Repairs / Fixes - hermocom

A complex WWW/LX setup example

2009-10-15T12:07:09+00:00

Archived 2013-12-08
This page has been archived and some links may not work correctly anymore. No updates of this page will be done anymore.

Contents of this page:

Introduction:

WWW/LX is a software package made by and downloadable from D&A Software which allows Internet access with the DOS-based Hewlett Packard palmtops 100LX, 200LX, 1000CX and Omnigo 700LX.
You can download WWW/LX (for free) at ftp://ftp.dasoft.com/pub/WWW. The file is named "www3.zip".

It contains a TCP/IP stack with built-in IrDA and Ethernet support (in addition to the usual PPP and SLIP protocols which are needed for modem connections or direct serial connections to other computers) and the package contains several clients for almost every kind of purpose. An email client, a news reader client, ftp, telnet, finger and HV, a limited but useful WWW browser and get, which lets you get web pages automatically. Another very useful addition has been developed by Tony Hutchins using ROBOT/LX, an Internet robot program: ROBOWEB/LX. It combines get and ROBOT/LX so that you can get Internet pages or even whole sites onto your palmtop for offline reading. See this link for details.

It is relatively easy to set up WWW/LX and Post/LX for basic purposes. However, there are so many amazing sophisticated possibilities, which are not covered by the setup programs which come with WWW/LX and must be created manually.

Here are examples which should give you some ideas of what is really possible with WWW/LX. I have never seen another Internet software package which is so powerful and rich of features as WWW/LX. And in addition it is extremely user-customizable. See below. I won´t give you details here of how basic setups work, because you can read that in the WWW/LX documentation. Here I assume that you are familiar with the basics already.

Basics of my setup:

I use almost every possible kind of Internet connection, so you will find examples here which are useful, regardless which kind of connection you want to use:

Modem connection over the serial port with several ISPs
Modem connection via PCMCIA modem with several ISPs
Mobile connection via IrDA-enabled GSM mobile phone
Ethernet connection via PCMCIA Ethernet card
direct serial connection to a PC which is connected to the Internet (internet connection sharing)
IrDA connection to another PC which is connected to the Internet (internet connection sharing)

Take this as a "snapshot" of my current WWW/LX configuration and have fun with it!

My main application, which acts as the "central", is Post/LX. WWW/LX is loaded resident and activated everytime I press F5 in Post/LX to establish a connection. If you don´t use email that much, but more often use ftp or HV, it may be better for you to start www.exe manually giving the setup to use as a parameter. It will then connect instantly and return to the DOS prompt, so you can do whatever you want once the connection is established. If that is the way you want to use WWW/LX, most parts of my setup are not useful for you. I use Post/LX as the central application of my setup.

In general, my www.cfg only contains five basic setups, independent from the ISP to use. So my www.cfg is kept small and thus doesn´t need so much memory. www.cfg is always loaded entirely into RAM, so it really makes a difference if you have for example 10 setups (one for each modem / ISP combination using two modems and 5 ISPs) or only two setups for the two modems and do the ISP choice externally using the little utility wwwset.

You could even work with just ONE "general" www setup and modify all relevant parameters externally. However, I have not choosen that way because I want still to be able to use www.exe as a stand-alone program without having to use the external wwwset utility.

My WWW/LX setup:

My five basic www.cfg setups are [Modem1], [Modem2], [IrDA], [Ether] and [PPPD].
I also have TERM-IR and TERM-K, which are explained below.

Modem1 is for an external modem on COM1
Modem2 is for a connection via PCMCIA modem (COM2)
IrDA is for mobile phone connections over IrDA, for either Internet or SMS
Ether is for a connection to my home PC via Ethernet card
PPPD is for serial or IrDA connection to my home PC or laptop running Linux and the pppd (PPP deamon) and internet connection sharing (=IP forwarding and IP masquerading)
TERM-K and TERM-IR is for a dumb terminal which enables you to send AT commands to a modem or mobile phone (IrDA) and connect manually (for debugging purposes). It requires you to have telnet.exe (also available on the dasoft ftp server) and you have to call it from the DOS prompt that way: www.exe -d TERM-[IR|K] "!telnet local"
IR stands for IrDA, K for Cable.

My Post/LX setup:

Post/LX is set up in a way that I only need to press F5, then it launches a batch file "setcom.bat" via the post.cfg parameter "PreOnline". setcom.bat determines the connected hardware and decides, which www setup to use. If it finds out that I want to connect via modem, it lets me choose an ISP. Otherwise it changes the active www setup instantly to the appropriate one from the five setups mentioned above. In addition I let setcom ask me (only for the setups where it is useful), if I want to let WWW/LX disconnect after the online run of Post/LX, i.e. directly after mail sending / receiving. If I want to surf the web with HV after transmitting mail for example, I choose to keep the connection. In other cases, for example when I will have an expensive connection via mobile phone, and I´m sure I don´t want to do anything else than sending the email I just wrote, I can choose "yes, disconnect!" and the connection is terminated as fast as possible automatically after the Post/LX online run. This is done via the post.cfg "PostOnline" parameter which invokes a batch file after every online run.

I also use Post/LX for SMS sending and receiving via IrDA and my mobile phone. For this purpose, I have created a keyboard macro in post.cfg, which lets me send and receive all SMS just by placing the mobile phone near the palmtop´s IR port and fressing F8 in Post/LX. Note that if you are used to use F8 for pther purposes (for example for marking messages during you read them), you should NOT use that macro. I do never use F8 with the functionality Post/LX gives to it, and in the main screen of Post/LX F8 doesn´t have any functionality anyway. So I could choose F8 as my SMS macro activating key.

For more info on how to setup PDU for SMS processing please download PDU from Stefan Peichl´s homepage and read the documentation.

Here are some screenshots of my Post/LX main screen:

The main screen with some folders and mailboxes (SMS box on top so that the F8 macro works, see post.cfg below!):

Here I pressed Shift-F5: Only the one "Default" WWW/LX setup is shown. No need anymore to choose anything here!

This shows some of my "Externals" entries (Menu-X-X). Hotkey "S" chooses "SMS" (so that the F8 SMS macro works, see post.cfg below!)

My cfg config files:

Okay, enough words, I will now show you my cfg and batch files and add comments everywhere I think it´ necessary. Again: Please read the WWW/LX documentation carefully in order to understand everything. I won´t answer questions covered there.

Click here to see my www.cfg file (don´t use the file as is, because it contains html tags! Load it into your browser by clicking on the link and then mark, copy and paste! Passwords are replaced by dummy strings.)

Click here to see my post.cfg file (don´t use the file as is, because it contains html tags! Load it into your browser by clicking on the link and then mark, copy and paste! Passwords are replaced by dummy strings, most folder and mailbox data is removed because it is not relevant here)

My batch and other involved files:

Now follow the batch files and a robot script (thanks to Tony Hutchins who provided this script!) which enable the magic of my setup ;-)

First I provide the setcom.bat file which is invoked directly after pressing F5 in Post/LX (by the PreOnline parameter in the cfg).
Then follows the batch file choosisp.bat, which is invoked from within setcom.bat and which is responsible for the appropriate Dial and login paramteres, depending on the ISP which shall be used. choosisp.bat is only invoked if setcom.bat recognizes a modem, either on COM1 or in the PCMCIA slot.
After that you will see postonl.bat, which handles the disconnecting after the online run (invoked by the PostOnline parameter in the cfg.
Thereafter at.scr (a robot script) is shown which setcom needs in order to distinguish, if the device connected to IrDA or the serial port is a modem or another computer.

And finally, I will show you my postlx.bat, which I use after booting the palmtop to invoke Post/LX with WWW/LX loaded resident.

For all this you need the following programs:

port1.exe or modem.com which looks if there is something connected to COM1
wwwset.exe, which sets WWW setup parameters externally
dis.com which is part of the WWW/LX package (terminates connection)
Robot/LX (Robot/LX), which executes SCR scripts
lxcic.com which detects, recognizes and enables PCMCIA cards
PDU for SMS processing
choice.com which is part of DOS, but not included in the palmtop ROM.
LXETH, the Ethernet packet driver for the LX, if you use an Ethernet card
maxdos, if you want to reserve as much DOS memory as possible for external programs like an editor or HV.

Download links for these utilities (as far as they are not part of the WWW/LX package) are provided directly within the batch files below (where the utilities are used), simply click on the links and download the utilities.

Click here to see my setcom.bat file (don´t use the file as is, because it contains html tags! Load it into your browser by clicking on the link and then mark, copy and paste!)

Click here to see my choosisp.bat file (don´t use the file as is, because it contains html tags! Load it into your browser by clicking on the link and then mark, copy and paste!)

Click here to see my postonl.bat file (don´t use the file as is, because it contains html tags! Load it into your browser by clicking on the link and then mark, copy and paste!)

Click here to see my at.scr file, created by Tony Hutchins.

This is the line of setcom.bat which invokes Robot/LX with at.scr:

ROBOT.EXE -q AT.SCR >NUL

It appears twice in setcom.bat. Once in the section for a device on COM1 and once for the IrDA section.

And here is my postlx.bat, which I use to start Post/LX with WWW/LX loaded resident:

@echo off
maxdos -l -e
C:\DFU\WWWLX\WWW.EXE -d !C:\DFU\WWWLX\POST.EXE
maxdos -r

Involved batch and configuration files linked from the text above:

at.scr

;at.scr, provided by Tony Hutchins
;tests, if device on COM1 or IrDA is a modem or not by sending an AT command.

e testing modem ...\n
;create file at_no_ok.tmp
file w at_no_ok.tmp
put 1\n
file c
e sending AT\n
send AT\r
e waiting for OK\n
wait 2 OK
e GOT OK\n
;delete file at_no_ok.tmp, if OK has been received, otherwise leave it there
file d at_no_ok.tmp
x

choosisp.bat

@echo off
REM CHOOSISP.BAT (choose ISP)
REM this batch is called by setcom.bat! Don't use it manually!
REM %1 is the WWW setup to use as the basis for the settings

echo.
echo.
echo Now choose ISP:
echo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
echo.
echo (1) MSN Easysurfer (???)
echo (2) E-Plus Online  (60 Freiminuten pro Monat)
echo (3) TU Berlin ZRZ  (Ortstarif Berlin)
echo (4) Compuserve Classic Berlin
echo (5) Compuserve Classic International (adjust Dial string!)
echo.
choice /c:12345
if errorlevel 5 wwwset "%1 Login=117144,1520 Dial=ATX3DT0,901666255 Password=xxxxxxxx Script=CIS_Script"
if errorlevel 4 wwwset "%1 Login=117144,1520 Dial=ATDT691000 Password=xxxxxxxx Script=CIS_Script"
if errorlevel 3 wwwset "%1 Login=dherbgba Dial=ATDT31553500 Password=xxxxxxx"
if errorlevel 2 wwwset "%1 Login=hertrich Dial=ATDT010880192192 Password=xxxxxx"
if errorlevel 1 wwwset "%1 Login=msn Dial=ATDT010880192658 Password=xxxxx"

echo.
echo.
choice Disconnect directly after Online run?
if errorlevel 2 goto nodis
goto end

:nodis
echo 1 > nodis.tmp

:end

post.cfg

; Configuration file for the POST/LX package

[FILTER]
HPLX-L@=hplx-l

[MFILTER]
>=q
??>=q

Subject=h

Date:=+
Subject:=+
From:=+
To:=+
Cc:=+
*=-

[MACRO]
;F8: send / receive SMS.
;Esc Esc Home Space Menu X X S Space
;(SMS box must be first in Post/LX list, SMS batch must be external using hotkey S,
;up/down arrow of SMS box must be DEactivated (script activates for you))
#4200=#011b#011b#4700#3920#c800#2d78#2d78#1f73#3920


[SYSTEM]
;only relevant for ROBOWEB/LX:
ExtProg=ROBOT.EXE -p "RWEB1 po"
Scripts=c:\_dat\wwwlx\ROBOWEB

;for opening of attachments with the appropriate program:
PNS=maxdos pns200.exe

PreOnline=SETCOM.BAT
PostOnline=postonl.bat
ManualPack=1
ForceDate=1
Editor=maxdos PEH.BAT $f $h $x N
EditSM=maxdos PEH.BAT $f $h $x N
HangUp=0
TimeZone=+0200
Overlap=0
Quote=>_
Clog=1
TopLines=0
ZoomMode=1
LZoomMode=0
AllHeaders=0
ReFormat=1
NoQuote=0
Download=a:\attach
Japanese=0
Dir=a:\_dat\wwwlx
TmpDir=c:\_tmp
ClipFile=c:\_dat\clipvue.txt
Selected=Mail
Init=1
MIME=0
ShowDate=0
GrabLink=c:\_dat\clipvue.txt
GrabAdr=c:\dfu\wwwlx\post.adr
RegKey=xxxxxxxxxxx
GrabText=c:\_dat\clipvue.txt


[EXTERNAL]
&Disconnect WWW/LX=DIS.COM
&HV (as Webbrowser)=HV
H&V (with last email)=HV $f
&Read message in V&R=a:\programs\vr100\vr.exe $f
Edit &.CFGs=pe.exe c:\dfu\wwwlx\robot.cfg  $c
;SMS external with hotkey S:
;   robosms.bat is simple:
;   @wwwset "IrDA"
;   @robot.exe pdu
&SMS=robosms.bat

[HEADERS]
Cc:=Cc:
Bcc:=Bcc:
DeliveryConfirmation=Return-Receipt-To:my.own@email.address
X-Priority:=X-Priority:
Importance:=Importance:
Sensitivity:=Sensitivity:
Depth=:=Depth=:
MaxCount=:=MaxCount=:
Return-Path:=Return-Path:

[WWW]
;only one entry here, because PreOnline=setcom.bat does everything to choose
;the WWW setup to use!
Default=Modem1

[HTTP]
MaxTotGet=100

;========= MAILBOXES ===========
; (most of mine removed here in the example)

[FOLDERS]
SMS=E
RWEB=X
Mail=E
csc=E
hplx-l=F
archivlx=F
sentarch=F

[SMS]
CheckFields=0
Alias=SMS
Dir=c:\_dat\wwwlx
SMTP=not.set
POP=not.set
Template=SMS.TPL
Del=0
Sep=0
RPA=0
APOP=0
VolatilePOP=0

[Mail]
ForceDate=1
Alias=E-Mail GMX
APOP=0
RPA=0
Timeout=60
Del=1
Sep=1
SMTP=mail.gmx.net
POP=pop.gmx.net
VolatilePOP=0
Limit=10000
Signature=c:\_dat\wwwlx\signatur.txt
Login=206139
Pass=xxxxxxxxxxx
TopLines=20
Dir=c:\_dat\wwwlx

[csc]
Alias=E-Mail Compuserve Classic
SMTP=smtp.sompuserve.com
POP=pop.compuserve.com
Login=117144.1520
Pass=xxxxxxxx
Del=1
Sep=1
APOP=0
VolatilePOP=0
Limit=10000
Signature=c:\_dat\wwwlx\signatur.txt
Dir=c:\_dat\wwwlx



;============ FOLDERS ============
; (most of mine removed here in the example)

[hplx-l]
Alias=HPLX Mailing List
Sep=1
Box=Mail
Dir=c:\_dat\wwwlx

[RWEB]
Checkfields=0
Dir=C:\_dat\wwwlx\ROBOWEB
Alias=ROBOWEB/LX

[sentarch]
Sep=0
Alias=Archive of sent messages

www.cfg

; Configuration file for WWW
; A. Garzotto, February 1998

[Global]
Command=C:\dfu\wwwlx\wwwmenu.exe
;(when www.exe is executed from command line without a program to run
;automatically, wwwmenu is executed. It lets you choose what to do (HV, Post/LX...))
Cache=C:\_DAT\WWWLX\WWW.CAC
Hosts=C:\_DAT\HOSTS
Setup=Modem1
;Log=c:\_DAT\WWWLX\WWW.LOG
UserName=Daniel Hertrich
RegID=xxxxxxxxxxxxx

[Setup]
Ether=Ethernet HomePC
Modem1=Modem on COM1
Modem2=Modemcard on COM2
IrDA=IrDA connection
PPPD=Connection to PPPD on Linux
TERM_IR=DumbTerminal_IrDA
TERM_K=DumbTerminal_Cable

[Script]
CHAP_Script=PPP dial up using CHAP or PAP
ISP_SLIP_Script=Generic SLIP (needs to be modified)
CIS_Script=Compuserve Classic dial up
pppd_script=PPPD on Linux over serial line or IrDA

[CHAP_Script]
e=Initializing modem
m=
s=\r
w=5 OK
d=
s=\r
w=75 CONNECT

[CIS_Script]
e=Initializing modem
m=
s=\r
w=5 OK
d=
s=\r
w=75 CONNECT
@=1
e=Connecting to CIS
s=\003
w=15 D:
e=Sending login
l=
s=/noint/ppp:cisppp
s=\\
e=Sending password
p=
s=\r
e=Waiting for CIS to respond
w=75 PPP

[ISP_SLIP_Script]
e=Initializing Modem
m=
s=\r
w=5 OK
d=
s=\r
w=75 CONNECT
s=\r
w=5 name:
e=Logging in
l=
s=\r
w=5 word:
e=Sending Password
p=
s=\r
w=5 :
e=Starting SLIP
s=SLIP\r
w=3 IP address is
i=

