Acer AcerNote 950 User manual

Operating on Battery Power 2-1
Chapter 2
Operating on Battery Power
This chapter contains the information you need to know to operate the
notebook on battery power.
2.1 Battery Pack
Whenever possible, use the AC adapter. The battery will come in handy
when you travel or during a power failure. It is advisable to have an extra
fully-charged battery pack available for backup. The battery pack is installed
in the power bay. Before removing the battery pack, make sure that you turn
off the notebook and close the LCD display properly. Place the unit in an
upside-down position and unlock the power bay lock to release the battery
pack as shown in Figure 2-1.
Figure 2-1 Removing the Battery Pack
1
1If a CD-ROM drive / battery pack unit is installed in the notebook, you need to remove the whole unit
from the accessory and power bays. Then, detach the battery pack from the CD-ROM drive module.
Battery pack
Power bay lock

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Do not expose battery packs to temperatures below 0ºC (32ºF)
or above 60ºC (140ºF). This may adversely affect the battery
pack.
Currently, there is no defined standard for measuring battery life. Several
factors have made it almost impossible to compare the battery life of
different notebooks based on specifications alone. These factors include
different implementations of power saving/management systems,
applications in use, the user’s “usage pattern”, hard disk capacity and access
frequency, LCD size and brightness, system form factor and weight.
If the system is to be stored for more than two weeks, we
suggest that you remove the battery pack. Battery power (from
a fully charged battery pack) depletes in roughly ten days with
the notebook in standby mode. When the power switch is off,
battery power depletes in one month.
2.1.1 Battery Pack Characteristics
The battery pack has the following characteristics:
•
Battery pack self-discharge Battery packs self-discharge slowly, which
may result in a low battery power condition after being stored for weeks.
•
Memory effect This is a phenomenon wherein charging finishes in one-
third the normal charge time. This leaves the battery pack not fully
charged due to inactive status after over-charging or long-term aging.
This situation can usually be improved by conditioning the battery pack
three times or more. Please refer to section 2.4.2 for details on how to
condition the battery pack.
•
Battery-low indicator (icon) When the battery level becomes low, the
battery-low icon ( ) on the status LCD appears. This informs the user
that the battery power is critically low. You can correct this situation by
recharging the battery pack.

Operating on Battery Power 2-3
2.1.2 Installing a Secondary Battery Pack
The notebook’s modular design allows you to use two battery packs at the
same time. The primary battery pack is inserted into the power bay and a
secondary battery can be inserted into the accessory bay when you need it.
When the Accessory Bay Houses a Diskette Drive
Follow these steps to install a secondary battery pack.
1. Make sure the system power is
off. Remove the internal diskette
drive by unlocking the accessory
bay lock and pulling the drive out.
Set aside the diskette drive.
2. Extend the battery cover plate of
the secondary battery pack.
3. Insert the secondary battery pack
into the accessory bay and click it
into place.

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When the Accessory Bay Houses a CD-ROM Drive
When the 6-cell Li-Ion battery pack is installed in the power bay,
do not install a secondary battery pack.
Follow these steps to install a secondary battery pack.
1. Make sure the system power is
off. Remove the CD-ROM drive /
battery pack unit by unlocking the
accessory bay lock and CD-ROM
drive lock. Then pull the drive
out. Set aside.
2. Insert the primary NiMH battery
into the power bay.
3. Extend the battery cover plate of
the secondary NiMH battery pack.
4. Insert the secondary NiMH battery
pack into the accessory bay and
click it into place.

Operating on Battery Power 2-5
2.2 Charging the Battery
Place the battery pack inside the battery compartment and plug the AC
adapter into the notebook and an electrical outlet.
The adapter has three charging modes:
•Rapid mode
The system uses rapid charging when the notebook (with a battery pack
installed) is turned off and a powered AC adapter is connected to it. In
rapid mode, a fully depleted NiMH battery gets fully charged in
approximately two hours. The battery LEDs light up as it is being
charged to indicate the level of charge.
•Charge-in-use mode
When the notebook is in use with the AC adapter plugged in, the
notebook also charges the battery pack if installed. This mode will take
longer to fully charge a battery than rapid mode.
•Trickle mode
When the battery is fully charged, the adapter changes to trickle mode
to maintain the battery charge level. This prevents the battery from
draining while the system is in use.

