Hello everyone,

Does anyone know of any PCMCIA sound card that works in an HP 100 or 200LX Palmtop PC's PCMCIA slot ???

Terrence

radiance32 wrote on 2021-02-11, 22:08:

Does anyone know of any PCMCIA sound card that works in an HP 100 or 200LX Palmtop PC's PCMCIA slot ???

The Roland SCP-55 does, with caveats.
Point enabler is available at
https://www.vector.co.jp/soft/dl/dos/util/se026698.html

The readme:

About SCP-55 Enabler […]
Show full quote

About SCP-55 Enabler

● This software is

This software is for using Roland's MIDI sound module SCP-55 on the HP200LX, which was published in the December issue of Pokecon Journal (Engineering Co., Ltd.).
Please read the following precautions before using the product.
● Notes

The current consumption of SCP-55 is as large as 360mA during operation. With the HP200LX, the maximum current that can be passed through the PCMCIA slot is 150mA, which exceeds the specifications.
Therefore, an AC adapter is required for use. If you want to carry it with you, you can operate it by inserting 8 batteries into the AC adapter terminal.
If the sound source is operated continuously, the LCD screen may become thinner and the power may be turned off. In such a case, it may not be possible to turn the power on again. After waiting for a while, remove the card and then turn on the power to recover.

[important]
Neither HP nor Roland guarantee the use of SCP55 cards with HP200LX. In the unlikely event that the card or HP200LX main unit is damaged, the author and the editorial department cannot guarantee it. Please use at your own risk.
In addition, please refrain from contacting HP or Roland regarding this matter.
Don't think of it as practical, but think of it as experimental.

● How to use

From the DOS command line

SCP55_HP [return]

By doing so, it will be resident. SCP-55's MIDI sound module is now connected to the I / O port as MPU-401 compatible (I / O port address = 330h ~).
If you run the appropriate playback software, you will hear a sound from the card.

● Details

For details on the program, please read the relevant article.

● Works

This program is copyrighted by Sour23 and Engineering Co., Ltd.

● Contact information
ZOB Stabion BBS zob10344 Sour23
Pocket communication Ver.3 2569 Sour23

lolo799 wrote on 2021-02-11, 23:13:

Or maybe my memory of using the S16 drivers is bad...maybe that was in Windows 9x... […]
Show full quote

Bondi wrote on 2021-02-11, 12:38:

It eventually worked without the CD unit with the original driver. I just should not have removed the switches of the driver related to cd-rom in config.sys.

As for the S16 drivers, I did some hex editing and changed the name of the card, just out of curiosuty. And it started to load normally and detected the card. But still produced no sound...

Or maybe my memory of using the S16 drivers is bad...maybe that was in Windows 9x...

radiance32 wrote on 2021-02-11, 22:08:

Hi everyone,

Does anyone know of any PCMCIA sound card that works in an HP 100 or 200LX Palmtop PC's PCMCIA slot ???

Terrence

The Roland SCP-55 does, with caveats.
Point enabler is available at
https://www.vector.co.jp/soft/dl/dos/util/se026698.html

The readme:

About SCP-55 Enabler […]
Show full quote

About SCP-55 Enabler

● This software is

This software is for using Roland's MIDI sound module SCP-55 on the HP200LX, which was published in the December issue of Pokecon Journal (Engineering Co., Ltd.).
Please read the following precautions before using the product.
● Notes

The current consumption of SCP-55 is as large as 360mA during operation. With the HP200LX, the maximum current that can be passed through the PCMCIA slot is 150mA, which exceeds the specifications.
Therefore, an AC adapter is required for use. If you want to carry it with you, you can operate it by inserting 8 batteries into the AC adapter terminal.
If the sound source is operated continuously, the LCD screen may become thinner and the power may be turned off. In such a case, it may not be possible to turn the power on again. After waiting for a while, remove the card and then turn on the power to recover.

