Version 1.0 · by Ahmad Byagowi
The PS2TUI main menu — a classic cyan window with a yellow double border and drop shadow, floating on a grey desktop; categorised and keyboard-driven (captured in QEMU).
PS2TUI is a full-screen, keyboard-driven front-end for configuring the IBM PalmTop PC110
(type 2431, 1995). It replaces the ~50 cryptic switches of IBM's PS2.EXE command-line tool with
a two-level menu — pick a category, then a setting — and it reads the machine's live state
(battery, current settings) natively via the APM BIOS and CMOS.
It is a tiny (~5 KB) real-mode DOS .COM, hand-written in assembly, with no dependencies —
it runs on the PC110's PC DOS 7 / MS-DOS. It was developed and tested on real PC110 hardware.
The top level is a set of categories with one-line descriptions; Enter opens a category, ESC steps back. A framed panel, a title/breadcrumb bar and a context-sensitive footer give it a clean, consistent feel throughout.
IBM PalmTop PC110 · System Manager by Ahmad Byagowi
Main menu
╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ ► Power & Battery Power saving, CPU speed, charging ║
║ Display LCD / CRT output, vertical stretch ║
║ Devices Audio, digitizer, IR / serial / modem ║
║ Keyboard & Pointer Click, repeat rate, trackpad settings ║
║ Advanced LPT, ATA, PCMCIA, battery, token-ring ║
║ Dumps & ROM BIOS / video-BIOS / font-ROM images ║
║ System Test RAM, video, keyboard, speaker, clock ║
║ Diagnostics Live hardware probes & chipset config ║
║ Backup & Restore Save / restore all CMOS settings ║
║ Information Battery, settings, firmware revisions ║
╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
UP/DN Navigate ENTER Open B Battery C Settings R Revisions ESC/Q Quit
A category sub-menu (Main menu ► Power & Battery), with the value picker.
Every screen expanded — 10 categories, 57 items, with each value picker's choices shown as
leaves. Choosing any picker value opens a Run? (Y/N) confirm before it is applied. [native]
items run directly in PS2TUI (no PS2.EXE); ! marks disruptive actions.
IBM PalmTop PC110 — System Manager
│
├─ Power & Battery
│ ├─ Battery power-saving mode
│ │ ├─ High
│ │ ├─ Medium
│ │ └─ Low
│ ├─ Auto-suspend after idle (minutes)
│ │ ├─ 0
│ │ ├─ 1
│ │ ├─ 3
│ │ ├─ 5
│ │ ├─ 10
│ │ ├─ 15
│ │ ├─ 30
│ │ ├─ 60
│ │ └─ 99
│ ├─ Screen off after idle (minutes)
│ │ ├─ 0
│ │ ├─ 1
│ │ ├─ 3
│ │ ├─ 5
│ │ ├─ 10
│ │ ├─ 15
│ │ └─ 17
│ ├─ CPU speed
│ │ ├─ Fast
│ │ ├─ Medium
│ │ └─ Slow
│ ├─ Suspend when cover closes
│ │ ├─ Enable
│ │ └─ Disable
│ ├─ Wake on phone ring
│ │ ├─ Enable
│ │ └─ Disable
│ ├─ Operation charging (while running) [ULTRACHG.COM]
│ │ ├─ Enable
│ │ └─ Disable
│ └─ Reset basic settings to defaults [action]
│ └─ (then: Run? Y/N)
│
├─ Display
│ ├─ Display output
│ │ ├─ LCD
│ │ └─ CRT
│ └─ Stretch display (vertical expand)
│ ├─ ON
│ └─ OFF
│
├─ Devices
│ ├─ SoundBlaster IRQ
│ │ ├─ 5
