To         : Richard Leslie Dubs, Ph    
INTERNET:rld@erols.com
From       : Ed Keefe                    75300,3667
Created    : 08-Jun-1998 , 11:46:55

Here's an unsolicited comment from CSi member of the
HPHAND forum wrt Minix on the LX...

>> Minix (at least old versions) runs on XT, which are
"186s". If you mean the LX, forget it. It has been tried
and failed, the main problem being the proprietary PCcard
controller, I believe. BTW, what would one do with Minix
on the LX? It's nice as a toy, but unusable beyond that.
<<

That's probably correct. HP produced the firmware for the
PC Card slot before there was any standard. There may not
be enough info to "crack the code" and get beyond that
hurdle.  Please let me know if you find a solution. .ed.


Subject    : Copy of: Linux-86

To         : Gilles Kohl [TeamHP]        100114,3146
From       : Ed Keefe                    75300,3667
Created    : 12-Jun-1998 , 10:58:44

Gilles,

I recently received an email from Rich Dubs in which he
said

"... I have solved the PC Card (PCMCIA) problem and I
have also written the requisite INT13 bios services so
that the PC Card looks like a hard disk to MINIX (or DOS
for that matter - e.g. fools biosdisk function in Borland
C++ 1.0 on the palmtop!).  I believe this in itself will
be regarded as a significant accomplishment by both the
MINIX and HP200 community.  Now add on top that I can
boot MINIX and (sometimes) get to a LOGIN prompt as well
......." 

Apparently most of the time Minix just hangs his LX. 

Rich Dubs says that he's reached a point of "diminishing
returns" with Minix and wants to move on to something
else. He further stated that Linux-86 could also be
ported to the 8086. 

I'm curious to know what your opinion is about this.  Is
Linux something that would be practical on the Palmtop? 
(Rich Dubs called it the "killer app" for the 200LX with
32Mb and DS.) What do you think? 

Do you know of anyone who is trying to port Linux to an
8086 processor? 

.ed.

To         : Ed Keefe                    75300,3667
From       : Gilles Kohl                 100114,3146
Created    : 15-Jun-1998 , 09:56:27

Hi Ed,

Greetings from Fred Kaufmanns guest room in Seattle <g>.

Haven't done much with Linux myself, and don't know Linux
86. I know that Linux (or any Unix) could benefit a lot
from memory management and protection features and RAM
addresses above 1MB. I don't think these are available on
the 200LX -especially the last feature might be required.
As I said, I'm not too knowledgeable about Linux 86, but
I would tend to be rather skeptical.

>> Do you know of anyone who is trying to port Linux to
an 8086 processor?  <<
No, sorry.
   Regards,
   Gilles.

Subject    : Re: MINIX

To         : "Ed Keefe"                  75300,3667
From       : "Rich Dubs"                
INTERNET:rld@erols.com
Created    : 08-Jun-1998 , 22:18:15
Received both your e-mails - Thanks for replying.

Your comment from the HPHAND forum simply highlights what
I have accomplished - I have solved the PC Card (PCMCIA)
problem and I have also written the requisite INT13 bios
services so that the PC Card looks like a hard disk to
MINIX (or DOS for that matter - e.g. fools biosdisk
function in Borland C++ 1.0 on the palmtop!).  I believe
this in itself will be regarded as a significant
accomplishment by both the MINIX and HP200 community. 
Now add on top that I can boot MINIX and (sometimes) get
to a LOGIN prompt as well .......

I agree that it would be better if PTP could announce a
working version of MINIX.  Therefore, I will write up and
make available what I have accomplished - my PC Card
software, INT13 Bios Services and instructions on how to
install and boot MINIX (for hackers only at this point) -
on a web page (TBD) so that the Internet community can
have access. Then I will announce my accomplishment to
the MINIX and HP Palmtop newsgroups.  I have already done
the hard (PC Card) part; therefore, I am betting that
before too long, we will have the working version we
desire from the Internet community; the memory drivers
for the 32M RAM should follow shortly thereafter.  I
expect that LINIX-86 on the HP200 will become a reality
about the same time.

As I stated in my original e-mail; I have reached the
point of diminishing returns with my MINIX project and am
ready to move on to other challenges - I do not plan on
doing further development right now and that is why I am
ready to turn the project over to the Internet community.

I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Rich

----------
From: Ed Keefe <75300.3667@compuserve.com>
To: Richard Leslie Dubs, Ph <rld@erols.com>
Subject: MINIX
Date: Monday, June 08, 1998 12:54 AM

Rich,

Yes, _I'd_ be very interested in an article describing
what you've accomplished. I've often wondered why someone
hadn't tackled this sooner.
I even considered tackling it myself, but my Unix career
stopped about the same time that CP\M hit the market. 
 It would be better if PTP could make an announcement of
a working version of Minix or Linux on the 8086.  With
double speed and 32MB it would be  "coup de compute"  to
our readers who are in the UNIX community. What would you
need to finish the task? Do you have a copy of the
Developer's Guide for the 200LX?   
For our readers, most of whom are more interested in
applications than operating systems, the article will
need to answer  questions such as "what does Minix let me
do that I can't already do with the LX?  e.g. will it let
me connect to the UNIX world; (some already have the LX
connected to a Linux box for file transfer and backup)
are there applications that will run under Minix that are
better than the built in or add-on software for the LX;
(PC Emacs is already available in a couple of flavors)
would SysMgr and DOS run under Minix or would we need a
dual boot setup; what would it cost to put Unix in my
pocket? 
It would be great if there was a tried and true set of
instructions for installing Minix on the Palmtop. What
would be needed?  Would we be able to run the LX software
under Minix? 
To         : "Ed Keefe"                  75300,3667
From       : "Rich Dubs"                
INTERNET:rld@erols.com
Created    : 01-Jul-1998 , 22:17:03

Ed,
Please see my new web page at
http://www.erols.com/rld  
for info on my MINIX/HP200LX project.
Thanks,Rich
