Acer TravelMate 230 Series User manual

TravelMate 230/ 280
Service Guide
PART NO.: 49.46W01.001
PRINTED IN TAIWAN

II
Revision History
Please refer to the table below for the updates made on HP Lapin service guide.
Date Chapter Updates

III
Copyright
Copyright © 2002 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.
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 messages Denotes 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.

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 Acer "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 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Board Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Hot Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Hardware Specifications and Configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
Chapter 2 System Utilities 33
BIOS Setup Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
Multi-Boot Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35
Boot Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50
BIOS Flash Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53
System Utility Diskette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54
System Diagnostic Diskette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55
Chapter 3 Machine Disassembly and Replacement 59
General Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60
Disassembly Procedure Flowchart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61
Removing the Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64
Removing the Hard Disk Drive Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65
Removing the Memory Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67
Removing the Modem Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68
Disassembling the LCD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70
Disassembling the Main Unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81
System Upgrade Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93
Chapter 4 Troubleshooting 95
System Check Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96
Power-On Self-Test (POST) Error Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100
Index of Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101
Index of Symptom-to-FRU Error Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Intermittent Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107
Undetermined Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108
Index of Phlash16 Error Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109
Index of PQA Diagnostic Error Code, Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111
Chapter 5 Jumper and Connector Locations 113
Top View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113
Bottom View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115
Chapter 6 FRU (Field Replaceable Unit) List 117
TravelMate 230 Exploded Diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118
TravelMate 280 Exploded Diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128
Appendix A Model Definition and Configuration 139
Model Number Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139
Appendix B Test Compatible Components 141
Microsoft Windows XP Environment Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142
Microsoft Windows 2000 Environment Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146
Microsoft Windows 98 Environment Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .150

VIII
Table of Contents
Appendix C Online Support Information 155
Index 157

Chapter 1 1
Features
This computer was designed with the user in mind. Here are just a few of its many features:
Performance
TIntel®Mobile Celeron Pentium®4 series processors from 1.6G up tp 2.0G with 512KB cache
(TravelMate 230)
TIntel®Mobile Northwood Pentium®4 series processors from 1.6G up tp 2.4G with 512KB cache
(TravelMate 280)
T64-bit memory bus
TTwo 200-pin DDR-DRAM with each supporting 128MB/ 256MB/ 512MB, upgradable to the total
maximum of 1024MB with SODIMM modules, supporting PC1600/2100 .
TBuilt-in floppy diskette drive and Hard diskette drive
THigh-capacity, Enhanced-IDE hard disk
TSimultaneous LCD and CRT display
TSmart Lithium-Ion battery pack
TPower management system with ACPI (Advanced Configuration Power Interface)
TPlug and Play Feature
Multimedia
T16-bit high-fidelity AC’97 stereo audio with 3D sound and wavetable synthesizer
TBuilt-in dual speakers
THigh- speed CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, or DVD/ CD-R/RW drive
Connectivity
T84/85/88 key keyboard, which is PC/AT keyboard compatible.
TFour Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0 Ports (Two ports optional)
TBluetooth (USB) (Optional)
TTwo IEEE 1394 ports (optional)
TBuilt-in V.90 and V.92 RJ-11 56Kbps fax/modem
TOnboard 10/100 Mbps Ethernet LAN Support
TUpgradeable memory and hard disk
TMini PCI interface 802.11b/ 802.11a+b Module (optional)
TECP Compliant parallel port.
TRS-232 (16550 compatible) serial port
Multimedia
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 with Internet scroll key
System Introduction
Chapter 1

