Another weird thing about this machine: the clock drifts like crazy. I'm currently using the latest version of PC/GEOS on mine, with the clock set correctly at 12:00 am on the dot this morning. It's 3:40pm as I'm typing this and the clock is already off by a full 10 minutes. So the idea of using this as a fun little clock is out of the window. There has to be a solution to this.

Edit: somehow between then and now the clock "corrected" itself. This is the wobbliest clock I've ever witnessed on a machine.

@Sneakernets Is your Pocket 386 on-line?

jakfish wrote on 2025-02-15, 22:29:

@Sneakernets Is your Pocket 386 on-line?

I've never connected mine to the Internet, as much as I would like to. That would be a fun thing to try. I wouldn't know where to start with that, though.

Ah. Net time, via DOS or WFWG, is the only way I can keep the RTC in order.

As for getting the P386 on-line, developer Polpo (who does check in here now and then, but mostly is on discord) had a Femto that connected to a PicoGusW, and that's what got me on-line. Polpo has taken a break from more Femto production, but I THINK that FreddyV was working on something wifi-ish on GPIO.

Actually, you could go for a serial-to-wifi adapter, something on Tindy (search oldnet). Not as convenient since the kit needs the RS232 P386 add-on cable, plus an external battery to power it. I have one, and that's how I first got on-line with DOS.

It seems the extra isa slots on the isa adapter are just wide enough to hook over the screen part of the laptop. My stab at portability for the full size picogus 😁

Any word where I can get that adapter? I need that for obvious reasons.

Aliexpress.

So the reason that Adlib Tracker 2 doesn't run is that it requires an FPU. I'm not sure why it does, I haven't looked at the source code yet, but it seems like an oversight or a mistake because what in the world do you need floating point support for in a tracker? None of its contemporaries ever did.

EDIT: No, I'm wrong. There is something deeply wrong with how this platform handles allocation of memory, might be 10H related but I'm not sure. Either way, Adlib Tracker II is doing something that the pocket 386 either doesn't support, or doesn't like, because it will cause a system hang each time the program checks for DPMI Memory. I got ADT2PLAY to crash and tell me `Page Fault in RMCB` which is definitely an interrupt handler messing up trying to allocate or track the largest block of contiguous memory... this is making my head hurt.

Sneakernets wrote on 2025-02-17, 00:20:

Any word where I can get that adapter? I need that for obvious reasons.

I bought my pocket 386 on eBay, and I asked the seller if they sold the isa adapter as well (they didn't have it listed). He said yes and offered to throw it in for free... So I bet you can get it through eBay from sellers who are selling the pocket 386 as well if you want to.

I've had some minor connection issues with mine. The cable seems to pull out or break contact with the port on the isa pcb with some regularity. I was able to fix this somewhat by flipping the cable around and using the connector on the other end which seems modestly thicker. Of course now the other end pulls out of the computer more easily... Maybe I can bulk up the plastic of the connector with some tape to give it a tighter fit when its plugged into a port.

Sneakernets wrote on 2025-02-17, 12:24:

So the reason that Adlib Tracker 2 doesn't run is that it requires an FPU. I'm not sure why it does, I haven't looked at the source code yet, but it seems like an oversight or a mistake because what in the world do you need floating point support for in a tracker? None of its contemporaries ever did.

EDIT: No, I'm wrong. There is something deeply wrong with how this platform handles allocation of memory, might be 10H related but I'm not sure. Either way, Adlib Tracker II is doing something that the pocket 386 either doesn't support, or doesn't like, because it will cause a system hang each time the program checks for DPMI Memory. I got ADT2PLAY to crash and tell me `Page Fault in RMCB` which is definitely an interrupt handler messing up trying to allocate or track the largest block of contiguous memory... this is making my head hurt.

I've never tried this program out but I put it on my pocket 386 to see if I get a different result from you. Anyways, the latest version on the website from 2019 I think... I couldn't get that to load... But I also tried an old version from the year 2000 and that one started right up. It seems there are several versions between 2000 and 2019, so maybe try them all out and you can get a more modern version working?

Update on the Pocket386 ISA16 port breakout. It works! I'm starting to test it out, so far with a Creative Vibra and a NE2000 network card. All with external power off an "Antec" AT supply knocked in for all four voltages.

Turns out some of the other parts were a problem I didn't expect. There's no standard 2.0mm pin distance cables or 90 degree headers (that I could find). Granting that everything's available if you've got the money or the order size.

Since it's nicely broken out is there anything specific that you'd like to see tested on here? I'll probably also fire up a PicoGUS and my ISA test board but am not anticipating any issues.

Wow, congratulations—what a ton of work.

This hardware is above my pay grade, but if a user wanted only one feature, say, wifi, could that result in a smaller hardware form factor?

Or is the ISA16 one-size-fits all?

jakfish wrote on 2025-02-24, 19:54:

This hardware is above my pay grade, but if a user wanted only one feature, say, wifi, could that result in a smaller hardware form factor?

Inside the case of the p386 there are two factory 16bit ISA "cards" in custom factor, the VGA chip and the UART / serial port, entirely replaceable. If you are doing a custom mini card I guess there's nothing better than putting it there, replacing the UART card ?
Such card could easily subsume the UART functionality if you still wanted it.
Or ethernet, etc. instead of uart (and then make some adapter for the "serial port" in the back which is just 8 free IOs).
Myself I'd like SB there but audio line (to the builtin speakers) would likely require soldering work. (EDIT: And sadly it seems ISA DMA lines are not there).

Huh, I hadn't realized that approach and thanks for the explanation. Could something NE2000 compliant actually fit in the P386 case? And if so, I wonder if the plastic housing would stifle wifi reception.

Another funny find today: the Wolfenstein 3D DOS4GW ports hang at the memory screen. I checked in dosbox and a lot of nasty warnings were going on, so maybe it's fixable.

jakfish wrote on 2025-02-24, 19:54:

Wow, congratulations—what a ton of work.

This hardware is above my pay grade, but if a user wanted only one feature, say, wifi, could that result in a smaller hardware form factor?

Or is the ISA16 one-size-fits all?

The picoGUS Femto would've fit the bill. There's enough breakout on the smaller I/O external jack (all the way right when facing the front) for that. Although its creator wasn't keen on supporting the Pocket since (I assume) the GUS is a spare time project and it's a wonky machine. And his ISA card works fine for the application.

To me the ISA-GPIO port is a lower hurdle than the internal connector. Scale of design if nothing else.

It'll take me a while to wrinkle out if there are issues then get a few examples out for other people to play with. If no one comes up with a cheap design in the interim I'll either figure out how to offer some or post up a repository.

Thanks. I bought one from the last batch of the Femto's and it works a treat. But as you say, they're no longer available, which made me wonder what other folks could do as a small-form-factor workaround.

I'm very interested in that, yes. this turns the computer into "actually usable".

Yeah, it's a game changer. Fairly compact, no dongle, works with both DOS and WFWG, and can telnet into a lynx browser. Since my incoming email port is still 110, I can even get my email.

jakfish wrote on 2025-02-25, 16:21:

Thanks. I bought one from the last batch of the Femto's and it works a treat. But as you say, they're no longer available, which made me wonder what other folks could do as a small-form-factor workaround.

Ah, they're still available up on Ian's picogus repository. I never dug through there before. He's just not still selling them.

https://github.com/polpo/picogus/tree/main/hw-hand386

Get five friends together for a PCB order and make sure one of them's good at soldering!