[important]
Neither HP nor Roland guarantee the use of SCP55 cards with HP200LX. In the unlikely event that the card or HP200LX main unit is damaged, the author and the editorial department cannot guarantee it. Please use at your own risk.
In addition, please refrain from contacting HP or Roland regarding this matter.
Don't think of it as practical, but think of it as experimental.

● How to use

From the DOS command line

SCP55_HP [return]

By doing so, it will be resident. SCP-55's MIDI sound module is now connected to the I / O port as MPU-401 compatible (I / O port address = 330h ~).
If you run the appropriate playback software, you will hear a sound from the card.

● Details

For details on the program, please read the relevant article.

● Works

This program is copyrighted by Sour23 and Engineering Co., Ltd.

● Contact information
ZOB Stabion BBS zob10344 Sour23
Pocket communication Ver.3 2569 Sour23

Thanks, I was aware of the SCP-55, but I guess I asked the wrong question,
my question is: Does anyone know of any PCMCIA soundcard(s) that work on an HP 100/200LX which offer adlib / soundblaster type functionality (eg OPL FM synthesis and/or a DAC for digital sample playback and games that support adlib or soundblaster etc... cards)...
The SCP-55 is good, but I'd like to have everything in one PCMCIA card, instead of having to attach a synth or synth module (like an MT32 module) via a MIDI cable, so as to have a truly "portable" solution that fits in your pocket 😀

I'd love to hear from anyone that knows of any such card...
Cheers and thanks for the reply lolo799,

Terrence

I figured that was really your question, the only answer is if someone writes an enabler for one of the FM synth cards to work on the 200lx, then that will be the case...unless the enablers provided with the various cards as part of the drivers work on the 200lx already, but that's really really doubtful.

The SCP-55 has an audio out jack on the breakout box or there is the smaller audio out dongle, no need to plug in an external synth really.

lolo799 wrote on 2021-02-12, 10:51:

I figured that was really your question, the only answer is if someone writes an enabler for one of the FM synth cards to work on the 200lx, then that will be the case...unless the enablers provided with the various cards as part of the drivers work on the 200lx already, but that's really really doubtful.

The SCP-55 has an audio out jack on the breakout box or there is the smaller audio out dongle, no need to plug in an external synth really.

Hello again,

I wasn't aware the SCP-55 has a digital audio output ??? I thought it was just a pure MPU-401 MIDI interface and SC-55 for PCMCIA slot based computers...

I think I'm going to buy an SCP-55, but the question is where and for how much... 🙁
I've been looking on eBay for a while and I've never seen one turn up, it seems they are ultra-rare, and I'm also sure they would probably cost a pretty penny when one turns up on ebay...
Do you know anyone who might have one for sale?

Cheers and thanks again for replying! 😀
Terrence

radiance32 wrote on 2021-02-12, 19:29:

Hello again, […]
Show full quote

Hello again,

I wasn't aware the SCP-55 has a digital audio output ??? I thought it was just a pure MPU-401 MIDI interface and SC-55 for PCMCIA slot based computers...

I think I'm going to buy an SCP-55, but the question is where and for how much... 🙁
I've been looking on eBay for a while and I've never seen one turn up, it seems they are ultra-rare, and I'm also sure they would probably cost a pretty penny when one turns up on ebay...
Do you know anyone who might have one for sale?

Cheers and thanks again for replying! 😀
Terrence

The SCP-55 can output digital audio in Windows 3.x/9x as well, not just the MIDI signal going through the Roland synth.

As Bondi wrote earlier, they often appear on Yahoo auctions, one was sold last week, just the card, and a boxed one in december.

By curiosity I tried most of the enablers I had around on the 200lx, most complain about the lack of Card Service, no surprise there, except the sounden.exe for the EigerLabs/Fujitsu card and setsound v1.2 for the Panasonic 211 and 212 card.
It gives an error message about card not found with my 212 card, and display just its regular string with the 213 card for some reason.
I don't have a 211 anymore to try it with.

The 3rd party enablers for the Panasonic cards (setsound and sndpro) have technical info about the card initialization, so it's most likely possible to make an enabler specificly for the 200lx, using the source of the SCP-55 enabler as a starting point...

