Bitchin100 DocGarden - User contributions [en]

How to set up an old PC to run LAPDOS

2009-03-26T17:09:34Z

206.169.229.170:

== Creating a PC for use with LAPDOS and PDD.EXE ==

Hello!

From time to time I have needed to put together a PC capable of running both LAPDOS and PDD.EXE, for accessing data on a TPDD.

Typically, I have some Pentium class computer lying around, so that is what I have used. I cannot confirm that anything newer that this will work, but I would bet that a Pentium II would still work. My standard needs are 1-2 serial ports, a small hard drive, and a floppy, and I typically use DOS 6.22, but DOS 5 seems good also.

My current system for this is a K6-3 400 on a Super 7 PCB (100MHz clock rate). Ridiculous overkill. I have it slowed down to run the CPU at 166MHz with a bus of 66MHz.

The key thing to do, is to slow down the CPU so that it runs at a similar pace to a PC from 1987 ish.

Hardware setup
--------------
* Slow down clock rates on the motherboard. Sometimes you can select slower than max clock rates. Running 66M MHz is a good starting point.
* Minimize the CPU multiplier. I have my K6-3 running at 166 MHz.
* I disable the on-chip cache on the CPU. This is done from the bios of the PC.
* Sometimes I must also disable level 2 cache. Again, a bios switch.
* Hard disk - using an old hard disk may be required, but I find that setting up a small (<20MB) partition, and formatting in FAT16 works best.

I notice two things that tell me LAPDOS is not working right-
1) starting the software fails at "determining system timings..." - if this happens things are running too fast
2) LAPDOS cannot recognize the available space on the hard disk. This means you need to run it on a smaller partition.

SLOWDOWN Utility
----------------
If need be, I also run SLOWDOWN V 3.10 from Bret Johnson. See the link below.

http://bretjohnson.us/

For settings, I use the following command in autoexec.bat-

slowdown /c:no /s:100

That is about it. If when running either LAP.EXE or PDD.EXE, you have timeout problems when accessing the TPDD, or the TPDD cannot be found, try slowing down the system further with a smaller number than 100.

Give it a try.

cheers,
Steve Adolph.

[[Category:TPDD Client]] [[Category:TPDD Server]]

Building VirtualT on Linux

2009-03-23T20:37:36Z

206.169.229.170: /* Download Packages FLTK Depends On */

== What is this "Linux" You Speak Of? ==

These instructions have been tested on

* Debian
* Ubuntu
* Slackware

Please add to the list if you have tested on another distribution.

== This Sounds Hard... Why All The Steps? ==

Because of the rich variety of Linux distros that grace our planet we need volunteer support to maintain good "packages" for each one. That's the best route... then no documentation is needed for install. Short of that, Linux users simply have to build VirtualT themselves. Of course the benefit of building it yourself is that you always have the latest and greatest features, and of course bugs... but that's what makes life exciting, right?).

A side benefit is that it increases the amount of people on the latest and greatest. That means more testers of new features. If you have a version that works well for you, keep that in mind before you
<code><pre>cvs update</pre></code>
to get latest and greatest.

== Download Latest VirtualT Source FOR THE FIRST TIME ==

Open a command prompt and type:

<code><pre>cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@virtualt.cvs.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/virtualt co -P VirtualT
</pre></code>

== Download Packages FLTK Depends On ==

(a version of this command for RPM or source based distros would be nice)

Command to download FLTK dependencies on Debian:

sudo apt-get build-dep libfltk1.1

== Download, Build FLTK dependency ==

VirtualT depends on the FLTK library. FLTK is hosted at http://www.fltk.org/software.php . Download a version of fltk. These instructions were last tested with fltk-1.1.9 . Decompress the package.

Change directory into fltk-x.y.z

Configure and make fltk:

<code><pre>
./configure --enable-localjpeg --enable-localzlib --enable-localpng
make
</pre></code>

== Updating to Latest VirtualT ==

<code><pre>
cvs update
</pre></code>

== Building VirtualT ==

cd into VirtualT.

ls

If you see a folder named vt_client, remove it

rmdir vt_client

<code><pre>
export FLTKDIR=/where/is/fltk-x.y.z
make
</pre></code>

then make should work.

