instead
     of "Advanced" (or turn it Off).
      I seem to have problems with the trackball if PCMSMIX.EXE is loaded, you
     may want to check it out for yourself. I'm not too clear on what it does.
     I had to comment out the PCMSMIX driver from CONFIG.SYS to avoid crashes
     and/or trackball weirdness on resume.

-- ed. note: PCMSMIX.EXE is not needed at all, see discussion elsewhere ...

      Another thing is to make sure the line:
     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.
      Also, make sure WINDOWS\SYSTEM.INI is using COMM.DRV=SSCOMM.DRV and not
     COMM.DRV=COMM.DRV (or something else) under the [boot] section --
     Quicklink II changed this when I was trying out the Angia SafeJack PCMCIA
     modem.

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.

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.

------------------------------

Subject: 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.

[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.

-- ed. Note: see http://www.reed.edu/~pwilk/aero_stuff.html

[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).

------------------------------

Subject: 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?

[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.

------------------------------

Subject: 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)?

[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.

------------------------------

Subject: 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.

------------------------------

Subject: 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 ?

[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] 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.

From: Gary Hong <[e-mail]>
Date: Wed, 21 Feb 96 14:06:57 PST

>I've got a minor problem I've had since I bought my Aero 4/33c last summer.
>Every time, when running Win 3.1, that the computer is suspended, the system
>clock seems to be suspended too. So if I suspend the computer at 10:30 and
>turn it back on at 12:00, the system clock in Windows will say that it is
>still 10:30. When running straight DOS, there's no problem. Of course, this
>ain't a critical flaw, but I'm juggling a number of different versions of my
>thesis and it would be nice to have some confidence in the time stamps.

You need to set your power saving mode to advance mode for the clock to
advance.  It's under the control panel icon I believe.  However, setting
the aero to advance will cause the aero to flicker in and out of power saving
mode at odd times.  Putting it in standard mode fixes this, but you don't
get the date advance.  Take your pick which bug you want :).

------------------------------

Subject: 3.2.3 Networking/Linking

------------------------------

Subject: 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?

[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: l2d /free for any other question try l2d /? -- that will show a list
of other options.

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?

------------------------------

Subject: 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).

[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:

      Start WinLink (without connecting to remote)
      Configure Comms to use LPT1:
      Save Configuration
      Exit WinLink
      Start WinLink

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.)

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:
?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!)

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.

------------------------------

Subject: 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").

[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.

------------------------------

Subject: 3.2.4 Diagnostics Partion

        Correct parameters for setup partition are:
                begin cylinder: 1
                end cylinder:   12
                total blocks:   3089
                system id:      12
                bootflag:       yes

        -Ali-


------------------------------

Subject: 3.3 Operating Systems

I recommend checking out Reed Wade's page on OSs at:
"http://www.netlib.org/utk/people/ReedWade/aero_oss.html".

------------------------------

Subject: 3.3.1 Windows 3.1

------------------------------

Subject: 3.3.1.1 Problems with WinFax Lite

When I got a message from [e-mail] 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.

[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.

------------------------------

Subject: 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]

------------------------------

Subject: 3.3.1.3 Problems with Windows Speaker Driver

You can get it at ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/Softlib/MSLFILES/SPEAK.EXE. I use
it and it works great!      -Philip

[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.

[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.

------------------------------

Subject: 3.3.1.4 PCMCIA stuff

From: <[e-mail]>
Date: Sun, 16 Jun 1996 18:04:51 -0400
Subject: SP1473 Updated PCMCIA support

I have been messing with the Softpaq, SP1473, downloaded from www.compaq.com,
and would like to let everyone know my experience.  This Softpaq contains
PCMCIA drivers and a program, Systemsoft CardWizard verion 1.00.02

Prior to installing this, I found that there was an annoying bug, such that
after using the modem, I could not swap in the floppy drive.  IF I tried, the
floppy would not be "Configured" by Cardid.exe, and would not work unless I
rebooted.

With CardWizard, there is a section to "show ranges." If I set it to show
"included" then add 03F0h-03F7h to the included range, the problem goes away.

