CTFan's PDA resurrection (Thanks Bacteria!)

[CronoTriggerfan]

I was inspired by bacteria's awesome job, so I've decided to attempt one of my own! I'm making it as a Christmas present for someone (dunno who yet, but someone will get it!), and before I get started, I was wondering what kind of apps, games, emulators, etc. would be good on this PDA? It's an iPAQ H3760, with 64mb of RAM and a 206MHz processor.

It'll most likely go to my cousin who's headed off to college, so I'd like to optimize it in style for that demograph. My aim is to keep the size pretty much the same, make it sleek and black, a tad bit thicker (not as thick as bacteria's, as I'm using lithium ion batts) than it already is, and re-optimizing the controls for gaming, adding actual buttons and a nice d-pad. We'll see how it turns out when the PDA gets here in the following days!

CTFan

[cowsgoquack101]

CTFan's idea gives me the same idea. My uncle used to play a crap load of Doom. I mean, he can remember almost all of the cheats for it to this day. So, is there a cheap range of pda's or old laptops that he could also browse the internet on? He's had troubles with my ex-aunt and she stole some of his stuff and pawned it and he has cancer and other medical problems, and I love him dearly, so is there anything that I could get him that he could play Doom and also some other emulators on?

PS: Sorry for sorta stealing a question/idea from you Josh. It's just so darn good.

[bacteria]

Firstly, excellent, I am really pleased you decided to do this mod; and were obviously inspired by my work.

I beleive the Ipaq H3760 was the immediate follow up to the Ipaq 3660 (as per mine). Specs are very similar.

You will need either the "cradle", designed to pop your Ipaq into and connect via USB to your computer; or one of the USB cables for the Ipaq (from Hong Kong typically) to do the same job - without this you won't be able to copy data across to your PDA or install games.

I tried using a NES D-pad originally, but found due to the closeness of the surrounding electronics from the system it was awkward to place, so I used tact switches instead - even then it was only just ok.

I tried upgrading from Pocket PC 2000 to Pocket PC 2002 but found the emulators were not compatible; if you didn't exit in just the right way the game kept running on top of other applications and you couldn't stop it. I suggest you keep to Pocket PC 2000. If your system comes with Pocket PC 2002 and you experience similar problems, the upgrade to Pocket PC 2002 I used allows you to replace the ROM image, I still have the Pocket PC 2000 OS image on my computer.

I don't know if your Ipaq got over the problem on the Ipaq 3600 series that a button is not registered if you are also pressing a direction button, which cuts out action and shooting games.

I tried to install CalPlus application a while back, but since found it contained a trojan, which explained why I had to cold boot the system (all memory emptied apart from the OS) and start installing stuff again.

Apps - not really found any useful, over and above the ones already in the Ipaq. I used to use a slideshow viewer occasionally.

You will need to use ActiveSync 3.8 - don't use a later version. This works with Office 2003 and XP and Pocket PC 2000 / 2002.

Emulators - iMAME is too slow, PocketSNES is a bit too slow but ok (as I recall), as with PocketGENESIS. GNUboy is am emulator for GB and GBC, although GBC is a bit slow, GB (mono) games run great. One of my vids showed playing Tetris Attack. Basically, action games like 1942 aren't good because of the key button issue; but there are a number of other games which are fine.

MS Gamepack (PacMan, Ms PacMan, DigDug) is good, I installed it (as per pic) and you can run the game with D-pad or stylus.

Sure, you want to make your project smaller, however as the pic below shows you may struggle making the length and breadth smaller than I did (the extra length is for the USB card connection); the only height difference you have to play with is the batteries as you say. AA's are 14mm high, in battery cases about 16mm high. If you use Li-ions you might save as much as 10mm at a pinch and maybe end up with 34mm high. The reason for this is the PDA will be angled due to the components like a D-pad, wiring, etc; also, you need a slight gap above the PDA or it seems to stop buttons working (shorting). I hot glued two strips of mounting board against the battery pack at the base in question, then snipped the card in half, raised the battery pack by 3mm and re-hot glued - works great and reliably now.




I will be happy to give you any advice I can. If you need any of the software I referred to above, contact me, I can e-mail it to you.

[bacteria]

CTFan's idea gives me the same idea. My uncle used to play a crap load of Doom. I mean, he can remember almost all of the cheats for it to this day. So, is there a cheap range of pda's or old laptops that he could also browse the internet on? He's had troubles with my ex-aunt and she stole some of his stuff and pawned it and he has cancer and other medical problems, and I love him dearly, so is there anything that I could get him that he could play Doom and also some other emulators on?

PS: Sorry for sorta stealing a question/idea from you Josh. It's just so darn good.

For that application, a cheap computer would be ideal. I think the best version of Doom was on the N64. PJ64 runs it great (I have the original cart anyway). Get an old 800Mhz Pentium 3 computer, they are really cheap and fine for this, and internet too. I use a similar spec computer for internet, it is perfectly fast enough.

[CronoTriggerfan]

Thanks for the quick reply, bacteria, I'll keep all that in mind during the construction process. I realize that I can't really make the face smaller; in fact, I really want it to be bigger, with the larger buttons and d-pad, but I would like to keep it relatively thin while still retaining mass comfortably. For comparison's sake, about as thick as a graphing calculator.

Dinking around with the design, I think I wanna keep it solid black, even the buttons and d-pad, with the lone exception being the silver power button at the top, as seen here:

Any suggestions, guys? Do you think making the buttons all black is a good idea? The d-pad is from an NES controller, and the buttons are all from a PSP button replacement kit. They came white, but I'll be painting them black. Any questions/suggestions on that stuff?

