Conference 7.286::digital

You might want to look at discussions in AKOCOA::DECPC_PORTABLES.  I have seen
other reports of short battery life.

			Steve

    
    RE: .0
    
    I had gone through the same steps as you did (sending to Salem,N.H.,
    etc.) with the PC coming back as "fixed", but with no real change.
    
    Anyway, I called them agin, and was given the following tips:
    
    	1. Use it until the battery is completely drained.
    
    	2. Take the battery out and charge it fully (several hours, or
    	   overnight) using the attached charging unit (not through the
    	   computer).
    
    	3. Put the battery back in and start using as usual. From then on,
    	   it should start working normally.
    
    After I did the above steps, I have been able to use it worldwide,
    without any problem. I got this help hours before I went to Dublin for
    the DECUS! I came back from India last week, and just opened the PC,
    and it was just in the window where I left it 2 weeks ago! No more
    battery drainage.
    
    Try this out and let us know whether this works.
    
    Regards,
    P.B. Bhat
    

    
    ..jeez...
    
    condition your battery.
    
    hi tech advice.
    
    Whay don't we make this very clear ? Sad.

    Not much activity in the DECPC_PORTABLES conference as compared to the
    DECstation conference.  Lot's of support in the old days... 

    I see quite a bit of activity and support there.
    
    			Steve

    Battery life tip: Remove those PCMCIA cards when you aren't using them
    (and you're running on battery power alone). My HiNote Ultra 475's
    battery life is cut just about in half if I leave the modem installed
    (even though I'm not using the modem). It gets downright ridiculous if
    the network interface is also plugged in! Less than one hour and it
    starts warning that the battery is dangerously low. :-(
    
    So, yank 'em and store 'em in the case when you don't need 'em.
    
    Harry (learning fast about the life of a road warrior!)
    

Just a thought that might help...

Hinote Ultra batteries are not Nicads, so the "memory" problem that a deep
drain and recharge fixes on Nicads should not have an effect. I had similar
problems with my CT450 and the deep drain fix did not help. 

As a start, make sure you "setup" your bios for maximum battery life while 
running on battery.

What seemed to have the most effect is when I load POWER in CONFIG.SYS as in:
devicehigh=c:\dos\power.exe adv:max

Now, I get reasonable battery life - unless I am doing a lot of read/writing.  
Disk useage drains the battery. 

Of course, your mileage may vary.........

Dave

    	Everyone who is having battery problems, also needs to check the
    revision of their BIOS.  It should be at least V1.40.  This version
    inhanced battery life, and also addressed problems interacting with
    Windows 95. Version 1.41 was just released to address a problem with
    the lid switch while in resume mode.  Both of these versions are on the
    DEC BBS, or Compuserve.  By hitting FN-F3 anytime, you can check your
    current BIOS revision.                                

>    DEC BBS, or Compuserve.  By hitting FN-F3 anytime, you can check your
>    current BIOS revision.                                
On my CT450, FN-F3 brings me into the setup area, but I cannot seem to locate 
anything that tells me what the BIOS version is.  Am I into the forrest/trees 
problem, or am I just looking in the wrong place?

Dave

    Dave, the BIOS version will come up as the system boots. The very top
    line on my 475 says:
    
    "SystemSoft BIOS for Digital HiNote Ultra. Version 1.41"
    
    It's just there for one or two seconds. Beware of performing this
    upgrade if you're using a 3Com PCMCIA Ethernet adapter. It (the 3Com)
    won't work under Windows for Workgroups (at least with Netware) after
    upgrading the BIOS beyond 1.30. :-(
    
    Harry
    

    In response to note .11, yes the actual BIOS version number only shows 
    up for a moment during boot.  Unless you know what to look for under 
    advanced power features in the BIOS screen, it is difficult to tell if 
    you're at a pre 1.4* version.  Here are the changes introduced into V1.40
    
    
    o  The system's Plug 'n' Play resources have been updated
       for Windows 95.
    
