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HiNote Ultra General Maintenance

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HiNote Ultra CS475: keyboard, screen hinge and rear of the case (ume-y, CC BY 2.0)

Care, memory, BIOS and configuration for the HiNote Ultra, from DEC's Digital HiNote Ultra User's Guide (ER-P70WW-UA.A01) and DEC's BIOS update and battery utilities.[1][2][3] DEC's field service guide for this model is not online, so there is no published disassembly procedure; the user's guide covers only the parts an owner was expected to reach.

Environment

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Operating and storage limits (DEC user's guide, pp. A-2 to A-3)
Operating Not operating
Temperature 10 to 40 °C −20 to 60 °C
Relative humidity 20% to 80%, non-condensing, wet bulb 33 °C max. 5% to 95%, non-condensing, wet bulb 35 °C max.
Altitude −60 to 3040 m −60 to 12,160 m
Shock 10 G, 11 ms 100 G, 11 ms

[4] The battery pack has its own limits: 0 to 40 °C in use and −20 to 45 °C for long-term storage.[5]

Battery

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Store the machine fully shut down, not in suspend: a pack drained flat in suspend or storage trips its protection circuit and the computer stops recognising it. See HiNote Ultra Battery Service for the revive utility and the CR1220 clock cell.[3][6]

Power button, lid switch and reset

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The power button on the left side works either as On/Off or as Suspend/Resume, chosen in Setup. The lid switch can suspend and resume the machine, sound a fast beep and blank the screen when the lid is closed, or just blank the screen; DEC suggests the last setting with an external monitor.[7] The reset button on the underside turns the computer off; pressed in suspend mode it loses everything in memory.[8][9] Setup is entered with [Fn] + [F3].[10]

Memory module

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A 4, 8 or 16 MB module fits in a compartment underneath. DEC's procedure:[11]

  1. Set the power button to On/Off in Setup, or press the reset button, so the machine is fully off. DEC warns that removing the cover with the machine only suspended can damage the computer or the module.
  2. Turn the computer off, close the lid and turn it over.
  3. Remove the compartment cover, fit the module and refit the cover. DEC says the cover must always be in place.
  4. Turn the computer over, open the lid and run Setup to register the new memory.

The total with a module fitted is 8, 12 or 20 MB on passive-matrix and mono machines and 12, 16 or 24 MB on TFT machines.[4]

Floppy Dock

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The 3.5-inch diskette drive lives in the Floppy Dock, which hooks into clips beside the battery pack on the underside and is held by a thumbscrew. Fit it with the computer off and the lid closed, and keep the connector compartment door closed whenever the dock is not attached.[12]

Screen

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DEC's warning is that high voltages exist inside the LCD enclosure.[13] Brightness and contrast are set with slide levers beside the screen; the CT (TFT) models have only a brightness lever.[13] [Fn] + [F4] switches between the LCD and an external monitor.[13]

Trackball

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If the cursor moves erratically, the trackball needs cleaning. DEC put the cleaning instructions in the online help of its Digital Program menu, not in the printed guide.[10]

BIOS

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The latest BIOS for the CT450 and CT475 is version 1.42, issued as the self-extracting file 0000009R.EXE on the support site HP inherited from DEC and preserved on archive.org as a floppy image. The flash utility runs from DOS: FLASHB /B /OVER skips the version check and also programs the boot block. Afterwards, turn the machine off, enter Setup at the next start, choose Load Factory Default Settings from the Default menu, save and exit, and power down to restart.[2]

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References

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  1. ↑ Digital Equipment Corporation, Digital HiNote Ultra User's Guide, ER-P70WW-UA.A01, November 1994 (File:Digital HiNote Ultra User's Guide (ER-P70WW-UA.A01).pdf).
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "DEC HiNote Ultra CT450/CT475 Notebook BIOS 1.42 update floppy", archive.org item bios_floppy_1.42_floppy_hinote_ultra, with the flash utility's instructions and a photograph of the DIGITAL HiNote FLASH Update Utility 1.07 screen.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Digital Equipment Corporation, README.TXT for REVIVE.COM, 18 February 1997, archive.org.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 DEC, ER-P70WW-UA.A01, pp. A-2 to A-3. Specifications and environment.
  5. ↑ DEC, ER-P70WW-UA.A01, p. A-4. Battery pack temperatures.
  6. ↑ DEC, ER-P70WW-UA.A01, front matter. CR1220 clock battery warning.
  7. ↑ DEC, ER-P70WW-UA.A01, pp. 3-3 to 3-4. Power button modes and lid switch.
  8. ↑ DEC, ER-P70WW-UA.A01, p. 3-5. Reset button.
  9. ↑ DEC, ER-P70WW-UA.A01, p. 1-5. Reset during suspend loses memory.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 DEC, ER-P70WW-UA.A01, p. 6-6. Setup with Fn+F3; trackball cleaning in the online help.
  11. ↑ DEC, ER-P70WW-UA.A01, pp. 7-6 to 7-7. Installing a memory module.
  12. ↑ DEC, ER-P70WW-UA.A01, pp. 5-8 to 5-9. Connecting the Floppy Dock.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 DEC, ER-P70WW-UA.A01, p. 6-12. LCD warning and troubleshooting.
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