Der Prozessor VADEM VG230
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10.08.07 - Der folgende Text stammt von AlexZOP (Stand 02.2004).
Leicht überarbeitet - Bernd 10.08.07

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Der Prozessor VADEM VG230 - verbaut u.a. im LW-750ic u. im OmniGo 100/110

Die Überraschung war bei mir perfekt, als ich nachlesen konnte, dass im "Brother LW-750ic" der gleiche Prozessor, wie im "HP OmniGo100/120" seinen Dienst verrichtet. Hat irgend jemand das System des Omnigo schon "klauen" können? Wenn nicht, vielleicht haben wir nun Teile davon vom LW-750ic. Wäre doch spannend, nachzuforschen ob diese Vermutung zutreffen könnte. Vielleicht ist das "LW-750ic" ja ein dicker Omnigo mit Tastatur und Drucker?

Es handelt sich jedenfalls um den Prozessor "Vadem VG230" 16Mhz (Hi Johannes, deswegen ist das LW-750ic auch so "arschlangsam", eben genauso wie der Omnigo100)

Das coole ist jetzt, das dieser Prozessor nach wie vor hergestellt wird! (Stand 02/2004) Vertrieb und Support kommt von "Amphus": Amphus, Inc. 1960 Zanker Road
San Jose, CA 95112
Phone: 408-467-2100
Fax: 408-467-2198
Customer Support: support@amphus.com
General Info: info@amphus.com
408-467-2100

Bei Amphus Inc. handelt es sich um einen Vadem Spin-Off, der seit Januar 2000 im Markt und für die Produktpalette von Vadem tätig ist. Zu deren Dienstleistungen gehört u.a. die technische Unterstützung beim Design-in und/ oder Problemlösungen bei Vadem Produkten.

Das genialste ist aber, dass Amphus einen europäischen Distributeur bei München hat, (auch in Österreich):

eCOUNT Electronic GmbH
Stadlerstraße 17
D-85540 Haar
Telefon: +49-(0)89-45 45 71-0
Telefax: +49-(0)89-45 45 71-11

eCOUNT Consulting GmbH
Ludwig-Höflergasse 2
A-2340 Mödling
Telefon: +43-(0)2236-89 36 13-0
Telefax: +43-(0)2236-89 36 13-13

http://www.ecount-electronic.com

http://www.ecount-electronic.com/index.php?ip=26

E-Mail: info@ecount-electronic.com

eCOUNT GmbH ist seit 01.10.2003 europäischer Repräsentant von Vadem/ Amphus. Die Zielgruppe der Vadem Chips sind Produktapplikationen auf dem Gebiet der "mobile and embedded information appliances". Wir bieten zusammen mit Amphus Inc. Vadem Chip Produkte an und unterstützen Vadem Anwender bei den Produkttypen

VG-230 und VG-469.

Bei ecount und Amphus finden wir hervorragende Informationen zum VADEM VG230 und VG469:

Infos zum Vadem VG-230 System-On-a-Chip:

http://www.ecount-electronic.com/index.php?ip=26

Der VG230 ist ein System-on-chip System. Es unterstützt OEMs mittels einer hoch effizienten batteriebasierenden Plattform bei der Entwicklung von kostengünstigen, DOS oder Linux basierenden elektronischen Produkten. Bei dem Chip handelt es sich um eine komplett integrierte elektronische Komponente, die eine CPU und viele XT periphere Standardfunktionen beinhaltet.

http://www.amphus.com/chips/singlechip/230_01.html

The VG-230 is a single-chip PC platform which provides OEMs with a highly battery-efficient platform to develop cost sensitive, DOS-based or Linux-based, handheld electronic products. The chip contains a CPU, all standard XT peripherals, additional high-value peripherals and an ISA bus. Its integrated video architecture offers very fast video performance - up to 9x 386SX systems of the same clock rate. Extensive and proven power management is also standard.

The VG-230's CPU is the 8086-compatible 16 MHz NEC V30HL processor. The chip embodies a standard XT architecture combined with hardware and software features for rapid design of products with extensive ROM-based software. PCMCIA 2.1 (JEIDA 4.1) PC Card mass storage and miniature peripherals (I/O cards) are also supported. The VG230 single-chip PC platform is a single 160-pin CMOS chip supporting all PC functions including 16-bit CPU, XT core logic, LCD controller, keyboard scanner and PC Card controller. All that is required for a basic system is the VG-230, memory, power supply, display and associated packaging.

Briefs/Manuals

Diese PDF Infos sind ein sensationeller Fund für HP XL&Omnigo, LW750ic und GEOS-Freaks, Programmierer und Hardware Bastler, die tiefer in die Materie gehen wollen:

VG-230 Product Brief (PDF format | 17KB)
http://www.amphus.com/chips/pdf/230pb.pdf

VG-230 Data Manual (PDF Format | 830KB)
http://www.amphus.com/chips/pdf/230dm.pdf

VG-230 Firmware Product Brief (PDF Format | 18KB)
http://www.amphus.com/chips/pdf/230bios.pdf

VG-230 Prototype Board Product Brief (PDF Format | 72KB) Schaut euch das an! Whouw! Damit könnte man einen OmniGo oder GW-750ic Nachfolger Prototype "aufbauen". Dieses Board Hätte ich gerne, da könnte man richtig mit GEOS experimentieren.
http://www.amphus.com/chips/pdf/230pro.pdf

Ausserdem finden wir bei ecount und Amphus umfassende Infos zum Vadem PCMCIA

ControllerChip "VG-469". Dies dürfte vorallem für OmniGo Freaks von Bedeutung sein, denn dort könnte dieser Chip eingebaut sein. Auf der "Bother LW-750ic" Platine habe ich den VG-469 Chip nicht entdeckt, womit die 2 PCMCIA Lötplätze auf dem LW-Board wohl nicht genutzt werden können, aber dies abschliessend zu beurteilen, möchte ich lieber den Profis überlassen.

