    AST RESEARCH, INC.          TECHNICAL BULLETIN # 0998               10-17-94

                              ASCENTIA 900N BATTERY ISSUE

    PROBLEM:        The Ascentia 900N system battery gauge shows seven plus hours
                    of battery life remaining in idle mode, but when you invoke
                    any computer function, the battery life remaining drops to four
                    hours or less.

    CAUSE:          As soon as the screen turns on, the drive spins up, and the CPU
                    clock rate goes up, the system consumes a lot more power!
                    The power supply microcontroller takes a new data point and
                    computes a projected battery life based on instantaneous power
                    consumption, dropping the time remaining to less than five
                    hours.

    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:       The battery gauge reflects computer power usage.  When you first
                    turn the computer on, the notebook is in idle mode, therefore,
                    the battery measurement shows more power remaining.  Once you
                    access the hard drive, floppy drive, or any other function, the
                    computer uses more power and the battery gauge shows less battery
                    life remaining.  Both readings are correct.  There is nothing
                    wrong with the computer.