Upgrade WinCE2.12 to WinCE3 - is it worth trying?

Recently I bought NEC 780. Great thing, but the lack of certain software annoys me. I would like to have a sky map, some nice english dictionary, and maybe some port of Civilization running.

Then I've joined this forum and found that a couple of people had upgraded their 780's into 790's. So - having in mind that the 780 cost me ca 130$ - is it worth spending another 50$ (+shipping to Poland, about 20-30$ :/) to upgrade my system?

Or maybe someone just have the ROM file of 790 (or someone can prepare it) - 'coz I've got loads of programming equipment and maybe I could program an EEPROM myself.

What do you think?

If you are comfortable with the device and know that HPC2000 will run the applications that you need then yes it probavbly is going to be advantageous.

As the devices do not have flash ROM it will not be easy to make one, lacking the boot sector and boot code data as we do for the device - even if you did have a MIPS ROM image.

It's 2.11 currently by the way, not 2.12.

according to what's on main page of HPCFactor, WinCE2.11 + SP1 = WinCE2.12, but I maybe misunderstood something.

Anyway, thanks for advice.

You think it's impossile for an owner of NEC790 to read EEPROM data to file, and then for me to write that image on new EEPROM and put it into 780?

...ok, I don't know where you got that idea from (and I wrote the site )

H/PC v3.0 Professional + SP1 = H/PC 3.01 Professional based on CE 2.11.

2.12 is a completly different animal.

It has been tried many times, you would need to write a program to steal the image first off - which would be illegal under copyright and licensing laws as Windows CE isn't Open Source / freeware.
Then you would need the PCB and connectors for the mobtherboard... impossible, no. Done before, no. Sanctionable, no.

A worthy experiment if you have the skills. Yes - you could look at legally reflashing devices with CE4.2/5 if you have the skills needed.

Welcome, Staschek.

If you are looking for a sky map which will run on your 780, try this one:

http://www.bisque.com/Products/TheSkyPE/TheSkyPE.asp

It runs beautifully on my 780, and you can also control many telescopes with it.

Price is USD49, and it's downloadable, so no shipping. There's also a trial version for free download. Don't be fooled by the illustration; it actually uses the full screen on HPC's.

I, too, am looking to upgrade to a 790, if I can ever find a source for the ROM chip.

Kirk Messinger

I am not sure how much is your time worth but I am quite sure that such an activity will take too much of it. Better spend $50 + shipping I think that getting the ROM image would be the easiest part. You can probably write a simple routine in assembly language for reading the ROM content. I don't think that SA1110 (or is it MIPS?) protects the memory access. If it does, there definitely is the way how to unprotect it.

But I don't know what to do next. You will have to know exact ROM memory mapping. Unless you know exactly what is the format and content of the image that can be bought, and the procedure, how the ROM is erased and burned again.

I don't think it is worth trying...

I second "The Sky"

It is simply the best of the best as far as astromonical HPC software for the Mobilepro goes....easy to use and relatively fast.

Rich

Discussion starts to get interesting.

Actually, I've been thinking of reading the ROM of 790 with some procedure, then burn it byte-to-byte into an EEPROM, and then replace it in 780. Just wondering.

As to skymaps - thanks a lot, I'll check them out asap (not now though ).

So, if we're speaking of a soft - any ideas of english dictionary? And maybe some roadmaps of Eastern Europe, preferrably Poland (I know that MS Pocket Streets 2001 should work, but I haven't found any maps for Poland - any other ideas?).

And, of course - does anyone know a clone of Civilization (or some strategy game) working on HPC Pro/MIPS?

Anyway - thanks for all the answers

MDict is one of the dictionary options
http://www.hpcfactor.com/qlink/?linkID=88

To use PocketStreets properly you need the associated (by year) Autoroute version of the program, or Mappoint release. You can then sync maps from the host app to the H/PC.

The free maps are just demonstration ones.

Does anybody no where you can find a 790 upgrade rom chip like a url?

http://www.ebay.com


the best place, any other would be more of a needle in a hay stack.....