You should end up with a file titled 'virtualt' in your build directory. You can launch it by typing

<code><pre>
./virtualt
</pre></code>

Adding Wiki Articles

2009-03-19T17:20:24Z

206.169.229.170: New page: Here are some articles on wiki markup: <pre> General: Markup cheatsheet: http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Formatting Another markup Cheatsheet: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_edit...

Here are some articles on wiki markup:

<pre>
General:
Markup cheatsheet: http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Formatting
Another markup Cheatsheet: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_edit
Multi-page tutorial: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Tutorial

== Heading 2 ==
=== Heading 3 ===
==== Heading 4 ====

The idea is to start articles at heading level 2 since heading level 1 is used for the title (which is not directly editable... you have to "move" the article to change the title).

I tend to use standard HTML tags for adding tables <table></table>

If you have massive amounts of pre-formatted text, and you just want to "get it on the wiki" quick, just put your text in

<nowiki>
<pre>
</pre>
</nowiki>

tags and it should do what you want.

Also if you have a document in some other format, try searching Google for a converter. Certainly there are HTML -> Wiki markup converters online where you just paste your HTML or upload a Word document into a web page, and it feeds you back wiki markup you can paste into your wiki edit page.
</pre>

MTCPM Project HOWTOs

2009-02-20T23:38:02Z

206.169.229.170:

Here is a list of how to set up all ram mode.

1) start VT 1.3

2) emulate M100 or T102, whatever

3) turn on ReMem emulation -
Emulation --> Memory options: select ReMem, click ok

4) configure ReMem : tools --> remem configuration:
- first, click Default Map - this will do an initial set up
- next, on the left column, select MAP0
- on the second left column, sleect 100-13F OPT
- on the right, de-check sector lock, De-check RAM CS, check Flash 1
and check flash 2
- map data should be unchanged, and read 0x020
- select copy sequential
Now, you should see Map 0, 100-13F OPT with data 0x1820, 0x1821 etc

Finally, select Save Map on the left, and close the window.

5) loading a CP/M image into the "option rom"
- tools --> memory editor
- select region RAM
- File --> load from file
- enter the full path name for the binary CP/M image
- start address should be 0x008000
- select ok

Now, the binary image is loaded at offset 008000 in the RAM region.
You can check this by scrolling down.

6) activating the CP/M option rom
- enter BASIC
- type OUT 112,1
(this activates ReMem map 00)
- type CALL63012
(this will start the option ROM)

DONE! you are now running CP/M.

[[Category:mtcpm]] [[Category:VirtualT]]

2009-02-17T16:15:46Z

206.169.229.170: /* I/O Map */

== Overview ==

The BASIC ROM provides access to the serial port. BASIC ROM support is well documented elsewhere. This article covers direct use of the IM6402 UART on the Model 100 and Tandy 102.

== Configuration ==

Before the serial port can be used, it must be configured both for serial word format (data bits, stop bits, and parity) and baud rate.

=== Select RS232 Port ===

At any given time, either the internal modem or the external RS232 connector may be connected to the UART. This is controllable through software.

For RS232 access, port <code>$B8</code>, bit #3 must be set to 0.

For Modem access, port <code>$B8</code>, bit #3 must be set to 1.

Note that <code>$B8</code> is shared with other functions, including power control.

=== Serial Word Format ===

Port <code>$D8</code> controls the serial word format.

Actually, any of <code>$D0 → $DF</code> can be used.