[pppd_script]
s=\r
@=3

; adjust and uncomment the following line to set up a HTTP proxy server
;HTTP_Proxy=proxy.zrz.tu-berlin.de:3128


[Ether]
Ether=1
My_IP=172.16.96.18
Peer_IP=172.16.96.1
;Peer_IP is the IP of the Computer which the palmtop is connected to (usually gateway)
DNS_IP=217.5.100.1
DNS2_IP=194.25.2.129
Script=CHAP_Script
Login=DOESNTMATTER
ModemInit=AT&F
Dial=00000
Password=DOESNTMATTER


[Modem1]
Port=1
OmniGo=0
PPP=1
Modem=1
Baud=57600
My_IP=0.0.0.0
DNS_IP=0.0.0.0
DNS2_IP=0.0.0.0
Script=CHAP_Script
ModemInit=AT&FL1
Dial=ATDT31553500
Login=dherbgba
Password=xxxxxxx

[Modem2]
Port=2
OmniGo=0
PPP=1
Modem=1
Baud=57600
My_IP=0.0.0.0
DNS_IP=0.0.0.0
DNS2_IP=0.0.0.0
Script=CHAP_Script
ModemInit=AT&FL1
Dial=ATDT31553500
Login=dherbgba
Password=xxxxxxx


[IrDA]
Port=-1
OmniGo=0
Modem=0
PPP=1
Baud=38400
My_IP=0.0.0.0
DNS_IP=0.0.0.0
DNS2_IP=0.0.0.0
Script=CHAP_Script
ModemInit=at+cbst=71,0,1;+chsn=1,1,0,4
;For correct settings of init and dial string for your mobile phone,
;please read http://www.hermocom.com/knowledgebase/hplx/mob_hplx
Dial=ATDT03031553500
Login=dherbgba
Password=xxxxxxx


[PPPD]
Port=1
OmniGo=0
PPP=1
Modem=0
Baud=38400
My_IP=0.0.0.0
DNS_IP=0.0.0.0
DNS2_IP=0.0.0.0
Script=pppd_script
Login=
ModemInit=
Dial=
Password=


;===================== Dumb Terminal Setup ===================
; CALL WITH www -d TERM-[IR|K] "!telnet local"
; useful e.g. to send AT commands manually to a modem or mobile phone

[TERM-IR]
Port=-1
Baud=38400
Modem=1
Script=T_Script

[TERM-K]
Port=1
Baud=19200
Modem=1
Script=T_Script

[T_Script]
?=
e=done

setcom.bat

@echo off
REM SETCOM.BAT
REM called by "PreOnline" feature of Post/LX
REM sets communication parameters for WWW/LX depending on attached communications hardware

if exist nodis.tmp del nodis.tmp
if exist pcmcia.tmp del pcmcia.tmp
REM nodis.tmp is used by postonl.bat to prevent automatical connection termination.
REM The file will contain nothing, postonl.bat only checks if it exists!
REM Similar with pcmcia.tmp: it tells postonl.bat that there is a PCMCIA modem
REM so postonl.bat can switch PCMCIA power off after the online run.

lxcic>NUL
if errorlevel 7 goto un_card
if errorlevel 6 goto lan_card
if errorlevel 3 goto un_card
if errorlevel 2 goto modem_card

:un_card
port1 > NUL
if errorlevel 1 goto no_ext
echo External modem or serial line to PC detected
echo Testing if modem or not...
wwwset "Port=1"
robot.exe -q AT.SCR > NUL
if exist at_no_ok.tmp goto com1noat
echo the device on COM1 is a modem! :-)
call choosisp.bat Modem1
goto end

:com1noat
del at_no_ok.tmp
echo Connection over COM1, but no modem!
echo Setting up for Linux PPPD over serial line
wwwset "PPPD port=1"
goto end

:no_ext
echo No extermal device found, trying IrDA setting
wwwset "Port=-1"
robot.exe -q AT.SCR > NUL
if exist at_no_ok.tmp goto ir_noat
echo The device on IrDA is a modem!
echo.
choice Disconnect after Online run?
if errorlevel 2 goto echo 1 > nodis.tmp
wwwset "IrDA"
REM you could also call choosisp.bat from here, if necessary!
REM for me it isn´t, because I only use one ISP with my mobile phone
goto end

:ir_noat
echo NO MODEM on IrDA. Setting up for Linux PPPD over IrDA...
wwwset "PPPD Port=-1"
goto end

:lan_card
echo LAN card detected
echo loading packet driver....
c:\dfu\lxeth\lxen2216.com 0x66 > nul
wwwset "Ether"
goto end

:modem_card
wwwset "Port=2"
REM tell postonl.bat that there is a pcmcia modem:
echo 1 > pcmcia.tmp
echo Modem card detected (COM2)
call choosisp.bat Modem2
goto end

:end

postonl.bat

@echo off
if exist nodis.tmp goto nodis

:dis
dis.com

REM if there is a PCMCIA modem, switch PCMCIA power off to save power:
if exist pcmcia.tmp lxcic o > nul

echo unloading Packet driver if LAN card is present...
lxcic>NUL
if not errorlevel 6 goto common
echo LAN card detected. Disconnecting...
c:\dfu\lxeth\termin 0x66
goto common

:nodis
echo Not disconnecting now.
echo Disconnect manually with Menu-X-X-D
goto common

:common
call sr.bat
REM (sr.bat is from the ROBOWEB package)
if exist nodis.tmp del nodis.tmp
if exist pcmcia.tmp del pcmcia.tmp

Ethernet PCMCIA cards (HP 200LX in the LAN)

2015-03-15T19:34:36+00:00

It is possible to connect the HP 200LX to a local area network (LAN) using a PCMCIA Ethernet card.

Hardware:

Since the PCMCIA slot is occupied by the card, all software that is used to comunicate via LAN needs to be installed on the RAM drive (C:).

Three cards are known to work with the HP 200LX:

Netgear FA411
Accton EN2216
Silicom Ethernet PCMCIA card (this one may have compatibility problems with the doublespeed upgrade)

Software:

For communication via LAN you may use the WWW/LX software suite by D&A software. You can find WWW/LX and its companion programs in the S.U.P.E.R. archive or on the D&A software website.

You can find an example of a quite complex WWW/LX configuration, that I used for many years and that includes usage of an Accton EN2216 ethernet card, here.

Another example setup – by Ted Heise – is described here.

Information about RS232 serial communication / how to connect serial devices to the Palmtop HP 200LX

2009-10-21T12:46:22+00:00

Archived 2013-12-08
This page has been archived and some links may not work correctly anymore. No updates of this page will be done anymore.

See also these useful resources:

HP connectors and link cables: http://www.keesvandersanden.nl/calculators/link_cables.php
The HP Cable Table: http://holyjoe.org/hp/cable.htm

Contents of this page:

Introduction:

This page describes the basics of the RS232 serial communication standard which is used by all standard PCs, most palmtop PCs (e.g. the HP 100LX, 200LX, 1000CX and 95LX, which are described in detail here) and many peripheral devices, such as modems, cellular phones, mice, scientific equipment etc.

You will also get concrete advice how to connect serial devices to your HP 200LX (or similar) palmtop.

General RS232 information

RS232 describes the standard for serial data communication between PCs and peripheral devices, such as modems, mice etc. and between PCs. Nowadays RS232 is replaced by USB more and more, but it is still an important standard, especially in the world of mobile devices, such as palmtop PCs and mobile phones.

There are two kinds of devices (from the viewpoint of RS232 communication): DTE and DCE. DTE stands for Data Terminal Equipment and means the "terminal devices", i.e. the PC or a simple terminal or in our case the palmtop; in general a device with a keyboard and a screen for manual data input and output. Printers are also DTE, because they act similar to a screen.
DCE stands for Data Communication Equipment, i.e. modems, mobile phones etc. To be honest, I cannot say for sure if mice are DTE or DCE. Does someone know?

You can connect two devices with RS232 in three combinations:
The usual connection is a DTE-DCE connection, e.g. if you connect a modem to your PC. This is done with a straight-through 1:1 serial cable.
The other kind of common connections is a DTE-DTE connection, for instance, if you connect two PCs in order to exchange data between them. For that kind of connection you need a so-called null modem cable.
The third kind of connections is DCE-DCE. You need a so-called tail circuit cable for that, but since this is a very uncommon kind of connection, I won´t describe it here.

Other parts of the RS232 specification:

Signal voltages: -5V to -15V (logical 1), +5V to +15V (logical 0) on the sender side, -3V to -15V (logical 1), +3V to +15V (locical 0) on the receiver side. Typically on a standard PC +/-12V is used.
Maximal cable length: 50 feet at 19200 bps, 3000 feet at 2400 bps (you can go much higher without troubles in most cases)
Connectors: The most common RS232 connectors are the DB-9 and DB-25. They exist each as male and as female variations, in most cases the DTE has a male and the DCE has a female connector (although this can be different in some cases).

The 200LX serial port looks like this. It is also a DTE device:
```
[backup battery, IR] [1 2 3 4 5 ] [12V DC jack]
                     [6 7 8 9 10]
      
```

Signals: The following table is valid for the connectors on all DTE devices, including the 200LX palmtop, since its pin numbering is identical to the DB-9 pin assignment standard:

DB-9 / |  DB-25  |  Signal  |  Direction    |  Description
200LX  |         |          |               |
-------+---------+----------+---------------+----------------------------
    1  |      8  |    DCD   |  Modem -> PC  |  Data Carrier Detect
    2  |      3  |    RxD   |  Modem -> PC  |  Received Data (by DTE)
    3  |      2  |    TxD   |  PC -> Modem  |  Transmitted Data (by DTE)
    4  |     20  |    DTR   |  PC -> Modem  |  Data Terminal Ready
    5  |      7  |    GND   |               |  Signal Ground
    6  |      6  |    DSR   |  Modem -> PC  |  Data Set Ready
    7  |      4  |    RTS   |  PC -> Modem  |  Request To Send
    8  |      5  |    CTS   |  Modem -> PC  |  Clear To Send
    9  |     22  |    RI    |  Modem -> PC  |  Ring Indicator
   10  |      1  | prot.GND |               |  Not on the DB-9. Protective ground:
       |         |          |               |  Shield of plugs and cable are connected here

The DB-25 has much more signals, such as a second transmission set, but they will not be described here.
DCD, DTR, DSR, RTS and CTS are so-called handshaking lines, which the devices use to exchange information about their status. If they are needed and used depends on the kind of data transmission you run and on the software which handles the transmission. In the section below you can read more about handshaking.
For a detailed explanation of the signals please click here!
If you want to learn more about the RS232 standard please refer to RS232 references on the Internet, or read this very complete TTY summary by Chris Blum (uart.txt, 100kB).

Anomalies of the serial port of the HP 200LX

Connector: The 200LX needs a special connector, see above. The pin numbering is identical to the numbering of a DB-9 connector. In addition it has a pin 10, which you can connect to the shield of cables and plugs. Please don´t connect that to pin 5 (signal ground), since some power supplies of PCs are defective and thus the metal housing (which is connected to all shields) may lead a high voltage which could damage the serial port electronics.
If you want to build your own plug which fits into that connector, please see here.
Signal voltages: The 200LX is a battery-driven device, which is designed to save power whereever it can. So it does on the serial port. The signal voltages are lower than on standard PCs, namely up to about +/- 6V idle voltage. This still meets the RS232 specifications, but it may lead to problems if you connect power-hungry devices which are powered by the port itself. So some mice or other pointing devices don´t work and especially some data cables for cellular phones may have trouble with this, if they are powered by the computer, not by the phone.
Also the maximal cable length may be reduced by these low signal voltages.
UART: In modern PCs the 16550A UART (Universal Asynchron Receiver / Transmitter) is used which has a FIFO buffer built-in. The palmtop only has a 16450 compatible UART and thus has no FIFO buffer. That is the reason why the maximum speed which data can be transmitted at over the serial port may be limited depending on the way the software is programmed. With a very effectively programmed software (assambler-written) you can still use 115.200 bps if your palmtop has the double-speed upgrade. With a single speed palmtop 57.600 bps should work. If you use more complex software packages such as WWW/LX or Nettamer, you may be limited even more in transmission speed. 38.400 bps (double speed) or 19.200 bps (single speed) should always work without problems, even if the processor has much more to do than sending and receiving data over the serial port.
Power management: The serial port of the palmtop can be switched off to save power (the driver chip of the serial port drains power whenever it is not explicitly switched off). If the port is not used, it should be switched off to save power. But if you want to use it, you must make sure it is switched on, otherwise some software may run into troubles saying that no device is connected or a driver is missing or similar things. The power of the serial port can be controlled by the built-in program serctl. type in (or use in a batch file) serctl /w to switch the serial port on and set it to "wired" and use serctl /o to switch the port off again. serctl /i switches the port on and sets it to use the IR interface instead of the wired port.
LXPRO by Stefan Peichl is a TSR which can control the serial port via hotkey (and many other useful things), SETCOM1 is also written by Stefan Peichl and can be used in batch files to control the serial port just as serctl does, but you can in addition set the port speed and bit patterns.

Cables and adapters for use in serial communication lines

Here various kinds of cables and adapters are described, including 200LX-specific ones:

The straight-through serial cable

This cable is mostly available with 25 pin connectors (DB-25) on both sides. It has one male and one female connector. You can establish any DTE-DCE connection with it, since it connects all pins exactly 1:1. In case one of the ports you want to connect has only 9 pins, you need a 9pin-to-25pin adapter. There are also 9pin-to-25pin cables and 9pin-to-9pin cables available, though.

The null modem cable or null modem adapter:

This one comes in many variations. What they all have in common is that the RxD and TxD lines are crossed, so you can establish a DTE-DTE connection with them (e.g. connect a palmtop to a PC to exchange data between them).
Some of these adapters or cables don´t have any more lines than RxD, TxD and ground, these are the cheap ones. Others have so-called loopback handshaking in the plugs, so handshaking is only faked for software which fails without signals on the handshaking lines. This is no real handshaking of course. If one device wants to say to the other one "I am ready, please do your job", it actually says that to itself. Vice versa, if a device is told to do its job by the line which says "the other device is ready", it actually is told that itself is ready. In more detail, when loopback handshaking is used, on every side the lines DCD (1), DTR (4) and DSR (6) are electrically connected and so are RTS (7) and CTS (8).
You should usually prefer real handshaking, so you should use a partially or full-featured handshaking null modem cable / adapter. This one has all handshaking lines, and these are also crossed in the correct way. See circuits below. If you cannot use a full-featured null modem for some reason, make sure to enable software flow control ("Xon/Xoff") on both ends in the software you use. This replaces the RTS/CTS hardware handshaking mechanism.
You can read more about handshaking in the section Handshaking mechanisms at the bottom of this document.
Null modem cables and adapters come with almost any combination of connectors on both ends. Try to find one which fits your needs, so you don´t have to buy expensive gender changers or 9-25-adapters.
Following you see a few circuit layouts of null modem cables:

"dumb" null modem without handshaking (only 3 wires needed)

loopback handshaking null modem (also only 3 wires needed)

partial handshaking null modem (7 wires needed, RTS and CTS of one party are connected to DCD of the other party)

full-featured null modem (8 wires needed, the safe choice, RI is not connected, usually it is not needed. Connect it too, if you need it!)

The null modem adapter which comes with the connectivity pack of the 200LX is a full-featured null modem adapter and has two male DB-9 on the ends ("5181-6639"):

And this is a full-featured mini null modem adapter (one male and one female DB-9 end):

The 9 pin to 25 pin adapter

These have usually all lines which are available in a DB-9 connector. They simply map the 9 pin layout to the corresponding pins of the 25 pin connector. They have either a male DB-9 and a female DB-25 or vice versa:

The Gender Changer

Gender changers simply change the gender of a plug. Their wiring is 1:1 and there are 2 kinds:
Female to Female and
Male to Male.
They can have either DB-9 or DB-25 connectors on their ends, I have also seen some which have DB-9 on ont side and DB-25 on the other side. The latter ones are combined 9pin-to-25pin-adapters and gender changers.
Here are examples of a 25pin male and a 9 pin male gender changer:

The 200LX connectivity cable (F1015A)

This is not a serial cable, but a full-featured null modem cable with a 200LX plug on one end and a female DB-9 on the other end. Is is designed to connect the palmtop to a PC. So, if you want to connect a modem, a mouse or a cellular phone (or any other device which is usually connected to the serial port of a PC) to the palmtop, you need one more full-featured null modem adapter in series to this cable to re-do the null modem wire crossings. Such a null modem adapter comes with the HP connectivity pack. Read on for more information.

A short 1:1 serial adapter for the 200LX

You can easily add a "standard" serial port (i.e. a male DB-9 connector) to the palmtop, so that you can simply plug in any device which you can also plug into a serial port of a PC. Either build the adapter yourself, it could look like mine:

(simply connect all pins 1:1, instructions to make a 200LX plug are available here), or buy such an adapter from Rundel Datentechnik (Item #1098).

