I can’t believe it! Goal achieved.
The Arteck is a new easily obtainable & affordable #Keyboard. It connects to every persistent #WindowsMobile #PocketPC device that I tested! It’s driverless and the layout is almost perfect for it’s size. It’s also backlit!
I’m confused though. It’s #Bluetooth LE 5.1 and should not work with these Bluetooth Classic 1.2 and 2.0 devices. Whats going on here?
Lets crack it open and take a look.
Now the best for last! The Arteck HB030B #Bluetooth #Keyboard.
This is a cheap keyboard that you can still find new. It has a chiclet design, is backlit & doesn’t compromise much on the layout other than messing a bit with the Alt, Ctrl and Windows key button arrangement.
Amazingly this Bluetooth 5.1 keyboard connects to all of my iPaqs (111, 210, HX2495, HX2795b) & my #Dell Axim X51V using Passkey 1234!
This is the #Ipad Kensington Key Folio Pro K39357US.
This #Bluetooth chiclet #Keyboard is fantastic! It is sleek, responsive and feels modern. It also has a decent layout and doesn’t forget the right shift key like the previous Key Folio.
Once again it effortlessly connected to all of my iPaqs (111, 210, HX2495, HX2795b) and surprisingly also connected to my #Dell Axim X51V using Passkey 1234!
Next up is the #Ipad Kensington Key Folio K39294.
It’s a #Bluetooth 2.0 spill proof rubber covered #Keyboard that drove me crazy due to the right shift key being absent. LOL.
It’s connectivity was identical to the Freedom Pro. It easily connected to all of my iPaqs (111, 210, HX2495, HX2795b) and unfortunately refused to connect to any of my #Dell Axim X50 and X51 series.
First up is the Freedom Pro #Bluetooth #Keyboard.
This keyboard folds in half and has a slide out removable stand for your #PDA.
I didn’t like it. It was probably decent for the time but we can do much better these days.
Regardless, it easily connected to all of my iPaqs (111, 210, HX2495, HX2795b) and unfortunately refused to connect to any of my #Dell Axim X50 and X51 series.
It was already going to take some luck to get great compatibility with a random #Keyboard but I also had another goal; the #Bluetooth keyboard needed to run under the HID profile so no driver installation would be necessary.
The dream is to get a new keyboard, connect over Bluetooth and just start typing!
I began researching and securing a variety of keyboards to try & focused my testing on persistent #WindowsMobile 5.0+ devices
Unfortunately after talking with people & reading up on the #Bluetooth protocol I learned that Bluetooth Classic (1, 2, & 3) is not compatible with the current Bluetooth LE (4, 5, etc.). I had no idea!
A new keyboard seemed doubtful and everyone I talked to suggested buying an old expensive #PocketPC or #PDA #Keyboard but then I got a great suggestion; get an old #Ipad keyboard.
Those are plentiful and cheap!
Those who have followed me for a while know my obsession with #RetroTech. After my #Palm TX bit the dust, I took the opportunity to jump into the world of #PocketPC.
I wrote several tutorials in the past and recently turned my focused to finding a new #Bluetooth #Keyboard that would be compatible with them. There were some made back when these devices were new but there had to be a better, current solution.
@governa@fosstodon.orgRare, hard to come by, but now available on the Internet Archive: the complete book set for the #WindowsCE Developer’s Kit from 1999. It contains all the separate books in their full glory, so if you ever wanted to write either a Windows CE application or driver for Windows CE 2.0, here’s all the information you’ll ever need.
These days coding for retro computer system is a recreational and learning activity. But sometimes it's essential for maintaining mission critical legacy software, like in this case of writing a new x86 C compiler for Windows CE.
https://building.enlyze.com/posts/a-new-windows-ce-x86-compiler-in-2024
Hewlett Packard 300LX running Windows CE 1.0 on a Hitachi SH3 processor in 2 MB of RAM. It's fairly awful, in that the only apps are the builtin ones (plus Pocket Word and Pocket Excel) and I don't have the weird proprietary serial cable. Screen has no backlight, so contrast is terrible
After playing the surprisingly good port of Sim City 2000 I decided to check out another classic game on the #PocketPC.
#AgeofEmpires Gold Edition!
This is another top tier port. It's as good as one could reasonably hope for.
It has a ton of different modes to play, a familiar UI and the iconic music, sound effects and voices from it’s big #PC brother.
An excellent port!
I bundled up the command-line compilers from the #WindowsCE 2.0 SDK with some files from Visual C++ 5.0 and uploaded it here: https://archive.org/details/wce-20-dev-20240825.tar
Working on a writeup of how to use it for my web zone... don't hold your breath for that one, but I *am* working on it. 
When it comes to a #PocketPC or #PDA I use them *mostly* for their calendar, task lists and overall organizational and productivity features.
I do love checking out some of the #Games though. #SimCity 2000 is a fantastic port of the #PC classic.
The screen is a tad cramped but they did an excellent job with the UI. The graphics the music the gameplay it's all here!
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#IrDA is up and running on #Windows 10. I can now wirelessly transfer files between my Laptop and #PocketPC!
It’s much more convenient than having to juggle multiple proprietary cables.
It’s one cable to rule them all. One cable to transfer files across every IrDA enable device and I love it!
This is amazing and I believe I have achieved what I set out to do; Restore the FULL functionality of Pocket Pcs on modern hardware!
[5/6]
I then went to Gearmo’s webpage and downloaded their MCS7780 driver at https://www.gearmo.com/shop/fast-usb2-infrared-adapter/
I plugged in the Gearmo #IrDA dongle and opened Device Manager. I found it listed under “Other Devices.” I right clicked on it and selected “Properties.” I navigated to the “Driver” tab and clicked “Update Drivers.”
I then selected the driver I had just downloaded and a moment later the device was up and running!
Success!!!
[1/6]
At the beginning of this year I set out with a goal to restore FULL #PocketPC compatibility on a current #Windows 10 #PC.
We outlined how to both establish a connection AND Sync here… https://mas.to/@Judeau/112678025590638375
We looked at different keyboards and how to transfer Word files while preserving formatting here… https://mas.to/@Judeau/112689361744308651
The last piece of the puzzle was restoring wireless #IrDA connectivity.
Spoiler alert: I got it!
I was changing the backup battery in my #Dell Axim X30 #PocketPC #PDA with an aftermarket part.
Unfortunately the replacement (top) soldered the wires directly on the flat sides of the battery which makes it too thick.
The original (bottom) used tabs that move the wire to the sides thus reducing the thickness.
How can I repurpose the old tabs? Do I just heat the left and right pits with a soldering gun to remove them?
That was a huge pain, but not as much of a pain as I thought it would be. I had to install the #WindowsCE 1.0 SDK off archive.org and then raw copy the files from the Windows CE 2.0 SDK (Helpfully just called "Windows CE 2", also on archive.org) over the matching directories in the VC++ 5/wce directory.
I then had to reimplement a couple stdlib functions I'd been using. sscanf() and vprintf() are not supported! Fair enough.
At least I managed to avoid wasting time adding meaningful gameplay. 
The serial port on my #WindowsCE Cassiopeia A-21 seems to be shared in common with some other devices from some other manufacturers, just going by ebay photos. I wish it had a standard name that I could look up and somehow get a cable for...
