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    AST RESEARCH, INC.       TECHNICAL BULLETIN # 1074                  2-28-95

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    			ADVANTAGE! 570+ AND THE BROTHER HL630 PRINTER

    PROBLEM
    When a Brother HL630 laser printer is used with the Advantage! 570+ system,
    the real time clock on the system may sometimes stop or set to an incorrect
    value when the PC is powered down.  This will only happen when the printer is
    physically attached to the computer.

    CAUSE
    The Brother HL630 printer does not use an On/Off switch.  The printer is never
    actually completely shut Off but merely "sleeps".  When the printer does not
    sense any parallel port activity (i.e. between print jobs, computer off, etc.),
    the printer powers down but maintains several control lines in an active state.
    This condition induces an abnormal discharge on the CMOS battery, causing the
    real time clock to stop counting, and reducing the battery life on the system.
    The system clock may be slow the number of minutes the PC is turned Off.
    A discharged battery can result in loss of CMOS Setup information.

    SYSTEMS AFFECTED
    AST PART NUMBER AND DESCRIPTION

    501491-XXX     ADVANTAGE! 570+ 2-66D
    501549-XXX     ADVANTAGE! 570+ 2-50D

    SOLUTION
    Brother International acknowledges that there have been some problems with
    various manufacturers/models PCs when using the HL630 printer.  The solutions
    are as follows:

    1) Unhook the printer when the computer is turned Off.

    2) Contact Brother International at (800)-276-7746 and request the special
    parallel printer cable.  As of this writing, there is no charge from Brother
    for the special cable.

    *Note: It may also be necessary to replace the computer's CMOS battery after
    the modified cable has been installed.