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OS/2 Pen on a DTR1

M

Micom 2000

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Mar 6, 2004
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Manitoba North of 50 degrees Latitude
I am a big fan of the Dauphin DTR (DeskTop Replacement) notepads. I have 2 of them and a parts machine. They can be used as a standalone notepad with a stylus(fugitso-type) and an on-screen keyboard, but also have a miniture external KB and an external fdd. They came with Pen for Win 3.1 with character-recognition capabilities. I have also added an Iomega PP zip drive and a Microsolution BackPack CD with an ESS sound card in it.

Their drawbacks are a small 60M HP Kittyhawk HD and a demanding use of batteries. I have a bulky shoulder-pack rechargeable battery unit I salvaged from an electric weed-eater and the DTR uses a 12v adaptor so I can use it in the wildeness without worry. I do want a serial GPS receiver which were once common tho.

Also is the problem that should I install an abreviated copy of Win 95 I would have to give up it's Pen capabilities as documented here : http://www.pencomputing.com/developer/winpen20_secret.html
since MS in it's wisdom didn't include the Pen driver that had been written but left it up to Pen manufacturers to issue their model-specific issues, which Fugitso, IBM and some others did do.
At that point Dauphin was at the edge of bankruptcy and that wasn't a priority. Oh well.

In perusing OS/2 sources recently however I found that IBM had issued Pen drivers for both OS/2 Warp3 and Warp4. Since OS/2 had a multiple-boot program, it occured to me that I could install OS/2 on my Zip drive, and perhaps later on the KittyHawk if it works out, and alternate OS's on the Zip drive cartridges. Linux or BSD for example. Should I screw up, I have the second DTR as a backup as well as a complete set of installation disks. OS/2 also has a multitude of free apps available, surely much more than my simple needs require.

There are also hacks to replace the KittyHawk with an ATA Microdrive and the DTR has a PCMCIA compatible BIOS according to the documentation, so a flash drive would be possible. There was also an ethernet hardware option which I unfortunately don't have AS YET.

Has anyone ever used OS/2 on a Pen-capable machine ? OS/2 on a notepad would be cool.

Lawrence
 
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I may have the Pen drivers for Win95 kicking around my house. I can't remember if it's manufacturer specific or not since I haven't played with it in a long while.

I also have a copy of OS/2 Warp 4 if you need it.
 
On the power front, I'd look into using a LiPo pack, with a 12V regulator, and swapping the plug to what the DTR uses.

There are AMAZING capacity LiPos out there, as I use them in my RC cars/trucks. You should be able to find a 3000-5000mah LiPo pack, 13.8V, for about $60-120, depending on brand. THese packs ar probably about the size of a pack of 100's-sized cigarettes! If price isn't an issue compared to untethered runtime, you can get up to 12000mah LiPo packs, still not too large (weighing probably only about 1/2 - 3/4 pound) but at that capacity you're on the cutting edge of current LiPo technology, and they would probably run about $200-350, agaion depending on brand.

You'll need a charger - simple 4S pack chargers shouldn't be TOO expensive. Failing that, hunt down a Pro-Peak Prodigy II DC-DC charger. Charges everything, from NiCD, to NiMH, LiIon, LiPo, and even Gel Cell/Lead acid 12V!

Lemme know if you need more info.


T
 
I had forgotten I even started this thread and I haven't been on the forum much lately. From what I've found the pen drivers were manufacturer specific but who knows, possibly one could do a hack if the architecture was similar enough. There were only a couple of companies who took up the MS W95 challenge. Fugitso and IBM for example.

I downloaded a copy of Warp 4 a while back and burnt a CD but haven't tried to install it in one of the DTRs yet. Once I get time to do a serious install on a DTR I'll get back to you.

Thanks

Bungo Pony said:
I may have the Pen drivers for Win95 kicking around my house. I can't remember if it's manufacturer specific or not since I haven't played with it in a long while.

I also have a copy of OS/2 Warp 4 if you need it.
Click to expand...
 
Damn, I keep falling ever-more behind even on the "Trailing Edge" of technology. I'd never even heard the term LiPo before. A Google informed me it was Lithium-Polymor battery pack which come in small sizes for their large power capacity. I thought I was on top of it getting metal-hydide batteries and a charger.

The battery in the weed-eater power-pack is a sealed lead/acid rechargeable battery and IIRC puts out 2400 AH . It weighs about 5 lbs at a size of 2.5x3.5x6 " not including the container. The replacement battery cost me $45 a couple of years ago. The rig can be recharged tho from your car lighter or a highamp 12v wall-wart adapter.

The LiPo power packs however, because of their smaller size and weight would seem to be the way to go. Looking at the inflated price of replacement battery packs for laptops one would wonder why the manufacturers of LiPos haven't gone for that market or indeed why new laptops aren't usng that technology. What kind of price do the Pro-Peak chargers demand ? I'm very big on do-all appliances.

I've always wondered about the cautions placed on some rechargeable batteries that warn you to use specific chargers. Do you know the whys and wherefores of these warnings ? Is it because a too-fast charging rate or an overcharge could cause the batteries to explode ?

While I have the M-H charger and a RS Ni-Cad charger, I also have an old 6v-60v 0-10A with a controllable amperage dial and indicator charger that I use with my car batteries. Like a larger version of the controllable power supplies with the 2amp cut-off we used in my electonics school lab. When charging a car battery the indicator gradually goes down to minimal amperage output, meaning it is fully charged, no matter how hi you have set the amperage under the red lne of safe carge rate. That would seem to indicate it reduces amperage according to capacity.

I have often wondered whether I could use it on my laptop batteries. Am I missing something in recharging technology ?

Lawrence


Sharkonwheels said:
On the power front, I'd look into using a LiPo pack, with a 12V regulator, and swapping the plug to what the DTR uses.

There are AMAZING capacity LiPos out there, as I use them in my RC cars/trucks. You should be able to find a 3000-5000mah LiPo pack, 13.8V, for about $60-120, depending on brand. THese packs ar probably about the size of a pack of 100's-sized cigarettes! If price isn't an issue compared to untethered runtime, you can get up to 12000mah LiPo packs, still not too large (weighing probably only about 1/2 - 3/4 pound) but at that capacity you're on the cutting edge of current LiPo technology, and they would probably run about $200-350, agaion depending on brand.

You'll need a charger - simple 4S pack chargers shouldn't be TOO expensive. Failing that, hunt down a Pro-Peak Prodigy II DC-DC charger. Charges everything, from NiCD, to NiMH, LiIon, LiPo, and even Gel Cell/Lead acid 12V!

Lemme know if you need more info.


T
Click to expand...
 
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