The PQXT system ROM consists of many separate firmware modules, each of which has its own revision number. As new releases are made, the revision number changes, and in some cases, modules are added. Thus, the structure of the system ROM and revision numbers of both the system ROM and the firmware modules have changed over time.
The system ROM also contains MS-DOS executable programs, such as loader and utility programs. The BIOS makes the operating system believe that these programs reside on the DOS ROM (Drive C).
Table 7-1 System ROM Firmware Modules
Module Name Module Description
------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------
BIOS.HEX IBM-compatible BIOS code. Pre-multilgual releases contained the
code for the PQTOOLS, PQLINK and VNA loaders. In the multi-
lingual releases and later, these loaders are contained within
the BCI, which is explained later in the BCI.HEX description.
The following modules, which are explained in detail later, are
part of the BIOS code, yet appear to the operating system to
reside on drive C:. They are part of the BIOS on earlier system
ROM releases, and part of BCI.HEX on later releases:
Loaders: The following are all loaders and are used to map in
and pass control to the Poqet system ROM:
PQLINK.EXE
VNA.EXE
PQTOOLS.EXE
Utilities: The following modules provide added functionality:
LIM-MC.COM
FORMAT.COM
OS$DT.COM
OS$CLOCK.COM
OS$MOD.COM
CP1865.COM
SYSMOD.COM
PQMODE.COM
VNAROM.HEX Virtual Network Architecture (VNA) code. Provides the low-level
serial communications services used by PQLINK This code also
contains SAI, which provides display menu services used by both
PQTOOLS and PQLINK.
THROM.HEX Contains PQTOOLS, which relies on the presence also of the VNA
module. On the multilingual releases, the modules IT.HEX,
FR.HEX, and GR.HEX are also required. These contain the trans-
lated text for PQTOOLS.
VLINKROM.HEX PQLINK is the user interface to VNA, which can be used to trans-
fer serial data to another device. It relies on VNA, but does
not require separate modules for test in the multilingual version.
BCI.HEX Binary Configuration Image. This was introduced for the first
multilingual release, and contains the loader and utility pro-
grams that appear on the C: drive. It allows the programs to be
changed without recompiling the BIOS. BCI.HEX also contains the
country setup and default ATTJTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files for
drive D:.
MLCOPYR.HEX This file contains a Poqet copyright notice, which is placed at
the beginning of all system ROM releases.
SERIALNO.HEX This file contains a unique serial number for each new release.
Part of the serial number field is left blank so it may be
programmed later in production. This allows each ROM to have its
own unique code. The date of release and country of manufacture
are also placed in this file.
Table 7-2 BIOS.HEX Loader and Utility Modules
Module Name Module Description
------------ ----------------------------------------------------------------
PQLINK.EXE This module allows files to be transferred between PQXT and an
IBM PC or compatible computer. File maintenance can be performed
on a local or remote computer, such as copying, deleting,
renaming, printing, or viewing a file.
VNA.EXE This module allows the POXT to access devices across the serial
cable or expansion port as though they were resident inside the
PQXT itself; that is, the access is "transparent" to the PQXT
processor.
PQTOOLS.EXE This module contains facilities that allow you to use the PQXT
to keep a personal address book, maintain a datebook, perform
simple calculations, access a remote system when using a modem,
or write a short letter or memo.
LIM-MC.COM This module contains services accessed through software interrupt
INT 67H. The services provide a basic subset of LIM EMS extended
memory management services used by third party software devel-
opers writing ROM executing code. An example of this is
Lotus 1-2-3.
FORMAT.COM A Poqet-written utility for formatting JEIDA cards.
OS$DT.COM No longer shipped as part of the system. It was responsible for
preserving the system time and date during a warm boot. It also
modified the AUTOEXEC.BAT file after a cold boot, relieving the
user from reentering the time and date again. Its functions
have now been replaced by OS$CLOCK.SYS and OS$MOD.COM.
OS$CLOCK.SYS Used to replace the standard MS-DOS clock device driver so that
the system can maintain the date even if its not used for two or
more days in a row. It also replaces part of the function of
OS$DT in maintaining the time and data during a warm boot.
OS$MOD.COM Replaces the other part of OS$DT. It modifies the AUTOEXEC.BAT
file on drive D:, so that the user is prompted for the time and
data only after a hard reset.
OS$KEYB.COM This module was introduced for the multilingual systems. In-
stalling foreign keyboard drivers will stop OS$CLOCK from main-
taining the time and data during a warm boot. This program is
run after the new driver is installed to patch the system
vector table so that this function is maintained.
CP1865.COM This module is run only on the multilingual systems and will be
executed only if the foreign country is set for Denmark or
Norway. It replaces two of the symbols in the character set
which are required for these countries.
SYSMOD.COM Only added to the R1.11 release and is hidden from the user,
although he may execute it. It allows the screen contrast, the
default video controller mode, and the power management control
to be changed. This utility in its present form only allows
power management to be enabled or disabled.
PQMODE.COM Only used in the latest release (R1.20). It allows batch files
to issue commands to control power management and switch video
modes. See Chapters 2 and 9 for more information about the
PQMODE command.
Table 7-3 System ROM Revision History
System ROM Release Date Included Modules Module Revision No.