Just thought you all might like to know.

Oh, Win 3.1, the one that came with the aero.  I also found that, after I
made the fix I mentioned previously, that the modem would not work if I: used
modem, swapped in the floppy, then tried to use the modem again.  So, I
rebooted, inserted the modem, checked the Card Wizard to see that the modem
used 02F8h-02FFh for I/O, then marked that range as reserved.  Now, it seems
that I can swap back and forth infinitely.

Subject: Re: SP1473 Updated PCMCIA support
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 1996 22:36:50 -0400
From: Jim Van Zandt <[e-mail]>

I just downloaded allfiles.txt, the list of files on ftp.compaq.com.

I note the following:

sp1645.exe      pub/softpaq/Software-Solutions  30 May 96       1011 K
Compaq PCMCIA Support for MS DOS/Windows Version 3.14 Rev E The files
included on this diskette enable the PCMCIA functionality for the LTE
5000 family within a Microsoft DOS/Windows environment.  SUPERSEDES:
SP1473

------------------------------

Subject: 3.3.1.5 Problems with Modems/Serial Devices

From: Philip Wilk
Date: 27 Jun 97

The original communications driver that came with windows does not allow
for high speed serial port use. This is due to non-idenification of the
FIFO and poor time sharing of the processor. The original commdrv will not
let you run your modem at 28.8. Things to do to fix things:

   1) Add COM1FIFO=1 to the [386Enh] section of the window's system.ini file

   2) Replace commdrv with a better driver. I suggest cyberdrv.zip. You do
      this by changing the commdrv=commdrv line in your system.ini file to
      something else, like commdrv=cybercom.drv for instance. CyberCom is free
      and can be found around the internet. There are other ones avaliable,
      like the one included with winfax.

------------------------------

Subject: 3.3.1.6 32 bit disk access or no?

From: Gary Hong <[e-mail]>
Date: Wed, 21 Feb 96 14:06:57 PST

>Also, has anyone had any problems using 32-bit disk access on their Aero?
>When you select that option, Win tells you that it could be a Bad Thing on a
>battery powered portable. Does that include the Aero?

If you use 32 bit access you'll have problems with "hdsdown3".  This utility
shuts down the hard disk on demand or at specified intervals after last
keypress.  If you don't use this utility (available on wade's
site or compaq) then go ahead and use 32 bit access.

------------------------------

Subject: 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.

[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. To install the CPQVKD.386 device driver:

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.

------------------------------

Subject: 3.3.3 Windows95

------------------------------

Subject: 3.3.3.1 The path to '95 by copying setup to the aero

From: Steven Lawson <[e-mail]>
Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 12:06:59 -0700

Yes, this really does need to be documented in a step-by-step
format.  I've had mine on Win95 since beta so it's hard to
recall everything.

THE FOLLOWING IS LIKELY INCOMPLETE!!!  IT'S NOT MY FAULT
IF YOU FOLLOW THIS AND IT FAILS!!!  THIS IS ALL FROM
MEMORY!!

Seems to me the sequence would be (assuming no cd-rom on the
Aero and a cd-rom Win95 on a desktop, plus the Aero floppy
NOT installed)

  1. Backup everything
  2. Update the BIOS
  3. Remove as much as possible
       (you CAN remove Win3.1 if you have the floppy and
        map the desktop A: drive in step 7)
  4. Rename the WINDOWS directory if not removed
  5. copy INTERLNK.EXE and INTERSVR.EXE to root (\)
      (Win95 has none & you'll later toss \DOS)
  6. add INTERLNK to config.sys
      (use /LPT1 /AUTO)
  7. on desktop:
      copy cd \WIN95 subdir to hard drive
      run INTERSVR /LPT1 /X:A /X:B
      (no /X:A if you erased Win 3.1!!)
  8. connect parallel cable & boot Aero
      (verify drive mapping)
  9. XCOPY the \WIN95 subdir to the Aero
 10. go to \WIN95 and SETUP

Install new Windows into /WINDOWS.  Eventually it'll finish
the install...  If you erased Win 3.1 you'll have to put
the 3.1 disk 1 in the server A: for verification.  I leave
the Aero floppy out so Win95 won't see it during setup and
hopefully it's the reason I've had less trouble than others
getting the floppy to work later..

