ThinkPad 390E Online User's Guide

Saving Battery Power

Your battery pack should be useful for approximately 3 years, or 300 charge-discharge cycles. The number of years or charge-discharge cycles might vary depending on how efficiently you use your computer. This section describes the following:

• How to use the power management modes

• How to use other battery saving methods

Using the Power Management Modes

Your ThinkPad computer has three power management modes to save the battery power. You can use your computer under battery power for a considerable length of time by using these power management modes:

Attention: Do not enter suspend or hibernation mode when your computer is doing any of the following. Stop these applications before entering suspend or hibernation mode.

• Playing or recording audio

• Playing a movie

• Playing a game

• Running any other multimedia application

• Standby Mode

  In standby mode, the LCD turns off. Also, if a power-saving monitor (Energy Star Monitor) is in use when the computer enters standby mode, the computer activates the monitor's low-power mode.

  You can also enter this mode by pressing the Fn+F3 keys.

  To return to normal operation, press any key or move the TrackPoint.

• Suspend Mode

  In this mode, your computer stops all tasks and stores all data in memory.

  You can enter suspend mode by:

  • Pressing the Fn+F4 keys.

  • Closing the cover.

  • Selecting the Suspend button ( ) in the Fuel-Gauge program.

  Hibernate on Low Battery

  To prevent loss of data during suspend mode when the battery is critically low, your ThinkPad computer has a hibernate on low battery function. Once you set this function, the computer is ready to enter hibernation mode from suspend mode whenever the battery is low.

  Set this function as follows:

  For Windows 98 or Windows 95:

  1. Start the ThinkPad Configuration program.

  2. Click on the Power Management button ( ).

  3. Select the Hibernation Options tab.

  4. Put a check mark on Hibernate when battery becomes low.

  5. Click on OK.

• Hibernation Mode

  In this mode, your computer stops all tasks and stores all data in the hard disk; then it powers off. You should set your computer to this mode when you want to maintain the present operating condition until the next day, for instance.

  To use this mode, you have to create a hibernation file using the Hibernation Utility. (See Enabling Hibernation Mode.)You can enter hibernation mode by doing any of the following:

  • Pressing the Fn+F12 keys.

  • Selecting the Hibernation button ( ) in the Fuel-Gauge program.

  Note:

  Do not use suspend or hibernation mode if you use a PC Card. The communication will be lost.

  The following table shows how the indicator behaves in each power management mode:
  

  Current Status	Indicator
  	Suspend Mode	Power-On
  Normal operation or standby mode	Off	Green
  Suspend mode	Green	Off
  Entering or resuming from suspend mode	Blinking green	On
  Power off or hibernation mode	Off	Off

Customizing Power Management

This section describes how to customize power management. Use the power management mode appropriate to your operation.

Setting the Suspend Timer

To set the suspend timer, do the following:

For Windows 98 and 95:

1. Start the ThinkPad Configuration program.

2. Click on the Power Management ( ) button.

   The "Power Properties" window appears.

3. Select the Power Mode tab.

   The "Power Mode" window appears.

4. Select Customized.

   The bottom gray portion is displayed in black, and you can specify the timeout value in minutes in the Suspend Timer box.

5. Click on OK.

Enabling Hibernation Mode

To enable hibernation mode:

For Windows 98, Windows 95, and Windows NT:

1. Start the ThinkPad Configuration program.

2. Click on the Power Management ( ) button.

   The "Power Properties" window appears.

3. Select the Hibernation Options tab.

   The "Hibernation Options" window appears.

4. Select hibernation options you want.

5. Click on OK.

To create the hibernation file, do the following:

For Windows 98, Windows 95 and Windows NT:

1. Start the ThinkPad Configuration program.

2. Click on the Power Management ( ) button.

   The "Power Properties" window appears.

3. Click on the Enable Hibernation button.

4. Click on OK.

Considerations When Using a Power Management Mode

When you use a power management mode, you need to consider a few points, especially if you are using the network.

Considerations for Suspend Mode

Consider the following before using suspend mode:

• The computer can enter suspend mode when used with the following operating systems:

  • DOS Version 7.0

  • OS/2 Warp Version 4

  • Microsoft Windows Version 3.11 with DOS Version 7.0

  • Microsoft Windows 98

  • Microsoft Windows 95

  • Microsoft Windows NT 4.0

  Important

  If you use Windows Version 3.11, ensure that Advanced Power Management (APM) is installed according to the instructions in Installing Microsoft Windows Version 3.11.

• Attached devices, such as a printer or serial device, stop running when the computer enters suspend mode. When you resume normal operation, the output might differ from what you expect, because the device might be reset or lose its configuration settings.

• Sometimes you might want to use the computer with the LCD closed --for example, when an external monitor and keyboard are used. In such a case, turn on the computer with the LCD closed or use the ThinkPad Configuration program to set the computer not to enter suspend mode when the LCD is closed.

• If the computer resumes normal operation by reaching the ThinkPad Configuration timer setting or because of an incoming call, only a blank screen is displayed. To display a power-on password prompt, press any key or move your pointing device.