│ │ ├─ 10
│ │ └─ Disable
│ ├─ SoundBlaster DMA
│ │ ├─ 1
│ │ └─ 3
│ ├─ SoundBlaster I/O address
│ │ └─ 0220
│ ├─ Digitizer (inking) IRQ
│ │ ├─ 5
│ │ ├─ 10
│ │ └─ Disable
│ ├─ Digitizer (inking) I/O address
│ │ ├─ 15E0
│ │ ├─ 25E0
│ │ └─ 35E0
│ ├─ Infrared port
│ │ ├─ COM1
│ │ ├─ COM2
│ │ └─ Off
│ ├─ Serial port
│ │ ├─ COM1
│ │ ├─ COM2
│ │ └─ Off
│ ├─ Internal modem port
│ │ ├─ COM1
│ │ ├─ COM2
│ │ └─ Off
│ └─ PCMCIA modem port
│ ├─ COM1
│ ├─ COM2
│ └─ Off
│
├─ Keyboard & Pointer
│ ├─ Keyboard click sound
│ │ ├─ ON
│ │ └─ OFF
│ ├─ Keyboard typematic rate
│ │ ├─ Med
│ │ └─ Fast
│ ├─ Keyboard typematic delay
│ │ ├─ Normal
│ │ └─ Long
│ ├─ Keyboard device select
│ │ ├─ Auto
│ │ └─ Both
│ └─ Pointing device (identify + settings) [native · 8042 aux → trackpad U75]
│ ├─ Self-test + device ID + resolution + sample rate (shown live)
│ ├─ R = cycle resolution: 1 / 2 / 4 / 8 counts/mm
│ ├─ S = cycle sample rate: 10 / 20 / 40 / 60 / 80 / 100 / 200 /s
│ ├─ T = reset / re-identify
│ └─ ESC = back
│
├─ Advanced
│ ├─ Parallel port mode
│ │ ├─ BI
│ │ ├─ UNI
│ │ ├─ ECP
│ │ └─ EPP
│ ├─ IDE/ATA controller order
│ │ ├─ Primary
│ │ └─ Secondary
│ ├─ PCMCIA controller
│ │ ├─ Enable
│ │ └─ Disable
│ ├─ Support 3V PCMCIA cards
│ │ ├─ Enable
│ │ └─ Disable
│ ├─ LCD status panel shows
│ │ ├─ Auto
│ │ ├─ Time
│ │ └─ Battery
│ ├─ Battery charge profile
│ │ ├─ Standard
│ │ └─ Other
│ ├─ Floppy power management
│ │ ├─ Enable
│ │ └─ Disable
│ ├─ IRQ clear
│ │ ├─ Enable
│ │ └─ Disable
│ ├─ Token-ring RIPL speed
│ │ ├─ 4Mbps
│ │ └─ 16Mbps
│ ├─ ! COMB serial-mux device
│ │ ├─ RS232
│ │ ├─ IRda
│ │ ├─ MIDI
│ │ └─ ASK
│ └─ Start up (boot sequence) [native · CMOS 0x1D/0x1E + checksum]
│ ├─ save current order → profile 1 / 2
│ └─ apply profile 1 / 2 (reboot to take effect)
│
├─ Dumps & ROM
│ ├─ Dump system BIOS → C:\PC110BIO.BIN [native · F000, 64 KB]
│ ├─ Dump video BIOS → C:\PC110VID.BIN [native · C000, 32 KB]
│ ├─ Dump font ROM → C:\PC110FNT.BIN [native · 1 MB, 128 banks]
│ ├─ Dump CMOS/RTC RAM → C:\PC110CMO.BIN [native · CMOS 0x00-0x7F, 128 B]
│ ├─ Flash BIOS (!) ← C:\PC110ROM.BIN [native · reflash 96 KB main block]
│ ├─ Display: DSTN → TFT (!) [native · video-BIOS patch, saves C:\PANEL.SAV]
│ ├─ Display: TFT → DSTN (restore) [native · restores C:\PANEL.SAV]
│ ├─ Memory: enable 32 MB patch (!) [native · POST count-cap patch, verifies stock first]
│ ├─ Memory: remove 32 MB patch (restore) [native · restores the stock bytes]
│ └─ Diagnose BIOS patches (read-only) [native · TFT/DSTN, Win-256, 32 MB status]
│
├─ System Test
│ ├─ Memory info + RAM test [native · conv/ext size + pattern]
│ ├─ Video / colour test [native · 16 fg / 8 bg / charset]
│ ├─ Keyboard test [native · scancode/ascii]
│ ├─ Speaker test (beep) [native · PIT ch2 ~1 kHz]
│ ├─ Real-time clock test (live) [native · RTC ticking]
│ ├─ Timer (PIT) test [native · ~18.2 Hz]
│ └─ Pointing device test [native · INT 33h]
