NEC POWERMATE P - SERVICE MANUAL 1995 User manual

First Printing — August 1995
Copyright 1995 Copyright 1995
NEC Technologies, Inc. NEC Corporation
1414 Massachusetts Avenue 7-1 Shiba 5-Chome, Minato-Ku
Boxborough, MA 01719 Tokyo 108-01, Japan
All Rights Reserved All Rights Reserved
PROPRIETARY NOTICE AND LIABILITY DISCLAIMER
The information disclosed in this document, including all designs and related
materials, is the valuable property of NEC Corporation (NEC) and/or its licensors.
NEC and/or its licensors, as appropriate, reserve all patent, copyright and other
proprietary rights to this document, including all design, manufacturing,
reproduction, use, and sales rights thereto, except to the extent said rights are
expressly granted to others.
The NEC product(s) discussed in this document are warranted in accordance with
the terms of the Warranty Statement accompanying each product. However, actual
performance of each such product is dependent upon factors such as system
configuration, customer data, and operator control. Since implementation by
customers of each product may vary, the suitability of specific product
configurations and applications must be determined by the customer and is not
warranted by NEC.
To allow for design and specification improvements, the information in this
document is subject to change at any time, without notice. Reproduction of this
document or portions thereof without prior written approval of NEC is prohibited.
MultiSync and PowerMate are registered trademarks of NEC Technologies, Inc.
FastFacts is a U.S. trademark of NEC Technologies, Inc.
All other product, brand, or trade names used in this publication are the trademarks or
registered trademarks of their respective trademark owners.

Contents iii
Contents
Using This Guide
Text Conventions ..................................................... vi
Related Documents................................................... vii
1 Taking a Look at Your Computer
On the Front............................................................. 1-2
CD-ROM Reader................................................ 1-2
Diskette Drive A ................................................. 1-3
IR Window ......................................................... 1-5
System Controls and Lamps ................................ 1-6
On the Back ............................................................. 1-8
External Connectors............................................ 1-8
Power Supply Features........................................ 1-11
Speakers .................................................................. 1-11
Microphone.............................................................. 1-12
2 Getting Started
Using Your Mouse ................................................... 2-1
Using Online Documentation .................................... 2-4
Where to Go from Here............................................ 2-6
3 24-Hour Information Services
NEC's FastFacts Service .......................................... 3-2
NEC Bulletin Board Service..................................... 3-4
America Online Service............................................ 3-6
CompuServe Online Service ..................................... 3-7
AT & T Interchange................................................. 3-8
E-Mail/Fax Technical Support Service ..................... 3-9
Internet .................................................................... 3-10
NEC Technical Support Services.............................. 3-11

iv Contents
4 If You Have a Problem
What to Do if You Have a Problem .......................... 4-2
Solutions to Common Problems................................ 4-3
System Problems................................................. 4-3
Diskette Drive Problems...................................... 4-5
Monitor Problems................................................ 4-6
Keyboard/Mouse Problems.................................. 4-7
CD-ROM Problems............................................. 4-7
Speaker Problems................................................ 4-8
Microphone Problems.......................................... 4-8
Replacing the CMOS Battery ................................... 4-9
Online Diagnostics ................................................... 4-11
Getting Help............................................................. 4-11
Getting Help from Your Company....................... 4-12
Getting Help from Your NEC Dealer................... 4-12
Getting Help from NEC's Technical Support
Center ............................................................. 4-12
NEC Warranty/Non-Warranty Repair Service..... 4-13
A Setting Up a Healthy Work Environment
Making Your Computer Work for You..................... A-1
Arrange Your Equipment.......................................... A-3
Adjust Your Chair.................................................... A-4
Adjust Your Input Devices ....................................... A-6
Adjust Your Monitor................................................ A-8
Vary Your Workday................................................. A-10
Pre-Existing Conditions and Psychosocial Factors..... A-11
Checking Your Comfort: How Do You Measure Up? A-12
Checking Your Chair........................................... A-12
Checking Your Keyboard .................................... A-12
Checking Your Mouse......................................... A-12
Checking Your Monitor....................................... A-12
Checking You ..................................................... A-13
Tables Quick Reference to Information About
Your Computer .................................................... 2-6

