Acer Extensa 500 Service Guide

							Extensa 500 Notebook
Service Guide
Service Guide files and updates are available on Acer 
Intranet and CSD database on Lotus Notes.  
For more detailed information, please refer to 
Service CD kit. 
						

							Copyright
Copyright  *  1996 by Acer Incorporated.  All rights reserved.  No part of this 
publication may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval 
system, or translated into any language or computer language, in any form or 
by any means, electronic, mechanical, magnetic, optical, chemical, manual or 
otherwise, without the prior written permission of Acer Incorporated.
Disclaimer
Acer Incorporated makes no representations or warranties, either expressed 
or implied, with respect to the contents hereof and specifically disclaims any 
warranties of merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose.  Any Acer 
Incorporated software described in this manual is sold or licensed as is.  
Should the programs prove defective following their purchase, the buyer (and 
not Acer Incorporated, its distributor, or its dealer) assumes the entire cost of 
all necessary servicing, repair, and any incidental or consequential damages 
resulting from any defect in the software.  Further, Acer Incorporated reserves 
the right to revise this publication and to make changes from time to time in 
the contents hereof without obligation of Acer Incorporated to notify any 
person of such revision or changes.
Acer is a registered trademark of Acer Incorporated.
Intel is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation.
Pentium is a trademark of Intel Corporation.
Other brand and product names are trademarks and/or registered 
trademarks of their respective holders. 
						

							PART No: 49.42B02.001....................................................PRINT IN TAIWAN
DOC No: SG281-9807A 
						

							4 Table of Contents
Chapter  1 System Introduction
Basic Operation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
Indicators  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
Keyboard  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
Special Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
Hardware Configuration and Specification . . . . . . .  17
Memory Address Map  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
Interrupt Channel Assignment  . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
DMA Channel Assignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18
I/O Address Map. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18
Processor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  19
BIOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  19
System Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  20
DIMM Combinations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  20
Video Memory  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  21
Cache Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  21
Video  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  21
Video Resolutions Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  21
Parallel Port  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  22
Serial Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  22
Audio  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  23
PCMCIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  23
Modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  23
Keyboard  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  24
Diskette Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  24
Hard Disk Drive  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  24
CD-ROM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  25
Battery Pack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  26
DC-DC/Charger Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  26
LCD Inverter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  27
LCD  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  27
Power Adapter  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  28
Power Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  30
Power Management Modes  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  30
BIOS Setup Utility. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  33
Chapter 2 Software Utilities
Basic System Settings  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  34
Table of Contents 
						

							Extensa 500 Service Guide 5
Startup Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Onboard Devices Configuration  . . . . . . . . . . . 36
System Security. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Power Management  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Load Default Settings  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
AFlash Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Executing AFlash. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Quick Way to Execute AFlash . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
System Utility Diskette. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Set LCD Panel ID  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Set Thermal Sensor Threshold . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
System Diagnostic Diskette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Running PQA Diagnostics Program. . . . . . . . . 45
Diagnostic Program Error Code and Messages47
Chapter  3 Machine Disassembly
General Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Before You Begin  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Connector Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Disassembly Procedure Flowchart  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Removing the Battery Pack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Removing the DIMM  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Removing the Modem Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Removing the Keyboard  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Removing the LCD Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Disassembling the LCD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Disassembling the Main Unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Removing the HDD & PCMCIA Heat Sink . . . . 61
Removing the Hard Disk Drive  . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Removing the CPU Heat Sink and CPU Board 62
Removing the RTC Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Disassembling the Upper Case . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Removing the Touchpad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Disassembling the Lower Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Removing the CD-ROM/Diskette Drive Module66
Removing the Speakers  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Removing the DC-DC/Charger Board . . . . . . . 69
Removing the DC-DC/Charger Board . . . . . . . 70
Removing the System Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Table of Contents 
						

