1. Omnibook Type ------------------------------------------------------------------------------  1.0 Maintainer / Owner of the FAQ ------------------------------------------------------ This FAQ is maintained by Peter Eberl peb@eberl.com Corrections, additions and communication regarding the content of the FAQ should be send to omnibook@eberl.com ------------------------------------------------------  1.1 Contributors ------------------------------------------------------ - Peter Eberl peb@eberl.com - xxx - xxx - readers / posters in the OB Mailinglist - readers / posters in the CompuServe Forum ------------------------------------------------------  1.2 General Information ------------------------------------------------------ Acknolegdement: This FAQ was generated by perusing knowledge from other people. So, every statement in this FAQ ... us it at your own risk. I will not provide any guarantee on the stuff in here ... it's your Omnibook, it's your life, so you're the sole responsible person. ------------------------------------------------------  1.3 General Reference ------------------------------------------------------ General Reference to - comp.os.msdos.programmer FAQ - CompuServe Forum - OB Mailinglist ------------------------------------------------------  1.4 Mailinglist ------------------------------------------------------ There exists an Internet - Mailinglist for HP Omnibook [ 300/425/430/530/600 ] systems To post to the list send mail to: omnilist@elektro.cmhnet.org To join/drop membership email ==> omni-req@elektro.cmhnet.org Thanks to Charlie Smith charlie@elektro.cmhnet.org C & J Systems 614-471-1418 Columbus Ohio USA for maintaining the list This list is implemented with a .forward file, so it doesn't have fancy features ------------------------------------------------------  1.5 Web Site Omnibook 600(cT) ------------------------------------------------------ A Webpage for the Omnibook 600C(T) is available at http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~hobbes1/omnie.html ------------------------------------------------------  1.6 Web-Site ------------------------------------------------------ Another webserver seems to be available at http://ducati.elektro.com/ ------------------------------------------------------  1.7 Why this FAQ? --------------------------------------------------------------- An FAQ is normally created when a person/a group loves a specific subject or when they figure out that a lot of people do have problems with a subject. With the Omnibook FAQ it is the same. I love the Omnibook and are constantly trying to improve my usage of it. Also, other people love it and sometimes joungsters in the OB-user family are having a hard time with OBook anomalies. So, lets share the experience! Peter Eberl --------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------- -------------- INDEX ------------------- 2. The pure OmniBook World 2.1 OmniBook 300 2.2 OmniBook 425 2.3 OmniBook 430 2.4 OmniBook 530 2.5 OmniBook 800 2.6 The real Omnibook 3. Standards 3.1 How does the standard Autoxec/Config look like? 3.2 Limitations OB300 3.3 Limitations OB425 3.4 Limitations OB430 3.5 What is a flash card? 3.6 What is OBMax 3.7 What is XIP? 4. Maintenance 4.1 How can I determine the ROM Version of my OB? 4.2 Power Management under Windows 3.x 4.3 Repair center for Omnibooks in Europe 4.4 Repair center for Omnibooks in the PacRim 4.5 Repair center for Omnibooks in the US 5. Maintenance and Tuneup 5.1 Batterie - Drain for complete recharging 5.2 Batterie - How long it lasts 5.3 Batterie - Information 5.4 Batterie - Lithion type 5.5 Batterie - Re-charging 5.6 Batterie - Recharging from the pro 5.7 Batterie - Sources for new ones 5.8 Bypassing XPI 5.9 CPU Upgrade(s) 5.10 Crash-prone OB425 5.11 Default OB530 files 5.12 Drives - Adding a 2nd doublespaced one 5.13 Flash Disks 5.14 Floppy cable ordering 5.15 Floppy Disk - make your own Cable 5.16 Floppy Disk - where to get 5.17 HD - Singlespace on OB300 / OB425 / OB430 5.18 HD 40 MB - Where to get new ones 5.19 HP Parts direct number 5.20 Interchangeable parts between OB600 and OB800 5.21 Is there a special diagnostic program I can run? 5.22 Keyboard 5.23 Keyboard - Programming the function keys 5.24 Keyboard - Programming the function keys on Win95 5.25 Keyboard - sticky keys 5.26 Memory in OB430 5.27 Mice - Replacements 5.28 Mouse maintenance 5.29 Need of genmodem.clb 5.30 Num Keypad scancodes 5.31 OB and Linux 5.32 OB300 - Memory Management 5.33 OB300 and batterie life 5.34 OB300 and harddisks 5.35 OB300 and larger harddisks 5.36 OB300 and Modems 5.37 OB300 harddisk 5.38 OB300 harddisk II 5.39 OB430 ROM - Info on purchasing 5.40 OB530 and Linux 5.41 OB600 and Linux 5.42 OB600 bios upgrade 5.43 OB600 upgrade to Win95 (part1) 5.45 OB600 Winstone Benchmarks 5.46 OBs and Standard HDs 5.47 Parts interchangeable 5.48 PCMCIA card recognition beep 5.49 Power Supply 5.50 Screen 5.51 Screen - Info on a broken one 5.52 Screen - Replacing the screen 5.53 Screen - Return policy on dead pixels 5.54 Serial Ports 5.55 Speeding up the OB for INet access 5.56 Standard for Modem Install 6. Communication 6.1 Communication with the IR Port (530 and below) 6.2 Connect OB to Win 3.1 6.3 Connect OB to Win95 for free 6.4 Connect OB to Win95 II 6.5 Connect OB to Win95 III 6.6 Connect OB to Win95 IV 6.7 Connect OB to Win95 VI 6.8 Connect OB to WinXX V 6.9 Laplink to other computers 6.10 Laplink to Win95 Desktop 6.11 Modems for OB300 6.12 Networking 6.13 Networking OB and WIN95/NT 6.14 OB800 and modems 6.15 WWW Browser for DOS 6.16 WWW with OB300 7. Common Problems 7.1 Adding memory to DOS 7.2 Batterie packs - do it your own 7.3 Booting with Flashcard in C-Bay 7.4 Communication with the InfraRed Port 7.5 Connecting a ZIP-Drive to OB300 7.6 External AC adapter for Omnibook 7.7 Fixing the mouse 7.8 Forgotten Password 7.9 Hard Disk in left hand slot 7.10 Hard Disk not spinning down 7.11 Hard Disk reports: CVF is damaged ... 7.12 HP Phone book 7.13 Keyboard problems and HP tech support 7.14 MGMEXE GPF in OBMGM.DLL 7.15 OB300 and the serial port 7.16 OB430 and network card Socket EA+ 7.17 OB530 not recognizing modem 7.18 OB600 and Flashcards from sundisk 7.19 OBMAX 7.20 PCMCIA 7.21 Popup-messages for PCMCIA cards 7.22 problems with network and power management 7.23 Ram extension consumes energy too ... 7.24 Recovery Disks for OB600/600CT 7.25 Restore OB530 Harddisk 7.26 Security with hardware password 7.27 Speedy function keys in OB430 7.28 Standard for mouse pointer 7.29 Upgrade OB600 to Win95 7.30 Wake up the OB 7.31 What is a flash card? 8. Tuning 8.1 Speed tuning 9. Upgradeing the OB? 9.1 Bios Upgrades for the OB530 9.2 Buying used 9.3 Exchange of components between the machines 9.4 Flash cards 9.5 How does the OB300 boot? 9.6 Installing a PCMCIA HD Drive 9.7 Memory Upgrades - which companies 9.8 Memory Upgrades for OB300 9.9 Parallelport not standardized 9.10 Processor upgrades 9.11 Pros/Cons for XIP 9.12 Upgrade OB600 to Win95 -------------- INDEX END------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2. The pure OmniBook World ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Q: 2.1 OmniBook 300 ------------------------------------------------------ A: - put spec of OB 300 in here Remember that the Win3.1 version in ROM won't run software in 386 Enhanced mode, which may matter to you. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 2.2 OmniBook 425 ------------------------------------------------------ A: - put spec of OB425 in here More RAM is available through Educalc, Phone # 800-677-7001. The OB 425 can only be expanded to a total of 6 MB RAM, due to the way it addresses the ROM card. Remember that the Win3.1 version in ROM won't run software in 386 Enhanced mode, which may matter to you. HP OmniBook 425 with 40MB hard disk F1036A $2,125 HP OmniBook 425 with 10MB flash disk F1034A 2,375 As far as I know the stock configuration was with 2 MB of RAM, but many people ordered them with 4 MB. The 425 was also available with a 105 MB Maxtor disk, but I have no info on that. Make sure that any OB you buy has Rev 1.1 or higher BIOS. Lower revs only recognized the 40 MB Hard disk and the 10MB flash disk, while 1.1 and higher can be upgraded to any PCMCIA Type II or III disk. ???is this only true for the OB425, or is it a general statement??? ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 2.3 OmniBook 430 ------------------------------------------------------ A: - put spec of 430 in here what is the standard configuration - 4MB / 486SL25/ 40MB HDD?. what is the software on rom - Word 2.0, Excel 4.1, Win 3.11 ??. Remember that the Win3.1 version in ROM won't run software in 386 Enhanced mode, which may matter to you. =========== Attachment: Omnibook 430 Fact Sheet =============== THE HP(R) OMNIBOOK 430 SUPERPORTABLE PC Product Fact Sheet Convenience and Portability o Compact size -- 11.1 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches (28.2 x 16.3 x 3.6 cm) o Light weight -- 2.9 pounds with battery pack o Full-size keyboard with standard key size and pitch (85 keys) o Instant-on -- no waiting for system to boot o Familiar Microsoft(R) Windows at the touch of the "on" key o 25 MHz 3.3 volt TI486SLC/e CPU(1) o Embedded numeric keypad; 12 function (Fn) keys o Industry-standard PCMCIA(2) 2.0 expansion-card slots o Input/output -- 9-pin serial; 25-pin parallel and bidirectional infrared port o Small (5.7 ounce) battery pack; up to 4.5 hours of use o Nine-inch display; 640 x 480 dot VGA-compatible FTN(3) reflective liquid-crystal display; 16 gray shades o Data compression -- automatically doubles available disk capacity Power o 4.8 Vdc rechargeable battery pack with nickel-metal-hydride cells included o Four 1.5-V lithium AA batteries can replace battery pack Ready to Work Instantly o Instant-on -- no waiting for system to boot o One-key access to all built-in applications and user-defined applications o Ready-to-use, built-in pop-up mouse Expansion/upgrade Capabilities o 2MB system RAM(4) expandable to 6MB o 40MB hard disk -- approximately 80MB compressed o 105MB hard disk -- approximately 200MB compressed o One PCMCIA, Type II card slot available Communications o Built-in LapLink Remote Access -- includes Lap Link Remote Access software on floppy disk for use with desktop PCs. o 9-pin serial port for connection to RS-232-C devices, including printers and modems o Standard 25-pin parallel port o Infrared link -- transmits at speeds up to 115 Kbaud/s. o Serial cable -- allows easy connection to PC o Optional communication pack -- includes fax/modem and the following software: Microsoft Mail Version 3.2, WinFax LITE and DynaComm Preinstalled o MS-DOS(R) 6.2 o Microsoft Windows 3.1 o HP PIM(5) tools -- ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 2.4 OmniBook 530 ------------------------------------------------------ A: - put spec of 530 in here Does anyone out there have the basic specifications of the OB530 around? The small connector below the IR diodes gives you a VGA connector. 4 meg standard. maxiumum capability was 16MB floppy that connected to the parallel port? 530's IR port is IRDA-compatible or just SIR (I think the latter, which means it can't connect via infrared to Win95 even if you install the updated Laplink on both machines). ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 2.5 OmniBook 800 ------------------------------------------------------ A: - put spec of 800 in here - comes with Win95/Win31 install option at startup time. Recovery CD for Win95 included with unit. Was main reason for purchase (needed enhanced- mode Windows for an application... battery/HD/weight combination on OB800 seemed more convincing than OB600... heard of too many pbs with Win95 on OB600... worried about HP dropping support for OB600 tomorrow or next week (a BIG pb with OB425) !!!!! - very fast ("cheap" model with passive screen, 850MB disk, 16MB RAM, 100MHz Pentium). - premium model costs an extra $1000 for fancy screen, 1GB disk, 133(?) Pentium. Can't say if it's worth it. Brand-new OB800CT with Pentium MX costs the moon! - seems to be less demanding on battery than my old flash-disk OB425 - external battery charger is used in-line between ac/dc converter and OB800... slick and very light... I purchased a second battery which fits into the charger like a letter into an envelope... works great. - has built-in SCSI. SCSI cable which comes with optional docking station can also be ordered separately and used directly with OB (what I have done). - comes standard with ext. 3.5 HDD, incl. cable for connection to rear of OB. Runs off OB power, so only advisable when using AC power. - only 2 x type I or 1 x type II/III PCMCIA slot(s) on LH side. I am having some trouble getting my stacker-activated 40MB flash-disk to work (out of B: drive on OB425), but I suspect that is due to my Win95 ignorance. Recognises the disk fine, but in non-stacker format. - plug'n'play works like a dream... stick in a PCMCIA modem and Win95 pops up a window telling you what kind it is! Same goes for SCSI devices and flash disks! - runs like molasses if red-eye (I/R I/F) is active but no external device is found... all applications come to an effective standstill until I/R is deactivated... suspect that it tries constantly to find something, at a high priority level. - NEGATIVE POINT: currently in for repair. After 5 wks, suddenly would no longer boot... gives message concerning access to bridge controller (????) immediately after F2 prompt for system setup. Never even tried to boot O/S. HP said was likely a motherboard pb and send a transport company to pick it up. Will be out of commission for 10 days!!!! Overall impression is very positive. That's all I can think of for the moment. If any questions, just ask. Vince BTW, I bought an OB800CT used (demonstrator) about a month ago. Configuration is P133, 1.44GB drive, 10.4in TFT, and 16MB RAM. I added 16MB RAM upgrade and SCSI cable for a 4X Panasonic KXP-740 CD ROM drive. I don't have to use the PCMCIA SCSI card that came with the drive. The dealer had just sent the computer back to HP for warranty repair of the motherboard. I ordered the (missing) recovery CD from HP for $15. I am pleased with the features and performance of the OB800, and have no complaints. The SCSI controller chip is a SymBios (formerly NCR) 8100S with Fast-20 (Ultra SCSI) capability! I am looking for more information on the SCSI chip and on the 128 bit video chip. The default screen resolution is 800x600x256 colors. I tried upping the colors to 65K under control panel, expecting to get an error message. Instead, the screen resolution switched to 640x480x65K colors, filling the LCD screen! I expected a 640x480 display mode to only drive 640x480 LCD pixels, leaving a black band around the display. Apparently, the video chip is able to interpolate (remap) the 640x480 display into 800x600 pixels. The desktop text appears a little jagged due to the interpolation roundoff. The 65K color mode is valuable with the Snappy video capture module, or when viewing JPEGs on WWW. Empfaenger : >Mailingliste Omnibook Kopien an : peb@Eberl.com Absender : schittke@lotti.tb.fh-muenchen.de (Prof. Dr. H.J. Schittke) Org.