HPLX.NET FAQ: THE
FAQ
The OFFICIAL distribution of the 200LX FAQ. This latest
version was last updated December 22, 1998.
This version of the FAQ (c) 1998. Please obtain permission
before copying and/or modifying it.
For the text-only version, visit http://www.hplx.net/faq.txt
1. Contents
- Contents
- How to get this FAQ
- Disclaimer
- Basics -- What are these HP Palmtops,
anyway?
- Memory considerations-- from 1MB to 64MB
- Hardware and physical characteristics
- DOS compatibility
- Built-in Software
- Add-on software
- Programming the 200LX
- Modems & Telecommunications
- Connectivity to desktop computers and other
devices
- PCMCIA Cards
- Batteries, Battery life, AC adapters, etc.
- Obscure undocumented tips, tricks, and
trivia
- Common problems
- For more info
- Copyright Info
- Acknowledgements
2. How to get this FAQ
This particular faq is posted at http://www.hplx.net/faq.html.
3. Disclaimer
This FAQ is the work of unpaid volunteers. It does not represent the
official
position of anybody, much less anybody's employer. It is likely
to be filled with errors. Mentioning a product or business does
not constitute any sort of endorsement unless we say so. If you
act on any information in this file, any damages you suffer are
just your tough luck. We will go so far as to say you should NEVER
listen to us under ANY circumstances. If you're wise, you will LEAVE
NOW.
This is not intended as a substitute for the 200LX manual.
There are many more useful tidbits located in the manual than
will ever be in this file, and the manual is likely to be more
accurate.
4. Basics -- What are these HP Palmtops,
anyway?
[Editor's note: the information pertaining to the 100LX is
left in here because some people might still be interested in the
details, or in buying a used palmtop. Though it is probably
accurate, it is not being updated because of the lack of
availability of 100LX palmtops...]
Q. What is the HP100LX?
Depending on your point of view, it's either an IBM PC-XT stuffed
into a very tiny case with some Personal Information Management
(PIM) software and Lotus 1-2-3 built into ROM, or it's a high-end
electronic organizer that also runs MS-DOS software.
Q. What is the HP200LX?
It's the successor to the 100LX. It's essentially a 100LX with
cosmetic changes and the addition of Pocket Quicken, LapLink
Remote, and some feature enhancements for the PIM applications in
the ROM.
Q. What is the HP Omnigo 700LX?
It's basically a somewhat faster 200LX with a docking cradle for
a Nokia GSM cellular phone, some LEDs on the front, and some
extra built-in communications software. It is only available in
Europe and Asia/Pacific, where the GSM standard is, well,
standardized. This product has been discontinued by HP and is no
longer sold. If you can get a used one, it's possible to use it
in the US if you live in an area where GSM coverage is offered
(i.e. California, Nevada, etc.) if you get a compatible phone.
The Nokia 2190 fits the OmniGo 700LX's cradle and works in the
US, for example.
Q. Why would I want an outdated DOS palmtop when I could get a
modern Windows CE machine?
The 200LX may be a few years old, but it is a far better
computing device than any Windows CE machine. A few of its
strengths:
- Battery life (up to 2 months on a single pair of batteries)
- DOS compatibility (can run millions of programs written for
desktop computers)
- High-resolution screen (fully CGA compatible, 640x200 [33%
wider than most WinCE units])
- Better keyboard (separate numeric keypad; nice solid feel with
good tactile feedback)
- Better PIM apps (built-in apps are unsurpassed for quality and
ease of use)
- Pocket Quicken built in (keep track of your finances without
spending any extra money for the financial software)
- Better expansion support (see flash cards and other memory
expansions as a drive, not just a folder)
Q. Why would I want an outdated DOS palmtop when I can get a
sleek PalmPilot or Palm III?
The PalmPilot series is made for a completely different purpose
than the 200LX. The 200LX is essentially a full-blown computer
that fits in your pocket, and doubles as an organizer. The
PalmPilot series are meant to be organizers and to help connect
with desktop computers. Both platforms have their strengths and
weaknesses, but for real computing in the palm of your hand, the
200LX is the only choice.
Q. Why would I get an outdated DOS palmtop when I can get a
Toshiba Libretto / IBM PC110 that runs Windows 95 and Linux and
everything?
There are several advantages to the 200LX, chiefly longer battery
life, instant-on, smaller size, and excellent software. In the
end, it comes down to how important size and convenience are for
you.
Q. What's the difference between the 100LX and the 200LX?
- Pocket Quicken from Intuit has been added to the 200LX. This is
a limited version of the Quicken financial management software
sold for MS-DOS and Windows. It does not use the same file format
as Quicken for DOS or Windows, but if you buy the 200LX
connectivity kit, you can share data with the full DOS or Windows
version of Quicken (Windows version through 3.0). Pocket Quicken
Connect, if you can find it, will allow you to share data with
newer versions of Windows Quicken. (Like the 100LX, the 200LX can
also run the full version of Quicken for DOS, which is more
powerful but not as convenient to access.)
- The DataComm application is faster in the 200LX. It can pretty
much keep up with a 9600 or 14.4 modem. The painfully slow
DataComm application was a notorious deficiency in the 100LX, so
this is a welcome fix.
- The case has changed color, from the black 100LX to a slate
grey color for the 200LX. The keyboard layout has changed
slightly, in order to give Pocket Quicken its own dedicated key.
The labels on the keycaps have a slightly different, italic, look
to them.
- The default topcard (picture displayed when the machine is
turned on, and the system manager is running, but no apps are yet
activated) looks different.
- There is an extra megabyte of ROM (3MB in the 200LX, vs 2MB in
the 100LX). This is how they managed to add the new built-in
software to the 200LX without deleting any of the old 100LX
features.
- There is a power-on "global" password feature.
- Some extra goodies have been added to the d:\bin drive (in
ROM). Hearts & Bones and Lair of the Squid are two games that
are included. A hexadecimal calculator is also included.
- LapLink Remote has replaced the redirector for use with the
connectivity pack.
- The appointment manager has a daily pop-up message reminding
users of "to do's" and appointments.
- The on-line help has been improved.
- The phonebook can present phone and address details in
"business-card" or the 100LX-style "form"
format.
- Support for flash cards is improved.
- Hardware is much more easily upgradable.
Q. What is the same between the 100LX and the 200LX?
Most things. Hardware is virtually identical, including size,
batteries, AC adapter, serial port, PCMCIA port, display,
keyboard (except very minor changes to keyboard layout, and
cosmetic changes to the labels on the keycaps), processor, RAM,
availability of versions, etc. DOS compatibility is unchanged;
both machines use MS-DOS 5.0 and CGA. Lotus is the same. All the
same PIM apps are included, and they can share data between the
100LX and 200LX, but the 200LX versions have a few enhancements
here and there. Most software written for the 100LX will run on
the 200LX. All vanilla DOS software should run exactly the same.
Most 100LX-specific software will probably run the same. One user
reported that "about half" of the features of 100Buddy
worked unchanged. 100Buddy is probably the most 100LX-specific
(least portable) software available for the HP. (However, since
200Buddy has been out for years now, and is now on version 3.0,
this is not really a problem.)
Q. What's the difference between the HP-100/200LX and HP-95LX?
The short answer is that the HP-100/200LX is faster, has better
and more powerful software, better MS-DOS compatibility (full CGA
compatiblity), fully standard serial port with hardware
handshaking, longer battery life, and has a PCMCIA Release 2.0
slot.
- Q. Where's the best place to buy a 200LX? A RAM Card?
- At this point, it seems the best place is Thaddeus Computing
and the PalmtopPaper site. Most national office-supply
stores have discontinued selling the 200LX in favor of
the PalmPilot or Windows CE machines. There are
other Internet mail-order vendors as well, such as Shier Systems and Software.
