Itronix GoBook II Dimensions

801 South Stevens • P.O. Box 179 • Spokane, WA 99210 • 509.624.6600 • 800.441.1309
Technical Bulletin
Cold Boot Issues while using the GoBook II Optional
Hard Disk Drive (HDD) Heater (BIOS 1.0)
Introduction
This Technical Bulletin was created to address difficulties booting the GoBook II from battery at low temperatures with the hard
disk drive (HDD) heater option (BIOS 1.0).
Fault Condition 1
During a boot at low temperature the GoBook II equipped with the HDD heater option may display a message indicating that due to
a time-out, the hard drive could not be warmed to a safe operation temperature and that the unit is shutting down. At this point the
system locks up and requires the user to power off the unit. This condition is known to happen on all GoBook II computers
equipped with a HDDheater operating on battery power only when loaded with BIOS 1.0 and below.
Fault Condition 2
During a boot at low temperature the GoBook II equipped with the HDD heater option may display shut down after warming the
HDD to a safe operating temperature. This condition is known to happen on all GoBook II computers equipped with a HDD heater
operating on battery power at extreme low temperatures.
Solution for Fault Condition 1
To correct this condition, power off the unit by pressing the power button. Once the unit is powered down press the power button
again to start the warming process again. This process may be repeated up to three times without harm to the GoBook II.
BIOS versions above revision 1.10 will have an extended time-out and will not require the user to press the power button multiple
times. Please check the Itronix web page for BIOS updates.
Solution for Fault Condition 2
This condition is caused by the battery being too cold to supply enough energy to power the heater and boot the computer. When
this happens the battery gas gauge is set to 0%. Once the OS detects the low gas gauge it powers down to prevent hard disk
corruption. To correct this condition apply external power and reboot.
97-0094-001 05 March 2003