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PAC Mate

PAC Mate BX/QX 2.5 Update

What is it?
What does it cost?
How do I get it?
What are the update steps?
Step-by-Step Update Instructions
Coming Soon!

What is it?

This is the third major update for the PAC Mate BX and QX. The update is free and brings some exciting new features and performance improvements:

Braille Translation and Braille Settings

Major attention has been given in this release to braille translation and ease of use with speech turned off. This release has eliminated every user reported translation error, including those reported when changing regional settings to English U.K. and other settings. This release has been benchmarked by running over 600,000 dictionary entries through both the PAC Mate and Duxbury translators to ensure there is at least parity in translation.

The Braille Settings control panel adds several powerful capabilities. For users in the U.K., there is now a check box to Suppress Capital Signs. A tab called Cursor allows the user to manage the presentation of the PC Cursor, JAWS Cursor, and Invisible Cursor by assigning a unique dot pattern or blink rate to each or to even turn them off.

There is a new tab called Messages that gives the user control over Braille Flash Messages. These short messages show on the display, reflecting spoken JAWS messages or changes in status, such as when pressing a Whiz Wheel. The messages are now on the braille display in all cases for the user operating without speech. They can be set to display for a duration of one to 10 seconds or until dismissed by a keystroke. Messages can even be turned on or off by category.

In addition, a new feature allows you to turn the Braille Cursor on and off on the fly or to change its shape. On the 40-cell display, press NAV button 25 followed by NAV button 17 to turn the cursor on and off. NAV button 25 followed by NAV button 16 changes its shape. On the 20-cell display, press NAV button 15 followed by NAV button 7 to toggle the cursor on and off. NAV button 15 followed by NAV button 6 changes the shape.

Braille Study Mode

Along with these braille usability enhancements, comes a new feature called Braille Study Mode. Just learning contracted braille? Not sure what the symbol is on the braille display? Just turn on Braille Study Mode, and press the cursor router button above the symbol in question to hear the symbol's title. Press the button behind that, and PAC Mate will say and spell out the word.

Open any .brf file and press JAWS Key+S followed by B on the QX or S CHORD followed by B on the BX.

Expanded Voice Control

Now you can control the Voice Settings independently for Global Voice, Message Voice, Keyboard Voice, PC Cursor Voice, and JAWS Cursor Voice. Go to the Voice Settings control panel and select the voice you want to manage from the combo box. You can then assign a unique speaker voice, and vary the pitch, rate and uppercase pitch along with its punctuation setting.

Multi-Language Support

Studying foreign languages? You can load a second, third, or even a fourth language on your PAC Mate using one of the new language installers via ActiveSync. A new tab called Secondary will appear in the Voice Settings control panel. Just choose a language and rate that are most comfortable for you for each of the additional languages. You have the same control over Global Voice, Message Voice, Keyboard Voice, PC Cursor Voice, and JAWS Cursor Voice as mentioned above. Set a language as your Secondary language and, with just a keystroke, switch to your language of choice at any time.

The new language installers are available for download. Switching languages is done with JAWS Key+S followed by L for the QX and S CHORD followed by L on the BX. The Pocket PC menus will stay in the primary language of your PAC Mate, but the speech synthesizer will change to appropriately read a document in the secondary language.

CPU Power Setting

In order to conserve battery life, a new setting has been added that allows you to adjust the clock speed of the PAC Mate's processor. While not recommended for normal use where switching between applications is done frequently and where system responsiveness is important, slowing CPU speed will extend battery life for tasks such as listening to music or reading. Go to Settings, System tab, Power Settings. Move to the CPU tab. Here there is a combo box with three radio buttons:

  • Maximum Performance is the default setting. This allows the processor to operate constantly at its maximum speed.
  • Automatic allows the PAC Mate to adjust the processor speed based on demands made by applications.
  • Maximum Battery Life causes the PAC Mate to run constantly at the slowest available speed.

Audio Recording Settings

Since the support for Resco Audio Recorder in PAC Mate Release 2.2, many users have been experimenting with recording lectures and meetings, using the onboard microphone and a variety of external microphones. To handle the differences in close up recording versus room recording and the variances in external microphones, a new Recording Settings control panel has been added in this release. Go to Settings, System tab, Recording Settings. Here there are three check boxes:

  • Reduce Headset Microphone Level will reduce the propensity for a hot headset microphone to pick up breathing and accentuate sibilants.
  • Monitor Using Headphones lets you record and listen to what is being picked up through your headphones.
  • " Disable Automatic Level Control will increase the recording level for room recording. Uncheck this box if you are doing close up recordings.