Revision
---------- ------------------- ---------------- -------------------
1.00 August 23, 1989 ROM BIOS 1.00
LIM-MC N/A
VNA 1.00
PQLINK 1.00
PQTOOLS 1.00
FORMAT N/A
R1.04.1 April 12,1990 ROM BIOS 1.03
LIM-MC 1.3
VNA 1.02
PQLINK 1.02
PQTOOLS 1.03
FORMAT 1.06
OS$DT 1.54
R1.04.44 April 25, 1990 ROM BIOS 1.03
LIM-MC 1.3
VNA 1.02
PQLINK 1.02
PQTOOLS 1.03
FORMAT 1.06
OS$DT 1.54
R1.04.49 May 21, 1990 ROM BIOS 1.03
LIM-MC 1.3
VNA 1.02
PQLINK 1.02
PQTOOLS 1.03
FORMAT 1.06
OS$DT 1.54
R1.05.1 May 22,1990 ROM BIOS 1.10
LIM-MC 1.3
VNA 1.04
PQLINK 1.02
PQTOOLS 1.04
FORMAT 1.07A
OS$DT 1.7
R1.10 October 8, 1990 ROM BIOS 1.20
LIM-MC 1.31
VNA 1.10
PQLINK 1.05
PQTOOLS 1.20
FORMAT 2.00
OS$CLOCK 1.00
OS$KEYB 1.00
OS$MOD 1.00
CP1865 N/A
R1.11 November 14, 1990 ROM BIOS 1.21
LIM-MC 1.31
VNA 1.11
PQLINK 1.07
PQTIOOLS 1.21
FORMAT 2.00
OS$CLOCK 1.00
OS$KEYB 1.00
OS$MOD 1.00
CP1865 N/A
R1.20 May 10, 1991 ROM BIOS 1.30
LIM-MC 1.31
VNA 1.12
PQLINK 1.10
PQTOOLS 1.23
FORMAT 2.05
OS$CLOCK 1.02
OS$KEYB 1.00
OS$MOD 1.00
CPI865 N/A
PQMODE 1.00
Table 7-4 Module Differences
Module Name Revision Update Diffemnces
----------- --------------- -------------------------------------------------
ROM BIOS 1.10 to 1.21 Binary Conflpradon Image (BCI). BCI was added.
This contains all the drive C extension image,
any translated text needed and the default files
that need to be placed on drive D: when the
system is reset. The different country config-
urations are also contained within this image.
Country Selection. When the system is reset for
the first time a country selection menu is dis-
played on the screen. Choosing a country deter-
mines how the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files
will be initialized. This information is main-
tained during warm and cold boots.
CTRL-ALT-S. This key press sequence will invoke
the set up menu described above. The check for
this is inside the NMI handler and so will still
work with a foreign keyboard driver installed.
Key Click. This now works with foreign keyboard
drivers installed.
Time and Date. Firstly, time and date are now
preserved during a warm boot while a foreign key-
board driver is installed. Also, a clock device
driver has been added to replace the standard
MS-DOS driver. This allows the date to remain
accurate even if the system is not used for
several days.
New Service. A new extended BIOS service
has been added to provide country dependent
information and the BCI address.
ROM BIOS 1.21 to 1.30 Power Management. The capabilities of the Poqet
power management software were greatly expanded
with this release.
(1) The Poqet-F4 key combination has been en-
hanced so it now becomes a three state machine
instead of a simple toggle. Users may use the
key combination to cycle between full power
management, no power management, and 3 volt
non-power managed (also called COM mode).
Extended BIOS Interface. Several new services
were added to the extended BIOS interface
(INT 66h) and others were updated.
(1) A programmable software keyboard debounce
was added as Function 7 Service 7. This
service is intended for older systems. Since
the Poqet hardware contains adequate debounce
for newer units, the initial software debounce
is set to 0.
(2) The service that controls the Poqet status
line indicators was updated to allow callers
to pass their own pattern. This service is
Function 1 Service D. The pattern we use as a
striped (also called hashed) pattern was
updated so it is easier to distinguish from a
solid pattern.
(3) The service that manages the mode of the
Poqet power management software was updated
to support modes 3 and 83. This is Function 2
Service 5.
(4) The basis for a future new service to
allow program control of some system options
was defined. This interface is Function 2
Service B, but will not be available for use
until a later release.
(5) A new service was added for programs to
tell the system that they are idle. This
service is Function 2 Service C.
(6) A new service was added for programs to
indicate that they wish to be declared active
and keep the CPU running even if they are
doing things that power management considers
indicative of an idle system. This service is
Function 2 Service D.
ROM BIOS 1.21 to 1.30 Format Utility. The FORMAT utility included on
the Poqet ROM was updated to fix several
problems.
(1) Format was inconsistent in the method it
used to obtain keyboard input. In some cases,
it used direct BIOS calls and in others it
used MS-DOS calls. It has been changed to
always use MS-DOS calls. This change allows
it to work correctly with the MS-DOS CTTY
AUX function.
(2) Format did not work correctly with 2 or
4 megabyte memory cards. This problem has
been corrected.
PoqetLink. PoqetLink was updated to better
handle critical errors such as users changing
to drives that do not have a device (memory
card) in them.
New Utilities. The standard MS-DOS SORT utility
has been included on the system ROM.
(1) The SYS utility has been included on the
system ROM. This utility allows users to
create memory cards that can be used to boot
the system.
(2) Poqet has developed a new utility called
PQMODE that is included on the system ROM.
This utility gives users the ability to con-
trol the screen mode and a limited control
over power management from the command line.
This utility is especially useful for MS-DOS
batch files.
Indicators. Although it is not an XT function,
users commented that the Poqet status line did
not reflect the true state of the NumLock
indicator if a program was manipulating it. The
indicators for NumLock, CapsLk, and ScrollLk are
now properly updated on the status line.
ROM BIOS 1.21 to 1.30 Miscellaneous
(1) Support for the 8254 programmable interval
timer was added.
(2) INT 17h has been updated to handle calls
from programs that pass invalid printer
numbers.
(3) The default handier for interrupts 2, 3,
4, 5, and 7 was updated to mask out the
interrupt in the interrupt controller.
Some programs were causing problems by doing
things backwards and enabling the interrupt
before they installed the software to handle
it.