AST RESEARCH, INC.          TECHNICAL BULLETIN # 0998               10-17-94




                          ASCENTIA 900N BATTERY ISSUE


PROBLEM:        The Ascentia 900N system battery gauge shows seven plus hours
                of battery life remaining in idle mode, but when you invoke
                any computer function, the battery life remaining drops to four
                hours or less.

CAUSE:          As soon as the screen turns on, the drive spins up, and the CPU
                clock rate goes up, the system consumes a lot more power!
                The power supply microcontroller takes a new data point and
                computes a projected battery life based on instantaneous power
                consumption, dropping the time remaining to less than five
                hours.

SYSTEMS
AFFECTED:           AST                                               REVISION
                PART NUMBER          DESCRIPTION                        LEVEL

                501299-2XX      ASCENTIA 900N 4/50 CS10                  All
                501300-3XX      ASCENTIA 900N 4/50 CT9                   All
                501302-2XX      ASCENTIA 900N 4/75 CS10                  All
                501304-3XX      ASCENTIA 900N 4/75 CT10                  All

SOLUTION:       The battery gauge reflects computer power usage.  When you first
                turn the computer on, the notebook is in idle mode, therefore,
                the battery measurement shows more power remaining.  Once you
                access the hard drive, floppy drive, or any other function, the
                computer uses more power and the battery gauge shows less battery
                life remaining.  Both readings are correct.  There is nothing
                wrong with the computer.