[comp.sys.hp] Porting Easywriter to HP-150A PC

A-N-Onymouse@cup.portal.com (John - DeBert) (10/17/88)

I now have a HP-150A that I use at home. I tried to run my Easywriter 2
on it, but it failed everytime. 
Is there a way of porting Easywriter to the HP-150, a MS-DOS machine?

A-N-Onymouse@cup.portal.com

mbk@hpsemc.HP.COM (Miles Kehoe) (10/19/88)

/ hpsemc:comp.sys.hp / A-N-Onymouse@cup.portal.com (John - DeBert) /  6:40 pm  Oct 16, 1988 /
I now have a HP-150A that I use at home. I tried to run my Easywriter 2
on it, but it failed everytime. 
Is there a way of porting Easywriter to the HP-150, a MS-DOS machine?

A-N-Onymouse@cup.portal.com
----------


John:  Two things I'd suggest. One is to try the IBM PC emulator for
the 150 which lets the 150 emulate most of the video interupt (INT 10)
fundtions.  If a program does not use direct memory access for display,
it will work.  Programs such as Wordstar 5.0 and Word Perfect work fine
only under the emulator.  

Two, if you have sourece code I might be able to help some.  

I'd suggest you pursue the HP SIG on Compuserve, which is very active
in identifying software that works, etc.  

If you want a copy of the emulator, drop me your address and I'll mail
you one on 3.5 media.

Miles Kehoe
HP Technology Access Center
Cupertino CA

408-725-3826

bturner@hpcvlx.HP.COM (Bill Turner) (10/19/88)

> I now have a HP-150A that I use at home. I tried to run my Easywriter 2
> on it, but it failed everytime. 
> Is there a way of porting Easywriter to the HP-150, a MS-DOS machine?

The problem is that the HP150 is a true MS-DOS machine, but it isn't IBM
compatible.  It supports all the MSDOS INT 21h interface, but it does NOT
support the IBM BIOS (INT 10?) calls.

Since most programs for the PC use BIOS calls to improve performance,
especially for display of text/graphics, they don't run unmodified on the
150.

(I think I may have heard about a BIOS emulator for the 150?  Is this just
my wild imagination or is it real?)

--Bill Turner