You should remove your "wanted" thread, vogons isn't a marketplace.
Try asking amibay or vcfed instead, they have buy/sale sections there.

lolo799 wrote on 2021-02-12, 20:53:

The SCP-55 can output digital audio in Windows 3.x/9x as well, not just the MIDI signal going through the Roland synth. […]
Show full quote

radiance32 wrote on 2021-02-12, 19:29:

Hello again, […]
Show full quote

Hello again,

I wasn't aware the SCP-55 has a digital audio output ??? I thought it was just a pure MPU-401 MIDI interface and SC-55 for PCMCIA slot based computers...

I think I'm going to buy an SCP-55, but the question is where and for how much... 🙁
I've been looking on eBay for a while and I've never seen one turn up, it seems they are ultra-rare, and I'm also sure they would probably cost a pretty penny when one turns up on ebay...
Do you know anyone who might have one for sale?

Cheers and thanks again for replying! 😀
Terrence

The SCP-55 can output digital audio in Windows 3.x/9x as well, not just the MIDI signal going through the Roland synth.

As Bondi wrote earlier, they often appear on Yahoo auctions, one was sold last week, just the card, and a boxed one in december.

By curiosity I tried most of the enablers I had around on the 200lx, most complain about the lack of Card Service, no surprise there, except the sounden.exe for the EigerLabs/Fujitsu card and setsound v1.2 for the Panasonic 211 and 212 card.
It gives an error message about card not found with my 212 card, and display just its regular string with the 213 card for some reason.
I don't have a 211 anymore to try it with.

The 3rd party enablers for the Panasonic cards (setsound and sndpro) have technical info about the card initialization, so it's most likely possible to make an enabler specificly for the 200lx, using the source of the SCP-55 enabler as a starting point...

You should remove your "wanted" thread, vogons isn't a marketplace.
Try asking amibay or vcfed instead, they have buy/sale sections there.

Thanks for the info...

I develop C/C++ software for a living (used to be a unix/linux sysadmin until approx 12 years ago),
but I have limited knowledge of assembly language and MS-DOS / drivers from a coding point of view,
so I think I'm not gonna be able to modify the SCP-55 enabler for another card at this time,
and I'm too busy on my current commercial project as a day-job to learn x86 assembly and MS-DOS driver development...

I guess I'll just have to stick with my parallel port PCMCIA card and my CVX4 covox clone for digital audio output,
but I definitely would like to grab an SCP-55 if I can find one at a reasonable price...
I'll check out yahoo auctions, thanks for the info...
I've also set up an automatic messaging for "Roland SCP-55" whenever one pops up on eBay using the awesome tool https://lazyperks.com/,
don't know if you know it, but you can set up items with search terms and categories with min and max prices for items on eBay and a couple of minutes after someone puts your item on eBay, it alerts you via email or phone TXT message and you can go and grab it before someone else does, especially if it's really cheap 😀

and sorry about the post asking if anyone has an SCP-55 for sale,
I'm new here and was not aware it's not allowed...

Cheers,
Terrence

I agree if you start a thread on HP Palmtops I will participate too, I have played around a bit with upgrading memory now, overclocking, I will do some testing soon with doubleslot etc, including using a parallel card for OPL2LPT and storage for the music files.

on the topic of the HP200LX, I have been working on and off on a custom pcmcia card, and I was recently thinking about putting an OPL chip on it and presenting it to the host via parallel port interface that does not require special drivers, allowing it to be used as a opl2lpt. just an idea but not a priority as demand for such a feature is quite limited.

also, Terrence, are you the developer/operator of lazyperks.com mentioned above? sounds like an advert must be good. i have been looking for something like this i may try it out too.

yyzkevin wrote on 2021-02-13, 03:59:

I agree if you start a thread on HP Palmtops I will participate too, I have played around a bit with upgrading memory now, overclocking, I will do some testing soon with doubleslot etc, including using a parallel card for OPL2LPT and storage for the music files.

on the topic of the HP200LX, I have been working on and off on a custom pcmcia card, and I was recently thinking about putting an OPL chip on it and presenting it to the host via parallel port interface that does not require special drivers, allowing it to be used as a opl2lpt. just an idea but not a priority as demand for such a feature is quite limited.

also, Terrence, are you the developer/operator of lazyperks.com mentioned above? sounds like an advert must be good. i have been looking for something like this i may try it out too.