2TravelMate 230/ 280
Expansion
TOne CardBus PC Card (formerly PCMCIA) Type III slot.
TUpgrageable memory and hard disk
I/O Ports
TOne VGA port, I2C compatible (Optional)
TOne DC-in port (AC adapter)
TOne high quality stereo speaker
TOne line-in
TOne line-out
TOne CardBus type III slot (3.3V, 5V, 12V support)
TFour USB ports (2 ports optional)
TTwo IEEE 1394 ports (optional)
TOne ECP parallel port
TOne RJ-11 port
TOnc RJ-45 jack
Display
T14.1” and 15” TFT LCD displaying 32-bit true-color at 1024x768 XGA resolution
T3D capabilities
TSupports other output display devices such as LCD projection panels for large audience
presentations
T“Automatic LCD dim” feature that automatically decides the best settings for your display and
conserves power is activated when the system operates in Battery condition.
TDual display capacity
Video performance
4X AGP UMA video graphic accelerator with 8MB shared from system memory with Intel 845GL to boost the
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 has built-in AGP and VGA
display system to support 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 XP’s 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 28 for more information on power management features.

Chapter 1 3
Opening and closing the display
To open the display, slide the display cover latch to the right 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.
WARNING: 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.

4TravelMate 230/ 280
System Block Diagram
CLK GEN
ICS 94239
Mobi le CPU
P4-M Northwood
P4-M Celeron
EXTERNAL
SPEED STEP
CIRCUIT
G768D
DDR*2
266MHz
CRT
CONN
LCD
ICH4
HDD
AC ‘97
CODEC
CS4299XQ
OP AMP
TPA0202
MODEM
MDC Card
INT. SPKR
CD
ROM USB USB BT.
VR
CARDBUS
OZ 6912
LAN
REALTEK
8100BL
NS SIO
PC87392
KBC
M38859
M38857
FWH 4MB
SIOC32
SOIC40
LPC
DEBUG
CONN.
PRN
Port FDD
1394
CONN
CARDBUS
ONE SLOT
NARI
MCH
Brookdale-GL
PWR SW
OZ2211S
AGERE 1394
FW32305
MIC IN
Line In
Line Out
AUDIO
BOARD
AC-Link
PCI BUS
RGB
DVO LVDS
Chrontel
7019
LPC BUS
PIDE SIDE
HOST BUS 100MHz
HUB I/F 66MHz
TRACK
POINT INT KB
Dual
Channel
MINI PCI
802.11
SER.
RES
INT. MIC
CLK GEN
ICS 94239
Mobi le CPU
P4-M Northwood
P4-M Celeron
EXTERNAL
SPEED STEP
CIRCUIT
G768D
DDR*2
266MHz
DDR*2
266MHz
CRT
CONN
LCD
ICH4
HDD
AC ‘97
CODEC
CS4299XQ
OP AMP
TPA0202
MODEM
MDC Card
INT. SPKR
CD
ROM USB USB BT.
VR
CARDBUS
OZ 6912
LAN
REALTEK
8100BL
NS SIO
PC87392
KBC
M38859
M38857
FWH 4MB
SIOC32
SOIC40
LPC
DEBUG
CONN.
PRN
Port FDD
1394
CONN
CARDBUS
ONE SLOT
NARI
MCH
Brookdale-GL
PWR SW
OZ2211S
AGERE 1394
FW32305
MIC IN
Line In
Line Out
AUDIO
BOARD
AC-Link
PCI BUS
RGB
DVO LVDS
Chrontel
7019
LPC BUS
PIDE SIDE
HOST BUS 100MHz
HUB I/F 66MHz
TRACK
POINT INT KB
Dual
Channel
MINI PCI
802.11
SER.
RES
INT. MIC

Chapter 1 5
Board Layout
Top View
PCB No. 02217-SB
1 CPU Socket 12 Mini-PCI Connector
2 CRT Port 13 RTC Battery Connector
3 Inverter Connector 14 SW1 Setting (Please see Chapter 5 for details)
4 RJ45 + RJ11 15 Internal Keyboard Cable Connector
5 Bluetooth Connector (Dummy) 16 CD-ROM Connector
6 USB Port 0 17 HDD Connector
7 LCD Coaxial Cable Connector 18 Golden Finger (or Debug Board)
8 USB Port 1 19 Touch Pad Cable Connector
9 Launch Cable Connector 20 FDD Connector
10 Parallel Port 21 CardBus Connector
11 DC-in Port 22 Fan Connector

