NOTE: You, the customer, are solely responsible for data security. WinBook strongly recommends that you perform a backup of all personal data contained on your system prior to performing this procedure. Warning: WinBook will NOT be held responsible for any data loss incurred during this process.

General Information: The floppy drive in the WinBook SLC is a 3.5 inch 1.44mb disk manufactured by Mitsumi.

WinBook® SLC Hard Disk Drive FAQ:

General Information: The WinBook SLC has used a few different manufacturers for hard disk drives. The disks are all IDE 2.5 inch drives ranging in size from 85 Mb to 340 Mb. Because of BIOS considerations, we do not recommend or support the use of any drive size larger than 340 Mb on this computer.

• Q. Is the hard disk drive in my computer upgradeable?
• At one point the hard drive was upgradeable, unfortunately manufactures are no longer producing any size drives that are compatable with the SX/DX.
• Q. I turned my computer on and got an error saying, "Hard disk controller 1 failure." What does this mean?
• This error is indicative of a hardware malfunction. Contact the WinBook Technical Support department as soon as possible.

WinBook® SLC Memory FAQ:

General Information: The RAM modules used in the WinBook SLC computer are proprietary 70 Ns cards. The two manufacturers of the actual RAM chips are Toshiba and Goldstar. Shipping configurations for this machine included 4, and 8 MB Systems.

• Q. Can I increase the memory in my computer with a PCMCIA card?
• No. PCMCIA memory cards will not increase the size of your base or extended memory but can be used as RAM/storage drives.

WinBook® SLC Modem FAQ:

General Information: The modem in the WinBook SLC computer is fully Hayes compatible and will support data transfers of up to 2400 bps and fax speeds of 9600bps send and 4800bps recv. The chipset on the modem is manufactured by Rockwell.

• Q. My modem works fine in DOS but does not work in Windows.
• This problem is most commonly caused by one of two things. The COMM.DRV statement in the SYSTEM.INI file and/or default settings for ports in the Control Panel. The COMM.DRV line in the boot section of your SYSTEM.INI should read: comm.drv=comm.drv . If this line reads differently, change it to match the above.
• Q. After installing an external serial mouse on my computer, the modem stopped working.
• The serial port (com 1) shares the same IRQ as the internal fax/modem. This is hardware set and can not be changed. The external serial mouse can not be used simultaneously with the internal modem. An easy way around this problem is to use a PS/2 mouse connected to the PS/2 port.

WinBook® SLC PCMCIA FAQ:

General Information: The WinBook SLC model has one PCMCIA slot. This slot can accept either a Type I or Type II card. The 8 bit controller for the slot was manufactured by Motorola and is called the Scat/Kat LapKat. Using the SLC-PCM.EXE file that can be found in the drivers section of this site, it is fairly simple to install most 14.4 PCMCIA modems. Other cards such as SCSI controllers and network cards are only made for 16 bit controllers these days, so installing one of those types of cards is probably not going to be possible. The parallel port versions of those devices should work adequately.

• Q. How do I install a PCMCIA device on my computer?
• The first thing you will need to do is download SLC-PCM.EXE from the drivers area of this site. This file contains the latest drivers for the PCMCIA slot in your computer. Download the file and extract it to a blank floppy by typing SLC-PCM.EXE A: from the directory that the SLC-PCM.EXE file was downloaded to. Don't forget to put the blank disk into the A: drive! This will automatically extract the compressed file to the diskette. Once this has been done, simply change to the A: drive and read the file called SLCMANUL.TXT. This file contains specific step-by-step instructions on how to install the device.

WinBook® SLC Pointer FAQ:

General Information: Your WinBook SLC computer comes equipped with an internal trackball pointing device. This is a permanent feature of the computer and is not user upgradeable. The trackball module is manufactured by Alps and uses a 16mm ball.

