Acer Travelmate 290 Service Guide

							Acer TravelMate 290 Series
Service Guide
  PART NO.: VD.T26V5.001 
                                                                                                                                     PRINTED IN TAIWAN Service guide files and updates are available
on the ACER/CSD web; for more information, 
please refer to http://csd.acer.com.tw 
						

							II
Revision History
Please refer to the table below for the updates made on TravelMate 430 service guide.
DateChapterUpdates 
						

							III
Copyright
Copyright © 2003 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
The information in this guide is subject to change without notice.
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.  
Acer is a registered trademark of Acer Corporation.
Intel is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation.
Pentium and Pentium II/III are trademarks of Intel Corporation.
Other brand and product names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective holders. 
						

							IV
Conventions
The following conventions are used in this manual:
SCREEN MESSAGESDenotes actual messages that appear 
on screen.
NOTEGives bits and pieces of additional 
information related to the current 
topic.
WARNINGAlerts you to any damage that might 
result from doing or not doing specific 
actions.
CAUTIONGives precautionary measures to 
avoid possible hardware or software 
problems.
IMPORTANTReminds you to do specific actions 
relevant to the accomplishment of 
procedures. 
						

							V
Preface
Before using this information and the product it supports, please read the following general information.
1.This Service Guide provides you with all technical information relating to the BASIC CONFIGURATION 
decided for Acers global product offering. To better fit local market requirements and enhance product 
competitiveness, your regional office MAY have decided to extend the functionality of a machine (e.g. 
add-on card, modem, or extra memory capability). These LOCALIZED FEATURES will NOT be covered 
in this generic service guide. In such cases, please contact your regional offices or the responsible 
personnel/channel to provide you with further technical details.
2.Please note WHEN ORDERING FRU PARTS, that you should check the most up-to-date information 
available on your regional web or channel. If,  for whatever reason, a part number change is made, it will 
not be noted in the printed Service Guide.  For ACER-AUTHORIZED SERVICE PROVIDERS, your Acer 
office may have a DIFFERENT part number code to those given in the FRU list of this printed Service 
Guide. You MUST use the list provided by your regional Acer office to order FRU parts for repair and 
service of customer machines. 
						

							VI 
						

							VII
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 System Specifications  1
Features  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
System Block Diagram  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Board Layout   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Top View  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Bottom View   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Outlook View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Front Open View  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Front View  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Left Panel   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Right Panel  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Rear Panel   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Bottom Panel   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Indicators   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Lock Keys  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Embedded Numeric Keypad  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Windows Keys   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Hot Keys  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
The Euro Symbol   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Launch Keys  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Touchpad   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Touchpad Basics   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Hardware Specifications and Configurations   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Chapter 2 System Utilities  33
BIOS Setup Utility  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Navigating the BIOS Utility   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Main   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Advanced   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Security  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Boot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Exit   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
BIOS Flash Utility  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
System Diagnostic Diskette   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Chapter 3 Machine Disassembly and Replacement  43
General Information   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Before You Begin   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Disassembly Procedure Flowchart  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Removing ODD Module, Memory and HDD Module   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Removing the ODD Module   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Removing the Memory   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Removing the HDD Module   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Removing the Keyboard/LCD Module   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Removing the Keyboard  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Removing the LCD module  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Disassembling the Main Unit   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Disassembling the LCD Module  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Disassembling the External Modules  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Disassembling the HDD Module  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Disassembling the Optical Disk Drive Module/Combo Drive Module  . . . . . 59
Chapter 4 Troubleshooting  61
System Check Procedures  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 
						

							VIII
Table of Contents
External Diskette Drive Check   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
External CD-ROM/DVD-ROM Drive Check   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Keyboard or Auxiliary Input Device Check   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Memory Check   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Power System Check  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Touchpad Check  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Display Check  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Sound Check   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Insyde MobilePro BIOS POST Beep Code and POST Messages  . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Index of Symptom-to-FRU Error Message  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Intermittent Problems  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Undetermined Problems  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Chapter 5 Jumper and Connector Locations  75
Top View  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
SW1 Settings (Lid switch)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
SW3 Settings(Kill Switch)    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Bottom View  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Chapter 6 FRU (Field Replaceable Unit) List  79
TravelMate 290 Series  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Appendix A Model Definition and Configuration  94
Appendix B Test Compatible Components  95
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Environment Test  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Microsoft® Windows® XP Pro Environment Test  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Appendix C Online Support Information  103
 Index 105 
						

							Chapter 11
Features
This computer was designed with the user in mind.  Here are just a few of its many features:
Performance
TIntel® Pentium M processor at 1.3 ~ 1.7 GHz or higher
TIntel 855GM + Intel ICH4-M
TPC2100 DDR SDRAM, Maximum memory up to 2GB (with two 1024MB SO-DIMM when 
available)
TInternal removable optical drive (AcerMedia bay)
THigh-capacity, Enhanced-IDE hard disk
TLi-Ion main battery pack
TPower management system with ACPI (Advanced Configuration Power Interface)
Display
TThin-Film Transistor (TFT) liquid-crystal display (LCD) displaying 32-bit high true colour up to 16.7 
million colours at 1024X768 eXtended Graphics Array (XGA) resolution
T3D graphics engine
TSimultaneous LCD and CRT display support
TS-video for output to a television or display device that supports S-video input
TDual display capability
Multimedia
T16-bit high-fidelity AC’97 Codec stereo audio
TBuilt-in dual speakers
THigh-speed optical drive (AcerMedia bay)
Connectivity
THigh-speed fax/data modem port 
TEthernet/Fast Ethernet port
TFast infrared wireless communication
T3 USB 2.0 (Universal Serial Bus) ports (Two in rear and one on left)
TIEEE 1394 port
TInviLink 802.11b or 802.11a/b wireless LAN (manufacturing optional)
TBluetooth ready (manufacturing optional)
Expansion
TOne type II CardBus PC Card slot
TUpgradeable memory
I/O Ports
TOne Infrared (FIR)
TOne Type II CardBus slot
System Specifications
Chapter  1 
						

							2Chapter 1
TOne RJ-11 modem jack
TOne RJ-45 network jack 
TOne DC-in jack for AC adapter
TOne ECP/EPP-compliant parallel port
TOne external monitor port
TOne headphone/speaker/line-out jack (3.5mm mini jack)
TOne microphone/line-in jack (3.5mm mini jack)
TOne S-video-out (NTSC/PAL) port
TThree Universal Serial Bus (USB) ports
TOne IEEE 1394 port