Book of Jornada: Chapter 12 Go The Full Monty of MS-DOS 6.22

After running DOS programs under PocketDOS for a couple of weeks, I decided to go the full monty by installing the complete MS-DOS 6.22 (plus the supplement disk) on my Jornada 720.

Here is a quick demonstration of how to get this done.

Book of Sigmarion II: Chapter 10 USB client mod ... setback!

Just finished soldering the wires. Tested on my Win2000 WM. The CH340 was detected, but on the HPC end, connection with PC failed to be established. I suspect it's due to the incompatible chipset or lack of driver.

Book of Sigmarion II: Chapter 9 New USB cap STL, RS232 schematics, new plan for USB client port mod

A new 3D design (v1.0b) is now available on Thingiverse. The "USB" word is replaced by the USB symbol (which I find even cooler!): https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4645949

Book of Sigmarion II: Chapter 8 Preparing for Serial to USB modding

Continuing with yesterday's work, as my first step towards the new serial to USB mod on Sigmarion II, I went to buy a cheap serial (R232) to USB cable (HKD$35, about USD$4.5) and a USB mini B connector (HKD$5, ~USD$0.65).  

The serial to USB cable is very basic in terms of build quality, with the connectors wrapped in cheap rubber like soft plastic, which is actually good for easy removal. 

Book of Sigmarion II: Chapter 7 USB Mutation Aftermaths: Custom Cover, Various Peripherals, ActiveSync

The success of implanting a USB port in my Sigmarion II came more quickly than I had expected. 

Ahead are three more quests to complete this USB adventure.

The three quests are summarized as follows:

I. The small quest: To design and 3D print a custom cover for the new USB port

II. The medium quest: To test different USB peripheral devices (keyboard, mouse, etc.) and their drivers with this port. 

III. The big quest: To unlock the secret of how to enable ActiveSync via USB using this new port.

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The Champion knows, despite the obstacles and his ignorance, he must get started from somewhere. 

Book of Sigmarion II: Chapter 6 USB Mutation ... Completed!

Previously, in Book of Sigmarion II:

The Solo Champion managed to find his way through the challenge of replacing the FOMA port with a regular USB port on the Sigmarion II. However, his progress was blocked by missing DLLs for the USB devices. So instead of continuing to battle the beast, he turned around to seek out those keys to break the deadlock...

At last, after another couple of hours of research, the Champion finally retrieved the much needed DLL keys in the vast wasteland of lost websites:  https://web.archive.org/web/20070103091648/http://www.softclub.jp/~zoro/ce/usb020522.lzh

The archive contained four DLL library files, namely: fsdmgr.dll, udfs.dll, usbdisk6.dll, usbmsc.dll

Book of Sigmarion II: Chapter 5 USB Mutation (Part 2)

Previously, in Book of Sigmarion II:

The Champion was contemplating on different possibile battle plans to add USB support to the good old rare Sigmarion II. In the end, he came up with the idea to replace the FOMA port with a regular USB port. This is certainly a brave move especially due to his low soldering skill level and poor knowledge in electronics.

And now, the quest goes on...

Not willing to back down before the fomadable foe, the Champion gave the beast a powerful clean sweep, chopping off the head of the FOMA connector!

Book of Sigmarion II: Chapter 4 USB Mutation (Part 1)

Sigmarion II, just like most of its contemporary devices, was produced in an era of proprietary standards and peripherals. An undesirable consequence is poor and unsustainable hardware support. Many of these digital devices use their own special connectors, which made finding even just a connection cable a next to impossible proposition after all these years. 

Despite the striking similarities between Sigmarion II and Jornada 720, the former lacks PC card slot. The only expansion slot is for CF card. In addition to the proprietary serial port, since the Sigmarion series was made and sold exclusively within Japan by NTT DoCoMo, a special PHS (Personal Handy-phone System, an old Japanese mobile network system) port is added to attract those nerdy road warriors who would take the plunge into the first wave of mobile computing technology.

Now it's 2020, PHS is no more, and I am not living in Japan. Even though Sigmarion II is such an adorable device, it clearly loses to Jornada 720 in terms of expandability and connectivity. As my machine comes without the serial cable, how can I get it to synchronize with my PC if I really want to make it a daily driver?

Side Quest 3: 20 tips for recelling battery packs

Some tips for recelling battery packs extracted from my posts in various places.

Random Encounter 4: Use old battery cells as a new power source

After recelling the battery packs for the handhelds, it is important to test the capacity of those old cells. In fact, very often when a battery pack seems to be dead, it would turn out that only one or two of the cells inside the pack are depleted, while the rest are still functional.

Book of Sigmarion II: Chapter 3 By the Power of PocketDOS (MIPS)

Even though Sigmarion III doesn't seem to get along with PocketDOS very well, Sigmarion II runs it just fine!!

To install, I copied the CABs to a CF card (since I don't have the serial sync cable). Then run the CABs directly from the card. Install the CABs in this order:

(1) PocketDOS.mips_hpcpro.CAB

(2) PocketDOS_DOSFS.mips.CAB

(3) PocketDOS_UTILITY.CAB

(4) PocketDOS_HELP.CAB

(5) FREEDOS_100.CAB

Interestingly I seem to feel that Sigmarion II runs a bit snappier than Jornada 720. I am going to find out more by running some simple benchmarking tests, which will show up as part of my upcoming comparative review of Sigmarion II and Jornada 720. 😎 

 

Book of Sigmarion II: Chapter 2 Power Upgrade (recelling)

Carrying on the successful enhancement of the battery life of my Jornada 720 by replacing the old cells (1,500 mAh) with new Sanyo 18650 cells (rated at 3,400 mAh), I continued this exercise to revamp the batteries for my newly received Sigmarion II.

On the forums, some seem to refuse to believe that there are 3xxx mAh cells and cast doubt on their actual capacity. So before throwing in the new cells, this time I used the LiitoKala Engineer Lii-500 charger to test their capacity. This charger allows fast charge using 1000mA with two cells. So I will run this test a few times for these new Sanyo cells.

Book of Sigmarion II: Chapter 1 Revival (Broken Hinge Fix-up)

My Sigmarion II came in an excellent condition. Not even a single scratch or spot of dirt. However, like its many brothers, its hinge suffers from a design flaw that the internal part holding the hinge nuts is broken, loosening the moving mechanism and disabling the screen to support its own weight.

Therefore, the very first quest for the Solo Champion is to lift this inherited curse once and for all.