Article ID: 4

 

Added: January 11, 2008

Categories: General, Miscellaneous

 

 

Short Description

 

"Is there an easy method to view detailed battery info?"

"Is there a way to exercise my braille display?"

"How can I calibrate my battery?"

These are some of the questions that existing users, as well as some potential users asked on Braillenote List, discussed over the phone or email with HumanWare Tech Support and the author of this website frequently encounters. There is no easy answer to these questions unless the user of the BrailleNote family of products came across a hidden item under Options Menu: Support Information Mode.

 

 

What is Support Information Mode?

Generally speaking, Support Information Mode combines features of a battery monitor and diagnostic features of computers. Not only does this "console" report battery status such as temperature and exact charging status, it also provides diagnostic functions such as braille display test, battery recalibration and battery isolation. Support Information Mode is also useful for viewing memory information such as amount of RAM the running programs are using.

 

 

How do I access it?

 

To access Support Information Mode, at any point in Keysoft, press SPACE with O (FN+O on QT) for Options Menu followed by SPACE with I (Read+I on QT). BrailleNote says, "Support Information Mode." To exit out of this mode, just press SPACE with E (ESC) twice.

 

Support Information Mode uses commands A through Z to report status information. Just press the letter of the information you want to view and BrailleNote reports what it is doing. Here is the list of commands for Support Info Mode.

 

 

List of Commands and Their Explanations in Support Information Mode

 

 

Battery Accuracy (A)

 

This command is used to find out whether battery gauge reading is accurate. Typically, if the gauge meter is accurate, Keysoft says, "Gauge is accurate" with standard error of 2 percent. If the gauge meter becomes inaccurate, BrailleNote says, "Gauge is inaccurate" with greater error percentage e.g. 10 percent. This is a good indicator of whether a user should perform battery recalibration or not (see below).

 

 

Battery Charging Status (B)

 

This command reports the charging time since AC adapter was plugged in. Typically, it says, "Battery was charged since Keysoft started." It may vary depending on when you connected the AC power adapter (in this case, it reports the amount of time the battery was charging), whether you reset the unit while AC was connected (where it reports the battery charging time since Braillenote was reset) or if you pressed Reset while AC power was disconnected (where BrailleNote says, "No information about last charge is available")).

 

 

Available Charge Remainder (C)

 

This command reports available battery charge in milliamps. Usually, the number increases as BrailleNote is charged and decreases when running on battery. Typically, it says, "Nominal available charge: 1200." A higher number means that the battery has greater charge.

 

 

Last Measured Discharge (D)

 

This command reports the last discharge - the full battery power at 100 percent - in milliamps. Usually, it decreases as the battery ages. A typical report is, "Last measured discharge, 1500; designed capacity: 1650."

 

 

Discharge Action Reminder (E)

 

This command reminds you what Braillenote will "do" if the battery voltage reaches certain level.

 

The next few commands (F and G) are skipped and grouped under a separate section named "recalibrating the battery."

 

 

Hibernation Mode (H)

 

This "Hibernation Mode" means that, the next time you switch off your Braillenote, it will enter "deep sleep mode" - where it will not respond to anything except Service Reset (Reset with Record button). This is useful for putting Braillenote for storage for awhile. To exit out of Hibernation Mode, press Reset with Record buttons to perform Service Reset. When Keysoft starts, it will ask you for date and time (refer to "Setting Date and Time" for more information). The Hibernation Mode can be started from Support Information Mode by pressing H. Keysoft says, "Do you want to put your unit in deep sleep mode?" If you want to proceed, press Y. Braillenote then gives you the warning message about deletion of RAM content (KeySoft System Disk) and, when you power off your BrailleNote, it will enter Deep Sleep Mode.

 

 

Charge/discharge Cycle Count (I)

 

This command reports the battery charge/discharge cycle. One cycle equals discharging the battery to about 50 percent then recharging it.