Contents v

Using This Guide v
Using This Guide
The PowerMate P Series User's Guide provides a quick
reference to information about your computer.
The guide contains the following information:
n Chapter 1, Taking a Look at Your System, provides a
look at system components. See this chapter to
familiarize yourself with your system.
n Chapter 2, Getting Started, gives you information about
using a mouse, using online documentation, and what
you should do after your system is up and running.
The chapter includes a quick-reference chart for finding
information about a variety topics.
n Chapter 3, 24-Hour Information Services, lists the
services available to you for information and help and
describes how to access the services.
n Chapter 4, If You Have a Problem, contains
troubleshooting tips for solving simple problems and
provides where you can find help when you cannot solve
a problem yourself.
!
WARNING
Prolonged or improper use of a computer
workstation may pose a risk of serious injury. To
reduce your risk of injury, set up and use your
computer in the manner described in Appendix A,
Setting Up a Healthy Work Environment.

vi Using This Guide
n Appendix A, Setting Up a Healthy Work Environment,
contains guidelines to help you use your computer
productively and safely. This appendix also instructs
you on how to set up and use your computer to reduce
your risk of developing nerve, muscle, or tendon
disorders.
TEXT CONVENTIONS
This guide uses the following text conventions.
n Warnings, cautions, and notes have the following
meanings:
!
WARNING
Warnings alert you to situations that could result in
serious personal injury or loss of life.
!
CAUTION
Cautions indicate situations that can damage the
hardware or software.
NOTE
Notes give important information about the
material being described.

Using This Guide vii
n Names of keyboard keys are printed as they appear on
the keyboard, for example, Ctrl, Alt, or Enter.
n Text or keystrokes that you enter appear in boldface
type. For example, type return and press Enter.
n File names are printed in uppercase letters.
RELATED DOCUMENTS
In addition to this guide, the following printed
documentation ships with your PowerMate®P Series
system.
n NEC PowerMate P Series Quick Setup/
Quick-Reference Roadmap
Quick Setup contains information for quickly getting
your system up and running. Read this information to set
up the system for the first time.
The Quick-Reference Roadmap gives you a look at the
documentation, NEC tools, software applications, and
services available to you.
n How Does Your Workplace Measure Up?
This brochure provides information for setting up and
using your computer productively and safely.
Information includes guidelines to reduce the risk of
injury associated with using a computer.
n TabWorks User’s Guide
This guide describes how to us TabWorks™ for
organizing your work and launching your applications
from a notebook-like location.
n TranXit Quick Reference Guide
This guide describes wireless data transfers between
your computer and a laptop using the TranXit™
software.

viii Using This Guide
n Windows 95 User’s Guide
This is a quick reference guide that comes with
Windows 95 systems.
Your system comes with the following online documentation
on the hard disk:
n PowerMate P Series System Documentation
This online documentation is your comprehensive source
of information about your system. It contains a System
Tour, User’s Guide, Hardware Reference Guide, Option
Installation Guide, and Support Guide.
n Ergonomics
This is an online version of the “How Does Your
Workplace Measure Up?” brochure.
n MS-DOS Quick-Start Guide
Comes with MS-DOS/Windowsfor WorkGroups
systems. Provides information for using
MS-DOS.
n Windows Quick-Start Guide
Comes with MS-DOS/Windowsfor WorkGroups
systems. Provides information for using Windows for
WorkGroups.
n Using Windows 95
Comes with Windows 95 systems. Contains information
for using Windows 95.
Most of your application programs provide extensive online
help. Some programs provide separate online user’s guides
for specific applications.
Windows 95 provides extensive online help and “wizards”
to guide you through procedures.

Using This Guide ix
In addition to the documentation that ships with the system,
the following documentation is available from NEC:
n PowerMate P Series Service and Reference
Manualprovides information for maintaining,
troubleshooting, and repairing the PowerMate P Series
system. This guide also includes hardware and interface
information for programmers, engineers, and others who
need to know how the system is designed.
To purchase the service and reference manual, call NEC
at 1-800-632-4525 and select spare part sales at the
prompt.
n NEC FastFacts
NEC FastFacts is an automated service that sends the
latest information about NEC and its products directly
to a fax machine. The service is available 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week.
With FastFacts, you can obtain product literature and
technical information bulletins. By using FastFacts, you
can be kept up-to-date on the latest technical information
for your system.
See “NEC’s FastFacts Service” in Chapter 3 for
information about using FastFacts.

