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HiNote VP General Maintenance

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HiNote VP 550/575 series closed: removable hard disk (1), lid release (2), main battery (3) and expansion bay (4) (DEC service guide Figure 1-2)

Routine care of a HiNote VP is mostly battery care, cleaning, and keeping the CMOS battery charged. DEC's user's guides for the VP 500 and VP 700 series give the cleaning rules and battery routines, and its service guides the BIOS and module-level procedures.[1][2][3] Batteries are covered in detail on HiNote VP Battery Replacement and faults on HiNote VP Troubleshooting Guide.

Cleaning

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DEC's advice for the VP 700 series:[1]

  • Turn the notebook off and disconnect the AC adapter before cleaning.
  • Clean the case with a soft, lint-free cloth, with mild detergent if needed. Do not use abrasives, solvents or isopropyl alcohol products, and never spray anything directly onto the notebook; spray the cloth.
  • Clean the LCD like a monitor screen, with a lint-free cloth and screen or glass cleaner sprayed on the cloth. Avoid ammonia-based cleaners.
  • Vacuum dust from the keyboard with a small computer vacuum, and keep the port covers closed when the ports are not in use; the ports can be vacuumed occasionally.
  • Keep dirt out of the diskette drive, and carry the notebook in a clean bag.

DEC's VP 700 service guide also asks for the trackball and its position sensors on an external PS/2 mouse to be kept clean.[4]

Battery routine

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DEC battery care rules (VP 700 Service Quick Reference Guide)
Battery Rule
NiMH main battery Form (charge and fully drain twice, then charge) when new, when run time falls, or when the gauge reads oddly; about 10 hours
NiMH and lithium-ion Remove from the notebook if it will not be used for more than 30 days; recharge within about 90 days
Lithium-ion No forming needed; about 1,000 full cycles
CMOS battery Charged only when running on AC power; drains after more than a year off

[2][3] A NiMH battery lasts up to about 800 charge and discharge cycles, and DEC advises using it as fully as possible on each cycle.[2] The LCD status display has an icon for "system has ceased charging the battery": the core of the battery has reached its maximum temperature and charging has stopped.[5]

Running a stored notebook

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  1. Fit a charged main battery or connect the AC adapter. Check the adapter's own LED and the notebook's power LED; DEC treats an adapter whose LED does not light as faulty.[4]
  2. If the BIOS reports a CMOS checksum error, enter setup with F2, set the date and time, load the defaults, save, and leave the notebook on AC power for 24 hours.[3]
  3. Charge the main battery, then form it if it is NiMH.[2]
  4. Check the hard disk module is seated; it is removable on the VP 550/575 series.[6]

Modules

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The VP 550/575 series has a removable hard disk module, a removable main battery, and an expansion bay for the 12x CD-ROM/diskette combination module or a lithium-ion second battery. DEC's field-replaceable units also include the CPU daughter card, keyboard, memory door, AC adapter and the complete on-site shell.[6][7] The VP 700 takes 144-pin SO-DIMM SDRAM modules at 3.3 V.[8]

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References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Digital Equipment Corporation, DIGITAL HiNote VP 700 Series User's Guide, ER-PJ1WW-UA.A01, September 1997, chapter 7, caring for your notebook, pp. 7-1 to 7-2 (File:Digital HiNote VP 700 Series User's Guide (ER-PJ1WW-UA.A01).pdf).
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Digital Equipment Corporation, DIGITAL HiNote VP 700 Series Service Quick Reference Guide, ER-PJ1WW-SR.A01, December 1997, chapter 1, battery care, pp. 1-21 to 1-25 (File:Digital HiNote VP 700 Series Service Quick Reference Guide (ER-PJ1WW-SR.A01).pdf).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 DEC, ER-PJ1WW-SR.A01, chapter 3, p. 3-1, note on the CMOS battery.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 DEC, ER-PJ1WW-SR.A01, chapter 4, troubleshooting tables.
  5. ↑ DEC, ER-PJ1WW-UA.A01, chapter 1, LCD status display battery icons, p. 1-20.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Digital Equipment Corporation, DIGITAL HiNote VP 550-575 Series Service Quick Reference Guide, ER-PD1WF-SR.A01, October 1997, chapter 1, components (File:Digital HiNote VP 550-575 Series Service Quick Reference Guide (ER-PD1WF-SR.A01).pdf).
  7. ↑ DEC, ER-PD1WF-SR.A01, appendix A, FRU list.
  8. ↑ DEC, ER-PJ1WW-SR.A01, appendix A, specifications, p. A-1.
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