sher@bbn.com (Lawrence D. Sher) (01/04/91)
I have a Megahertz modem in a Toshiba 1000SE. The modem draws its full
power regardless of the "MODEM POWER: ON OFF" settings in the Toshiba's
little pop-up menu or the configuration settings accessed via the
SETUP10 utility. From the rate of battery discharge when the computer
is off, it seems to me that it may also be drawing power then! (I
realize that holding "hardram" draws power.)
I called Megahertz and asked whether there is any degree of support for
Toshiba's software control of the modem's power; They said "No." I asked
if there is any power consumption by the modem when the computer is off.
They mumbled something about "how long have you had the modem?" implying
that some of their modems draw power even when the computer is off. I
got no definitive answer to this latter question.
They said that the power draw would reduce the running time on a fully
charged battery from 120 minutes to 110 minutes. That would suggest
that if the modem drew power at that rate when the computer was off,
then the battery should run down completely in about one day, which does
not happen.
Does anyone know whether the modem draws *any* power when the 1000SE is
off? Has anyone installed a hardware switch to turn off the modem? If
so, I'd appreciate details. Many thanks.
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Larry Sher < US Mail: BBN, MS 6/5A, 10 Moulton St., Cambridge, MA 02138
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`----------------------------------------------------------------faigin@aerospace.aero.org (Daniel P. Faigin) (01/05/91)
In article <61850@bbn.BBN.COM> sher@bbn.com (Lawrence D. Sher) writes: > I have a Megahertz modem in a Toshiba 1000SE. The modem draws its full > power regardless of the "MODEM POWER: ON OFF" settings in the Toshiba's > little pop-up menu or the configuration settings accessed via the SETUP10 > utility. From the rate of battery discharge when the computer is off, it > seems to me that it may also be drawing power then! (I realize that holding > "hardram" draws power.) I've just done a little bit more exploration of this problem, both in relation to this posting and the battery life of my Toshiba 1600/40. I've called both Toshiba and Megahertz, and poured over the manuals, and here's what I've found out. 1. There are two types of batteries: one is rated at 1700 mAh, the other at 2000 mAh (I'm not sure which one I have). Estimated lifetime on these batteries, for a bare system (no modem, no extra RAM) is 1h for the 2000, 50m for the 1700. Extra memories and modems would reduce this life by 15-20%. 2. Only the Toshiba modem and the modem of one other manufacturer (not Megahertz) pay attention to the modem power register setting defined by the pop-up window. 3. The Megahertz 2400 modem draws 750 milliwatts when it is enabled, and 10 microwatts when it is disabled (the 1200 draws 250 milliwatts when operating, 100 milliwatts on standby, and 150 microwatts when disabled). Newer releases of the modem (at least the 2400, which I asked about) are always, according to Megahertz, in disabled mode except when they are in active use. This is why it ignores the pop-up window: it is normally disabled. Older verisions of the modem, apparently, didn't do this. Hence, Lawrence's receiving the question from Megahertz: > They mumbled something about "how long have you had the modem?" implying > that some of their modems draw power even when the computer is off. I > got no definitive answer to this latter question. So far, I think the culprit in my case is the 5M of RAM, combined with (I theorize here) 1700 mAh batteries. I'm going to do some more testing to see if both batteries have equal lifetimes. I'm also going to look into purchasing some additional battery packs: according to Toshiba, the 1700 lists for ~$40, the 2000 for ~70 (and I'm sure I can find them for less). Daniel -- [W]:The Aerospace Corp. M1/055 * POB 92957 * LA, CA 90009-2957 * 213/336-8228 [Email]:faigin@aerospace.aero.org [Vmail]:213/336-5454 Box#3149 "A consensus means that everyone agrees to say collectively what no one believes individually" -- Abba Eban
dan@rna.UUCP (Dan Ts'o) (01/07/91)