- HP has discontinued the 1MB version of the 200LX, having
come out with a 4MB version and lowering prices. Of
course, actual selling prices vary, and they change too
quickly to report in this FAQ.
- When pricing memory cards, be aware that some
manufacturers package disk compression software with
their cards, and some of these may advertise a 5MB card
with compression software as a "10 MB" card.
(or "10 MB compressed", or "Up to
10MB", etc.) Quoted disk compression numbers tend to
be optimistic, especially if you're storing executables
or compressed files. Be sure you do an "apples to
apples" price comparison between different vendors.
- Q. How can I upgrade my 100LX to a 200LX?
- Essentially, the only way to do this would be to buy a
200LX and swap the motherboard and keyboard. It would be
rather pointless to do so, of course. Some companies may
offer a trade-in on a newer palmtop. Thaddeus
Computing buys used palmtops, or try selling your 100LX
privately.
- Q. What upgrades are available for the 200LX?
- Currently, there is a 4MB RAM upgrade (taking you to 5 or
6MB) and a double-speed (31MHz) clock crystal upgrade.
There is also an 8MB upgrade (taking you to 8MB total), a
32MB upgrade, and a 64MB upgrade. There is no commercial
backlight upgrade available (yet!) although there are
some individuals working on it. There are several
home-upgrades you can do, including installing an
external speaker jack. There are larger memory
upgrades in the works, along with more exotic upgrades
that have not yet been announced to the public.
5. Memory considerations-- from 1MB to 32MB
- Q. HP sells a 2MB and 4MB unit. Is the 4MB model
worth the extra money over the 2MB Model?
- The only difference is the extra two megabytes of
internal "disk" storage on the C: drive. It may
be cheaper to buy the 2MB model and invest the difference
in a bigger PCMCIA flash or SRAM card, or to buy a
third-party internal upgrade. But if you want to keep the
PCMCIA slot open for a PCMCIA modem or other device,
you're stuck with internal storage only, and the extra
memory may be worth the money. Given the relative ease of
upgrading the memory on the 200LX these days, it is
probably a good idea to go for the 2MB version
anyway. If you opt to go with the 4MB version and
later decide you want to upgrade to 6MB, 8MB, 32MB, or
64MB, you'll end up losing 2MB (though some companies may
offer a small trade-in).
- Q. Does the 2MB (4MB, 6MB, 8MB, 32MB, 64MB) HP200LX have
more system memory?
- No, all models of the HP200LX are MS-DOS machines which
are inherently limited to only 640KB of system RAM. But
several EMS (not XMS or high memory) drivers have been
written; EMM200 is freeware and takes a lot of work to
configure for anything other than a 1MB or 2MB 200LX,
while Times2 Tech has a better EMM driver called TREMM
that works with all the memory upgrades.
- Q. How do I upgrade the memory on a 200LX?
- If you want to do it yourself, you have only one option
these days: Times2 Tech offers third-party memory
upgrades (through their dealers) which will take you from
1MB or 2MB to 5MB (or 6MB on newer models). There is also
an upgrade from Times2Tech and authorized dealers that
will take you up to 8MB, 32MB, and 64MB. However,
these upgrades are considerably more complicated than the
5/6MB upgrade and can only be done by sending in your
palmtop for service. Note that any of these
upgrades will void your warranty from HP; however, the
third-party upgrades usually carry a warranty.
Recent policy changes may affect the availability of the
memory and speed upgrades in kit form.
6. Hardware and physical characteristics
- Q. How big is a 200LX?
- Approx 16cm x 8.5cm x 2.5cm (6.25" x 3.3" x
1") closed, or about the size of a checkbook, only
thicker. It has a clamshell-style case. The screen
occupies the upper half, with perhaps a half-inch border
on the sides and top and bottom.
- Q. So tiny! Can I touch-type on it? Is the screen too
small to read?
- Touch typing is quite a trick. The keys are much closer
together than normal adult human fingers. But the keys
have a positive click feel. Some people adapt quite well
to them, others despise the 200LX keyboard.
- The HP Palmtop Paper has published articles on methods to
use when typing on the keyboard. The information is also
contained in Thaddeus Computing's book, PC in Your
Pocket. Read these articles for assistance.
- Many users adapt very well to typing on the palmtop and
some have reported speeds of up to 70 words per minute.
It is easy to transpose characters and make small
mistakes on the palmtop, so you have to watch out for
that.
- If you really want to do a lot of typing on your 200LX
and are willing to sacrifice a little in the size
department, you can now hook up a Newton keyboard.
Shier Systems (http://www.shier.com) sells them for $129,
including the customized cable and all necessary
software.
- Note that the keyboard speed depends on how fast your
machine is running. Faster typing is possible on a
double-speed unit than a single-speed unit.
- Also note that the space bar and Enter keys on the 200LX
are susceptible to premature breaking if hit constantly
on one side of the key. Pressing these keys in the
center is critical if you want your keyboard to last.
- The screen is very sharp and contrasty, but your eyes
might not be. Try before you buy, especially if you have
trouble reading fine print in dim light. The print is
quite small in 80x25 mode, but you can use special key
combinations to zoom and pan around, displaying only a
portion of the screen, magnified, on the 200LX physical
screen. The screen does not have a backlight, and is
easiest to read in bright light. Check the 200LX Hardware
Hacking page for backlighting info when it becomes
available.
Though there is currently no commercial upgrade available
for backlighting, but there are numerous external
lighting sources. The most elegant may be a small
pocket light sold at Barnes and Noble
and also through the Palmtop
Network.
- Q. Where can I get a carrying case for a 200LX?
- For a cheap padded case, look for one designed for a
pocket 35mm camera, game machine, personal stereo, or
calculator. For a fancy executive-style leather case, see
ads in the Palmtop Paper. One case that the 200LX fits
quite nicely into is the nylon case for an HP 48G(X)
calculator.
7. DOS compatibility
- Q. Will it run <Random MS-DOS Software Package>?
- The 200LX will run just about anything that will run on
an IBM PC-XT with a CGA monitor. To give you an idea of
its compatibility, here's a partial output listing from
MSD.EXE, Microsoft's diagnostic tool. Note that, although
MSD seems to detect a bus mouse, parallel port, and game
adapter, there is no physical hardware for these devices.
This was run on a 1MB 100LX.
------------------- Summary Information-------------------
Computer: Phoenix/Phoenix, 80186
Memory: 636K
Video: CGA, Unknown
Network: No Network
OS Version: MS-DOS 5.00
Mouse: Bus Mouse
Other Adapters: Game Adapter
Disk Drives: A: B: C: D: E: F:
LPT Ports: 1
COM Ports: 1
----------------------- Computer--------------------------
Computer Name: Phoenix
BIOS Manufacturer: Phoenix
BIOS Version: Version 1.04 A
ROM BIOS Ver 2.14
BIOS Category: IBM PC/XT
BIOS ID Bytes: FB 00 04
BIOS Date: 08/19/93
Processor: 80186
Math Coprocessor: None
Keyboard: Non-Enhanced
Bus Type: ISA/XT/Classic Bus
DMA Controller: Yes
Cascaded IRQ: Yes
BIOS Data Segment: None
----------------------- Video -------------------------
Video Adapter Type: CGA
Manufacturer: Unknown
Model:
Display Type: CGA Monitor
Video Mode: 3
Number of Columns: 80
Number of Rows: 25
Video BIOS Version:
Video BIOS Date:
VESA Support Installed: No
Secondary Adapter: Hercules or Compatible
---------------------- OS Version -----------------------
Operating System: MS-DOS 5.00
Internal Revision: 00
OEM Serial Number: FFH
User Serial Number: 000000H
OEM Version String:
DOS Located in: ROM
Boot Drive: A:
-------------------- Disk Drives ---------------------
Drive Type Free Space Total Size
----- ------- ----------- ----------
[editor's note: PCMCIA card data removed]
C: RAM Disk 211K 346K
512 Bytes/Sector
D: RAM Disk 0K 501K
512 Bytes/Sector
[editor's note: D: is the ROM drive, containing built-in
software]
--------------------- COM Ports -----------------
COM1: COM2: COM3: COM4:
----- ----- ----- -----
Port Address 03F8H N/A N/A N/A
Baud Rate 57600
Parity None
Data Bits 8
Stop Bits 1
Carrier Detect (CD) Yes
Ring Indicator (RI) No
Data Set Ready (DSR) Yes
Clear To Send (CTS) Yes
UART Chip Used 8250
Q. Can I run Quicken for DOS on it?
Yes, users have reported success with DOS-based Quicken through
version 8 (most recent DOS Quicken version). Recent versions may
require more memory than is available under the system manager,
but it's easy enough to exit the system manager and run Quicken
directly from the DOS prompt, or run it in a separate Software
Carousel work area. The "disable filer" trick may allow
you to squeeze even the latest Quicken in under the system
manager.
Some kind of extra storage (flash or SRAM card) will undoubtedly
be necessary for recent versions of Quicken, especially for the
1MB 200LX.
Of course, Pocket Quicken is built in to the 200LX, and it's
available separately from Intuit for the 100LX. It's
System-Manager compliant, but some users still may prefer the
full feature set of DOS Quicken.
- Q. Can I run 4DOS on it?
- Yes, but the advantages mostly occur outside the system
manager. For swapping, usage of an EMM driver is
recommended. Unfortunately, if you call DOS from the
system manager, it will be the hard-wired
d:\dos\command.com.
- Q. Can it do Windows?
- Yes, but probably not the way you're thinking. For
Windows 3.1 or later, try an Omnibook or another larger
laptop. Windows 3.1 requires a 286 or better. Don't even
think about Windows 95. Windows 2.03 and 3.0 are
possible, and run quite well on the 200LX. Many users run
old Windows versions of Word and Excel on the palmtop.
- Q. Why don't Intersvr, LapLink, Procomm, etc. work?
- They do work, but not under the system manager. The
System Manager slows down the serial port. It can also
interfere with console I/O. If you're having trouble
running something under the System Manager, try exiting
completely (Menu- Application-Terminate all) and run the
program from raw DOS.
- If the program runs under raw DOS, you can probably get
it to run under the system manager by putting an inverted
exclamation point (keystroke Fn-Filer) into the comments
field of the Application Manager. This effectively
disables the System Manager and prevents switching to
another application while the current application is
running.
8. Built-in Software
- Q. What software is built into the 200LX ROM?
- MS-DOS 5.0, Lotus 1-2-3 release 2.4, an appointment
manager (capable of waking the 200LX up and sounding an
alarm or running a program even when the machine is
turned off), a calculator (similar to HP19B, capable of
algebraic or RPN), a text editor, a phone book, a
stopwatch/alarm clock, a world time database, a terminal
emulator (but the 100LX version is too slow to use above
1200 baud, you'll want a different communications program
for a fast modem), a general purpose database, a note
taker, a file manager, a keyboard macro editor, and
cc:Mail. Note that, although MS-DOS 5.0 is built into
ROM, not all of the external commands (e.g QBASIC.EXE,
EDIT.COM, ANSI.SYS) are included. These may be copied
from a PC running MS-DOS 5.0. (There has been concern
about this being illegal. People have come forward
stating that the license for DOS on the palmtop includes
all support files, and anothers state that it only covers
the included files. In any case, Microsoft probably isn't
going to come after you for copying files onto your
palmtop, but you never know. You have been warned.)
- The 200LX contains Pocket Quicken and LapLink Remote, in
addition to the above.
- Q. Does anybody actually use cc:Mail on the 200LX?
- cc:Mail on the 200LX requires that you have access to a
full cc:Mail Post Office set up for dial-up access, and
those don't seem to be very common. However, PALMTOP.COM
offers free dial-up access to a cc:Mail-Internet gateway.
People send you mail at username@palmtop.com and
you can call up and download it into cc:Mail. The
disadvantage is it's a long-distance phone call for most
people. Check their web site for further info.
- Qua!-LX
is now available. If you have shell access, and UQWK, you
can download QWK packets and convert your mail and news
into a cc:Mail format.
- Q. What is the System Manager?
- It's the core software under which all of the PIM
applications run. It allows multitasking (suspending one
application to run another), keyboard macros, data
transfer via a clipboard, and other nifty stuff. The
alarm clock and appointment manager will only wake up if
the system manager is active. Certain 3rd party
applications (*.EXM files) are "System Manager
Compliant". Applications which are not system
manager compliant can still be run, either by exiting the
system manager entirely, or by opening up a DOS shell
under the system manager.
- Q. How can I transfer data to/from the database manager?
- Read the manual on the smart clip feature, or use the
gdbio software (C source code included) available on
eddie to import/export in comma delimited format.
9. Add-on software
- Q. What's some good software?
- The HP200LX is an almost completely compatible MS-DOS
machine. Just about any MS-DOS software will work if it:
fits in available drive space, needs only what MS-DOS
system RAM is available, needs only CGA graphics, and
runs in Intel x86 real mode.
- Some HP-200LX specific software can be found at http://www.palmtop.net/super.html
- Q. What is 200Buddy?
- It's a shareware program which lets you do lots of neat
tricks, including make the filer automatically start an
application based on a file's extension (e.g. click a
.wk1 file to start 1-2-3), get a shifted value of a
character by simply double-clicking the character, get
battery voltage displayed in a status bar in the filer
screen, reprogram the blue application keys,
automatically capitalize letters in Memo, add password
protection to the 200LX (registered users only, and not
quite as useful as it was on the 100LX, but it does allow
you to display a personalized "owner
screen..."), display the world-time map with
nighttime areas shaded (also registered users only), and
lots of other shortcuts and tricks. The current version
is 3.0b.
Q. What is VR?
Vertical Reader, a shareware program for reading ASCII text files
while holding the 200LX with the hinge vertical, like a book. VR
has several attractive fonts available, and allows searching for
regular expressions. This shareware may be registered by merely
sending a postcard to the author, or by donating $10.00 to
Project Gutenberg, an organization which makes public-domain
documents and literature freely available in ASCII text form.
- Q. Can I use the 200LX as a remote control for my TV,
VCR, stereo?
- The shareware program REMCOM, originally developed for
the HP95LX, works on the 200LX and turns it into a
universal learning remote control, using the infrared
port. RC is a similar program which is also reported to
work. There may be other such programs developed for the
95LX which work on the 200LX. Unfortunately, the 200LX
has a fairly weak IR transmitter (weaker than the 95LX),
so the range may be only a meter or two, less than the
typical distance from couch to TV.
- Q. What is Software Carousel?
- It's a commercial application, completely redesigned for
the 200LX, which allows task switching between DOS
applications. It's kind of like cramming several
200LX's into one machine, each of which can be custom
configured to run different programs, and switched
between. Sold at The
Palmtop Paper Site.
- Q. Can I use the 200LX as a phone dialer?
- The HP95LX had a D/A converter that could drive the
speaker and produce touch tones fairly easily; sadly,
this feature was dropped in the 100/200LX. That converter
is instead used to monitor battery charging.
- However, there is a program, called ATDT, which uses some
fancy tricks to get touch tones out of a standard PC-AT.