If you can try and keep the \WIN95 subdir for a few weeks, it's
likely you'll reconfig something and need it available..

Since you want drive compression I'd get the Plus! pack
for Drivespace 3, it works great.  Do the same trick as
you did pulling the \WIN95 subdir before. (I leave
INTERLNK in config.sys with /AUTO on mine, it comes in
REAL handy.  'Direct Cable Connection' in Win95 sucks.

Someone else will have to assist on the order of the
updates.  There is also a step to do to make sure Win95
doesn't have a default floppy driver loaded which messes
up the PCMCIA one.

Eventually you'll want to remove the \DOS and old windows
subdirectories.  Make sure you placed copies of INTERLNK
and INTERSVR into root or you'll lose 'em (and they're
too handy to lose!)

Hope I didn't leave anything out, but I likely did.  There
are other ways to do this but this is what I've found
works well (at least the few times I've done it..)

------------------------------

Subject: 3.3.3.2 The path to '95 by installing via winlink

Date: Wed, 27 Sep 1995 13:04:25 -0400 (EDT)
From: Steve <[e-mail]>

Yes!
You can install Win95 from CD through Winlink.  I succeeded in doing so.
Here's a rough idea of how:

First, get a parallel laplink cable if you do not have one.
On desktop computer, in a DOS prompt (anywhere)
type:
C:\WINLINK\L2D /LPT1

On your laptop add these lines to the Autoexec.bat:
C:\WINLINK\L2D /LPT1
C:\WINLINK\L2D /LPT1 e=e    (supposing that e is your cd rom drive)

Strip out anything that might interfere with Win95 install.
(i.e. I got rid of 386max, and multiconfigs, just to be safe)
Reboot your laptop.
You now can run the setup from the Cd on your desktop.

After the install completes, remove the L2D lines from the autoexec.bat.

All done.  =)
Kind of surprised me that it worked, but I'm not complaining.

------------------------------

Subject: 3.3.3.4 PCMCIA, the floppy drive, and getting it all to work

From: Steven Lawson <[e-mail]>
Subject: Aero and Win95
Date: Jan 1996?

Here is the floppy procedure I received from my Compaq service contact.  He says
the web page is missing some steps.  BTW - I have a 01XXX series drive but have
not noticed whatever problems he's talking about.

>Flash Upgrade the firmware to 071995 or later.
>
>Remove any "Standard Floppy Controller" from Device Manager. The only
>driver that should be listed is "Compaq PCMCIA Floppy Controller"
>
>Hilight "Compaq PCMCIA Floppy Controller" and press the Properties button.
>Then select the Resources tab, and press Set Configuration Manually. Press
>Change Settings. Press OK on the error message that appears. Make sure that
>Use Automatic Settings is NOT marked. Press OK on the Resource tab window.
>The configuration for the floppy controller in Device Manager should now
>be:
>
>       I/O range: 03F0 - 03F5
>       I/O range: 03F7 - 03F7
>       Int. Req: 06
>
>Install the latest Compaq Portable Supplemental Programs for Windows 95.

 ---- Ed. Note - this is sp1329

>Install the patch in SP1350 (Only necessary with the 01XXX floppy drive).
>
>If it STILL fails, check that the floppy drive works at all (in DOS). Also,
>check the number in the upper right corner on the label at the back of the
>drive. If the number is 01XXX, it is recognized as a Canon drive, and may
>cause problems. Check with your dealer if you can try a drive marked 02XXX.
>This is recognized as a Compaq drive.