Taking a Look at Your Computer 1-1
Taking a Look at
Your Computer
!
WARNING
Prolonged or improper use of a computer
workstation may pose a risk or serious injury. To
reduce your risk of injury, set up and use your
computer in the manner described in Appendix A,
Setting Up a Healthy Work Environment.
After unpacking your computer, familiarize yourself with
your system. The following information provides a brief
look at features on the front and rear of your system.
For a comprehensive source of information about your
computer, see the online NEC PowerMate P Series System
Documentation in the Windows® NEC Information group.
1

1-2 Taking a Look at Your Computer
ON THE FRONT
The following figure show the features on the front of the
systems. A brief description of the features follows the
figure.
Front features
CD-ROM Reader
A quad-speed CD-ROM reader is a standard feature in
multimedia models. The CD-ROM reader is assigned as
drive E.
Use the CD-ROM reader to load and start programs from a
compact disc (CD). You can also use the CD-ROM reader
to play your audio CDs. The CD-ROM reader is fully
compatible with Kodak Multisession Photo CDsand
standard audio CDs.
CD-ROM Reader
Diskette Drive A
System Controls
and Lamps
IR Window

Taking a Look at Your Computer 1-3
The CD-ROM reader operates at different speeds depending
on whether the CD you are using contains data or music.
This allows you to get your data faster and to see smoother
animation and video.
The CD-ROM reader has the following features (see the
following figure):
n Headphone jack
Allows the connection of an optional set of headphones
with a stereo mini-jack plug.
n Volume control knob
Lets you adjust the volume of an optional set of
headphones.
n CD busy lamp
Lights when the reader is retrieving data, music, or
graphics/audio from a CD. Do not eject the CD or turn
off the system unit when the lamp is on.
n Eject/retract button
Ejects or retracts the reader’s loading tray. Press this
button when the computer power is on to insert or
remove a CD into or out of the reader.
n CD tray
Provides a surface for loading a CD into the reader.
Press the eject/retract button to eject or retract the CD
tray.
n Emergency eject hole
Allows the manual ejection of a CD if the eject function
is disabled by software or if a power failure occurs.

1-4 Taking a Look at Your Computer
NOTE
The CD-ROM reader in your system might
look different from the one shown here.
Headphone
Jack
Volume
Control Knob
Eject/Retract
Button
Emergency
Eject Hole
CD Busy
Lamp
CD Tray
CD-ROM reader features
Diskette Drive A
Diskette drive A loads and starts programs from a diskette.
Diskette drive A is your primary “bootable” drive. Your
diskette drive has the following features (see the following
figure):
n Diskette drive busy lamp
Lights when your diskette drive is reading to or writing
from a diskette.

Taking a Look at Your Computer 1-5
n Diskette release button
Press this button to release a diskette from the diskette
drive.
Diskette drive A features
IR Window The IR (infrared) window is the system’s IR port. The IR
port supports two-way wireless communications. The
interface uses infrared as the transmission medium instead
of a traditional cable.
The IR port lets you transfer files to or from portable
devices such as laptops and personal digital assistance
(PDA) products using application software supporting
IrDA data transfer. Your system comes with Puma
TranXit™ software for wireless data transfer.
With IrDA software, you can transfer data at speeds of up
to 115 kilobytes per second and at distances up to 3 feet
from the IR window.
Diskette Release Button
Diskette Drive
Busy Lamp

1-6 Taking a Look at Your Computer
System Controls and Lamps
System controls let you select specific system operations.
Lamps let you know the status of system operation. Your
computer has the following controls and lamps:
System controls and lamps
n Power lamp
The power lamp indicates whether system power is on or
off. It also lets you know if the system is operating in a
power-saving mode.
A steady green lamp indicates that the power is on to all
system components. A blinking green lamp indicates that
the system is in Suspend mode with full power
reduction.
n Disk lamp
Indicates if your hard disk is doing anything. A green
lamp tells you that the hard disk is reading or writing
data.
Power Lamp
Disk Lamp
Power Button
Reset Button
Suspend Button