    o  The system's Advanced Power Management has been updated
       to conform with APM V1.1 specifications and Windows 95.
    
    o  Power Management and PnP Services have been updated to
       support the HiNote Ultra Mobile Media Module.
    
    o  Provides support for large disk drives (greater than 528 MB).
    
    o  Solves problems where some PCMCIA network cards cause
       Windows for WorkGroups 3.11 to hang.
    
    o  Solves Time of Day problems for DOS and Windows for Workgroups.
    
    o  Solves problems with cold, warm, and hot docking and undocking
       of HiNotes.
    
    o  The video BIOS has been updated to solve video flicker
       and synchronization problems on certain models.
    
    o  Fixes problem where cycling [fn]+[F4] crashes the video driver.
    
                                    

Let me strongly recommend going to BIOS V1.41 for the HiNote Ultra systems.

Since I moved from V1.37, I have had dramatically less hangs with Windows
for Workgroup V3.11.  I set the advanced power management option such that
the lid switch only suspends and doesn't resume, and I haven't had a single
failure where I opened the system only to find a dead battery from when the
lid switch resumed without me noticing it (this used to happen at least 2
times/week during the previous BIOSes).

FN-F3, Power -> Lid Switch -> Suspend only.

-- Ken Moreau

       o  Solves problems where some PCMCIA network cards cause
           Windows for WorkGroups 3.11 to hang.
    
    This isn't totally fixed. My customer has several Ultra 475's that
    needed the 1.40 upgrade to support 800 MB hard drives. They started
    having problems in Windows for Workgroups immediately after the
    upgrade. Ethernet adapter is a 3Com 3C589 Etherlink III. They lose
    their network connection once they go into WfWg. It works OK with a
    Xircom card, but the customer is standardizing all of their systems and
    wants them all to use the 3Com. Until this is sorted out, they're only
    letting us install Toshiba or NEC laptops at new sites. :-(
    
    Harry
    

>    <<< Note 4232.11 by HSOSS1::HARDMAN "Digital. WE can make it happen!" >>>
>                   -< Watch the screen as the system boots >-
>
>    Dave, the BIOS version will come up as the system boots. The very top
>    line on my 475 says:

Thanks, Harry. 

Of course I never noticed it since, due to my work load, I never shut it
off.....   :-) 

Dave

    re .11
    
    MSD (Microsoft Daignostics) displays the BIOS version in the COMPUTER
    screen.
    
    Bill

How about a pointer to the V1.4x bios?  In looking for the patch from our WWW 
page - www.service.digital.com, the latest rev is v1.3

Clearly, I (and customers?) am lost.

Dave

    You can go to www.digital.com and root to the pc infocenter or go to:
      www.pc.digital.com
      click on Software Library       	I wish they'd get a smaller image,
    					it takes forever to paint
      You'll get to Directory of ~ftp
      Click on Searchable index file updated 27-oct-95.htm
      Scroll down to BGP6141A.EXE HiNote/HiNote Ultra System BIOS 1.41

    
    
    but.... hasn't most dialogue so far simply shows how intricate and
    heck, convulated we still are to support a PERSONAL PC, keyword is
    "PERSONAL", ie no big strong MIS support behind you (usually).
    
    Why should it be this complicated? I don't recall Apple PCs as
    difficult to dignose/repair. I know Apple just licked their own
    battery problems on the 5300, right?
    
    Is this the same for other manufacturers? Compaq, HP, Packard Bell?
    

    Re: .19
    
    Uh, Apple had two instances of laptops or notebooks actually catching
    fire due to battery problems recently.  I could unearth the actual
    news report if necssary when I have more time.
    

  That's the battery problem to which he's referring. Both incidents
  occurred inside Apple. Less than 200 laptops had escaped from Apple
  at the time that this occurred.

  Be careful of comparing companies' records for "fire and smoke".
  You never know who'll get dirty.

                                   Atlant

    Re: Less than 200 laptops had escaped from Apple at the time that
    this occurred.
    