-Empf. : omnilist@elektro.cmhnet.org Betreff : OmniBook 800 and SCSI problems Datum : Mi 27.08.97, 16:40 (erhalten: 28.08.97) Groesse : 2163 Bytes ----------------------------------------------------- To whom it concerns - Situation: HP OmniBook 800 CT/133 under Windows 95 HP SureStore DTA Tape Drive connected via standard SCSI cable Backup Software: Seagate (Arcada) Backup for Win95 1.1 Problem: Any access to the external tape drive via the backup software resulted in the following error message >>> The tape drive reported an unexpected error Ref: 05-0E-23-00-0000 <<< No additional action was possible. Additional problem: It was virtually impossible to get any comment from the Seagate people concerning this very enlightening error message. Solution: After checking every other possible source of SCSI errors I found that the SCSI host adapter in the OmniBook was provided by Symbios Logic (Symbios Logic 8100S PCI SCSI Host Adapter) with the current software version "DULUTH 2.02.01". Further investigation led to their web-page under http://www.symbios.com and there to a newer driver upgrade for this adapter in the file win95403.zip. This file expands to several information files as well as the updated drivers (version "FLINT 4.03.00") symc8xx.inf and symc8xx.mpd Unfortunately it proved not to be as simple to install the new SCSI miniport driver as usual: Win95 stubbornly refused and just used the older version files. What I did is to rename the old symc8xx.*-files (to have a backup if needed) and then to copy the new files to the respective directories by hand, i.e. symc8xx.inf goes into C:\WINDOWS\INF symc8xx.mpd goes into C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\IOSUBSYS After a subsequent reboot - lo - the problem was solved. Caveat: I do not know if the updated drivers lead to other nasty consequences that have not yet surfaced. At least the backup seems to have worked without further problems! On the other hand the many discussion topics concerning docking and CD-problems could have a driver background too, so I call up the hardy to perform the driver upgrade described above. I would appreciate any response or additional information - hjs - schittke@compuserve.com ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 2.6 The real Omnibook ------------------------------------------------------ A: >I have read the omnilist for about 3 years, and I have noticed a lack of >discussion on the large four-digit series Omnibooks (2000, 4000, 5000, >5500, & 5700). >(3) Omnilist readers think the big OBs aren't "real" Omnibooks, since they >are contract manufactured for HP. This would be my reason. The xx00 "omnibooks" (aka Twinhead, named after the company who makes them) aren't; they are just another cookie cutter Wintel laptop. What's uniquely HP about them that you can't find in a Gateway, Dell, Compaq or Winbook? By contrast, the x00 (i.e. hundred series) omnibooks were a breakthrough in light weight, portability, battery sipping longevity and a change in the overall design paradigm of notebook computers. I didn't want (and still don't) a laptop that is just a desktop computer that fits in a briefcase. I wanted something much smaller and was willing to give up some features (like floppy driver, cdrom, sound blaster, and backlighting) to make it as minimal as possible. Of course, this all reminds me of the Saab fanatics. They will tell you that the 9xxx was "the last real Saab made" (where 9xxx corresponds to the one they have). Perhaps it's partly snobbery; but on the other hand, when you have a customer following truly devoted to your engineering paradign and products, they get a bit upset when you kill the golden goose (to mix metaphors). [For the record, I consider the pre-91 model 900 to be the last real Saab made and the last real Omnibook was somewhere in the 500 (or 600) series before they got backlighting.] ------------------------------------------------------ 3. Standards ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Q: 3.1 How does the standard Autoxec/Config look like? ------------------------------------------------------ A: ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 3.2 Limitations OB300 ------------------------------------------------------ A: - Non-Standard Card and Socket Services - HD Size limited to 40 MB (80 MB Stacked) without additional drivers - HD Size limited to 131 MB with special driver kit from ACE Systems - Need for OBMax from ACS Systems to get a boot Manager and up to 130KB more Dos memory - Windows 3.1 just in standard mode - Applications in ROM ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 3.3 Limitations OB425 ------------------------------------------------------ A: - suffers from GPF problems ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 3.4 Limitations OB430 ------------------------------------------------------ A: ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 3.5 What is a flash card? ------------------------------------------------------ A: A flash card is a "solid-state" diskdrive, i.e. a diskdrive without any moving parts. Advantage better shock resistance, less power consumption faster access... The technology is using erasable and writable ROM (read only memory) the erasing technology is called "flash" because it is very fast and it erases clusters of bytes, so software is required for proper operation and to imitate a diskdrive. The ROM allows full power down and the possibility to remove the "drive" PCMCIA from th computer and insert it in another. Drawback of this is the price, however since more and more applications are found for this technology, price will come down. (Approximated prices: Flash ~ $25 per MB. Conventional PCMCIA HD ~ $2 per MB.) ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 3.6 What is OBMax ------------------------------------------------------ A: OBMax is a Memory utility, to resolve Memory constraints on the OB300. The 300 loads some big drivers before it executes config.sys. These drivers are: - Flash File System FFS, ca. 80kb needed to access the d-part of the rom card - Double space (DS), ca. 30 KB for doubling the capacity of the c-drive - OBMGM, ca. 20 KB needed for PCMCIA, instand on/off etc. OBMAX can boot the 300 without loading these drivers. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 3.7 What is XIP? ------------------------------------------------------ A: eXecute in Place (XIP) This is a feature of the OB300 and the OB425/430. They have their applications at a fixed address in ROM. Speedy to work with .... no upgrade possible. The program code is at fixed addresses in ROM and not loaded into RAM first when it is executed. ------------------------------------------------------ 4. Maintenance ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Q: 4.1 How can I determine the ROM Version of my OB? ------------------------------------------------------ A: In order to find out which ROM an OB has, you can - either watch it boot and it will show the rev when it beeps, or - use the diagnostics program to get the numbers. To get to the ROM-Number of a rom-Card: - either watch it boot and it will show the rev when it beeps or - you can shut it off and pull the ROM card in drive D. The card will have the Revision Silkscreened on the Bottom side. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 4.2 Power Management under Windows 3.x ------------------------------------------------------ A: INSTALL=C:\OMNIBOOK\OBMGM.COM as the last line in your CONFIG.SYS. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 4.3 Repair center for Omnibooks in Europe ----------------------------------------------------- Europe. For hardware service and telephone support, contact either: o A participating Authorized HP Personal Computer Reseller Repair Center. o HP Customer Support Center (Amsterdam) English language (+31 20) 581-3330 German language (+31 20) 581-3333 French language (+31 20) 581-3332 Italian language (+31 20) 581-3338 Spanish language (+31 20) 581-3339 Dutch language (+31 20) 581-3331 ------------------------------------------------------ A: Q: 4.4 Repair center for Omnibooks in the PacRim ------------------------------------------------------ A: Asia-Pacific. For hardware service and telephone support, contact either: o A participating Authorized HP Personal Computer Reseller Repair Center. o National HP Customer Support Centers China (86-1) 505 3888 Extension 8800 South Asia (65) 271 7233 Taiwan (886-2) 717 9651 Korea (82-2) 3270 0700 Australia (61-3) 9272 8000 New Zealand (64-9) 356 6640 Japan (81-3) 3335 8338 ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 4.5 Repair center for Omnibooks in the US ------------------------------------------------------ A: U.S. and Canada. For hardware service and telephone support, contact either: o A participating Authorized HP Personal Computer Reseller Repair Center. o HP Customer Support Center (Colorado) (970) 635-1000 M-F 7am - 6pm (MST) (NetServer problems ONLY: 6am-8pm M-F and Sat 9am - 3pm (MST)) ------------------------------------------------------ 5. Maintenance and Tuneup ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.1 Batterie - Drain for complete recharging ------------------------------------------------------ A: A simple and effective way to drain the omnibook battery ... make a batch-file named drain.bat for that purpose, which is in the root-directory of C: and contains ony three lines: cd \ dir /s drain It completely drains the battery, while it does not occupy more space of your harddisk than one sector. You can stop it any time by pressing ^c (ctrl-c) or ^break (ctrl-break). However, I sometimes have the idea that it drains the battery too fast, and that you can discharge the battery deeper if you drain it slower. So maybe after it is drained with this batch-file, you shouldn't charge it immediately afterwards, but instead leave the computer off for half an hour, put it on again, and - if their turns out to be a rest-charge - slowly drain the last bit from the battery charge by a milder method. In several reactions it was argued that deep-cycling does not work for NiMH batteries. My experience is different. With my NiMH battery pack it works. If I don't deep-cycle for three months, the capacity goes back significantly. Further, my Braun shaver also has NiMH batteries, and the use instructions recommend to completely discharge the batteries before you re-charge them, because "this charging method preserves the life of the rechargeble NiMH unit". However, if one assumes that the life-time is a fixed number of charge- discharge cycles, it is not a clever strategy to use a discharge program for draining the battery, because then one wastes cycles and hence life-time, without using these cycles in a productive way. So I use the drain-batch file very selective, that is, I use it only if I realy need maximum battery capacity on the road. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.2 Batterie - How long it lasts ------------------------------------------------------ A: omnibook 300 With harddisk drive regular battery 1 1/2 hours Lithium aa's 1 hour total 2 1/2 hours With flashdisk in c drive regular battery 3 hours Alkaline aa's 1 hour total 4 hours ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.3 Batterie - Information ------------------------------------------------------ A: The OB300 alternate (AA penlite) battery connectors were designed for single-use alkaline cells with the flashcard drive C: configuration only. The 40MB hard drive model will run for a short while on the more powerful lithium AA batteries. The Omnibook charger circuit is not connected to the alternate terminals, so AA rechargeable batteries would not be charged in the OB300. The OB300/425/430/530 rechargeable battery pack F1045A contains four 1.5 Ahr nickel metal hydride cells, a temperature sensor diode, and a thermal cutout switch. Technically, the cells can be replaced, but new cells are very hard to find. I recommend buying a new OB300 rechargeable battery pack. Varta is an alternate manufacturer to HP, and there may be others. Try Battery Technology, Inc. at (213)728-7874 http://www.battery- tech.com P/N HP-300, compatible with Hewlett Packard OmniBook 300 NiMH battery, 4.8V, 1600mAh, 12 months warranty. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.4 Batterie - Lithion type ------------------------------------------------------ A: The Lithion battery is HP certified compatible with the OB600C, even though it was never shipped with that model Omnibook. The Lithion battery is a nearly ideal laptop battery, and is worth the money if you rely on your OB. They will not be usable in the 300, 425, 430 and 530 models !!! I have seen the battery (P/N F1121A) listed for about $140 on web sites. Computer ESP at http://oracle.uvision.com/prdct/495/71html lists 19 retailers with prices from $120 to $154. Best price was Computer Market Place Express 800-950-2671. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.5 Batterie - Re-charging ------------------------------------------------------ A: >I'd like to see if I can > re-condition her battery, which is now showing definite signs of a > 'set.' Solution would seem to give her a good charge (In progress), > and then deep-discharge her once or twice. Nope. http://www.leonardo.net/battery-biz/old/batcare.html Nickel-Metal-Hydride is not Ni-Cad and doesn't have the "memory affect". They wear out. The only solution that I know of is to replace the battery. The OB300 uses NiMH, for which continuous charging is recommended. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.6 Batterie - Recharging from the pro ------------------------------------------------------ A: i just received the battery i orderd for my OB530. i ordered from A2Z Mobile (800 347-6222), and it arrived in just a couple of days. The battery is made by (and was shipped from) FEDCO Electronics. The instructions that came with the battery say: "Charge before using: For safety reasons rechargeable batteries are shipped in a discharged state. New batteries need to be fully charged and discharged up to five (5) times before performing at full capacity. A new battery may cause the battery status indicator on your computer to indicate a dead or low battery condition. If this happens please let the batter charge in the machine overnight. If after charging overnight your battery status indicator still shows a failure condition, or your battery fails to operate your computer, please contact your dealer. Rechargeable batteries self discharge when stored for a period of time. This is particularly the case of Nickel-Metal Hydride batteries and is a perfectly normal condition. If you experience a battery self discharge condition, please see the "Charge Before Using" instructions. It is perfectly normal for the battery pack to get warm during use or recharging. However, if the battery pack gets extremely warm (i.e. over 50C - 122F), there may be a problem with the charging circuit and it is recommended that your computer be checked by a qualified computer technician. Run time depends on the power demanded by the components in your computer such as the hard drive, screen intensity and backlighting, etc. Often times the advertised run time is under laboratory conditions. After 300 to 500 recharges, shortened run time may indicate that the battery may need to be replaced." By the way, the OB530 documentation doesn't mention the batter status reset function key that someone else mentioned -- it does however say that if there's a problem with the status indicator to remove the battery for at least 20 seconds before replacing. one more thing from the battery's instruction sheet. for information on recycling batteries in the US and Canada, call 1-800-8-BATTERY. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.7 Batterie - Sources for new ones ------------------------------------------------------ A: In addition to 800-Batteries, which advertises OB 425 batteries (they are identical for the OB300, OB425, OB430 and OB530) for $65, A2Z Mobile, 800 347-6222 advertises them for $59.50. Don't know if the batteries are any good, the companies are reliable, etc. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.8 Bypassing XPI ------------------------------------------------------ A: I've heard of people installing windows on the internal drive and booting from that. This bypasses reliance on the D: drive which is where the XIP binaries live. It is the XIP binaries which require standard mode. Of course, you'll need enough RAM and disk space to accomodate stock windows but is is possible. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.9 CPU Upgrade(s) ------------------------------------------------------ A: BTW: I saw a company selling CPU upgrades for the OB300/425/430 to a DX2/50 for $200 canadian. They desolder the old CPU and solder the new one in, 24 hour turnaround. It's a TI 486SLC2/50 with a numeric coprocessor (yay!). It consumes less power at 25mHz than the Cyrix does, and runs more than twice as fast at 50mHz. You could run DOOM at a decent speed (heh heh). If anyone cares, email me and I'll send them the info. OK, here's the deal: You can upgrade your OB300, OB425, or OB430 to a 486SLC2/50 for $179 Canadian. It's a little faster than an Intel 486/33, I believe. You can upgrade your OB600C, or OB600CT to a 5x86 100mHz for $499 Canadian (ouch!). That's rougly P75 speed for non-floating point stuff. You can't easily do this by yourself. The 486SLC2/50 is no longer made, and the old CPU has to be desoldered and the new one soldered in, with 1mm pin spacing. Additionally, these guys even offer a warranty, and a very short turnaround. I've never done business with them before, so if anyone has, let me know. The company's name is "Platinum Upgrades". Their web site is at www.notebookupgrades.com. They are Canada based. -- You can also get upgrades for the OB600 from Evergreen Technologies. It's a "pack it in a box and send it in for a few days" kind of upgrade, so you don't do anything yourself. Speed-wise, it's an AMD 5x86, whish promises pretty good response. You can contact Evergreen at www.evertech.com or sales@evertech.com. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.10 Crash-prone OB425 ------------------------------------------------------ A: HP has information on how to make the OB 425 less crash-prone. Probably has similar info on the 300. I found info on the 425 by searching for Omnibook 425 and HP. Have you run chkdsk on drive C? Maybe you need to reinstall the system software; on the 425, there's a ROM that can be used to reinitialize the whole thing... ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.11 Default OB530 files ------------------------------------------------------ A: OB5DSK.ZIP Binary, Bytes: 582258, Count: 203, 20-Mar-95 Title : Default HP Files for the OB530 - USA Version Keywords: OB530 OB5DSK OB530DSK OMNIBOOK DRIVERS HP CVD This archive contains the default 530 set of files that HP is allowed to distribute to OB530 owners. The files are stored in an internal ZIP file that will unzip with full paths to their locations. Please read the internal README.1ST file for directions. NOTE: If you are not an OB530 owner, this file will be of no use to you. They are not applicable to other PCs or Omnibooks. Questions regarding these files should be posted in this section. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.12 Drives - Adding a 2nd doublespaced one ------------------------------------------------------ A: The version of DBLSPACE on the ob300 thinks that it cannot compress `removable' media like the b: pc card, hence a problem. Someone told the following trick: -remove the c: drive pc card and replace it with the new card you have (after taking out the battery). -power up again, and the system will recognize the c: drive as not kosher and it will offer to re-install/compress the default system. That gives you a 'fresh' c: drive (compressed). If your new disk is larger than the default 10M, leave this in permananetly -then swap the cards again, and now from DOS, dblspace (I think when started up as d:\dblspace or so) allows to mount the b: pc card with no problem -You can of course remove all the basic files that were copied. THE CATCH: this works well only when connected to the power adaptor. When my system runs on the battery and goes into sleep-mode (or I hit the on-off) button, it will 'forget' about the compressed b: drive and when I switch it on again it will only show the b: drive with the dblspace file, but not let me get at the contents. Since this version of dblspace also does not allow 'mounting' from Windows, this requires to exit Windows and mount the b: drive again. That got old very quickly, needless to say... I would be interested to hear if anyone has found a way to avoid this- I could not find any setting for the power-saving features to accommodate this configuration. Another way is: -reformat the new PC card (to get rid of the dblspace volume), -install version 3 of STACKER on desktop machine (4 works also) -but note that the STACKER installation will NOT work over the directly over link (mounting the desk top's floppy, that is) and then the SETUP will not work from a hard drive either); -make a link and copy most of the Stacker directory onto the OB300 -then create a "removable media" stacker volume on the new pc card, using the STAC interface (see above, SETUP will refuse to work) -after creating the volume, there is a stacker.exe on the pc card, which when run will mount the volume (on any system, just like in the case of a stackered floppy -then deleted the stacker directory on the c: drive (knowing that you need it again in case the stacker file needed maintenance work...) -run b:\stacker.exe from dos - this will avoid the 'memory loss' you have with dblspace, and under Windowes, the stacker drive is now always visible THE CATCH here: mounting the removable stacker medium takes a good chunk of memory. This can, however be freed (exit Windows, then typing exit) ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.13 Flash Disks ------------------------------------------------------ A: Be sure to get SanDisk (was SunDisk). IBM makes (or OEMs) a line of flash that obs can't boot from. The largest Type-II made by SanDisk is 85MB and should work. ATA Flashdisks require no driver whatsoever on the OmniBook and are less CPU intensive than the evil (heh) Intel/Microsoft FFS. A good source is Pretec, http://www.pretec.com. All flashdisks made by SunDisk are ATA compatible and the CompactFlash standard is based on a smaller ATA flashdisk compatible with the OmniBooks via a usually included adapter (though CompactFlash is slightly more expensive). ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.14 Floppy cable ordering ------------------------------------------------------ A: For what it's worth, the part number for the Omnibook 530 cable is F1059-60901 .. price $25. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.15 Floppy Disk - make your own Cable ------------------------------------------------------ A: The OB530 floppy drive is technically not a parallel port device, but rather a standard TTL serial floppy drive with a cable that connects to the only the OB530 parallel port. The OB530's parallel port has special features to power and provide serial I/O to the floppy drive. The OB530 BIOS firmware interprets the floppy drive as a bootable drive A. True parallel port floppy drives, like the PacRim drive sold for use on OB300, OB425, and OB430, will work on any computer's parallel port. The PacRim drive requires external power supply, and uses a device driver loaded by CONFIG.SYS to appear to DOS as a standard floppy drive. These drives cannot function as a boot drive, and are assigned the next available drive letter after the internal hard drive and PCMCIA slots. Pins 1 and 15 are swapped between the two cables. In addition, the HP cable has about 15 or more lines that don't go thru, but go thru on the Dell cable. The HP cable shorts pins 23 and 24. OK ...make up your own cable: Make up a male to female ribbon cable, with the wires for pins 1 and 15 swapped (pin 1 is the end wire, and pin 15 is the fourth wire in). Then, cut the wires for pin 23 and 24 someplace at least an inch or so from the male end (pin 24 is the fourth wire, and pin 23 is the sixth wire, in from the non-pin 1 side of the cable). Pull the wires back towards the male end enough to strip them, then strip and join the two wires, insulating and soldering them as desired, to fasten the male pin 23 and male pin 24 together. They cannot feed thru to the female end of the ribbon cable. 3 inches should be a good length. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.16 Floppy Disk - where to get ------------------------------------------------------ A: B.G. Micro in Texas has Dell external floppy drives for $12.60. Because of their similarity to the floppy that came with my 600CT, I ordered one. Lo and behold, they were the exact same Teac mechanism and case (except for finish) as the HP floppy, except that they come with a parallel port cable. I hooked the Dell drive to my OB with the HP cable, and it worked perfectly. B.G. Micro's number: 1-800-276-2206 ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.17 HD - Singlespace on OB300 / OB425 / OB430 ------------------------------------------------------ A: How to use single space in omnibook 300/425. 1. start the computer, and if your disk is not formatted, you will be asked a question, say "No." 2. Copy the autoexec.bat and config.sys files from d: 3. Restart the computer. <- This time, your computer will copy all the necessary files from d: drive. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.18 HD 40 MB - Where to get new ones ------------------------------------------------------ A: The last time I checked (10-Aug-98) there was something there at PCMCIA 40 Mb HD. http://www.eio.com --- I couldn't verify the following address ... no deal there for the Hard Disks .. Corporate Systems Center sells the ORIGINAL WD 40 meg PCMCIA hard drives for $49 plus $8.00 S/H. They can be reached at (408) 734-3475 or units can be purchased on line at www.corpsys.com. Part number should be CDU-140. Make sure you get the Western Digital 40 meg and not the IBM. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.19 HP Parts direct number ------------------------------------------------------ A: I don't know if this will help but it may now or in the future. HP has (hope it still has) a direct part number information and ordering 800 number. HP Parts Direct ---> 800/227-8164 ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.20 Interchangeable parts between OB600 and OB800 ------------------------------------------------------ A: battery and associated power items are identical between the 600 and 800 family. This means that 600 owners can get the "power clip" and use it to charge up a 2nd battery without swap batteries in/out of the 600. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.21 Is there a special diagnostic program I can run? ------------------------------------------------------ A: Yes there is. If your Omnibook does not turn on (or even, if it turns on and you want to check), then you could use the build-in diagnostics to trace the fault. Turn off your machine and hold the power and the escape key down simultaneously. If it is normally functioning that makes the Omnibook beep and after 15 seconds or so you see a diagnostic program on screen, which might locate the fault. If the screen does not come up ... man, could be the screen is broken! ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.22 Keyboard ------------------------------------------------------ A: The OB600C/CT and OB800CT have "drop-in" keyboards that are removed without opening the case. I believe that all the B&W Omnibooks (haven't yet disassembled an OB530) use a keyboard that installs from inside the case. The OB color and B&W keyboards are compatible in size, key placement, key matrix, and ribbon cables. They differ only in the sheet aluminum mounting plate that backs up the plastic keyboard panel. Someone success- fully installed an OB300 keyboard on an OB600CT by painstakingly cutting down the aluminum backing plate to fit. