Using WinCE without Windows

As I don't have Window 95/98/NT on any of my directly accessible machines, and while the LinuxCE is progressing, it will be sometime before it will be possible to use Linux exclusively on my Casio E-105, I needed to find a way to use my new toy from a Unix (FreeBSD and Linux) based world.

• Communicating with Unix
• Finding something to communicate
• Running/Installing programs

Communicating with Unix

Using the CompactFlash

The easiest way to get data to the machine is using a CompactFlash card. This can be plugged into a PCMCIA interface card and then plugged into a laptop. This should work without any real problems. But for me it doesn't, I am running FreeBSD 3.1 on my Dell Inspiron 3500 laptop with the PAO patches. Although my ethernet card (D-Link DE-630) and modem card (Psion Gold) work without problem, my machine hangs if I put in my viking CF to PCMCIA adaptor. However I have an IBM PC110 palmtop also running FreeBSD and it has a CompactFlash slot which works, thus I can write the CompactFlash there, downloading files through its PLIP interface from my main machines.

But before I did that, I first plugged the CompactFlash into the E-105, as I knew someone needs to format it, Its unclear if it is preformated to the E-105 does this but after doing that (and doing a backup on the E-105 to the Storage Card) I mounted on my PC110 with

mount -t msdos /dev/wd2a /mnt

I now have FTP working, which is convenient for smaller files, but I did have to get the CompactFlash route working as although you can get a TCP/IP connection working with the pre-installed software, I've not found a method to transfer files without installing an external package.

Using the serial line for PPP or SLIP

This method is based on the Linux to WinCE notes I found on the web. This is the basic route for FreeBSD and SLIP, though the techniques are applicable for PPP too.

• On the FreeBSD end:
  • See the FreeBSD handbook for the proper story.
  • In /etc/ttys enable a getty on the serial port you are going to use (in my case its the first port). There will be a line like

    ttyd0     "/usr/libexec/getty std.9600"  dialup off secure
    

    Change it to

    ttyd0     "/usr/libexec/getty std.115200"  dialup on secure
    

    Start the getty by, make sure you type this correctly

    kill -HUP 1
    

    If you type the above wrongly it could kill INIT which will drop you to single user shell and you'll effectively need to reboot.
  • Add a new user (for your E-105). My E-105 is called muse thus I added a user in /etc/passwd using the command vipw (though you can use whatever program to add a new user as you wish).

    muse::111:100:Casio E-105:/home/awb:/usr/sbin/sliplogin
    

    The home directory is set to my own (though its a different uid) for convenience. Add a passwd to this account with

    passwd muse
    

  • Next ensure you have SLIP devices compiled into your kernel you can do this with

    /sbin/ifconfig -a
    

    This should list all your IP capable devices sl0 and sl1 are SLIP devices. If you do not have these you'll need to build a new kernel.
  • Set up slip files in /etc/sliphome/ (I had to create this). Create a file /etc/sliphome/slip.hosts with

    muse    mule-alter   muse-alter   0xfffffc00   autocomp
    

    The first field is the username you just added, the second is the host alias (in /etc/hosts) identifying the IP number to use for the server end (the FreeBSD machine) and the second is the host alias for the E-105 itself. I have a home network on 192.168.1.x and PLIP/SLIP/PP devices hang off machines on that net on 192.168.2.x. The 192.168.x.x IP numbers are reserved for those network not routed on the internet proper. The server end IP should not be the one you use for the ethernet device on that machine. I have

    mule-alter   192.168.2.5
    muse-alter   192.168.2.7
    

    Thus my server machine is .5 and the E-105 is .7
  • Create the file /etc/sliphome/slip.login containing

    #!/bin/sh
    /sbin/ifconfig sl$1 down
    /sbin/ifconfig sl$1 inet $4 $5 netmask $6
    exit 0
    

    I added the ifconfig down command as I was having problems, the exit 0 command I've found is necessary even though this isn't in the FreeBSD documentation, without it the SLIP login sessions exits immediately. This seems to be because ifconfig is returning a non-zero exit code.