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2.3 Checking the Battery Level
The system features battery-low warning signals that are both audible and
visible. When the battery pack is low, the system emits warning beeps at
regular intervals. You can turn off this feature by disabling the Battery-low
Warning Beep parameter in the Setup utility (refer to section 4.6.5). In this
situation, a battery-low icon ( ) appears on the status LCD.
There are two ways to check the battery charge level:
•Onscreen battery gauge utility
•Battery-level LEDs on the battery pack
Using the Battery Gauge
To access the onscreen battery gauge, press -R. The following screen
displays:
Phoenix NoteBIOS v4.0 Battery Gauge Manager
Copyright (c)1995 Phoenix Technologies Ltd.
(%) Empty 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 Full
R-Pack
L-Pack Battery Disconnected
The onscreen battery gauge indicates the present battery level.
R-pack refers to the primary battery installed in the power bay, while L-pack
refers to the secondary battery housed in the accessory bay.

Operating on Battery Power 2-7
Using the Battery LEDs
To check the battery using the battery LEDs:
Press the battery level button near
the battery LEDs to check the
charge level of the battery pack.
The LEDs light up to indicate the
battery level. Each LED signifies 20
percent. For example, if three LEDs
light up, it means the battery has 40
to 60 percent of its maximum power.
Refer to Table 2-1.
Table 2-1 is a battery-level chart.
Table 2-1 Battery-level Chart
Battery LEDs LEDs Lit Charge Level
v v v v v five 80%~99%
v v v v four 60%~80%
v v v three 40%~60%
v v two 20%~40%
v one 0%~20%
When the battery is fully charged (100 percent), the battery
LEDs turn off automatically. If you press the battery level
button, five LEDs light up.

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2.4 Optimizing Battery Life
This section helps you get the most out of battery operation. Optimizing
battery life prolongs the charge/recharge cycle and improves recharge
efficiency.
2.4.1 Maximizing Battery Power
Follow these suggestions to maximize battery power:
•Purchase an extra battery pack.
•Use the system utility PHDISK to reserve hard disk space for the zero-
volt suspend function once the system is installed with DOS.
•Use the AC adapter whenever possible so that the battery is reserved
for on-the-go computing.
•Condition the battery pack to reduce the possibility of memory effect.
Refer to section 2.4.2.
•Keep the battery pack in the notebook powered by an external power
source (AC adapter or docking station).
•When powered by the AC adapter, the constant trickle charge
maintains the battery level to eliminate the battery self-discharge
effect. The charge-in-use function also charges the battery pack.
•When powered by a docking station, the battery pack can be
recharged fully in approximately two hours. Check the battery level
to verify.
•Disable the parallel and serial ports if no devices are connected to these
ports. You can do this through Setup.
•Make use of the power-saving modes described in sections 2.5 and 2.6.

Operating on Battery Power 2-9
•Eject the PCMCIA card from the card slot when not in use, since the
PCMCIA card draws extra power.
When using a network card, logout first before ejecting the card.
•Use the disk cache utility SMARTDRV (bundled with MS-DOS) or
create a virtual disk (RAMDRIVE) to lessen the loading of the hard disk
drive.
•Store the battery pack in a cool, dry place. The recommended storage
temperature for battery packs ranges from 10 to 30 degrees C. The
higher the storage temperature, the faster the battery pack self-
discharges.
•The batteries can be recharged about 500 times when used as directed.
Excess recharging decreases battery life.
2.4.2 Conditioning the Battery Pack
Conditioning the battery pack reduces the possibility of memory effect,
common to most rechargeable battery systems. We recommend that you
condition the battery pack at least once every month, preferably twice a
month. A battery discharge utility helps you discharge the battery pack
quickly.
Follow these steps to condition the battery pack:
1. Connect the AC adapter.
2. Turn on the notebook (with the battery pack installed).

