Connecting a PDA to a PC in DOS

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops.pilot (More info?)

Its okay. I used to have a P133 laptop that only ran 95. I would
still have it , if it woudld not have fried 3 years ago. I purchased a
used Pentium II 266 laptop for $550 at the time and have had it since.
I dont plan on upgrading at this time, since it does all that I need.

There are still many that use DOS and avoid Windows. Perhaps you can
contact the HP 200LX user list, as they still use DOS and are proud of
it, or perhaps contact a DOS newsgroup. There are many that remain
using DOS. Frankly I'd like to be one of them, but cannot as I have
way too much software and data in Windows that will not work in DOS.
The best DOS is pre Windows 95,running version 6.22.


John


bg12...@apexmail.com wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Has anyone tried, or is there a way, to transfer data and files
> from DOS to a PDA? I have a Palm M105.
>
> Yes, I *know* it can be done in Windows, but I can't carry around
> my Windows desktop PC, and my old laptop doesn't run Windows. So
> that leaves connecting through DOS away from home. (To anyone who
> says buying a new laptop is the solution, I'll tell you how to
> send me the money.)
>
> I've heard of communicating through the serial port using Zmodem
> and a program called ZBoxZ, but have no idea how to do it. Are
> there any experienced users who can offer a hand? 'Twould be
> appreciated.
>
>
> Bob Dog

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops.pilot (More info?)

bg12345@apexmail.com wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Has anyone tried, or is there a way, to transfer data and files
> from DOS to a PDA? I have a Palm M105.
>
> Yes, I *know* it can be done in Windows, but I can't carry around
> my Windows desktop PC, and my old laptop doesn't run Windows. So
> that leaves connecting through DOS away from home. (To anyone who
> says buying a new laptop is the solution, I'll tell you how to
> send me the money.)
>
> I've heard of communicating through the serial port using Zmodem
> and a program called ZBoxZ, but have no idea how to do it. Are
> there any experienced users who can offer a hand? 'Twould be
> appreciated.

There's information at <http://palmboxer.sourceforge.net/&gt; with links to a
Quick Start and other documentation.

Looks like it just transfers the files as files, so while you might be able
to back them up on the laptop you won't be able to do much else with most
of them.

How old is your laptop though--it must be truly ancient to not be able to
handle _any_ Palm-compatible version of Windows.

> Bob Dog

--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops.pilot (More info?)

On Sat, 23 Apr 2005 at 14:15 GMT, <bg12345@apexmail.com> wrote:

> Yes, I *know* it can be done in Windows, but I can't carry around
> my Windows desktop PC, and my old laptop doesn't run Windows. So
> that leaves connecting through DOS away from home.

You may be able to throw a lightweight linux distribution on the
laptop and use the linuxy tools ("palm sync") to sync up. I've always
been amazed at how little horsepower it takes to run CLI linux on
old boxes.

It'd be free, at least.

If the sync is basically for backup purposes, it may be easier to make
automated backups to an expansion card, if your PDA has a card slot.


> (To anyone who
> says buying a new laptop is the solution, I'll tell you how to
> send me the money.)

I hear ya, brother.

I finally bought an old IBM thinkpad 233mHz off eBay for $115 shipped.
It's doing fine on windows 2000; I'm using it wirelessly to make this
post right now. People sometimes snicker at its lack of modern slimness,
but it does everything I need at a price that I could justify.

My wife does the same stuff on a Compaq p133 laptop on win98 (about
$40 off eBay).

Both of these laptops will talk infrared to our palms, btw.

--
http://cbsrmt.mousetrap.net/RMTdb/ CBS Radio Mystery Theater database
CBSRMT uploads each day in <news:alt.binaries.sounds.radio.cbsrmt>
http://greyhound.mousetrap.net/altus/ our ex-racer greyhound
http://www.mousetrap.net/~mouse/cs.html How to get good phone support

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops.pilot (More info?)

bg12345@apexmail.com wrote:

Rather than post four replies, I'm writing a blanket answer
to those kind enough to post on this.


johnw_94...@yahoo.com sed:

> There are still many that use DOS and avoid Windows.
> Perhaps you can contact the HP 200LX user list, as they
> still use DOS and are proud of it, or perhaps contact a DOS
> newsgroup.

The numerous DOS groups I've checked are silent on it, but I
did not know about the HP. Thanks, I'll look into it.


> There are many that remain using DOS. Frankly I'd like to
> be one of them, but cannot as I have way too much software
> and data in Windows that will not work in DOS.

Do you actually mean software, or hardware that doesn't have
DOS drivers? If it's the latter, USB and CR-RW drivers for
DOS do exist.


> The best DOS is pre Windows 95,running version 6.22.

There's freeDOS, PC-DOS, DR-DOS, PTS-DOS and others that still
exist which are newer and better than MS-DOS 6.22; I'm running
Lose98 over freeDOS. Whether IBM will continue to sell and
support PC-DOS after selling their PC division to a Chinese
company, I don't know.