• Q. My trackball will only move in one direction, or does not move at all but the select buttons work fine.
• The most common cause of this symptom is a dirty trackball. The best way to clean the trackball is to remove the ball and clean it with HOT water. Let the ball air dry and replace it in the module. If this does not solve the problem then contact the WinBook Technical Support department.

WinBook® SLC PORTS FAQ:

General Information: On the back of the WinBook SLC computer is a series of ports. A serial, parallel, PS/2, VGA/SVGA, and a 160 pin docking station connector can all be found on the back of this unit.

• Serial Port The serial port, com 1, is an RS232 9 pin port. The controller chip is a 16450. The Microsoft Diagnostic program (MSD) that comes with DOS will report the chip as an 8250 but it is a 16450, which means that the external serial port will reliably support modems at speeds of up to 9600bps.
• Parallel Port The parallel port is a standard bi-directional 25-pin interface. EPP and ECP ports were not available at the time this model of the WinBook computer was released.
• PS/2 Port The WinBook has a dual-purpose PS/2 style port. This port is wired for use with a mouse. The keyboard adapter that came with the computer will allow you to connect an external keyboard.
• VGA/SVGA Port The external video port is connected to a 16-bit bus and is capable of displaying 256 colors at resolutions up to 800x600. You can display 1024x768 at 16 colors.
• Docking Station Port On the back of your WinBook is a proprietary connector that allows you to connect the computer to a docking station. This is a 160-pin interface. (For more information about docking stations got to Docking Station FAQ)

WinBook® SLC Power, Charging, Battery FAQ:

General Information: One of the obvious features of any notebook computer is the ability to use the computer on the run. The WinBook SLC is no different and comes equipped with an 8 cell NiMH battery. Because the battery is made of nickel metal hydride, it does not suffer from the same types of "memory effect" problems that nickel cadmium batteries must overcome. The battery is made by Sanyo and should charge fully in about two hours with the computer turned off.

• Q. My battery used to operate the computer a lot longer than it does now. Is it going dead?
• Maybe. Although the battery does not have a true "memory effect", it can build up a slight memory over time. Cycling the battery is one way to restore the battery to a full charge. Turn the computer on and let the battery totally drain until the computer actually shuts itself off. (Important: Make sure you are not in Windows when you do this!) Once the unit has shut down, just turn it off and plug it in to A/C power. Let the battery reach a full charge. When the battery is fully charged, remove the A/C power plug for a few minutes and then plug it back in to the computer. The battery will begin to charge again. Repeat the procedure of plugging in to A/C power and removing A/C power three times. This should increase the amount of time that your computer will run on battery power. If this does not help then contact WinBook Technical Support.

WinBook® SLC Processor FAQ:

General Information: Your WinBook SLC computer has a 25 MHz, 5.5 volt, Cyrix processor inside of it. This chip has 1k cache internal and has an internal bus path of 32 bits and an external bus path of 16 bits. The SLC chip DOES NOT have a math co-processor built in but

 WinBook® SLC System BIOS FAQ:

General Information: The system BIOS in the WinBook SLC is manufactured by AMI.

• Q. Whenever I cold boot my computer, I get CMOS checksum errors but I can warm boot without getting the error.
• This problem would usually indicate that the CMOS battery is dead or going bad. Contact WinBook Technical Support.

WinBook® SLC Video FAQ:

General Information: Your WinBook SLC computer has 512k of RAM for the video. The monochrome unit uses the Cirrus Logic CL-GD6420 and the dual-scan color model uses the Chips & Technologies' 65530. The LCDs were made by Sharp and Hitachi. The color screen will support 640x480x256.

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Disclaimer: This information is being provided to you as a service from the Technical Support Department of WinBook Computers. It is intended to assist you in the resolution of your technical problems or questions. If you feel uncomfortable implementing any of the information or suggestions contained herein then you should e-mail the WinBook Technical Support Department. WinBook will not be held responsible for any loss of information, data or programming as a result of the use of this TechNote.