    AST RESEARCH, INC.      TECHNICAL BULLETIN #1272        8-17-95

    	   BRAVO NOTEBOOK AND ADVANTAGE! EXPLORER
           WITH IOMEGA DITTO 250 PARALLEL PORT TAPE DRIVE

    PROBLEM:

    The Iomega Ditto 250 tape drive will not pass the compatibility test.  The
    compatibility test runs for about two hours and reaches 99% completion
    before giving the following error:

    Bad block detected (unrecoverable read error). Reference 08-03-0A-02-0410.

    CAUSE:

    The Advantage! Explorer and Bravo Notebook are incompatible with the
    current Iomega Parallel Port device.

    SYSTEMS AFFECTED:

    AST Part Number Description

    501262-XXX      AEX 486SX25 Mono
    501263-XXX      AEX 486SX25 STN
    501264-XXX      AEX 486SX25 TFT
    501247-XXX      BNB 486SX25 Mono
    501248-XXX      BNB 486SX25 STN
    501249-XXX      BNB 486SX25 TFT
    501373-XXX      BNB 486SX33 Mono
    501374-XXX      BNB 486SX33 STN

    SOLUTION:

    The Iomega Ditto 250 Tape Drive is not compatible with the C&T chipset that
    shipped with the Advantage! Explorer and the Bravo Notebook.