Acer Travelmate 520 Service Guide

							TravelMate 520
Service Guide
  PART NO.:  49.41H02.001
  DOC. NO.:   SG336-0005A                                                                                                  PRINTED IN TAIWAN Service guide files and updates are available
on the AIPG/CSD web; for more information, 
please refer to http://csd.acer.com.tw 
						

							II
Copyright
Copyright © 1999 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. 
						

							III
Conventions
The following conventions are used in this manual:
Screen messagesDenotes actual messages that appear 
on screen.
NOTE
Gives bits and pieces of additional 
information related to the current 
topic.
WARNING
Alerts you to any damage that might 
result from doing or not doing specific 
actions.
CAUTION
Gives precautionary measures to 
avoid possible hardware or software 
problems.
IMPORTANT
Reminds you to do specific actions 
relevant to the accomplishment of 
procedures. 
						

							IV
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. 
						

							V
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 System Specifications  1
Features. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  1
System Block Diagram  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
Board Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   10
Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   11
Touchpad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   15
Hardware Specifications and Configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   17
Chapter 2 System Utilities  29
BIOS Setup Utility  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   29
BIOS Flash Utility. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   37
System Utility Diskette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   38
System Diagnostic Diskette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   40
Chapter 3 Machine Disassembly and Replacement  43
General Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   44
Disassembly Procedure Flowchart  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   45
Removing the Battery Pack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   47
Removing the CD-ROM Drive Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   48
Removing the Hard Disk Drive Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   49
Removing the Extended Memory  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   50
Removing the Modem Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   51
Disassembling the LCD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   52
Disassembling the Upper Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   58
Disassembling the Lower Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   62
Chapter 4 Troubleshooting  67
System Check Procedures  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   68
Index of Error Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   71
Index of Symptom-to-FRU Error Message  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   74
Intermittent Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   78
Undetermined Problems  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   79
Index of AFlash BIOS Error Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   80
Index of PQA Diagnostic Error Code, Message  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   81
Chapter 5 Jumper and Connector Locations  83
Top View  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   83
Bottom View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   85
Chapter 6 FRU (Field Replaceable Unit) List  87
Appendix A Model Definition and Configuration  99
Appendix B Test Compatible Components  101
Appendix C Online Support Information  103
Index 105 
						

							VI
Table of Contents 
						

							Chapter 11
Features
This computer was designed with the user in mind.  Here are just a few of its many features:
Performance
TMobile Pentium®  III processor with 256KB L2 cache, Mobile Pentium®  III processor with 256KB 
level 2 cache featuring Intel®  SpeedStep™   technology with 256KB level 2 cache or Mobile 
Celeron®  processor with 128KB level 2 cache
T64-bit memory bus
TBuilt-in floppy disk drive
TLithium-Ion battery pack
TPower management system with ACPI (Advanced Configuration Power Interface)
Multimedia
T16-bit high fidelity PCI stereo audio with 3D sound and wavetable synthesizer
TBuilt-in dual speakers with microphone
THigh-speed CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or CD-RW drive
TUSB video capture kit option
Connectivity
THigh-speed fax/data modem port
TFast infrared wireless communication
TUSB (Universal Serial Bus) port
TEthernet/Fast Ethernet port
Human-centric Design and Ergonomics
TAll-in-one design (CD-ROM, floppy disk drive, hard disk drive)
TSleek, smooth and stylish design
TFull-sized keyboard
TErgonomically-centered touchpad pointing device
Expansion
TCardBus PC card (formerly PCMCIA) slots (two type II/I or one type III) with ZV (Zoomed Video) 
port support (lower slot)
TUpgradeable memory and hard disk
TPort replicator option for one-step connect/disconnect from peripherals
System Specifications
Chapter 1 
						

							2Chapter 1
Display
The large graphics display offers excellent viewing, display quality and desktop performance graphics.  The 
computer supports a Thin-Film Transistor (TFT) liquid crystal display (LCD) displaying 24-bit true-color at 
800x600 Super Video Graphic Array (SVGA) or 1024x768 eXtended Graphics Array (XGA) resolution.
Video performance
2X AGP video graphic accelerator with 8 MB of video memory boost 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.
Dual Display
The computer’s unique graphics chip takes advantage of Windows 98 multi-display capability, allowing you to 
extend your desktop to an external display device, such as an external monitor projector.  With this feature 
enabled, you can move program windows to/from the computer LCD and the external monitor.
Power management
The power management system incorporates an automatic LCD dim feature that automatically dims the LCD 
when the computer is powered by a battery pack to conserve battery power.  See “Power Management” on 
page 26 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 microswitch 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.
To avoid damaging the display, do not slam it when you close it.  Also, do not place any object on top of the 
computer when the display is closed. 
						

							Chapter 13
System Block Diagram
0/ +)2
-7
7(6%1 0/
&9**)6
-7
(-11
2&
1
1SFMPI 4---STTIVQMRI
+)=7)6:-00)
:+%%8- 1SFMPMX]
10(
68
1)1 &97 %+4 &97,378 &97
4- &97
%6(&973>%6(&977038 % &
4S[IV 7;1-4VMQ EV] ) -( ),((
7IGSRHEV] )-(),((
97& 
7&
1
-7% &97
()& 9+&-37 631%8 %/&1*-2+)6
46 -2868&50*137
&% 8
0%2
*-6839, 4%(7)6-%0*0344=46-28)6-28 /&47 322
%
  3()71SHIQ
(EYKLXIV
E VH0-2) -2
:6
1-
34 %1 4
84%-28  74 /6
0-2) 398
%0MRO 
						

							4Chapter 1
Board Layout
To p  Vi e w
1.   DC-in Port 16. Diskette Drive Connector
2.   PS/2 Keyboard and Mouse Port 17. PCMCIA (PC card) Controller (OZ6933)
3.   Serial Port 18. Switch
4.   Parallel Port 19. BIOS ROM
5.   Expansion Port 20. HDD Connector
6.   USB Port 2 21. Golden Finger for Debug 
7.   USB Port 1 22. Touchpad Cable Connector
8.   External Display Port 23. Digital Finger Print Sensor Connector(Not Used)
9.   Modem Port 24. Keyboard Cable Connector
10. LAN Port 25. RTC Battery
11. LED & Inverter Connector 26. CD-ROM Connector
12. Fan Connector 27. LCD Connector
13. CPU Socket 28. TV BD Connector(Not Used)
14. VGA Controller (ATI Rage Mobility-M1) 29. Launch Key Connector
15. PCMCIA Socket Connector