The serial to parallel converter

This is an active electronic device, which converts serial data into parallel data (but usually not vice versa! You need a so-called "bidirectional" serial to parallel converter to have both directions of conversion). It is needed if you want to connect e.g. a parallel printer to the palmtop. Such a converter is expensive (usually 30 .. 100 US$) and available either as one box with two connectors or as a cable with a box on one end. A cable which fits directly into the 200LX serial port is offered by Thaddeus Computing. Usually these converters have one DB-25 connector on the serial input end and a Centronics parallel printer interface on the other end. Most of these converters are unidirectional, that means, they cannot be used for bidirectional parallel devices (such as Iomega ZIP drives, Memory card readers etc.) and the data transmission may be limited by the 200LX serial port. Try with 9600 bps and go higher and higher until you don´t notice any speed improvement. Take care that you can adjust the speed of the converter, e.g. with DIP switches. If you cannot, the speed is probably hard-wired to 9600 baud.

How to connect device X to the palmtop

This section describes what you need in order to connect a specific device (or a kind of device) to the palmtop HP 200LX.

Another PC (for file transfer or Internet connection sharing)

You only need the HP connectivity cable. Maybe you need a 9pin to 25 pin adapter on the PC side.
You have several options of software to use if you want to transfer data between the palmtop and the PC over the serial line:

Filer on the palmtop, Total Commander with HPLX communication plugin on the Windows-PC (very reliable and fast, recommended!)
Filer on the palmtop, Transfile Win200 on the Windows-PC (easy to set up and to use, but some shortcomings in usability)
MS-DOS Interlink / Interserver (interlnk, intersvr), comes with MS-DOS
Laplink Remote Access (you had to buy a copy for the PC)
ZIP (this is not PKZIP!) (very fast and reliable command-line tool)
X-Finder and X-Finder Server
(said to be very reliable and fast)
Kermit
(command line tool)
Win32 Filer (connection between a Windows PC and the palmtop´s filer application)
Norton Commander offers a file transfer connection, similar to the filer of the palmtop

...and probably many others. Please note that the palmtop may not be able to handle high-speed transmission, depending on the kind of software you use and the clock speed of the palmtop the data rate may be limited to 57600, 38400 or even 19200 bps.

You can also use the connection to another PC to share one Internet connection between this PC and your palmtop. This means you have to run a program on the PC which lets you use the existing Internet connection of the PC (no matter if via modem, DSL, Ethernet, ATM, wireless LAN or whatever) over a PPP connection over the serial port. Such software exists for Windows 9x and is called MochaPPP. If you run Linux on your PC, you can easily configure IP masquerading, IP forwarding (with iptables) and the pppd as PPP server for the serial line. Please visit my Internet connection sharing page for detailed instructions!.

A modem

You need either
The 200LX connectivity cable , a full-featured (!) null modem adapter and a serial cable (the serial cable usually comes with the modem), or you need:
A 1:1 serial adapter and a serial cable .
You may also need a gender changer and / or a 9pin-to-25pin-adapter if something doesn´t fit together.
Regarding Internet and fax software recommendations, please have a look onto my mobile-hplx page !

A cellular phone

(Please note that you can also connect a cellular phone via IrDA to the LX, if the phone is IrDA capable!)
You need either
The 200LX connectivity cable , a full-featured (!) null modem adapter and the phone-specific data cable, or you need:
A 1:1 serial adapter and the phone-specific data cable.
You may also need a gender changer and / or a 9pin-to-25pin-adapter if something doesn´t fit together.
Regarding Internet and fax software recommendations, please have a look onto my mobile-hplx page !
Please note also that there are problems with some phone-specific data cables. Some data cables don´t use the DCD line, which can cause problems, and some data cables are designed to be powered by the PC´s serial port, which can cause problems if they need too much power. For further information have a look onto my mobile-hplx page .

A pointing device (e.g. a mouse)

Why could someone want to use a mouse with the palmtop? Well, there are a few possibilities: MS-Windows 3.0 can be run on the palmtop in real-mode (the picture shows a mouse with a self-made connector, not with the cables described here), so you could use MS-Word 1.1 and MS-Excel 1.0. There are also CAD and drawing programs which run on the palmtop.
You need either
The 200LX connectivity cable , and a null modem adapter or you need:
A 1:1 serial adapter .
You may also need a gender changer and / or a 9pin-to-25pin-adapter if something doesn´t fit together.
Don´t forget to load a suitable mouse driver and note that the serial port has to be switched on all the time during the mouse driver is loaded and you use the mouse. The best option is to do that in a batch file. Say, your application which uses a mouse, is named app.exe and your mouse driver is mouse.com and can be unloaded with mouse.com /u. Then you should always start app.exe with the following batch file:

@echo off
serctl /w
mouse.com
app.exe
mouse.com /u
serctl /o

This makes sure the serial port is always ready for the mouse and the driver can instantly see the mouse.
Technical info: Most mice use the TxD, RTS and DTR lines as power supply. The PC receives the mouse signals via RxD. GND is also needed, of course.

A serial printer

I have never done that, so I can only explain theoretically:
You need either
The 200LX connectivity cable , and a 9-to-25-adapter (or the "printer adapter" which comes with the connectivity pack, this seems to be a simple 9-to-25-adapter)
or you need:
A 1:1 serial adapter and a null modem cable
You may also need a gender changer and / or a 9pin-to-25pin-adapter if something doesn´t fit together.

A parallel printer

You need either:
The 200LX connectivity cable , a null modem adapter and a serial to parallel converter ,
or you need the "Greenwich cable", which is sold by Thaddeus Computing.
or you can use one of the programs OMNIPRN and COM2LPT to use a printer which is connected to your desktop PC. The desktop PC then acts as a serial to parallel converter.

A Thermometer

You need the instructions to build a palmtop thermometer ;-). Please see here .

The serial port of the HP 95LX

The HP 95LX has only 4 pins (ground, TX, RX, shield). You can use a female connector with 4 pins in 1 row (2mm grid) as a plug for the 95LX´s port. Such a connector can be found for example as CD-ROM audio connector (These flat black ones).

If you look on the serial port of the 95LX, the pins lead the following signals:

 
_______________
| A | B | C | D |
 \_____________/


A: shield ground   (if connected to a standard DB9 connector: connect it to the housing)
B: TX              (Pin 3 of a standard DB9 connector)
C: RX              (Pin 2 of a standard DB9 connector)
D: signal ground   (Pin 5 of a standard DB9 connector)

If you want to make a normal serial cable (e.g. to connect a modem to the 95LX), use the wiring described above for the DB9 connector. To make a null modem cable (e.g. to connect the 95LX to another PC for data transfer), swap pins 2 and 3.

With that information and combined with the tables and drawings above, you should be able to build any cable you need for the HP 95LX. But be aware that because of the missing control lines, some software could get into trouble. This can probably be avoided if "software flow control" is enabled on both sides (XON/XOFF), since the hardware flow control lines (CTS/RTS) are missing.

Handshaking mechanisms

For serial data transmission, there are two kinds of handshaking:

Hardware handshaking (RTS/CTS) and
Software Handshaking (Xon/Xoff)

Independant from that, there are two more control lines: DTR and DSR. They are only important at the beginning and the end of a data transmission. This is also called "handshaking", but doesn´t mean the handshaking during the data transmission. See below.

DTR/DSR: These control lines assure that there are really two devices present which want to communicate with each other: First, the DTE sets DTR "high", then the DCE answers setting DSR "high".
These two lines are kept high during the whole transmission process. If the transmission has to be interrupted (because of a modem hang-up for example), the DCE drops the DSR to "low" so the DTE knows the transfer is finished.
RTS/CTS: These are the actual flow control lines: The sender sets RTS "high" (ready to send), the receiver answers setting CTS (clear to send) to "high". If the receiver needs a pause (buffer overflow, for example), if drops CTS to "low", so the sender knows it has to wait with further transmission until the receiver has set CTS "high" again. This way it is assured that no data is lost.
Xon/Xoff: This method can be used if no RTS/CTS lines are available. It is simple: If the receiver cannot handle more data (due to a buffer overflow, for example), it sends the Xoff character (Ctrl-S, ASCII 0x13) to the sender, so the sender knows it has to wait with further transmissions until the receiver sends the Xon character. If the receiver is ready again, it sends Xon (Ctrl-Q, ASCII 0x11) and the sender continues to send data.
the DCD line is only used by modems. It is set to "high" by the modem to let the computer know it has detected the carrier tone of the modem on the other side (i.e. it has a connection to the other side).

Infrared communication with the Palmtop HP 200LX

2009-10-14T13:46:44+00:00

Archived 2013-12-08
This page has been archived and some links may not work correctly anymore. No updates of this page will be done anymore.

Ways and problems of connecting the palmtop to differend kinds of devices via Infrared

Contents of this page:

Preface

I removed my instructions to build an IR transceiver device for Desktop PCs from this site, because there are now many other instructions available on the web which are way better than mine was. Another reason is that I used an Infrared transceiver component which is not available anymore, the HP HSDL 1001. The newer Vishay TDFS 4500 and similar products are a better choice nowadays.

You can find instructions to make infrared transceivers for your desktop PC here:

http://www.infraredport.com by Dschen Reinecke, in German and in English
http://stebo-online.purespace.de only in German.

Please note that these transceivers connect directly to the "Infrared" connector on your motherboard. No way to connect them to a serial port or USB. For that purpose there are special devices called "IrDA dongles" available. You can buy these devices in several variations, the most common one nowadays may be the USB version.

Introduction: About IR communication with the HP DOS palmtops

The main issue with the palmtops HP 95LX, 100LX, 200LX, 1000CX and 700LX is, that these devices are not fully IrDA compliant.
IrDA defines several network layers. The lowest layer, the physical one, is SIR, also known as HPSIR, because HP invented it. This layer is supported by the HP LX palmtops, i.e. all IrDA devices arephysically able to establish an Infrared communication path to the palmtop.

But the logical way of communications causes problems: Almost all IrDA compliant devices which are available these days (e.g. cell phones, PDAs, Laptops, LAN adapters, digital cameras...) make use of some of the other layers defined by IrDA. These other layers are all implemented in software, so theycan be switched off if the software is modifyable, e.g. on laptops which run Linux. Maybe even IrDA drivers in Windows 9x can be made work in plain SIR mode by modifying the Windows registry (see PC part of this page below).

SIR (serial Infrared) is basically the RS232 protocol, but with other signal levels and impulse lenghts. All other IrDA protocol layers (IrLAP, IrLMP, IrCOMM, IrLAN, IrOBEX) are connection management and handling stuff, such as adjusting the baud rate, recognizing the peer device, setting up "virtual" ports which can be used by software which wants to talk to "normal" ports like LPT or COM or network devices and so on. As soon as software relies on these upper IrDA layers, a communication with the HP palmtop as is is impossible.

Why do I say "as is"? Read on!

Connecting to cellular phones

Well, there are exactly two programs by now which are able to drive the palmtop´s IR port in a more IrDA-compliant mode. Only a few parts of the full IrDA protocol are implemented there, so it is not possible to do all IrDA things with that software.

Both programs are written by Andreas Garzotto, one of them is commercial software and sold by D&A Software. It is called "WWW/LX". This is an Internet suite with TCP/IP stack, mail client, web browser, and clients for various purposes, such as FTP, finger, get, ping etc. This one supports talking to IrDA cell phones via IR, so you can use a cell phone as a modem or you can use AT commands in terminal mode or even automated to administrate your cell phone (phone book up/download, ring tones, logos etc.) WWW/LX implements parts of the IrCOMM, IrLAP and IrLMP protocols.

The other one is free software called "IR.EXE". This one implements the connection free part of the IrOBEX protocol in addition to IrLAP. IR.EXE is also available over the D&A software FTP server. You can send and receive OBEX objects with this software, which is also supported by cell phones, PDAs and other devices.

So if you want to connect to cell phones via IrDA, there is generally no big problem. Dependent on your needs you have up to two choices.

Regarding the specifications of different tested cell phones, please read my "mobile HPLX" page!

Connecting to other PCs for file transfer

If your computer and OS (or IR dongle device drivers) are capable to talk the plain SIR (serial Infrared) protocol via its IR port, everything is fine. Then you can use every application which you also would use with a serial cable connection to transfer files (Transfile Win200, Laplink Remote Access, zip, InterLink/InterServer, X-Finder....).

If your computer can "only" talk the full-featured IrDA protocol, you may have a problem. If you connect an IrDA transmitter device to your computer, Windows 98 recognizes it and sets up "virtual" COM and LPT ports. These port types are defined by the IrDA standard (IrCOMM), but are not suitable to communicate to the palmtop, because they use these advanced IrDA features (keywords IrCOMM, IrLTP, IrLMP, IrLAP etc. - I don´t want to go into detail here, please refer to http://www.irda.org). The problem is that these "virtual" ports don´t use the plain (HP)SIR protocol, but all these add-on connection handling protocols, which the palmtop isn´t capable to handle. The above mentioned programs WWW/LX and IR.EXE are limited for use with cell phones and IrDA modems.

On the other side, you may need these IrDA-specific features on your PC if you want to use it to talk to a mobile phone, a newer PDA or some other real IrDA device.

What about a general IrDA driver for the palmtop?

This is an idea which has been mentioned a lot of times in the HPLX mailing list. But unfortunately, it is simply not possible to create a driver which sits between the application and the IR port, because the IR port is directly addressed by all DOS programs with their read / write routines. They speak directly to the hardware. So no other program or driver would have a chance to modify the data stream in any way before it is written to the serial port.

Mobile Phone compatibility with HP Palmtops

2009-10-22T08:35:26+00:00

Archived 2013-12-08
This page has been archived and some links may not work correctly anymore. No updates of this page will be done anymore.

How to connect your HP 200LX (or similar models) to a mobile phone for Internet access, sending fax, sending SMS or exchanging other data

Please note: This article is about 10 years old. It does not reflect the state of the art in mobile communication technologies anymore. Especially the section about the different mobile phones is outdated.

Contents of this page:

NEW: Nokia´s built-in SMS editor

How to send faxes with the palmtop

Security update for the fax setup (recommended!)

Related pages:

Introduction:

If you want to go online with your palmtop (HP 100LX, 200LX, 1000CX; the 700LX has this capability built-in, so this page is not relevant to the 700LX) using a mobile telephone network, you need a cellular phone. There are also PCMCIA cards that have a GSM modem built-in, e.g. the Nokia Card Phone), but as far as I know, all these cards don´t work in the palmtop, because they draw too much power from the PCMCIA slot (maximum is 150mA). Note that these cards are ´phones´ by themselves - I don´t speak about the cards that build a connection to a mobile phone. These cards may work - see below!

Now you have to decide, which cellular phone you´ll buy - nowadays there are lots of possibilities.
In general, there are three possibilities to connect a cellular phone as a modem to the palmtop.

via PCMCIA card
via serial cable
via infrared
via Bluetooth

(The fourth is not realizable yet, because of the lack of a bluetooth module for the palmtop. But hopefully some day we will have a serial port Bluetooth dongle for the palmtop, maybe even integrateable into the housing of the palmtop - see section "New Technologies").

All these possibilities have advantages and disadvantages:

1. Older phones often are only capable to connect to a computer via PCMCIA cards. These cards are expensive, and you have to sacrifice the only PCMCIA port of the palmtop. So you can´t use a memory or another PCMCIA card simultanously. Also you have to be SURE, that the PCMCIA card for the phone doesn´t draw too much power from the palmtop: 150 mA is the maximum. So don´t try to use a card that´s more power hungry, it could destroy your palmtop! Also make sure that it´s possible to talk to the data card as to a standard modem (that is, with the Hayes AT commands), otherwise all the standard communication software will have trouble!
Somebody reported that the Nokia data card with an older Nokia phone works well.

2. A serial cable connection is a very reliable connection, but the phone has to have a serial data port. Also you have to buy a data cable (most of them are pretty expensive) and use the HP connectivity cable, a null modem adapter and this data cable; all three in series. This combo would be quite bulky.
Another alternative is to make a data cable by yourself. It´s not that easy, because you cannot simply connect a few pins of the phone´s port to some pins of the palmtop´s port. The cable has to inculde some active electronic parts, because all phones I know use other signal voltages than the standard RS 232 ports. I described how to make such a cable for the Siemens S25 phone on another page. This cable also works for the Siemens S35i, C35i and M35i phones. The advantage of such a self-made cable is that you can make it as long as you prefer and because you don´t have to carry around three different parts for the cable. A third option is to make a short HPLX-to-DB9 adapter which you can plug into the LX and which you can directly connect the bought data cable to. Pleas have a look on my HPLX RS232 page. There you can find more details about a serial connection via data cable.
If you plan to make a cable for another phone than the Siemens ones that I mentioned above, please do a search on the web to find the various sites that describe cables for other phones. Maybe other phones need different electronics between the palmtop´s RS232 port and the phone´s data port.
You can use cable connections with all kinds of communication software that talks over serial port to a modem. A simple terminal emulation, like the built-in Datacomm, an internet package like WWW/LX, LXTCP or Nettamer, pppd, sshdos, Goin Postal... please have a look into the Software section of this page!

