LX_DIAG:

hermocom HPLX TEST- AND DIAGNOSE CARD v1.0
===========================================

This is a test setup for HP 200LX palmtops.

It loads various drivers for possible upgrades, so it helps to
determine which upgrades are installed in a HP 200LX palmtop.
Especially if your doublespeed palmtop has a garbled screen when 
switched on, this setup can be very handy in order to make the 
screen readable and continue with driver installation.

This setup lets you diagnose the palmtop and its upgrade(s),
and below in this file you will find information about how to install
upgrade drivers from this card permanently on your palmtop.


USAGE:
=======

Unzip the ZIP file LXDIAG.ZIP onto a memory card which is readable by 
the HP palmtop (for a compatiblity list please see 
http://www.daniel-hertrich.de/200lx/#storage .
Usually CF cards smaller than 128 MB work well if used in a standard 
PCMCIA-CF adapter).
The files autoexec.bat and config.sys must be in the root directory of
the card, the rest of the directory structure must be kept, too.

Put the card into the palmtop and reboot the palmtop
(Using a warm reboot Ctrl-Alt-Del or a cold reboot Ctrl-LeftShift-On
or removing all batteries including the backup battery and reinserting
them).

The palmtop will boot and find the config.sys file on the card and as a 
reaction use that config.sys and the autoexec.bat file on the card. 
It will not really "boot" from the card, because the operating system 
is in ROM only.
The operating system will just use the card's startup files in order to load 
drivers and programs.

Three drivers are loaded:

1. A doublespeed upgrade driver (--> a garbled screen will become readable 
   if a doublespeed upgrade is installed)
   
2. A Times2Tech RAM driver driver (--> it should report if a T2T RAM drive
   is found or not, and if yes it asks for initialization --> answer "y")
   
3. A driver for the backlight upgrade (--> Backlight should be switchable
   using the hotkey Fn-X; if no backlight is installed or if it is defective,
   you will just hear beeps (high and low alternating) if you press the 
   hotkey).
   If you see degree characters on every hotkey press, you need another 
   driver. You will be guided how to load it
   

Then diagnosis programs run and show their results:

1. chkdsk shows the size of the C: drive in bytes. If a T2T RAM drive is 
   installed, the second chkdsk command shows the T2T RAM drive size (F:).
   
2. LXPRO is loaded residently. You can invoke it with the hotkey Ctrl-Tab.
   The window which appears shows you e.g. the battery voltages and you'll be
   able to do some lowlevel debugging using memory view etc.


INSTALLING DRIVERS PERMANENTLY ON THE PALMTOP:
===============================================

1. Speed driver:

   There are various kinds of double speed upgrades. 
   They need different drivers in order to work correctly.
   If you know what driver you need, go on with "Installing the driver".
   If not, please read on here:
   
   The two most common kinds of Doublespeed upgrade are:
   
   A. The T2T 31.673 MHz quartz upgrade
   B. The cheaper 32MHz quartz upgrade
   
   In order to determine which version you have, you can do the following:
   
   * Check the invoice of your upgrade. If the price is about 100$, it is 
     probably the T2T upgrade. if it is significantly lower, it is problaby
     the 32MHz upgrade.
     If you purchased the upgrade from hermocom, you can contact us
     at info@hermocom.com in order to ask us which crystal has been used.
     We need the involce number in order to look that up.
     
   * Take out the backup battery and look through the hole into the palmtop.
     You will directly look at the speed crystal. maybe you see what is 
     printed on it.
     - If it's "158 CP52" it is a normal speed unit, without an upgrade.
     - If it's "32.000" or similar, it is a 32MHz upgrade.
     - If it's "F31.673" it is a T2T upgrade
     
     Also, the size of the crystal is interesting: If it is a cylindrical
     metal component, soldered in professionally, it is either 
     the original singlespeed crystal OR the T2T OR a 32MHz.
     If it is a non-cylindrical component, it is most probably a 32MHz
     quartz.
     Some pictures are on http://www.daniel-hertrich.de/200lx/#t2tspeed
     
     If you were able to determine which quartz is used in your palmtop, 
     you can now choose the correct driver to install.
     
     If you could not determine the kind of crystal, you will have to 
     try one driver and if you encounter problems with the serial port,
     IR port or with other hardware components which are time-sensitive,
     you should try another driver.
     
   A. The T2T quartz needs the SPD31.EXE or SPD31.SYS driver in directory
      \DRIVERS\T2T\SPEED
   B. The 32MHz upgrade needs the CLKUP32.SYS driver in \DRIVERS\CLKUP32
   C. The original singlespeed quartz does not need any driver.
   
   
   Installing the driver:
   
   Just copy the needed driver directory with the driver files onto your 
   C: drive and add the corresponding line in the card's CONFIG.SYS to the 
   C:\CONFIG.SYS.
   If there is no C:\CONFIG.SYS yet, copy over the D:\CONFIG.SYS from ROM 
   to C:\ and add the driver line to that copied file right at the 
   beginning.
   

2. Backlight driver:

   Just copy the \DRIVERS\BACKLITE directory from the card onto your C: drive
   and put the command 
   
   C:\BACKLITE\BACKLITE.COM 
   or
   C:\BACKLITE\BACKL2B.COM 
   
   into C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT (whichever version of the driver works best for you).
   If there is no C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT yet, copy over the
   D:\CONFIG.SYS and D:\AUTOEXEC.BAT to C:\
   and append the backlite.com line to the new C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT at
   the beginning (or at least before the line "200").
   
   
3. T2T RAM drive driver:

   Copy the directory \DRIVERS\T2T\RDT2T to your C: drive and add following
   lines to the C:\CONFIG.SYS file:
   
   device=\drivers\t2t\rdt2t\rdt2t.exe
   device=\drivers\t2t\rdt2t\rdswap.exe

   If there is no C:\CONFIG.SYS yet, copy over the D:\CONFIG.SYS from ROM 
   to C:\ and add the driver line to that copied file right at the 
   beginning.


Only use the config.sys and autoexec.bat files on the card as a reference,
do not copy them directly to C:\, as this can result in severe problems
when rebooting the palmtop.

T2T is the abbreviation of Times2Tech, the company which used to manufacture
the most well-known and well-designed HP palmtop upgrade components.


This test card setup has been provided by hermocom,
http://www.hermocom.com
mailto:info@hermocom.com
(c) 2006 by Daniel Hertrich