{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="border-width: thin; border-style: solid; border-color: blue; border-collapse: collapse;"
|Bit || Function || Settings
|-
|0 || Stop Bit Select || 0 → 1 stop bit<br/>1 → 2 or 1.5 stop bits (1.5 if character length is 5, 2 otherwise)
|-
|1 || Even Parity Enable || 0 → Odd parity<br/>1 → Even
|-
|2 || Parity Inhibit || 0 → Parity<br/>1 → No parity
|-
|4-3 || Character Length Select || Bits:<br/>00 → 5<br/>01 → 6<br/>10 → 7<br/>11 → 8
|-
|7-5 || Unused ||
|}

=== Baud Rate ===

CPU selection of baud rate is accomplished by loading a divisor into the PIO register through output ports <code>$BC</code> or <code>$B4</code> and <code>$BD</code> or <code>$B5</code>.

The baud rate selection must be committed by writing <code>$C3</code> to register <code>$B8</code>

{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="border-width: thin; border-style: solid; border-color: blue; border-collapse: collapse;"
| Baud Rate || PIO<br/>Divisor || Port <code>$BD</code> || Port <code>$BC</code>
|-
| 75 || 2048 || 72 || 0
|-
| 110 || 1396 || 69 || 116
|-
| 300 || 512 || 66 || 0
|-
| 600 || 256 || 65 || 0
|-
| 1200 || 128 || 64 || 128
|-
| 2400 || 64 || 64 || 64
|-
| 4800 || 32 || 64 || 32
|-
| 9600 || 16 || 64 || 16
|-
| 19200 || 8 || 64 || 8
|-
| 38400 || 4 || 64 || 4
|}

Here is a practical example of using 38400bps using only BASIC code. This program dumps all RAM contents to the serial port.

<pre>
1 DEFINTA-Z:
OPEN"COM:98N1D"FOROUTPUTAS1:
D$="":
A=FRE("0"):
L=VARPTR(D$)+1:
M=L+1:
POKEL-1,128:
OUT180,4:
OUT181,64:
OUT184,195:
FORI=0TO255:
POKEM,128+I/2:
POKEL,(IMOD2)*128:
PRINT#1,D$;:
NEXT
</pre>

Unfortunately this BASIC code does not transmit the 32K of data any faster than the 19200bps code. Both take about 33 seconds to transmit the image.

So, here's an assembly language version of the same program. It transfers your Model 100's 32K RAM to a serial connection in about 8.5 seconds!

<pre>
.org 64704

; select RS232 port
MVI A, $25
OUT $BA

; set up 8N1
MVI A, 28
OUT $D8

; set up 38400 bps
MVI A, 64
OUT $BD
MVI A, 4
OUT $BC
MVI A, $C3
OUT $B8

LXI H,32768

WAITEMPTY: IN $D8
ANI $10
JZ WAITEMPTY

MOV A,M
OUT $C8

INX H
MOV A,H
ORA L

JNZ WAITEMPTY

RET

.END
</pre>

== Data Transmission ==

Once configured, sending a character is simply

MVI 'A'
OUT $C8

or, in BASIC,

OUT 200,ASC("A")

In the UART, there is room for two characters: the character currently be transmitted, and the next one. This permits you to ensure there is always once character waiting in the wings.

You should never overflow the transmission buffers. Either do some other work during the "downtime" and/or wait until there is room by polling bit 4 (0x10) of register $D8. The code the follows just does a "busy wait."

WAITEMPTY: IN $D8
ANI $10
JZ WAITEMPTY

When deciding whether the other device is ready to receive you should also consider the Clear To Send (CTS) flow control line described later in this document.

== Data Reception ==

=== BASIC ROM Interrupt 6.5 Handling ===

Whenever the UART receives another character, Interrupt 6.5 is signalled. Then, if interrupts are enabled, the CPU stops what it is doing and CALLs location 0x0034 in the BASIC ROM. This code disables further interrupts and jumps to the location 0x6DAC.

The ISR then jumps to vector 0xFE5C (0xF5FC?) in RAM. Normally this is just a return instruction, but you could hook the interrupt here. [ stack manipulation to avoid/ or include default processing + re-enable interrupts? - TBD ]

=== Polling Interrupt 6.5 ===

Accepting the BASIC ROM's handling imposes significant overhead. With each interrupt, the instruction pointer must be placed on the stack and a jump performed at minimum. If the BASIC ROM (as opposed to an Option ROM) is switched in, then you will have the overhead of disabling interrupts, a jump to the DR vector, a return instruction, and then the default processing of reading and enqueing the new character. All that, and at this point no useful work has been performed other than to relieve the UART.