│
├─ Diagnostics
│ ├─ Hardware scan / report [native · CPU/mem/APM/SCAMP/MCU/PCIC/font/UART/RTC]
│ ├─ Storage / disk info + read test [native · INT 13h geometry + sector 0]
│ ├─ Power / battery MCU detail [native · 0xEC/0xED register file]
│ ├─ PCMCIA socket status [native · 0x3E0/0x3E1 PCIC]
│ └─ Chipset config (VL82C420) [native · SCAMP 0x74/0x76, unlocked]
│
├─ Backup & Restore
│ ├─ Backup all settings → C:\PC110SET.BIN [native · CMOS 0x10-0x7F]
│ └─ Restore all settings ← C:\PC110SET.BIN [native]
│ └─ confirm Y/N → effective next boot
│
└─ Information
├─ Battery / AC status (live) [native · APM INT 15h]
├─ Current settings (live) [native · CMOS 0x70/0x71]
├─ Show firmware revisions [PS2 _@REVision]
├─ ! Suspend the PC110 now [action]
│ └─ (then: Run? Y/N)
├─ ! Power OFF the PC110 now [action]
│ └─ (then: Run? Y/N)
└─ ! Reset ALL advanced settings [action]
└─ (then: Run? Y/N)
Global keys: B Battery · C Settings · R Revisions · Q Quit · ESC Back/Quit
- Menu for every PS2 setting — power management, CPU speed, display, SoundBlaster and
digitizer resources, COM-port routing, keyboard, parallel port, PCMCIA, battery, and the
hidden
_@advanced options (including the undocumentedADDAUdioSoundBlaster-address command) — grouped into categories and applied with a confirm step. - ROM / memory dumps — write byte-perfect images to the boot drive: system BIOS
(
PC110BIO.BIN, 64 KB), video BIOS (PC110VID.BIN, 32 KB) and the 1 MB banked font ROM (PC110FNT.BIN) — done natively (direct memory read + font-ROM bank switching), no external tool. - BIOS flash (
!) — reflashes the 96 KB main block of the BIOS flash (Intel 28F002BXT) fromC:\PC110ROM.BIN(the raw0x20000-0x37FFFslice of a 256 KB image). Reproduces yyzkevin'svpatchflash sequence byte-for-byte — chipset unlock, VPP-enable (port 0x98), 28F002 erase/program/poll — with an A/C + battery-≥20 % check and a DANGER confirm. It touches only the main block; the boot block (reset vector) is left intact so a bad write stays recoverable. Use it to install e.g. the 28 MB memory-map patch or a TFT video-BIOS. Reflashing can brick the machine — readDiscovery/BIOS-Flashfirst, and only run it on A/C with a recovery path. - Display: DSTN ↔ TFT (
!) — two items that reflash just the video-BIOS panel config to switch the internal display between the stock passive DSTN and an active-matrix TFT (the 18-byte F65535 flat-panel patch; seeDiscovery/65535§6c). DSTN → TFT first saves the machine's current panel bytes toC:\PANEL.SAV, then applies the TFT values; TFT → DSTN restores that backup — so the round-trip is exact and the tool needs no hard-coded DSTN table. Same A/C + battery gate and brick warning as Flash BIOS; reboot to take effect. (TFT → DSTN needs theC:\PANEL.SAVa prior DSTN → TFT created on that machine, or a known-DSTN BIOS restored via Flash BIOS.) Untested on hardware.