6TravelMate 230/ 280
Bottom View
1 Modem Cable Connector 7 Modem Connector
2 North Bridge (845-GL) 8 Battery Connector
3 DIMM Socket 1 9 CardBus Controller (OZ6912T)
4 Audio Board Connector 10 LAN Controller (RTL8100BL)
5 DIMM Socket 2 11 LVDS
6 South Bridge (ICH4)

Chapter 1 7
Panel
Ports allow you to connect peripheral devices to your computer as you would with a desktop PC.
Front Panel
#Item Description
1 Display screen Also called LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), displays computer
output.
2 Status indicators LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) that turn on and off to show
the status of the computer and its functions and
components.
3 Touchpad Touch-sensitive pointing device which functions like a
computer mouse.
4 Click button (left, center and right) The left and right buttons function like the left and right
mouse buttons, the center button serves as a scroll up/
down button.
5 Palmrest Comfortable support area for your hands when you use the
computer.
6 Keyboard Inputs data into your computer.
7 Easy launch keys Buttons for launching frequently used programs.

8TravelMate 230/ 280
Left Panel
#Icon Item/ Port Description
1 PCMCIA (PC card) Port Connects to one Type III 16-bit PC card or 32-bit
CardBus PC Card.
2 Eject button Eject PC cards from the card slots.
3 Floppy activity indicator LED (light-emitting diodes) that turn on and off
when the floppy is active.
4 Speaker/ headphone-out jack Connects to audio line-out devices (e.g.,
speakers, headphones)
5 Line-in jack Accepts audio line-in devices (e.g., audio CD
player, stereo walkman).
6 Microphone-in jack Accepts a mono/stereo condenser microphone.
7 Floppy drive Internal diskette drive, accepts 3.5-inch floppy
diskettes
8 Volume control Controls the volume of the speakers.
9 Floppy disk eject button Push this button to eject the floppy disk

Chapter 1 9
Right Panel
#Icon Item/ Port Description
1 Battery bay Houses the computer’s battery pack.
2 Optical drive Houses removable optical drive modules.
3 LED indicator Lights up when the optical drive is active.
4 Eject button Ejects the compact disc from the drive.
5 Emergency eject slot Ejects the compact discs when the computer
is turned off.
6 Security keylock Kensington-compatible key-based computer
security lock.

10 TravelMate 230/ 280
Rear Panel
l
#Icon Port Description
1 Power Jack Connects to an AC adapter
2 Parallel port Connects to a parallel device (e.g., parallel
printer)
3 USB port (two) Connects to any Universal Serial Bus
devices(e.g., USB mouse, USB camera).
4 Modem jack Connects to the phone line
5 Network jack Connects to an Ethernet 10/100-based
network
6 External display port Connects to a display device (e.g., external
monitor, LCD projector) and displays up to
64K colors at 1280x1024 resolution

Chapter 1 11
Bottom Panel
#Item Description
1 Battery bay Houses the computer’s battery pack.
2 Battery release latch Unlatches the battery to remove the battery pack.
3 Hard disk bay Houses the computer’s hard disk (secured by a screw).
4 Memory compartment Houses the computer’s main memory.

12 TravelMate 230/ 280
Indicators
The computer has six easy-to-read status icons on the right of the display screen.
.
The Power and Standby status icons are visible even when you close the display cover so you can see the
status of the computer while the cover is closed.
#Icon Function Description
1 Power Lights when the computer is on.
2 Sleep Lights when the computer enters Standby
mode and blinks when it enters into or
resumes from hibernation mode.
3 Media Activity Lights when the floppy drive, hard disk or
AcerMedia drive is active.
4 Battery Charge Lights when the battery is being charged.
5 Caps Lock Lights when Caps Lock is activated.
6 Num Lock
(Fn-F11)
Lights when Numeric Lock is activated.