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	                                                 Last Revised
AST RESEARCH, INC.         SOFTWARE BULLETIN # 0295          11/25/97

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TITLE:  Ascentia P System BIOS, Version 1.03
FILENAME(S) / PART NUMBER(S) / DESCRIPTION(S):
   05584032.EXE / 905584-032
   Ascentia P System BIOS, Version 1.01
   
   05584033.EXE / 905584-033
   Ascentia P System BIOS, Version 1.02
   
   05584035.EXE / 905584-035
   Ascentia P System BIOS, Version 1.03 

SUMMARY

   File 05584035.EXE contains version 1.03 of the Ascentia P system 
   BIOS. This BIOS applies to the following systems: 501996, 501997, 
   and 503032.
   
   NOTE: In order to update the Ascentia P BIOS version 1.00, first 
   flash the BIOS to version 1.01, file name 05584032.EXE, then 
   flash to the latest BIOS.

   
RESOLUTIONS

   Version 1.03 contains the following problem resolutions:
   
   Assigned the unused Direct Memory Access (DMA) channel to the PCI 
   bus only when attached to the full docking station.
   
   Fixed the corrupted battery status.
   
   Resolved the issue where a PCMCIA card did not resume after 
   suspend when the unit was docked.
   
   Fixed the keyboard's embedded numeric keypad, which produced 
   numeric characters instead of the normal characters, when NumLock 
   was enabled on the external keypad.
   
   Fixed the issue where the system could not boot from the English 
   NT 4.0 CD-ROM disk.
   
   Prevented the system from entering Standby or Suspend while fully 
   docked.   


ENHANCEMENTS

   Version 1.03 contains the following enhancements:
   
   Resolved point enabler issues in DOS and Windows NT.
   
   Adjusted the brightness level.
   
   Added the full dock IDE PCI device support. 
   
   Accelerated booting while the internal floppy disk drive is (FDD) 
   disconnected, with the floppy drive installed in the Setup menu.   


PREVIOUS RELEASE(S)

   Previous releases included the following resolutions and 
   enhancements:
   
   Fixed CMOS checksum errors.
   
   Added <Fn><F10> font expand feature.
   
   Resolved Motion Pixels' Test Demonstration software issue. For 
   additional information, see TB 1572.
   
   The suspend hot key duplicated the function of the power button.
   
   Cannot resume from suspend using the hot key when operating 
   system or application disables the interrupt.


NOTES

   N/A

   For information on installing this update, please view the 
   README.TXT file that accompanies the update.

   You can download this file from the following services:

   AST WWW Site:  http://www.ast.com
   AST On-Line! BBS*:  See IB0001.TXT
   CompuServe:  GO: ASTFORUM
   Prodigy:   JUMP: ASTSUPPORT

   * Refer to IB0001.TXT for a list of AST's international BBS 
     numbers.

   To decompress this file, create a temporary directory on your
   hard drive, copy the downloaded file to that directory, and run
   the file. 

TAN 002433AC, PRJ 2830PS

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