It does work on the 200LX, and it's available on
eddie.mit.edu in the hp95lx/unknown directory
(ATDT01.ZIP). It is not integrated with the phone book
application, it requires the video mode be set up
different from standard (see the readme), and, depending
on the phone you use it with, the 200LX speaker may not
produce sufficient volume to reliably dial.
- There is also a program called TT available, with source
code, on eddie.mit.edu. TT comes ready-to-use, but if you
have a C compiler and know how to use it, you can modify
TT and integrate it into other programs. Like ATDT, TT
suffers from the limitations of the volume output from
the 200LX speaker, and your success with it depends on
your patience, the sensitivity of your telephone's
microphone, and the placement of the 200LX speaker near
the microphone.
- Q. Is there an EMS driver?
- Yes, EMM200, available at S.U.P.E.R. It uses a paging
file on C: and supports EMS 4.0 almost completely. There
are also other drivers, such as Times2 Tech's TREMM,
which is only available to Times2 Tech customers and
works with all memory upgrades. (EMM200 may need a little
tweaking to work with the newer 2MB 200LX, and a LOT of
tweaking to work with anything beyond that.)
10. Programming the 200LX
- Q. What programming languages are available?
- Anything that'll run on a PC-XT, including various
flavors of assembly, C, C++, Pascal, Basic, etc.
QBASIC.EXE is not included, but will run if it's copied
from a MS-DOS 5.0 machine. Turbo C++ 1.0 works quite
well, as do Turbo Pascal and Turbo Assembler. (Turbo
Assembler 5.0, the latest version, even runs on the
palmtop-- although the linker requires a 286+, so you'll
need a different linker...)
- There are several ways to write "programs" with
software in the 200LX ROM, depending on your definition
of a program. You have the keyboard macro application,
Lotus 1-2-3, the calculator's solver application (finds
roots of equations, among other things), DEBUG.EXE (from
DOS), and the DOS batch file interpreter. The
calculator's solver application can be used with Lotus to
"backsolve", that is, adjust the value of one
independent cell of a spreadsheet to produce a desired
result in another, calculated, cell.
- Q. How can I get information on programming the internals
of the HP?
- Thaddeus Computing sells the SDK for $79.00, which
includes a manual and software you'll need. You'll also
need a C-compiler and an assembler. The examples and
software are set up to use Microsoft C 6.0 and MASM.
- The SDK software and manuals are also available on
Thaddeus's CD Infobase, which sells for $99.00.
- There is a free version of the SDK info available at the HPLX Unplugged site,
called LXREF. This version runs on the 200LX or
desktop as a DOS app.
- The new HP Palmtop Paper CD Infobase 1999 will include an
HTML version of the SDK as well.
- The PAL library is also available. These are C routines
designed to allow you to emulate the "look and
feel" of built-in and System Manager compliant
applications on DOS programs. You then don't need the SDK
or to learn how to program the 200LX specifically. Also,
PAL provides many good features such as clipboard access.
- Many of the HP's interrupts are documented in the
interrupt list, maintained by Ralf Brown, available at ftp://oak.oakland.edu/pub/msdos/info/interNNx.zip
and elsewhere.
- Of course, if you only want to program the HP as a DOS
machine, without accessing any of the palmtop's unique
features, there are plenty of widely available books
giving details on DOS programming.
- If you need the file formats for the built-in
applications, gdbio (on eddie) has C source code which
should provide a good starting point.
- There were some articles in PDA Programmer's Journal that
were available on the specifics of System Manager and PAL
programming, as well as the database formats used in the
200LX. Look in the 1994-1995 issues.
11. Modems & Telecommunications
- Q. What's a good modem?
- Just about any pocket modem or 14.4 PCMCIA modem. A
full-sized external modem will work fine too, but of
course it's not as portable. Specific features such as
size, modulations and protocols supported, cellular phone
support, power drain, and others vary considerably.
Remember that, though your modem may be rated at a high
speed, you probably won't be able to get more than 14.4
out of your palmtop unless you have a double-speed
crystal. A good 28.8 PCMCIA modem with a
double-speed 200LX will do nearly 28.8. Remember to
test a PCMCIA modem before buying-- some use too much
power to work reliably in the 200LX.
- Q. Should I get a PCMCIA modem or an external one?
- Advantages to PCMCIA -- Cleaner cable setup, uses same
power supply as 200LX, smaller overall package, better
performance.
- Advantages to external -- allows use of RAM card and
modem simultaneously, doesn't drain 200LX batteries as
rapidly.
- While a pocket modem typically draws power from a battery
or from an AC power supply, a PCMCIA modem draws all
power from the palmtop. Most PCMCIA modems are designed
to work on larger machines with plenty of battery power
so most modems also consume as much or more power than
the HP200LX. This drain can occur whether the modem is in
use or not, consequently battery life is much shorter, as
little as 15 minutes. Use of an AC adapter is usually
recommended.
- Since there's only one PCMCIA slot, it can either hold a
modem or a SRAM/Flash card, but not both. So a PCMCIA
modem can only transfer data to and from the internal RAM
drive of the machine.
- Also, keep in mind that many 28.8 or faster modems will
draw too much power for the palmtop, causing it to shut
down immediately upon insertion. The PCMCIA slot can only
supply 150mA max, so make sure your modem will take less
than this. Most 14.4 modems will work.
- Q. What cable do I use for an external modem?
- The HP cable will work, but you'll have to use a gender
changer/null modem adapter. See the description of the
connectivity pack elsewhere in this FAQ. Or you can make
your own cable.
- Q. Why is my modem so slow?
- If you're using a 100LX and DataComm, it's probably the
DataComm application. The 200LX does not suffer
from the slow screen update bug on the built-in DataComm
application like the 100LX does.
- The reason the modem is slow is that the 200LX has only
an 8250 UART, so you can't go too fast (9600-14.4)
without getting errors. Double-speed palmtops with
PCMCIA modems (which have a built-in 16550 UART) will
work much faster.
- Q. How can I read Usenet and mail offline with the 200LX?
- There's almost nothing special about the 200LX in this
regard, it's just like any other DOS PC. Check out the
newsgroup alt.usenet.offline-reader.
Their FAQ may be found here.
- If you want to ask questions over there (AFTER reading
their FAQ), just tell them that your HP is an IBM PC-XT
compatible running DOS 5.0 with CGA.
- People have reported success using a UQWK/YARN
combination to transfer mail and news via SOUP.
- PNR, the Palmtop News Reader, is available specifically
for the 200LX, at The PNR
Site.
- WWW/LX Plus 2.0 will allow you to do news on and offline.
- Q. What's a good fax program?
- There are several good fax programs available that will
run on MS-DOS with CGA. Your modem may have come with
one. Users have reported success with the following, but
there are probably more.
- SSFAXER: Shareware on eddie.mit.edu. Must register in
order to receive faxes
- BGFAX: Available at ftp://ftp.csn.net/Computech
- There's a free demo package from TurboPower software that
contains a small toolkit for sending and receiving faxes.
Can send faxes from PCX, TIF, TXT formats. But fax viewer
software only supports VGA, hence viewer won't run on
palmtop. This package is actually a demo of their
Pascal/C++ communications toolkit. Available at ftp://rainbow.rmii.com/pub2/turbopower/faxdemo.exe
- ACEFAX: No longer available since ACE went out of
business.
- Q. What sort of program should I use to get on the
Internet?
- There are several options here. Any standard DOS
TSR PPP packet driver should work, and you can then run
any DOS Internet programs you want (such as Minuet).
- For those preferring a more palmtop-savvy solution, try Nettamer.
This shareware software does it all: WWW, e-mail, news,
etc. It has a palmtop-specific version.
- For the ultimate in 200LX Internet solutions, get WWW/LX
Plus 2.0 from D&A.
This software will allow you to browse the web, send and
receive e-mail, use newsgroups, ftp, and telnet.
