VOGONS


First post, by Jo22

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Hi everyone,

First of all, I'm the proud owner of a StarWriter Pro 5000 with a minimalistic version of GeoWorks 2 in ROM..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyJfjqORA-E

So far so good. The typewriter works so far. However, I've got a little problem : no mouse.

There's a provision for a DE-9 connector on the motherboard, however.
So I could retro-fit a connector easily..
*If* I also add an IC (some buffer/TTL converter thing) and *if* this is a serial port, at all!

Now, how can I normally find out on a DOS PC if a serial port is installed?
Right, run MSD!

And here's where the problem begins.. It's not a DOS PCsl.
Not a typical, at least: The internal GEOS refuses to run DOS applications!

It will merely run GEOS 2 applications. And only those not requiring "Uni Installer".
- Because, the GEOS directories are in ROM and read-only.

So my question is: Are there any diagnostic programs for GEOS (not DOS), which are "portable"?
Not requiring installation? Uni Installer itself can be run from floppy, so the internal GEOS accepts external GEOS programs.
They just can't access the GEOS folders..

Any help greatly appreciated! 🙂

Best regards,
Jo22

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//

Reply 1 of 14, by Jo22

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Any ideas? Pretty please? Windows 1.x/2.x had something like this way back in the 1980s.. It was called "Medic"..
There must be something similar for PC/GEOS, right? 😥

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//

Reply 2 of 14, by Cloudschatze

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Does the StarWriter version of GeoWorks 2.0 retain the "Preferences" menu/utility? If so, check the serial port settings under Preferences > Computer. If a serial port has been detected for COM1, it should show an IRQ value, otherwise it will show "Off," and attempting to then set the IRQ value manually will result in an an error about the port not existing.

Reply 3 of 14, by Jo22

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Cloudschatze wrote on 2022-11-01, 18:47:

Does the StarWriter version of GeoWorks 2.0 retain the "Preferences" menu/utility?

Hi! Thank you for response! 🙂

I'm afraid it doesn't have that.
All it has is a little pull-down menu. Maybe it used to have that on floppies, not sure.

I got the StarWriter without any extras, even had to wire my own transformer.
There's a battery department on the bottom for the Real Time Clock, also. Takes 3x AA.

There was a demonstration diskette once, at least;
the Pro 5000 is resetting if it can't boot from it.
Unless I skip the "Welcome Screen" manually because of this.
Anyway, the internal bare bone OS works.

The file manager can't access an internal "drive", however.
What's seen on the photo is the content of one of my DOS diskettes..

Edit: I've recorded some video clips years ago..
Maybe they're useful, not sure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyJfjqORA-E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvclU59d-mo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjFqEzZ8aPU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4L9Qg5Gph0

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//

Reply 4 of 14, by Cloudschatze

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Couple of questions/thoughts...

As I'm not familar with X-DOS, does holding the left Shift key at boot bypass the processing of the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files?

What is the behavior when attempting to run/launch the built-in COMMAND.COM from GeoWorks?

What happens in response to issuing CTRL-ALT-DEL from within GeoWorks? With a full GW2.0 installation, this will exit to DOS. Does the StarWriter just kick you back to the Welcome screen instead?

Finally, I'm surprised to see that this system includes (and presumably uses?) EMU386S.EXE. Would you mind sharing this version?

Reply 5 of 14, by Jo22

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Hi Cloudschatze, thanks for asking!

The floppy is just one of my old bootable diskettes.
I had it next to me in my floppy case and used it for testing the file manager.
Anyway, it has X-DOS stored, an ancient OS along with some other files.

The Canon Star Writer PC boots from internal ROM, which is a huge, weird chip.
Otherwise, I'd try to use my TL866 and try to make a backup.

The Disk Manager can only read from diskette, there's no way to see the internal files unfortunately.
Well, at least not without an external application.

More photos attached.

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//

Reply 6 of 14, by bttr

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Jo22 wrote on 2022-11-06, 13:49:

More photos attached.

Where?

Atari Portfolio, Highscreen Handy Organizer, HP 95LX, HP 200LX, HP 1000CX, OmniBook 800CT, Sharp PC-3000, ThinkPad 770, ThinkPad R500

Reply 7 of 14, by Jo22

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@Cloudschatze I've made a copy of the file, it's attached below.

bttr wrote on 2022-11-06, 19:28:
Jo22 wrote on 2022-11-06, 13:49:

More photos attached.

Where?

Attachments temporarily unavailable

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//

Reply 8 of 14, by Jo22

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Update. Cloudschatze's idea with the Preferences application gave me an idea.

So I copied the "WORLD" folder of my GeoWorks Ensemble 2.0 to floppy.
The folder contains some of the GEOS programs, albeit not completely with all files.

Anyway, I got Tetris, Calculator and GeoCalc running already.
The Clock, GeoCom and Preferences applications failed to load.

But the latter two are merely missing extra files, so maybe this can be fixed..

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//

Reply 9 of 14, by Jo22

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And here are the other programs mentioned.
Interestingly, the complex GeoCalc (an Excel twin) runs just fine!

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//

Reply 10 of 14, by Jo22

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I've also made a quick video that shows how the file manager loads the icons one by one.

I'll add the link once my main PC has finished uploading to YouTube.

Edit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3GuyE8CkQw

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//

Reply 11 of 14, by Jo22

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Any ideas ?

- I've also copied serial.geo inside the WORLD folder, but GeoComm still can't find a serial driver.
Hm. Maybe that's because GEOS works different from Windows 3.x ?

On Windows 3.x, programs try to load DLLs, INIs etc. inside their directory first.
If that fails, they will check WINDOWS and WINDOWS\SYSTEM directories.

Do I need the restore the GeoWorks directory structure on the floppy disk, maybe ?
If so, should I start at root and include the GEOS20 directory or should the GEOS20 directory itself be root ?

Edit: It's just a question, there's no hurry. If everyhting fails, I'll try writing my own GEOS program.
However, should I use the SDK, NewBasic or R-Basic for that purpose ?

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//

Reply 12 of 14, by Cloudschatze

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Jo22 wrote on 2022-11-06, 13:49:

The Disk Manager can only read from diskette, there's no way to see the internal files unfortunately.

Ah, gotcha. I'd completely misunderstood things, that being that case.

Jo22 wrote on 2022-11-08, 14:52:

The Clock, GeoCom and Preferences applications failed to load.

But the latter two are merely missing extra files, so maybe this can be fixed..

If you want to see if you can get some of these to run...

Solitaire requires the following:
..\world\soli.geo
..\system\geos.geo
..\system\ui.geo
..\system\cards.geo

GeoComm requires the following:
..\world\term.geo
..\system\geos.geo
..\system\ui.geo
..\system\text.geo
..\system\serial.geo

Preferences requires the following:
..\world\prefmgr.geo
..\system\geos.geo
..\system\ui.geo
..\system\spool.geo
..\system\text.geo
..\system\spell.geo
..\system\config.geo
..\system\serial.geo
..\system\parallel.geo

Reply 13 of 14, by Jo22

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Thank you very much Cloudschatze!

I'll try this soon and write back to you.

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//

Reply 14 of 14, by Jo22

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Quick update. I had some free time to play around with the StarWriter.
For some reaons, it refuses to load the missing GEOS system files off the floppy.

I'll try to get the GEOS SDK up and running, maybe.
Maybe I can write a little utility which shows the BIOS data.
Or I could try talking directly to the 16450 FiFo that was used in 286 PCs.

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//