 

 

Power Output (J)

 

This handy command reports the current power output. The greater the number, more power is used. A positive number means that the Braillenote is being charged. A negative number means that the BrailleNote is being discharged. A typical report, while the BrailleNote is being charged, says, "Average Current (the average power output): 855 milliamps; instantaneous current (available output): 860 milliamps." While the battery is discharged, the report reads, "Average current: -88 milliamps; instantaneous current: -98 milliamps." When the battery is in "trickle charging" mode where the battery will experience equilibrium (the battery will appear to be in charging mode but the battery is discharging at the same time), the power output number will be at or close to zero.

 

 

Last Discharge (L)

 

Similar to "B" command, this reports the last discharge time.

 

 

Battery Isolation (M)

 

This command simply turns off the battery compartment so that the Braillenote can use AC power only. When you exit Support Info Mode, battery isolation is turned off, thereby starting the battery compartment.

 

 

Power status (P)

 

This command reports current battery power in percentage. Similar to Power and Battery Status command under Options Menu (Options Menu, then P). In certain situations, it says, "the battery gauge is not accurate enough to give a percentage reading." This means that a user should perform battery recalibration to update the gauge meter.

 

 

Charge/discharge Status (S)

 

This command reports the status of the AC connection. If the AC power is connected, Braillenote reports, "fast charging." If it has finished charging, Keysoft says, "Trickle charging." If the Braillenote is running on battery, it says, "discharging."

 

 

Battery Temperature (T)

 

This handy command reports the temperature of the battery. A typical report says, "The battery temperature is 32 degrees C (C stands for Celsius)." This is an approximate measurement - it may change depending on room temperature and other factors. Warning: charging the battery at extreme temperatures (usually over 45 degrees Celsius/113 degrees Fahrenheit will damage the battery. If the temperature reaches 45 degrees Celsius, disconnect the AC power for about five minutes and reconnect the adapter to BrailleNote.

 

 

Battery Voltage (V)

 

This command reports current estimated battery voltage. The voltage reading decreases as battery discharges. Usually, the report reads, "Battery voltage: 7.7 volts."

Note on important voltage readings:

• 8 Volts: this is usually obtained after disconnecting the AC power for about ten minutes or so.
• 7 volts: when the voltage reading reaches this stage, the current battery gauge reading is discarded and the gauge meter is updated based on current battery charge (see Command A for more information).
• 6.85 volts: at this point, Braillenote's battery monitor reports battery critical message.
• 6.5 plus or minus 0.005 volts: at this moment, Braillenote will switch itself off and can only be powered by AC power to recharge its battery.

 

 

Braille Display Exercise (X)

 

This useful diagnostic command allows a BrailleNote user (with a braille display) to check to see if there are "errors" - problems with the pins - with the braille display.

 

To enable this mode, go to Options Menu/Support Information Mode, then press "x" (as in e"x"ercise). The braille display should display random characters. To speed up the display, press Next thumb key; to speed it down, press Previous thumb key; to pause it, press ENTER.

 

In addition to diagnosing display problems, this mode allows a user to "clean" the braille display. This can be achieved by pressing ENTER when all the dots are up on the whole display. Wipe the display with a soft damp cloth. Press ENTER. The display should go blank. As soon as the display goes blank, press ENTER. Wipe the display with the damp cloth again. When you are done, press ENTER. As soon as the whole display comes up, press ENTER again. This time, wipe the display with a dry cloth. When you are done, press ENTER to allow the display to resume its normal ups and downs. To exit this exercise, press SPACE with E (ESC on QT) to exit to Support Info Mode, then press SPACE with E (ESC) twice.

 

 

How can I recalibrate my battery?

 

Recalibration, as explained earlier, is the process of full charge, complete discharge and full charge for Braillenote. How can a user perform this? There are numerous ways to recalibrate it. One simple method is to do the following:

• First, charge the Braillenote to full capacity - that is, until it reaches 100%.
• Disconnect the AC adapter and use the BrailleNote until it turns itself off (usualy for about 10 to 15 hours). Note: you should ignore "battery is critical" warning.
• Connect the AC adapter to fully charge the BrailleNote (tpically two to three hours).

When should you do this? Recalibration is recommended at least once a month. This is useful for updating the gauge monitor, thereby allowing the gauge chip on the BrailleNote to "learn" its current true capacity.

