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    AST RESEARCH, INC.          TECHNICAL BULLETIN # 0979               9-21-94

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                     MISSING SMARTSLEEP PARTITION IN ASCENTIA 900N

    PROBLEM:        The Ascentia 900N does not go into SmartSleep or Zero volt
                    Suspend. The ZDISK Utility does not recognize a SmartSleep
                    partition on the hard drive in the Ascentia notebook.

    CAUSE:          Some systems with 340 MB and 510 MB hard drives were shipped
                    without a SmartSleep partition created on the hard drive.

    SYSTEMS
    AFFECTED:           AST
                    PART NUMBER        DESCRIPTION

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

                    The following list of ranges of serial numbers for the Ascentia
                    900N systems were shipped without the ZDISK partition:

                    SERIAL NUMBER                      SYSTEM

                    314EGK000005-314EGK000300       ASCENTIA 900N
                    314EGL000001-314EGL000200       ASCENTIA 900N
                    3245GK000301-3245GK000612       ASCENTIA 900N
                    3245GL000531-3245GL000536       ASCENTIA 900N
                    3245GR000001-3245GR001964       ASCENTIA 900N
                    324EGK000307-324EGK000606       ASCENTIA 900N
                    324EGL000201-324EGL001058       ASCENTIA 900N
                    324EGQ000011-324EGQ000310       ASCENTIA 900N
                    324EGR001002-324EGR002174       ASENCITA 900N
                    3345DA000152-3345DA000165       ASCENTIA 900N
                    3345GK000613-3345GK000618       ASCENTIA 900N
                    3345GL001362-3345GL001364       ASCENTIA 900N
                    3345GQ000313                    ASCENTIA 900N
                    334DFR065964                    ASCENTIA 900N
                    334EGK000619-334EGK001880       ASCENTIA 900N
                    334EGL001062-334EGL001361       ASCENTIA 900N
                    334EGQ000314-334EGQ000317       ASCENTIA 900N
                    334EGR002176-334EGR002169       ASCENTIA 900N
                    3445GL001366-3345GL001372       ASCENTIA 900N
                    3445GR002321                    ASCENTIA 900N
                    344EGK001881-344EGK002158       ASCENTIA 900N
                    344EGQ000319-344EGQ000939       ASCENTIA 900N
                    344EGR002203-344EGR002302       ASCENTIA 900N
                    3545GK002373                    ASCENTIA 900N
                    3545GL001374                    ASCENTIA 900N
                    354EGK002375-354EGK003624       ASCENTIA 900N
                    354EGL001752-354EGL002194       ASCENTIA 900N
                    354EGQ000943-354EGQ001132       ASCENTIA 900N
                    364EGK003629-364EGK003835       ASCENTIA 900N
                    364EGQ001324-364EGQ001696       ASCENTIA 900N
                    US1V001016-USIV003108           ASCENTIA 900N
                    US3W001121-US3W003138           ASCENTIA 900N
                    US6W001110-US6WOO5404           ASCENTIA 900N
                    US7W001102-US7W002303           ASCENTIA 900N
                    US29005677                      ASCENTIA 900N

    SOLUTION:       Do one of the following:

                    1. Replace the drive with a another drive that has the
                       SmartSleep partition defined.
                    or
                    2. Back up the data on the existing drive and repartition and
                       reformat the drive.  To do this follow the steps below:
                       - Delete all existing partitions using FDISK.
                       - Run ZDISK and create the Smartsleep partition.
                       - Run FDISK again to create a Primary DOS partition.
                       - Format the DOS partition.
                       - Reload all the software back onto the drive.