Note: The release of Resco Audio Recorder version 3.01 coincided closely with the finalization of this PAC Mate release. The scripts implemented for Resco Audio Recorder version 2.52 do not accommodate version 3.01. For now, only Resco Audio Recorder version 2.52 will work with the PAC Mate 2.5 release. Resco Audio Recorder version 2.52 can be found at www.pacmategear.com.

USB Mass Storage Driver

Certain makes of USB thumb drives took a couple of minutes to be recognized by the PAC Mate. This is fixed in release 2.5.

Entering ASCII and Control Characters

You can now enter any character in the ASCII table using your QWERTY or braille keyboard. For example, to enter the British pound sign on a BX, press DOTS 2-4-7-8, DOTS 1-2-3-6, and the 3-digit ANSI value (in this case 163) in computer braille. On the QX, it is FN+SCROLL LOCK and enter the ANSI value using the embedded Num Pad (in this case j-o-l for 163).

To enter control characters press DOTS 2-4-7-8, DOTS 1-3-4-6 on the BX followed by the desired character. On the QX, of course, it is CTRL plus the character.

Other Fixes

You can now click on links in e-mail messages and select text consistently.

  • The USB display driver fix distributed via TSN in June is incorporated in this release, so there is no need to re-install it.
  • Spell check now reads the recommended words and announcing when finished.
  • Find and Find Next now work in all applications where they are available.
  • In Pocket Excel, "Resultant value," rather than "Has formula," is spoken when a Look Up function is used. Currency is spoken correctly when cells are formatted for currency.
  • Regional Settings now announce dates correctly in all countries.
  • In Inbox, messages are selected as you arrow up and down the message list.
  • Fixes have been made to the usability of access keys.

What does it cost?

The 2.5 update is free to BX and QX series PAC Mate owners. DO NOT download this update if you have a PAC Mate BNS or TNS. Also, if you received your new PAC Mate BX or QX model after September 22, 2004, you are already running 2.5. There is no need to update. You can verify what version you have installed by pressing INSERT+F1, A on the QX or DOTS 1-4-5-6 CHORD, DOT 1 on the BX.

If you would like to receive the update on a CompactFlash card, the part number is 460222-001 and can be purchased for $29.95 from our eStore using the following link: Purchase BX/QX 2.5 Update.

How do I get it?

Use this link to download the update for the BX and QX series: Download PAC Mate release 2.5. When the dialog box opens, select a location (such as your Desktop) where you will easily find the downloaded file. The file is named pm2_5_enu.exe. This self-extracting zip file prompts you for a location to place the extracted files. Again, select a location where you can easily find the files. The extracted files will be named nk.rom and EBOOT.nb0. The nk.rom file is approximately 17 MB, while EBOOT.nb0 is about 131 KB. Once you have extracted both files, you may delete the pm2_5_enu.exe file.

What are the update steps?

There are several steps you must follow to complete the installation of this update so that you do not lose data or impair programs installed on your PAC Mate.

Before installing the update:

  • If you subscribe to Audible.com, deactivate your Audible Player
  • Store files on a CompactFlash card, or run ActiveSync and store files on your PC

Installing the 2.5 update:

  • Download the update to your PC
  • Move the update to a CompactFlash card
  • Insert the CompactFlash card with the update in your PAC Mate, and press the reset button on the bottom of the unit

After installing the update:

  • Delete the old ActiveSync partnership on your PC
  • Create a new ActiveSync partnership with the exact same name
  • Synchronize your PAC Mate with your PC.
  • Re-install third party applications and drivers, if any, and reactivate Audible Player

Review each of the following steps, and be sure you allow yourself adequate time to complete them.

Step-by-Step Update Instructions

Before installing the update

  1. Use ActiveSync to synchronize your PAC Mate with your PC.
  2. If you have the Audible Player from Audible.com on your PAC Mate, start Audible Manager, open the Devices menu, and choose Activate/Deactivate. Follow the steps to deactivate your PAC Mate. This will redeposit your Audible authorization in your account so you can install and reactivate the Audible Player after updating your PAC Mate.
  3. Store all the files you currently have in your PAC Mate’s main memory onto a CompactFlash card or onto your desktop PC. For more information on synchronizing, refer to your PAC Mate documentation.
  4. Plug in the battery charger, and connect it to your PAC Mate. Check the battery status on the Today screen to ensure that the PAC Mate is operating on AC power.

Warning: Do NOT use Sprite backup as this will restore the old system files over your newly installed release 2.5 update.