It's not cheap ($89.95 at last check) but it's worth it.
12. Connectivity to desktop computers and
other devices
- Q. How do I connect the 200LX to a desktop PC?
- A connectivity pack is available for the 200LX (F1021B,
w/English docs, F1021C with multilingual docs). The 200LX
connectivity pack includes software to integrate Pocket
Quicken with Quicken for DOS or Windows, in addition to
updated versions of the software in the 100LX
connectivity pack. It generally runs about $129.
- A "software-only" version of the 200LX
connectivity pack is also available, for those users who
already have cables and such from a 100LX.
- Q. What if I don't want to buy the Connectivity Pack?
- If you don't want to buy the connectivity pack, you may
connect the palmtop and desktop with a serial cable and
use your choice of DOS connectivity software. The
interlnk/intersvr programs that come with DOS 6 work
fine.
- You may also take advantage of the built-in LapLink
Remote software in the ROM. A brief sketch of how
to do this:
- 1. Add the following line to your AUTOEXEC.BAT on the
palmtop before the "200" line.
- CALL D:\BIN\LLRAS.BAT
- Then reboot your palmtop.
- 2. Copy the following files from D:\BIN on the palmtop to
a directory on the PC (use the built-in Datacomm
application and a terminal emulator on the PC, or any
other method you choose.)
- LLRA.BAT
- LLRA1.EXE
- LLRA2.EXE
- LLRA3.EXE
- LLRA4.EXE
- TSI.INI
- 3. Edit the TSI.INI file on your PC as follows:
- In [general], change ComputerName= to something else
(such as desktop)
- In [Redirector], change Enabled= to Yes.
- 4. Edit the LLRA.BAT file on your PC, changing all file
paths from D:\BIN to the PC directory you copied them to
in step 2.
- 5. With the PC and palmtop connected via serial cable,
enter the AppMgr on the palmtop and start the LapLink
Remote Access program.
- 6. On the PC, change to the directory where you copied
the LapLink files, and type "LLRA". In a
few seconds you should hear beeps from both the palmtop
and the PC indicating that a connection has been made.
- 7. On the PC, type "LLRA /M" to display
the drive mapping.
- 8. To unload LapLink from the PC, type "LLRA
/U".
- Q. Where can I get just the HP200LX serial cable without
the Connectivity Kit?
- EduCALC, etc. HP sells it as part no. F1015A. The same
cable is used for HP's calculators (it comes with an
adapter to fit their serial connector), so check the
calculator section of a well-equipped store if you don't
see the cable near the HP200LX display.
- Q. Where do I get an adapter to use HP's serial cable
with a modem, serial printer, Sun workstation, etc.?
- HP sells a connector/adapter kit (HP F1023A). The HP
serial cable ends in a female DB9 connection with a null
modem, so it's ready to plug directly into the standard
DB9 serial connector found on most desktop PC's. The
adapter kit contains four adapters, which make the
COMBINATION of HP serial cable + adapter look like:
- 0) female DB9 with null modem (stock cable with no
adapter)
- 1) male DB25 with null modem (for serial printer)
- 2) male DB25 without null modem (for modem or other
devices)
- 3) female DB25 with null modem (for PC with DB25 serial
port)
- 4) male DB9 without null modem (for modem or anything
else you'd plug into your desktop's DB9 port).
- Try the serial printer adapter to connect to a Sun
workstation's DB25 port. Some other unix workstations are
reported to use MacIntosh-style serial ports, and the
MacIntosh serial cable will work with these. Similar
adapters should be available at any well equipped
computer/electronics store, or you can build your own.
The adapter kit comes with the connectivity pack.
- Q. What software can I use to transfer files if I don't
get the Connectivity Pack?
- You don't need anything beyond the software in ROM on the
200LX, as the datacom application supports xmodem,
ymodem, zmodem, and kermit. Zip (not the data compression
package), MS-Kermit, LapLink, Interlink, and other
software works fine. See the minimal-software-list.
- Q. Where can I get a compatible serial port connector?
- If you already have the HP cable, it comes with an
adapter to plug the 10-pin connector into a 4-pin HP95 or
HP48. One clever use of this adapter is use it as a mold
to make a "bump" on Digi-Key 10-pin connector
using 5-minute epoxy. This "bump" is not
essential, but it will help prevent you from inserting
the 10-pin connector upside-down.
- Q. How can I connect the 200LX to an Apple Macintosh?
- HP sells a serial cable to connect the 200LX directly to
a Mac; it's part #F1016A. This handles the physical link,
reducing the problem to "How can I get a Mac to talk
to a PC across a serial link?"
- DataViz
(1-800-733-0030) is a company which makes a product
called MacLink Plus/HP Palmtop, which handles file
transfers, and converts the HP200LX application's files
(memo, database, phonebook, etc.) to popular Mac formats
(Excel, MacWrite, Word, etc.). One current shortcoming is
that the "Notes" section of the 200LX
Database/Phonebook programs is not supported in the
Filemaker translation. But this is reportedly being
worked on.
- MacLink Plus works with all the HP Palmtops (95/100/200).
It includes the serial cable. File translations include:
- Memo to: MacWrite, MacWrite II, MS Word 4 & 5.x, MS
Works, Mac WP 2&3, WriteNow 2, RTF.
- Appt book to: Excel 2,3,4, Lotus WKS, MS Works SS 2,3,
SYLK, Comma Separated, Tab Separated, Tab Text
- Phone book to: Address Book Plus, Dynodex 2,3, Excel
2,3,4, Filemaker Pro, Lotus WKS, SYLK, Comma Separated,
Tab Separated, Tab Text
- Database to: FileMaker Pro, MS Works DB 2,3
- Palmtop Lotus to: Excel 2,3,4, Lotus WKS, Ms Works SS
2,3, SYLK, Comma separateed, Tab Seeparated, Tab Text.
- Among other places, it's available directly from DataViz
or from MacWarehouse (1-800-255-6227).
- The best answers to generic PC/Mac connectivity are
probably found outside this newsgroup (anyone know
where?), but here's a shot at some alternatives:
- Most any terminal program on the 200LX (including the
built-in DataComm) will handle simple file transfers via
kermit, xmodem, etc.
- MacLink Plus/PC is a commercial package made by DataViz
which is intended for use on any IBM-Compatible, and is
reported to work on the 200LX, and allow easy file
transfer. But see above for a customized HP version that
supports the HP apps.
- Q. Intersvr complains about the E: drive when I start it.
What can I do?
- This is a stacker/interlink incompatibility. You could
stop using stacker, but a less drastic solution is to get
a copy of SUBST.EXE from a PC with MS-DOS 5.0 and include
the statement "SUBST E: A:\somedir" in your
AUTOEXEC.BAT. "somedir" refers to any existing
directory on your A: drive.
- Q. Can I run the Connectivity Pack under Windows 95?
- Yes, but it's not for the faint of heart. Laplink
really doesn't like Windows 95. You can still run
the Connectivity Pack applications okay, but the actual
connectivity part suffers. Better to use the free
Transfile utility available on HP's site.
13. PCMCIA Cards
- Q. What's the difference between flash memory and SRAM?
- SRAM is fast, expensive, requires battery back-up,
doesn't take much power to use. Flash memory is cheaper
per megabyte, available in larger sizes, will hold data
forever without power, very slow for writing (on the
order of the speed of a floppy disk), requires
significant power for writing, and will eventually wear
out when written to many times (though some flash cards
have a lifetime guarantee, and nobody has yet posted that
their flash card wore out).
- Both technologies have plenty of satisfied users, but
most people prefer flash for the price and capacity.
- Q. Will <Random PCMCIA Card> work in a 200LX?