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3. Enter Setup by pressing the no-reboot Setup button ( ). The
discharge function is not available if you enter Setup using Pduring
boot-up.
Phoenix NoteBIOS Setup - Copyright 1985-95 Phoenix Technologies Ltd.
Power Management Mode [Enabled]
Hard Disk Standby Timer [1 Minute]
Display Device [Auto]
LCD Expanded Mode [Enabled]
Battery-Low Warning Beep [Enabled]
Standby/Suspend Upon Battery-Low [Enabled]
Password Check During Resume [Disabled]
Display Standby Timer [1 Minute]
System Standby/Suspend Timer [3 Minutes]
ESC Exit Change Values F7 Battery DischargeSelect Item
↑↓ → ←
Select Power Management
Mode. Choosing modes
changes system power
management settings. To
alter these settings,
choose Enabled. To turn
off power management,
choose Disabled.
LCD Panel Control
4. Press Uto activate the battery discharge function. This disables all
power-management functions and uses up the battery power even if the
AC adapter is connected. The following screen displays.
System is now installed with
Battery
Discharge battery now.
Cancel battery discharge.
Enter
Esc
Press H to discharge the battery or _to cancel the operation.
The battery pack begins discharging. The battery discharge function also
deactivates the power-saving features.

Operating on Battery Power 2-11
After the utility has discharged the battery pack, the notebook power turns
off. The AC adapter then charges the battery pack. As the battery is being
recharged, the battery LEDs light up from one (0~20 percent) to five (80~99
percent) and turns off at one hundred percent.
We suggest that you perform this function by activating it at
night before retiring, letting it discharge overnight before
traveling. Also, connect an AC adapter to the notebook and to a
power outlet when discharging. This ensures a fully charged
battery for use the next day.

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2.5 Power Management
This notebook has a built-in power management unit that monitors system
activity. System activity refers to any activity involving one or more of the
following devices: keyboard, mouse, diskette drive, hard disk drive,
peripherals connected to the serial and parallel ports, and video memory. If
no activity is detected for a specified period of time (called an inactivity time-
out), the system switches to one of the power-saving modes to conserve
energy. These power-saving modes are LCD standby mode, hard disk
standby, and system standby/suspend mode.
The Setup utility allows you to specify the inactivity time-out.
The power management function does not work when the
cursor is emulated by software such as Chinese system
(ET v3.1), Japanese system (DOSV), Winword, etc.
2.5.1 LCD Standby Mode
Screen activity is determined by the keyboard, the built-in trackpad, and an
external PS/2 mouse. If these devices are idle for the period specified by the
LCD Standby Timer, the LCD shuts off until you press a key or move the
trackpad or PS/2 mouse.
We strongly recommend you to enable the LCD Standby Timer
with a shorter time interval to prolong your battery life.
2.5.2 Hard Disk Standby Mode
The hard disk drive enters the standby mode when there are no disk
read/write operations within the period of time specified by the Hard Disk
Standby Timer. In the standby state, the power supplied to the hard disk
drive is reduced to a minimum. The hard disk drive returns to normal once
the system accesses it.

Operating on Battery Power 2-13
2.5.3 System Standby Mode
The system consumes very low power in system standby mode. Data
remain intact in the system memory.
When the system enters system standby mode, power is supplied only to the
CPU, DRAM (memory), VGA controller and VRAM (video memory). Power
is cut off to the rest of the system.
Unstored data is lost when you turn off the system power in
system standby mode.
The necessary condition for the system to enter system standby mode is that
the reserved disk space size for saving system and video memory allocated
by PHDISK is insufficient so the system is unable to enter zero-volt suspend
mode.
In this situation, there are three ways to enter system standby mode:
•Press the standby/suspend button ( )
•Set a value for the System Standby/Suspend Timer in Setup. If the
waiting time specified by this timer elapses without any system activity,
the system goes into system standby mode.
•Enable the Standby/Suspend upon Battery-low parameter in Setup. If a
battery-low condition occurs, the system goes into system standby
mode. See section 2.7.
The following signals indicate that the system is in system standby mode:
•The buzzer beeps (when you press the standby/suspend button)
•The power LED blinks
To leave system standby mode and return to normal mode, press the system
standby/suspend button ( ).

