    AST RESEARCH, INC.        TECHNICAL BULLETIN # 1591          09/18/96

    TITLE:  AscJ Clock Problems After SmartSleep

    SUMMARY

       While running an Ascentia J10,30, and 50 notebook on battery,
       with SmartSleep enabled, the system clock becomes unstable and
       operates erratically.

       This occurs after the battery has been fully depleted and the system
       shuts down. The failure occurs after connecting AC power to
       recharge the battery and turning the system ON.

    ISSUE

       Configure the system for Maximum APM. While running Windows 95,
       open the Microsoft Date/Time Properties dialog box by clicking on
       the time on the Windows 95 taskbar tray, you can actually see the
       second hand on the clock stop for a period of time.

       After about 4 seconds the clock resumes and continues to advance
       but never regains the lost time back. This occurs every time you
       wake the system up from a time out before suspend.

       This issue affects the following systems: Ascentia J10 p/n
       501788, Ascentia J30 p/n 501945 and 501946, and Ascentia J50
       p/n 501947.

    BACKGROUND

       N/A

    ACTION

       Upgrade the Ascentia J notebook to BIOS 1.09 (AST part number
       905577-035) or later.

       File 05577035.EXE (or later) is available from one of AST's
       On-Line! services as follows:

          AST WWW Site: http://www.ast.com
          AST On-Line! BBS*: See IB0001.TXT
          CompuServe: GO: ASTFORUM
          Prodigy: Jump: astsupport

          * Refer to IB0001.TXT for a list of AST's
            international BBS numbers.

       To decompress this file, create a temporary directory
       on your hard drive, copy the downloaded file to that
       directory, and run the file.

    NOTES

       N/A

    TAN 000416SM

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