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Notes about the Atari Portfolio

I discovered the Atari Portfolio in late 2022. It's a bit late, I know. As of now up-to-date information are hard to find online since quite a few sites have disappeared. Plus, computers and technology have also changed since 1989. Thus, I started to take some notes and look for information online. These are my notes. Maybe they are helpful to you, too.
Enjoy...

L. Hennigs, 03/22

Overview

Atari Portfolio Specs

The Atari Portfolio is (one of) the first Palmtop computers.
It was sold from 1989 to 1993.
The portfolio was described to be the size of a videotape, an unhelpful description for today, as few people remember the size of a videotape.
The operating system was described to be MS-DOS 2.11 compatible.
It runs on a Intel 80C88 with 4.9152 MHz.
Most Atari Portfolios have 128k RAM (only the HPC-011 had 512k RAM).
It has 256k ROM (with the system and additional applications .such as a text editor, diary, address book, ...).
It has an MDA (i.e. monochrome) compatible LCD, with a 240x64 pixels resolution.
It can display 40x8 characters.
The Portfolio runs on three AA batteries.
...and its two minutes of movie fame took place in Terminator 2.

Knowledge & Skills

Like, and be able to use the DOS command line.
Some knowledge about setting up DOS and maybe some batch (.BAT) programming skills.
Be able to research stuff online (most sites about the Portfolio are 20ish years old).
...and if you want to mod an Atari Portfolio: soldering skills and fearlessness.

Needed Hardware / Code Setup

To be able to use the Portfolio today, you need...
- a proprietary memory card (a BEE card), and ...
- its parallel interface (that's an addon),
- a power adapter.
You need the memory card to store data more permanently, as the Portfolio will lose all data shortly after its batteries die.
The parallel interface is the only way to (initially) copy data on the portfolio. Without it, the Portfolio is basically a pretty brick, in the size of a videotape.
And the power adapter protects you from data loss (dying batteries) and adds convenience.

Hardware

Power

The Portfolio uses 3 AA batteries.
In addition, you have the power brick that provides power to the Portfolio.
When your portfolio's batteries die, you have about 3-5 minutes to attach it to power (or to switch batteries) to keep your data.
Thus, you do need the power adapter.
The parallel and serial adapters also consume a "lot" of power, another reason to get a power adapter.
The Memory Cards (see below) are also non-permanent storage – they are battery-buffered SRAM memory.
The take-away is: So nothing is permanent on the Portfolio, to have a backup strategy.

The Power Adapter

A non-standard power adapter should provide 6V and 1A
It has a 2.5mm barrel jack. The tip's polarity is positive, with GND outside.
Reversing the polarity will fry your Portfolio.

ROM

The Portfolio has 256 KB of ROM.
It contains the OS, the built-in applications, and the DOS commands.

RAM

The Portfolio comes with 128k RAM.
It is mapped as drive C.
4k of the RAM is taken by the display, and at least 8K is used as a ramdisk, ...
...usually there is less than 100k available for programs.
As soon as the Portfolio loses power, all data on drive C will be lost.
Therefore a memory card (a drive A) is crucial for your inner peace.
There is a modification to extend the RAM to 512k (see below).
There is a memory expansion (Memory Expander+, HPC-104) that adds 256K and another memory card slot. But it's bulky and also kind of rare nowadays.

Memory Cards

You DO need one for backup and more permanent storage.
The cards are called BEE Cards or Credit-Card Memory (CCM).
They are designed for MSX computers and are older (and incompatible) to PCMCIA cards.
They are battery-buffered SRAM cards and come in sizes from 32k - 128k.
Third-party cards went up to 4MB.
These are your "external" drives, i.e. drive A.
There is no way to read a BEE card with modern computers.
There used to be a "Card Reader" (PC Card, Drive HPC-301), but that came with its own ISA card that needs Win 9x and dedicated drivers.
But beware: the card's battery dies after six to nine months – thus nothing is permanent on a Portfolio.
The coin battery in the standard cards is a CR-2016.

The Parallel Interface

The addon parallel interface is needed to (initially) get data on your portfolio, as it has a built-in data transfer program for the parallel port.
The Protocol is described on the PofoWiki (German). It is not really parallel, as it only uses two data lines.
There used to be a DOS program called FT.COM to transfer data but a more modern version is Transfolio (Github) that runs on Windows, Linux and a Raspberry Pi.
As parallel (D-SUB 25) ports are kind of rare nowadays, but they do allow you to send data.