For maximum efficiency you may wish to poll Interrupt 6.5 pin rather than accept the overhead of an interrupt. This is made possible by the 8085's SIM and RIM instructions.

Using the SIM instruction, you can set the interrupt mask such that UART DR (data ready), bit 1, will not trigger an interrupt. Then, you can poll this bit using the RIM instruction ANDing with 0x02 to see if DR is set.

Alternatively, you could disable interrupt processing altogether during your polled routine, but still use RIM to poll. This has the disadvantage of disabling the background ISR.

== Flow Control ==

The Model T has full support in hardware for the CTS and RTS flow control lines. In the BASIC ROM, however, it is not implemented. Instead the BASIC ROM relys on slow, kludgy XON/XOFF character escapes. This makes it difficult to transmit of receive binary files since the XON/XOFF some characters are reserved for flow control.

Since we are discussing direct control of the UART, we can do better and implement full flow control access.

=== Detect Clear to Transmit (CTS) ===

The CTS line is an input to the Model 100. It indicates whether the device attached to the serial port (or the remote equipment behind it) has room to accept new characters. The device can "flow off" the Model T when its receive buffers are full.

(IN PROGRESS)

=== Request Peer to Send (RTS) ===

The RTS line is an output from the Model 100 to the device connected on the serial port. It is a signal "requesting" the device to send (or not to send). From the other point of view, the device should transmit if and only if RTS is high.

(IN PROGRESS)

== I/O Map ==

<table border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="border-width: thin; border-style: solid; border-color: blue; border-collapse: collapse;">
<tr><td>Name</td><td>Direction</td><td>Port</td></tr>
<tr><td>TX</td> <td>Output</td> <td>$C8</td></tr>
<tr><td>RX</td> <td>Input</td> <td>$C8</td></tr>
<tr><td>RTS</td> <td>Output</td> <td>$BA, bit 7</td></tr>
<tr><td>CTS</td> <td>Input</td> <td>$BB, bit 4</td></tr>
<tr><td>DSR</td> <td>Input</td> <td>$BB, bit 5</td></tr>
<tr><td>DTR</td> <td>Output</td> <td>$BA, bit 6</td></tr>
</table>

nb: sense on DSR, CTS seem to be inverted. So CTS ==0 means that it is OK to transmit. A '1' means the device is flowing the Model T off.

Direction indicates both data flow, and whether to use an <code>IN</code> or <code>OUT</code> instruction to read/write to the given pin.

[[Category:Model T Developer Reference]]

2008-08-19T20:12:46Z

206.169.229.170: Undo revision 436 by 89.248.169.90 (Talk)

Building VirtualT on Linux

2008-06-13T18:45:18Z

206.169.229.170:

== What is this "Linux" You Speak Of? ==

These instructions have been tested on

* Ubuntu
* Slackware

Please add to the list if you have tested on another distribution.

== This Sounds Hard... Why All The Steps? ==

Because of the rich variety of Linux distros that grace our planet we need volunteer support to maintain good "packages" for each one. That's the best route... then no documentation is needed for install. Short of that, Linux users simply have to build VirtualT themselves. Of course the benefit of building it yourself is that you always have the latest and greatest features, and of course bugs... but that's what makes life exciting, right?).

A side benefit is that it increases the amount of people on the latest and greatest. That means more testers of new features. If you have a version that works well for you, keep that in mind before you
<code><pre>cvs update</pre></code>
to get latest and greatest.

== Download Latest VirtualT Source FOR THE FIRST TIME ==

Open a command prompt and type:

<code><pre>cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@virtualt.cvs.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/virtualt co -P VirtualT
</pre></code>

== Download, Build FLTK dependency ==

VirtualT depends on the FLTK library. FLTK is hosted at http://www.fltk.org/software.php . Download a version of fltk. These instructions were developed with fltk-1.1.7 . Decompress the package.