All four flash items above are disabled (grayed out) unless you booted the PC110 from a floppy. The BIOS-flash 12 V (VPP) is only powered under a floppy boot in an IBM-marked drive (see
Discovery/BIOS-Flash§7); PS2TUI detects the boot drive and only enables flashing when booted from a floppy.
- Diagnose BIOS patches — a read-only report of which BIOS patches this machine has: the
display panel (TFT-patched vs stock DSTN, decided by matching the 18 flat-panel XR bytes against
both known tables), the Windows 256-colour fix, and the 32 MB memory patch — each with the raw
bytes. It only reads the
C000/F000BIOS shadows (no port I/O, no flash commands), so unlike the flash items it works from any boot device and is never grayed out. Hardware-verified on a stock DSTN PC110 (reportedDSTN (stock) · 0/18 TFT · 18/18 DSTN, Win-256 absent, 32 MB absent). - Memory: enable / remove 32 MB patch (
!) — two items that reflash a 17-byte POST memory-sizing patch so a PC110 with more than the stock 20 MB (e.g. a 16+16 module) cold-boots cleanly, without the RC circuit /DARK2301of the classic taka hack (it caps the POST memory count at 28 MB; seeMods/32MB-Memory-BIOS-PatchandDiscovery/RAM-Module§7). Both the patched and original bytes are known exactly, so enable and remove each first verify the current BIOS is in the expected state and refuse to touch an unexpected or already-in-that-state image — no backup file needed. Same A/C + battery gate and brick warning; only the 96 KB main block is touched; reboot to take effect. Untested on hardware. - System test menu (Easy-Setup style) — RAM pattern test + memory sizes, video/colour test, interactive keyboard test, speaker beep test, a live real-time-clock test, a PIT timer test, and a pointing-device test (INT 33h, vector-guarded).
- Hardware diagnostics (Diagnostics menu):
-
Hardware scan — a one-screen live probe of every subsystem: CPU (CPUID vendor / family-model-stepping / FPU), conventional + extended memory, APM + battery, the SCAMP VL82C420, the power MCU, the PCMCIA PCIC (chip ID), the banked font ROM (signature check), the COM1 UART, and the RTC — each reported present/absent from a real port read.
-
Storage / disk — INT 13h drive geometry (cyl/heads/sectors) + a sector-0 read test.
-
Power / battery MCU detail — dumps the power-MCU register file (
0xEC/0xED, live battery/thermal telemetry). -
PCMCIA socket status — reads the PCIC and shows each socket's card-present state.
-
Chipset config (VL82C420) — dumps the SCAMP config space live. That register bank reads all-
FFafter POST because the BIOS locks it (the0x22/0x23gate); PS2TUI re-opens the gate, reads all 128 indices, and re-locks — atomically, since it re-locks between bus cycles. TheSLsignature at idx 0x7A/0x7B confirms the read. (See Discovery/Chipset §13a.) -
Pointing device (identify + settings) — talks to the trackpad MCU (U75, NEC µPD17137A) over its only host interface, the 8042 PS/2 aux channel: runs a reset/self-test, shows the device ID and the live resolution and sample rate, and lets you cycle those settings on screen (
R/S) or re-identify (T). It brings the aux channel up on entry and restores the 8042 command byte on exit. (The MCU's firmware is internal mask ROM and is not host-dumpable — see Discovery/Trackpoint.)
