Epocdigest V1 # 542

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Epoc Digest Wed, 16 Jun 2004 Volume 01 : Number 542

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Sent to: 767 subscribers

In today's Epoc Digest 18 messages:

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- Unsubscribed

- Fwd: Powerbook,

- Bulky Psion

- Revo

- Re: MoonClock

- Maximum Number of Folders/Files

- Re: Tom's Q's (2)

- Opera vs. Web

- Eric Lindsay & Mac # 541

- Grand-Rapid

- macs

- Li-Ion batts

- Opera and web pages, USB

- Format Compact Flash

- Re: netBook restore & formatting C

- Farewell screen?

- Cyclone/P7

- No email address,

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Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2004

From: Digest administrator

Subject: Unsubscribed

Unfortunately we had to unsubscribe Marius Mos, Epoc Geel, Clinton Ho, Steve Truesdale, Paull Field, Eric Edwin, Allan Becker and Allan Rabbitte as the digest is continuously being bounced by their email addresses. Hopefully you will all find this message via our website and resubscribe with another email address or solve the problem and resubscribe with the same address.

With best regards

Itamar Engelsman

The Epoc Digest Team

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Date: 15 Jun 2004 12:45:15 +0000

From: Itamar Engelsman

Subject: Fwd: Powerbook,

_______________ Forward Header _______________

Subject: Powerbook,

Author: Itamar Engelsman

Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2004 12:39:48 +0000

Answer to: Andy Hayes

Re.: Powerbook - No special action was needed, your message was received as text only.

Best regards,

Itamar Engelsman

London, UK

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Date: 15 Jun 2004 13:22:06 +0000

From: Timothy H.D. Williams

Subject: Bulky Psion

On 15 Jun 2004, at 10:09, Epoc Digest wrote:

> I upgraded recently to a 5mx but found it way too big for my gurl's > handbag

Gentlemen carry their own Psions.

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Date: 15 Jun 2004 13:28:04 +0000

From: Timothy H.D. Williams

Subject: Revo

I am having the same problems as Han but I am so used to having problems with the Revo that I am now surprised when it doesn't turn off.

However, I am wondering whether the battery is really recharged.

I have noticed that often if I reset the Revo in its cradle, although it is showing a 100% charge, the red light comes on, indicating a fast charge. It can stay on for several minutes.

Are our problems software or hardware based?

Psion deserved to go out of business.

I have bought 4 ER5 machines over the last two years - and not one of them works properly. Apart from the 5mxserie screen cable, the problem is ALWAYS the battery.

Grim - and expensive.

On 15 Jun 2004, at 10:09, Han wrote:

> The Revo's internal battery conked out, so I sent it off for repair > (at no small cost - but it's the same as buying a 5mx so...). It also > had this annoying problem of not switching on properly - and the

> thing's doing it again, not 4 months after I got it back. Sometimes > it'll switch on, and only when I open an app/doc does it switch itself > off again, other times it just won't switch on at all, either by

> tapping the screen or Fn+On, sometimes if you keep Fn+On for a few

> goes it flips on briefly but turns off, then eventually stays on. Two > or three minutes later it may be fine - or sometimes 2/3 hours. This

> morning, it wouldn't turn on until I'd plugged in the power source

> (I'd just put it in its cradle) and found out it had 95% battery. ?? > It's a pita!

*++++++++++&

Date: 15 Jun 2004 14:33:02 +0000

From: Keith Giles

Subject: Re: MoonClock

Philip Carlisle wrote:

> To the best of my recall, I installed Moonclock, but then cancelled, > as it indicated that I would need to do a hard reset

You must have mis-read. It requires a *soft* reset after installation. It's a nice little app - hope you get up the nerve to try it.

Happy Cycling,

Keith

Sunnyvale, CA

http://ohsix827.home.comcast.net

Thought For The Day: It's surprising how soon a child learns how to train its parents.

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Date: 15 Jun 2004 14:56:00 +0000

From: Mike Woodward

Subject: Maximum Number of Folders/Files

Reply to: robertsont

Don't blame the Psion as it does not have a maximum number of folders, but FAT

formatting of the disk does have a limit, can't remember what it is anymore, I

think it was 127 or 255 entries (folders or files), this only applies to the

root directory, there is no limit within any other folder.

As a general rule you should avoid putting files in the root directory, except

Netbook owners who should keep an emergency copy of the operating system, so

they can make a speedy recovery in the event of a problem, a copy of drive C

is also useful in these situations. Must admit I also keep copies of all my

master documents in the root folder, so that my standard memo, letterhead

etc., are easy to locate.

I use a 512mb CF card with many thousands of files & folders.

Mike

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Date: 15 Jun 2004 15:14:01 +0000

From: Martin Guthrie

Subject: Re: Tom's Q's (2)

Reply to: robertsont

> = Is there a maximum number of folders you can view on a psion 5? I > use a 256mb cf on a netbook however when I come to view the root on > my P5 i get a folder error?? If so, what is the maximum number of

> folders that can be viewed in any one folder on a psion 5?