------------------------------

Subject: 3.3.3.5 Networking

*From: Gary H <[e-mail]>
Date: Mon, 22 Jul 1996 01:21:48 -0700

Bill Chute <[e-mail]> wrote:
|
|What kinds of throughput are people getting when they go web crawling
|with an Aero and Win95?  Running my 486/25, 20MB RAM, 170MB disk (20MB free)
|I get horrible throughput -- usually around 300-500 bytes per second, often
|down around 10 bytes per second.  Netscape Navigator 2.0, TCP dialup over a
|28.8Kbps connection to my ISP.
|
|I'm trying to figure out whether I need to hassle my ISP, or get a faster
|machine, or whether I've just blundered something in the networking setup.
|Is there any tweaking to do in the TCP/dialup area?

Bill,

I am using an Aero 33 with 20mb ram AND 810mb HD.  I am using a Hayes
Optima 28.8k modem.  When I am connected at 28.8k I get about 3.6k bytes/sec
downloading files with netscape.

I just got back from Tokyo and when I downloaded files with netscape
through our frame relay from the US to Japan, I was getting about 2.0 bytes/sec.

Sounds like you might have a problem with your ISP or you are getting alot
of overruns (it's probably not an Aero problem).

Gary

*From: "Steve Sims" <[e-mail]>
Date: Mon, 22 Jul 1996 07:51:48 -0400

FWIW, I still see TERRIBLE (i.e.: 300-500 bytes / sec) performance on
dial-up E-Net traffic when I use an Aero that has DriveSpace / DblSpace
enabled.

Using uncompressed media solved this for me.

(Obviously, Your Mileage May Vary.)

------------------------------

Subject: 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:

      Stacker 4.0 built in (makes me feel stupid for buying Stacker 4.0
     separately)
      Better memory optimizer than MS-DOS's memmaker
      Built in PCMCIA drivers/services
      E -- a better editor than Microsoft's EDIT

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.

[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?

------------------------------

Subject: 3.3.5 OS/2

I recommend checking out Reed Wade's page on OS/2 and the Aero at:
"http://www.netlib.org/utk/people/ReedWade/aero_os2.html". - Philip

------------------------------

Subject: 3.3.5.1 Can I run OS/2 on 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.

[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...

------------------------------

Subject: 3.3.5.2 OS/2 Installation Problems

Here's a summary of problems with installing Warp: (and some answers from
someone else):

     Warp does not support the Aero's PCMCIA adapter. They may have released a
     patch, but I'm not aware of it. This means that if you try to do the
     standard install, after about disk 6 Warp will reboot the system and try
     to do the rest of the install from inside Warp after booting off the hard
     drive. Since Warp only recognizes the floppy if you boot OS/2 from the
     floppy drive, this won't work (and any floppy access will hang the Aero).
     I found out about response file installation -- write a response file to
     automate the install process, so that you don't reboot the Aero, but
     install everything off the floppies in one shot. The problems with this
     were: (a) The response file processor is buggy. When it prompts you to
     insert a particular floppy, it may develop amnesia and not remember the
     name of the floppy, so then you have to play Russian roulette with the
     floppy disks. (b) Apparently, printer drivers do not get installed. What
     you then have to do is boot OS/2 from floppy (after creating a special
     boot disk that puts you directly into the OS/2 command line) and then
     extract the printer drivers en masse from one of the Warp floppies onto a
     subdirectory on your hard drive. When you go to create a printer object on
     the PM desktop, you can opt to get a printer driver from a hard disk
     directory.

     [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.
      After I had gone through all this crap, I was left with two problems: (a)
     The floppy disk was still inaccessible from Warp. (b) I could not print.
     An IBM tech support guru told me that Warp defaults to using polling in
     its printer driver instead of interrupt driven printing, because some
     sound card owners had complained that previous versions of OS/2 wouldn't
     allow them to share an interrupt between their sound card and the parallel
     port. There is a way to go into the config.sys file and set a certain
     option such that the printer / parallel port driver uses interrupt driven
     I/O. Apparently, you have to do this if you want to do printing on the
     Aero, but I'm not sure if that even works because of the Aero's funky
     hardware.

     [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: 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.

     [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.

After I ran into the printing problem, I gave up and returned Warp for a
refund. It just wasn't worth the aggravation.

------------------------------

Subject: 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.

[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.

------------------------------

Subject: 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.