So you're basically going to try and put all the hardware used in these videos into one PCMCIA card ?
HP200LX early 90's Palmtop PC with Adlib sound games videos

That would be awesome 😀 And I would definately buy one, but, I agree, there won't be a large market for it...
If you could add a compactflash slot to it, it would be awesome as the issue is whenever you insert a PCMCIA card for sound, you can't use your main compactflash storage, and you're limited to your 300K (for 1MB models) or 1,3Mb (for the 2MB models) C: ramdrive..., unless you have a unit with a large memory upgrade but those are very rare and expensive customized items...

Also, no, I'm not affiliated with lazyperks.com in any way, I just found it last week when googling for such a handy tool and I tried it out and it's fantastic. It saves a ton of time going onto ebay regularly and searching for rare items at low prices, which are usually snatched by someone else by the time I find them 🤣 😀 I did'nt mean to make it sound like an advert or something, I'm just very optimistic about it 😉

Yeah my HP200LX has upgraded memory and clock speed so not an issue for me but I also have an unmodified one I test stuff with. My main intention was for an onboard ESP8266 which presents as a standard serial/uart, and to meet the current limitations of the HP even under transmit which seems to work without issue. It was more of a convenience on the HP as we get that serial header on the side we could use, but my other computer I mostly use is the IBM PC110 and it does not have any serial port without the dock so it was more important.

I picked up a device from a fellow in another group called a "DoubleSlot" that is supported/designed for the HP and allows you to use a serial/network/printer etc card, as well as your flash card. I have not looked yet but I intended to replicate it's functionality so I could present the multiple features to the HP in a way that can be supported with standard software.

The OPL onboard seemed like something I could do without major effort, I ordered some yamaha chips to play with but because of chinese holiday it will be some time before I see them.

yyzkevin wrote on 2021-02-13, 05:29:

Yeah my HP200LX has upgraded memory and clock speed so not an issue for me but I also have an unmodified one I test stuff with. My main intention was for an onboard ESP8266 which presents as a standard serial/uart, and to meet the current limitations of the HP even under transmit which seems to work without issue. It was more of a convenience on the HP as we get that serial header on the side we could use, but my other computer I mostly use is the IBM PC110 and it does not have any serial port without the dock so it was more important.

I picked up a device from a fellow in another group called a "DoubleSlot" that is supported/designed for the HP and allows you to use a serial/network/printer etc card, as well as your flash card. I have not looked yet but I intended to replicate it's functionality so I could present the multiple features to the HP in a way that can be supported with standard software.

The OPL onboard seemed like something I could do without major effort, I ordered some yamaha chips to play with but because of chinese holiday it will be some time before I see them.

OMG! I have been looking for a double slot expander for the HP200LX for a year now! and you managed to find one ? they are ultra-rare...
Do you know of any others? If you have more need for it in the future and would like to sell it, please PM me... 😀

I don't know much about PCMCIA, but I think that the PCMCIA standard is like a bus, and you can attach multiple cards to it. I've no clue if it has a maximum amount of cards or how it works with regards to the drivers selecting the right cards on the bus, so it should'nt be that hard to replicate it, I suppose it's just a passive device that simply connects all PCMCIA lines to both cards, like an ISA bus expander card or similar...
But I could be wrong 😉

Cheers,
Terrence

That is how it goes, when you are looking for it you cannot find it. I was not even sure what this was, but it seemed relevant to the PCMCIA work I have been doing so when I saw the user put it up I said yeah I'll take it.

https://imgur.com/gallery/I1Oo5pB

I do see there is the VXPocket V2 listed for sale on ebay (multiple of them) with quite a wild array of input/output connectors including xlr not sure if balanced or not, but according to the matrix in PCMCIA Sound Cards though it is not supported in DOS so not useful to us.

yyzkevin wrote on 2021-02-13, 21:56:

I do see there is the VXPocket V2 listed for sale on ebay (multiple of them) with quite a wild array of input/output connectors including xlr not sure if balanced or not, but according to the matrix in this thread though it is not supported in DOS so not useful to us.