Taking a Look at Your Computer 1-7
!
CAUTION
Do not turn off the system, unless absolutely
necessary, while the disk lamp is lit. To do so can
damage your hard disk or data.
n Power button
Press this button to turn on system power. Press it again
to turn off the power.
n Reset button
The reset button lets you manually restart your system
when it does not respond to keyboard commands.
!
CAUTION
Resetting your system can result in the loss of data.
Press the reset button only when all other methods
of restarting your computer fails.
n Suspend button
Lets you initiate a power-saving mode of operating your
computer. Press this button to suspend system operation
when you plan to be away from your computer for a
short time. Press any key or move your mouse to resume
system operation to where you stopped it.
A blinking system unit power lamp lets you know that
the system is in Suspend mode.

1-8 Taking a Look at Your Computer
ON THE BACK
On the back of your computer, you’ll find external
connectors, power supply features, and expansion board
slots. The following figures show these features.
Fan
Mouse Port
Keyboard Port
Audio
Connectors
VGA Monitor
Connector
Voltage Selector
Switch
Power Supply
Switch
Printer Port 1
Serial Port 1
Serial Port 2
Rear features
External Connectors
External connectors let you attach peripheral devices, such
as a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and printer to your system.
Your system has the following external connectors:
n VGA monitor connector
Attach the signal cable from your monitor to this
connector. Supports an NEC MultiSync®monitor or
other video graphics array (VGA)-compatible monitor
with 15-pin connector.

Taking a Look at Your Computer 1-9
n Audio connectors
These connectors come integrated on multimedia models.
The connectors include a microphone in, line in, and line
out jack along with a musical instrument digital interface
(MIDI)/joystick connector.
MIDI/Joystick
Connector
Line Out Jack
Line In Jack
Microphone In
Jack
Audio connectors
 The microphone in jack lets you connect a
microphone for recording audio information in your
data system files and allows hands-free
speakerphone functions.
 The line in jack lets you connect a stereo audio
device such as a stereo amplifier or a cassette or
minidisc player for playback or recording.
 The line out jack allows you to connect an amplified
output device such as powered speakers, stereo tape
recorder, or an external amplifier for audio output.
Use this jack to connect the stereo speakers that
come with your system.

1-10 Taking a Look at Your Computer
 The MIDI/Joystick connector allows you to connect
a joystick or MIDI kit to your system.
The joystick connector on your system is identical to
that on a standard PC game control adapter or game
I/O connector. You can connect any analog joystick
with a 15-pin D-sub connector. It also works well
with any application that is compatible with the
standard PC joystick. To use two joysticks, you
need a Y-cable splitter.
n Printer Port
Use this port to connect a parallel printer with a 25-pin
connector to the system.
n Serial Ports
Attach a serial device with a 9-pin connector to each
serial port. Serial devices include a pointing device,
serial printer, or modem.
n Keyboard port
Attach the keyboard that comes with your computer to
this connector.
The keyboard port supports a personal system (PS)/2®-
compatible, 101-key or 104-key keyboard (in the U.S.
and Canada) or a 102-key keyboard (in the United
Kingdom and Germany) with a 6-pin mini DIN
connector.
n Mouse port
Attach the mouse that comes with your computer to this
port. The mouse port supports a PS/2-compatible
mouse.

Taking a Look at Your Computer 1-11
Power Supply Features
Your system has the following power supply features:
n Power supply fan
Keep this area clear for proper ventilation. The power
supply fan cools system components and prevents them
from overheating.
n Voltage selector switch
Sets the voltage for your system to 115 volts or 230
volts.
!
CAUTION
Set the switch correctly for the voltage in your area.
Most wall outlets in the United States and Canada
are 115 volts. Outlets in Europe, Australia, and Asia
(except Taiwan) are 230 volts. Taiwan uses 115-volt
outlets.
n Power supply switch
Powers on the power supply. The power supply must be
powered-on before the power button on the front of the
system will operate.
n Power socket
Connect your power cable to this socket.
SPEAKERS Multimedia models come with a pair of high-quality stereo
speakers that you can arrange to suit your work
environment.
An AC adapter comes with the system. Set up the speakers
with the AC adapter. The speakers connect to the line out
jack on the back of the system unit.