> I have a Megahertz modem in a Toshiba 1000SE. The modem draws its full > power regardless of the "MODEM POWER: ON OFF" settings in the Toshiba's > little pop-up menu or the configuration settings accessed via the SETUP10 > utility. From the rate of battery discharge when the computer is off, it > seems to me that it may also be drawing power then! (I realize that holding > "hardram" draws power.) When I talked to Megahertz, they said that they didn't bother with the power off setting because they claim that their modem, when it is not online draws very little power and it wasn't worth it. I think I will now go home and measure the truth of these statements. I seem to recall that when I last measure, my T1000SE with MHz modem and 3Mb drew 8ma in the off state. We'll see just how much of that is modem and how much is memory retention. But given 8ma: 1700maH / 8ma = 212.5 hours = 8.85 days, which is roughly my experience: a little longer than a week before the battery is totally drained. I wasn't aware of a 2000maH battery. My battery says on it 1700maH. Does the 2000maH say it as well ? One vendor talked about a 4000maH battery. I think he was lying. Cheers, Dan Ts'o 212-570-7671 Dept. Neurobiology dan@rna.rockefeller.edu Rockefeller Univ. rna!dan@nyu.edu 1230 York Ave. tso@rockvax.bitnet NY, NY 10021
faigin@aerospace.aero.org (Daniel P. Faigin) (01/07/91)
In article <1060@rna.UUCP> dan@rna.UUCP (Dan Ts'o) writes: > I wasn't aware of a 2000maH battery. My battery says on it 1700maH. > Does the 2000maH say it as well ? One vendor talked about a 4000maH battery. > I think he was lying. The 2000maH battery says so. The T1600 was initially shipped with the 2000, then they had trouble producing it and switched to the 1700. newer machines are shipped with the 2000. In terms of prices, I have called around to various dealers. The cheapest I have found the 1700 for was 39.95; the cheapest 2000 was $85. Does anyone know if you can mix the two in the beast? Daniel -- [W]:The Aerospace Corp. M1/055 * POB 92957 * LA, CA 90009-2957 * 213/336-8228 [Email]:faigin@aerospace.aero.org [Vmail]:213/336-5454 Box#3149 "A consensus means that everyone agrees to say collectively what no one believes individually" -- Abba Eban
userDHAL@mts.ucs.UAlberta.CA (David Halliwell) (01/08/91)
In article <FAIGIN.91Jan4081127@sunstroke.aerospace.aero.org>, faigin@aerospace.aero.org (Daniel P. Faigin) writes: > >1. There are two types of batteries: one is rated at 1700 mAh, the other at > 2000 mAh (I'm not sure which one I have). Estimated lifetime on these > . I know it's the manufacturer and not Daniel, but I can't resist making a comment about battery capacities. Why is it that we see numbers like two *thousand* *milli*Ah, instead of two Ah? Perhaps a case of overzealous marketing departments, where 2000 makes much better press than 2? I can see the point where we replace 0.002 with 2, but turning 2 into 2000??? Dave Halliwell Any similarity to opinions held by any employers, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
pastor@PRC.Unisys.COM (Jon Pastor) (01/09/91)
A propos the T1000SE's battery, I was unable to find out from the manual
whether it hurts to keep the machine plugged in even if it doesn't "need" it.
Does their charger go into some kind of trickle mode when the battery is
topped off, and is this wholesome for the batteries for, say, a couple of
days? I am aware that the best way to keep NiCd batteries happy is to
discharge them fully and then charge up, but does keeping them on trickle do
them any serious harm.
Also, I have been thinking of getting a memory upgrade (2MB, if possible).
Does anyone have any advice about second-sourced memory, and does anyone
know how much of a hit I'll take in terms of battery life if I use the extra
memory as hardRAM? Also, does anybody have any experience with external
disk drives, either Toshiba's or anyone else's? Is there a HDD that can be
plugged in, or is the FDD slot really only a FDD slot (i.e., is the
controller in the T1000SE, or in the drive)?
Thanks in advance.
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Jon Pastor pastor@prc.unisys.com
Unisys Corporation ..!{psuvax1,sdcrdcf,cbmvax,bpa}!burdvax!pastor
PO Box 517, Paoli PA 19301 215-648-2769 (o)