I am having a some trouble with the stylus, though. How will it be stored? I'm not keen on making an actual hole to have it held in, but perhaps something else to have it fastened to the back or side. Velcro wouldn't work, magnets would screw with the screen... is there any other option you guys can think of?

Oh, and just as a side note, the batteries are supposedly dead, so I bought a new one, 3000mAh, should yield good results.

CTFan

[Kurt_]

Matte black and glossy black would make a nice, subtle colour scheme. I'm not sure which you would make glossy, the buttons or the PDA...

[Skyone]

Magnets screwing with an LCD? Doubt it.

[vskid]

magnets would screw with the screen...

Nope, I just set some moderately powerful (about as powerful as the most powerful fridge ones) on the screen, they did nothing. They only affect CRTs.

[CronoTriggerfan]

Well, I guess magnets are a go then, thanks guys! The only other concern would be that they'd be relatively close to the ROM, about how far away do they need to be located from these to make sure they don't mess anything up?

EDIT: Screw magnets, bacteria's right, they probably won't hold the stylus well. I'll keep thinking!

[bacteria]

CronoTriggerfan - Initially you indicated that you wanted to "keep the size pretty much the same....a tad bit thicker", you now want the face to be bigger. Problem is that if the system is wider than I made it you won't be able to hold it in one hand ok, and use the other hand for using the stylus; which is the way you use a PDA. Much longer and it would be too long - I think I got the length and width right, the depth would have been nicer to have been thinner, but as per my postings, I couldn't get the batteries between the screen and mobo and have the screen working past the configuration screens - it doesn't work (otherwise my project would have been under 30mm thick). I think realistically, you either need to make this as a usable PDA (in which case your project will end up like mine, only slightly thinner) or much wider and like a games system not a PDA. As mentioned before, if you are trying to make this Ipaq into a games system you will be disappointed, running games full speed restricts you to GB mono games or the MS games pack, and with the button recognition issues, not action games (although Tetris Attack is fine). If you wanted more of a games platform, a later Ipaq would have been a better option (c. 400Mhz).

Black - easily marked and shows blemishes (same as dark colours and white) - try silver! Much more forgiving, as blemishes are harder to see and add to the effect!! Silver is the new black!!

I had the same thoughts about securing the stylus to the back or side. No issues with magnets, they only effect CRT monitors not LCD or TFT screens; however they won't work for this application as it would be too easy to lose the stylus. What you need is a retainer - you get the thin elastic band type material on packaging sometimes (or use thick square elastic bands); have two or three pieces positioned so they can take the stylus in position and hold it, being elastic they will expand enough to take the stylus and contract and hold it in place. Just a thought.

Yes, if you buy an old Ipaq, the battery will be dead (or claims of "untested" by an e-bay seller, meaning the same anyway); yes, 3000mAh would give good results, the original battery was only about 1500mAh and gave up to about 1.5 hours continuous use, or less than that and standby mode time too. I could get up to about 10.5 hours from 2 packs of 4 x AA cells in parallel.

I will be keeping close interest in this project.

vskid - as you seem to have decided to keep your PDA in the end and not send it to me (no problem), let's hope you also mod your system too and make use of it - let's get another PDA project rolling!! You will also need to get a cradle or special cable too, to connect your Ipaq to your PC as you don't have one at the moment.

[CronoTriggerfan]

Well, the PDA got here today, still waiting on all the parts and such. I'm going to buy a CF/PCMCIA card adapter for it, but before I do, I was wondering if anyone knew how big an SD card it supports? I've got a 2 gig stick somewhere, and I'm not sure if it'll fit. Also, can it use PCMCIA wifi cards to get internet access?

After rethinking my goals, I've decided making a completely new case isn't realistic or needed based on my current time constraints. My cousin said he'd want such a device more for movies, music, and studying more so than actual gaming, and little puzzle games would more than fit his needs, meaning that the current interface will suffice. With that in mind, I'm almost more keen on modding up the CF sleeve, bondoing it to the unit, and painting it a nice color and adding some new LEDs. Not sure this is exactly what I wanna do at the moment, but I'm definitely leaning in that direction.

CTFan

[khaag]

If you DO want to use magnets, you can get a pack of 20 "Rare" earth magnets from Deal Extreme for uber cheap. They are a really strong magnet, and are contained in a tiny space. Make a line of them on the inside of the case where you want the stylus to stay put (assuming the stylus shaft is metal) and baffle people as to how the stylus clicks and stays on the PDA!

Link

[illustriouschin]

wouldnt all those magnets ruin the memory? it cant be good to have so many so close to delicate electronics.

[bacteria]

CronoTriggerfan - I believe the PDA uses Compact Flash cards not SD. I believe people have used up to 512Mb cards on these PDA's, type I or type II.

It doesn't take much time (about 2-3 hours) to make a case like I did and finish it off. It means you can have a much better speaker and better buttons if you mod the PDA; also the CF card can be hidden inside the mod. If you make the case like I did, you won't need bondo. It is worth doing...

khaag - The stylus for the PDA is plastic, so magnets are no use - anyway, it would be hard to remove a metal stylus from magnets and get it back in easily. I still go with my idea of elastic band straps. Other option is to make a small cylinder inside the PDA to house the stylus, and on the outside make a small window with a slide across to access the stylus (tip upside down to release), using gravity.

[khaag]

Meh... It still would have been cool