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.23 Keyboard - Programming the function keys ------------------------------------------------------ A: how do you program the function keys along the top of the machine? the settings are in the WIN.INI file. Just edit this file and you will see the function key assignments. ... or use the windows group / program associated for this purpose ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.24 Keyboard - Programming the function keys on Win95 ------------------------------------------------------ A: excerpt of the readme file that shows how to define the function keys. It's found in: Start Programs Omnibook HP User Tools Windows 95 on the Omnibook The Fn key seems to behave like Ctrl-Alt. ----------- Setting up FN-keys After you install Windows 95, the FN-keys (FN+F1 through FN+F12) are undefined. To set up one of the FN-keys for starting an application, first create a Windows 95 shortcut for the application see your Windows 95 manual or online Help. Then, in the shortcut property sheet, on the Shortcut tab set up a shortcut key for FN plus one of the F1-F12 function keys. (FN is equivalent to CTRL+ALT, as you ll see in the shortcut key definition.) The FN-key becomes active when you save the shortcut properties. - Windows 95, you would associate a program with the function keys by creating a shortcut to the program, then "right click / properties" select shortcut tab and set the "Shortcut Key" text box to correspon d to the key you want. I seem to recall that the special functions were accessible by programming in CTRL+ALT+FN#. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.25 Keyboard - sticky keys ------------------------------------------------------ A: try popping off each key that you find give resistance being depressed and put a spot of silicon grease on the surfaces that are intended to slip past each other. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.26 Memory in OB430 ------------------------------------------------------ A: OBMax is designed for the 300 and 425. On 430 there is space available in the upper Upper Memory areas. You should be able to use B000-B7FF, C000-CFFF, and possibly DB00-DFFF depending on PCMCIA usage. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.27 Mice - Replacements ------------------------------------------------------ A: As far as I can tell, HP Omnibook mice are exactly the same on all machines. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.28 Mouse maintenance ------------------------------------------------------ A: There are thin foil traces in the OB mouse black plastic "popsicle stick" that connect to the two buttons. Overflexing the stick (like 90 degrees) can break those traces, and the mouse buttons will stop working. A replacement mouse is about $45 from Educalc. The mouse is removed by pulling it out to the stop, and then giving a sharp tug to override the detent. To replace, just insert into the opening and shove it past the detent. Concerning the 90 degrees: You can argue on that number .. IMHO you should be *very careful* with these mice when pushing them back into the machine. Never use the Omnibook on your lap or in any other situation where there is no support below the mouse to keep it in the plane of the machine. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.29 Need of genmodem.clb ------------------------------------------------------ A: You do not need GENMODEM.CLB as its entries are contained in CARDID.CLB. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.30 Num Keypad scancodes ------------------------------------------------------ A: 0D2E as the scancode of the + key (Shft =) and 4E2B as the scancode for the NumLock + which is the ; key with Numlock activated. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.31 OB and Linux ------------------------------------------------------ A: Statement: Linux won't run on the OmniBook 600CT due to HP's PCMCIA controller. OK ... have not verified this address and the procedue, but detailed description of how it is done at : http://www.cs.uiowa.edu/~mflecj/vision-html/omnibook.html If someone tries, please let me know ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.32 OB300 - Memory Management ------------------------------------------------------ A: All the HP device drivers are in one monolithic chunk and cannot be moved around easily. How to get OB300 with QEMM and optimized memory ... see attached sample config.sys/autoexec.bat files. That takes care of the first problem: you need a 386 memory manager running on the computer to get windows to work in enhanced mode. ***************** ***************** below are sample config files for QEMM ***************** separate config.sys/autoexec.bat files for each configuration and reboot whenever switched. CONFIG.SYS for No EMS (i.e. LIM4.0), but lots of XMS (stuff above 1 meg): ===================================== device=c:\qemm\qemm386.sys ram ems:n x=d000-d3ff x=d800-dfff i=b000- b7ff i=c000-cfff xbda:n /r:3 DOS=HIGH,UMB install=d:\omnibook\obcic.exe /GEN 1 files=50 buffers=20 stacks=12,256 lastdrive=m shell=d:\command.com /p /e:512 d:\ =================================== AUTOEXEC.BAT for No EMS =================================== @echo off set temp=c:\temp set tmp=c:\temp set mouse=c:\mouse set comspec=d:\command.com prompt $p$g path=d:\;c:\bin;c:\dos;c:\windows;c:\;d:\tsi; rem d:\obsetup c:\qemm\loadhi /r:1 d:\share c:\qemm\loadhi /r:2 d:\obmouse.com d:\windows\smartdrv.exe a- b- 1024 256 c: cd\ =================================== XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX CONFIG.SYS for EMS (what wordperfect 5.1 uses) ==================================== device=c:\qemm\qemm386.sys ram x=d000-d3ff x=d800-dfff i=b000-b7ff i=c000-cfff frame=c000 xbda:n /r:3 install=d:\omnibook\obcic.exe /GEN 1 DOS=HIGh,umb files=50 buffers=20 stacks=12,256 lastdrive=m shell=d:\command.com /p /e:512 d:\ ======================================= AUTOEXEC.BAT for EMS ======================================= @echo off set temp=c:\temp set tmp=c:\temp set mouse=c:\mouse set comspec=d:\command.com prompt $p$g path=d:\;c:\bin;c:\dos;c:\windows;c:\;d:\tsi;c:\wp51 rem d:\obsetup c:\qemm\loadhi /r:1 d:\share d:\windows\smartdrv.exe a- b- 1024 256 rem c:\qemm\loadhi C:\WP51\FAXDIR.EXE rem c:\qemm\loadhi C:\WP51\FAXB.COM rem d:\obmouse c: cd\ ======================================================== Neither of the above will permit the Omnibook Windows software to run; you'll have to use the original CONFIG.sys for that. This is because Standard Mode Windows and EMM managers are mutually exclusive. On the other hand, Extended Mode (aka 386 mode) Windows *require* an EMM manager to run. You can upgrade to Full extended mode Win 3.1 if you laplink it over from your original install disks, but you'll be using your hard drive space. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.33 OB300 and batterie life ------------------------------------------------------ A: From: scottv @ crl.com (Scott Van Note) @ internet I'm down to 6 hours for my *second* battery, OB300/flash. (used to be a solid 9). First one lasted 2 years before getting down to 4-hours. Use it nearly every weekday while school is in session, charging it every day. Sits and gathers dust all summer. They wear out. I'm not sure if NiMH wears out faster on the power hog versions. ok ... there is a difference between OB300 / 2 MB Ram 10 MB Flash OB300 / 2 MB Ram 40 MB HD ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.34 OB300 and harddisks ------------------------------------------------------ A: information that I found from Maxtor Site. They say: "the OMNIBOOK SYSTEM CARD that came with the OMNIBOOK 300 is revision 1.1 ABA or higher. If you have an older revision of the SYSTEM CARD ie. 1.0 ABA the drive will not be recognized and a error of 'Drive C does not contain a recognizable mass storage device.' will be posted on the screen". So, if you just have System Card Ver. 1.0 ABA and Ver. 10 ABB or similiar, you have to please yourself with the 40 MB Caviar HD from WDC. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.35 OB300 and larger harddisks ------------------------------------------------------ A: the Ace kit consisted of a normal TypeIII hard drive and special "boot" rom card that replaced the operating system card during cold & warm boots. Once the machine was up and the drive configured, it prompted you to change the card out for the OS card. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.36 OB300 and Modems ------------------------------------------------------ A: > I have a MaxTech PCMCIA modem (Model PCM144c) which I'd like to use with > my OB300 under DOS rather than Windows, but I can't get the OB300 to > recognize it. (Am also using ACE OBMAX to recover DOS memory.) > > Would anyone have any ideas on how to proceed? MaxTech says only that > socket services on the Omnibook should be all I need. But did the OB300 > predate normal socket services software, or did HP use something > proprietary here?? should be a line in your config.sys; install=d:\omnibook\obcic.exe /GEN 1 Which installs "the OmniBook PCMCIA modem card recognizer TSR, with generic modem recognition turned on." The socket services on the 300 are version 1.0 and are installed at bootup. That's how Windows can see the modem. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.37 OB300 harddisk ------------------------------------------------------ A: The ob300 drive is not standard PCMCIA. Ace Technologies sells a 131MB drive and a replacement driver kit. They're @ http://www.ace-tech.com. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.38 OB300 harddisk II ------------------------------------------------------ A: http://www.ace-tech.com/OMNIBOOK/Index.htm#OBHD300 PCMCIA Hard disk drives for OmniBook 300 - 170MB and 340MB Break the 40MB hard drive limit on your Omnibook 300! Upgrade your Ominbook 300 storage with the new Integral PCMCIA hard disk drive. Special OmniBook 300 ROM card is provided for this upgrade. Available exclusively from ACE Technologies. Features * 170MB or 340MB uncompressed capacities * Included ROM Card only required for reset * Eliminate DoubleSpace for additional performance * Perfect companion to OBmax for increased memory ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.39 OB430 ROM - Info on purchasing ------------------------------------------------------ A: info on purchasing the OB430 ROM (this info is as of today 6 August 1997): HP Part # F1037-60903, in stock, $109.70 list price, call 800 227 8164. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.40 OB530 and Linux ------------------------------------------------------ A: ok ... from someone ... yes. if you look for and find the "mini-linux" distribution, you'll find it runs just fine. sort of. this distribution is designed so that all of the linux filesystems are "umsdos" filesystems -- i.e. they live on top of an underlying raw DOS filesystem. you might be able to put together a similar system to work on top of a compressed DOS drive -- i don't know, since i had a second disk to try it out on, which i was able to run uncompressed. things i both did and did not find out: - the PCMCIA controller that HP uses in these machines is _not_ supported by the linux pcmcia code -- it does _not_ use one of the popular chipsets, and is undocumented. this means that most peripherals and expansion memory-like things will not work. the C: drive does work, i never tried D:. in particular, this means that pcmcia networking will _not_ work. - i never tried the mouse. i think i remember reading that someone else was unsuccessful getting a working mouse driver. - power management worked partially -- i could suspend and resume the machine, but it didn't power itself down, including the disk not spinning down. i'd imagine battery life would be low. i have given up on the idea, since the combination of no pcmcia networking (i suppose a linux-supported parallel port adapter might work, but i don't have one) and limited power management make the concept useless to me. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.41 OB600 and Linux ------------------------------------------------------ A: Here is the Website for Omnibook and linux. Have fun. http://www.cs.uiowa.edu/~mfleck/vision-html/omnibook.html regards Maximilian gabling@kom.id.ethz.ch --- Thanks for the info, unfortunately it seems that the OB600 to which the webpage refers is different (more standard) than the older Omnibooks regarding the keyboard because the authors of that page did not have any problems with the keyboard and Linux. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.42 OB600 bios upgrade ------------------------------------------------------ A: After upgrading the bios and Win95, you still need to install some HP drivers, which includes a power driver to properly enable APM. Get it at the HP web site http://www.hp.com:80/cposupport/indexes/omni600.html#products w95upen.exe or w95upge.exe or whatever lagnuage.. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.43 OB600 upgrade to Win95 (part1) ------------------------------------------------------ A: The following procedure was followed in order to upgrade my OB600C (DX/4 75mhz/8mb) to windows 95. 1. Go to the following page and download the Omnibook 600 BIOS upgrade. http://www.hp.com/cposupport/indexes/omni600.html (You need a BIOS version 4,01 in order to fully support all the functions of the OB.) 2. Download the following file: w95upen.exe. HP OB600 BIOS v4.01 and Driver Update for Win95 W95UPEN.EXE contains the English version BIOS 4.01, and updated drivers to allow installation and use of Windows 95 on the Hewlett-Packard Omnibook 600C and 600CT. Place the file W95UPEN.EXE in an empty directory on a PC with a 3.5 inch floppy drive. Run the file from a DOS prompt. It will expand into five files. The files are README.TXT, 2FLOPPY.EXE, DISK1.IMG, DISK2.IMG, and BIOS.IMG. Print README.TXT and follow the instructi- ons to create the Windows 95 upgrades disks. 3. Make a complete backup of your current Omnibook. 4. Unpack the downloaded file by placing it an a temp directory and executing W95UPEN.EXE. 5.Follow the instructions in the "readme.txt" file and create 3 disks. 6. On disk 1 a new "readme.txt" file is created. THE FOLLOWING IS A TRANSCRIPT OF THAT FILE: To upgrade your OmniBook 600 to Windows 95, you need the following items: - A set of OmniBook upgrade disks (Windows 95 HP BIOS version 4.0 and Windows 95 HP Drivers Disk 1 and 2). - Standard Microsoft Windows 95 setup disks or setup CD-ROM. An A/C adapter for your OmniBook. The 3.5 inch floppy drive for your OmniBook. You must following the steps below to properly upgrade your OmniBook 600 to Windows 95. These steps are described in detail following the Overview. If these steps are not followed in exact sequence, your software configuration may become unstable and you will have to start the process FROM THE BEGINNING. OVERVIEW 1. Remove the password if it is set on the OmniBook and default the password settings. 