Infos zum PCMCIA Controller Vadem VG-469:
www.ecount-electronic.com/index.php?ip=26

Der VG469 PCMCIA Controller ist der am weitesten verbreitete PC Card Socker Controller. Er ist kompatibel zu allen PC Card/ ExCA Standards.
www.amphus.com/chips/singlechip/469_01.html

VG-469 PCMCIA Controller
The VG-469 PCMCIA Controller is the most widely used PC Card socket controller that is fully compliant with PC Card/ExCA standard. It is both register compatible with the Intel B-step 82365SL, supports plug-and-play and provides a simple and low cost solution for interfacing PC Cards to ISA bus systems. PC applications include PCMCIA card readers for desktop computers and docking systems for portable computers. The VG-469 is also a perfect fit for embedded applications such as industrial control systems and information appliances.

Briefs/Manuals

VG-469 Product Brief (PDF Format | 17KB)
www.amphus.com/chips/pdf/469pb.pdf

VG-469 Data Manual (PDF Format | 350KB)
www.amphus.com/chips/pdf/469dm.pdf

VG-469 Evaluation Board Product Brief (PDF Format | 13KB)
www.amphus.com/chips/pdf/469eval.pdf

Strapping Options
Strapping Option Configuration Table (PDF Format | 22KB)
www.amphus.com/chips/pdf/VG-469%20SOCT.pdf

Reference Designs
VG-468 to VG-469 Design Conversion (PDF Format | 76KB)
www.amphus.com/chips/pdf/VG-469%20REF_1.pdf

Notebook Implementation, External VS, DMA, no PnP (PDF Format | 59KB)
www.amphus.com/chips/pdf/VG-469%20REF_2.pdf

Notebook Implementation, Mixed Voltage, External VS, DMA, PnP (PDF Format | 63KB)
www.amphus.com/chips/pdf/VG-469%20REF_8.pdf

Drive Bay Implementation, One Slot Local, One Slot Remote, 5V Only (PDF Format | 107KB)
www.amphus.com/chips/pdf/VG-469%20REF_3.pdf

Drive Bay Implementation, Two Slots Local, 5V Only, External VS, PnP, no DMA (PDF Format | 100KB)
www.amphus.com/chips/pdf/VG-469%20REF_4.pdf

Drive Bay Implementation, One Slot Local, One Slot Remote, 5V Only, External VS, DMA, no PnP (PDF Format | 105KB)
www.amphus.com/chips/pdf/VG-469%20REF_5.pdf

Desktop Implementation, Interval VS, no DMA, no PnP (PDF Format | 57KB)
www.amphus.com/chips/pdf/VG-469%20REF_6.pdf

Desktop Implementation, External VS, DMA, no PnP (PDF Format | 58KB)
www.amphus.com/chips/pdf/VG-469%20REF_7.pdf PnP Utility Program VG-469PNP (ZIP | 15KB)
www.amphus.com/chips/pdf/VG-469PNP.ZIP

FAQs

VG-469 PCMCIA FAQs
www.amphus.com/chips/singlechip/95faq1_mkt.html

AMPHUS' PC-CARD SOCKET CONTROLLERS IN MICROSOFT WINDOWS 95 ENVIRONMENT FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q 1: Does Windows 95 supports Amphus' PC-Card socket controllers or do I need other drivers?

A: You don't need any other driver for Amphus PC-Card socket controllers since they are all supported by Windows 95.

Q 2: My desktop computer has an ISA add-on board that is implemented with Amphus PC Card socket controller VG-365 (or VG-465, VG-468). How do I set it up to work with Windows 95?

A: Click on Start, Settings, Control Panel, then double click on Add New Hardware icon. When "Add New Hardware Wizard" window pops up, click on Next, then select No (since you don't want Windows 95 to search the new hardware) and Next. Scroll down the window and double click on PCMCIA Socket entry. Select Amphus as the manufacturer and Amphus PCIC Compatible PCMCIA Controller as the model name, then click on Next. Your system should load the necessary drivers for the Amphus chip.

If you want Windows 95 to automatically search for your new hardware, then you should select Yes when asked for this information. This step will take a few minutes and then Windows 95 will report that "Amphus PCIC Compatible PCMCIA Controller" is detected. Please follow the instruction for loading the necessary driver.

To verify if Windows 95 recognizes your PC-Card socket controller, please follow the above description. If your system still doesn't recognize the PCMCIA port after all the above procedure, then you may have to re-install Windows 95 from scratch. DON'T FORGET TO BACKUP ALL YOUR FILES FIRST!

Q 3: My desktop computer has ISA add-on board that is implemented with Amphus PC Card socket controller VG-469. How do I set it up to work with Windows 95?

A: The VG-469 supports both Plug and Play and Non-PnP modes.

If your add-on board is designed with Plug and Play feature, your system would automatically detect and initialize the VG-469 socket controller. If your add-on board does not support Plug and Play mode, you have to manually configure the controller as described in question (2) above. Please check with your board manufacturer about the configuration (PnP or non PnP).

To verify if Windows 95 recognizes the PC-Card socket controller, please do the following:

Right click on My Computer icon, then left click on Properties line. When "System Properties" window pops up, click on the Device Manager tab, then double click on PCMCIA Socket line. You should see "Amphus PCIC compatible PCMCIA controller" or "Amphus PCIC compatible Plug-and-Play PCMCIA controller" or "PCIC compatible PCMCIA controller"; This means the Amphus socket controller has been initialized and enabled properly.

When the "System Properties" window pops up and you don't see the "PCMCIA Socket" entry or an entry with a yellow exclamation (!), you know that Windows 95 didn't configure the socket controller correctly.

Q 4: How do I set up the Amphus PC-Card socket controller in my laptop computer (or desktop computer with built-in PC-Card port) to work with Windows 95?

A: Please refer to questions (2) and (3) above.