    Also create the file /etc/sliphome/slip.logout containing

    #!/bin/sh
    /sbin/ifconfig sl$1 down
    exit 0
    

    Ensure both of these scripts are executable

    chmod +x slip.logout slip.login
    

• On the WinCE end:
  • First disable direct connections to the desk-top computer on the WinCE machine Start-Settings-Communciation click on PC Connection. It took me a while to note this, when this is enabled the E-105 tries, without success, to attach (not through SLIP) to the desktop PC when you attach the serial line.
  • Use Start-Programs-Communication-Connections to create a new connection Connect-New or double-click Make New Connection
  • Give it a name, and select Dialup Connection. Select Hayes compatible on COM1:. Click on Configure. On Port Settings, set the baud rate to 115200, and select Use terminal window before dialing, Use terminal after dialing and Manual dial (only manual dial seems necessary). On Call Options unselect the two options Cancel the call .. and Wait for dial tone .... And leave the Extra dial-string ... field blank. Click on OK.

    Then click on TCP/IP Settings. Deselect Use server-assigned IP address and enter 192.168.2.7 (the number assigned to the alias named in field 3 of /etc/sliphome/slip.hosts, i.e. in my case the number I assigned to muse-alter). Then select the other three options, Use Slip, Use software compression, and Use IP header compression. For the time being on the Name Servers form I left the field Use server-assigned address selected. If you are only going to use point-to-point (i.e. just talk to that one server machine) this isn't going to be used. With General and Name Servers completed, click OK.

    Click NEXT. I filled in my country code (1) and area code (412), and Phone number, 1, yes, just the single digit 1. I selected Force Local. These aren't actually going to be used. I then clicked Finish

• Connecting the devices:
  • Connect the serial line to the desktop port, and put the E-105 in the cradle.
  • Select your newly made connection from the Connections program or through the start menu. This will bring up a form asking for username and passwd. Type in the Unix name and passwd (although these aren't actually used). Then click Connect
  • This should display a terminal with a Unix login prompt. Now type in the username and passwd by hand. This should login to the Unix machine and then say something like assigned IP 192.168.2.7. Then click OK on the top right of the E-105. It should then say connection has been made.
  • From the Unix box you should be able to ping the E-105

    /sbin/ping 192.168.2.7
    

Finding something to communicate

A few things come as .exe files which are in fact directly executable under WinCE, if the site differentiates between MIPS and SH and gives you different .exe then that's probably ok. .CAB files are also good as they contain a self-extracting archive that can be run directly on the WinCE device.

• Basic untilities:
  • The best site is Cocos Development Ltd. It releases their programs for free (no cost, but no source) in .zip files containing .cab files which can be installed without using Windows. Importantly they have CCExplorer a file manager and run program; and CCTransfer an FTP program. They also have CCBrowse a web browser; CCZip a zip/unzip package, useful when using ftp; a CCRegEdit a registry editor and they are about to release CCNetTools containing various net programs, ping, telnet, nslookup etc.

    But Cocos has closed down and stopped distributing their existing execellent code. I am pleased they have joined the Unix community (they say they will be working on Mobile Linux after the Transmeta anouncement). However I am surprised they've stopped distributing their existing code, you may be able to find it on other servers, I'm pleased I donwloaded everything when I could.

  • Currently, for basic network utiltites (ping, nslookup, etc) I used Cambridge Computer Corp's VxUtils.
  • As there are much better ftp clients under Unix than WinCE, running an ftserver on the Casio is a good idea. Thanks to Mordy Ovits, for pointing out that ftpsrv.exe although written for handheld PCs works fine on the Casio. It is available http://pda.tucows.com/wince/ftp.htm and originates from http://www.oohito.com/, at http://www.oohito.com/wince/mips_o_j.htm. There may be other interesting things there too (often includes sources). Note when started it doesn't appear in the task list, though an icon appears on the task bar. To exit double tap the icon and then press the stylus on the border of the window and move it to the left. The exit button is actually off to the right. Also remenber WinCE is windows and explicitly select binary mode when transfering.
  • I actually use TExplorer as my explorer available from http://www2r.biglobe.ne.jp/~tascal/ (click on the English page if you don't read Japanese), mainly because I found it first, but I still prefer to CCExplorer.
  • I also use TascalTaskMan which allows you to switch between tasks, select and kill them also available from http://www2r.biglobe.ne.jp/~tascal/. Most of the built-in WinCE programs don't have an explicit exit button, there is a way to switch and kill tasks but its buried inside the program menu, this TaskMan is much better.
• Programming:
  • To be filled in
• Other software:
  • An mpeg video (with audio) player is available for free from http://www.mpegtv.com called PocketTV. It comes as a .exe file but it runs directly on the E-105 without any special unpacking. I also got a "free" CD from Casio that contains the Mobile Video Player, I'm sure it requires Windows to install (I've not actually openeed it), and it uses some proprietary format for which convertors only work on Windows so PocketTV is a much better options for many reasons.
  • For playing MP3s there appear to be three basic options, but actually only one. There is a free MP3 called X-audio, at least older versions are free, but its distributed as a Windows .exe so isn't an option. There are two MP3 players available for money.

