SOFTPAQ NUMBER:  SP18449
PART NUMBER:  N/A
FILE NAME:  N/A
TITLE:  Armada Notebook Hard Drive Firmware Upgrade for Specific Hitachi Drives
VERSION:  A0H1
LANGUAGE:  English

CATEGORY:  ROMPaqs

DIVISIONS:  Portables

PRODUCTS AFFECTED: Compaq Armada M300 Series, Armada M700 Series, 
                          Armada E500 Series, Armada E700 Series

OPERATING SYSTEM:  N/A

SYSTEM CONFIGURATION: Hitachi hard drive models DK23AA-12, DK23AA-60, and DK23AA-51

PREREQUISITES:  Hitachi hard drive with firmware revision A0H0

EFFECTIVE DATE:  July 25, 2001

ELECTRONIC DISTRIBUTION ALLOWED:  Yes

SOFTPAQ UTILITY VERSION:  5.x
        
SUPERSEDES:  N/A

DESCRIPTION:  Creates a bootable firmware upgrade diskette to upgrade the hard drive 
firmware in the Armada models listed above containing the Hitachi hard drive models 
listed above.

IMPORTANT:
 - This upgrade must be run from the bootable diskette. It will not work 
   when run from a protected mode DOS prompt.
 - The firmware update will only be performed on the Hitachi drive models listed above.
   It will not be performed on any other model of Hitachi drive, or any other hard 
   drive from a different manufacturer.
 - A complete power cycle is necessary before the upgrade takes affect.

Enhancements/Fixes:
 - Resolves potential slow performance or failure of Armada notebook to recognize hard 
   drive after displaying the following error message:
    "Fixed Disk Parameter Table or BIOS Error, System Halted"

HOW TO USE:

      NOTE: This upgrade procedure requires a blank, formatted diskette.

1. Download the SoftPaq to a temporary directory on your hard drive and change    
   to that directory.  The file that is downloaded is an executable with 
   a filename based on the SoftPaq Number above.

2. Put a blank 1.44-MB diskette in drive A.

3. Run SP18449.EXE to create a bootable diskette containing all files
   necessary to perform the upgrade.

4. Make sure AC power is attached and restart the notebook, allowing it
   to boot from the diskette.  Follow the on-screen instructions.

5. When the firmware upgrade is completed, turn the notebook off. Take
   the diskette out of the floppy drive and turn the unit on.

6. After the upgrade is successful, you may delete the temporary files 
   downloaded in step 1.


Copyright 2001, Compaq Computer Corporation. All rights reserved.

Product names mentioned herein may be trademarks and/or registered
trademarks of their respective companies.