The issue is not with your Psion but rather with the way your CF is formatted. Specifically the number of 'root entries'. Using something like Atelier's Essential Disk Utilities you can change this if you want. See the CF page on my website - www.pscience5.net (currently being redesigned so apologies if it's a little confusing just now) - for details.

Best regards,

Martin Guthrie

—————————

www.pscience5.net

www.freepoc.org

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Date: 15 Jun 2004 17:07:17 +0000

From: Jakfish

Subject: Opera vs. Web

So while both browsers have their troubles, is there a consensus about speed?

Which is faster for accessing nonsecure sites?

Jake

*++++++++++&

Date: 15 Jun 2004 17:53:05 +0000

From: vlad a

Subject: Eric Lindsay & Mac # 541

> Eric Lindsay wrote on 15.6.2004:

> The Mac does put a few spurious files on the CF, but they don't appear to > cause problems.

Please beware. There are also some which are invisible. Never delete those files. Be aware of the fact that you'll probably loose data and have to reformat your CF every now and then if you switch it between Mac and Psion once too often. If you do CF-Backups *never* use the backup CF in a Mac (or anything else ftm). For more details of a familiar problem (unsolved beyond these tips), search the Digest of 1-2 years ago.

Another point is, the 5MX occasionally gives an error if a CF-card is almost full although the card is in fact okay. The Mac doesn't seem to care. So always have a few MB unused.

Hope this is helpful; enjoy your Mac!

best,

vlad

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Date: 15 Jun 2004 20:31:06 +0000

From: Christopher Holly

Subject: Grand-Rapid

Has anyone used Grand-Rapid as their web browser on a netBook? I think I have lots of memory to run it. Does it work well with the Java runtime environment for EPOC 32? Which version do you use? Are folks doing other stuff with Java on their Psions?

Chris Holly

830 S. Fess Ave.

Bloomington, IN 47401-4946

812-339-0938

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Date: 16 Jun 2004 00:13:24 +0000

From: Cyril Catt

Subject: macs

> [Eric Lindsay] " ....I know there are some Java based file transfer > programs, and I'll try downloading some of them next time I have some > decent internet access.... "

Eric, when you get time, I'm sure other computer illiterates like me would appreciate some notes on how to transfer and translate files by CF card between Psions and Macs. Although Macs are nice machines, Psions are better suited to travel weight restrictions or long periods away from a power socket. But IMHO they are fairly useless without SIMPLE connectivity for file swaps.

Cyril Catt

Newcastle NSW

<excerpt>[Eric Lindsay] "<color><param>0000,6363,1212</param> ....I

know there are some Java based file transfer programs, and I'll try downloading some of them next time I have some decent internet access.... </color>"

</excerpt>

Cyril Catt

Newcastle NSW

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Date: 16 Jun 2004 00:25:37 +0000

From: Richard

Subject: Li-Ion batts

Ian,

You wrote that you had a netBook and a Psion7:

I've read a couple of websites that Li-Ion batteries die after 2-3 years if stored empty, and that it's worth occassionally using the battery. (I also seem to remember reading that Li-Ion batteries die after 2-3 years regardless of use.

Anyway, if your netBook battery sits there empty, it might be worth giving it a bit of juice every now & then.

Richard

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Date: 16 Jun 2004 03:47:47 +0000

From: Eric Lindsay

Subject: Opera and web pages, USB

> Epoc Digest Sun, 13 Jun 2004 Volume 01 : Number 539

> From: Andy Hayes

> Subject: Opera

> I doubt whether the EPOC version mimics IE properly as sites that > check to see what browser you have declare that they can't tell and > wont let you in. My bank was one of them.

In my experience, many of the problems accessing web pages from a Psion is caused by poorly written web pages. It is a bit hard on a poor browser to have to get a web page rendered correctly, when the web page in question is not written correctly to any standard whatsoever. Many banks seem to do a very poor test for a browser name, and fail everything that isn't claiming to be IE. That isn't an Opera problem.

The Windows (but not Psion) version of Opera can be set to tell sites it is pretty much any browser. This often gets you into sites that otherwise don't work. Some sites require Referrer Logging to be

enabled (so the secure part of a site can tell you came from the rest of the bank site). I'm not sure of the default, or even whether you

can change it on Psion Opera. And finally, Javascript (well Jscript actually) is often used by banks, and used badly. With Javascript

being proprietary, Opera uses ECMAScript, and sometimes this just isn't close enough.

One question you haven't answered is whether the sites that are failing are in fact correctly written? (Point their URL to validator.w3.org to check). That said, Opera on all platforms seems to be a memory hog,

and simply fails to release as much memory as I think it should. It is the least reliable program I've ever continued to use extensively under Windows (I've been using it since v3).

> From: robertsont

> Subject: Tom on Tom's Questions

> "Through a USB -> Serial adaptor, yes."

