Hey guys... I feel I'm largely to blame for the perplexing situation Dieter finds himself in. I also understand his perplexity, his impatience with Windows Mobile (which I share) and our collective impatience with him (which I don't). According to my calculations, Dieter was into computers before I was into long trousers. I doff my hat.
What I was asked for was a J "installation" which would run from a SD card. Since Dieter wanted to move the SD card between his different Windows Mobile devices this seemed a perfectly viable idea to me. And it still does. But.... What I thought he needed was not the "standard installation" of J on a PocketPC. ............. what do I mean by that? Everybody take a look at http://www.jsoftware.com/jwiki/System/Installation/PocketPC --written by Ric Sherlock (as I read). Let me define "standard installation" to be the sort of path structure you end up with if you follow the instructions there to the letter -- *and * are * able * to*. This is not -- I repeat not -- what I sent to Dieter, and there is no clear way for him to apply these instructions (or any others he's been getting lately) to achieve a "standard installation". What I sent to Dieter was a file structure of my own devising which I succeeded (after a lot of hassle) to get to work on my HP iPAQ. Every piece of software I've ever bought for my iPAQ has only been installed after a lot of hassle. It runs Windows Mobile 6 Classic, with 57.86 MB of built-in memory, plus one "Expansion Slot" -- which accepts a SD card, eg the card I sent him. This may -- or may not -- bear some resemblance to what Dieter has got for his PocketPC. We are up against what Donald Rumsfeld called "unknown unknowns". I apologise for sounding so repetitive. I believe it's the only way forward. The "standard installation" consists of folders and shortcuts (= ".LNK"-files). On my iPAQ these reside entirely in the aforementioned 57.86 MB of built-in memory. The "J installation" I devised for Dieter resides entirely on the SD card. It works for me. Alas it doesn't for him. It relies upon a single file which the "standard installation" does not need, or possess, called profilex.ijs. I wrote it myself. Quite possibly I have not written it right. It may be right for my iPAQ but not for Dieter's PocketPC. If I were a gambling man, that's where I'd put my money. Oh, and the two .LNK-files might need fixing too. http://www.jsoftware.com/jwiki/System/Installation/PocketPC tells how. The purpose of profilex.ijs is to tell J on startup where its various components reside. (In my lash-up, they are all on the SD card). The file profilex.ijs consists entirely of path specifications. If it is absent then J assumes it is residing in a "standard installation". Dieter describes below (recognisably -- at least to me) the path structure on the SD card I sent him. But I'm dismayed. His PocketPC behaves differently from mine, because (for a start) what he calls a "blue box symbol" is on my machine a big black "J". Which is evidence that possessing a working "standard installation" of J already on my iPAQ has somehow "blessed" it. That gets me wondering, if nothing else does, if there is a hope in hell of getting my SD card to work on Dieter's PocketPC(s) at long distance. Nevertheless I believe Dieter has all he needs on the SD card I sent him to reconstruct a "standard installation". If he were a Windows expert (which by his own admission he isn't) he would see implicitly how to transfer the files from my SD card to a "standard installation". (CLUE: I would expect it to be a process of "copying" a given folder, say "j602", from the SD card, and "pasting" the entire folder into the built-in memory. And repeating this process with other folders and shortcuts.) If Dieter knows how to do this, then hey presto! -- job done. If not, then he is going to need me to tell him, in short bitty steps. At this stage he might understandably draw unfavourable comparison with the corresponding process on Apple machines. I couldn't agree more. And he wouldn't need to know anything about the Apple's file structure. Alas, this is Windows Mobile, a poor relation of Windows CE 5.2 in fact, and that means he does need to know. He rightly recognises this as technology which would not have been acceptable in the 1960s. Well, more fools the people who buy such junk, me included. But let's keep it civil. Or Dieter could simply parcel up his PocketPC and mail it to me, paying the postage there and back, plus import duties which I will surely be charged before HM Revenue and Customs agree to release the device for delivery. There may be a problem with mains voltage incompatibility. Once all that's fixed, it would take me about 5 minutes to see what's wrong and sort it out. There would be a similar palaver getting it back into America. A month or two might well go by. Even so, there is a lot of sense in that approach. Otherwise we're all just feeling around in the dark. But I simply can't believe there is nobody in the entire New World who could save Dieter the trouble. A friendly computer shop down the road, perhaps? Or a teenage hacker? As Ric says, there is little or no specialised J knowledge required. Put them in touch with me and I'll tell them the path structure they ought to be aiming at. Alternately let them guess it from a careful reading of http://www.jsoftware.com/jwiki/System/Installation/PocketPC (it's short and sweet). So, Dieter.............. what do you want to do? Mail me your PocketPC? If so I shall email you my mailing address. Let's take this off-list. Please reply via Yahoo. Ian On Sat, Jan 30, 2010 at 1:58 AM, Sherlock, Ric <[email protected]> wrote: >> From: DIETER ENSSLEN >> >> i have a 'file explorer' on this particular machine >> >> on my SD card it lists >> open file symbol j 602 >> open file symbol My Documents >> blue box symbol J602 01/18/10 35B >> blue box symbol Jx602 01/18/10 41B >> >> >> now what > > Back in August last year I suggested that the best idea might be to explain > (in detail) exactly the steps you are taking when you follow the installation > instructions and which parts you are finding confusing/difficult so that > perhaps we may be able to help work out where you're going wrong. You still > haven't done that. > > I think the thing that most of us are struggling with is why you are finding > the instructions so difficult. The installation steps do not use J, or > require any understanding of it, so another option might be to get someone > you know locally to install if for you (your son?). > > To be honest I can understand Matthew's windup merchant comment: > * the failure to include context in your replies to forum posts, despite > polite requests from several forum members > * repetitive messages about how good the ipod/iphone/ipad ... are > * repetitive requests for J on the i???? despite several explanations that > until Apple change their policies, it ain't going to happen (for > J/Python/Ruby/...) > * repetitive comments on how J isn't as good a CAS as product ???? despite > numerous explanations that J isn't trying to be a CAS. > * repetitive comments on how J is too hard and you find yourself switching > back to product ???? > * the only forum poster with their name all in Capitals. > > I'm waiting now for someone to jump out from behind a tree and shout "Smile, > you're on candid camera" or "You've been Punk'd". > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