If you are not comfortable about doing this by yourself, Braillenote can assist you in this matter: using calibration commands as discussed later. All you need to do is go to Support Information mode (SPACE with I/Read+I from Options menu) then use one of the following commands to perform recalibration. Please note that, for the mPower, you need to have the AC adapter connected. On the Classic, as soon as recalibration starts, you can disconnect the AC power; be sure to connect once the BrailleNote turns itself off. This is not necessary on the mPower, as AC power will kick in once BrailleNote's battery goes flat.

 

Here are the commands:

 

Normal recalibration (F/R)

 

Depending on the unit, there are two commands for performing normal recalibration:

 

On the Classic: when you press "F" from Support Information Mode, it performs the battery recalibration (sometimes called battery test or cycle). Please note that, upon starting the battery test, disconnect the AC adapter.

To do this: go to Options Menu (SPACE with O/FN+O on QT)/Support Information Mode (SPACE with I/Read+I), then press F. BrailleNote says, "I'm talking until my battery goes flat ..." and more (it will talk for about 20 plus hours before it shuts down). When the BrailleNote turns itself off, connect the AC power. BrailleNote says, "Battery test completed."

 

On the mPower: At the Support Information Mode, press "R" to start normal recalibration. Please note that you must have the AC adapter connected.

Connect the AC adapter and follow the same procedure as Classic, except substitute "R" for "F". In this case, when the BrailleNote completely discharges, the AC adapter will automatically charge the BrailleNote.

 

In rare cases, if the BrailleNote calculates that the battery was not updated very well, a second cycle would occur. This is rare (around 0.1 percent).

 

The next few commands apply only to BrailleNote mPower:

 

Recalibration with Logs on Flash and Keysoft System Disk (F/G)

 

The "F" command is same as "R" command, except that a log of this test will be created on the "none" (root) folder of Flash Disk called "(serial number) battery cycle (number).txt" where "serial number" is the serial number of the unit and "number" indicates current cycle number (usually 1).

 

The "G" command: This is same as "F" command except that the log will be saved in "none" (root) folder of the Keysoft System Disk.

 

 

Recalibration with Special Conditions (K, W, Y)

 

The next three commands (K, W, Y) are essentially same as "R" command, except that special conditions are applied:

 

• K (Forming Charge): this command discharges the BrailleNote, then charges in a slow rate (like trickle charging mode) over a period of time (according to a programmer at Humanware, it charges for around 16 hours).
• W (Deep Discharge): this command discharges the battery down to 6 volts, the minimum voltage required to power the BrailleNote (this is 0.5 volts lower than standard "shutdown" voltage).
• Y (Continuous Cycle): this command, when performed, continuously discharges and charges BrailleNote's battery; useful to find out characteristics of a battery from the factory.

 

The next three commands are not recommended for general use:

 

Partial Charge/Discharge Test (Z)

 

Similar to "Y" command except that the battery will be discharged to a set percentage (around 80 percent, according to a programmer at Humanware) then the battery will be charged. This is used to see the amount of time it takes for a partially discharged BrailleNote to charge back to full capacity.

 

Technically, the alphabetical list of commands ends here. But there is one more command, suitable for troubleshooting memory issues:

 

 

Memory Information (SPACE with I/Read+I)

 

This handy command reports the current memory usage. In Keysoft 7.2 or earlier, the memory usage was reported in number of kilobytes. A typical report, for a BrailleNote mPower running Keysoft 7.2, is as follows:

Program memory: Used: 8000K; allocated: 32064K.

Storage Memory: Used: 1200K; allocated: 32064K.

Total RAM: 64128K.

 

Starting with Keysoft 7.5, the battery usage is reported in percentages:

 

Virtual memory free: 40 percent; Physical memory free: 75 percent; Keysoft System Disk free: 90 percent. Total physical memory: 32064K; Keysoft System Disk size: 31992K.

 

Memory types such as virtual memory and physical memory are explained in "Memory Types: virtual, physical and storage" article.

 

This is the detailed tour of the Support Information Mode. Details are found in the User Guide and on Joseph Lee's podcast on Support Information Mode.

 

Added: January 11, 2008