3. If you want to connect the phone and the palmtop via Infrared, be aware that that there exist two very bad problems:

The palmtop´s IR port is not IrDA compatible by itself
The palmtop´s IR port is heavily disturbed by the electromagnetic field that surrounds the phone´s antenna

For the first problem exists a very good solution called WWW/LX. At the moment, WWW/LX is the only software for the palmtop that can talk to an IrDA phone and use it as a modem. WWW/LX is a software package, made by D&A Software, that includes an IP stack (WWW/LX), an email and news client (Post/LX with News/LX) and a web browser (HV). WWW/LX is a commercial product. You can buy it either directly from D&A Software or (preferrably if you live in Europe) from Thomas Rundel in Germany. Of course, WWW/LX also works with serial cable connections, PCMCIA connections, PCMCIA analog modems, PCMCIA ISDN cards and Ethernet cards.

For the second problem, there is unfortunately no soultion by now. You have to live with it and try to find work-arounds. See the list of phones below to see how bad a phone causes this problem and how it may be avoided. If you want to learn more about this problem, and maybe even can help to solve it, please see my EMI problem page! In general, every phone causes this problem when it is used with the LX via IR. Some phones produce less interference, some more.

Make sure your cellular network provider allows data calls! Maybe you have to ask them to provide this service to you, maybe you even have to pay for it. I recommend that you make this clear before you decide which phone to buy, because maybe you want to change your network provider when you see that you have to pay too much money for data calls. :-)

Note that as far as I know all WAP capable phones have a built-in modem, so if you have a phone that´s WAP capable, it´s quite sure that you can use it as a modem. It only depends on if the modem is usable from out of the phone - either via serial cable or via IR.

By the way: For those who have had troubles with Windows 98 and IrDA because of these strange "virtual" devices Windows 98 sets up, please read my IrDA page!

Short phone overview

To give you a first idea which phone brand may be suitable for your needs, I give you a short overview here with the most important features and drawbacks of the three biggest phone brands: Nokia, Siemens and Ericsson. This overview is only relevant to newer phones, not for phones which are older than approximately two years. This is due to the technical improvements which come with time. For more detailled information please read the big phone list below.

Nokia phones are good for you if you need much compatibility, love bells and whistles (like ring tones, pictures, games...), want to use IrDA for a palmtop connection, don´t need a data cable connection and if you don´t always need the latest technology, but rather a quite reliable and well designed product. Well, some people say, Nokia phones are not at all reliable. Software is buggy and crashes often. I cannot comment on that, since I have never used a Nokia phone.
Siemens phones are your choice if you donot want to use IrDA for a palmtop connection (except for SMS sending, which works very well), but rather like cable connections. Siemens phones are also technically very well designed and are fairly easy to use due to a sophisticated and easy to understand menu system. I even think they are mechanically more robust than any other phones.
Ericsson phones offer (at least these days - end of 2001) the best support of new technologies like bluetooth and high speed / packet data services while keeping prices low. IrDA works flawlessly, cable connections should also be possible without problems (although this has not been tested extensively, because IrDA works so well). If your phone doesn´t need to have the best look and feel (Ericsson makes very good technology, but in my opinion a rather poor design) and if you tend to play with new features (serious ones, not games, multimedia and so on), consider buying an Ericsson phone! Also, Ericsson phones are very robust compared to Nokia or Siemens phones.

List of phones and their features:

Please note that I don´t have any interest in advertising for one of the companies whose phones I describe. The following list is intended to be as unbiased as possible, describing advantages and disadvantages of each phone. Since I rely on reports of users whose experiences I publish here, there may be errors in the following list. But these errors don´t have anything to do with my private opinion or interests. The same is true for the software I describe. I myself use only the Siemens S35i and D&A Software´s ´WWW/LX´.

Siemens phones:

General notes:
Siemens phones are generally (in my opinion) very well designed phones, the menu structure is easy to understand and they are customizeable, so that often used functions are easily accessable and only the less often ones are hidden inside the complex menu structures. However, one drawback applies to all Siemens phones: They have a low-power IrDA interface. That saves battery life of course, but it makes IrDA connections for Internet access with the 200LX almost impossible. It may work for some specific combinations and situations, but usually you have more problems than you want to have. Thus, if you want to use WWW/LX with your phone and use IrDA rather than a data cable, I cannot recommend you to buy a Siemens phone.

Siemens S25: IrDA port, wired port, no WAP, data connection speed limited to 9600 bps.

My self-made data cable works without any problem. The baud rate of the S25's wired port is fixed to 19200.
Note: If your cellular network provider supports V.110 connections (=ISDN) you can use the init string "ATB29" and the dial string "ATDI<number>". You will then get a CONNECT as soon as you dialed, so you have to wait abt. 15 seconds less until you have a working connection. The connection speed isn't increased by this, though.

Siemens C35i and M35i: wired port, WAP, no IrDA port, connection speed limited to 9600 bps

More information here.

Comments: Works without problems with my self-made data cable (tested) and any communication software.

Siemens S35i: IrDA port, wired port, WAP, connection speed limited to 9600 bps

More information here.

Comments: My self-made data cable works without any problem. The best IR-eye-to-eye-distance for IrDA communication is abt. 18-20 cm says Günther, who bought this phone in May 2000. He also says, when he wraps the S35i with aluminium foil (and leaves a hole for the IR, of course), he can even establish an internet connection without any EMI errors. However, I still get errors with aluminium foil. The baud rate of the S35i's wired port is fixed to 19200.
Here the ISDN connection init string works, too, see comments of the S25!
For further questions you can contact guenthereisele@yahoo.de.

Siemens S40: IrDA port, wired port, WAP, supports HSCSD up to 57600 bps

More information here.

Comments: Nothing known about compatibility to the 200LX, since no one has tested it by now.
Since this phone is actually designed by Bosch, it differs in general from all the other Siemens phones. So IrDA may work. It has yet to be tested.
HSCSD is not supported through the IrDA interface, so you need a data cable to make use of the higher data rates of HSCSD. And unfortunately, the data cable port of the phone is not compatible to the S35i and S25 (and S45).

Siemens SL45: IrDA port, wired port, WAP, MP3-Player, connection speed limited to 9600 bps (no HSCSD, no GPRS)

More information here.

Comments: Nothing known about compatibility to the 200LX, since no one has tested it by now.
I have heard that the data cable port of the SL45 is compatible to the S35i / S25 port. Can anyone please confirm that? Can the same data cables be used?

Siemens S45 and ME45: IrDA port, wired port, WAP, GPRS

More information here.

Comments: Nothing known about compatibility to the 200LX, since no one has tested it by now.
But these phones are the real successors of the S25 / C25 - S35 / C35 / M35 line, so I think compatibility should not be a problem. At least the data cable port is compatible.

Ericsson phones:

For older Ericsson phones (e.g. the T28s) there exist IrDA dongles. One user reported that such a dongle worked in combination with the CF788 phone and the Palmtop. I don´t know if these older phones have the possibility to attach a data cable, but since the IrDA dongle has to be connected somewhere to the telephone, I think they have. And in this case the question remains, if such a dongle would be a real advantage compared to a data cable.... For use with the palmtop it wouldn´t, I think. But on the other side some of the Ericsson phones use the IrDA protocol also over the wired port. The only software that would be able to use these IrDA-speaking Ericsson phones at all (either over cable or over IR) would be the WWW/LX suite by D&A Software, since this is the only software which is able to use the IrDA protocol (even via the data cable, set the parameters port=-1 and IR=0 in this case in the www.cfg).

So far I can say that the following Ericsson phones don´t use IrDA over the wired serial port, so they are also usable with other software than WWW/LX:
the R380 (the one with the big touchscreen under the keyboard)
the R520 (GPRS, HSCSD, IrDA, Bluetooth, big size)
the T39m (GPRS, HSCSD, IrDA, Bluetooth, small size) and
the R320s (see below).
If you plan to send or receive faxes with your phone, take care: Some Ericsson phones cannot handle faxes. This feature is explicitly diabled in these models. So read the features lists carefully!
There are now even different kinds of Ericsson data cables available. The old one, the DRS-10, misses the DCD line (about DCD: see my RS232 page), so some software can have problems (e.g. Goin´ Postal). The new cable, DRS-11, has a new chip inside, the MAX3386 (instead of the MAX3232). And it has the DCD line. You can also build your own data cable as described here. That self-made data cable has an "emulated" DCD line (always high) which works with Goin"e; Postal.

Ericsson R320s: IrDA port, WAP, I don´t know about wired port and connection speed limit

More information here

Comments: works via IR with the LX. Not extensively tested yet, but I´ll soon provide more information
For further questions you can contact Martin Bergvill or/and ebbeh@online.no

Ericsson SH888 and I888:

The phones only differ in their look and the I888 uses 900 MHz and 1900 MHz, the SH888 uses 900 MHz and 1800 MHz. So they should work exactly identically in combination with the palmtop.
These phones are known to use the IrDA protocol through the wired port.

IrDA port, wired port (speaks IrDA!!, comment see above), no WAP, connection limited to 9600 baud.
More information here.

Comments: This phone is reported to work well with the palmtop via IrDA. But be aware that this phone is a quite old one, so its features are probably not up-to-date anymore. The best IR-eye-to-eye distance is reported to be about 30 cm. Another user reported that 10-15 cm is a good distance.
For further questions about SH888 you can contact ebbeh@online.no and office@praktiker.at

Ericsson I888:

Here's the report of an I888 owner: Using the WWW/LX suite I have succeeded in exchanging emails, phone books and SMS while connected over IrDA to the I888. I get about 25 Character lost for 100kB of information exchanged. I can position the I888 from 30cm to 1 meter away from the 200LX with no apparent difference in transmission quality.
One additional note: SMS reception via PDU need a special switch which Stefan Peichl was kind enough to include in the latest PDU release.
For further questions about the I888 you can contact leurquin@bigfoot.com

NEW: Ericsson T39m and T68: IrDA port, WAP 1.2.1, Bluetooth, HSCSD, GPRS, triband, voice record, and it is very small!

More information here

The T39m and the T68 are basically the same, only the design is different. But technically and from the palmtop point of view, they are identical.

Martin Bergvill reports: The T39m has the size of a credit card+arial and weights 86 gram. I have used it for a couple of days and I must say that I am impressed. The supplied battery (which uses the new LiPolymer technology) has a standby time of max. 300 hours. The special big battery has a standby time of 700 hours!
Regarding the EMI problem: I have tested with Ring.com. If I have the HPLX and the T39m about 5cm apart I get disturbances. Abive that I get no disturbance at all!

I have got HSCSD to work with the AT string ATZ+cbst=0,0,1;+chsn=4,2,0,12 with 38400 baud.
GPRS also works with WWW/LX, but due to a firmware bug in the T39m/T68, you need a modified version of WWW/LX v3 to make it work. Please ask the people at D&A Software for that version.

Nokia phones:

General note: The Nokia phones´ IrDA ports have in general a very much larger working range than the IrDA ports made by Siemens. So you can work around the EMI problem here by keeping a distance of abt. 30 cm between the IrDA port of the phone and the infrared port of the palmtop.

For data cable users: Nokia currently offers two different kinds of data cables. The one you need is the DLR-3P! Don´t buy any other cable, since the other cables won´t work with the palmtop! Can anyone tell me if the DLR-3 works, too?
Ressources for nokia data cables: Selfmade DLR-3P, Nobbi´s Datenkabel Seite (German).

Nokia 61xx: No serial port, only usable as a modem with optional PCMCIA card or with a GSM-Nota cable

More information here (6110).
More information here (6150).

All phones of the Nokia 61xx-series don´t work on a direct way with the LX as a modem, because they don´t have a built-in modem. Some models (I think all non-US models) have an IR port, but this is only for data exchange between phones or for use with a Windows-Software. So none of these phones works as a modem for the LX! You can use (some of?) them as a modem for a Windows machine, if you use the Windows software modem called "Nokia cellular data suite". There´s no chance to make this work on the LX via infrared!

But there are two ways to to use the Nokia 6110 or 6150 as a modem: One solution is to use an optional PCMCIA card. There is a manufacturer called OPTION who makes such PCMCIA cards. There are probably other manufacturers, too. One person reported success using an OPTION card with a Nokia 6110 as a modem for the HP LX. If you have questions about this OPTION PCMCIA card and how to make it work with the HP Palmtops please contact pierrot@palmtop.com.

The other solution is the "GSM-Nota" cable. A user reports: "I use my Nokia 6110 with my HP200LX with the aid of something called a GSM-Nota cable. It's basically a cable with a small battery powered matchbox sized adapter box stuck in the middle of it. One end plugs into the phone and the other plugs into the serial port of the HP. They're very popular in the Psion world and usually are sold with a Psion compatible serial connector on the end. I discovered that the company that makes them also makes them with a standard 9 pin serial connection which I then connect it to the HP using the Connectivity cable and the null-modem adaptor. The cable then makes the Nokia respond to standard Hayes-AT commands. It works for SMS messaging (Stefan Peichl has incorporated compatibility for the GSM-Nota into PDU.COM at my request), address book and for data. It is a superb solution for those of us stuck with the Nokia 61xx series.

You can find out more about the GSM-Nota at http://www.idware.fr and http://www.exportech.co.uk (the guys I bought mine from)."

If you have further question about the GSM-Nota cable please contact surreal@compuserve.com.

Nokia 6210: IrDA port, wired port, WAP, connection speed up to 14.400 bps, with HSCSD up to 43.200 bps

More information here.

Comments from a user:
I can now say that the combination of the Nokia6210 and HP200/WWWLX3-Post works very well (as well of course the cable link). I have actually very little EMI-disturbances but sometimes there is the message after the run of: "xxx bytes lost/fram error/GSM disturbance(?)). As you write the distance can be rather long between the IR-ports which reduces the problem. I have also succesfully installed PDU which works well too integrated in the PostLX.
For further questions please contact jacob.waern@swipnet.se. Regarding HSCSD, please have a look at the HSCSD section.

Nokia 6310: IrDA port, wired port?, WAP 1.2.1, GPRS, HSCSD and Bluetooth

More information here.

Comments: Works at least via IrDA with the 200LX and WWW/LX for GSM and HSCSD Internet connections.

Nokia 5610: IrDA port, wired port?, WAP 1.2.1, GPRS, HSCSD and FM Radio

More information here.

Comments: Works at least via IrDA with the 200LX and WWW/LX for GSM and HSCSD Internet connections. GPRS not tested yet.

Nokia 7110 / 7110e: IrDA port, wired port, WAP, provides data connection speed of up to 14400 bps (depends on network provider if it´s usable or not)

More information here.

Comments: Tested via IrDA with WWW/LX. The optional data cable is called ´DLR-3´ but was not tested yet.
The phone stores SMSs on both the SIM card and the phone´s internal memory, so it takes a lot of SMSs. The Robot/LX script that allows you to send / reply SMSs via the LX is now adapted to this special storing behaviour.
It´s also possible to transmit entries of the LX´s phonebook as a vcard to the 7110 / 7110e via IR. The tool you need for this is called IR.EXE and is available from ftp.dasoft.com. With phone software version 4.84 and above there should be no problems. The version 4.73 has got problems.
For further questions please contact Martin Bergvill.

Please note: There are several versions of data cables for the Nokia 6210 available, some of them only work with special Windows software to upload logos and ring tones and to send SMSs. Be sure that you have an original Nokia DLR-3P cable. This seems to be the only one which works with standard software.

Nokia 8210: IrDA port, wired port is also present (under the battery), no WAP, data connection speed is limited to 14400 bps (depends on network provider)

More information here.

Comments: Read the comments of Nokia 8810!
Someone found the circuit diagram for a data cable for the 8210. Here is the pinout of the 8210's wired port and here you can see the circuit diagram for an MBUS datacable. But note that the MBUS cable is as far as I know not the one you need for a modem connection! Please refer to the links above in the general notes for a universal data cable which may also work for the 8210.

The 8210 is reported to work only reliably at 38400 baud via IR.With a lower baud rate, there seem to be problems with html and news. Notwith email. So maybe you should test it before you buy. Note that you need a double-speed upgraded palmtop for reliable connections at 38400 baud!
For an ISDN connection (V110) you can use the init string "AT&F+CBST=71,0,1". This will result in a much faster "CONNECT" than with the normal connection protocol. This only works, if your cellular network provider supports ISDN connections. Note that an ISDN connection will NOT increase the speed, only the CONNECT will be done abt. 15 seconds faster.
Maybe, if your net provider supports it, you can use a 14400 baud data connection, if you use the init string "AT&F+CBST=14,0,1". Try it!

For further questions please contact stora.my@spray.se.

Nokia 8810: IrDA port, no wired port, no WAP, data connection speed limited to 38400 bps (says the prospect - but which network does support that?? )

More information here.

You have to switch the 8810 off and on again after an IrDA online run, because the software (V. 4.05) has a bug. I don´t know if this bug is removed in newer software versions. If you don´t do this ´reboot´, the next IrDA online run won´t work properly.

Nokia 8850 / 8890: IrDA port, I don´t know about wired port, no WAP, data connection speed limited to 9600 bps

More information here.

Comments: Not tested yet, but should work just as the other newer Nokia phones.

Nokia Orange 5.1 (old phone, the same as Nokia 2110?) wired port or PCMCIA card necessary, no WAP, no other ports, connection speed limit 9600 baud.

Sorry, I didn´t find any URL providing more info about this phone!

Comments: Tested with WWW/LX. No problems known. For further questions please contact aj93@dial.pipex.com.