Q 5: Why doesn't my Ethernet PCMCIA card (or other PCMCIA card) work with my system even though I did verify that Windows 95 has initialized and enabled my computer's socket controller?

A: Each time you insert the PCMCIA card into the socket, Windows NT loads the card-service driver and configures the card accordingly. If your system doesn't execute this step properly, you will not be able to use the PCMCIA cards. In this case, please contact your card manufacturer to verify that your card is compatible with Windows NT and if there is any specific card-service driver or card-enabler that needs to be loaded with the card.

By default, you should hear a double beep tone when the card is inserted and configured properly. You should also see a small PCMCIA icon in the right hand side corner of the task bar.

Note that Windows 95 supports PnP and hot-swapping feature, therefore, you don't have to reboot the system every time you insert or remove the PC card.

To check the status of the installed PCMCIA cards, click on Start, Settings, Control Panel, then double click on PC Card icon. Or, for a short cut, you can also double click on the small PCMCIA icon in the task bar. This will bring up the "PC Card Properties" window which shows the operational condition of the inserted card.

Q 6: When I insert a SRAM or FLASH memory cards into my computer that has been configured to use protected mode PCMCIA card drivers, why isn't there a driver letter for the cards in Windows Explorer or My Computer?

A: First, make sure that the system properly recognizes the cards and appropriate drivers are installed, then proceed with the following steps:

For SRAM cards, you must include the following two entries in the CONFIG.SYS file:

device = c:\\\\system\\csmapper.sys

device = c:\\\\system\\carddrv.exe /slot =

Where is the Windows 95 folder and indicates the number of PCMCIA card slots in the computer.

For FLASH cards, you must include the following two entries in the CONFIG.SYS file:

device = c:\\\\system\\csmapper.sys

device = c:\\\\system\\carddrv.exe /slot =

device = c:\\\\ms-flash.sys

Where ms-flash.sys is provided by the flash card manufacturer.

Note that you still need to partition and format the cards according to the card manufacturers' instruction because the above information is only for installing the SRAM and FLASH card in Windows 95.

White Papers

A Superior PC Card Socket Controller for Desktop Systems (White paper)
www.amphus.com/chips/singlechip/pcmciawp.html

VG-469 PCMCIA

A Amphus White Paper: A Superior PC Card Socket Controller for Desktop Systems

Document No. WP-000038-01

Information furnished by Amphus is believed to be accurate and reliable. However, no responsibility is assumed by Amphus for its use; nor for any infringements of patents or other rights of third parties which may result from its use. No license is granted by implication or otherwise under any patent or patent rights of Amphus. Amphus reserves the right to change specifications at any time without notice.

Trademarks mentioned herein belong to their respective companies.

Medical Disclaimer

Amphus\302\222s products are not authorized for use in life support devices or systems or in any medical applications and cannot be used in such applications without the written consent of the President of Amphus.

Introduction
Personal computers have revolutionized the way people work. Today, PCs are used in a wide range of settings and have become a primary business tool. With these innovations, however, have come new industry challenges. Configuring PC hardware and operating systems to work with different peripheral devices can be a significant problem. Changing the hardware configuration of a machine is a task few end-users attempt, and even trained technicians can find configuration to be difficult, time-consuming, and frustrating.

A broad base of companies within the computer industry, however, is addressing these problems with a technology known as plug-and-play (PnP), which gives consumers the ability to add or remove hardware in PC systems without worrying about switch settings or hardware conflicts. This technology was originally designed for the PC Card industry but has since effectively migrated to the desktop platform. Most of the PC add-on cards now come with the PnP feature, and naturally, the ISA host adapters for the PC Card socket controller have to support this technology as well.

This paper reviews some key issues of integrating the PC Card socket controller into the desktop computer. It also discusses solutions Amphus provides for PC Card support in a desktop system.

Executive Summary
As a larger number of PC Card-based products have become available, more desktop systems are now equipped with PC Card slots. As a result, demand for PC Card Socket Controllers is also growing.

Amphus has designed a full line of PC Card Socket controllers to fill the increasing need for interfacing PC Cards to the host. Amphus\302\222s product line ranges from the fully featured VG-469 controller to those for use in space-limited and cost-sensitive applications.

Amphus\302\222s VG-469 PC Socket controller has the following features:

82365SL compatibility

Mixed voltage support (for both 5 V and 3.3 V card and host systems)
PC Card DMA
ISA bus Plug-and-Play
Driver for activity LED indicator
Low-voltage card protection
Control signals for buffered cable

The VG-469 is a plug-and-play solution, which eliminates the need to configure jumpers or change switch settings to the host adapters. Other features, such as hot insertion and very low power consumption make Amphus\302\222s PC Card Socket controllers an excellent choice for today\302\222s platforms with PC Card access.

PC Card and Desktop PC
PC Card (formerly PCMCIA) was designed to provide resources that users could add to and remove from a system without rebooting or turning off the host. PC Card technology not only offers the users a simple way to add more memory or additional peripherals to a machine, but also provides a convenient means for resource sharing among systems. Another benefit of the technology is that it gives users a quick way of safeguarding data, which improves system security.

The market for PC Cards has been expanding rapidly, and the PC Card industry forecast continues to be healthy. According to Andrew Prophet Research and Consulting, over 4.5 million PCs shipped in 1995 contained at least one PC Card slot. In 1999, just three years from now, the total number of platforms shipped will be in exceed of 29 million. On the card side, by the end of this year, over 20 million PC cards will be shipped, and in 1997 that number will be well over 33 million. Furthermore, the Department of Defense\302\222s recent decision to make PC Card slot a necessity for all their PC procurements will further promote the growth of this market.

Although the driving force behind the PC Card has been the portable industry, the trend is changing. More desktop systems now are equipped with PC Card slots. The reason is that there is a large number of PC Card-based products now available. Some of the peripheral devices currently available are: Hard Drives, CD-ROM Interface, Docking Station, Data Acquisition Devices, Memory Cards and Video Capture Cards. And the fact that desktop users don\302\222t need to open up their systems to install and configure a new piece of hardware is very appealing.

