Searching a good cross-compiler for MS-DOS [HP 100LX]

b/PC, Mac & Vintage Computers publicado por u/DarkestEx August 29, 2016, 08:32:16 PM

Searching a good cross-compiler for MS-DOS [HP 100LX]

Hello together!
I just scored an HP 100LX on eBay which is a really awesome little retro machine

It has an Intel 80186 CPU running at 7.91 MHz, 1 MB RAM, 2 MB ROM and 10 MB Flash (expandable with PCMCIA 2.0 cards, e.g. CF cards).
The display is 640x200px in size and has 4 shades of gray. CGA graphics are supported.
It runs MSDOS 5.0 from it's ROM.

Now, I would like to program it (preferably from Linux - Fedora) but Windows would work too just fine.
Does anybody of you know a good cross-compiler to develop programs for it?

Last Edit: August 31, 2016, 01:21:48 AM by DJ Omnimaga

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u/Yuki August 29, 2016, 08:53:20 PM

Try DJGPP. Dunno if you can cross-compile things with it, but if you can't get it on your DOS machine guess you can always install it in DOSBox.

u/DarkestEx August 30, 2016, 05:44:21 PM

Quote from: Juju on August 29, 2016, 08:53:20 PM
Try DJGPP. Dunno if you can cross-compile things with it, but if you can't get it on your DOS machine guess you can always install it in DOSBox.

I found that too, but it wasn't too great IMO.

After some more searching I finally stumbled over Borland Turbo C++ which supports i186 CPUs and runs right on the device and in DOSBox.
It even comes with a nice IDE and a debugger

u/Dream of Omnimaga August 31, 2016, 01:16:01 AM

That looks like a neat machine. I saw a topic about this on Cemetech a while back and it seems like some TI community members occasionally become interested in that computer, so maybe other people here have one too? I am curious about its capabilities. Also I edited your topic title to specify it's for HP 100LX.

Last Edit: August 31, 2016, 01:22:21 AM by DJ Omnimaga

u/Yuki August 31, 2016, 01:20:39 AM

Ooh, nice you got Borland working on it. Maybe you can get Windows 3 working? And develop Windows 3 apps?

u/DarkestEx August 31, 2016, 11:04:01 AM

Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on August 31, 2016, 01:16:01 AM
That looks like a neat machine. I saw a topic about this on Cemetech a while back and it seems like some TI community members occasionally become interested in that computer, so maybe other people here have one too? I am curious about its capabilities. Also I edited your topic title to specify it's for HP 100LX.

Thanks

Quote from: Juju on August 31, 2016, 01:20:39 AM
Ooh, nice you got Borland working on it. Maybe you can get Windows 3 working? And develop Windows 3 apps?

I think I can

Somebody else apparently did get it working:

I bought an CF to PCMCIA adapter and hopefully I will be able to install Windows 3.0 to this card.

u/p2 August 31, 2016, 12:11:54 PM

Just realized the old PaintBrush would even be cool to use on such a device

*you can properly execute .bat file and stuff now? ^^

Last Edit: August 31, 2016, 12:15:00 PM by p2

u/DarkestEx August 31, 2016, 12:17:36 PM

Quote from: p2 on August 31, 2016, 12:11:54 PM
Just realized the old PaintBrush would even be cool to ue on such a device
*you can properly execute .bat file and stuff now? ^^

Oh yes, absolutely

The mouse is controllable using the Arrow keys and a driver, or by connecting a mouse to the serial port.

Btw, the device is of course still not here. I just bought it from eBay this Monday.
It is still on it's way from the US.

u/p2 August 31, 2016, 12:19:58 PM

was too lazy to read, thought it was yours

u/Dream of Omnimaga August 31, 2016, 06:24:54 PM

That screen looks amazing, but it must be weird to use Windows or Linux on such wide screen ratio. Is it like 3:1 or something?

u/DarkestEx August 31, 2016, 08:46:40 PM

Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on August 31, 2016, 06:24:54 PM
That screen looks amazing, but it must be weird to use Windows or Linux on such wide screen ratio. Is it like 3:1 or something?

I think so too

Well the resolution is 640x200px (aspect ratio 16:5). Using DOS with this aspect ratio is alright. It might be difficult for certain games though (e.g. Tetris XD).

Btw, my item is not even shipped yet:

Quote from: USPS
Shipping Label Created, USPS Awaiting Item

UPDATE:
It got now shipped

Quote from: USPS
Your item departed our SAN DIEGO, CA 92199 origin facility on August 31, 2016 at 7:55 pm. The item is currently in transit to the destination.

Last Edit: September 01, 2016, 11:16:52 AM by DarkestEx

u/gameblabla September 01, 2016, 05:33:36 PM

There's bcc available in Debian and Ubuntu but i could not compile anything with it.
There's also GCC 2.7.2.3 for 8086 here, but without long support...

But a compiler with working 16-bit output is OpenWatcom, i'm surprised no one talked about it.
It can compile Wolfenstein 3D on a 64-bit host, supports all you need including extended memory...
I never got the linux version to work though... you should either compile from source or use the Windows version.
I wish DJGPP had support for the 8086... but OpenWatcom is great.

u/DarkestEx September 01, 2016, 05:49:50 PM

Quote from: gameblabla on September 01, 2016, 05:33:36 PM
There's bcc available in Debian and Ubuntu but i could not compile anything with it.
There's also GCC 2.7.2.3 for 8086 here, but without long support...

But a compiler with working 16-bit output is OpenWatcom, i'm surprised no one talked about it.
It can compile Wolfenstein 3D on a 64-bit host, supports all you need including extended memory...
I never got the linux version to work though... you should either compile from source or use the Windows version.
I wish DJGPP had support for the 8086... but OpenWatcom is great.

Thanks a lot

Long support is not necessary for me.
Do they support i186 (80186)?

u/gameblabla September 01, 2016, 07:57:03 PM

Quote from: DarkestEx on September 01, 2016, 05:49:50 PM
Thanks a lot
Long support is not necessary for me.
Do they support i186 (80186)?

They all target the 8086 so it should work on a 80186 as well.
OpenWatcom can even optimise for 80186, if that's what you want.
Just use OpenWatcom, it still is supported and it even comes with an IDE.

u/Dream of Omnimaga September 02, 2016, 01:11:00 AM

Quote from: DarkestEx on August 31, 2016, 08:46:40 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on August 31, 2016, 06:24:54 PM
That screen looks amazing, but it must be weird to use Windows or Linux on such wide screen ratio. Is it like 3:1 or something?
I think so too
Well the resolution is 640x200px (aspect ratio 16:5). Using DOS with this aspect ratio is alright. It might be difficult for certain games though (e.g. Tetris XD).

Btw, my item is not even shipped yet:
Quote from: USPS
Shipping Label Created, USPS Awaiting Item

UPDATE:
It got now shipped
Quote from: USPS
Your item departed our SAN DIEGO, CA 92199 origin facility on August 31, 2016 at 7:55 pm. The item is currently in transit to the destination.

Hopefully it arrive in time. Also if that wasn't done already, since the screen is so wide it would be fun if you could make a basic calculator with the display looking similar to those cheap 10 digits basic calcs out there.