Motorola phones:

Motorola i1000plus / i500plus / i700plus: wired port, no IrDA, no WAP, don´t know about connection speed limit

Comments: works with HP connectivity cable, null modem adapter (either HP or Motorola) and Motorola´s data cable which comes with a whole kit which includes Windows software and a manual. But for the LX you only need the data cable from this kit.
You have to use a special initialization string for making it work as a modem for the LX: AT&FX4.
The phone i1000plus was tested with Goin´ Postal and WWW/LX. Since the two other phones have the same internal modem, they should also work as the i1000plus does. For further questions about the i10000plus you can contact evilla@terra.com.pe.

Motorola Timeport: wired serial port, IrDA?

There are more than one Motorola phone which are called "timeport". I don't know anything about them, but if you can provide informations, please don't hesitate to do so.

For further questions you can contact citroen@stad.dsl.nl and/or gnassi@attglobal.net.

Another user wrote:
"I can confirm that the Motorola Timeport L7089 (the one without the WAP browser) works fine with the HP200LX over IRDA. I haven't been able to purchase a serial cable - they are very hard to find. The only thing that doesn't work over IRDA is sending a fax. It apparently does work over a cable but I can't confirm this."
If you have further questions please contact surreal@compuserve.com

Motorola Startac 85596A (analogue): works with AAPEX Data ClipperCom World V.34 data fax 33.6 PC card modem.

This modem is a PCMCIA card modem that combines a normal landline 33.6 modem with a cellular modem. You have to make a special cable in order to get both to work together.

If you have further questions about this combo, please email palmtop@ihug.co.nz.

Sagem phones:

General information (by Radek Svagr):

Nearly all Sagem phones (including older 7xx and 8xx series) have an internal modem. But, and this is also the case for the 930, it is blocked in software. So when you buy the phone, it doesn´t support Data/Fax modes; you can handle SMS and phone book transfers only. But it is quite easy to activate the modem so you will get a better phone (higher models lie 840 or 940 have an already adtivated modem, but they are more expensive of course).
One method how to tune the Sagem phones is described on http://www.volny.cz/sagemak. It is quite simple and you can activate more features than a modem (memory for 50 SMS, 35 own melodies, 200 phone book entries etc...). Tuning software is on http://www.sagem.de.vu. The cable is common type with MAX232 or very simple with 2 Transistors which I use without problem. Schematics for this cable are available here:
Connector of the Sagem phones
Data cable with MAX232
Simple data cable with transistors
The parts will fit into an RS232 connector.
Personally I tested the following models: MC840, MC930, MW930, MW936.

Note: As everywhere are exceptions, as far as I know, series 91x and 92x of Sagem phones seem to have no modem. Also I don´t know about the new 3xxx models, but they support AT commands so they probably have a modem.

Sagem MW (MC) 930: Wired port, communication speed limit: 9600 (GSM), serial port spped with PC adjustable from 2400 to 19200 bps, using a tuning software up to 38400 bps. Supports V.110 (ISDN). WAP browser in MW series.

Before you start communicate with the modem, you must press C on the phone, because the modem goes into sleep mode after a few seconds of inactivity. If you have further questions about Sagem phones, please contact Radek Svagr

other phones

Bosch 908: wired port, no IrDA

No URL found. Try www.bosch.de

Comments: Tested with WWW/LX and ACCIS4. No problems known. If you have further questions, please contact lassekarlsson@mail.com.

LG InfoComm TM510 wired port, triband.

More information here

Comments: The proprietary fax/data transfer kit (79.99 US$, according to a zdnet review) is needed, it contains a cable with a box in the middle. This box contains the electronics and an additional phone port, which you can probably connect the charger or a headset to, even while using the data cable. For the connection to the palmtop you need the HP connectivity cable and an additional null modem adapter (see my HPLX RS232 page)

If you have further questions please contact Mike Kopplin.

CDPD modems and phones:

The following info has been provided by Bruce M. (an HPLX mailinglist member):

CDPD devices which are known to work with the HP 200LX:

Mitsubishi T250
Novatel Wireless Sage
Motorola Personal Messenger 100C (discontinued)

I expect that the following would also work:

PCSI Ubiquity 2000
Uniden Data 2000
Tellus Monarch

About the CDPD service:

CDPD exists since about 1996 in the US. The service uses the same frequency as the analog cell phone system called AMPS that was the first and is the most widely deployed cellular system in the US. Rather than using an analog telephone to dial in to an ISP, however, when a CDPD modem is activated, it joins the network much as an 802.11 wireless modem would join a wireless LAN. But the speed is much lower, with a theoretical bidirectional throughput of 19.2kb/s (typically more like 9.6kb/s in practice), and the first-hop round-trip latency is typically between 0.5s and 1.5s. The two biggest CDPD networks in the US belong to Verizon and AT&T. Verizon covers nearly the entire northeastern part of the US.
Thanke, Bruce, for the info!

If you can provide more information that is relevant here, please drop me an email with as much of information as you can provide! I´ll then publish it here. It was great if you allowed me to publish even your email address as I did it above with some email addresses of phone users.

Test with different phones connected to the HP 200LX:

Here you can see a posting of Jaques Belin to the HPLX mailing list. He tested several phones with the HP 200LX using different pieces of software. This is a very good review, especially if you are planning to buy a new mobile phone and if you know what software you will use.

Read the review (ASCII text file)

How to send and receive SMS with the Palmtop:

You can not only use the cellular phone as a modem, but you can also write your SMS on the palmtop and then send it with the phone and use the palmtop as a huge archive of received SMSs. Stefan Peichl and Tony Hutchins cooperated in developing PostPDU, which is a plugin for Post/LX for very convenient SMS handling. It is based on Stefan Peichl´s PDU.COM, which converts text messages to a format the phone can handle. PDU.COM can also be used as a stand-alone program if you use a data cable. If you use IrDA, you have to use WWW/LX with Post/LX (and preferably also Post/PDU).
PostPDU even supports splitting large messages up into more smaller ones (max. 160 characters) and it supports mass SMS, i.e. you can give multiple telephone numbers in the To: field and the SMS is send to all these numbers.
The clue: You don´t even need a registered version of WWW/LX to use Post/PDU. Since the demo version of WWW/LX is limited to 16kB data transmission per session, and since SMS does not need much of that, you can easily send and receive many SMSs per session (exact amount not known, but I estimate it to be abt. 40 SMSs per session)!
For download of the needed components, click here. You need the packages WWW/LX, Post/LX, Robot/LX and PostPDU.

Nokia´s built-in SMS editor

Thanks to Niels Keetlaer from Holland for this tip:

By my information all Nokia phones do have a build-in sms-editor. (I mean, not the editor one can use to enter messages from the phone, but an editor which can be reached when a serial link is established). I have only tested this with my 2110 which came with my 700lx for I do not have [access to] any other 'wired' Nokia phone. It is faily easy to access this editor. First you need to setup the physical link (doh) by dock the nokia into your 700lx or plug in a cable or use it's infrared capabilities if possible. Open this connection, you can use any terminal(program) as long it's euhm.. well normal [and can handle serial links]. Usually you will gain access to the modem (you might be accessing via a modem card, like I do with my 700lx) and can give the usual AT commands. There is an AT command to enter the SMS-editor, which is AT*C. Now the phone will go into an SMS-editor and will no longer accept any AT commands until you exit the editor. You can get help by entering HELP (how suprising). EXIT exits (suprised?). I don't know much more for I have never really used this. [the build in app in my 700lx is way easier to use...] Nice thing to know when using the 700lx: You can connect to the modem, even when the phone is turned off. You can try stuff, eg. ATDT(phone number) which results in a NO CARRIER. Unknown commands will result in 'ERROR', and so will AT*C when the phone is turned off. You really have to turn on the phone (and wait a little while) before the AT*C command works.

How to send faxes with your palmtop

In general, it is not possble at all to send a fax via infrared. This is because WWW/LX and IR.EXE are the only programs which support the IrDA protocol, and no fax software can interoperate with WWW/LX or IR.EXE. This implies also that you cannot use these strange Ericsson phones which use the IrDA protocol even on the wired port.

So you only can send faxes written on the palmtop with your mobile phone, if you have a data cable. (Exception: There are SMS to fax gateways available, so you can send an SMS to a special gateway number, the gateway converts your SMS into a fax and forwards it to the fax machine you have addressed in your SMS. Ask your cellphone service provider for the correct gateway number and be aware that your faxes will be limited to about 150 characters!)

Once you have a working palmtop - data cable - mobile phone connection (test with a terminal emulation, send an AT and look if you get back an OK), you can begin to set up a fax program on your palmtop. I recommend bgfax in conjuction with 2bgfax, which enables you to add a hand-written signature to your fax. If you want a simpler setup, you can use qfax. Or you use my special setup:

I have a combination of 2bgfax and qfax running on my palmtop, controlled by a single batch file "lxfax.bat". This combination lets me simply call "lxfax filename", then opens a text editor with a fax template (sender information, receiver information, fax header, signature). I can then write the fax text, close the text editor saving the file, lxfax calls 2bgfax to convert the text file to a fax file and then calls qfax, which sends the fax.

Here is my lxfax.bat file:

@echo off
REM LXFAX.BAT written by Daniel Hertrich 08-31-00
set faxpath=c:\fax
if not "%faxpath%"=="c:\fax" then goto error
if "%1"=="" goto error
c:
cd %faxpath%
copy templ1.fxt %1.txt
:editfax
pe %1.txt
2fax %1.txt 000new.fax
view /cga /p26 /A4 /MO 000new.fax
choice /c:se Send fax or Edit once more
if errorlevel 2 goto editfax
setcom1 6nw
echo.
echo Next choose 000new.fax as file to be faxed, enter fax number and
echo choose "FAX" as file type! Then "SEND".
echo.
pause
%faxpath%\qfax
setcom1 o
move %1.txt sent /-Y
move 000new.fax sent\%1.fax /-Y
goto end
:error
echo ERROR!!!
:end

As you see, you need the additional utility "setcom1" by Stefan Peichl. This is needed to set the COM port parameters to the correct values in order to let qfax talk to your phone. Which setcom1 parameters you really need depends on your phone, the "setcom1 6nw" works for the Siemens phones (19200 baud, n81). The second call of setcom1 switches the COM port off again.
Here PE.EXE is used as the text editor.

You need the following files out of the bgfax, 2bgfax and qfax packages (bgfax and 2bgfax can be found on www.hp200lx.net (search "bgfax"), qfax is available for download here (be sure to download the palmtop version!).

2fax.cnf
2fax.exe
2fax.fnt
qfax.cfg
qfax.exe
qfaxconf.exe
qfrec.exe (if you want to receive faxes)
reg.dat
view.exe

Throw these files into the directory c:\fax (if you want to use another path than I used, you only have to adjust lines 3, 4 and maybe 6 (drive) of the above mentioned lxfax.bat file), create a subdirectory c:\fax\sent, there all sent faxes will go, and edit qfax.cfg. CommPort and InitString have to be set there. CommPort must be 1 and InitString is set to AT&F&C1&D2 here, which works for the Siemens S35i.

Also create a file templ1.fxt which holds your fax template. Mine looks like this:

FROM: Daniel Hertrich                                             Address line 1
                                                                  Address line 2
                                                                  GERMANY
                                                                  Phone number
                                                                  Fax numer
                                                                  Email

TO:       [Receiver]

SUBJECT:  [Subject]

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Sir or Madam,



[here goes the text]


Kind regards

.INCLUDE:0,sign.pcx
Daniel Hertrich

The .INCLUDE command tells 2fax to insert the sign.pcx file here, which holds my hand-written signature as a black-and-white pcx graphic.
The template file and the pcx also have to be in the c:\fax directory.

Well, having all that prepared, I can now, whereever I am in DOS,

enter bgfax name , where name is a file name without file extension as which the sent fax should be stored in c:\fax\sent, then

edit my text file entering all needed informtion,

leave the editor saving the text file, then

2fax will convert the text file with the included PCX file to a FAX file and

the batch will open view.exe.

Choose 000new.fax to preview the fax and

when finished leave view.exe with ESC.

You will then be asked if the fax is okay and shall be sent, or if you want to edit it once more.

If you choose Send, qfax is started.

Select 000new.fax as the file to be sent,

enter the receiver fax number,

choose "fax" as input file format and

press "send".

Simply press enter if qfax asks for your registration number.

Security update: Added 08-sept-2001:

In order to protect this fax setup against abuse (your signature PCX file could be the key for criminals to get access to all your money!), you can put the signature PCX files on an encrypted drive, which you can create for example with "Secure Device".
Say, your signature file now is on the encrypted drive F:. You have to change the following things of your fax setup:

Put a "login f" (if you use secure device) into lxfax.bat, before the line ":editfax", to let 2fax get access to the signature file on F:.
Put a "logout f" (if you use secure device) into lxfax.bat, before the "goto end" line, in order to re-protect the encrypted drive when you are finished.
Change the .INCLUDE directive in the fax template to use f:\sign.pcx instead of sign.pcx
Add the line "if not exist f:\sign.pcx goto error" directly after the "login f" line, so you will get an error message (first a "drive not ready", and then an "ERROR"), if you have misspelled your passphrase, otherwise 2fax may run into problems, if the file is not available at processing time.
replace the line "move 000new.fax sent\%1.fax /-Y " by "del 000new.fax" in order to delete the ready-made fax file, which includes the signature. So only the txt file will be saved in the archive folder. You can recreate the fax file everytime you need it by invoking the 2fax command (2fax sent/txt_file fax_file).

Now you have to enter your secdev pass phrase everytime you start lxfax, only if you have entered the pass phrase correctly, 2fax will be able to access the signature file and insert your signature into the document.

How to synchronize a mobile phone with the HPLX (phone book, organizer etc.)

The phone book / contacts / vcard

There are several ways to send phone book entries or even the whole phone book from your phone to the LX or vice versa.
In general, you can use every terminal emulation to do that, because the exchange of phone book entries can be controlled by AT commands. Lists of AT commands for the different phones can be found below (section "AT commands").

In order to down- or upload a whole phone book automatically, you have to use a scripting language which can be used within such a terminal emulation. The simplest way is to use Robot/LX together with WWW/LX. There is a robot script available (phone.scr) which can do exactly this: Download or upload a whole phone book, either from / to SIM card memory or from / to internal phone memory. If you use WWW/LX and Robot/LX, this works either via cable or via IrDA. A standard terminal emulation can of course only be used via cable due to its lack of IrDA support.
This way of exchanging the whole phone book has been tested by me on the Siemens S35i with success, but I had to comment out the lines 10..15 of phone.scr ("select memory" and "set character set"), otherwise it didn´t work properly.

If you only want to exchange single contacts between the phone and the palmtop, the simplest way is to use the OBEX protocol, which is implemented into the free(!) software IR.EXE by D&A Software. Every IrDA capable phone should support OBEX. This works only via IrDA, and you don't need a license of WWW/LX for that.
Please note that with my Siemens S35i, this procedure doesn´t work for some reason. Maybe it is my fault, maybe the phone doesn´t support it. But Martin Bergvill has had success with his Nokia 6210.
OBEX (=object exchange) exchanges, as the name says, objects. In the case of contacts this is a vcard object, which holds the contacts data of one person.

In general wou will want to do the following:
Mark a plamtop phone book entry, export it as vcard, start IR.EXE to send this vcard to the phone.
Or, in the other direction:
Mark an entry in the phone´s phone book, choose in the phone´s menu "send as vcard via IrDA", start IR.EXE on the palmtop to receive the vcard, import the vcard into the phone book of the palmtop.

You will probably ask now, how a vcard looks like, and how the phone book of the palmtop can ceonvert entries from / to vcard. There ist the great capability of the palmtop´s built-in applications to define so-called "smart clips" (see palmtop manual). Martin Bergvill wrote the following report:

"Some backgroundinfo. I had a Nokia 7110 and I wanted to transfer what I had in my phonebook on the Hplx to the phone. The 7110 supports more info under each nameentry, but most new phones on the market supports Vcard in some way.

I found some info on how Vcards are supposed to look like and I went to "work". I used ir.exe made by Andreas Garzotto.

I first added a Smartclip I called "Vcard" in the phonebook on the Hplx:

The Vcard smartclip looks like this:

If you have a cellphone that does not support more numbers/info per name then your Smartclip should only have this info:

BEGIN:VCARD
N:>Namefield<
TEL:>Phonefield you want transferred< END:VCARD

(My Hplx phonebook has been modified. I have added a field for email and also some more fields. I have two fields for Worknumbers/Jobbnummer. That is why my Smartclip looks the way it does. The 7110 also has room for emailaddress/address/notefield. See mybook.gif).

When the Smartclip was ready I made a macro that chooses the Vcard Smartclip in the phonebook and then copies the info to the clipboard and opens Memo and paste it there. Then the macro saves the file.

My macro looks like this:

You have to write your own macro so that it chooses the correct Smartclip in you phonebook.
What I do I just selects/highlight the entry I want to transfer and then hit Fn+F1. The macro does all the work. It copies the info I need to Memo. Saves the file and then runs a file in the Application manager.

The icon looks like this.

That is it. The phone beeps that it has received the Vcard and I can add it to my 7110´s phonebook. 7110 supports several numbers per name. When I get an entry transferred it shows the work/jobb numbers with a little factory beside it in the display on the 7110. Also Home/hjem cellphone/mob is showed with its own icon. Very nice.