Hey, would you mind replying to this post with the complete, accurate name of the manufacturer (I think it's accurite or something) and the exact product name of the pcmcia doubler/expander device,
so i can set up an automatic search on lazyperks and maybe get an alert when one is put on ebay for one of these ???

Thank you a LOT! 😀
Terrence

DoubleSlot website:
https://web.archive.org/web/20051217043837/ht … .com/dslot.html

lolo799 wrote on 2021-02-14, 09:47:

DoubleSlot website:
https://web.archive.org/web/20051217043837/ht … .com/dslot.html

Hi,

Thanks a bunch, I forgot about trying the wayback machine 😀
I've added a search rule in lazyperks to keep an eye you on ebay for one,
hopefully one will turn up soon 😀

Cheers,
Terrence

lolo799 wrote on 2021-02-14, 09:47:

DoubleSlot website:
https://web.archive.org/web/20051217043837/ht … .com/dslot.html

Also, i'm not sure if it was you, but you (or someone else) pointed to "yahoo auctions" for looking for things like an SCP-55 PCMCIA soundcard and a such,
but after some googling it seems that there are only 4 yahoo marketplaces all for asian countries.
Which one should I look at ? The japanese one ? Could you provide a link to the right one ???

Cheers,
Terrence

yyzkevin wrote on 2021-02-14, 20:17:

I agree if you start a thread on HP Palmtops I will participate too, I have played around a bit with upgrading memory now, overclocking, I will do some testing soon with doubleslot etc, including using a parallel card for OPL2LPT and storage for the music files.

I REALLY need an accurite doubleslot...
Can you tell me where you got yours from ?

Terrence

lolo799 wrote on 2021-02-14, 09:47:

DoubleSlot website:
https://web.archive.org/web/20051217043837/ht … .com/dslot.html

Look at this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-INTERNAL-PCMCIA- … s-/300471202597

It's a dual-slot PCMCIA "drive" for a desktop PC.
It's basically a double PCMCIA Type 1, 2 and 3 (the thicker ones that don't fit into any HP Palmtop.
It's quite cheap, only USD $35 per piece and it seems the seller has a lot of them for sale.

Under the assumption that PCMCIA is a bus that can just passively connect multiple cards to the same bus lines (not sure of this though, need to do some research),
What we could do is:
* buy one of them
* unsolder/take off the actual double card slot assembly off the PCB (look at the photo of the PCB below)
* design a new PCB that the double card slot is soldered onto and that has a USB power input port to port the cards so you can use multiple cards that draw too much current for the 200LX, we can then, using a regulator IC, connect this to the BUS as the power source for the cards.
* have a number of these PCBs produced using a service like PCBWay, which you just send your PCB CAD files to, and they will send you the manufactured PCBs (in low quantities if required) maybe we could start with 8 or 10 boards (if we can buy 8-10 of those dual-slot PCMCIA drives off eBay to get the PCMCIA slot assemblies out of.
* create an empty PCMCIA card which just has a flat cable inside connected to all the pins of the card, and this flat cable comes out of the card and connects to the device, and on the PCB, is connected to pins of the card(s).

To get more information about how it actually works,
You could maybe carefully open your Accurite doubleslot device and take high-resolution photos of the insides, the PCB etc to see how it all connects together.
I don't' have any experience with electronics and PCB design myself, so we would have to find someone who has the knowledge and is willing to do it. Maybe someone who is a 200LX user himself and would like to have a PCMCIA expander himself, and/or we could provide donations (I could donate an HP200LX 2MB double-speed machine, for example, I currently have about 15 in stock 😀 ) That would also give him a testing platform if he doesn't already have a 200LX

What do you all think idea?
Terrence