• If the computer enters suspend mode, all application programs stop. Communication also stops for communication PC Cards. For some PC Cards, power to the PC Cards might also turn off.

• While a communication link is active, the computer does not enter suspend mode.

Considerations for Hibernation Mode

Consider the following before using hibernation mode:

• Do not run any tasks while the hibernation file is being created.

• The computer uses battery power to enter hibernation mode. Therefore, it reserves some battery power when it is set to enter hibernation mode when a low-battery condition occurs. This can cause the battery operating time to be shorter than the time publicly stated.

• Do not add or remove memory during hibernation mode. If you do, the computer resumes from hibernation mode without recognizing the changed memory size. To ensure that the computer recognizes the correct memory size, shut down; then recreate the hibernation file and restart your operating system.

• Do not swap UltraBay FX devices during hibernation mode. If you do, the computer resumes from hibernation mode without recognizing the changed UltraBay FX device. To ensure that the computer recognizes the correct UltraBay FX device, swap UltraBay FX devices when the computer is turned off or in suspend mode.

• If the computer is powered with battery power, the computer turns power off to the PC Card when entering hibernation mode. When resuming normal operation, if the PC Card or computer does not operate, restart the application or computer.

• If the computer enters hibernation mode, all application programs stop. Communication also stops for communication PC Cards. Power to the PC Cards also turn off.

Notes for Reinstalling or Installing the Operating System

When you install an operating system, install it with Advanced Power Management (APM) for Windows 98, Windows 95, Windows 3.11 or OS/2. Also install the ThinkPad Configuration program with the Utility Diskette to use power management mode.

Note:

To install the software Installing Software

If you are using Windows 98, Windows 95 or OS/2, APM is automatically installed in your computer.

If you are using DOS, APM is automatically installed in your computer. To verify that the computer has installed APM correctly, type power at the command prompt and press Enter. If a screen similar to the following appears, APM is successfully installed.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Power Management Status                                                         |
|-----------------------                                                         |
|Setting =  ADV: REG                                                             |
|CPU: idle 32% of time.                                                          |
|                                                                                |
|AC Line Status : OFFLINE                                                        |
|                                                                                |
|Battery status : High                                                           |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

If not, add the following line to your CONFIG.SYS file, using a text editor such as the DOS Editor:

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|DEVICE=C:\DOS\POWER.EXE                                                         |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

If you are using Windows 3.11, follow these instructions to check and install APM for Windows:

1. Start the computer.

   Make sure that the current directory is Windows (usually C:\WINDOWS>).

2. Type SETUP at the command prompt and press Enter. The following appears:

   +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
   || Windows Setup                                                                 |
   || ===============                                                               |
   ||                                                                               |
   || If your computer or network appears on the Hardware Compatibility List        |
   || with an asterisk next to it, press F1 before continuing.                      |
   ||                                                                               |
   || System Information                                                            |
   ||    Computer:       MS-DOS System                                              |
   ||    Display:        MagicMedia256AV 800 x 600 256 small font                   |
   ||    Mouse:          Microsoft, or IBM PS/2                                     |
   |+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
   +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

   
   

   If MS-DOS System with APM appears for the item "Computer:", APM is already installed. Press F3 to exit the setup.

3. Using the arrow keys, position the highlighted cursor over MS-DOS System and press Enter.

4. Position the highlighted cursor over MS-DOS System with APM and press Enter.

5. Verify that the item "Computer" has changed to MS-DOS System with APM on the screen. If not, return to step 3.

   +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
   || Windows Setup                                                                 |
   || ===============                                                               |
   ||                                                                               |
   || If your computer or network appears on the Hardware Compatibility List        |
   || with an asterisk next to it, press F1 before continuing.                      |
   ||                                                                               |
   || System Information                                                            |
   ||    Computer:       MS-DOS System with APM                                     |
   ||    Display:        MagicMedia256AV 800 x 600 256 small font                   |
   ||    Mouse:          Microsoft, or IBM PS/2                                     |
   |+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
   +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

   
   

6. Press Enter to install APM.

7. Restart the system to make APM effective.

Using Other Battery-Saving Methods

Another battery-saving method is to decrease the LCD brightness. You can use the ThinkPad Configuration program to decrease the brightness of the LCD by clicking on the LCD ( ) button and selecting Normal for Brightness (battery operation) in the window that appears.

APM versus ACPI Power Management

Your ThinkPad computer has been designed to take advantage of a new Power Management industry standard known as Advanced Configuration and Power Interface, or ACPI. Windows 98 is the first operating system to take advantage of this new ACPI standard, but Windows 98 also supports the older APM power management. We have shipped your ThinkPad configured to use APM, but it is ACPI-ready. The instructions in this User's Guide assume that you will continue to use Advanced Power Management (APM) instead of ACPI. At the time that this document were created, there were significant issues with Windows 98 support of ACPI on the ThinkPad. Ultimately ACPI will deliver superior performance with improved usability, but for now APM is proven and more stable.

IBM and Microsoft are working closely to deliver superior ACPI performance and stability. By the time you read this, there will be new information and software posted on our Web site at http://www.pc.ibm.com/thinkpad. Please review this latest information before making a decision to choose ACPI as your power management standard.