The hardware that establishes the interface between the PCMCIA bus and the host bus is called "PC Card Socket Controller" and is usually implemented in a stand-alone IC or with other functions in a system. Different silicon vendors provide different solutions for this component.

Amphus\302\222s PC Card Socket Controller Solution
Amphus\302\222s VG-469 is a fully-featured, Intel 82365SL-compatible, socket controller. The VG-469 directly supports two sockets with hot-insertion. For systems requiring more than two sockets, VG-469s can be cascaded to support up to four sockets with no glue logic. For larger systems, any number of these controllers can be cascaded with minimal external logic. Besides supporting mixed voltage cards, the controller can operate in both 5V and 3.3V host systems. Other features include PC Card DMA, ISA bus Plug-and-Play, a driver for an activity LED indicator, low-voltage card protection, and control signals for different buffered cable schemes. The VG-469 controller is perfectly suited for desktop systems.

Plug-and-Play (PnP) Support:
Most desktop PCs don\302\222t come with a built-in PC Card interface on the mother board. To add this capability to the system, end-users usually go with the add-on board solution. The notorious inconveniences during system configuration (such as I/O port allocation, interrupt request assignment, DMA channels, and address ranges) are sometimes troublesome. The reason for this problem is that the added hardware usually has jumpers or switches for setting up the parameters mentioned. Once configured, the jumpers not easily changed on-the-fly.

In a typical situation, an incorrect jumper setting makes the add-on card non-functional. In a more severe case, the set-up conflicts among different hardware may hang the system. Unlike most of the ISA socket controllers on the market that possess the annoying problem of resource allocation conflict, the VG-469 has solved this problem with its integrated plug-and-play capability.

To alleviate the irritating resource conflict issue, the Plug-and-Play ISA Specification provides a mechanism to automatically configure any ISA card on the bus. In general, the PnP system executes the following steps in the process of auto-configuration:

Isolate the card
Read the card\302\222s resource data
Identify the card and configure its resource
Locate a driver for the card.

From the hardware standpoint, the plug-and-play specification defines a set of configuration registers located at pre-defined I/O addresses that all PnP devices must implement. The PnP software accesses these registers in the resource allocation process. When a card is identified, either by the BIOS (in a PnP compatible BIOS system) or by the operating system (in a non-PnP BIOS system), the card sends the device ID to the operating system. The operating system then uses the device ID to access the correct driver for the card.

The plug-and-play function integrated into Windows 95 supports a wide variety of devices. Amphus\302\222s VG-469 PC Card socket controller is one of the supported devices. Configuration information stored in a serial EEPROM allows the host to find the appropriate software driver for the VG-469.

This information is then used to find the PnP driver for the VG-469. Once the driver has loaded, the VG-469 system is configured and the socket is ready to communicate with the PC Card. The configuration process described above is fully automatic. There is no user-required input. This simplicity cannot be achieved on a system without a plug-and-play PC Card socket controller. In a non-PnP socket controller system, there are usually multiple jumpers or switches that must be verified or changed. On a highly populated desktop PC, this manual configuration is even more of a problem.

In conclusion, the plug-and-play feature allows flexibility of resource allocation in any type of system. With plug-and-play ISA support, desktop PCs with either one or multiple controllers can automatically relocate the socket controllers to any available address. PnP also benefits notebook systems with docking stations.

PC Card and PCI bus
Currently, PC Card software drivers do not support PCI\302\222s interrupt structure. Existing PC Card socket controllers interfacing with the PCI bus generally carry sideband ISA interrupt signals that must plug into an ISA slot. This solution is clearly not desirable. To remain compatible with the vast number of existing PC Card socket controllers on the ISA bus, client drivers are not likely to change. As a result, a PC Card socket controller on the ISA bus is still the best solution.

Compatibility
The PCMCIA group has produced a well-defined specification for the PC Card adapter, but has not defined a standard architecture for the socket controller. Because of that, various design approaches have been employed by various silicon vendors, which may cause support problems for software developers.

Intel Corporation introduced the first socket controller (82365SL), which was designed for the ISA bus. The 82365SL has been very well-supported by software driver vendors. Recognizing the wide support of the 82365SL, Amphus has made the VG-469 upward-compatible with the 82365SL register set, which helps minimize software driver development time, reducing product time to market.

The Exchangeable Card Architecture Specification (ExCA) has further helped the socket controller industry to somewhat standardize controller architecture. For instance, the ExCA specification requires that the PC Card\302\222s memory and I/O address space map directly into the CPU\302\222s memory and I/O space, respectively. Register-based socket controllers cannot comply with this requirement. Also, according to ExCA, a minimum of five memory windows addressable in 4K blocks on 4K boundaries or a minimum of two I/O windows located on 1-, 8-, 16-, or 32-byte boundaries must be allowed. Furthermore, the ExCA specification recommends that the interrupt from the PC Card be steered to any one of the 10 IRQs on the ISA bus.

Note that not all socket controllers available on the market meet all these requirements. Again, the VG-469 and all other socket controllers designed by Amphus are fully compliant with this specification, preserving your investment.

Card Protection
The PC Card standard (version 2.1) requires

mixed-voltage operation\302\226the socket must provide 5 volts, 3.3 volts, or even lower voltages to the card. This versatility obviously requires some mechanism to prevent a 3.3-volt card from being damaged by a 5-volt supply. To avoid this problem, the PC Card specification recommends the use of a keyed connector for the socket. However, a keyed connector alone cannot always guarantee protection of a low-voltage card, since an incorrect driver or even a software glitch may inadvertently command the socket controller to send 5-volt power to a 3.3-volt card.

The VG-469 has a voltage-limit feature that protects a 3.3-volt card from being powered by a 5-volt supply from the socket. This feature is very important for a desktop system because most desktop PCs operate at 5 volts, while many PC cards are designed for a lower voltage environment.