I have now sold the Nokia 7110 to my father. I bought a Nokia 6210 and all the above worked without any changes to the setup. I now use an Ericsson T39m cellphone. It does not have the memory to hold the notefield so that could be removed from the Vcard. But it does support the rest."

For sending a vcard from the phone to the palmtop, the steps are pretty identical:
Send a vcard from your phone, receive it with ir.exe oget vcard.vcf, and then import the vcf file into the palmtop´ phone book. This last step has not been done yet by anyone, so I cannot provide a solution here. But please feel free to develop a solution and email it to me! :-)

The calendar / appointments / vcal

There is not yet any easy way to exchange whole appointment books between a phone and the palmtop.

But it should be possible to send single appointments as a vcal OBEX object to the phone, similar to the way described above for the vcard.
If anyone really has a need for that, please develop a way and email it to me. I will gladly add it to this page.

Collection of related software:

Internet software for the palmtop with links to the makers´ home pages:

WWW/LX version 3 is an internet software package for the palmtop by D&A Software. Provides all you need for internet on the palmtop. The only software which is IrDA compatible!

IR.EXE by D&A Software is free software which can be used for various IrDA applications (vcard, vcal exchange, IrDA printer emulation...)

LXTCP is a free software that provides an IP stack and several client programs to the palmtop. About the same functionality as WWW/LX, except that it doesn´t have IrDA capabilities and there´s no web browser for it. But there´s an (also free) addition called ´cc:lxpop´ that lets you use the built-in cc:Mail program for email. LXTCP is made by Rod Whitby, cc:lxpop is made by Brian McIlvaine.

NetTamer: A shareware product that integrates an IP stack, a web browser, an email client and some more features. Also no IrDA!

Goin´ Postal: A very nice software package for email made by Steven Lawson. Includes a dialer and an email client.

SSHDOS, which is a DOS SSH client, usable with dosppp for example, see next item.

dosppp, which is a PPP packet driver for DOS, providing a TCP/IP stack to clients like sshdos, for example.

PDU and PostPDU: Send SMSs written on the palmtop with your mobile phone. Made by Stefan Peichl and Tony Hutchins

Quickstar Fax (qfax), a HP palmtop fax program. See section "How to send faxes" for usage!

www.hp200lx.net, category "Communication" of the SUPER data base for every other piece of communications software you are looking for!

New technologies:

Bluetooth

With time there come new technologies which enable mobile, i.e. wireless communications. A very interesting technology is Bluetooth, which is a standard to connect several computer peripherials wirelessly to each other. Mobile phones equipped with Bluetooth are just put on the market, first models are available from Nokia.
So it would be great if we could let data cables at home, don´t worry about electromagnetic interference in the IR receiver electronics and just establish a Bluetooth radio connection from the palmtop on the table to the mobile phone in the pocket to let the latter establish an Internet connection through the GSM or GPRS network to the ISP. Wouldn´t that be great?

Well, theoretically it is possible: There are already RS232-Bluetooth dongles which you can plug into any serial RS232 port. For the operating system of the computer this connection looks just as a serial cable connection. Unfortunately these dongles aren´t available yet. And the first ones which will be available end of 2001 made by Brainboxes will require an external power supply. So you had to carry around the dongle, an HP to DB9 adaptor, a null modem adaptor, an external power supply and your bluetooth phone. Not really convenient, IMO. ;-)
Leaving away the bunch of adaptors would not be difficult - just open the dongle and attach a self-made HP plug to it. But I don´t know if the external power supply could be replaced by a direct wiring to the 200LX´s main batteries for example. We will have to wait until the first ones become available to test this.
There are lots of Bluetooth PCMCIA cards available. But probably no one of these work in the Palmtop, because you need special drivers for them. Windows drivers, of course. The only chance would be if someone ported a driver from Windows to DOS. In addition these cards may draw too much power from the PCMCIA port. I don´t know about the power requirements of Bluetooth cards, but if they exceed the 150mA limit of the Palmtop´s PCMCIA slot, they are totally useless.

HSCSD

: (some companies market this service as HSCD or HSMD)

HSCSD (High Speed Circuit Switched Data) can easily be used if you already own a mobile phone which works together with the palmtop and is HSCSD-capable. HSCSD simply opens more than one GSM channel by using more timeslots and thus offers n times the capacity of one GSM channel (n is the number of used channels, up to 4 channels can be used, so a bit rate of max 14.400bps *4 = 57.600bps can be used).
Ask your mobile phone network provider if you can use HSCSD and make sure your phone supports it. You probably have to use a special INIT string to enable HSCSD. Look at the section AT-commands of this document in order to find out about the commands needed for special founctions of your phone.

Martin Bergvill provided following HSCSD INIT strings for the Nokia 6210 (the "analog" strings establish a conventional HSCSD connection, the V.110 (=ISDN) strings use the ISDN protocol to establish a link and thus you will get the "CONNECT" 15-20 seconds earlier. There is no difference in connection speed, and not all network providers and telephones can use V.110, but if they can, it saves you time (15-20 seconds once per connection) and money):

9.6 KBit/s analog: +CBST=0,0,1;+CHSN=1,0,0,0
9.6 KBit/s V110: +CBST=71,0,1;+CHSN=1,0,0,0
14.4 KBit/s analog: +CBST=0,0,1;+CHSN=2,0,0,0
14.4 KBit/s V110: +CBST=81,0,1;+CHSN=2,0,0,0
19.2 KBit/s analog: +CBST=0,0,1;+CHSN=3,0,0,0
19.2 KBit/s V110: +CBST=81,0,1;+CHSN=3,0,0,0
28.8 KBit/s analog: +CBST=0,0,1;+CHSN=4,0,0,0
28.8 KBit/s V110: +CBST=81,0,1;+CHSN=4,0,0,0
43.2 KBit/s analog: +CBST=0,0,1;+CHSN=6,0,0,0
43.2 KBit/s V110: +CBST=81,0,1;+CHSN=6,0,0,0

For the Ericsson T39m, he has found that the init string ATZ+cbst=0,0,1;+chsn=4,2,0,12 works.

For lists of AT commands (also especially for HSCSD) for the various phones please have a look into the section AT commands below!

Be aware that your network provider will charge extra fees for a HSCSD connection, usually n times the price as for a simple GSM data connection (n is the number of channels you use, s.a.)

GPRS

General Packet Radio Service is a new standard in mobile telecommunications. It is a packet-based radio service which is optimized to transmit data and speech as data packets (just as the Internet), currently with a throughput of about 25 - 50 kbps. So you don´t establish a real link, but you can send or receive data packets whenever you want to. You are not charged by time anymore but by amount of data / speech transmitted over the network. This is of course ideal for sending an email on the road with the palmtop. :-) You don´t have to establish an expensive link just to send a 2kB-email. Imagine: If I want to send an email from my palmtop witht the mobile phone, I have to dial into my network provider, send the email with Post/LX and then disconnect. This all takes about 2 minutes. For 2 online minutes I currently have to pay about 0.15 US$. The GPRS prices are currently at a level of about 0.025US$ per 1kB (Mar 2002, Germany), i.e. if you send a 2kB email, with all overhead for SMTP protocol etc. maybe 3kB, you only pay 0.075 US$ for sending your email. See the advantage? ;-) On the other hd, for larger data amounts, GPRS is still much, much more expensive than a GSM connection. Ask your GSM / GPRS service provider for the current rates.
GPRS has become available and mobile phones which support GPRS are also availble (Siemens S45, Nokia 6310, Ericsson T39m, T68...).
If you intend to use the Ericsson phones with GPRS, you have to use a modified version of WWW/LX v3 for that due to a bug in the Ericsson firmware. Andreas Garzotto was so kind to develop a work-around for this bug. Please contact the people at D&A Software and ask for this modified version, if you need it.

UMTS

Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (also known as the 3rd generation mobile network or simply "3G") is not yet available. It will also be packet-based, as GPRS, but it will offer much higher bandwidth (up to 2 MB/s in the first stage). If someone besides me will still own a 200LX when UMTS becomes available, please report if you got any UMTS device working in conjunction with the 200LX!

AT commands:

Here you will find data sheets provided by the phone manufactureres and other collections of AT commands:

HSCSD and GPRS AT commands for Siemens, Nokia, Ericsson, Samsung and Motorola phones: HTML version and XLS version
AT commands for Nokia phones (Windows HLP (help) file, 380 kB)
AT commands for Siemens phones:
- Modem commands (35 kB PDF file)
- GSM AT command set (GSM 07.07, GSM 07,05, Siemens specific commands) (180 kB PDF file)
AT commands for Ericsson phones: In general go to http://www.ericsson.com/mobilityworld/sub/open/index.html, click on the device you want to have an AT command overview for (under "Mobile Devices"), click on "Documentation" on the left, then search for a link "Developer´s guidelines AT commands online reference" or similar to download the PDF document.
From my site you can directly download the AT command reference for the R520 and the T39m. Both are zipped PDF files, about 1 MB in size.

Storage cards (PCMCIA SRAM, ATA, CF, SD, MMC etc.) and their compatibility with the HP Palmtops

2009-10-10T19:00:40+00:00

Archived 2013-12-08
This page has been archived and some links may not work correctly anymore. No updates of this page will be done anymore.

This article is related to the Palmtops HP 100LX, 200LX and 1000CX, partially to the OmniGo 700LX. The 95LX are mentioned, too, but most of the information is not relevant to that model.

Storage card support (SRAM, ATA Flash, Compact Flash)

You can use SRAM PCMCIA cards or linar flash cards (they are rare and expensive now!) and a lot of ATA Flash or Compact Flash storage cards in your 200LX, that does not exceed the capacity of about 128MB. Some 256 and 512 MB cars work, too.
There are even some 1GB or 2GB CF cards that work in the Palmtop, one user even reported that he used a 4GB card successfully (although it's unclear to me how MS-DOS 5.0 with FAT16 is able to address 4GB of disk space!)
Also, SD cards or MicroSD cards can be used, in conjunction with a suitable PCMCIA adapter. However, not all of those adapters work in the Palmtop. See the compatibility lists further down.

The 100LX is more limited regarding the maximum capacity of a flash / CF card. The Omnigo 700LX and the 1000CX are almost identical to the 200LX, so all cards working in a 200LX should also work in a 700LX and 1000CX. But note that support of larger cards (especially 128MB and above) seems also to be a matter of the BIOS version of the Palmtop. I have seen cards, that don't work in one 200LX, but work in a 200LX with a later BIOS version.

How to make a card work:

If a card doesn´t work instantly, i.e. is not recognized and usable as drive A: by the Palmtop, then try the following steps (and try after each step, if the cad works or not):

execute the built-in fdisk100 utility, which (re-)partitions the card
do a format a:
Reformat the card using a Windows computer, choose FAT, FAT12 or FAT16 as the file system (not FAT32!)
Use a partitioning tool, e.g. a GParted live CD, to make sure that there is only one primary FAT (FAT12, FAT16) partition on the card, and then reformat the partition with FAT12 or FAT16
Put the card into a digital camera and let that camera format the card
If you have access to a Linux computer: Connect the card to that Linux computer, find out, what device it is assigned to (dmesg usually outputs that information. If the card is attached to the USB port, it is usually something like /dev/sda). Proceed only, if you know exactly, what device your card is assigned to. Uing a wrong device node here may destroy data on another storage device! Then issue the command
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/??? bs=512 count=1
(replace "???" by the correct device name). Afterwards, re-try fdisk100 and format a: on the Palmtop.

No success yet?

Then you probably need the Acecard driver. Install it according to the instructions, reboot the palmtop and repeat the above described procedure. If that does also not help, your card is incompatible with your Palmtop.

Recommended brand: Sandisk!

The most recommended card manufacturer is Sandisk (former Sundisk; some very old cards may be labeled "Sundisk"), Sandisk cards are not the fastest ones, but this is not as important as compatibility, reliability and power economy, which are the greatest advantages of Sandisk cards. If you buy a card, take care that you do not buy one using the new NAND technology (Sandisk's "Ultra CompactFlash" are based on NAND flash for example). They are said to be faster, but they may not work at all in the HP palmtops because of the new technology used.
Simple Technology cards are also frequently used, they are faster than Sandisk, but far more power-hungry.

Get the "Card battery low" message?

Some cards which are not fully compliant to the standards, cause the palmtop to create a "Card battery low" message, which appears in the upper left corner of the screen and blocks palmtop usage until ESC is pressed (just like the main battery low message). If your card otherwise works well, but if you want to get rid of this message, you can use the programm killmsg by Mack Baggette, which is able to suppress BIOS messages. In order to suppress the card battery low message, put the line "killmsg /c" into your autoexec.bat. If you have a doublespeed upgraded palmtop and use Mack Baggette's SPD31 driver, you can use that one to suppress the messages. The command line switch /c does the trick.

Note, however, that the "card battery low" message has a meaning for cards, that actually have a battery! Flash or Compact Flash cards don't have a battery, because the memory technology used in such cards does not need additinal power to keep the data. But the old SRAM cards are based on SRAM (as the name suggests), and that kind of storage needs power to keep the data. Such cards uave either a battery tray with a Lithium battery, or they have an internal rechargeable battery. For such cards, the "card battery low" message is a serious warning, and you should immediately make a backup of the card's data and - if possible - exchange the battery, or recharge it.

Card compatibility list

Here is a list of setups which are tested.
Please note that the last update of the list has been done long ago, in about 2004. Please look carefully if the brand written on the card is really the manufacturer or if it is just relabeled. Sometimes you will find a small "made by Hitachi" in a corner of a card which is largely labeled CASIO or so. Please provide the manufacturer, not the label. To be sure, please put the card into the palmtop and run Stefan Peichl's LXCIC. It tells you in most cases who the real manufacturer is.

A few words about compatibility: In most cases the BIOS version of the palmtop and installed hardware upgrades will not affect the compatibilty of a storage card with the palmtop in any way. However, there are some cases in which e.g. a double speed upgrade prevents usage of a specific card, or where an early BIOS version (1.02A is the latest one installed in 200LX Palmtops) can lead to slight performance problems or even make a card unusable. So I have added BIOS and upgrade information to the list below. Internal memory upgrades do not affect usability of storage cards at all, as far as I know.

In the following lists, if not denoted otherwise, the given configurations work.

BIOS version:

Sometimes, support of a card or card adapter depends on the BIOS version of the Palmtop. In order to find out your BIOS version, either reboot the Palmtop (Ctrl-Alt-Del) and observe the first few lines of text displayed on reboot. Or, if that's not possible (e.g. due to the Palmtop having a double speed upgrade and text on bootup is unreadable), use the DEBUG command in DOS in the following way:

Terminate the ApplicationManager: [Menu] [Application] [Terminate All] [OK]
At the command prompt type: debug then d F000:FF00
Read the Version Number in the ASCII dump.
To quit from debug, enter q [Enter]
To return from DOS type "200" [Enter] ...without parentheses or brackets... :)

Compact Flash cards:

You need a CF to PCMCIA adapter for CF cards, be sure to get the adapter for the correct type of CF (I or II).

Latest addition 2011-12-30 reported by a 200LX user:

Sandisk 2 GB and 4 GB SDCFJ CF II cards work, with Acecard - That's what I use.
You can't format them in the palmtop, though. I use a XP/USB card reader from the command line for that. You have to specify an allocation unit size which will result in =< 65535 AU.
In Windows, open a command prompt, then type FORMAT /? to get a list of parameters. Note the A:size options; you want FAT16 - For a 2 GB card use 32K, 4GB use 64K.