- Best answer: ask the vendor, and be sure you're allowed
to return it if it doesn't work. Most vendors will know
if their cards are compatible with a machine as common as
the 200LX.
- Longer answer: The 200LX PCMCIA slot is PCMCIA 2.0
compatible, and able to accept type I or type II cards.
It supplies 5 or 12 volts. It can supply up to 150mA of
current, and thus has trouble with certain cards which
attempt to draw high current. Most modems, SRAM cards,
and ATA (Sandisk-style) flash cards work fine. Most
ethernet adapters and GPS receivers draw too much current
to work. Intel-style flash cards (like the Newton uses)
are not supported, but see next question.
- Common confusion: PCMCIA _Type_ is always listed in roman
numerals, and refers _only_ to the thickness of the card.
PCMCIA _Release_ is listed in arabic numerals, and refers
to the version of the interface specification.
- If your card requires special drivers, it probably won't
work unless it's designed specifically for the 200LX. The
Card and Socket Services drivers are not the version most
special drivers require, and the controller in the 200LX
is not a standard Intel-compatible PCMCIA controller.
Therefore, unless someone hacks out a new driver, we're
stuck with cards that are designed for the 200LX.
Examples of cards that DON'T work with the 200LX: SCSI
cards, most network cards, sound cards, etc.
- If a card draws too much current to work in the 200LX,
using the AC adapter may allow you to keep the palmtop ON
while the card is in, but if the card draws much more
than 200mA it will shut off the unit anyway, and this
could cause hardware problems, so it's not a good idea.
- Q. How can I use a Newton flash card in a 200LX?
- This is not for the squeamish. HP does not support
Intel-style flash cards on the 200LX, so if you have any
problems making it work, you're pretty much out of luck.
- However, some users have reported varying degrees of
success with them. They require that you obtain
MS-FLASH.SYS for normal use, and MEMCARD.EXE is required
to format the card. These files are NOT public domain,
and not available at any ftp site. Some people have
reportedly pirated them from an Omnibook (probably
illegal). If anyone knows of an official way of obtaining
up-to-date versions of these files, please tell the
editor.
- At least one user has reported that there is some
incompatibility between the system manager (or at least
the database apps) and MS-FLASH.SYS, such that the flash
card could only be used in raw DOS mode outside of the
system manager. Other users have reported that
continually writing and moving files around on the card
slowly consumes small amounts of disk space, which can
only be recovered by backing the card up, reformatting,
and restoring.
- Note that this entire discussion is about Newton flash
cards, not Newton SRAM cards. Several posters have been
able to use Newton SRAM cards without difficulty.
- Q. Help! My PC Card modem won't work!
- To use a modem in your PCMCIA socket, you need to have
D:\BIN\CIC100 /GEN 1 loaded. (Or Stefan Peichl's
excellent replacement, LXCIC, which is available at SUPER. It is
then automatically configured as COM2.
- Q. How can I use a PCMCIA ethernet adapter?
- There is a special card (made by Silicom) that is
designed specifically for the 200LX. There are also
drivers available for Accton PCMCIA cards.
Ironically, the Silicom card is incompatible with the
double-speed palmtop, but the Accton cards will work in
either speed configuration.
- There are some third-party solutions that use less
memory, such as the CICFAKE utility available
commercially in Japan, or CIC200, available as
freeware. However, they do not work with all
modems.
- Most ethernet adapters draw more power than the palmtop
can provide. The Socket Communications ethernet adapter
is reported to work. The Xircom ethernet adapter is
reported to come close to working, though there are
problems getting the supplied drivers to work on the
200LX. This is related to the Card and Socket Services
problem.
- See the 200LX
Networking FAQ for further information.
- Q. Why would I want to use a PCMCIA ethernet adapter
anyway?
- Despite the small amount of storage, a palmtop network
diagnostic tool is very useful. There are several
programs which will run on the 200LX and provide a good
network diagnostic utility. Precision Guesswork
(www.guesswork.com) sells a bundled solution which
includes a 200LX, their LANWatch software, and a Silicom
card. There are plenty of other uses for ethernet
cards in the 200LX. See
usenet:comp.dcom.lans.ethernet for further information.
- Q. Should I turn off the 200LX when I insert/remove a
PCMCIA card?
- Short answer: Yes.
- Long answer: some sources say you cannot "hot
swap" cards in the 200LX, and should turn it
off. Others say it doesn't matter. Generally,
you can insert/remove a flash card without turning the
machine off, because they don't draw a tremendous amount
of power. Modems and ethernet cards, however, will
frequently draw so much power so suddenly upon insertion
that, if the palmtop is on, it will drop the unit into
"Backup Mode." Basically, this is the
same as rebooting. Kiss any files you had open and
unsaved goodbye. Therefore, it's probably a good
idea to turn it off before inserting the cards, at least.
14. Batteries, Battery life, AC adapters,
etc.
- Q. What batteries does it use? How long do they last?
- The 200LX uses 2 standard AA cells, either Alkaline or
NiCad. It also uses a miniature lithium
"button" battery for memory backup when the
main batteries fail. Battery lifetime varies a lot, based
on how much you use the machine, what kind of PCMCIA card
you use, how much you use the serial and IR ports, how
good your batteries are, etc. As a rough guess, several
users have reported needing to recharge their NiCad's
approximately once a week, when running it a few hours a
day with a flash card. Users have reported in excess of a
month of regular usage from fresh lithium AA cells, down
to an hour or less with a power-sucking PCMCIA modem and
NiCads. The HP manual claims that "for typical use
without the AC adapter, fresh Alkaline batteries should
last from 2 to 8 weeks. Rechargable batteries ... will
get less life ..." (p A-2 of 100LX manual).
- Although the manual only recommends alkaline or NiCads,
users have reported success with lithium AA cells.
Lithium cells have a much longer shelf life and running
life than alkalines. Setting the machine up for alkalines
works for lithiums. Others have cautioned that inserting
lithium cells backwards can permanently damage the
machine, and the discharge curve for lithiums is very
steep, leaving little time between the first "low
battery" warning and completely dead batteries.
- The 200LX can charge installed NiCads by simply plugging
in an AC adapter and selecting the option from the setup
application. No separate charger is needed.
- Rechargable alkaline or NiMH batteries can be used, just
like regular alkalines. However, to charge them, you must
take them out of the 200LX and put them in a charger
specially designed for rechargable alkalines or NiMH
batteries. (Note: newer NiMH batteries can be
recharged right in the palmtop, with the type set to
Nicad.)
- Q. Why won't my NiCad batteries hold a charge anymore?
- You probably use the AC adapter most of the time, and
have NiCad charging enabled. There's plenty of mythology,
folklore, and an occasional fact or two regarding NiCad
"memory effect", which won't be repeated here.
Suffice it to say that you can damage NiCad batteries by
repeatedly overcharging them when they're already
charged. The 200LX has two charge rates: for the first 6
hours after the adapter is plugged in, the batteries
charge at a high rate (100mA), then charging switches to
a low-current "trickle charge" (45mA). Each
time you plug in the adapter the cycle repeats. If you
plug the machine in each day at work, and again when you
get home, you can kill the batteries fairly quickly.
- Simple way to avoid trouble: if your NiCads have a full
charge or close to it, and you want to use the AC
adapter, then disable charging. A slightly less
conservative approach is to use 200Buddy or the shareware
BATSET program to limit the fast charge time to one
minute, since trickle charging isn't likely to damage the
batteries as quickly.
- ABC/LX is a commercial battery monitoring program
available from D&A Software that works well for
charging batteries in the palmtop.
- Q. What kind of batteries are the best?
- This depends on your individual situation.
Generally, rechargeables will cost you less than
alkalines in the long run. A recommended battery is
the 1300 mAh NiMH battery from Times2 Tech. These
batteries hold a charge very well, and last a long time
during use.