    From the online San Jose Mercury News, in mid-September:
    
    There was even more bad news for Apple Thursday: The company
    predicted (sic) that the lithium ion batteries in the high-end
    laptop computer it introduced last month -- the 5300 -- overheated
    so badly that two of the 1,000 units that had been shipped caught
    fire. Both of the units were owned by Apple employees, and the
    company has pulled the machine from the market.
    

  My "MacWEEKs" from then have already hit the bin, so I can't
  cite a counter-argument.

  Butmeanwhile, Apple's market share is up 2% to 9%, and they're
  poised to pass us this quarter as the #4 computer company. We
  should have such problems!

                                   Atlant

    
    	My intention when I wrote this note file was to raise up
    some concern about the kind of SERVICE we receive as employees!
    
    I can't imagine what OUTSIDE CUSTOMERS has to do to log a call
    and get prompt service.  If we, as digital employees, are given
    the run around that I had, what will they do to outside customers
    calling from paying phones or from home and having them waiting
    for as long as they kept me waiting... and be given different
    numbers to call in.
    
    It took me THREE MONTHS  and it was not until I called and elevated
    a CUSTOMER CONCERN complaint and demanded to speak to a manager that
    I had some real attention.  I logged three different calls, and 
    it wasnot until today that I spoke to two managers and gave them
    the history of the problem that I could sent my Hinote for repairs!
    
    One of the guys who took the call told me that the main problem
    was that we, digital employees, buying equipment thru the Employee
    Purchase Program, were not SUPPOSED to get PASSPORT WARRANTY SERVICE.
    After this level of service was granted to some of us, they decided
    to change that level of service and created a mess trying to service
    to internal employees, some with the PASSPORT WARRANTY and some others
    without it!
    
    It is RIDICULOUS to have to go thru all this trouble to get your
    equipment fixed!
    
    /Ricardo.

  Received the following from a (what I expect will soon be `former')
  Digital reseller:


:I have had fits with Digital Warrenty service.  I'm a reseller of DEC
:equipment and I have some serious problems with with the service dept.  I Keep
:a spare computer just in case a support company decides to screw with one of
:my customers.  This time the power supply in our file server bit the dust.
:DEC tells me that there are no power supplies for my Prioris XL 466 available
:right now.  I am still working with someone, but so far I am forced to wait
:until April 17 for my power supply.  This is not acceptable!  Part of my
:network is crippled for a month.  I don't see how I can resell equipment from
:a company who cant even help their resellers.
:
:I have also spoken to several people in support who "needed to check on
:something" and said "I will call you back withing ten minutes".  It has been
:two days now and I have not heard back from anyone yet.  I hope none of my
:customers experience this, or I won't have any customers left.

   E-mail contact information on request.

    
    i couldn't find any reference in stars to a prioris 466 xl.  however,
    there is a prioris 466 lx parts breakdown which shows the power
    supply part number to be 30-45274-01 and available, at least by
    sourcing.  
    
    i tried to send this info by e-mail, but xdelta wasn't responding.
    
    bill

    This users complaint does not suprise me one tiny little bit.
    
    I have an AlphaStation <mumble> sitting dead on a site right now, that 
    logistics cannot get a power supply for, and had to source from JAPAN.
    Poor Mr. Customer has been SOL for 40+ DAYS now.
    
    It's forecasted to be in tommorrow, but given our power supply track
    record, I tend to disbelieve it.
    
    This is very typical of the new "slimmer/meaner/leaner" digital, Why
    should we spend all those dollars to provide the field with spares,
    when we can build more boxes? Nearly every flavor of PC/desktop device
    is in this boat (the slow one, from JAPAN).
    
    That is only one reason why I didn't buy a dec pc.
    
    .mike.

    re: .25

:The day after I sent this message, I got hold of someone who helped me.  We
:now have a refurbished power supply in our server.
:
:I appreciate your concern.  When the new power supplies are available, I
:should be receiving one.  I was just a little frustrated at first.  The
:first person I spoke with did not appear to understand just how damaging to
:a business it can be to lose a file server.