Installing the 2.5 update

  1. If you are not currently running the 2.2 firmware, transfer nk.rom and EBOOT.nb0 to a CompactFlash card of 128MB or less formatted FAT16. If your PC does not have a card reader, you can place the CompactFlash card into your PAC Mate and copy nk.rom and EBOOT.nb0 to My Computer/Mobile Device/My Pocket PC/Storage Card while connected with ActiveSync. If you are currently running the 2.2 firmware, you can copy just the nk.rom file to any size CompactFlash card formatted any way.
  2. Disconnect from your PC and remove all peripherals from the CompactFlash slots of your PAC Mate. Insert the CompactFlash card into your PAC Mate and perform a hard reset by pressing a paper clip or stylus into the hole in the bottom of the PAC Mate for 3 to 4 seconds. For more information on locating the reset button, refer to your PAC Mate documentation.
  3. It should take approximately five minutes for your PAC Mate to reload. During this time it will periodically emit a series of tones as it progresses through each stage of the process. Once the installation is complete, JAWS will say, “Welcome to your new PAC Mate with JAWS for Pocket PC, version 2.5 build 177…”

Note: If this is NOT what your PAC Mate says, verify what build you have installed by pressing INSERT+F1, A on the QX400 or DOTS 1-4-5-6 CHORD, DOT 1 on the BX400. If this step indicates that your PAC Mate is still running version 2.01 build 70, the update was not successfully installed. In this case, you can try it again with a different CompactFlash card, or you can place an order for a 32MB CompactFlash card containing the new software.

After installing the update

  1. Start ActiveSync on your PC while your PAC Mate is still disconnected. Your PAC Mate should be listed as disconnected. If necessary, press ALT+F, then choose Mobile Device. Select your PAC Mate’s name using the DOWN ARROW key and press ENTER.
  2. Press ALT+F and press UP ARROW until you find "Delete Partnership." Then press ENTER. Be sure to record the exact name of the partnership you are deleting, including upper and lower case letters and underscores. Choose Yes when asked if you are sure you want to delete the partnership. Then choose No when asked if you wish to delete the synchronized Files folder.
  3. Set the correct time, date, and time zone on your newly-updated PAC Mate. Do this before proceeding to the next step.
  4. On the PAC Mate, open the Start Menu, move to Settings, and press ENTER or DOT 8. In the Settings dialog, move to the System page, select About and press ENTER or DOT 8. Navigate to the Device ID page.
  5. Give your device the exact name you recorded earlier. Press ENTER or DOT 8 to close the dialog.
  6. Connect your PAC Mate to the PC. The Connection Wizard will ask if you wish to create a Standard or Guest Partnership. Select Standard Partnership and press ENTER or DOT 8. If prompted for a name, give the partnership the identical name as the one you recorded. Press ENTER or DOT 8.
  7. Be sure to select the Files check box as one of the items you want to synchronize.
  8. After you have finished establishing the partnership, the unit will begin the synchronization process. A message displays: "The following information type on your mobile device has items that have not been synchronized with this computer before.” Press DOWN ARROW to select "Replace the items on my device with the items on this computer." Activate the OK button. The files that were saved to the PC are now being placed back in your PAC Mate's My Documents folder, and the synchronization process continues.
  9. To restore your previously-installed PAC Mate applications:
    1. Press ALT+T in the ActiveSync window on your PC to open the Tools menu. Choose Add/Remove Programs. This displays a list of the programs and drivers you have previously added to your PAC Mate, if any. Move through the list with the arrow keys and press the SPACEBAR to check those you want to re-install, and then choose OK. If you have many programs, you may want to do this only a few at a time, especially if any need additional configuration steps on the PAC Mate.
    2. Note: If you previously downloaded and installed the USB Mass Storage Driver from the Freedom Scientific Web site, you do not need to reinstall it after installing release 2.5. The updated driver is included in the release.

    3. Delete the nk.rom and EBOOT.nb0 files from the CompactFlash card.
    4. Perform a new backup of your PAC Mate. DO NOT RESTORE a previously completed backup, as this will undo the upgrade process.

Note: If one of the programs you re-installed is the Audible Player, start Audible Manager on your PC and reactivate your device (press ALT+D, then press CTRL+A).

Updated FSDN Now available

For persons with an interest in writing scripts for applications running on the PAC Mate, the Freedom Scientific Developer Network file has been updated to include new script functions and a link to the PAC Mate 2.5 script source.
Read the Functions Reference Manual and download the FSDN

 
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