    AST RESEARCH, INC.         TECHNICAL BULLETIN #0872               09-27-93

                  AST POWER EXEC 3/25SL AND BECKMAN'S SDA SOFTWARE

    PROBLEM:       The keyboard does not acknowledge keystrokes after loading
                   Beckman's Synchron Diagnostic Assistance (SDA) program.

    SYSTEMS
    AFFECTED:      All AST Power Exec 3/25SL Notebooks.

    CAUSE:         The keyboard controller overhead required to process certain
                   commands did not allow a matrix scan for the keys pressed.

    SOLUTION:      Upgrade to BIOS release 2.20 or higher and verify the
                   following boards in the notebook are at the proper revision
                   levels:

                   PART NUMBER    MINIMUM ALLOWABLE REVISION LEVEL

                   202476-002            Revision x20
                   202476-003            Revision x19
                   202477-002            Revision x33
                   202477-003            Revision x27