Card				Palmtop		Compatibility
brand	capacity in MB	Type I=3mm II=5mm	model#	model	BIOS ver.	works with Doublespeed upgrade	driver needed	comments
A-1 Flash	256	Type I	-	200LX	1.02A	yes	-	-
Apacer	128	Type I	-	200LX	1.01A	no	-	only tested in doublespeed palmtop, doesn't work.
Canon	8	Type I	FC-8M	200LX	1.02A	yes	-	-
EagleTec	32	Type I	-	200LX	?	?	-	Very power-hungry, crashes palmtop on write access when batteries get low. Not recommended.
Kingston Technology	64	Type I	-	200LX	1.02A	probably	-	-
Kingston Technology	128	Type I	High Speed CF/128 9902366-001.A00 641603	200LX	1.02A	some yes, some not.	-	Attention: Doesn't work with some double-speed palmtops!
Kingston Technology	256	Type I	THNCF256MAA	200LX	1.02A	yes	-	-
Kodak	20	Type I	Sundisk SDP 5/3 0.6	200LX	1.02A	probably	-	-
Lexar	16	Type I	Marked CompactFlash USB Enabled 8x 16MB, P/N 2177, Rev A	100LX	1.03A	?	acecard	Card is USB enabled
Lexar	48	Type I	CompactFlash 48MB 4X	200LX	1.02A	yes	-	Card is USB enabled
Lexar	128	Type I	CompactFlash 128MB 4X (or 12X), marked CF128-04-266 and USB Enabled, P/N 2175, Rev A	200LX	1.02A	yes	-	Card is USB enabled
Memorex	64	Type I	-	200LX	1.02A	probably	-	-
PQI	32	Type I	P/N FC032	200LX	1.01A	-	acecard	problems reported, high power consumption, FAT problems, not recommended!, also strange that acecard driver is necessary.
PQI	64	Type I	-	100LX/200LX/700LX	1.02A	?	-	reliability problems reported, not recommended!, also causes "card battery low" message in some cases. killmsg can avoid that. Relabeled e.g. as HAMA.
PQI	64	Type I	P/N FC064, 5Q62D and 164822200007	200LX	1.02	yes	acecard	-
Pretec	all	Type I	-	200LX	all	-	-	reliability problems reported, not recommended!
Ritdata	64	Type I	-	200LX	-	?	on some 200LXs the acecard driver is needed	Labeled ExtreMemory
Ritdata	256	Type I	-	200LX	-	?	-	Labeled ExtreMemory
Robanton	256	Type I?	-	200LX	-	yes	acecard	-
Sandisk	8	Type I	SDCFB	200LX	1.02A	yes	-	recommended
Sandisk	15	Type I	-	200LX	1.02A	yes	-	recommended
Sandisk	30	Type I	SDCFB	200LX	1.02A	yes	-	recommended
Sandisk	64	Type I	SDCFB	200LX	1.02A	yes	-	recommended. Labeled "RCA"
Sandisk	80	Type I	SDCFB	200LX	1.02A	yes	-	recommended
Sandisk	128	Type I	SDCFB	200LX	1.02A	yes	-	recommended
Sandisk	160	Type I	SDCFB	200LX	1.02A	yes	-	recommended
Sandisk	160	Type II	-	200LX	1.02A	yes	-	recommended
Sandisk	192	Type I	SDCFB	200LX	1.02A	yes	-	recommended
Sandisk	256	Type I	SDCFB AR0203NX China	200LX	1.02A	probably	-	recommended
Sandisk	512	Type I	SDCFB Copyright 99 AX0110ML USA	200LX	1.02A	yes	acecard	recommended
Sandisk	1 GB	Type I	BB0206NK CHINA Copyright 99	200LX	1.02A	yes	acecard	recommended; seems to work in some devices (MP3 players...) where the 512MB card fails
Sandisk	2 GB	Type I	SDCFB (not the 'ultra' version)	200LX	1.02A	yes	acecard	recommended
Simple Technology	32	Type I	-	200LX	1.02A	yes	-	-
Simple Technology	48	Type I	-	200LX	1.02A	yes	-	-
Simple Technology	64	Type I	markings 90000-00756-032 and 001002-FL1-001	200LX	1.02A	yes	-	-
Simple Technology	96	Type I	-	200LX	1.02A	yes	-	-
Toshiba	64	Type I	THNCF064MMA	200LX, 700LX	?	?	-	-
Toshiba	256	Type I	THNCF256MAA	200LX	1.02A	yes	-	Labeled Kingston Technology, "High speed"
Transcend	128	Type I	-	200LX	1.01A	yes	-	-
Twinmos Mediastore (TM)	256	Type I	Ultra High Speed Serialno: 251M52069330136 P/N:FCF256S Made in Taiwan	200LX	1.02A	yes	-	-
Verbatim	32	Type I	0441CT4E	200LX	1.01A	probably	-	-
Verbatim	128	Type I	021711	200LX	1.02A	yes	-	-

The following pictures (thanks to Radek Svagr!) show the inside of a 10MB Sandisk CF card:

ATA Flash cards (full-size PCMCIA flash cards):

These cards fit into the palmtop without an adapter.

Card				Palmtop		Compatibility
brand	capacity in MB	Type I=3mm II=5mm	model#	model	BIOS ver.	works with Doublespeed upgrade	driver needed	comments
Epson	40	Type II	Ref AD40155C007, ATA 412SD12, 1994	200LX	1.02A	yes	-	-
HP	10.4	Type II	Sundisk SDP-10	200LX	1.02A	probably	-	Does not work with some newer laptops. This is a relabeled Sundisk card, 12V
HP	5	Type I	by Sundisk!	200LX	1.02A	yes	-	This is a relabeled Sundisk card, 12V
Kingston	10	Type II	-	200LX	1.02A	probably	-	power-hungry! Causes 100LX to shut down!
Kingston	32	Type II	DP-ATA/32	200LX	1.02A	probably	-	For some reason it says that the cards capacity is 63266480 bytes, but the card is only 32MB!
Sandisk	175	Type II	**A7131177A SDP5BH-175	200LX	1.02A	yes	-	-
Sandisk	220	Type II	SPD-3B	200LX	1.02A	yes	-	recommended
Sandisk	256	Type II	SPD-3B	200LX	1.02A	yes	-	recommended
Sandisk	350	Type II	SPD-3B	200LX	1.02A	?	acecard	-
Sandisk	1.2 GB	Type II	SPD-3B	200LX	1.02A	?	acecard	-
Simple Technology / SiliconTech	48	Type I	SLATAFL48	100LX	-	?	acecard	-
Simple Technology / SiliconTech	48	Type I	SLATAFL48	200LX	-	yes	-	slightly faster than a Sandisk
Simple Technology	128	?	PN 90000-00753-109	200LX	?	yes	-	-
Simple Technology	160	Type I	STI-ATAFL/160	200LX	1.02A	yes	-	-
Simple Technology / SiliconTech	448	Type I	SLATAFL448	100LX/200LX	-	yes	acecard	-

Other card types (Memory Stick, MMC, SD...):

You need PCMCIA adapters for all the cards listed below.

2012-11-22: A user reported a standard microSD 2GB card (identified by Linux as Sandisk SU02G) to work very well without any driver using the Panasonic BN-SDAGP3 PCMCIA-to-SD adapter.

Card				Palmtop		Compatibility
brand	capacity in MB	card type	model#	model	BIOS ver.	works with Doublespeed upgrade	driver needed	comments
Sony	16	Memory Stick	-	700LX	-	?	-	works well with Sony MSAC-PC2 Stick-to-PCMCIA-Adaptor
EMTEC	32	MMC	AA0010JC TAIWAN (written on the backside)	200LX	-	yes	-	A MMC/SD-PCMCIA adapter is needed. LXCIC reports: PCMCIA ADAPTER So the adapter is recognized by LXCIC rather than the card, which explains, why the adapter is not cheap (~$40 on ebay). It seems to have the controller built in. The card powers down by itself, as reported by LXCIC. I had no success with a SD (Secure Digital) card, which has the same form factor as the MMC.
ExtreMemory	64	MMC	AB0206LV TAIWAN (written on the backside)	200LX	-	yes	-	A MMC/SD-PCMCIA adapter is needed. I use an adapter labeled "FREITAG Electronic" which is made only for MMC cards. It works flawlessly. LXCIC reports the adapter to be a "Panasonic ATA BN-MMAA 1.10".
Infineon	128	MMC	EG85918 a0229KKO	200LX	1.02A	yes	-	A MMC/SD-PCMCIA adapter is needed. I use an adapter labeled "FREITAG Electronic" which is made only for MMC cards. It works flawlessly. LXCIC reports the adapter to be a "Panasonic ATA BN-MMAA 1.10".
Sandisk	512	MicroSD	SDQCJP-512 AX05206CB	200LX	1.02A	yes	-	SanDisk microSD/TransFlash Adapter 2006-12-15A MADE IN CHINA Minolta CF Card Adapter SD-CF1 SanDisk CompactFlash PC Card Adapter
Sandisk	2GB	MicroSD		200LX	1.02A, 1.01A (200LX), 1.06EB (700LX)	yes	-

Tutorial: Build a data cable for HP Palmtop - Cellphone connection

2009-10-22T08:03:59+00:00

Archived 2013-12-08
This page has been archived and some links may not work correctly anymore. No updates of this page will be done anymore.

Contents of this page:

Overview

There are two ways to connect the HP DOS palmtop (100LX, 200LX, 700LX, 1000CX) to a mobile phone:
via a data cable or via infrared. Regarding the infrared connection please read my EMI problem page and my phone features page!

If you want to connect your phone via a data cable to the HP LX, please read on.

The cable and circuit described here is suitable for most mobile phones which have a serial port. Originally it has been designed for the Siemens S25 phone (the pictures show that phone), but it works for many other models, too. Only the plug has to be adapted.

In most cases you can also use the original data cable which is available for your mobile phone. But there are several potential problems:

You'll have to carry a bulky combination of cables aroud: The phone's data cable, the HP connectivity cable and a null modem adapter in between the two cables
The original data cable may not work at all. This is because many cables (especially cheap ones available on ebay etc.) are powered by the PC's serial port. This works for standard PCs, but not with the HPLX, because the palmtop's serial port is not able to supply enough power to the cable. The cable described here is powered by the phone via its accessory power line.

Compare the bulky Siemens-HP cable combination
(on the left) with my self-made cable!

It may be necessary for you to reques data/fax services from your mobile network provider before you are able to use the mobile phone as a modem. If it is enabled, the phone / cable combination lets you use the phone as a regular modem (plus many GSM-specific features).

Making a data cable

What you need:

1 MAX3232 (I recommend the SMD package)
4 capacitors 0,1uF
1 capacitor 10uF
2 Z-diodes 2,7V
a phone-side plug (I took mine from a cheap head set)
the material for making a HPLX plug (see my HPLX serial port plug page)
epoxy glue for covering the HPLX-plug that holds the electronics

I won´t describe the process in detail, I´ll only show you pictures of my cable. Please be creative!

First, the circuit diagram. I recommend that you download the picture and print it out because it may not be readable well enough in your browser. Note that the pin assignments on the right are only valid for a plug for Siemens S25/S35-family phones! For other pin assignments, please see the table below!

Circuit diagram

the parts for the HPLX plug and the circuit board

circuit board and MAX3232

MAX3232 soldered onto the circuit board

top and bottom of the circuit board with HPLX plug module attached and all wires except the cable to the phone.

working arrangment.

data cable covered with epoxy and plugged into the palmtop´s serial port

Getting a plug for your mobile phone / pin assignments

To get a plug which fits the port of your phone you have the following options:

buy an accessory which comes with a full-wired plug and use that plug (cheap head sets for example)
buy a single plug, a source in germany is for example www.handystecker.de.

The circuit diagram above shows pin numbers for only the Siemens S25/S35 plug. Use the following table to get the correct pin assignments for your plug:

pin name	Siemens S25 etc.	Ericsson T39m etc.
Rx	pin 6	pin 4
Tx	pin 5	pin 5
GND	pin 1	pin 10
Vcc	pin 4	pin 11

Following phones are pin compatible:

Siemens S25, C25, S35, C35, S45... (probably more)
Ericsson T39m, T68i, T68m, R520... (probably more)

Tips and Tricks

The cable shown here does not have handshaking lines (RTS/CTS). Some mobile phones have these lines and expect them to work. With such a phone, you may have connection problems using the cable (buffer overflows, missing fax lines, lost data, timeouts...). Some phones have configurable handshaking behaviour. For example, the Ericsson phone T39m (and probably similar models, too) need the command AT+IFC=1,1 to disable their RTS/CTS lines and switch to software handshaking (XON/XOFF).
Some phones have a fixed baud rate on their serial port. For example the Siemens S25, S35 and similar models are hard-wired to 19200 baud. Other phones, such as the Ericsson T39m, have an automatic speed detection. So take care about that when configuring your communication programs.
An easy way to test if the cable basically works is to fire up the DataComm application of the palmtop, configure it to use COM1, 19200 baud (or 9600, 38400...) and send an AT command, for example ATZ. After pressing Enter, the phone should respond with OK. If it doesn't, something is wrong.

Using a special printed circuit board (recommended!)

Günther Hofbauer made a circuit board layout available that lets you make a the HP plug slightly smaller than my version which is described above. Another advantage is that you don't have to saw around to get these two small baords and that you don't have to care about the wiring between the components.
Günther released two PostScript files which contain the layout. You can download them here:

Palmc.ps for the top layer of the board
Palml.ps for the bottom layer of the board

Günther even offered to make such boards, so if you are interested, please email him and he will answer you how much he asks you to pay and when he will make it ready for you.

Data cable for a standard PC serial port

The data cable described above should also work for use with a standard PC. Simply attach a female DB9 connector to the electronics instead of the special HP connector. The pin numbers are identical on both connectors.

Please note that the circuit described above is powered by the battery of the phone. Most data cables which are available in stores are powered by the PC´s serial port. Since the palmtop doesn´t provide so much power, I decided to let the phone power the cable. This should of course also work with a standard PC. I just mention that to avoid confusion.

Tutorial: How to build a serial port plug

2009-10-22T08:17:42+00:00

Archived 2013-12-08
This page has been archived and some links may not work correctly anymore. No updates of this page will be done anymore.

Contents of this page:

Second way of making a plug (better way)

here is the description how I built my own serial port plug for the HP 200 LX.
In this case, I wanted to connect a mouse directly to the port, without all these HP-cables and adapters. So I soldered a plug fitting into the serial port of my HP 200 LX directly at the cable of the mouse.

Please notice that I found two methods for making a connector. Here you can find the first one of them. The second (newer and I think better) method you can find below.

What you need:

2 pcs. "Platinensteckverbinder 5-polig, Rastermass 2,0mm" - In English this should be a "Socket strip" 2.0mm pin spacing, 5 pins in a row. See pictures: pic1, pic2, pic3!
You can get it from Segor Electronics.

Segor Electronics
Kaiserin-Augusta-Allee 94
10553 Berlin
Germany
Telephone: +49 (0)30 3449794
Telefax: +49 (0)30 3453968
http://www.segor.de
email: sales@segor.de

It has the part # 15606, part description "PC- 405" and costs DM 2,80
(+ shipping).

several diameters of heat shrink tubing (German: Schrumpfschlauch).
I used diameters of 12.7mm and 4.8mm, each about 4 cm of length.

a soldering iron

superglue

Instructions

(a)
Take the two 5-pin-connectors and the superglue.
The connectors have one side with little plastic lips for each pin and one totally plane side.
Glue both totally plane sides together with about two drops of superglue. press strongly, but don't glue your fingers to the connector. This combo won't fit into the palmtop's serial port! :-)

(b)
Try to plug the 'double-connector' into the serial port. if it fits in there and if you can pull it out of the port without applience of
violence it's good.
Otherwise you have maybe glued not exactly.

(c)
Find out which pins you'll need for your application, cut off the not needed of the ten cables of the connector. make sure that
no cutted cable contacts another! you can isolate them with a little drop of (normal) glue.
To find out which signals you need, check out my serial port info!
I have no solution for a mechanical protection from plugging upside down, so please make a little mark on the upper side of the connector!

(d)
Shorten the needed wires of the connector to various lenghts from
about 1 cm in steps of 0.5 cm. after that the connector should look
like this (only one half is shown):

_______
|       |_
|       |_______
|       |_
|       |______________
|       |_________________________
|_______|

In this example are two cables cut off and three needed cables shortened to various lenghts.
No cable should have the same lenght like another, because after you soldered the cables of your device (mouse, LED light, modem... whatever) to the connector, there would be short-circuits between the wires!

(e)
Do the same as under (d) with the cables of your DEVICE, but in reverse order (so that the cables fit exactly to the corresponding cables of the connector!)

(f)
Evaluate how much of the heat shrink tubing (diameter ~4.8mm) you need, cut it and push it over the cable. the illustration shows from where to where the heat shrink tubing should reach after mounting it in its final position:

______
|      |_                                   _____________________
|      |_____ -----------------------------|
|      |_                                  | cable of device
|      |__________ ------------------------|
|      |_____________________ -------------|_____________________
|______|

from here ^ to about here ^
(first layer of heat shrink tubing)

(g)
Remove about 2mm of the insulation of the wires, solder the wires of the connector and the wires of your device together. in the ASCII-'picture' the soldering points will be shown as 'O'.
If there are short-circuits between your soldered points, you must insulate them with PAPER (DON'T USE PLASTIC TAPE - IT WILL MELT WHEN HEATING THE HEAT SHRINK TUBING!!!)

(h)
Push the heat shrink tubing back over the soldering points into its final position (as shown in (f)). It must be as close as possible to the connector!

After that it should look like this:

                                                heat shrink tubing
_______ ========================================================
|       |_                                       ____________________
|       |_______O-------------------------------|
|       |_                                      | cable of device
|       |______________O------------------------|
|       |_________________________O-------------|____________________
|_______| ========================================================

Heat the heat shrink tubing CAREFULLY (don't melt down any insulations or the connector!)

(i)
Push another heat shrink tubing (diameter about 12.7 mm, lenght about 4 cm) over the connector and the cable like this:

hst 12.7mm
===============================================        hst 4.8mm
_______ =======================================================
|       |_                                  ________________________
|       |_______O--------------------------|
|       |_                                 | cable of device
|       |______________O-------------------|
|       |_________________________O--------|________________________
|_______| ======================================================
===============================================

and heat it, CAREFULLY, too.

(j)
DON't FORGET TO MARK THE UPPER SIDE OF THE CONNECTOR! If you plug a mouse connector upside down, it won't destroy your machine or the mouse (I have tried it :-) ), but I don't know if it is the same with - say - modem connectors or something else!

Finished!

Results

the plug

mouse connected to the palmtop running windows 3.0

close view of the plug connected to the port

Disclaimer:

I'm not responsible for physical or other damages to your devices. The descriptions I made may contain errors which could cause serious damages of your palmtop or your peripherial devices.