-
- Operation charging (Power menu) — enable/disable charging while the machine runs, by
invoking the
ULTRACHG.COM"operation charge" utility. See how it works in Discovery/ULTRACHG (it drives the PC110 embedded-controller mailbox at0x15E8/0x15ECwith aZn10/Zn00command). - Backup / restore all settings — save every CMOS-stored setting to
PC110SET.BINand write it back later. It images the whole CMOS config region (0x10–0x7F, both checksums included), so the backup is self-consistent; restore asks for confirmation and takes effect on the next boot. - Live battery / AC status (
B) — read natively from the APM BIOS (INT 15h AX=5300/530A). Shows AC line, battery state and charge %. - Live current settings (
C) — read natively straight from CMOS (ports 0x70/0x71): keyboard click, LCD status-panel mode, power-saving mode, vertical-expand. - Firmware revisions (
R) — BIOS / APM / VGA / SETUP-DIAG / keyboard-MCU / power-MCU / PS2.
The full-screen diagnostic / test / dump pages use a classic IBM PS/2 Reference-Diskette theme — white text on a blue background with cyan key hints — visually distinct from the cyan tool window of the menus:
Hardware diagnostics (live probe)
CPU ............ GenuineIntel fam 4 mdl 2 stp 11 FPU: no
Memory ......... 640 KB ext 19456 KB
APM BIOS ....... present batt 100%
SCAMP VL82C420 . present
Power MCU (U6) . present
PCMCIA PCIC .... present id 0x83
Font ROM ....... signature OK (55AA/FONT)
COM1 UART ...... present
RTC / CMOS ..... battery OK, no POST errors
(Captured from a real IBM PC110 — the CPU reports as the Intel 486SX, family 4 / model 2 / stepping 11, no FPU.)
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| ↑ / ↓ | Move the selection (category on the main menu, setting inside a sub-menu) |
| Enter | On the main menu: open the category. In a sub-menu: open the picker / run the item |
| (in picker) ↑/↓ + Enter | Choose a value → confirm with Y / cancel with N |
| ESC | Back one level (sub-menu → main menu); on the main menu it quits |
| B | Battery / AC status, read live from APM (also in Information) |
| C | Current settings, read live from CMOS (also in Information) |
| R | Firmware revision manifest (also in Information) |
| Q | Quit to DOS from anywhere |
PS2TUI does the read paths itself (APM INT 15h, CMOS 0x70/0x71) — no external tool needed
to show live state. For applying a setting it invokes IBM's own PS2.EXE (which must be on the
machine, e.g. C:\PS2.EXE), so the actual, tested hardware/BIOS work is done by IBM's utility.
The reverse-engineering behind this — the APM vendor calls, the bitfield encodings, and where the
settings live in CMOS — is documented in the
Open-Source-PC110 project under Discovery/PS2.
Setting serial / IR / modem ports or suspend / power-off can change how the machine behaves (and could drop a serial console). PS2TUI marks the disruptive actions with a leading
!and always shows the exact command and a confirm prompt before running it.
PS2TUI's menu covers every enumerated PS2.EXE command (basic and hidden _@ ones):
power management, CPU speed, display, audio/digitizer resources, COM-port routing, keyboard,
parallel port, ATA/PCMCIA, battery, token-ring, COMB mux, IRQ-clear, and the reset/off actions.
It also includes ADDAUdio (SoundBlaster I/O address 0220) — a command that is present in
PS2.EXE's keyword table but is undocumented: it appears in neither the built-in ? / _@???
help nor the public command references.
Three commands are not in the menu because they need free-form input rather than a fixed set of choices (a text-entry field is planned):
ON AT <date/time>— set a wake-on-time alarm_@CMOS [OR|AND|XOR] xxH[=yyH]— direct CMOS read/modify_@FNkey NN[=YY]— send an Fn key code
Requires NASM. The prebuilt PS2TUI.COM in this repo is the
hardware-tested binary.
make # or: nasm -f bin PS2TUI.ASM -o PS2TUI.COMThere is no linker step — the source assembles directly to a flat DOS .COM. The menu is fully
data-driven: edit the rows table near the top of PS2TUI.ASM to add or change entries.
Copy PS2TUI.COM to the PC110 (any directory) and run it:
PS2TUI
CC BY-NC 4.0, matching the parent Open-Source-PC110 project.