Handheld HP2000 on NEC 900c

Dear All,

I have been using an NEC Mobilepro 790 for sometime now and am very happy with its operation, after being a Psion user for many years. I also have a Jornada 720, which is also good to use, but unfortunately the screen must be on its way out as it’s brightness and resolution is nowhere near the quality of the MP790.

Recently, I have bought a Mobilepro 900c, which boasts a new, more powerful processor. But this of coarse runs, the CE net 4.2 operating system. My Jornada and MP790 both run Handheld HP 2000 and I would very much like to run the 900c with the same operating system. Is there an easy way of doing this?

Many thanks for any help

HK

It's in H/PC:Update...

Hi there C:AMlE,

Many thanks for the swift response

I'm afraid you've exposed me as being an HPC:factor virgin. Could you elaborate for me. What do you actually mean by "It's in H/PC:Update..."

Many thanks,

HK

Click on "Support & Tutorials" near the top of this page, and then look for "H/PC:Update" just below and to the left of it on the next page that appears. Click on that, and follow the instructions on the next page that appears. You'll eventually see a list of downloads, including ROM images. Click on the ROM images link, and you'll find what you need there.

Hi CE Geek,

Many thanks for the info.

I have been looking at a few threads where 900c users have had problems when their machine has died after the upgrade though. Is this method entirely safe?

HK

The only problem I've ever seen with the upgrade flash is when people tried to use the C+F method and failed to upgrade the bootloader first. That should never have happened, but you know how people are...they will often do things without reading the warnings or instructions first.

The downgrade rom flash to HPC2000 is absolutely painless if you follow the instructions...and I've never seen one fail yet. I personally have flashed well over 200 Mobilepro 900 series handhelds and have never had a failure....

Thank you for your guidance Rich.

The details I have currently from H/PC upgrade (HPC2000 ROM Image P530 v6.0) suggests using the C+F method. Is there a safer, more reliable alternative method you can recommend?

Many thanks

HK

What is your bootloader revision?
http://www.hpcfactor.com/support/cesd/h/0041.asp

Hi C:AMIE

My NEC Mobilepro 900 is as follows; -

Firmware version: P530_42 1.8.5

Build date: May 6 2004

PIC Firmware: ID4.19.7

Bootloader version: 4.5.1-6

Thanks again

HK

Edited by Hirem.K 2009-12-29 9:35 AM

You need to do as the H/PC:Update readme and Rich have said and update the bootloader before you do anything.

Hi C:AMIE,

Please forgive me if I am coming across a bit dense as I probably am.

The details I have currently from H/PC upgrade (HPC2000 ROM Image P530 v6.0) strongly recommends that one should only attempt the operation if the device in question is equipped with Bootloader version 4.10 or higher. Err – mine’s 4.5.1-6. Shouldn’t this be OK?

Once more, I am concerned what Rich said about using this "C+F" method (also suggested by HPC2000 ROM Image P530 v6.0). Is there another method of performing the transition from CE.net to HPC2000?

Many thanks for you help with this.

HK

No. Don't think of the numbers after the 4 as decimals. In this case 4.10 is higher than 4.5 because 10 is higher than 5.

4.5.1-6 is a very unstable bootloader, whereas 4.10 is very stable.

Read it as 4.10.0 not 4.1.0.

Once you have the 4.10 bootloader installed it doesn't matter if the OS flash screws up, you just reboot and try again. It is only a problem if the boot loader install goes wrong.

Run the latest modem update, then get the bootloader on it and then worry about the OS, it's secondary.

Aha - Brilliant

Many thanks chaps.

HK