The Serial Interface

The serial interface is also an addon interface.
If you want to use it for file transfer you need some terminal program on the Portfolio, as this is not preinstalled.
You also need to set up the data connection in the Portfolio's settings (Atari + S → RS-232 Port).

Portfolio & BIOS Versions

HW Model	BIOS Version	RAM
HPC-003	1.052	128 KB
HPC-004	1.056	128 KB
HPC-005	1.130	128 KB
HPC-006	1.072	128 KB
HPC-007	1.130	128 KB
HPC-008	1.130	128 KB
HPC-009	1.130	128 KB
HPC-010	1.130	128 KB
HPC-011	1.130	512 KB

BIOS Versions

Bios Version	Comment
1.052	Some `.EXE` files cannot be started because of their header. It does not allow internal memory extensions. does not run stable. There were also problems with zero-byte files and text files that ended with a CR. Run both `PORTDIV.COM` and `UPDATE.COM`.
1.072	Most common and stable version after you run `PORTDIV.COM` and `UPDATE.COM`.
1.130	No known bugs. Problems with `INPUT.COM`, the path variable did not get set. `PGFLIX` animations won't stop repeating. Do NOT run `PORTDIV.COM` and `UPDATE.COM`.
1.133	Similar to 1.130 but supports multilanguage keyboards.

How To Check your Version

Type in VER

Firmware, OS & Software

Known Bugs and Updates

There is a UPDATE.COM program that fixes certain bugs on older firmware versions.
There can be three different update programs found on the internet. One for 1.04, one for 1.072, and for 1.130.
PORTDIV.COM is a program that prevents the Portfolio from crashing after a "Divide by Zero" error.
Call both programs in your AUTOEXEC.BAT.

The CONFIG.SYS

You need a CONFIG.SYS on drive C.
The CONFIG.SYS needs specific entries, or the Portfolio will write a random byte to memory on boot – this is called the "ShotGun bug".
Recommended CONFIG.SYS:
```
FILES=20
BUFFERS=32
COUNTRY=049
```
Adjust the country code to your liking.
If you get an "Memory full" error try adjusting the buffers to BUFFERS=8 and reboot

The AUTOEXEC.BAT

The AUTOEXEC.BAT can be on drive C or on drive A (i.e. a memory card)

Recommended AUTOEXEC.BAT:

@echo off
prompt=$p$g
a:\update
a:\portdiv
cls
app

The DOS Operating System

WiP

The Portfolio is a slimmed-down version of MS-DOS 2.11 called DIP DOS
It is compatible but some files are missing:
- SORT.COM
- DEBUG.COM
The Portfolio also offers some additional commands such as
- VER
- OFF → turns off the display
- APP → shows the main menu (similar to Atari + Z)
There is no INT 08H: Timer Interrupt on the Portfolio.

Turning it on

Press any key

Turning it off

Type in OFF or press FN+ O

Reboot

Press Strg + Alt + Delete

Power Basic Card

Power Basic Card Manual
Power Basic allows you to compile source files into .COM files.
But unfortunately, the compiled file are not stand-alone.
You need to provide the PBRUN file either on the card (as PBRUN.RUN) or as PBRUN.COM

Contents on the SD Card

On the official Power Basic card, there are two .run files.
- PB.RUN (Compiler)
- PBRUN.RUN (Run Time Library)
.RUN files can only be executed from a card.
The two .RUN files can be copied to other cards. There is no copy protection.

A .RUN file is an exact sequential byte-for-byte image of an executable program. Since a Portfolio memory card is treated just like any other portion of the machine's main memory, rather than like a separate disk device, a program image which is stored on a card does not need to be loaded into a separate area of memory before it can begin running. It is always present in main memory while the card is plugged into the Portfolio, in a form which is ready to execute; it can simply "run in place."

(taken from the Manual)

Details

Source files can be located on drive A or C.
To compile a .BAS file you do something like this: “run pb c:test.bas”.
The compile command does not work from C (as mentioned above).
The resulting TEST.COM file can be then only executed when PBRUN.RUN is on the card. Otherwise, there will be an error.
You can rename both .RUN files to .COM.
...and then copy them to C and execute them from there.
But PBRUN.COM must always be executed once before a compiled Basic file, as it loads data into memory that Power Basic compiled files need.
This results in less available memory and you also have to pass on the two files.
Compiled .COM files can also be renamed to .RUN and copied to cards with PBRUN.RUN.

But there are major warnings about changing content on a card with .RUN files. Defragmentation is said to be fatal.

First Steps with the Portfolio