-----

Justin Pearson sed:

> One solution (not the one you might want) is to install
> linux on your laptop and use pilot-xfer. Don't be put off
> buy the large and processor hungry linux installations
> around. There are a few installations for small low-powered
> machines.

I know of a few (MuLinux, Mini, etc.) and BasicLinux (which is
Slackware derived) looks the most stable and easy to install.
Installing programs into BasicLinux is another matter.

I knew about Pilot Xfer, but there's a problem: I'm completely
inept at Linux. VAXes and VMS are no problem, but with Linux
I'm helpless. Thanks for saying this anyway, I should try
to learn it again.


-----

J. Clarke sed:

> There's information at <http://palmboxer.sourceforge.net/&gt;
> with links to a Quick Start and other documentation.

I knew of other PC/PDA pages, but not this one. Of course
it's on sourceforge and I didn't look. 9_9 Much appreciated.


> How old is your laptop though--it must be truly ancient to
> not be able to handle _any_ Palm-compatible version of
> Windows.

It is. But it has a serial port and a hard drive, that's all
I'm concerned about.

I hate how companies deliberately force consumers to buy new machines
instead of ensuring backward compatibility. In the
mid-20th century, cars were built to last, now they don't last
five years. In the 1980s, everything was backward compatible
on PCs; now you're forced to "upgrade" every three months.

Have a look at what this guy did. Connectivity at its finest:

http://www.galexi.com/alex/pilot100.html


-----

Frater Mus sed:

>> (To anyone who says buying a new laptop is the solution,
>> I'll tell you how to send me the money.)
>
>I hear ya, brother.

Thank you and the others for paying attention and making an
effort. Few things are as annoying in life as those who talk
without thinking that the blatantly obvious was tried first.
(Not just on this topic, but in anything. Ever looked for an
unusual title in used bookshops and have some moron tell you
"Go to Borders" after you've already been there?)

The speed of the replies is also appreciated.


Bob Dog

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops.pilot (More info?)

bg12345@apexmail.com wrote:

> bg12345@apexmail.com wrote:
>
> Rather than post four replies, I'm writing a blanket answer
> to those kind enough to post on this.
>
>
> johnw_94...@yahoo.com sed:
>
>> There are still many that use DOS and avoid Windows.
>> Perhaps you can contact the HP 200LX user list, as they
>> still use DOS and are proud of it, or perhaps contact a DOS
>> newsgroup.
>
> The numerous DOS groups I've checked are silent on it, but I
> did not know about the HP. Thanks, I'll look into it.
>
>
>> There are many that remain using DOS. Frankly I'd like to
>> be one of them, but cannot as I have way too much software
>> and data in Windows that will not work in DOS.
>
> Do you actually mean software, or hardware that doesn't have
> DOS drivers? If it's the latter, USB and CR-RW drivers for
> DOS do exist.
>
>
>> The best DOS is pre Windows 95,running version 6.22.
>
> There's freeDOS, PC-DOS, DR-DOS, PTS-DOS and others that still
> exist which are newer and better than MS-DOS 6.22; I'm running
> Lose98 over freeDOS. Whether IBM will continue to sell and
> support PC-DOS after selling their PC division to a Chinese
> company, I don't know.

Very likely. Further, Microsoft themselves recommend that one use the DOS
kernel that one gets when creating a bootable disk from XP--they say that
it's smaller and more efficient than the one in 6.22. This is quite
likely--the same is true for IBM DOS 2000 I understand--one of the
developers tells me that IBM recoded most of it in optimized assembler
while Microsoft used C--either Microsoft used a better optimizer on the
later version or did the same thing themselves.

> -----
>
> Justin Pearson sed:
>
>> One solution (not the one you might want) is to install
>> linux on your laptop and use pilot-xfer. Don't be put off
>> buy the large and processor hungry linux installations
>> around. There are a few installations for small low-powered
>> machines.
>
> I know of a few (MuLinux, Mini, etc.) and BasicLinux (which is
> Slackware derived) looks the most stable and easy to install.
> Installing programs into BasicLinux is another matter.
>
> I knew about Pilot Xfer, but there's a problem: I'm completely
> inept at Linux. VAXes and VMS are no problem, but with Linux
> I'm helpless. Thanks for saying this anyway, I should try
> to learn it again.

I'd be surprised if Linux would run on your machine--the hardware
requirements are about the same as for Windows 95. There is a 16-bit port
but it is very limited and there doesn't appear to have been any work done
on it in several years, so one may assume that the project is dead.

> -----
>
> J. Clarke sed:
>
>> There's information at <http://palmboxer.sourceforge.net/&gt;
>> with links to a Quick Start and other documentation.
>
> I knew of other PC/PDA pages, but not this one. Of course
> it's on sourceforge and I didn't look. 9_9 Much appreciated.
>
>
>> How old is your laptop though--it must be truly ancient to
>> not be able to handle _any_ Palm-compatible version of
>> Windows.
>
> It is. But it has a serial port and a hard drive, that's all
> I'm concerned about.
>
> I hate how companies deliberately force consumers to buy new machines
> instead of ensuring backward compatibility. In the
> mid-20th century, cars were built to last, now they don't last
> five years.

