PB-1000 Data Communicator 32 - A Simple Way to Transfer Data from PC to Pocket Computer

Windows only, I've tested on Windows 10 and 11.

If you want to use a serial interface to get data to and from your Pocket Computer you're going to need some kind of terminal software to get the job done. Although there are quite a few options out there, I decided to use a piece of software made by an absolute Pocket Computer legend, Jun Amano. The software is called PB-1000 Data Communicator 32, but despite that name, it can be used for almost any Pocket Computer as well as some Sharp organizers (using BASIC cards). The program itself is extremely easy to use, but the setup can be a bit tricky.
You really should visit Jun's site (http://www.lsigame.com/pb-1000/pb-1000.htm) regardless if you want to use the Communicator or not. He has tons of useful information and software for various Casio Pocket Computers. Google translate is mandatory unless you're very good at guessing or you can actually read Japanese.

The problems encountered during setup seem to have their root in the Japanese language installer not executing correctly on other language versions of Windows.

I'm going to go through the steps I did to get it running. There might be easier ways, but this worked for me. If you happen to have a better way of getting it working, feel free to comment on it below.

Prerequisite for the steps below is of course a properly installed serial to USB cable for connecting your Pocket Computer to your PC.

What you'll need:

7Zip - This is an unpacker which conveniently can extract setup archives and also unpack the compressed files inside. You can grab it here if you don't already have it. https://www.7-zip.org/

Download and install.

VB5 Runtimes - Needed to run the program, as it is written in Visual Basic 5. It can be found here https://securedl.cdn.chip.de/downloads/32005/msvbvm50.exe

PB-1000 Data Communicator 32 - The actual program. It can be downloaded from Jun's website here :  http://www.lsigame.com/pb-1000/softlib/file/pbcomv151.zip *Do not install it!*

Once the PB-1000 DC32 software is downloaded, open the zip file with 7Zip and extract the files to a folder of choice. Go to that folder and mark all the files with an underscore at the end (i.e. MSVBVM50.dl_) and then right click then "7Zip" then "Extract here". 7Zip will unpack all the files directly into your directory. Now delete the files with an underscore at the end.

You'll need to manually edit the filenames of four files. 

"StdOle2.tl" -> StdOle2.tlb

"PB_COMM.DE" -> PB_COMM.DEP

"COMDLG32.OC" -> COMDLG32.OCX

"MSCOMM32.OC" -> MSCOMM32.OCX

After that, start SETUP.EXE and you should be greeted with a screen as shown below: 

It looks strange, but just hit OK

Hit the OK button.

The next screen wants to know where to install to. You can either leave the default folder (C:\Program Files (x86)\PB-1000 Data Communicator32) or use the "?????????c" button to browse and pick a different install folder. Once done, click on the install icon (That thing I've marked with a red square in the picture below).

The installation destination screen.

A few seconds later you'll be greeted by the next screen, and everything has been installed successfully. Click the Ok button and you're done with the installation. In the Program directory, you'll find a manual with Japanese and English instructions on how to use the program, it's not exactly rocket science though.
The serial to USB cable must be connected *before* starting the program or it will terminate with an error message. After starting PB-1000 Data Communicator 32 the program opens with a simple settings menu:

Not too many settings to overwhelm a user

The program will try to autodetect a serial port, but I've noticed if you have anything else connected to a COM with a lower port number, the transfer fails to work. In that case, go to device manager and shuffle the COM port numbers around, so that the port with the lowest number is the one your Pocket Computer is connected to. The speed, parity, stop bits, character length need to reflect the settings you've set on your Pocket Computer, and make sure the 'send EOF' box is checked. You can force a port reopen if something is acting up, the '?' button opens the instruction manual. The 'Send' button opens a dialog and allows you to pick a program to send to your Pocket Computer.

  

Pick a file to send to your Pocket Computer...

After you choose your file and hit ok, you're returned to the PB-1000 Data Communicator 32 program and a dialog is displayed.

If you click ok, the program transfer starts. You'll want to make sure your Pocket Computer is ready for receiving the program before you hit ok. Once you click 'Ok' the file transfer starts. In the 'Send:' field near the bottom you can see the number of bytes transferred and on the right of the window you can see a little animated arrow going from the monitor icon to the Pocket Computer icon.

Data transfer initiated...

 

When everything is complete the animation stops and the 'Send:' message changes to 'Processing is complete!'

All finished!

To transfer a program from your Pocket Computer to your PC is just as simple. After setting up the communication settings on both sides, you click on the 'Receive' button in PB-1000 Data Communicator 32. A dialog will open asking you for to name the file you're going to receive from the Pocket Computer. In this example I chose 'test.bas'

Give me a file name, please.

Once you click on save, the program switches to receive mode and waits for you to send the file from your Pocket Computer.

Ready to receive.

Once you hit save on your Pocket Computer, data transfer starts.

Just hit 'S' to save and...

The status message at the bottom of the program window switches to 'Receive:' displaying the number of bytes transferred. On the right side of the window the animation shows an arrow going from the Pocket Computer to the monitor icon. 

...the program begins receiving data.

A quick look at our received file shows everything is in order.

Looks good to me!

Transferring Machine Language Programs

If you're trying to load binary /machine language files on the PC-G850 series, make sure the file you want to receive on the Pocket Computer has an .IHX or .HEX extension. Settings on both sides need to be 9600, no parity, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit
I set flow control on the Pocket Computer side to Xon/Xoff.
You put the Pocket into receive mode by going into the machine language monitor with the MON command in BASIC

, then R followed by Return.

The Pocket will now wait for a program to be transferred over the serial port.

And there you have it, Pocket Computer serial data transfer using PB-1000 Data Communicator 32. Easy peasy!