Second way of making a serial port plug

Contents of this section:

Here's the second idea that I had to make a plug for the serial port.

I think it's a little bit easier to make (and easier to understand, too!) and the result is much more solid than this one of the first way.

I took pictures while I made it, so I think you will see how I made it.
So I don't have to write much describing text and you don't have to read much of my English.

Here's what you need INSTEAD of the two 5-pin-'Platinensteckverbinder' from Segor Electronic that you need for the first way:

What you need

Main parts for the plug:

1 piece 2 x 5 pin "machine-screw header receptacle" connector with 2.0mm pin spacing (See the pictures: pic1, pic2).
Such an item can be obtained at Conrad Elektronik (Germany), it is part number 739251.
Alternatively you can use a laptop IDE hard drive connector. It has the same distances between the pins. For instance, you can buy a 2.5" to standard IDE connector adapter to get that connector.
1 circuit board (both sides must be coated with copper!) that has such a thickness that it fits exactly between the two rows of the connector pins, i.e. it should have a thickness of 2.0mm.
The circuit board must be at least 1cm * 2cm. If it's bigger, you have to saw it into the size of 1cm * 2 cm.

In addition, you need only:

a soldering iron
something to groove the copper coat of the circuit board, like a good knife or a small rotary grinder
epoxy glue
heat shrink tubing

Instructions

When you watch the pictures now: please notice that I used this plug for making an LED light, so I only needed the pins 3 and 5 of the plug.
If you want to use it for serial communication, you have to make another layout of the little circuit board!
For informations regarding which pins you have to use please have a look at my serial port info.

Step 1

Put the connector on one side of the circuit board and mark where to saw the board and where the pins will take place later.

Step 2:

Saw the board into its size of 1cm * 2cm (the 1cm must be exact!).
Saw the connector in its size of 2*5 pins if it isn't already.

Step 3:

Design the board: make sure which pins you have to use, insulate all pins from each other and carry through these ones which you need.
I used a rotary grinder for that (rotary grinder = german 'Fräser'). Maybe a simple knife works, too.

The two holes I made were for the stiff wire that holds the LEDs of the LED light.
They might also be usable for holding a thin cable.

the bottom of my board (pins 6-10; not used in my case)

the top of my board (pins 1-5; pin 3 and 5 are used here)

Step 4:

Solder the 2*5 connector to the board (avoid short-circuits between the pins!)

the bottom (pins 6-10)

the top (pins 1-5)

Step 5:

Solder all the cables you need to the board.

If everything is soldered and you verified that the plug works, cover it with epoxy or hot glue and a fitting piece of heat shrink tubing.
You can also try to place a little blob of epoxy glue onto the top of the connector, so that it becomes impossible to plug the connector upside down into the palmtop´s serial port.

Disclaimer:

I'm not responsible for physical or other damages to your devices. The descriptions I made may contain errors which could cause serious damages of your palmtop or your peripherial devices.

Tutorial: Internet connection sharing for HP Palmtops (using PPP)

2009-10-14T13:41:36+00:00

Archived 2013-12-08
This page has been archived and some links may not work correctly anymore. No updates of this page will be done anymore.

Internet connection sharing for HP Palmtops

Or: How to connect a handheld or other PC via serial line to a PC to use its Internet connection
Especially: Sharing an HP Omnibook 800CT wireless LAN access over IrDA with an HP 200LX palmtop

last updated:

Contents of this page:

Introduction:

If you have a PC at your home or at work which is connected to the Internet via a fast and reliable connection, such as DSL, Ethernet, ATM, X25 or even via modem or ISDN, and if you have a handheld computer which you also want to connect to the Internet from time to time, for up- and downloading emails, for example, you may not want to establish an extra expensive Internet connection via modem or GSM, but rather want to make use of the existing connection.

This is possible. I will describe here how to set up a PC running Linux or Windows so that you can connect your handheld via serial port or IrDA to the PC and use the Internet connection of the PC also with your handheld.

Since I use the HP 200LX palmtop and only Linux on my PCs, I will focus mostly on these points of view, but I will also describe how to set up Windows on the "server" side and any communication software on the "client" side.

Windows server: MochaPPP:

First download MochaPPP from http://www.mochasoft.dk/download.html (look for the "Mocha W32 PPP" in the "Palm and Visor" section) and install it on your Windows machine.

Then

run the program MPPP.EXE.
Set speed to 38400 (once this works you can go higher and explore the limits, make sure you have always set the client machine to the same speed!)
Tell MochaPPP what device you use (if you use the HP 200LX palmtop, tell MochaPPP it was a WinCE device)
Since I have never worked with MochaPPP I cannot say exactly how to set it up for an IrDA connection, but since Windows usually assigns a virtual COM port to an IrDA interface, you should probably simply shoose this virtual COM port as the port to be used by MochaPPP.
Then connect your already configured client device to the PC. Use a nullmodem cable, not a straight-through serial cable! For more information about these different kinds of cables, also related to the palmtop HP200LX, please see my RS232 page!

Unfortunately, Windows 2000 and Windows XP use another driver concept as the older Windows versions, so there is no "virtual COM port" assigned to an IrDA device anymore. There are thiird party drivers to solve this problem:

A free open-source solution: http://www.ircomm2k.de
The commercial IrComm2000 driver: http://www.extendedsystems.com

Click here to jump to the client setup guide.

Linux server: pppd and IP masquerading / forwarding:

Assuming you have already a working internet connection, I will now guide you through the steps necessary to share that Internet connection with a device attached to the serial port or IrDA port of your linux machine.

The short story

A simple shell script can do the job under certain circumstances. I suggest you to try that way first, and if it doesn't work, use the detailled instructions below.

The shell script looks like this (I have named it "/sbin/palmtop_gateway"; you have to run it as root):

#!/bin/sh

# Setup IP masquerading on your Internet connection network device
# (change "wlan0" to the appropriate device, e.g. ppp0, eth0, ippp0...):

iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -o "wlan0" -j MASQUERADE

# This is for IrDA connection on an HP Omnibook 800 notebook only
# comment it out if you don´t use an Omnibook 800:

modprobe vlsi_ir

# This is for IrDA connections only (not only Omnibook 800)
# comment it out if you use a serial connection instead of IrDA:

ifconfig irda0 up

# This is the PPP server (PPPD) call within an infinite loop:

while [ 1 ]
do
/usr/sbin/pppd /dev/ircomm0 38400 172.16.96.10:172.16.96.11 proxyarp local noauth silent nodetach ktune ms-dns 217.5.100.1
done

Adapt the pppd line to your needs:

/usr/bin/pppd is the location of the pppd binary,
/dev/ircomm0 is the name of the port where the device is connected which shall use the Linux computer's Internet connection. (/dev/ttyS1 for "COM2", /dev/ttyS0 for "COM1", /dev/ircomm0 for an IrDA port...),
38400 is the baud rate, you can probably go higher, but try this one first,
the following two IP addresses are the one pppd uses on the Linux machine and the one the client should get. You can probably use the ones used here, except you already have a private subnet which uses these IP addresses. They must be unique in your subnet.
proxyarp tells pppd to handle ARP requests on behalf of the connected device
local Tells pppd not to use modem control features.
noauth Bypasses all authentication. You can also set it up to use e.g. CHAP or PAP. But noauth should be enough for private use it you do not use a dialup connection between the Linux PC and the device which you connect
silent Tells pppd to wait for the connecting device to send LCP packets rather than trying (and failing) when no device is connected. Replaces the 'passive' option in older versions.
nodetach Tells pppd to stay attached to the controlling terminal rather than forking off as a background process. We want ONE pppd in charge of this vty!
ktune tells the kernel to enable IP forwarding
ms-dns xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx Tells pppd to send our DNS server (217.5.100.1 in my case) parameters to the attached device. This avoids having to hard-code values on the client, in case things change.

This shell script needs the executable "iptables", a newer version of pppd which supports the ktune parameter and the NAT (network address translation) kernel modules.

Usage: Simply adapt this script to your needs and start it. If it leads to error messages, try to find the reason. If it doesn´t, connect the device which should participate in the internet connection of the Linux computer and let it connect. When you don´t need the Internet connection sharing anymore, stop the script by pressing (and maybe holding for some seconds) Ctrl-C.

If this setup doesn´t work for some reason, or if you want a more sophisticated setup where you don´t need to manually start a script, read on!

Click here to jump to the client setup guide.

The long story

Attention: The following things have to be done as root, so be careful!

The first thing you need is the ability of Linux to share its Internet connection at all. This is done by a mechanism called IP forwarding and IP masquerading. If you want to learn more about these techniques, please read the IP masquerading howto. There are more than one way to setup IP masquerading and forwarding, please consult the manuals and docs of your Linux distribution to learn how to do it in a distribution-specific way. I describe it here in a generic way which should work for all distributions using a recent kernel version (i.e. 2.4.0 or above). If you have another kernel version, you should read the IP masquerading howto.

First, switch on everything which is necessary for IP forwarding and masqerading in the kernel configuration and compile a new kernel. Maybe this is not necessary in some cases. If you don´t feel comfortable compiling a new kernel, don't do it first and try if it works with your current kernel. You need to go into the "networking options" and switch the netfiler on. Then in the netfiler section everything related to NAT and IP forwarding has to be enabled.

My relevant sections in /usr/src/linux/.config look like this:

#
# Networking options
#
CONFIG_PACKET=y
# CONFIG_PACKET_MMAP is not set
CONFIG_NETLINK=y
CONFIG_RTNETLINK=y
CONFIG_NETLINK_DEV=m
CONFIG_NETFILTER=y
# CONFIG_NETFILTER_DEBUG is not set
# CONFIG_FILTER is not set
CONFIG_UNIX=y
CONFIG_INET=y
CONFIG_IP_MULTICAST=y
# CONFIG_IP_ADVANCED_ROUTER is not set
# CONFIG_IP_PNP is not set
# CONFIG_NET_IPIP is not set
# CONFIG_NET_IPGRE is not set
# CONFIG_IP_MROUTE is not set
# CONFIG_ARPD is not set
# CONFIG_INET_ECN is not set
# CONFIG_SYN_COOKIES is not set

#
#   IP: Netfilter Configuration
#
CONFIG_IP_NF_CONNTRACK=m
CONFIG_IP_NF_FTP=m
CONFIG_IP_NF_QUEUE=m
CONFIG_IP_NF_IPTABLES=m
CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_LIMIT=m
CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_MAC=m
CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_MARK=m
CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_MULTIPORT=m
CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_TOS=m
CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_TCPMSS=m
CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_STATE=m
CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_UNCLEAN=m
CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_OWNER=m
CONFIG_IP_NF_FILTER=m
CONFIG_IP_NF_TARGET_REJECT=m
CONFIG_IP_NF_TARGET_MIRROR=m
CONFIG_IP_NF_NAT=m
CONFIG_IP_NF_NAT_NEEDED=y
CONFIG_IP_NF_TARGET_MASQUERADE=m
CONFIG_IP_NF_TARGET_REDIRECT=m
CONFIG_IP_NF_NAT_FTP=m
CONFIG_IP_NF_MANGLE=m
CONFIG_IP_NF_TARGET_TOS=m
CONFIG_IP_NF_TARGET_MARK=m
CONFIG_IP_NF_TARGET_LOG=m
CONFIG_IP_NF_TARGET_TCPMSS=m
CONFIG_IP_NF_COMPAT_IPCHAINS=m
CONFIG_IP_NF_NAT_NEEDED=y
CONFIG_IP_NF_COMPAT_IPFWADM=m
CONFIG_IP_NF_NAT_NEEDED=y
CONFIG_IPV6=m

Also make sure the driver for the serial port and / or IrDA interface is included into the kernel or compiled as module. I assume it works already. If not, please make it work before you go on. Especially an IrDA driver may be a bit tricky to set up. I use the HP Omnibook 800CT with its IrDA driver vlsi_ir by Martin Diehl to share the wireless LAN access with my HP 200LX palmtop. Please note that the vlsi_ir driver is included in the Linux kernel since version 2.4.9. In order to make IrDA work on my Omnibook I use this script:

#!/bin/sh
modprobe vlsi_ir
modprobe ircomm
ifconfig irda0 up
echo "1" > /proc/sys/net/irda/discovery
echo Discovery says:
cat /proc/net/irda/discovery

(The last three lines are optional. They show you if another device is in the range of the IrDA interface. You will see the name it identifies itself with.)

In order to set up the netfilter, you need the iptables package (if you do not have it already), which you can download at http://netfilter.samba.org/. I use version 1.2.4.

Also you need the pppd (PPP daemon), which is certainly part of your Linux distribution.

Now we can start setting the whole thing up. In order to enable IP forwarding and masquerading, execute

echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward
/usr/local/sbin/iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -o "eth0" -j MASQUERADE

The first line enables forwarding (not necessary when using a recent version of pppd! The pppd parameter ktune can do that job for you!), the second line enables masquerading. Replace eth0 by your network device which is connected to the Internet. (Probably ppp0 if you use a dial-up connection, ippp0 for ISDN, wlan0 for wireless LAN...., find out with "ifconfig" while you have an active Internet connection). the iptables binary may be placed on another location than /usr/local/sbin - change that if necessary.

Palmtop user Ed Padin reported success using ipchains instead of iptables using this command:

ipchains -l forward -j MASQ

If you have troubles starting iptables, try to unload the ipchains module, which can disturb iptables (rmmod ipchains).

You can put the IrDA module calls and the iptables / ipchains setups into /etc/init.d/boot.local, so it is executed automatically at boot time.

Now you must set up the Linux computer as a PPP server for the attached device, using the pppd. This can either be done using a simple pppd call from a shell script as described above, or you can use init to start the pppd as a deamon in background. Here is an example how to call it for runlevels 2,3,4 and 5:
Append a line to /etc/inittab:

palm:2345:respawn:/usr/sbin/pppd /dev/ircomm0 38400 172.16.96.10:172.16.96.11 proxyarp local noauth silent nodetach ktune ms-dns 217.5.100.1

(Adapt the parameters as described above) When you have appended this line to the inittab, run a telinit q to let the system reread the file and use the new settings. maybe a killall pppd is necessary to kill an old pppd and to let the new one start automatically after a change of parameters. You can check easily if the correct pppd runs by typing ps -x | grep pppd.

That´s it. After configuring your client device you should be able to use the PC´s Internet connection over the serial port. Click here to jump to the client setup guide.

Client configuration:

In general you can use any software on the client machine which is able to talk the PPP protocol over the serial port or the IrDA port. For setting up a Palm, please go to the top of this page and follow the Palm link under "Related pages". Here I will describe the process of setting up the WWW/LX software on the HP 200LX palmtop, but this should also show how to set up every other piece of software.

Here are the relevant parts from my WWW/LX config file www.cfg:

[Setup]
...
PPPD_linux_IR=pppd on linux Omnibook IrDA

[pppd_script]
s=\r
@=3

[PPPD_linux_IR]
Port=-1
OmniGo=0
PPP=1
Modem=0
Baud=38400
My_IP=0.0.0.0
DNS_IP=0.0.0.0
DNS2_IP=0.0.0.0
Script=pppd_script
ModemInit=
Dial=
Login=
Password=

Explanation:

The Setup entry is WWW/LX specific and only adds a short description to the setup name.
[pppd_script] is the script WWW/LX uses when connecting over the serial line. It is a very simple script which does the following:
- s=\r -- send a carriage return (= press the Enter key)
- @=3 -- pauses for 3 seconds before PPP connection begins.
The remaining lines are the settings WWW/LX uses for the connection:
- Port=-1: Use port COM1 and set it to IrDA mode. Attention: On the HP 200LX this is only possible with WWW/LX, not with pther software, because the IrDA protocol is totally implemented in software, there is no generic IrDA support by that device! See also my IrDA page! Use Port=1 for a wired serial port connection (i.e. on the Server side /dev/ttySx or COMx).
- PPP=1: Use the PPP protocol
- Modem=0: Use a direct serial line
- Baud=38400: Must match the speed setting on the Server side!
- MY_IP, DNS_IP, DNS2_IP=0.0.0.0 tells WWW/LX to determine the correct values during the login process. You can also give it statically here if you have troubles with the dynamical setup. The dynamical setup has the advantage that you have to change it only on the server side if something changes.
- Script=pppd_script: The script to use for the login process
- ModemInit=, Dial=, Login=, Password=: Since no authentication and no modem is used, these parameters do not need any value.

Attention WWW/LX users who use setcom.bat in conjunction with modem.com to let the palmtop determine automatically the necessary WWW/LX settings: Since a wired connection to a Linux PC running pppd (and eventually even MochaPPP on Windows machines) causes modem.com to think there is a modem and let setcom.bat then execute wwwset.exe with your modem settings, make sure these settings do not interfere with your remaining setup for this kind of connection!

Tutorial: Share Plain Text Files between HP Palmtop and Windows (keeping special characters)

2013-12-08T14:06:42+00:00

Archived 2013-12-08
This page has been archived and some links may not work correctly anymore. No updates of this page will be done anymore.

This is a document I have written for a customer, that explains, how plain text files can be shared easily between the HP Palmtops and a Windows system, without losing special characters in the text:

CLICK HERE