Cable Buffering
Most of the PC Card hard drives for desktop PCs consist of two physical cards\302\226one plugged into the ISA bus on the mother board, and the other mounted in the drive bay. These cards are generally connected together by ribbon cables. Different designs may have different schemes for the ribbon cable connection. For the design that places the socket controller IC on the ISA interface board, all the PC Card signals have to route to the appropriate socket. In a single-socket drive system, 68 signals need to be sent over the cable, usually requiring two 40-pin ribbon cables. In the dual-socket drive bay design, the number of signals is, of course, doubled. Because of signal quality concerns, these signals are usually buffered before transmitting to the ribbon cable.

The Amphus VG-469 chip provides control signals for different buffered cable methods. The control signals can be programmed for controlling the buffers located on the ISA bus or, alternatively, they can be programmed to control the buffers that are positioned on the drive bay. With this feature, the system designers save glue logic for controlling the signal buffers.

Other features
If power consumption is a concern, the Amphus socket controllers are certainly the best choice. In addition to a low internal operating clock, all Amphus chips include an activity timer that can be programmed to further reduce the power consumption of the part. In power down mode, with all inputs static, the VG-469 controller consumes only 10 microamperes.

Another critical requirement for the PC Card interface is "hot insertion" (the ability to insert and remove the card without powering-down the system). Hot insertion is usually implemented with several buffers and transceivers. The VG-469 contains these components on-board, which further reduces the design cost.

Besides their superior design, Amphus\302\222s PC Card socket controllers are also supported by many major driver vendors. Amphus can also provide several proven reference designs to customers for fast time-to-market designs.

Competitor offering
Very few 82365SL-compatible PC Card socket controller vendors have the plug-and-play feature built into their products. The DB86184 chip (made by Databook) has plug-and-play feature, but this chip is not 82365SL and ExCA compatible. And the power consumption of the DB86184 is about 40 MA in standby mode compared to 10 microamperes for the VG-469.

All Amphus\302\222s socket controllers are compliant with PCMCIA 2.1/ExCA and JEIDA 4.1, and fully register-compatible with Intel 82365SL.

Summary
With continuing cooperation among the numerous members of the PCMCIA group, the future of the PC Card industry will certainly look better. As demand for PC Card grows, the system designer has little choice but to supply more platforms with PC Card access. To ensure smooth operation between the card vendors and the platform producers, designers must be very careful in selecting socket controllers. The most important factor in choosing the right controllers is, of course, adhering to industry standards. While this is true, the designers using PC Card socket controllers should also look beyond the basic characteristics of the PC Card standard, because features such as plug-and-play, protection for low-voltage cards, and advanced power management are no doubt very desirable to end users.

While many socket controller vendors have done a good job in meeting industry standards, only Amphus has managed to produce a PC Card socket controller that satisfies all the above requirements.

Amphus Corporation, 1960 Zanker Rd., San Jose, CA. 95112
Phone 408.467.2100 FAX 408.467.2198
Copyright © 1998-2003 Amphus
All Rights Reserved

Driver Support

Support for VG-469
www.amphus.com/chips/support.html

Our customers are important.

Please let us know how we can help you.
Email support@amphus.com
www.sycard.com - additional information on the 16-bit PC Card Develpoment kit, test tools, and support www.sycard.com/links.html - links to PC Card manufacturers and other related organizations

DRIVER SUPPORT:

VG-469:
AMPHUS does not directly provide drivers for Vadem PCMCIA controllers. AMPHUS only provides sample drivers, which come with the VG-469 evaluation board. To obtain drivers for your specific board, you should contact manufacturer of your PCMCIA board and request the right drivers for it.

However, driver support for all Vadem PCMCIA controllers is already built into Windows 95/98/NT/2000 Operating Software.

For Windows 95/98/NT users, the following steps should help anyone who wants to install the drivers.

Follow the on screen instructions:
Select or double-click the "Control Panel" icon,
Select "Add New Hardware" icon,
Select "No" if asked if you want Windows to search,
Select "PCMCIA Socket" in the "Hardware Types" window,
Select "Vadem" in the "Manufacturers" window,
Select "Vadem PCIC compatible PCMCIA Controller" in the "Model" window.

For Windows 2000 users, some 16-bit internal and external PC-Card devices may stop working correctly after installation of Service Pack 3 (SP3). VG-469 is one of those affected devices. VG-469 is an ISA-bus based device which requires fixed IRQ assignment. This malfunction is caused by IRQ of your PC Card device is not routed correctly in a PCI-bus based system. By default, Windows 2000 SP3 turns off the PCMCIA-to-PCI IRQ routing function.

There are two possible solutions to fix the problem \302\226 either by uninstalling SP3 or by editing the Windows Registry to turn on IRQ routing function specifically for your PC-Card.

To edit the Registry, start the Registry Editor, and then view the following key in the registry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SYSTEM\\CurrentControlSet\\Services\\Pcmcia\\Parameters

Add the following registry value to this registry key, and then quit Registry Editor.

Value name: DisableIsaToPciRouting
Data type: DWORD
Value data: 0

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk. Caution is required. Backup your system before any registry edits is highly recommended.

For more information about this phenomenon, please click on the following links to Microsoft support webpages.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;327947
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;227217
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;257458
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;281505
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;279256

Weitere Internetfundstücke zum Vadem-VG230 Prozessor:

Chuck Cairns:

1996 schrieb ein Chuck Cairns (chuckc@hpfccwc.fc.hp.com) im Zoomer-Forum auf grot.com/zoomer/zoomer-list folgendes über den VG230:

www.grot.com/zoomer/zoomer-list/ogo-3Q1996/0842.html

Homebrew upgrades ?
Chuck Cairns (chuckc@hpfccwc.fc.hp.com)
Thu, 12 Sep 1996 10:33:08 MDT

Hi Folks,
I've been looking at the specs for the Omnigo 120. Since there is no metion of an upgraded CPU vs the 100, I assume that is is still the 16MHz Vadem VG230. However, Vadem has a newer and faster (32MHz) computer-on-a-chip CPU, the VG330. I'm wondering if the VG330 is pin-compatible with the VG230. Anyone know?