- Q. What kind of AC adapter does the 200LX use?
- CAUTION: It's different from the 95LX! The 200LX uses
12VDC, negative tip, up to 750mA, approx 5.5mm OD
barrel-type connector. Plugging in an adapter with
a positive tip, or one that puts out AC instead of DC,
will kill your palmtop's adapter jack and you'll be left
to battery power alone. This is fixable, but not
cheaply.
- HP recommends their part no F1011A, which is about the
size of a credit card, except that it's an inch (2.5 cm)
thick, with fold-away AC prongs. It will take any input
voltage from 100 to 240 Volts, at 50/60 Hz, an advantage
for world travelers. Very nice adapter, but rather
pricey ($25-$50 depending on where you get it.)
- Thaddeus sells
a small adapter that works very well with the palmtop,
and takes up minimal size. In addition, it's rated at
800ma, so it should be plenty even for demanding units.
- Radio Shack Cat no 273-1652B seems to work, and is
probably cheaper. It's only rated at 500mA, so there may
be problems when using with high-current PCMCIA cards. It
appears to work ok with flash cards while charging
NiCad's, though, and current measurements indicate that
the 200LX draws much less than 500mA with this adapter
even when writing to a flash card, charging NiCads, and
using the serial port simultaneously.
- Other compatible adapters are certainly available from
various sources. The 200LX does not include an adapter in
the box.
- If you find an adapter at Radio Shack or elsewhere that
gives the required 12 volts, but the current output is
higher than 750mA, you should be fine. This is because
the current rating on an adapter is only the maximum
current it can supply without melting down, causing a
fire, etc. The palmtop will only draw what current it
needs.
15. Obscure undocumented tips, tricks, and
trivia
- Q. What is xine?
- It is a built-in file compression program
(D:\BIN\XINE.COM). To use, type "XINE infile
outfile". If infile isn't compressed, xine will
compress it to outfile. If infile is compressed, xine
will expand it to outfile. CAUTION: Don't specify infile
and outfile as the same name, or you'll lose your data.
Xine is not documented, although it appears in all
versions of the 200LX (including non-English versions).
- Q. What is pushkeys?
- Pushkeys is a program to run keyboard macros from a DOS
batch file. It's in D:\BIN, but it has its hidden file
bit set, so you must use "dir /a:h" to see it.
Run it once with the /i argument, and it installs itself
as a TSR. Run it again with the name of a .MAC file, and
it run the 10 macros in sequence. Pushkeys is not
documented, and may be missing from some non US-English
versions of the 200LX. It does appear in the
European-English 200LX, however. International users who
don't have it built-in may be able to get a copy from the
Palmtop Paper.
- Q. What is hexcalc?
- It's a programmer's calculator that supports hex, octal,
binary, and decimal. It's System manager compliant, and
included in the 200LX ROM, but not automatically included
in the system manager menu.
- Q. What is ICN200LX.COM?
- It's a simple icon editor in the 200LX ROM.
- Q. What are the special characters I can use in the
comments field of the Application Manager?
- An inverted question mark (keystroke Fn-3) inhibits the
"Press any key to exit from DOS ..." message
after finishing the application.
- An inverted exclamation point (keystroke Fn-Filer)
disables the system manager and prevents switching to
another application while the current application is
running, giving the application total control of the
console and serial port. This is needed to make certain
DOS programs (intersvr, terminal emulators, etc.) work
properly.
- Neither special character is documented in the 100LX
manual, though both appear in the 200LX manual (they work
the same on both machines).
- Q. How can I customize the fields in the phone book?
(e.g. add an e-mail address)
- Close the phone book, open the database manager, select
file/open and open the phone.pdb file (the file formats
are the same for the database manager and phone book,
only the extension is changed). Now use file/modify
database to add/subtract/move fields to your heart's
content, quit the database manager, and use the phone
book.
- Be aware that certain other software which reads phone
book files expects the fields to be "vanilla",
so don't use this trick (or at least back up your data
and test it first) if you plan to transfer your phone
book data to such software. The "Xlate/Merge"
feature of the connectivity pack is one program which
wants the files to be vanilla.
- Q. How can I get the filer to run a program based on a
file's type?
- Create the file c:\_dat\filer.ini, containing file
extensions and commands to run, as shown in this example:
- [Launcher]
ICN=D:\BIN\ICN200.EXE %
ZIP=A:\BIN\PKUNZIP.EXE %
When you select a file and press ENTER, if the selected file
has the extention ".ICN" the icon editor on drive D: is
started and the file name (the `%' is replaced by the name of the
selected file) is given as argument. If the selected file has the
extention ".ZIP" it is automatically unzipped (assuming
PKUNZIP lives on a:\bin).
- Q. What's the "disable filer" trick?
- As shipped by HP, the application manager always keeps
the filer in memory, consuming approx 58K of RAM. This is
so that, if you run out of disk space while using an
application, you can enter filer, delete some files, and
save your work. The "disable filer" trick
allows you to completely terminate the filer, and recover
that 58K of RAM. This is undocumented, unsupported, and
nobody at HP has recommended it, although several users
have reported success with it. Nevertheless, please back
up your disk before trying this. To disable the filer, do
the following:
- Activate the application manager (press {More}).
- Move the filer to the first position, using F7.
- Close the application manager.
- Start DOS (cntl-123), and type the following: debug
c:\_dat\appmgr.dat e 10a 01 w q
- Start the application manager and move the filer back to
its original position, if desired.
- Now, you can close the filer by first opening it,
highlighting it in the application manager and pressing
F6, or by menu/application/close all. The filer's quit
command will behave as before, just putting the filer to
sleep, not recovering the RAM. If the filer is asleep,
the application manager CANNOT close it. The filer must
be open (awake) for the application manager to close it.
If the filer has been completely terminated (not just put
to sleep), it will take two presses of the filer key to
open it up again.
- Q. How do I prevent the 200LX from powering down while on
batteries?
- There are several utility programs to do this, but the
following procedure will create a short assembler program
that should do the trick. Warning: back up your machine
before running this, as a typing error might wreak all
sorts of havoc.
The computer says: You type:
A:\JUNK> debug
- a 100
1970:0100 mov ah,46
1970:0102 mov bx,0000
1970:0105 int 15
1970:0107 int 20
1970:0109
- r cx
CX 0000
: 9
- n timeout.com
- w
Writing 00009 bytes
- quit
A:\JUNK>
Now, you've just created a short program, called timeout.com,
that you can run to inhibit the automatic time-out feature.
Re-booting will restore the default timeout limit, or you can
create a corresponding "timein.com" program, by
following the above procedure except change the second mov
statement to "mov bx,0c9a", and change the n statement
to "n timein.com". The number after the "mov
bx," is a hexadecimal integer equal to 18 times the number
of seconds desired for automatic power-down. 0433 corresponds to
1 minute, 0C9A means 3 minutes, 14FF means 5 minutes, 3EFD means
15 minutes, etc.
Again, back up your machine before running either of these
programs, until you're confident the programs work correctly.
- Q. What are the various ROM revisions?
- (incomplete list of bugfixes/features, need help here)
***100LX ROM VERSIONS***
1.01a Original version. Some were EPROMs.
1.02a Infected by the HEU bug
1.03a HEU (sHift kEy bUg) fixed, speed up for carry-forward todos.
1.04a Last ROM version prior to 2MB Model. Currently shipping on
many 1MB models. Does not need FS.COM that comes on
the CPACK disk for the redirector.
1.05a Added support for 2MB
1.06a Most current. Some cc:Mail bugs fixed. Found on latest 2MB
units, and on some 1MB models.
At least one user reported a dramatic (2x) speedup in the calendar
app monthly view when updating from 1.02a to 1.04a.