    PalmPlayer ($14.95) is available from http://www.conduits.com/ce/. They have a zip file on their web page. Most other places I've seen it it only comes as a .exe file so its worth looking around.

    The second is HUM MP3 Player ($19.95) available from http://www.utopiasoft.com/ though is also available through http://www.mpegtv.com. This comes as a zip file.

    In both cases you can get the program and play with it before deciding then register (and pay) on-line for a registration key. I bought HUM though may have went for PalmPlayer if I'd found it in the right format sooner.

  • One of the things I did on on my older handheld was demo my work through web pages displayed with a locally running Netscape. I'd like to do the same here. IBrowser from Foliage is free but only available as a Windows .exe so is not a contender. CCBrowse from Cocos is free and is almost good enough. Two things missing from it that I'd like, it doesn't play audio files (I need that) and it doesn't allow you to browse the local file systems (though you can browse local html files). I also looked at Pocket Browser from Conduits (sometimes called PalmBrowser). It costs $19.95. It does support audio and file system browsing. I bought this.
  • I want to port my speech synthesizer Festival (though under Unix rather than WinCE) but I note that Elan Informatique already release a text-to-speech synthesis system for WinCE. A demo version is available from http://www.elantts.com/ it comes as a Windows .exe but I might actually find a method to unpack this. Their (UK English) system has a history going back to my former employer CSTR and I used to work beside Gordon whose voice is used. Of course Festival will be smaller faster, better, free and most improtantly not come as a Windows executable.
• Games:
  • Doom of course it the game you should get, irrespective if you actually play it, it is a good demo. There seems to be multiple ports of Doom out thtere, some with sound some without. I got mine from http://www.eskimo.com/~hayes/doomce.html. It comes as a .exe that is directly executable on the E-105. Note you also need a .wad file (available in variable places, including http://pda.tucows.com/wince/action.htm)
  • I also got various games from http://pda.tucows.com/wince/, including Space Invaders, and MahJong solitaires (ShangHai and SiChuan) and Connect 4. Given the restriction of free, non-windows .exe files, and palm sized PC, it cuts it down a little on the number available. I'd also like to give a special mention to Tascal's Daughter in a box a sliding blocks puzzle. I played it in Trilobyte's 7th Guest (with furniture). I can't seem to do it in less than 93 moves.

Running/Installing Programs

There isn't a shell under WinCE, nor at first glance does there appear to be any way to run programs other than those already installed under WinCE. Once you have an explorer type program installed then this problem goes away but you have to instll one first. Manipulation of the internal file system may be possible from Windows but it didn't look good at first.

There are in fact two method that work

The first is from Brad LaRonde's Linux booting page though there is an important typo there that made me find the second one.

1. Pull up the on-screen keyboard.
2. Click Start twice (the Start menu appears then goes away). Don't double-click it - just click it once, let it open, then click it again and let it close.
3. Type run23 on the on-screen keyboard.
4. A run dialog box will appear, you can type in full path names. The CF card is called Storage Card so if you put your program mumble.exe in root on the CF card you would enter

   \Storage Card\mumble.exe
   

This technique does not work for .cab files. WinCE happily tells you to double-click such files even when there is no way to get to a position to double click them. The second method however does work.

The second method is using the Menu programs.

1. Bring up the Menu program, Start - Programs - Menu
2. Select Define
3. Select a blank square and then from the top menu Edit-New
4. Select application
5. Select browse
6. Double-click on the first item in the list, in my case that's aaview.lnk. This inserts \windows\aaview.lnk in the dialog box.
7. Using the keyboard change the entry to be \Storage Card\whatever.cab
8. Exit from the define menu, until you get back to the blue screen mode.
9. Click on the new menu option