Acer Extensa 900 Maintenance Manual

							                                                                                        Operating Instructions   3-7
¨To protect the CD against scratches and dirt when not in use, keep the CD in 
its protective case.
¨Clean a CD with a clean, dry, lint-free cloth.  Always wipe from the center to 
the edge. Don’t wipe the CD in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction.
¨Keep CDs away from high temperatures and direct sunlight.
3.5 Built-In Sound System
The Extensa 900 Series Notebook comes with an internal microphone and stereo 
speakers. These features give direct sound generation and recording capability in the 
system.
3.5.1 Turning Sound On/Off
To mute or restore sound, press the following keys:
¨ Fn+PgUp: Turns mute On/Off
3.5.2 Sound Software
The computer has pre-installed sound support utilities in the AudioRack32 group. 
These include:
¨AudioRack™32
¨Audio Recorder 
						

							3-8  Operating Instructions 
3.5.3 External Sound Equipment
You can improve the quality of sound production and increase convenience by 
connecting external sound equipment.
The computer has the following jacks for connecting to external sound equipment:
¨Microphone Input
¨Stereo Headphone/Speaker Line Output
¨Stereo Line Input
3.6 Using Remote Connections
The computer can send and receive e-mail, surf the Internet, connect to one of the 
online services or share files with other office employees. 
The Extensa communicates with the outside world in one of the following ways:
¨Over a telephone line using a PC Card modem installed in the computer
¨Over a network using a network adapter
Note:  You can purchase compatible modems and network adapters from your 
dealer or directly from Texas Instruments.
3.6.1 Using the Fast Infrared (FIR) Port
The FIR port, located on the rear of the computer, offers wireless communication with 
other Texas Instruments notebook computers or a variety of IRDA™-compliant devices.  
Without a physical connection, you can print remotely, transfer files between 
computers, use a remote mouse during a presentation or receive information from a 
PDA or pocket organizer. To transfer a file follow these steps:
Align the FIR ports of the two devices making sure that the distance separating them 
is between six inches and three feet (one meter).
After the devices are aligned, use the TranXit™ software, located in the TranXit group, 
to complete the communication process. (For further information, refer to the online 
T ranXit Quick Reference Guide.) 
						

							                                                                                        Operating Instructions   3-9
3.7 Using Zoomed Video Features
Your computer supports Zoomed Video (ZV) PC Cards through the PC Card slots. ZV 
PC Cards connect to the internal ZV port, allowing advanced multimedia capabilities 
such as video conferencing and on-screen television at full, smooth motion. The Zoomed 
Video port adds a dedicated video bus that provides a direct link between a PC Card 
and the VGA accelerator or audio DAC. This “detour” lets video and audio data bypass 
the PCI bus, reducing bandwidth impositions and improving system performance for 
more fluid audio and video.
3.7.1 MPEG PC Card
The optional MPEG PC Card uses the Zoomed Video port built into the computer to 
display MPEG video and audio on the computer.  The MPEG card features MPEG-1 
video playback with 16.7 million colors, MPEG-1 audio layers I and II, is MPC3 
compliant and Windows 95 Plug and Play.  With this option you can run full-motion 
video, combined with digital audio, graphics, text and data, enabling you to create far 
more effective presentations or play the most advanced video games.
3.8 Battery Saving Tips
There are a number of actions you can take to reduce the rate at which your computer 
depletes the battery. By taking some or all of these actions, you can substantially 
increase the time you can operate on battery power before recharging the battery:
¨Reducing screen brightness — Although the screen controller uses new 
technology to increase brightness without increasing energy consumption, the 
screen is still the largest single consumer of the battery charge. Reducing the 
brightness to the lowest acceptable level increases battery life. To reduce the 
brightness, press Fn+¯.
¨Caching the hard disk drive -— By caching the hard disk drive, you can reduce 
the length of time the hard disk drive is rotating and using energy. Both 
Windows 95 and Windows for Workgroups use a disk-caching program by 
default. As long as you have not disabled these programs, you can take 
advantage of the battery savings.
3.8.1 Lowering Inactivity Timeouts
Inactivity timeouts turn off devices in the computer when you are not using them. 
Lowering the inactivity timeouts shortens the period of time the computer waits before 
turning off the device. 
						

							3-10  Operating Instructions 
3.8.2 Suspending Operation While Idle
Although the computer goes into Suspend mode automatically after a defined period of 
inactivity, you can reduce energy consumption even further by pressing either Fn+F3 
(Suspend) or Fn+F4 (Standby) as soon as you no longer need the computer to be active.
¨Pressing Fn+F4 (Standby) turns off the screen.
¨Pressing Fn+F3 (Suspend) turns off the screen, stops the hard disk drive, and 
reduces energy usage to the lowest level possible without turning off the 
computer.
¨Pressing the Shift key resumes activity after the notebook has been in either 
the Suspend or Standby modes.
3.8.3 Responding to a Low Battery Condition
When you are operating the computer on battery power and the charge remaining is 
down to between 10% and 20%, the battery-low indicator blinks and an audible alarm 
sounds. When this happens you should take the following actions to conserve battery 
power and reduce the possibility of data loss.
¨Saving files — Save all open files frequently while the computer is in a 
low-battery condition.
¨Turning off the alarm — Turn off the audible alarm by pressing Fn+End 
(Mute).
¨Reducing screen brightness — Reduce screen brightness by pressing Fn+¯.
¨Connecting the AC adapter — If you have access to AC power, connect the 
computer to the AC adapter. You can do this without turning off the computer.
¨Suspending operations — Press Fn+F3 or Fn+F4 to put the computer into 
Suspend or Standby mode whenever you are not actively using the computer. 
Press the Shift key to bring the computer out of Suspend or Standby mode. 
						