***200LX ROM VERSIONS***
1.00a Present on at least one Japanese language version
1.01a Earlier 200LX ROM version.
1.02a Latest version of 200LX ROM. Present on most 2MB 200LX models
I've seen, including old and new 2MB versions.
Q. How do I determine which ROM version I have?
Reboot the machine (cntl-alt-del) and watch the screen.
- Q. What is the Shift Key Bug (HEU)?
- It is a bug that occurs on 100LX ROM versions 1.02a or
less. Occasionally, the key that is pressed after the
shift key is ignored and the next key pressed is
capitalized. If you try to write "Shift Key
Bug" it becomes "Hift Ey Ug". This problem
is intermittent and not all users observe it.
- Q. What information is encoded in the serial number?
- The week it was manufactured. A serial number is of the
form:
- SGywwnnnnn
- Where y is the last digit of the year of manufacture, ww
is the week of manufacture, and nnnnn is the individual
serial number. Thus SG45101234 is the 1234th unit
manufactured in the 51st week of 1994. The "SG"
is the country of origin (apparently all are manufactured
in Singapore).
- It seems a similar scheme is used for many HP
calculators.
16. Common problems
- Q. Why can't I unzip this file?
- This isn't really a 200LX question, but it's been asked
frequently enough. PKZIP works the same on the 200LX as
on any other MS-DOS machine. Chances are you don't have
your file transfer software set up in binary mode. If
you're absolutely positive that the file was transferred
in binary every step of the way, then maybe you have an
old version of PKZIP. 2.04g is the most recent as of this
writing.
- Q. I can't turn it off while it's charging the batteries!
- That's right. It needs to be awake to monitor and
regulate the charging rate. LCD screens don't suffer
"burn-in" from continuous use (think about LCD
watches), so it's really nothing to worry about.
- Q. My unit makes a buzzing noise near the screen.
- If your unit has been speed-upgraded, this noise occurs
especially frequently when with a PC Card in the socket.
The screen power supply also supplies power to the PCMCIA
socket. Under higher drain, it buzzes. Generally it's
nothing to worry about, unless you notice a drastic
reduction in battery life. Then it could indicate a
problem with the supply.
- Q. My screen gets very light when I'm charging the
batteries.
- This is a problem with the design of the palmtop.
There is a sensor which is supposed to sense the
temperature of the unit and adjust the display contrast
accordingly. Unfortunately, when the batteries are
charging, a component on the motherboard near the
temperature sensor warms up. Sensing the heat, the
temperature sensor is fooled into thinking that it needs
to lower the contrast. There's not much that can be
done about this. Fortunately, once the temperature
returns to normal, so does the contrast.
- Q. Help! My machine is stuck! What do I do?
- The manual's "Getting Started" chapter contains
some suggestions. Try the following, listed in order from
least likely to destroy data to most likely.
- Reboot with ctrl-alt-del. If the machine starts to boot,
but freezes up during the boot process, you have a
problem with something in your CONFIG.SYS and/or
AUTOEXEC.BAT. Boot from the D: drive (press alt during
boot for menu) and use the memo editor to remove the
offending line(s) from the startup files.
- Press ctrl-shift-on. Ctrl-shift-on will ask if you want
to destroy your C: drive, so be careful. It will also
alter battery settings from the setup application (if you
were using NiCads, for example).
- Replace your AA batteries with fresh ones and try again.
Replacing batteries while the machine is hung up may
destroy the data on your C: drive.
- Remove PCMCIA card and all batteries, including backup
battery, from the 200LX (but if you have a SRAM card,
leave its battery installed while the card is out of the
200LX!). Let the machine sit without power for awhile,
and reinstall fresh AA batteries BEFORE replacing the
backup battery. This will, of course, erase your C drive,
reset the clock, and in general make the 200LX forget
everything you ever taught it. Data on the PCMCIA card
should survive this process, unless you have a SRAM card
with a dead battery. But there's no guarantee that your
PCMCIA card wasn't already trashed by whatever crashed
your system.
- If none of this works, your machine may need service. Try
running diagnostics by pressing ESC-ON, and following the
menu if one comes up. Follow the instructions in the
manual for obtaining service.
Any time any MS-DOS machine crashes hard enough to require a
reboot, it's a good idea to run CHKDSK on all drives, to clean up
the file systems and recover any clusters that may have been
lost.
- Q. How do I fix a loose hinge? A loose latch?
- To fix a loose latch yourself, you can stuff something
compressible behind the latch. Posters have suggested
rubber bands, surgical tubing, packaging foam, and other
similar materials.
- To fix the hinge yourself, pull off the right end cap (it
should come straight off using no tools harsher than a
fingernail), and clean the center with a few drops of
isopropyl alcohol. Alternatively, pull off the left
end cap and insert a rubber band in the vertical slot
under the cap. Trim off excess and replace cap.
- Be careful not to get the hinge too tight; see the next
question.
- Q. What is this "hinge-crack" I keep hearing
about?
- It seems that HP has been besieged by complaints of a
loose hinge in recent years, and thus tightened the hinge
significantly. The right side of the screen is what
has the actual friction clasp in it. Thus, on the
top of the unit, a millimeter or two above the round
right hinge, a crack will often develop. It is
often very difficult to see in the early stages.
For a while, HP denied the existence of this problem, but
now seems to be repairing machines with this crack under
warranty. There are a few options: ignore it and
hope it doesn't get any worse (it may or may not), loosen
up the hinge with some sort of oil (not recommended, and
it would be highly annoying anyway to have a floppy
screen), superglue the crack (deforming the outside of
the case), stick the nameplate that goes in the bottom
across it (might work), or try to superglue it from the
inside (probably the best option, if it works). For
more information, and a picture showing you where to look
for the crack, please visit The Hinge
Crack Problem Page on hplx.net.
17. For more info
- Q. Where should I read and post articles concerning the
HP200LX?
- The main source of 1/200LX info on the Internet is now
the HPLX Mailing List.
- The Usenet newsgroup comp.sys.palmtops
is also a source, as well as alt.comp.sys.palmtops.hp,
but they seem to mostly be focusing on Windows CE
handhelds these days. The comp.sys.handhelds
group is for calculators, not palmtops. The commercial
services include CompuServe HPHAND, America OnLine PDA
section.
- If your question concerns using DOS on the 200LX, perhaps
one of the comp.os.msdos.* groups might be appropriate.
Just tell them the 200LX behaves like a PC-XT with CGA
and 640K, running DOS 5.0.
- Q. What's the Palmtop Paper?
- It's a newsletter, published 6 times a year, that covers
the HP palmtop computers. It's filled with tricks and
tips, stories of how people use their palmtops, and ads
for all kinds of accessories and software. Contact Thaddeus Computing
at P.O. Box 869, Fairfield, IA 52556 (515) 472-6330,
FAX:(515) 572-1879
18. Copyright Info
Much of this file is taken verbatim from the public domain
FAQ. However, this particular version (with many, many
improvements and additions) is copyrighted. Please obtain
permission from the editor, David Sargeant, before distributing
it, posting it to another site, or modifying it. This change has
become necessary because several sites have taken copies of the
FAQ and posted them. Unfortunately, I frequently update this
version, leaving them behind and creating confusion for readers.
Links to this page are always welcome.
19. Acknowledgments
I'm not sure who to acknowledge for this version of the FAQ.
Thanks to all the members of HPLX-L for their assitance, and the
members of HPHand on CIS. And Ian Butler for the spiffy new look,
although it really messed up the formatting. But what do you
expect? Kids today, they got no respect... sigh. [Me and my
formatting, eh? I'll show you. <pow> -ian :)]
Copyright 1999, David Sargeant.
Last Updated 1-2-1999
Webmaster