DeskMind + MindServer

A Krea 2 picture as DeskMind shows it: dithered to 16 colours at 640x200, stretched here to the 4:3 shape of the Tandy's screen.

AI chat and AI pictures on a Tandy 1000 TL/3 (10 MHz 286, 640K, Tandy Video II), in 640x200 with 16 colours.

• DeskMind (C:\DESKMIND\DESKMIND.EXE on the Tandy) is a DeskMate-style DOS program. You chat with the Qwen AI, have it draw pictures, keep a gallery, and play slideshows. It talks over the PicoMEM WiFi to MindServer.
• MindServer (helper\ on this PC) does the heavy work. It runs Qwen (NInfer on the RTX 5090) for chat, prompt improvement and looking at pictures, and Krea 2 (ComfyUI on the RTX 4090) for drawing. It dithers each picture to the Tandy's 16 colours and sends it over ready to show.
• SLIDES (C:\DESKMIND\SLIDES.EXE) is a stand-alone slideshow. It needs no network and works in any boot mode.

Tandy (boot W) --WiFi, HTTP port 8286--> MindServer (this PC)
                                            |-> NInfer / Qwen    127.0.0.1:1234  (RTX 5090)
                                            '-> ComfyUI / Krea 2 127.0.0.1:8188  (RTX 4090)

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On the PC: MindServer

First time only

1. The Python environment is helper\.venv. If it's missing, START-MINDSERVER.bat prints the two commands that create it.
2. Run setup-firewall.bat once. It asks for administrator rights and opens TCP port 8286 to the local network only.

Every time

A service that already answers is not started twice.

NInfer needs about 22 GB free on GPU 0, so start it right after a clean boot, before browsers or games. If Qwen isn't running, DeskMind says so and names this PC's address. Create can still draw your prompt as typed, without Qwen.

The MindServer window

Pictures are kept in helper\data\images\ (the original PNG plus the Tandy files) and chats in helper\data\chats\.

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On the Tandy: DeskMind

Boot with W (the PicoMEM WiFi boot), then type DESKMIND at any prompt. C:\PLAY\DESKMIND.BAT goes to C:\DESKMIND and starts it. Without WiFi, DeskMind starts offline: the Gallery and slideshow work, Chat and Create don't.

The first time, open Settings (F5) and check the MindServer address (this PC's LAN IP, e.g. 192.168.2.192) and port 8286.

Options: DESKMIND /NONET (start offline), DESKMIND /NOMOUSE (keyboard only).

Keys everywhere

Everything also works with the mouse (CuteMouse must be loaded).

Chat (F2)

• Type and press Enter (or Send). The reply streams in. PgUp/PgDn and the arrow keys scroll.
• Ask for a picture in plain words ("draw a castle at sunset"). Qwen draws it, and the thumbnail appears in the chat. Click a thumbnail to see it full screen.
• Picture attaches a gallery picture to your next message, so you can ask about it ("what's in this picture?"). Qwen sees both the original and the 16-colour version. It keeps the latest picture in mind for follow-up questions.
• Chats lists the chats saved on this Tandy (newest first) to reopen or delete. New starts a fresh chat.
• Every chat is saved as C:\DESKMIND\CHATS\<id>.TCH after each reply, and MindServer keeps a copy.
• Long chats: when a chat is nearly full, a notice says so. When it's full, Send offers Continue, which hides the older messages (they stay saved) and goes on, or New. A long chat always reopens at its newest part, with a note at the top.

Create (F3)

1. Describe the picture, in any language and at any length.
2. With Let Qwen improve my prompt ticked, Qwen rewrites it into a prompt that dithers well (bold shapes, strong contrast). With Let me edit the improved prompt ticked, you can change the rewrite before drawing.
3. Krea 2 draws it (about 10 seconds). A progress bar shows each step, and the picture opens full screen.
4. Again draws the same prompt with a new seed.

Enhance rules (Pictures menu) edits the instructions Qwen follows when it improves prompts. They are saved on MindServer.

Gallery (F4)

• Grid of thumbnails (6 per page) or a list with dates (List/Grid button). Arrows, PgUp/PgDn, Home/End move. Enter or a double-click views full screen.
• Rename changes the title (the file keeps its 8-character ID name). Delete removes the picture from the Tandy only. Everywhere removes it from MindServer too.
• Ask Qwen opens Chat with the picture attached.
• Sync downloads the pictures MindServer has and the Tandy doesn't (e.g. ones made in the Dither Lab).
• Slideshow starts with the selected picture.

Settings (F5)

Saved in C:\DESKMIND\DESKMIND.CFG.

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Slideshows

In DeskMind: F6, the Gallery's Slideshow button, or Pictures > Slideshow. From DOS: SLIDES.

SLIDES [folder] [/D seconds] [/E effect] [/R] [/NOTITLE] [/ONCE] [/LIST]

  folder     default: DeskMind's PICS folder
  /D n       seconds per picture (default from DeskMind's Settings, else 8)
  /E n       0 random, 1 cut, 2 wipe right, 3 wipe down, 4 blinds, 5 interlace,
             6 dissolve, 7 box out, 8 box in, 9 slide in
  /R         random order
  /NOTITLE   no title strip
  /ONCE      stop after the last picture (default: loop)
  /LIST      print the play order and exit

The title strip shows for 3 seconds. "7/16" means the 7th-newest of 16 pictures, the same order as the Gallery, even in random order.

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Limits

Nothing crashes at these limits. DeskMind says when a list is cut short.

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Files

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Troubleshooting

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For developers

Building from source

The toolchains aren't in the repository. Put them here first:

MindServer writes helper\settings.json the first time you save a setting; it runs on built-in defaults until then.

Working on it

• Build: dos\build.bat (output in dos\out\). MindServer tests: helper\tests\.
• Install on the card: tools\card_install.ps1 -Tag <what> -Folder DESKMIND -Files ... (dated backups, checks, compare).
• Design, protocol and history: PLAN.md, CLAUDE.md, TESTING.md.
• DeskMind includes mTCP, so it is GPLv3.