    AST RESEARCH, INC.         TECHNICAL BULLETIN #0761                  06-24-92

         AST PREMIUM EXEC 386SX-25 AND CARRIER CORP. SOFTWARE PROTECTION KEY

    PROBLEM:       When using the application "Building Supervisor III" from
                   Carrier Corp. on the Premium Exec 386SX-25, the application
                   will fail to load and display the error message "Access key
                   not attached!"

    CAUSE:         This problem is caused by an incompatibility between the
                   Carrier Corp. software protection key and the parallel port
                   implementation of the Premium Exec.

    AFFECTED
    SYSTEMS:       Premium Exec 386SX-20 (All models)
                   Premium Exec 386SX-25 (All models)
                   Premium Exec 386SX-25C (All models)

    SOLUTION:      AST Sustaining Engineering has determined that this problem
                   will not be fixed on the Premium Exec.  Carrier Corp. has
                   advised AST that a software patch may be available which eases
                   the timing requirements for accessing the security key.
                   Customers experiencing this problem should contact Carrier
                   Corp. and request the software patch for AST notebooks.