2. Upgrade the OmniBook low-level software (BIOS) using the Windows 95 HP BIOS version 4.0 disk. 3. Upgrade to Windows 95 using the standard Microsoft Windows 95 setup disks or CD-ROM. 4. Install the OmniBook 600 software for Windows 95 using the Windows 95 HP Drivers disks. ------------------------------------------------------- Upgrading the OmniBook 600 to Windows 95 ------------------------------------------------------- ******************** NOTE ******************** If you have already upgraded to Windows 95 (BEFORE upgrading the BIOS to version 4.0), you should NOT install Windows 95 into the current Windows directory. Doing so will result in an unstable software configuration. ************************************************ CLEAR THE PASSWORD 1. To change the password you will be prompted to enter the old password. Enter the old password and click on OK. 2. The password flags should be set to "At turn-on after FN>OFF" and clear the "Prompt for password before undocking" box if it is checked. 3. When prompted to enter the new password do not enter any text and do not press enter. Click on OK. This will empty or "delete" the password. UPGRADE THE BIOS 1. Plug in the A/C adapter. Leave it plugged in for the entire process. 2. BACKUP the files on drive C as a precaution. 3. Exit Windows. 4. Insert the Windows 95 HP BIOS version 4.0 disk in the floppy drive. 5. At the MS-DOS prompt type "a:\install". 6. After the BIOS upgrade finishes, remove the disk from the floppy drive. 7. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL to reboot. Ignore any error messages during the first reboot. The OmniBook will reboot automatically one or more times. If it does not reboot the final time you may need to press the reset button. UPGRADE TO STANDARD WINDOWS 95 1. Insert the Microsoft Windows 95 setup disk #1 in the floppy drive (or insert the Microsoft Windows CD-ROM in a CD-ROM drive). 2. Exit Windows and from the DOS prompt type "a:\setup". (For a CD-ROM, use its drive letter and \win95\setup instead.) 3. When you are asked which directory to install into, choose C:\Windows. 4. It is strongly recommended that you let Windows 95 create backup copies of your system files. 5. Under "Setup Options" you should choose Portable. 6. Even if you are connected to an Enhanced Port Replicator with a LAN card and/or using a 600CT do not select "Network Adapter" or "Sound, MIDI, or Video Capture Card". 7. It is strongly recommended that you let Windows 95 create a startup disk for you. 8. It may take several minutes for Windows 95 to load for the first time after the installation is complete. 9. Once Windows 95 has been configured and is successfully running on the OmniBook you are ready to load the HP Windows 95 drivers. ******************** IMPORTANT ******************** You MUST SHUTDOWN Windows 95 and reset the OmniBook before continuing. Failure to do so may result in you having to reinstall Windows 95. ***************************************************** INSTALL THE HP WINDOWS 95 OMNIBOOK SOFTWARE 1. After Windows 95 restarts, insert The HP Windows 95 HP Drivers Disk #1 in the floppy drive. 2. Click Start, Run, and type "a:\setup". 3. At the end of the Setup program, allow Setup to restart the computer. Remove the HP Drivers disk from the floppy drive before the OmniBook restarts. After Windows 95 restarts reinsert Disk 2 into the floppy drive. ******************** NOTE ******************** The following step occurs during startup and will differ depending on whether the OmniBook is docked, or not. ************************************************ 4. When Windows 95 restarts, it goes through a process of evaluating the new configuration. You may be prompted many times about unknown devices or about restarting the computer: - If you're prompted about an unknown device, choose "Do not install a driver." It will automatically be set up later. - If you're prompted about restarting the computer after detecting unknown devices, choose No. You will restart it later. 5. When Windows 95 finishes starting, click Start, Settings, Control Panel. 6. Double-click PC Card to start the PC Card wizard. Step through the screens, letting the computer restart at the end. If you're prompted to shut off the computer, press the RESET button on OmniBook (or dock). If Windows 95 asks for files on Disk 2 and acts like the drive can't be found, reselect the A: drive and it will then continue. CONFIGURATION If you have loaded Windows 95 on an OmniBook 600CT you must adjust the ESS Sound drivers hardware configuration settings. 1. Open Control Panel and double-click on System. 2. Click on Device Manager. 3. Expand the "Sound, video and game controllers" section. 4. Double-click on the ESS driver that has the conflict symbol. 5. Click on "Resources" and deselect the "Use automatic settings" check box. Then click on OK until you are out of Device Manager. 6. Restart Windows 95. If you are using the Enhanced Port Replicator with a LAN card you must adjust the following settings. Before beginning the following procedure you must UNDOCK to allow Windows 95 to build the Undocked hardware configuration. WHILE DOCKED 1. Open Control Panel and double-click on Network. Select Add, then Adapter, then select the Network card that you are using. Note that you must have Windows 95 compatible drivers for your LAN card. 2. After selecting the LAN card, select and configure the protocols that you will be using. 3. When you are done setting up the Network hardware and software you will be prompted to restart the OmniBook. Click on No. 4. From Control Panel double-click on System and then select Device Manager. 5. Double-click on the LAN card and then select Resources. 6. Set the Input/Output Range to start at 300 and set the Interrupt at 5. 7. While still in Device Manager you should see a conflict on a Motherboard Resource. Click on the Motherboard Resource and then select Remove. 8. Remove the resource only from the specific configuration of "Dock1". DO NOT REMOVE THE RESOURCE FROM THE UNDOCKED CONFIGURATION. 9. After removing the Motherboard resource Click on the LAN card again and select Remove. 10. Remove the resource only from the specific configuration of "Undocked1". DO NOT REMOVE THE RESOURCE FROM THE DOCKED CONFIGURATION. 11. After exiting Device Manager let Windows 95 restart the OmniBook. This completes the software installation of Windows 95 on the OmniBook 600 computer. Open "Windows 95 on the OmniBook" to learn about special software and special features available in Windows 95 on your OmniBook. Click Start and HP User Tools, then click "Windows 95 on the OmniBook." END OF TRANSCRIPT. After I have done this whole procedure I had the following errors: 1. It drained batteries when turned off. This only happened the first time. Now everything is working fine. 2. I could not access my old PCMCIA HDD in the other slot. I tried another and newer card, (from a OB600CT) which worked just fine. The other card was a 40mb HDD from my OB425 and is now sold, so I can not test it anymore on my OB600. 3. Direct cable connection did not work using win95 direct cable connection. Well............... After a lot of work I gave up and got hold of a Laplink 95 which worked just fine via a parallel cable. Although it only worked with remote control and file transferring, and not networ- king. This enabled me to transfer files to the OB before installing the programs. After a couple of days I tried again with Direct cable connection with no success. Finally......... after trying a lot of different setups I SUCCEEDED:)...........by installing The client for Microsoft Net- works, NetBEUI, & Dial-up adapter. I know very little about networking, so don't ask me why it works, but if you need it I can pass on my settings in a later letter. 4. How do I access the BIOS? Can not be done according to HP. 5. Is there a FAQ? Well............... now there is one!!!!!!!! 6. With the disks all the functions of win311 worked in win95, except the Omnibook password. This was a major problem for me since I travel al lot and carry it around in all sort of different places. The problem was that I could not enter a new password in the HP Omnibook Properties section in Control Panel. I called HP support and they advised me to reinstall the BIOS & Win95. ( I had wasted 6 hours of work doing just that once already) I did it again.............and wasted another 4 hours more. I called HP support again and we then tried to scramble the password which was not suppose to be there in the first place. (I had scrambled it once already before installing the new BIOS already.) That helped................... THANKS TO HP-SUPPORT CENTER IN EUROPE. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.45 OB600 Winstone Benchmarks ------------------------------------------------------ A: 600c with 8M of ram got a 12.5 winstone 96 score. after a 12M upgrade to a total of 20M a 20.7 winstone 96 after using drivespace3 on the 260M drive a 19.8 winstone 96. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.46 OBs and Standard HDs ------------------------------------------------------ A: From: Brian.Hudson @ gtri.gatech.edu (Brian Hudson) $Revisions: 31.07.96 16:13:59 In response to a question, the following table presents my current knowledge of factory-provided Omnibook hard drives. I would welcome any corrections or additions. OMNIBOOK STANDARD HARD DRIVES BHH 7/31/96 ======================================================= OB Model Standard Optional ======================================================= 300 Western Digital 40MB none 425 Western Digital 40MB none 430 Maxtor 85MB Maxtor 105MB 530 Maxtor 131MB none 600C Maxtor 171MB Viper 260MB 600CT Viper 260MB Viper 340MB 4000C/CT Toshiba 340MB Toshiba 540MB, 810MB 5000C/CT Toshiba 810MB Toshiba 1.3GB 5000CTS Toshiba 1.3GB none 5500CT/CTS Toshiba 1.3GB none ======================================================= --- Brian Hudson, GTRI/SEAL/RSD Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta,GA 30332 (770)528-7740 Voice, (770)528-7883 Fax Internet: brian.hudson@gtri.gatech.edu ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.47 Parts interchangeable ------------------------------------------------------ A: The B&W OB LCD displays are interchangable among the 300, 425, 430, and 530. But the B&W and color LCD displays are not interchangable for a variety of reasons (connector, pinout, backlight, voltages, and scan frequencies). Its not yet clear to me whether the color LCD displays will even interchange between the OB600C and OB600CT, but I am soon going to try it (600C LCD on a 600CT CPU). The OB800CT display (10.4in SVGA TFT) is definitely not interchangable with earlier models. There are some other components that are interchangable among the OBs. The keyboards for all 3-digit OBs are compatible, although the aluminum keyboard backing plates changed from model to model. All B&W OBs use the same NimH battery and a-c adapter (F1044A), and all color OBs (except 4000) use the same a-c adapter (F1044B). The 600 & 800 use the same Lithium battery, but the NimH battery is only for 600s. The internal and external parts of the mouse are compatible among all 3-digit OBs. The external floppy drive is compatible among the 530, 600, & 800, although the 530 uses a different cable (connects to parallel/floppy port). ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.48 PCMCIA card recognition beep ------------------------------------------------------ A: You can disable the sounds in the PCMCIA Control Panel applet. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.49 Power Supply ------------------------------------------------------ A: Be very, very, very careful! The ground used for the serial port is NOT the same ground used for the power supply. If you use a power supply that, say, uses your car's ground for the power supply ... and then ... you plug in a serial port device who's ground is also linked to the car's ground, you will destroy the motherboard in the 600. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.50 Screen ------------------------------------------------------ A: ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.51 Screen - Info on a broken one ------------------------------------------------------ A: Off the back of a broken LCD: HITACHI japan F1030-80016 LMG6821XUFR 97-34032-4 ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.52 Screen - Replacing the screen ------------------------------------------------------ A: You can send it in to get fixed for a flat rate. It used to be $300.00 but appears to be $350.00 at present (my total cost was $387.90). This covers fixing any and everything. Call 503-715-2004 for details. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.53 Screen - Return policy on dead pixels ------------------------------------------------------ A: Empfaenger : >Mailingliste Omnibook Kopien an : peb@Eberl.com Absender : schwarz@slinky.cs.nyu.edu (Marc Schwarz) Org.-Empf. : schwarz@missjane.cs.nyu.edu Betreff : Re: What Is HP's DOA policy regarding dead pixels? Datum : Sa 07.02.98, 01:33 (erhalten: 07.02.98) Groesse : 1075 Bytes -------------------------------------------------------------------- -- I, myself previously wrote: > What is the maximum number of dead pixels HP will consider > "acceptable" on a new laptops screen? At what pixel-count > point will HP permit a DOA return/exchange for both active > and passive color screens? I ended up getting the answer myself on this one... Called HP's Tech Support Office in Dallas. The rep said, "Authorised HP Dealers must allow 30 days for exchanges; if it's not 100% perfect, return it." The rep also said that, according to what he was told as policy, 2 clusters of dead pixels on a passive color screen was sufficient to request a DOA exchange with the authorised dealer. Called the dealer, who put me on hold for 1 HOUR while they obtained verification from HP. The dealer's rep was stunned to receive such an authorization, and "promptly" okay'd the DOA exchange. The dealer explicitly compared HP's policy with Toshiba's (who apparently requires a MINIMUM of 10-12 dead pixels before it will authorise such an exchange). Your results may vary, but I'm certainly pleased. :-) Marc. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.54 Serial Ports ------------------------------------------------------ A: ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.55 Speeding up the OB for INet access ------------------------------------------------------ A: All this talk about RAM upgrades helping speed up internet access got me thinking if more RAM helps then why shouldn't reducing what's currently in RAM help as well? So I modified my WIN.INI from (first few lines): [windows] spooler=no load=d:\pointer.exe alarmmgr.exe run=d:\omnibook\obstatus.exe to: [windows] spooler=no load=d:\pointer.exe Which removes the appointment book alarm server and the OB status panel (but all auto shutoff functions still work but I'm not sure on the less then 2 min warning.) So calling up Windows with OBWIN (bypassing the LLREMOTE loading) CIS's Mosaic is now very snappy on my OB425 and allot better on my 300. Not bad IMO for a 4MB machine. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 5.56 Standard for Modem Install ------------------------------------------------------ A: the modem is normally assigned to IRQ 3 as COM2. ------------------------------------------------------ 6. Communication ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Q: 6.1 Communication with the IR Port (530 and below) ------------------------------------------------------ A: ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 6.2 Connect OB to Win 3.1 ------------------------------------------------------ A: I've been using MS' intersvr and interlnk to make my Omnibook 530's hard disk look like an extra hard disk on a Win3.1 box. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 6.3 Connect OB to Win95 for free ------------------------------------------------------ A: exchanging between my OB430 and an Win95 machine by leaving 95 to the MsDos-mode and then I call llremote.exe (it is on the system-card in OB) combined with serial-port specification. That means simply "llremote /2" - Com:2 in my case, makes the connection with the OB's Laplink as usual. It is simple. I can use Laplink on the OB as if it is connected to another Win3.1 with Laplink. Try it - it works very reliable and costs nothing. 115200 bps is also okay for 0,- Dollars... Best regards - Peter Vernunft ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 6.4 Connect OB to Win95 II ------------------------------------------------------ A: Absender : vernunft@piro.net (Peter Vernunft) Org.-Empf. : omnilist@elektro.cmhnet.org Weiterleiter vernunft@komma.fddi2.fu-berlin.de Antwort an : vernunft@zedat.fu-berlin.de Betreff : OB + W95 connection Datum : Mi 20.08.97, 21:16 (erhalten: 20.08.97) Groesse : 810 Bytes -------------------------------------------------------------------- -- Hallo to you all! I can (!) use the serial cable connection. On the OB's side everything stays as usual, but on the W95 machine you have to decide between two different ways. 1) the elegant way: a DOS-window with some altered settings (I use that) 2) close w95 and go to Dos-mode What ever way pleases you more; they both work fine for my two machines. Do this: Copy llremote.exe from OB's drive D: (ROM-card from OB430) to your W95-machines Dos-directory. Write a little Batch-file that initia- tes: llremote /1 where /1 or /2 is the serial 1 or 2 where the cable is installed. Under Dos-mode you allready have a connection then. If you prefer the dos-window you have to change the setting: no recognition of dos-programms That is all! It works fine for me. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 6.5 Connect OB to Win95 III ------------------------------------------------------ A: someone else .... I just don't like - or use laplink. My Omnibook bots up with DOS 6's INTERLINK software every time it boots. The cable was $9. (CDN) If there is a cable connected, I need only re-run INTERSVR on the base machine and I have a drive G,H,I,J and CD Rom fully operational for my Omnibook. It's fantastic. In fact, it works WITHOUT rebooting my Omnibook if I've done it once within the last few months (grin). I love my Omnibook. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 6.6 Connect OB to Win95 IV ------------------------------------------------------ A: The OB530 LapLink Remote doesn't run well under Win95. But you can get the TSRs running and establish a connection: a) boot to Win95 MSDOS mode or b) load the LLRA TSRs in a Win95 DOS box with 'Windows detection by MSDOS apps' disabled (this is in the 'advanved' properties) ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 6.7 Connect OB to Win95 VI ------------------------------------------------------ A: The Host-PC has win95 installed, the Omnibook still runs with windows 3.11 The Omnibook bots up with Dos 6s INTERLINK software every time it boots. The cable is XXXX $, If there is a cable connected, You only need to re-run INTERSRV on the base (Host) machine and you have the shared drives fully operational on the Omnibook ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 6.8 Connect OB to WinXX V ------------------------------------------------------ A: You could also try using Norton Commander to replace Laplink. Norton Commander's "link" feature works great across all versions of Windows and DOS. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 6.9 Laplink to other computers ------------------------------------------------------ A: I too have had trouble with my 430 and Laplink in Win95. My only answer so far is to boot to DOS and have the LL moduals installed at that time. (Try booting from a floppy with a special autoexec.bat, and check your current file for LL's settings.) Here's the procedure that I used to install and run LapLink on my "big" laptop (which runs Win95): 1) On the big machine, shut down and select "Reboot in MSDOS mode". 2) Connect the serial laplink cable between the two machines. 3) On the OB300, start Windoze, select Control Panel, select laplink, check "communication ON", then remote install. 4) Follow the OB300's screen prompts to do the remote install. 5) From the big laptop, start laplink with "LLREMOTE /1" (for com1), from the MSDOS mode (I don't know if it will work in WIN95 mode). 6) I typically link up the OB300 while it is in DOS (completely out of Windoze). I hope that this helps. No no no. Just create a shortcut to it and prevent laplink from detecting Windows (properties->advanced). Win 3.1 may have puked on it, but runs as well as anything else under Doze95. Don't waste your time shutting down and starting up again. Yes, I run it without rebooting. Just to follow up on the Laplink problems between an OB 300/425 and Windows 95 ... this is an incompatibility which is not (believe it or not, for once) the fault of Hewlett-Packard, but instead results from the fact that Traveling Software made the different versions of Laplink unable to talk to one another (why?). To see a tech note that confirms this, and tells you what versions of the software can communicate, go to: http://webserv1.travsoft.com/techkb.nsf/963127afa28c737d8825642f005b b0f4/34fe33bbb9e05d7c882564ab006d0e40?OpenDocument On my OB 530 I "solved" the problem by simply installing the latest Laplink. On my OB 425, this is not an option (or at least I don't think it is -- I think the latest LL wants Windows enhanced mode). Therefore, I like the suggestion several people posted of creating a Windows DOS session that runs the old LLRemote in a window. I'll give this a try, and it will likely get me using the OB 425 more! ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 6.10 Laplink to Win95 Desktop ------------------------------------------------------ A: Absender : vernunft@piro.net (Peter Vernunft) Org.-Empf. : omnilist@elektro.cmhnet.org Weiterleiter vernunft@komma.fddi2.fu-berlin.de Antwort an : vernunft@zedat.fu-berlin.de Betreff : OB + W95 connection Datum : Mi 20.08.97, 21:16 (erhalten: 20.08.97) Groesse : 810 Bytes -- Hallo to you all! I can (!) use the serial cable connection. On the OB's side everything stays as usual, but on the W95 machine you have to decide between two different ways. 1) the elegant way: a DOS-window with some altered settings (I use that) 2) close w95 and go to Dos-mode What ever way pleases you more; they both work fine for my two machines. Do this: Copy llremote.exe from OB's drive D: (ROM-card from OB430) to your W95-machines Dos-directory. Write a little Batch-file that initia- tes: llremote /1 where /1 or /2 is the serial 1 or 2 where the cable is installed. Under Dos-mode you allready have a connection then. If you prefer the dos-window you have to change the setting: no recognition of dos-programms That is all! It works fine for me. ----- Well - I am surprised how many of you still like to use their old machines! It is a pleasure to help! So here are my secrets: On the OB's (at least my 430) side: If you look into your autoexec.bat you will find somewhere: ;Default llra1 llra2 llra3 this installs 3 ram-consuming parts of laplink for serial port 1,2 and 3. It is not necessary as most of us use the serial-cable on COM1 all the time. So - have a look in the subdirectory c:\tsi there you will find a batch-file "loadllra.bat" which installs a minimal version of laplink that only activates COM1 and saves a lot of ram, as it needs 7 kb only. I changed my "autoexec.bat" to the following, to dis-activate the three drivers, and to activate that batch-file within an batch-file (call): ;Default rem llra1 rem llra2 rem llra3 call c:\tsi\loadllra.bat and now by booting the OB in default position I "invest" only 7 kb. It works like before: starting laplink with "FN + F1". It really worked fine until now, and in DOS I still have 552 kb of ram - which is better than the former 480 and offers the same comfort. On Windows95 desktop do this: Well I have a german w95 and dos, so you have to "interpret" what I mean! Open your standard dos-window (full-screen is not needed) and open the "options-window". Right in the first screen you find at the bottom something like: "enhanced.." Click there and mark "No windows recognition for md-dos based programs" Now your dos-window is prepared for more complicated dos-programs! All that is left to do, is to copy the file "llremote.exe" from the OB's system-PCMCIA in slot "D" to a directory on your w95-desktop that is in the path - I advise "c:\dos". This fine little program needs to know on what serial-port your cable is attached, so tell it.. If you type: llremote /1 in your "enhanced" dos-window now, and press FN + F1 on the omnibook you will hear that "bleep" that tells you to have a connection. I wrote a batch-file called "LL.BAT" that simply contains the line: "c:\dos\llremote /1" to start in that dos-window. I can not say anything about NT4, but with w95 it works just fine. This dos-window slows down the entire machine, if you transfer something, but I can accept that. On the OB everything is just like before, you just save a lot of ram for drivers you never used... Best regards - Peter Vernunft ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 6.11 Modems for OB300 ------------------------------------------------------ A: Absender : mto@world.std.com (Michael O'Brien) Betreff : Modems that work with the OB300 - replies Datum : Mi 20.11.96, 17:07 (erhalten: 24.05.97) Thanks to all that replied to my query about which modems work with the OB300. Here's a summary of the responses I received, for others who might also be interested. The Intel 14.4 FaxModem has been working for me since 1994. I use a AIWA Model PV-JF144U Fax/Modem 14,400. The modems I've been using with my OB300 are the Motorola 14.4 Lifestyle and Power PCMCIA modems. They work very well and are great modems for the OB300. I have used the Megahertz XJ1144 on the OB300 with no problems. It's a good choice, if you can still find one. I have a Megahertz XJ2144 (X-jack) which (once I set it up properly) seems to work fine. Thanks again to all who replied. Mike ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 6.12 Networking ------------------------------------------------------ A: It seems as if there is only one solution for Networking the OB with a (normal) networking system: an American company called Socket Communications 6500 Kaiser Drive, Fremont, CA 94555, Tel: 510 744 2700; FAX: 510 744 2727 that sold me an Ethernet Card THAT WORKS!!! (Though even that was not recognized immediately but they have specialists there that will listen to your problems, that know the OmniBooks and that will perform software wonders over night - even on a weekend) .. Apart from that: a German company called Leunig (www.leunig.com) sells an external EtherNet box which connects the PCs via parallel adapters. This works quite well indeed although not quite as fast as the PCMCIA card. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 6.13 Networking OB and WIN95/NT ------------------------------------------------------ A: The Socket EA+ card works with the OB300. Also an old Xircom parallel port adapter. Just use the Microsoft MS-DOS Add-on for Workgroups and connect to your NT/Win95/WfWG311 network. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 6.14 OB800 and modems ------------------------------------------------------ A: used on an OB800- Practical Peripherals PP56k Flex modem. Xircom PE 28.8 Ethernet/Modem Xircom PE 14.4 Ethernet/Modem Linksys Ethermodem 28.8 Megahertz XJ144 Megahertz XJ-X2-56 without problems. I like Xircom for multi-function and performance. Xircoms are problematic in the OB600&4000 and incompatible with the pre-600 models. I like Linksys for multi-function and nearly-universal compatibi- lity. They are not speed demons, however. For modem only, I am rather fond of the Practical Peripherals. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 6.15 WWW Browser for DOS ------------------------------------------------------ A: Arachne: http://www.naf.cz/arachne/ DosLynx: ??? ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 6.16 WWW with OB300 ------------------------------------------------------ A: The following list is compiled out of various postings: hardware: - You should have at least 4 MB Ram - Netscape Navigator 1.1 (try www.surplusdirect.com) - Trumpet Winsock V2.1f works on the OB300/4MB even if you do not have OBMax EMail - Eduora Lite 1.52 FTP - WS_FTP DOS WWW Browsers: - Nettamer - Minuette - CIS Spry Mosaic (slow) - Arachne - Caldera WebSpider ------------------------------------------------------ 7. Common Problems ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Q: 7.1 Adding memory to DOS ------------------------------------------------------ A: You should try adding "i=c000-d7ff i=b000-b7ff x=D800-E7ff" to your EMM386 line. You may also have to eliminate DOS=HIGH as you need a clear 64K of memory for EMS. Otherwise you could try QEMM from Quarterdeck or Netroom from Helix as they can provide EMS with less upper memory requirements. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 7.2 Batterie packs - do it your own ------------------------------------------------------ A: Depending on how you are with electronics, and considering that the 530 is a discontinued model (BAD MOVE HP!!!!!!!), the 530 can be run on AA's by modifing a battery pack and providing the proper path to the contacts. I've been running mine this way, using Alkakine or Lithium AA's . The Lithium AA's even outlast the full charged standard battery. I do not leave the battery pack w/ AA's in when running off AC. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 7.3 Booting with Flashcard in C-Bay ------------------------------------------------------ A: 600 xx, 4xx, and 300 will boot with ATA card in C slot. It will be slower if you use the 40mb, 20mb than a hard drive. It will be faster if you use the 85 mb or 170 mb card. If you run w95, you can load the system to a hard drive. Get ride of the unwanted file and copy the strip down version to the flash card. Otherwise, it is likely you will run out of disk space. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 7.4 Communication with the InfraRed Port ------------------------------------------------------ A: There is a special IrDA Driver for the OB600: OB_IRDA.EXE 12 29K 16-Feb-96 IrDA Drivers for Windows/Win95 for OB600 ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 7.5 Connecting a ZIP-Drive to OB300 ------------------------------------------------------ A: I have connected ZIP drive to OB300 successfully, but from DOS. In root directory copy these files from ZIP Installs Disk: ASPIPPM1.SYS NIBBLE.ILM GUEST.EXE GUEST.INI Please don't use the install program, just copy those file. In the GUEST.INI file put the command: ASPI=ASPIPPM1.SYS /INFO FILE=NIBBLE.ILM SPEED=1 I hope you will be success too. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 7.6 External AC adapter for Omnibook ------------------------------------------------------ A: Regarding AC adapter for the OB. I have an OB425, and have been using an adapter from Radio Shack, PN 273-8205 (530427564) for about 6 months now, without any problems. This is a universal Regulated 1.5 Amp type, with several tips and Variable voltage output. It is a larger brick than the HP model, but I only wanted an extra PS for another office site, so that I don't have to carry the thing around. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 7.7 Fixing the mouse ------------------------------------------------------ A: It is a membrane switch assembly and is not worthwhile to fix. Call an HP dealer and get a replacement. It has a standard service part number. It pulls completely out of the machine with gentle effort. It pushes back in just as easily. -- The Omnibook popout mouse has two major components, the external mouse with plastic "popsicle stick", and and internal electronic module that decodes the mous movement. The external mouset is easily replaced, but the internal module is under the main circuit board and requires complete disassembly of the Omnibook. There are thin foil traces in the OB mouse black plastic "popsicle stick" that connect to the two buttons. Overflexing the stick (like 90 degrees) can break those traces, and the mouse buttons will stop working. A replacement mouse is about $45 from Educalc. The mouse is removed by pulling it out to the stop, and then giving a sharp tug to override the detent. To replace, just insert into the opening and shove it past the detent. Good luck with your OB600C. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 7.8 Forgotten Password ------------------------------------------------------ A: If you've used the hardware - password, there are two scenarios: - if you just want to salvage the Harddisk, then just plug it in any other PC - if you want to further use the HP, then call the HP support center, they can unlock an unknown password ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 7.9 Hard Disk in left hand slot ------------------------------------------------------ A: Unfortunately, the PCMCIA drivers only support one partition per slot from my experience. I know of no way to access the second one assuming it is OK. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 7.10 Hard Disk not spinning down ------------------------------------------------------ A: I have previously described about the problem of 520 MB PC Card Hard Disk Drive on my OmniBook 600CT as below. > I have noticed that the > drive automatically stops rotating about 10 sec after the access every > time, even if the AC adaptor is connected to the OmniBook. It is quite > annoying because the hard drive should "spin up" before the next use and > it takes some seconds. My drive is from IO Data and I > believe that it is OEMed from Calluna. Recently, I have solved this problem. I asked IO Data about the symptom, but they are of no help. Struggling with many power saving configurations of the computer and Windows95 failed to solve the problem. Finally, I sent an E-mail on the problem to Calluna Technology Limited, U.K. A Customer Support Engineer immediately sent me by E-mail a simple DOS utility program, called "Power.EXE", which switches on/off the Idle Mode and the Standby Mode of the 520 MB drive. After disabling the Standby Mode with this utility, everything goes quite well so far. It continues to spin when OB600CT is connected to the AC adaptor, and stops spinning 30 sec after use when I use OB600CT with Battery only. Perfect. Please note that HP does NOT manufacture or support any PCMCIA-based hard drive on OmniBook 600 PC that is larger then 340MB. HP will not warrant the reliability of these products on OmniBook 600. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 7.11 Hard Disk reports: CVF is damaged ... ------------------------------------------------------ A: CVF = Compressed Volume File The problem comes when a couple files get cross linked and confuse Dblspace. I think it is fixed by deleting the files and running chkdsk (thru dblspace). Trick is finding out which files are the culprits. (try Norton Disk doctor) Normally it could indicate / predict more severe HD problems. It is still best practice to do frequent backups ... ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 7.12 HP Phone book ------------------------------------------------------ A: The Windows "phone" app (c:\hppim\phone.exe) that comes on the OmniBook is "hard-wired" for the standard *.pdb file format, and cannot cope with modifications made in the general database app of the 100LX or 200LX. I strongly prefer the 100LX Connectivity Pack (the current version is the 200LX Connectivity Pack, I just never made the move) to the pointless Windows apps for phone and appointment. I run it all the time on the OmniBook, and never use the phone and appt winndows apps. The Connectivity Pack is a port of the LX's software, minus Lotus 123, World Time and some other stuff, but including all the major database apps. So it works just like the LX itself, which is really nice, since I'm so used to the LX. In fact, my only problem with the Connectivity Pack is that it's so much like the LX that I forget that I don't have 100Buddy loaded on the OmniBook! ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 7.13 Keyboard problems and HP tech support ------------------------------------------------------ A: If the keyboard has started to become inconsistent I would contact HP Tech Support at (970) 346-8682. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 7.14 MGMEXE GPF in OBMGM.DLL ------------------------------------------------------ A: Make sure that you have a C:\HPPIM directory for the Appointment book application. Also in SYSTEM.INI you need to make sure that COMM.DRV=OBCOMM.DRV as this was most likely changed by the Fax program you installed. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 7.15 OB300 and the serial port ------------------------------------------------------ A: the OB300 has a rather serious problem with hard crashes while running the serial port. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 7.16 OB430 and network card Socket EA+ ------------------------------------------------------ A: at the end of this message there's a copy of a message from James Bearden who got a Socket EA+ running with his 430 so I'm sure the Socket EA+ works with the 430. When he wrote a message here that said that he got it working with his 430 I asked him to post a message with the settings that worked for him and he did that. Original message from James Bearden, 70001,7003 OK, first a little background. I'm running WFW 3.11 on top of the standard OB430 MS-DOS 6.20. I tried to get Win95 running on it, but that got pretty ugly. :-) Here where I work it is 10BaseT (Twisted pair) running Novell 3.2 with IPX and ODI on top of the IPX. Plus there's the Windows Network with NetBeui. Of course, I knew very little networking stuff when I started, but after a week of playing with it, 3 calls to the very helpful Socket tech support line, and dragging whoever I could over to look at the &*^%$^%#$ thing, I stumbled upon the missing link to get Novell up all by my self. Getting the windows stuff to work was fairly straightforward after Socket told me to use the Direct Enabler. The tricky bit about Novell was the right NET.CFG lines Frame Ethernet_802.3 Frame Ethernet_II Frame Ethernet_802.2 Frame Ethernet_SNAP ;; Protocol IPX E0 Ethernet_802.2 Protocol IPX 0 Ethernet_802.3 ;; Protocol IPX 8137 Ethernet_II ;; Protocol IPX 8137 Ethernet_SNAP Having "Frame Ethernet_802.3" first and having only the right Protocal line did the trick. Here's my files. For my setup, I use the Novell only ocasionally, and since the drivers gobble up a big chunk of memory, I use a seperate batch file (LAN.BAT) to load them when I need them. I also have a similar batch file to log me off and unload the Novell drivers. I tried to install Novell support in Windows, but since the card/driver doesn't support ODI natively, the extra windows drivers sucked up too much memory . ----------------NET.CFG--------------------------- Link support Max Boards 4 Buffers 8 1600 MemPool 8192 Max Stacks 6 Protocol IPX Bind 1 NetWare DOS Requester PREFERRED SERVER = NSFAA FIRST NETWORK DRIVE = F NETWORK PRINTERS = 9 USE DEFAULTS = OFF VLM = CONN.VLM VLM = IPXNCP.VLM VLM = TRAN.VLM VLM = SECURITY.VLM ;VLM = NDS.VLM VLM = BIND.VLM VLM = NWP.VLM VLM = FIO.VLM VLM = GENERAL.VLM VLM = REDIR.VLM VLM = PRINT.VLM VLM = NETX.VLM ;**************************************************************** ;* * ;* Configuration link driver name for SOCKET EA hardware. * ;* Socket Communications Socket EA PCMCIA LAN Adapter. * ;* (C) Copyright 1994 Socket Communications Inc. * ;* * ;**************************************************************** Link Driver SOCKETEA Host Omnibook IoBase 0x300 Ireq 5 MemBase 0xD0000 MemSize 0x4000 AdapterAccess I/O ;; AdapterAccess RAM MemoryAccess I/O ;; MemoryAccess RAM Notification Interrupt ;; Notification Polled Cable Twisted ;; Cable Thin Link Enabled ;; Link Disabled Messages Disabled ;; Messages Enabled Frame Ethernet_802.3 Frame Ethernet_II Frame Ethernet_802.2 Frame Ethernet_SNAP ;; Protocol IPX E0 Ethernet_802.2 Protocol IPX 0 Ethernet_802.3 ;; Protocol IPX 8137 Ethernet_II ;; Protocol IPX 8137 Ethernet_SNAP Link Driver SOCKETEA Frame Ethernet_802.3 Frame Ethernet_II Frame Ethernet_802.2 Frame Ethernet_SNAP ------------------------CONFIG.SYS------------------------ DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\SMARTDRV.EXE /DOUBLE_BUFFER DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS /machine:2 /testmem:off DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS HIGHSCAN I=B000-B7FF X=D000-DFFF WIN=B500-B7FF WIN=F200-F7FF BUFFERS=35,0 FILES=40 DOS=UMB LASTDRIVE=H FCBS=4,0 DEVICE=C:\DOS\NET\ENABLEEA.EXE HOST=OMNIBOOK FILE=C:\DOS\NET\NET.CFG DEVICE=C:\OB430\OBDISP.SYS DOS=HIGH DEVICEHIGH /L:0;4,8112 /S =C:\DOS\POWER.EXE DEVICEHIGH /L:1,13104 =D:\OBCRDDRV.EXE INSTALL=D:\OBMGM.COM INSTALL=C:\OB430\OBCIC.EXE /GEN 1 STACKS=12,256 SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM /p /e:2048 C:\ DEVICEHIGH /L:1,4560 =C:\WINDOWS\IFSHLP.SYS -----------------AUTOEXEC.BAT------------------------ @echo off LH /L:0;3,29952 /S C:\WINDOWS\NET START C:\WINDOWS\SMARTDRV.EXE /L /X SET PATH=C:\WINDOWS;C:\;C:\DOS;C:\DOS\BIN;C:\DOS\BAT;C:\DOS\STS;C:\D OS\MOUSE;C:\OB430;C:\OB430\TSI;C:\GEOS;C:\WINDOWS\SPRY\BIN PROMPT $p$g SET STS_CFG=C:\DOS\STS\STSCFG.CFG SET TEMP=C:\WINDOWS\TEMP SET TMP=C:\WINDOWS\TEMP SET MOUSE=C:\DOS\MOUSE ------------------PROTOCOL.INI-------------------- [network.setup] version=0x3110 netcard=socketea,1,SOCKETEA,1 transport=ms$ndishlp,MS$NDISHLP transport=ms$netbeui,NETBEUI transport=tcpip-32n,MSTCP32 lana0=socketea,1,ms$netbeui lana1=socketea,1,ms$ndishlp lana2=socketea,1,tcpip-32n [protman] DriverName=PROTMAN$ PRIORITY=MS$NDISHLP [SOCKETEA] Host=OmniBook DriverName=SKTNDIS1 Ireq=5 IoBase=0x300 Cable=Twisted Messages=Disabled [MS$NDISHLP] DriverName=ndishlp$ BINDINGS=SOCKETEA [NETBEUI] DriverName=netbeui$ SESSIONS=10 NCBS=12 BINDINGS=SOCKETEA LANABASE=0 [MSTCP32] BINDINGS=SOCKETEA LANABASE=1 [Link Driver SOCKETEA] data= Frame Ethernet_SNAP data= Frame Ethernet_802.2 data= Frame Ethernet_II data= Frame Ethernet_802.3 data=Link Driver SOCKETEA -----------------LAN.BAT-------TO LOAD NOVELL------------- @Echo off C: CD \DOS\NET LSL SOCKETEA IPXODI NETX if exist f:login.exe goto get_serv echo Netware does not seem to be running correctly, can't get to f:login. goto end :get_serv echo. echo Using this server as a default: echo. f:slist/continue|find "Default" echo. echo You can specify another server by entering is as part of your login name: echo Enter your login name: SERVER\NAME echo. f:login jbearden :end CD \ ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 7.17 OB530 not recognizing modem ------------------------------------------------------ A: different PCMCIA controller. The standard OB530 PCMCIA drivers should detect the modem (CARDID with GENMODEM.CLB should do that). It should be in the \CARDSOFT directory. You shouldn't need any additional PCMCIA drivers for a modem, just the drivers that come with the 530. The socket services is OBSS.EXE, which is also in this directory. To recognize a modem PCMCIA card at least these drivers must be loaded: OBSS CS CSALLOC (reads CSALLOC.INI) CARDID (reads CARDID.INI) In CARDID.INI several *.CLB files are accessed and one of them is GENMODEM.CLB which is the generic modem driver. If GENMODEM.CLB is missing in your CARDSOFT directory then CARDID can't recognize modems. "The plug-in card in the upper card slot may not work in your computer. If this error appeared after you installed all device drivers needed by the card, contact HP..." This is a message from OBMGM that OBMGM displays when it finds an unconfigured PCMCIA card - which it will if GENMODEM.CLB is missing. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 7.18 OB600 and Flashcards from sundisk ------------------------------------------------------ A: Sandisk confirmed that the Sandisk cards won't work in the c: drive of the OB600, but I can't recall if he knew the precise reason. I confirmed it, too, by trying to use my SPD5A-40 in c: (G). I also don't recall whether the new Sandisk SPD5B-40 or -80 cards would work. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 7.19 OBMAX ------------------------------------------------------ A: Unfortunately every source I found seems to agree that OBMAX is just for the use on OmniBook 300 and 425s. As I am not sure how these computers differ from the 430, so I'm skeptical - at least it seems that the 430 is even more cramped in the BIOS area. So perhaps OBMAX is of not too much use here. OBMAX is a program specially developed for the OB300. It enables the OB300 to boot without loading the DoubleSpace and Flash File System driver before executing CONFIG.SYS. There's also a configuration manager for different CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT. (I think when Mark recommended OBMAX he answered a message that didn't make clear that you've got a 430 and you spoke of OB300 drivers) The 425 already includes parts of OBMAX functionality in ROM (the OBBOOT program). On the 430 OBMAX is not needed (and may not work) - you can configure everything in CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT and you can use DOS 6.x to create boot menus. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 7.20 PCMCIA ------------------------------------------------------ A: PCMCIA drivers uses a memory window to talk to PCMCIA cards. The OB300 uses the D000-DFFF area for PCMCIA. Does that SCM OB300 driver have any configuration options ? command line options ? OBSS is the OB socket service driver for OB530 and OB600. AFAIK it doesn't run on the OB300. OBCIC is the OB300/424/430 modem driver. There's no documentation of these command line parameters available. The OB300, 425 and 430 use the same PCMCIA drivers. They use the D000-DFFF area as PCMCIA memory window. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 7.21 Popup-messages for PCMCIA cards ------------------------------------------------------ A: To get rid of the popup message that says that there's an unrecognized PCMCIA card put a /c after the OBMGM command in CONFIG.SYS. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 7.22 problems with network and power management ------------------------------------------------------ A: A network connection will defeat power management especially if you are using TCP/IP and static IP addresses. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 7.23 Ram extension consumes energy too ... ------------------------------------------------------ A: Referring to Ram-extension: What is often not reaaly thought about: Ram-modules consume energy too! With my 430 (stone-age but lovely) I had different kinds of modules to save energy and make it "breathe" more freely, but some modules e.g. Toshiba-chips on it consumed much more energy than the IBM-chips that I have now. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 7.24 Recovery Disks for OB600/600CT ------------------------------------------------------ A: HP has a CD-ROM (with a 3.5" boot disk) "recovery disk" available for the OB600C (NOT the CT, damnit) for about $13.00, shipping included. Call HP parts and they will have one to you in a few days. I believe it should do the job. (The recovery disks for the CT are on 15 floppies -- for $65.00 -- go figure!) ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 7.25 Restore OB530 Harddisk ------------------------------------------------------ A: You need to load DOS, then Windows then the files from the OB5DSK file. If you unzip with the -d option it will unzip in the required directory structure. Windows for Workgroups is not fully compatible with the 530. You can use it fairly well if you replace its COMM.DRV entry in SYSTEM.INI with OBCOMM.DRV and make sure the other OB drivers are loaded by comparing the two SYSTEM.INI files. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 7.26 Security with hardware password ------------------------------------------------------ A: I have the hp password enabled on my omni. How secure is this? If someone boots from a diskette can they access my computer? The biggest security problem is that you can remove the C: drive and plug it in a desktop PCMCIA reader. You can't prevent this with the OB300 password. You need a kind of disk encryption software to prevent this. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 7.27 Speedy function keys in OB430 ------------------------------------------------------ A: --- ... In WIN.INI: [Application Keys] Fn+F1=winword.exe Fn+F2=excel.exe/p c:\excel Fn+F3=appts.exe Fn+F4=phone.exe Fn+F5=d:\hpcalc.exe Fn+F6=c:\omnibook\obstatus.exe Fn+F7=progman.exe Fn+F8=winfile.exe Fn+F9=d:\tsi\llrsts.exe/s Fn+F10= Fn+F11= Fn+F12= Note that the 425 has a ROM card with windows, Excel and Word amongst others built in as XIP (execute in place) apps. I have replaced most of the assignments with my preferred applications (make sure you put the whole path in) and it works well. More effective than most "launchpad" type shell enhancements. You can use all the available function keys. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 7.28 Standard for mouse pointer ------------------------------------------------------ A: Load=c:\mouse\pointer.exe c:\hppim\alarmmgr.exe Run=c:\omnibook\obstatus.exe optmod.exe ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 7.29 Upgrade OB600 to Win95 ------------------------------------------------------ A: Also, if you plan on installing Win95, HP has (or used to have) a set of drivers for the OB600 on their Web page (for free). This includes the appointment book and a few other OB tools. You'll still need a set of Win95 floppies, and you won't be able to use the mouse until you've fully installed the system and rebooted a few times during the process. Remember: the tab key is your friend. If your OB600 has never run Win95 before, then you may have to install the 4.01 BIOS upgrade. That's also on the HP web page (or used to be...). It makes a bare floppy which upgrades your firmware once and can then be thrown out. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 7.30 Wake up the OB ------------------------------------------------------ A: The OB "Appointment Book" has a great feature - it wakes up the OB to sound an appointment alarm at the right time. AFAIK the appointment book is the only PIM that can wake up the OmniBook. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 7.31 What is a flash card? ------------------------------------------------------ A: A flash card is a "solid-state" diskdrive, i.e. a diskdrive without any moving parts. Advantage better shock resistance, less power consumption faster access... The technology is using erasable and writable ROM (read only memory) the erasing technology is called "flash" because it is very fast and it erases clusters of bytes, so software is required for proper operation and to imitate a diskdrive. The ROM allows full power down and the possibility to remove the "drive" PCMCIA from th computer and insert it in another. Drawback of this is the price, however since more and more applications are found for this technology, price will come down. ------------------------------------------------------ 8. Tuning ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Q: 8.1 Speed tuning ------------------------------------------------------ A: Nick Dolezal ndolezal@iname.com Here's a nifty speedup for your non-pentium OmniBooks. It tweaks the DRAM refresh rate for greater battery life and faster performance. Not much, but a little always helps. (~5%) How to use: copy to OmniBook, put in autoexec.bat by adding the line: C:\DIRECTORY\DRAM.COM 200 ^^^ make sure you include this argument! Where DIRECTORY is wherever you put it. I'm attaching it to this message. You can lower it below 200, but the performance isn't that different and the system becomes unstable. Pentiums tweak this automatically. This program is not a TSR, nor does it occupy any memory after it runs. I've used this program for years on my OmniBook and Dauphin DTR-1 (no longer own it) with good results. But don't take my word for it, run benchmarks before and after you run the program and see for yourself! Ooops, what I forgot to say: 200 is 200 microseconds. That's how often the CPU refreshes the DRAM. Lowering that number makes the refreshes more frequent and lowers performance/battery life. Raising it makes the interval less freqent but if you make it too long the DRAM will start to lose information. 200 is quite conservative and you should be able to tweak past it, but as I said, it won't do much and could be dangerous. Rebooting your computer resets the refresh rate and clears any affects the program caused. ------------------------------------------------------ 9. Upgradeing the OB? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Q: 9.1 Bios Upgrades for the OB530 ------------------------------------------------------ A: The 530 doesn't have a flash bios and so a bios upgrade is not possible. ???Has anyone ever tried to do it with a hardware, selfburned upgrade??? ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 9.2 Buying used ------------------------------------------------------ A: - Ted Dasher - Equipment Management Technology sells a complete OB600C system for $600. They have other OB components, including RAM and port replicator. http://www.viamall.com/laptops/index.html ReQuest Technology 960 San Antonio Rd., #115 Palo Alto, CA 94303 650.856.0303 650.856.0374fx. http://www.request-tech.com ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 9.3 Exchange of components between the machines ------------------------------------------------------ A: The B&W OB LCD displays are interchangable among the 300, 425, 430, and 530. But the B&W and color LCD displays are not interchangable for a variety of reasons (connector, pinout, backlight, voltages, and scan frequencies). Its not yet clear to me whether the color LCD displays will even interchange between the OB600C and OB600CT, but I am soon going to try it (600C LCD on a 600CT CPU). The OB800CT display (10.4in SVGA TFT) is definitely not interchangable with earlier models. There are some other components that are interchangable among the OBs. The keyboards for all 3-digit OBs are compatible, although the aluminum keyboard backing plates changed from model to model. All B&W OBs use the same NimH battery and a-c adapter (F1044A), and all color OBs (except 4000) use the same a-c adapter (F1044B). The 600 & 800 use the same Lithium battery, but the NimH battery is only for 600s. The internal and external parts of the mouse are compatible among all 3-digit OBs. The external floppy drive is compatible among the 530, 600, & 800, although the 530 uses a different cable (connects to parallel/floppy port). ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 9.4 Flash cards ------------------------------------------------------ A: Flash Disks are available in the following sizes - 1.8 MB - - - - - 80 MB ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 9.5 How does the OB300 boot? ------------------------------------------------------ A: The 300 boots from ROM but C is a hard disk or flash disk. The ROM card is divided into two parts. One is execute in Place (XIP) which means the program code is a fixed address in ROM and not loaded into RAM first when it is execute. The other part is visible as drive D when the Flash file system driver is loaded. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 9.6 Installing a PCMCIA HD Drive ------------------------------------------------------ A: The OB 300 drive is a non standard PCMCIA drive. ACE Technologies sells a 131 MB Drive and a replacement driver Kit. http://www.ace-tech.com ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 9.7 Memory Upgrades - which companies ------------------------------------------------------ A: Try these sources: ACE Technologies Inc. 592 Weddell Drive #6 Sunnyvale, CA 94089 Tel: 800-825-9977 Alternate: 408-734-0100 Fax: 408-734-3344 Educalc 27953 Cabot Road Laguna Niguel, CA 92677 Tel: 800-677-7001 Alternate: 714-582-2637 Global Connections Inc 170 South Jackson Street Janesville, WI 53545 Tel: 800-709-9494 Alternate: 608-752-1537 ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 9.8 Memory Upgrades for OB300 ------------------------------------------------------ A: Memory cards are available in the following sizes - 2MB - 4MB - 6MB ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 9.9 Parallelport not standardized ------------------------------------------------------ A: The parallel port on the OB300 is not "standard" any tool, that draws power from the parallel port, will have problems to run. - SCSI adaptors - ZIP Drives ... Also, the PCMCIA socket services will not allow the SCSI card (or any other tool you add to the parallel port) to be recognized. An old XIRCOM paralell port ethernet adaptor works fine ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 9.10 Processor upgrades ------------------------------------------------------ A: You can also get upgrades for the OB600 from Evergreen Technologies. It's a "pack it in a box and send it in for a few days" kind of upgrade, so you don't do anything yourself. Speed-wise, it's an AMD 5x86, whish promises pretty good response. You can contact Evergreen at www.evertech.com or sales@evertech.com. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 9.11 Pros/Cons for XIP ------------------------------------------------------ A: The main reasons for apps in ROM are: - you can't loose them - they can run from ROM -> needs less RAM - no spinning hard drive needed -> less power consumption - no big mass storage needed But there also are disadvantages: - expensive - software updates require ROM updates - incompatibility problems Microsoft dropped the ROM apps so there wasn't much choice. And most people wanted 'standard' systems that can be configured and upgraded in a 'standard' way. ------------------------------------------------------ Q: 9.12 Upgrade OB600 to Win95 ------------------------------------------------------ A: Also, if you plan on installing Win95, HP has (or used to have) a set of drivers for the OB600 on their Web page (for free). This includes the appointment book and a few other OB tools. You'll still need a set of Win95 floppies, and you won't be able to use the mouse until you've fully installed the system and rebooted a few times during the process. Remember: the tab key is your friend. If your OB600 has never run Win95 before, then you may have to install the 4.01 BIOS upgrade. That's also on the HP web page (or used to be...). It makes a bare floppy which upgrades your firmware once and can then be thrown out. ------------------------------------------------------