For the HP 200LX palmtop there are companies who are doing after-market memory expansion upgrades. (voids the HP warranty, of course) Has anyone heard of someone adding more memory directly into an Omnigo? Opinions as to whether it would work? I.E. Is there any room to put em

in and would Geos use the mem as additional internal ramdisk? Maybe someone who has the developer's kit would know about the Geos part.

With all of the DOS hacking on the OG I thought that the following info was interesting. This is a text fragment from the Vadem VG230 data sheet on the new Vadem web page. (^^^=empahsis is mine)

"The LCD Controller supports all CGA Text and Graphics display modes. With a 400-line display, AT&T 640x400 two-color graphics mode is also supported. For smaller panels, the controller provides hardware support for windowing ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ into the CGA or AT&T frame. "

Has anyone made any use of the "hardware support for windowing" in the VG230 to do the CGA-DOS modes published so far?

Best Regards,

cc

Blake Patterson:

Blake ein Philips NINO 300 (WIN CE) PDA Fan, hat auch eine kleine Seite zum Omnigo, wo er den Vadem Prozessor nennt:

www.blakespot.com/nino/html/pdas_ogo.html

CPU:

Vadem VG230 PC-on-a-chip (contians NEC V-30HL (80186 clone) @ 16MHz)

Ausserdem findest Du noch 4 schöne Bilder zum OmniGo

  Computermuseum.de

Hier finden wir auch ein kleines Infoblatt zum Omnigo und zum Prozessor:

http://www.compuseum.de/d/g/computer/hpomnigo100.html EDN-ACCESS

Hier finden wir ein Textarchiv mit Infos zu 16Bit Prozessoren, u.a. auch dem Intel 8086/186

Und hierbei auch dem Vadem VG230/330. Ausserdem eine Excelldatei über alle 16Bit Prozessoren

Produktdaten www.e-insite.net/ednmag/archives/1996/091296/16bit.xls
www.e-insite.net/ednmag/archives/1996/091296/16bit.xls

Intel 8086/186
The register-based architecture of the 8086 has approximately 120 instructions and 14 16-bit registers, organized into four general-purpose, four pointer, four segment, and two special registers. The CPU addresses each general-purpose register as a 16-bit register or two 8-bit registers. The segment registers point to code, stack, and two local data segments.

The core architecture breaks into two sets: The processor- execution and the bus-interface unit, which asynchronously communicates to the outside world via an 8- or a 16-bit multiplexed system bus. The processor-execution unit uses a 6-byte instruction prefetch queue to hold pending instructions, which the bus-interface unit fetches.

All memory addressing is base-relative, which helps embedded code, because embedded code is easily relocatable. (You change the address base to relocate.) Address segmentation lets the CPU address up to 1 Mbyte of memory. A 16-bit offset (supporting a 64-kbyte segment) is added to the segment base address (segment register shifts 4 bits left) to attain a 20-bit address. The CPU bus supports multiprocessing. The local-bus controller deploys a HOLD/HLDA protocol that enables another bus master, typically DMA, to take over the common system bus.

Power management: The 186 has two power-saving modes: idle and power-down (Intel versions only). Idle shuts off the CPU clock, leaving all integrated peripherals active. Power-down disables the clock input. In addition, you can programmably divide the internal processor frequency (by a factor up to 256) and slow all internal logic. Vadem's VG230 and VG330 have four power-management states: on, doze, suspend, and off. SmartClock, a power-management feature of Vadem's chips, operates in the doze state. SmartClock dynamically speeds the CPU clock in response to events such as keyboard activity or slows when there is no activity.

Special instructions: Math instructions include signed and unsigned multiply and divide, add, subtract, BCD, and decimal adjust. The 80x86 performs a register exchange, repeat prefix for repeating string operations (execute until zero or equal). Wait examines the Test pin and suspends instruction execution if pin is High.

Second sources: For the 8086: Fujitsu, Temic, Siemens, and Oki. For the 80186: AMD and Siemens. Chips and Technologies, NEC, Sharp, and Vadem make code-compatible \302\265Ps and \302\265Cs. For the 80286: Harris Semiconductor. Hal Goldstein, David Mars... über den Omnigo100 und Vadem-G230
www.palmtoppaper.com/ptphtml/24/pt24001e.htm

User to User: The HP OmniGo 100

Hal compares the different products in HP's handheld line and a user "takes apart" an OmniGo 100.

By Hal Goldstein www.palmtoppaper.com/ptphtml/24/pt24006d.htm

OG100 In Vertical Mode With Stylus: www.palmtoppaper.com/ptphtml/24/pt24005e.htm

In this month's User to User column I will summarize my thoughts about the three HP Handhelds. Then I'll pass on some interesting HP OmniGo 100 thoughts from several knowledgeable users.

HP Handhelds Compared -- The Bottom Line

Comparing the HP 200LX and the HP OmniGo 100 is like comparing apples and oranges. The HP OmniGo 100 has lots of neat new features and innovations. However, most HP Palmtop Paper readers will not want to switch even though many of us will recommend the HP OmniGo 100 to our friends, family, and professional colleagues.

Here's why. I don't use the Mac (and don't even like Windows much). Even so, for years I have recommended an Apple Macintosh to my less technically inclined, more right-brained friends. The reason the Mac has a much easier more intuitive computer user interface than DOS-based or even Windows based PC's. Personally, I will stick to my HP 200LX. However, because of the HP OmniGo 100's price, its slick pen interface, and the ease of use yet depth of applications, I will recommend the HP OmniGo 100 to many of my friends. (HP OmniGo 100's will make excellent Christmas gifts.) To more serious PC users I will suggest the HP 200LX.

