
BIOS Upgrade of 3125 Notepad


1.      When to upgrade the BIOS


A BIOS upgrade has to be performed when

- replacing a defective 3125 Notepad planar board with a lower BIOS
  version than 3.05.28

- one of the problems described on pages 5 and 6 occured



2.      How to get the BIOS


Several ways are available to get the BIOS version 3.05.29:

- order FRO kit 603-5015209

        The 603-5015209 contains:

        017-0061953             Disk BIOS 3.05.29
        017-0053392             Envelope Disk


- download BIOS from Augsburg Bulletin Board

        You will need some kind of terminal emulation package (i.e. Procomm,
        Procomm Plus, Kermit) and a modem that will do at least 2400 baud,
        8 data bits, 1 stop bit.

        To access the system users may connect to the BBS via
        following options:

        Name:                   NCR Bulletin Board Augsburg
        Phone:                  +49 821 405 8680
        Baud rate:              2400 or lower
        Data bits                       8
        Stop bits:              1
        Parity bit:             none
        Terminal Emul.: DEC VT100 or ANSI
        Filetransfer:           X-Modem, Y-Modem, Z-Modem or Kermit

        While connected you will be asked for your name. If you have never
        connected before you will be asked some further questions. Then leave
        a message that you want to download the 3125 BIOS. The sysop will then
        give you the security level which enables you to download the BIOS.


- download BIOS from following Clemson Bulletin Boards

        Name:                   NCR Clemson Software Support
        Phone:                  (803) 843 1811
        Baud rate:              2400 or lower
        Data bits                       8
        Stop bits:              1
        Parity bit:             none
        Terminal Emul.: DEC VT100 or ANSI
        Filetransfer:           X-Modem, Y-Modem, Z-Modem or Kermit

        or

        Name:                   NCR Clemson Customer Service Bulletin
                                        Board
        Phone:                  (803) 843 5230   (VOICEplus 624-5230)
        Baud rate:              9600 or lower
        Data bits                       8
        Stop bits:              1
        Parity bit:             none
        Terminal Emul.: DEC VT100 or ANSI
        Filetransfer:           X-Modem, Y-Modem, Z-Modem or Kermit

        This Bulletin Board will be available from 09/09/92.



On above mentioned Bulletin Boards BIOS 3.05.29 can be downloaded under
following file name: 17-61953.exe


After downloading following steps are necessary to re-create the disk:

- run 17-61953.exe   (Extracts all files)
- run runme.bat      (Re-creates the original disk in drive A)

Ater that the disk in drive A is now an exact copy of the original disk.




The recommended way of getting the BIOS files is to download from above
mentioned BBS.



3.     How to load the BIOS

Following steps have to be performed if actual BIOS version is lower than
3.05.28:

Using the external flex disk drive
----------------------------------

1.      Connect external flex disk drive and controller

2.      Enter 3125 setup, choose first setup screen and enable  option card
        slot, set flex disk drive to 1.44MB and check if Shadow BIOS to RAM
        and VGA BIOS to RAM are set (if no, set both).

3.      Insert BIOS disk into external flex disk drive.

4.      Leaving setup causes the Notepad to reboot from the flex
        disk and automatically burns the BIOS.

5.      Reboot system and check BIOS version.

6.      Disconnect external flex disk drive and controller.

7.      Enter 3125 setup, choose first setup screen, disable op tion card slot
        and set flex disk to not installed.



Using LapLink
-------------

1.      Connect your PC and the Notepad via Laplink (LapLink SW,
        cable and Installation manual were delivered with 3125).

2.      Transfer BIOS files to Notepad HDD/ Flash Disk

3.      Rename autoexec.bat and config.sys on Notepad HDD/Flash
        Disk so that they will be inactive

4.      Enter 3125 setup, choose first setup screen and check if
        Shadow BIOS to RAM and VGA BIOS to RAM are set (if no,  set both).

5.      Reboot 3125 and run fssl.exe  (= burning BIOS)

6.      Reboot 3125 and reactivate autoexec.bat and config.sys


Deactivating of autoexec.bat and config.sys has to be done for security
reasons to make sure that no device driver or resident program can interrupt
the burning procedure. 4. Which problems are solved


FOLLOWING PROBLEM IS SOLVED WITH BIOS 3.05.29:

- Burning the BIOS FEPROM chip although Shadow RAM is disabled
  (new burn utility FSSL.exe).


FOLLOWING PROBLEMS ARE SOLVED WITH BIOS 3.05.28:

1.      When the flex disk setting within the power management setup menu
        was changed from 'disabled' to 'automatic' and saved with F10 and
        the system was rebooted this changes are lost.

2.      When setup was invoked after memory test in level 0 and before the
        beep tone (before the systems boots) and choosing the power control,
        the LCD gets blank and the system hangs.

3.      The level 0 diagnostic of the 3125 BIOS erases PCMCIA RAM cards if
        there is a PCMCIA RAM card plugged in during cold or warm boot on
        3125 systems with 8MB DRAM. Additionally a CMOS memory configuration
        error is displayed.

4.      Keyboard is lost after a resume if suspend was entered by pressing
        F8 within the power menu.

5.      VGA problems when running MS C Compiler or Quick C (PWB).  Quitting
        the editor (Work Programmer's Bench or Quick C) results in a blank
        screen.

6.      When trying to boot a 3125 with no floppy attached and all harddisk
        partitions  marked as 'not active' the system hangs with a dark
        screen and the cursor is blinking in the upper left corner. This
        happens when the harddisk has the PenPoint master boot record code
        on it.
        The problem does not occur when the harddisk has the Microsoft master
        boot record code on it.

7.      Notepad reboots if attempt to set non-supported video mode
        (e.g. 0BH or 0CH) via INT 10, Function 0.

8.      Switching textmodes within DOSSHELL causes LCD problems
        (screen gets blank).




FOLLOWING PROBLEMS ARE ALREADY SOLVED WITH BIOS 3.05.25:
(1. and 2. are here not declared)

3.      When a password is installed and 'print screen' was invoked from the
        virtual keyboard of PenOS the system hangs up.

4.      When a resume after suspend was done the loudspeaker was not
        initialized, so that randomly some loudspeakers are turned on and
        some are turned off.