Huh? What ever gave you _that_ impression? The cars you get today are for
the most part much more durable than the ones that were available in the
'50s and '60s. It's not unusual to see a car today run 250,000 miles or
more using an engine with the same block that gave only 100,000 or so in
the late '50s or early '60s.

The notion that old cars lasted longer is pure nostalgia. If you maintain
them impeccably and fix things when they break and overhaul the engine and
transmission and differential and replace bearings when required, yeah, a
car from the '50s, or '40s, or '30s, or '20s can still be driveable, but
it's not because they were somehow more reliable than modern cars, it's
because somebody busted his butt to keep them running far beyond the point
where it made economic sense to do so.

> In the 1980s, everything was backward compatible
> on PCs; now you're forced to "upgrade" every three months.

Who's forcing you to upgrade every three months? The only "upgrades" I've
done in the past 2 years or so were adding more disk capacity in my primary
server, adding a couple of tuner boards to a machine that I use as an
entertainment center, and a couple of gigabit boards that I got just
because I wanted to learn about gigabit. It _is_ a good idea to update
your virus signature files regularly if download a lot of executable files
of unknown provenance or have kids who bring disks from school, and if you
use broadband and don't have a hardware firewall it's important to keep
your OS patches up to date, but those are the only things I can think of
that one would do every three months as a matter of routine.

> Have a look at what this guy did. Connectivity at its finest:
>
> http://www.galexi.com/alex/pilot100.html

Cute.
>
>
> -----
>
> Frater Mus sed:
>
>>> (To anyone who says buying a new laptop is the solution,
>>> I'll tell you how to send me the money.)
>>
>>I hear ya, brother.
>
> Thank you and the others for paying attention and making an
> effort. Few things are as annoying in life as those who talk
> without thinking that the blatantly obvious was tried first.
> (Not just on this topic, but in anything. Ever looked for an
> unusual title in used bookshops and have some moron tell you
> "Go to Borders" after you've already been there?)
>
> The speed of the replies is also appreciated.
>
>
> Bob Dog

--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops.pilot (More info?)

In article <1114265757.552836.160920@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com>,
bg12345@apexmail.com says...
> Hi,
>
> Has anyone tried, or is there a way, to transfer data and files
> from DOS to a PDA? I have a Palm M105.
>
> Yes, I *know* it can be done in Windows, but I can't carry around
> my Windows desktop PC, and my old laptop doesn't run Windows. So
> that leaves connecting through DOS away from home. (To anyone who
> says buying a new laptop is the solution, I'll tell you how to
> send me the money.)
>
> I've heard of communicating through the serial port using Zmodem
> and a program called ZBoxZ, but have no idea how to do it. Are
> there any experienced users who can offer a hand? 'Twould be
> appreciated.
>
>
> Bob Dog
>
>

There is some source code on the PPRK page that communicates with a
serial connection to sensors, servos etc.
<http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~pprk/&gt;

--
Jim Anderson
( 8(|) To email me just pull my_finger

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops.pilot (More info?)

In article <426a6b61$0$25886$8b463f8a@news.nationwide.net>,
FraterMus2005@mousetrap.net says...
>
>
>On Sat, 23 Apr 2005 at 14:15 GMT, <bg12345@apexmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Yes, I *know* it can be done in Windows, but I can't carry around
>> my Windows desktop PC, and my old laptop doesn't run Windows. So
>> that leaves connecting through DOS away from home.
[ker--c-h-o-p]

This isn't DOS (instead a Linux bootdisk combo), and the storage space
afforded is very small reflecting the time at which it was developed and the
memory then common in PDAs but I have used it successfully - no USB of
course, serial only:

http://penguinbackup.sourceforge.net/

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops.pilot (More info?)

feisty wrote:
> In article <426a6b61$0$25886$8b463f8a@news.nationwide.net>,
> FraterMus2005@mousetrap.net says...
> >On Sat, 23 Apr 2005 at 14:15 GMT, <bg12345@apexmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Yes, I *know* it can be done in Windows, but I can't carry around
> >> my Windows desktop PC, and my old laptop doesn't run Windows. So
> >> that leaves connecting through DOS away from home.
> [ker--c-h-o-p]
>
> This isn't DOS (instead a Linux bootdisk combo), and the storage
space
> afforded is very small reflecting the time at which it was developed
and the
> memory then common in PDAs but I have used it successfully - no USB
of
> course, serial only:
>
> http://penguinbackup.sourceforge.net/

That's so beautiful I could cry and is greatly appreciated.
I used sourceforge's search engine, but this never appeared
in the results. Thanks.


Bob Dog