be300.org is dead :(

Yeah, the ViewSonic Airpanel 100. There was a 4.0 ROM for that in addition to the 4.1 one. Nothing special there either - it was just a barebones ROM for a Web tablet IIRC.

Thank you!! I appreciate answering my many questions.

Is there any BE-300 software that runs on the MobilePro 790? Maybe we could archive that for the SCL if it works without modification/screen resolution issues?

I'm sure some do, though I haven't tested them myself. Remember we have the files in the HPC:Factor Repository, so you can check them out at your own leisure. Some, however, require a special version of mfcce300.dll for the BE called mfcce300_ca.dll (with that modified name kept intact). I don't know whether that DLL will work on other MIPS devices.

A heads-up to my fellow BE players here: ionbladez is transferring hosting of the BAS, so the site will be down for a bit, and it's gonna take a little more time than anticipated because the old domain holder abruptly pulled the plug with little advance notice. But there's a little surprise in store once the transfer is complete, so stay tuned. Thanx to ionbladez for all his hard work on this.

Meanwhile, I've tried a battery upgrade discussed over there: there are batteries for Minolta digital cameras (part number NP-200) that fit the BE nicely once you remove their plastic covers. They have the same voltage but higher capacity (1.3 Ah, compared to the 750-800 mAh of the stock and aftermarket BE-300/500 batteries), and they're cheaper: I've picked up a couple packs of four for 16 USD per pack of four.

What has me stumped, though, is that some of the devices in which I've installed them seem to revert to the same discharge time as the old Casio batteries they replaced after a few cycles, a couple running down in 24 hours in suspend mode. The new batteries have their own boards regulating charge, but this makes me wonder whether there is some software control over the discharge cycle coming from the device. Swapping batteries with another device with a longer-lasting used battery doesn't change the discharge time between the two, thus the same effect.

One other success for me, though: I was recently able to load a fully properly-working version of Bee 2.0 in landscape, on the BE-500 using the previously-mentioned display rotation utility DispChg, with the touchscreen working properly and even a fully-functional BeeBar that adapted properly to the 320-pixel width. (See image below.) I'm not sure how I did it, though.

Now if we can just figure out how to get DispChg to work on the BE-300 (so far only works on the BE-500, as previously reported).





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That landscape view looks fantastic ! That device still really intrigues me!

Great work on that + transfer

Hello everybody,

I have just bought my first BE-300 on a local flea market and it is using eXpod firmware. Is this the best firmware for this device? Or should I go back to the original one? Is it even possible to do without the USB cradle? Or do I need to make a cable? I can if I have to but it is a lot of work to find the pinout. Does someone even know what the pinout of the USB cradle is? Can I install original Casio apps/games without the original firmware on my device? I used to develop for WM5/6 a lot, but never had any Casio devices before.
Thank you for the help in advance.

Andrew

Edited by silencer82 2023-07-06 9:41 AM

Which operating environment is best for you is a matter of taste. I like the OEs based on the core CE shell (eXpod, Bee, and even the older EpodXP) just because they give that desktop Windows feel that CE diehards like me love. But there are other reasons to prefer eXpod: it's faster and simpler to use. A lot of people like BeShell because it gives the BE a Pocket PC feel, but it has a few issues that were never solved before Dic abandoned the project. These show up as soon as you finish booting up, because they make the Today layouts (both Dic's own simplified version and his adaptation of Tcharts Today) have problems properly displaying upcoming appointment data drawn from Casio Contacts.

BeShell is also memory-intensive (Bee is also a bit more of a memory hog than eXpod because of the additional resources and graphics incorporated into the shell), and it's taken a toll on the BAS version, which is very unstable and often won't complete the boot process, requiring restoring the OE from a backup. At least that's been my experience. Pretty much everyone agrees, though, that anything else is better than the Casio native Top Menu shell.

Just one user's perspective though. In any event, we're hoping to resume this debate on the BE-300 Advancement Society site soon. Our friend ionbladez (known on the BAS as beshellx) is working hard on this as we speak.