[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)

------------------------------

Subject: 3.3.5.5 PCMCIA supported under OS/2?

Check out:"http://godzilla.eecs.berkeley.edu/os2/pharmacy/aero.html" for the
official word on the subject.

[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
ftp://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.

[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 ftp://ftp.europe.ibm.com/psmea/pcmcia contains:

     sp1073.zip - A version of the BIOS that allows OS/2 to access the floppy
     drive (if it's inserted at bootup)
     cvlsi3.zip - A socket services driver for the Compaq LTE that uses the
     same chipset as the Aero, and will allow you to use PCMCIA cards with full
     plug and play support under OS/2

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!

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 ...

------------------------------

Subject: 3.3.6 Linux

------------------------------

Subject: 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.

------------------------------

Subject: 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.

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.

------------------------------

Subject: 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

[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.

------------------------------

Subject: 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.

[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-).

------------------------------

Subject: 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).

  --- begin file ---

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

------------------------------

Subject: 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

------------------------------

Subject: 3.3.6.7 HD configs, Windows '95, and other musings

ftp://ftp.engr.uark.edu/pub/linux/sunsite/docs/HOWTO/mini/Linux+Win95
>    Linux and Windows 95 can get along quite well on the same hard disk.
>    Not only that, Linux can mount, read, and write to Win95's VFAT
>    partitions (only using the 8.3 standard though). I have heard rumors
>    (some from #linux) that there is a VFAT kernel patch. If this does
>    exist please mail me about it and I can try to help. It helps having
>    SCSI working before you embark on a project of this magnitude.
> So, your C: drive is sliced up into:
>
>                 |---------------
>            300M |/dev/hda1 C: DOS/FAT (Win 3.11/DOS 6.22)
>  BIOS   C:      |---------------
>   528 M    212M |/dev/hda2 / (root partition) Linux ext2
>                 |---------------
>            16M  |/dev/hda3 /dev/swap (linux Swap partition, 16M of it ;)
>                 |---------------
>
>
>
>    Before you do anything, make sure you have LILO installed on your HD
>    and working AND have a working bootdisk!
>
>    GO ahead and install Windows 95 right over Win3.11/DOS 6.22. This
>    re-routes your MBR to boot-up Windows 95 directly, but it should work
>    (It has for me multiple times, with multiple betas and the final
>    release of Win95.)
>
>    If you didn't pick up on it already, you won't get a LILO prompt when
>    you boot up. DON'T PANIC! Simply drop that boot-disk into drive A: and
>    reboot. If this is a boot disk you made with your current (or
>    previous) kernel image, it should boot right into your Linux partition
>    right away. If you are like me and didn't keep a boot disk around get
>    the boot144 (or boot122) Slackware install floppy off of tsx-11 and
>    create that disk. The first time you get a pause type "mount
>    /dev/hda2" (or whatever your Linux partiton is).
>
>    At this point you should be back in Linux. Login as root and run the
>    program 'liloconfig'. Hit '6' to recycle your current lilo
>    configuration. do a shutdown -r now to reboot to see if it works (it
>    should). You'll get your LILO prompt back and should be able to dual
>    boot into either OS.
>
> Multiple HD Configs:
>
>
>
>    Many people wnat to keep a separate HD for Linux, and a separate one
>    for DOS, with good reason. There are about 3 possible ways to do this.
>
> 1:      2 separate disks, C: just DOS/FAT and D: just Linux/ext2
> 2:      2 'overlapping disks', physical C: partitioned into a small DOS
>         partition with the rest of the disk for Linux while D: is totally
>         DOS/FAT running Win95
> 3:      ????? (help me on this one ;)
>
>
>
>    Two is the situation I have on my own machine (known as
>    litterbox.in.net).
>
>    For all of these situations just adapt my instructions from the first
>    1/2 of this HOWTO: make sure you use YOUR partition names and not
>    mine. (imagine running mkswap /dev/hdb1 when that is your root
>    partition!).
>
>    Jonathan Katz <[e-mail]>
>
> EOF

------------------------------

Subject: 3.3.6.8 Parallel Port Zip Drives

From: [e-mail] (David Burnette)
Date: Thu, 11 Jul 96 13:03:11 PDT

Yes, there is an excellent mini-Howto available at:

   http://sunsite.unc.edu/mdw/HOWTO/mini/ZIP-Drive

It talks about the device drivers, disk formatting, etc.

