Did you write code for #Psion machines in the #80s and #90s?
We're calling for you to open source your code!
I'm working with a group of enthusiasts, building a library of information about the SIBO/EPOC16 platform. Your old code could give valuable insight, as well as encourage people to write new code.
We're especially interested in old C and #x86 #assembly.
Upload it to your public repository of choice, and set it free!
#retrocomputing #retrodev #16bit #pda #laptop #epoc16 #sibo #oldcode
An awful lot of the 40 year old devs for Psion back in the day are now 70+. Many are dead, almost all retired, and codebases lost in the midst of time. Certainly none of the 1990s email addresses work anymore.
Just lowering expectations. I have managed to keep all my own OPL code, though mainly games, so I don’t think this helps!
It's OK, my expectations are very low! But occasionally someone gets in touch, saying they still have the source code to a game, or a backup of some files from when they worked at Psion.
It would be amazing if there was more low-level code available. But to be honest, I don't really mind what the code does. The more EPOC16 projects on GutHub, the more people will see the platform isn't totally abandoned. Especially as there's a MAME-based SIBO emulator in the works.
@thelastpsion
How do you manage to get out the drafts from it? Serial interface to a modern computer or else?
@magnetic_tape @kaleissin Usually serial with a USB-RS232 adapter. Either PsiWin on an XP VM, Psion MCLINK in DOSBox, or plptools on Linux.
I can also dump the contents of an SSD with a Raspberry Pi Pico or Arduino Uno, then extract the files from the volume with a C app I've written.
@magnetic_tape @kaleissin Yep!
This is the code for the Uno (uses PlatformIO): https://github.com/PocketNerdIO/libsibo
This is the app that calls the Uno and dumps the volume: https://github.com/PocketNerdIO/sibo-ssd-dump
And this extracts files from the dumped FEFS volume:
https://github.com/PocketNerdIO/siboimg
The packaged releases might not be the latest versions, so compile with Git if you can.
You can use libsibo with a Pico, but it needs level shifting between 3.3v and 5v. I'm working on a PCB that has all the circuitry needed.
A collection of Arduino libraries for communicating with peripherals compatible with Psion's SIBO range of computers. - GitHub - PocketNerdIO/libsibo: A collection of Arduino libraries for comm...
@sleepyfox Cool! I think a lot of code from that time will have disappeared into the ether. Just one of those things.
I'll see if I've got a copy of Arrow in my archive and spin it up on a machine. 😊
@thelastpsion Wow!
I didn't write for Psions per se, but I briefly developed server software that provided backend services for them, before the connected web that we all enjoy today.
I remember drooling over the #Psion display case at the local #Microcenter.
@dioramic_life Sounds like something I'd like to see for these nowadays. I think it would be cool if we could use PDAs (and maybe modern equivalents) as "offline first" devices that just sync when needed. Low power, privacy-focused machines that aren't always connected to the rest of the world.
But you're right, it's incredible how far we've come!
@dioramic_life Ah cool! Excellent machines. I actually ran a #PalmOS emulator on a Nokia 770 for a few years - I found it more useful than most of the native Maemo/Linux apps. If I wasn't knee-deep in the Psion world, I'd probably be messing around with PalmOS instead.
Also just saw that @blogmywiki has dug out his Palm from the loft.
@acousticmirror @thelastpsion the stuff I did was EPOC32 rather than EPOC16, but was all owned by STNC who I was working for.
I suspect that means that the IP is all owned by Microsoft now, as they bought us in 1999.
STNC did do a bunch of EPOC16 stuff - the IP stack and email in PsiMail Internet, and a graph app IIRC, but that was before my time.
@thelastpsion I didn't write code for them, but I did own a Series 3a for a while, and I also did some freelance work that involved maintaining someone else's code written for the Workabout (which I'd forgotten was even a thing!)
Thanks for the memories :)
@thelastpsion I actually did ... but, as an Ericsson employee for their branded Series 5 (Ericsson MC218 I believe).
Still have one - and still remember how to trigger the easter egg that will produce a photo with me included ;)
Have you seen this @dw2 ?
@thelastpsion @dw2 So here's an anecdote ;) The job at Ericsson was my first out of university, and my colleagues were mostly others hired from my class. It still "felt" like we were still in school.
Developing the Postcard application for the MC218, we had a requirement to include three sample photos in the app. And of course, since it was all going to be programmed into PROM there was a strict size budget.
A week or so before final delivery I found a tool that could optimize JPEGs on individual 8x8 squares instead of using the same settings for the whole image - and this cut the size of the sample photos drastically. So much, that we were now well below budget.
"Students" as we were, we immediately thought it would be fun to use that for an easter egg - and took a photo of the team doing the Postcard app (myself and two others) which can be triggered to appear.
Fast forward a few months, and our Ericsson department had now been put up as "funding" on Ericsson's part -->
(1/2)
@thelastpsion @dw2 --> at the creation of Symbian. To kick this off, the whole department was brought over to London to meet, greet and party with our new ("Psion") colleagues.
At the pub, in the middle of a group of people, I took out my MC218 and proudly showed off the easter egg. Suddenly I heard a voice behind me saying; "If you do something like that when working for me you won't have a job anymore".
That was @dw2 - head of sw (iirc?) at the time.
I'd like to think I matured anyway, but I have never created another easter egg in my professional capacity since ;)
(2/2)
@dw2 I'm quite certain it was worded with a healthy dose of jest ;) But to that young Swedish developer trying to brag in the pub it was "the boss" making an astute observation that the young Swede hadn't really thought through before :D
If I ever end up in a situation where "memoirs" will be written, this story will be included.
@SimonJohnGreen
Wow, that brings back memories. I was allowed an Acorn palmtop to do work at school, then upgraded to a Psion 5. Did my first bit of coding on it, but it was just copying text from a magazine/website, none of it original. Created a "piano" once, which was quite cool.
#oldcode #sibo #epoc16 #laptop #pda #16bit #retrodev #retrocomputing #assembly #x86 #90s #80s #psion
Attached: 3 images Holy shit this is 40 years old #8bit #ZXSpectrum #Games
When I unziped the Alarm Enhancer file I found:
Alarm Enhancer can be obtained from:
Internet: http://www2.prestel.co.uk/coprolite/
Fido: Download or freq from Donor/2, 2:440/4, 01483 717905
(international: +44 1483 717905).
it seems that 3-lib is still alive https://www.stevelitchfield.com/cdrom.htm
@pitchingniblick @thelastpsion the originals were probably .OPL files ...
The .OPA file has this near the start:
C:\PSION\ENHANCER\VERSION6.39\ENHANCER.OPL
which looks more like a DOS hard-drive path than an on-psion path.
Hmmm?
Raspberry Pi --> dosbox --> revtran --> ENHANCER.OPA
The Last Psion | Alex
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