Change directory into fltk-x.y.z

Configure and make fltk:

<code><pre>
./configure --enable-localjpeg --enable-localzlib --enable-localpng
make
</pre></code>

== Updating to Latest VirtualT ==

<code><pre>
cvs update
</pre></code>

== Building VirtualT ==

cd into VirtualT,

<code><pre>
export FLTKDIR=/where/is/fltk-x.y.z
make
</pre></code>

then make should work.

You should end up with a file titled 'virtualt' in your build directory. You can launch it by typing

<code><pre>
./virtualt
</pre></code>

Building VirtualT on Linux

2008-06-13T18:44:20Z

206.169.229.170: /* Download Latest VirtualT Source */

== What is this "Linux" You Speak Of? ==

These instructions have been tested on

* Ubuntu
* Slackware

Please add to the list if you have tested on another distribution.

== This Sounds Hard... Why All The Steps? ==

Because of the rich variety of Linux distros that grace our planet we need volunteer support to maintain good "packages" for each one. That's the best route... then no documentation is needed for install. Short of that, Linux users simply have to build VirtualT themselves. Of course the benefit of building it yourself is that you always have the latest and greatest features, and of course bugs... but that's what makes life exciting, right?).

A side benefit is that it increases the amount of people on the latest and greatest. That means more testers of new features. If you have a version that works well for you, keep that in mind before you
<code><pre>cvs update</pre></code>
to get latest and greatest.

== Download Latest VirtualT Source FOR THE FIRST TIME ==

Open a command prompt and type:

<code><pre>cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@virtualt.cvs.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/virtualt co -P VirtualT
</pre></code>

== Download, Build FLTK dependency ==

VirtualT depends on the FLTK library. FLTK is hosted at http://www.fltk.org/software.php . Download a version of fltk. These instructions were developed with fltk-1.1.7 . Decompress the package.

Change directory into fltk-x.y.z

Configure and make fltk:

<code><pre>
./configure --enable-localjpeg --enable-localzlib --enable-localpng
make
</pre></code>

== Building VirtualT ==

cd into VirtualT,

<code><pre>
export FLTKDIR=/where/is/fltk-x.y.z
make
</pre></code>

then make should work.

You should end up with a file titled 'virtualt' in your build directory. You can launch it by typing

<code><pre>
./virtualt
</pre></code>

LaddieCon

2008-03-25T23:41:17Z

206.169.229.170: /* LaddieCon and Vista */

== Running LaddieCon ==

On your laptop, you must be running a TPDD client. TPDD clients include TS-DOS, TEENY, POWR-DOS, FLOPPY.CO or the WP-2 Disk mode.

For the physical connection, you need a "null modem" wired serial cable to connect to a serial port on your Windows PC. You need to know which numbered COM port you are using on the PC side.

LADDIECON.EXE runs on a Windows computer, on top of the .Net Framework. To start it,

Click Start -> Run -> cmd.exe

Assuming LADDIECON.EXE is saved at c:\tools\laddiecon.exe

<code><pre>
c:\tools\laddiecon.exe com1 6
</pre></code>

Here I put 'com1.' For your setup, the number may well be different.

If you are using a Tandy WP-2 word processor, make sure to change the '6' to an '8'. This is important because the WP-2 uses an 8.2 style (8 characters for the base name, 2 characters for extension) filename, while the Model 10x and 200 use a 6.2 style filename. If you don't set this properly, you will get weird behavior.

When you press ENTER, laddiecon should run until you hit CTRL-C. It won't appear to "do anything." It is completely "remote controlled" by your disk client on the Model T laptop.

== LaddieCon and Vista ==

LaddieCon is reported to work with Vista. However, you must run '''laddiecon.exe''' in "Administrator Mode." Also, your USB adapter must have a driver that is compatible with Vista.