							                                                                                        Operating Instructions   3-11
3.8.4 Replacing the battery
If you have a spare, charged battery, you can do one of the following.
¨Insert a secondary battery into the MPB option (if installed).
¨If you already have a battery in a docked MPB, you can replace the primary 
battery without turning off the computer.
¨If you cannot insert the spare battery, suspend operations to disk by pressing 
Fn+F2 and replace the battery. When you turn on the computer, the computer 
returns to the saved state.
3.8.5 Saving to Disk
When the battery power becomes critically low (less than 5% charge remaining), the 
computer saves the current state of the computer to disk and turns off. When you turn 
the computer on again, the computer restores the state that was saved to disk. 
						

							                                                                                                              Theory of Operation  4-1  
4
Theory of Operation
4.1 Introduction
This section contains a general block diagram theory of operation description of the 
Extensa 900 Series Notebook Computers.
Note: Various internal components may change on future models and 
busses/bus speeds are subject to change.
4.2 Notebook Functional Overview
The Extensa 900 Series Notebooks consist of eight major functions or sections 
including:
¨System Processor — implemented on the Main Board Assembly
¨Memory Subsystem — implemented on the Main Board Assembly
¨I/O Subsystem — implemented on the Main Board Board
¨Keyboard Subsystem — implemented on the Main Board Assembly and the 
Keyboard Assembly
¨Video Subsystem — implemented on the Main Board and LCD Display Panel 
assemblies
¨Sound Subsystem — implemented on the Main Board Assembly
¨Touchpad Mouse Subsystem — implemented on the Touchpad assembly and 
on the Main Board Assembly
¨Hard Disk Drive Subsystem — implemented on the Main  Board Assembly and 
the Hard Disk Drive Assembly
¨Floppy Disk Drive Subsystem — implemented on the Main Board Board and 
Floppy Disk Drive Assembly
¨PCMCIA Controller and Sockets — implemented on the PCMCIA Module and 
on the Main Board
¨Power Subsystem — implemented on the Main Board, the battery pack, and 
the AC adapter 
						

							4-2   Theory of Operation
Figure 4-1  Extensa Functional Block Diagram
586
CPU
SRAMM1521
BGA
DRAM
HDD
M1523
Graphic
controller
IDE Master
CD
CPU Bus
PCI Bus
ISA Bus
MPB 
						

							                                                                                                            Theory of Operation  4-3  
4.2.1 System Processor
The System Processor function for the notebook is implemented on the Main Board  in 
the form of an Intel Pentium P54-C Superscalar 586 Processor Chip. The processor 
operates in conjunction with RAM and ROM Memory and other control logic to process 
software instructions (BIOS, DOS, Windows, and applications). The processor 
communicates with the hard disk drive and the memory components using high speed 
busses.
The Processor also interacts with other hardware logic to provide the power savings 
features for the notebook. These features include controlling CPU clock speeds, 
reducing clock speeds whenever possible, e.g., when performing floppy disk drive 
accesses, powering down unused devices, etc. A detailed block diagram of the Extensa 
900 Series Notebook is shown in Figure 4-2. 
The IRQ assignments for the 900 Series Notebooks is provided in Table 4-1.
Table 4-1  Interrupt Channel map
PriorityInterrupt NumberInterrupt Source
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17SMI
NMI
IRQ 0
IRQ 1
IRQ 2
IRQ 8
IRQ 9
IRQ 10
IRQ 11
IRQ 12
IRQ 13
IRQ 14
IRQ 15
IRQ 3
IRQ 4
IRQ 5
IRQ 6
IRQ 7Power management unit
Parity error detected, I/O channel error
Interval timer, counter 0 output
Keyboard
Interrupt from controller 2 (cascade)
Real-time clock
Cascaded to INT 0AH (IRQ 2)
Audio (option) / PCMCIA
Audio (option) / PCMCIA
PS/2 mouse
INT from coprocessor
Hard disk controller
CD-ROM controller
Serial port 2, 4
Serial port 1, 3
Parallel port 1 / audio (option)
Diskette controller
Parallel port 2 / audio (option)
NOTE:
  A PCMCIA card can use IRQ 3, 4, 5, 7, 9 and 11 as long as
it does not conflict with the interrupt address of any other device. 
						

							4-4   Theory of Operation
Figure 4-2  Detailed System Block Diagram
CPUM1521
M1523 PCI BUS
ISA BUS
PCI1130 65550/S3PCI0643
PCI0643
ESS1878S
M38813M6377
87338
CD-ROMFDD
PARALLEL
PORT SERIAL
PORTFIR PARALLEL
PORTSERIAL
PORT
HDD
PCMCIA
CRT
LCD VIDEO
RAM
INTERNAL
KBPS2TOUCH
PAD
L2 CACHE
16MB
RAMDIMM*1
HOST BUS
BIOS
$CPU_D(63:0)
$CPU_A(31:3)$CPU_D(63:0)
$CPU_A(17:3)$CPU_D(63:0)$CPU_A(31:3)
AD(31:0) $MD(63:0)
$MA(11:0)
AD(31:0)AD(31:0)
AD(31:0)
AD(31:0)
AD(31:0)
AD(31:0)
SD(15:0)
SD(15:0)
SD(15:0) SD(15:0)
SD(15:0)SA(11:0)SA(9:0)
SA2
SA(9:0) Y(7:0)
UV(7:0)Y(7:0)
UV(7:0)
RDATA#,WDATA# SA(16:0),LA(23:17)
MEDIA BAY
Notebook MPB
Advanced
PCI Card