First here is the bad news why many of us spoiled by the HP 200LX won't switch. The HP OmniGo 100 does not run DOS. It has a smaller screen with all that that implies. The built-in apps, though similar, aren't as powerful no macros; no Lotus 1-2-3. Storage capacity is less since the HP OmniGo 100 can only use SRAM cards, not Flash cards. Also, battery life isn't as long. There is no fax or communications capability except for several wireless paging PC Card options due soon.

On the other hand the HP OmniGo 100 has a very nice, somewhat addicting graphical/pen interface. The ingeniously engineered hardware allows the unit to fold one way for keyboard input and another for pen input. New users will be able to simply start using the HP OmniGo 100 by pointing at applications, without having to know about files, "System RAM/electronic disk ratio," shelling to DOS, and so on. Those users willing to invest an hour or so to learn and practice will be able to use Graffiti handwriting recognition with a high degree of accuracy. The powerful HP 200LX database applications PHONE, APPT, DataBase, NoteTaker, WorldTime are implemented on the HP OmniGo 100 but are much simpler. Many new users would be willing to give up the advanced features of the more robust HP 200LX database counterparts for the ability to write and draw in these applications.

HP feels its primary target is mobile professionals with financial responsibilities. HP Calc, a GEOS spreadsheet, a regular calculator, and an simulated HP 12C provide these users with an excellent package. Those of us who have used Vertical Reader on the Palmtop will appreciate the hypertext HP OmniGo 100 BookReader.

All in all there is much to recommend in the HP OmniGo 100.

The OmniGo 700LX Communicator Plus
The HP OmniGo 700LX Communicator Plus, which starts shipping in 1996, combines an enlarged HP 200LX with a Nokia cellular phone. The HP OmniGo 700LX should be an ideal product for mobile cellular phone users with the need to fax or to communicate electronically wherever they are. The package is a bit bulkier than an HP OmniGo 100 or HP 200LX. However, it will still be the smallest product available with this communications capability, and will certainly fit in a briefcase.

For the rest of this column I thought I'd share with you the insights of some advanced users who have taken their first look at the OmniGo 100.

Inside the HP OmniGo 100
One of the reasons to think the HP OmniGo will be a winner is the incredible amount of features for its price. The first question that comes to mind is why is the HP 200LX so much more expensive? The answer is that the HP 200LX uses a lot of custom, relatively low volume parts. On the other hand HP apparently designed the HP OmniGo 100 so that it could use many more standard off-the-shelf parts. Desktop PC prices keep lowering for this reason many different manufacturers use the same parts.

David Marsh, a real tinkerer, verified this theory. He got ahold of an HP OmniGo 100 and immediately took it apart. This is what he said about it on CompuServe's HPHAND Forum:

I got a chance to disassemble a new HP OmniGo 100 last night, so I thought I'd report on what I found: All of the parts are standard off the shelf parts except for the ROMs, which are masked parts. The main system chip is a Vadem VG230, which is a highly integrated PC-on-a-chip that includes an 80186-compatible core and also all of the glue necessary to drive an LCD display, PC Card slot, and PC/XT style bus. Interestingly, the Vadem chip is a standard part, unlike the 95-100-200LX series which all had custom ASIC chips for the main chip. I also believe that it's a 5-volt part, unlike the HP 100/200LX, which use 3.3-volts. All of the chips are in inexpensive packages (j-lead PSRAMS, PQFP processor, and SO flat packs for the ROMs and assorted others). There are two 512K x 8 PSRAM chips, very much like the 95LX 1MB setup. The ROMs are set up as one 1MB chip and one 2MB chip. Remaining parts look like they are for the card port, and a level converter chip for the RS232 port. As in the earlier Palmtops, the display has the controllers on the display module, and is connected through a flex cable in the hinge. The display half of the case also houses the lithium coin cell backup battery. On the main circuit board, there appears to be some extra circuit ground traces near exterior areas of the unit, presumably to cut down on electrostatic discharge dangers to the circuitry. The case construction is similar to earlier models, with the same style of heat-staked keyboard arrangement, and a pressure connector to the main board. The stylus slides into a well below the keyboard along the front of the unit, and `clicks' into place.

PC Cards and the HP OmniGo 100
Contributing writer Mark Scardina made some interesting observations. He writes the following:

PC CARD SUPPORT
The OmniGo 100 as shipped has limited PC Card support. Though the GEOS operating system can support different types of cards, the only type supported here are SRAM cards. I tried both linear Flash (Maxtor) and ATA Flash (SanDisk and IBM) and neither card was recognized. Modem cards were not recognized either. Since the HP OmniGo slot will take Type II cards, we might surmise that additional card support is planned.

Once an SRAM card is inserted, you are prompted to have it formatted. The OmniGo 100 insulates the user from the concept of files, directories, and drives. Instead of an application like Filer, the OmniGo comes with a Transfer program which allows you to back up data to the SRAM card. When you back up an application, all the files associated with that application are copied at once on an application by application basis. GEOS uses a DOS compatible file format which means you should be able to read the SRAM card in an HP Palmtop, a laptop, or a PC with a PC Card slot. Making sense of those files is another matter.

ADDING APPLICATIONS
The Help file indicates that applications residing on a PC Card will automatically be added to the Home screen for launching. I was able to confirm this using several games that were written for the Zoomer (GEOS-based handheld) and ran quite well on the OmniGo. This means that additional software will be able to be run from a ROM or SRAM card.

BATTERIES
The OmniGo 100 does not have a provision for an AC adapter nor is there any selection of battery types. Only AA alkalines are specified along with a 2032 Lithium backup battery. One nice touch is the design of the battery compartment. Even with the battery cover off the batteries are securely held by the wrap-around design of the compartment. Due to the pre-production nature of the unit I examined, I cannot say what the final battery life will be.

Miscellaneous tidbits
Craig Payne who now works for Megahertz was one of the original developers for the much acclaimed but unfortunately now defunct GO Pen Operating System for PDAs. Craig got a brief look at the OmniGo and here is what he reported.

