FIC M296 - Manual (Page 116)

Hardware Functional Overview
The pointing device subsystem consists of the built-in Synaptics touch pad pointing device
module on the system top cover assembly and a pre-programmed Mitsubishi 38869M8 micro-
controller that interfaces the mouse device to the Motherboard. The touch pad module is
connected to battery board through a 6-pin FPC cable. An external PS/2 port also supports the
use of an external PS/2 compatible mouse where the system automatically detects on system
power up and runs both internal and external mouse simultaneously.
The Synaptic touch pad, a pointing device for personal computers, detects the position of a
finger over a touch-sensitive area. To move the cursor, the user lightly slides a finger over the
smooth sensor area. To ‘click’, the user gently taps on the surface.
The ultra-thin module is the thinnest PCB based touchpad available today. It is a capacitive
sensor - the finger is detected by measuring its effect on an array of capacitive lines integrated
into the PC board. The pad senses both the finger’s position and its contact area (X, Y, and
Z). The area of contact is a measure of applied pressure. One side of the module PC board is
the sensor surface; electronic components are mounted on the other side. The sensitive area is
protected by a layer of smooth and durable mylar.
The Synaptic touch pad communicates with the host via a standard PS/2 mouse or trackball
interface. It is fully compatible with the standard Microsoft mouse driver. The module
connector includes the PS/2 signal pins, power supply pins and two connections for external
button switches.
The Synaptic touch pad includes a special “edge-motion” feature that allows the user to
extend a drag operation when the finger reaches the edge of the sensor pad. The cursor
continues to coast in the indicated direction when the finger is held against the edge.
4.14 Disk Drives Subsystem
The disk drives subsystem, implemented on the Motherboard and on the associated internal
hard disk drive assembly and device bay, provides disk storage for all system software and
user files.
The notebook is equipped with high capacity hard disk drive using Enhanced IDE controller
with LBA (Logical Block Addressing) and Ultra DMA mode support.
The SiS 692L controller chip provides the Primary IDE controller for the internal hard disk,
and the Secondary Master for the CD-ROM.
The floppy disk drive supports standard 3.5-inch 720KB and 1.44MB mini-diskettes while
adding support for 1.2MB (3 Mode) mini-diskettes for Japanese market.
The notebook uses the 24X-speed IDE CD-ROM Drive that reads digital data stored on CD-
ROM at 24 times faster rotational speed. The CD-ROM drive supports CD-DA transfer over
ATAPI function that the host system can read CD audio data. The drive also supports Photo-
CD Multi-session disc compatibility and Multimedia PC-3 specification compatibility. The
notebook also could use the 8X+ speed IDE DVD-ROM Drive that reads DVD digital data
stored on DVD-ROM at 8 times faster rotational speed.
FIC M295 / M296 Service Manual
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