chromebook

[[e-mail]]

I'm having a bit of trouble getting my head around
the Chromebook.

This device seems unique in that it allows a custom
BIOS to be flashed, ie Seabios.

On an old Chromebook, I have used this:

https://mrchromebox.tech

and been able to run PDOS/386. And it's great.

However, INT 14H doesn't give me anything because
I don't have a serial port.

I asked the Seabios people if they could add a TCP/IP
stack (they already have a USB stack) plus NDIS so that
they could do USB tethering to an Android smartphone,
to give me a virtual modem.

They weren't interested.

I'm interested in replacing Seabios with my own BIOS
where I can add these things to a public domain project
instead of someone else's copyrighted project.

This should revive communications not just for PDOS/386,
but also MSDOS, which I think uses INT 14H.

My understanding is that by going this route I would be
using documented standards - something that I can't do
with wifi.

But I'm interested in what the flashed BIOS itself would
need to look like.

I'm guessing I could have the RM16 INT 14H switch to
PM32 and then manipulate the hardware (USB port),
the same way as a normal driver for any hobbyist OS
would do it.

My understanding is that a USB stack is a lot of work,
so I probably won't embark on such a project for a long
time, but I would like to make sure that appropriate
hardware exists and that this is a reasonable way
forward to revive modems for legacy OSes.

Neither Windows nor Linux would be required on the PC.

There would still be an Android phone, but it is merely
acting as part of an elaborate modem. The OS itself is
not exceeding the capabilities of computers available
in 1986.

Any idea how many lines of C code are required to have a
BIOS good enough to run PDOS/386? With and without a
modem (ie breakdown of different components).

Also, how portable is the BIOS to the different Chromebooks?

Thanks. Paul.

[Alexei A. Frounze]

Post by ***@gmail.com
I'm having a bit of trouble getting my head around
the Chromebook.
This device seems unique in that it allows a custom
BIOS to be flashed, ie Seabios.
https://mrchromebox.tech
and been able to run PDOS/386. And it's great.
However, INT 14H doesn't give me anything because
I don't have a serial port.
I asked the Seabios people if they could add a TCP/IP
stack (they already have a USB stack) plus NDIS so that
they could do USB tethering to an Android smartphone,
to give me a virtual modem.

Do you need to connect a USB to RS232 converter to it
for the port to appear? Or is their USB completely
separate? Anyway, if it's accessible, it should work
somehow?

Alex

[[e-mail]]

Post by Alexei A. Frounze

Post by ***@gmail.com
However, INT 14H doesn't give me anything because
I don't have a serial port.
I asked the Seabios people if they could add a TCP/IP
stack (they already have a USB stack) plus NDIS so that
they could do USB tethering to an Android smartphone,
to give me a virtual modem.

Do you need to connect a USB to RS232 converter to it
for the port to appear?

No, you need an actual serial port, at least as far as I am
aware.

USB to RS232 are all non-standard (I've been told).

Post by Alexei A. Frounze
Or is their USB completely
separate? Anyway, if it's accessible, it should work
somehow?

Yeah, if you write a driver for every device, that would
work. And that's basically Windows. You buy an adaptor,
and it comes with a driver, and it works.

But for Seabios to do something useful, without a driver
for every device, then some things are ruled out, including
the non-standard wifi (so I've been told).

But there are things that are reasonably standard, so you
can write a single driver for them. TCP/IP stack. USB stack.
And the NDIS protocol for USB tethering.

Then you could use the Hayes AT standard (or close) as
a virtual modem, and other standards like nntp, and you
can start doing various useful things.

BFN. Paul.

[Alexei A. Frounze]

Post by ***@gmail.com

Post by Alexei A. Frounze

Post by ***@gmail.com
However, INT 14H doesn't give me anything because
I don't have a serial port.
I asked the Seabios people if they could add a TCP/IP
stack (they already have a USB stack) plus NDIS so that
they could do USB tethering to an Android smartphone,
to give me a virtual modem.

Do you need to connect a USB to RS232 converter to it
for the port to appear?

No, you need an actual serial port, at least as far as I am
aware.
USB to RS232 are all non-standard (I've been told).

Post by Alexei A. Frounze
Or is their USB completely
separate? Anyway, if it's accessible, it should work
somehow?

Yeah, if you write a driver for every device, that would
work. And that's basically Windows. You buy an adaptor,
and it comes with a driver, and it works.
But for Seabios to do something useful, without a driver
for every device, then some things are ruled out, including
the non-standard wifi (so I've been told).
But there are things that are reasonably standard, so you
can write a single driver for them. TCP/IP stack. USB stack.
And the NDIS protocol for USB tethering.
Then you could use the Hayes AT standard (or close) as
a virtual modem, and other standards like nntp, and you
can start doing various useful things.
BFN. Paul.

Is there functional audio? That would be another modem.

Alex

[[e-mail]]

Post by Alexei A. Frounze
Is there functional audio? That would be another modem.

Wow.

First I thought this was ridiculous or maybe a joke.

And then I wondered what a modem was. Before it was
just some sort of magical box that hardware people
deal with.

Then I realized that I can presumably get the telephone
connection wires and stick them onto a soundblaster 16
and make my own modem in C.

But I would need to use a telephone to dial out.

Then I realized that even the dial tones to dial out can be
generated and should work.

So. At what point in history could I have written a C program
on a PC to construct my own modem?

I spent a lot of time stuffing around with modems, and I could
have replaced them with a dedicated PC!

Regardless, back to the original question. I used the term
"modem" loosely. I don't want a modem - there are no telephone
lines (copper) in sight. What I want is a serial port. And not even
that. What I want is a BIOS to support INT 14H. What it does with
that I don't really care. Except I do care. I don't have a serial port,
I have a USB port, so I want the BIOS to be aware of that and
make the appropriate changes so that my OS (PDOS) thinks it
is talking to a modem, but is in fact communication to a virtual
modem in the BIOS, which is using NDIS over a USB tethering
port.

BFN. Paul.