WHAT'S IN THE PACKAGE
The manuals just keep getting smaller. The OmniGo 100's manual is about a half inch thick. The OmniGo 100 ships with non-rechargeable Lithium AA batteries. These main batteries live in the center part of the double-jointed hinge. The serial cable is the same as on the LX.

The Jotter application gets a dedicated key. Jotter is a 20 page scrapbook that accepts ink or text. Unlike the HP 200LX the ALT key is sticky like the SHIFT key. You can configure the HP OmniGo 100 to turn on when you touch the screen. Roughly 300K+ is available of the 1MB on a new machine. Printers supported: HP LaserJet, DeskJet, Epson 24 pin, IBM 24 pin ProPrinter, Cannon BubbleJet. Port speeds are 9600 or 19,200 baud.

Keyboard reset is Shift-On-Next. There is also a hole for a paper-clip reset. The spreadsheet is limited to 64 rows by 64 columns. Fresh alkaline batteries should last from two to five weeks.

HP OmniGo 100 Specifications: www.palmtoppaper.com/ptphtml/24/pt24001f.htm Skyscraper

Auf Skyscraper erfahren wir über den VG-320 auch im Hinblick auf die GEOS.INI, und RAM/ROM auf dem Omnigo. Dies könnte auch für den Brother LW-750ic gelten:

GEOS.INI explained

Understanding PCMCIA cards, RAM, and modems on the OmniGo

Terminology or semantics can sometimes be misleading. The RAM on the OmniGo is not upgradable in the sense that you can add RAM to your PC. A PCMCIA card adds storage space to the OmniGo, like adding a hard drive to your PC; it does not increase the RAM where your programs run. Since GEOS 2.1 uses XIP (execute-in-place), the software runs directly from ROM insofar as possible, reducing the need for RAM and allowing more active apps at the same time than was possible on the Zoomer, for example.

"RAM" properly describes both the chips that store the currently running code and the chips in a PCMCIA card that is used as a Ramdisk. When you remove the PCMCIA SRAM card, your storage space is reduced while you use a PCMCIA modem. However, you still have the Ramdisk portion of the 1MB that is built into the device to store files, programs, and data\302\227and you can copy data from the Ramdisk to the SRAM card after your communications session. An alternative is to use a modem that connects to the serial port.

Source: GeoInfo Database

Understanding XIP and the Vadem VG230 CPU

The Vadem VG230 CPU in the OmniGo 100/120 has mapping registers which allow for translating address blocks (in increments of 16KB) above 1MB (0x100000) into space below 0x100000. There are 26 registers, each of which will translate a 26bit address into one of the 26 16KB blocks between physical address 0x80000 (512KB) and 0xf0000 (1MB - 64KB). There is a 32KB "hole" in the middle of this range at 0xb8000 where the CGA buffer is.

So, XIP is simply done by "mapping" some portions of ROM which sit above 1MB into some number of these 16KB blocks, then accessing that ROM via the standard physical memory below 1MB. The mapping is necessary because the VG230 has only 20 address lines, therefore it is only capable of generating addresses up to 1MB. By "moving" portions of ROM down into this address space, much more code "space" (or data space for that matter) is available. If you are familiar with the ideas behind EMS, this stuff will make sense\302\227that is what these registers do for VG230 systems running plain old DOS. Visit Vadem's VG230 Product Brief page for more information.

Source: GeoInfo Database
www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/online/795/ogo/tips6.htm

Trident Infosol

Infos zum Omnigo100 und VG230:
http://www.tridentinfosol.com/embedded_universal.asp

PCMCIA Tintenstrahldrucker von Brother - Ob die wohl am Omnigo100 funktionieren?

Bei meinen Recherchen, stolperte ich über diese zwei Drucker. Obwohl das nicht zum Thema passt, möchte ich hiervon kurz berichten, denn einige GEOS Freaks sind auch Omnigo100 Besitzer und es könnte sein, dass diese kleinen PDA/Laptop Drucker auch am PCMCIA Port des Omnigo funktioneren:
http://www.buerostart.de/Hersteller/brother.html

Brother Tintenstrahldrucker MP-21CDX 16521

MP-21C / MP-21CDX

MP-21C: Mobiler Farbtintenstrahldrucker (Piezo) Leichtgewicht: ca. 1.000g Abmessungen: 51x106x300mm Auflösung: max. 720x720dpi Daten und Stromversorgung über PCMCIA-Karte Betriebsgeräusch: 40dBA (Betrieb) sehr geringer Stromverbrauch. MP-CDX: Zusätzliche Merkmale gegenüber MP-21C: Netzadapter inkl. paralleler Datenleitung,automatische Papierzuführung für 30 Blatt Gewicht: 1.400 g (inkl. Netzadapter + Schacht-Einzelblattzuführung) Maße: 305x140x90mm.

Brother Tintenstrahldrucker MP-21C 16520

MP-21C: Mobiler Farbtintenstrahldrucker (Piezo) Leichtgewicht: ca. 1.000g Abmessungen: 51x106x300mm Auflösung: max. 720x720dpi Daten und Stromversorgung über PCMCIA-Karte Betriebsgeräusch: 40dBA (Betrieb) sehr geringer Stromverbrauch.

Hier ein paar Bilder über diese Drucker:

MP21c:
www.brother.co.jp/jp/news/mp21c/mp21c.jpg
www.gomaq.com.br/imagens/mp21c.jpg
www.sutlic.co.yu/images/brother/05.jpg

MP21cdx: www.officecentre.ie/printerfolder/mp21cdx.jpg www.brother.com/us-printer/info/mp/11438dtsm.jpg www.brother.com/as_oc/printer/img/mp21c/areport.jpg www.cabi.dk/Printere/Brother_MP-21CDX.JPG http://ascii24.com/news/i/hard/article/2000/08/21/images/images623722.jpg
 

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