Assuming you have made the power supply and battery pack recommended in the previous page, you are ready to power up the unit.
Plug the three-pin socket for the 7.2 VDC battery pack into the plug in the T5000's battery compartment. Raise the lid on the T5000 so you can watch the LCD. Plug the power supply into the wall. If the T5000 doesn't start immediately, press the ON button momentarily. The T5000 should begin its boot sequence; when complete, you should end up at a DOS prompt.
You will notice immediately that the keyboard is messed up. In general, the alpha keys are all one row above the expected key; for example, you have to press Q to get A. Of course, the next row down is messed up in the opposite direction; you have to press G to get B (I think!).
You will just have to get used to weird typing, because you need to work your way through the following sections before you can get the T5000 fully operational. So practice up a bit ...
Using Interlink
The key to getting your T5000 running is Microsoft's Interlink program. This program lives in the T5000 DOS ROM, and permits the T5000 to exchange files with any DOS PC connected to the T5000's COM1 port. To make this work you will need a DOS PC with a free COM port and a null modem serial cable.
Connect the null modem cable between the two computers, then go to a DOS prompt on the DOS PC. On the T5000, pick your way through the following commands, assuming the T5000 is showing the A: prompt:
c:
(to change to the T5000
ROM disc)
i9
(switch COM1 to RS-232
connector, start Interlink server)
Now move to the DOS PC, and enter the following command:
interlnk (to start the Interlink client on the PC)
You should see both screens display a list of directories, some belonging to the opposite machine. For example, you might see that the DOS PC now has drive F: connected to the T5000's drive A:.
Building new boot files
Your task here is to construct an interim config.sys file for the T5000's A: drive that will activate the T5000's SRAM PCMCIA card. As shipped, the T5000's default config.sys file treats the PCMCIA card as a Sundisk, which it isn't. You have to use the CMCDD drivers to talk to the SRAM card. Use a text editor on the PC to create the following files on the A: drive of the T5000.
a:\config.sys
shell=c:\command.com c:\ /p
stacks=9,256
device=c:\cmcdd.sys
a:\autoexec.bat
set path=c:\
xmode com1 9pin
Press the ON button momentarily; the T5000 should shut off. Press the ON button again, and the T5000 should reboot, this time loading the CMCDD drivers.
If the above exercise worked, you should be able to set up the Interlink connection again and this time you should see a D: drive on the T5000. This is the SRAM disc on the PCMCIA card. Now would be a good time to make a directory on your PC and use Interlnk to copy the entire contents of the SRAM disc to your PC, as a backup.
You are nearly there. Now use the DOS PC to create a directory on the T5000's SRAM disc called aprep, for A: drive preparation. Use your editor on the DOS PC to create the following files in the d:\aprep directory on the T5000:
d:\aprep\config.sys
shell=c:\command.com c:\ /p
stacks=9,256
device=c:\cmcdd.sys
d:\aprep\autoexec.bat
set path=c:\;d:\bin;d:\util
set prompt=$P$G
xmode com1 9pin
t5kbd
2930
d:\aprep\aprep.bat
copy d:\aprep\autoexec.bat a:
copy d:\aprep\config.sys a:
Now move the autoexec.bat and config.sys files from the d:\aprep directory to the A: drive. You can do this by using SaveAs in your PC editor. After you have moved the files, perform a cold reboot as above.
When the T5000 reboots this time, the keyboard should work properly. You should be able to move directly to the D: drive and list all directories, including the aprep directory.
Congratulations! Your T5000 is now up and running.
Odds and ends
If the keyboard is not mapped (see the t5kbd and 2930 commands in the autoexec.bat file above), you have access to the function keys (top row), ALT key (Z key), CTRL key (Display/Recall key), and others. Once you remap the keyboard, however, it looks like you lose all of these keys. (At least, I haven't found them yet...)
With the keyboard not mapped, the ViewUp/ViewDn key toggles the backlight, and the Up and Down keys (upper right) change display contrast. Again, these keys go away when the keyboard is remapped.
With the keyboard remapped, the backslash key ('\') is mapped to the Calendar/Accept key (upper left).
Whether the keyboard is remapped or not, the Right key (upper right) retrieves each character of the previous command. If there is an equivalent to the F3 PC key, I haven't found it yet.
You can unmap the keyboard at any time by entering the command t5kbd /d. To remap the keyboard, enter the t5kbd and 2930 commands in sequence. Since remapping means you have to type on the unmapped keyboard, I created a file called 789.bat that performs this function. Using numeric keys for the file name means I can type it directly, since the numeric keys are not altered by mapping.
The ON button turns the T5000 on and off. So long as the NiCd pack is plugged in and charged, the T5000 will retain the time and date across reboots.
To change the screen format, you must first load the t5int10h.com TSR; you can do this simply by typing t5int10h at the command prompt. With that installed, you can use the vmode command to get 40, 53, or 80 chars per line.
The T5000's setup command can change a lot of operating characteristics, including the boot sequence. Note that if you alter any parameters, they must be saved into EEPROM. This in turn requires that you have a 7.2 VDC battery in place; yet another reason for adding that battery.
The T5000's power command can be used to alter the power management settings and to check the level of the 7.2 VDC battery. Use power /? for a list of all the options.
You can use the xformat command to reformat the A: drive if necessary. See the 1234.bat file on the T5000's C: drive for an example of its use.