To enable "Run As Administrator:"

# Find your '''laddiecon.exe''' executable with Windows Explorer.
# Right click on '''laddiecon.exe'''
# Select Properties->Compatibility Tab
# Check the 'Run as Administrator' option.

Note: if anyone knows a more fine-grained way to permit '''laddiecon.exe''' to access
the COM port without using Administrator Mode, please note it here.

If you're looking for a USB->serial adapter known to work with Vista, the following have been tested:

* '''USBGEAR U232-P9AP'''

Please add any other adapters you verify work with Vista and LaddieCon.

The following devices are known not to work with Vista:

* (add your problem adapter here)

=== Reliable Text-Only Transfers ===

If you are only transferring text files, Hyperterminal is known to be a reliable way to transfer files even at 19200 using XON/XOFF protocol. Note that saving and loading text files via the TEXT application is much faster than TELCOM, because TEXT does not scroll the text to the screen as it captures.

See [[Text File Transfer using Hyperterminal]] for details instructions on getting Hyperterminal working.

Model 100 Month

2008-03-03T18:24:36Z

206.169.229.170: New page: 25 YEARS and STILL GOING STRONG Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday Model 100. And Bill Gates, thank you…! March is Model 100 month. The Model 100 computer, a...

25 YEARS and STILL GOING STRONG

Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday Model 100.
And Bill Gates, thank you…!

March is Model 100 month. The Model 100
computer, a joint venture by inventor, Bill Gates
(Microsoft) and distributor, Tandy / Radio Shack
(TRS), presented the famous Model 100 computer to
the world in March 1983. Subsequently six million
Model 100, 102 and 200 computers were sold
worldwide. March 2008 marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Model 100.

Club 100 suggests, that since the Model 100 was
the first Truly Portable & Personal computer,
that members celebrate for the entire year by
doing portable and personal stuff with their
Model 100s, 102s and 200s publicly to amaze the
world, one person at a time, worldwide.

Actions include but are not limited to…
* Display their Model "T" on counters and tables
were they sit; to eat, talk, write, etc.
* Use their Model "T" openly and notoriously to
write, program, play, study, think and do.
* Respond in a friendly manner to all that ask, "What the heck is that thing?"
* Strive to incorporate their Model "T" into their public endeavors.
* Encourage the masses of un-washed to get involved in Model "T" computing.

Let the celebration begin…

-Rick-
www.Club100.org

Bitchin100 DocGarden

2008-03-03T18:24:21Z

206.169.229.170: /* Model 100 25th Anniversary Celebration */

Bitchin100 DocGardens is a site for user-contributed documentation, notes, reviews and links to other projects and software related to [[True Portable Definition|True Portable Laptops]].

== Model 100 25th Anniversary Celebration ==

2008 is the 25th anniversary of the Model 100!

See this message from Rick: [[Model 100 Month]]

How many other laptops can claim 25 years of utility? Well, the community is making noises about a worldwide celebration over the Internet, culminating in a pizza party at Melo's in Pleasant Hill, California.

We'll keep this section updated. The [http://club100.org/list.html Model 100 Mailing List] is the place to go for more details and to volunteer to help.

== 8-bit Bus Machines ==

[[Model T DocGarden (10x, 200)|Model T]]: The most successful True Portable Laptop ever
* TRS-80 Model 100
* Tandy 102
* Tandy 200
* NEC 8201A/8300
* Kyocera-85
* Olivetti M-10

[[Tandy WP-2 DocGarden|Tandy WP-2]]

[[Cambridge Z88 DocGarden|Cambridge Z88]]

[[Amstrad NC-100/200 DocGarden|Amstrad NC-100/200]]

[[Epson PX-8 Geneva DocGarden|Epson PX-8 Geneva]]

== 16, 32 or 64-bit bus Machines ==

Please contribute documentation on any machines you feel fit the [[True Portable Definition|TPD]].

REX

2008-02-07T22:14:27Z

206.169.229.170: /* Future Roadmap */

== What Is REX ==

REX is completely plug and play flash memory upgrade. REX plugs
into the Option ROM slot, with no soldering or necessity to open
the laptop case.