							6 Table of Contents
Removing the PCMCIA slot  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  71
Removing the Modem Phone Jack . . . . . . . . .  71
Chapter 4 Troubleshooting
System Check Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  74
Diskette Drive Check  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  74
CD-ROM Drive Check  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  74
Keyboard or Auxiliary Input Device Check . . .  75
Memory Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  75
Power System Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  75
Touchpad Check  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  77
Error Symptom-to-FRU Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  78
Error Messages List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  78
No-Beep Symptoms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  80
LCD-Related Symptoms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  81
Indicator-Related Symptoms  . . . . . . . . . . . . .  82
Power-Related Symptoms  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  82
PCMCIA-Related Symptoms  . . . . . . . . . . . . .  83
Memory-Related Symptoms . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  83
Speaker-Related Symptoms. . . . . . . . . . . . . .  83
Power Management-Related Symptoms  . . . .  84
Peripheral-Related Symptoms  . . . . . . . . . . . .  85
Keyboard/Touchpad-Related Symptoms . . . .  85
Intermittent Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  86
Undetermined Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  86
Modem-Related Symptoms  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  86
Chapter 5 Connectors and Jumpers
SW1 Settings  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  90
SW2 Settings  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  90
Spare Parts List (P/N:91.45BXX.XXX) . . . . . .  91
Chapter  6 Spare Parts List
Model Number Definitions  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  101 
						

							Extensa 500 Service Guide 7
Appendix  A Model Definitions
Appendix  B Compatibility Tested Components 
						

							8 Table of Contents 
						

							Chapter 19
This computer was designed with the user in mind.  Here are just a few of its 
many features:
Performance
qIntel Pentium® processor with MMX™ technology
q512-KB, 64-bit main memory and external (L2) cache memory
qLarge LCD display and PCI local bus video with 128-bit graphics 
acceleration
qInternal CD-ROM drive
qInternal 3.5-inch floppy drive
qHigh-capacity, Enhanced-IDE removable hard disk
qNickel metal-hydride battery pack
qHeuristic power management system with standby and hibernation 
power saving modes
Multimedia
qISA-based 16-bit high-fidelity stereo audio with 3-D sound and wavetable 
synthesizer
qBuilt-in dual speakers
q“No power-on” audio CD playback
qUltra-slim, high-speed CD-ROM drive
Connectivity
qHigh-speed fax/data modem port
qUSB (Universal Serial Bus) port
Human-centric Design and Ergonomics
qLightweight and slim
qSleek, smooth and stylish design
qFull-sized keyboard
qWide and curved palm rest
qErgonomically-centered touchpad pointing device
Expansion
qCardBus PC card (formerly PCMCIA) slots (two type II/I or one type III), 
upper sort with additional ZV (Zoomed Video) port support. 
qMini docking station option for one-step connection to/disconnection 
System Introduction
Chapter  1 
						

							10
System Introduction 
from peripherals
qUpgradeable memory and hard disk
Display
The large graphics display offers excellent viewing, excellent display quality 
and high performance desktop graphics.  The computer supports two 
different display configurations — High Performance Addressing (HPA) or 
Thin-Film Transistor (TFT).
Video Performance
The PCI local bus video with 128-bit graphics acceleration and 2MB 
Extended Data Out (EDO) video RAM boosts video performance.
Simultaneous Display
The computer’s large display and multimedia capabilities are great for giving 
presentations.  If you prefer, you can also connect an external monitor when 
giving presentations.  This computer supports simultaneous LCD and CRT 
display.  Simultaneous display allows you to control the presentation from 
your computer and at the same time face your audience.  You can also 
connect other output display devices such as LCD projection panels for large-
audience presentations.
Power Management
The power management system incorporates an “automatic LCD dim” 
feature that automatically decides the best settings for your display and at the 
same time conserves power.  See “Power Management Modes” on page 30 
for more information on power management features.
Opening and Closing the Display
To open the display, slide the display cover latch to the left and lift up the 
cover.  Then tilt it to a comfortable viewing position.  The computer employs a 
microcircuit that turns off the display (and enters standby mode) to conserve 
power when you close the display cover, and turns it back on when you open 
the display cover.
Note: 
If an external monitor is connected, the computer turns off the 
display (but does not enter standby mode) when you close the 
display cover.
To close the display cover, fold it down gently until the display cover latch 
clicks into place.