> - where can i get one of these? So this connects the rs232 port (via > the serial cable) to a 'female' USB port. then the USB device and P7

> can communicate via the comms app I take it?

USB is a master slave protocol, which expects a single master device (typically a Windows PC) and a bunch of peripheral (slave) devices like printers, plotters, digital cameras. So typically you can get a USB to whatever adaptor that plugs into a PC, and connects to a fairly dumb non-USB peripheral (and comes with software to fake the connection).

However you typically can't go from a USB peripheral to a controller that doesn't already have USB. So you can go from say Windows PC with USB, and a USB converter to a parallel printer, or a serial connection digital camera, or a serial GPS system. However you generally can't

use say a USB printer with a non-USB computer. The non-USB computer is supposed to be controlling the printer via USB.

Eric Lindsay lists at ericlindsay dot com

http://www.ericlindsay.com

*++++++++++&

Date: 16 Jun 2004 04:00:25 +0000

From: Eric Lindsay

Subject: Format Compact Flash

> Epoc Digest Mon, 14 Jun 2004 Volume 01 : Number 540

> From: Andy Hayes

> Subject: Powerbook / JPL

> The Powerbook looks OK, but for 1,200 ukp it should. There are some > nice touches, but I am not in awe of it. It took 2 hours to crash it > so completely that I had to press the button to switch it off. I was > trying to copy data to a CF that I believed was still faulty at the > time. If you wwant something properly tested then just hand it to me! > Does anyone know what syntax I should use at the command line in

> Terminal on the Powerbook to format a CF in a card reader hanging off > the USB port, that is not a fast backup?

You probably haven't found a new fault. The man page for mount says that it has a bug can crash the system if working on a bad file system.

Why do you want to use a command line format? Try using the Disk Utility on your Mac to format your CF, remembering that for Psion or digital camera use it must be formatted as MS-DOS FAT12 or FAT16. I think the defaults will otherwise be Unix file system or some special Macintosh format.

I find formatting CF using a digital camera the easiest way to avoid problems. Usually quick too.

Eric Lindsay lists at ericlindsay dot com

http://www.ericlindsay.com

*++++++++++&

Date: 16 Jun 2004 06:47:13 +0000

From: Marcus von Cube

Subject: Re: netBook restore & formatting C

Philip,

>On restoring my C drive with PsiWin, I had the option of formatting the drive before restoration.

Could I have done that without losing the OS, which had just been installed on boot up to, I imagine, the C drive?

When you reset a netBook hard, then the boot rom erases all memory first. Next, it looks for the operating system image file on C or D and loads it into part of its RAM. This part of RAM is then write protected by setting some bits in hardware. The amount of RAM set aside this way is dependent on

the actual size of the ROM image. (The original system could be installed without the standard applications from a special image to save on working memory and capacity on C). The ROM appears

as the read only drive Z. Any executable code in this image is compiled and prepared to "execute in place", that is no copy is made to working memory for any running component. This is equally true for

some other files like MBMs on Z.

The freshly installed operating system takes over the same way a truly ROM based system would do,

erasing the remaining memory and preparing it for use as the C drive. It copies some sample files and initial settings to C and completes startup. Whenever you format the C drive, the latter steps will be performed on the next soft reset. You simply cannot erase the operating system itself because it

resides in write protected memory!

On a complete restore it is wise to let PsiWin format C. This makes sure that you get exacly the

contents of C present on the last backup (e. g. without the sample files.)

Marcus

http://www.mvcsys.de

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Date: 16 Jun 2004 09:56:31 +0000

From: Keith Clarke

Subject: Farewell screen?

Oh heck, I've started to get black lines on the screen sometimes on startup. Most times the display comes on as normal, but now and again it's just the lines, or a combinaion of both. Does this mean the dreaded cable is on the way out again? It doesn't seem that long since I had it replaced. Oh woe.

Keith Clarke

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Date: 16 Jun 2004 11:09:19 +0000

From: robertsont

Subject: Cyclone/P7

just bought a cyclone disk drive and wonder if it is possible to connect this to a p7.

the unit comes with a cable that looks identical to the psiwin cable for a 3c/siena but will not connect with the psion 7. The instruction manual says that this cable can be replaced with one for the psion 3a series. I have tried connecting my psion 7's psiwin cable to the back of the unit and this fits fine. Following the user manual instructions, the problem as i see it is that the psion 7 does not have the RunImg application which exists on the 3 series which is used to load the software from a floppy containing the file manager software for the psion.

Is there any software that specifically enables the p7/5 platform to communicate with this drive? all the physical connections seem possible. could comms be used for this?

Any experience of this or ideas on this would be helpful.

Many thanks,

Tom

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Date: 16 Jun 2004 11:44:56 +0000

From: Itamar Engelsman

Subject: No email address,

Answer to: Eric Lindsay

Re.: No email address - I would like to remind all subscribers that it is possible to block your email address from appearing in the digest. If you want only your name to be shown in the "From" line send us an email to the digest address with a request and write "ADMIN" in the subject line.