Installing OS/2 Version 4 onto
the IBM PalmTop PC110
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Installing OS/2 Version 4 onto
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Why install OS/2 on a palmtop? Why not! After playing with various versions of Windows 3 and 95, particularly OSR2, everything seemed a little too easy. It plugged, it played, it made noises, it even connected to my NT RAS server at work and administered the domain there for a while, but it just felt too ordinary. I felt I was missing out on the fun somewhere. Windows runs on pretty much any machine, right?
Next thing I know, there I am with my OS/2 disks and CDs in my hands, chanting the OS/2 warcry of "No pain, no fun". Oooh, goody - a challenge!
A fair few hours later, I'd got OS/2 Version 4, Merlin, booting from the PCMCIA hard disk, and was (slowly) surfing the net using Netscape with the built-in modem. Here's what I did and how I did it, but first, I'll list what's running on the PC110, and what remains to be sorted out.
Since the first build, I've used what I learnt then, plus many tips from Adam Lambert, and have reinstalled the machine much more easily.
Now, even I surprised myself. OS/2 is actually the best operating system I've used on the PC110, because you can configure the machine to run as you want it. The only drawback I can see is that there is no hard drive spin-down mechanism within OS/2 itself. I still get nearly two hours of life, though, so I'm happy.
Software installed or configured |
Outstanding issues |
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| OS/2 Warp v4 on 260MB PCMCIA hard disk, HPFS | 256 colour drivers dont support seamless WinOS/2 | |
| IBM Internet Connection for OS/2 | No hard drive spin-down mechanism | |
| Netscape Communicator 4.04 for OS/2 | ||
| Audio support | ||
| 256 colour display support | ||
| Power management support | ||
| Infra-red support | ||
| Modem configured | ||
| Zip drive supported on parallel port | ||
| Floppy driver always loads, even if the drive is absent |
Since the procedure is fairly involved, I've broken it down into more manageable chunks:
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