    =

    AST RESEARCH, INC.           TECHNICAL BULLETIN # 0986              9-23-94

    =

                        ASCENTIA 900N BIOS 1.11 AND FLOPPY DRIVE

    PROBLEM:        After flashing the Ascentia 900N system with BIOS version
                    1.11, the system does not recognize the floppy drive.

    CAUSE:          The floppy drive may be locked due to a newly added security
                    feature in BIOS 1.11.  See Software Bulletin #0170B which
                    documents this as one of the BIOS enhancements.

    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:       1. At the C: prompt Press  and  to go into System
                       Setup.
                    2. In the System Setup: Main Menu select Security.
                    3. Select Lock Floppy.
                    4. Select Disable if the floppy is set to Enable.
                    5. Exit System Setup and Save Changes.

                    The Ascentia 900N system will now recognize the floppy drive.