------------------------------

Subject: 4 Contributors to FAQ versions 1.0 and 2.0

Contributors to version 3.0 are listed in the document before their
contribution.

Contributors to version 2.0:

[e-mail] (Mark Massa-Lochridge)
     (3.3.6.3)
[e-mail] (Mark Purcell)
     (3.3.6.2, 3.3.6.5)
Reed Wade
     (3.3.5.5)
[e-mail]
     (3.3.5.5)
Denis Cheong
     (3.3.5.2, 3.3.5.3, 3.3.5.4, 3.3.5.5)
Kelly Lute
     (3.3.1.3)
Trey Valenta
     (3.3.1.3, 3.3.4)
"Pavlov's Cat"
     (3.2.3.2)
"Curt A. Wohleber" <[e-mail]>
     (3.2.3.1)
[e-mail] (Stefanos Kaxiras)
     (3.2.2.7)
Tom Guptill <[e-mail]>
     (3.2.2.5)
Steven Cobb <[e-mail]>
     (3.2.2.5)
[e-mail] (Einar Vaagland)
     (3.2.2.4, 3.3.2)
Tom Guptill <[e-mail]>
     (3.2.2.3)
Graham Roberts <[e-mail]>
     (3.2.2.3)
[e-mail]
     (3.2.1.3)
[e-mail] (Paul Ayotte)
     (3.2.1.3)
Luigi Perrotta <[e-mail]>
     (3.2.1.2, 3.3.1.1)
Michael Chan <[e-mail]>
     (3.1.3)
Bill Nissley <[e-mail]>
     (3.1.3)
Jim Conforti <[e-mail]>
     (3.1.2.4, 3.2.1.2)
Joel Roberts <[e-mail]>
     (3.1.2.4, 3.2.2.7)
[e-mail] (William M. Lobb)
     (3.1.2.3)
[e-mail]
     (2.2.8)
[e-mail]
     (2.2.7)
"P. Forster"
     (2.2.7)
Keith Edwards <[e-mail]>
     (2.2.6.3)
[e-mail]
     (2.2.6.1)
[e-mail] (Perry Donham)
     (2.2.5)
[e-mail]
     (2.2.5)
Martin D Schweitzer <[e-mail]>
     (2.2.3.1)
[e-mail] (Kontrol Faktory - Mike Hell)
     (2.2.2.4, 3.2.1.4)
<[e-mail]>
     (2.2.2.4)
[e-mail] (Jack Davis)
     (2.2.2.3, 2.2.7)
Jonathan Chow <[e-mail]>
     (2.2.2.2, 2.2.2.4)
Reed Wade <[e-mail]>
     (2.2.1.4, 2.2.2.5, 2.2.6.1, 2.2.6.3)
[e-mail] (John Barta)
     (2.2.1.4)
Ziad Munson <[e-mail]>
     (2.2.1.3)
[e-mail] (Mark Massa-Lochridge)
     (2.2.1.2, 3.2.2.3, 3.2.2.6)
[e-mail]
     (2.1.9.2, 2.2.1.5, 2.2.8, 3.2.3.2, 3.3.6.4)
pHilip wIlk <[e-mail]>
     (2.1.9.2, 2.2.4.1, 3.2.2.1)
George Chang <[e-mail]>
     (2.1.9.1)
[e-mail]
     (2.1.9.1)
"james kreines" <[e-mail]>
     (2.1.8.8)
[e-mail] (DAVID L. JOHNSON)
     (2.1.8.7, 2.1.8.8, 2.2.1.4, 3.2.2.3, 3.3.6.2)
"Ellen M. Sentovich" <[e-mail]>
     (2.1.8.7)
