With developer jhhoward's products
(
https://github.com/jhhoward/MicroWeb ) and C:Amie’s software modifications, users of the 110LX/200LX at last have a working browser available.
This How-To explores the setup of an ethernet-to-wifi serial adapter and the use
(along with its occasional drawbacks
) of the MicroWeb browser for DOS.
NECESSARY HARDWARE/SOFTWARE:
1
) HP serial cable
(null modem adapter not needed
)
2
) ESP8266 ethernet-to-wifi serial adapter such as this:
https://www.tindie.com/products/theoldnet/rs232-serial-wifi-modem-fo...
3
) firmware and internet software:
https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token...
4
) C:Amie’s modified MicroWeb browser
(this will replace microweb.exe in Step 3's zipped directory
):
https://github.com/HPC-Factor/MicroWeb/releases/
5
) Overview of the adapter’s setup:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S35-jFSMEf8 and its actual wifi setup:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pruyb2enrU&t=0s
SETUP:
The firmware downloaded in Step 3 must be flashed. A desktop Windows flasher is in the zipped package and one simply links the adapter to the desktop with a micro USB cable, starts the flasher and flashes the included theoldnet_serial_wifi_ethernet.bin file.
The firmware’s default 115K baud setting can be employed. In other serial port setups, the Palmtop often must be dumbed down to lower baud numbers, but I have not found 115K to be problematic.
DNS resolution issues have not yet been resolved, so a proxy is necessary. For hit-or-miss https browsing, AnalogX
(
http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/Network/proxy/Freeware.htm ) can be effective, but more sites can be browsed by converting https sites to http via Retro-Proxy, whose setup can be found here:
https://www.hpcfactor.com/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=20403&po...
Our indefatigable joval has also found proxy victory with WRP, and while I am not versed in that program, it is well worth exploring.
One can set the proxy manually at c:\ prompt or add the line to the start.bat:
set http_proxy=your-wifi-ip:3000 (for Retro-Proxy)
set http_proxy=your-wifi-ip:6588 (for AnalogX)
After successful pinging
(explained in the videos listed above
), browsing is next. jhhoward’s original MicroWeb is incredible work. Stable, lightweight, it’s a browser I use on my DOS machines with great, even astonished pleasure. MicroWeb renders sites as text but without the starkness of lynx. The pages are more attractively displayed and easier to navigate.
However, MicroWeb’s default fonts are far too small for the 200LX screen and they cannot be adjusted. Nonetheless, C:Amie, who doesn’t even own a Palmtop, was able to hardcode larger, bold-ed fonts for the MicroWeb, and the result is an easy-to-read web page despite the diminutive Palmtop screen.
MicroWeb’s parameter to utilize the Palmtop’s CGA graphics is now hardcoded as well.
–i
which reverses the LCD to black on white, is still needed for convenience, or a user can push the On button and the forward slash to produce the same turnaround.
CAVEATS:
1
) The ESP8266 needs powering but at the same time needs very little. One can run the ESP with a micro USB cable connected to the desktop, but for mobility, a power bank is obviously necessary. The rub: most power banks will simply shut off after a brief connection to ESP8266, believing the ESP to be a device fully charged.
– this power bank has a small form factor and will provide uninterrupted power to the ESP.
2
) Hard crashes on the Palmtop. Before you set up MicroWeb, back up your Palmtop c:\ drive. Often, heavy sites such as bbc.com or washingtonpost.com will crash the Palmtop, forcing a hard reset. Lighter sites - csmonitor.com/layout/set/text/textedition, lite.cnn.com, lite.poandpo.com - will render without crash. frogfind.com is the best workaround. Accessing bbc.com, for example, via frogfind will stay crash-free in all cases tested. Surfing with MicroWeb is more an exercise in finding/testing your favorite sites rather than bouncing around the web.
CONCLUSION:
I hate to gush but I cannot stress enough the success of this modified browser. On my 200LX, I have worked with Arachne, lynx, anything else I could find, but only with poor outcomes. Remarkably swift at 115K, stable if sites are hand-picked, this wifi/browser setup is the real thing for the Palmtop.
Thank you, thank you, jhhoward and C:Amie.