Rex provides support for up to 8
in-circuit selectable option roms. That means, you can have 8 different
software packages on one Option ROM, and select between them without
physically unplugging anything.

In addition, REX is in-circuit, software
reprogrammable. That means you can change, patch, or replace replace an Option ROM image
without any special hardware or physically unplugging REX.

== REX Manager ==

REX comes pre-programmed with release 1 REX Manager software. REX
Manager allows you to pick which of the 8 ROM images is the one
currently in use.

REX Manager operates "behind the scenes" to make sure the currently
selected Option ROM image is automatically enabled on every power cycle.
This is an impressive trick since REX does not receive power while
the laptop is off (unlike the RAM memory circuit).

Also, REX Manager is able to do this without using up any precious RAM space!

== Advanced BASIC ROM Replacement Mode (OPTIONAL) ==

For users that with the do-it-yourself spirit, an optional
feature of REX can be enabled.

With a single wire soldered in place, REX permits BASIC ROM replacement!

This means that you can disable the built-in BASIC/TEXT/TELCOM ROM
on your motherboard and replace it with a specific block of REX flash memory.
Typically, this will be the same BASIC/TEXT/TELCOM ROM image we know and
love, with a few changes. So, you can
upgrade your Model T with little tweaks like Y2K, the lomem patch, new
character sets, put your name on the main menu, etc.

== Installing REX Manager - It's Easy ==

From a cold restart, simply typing
<code><pre>CALL 63012</pre></code>

will install the REX system.

To start REX Manager, press reset and hold the ESC key. Then from
basic type:
<code><pre>CALL 911</pre></code>
REX Manager will start, allowing you to manage
which ROMs stored in REX can be used, and when.

== Additional Utilities ==

A separately loadable utility allows you to burn ROM images into REX.

== Future Roadmap ==

Future releases of REX will have a built in file system for managing
REX files, TPDD files and RAM files.

There will be approximately 512K of
file storage.

2008-02-07T22:08:03Z

206.169.229.170: /* What Is REX */

== What Is REX ==

REX is completely plug and play flash memory upgrade. REX plugs
into the Option ROM slot, with no soldering or necessity to open
the laptop case.

Rex provides support for up to 8
in-circuit selectable option roms. That means, you can have 8 different
software packages on one Option ROM, and select between them without
physically unplugging anything.

In addition, REX is in-circuit, software
reprogrammable. That means you can change, patch, or replace replace an Option ROM image
without any special hardware or physically unplugging REX.

== REX Manager ==

REX comes pre-programmed with release 1 REX Manager software. REX
Manager allows you to pick which of the 8 ROM images is the one
currently in use.

REX Manager operates "behind the scenes" to make sure the currently
selected Option ROM image is automatically enabled on every power cycle.
This is an impressive trick since REX does not receive power while
the laptop is off (unlike the RAM memory circuit).

Also, REX Manager is able to do this without using up any precious RAM space!

== Advanced Main ROM Replacement Mode (OPTIONAL) ==

For users that with the do-it-yourself spirit, an optional
feature of REX can be enabled.

With a single wire soldered in place, REX permits Main
ROM replacement!

This means that you can disable the hard coded ROM
on your motherboard and replace it with a specific block of the 1MB of
flash that is dedicated to act as if it was the Main ROM. So, you can
upgrade your OS with little tweaks like Y2K, the lomem patch, new
character sets, and other things that get dreamed up.

== Installing REX Manager ==

From a cold restart, simply typing
<code><pre>CALL 63012</pre></code>

will install the REX system.

To start REX Manager, press reset and hold the ESC key. Then from
basic type:
<code><pre>CALL 911</pre></code>
REX Manager will start, allowing you to manage
which ROMs stored in REX can be used, and when.

== Additional Utilities ==

A separately loadable utility will allow you to burn rom images into REX.

== Future Roadmap ==

Future releases of REX will have a built in file system for managing
REX files, TPDD files and RAM files.

There will be approx. 512K of
file storage.