"Christof Tebbe" <[e-mail]>
     (2.1.8.6)
Dale Chun <[e-mail]>
     (2.1.8.6, 2.1.8.7)
[e-mail]
     (2.1.8.6, 2.2.2.4, 3.3.6.4)
Jim Van Zandt <[e-mail]>
     (2.1.8.5, 3.2.1.2)
mike <[e-mail]>
     (2.1.8.4, 3.1.2.4)
Trey Valenta <[e-mail]>
     (2.1.8.2)
Robert Poole <[e-mail]>
     (2.1.7.5)
"Mike Olien" <[e-mail]>
     (2.1.7.4, 2.2.3.1)
[e-mail] (John Andrew Palmer)
     (2.1.7.3, 3.3.1.2)
Joel Spolsky ([e-mail])
     (2.1.7.1)
[e-mail] (Denis Cheong)
     (2.1.6.2)
Ali Albayrak
     (2.1.6.1)
tgpt_ltd <[e-mail]>
     (2.1.5.5, 2.2.1.4, 2.2.1.6, 3.3.6.3)
[e-mail] (Robert Poole)
     (2.1.5.4, 2.2.4.1, 3.2.1.3, 3.3.1.1, 3.3.4, 3.3.5.2, 3.3.5.3, 3.3.5.4)
[e-mail]
     (2.1.5.4)
"c. kan" <[e-mail]>
     (2.1.5.2)
[e-mail] (Michael Lee)
     (2.1.5.1)
"Bill Flynn"
     (2.1.4.4, 2.2.5)
[e-mail] (Michael Chan)
     (2.1.4.3)
[e-mail] (Elwood C. Downey)
     (2.1.4.3, 2.2.5, 3.1.2.1)
[e-mail] (Keith W. Upson)
     (2.1.4.2, 2.1.6.1, 3.2.2.1, 3.3.2)
Denis Cheong <[e-mail]>
     (2.1.4.1, 2.1.9.2, 3.1.2.2, 3.3.5.1)
[e-mail] (Mike Coleman)
     (2.1.4.1, 2.2.5, 3.3.6.3)
[e-mail] (Jim Gallops)
     (2.1.3, 2.1.4.3)
[e-mail] (Gerald Louie)
     (2.1.2.3, 2.1.4.3, 2.1.8.1, 2.1.8.2, 2.2.2.4, 3.2.1.2, 3.2.1.4)
[e-mail] (Jim Gallops)
     (2.1.2.2, 2.1.2.3)
[e-mail] (Brandon Hines)
     (2.1.1.2, 3.2.2.3, 3.2.3.1)
[e-mail] (Klaus R. Liedl)
     (2.1.1.2)
Sanjiv Koshal <[e-mail]>
     (2.1.1.1, 3.2.2.4)
Ali Albayrak <[e-mail]>
     (1.4.2, 2.1.2.2, 2.1.3, 2.1.4.2, 2.1.4.3, 2.1.5.2, 2.1.8.4, 2.2.1.2,
     2.2.1.3, 3.1.2.2, 3.3.6.3, 3.3.6.4, 3.3.6.6)
"Pavlov's Cat" <[e-mail]>
     (1.4.1, 3.2.3.1, 3.2.3.3)
lrj (Lew Jansen)
     (1.4.1, 1.4.2, 2.1.3.1, 2.1.7.2, 2.1.7.5, 2.1.8.4, 2.1.8.6, 2.1.8.8,
     2.2.2.5, 3.2.2.2, 3.2.2.3, 3.2.3.1, 3.2.3.3)
[e-mail]
     (1.4.1, 3.1.2.4, 3.2.1.2)
Gwyn Williams <[e-mail]>
     (1.4.1, 2.1.8.3, 3.2.2.1)
[e-mail] (Michael P Davis)
     (1.2.2.2, 2.1.5.3, 2.1.5.4, 2.1.9.1, 2.2.1.4, 2.2.1.5, 2.2.2.1, 2.2.4.1,
     2.2.6.2, 2.2.8, 3.1.1, 3.2.2.5)
[e-mail]
     (1.2.2.1)

end of FAQ
--
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