NSbasic for Windows CE 2.0

So, now I have found the time to install the NSBasic v7 on my HP 620LX.

Since I have no ActiveSync setup working, I just downloaded the .cab to a CF and executed that on my HP. It installed OK but gives an error when I try to run it. ("basic (or an another related component) not found."

Since the SCL is a bit thin on installation instructions it wasn't clear if one HAS to install it via ActiveSync. And now for my questions:

1. Is ActiveSync required for a successful installation of NSBasic v7
2. If YES to the above question; is it possible to set up an ActiveSync between Win11 and the HP 620LX?
3. If NO to the second question; what kind of OS is required to get a working ActiveSync setup?
4. Is DOSBox or VirtualBox an option in this case? (I mean to get a working ActiveSync setup)
5. What is best; chocolate ice cream or vanilla ice cream? (A thank-you question for taking the time and effort to read through all my questions...)

Hakan

2: No
3: Windows 98/98SE/ME/2000/XP using ActiveSync 3.8
^See this guide
https://www.hpcfactor.com/support/cesd/200247/support/cesd/activesync_3x_desktop_software_guide/

Edited by torch 2023-11-18 12:18 AM

Many thanks for the link to ActiveSync. It seems to answer the questions I have.

I dug out my old XP PC from 2001 yesterday. Installed AS 3.8 and hoped for the best.

It wouldn't even connect to my 620LX. Probably becuase it was looking/listening on the wrong serial port. The link gave some hints on how to change that.

My struggles continue...

Hakan

Which cab file did you try from here

https://www.hpcfactor.com/scl/1112/NSBasicCE/NS_Basic/CE/version_7.0
I think you should have used

BASIC.HPC_SH3.cab

Also try this

https://www.hpcfactor.com/scl/1110/NSBasicCE/NS_Basic/CE/version_6.0

And use 7zip to see if it’ll extract the host setup file and look for
BASIC.HPC_SH3.cab to try for your device

Also try this thread for some pointers on how to extract host setup files

https://www.hpcfactor.com/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=20465&start=1

In a few days (on my next day off) I can try my Windows CE 2.0 device (similar to yours but different CPU architecture ) and follow up.
In the meantime I recommend trying 6.0 to see if that’ll work

Edited by torch 2023-11-18 2:38 PM

My progress so far is:

* Got ActiveSync 3.5 to work on my old PC (Dell Pentium 3 1 GHz, 384 Mb RAM, XP SP2)
* Managed to install the RunTimeFat.hpc on my HP 620LX

When trying to run the basic it failed with the same error as before. ("Basic (or some related component) can not be found. ..."

My next try is to install both the BASIC_HPC_SH3.cab and the RunTimeFat.hpc. Maybe that is the trick.

But getting Active Sync to work was a great feeling. Enables me to install other SW that requires ActiveSync.

I will continue to work on the installation and keep you guys posted.

Hakan

I highly recommend ActiveSync 3.8
It fixes a lot of bugs and it's the last version that supports Windows CE 2.0 on your HP 620LX

https://www.hpcfactor.com/downloads/1617/Microsoft_ActiveSync_3.8/version_3.8.0.5004

Can you try the version 6.0 runtime I linked to earlier?
I'm wondering if maybe 7.0 doesn't support CE 2.0, but 6.0 does?

Worth a try

I never got 3.8 to work. But 3.5 works just fine on my HP 620LX.

I just tried to install version 5 of NSBasic. This installs just fine but tells me it is a demo version. When I try to register the SW using the app "BASIC runtime register" I get the error: "Failed to create engine with err 80040154"

I found this on StackExchange:
"0x80040154 is an error that, as you mentioned, pertains to the COM class not being registered, which means that COM couldn't find the class factory in the Windows registry. You can use C:\Windows\system32\regsvr32 to register the missing SDK DLL."

StackExchangeStackExchange


Worth mentioning is that I have a German 620LX, completely localized. However, the NSB files are installed in "Program Files" (which is created by the installers) and not in the default "Programme", which is the German version of "Program Files". I thought this stuff was just a reference code and regardless of language it would end up in the localized version of the "Program Files" folder. But this is just an assumption on my side.

I have a theory.

Okay windows ce cab files have a basically a kind of script in which they copy files to directories. I’m wondering if ns basic is locked to program files and the dlls aren’t “registering”

So what you could do is
Use this file on your windows xp computer to extract the cab file

https://www.hpcfactor.com/scl/2052/Unknown_or_not_specified/MSCEInf/version_2.6

There’s like some kind of “table” before you extract the cab and it lists everything the cab does including copying files , registering dlls and so on

Then put it in the “programme files” and use this to “register” the dlls

https://www.hpcfactor.com/scl/1517/CEGadgets/RegSvr2/version_1.0.191999

NSBasic uses the MFC runtimes. I don't recall if the installation package for CE 2.0 includes mfcce20.dll and olece20.dll.

Thanks !!!

Here's that in the SCL
I believe you'll copy the SH3 dlls to /Windows and see if that works
https://www.hpcfactor.com/scl/133/Microsoft_Corporation/Microsoft_Foundation_Classes_MFC/version_2.0

Many thanks for all the tips and help. The two mentioned dlls are present in the Windows folder.
I will try with the regsrv program to see what I can find out. Otherwise my next try is to re-install the NSBasic in the "Programme" folder and see if that helps with the dll registration.

Hakan

Let me do some work too. I’ll try and test it on Monday or Tuesday on my CE2.0 English device (those are my next days off) and I’ll follow up with you

Many thanks for your support torch. But I have done a hard reset on my device and will now try to install it on a clean machine. Let's see how that goes...

The clean install did not work. Get the same error message that it is a runtime installation only. Sigh...

Okay, I wanted to give an update. I haven't had a chance to play with the files on an actual device but here's what I found out:

1-in the SCL, version 7.0 only has the runtimes themselves (meaning running programs developed on NS Basic, not the actual runtime environment
1a-also, the SCL for version 7.0 didn't have the files properly labeled for which OS they're for. The host installer files with "WINCE" are only for Windows CE 4.2 or higher. I fixed this.
1b-I can't find an IDE installer file for version 7.0

So I propose we focus on getting 6.0 running first.

In addition, I found some information that's very useful from the readme:



I'll try to give an update for version 6.0 tomorrow. I just wanted to let you know I haven't forgotten