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2.5.4 Suspend Mode
In suspend mode the system power shuts off. The system saves all system
information onto the hard disk before it enters suspend mode. The system
restores this information and resumes where you left off upon leaving
suspend mode.
A necessary condition for the system to enter suspend mode is that the
reserved space for saving system information on the hard disk must be
larger than the combined system and video memory size. Under such
conditions, the system standby/suspend button acts as the suspend button.
See Appendix D for information on the PHDISK utility.
In this situation, there are three ways to enter system suspend mode:
•Press the standby/suspend button ( )
•Set a value for the System Standby/Suspend Timer in Setup. If the
waiting time specified by this time elapses without any system activity,
the system goes into suspend mode
•Enable the Standby/Suspend upon Battery-low parameter in Setup. If a
battery-low condition takes place, the system enters suspend mode in
about five minutes. See section 2.7.
When the system enters suspend mode,
•the CPU switches off,
•the LCD switches off,
•the power going to the keyboard, mouse and disk drives shuts off,
•and the system powers off the parallel and serial ports
To exit system suspend mode, press the power switch ( ) or the
standby/suspend button ( ).
If the system is connected to a pocket ethernet adapter, note
that the network does not resume its function after the system
returns to normal operating mode.

Operating on Battery Power 2-15
2.6 Advanced Power Management (APM)
This notebook supports the APM standard designed to further reduce
system power consumption. APM is a power-management approach
defined jointly by Microsoft®and Intel®. An increasing number of software
supports APM to take advantage of power saving features and allows
greater system availability without degrading performance.
To use the APM feature under the Windows environment, run Windows
Setup and select MS-DOS System with APM as your computer type in
the System Information menu. Refer to the Windows user’s guide for more
information.
You can use the APM feature under the DOS environment by including the
POWER.EXE command in the CONFIG.SYS file. See the MS-DOS manual
for instructions on how to edit the CONFIG.SYS file. For more information
about APM, type the following at the DOS prompt:
HELP POWER.EXE H
If you enable the Power Management Mode parameter in Setup
without installing the APM under DOS or Windows, the system
time and date do not display the correct settings after the
system returns to normal operation from system standby or
suspend mode. To update the time and date, reboot the
system. Enable APM to avoid this problem.
Advanced Power Management greatly prolongs battery life.
Use APM whenever possible.

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2.7 Battery-low Warning
You never have to worry about battery power as long as you are using the
AC adapter. However, when you operate the notebook on battery power,
pay extra attention to the status LCD.
The battery-low icon ( ) on the status LCD displays when the battery
power is low. If a secondary battery pack is installed and the battery-low icon
appears, the secondary battery pack is also running low on power.
The following signals indicate a battery-low condition:
•The buzzer generates four continuous beeps every minute, if you
enabled the Battery-low Warning Beep parameter in Setup
•The battery-low icon ( ) appears on the status LCD until battery
power is depleted
When you receive a battery-low warning, you have about five minutes1to
save your work. If you do not connect the AC adapter within five minutes,
the system enters suspend mode if the Standby/Suspend upon Battery-low
parameter in Setup is enabled and the following conditions exist:
•There is enough battery power left to save system information onto the
hard disk.
•The reserved disk space for saving these data is larger than the
combined system and video memory size.
Otherwise, the system enters system standby mode.
Connect the AC adapter or insert a charged battery pack into
the notebook as soon as possible. Data is lost when system
power is cut off during system standby mode.
1You may have less than five minutes if your battery is not fully charged.

Operating on Battery Power 2-17
Table 2-2 lists the recommended course of action when you encounter a
battery-low condition.
Table 2-2 Course of Action for Battery-low Condition
Situation Recommended Action
AC adapter and power
outlet available 1. Connect the AC adapter to the system. 2. Save all necessary files.
3. Resume work.
4. Turn off the system if you wish to recharge the
battery rapidly.
An extra fully-charged
battery pack available 1. Save all necessary files. 2. Exit the application.
3. Turn off the system.
4. Replace the battery pack.
5. Turn on the system and resume work.
AC adapter or power outlet
not available 1. Save all necessary files. 2. Exit the application.
3. Turn off the system.