Psion Organiser II Re-creation

[amenjet]

Hi Andrew

A couple of questions..

What screen are you using? I still like the white LED that was on your first iteration.
Is it still planned to 'dump' the RAM to SDCard on power down?

I'm happy to donate to the development costs but can't take a board as I don't have the skills to build it into a case.

Sincerely
Martin

Yes, the same white OLED display. there's actually a few colours available and it's a simple swap as the connection is a flexi cable.

On the emulated recreation i did run the A: drive in RAM. That was then dumped in a few seconds to a couple of serial EEPROM devices, and was then immune to battery removal as it's a zero power storage device. On the C based version I have re-implemented the filing system and that works really well in flash, so I have the equivalent of the A: drive in the internal flash of the Pio at the moment. That should work out of the serial EEPROMS directly, as well, so it's like having a flash pak built in instead of a RAM pack. You could also have a RAM pack if you wanted to, I just haven't. I don't see any reason why you couldn't use a file on an SD card either (or as well). These flash devices aren't hugely slow either as the devices are more modern and the Pico is faster. So, I'm not sure if a RAM disk is needed, but if it is it could be implemented and dumped to a non volatile device when needed. Of course, if you write directly to a flash device then you don't have to dump it anywhere.

As for the issue of cases, I'm sorry, but in my mind I had already planned to fit these PCBs in some CM cases that Peter sent me a while back. i just forgot when I wrote the post. So they would be fully cased versions. That's if Peter is happy with that? The CM is a good choice as its not as capable as the XP or LZ and so not really usable any more. One issue is USB connectivity. If that is needed then a part of the case needs ot be cut away to allow a connector to fit into the Pico. I have modified two cases like this but I don't really like it and will need to find some other way to get USB out. It may be possible to make a replica case, but that's a lot of work. You can program the firmware using SWD wires hanging out of the case and I've done that, or by taking the PCB out of the case, which is more of a fiddle. It's only 4 screws though so not too bad. Its not good for development so I don't do that.

Hopefully that clears things up.

[Daren]

I’d be interested too, happy to pay and happy to assemble for others if needed, I think I’d be ok with anything other than the tiny soldering as I don’t have the gear for anything smaller than the larger SMT stuff, I’m ok with a bit of case modding too. My workshop is in complete disarray until mid October though due to moving it. But whatever works best I’m happy to help out if wanted, and no worries if they have all been spoken for, I’m just glad to see this project progressing!

[thesourcerer]

I’m happy with whatever you do with the CM cases, and XP ones as well for that matter. I have quite a lot more if anyone wants some. I would like to see them put to good use, although some have had a hard life!

[amenjet]

I’m happy with whatever you do with the CM cases, and XP ones as well for that matter. I have quite a lot more if anyone wants some. I would like to see them put to good use, although some have had a hard life!

Thanks Peter. Yes, some have had a hard life, but I quite like the dings. There are really nice cases about, but using them for a unit that is carried about seems a bit wrong. Some have had a very, very hard life it appears, I'll have to do a gallery some time.
I think CMs are the ones to use, if they run out I'll start on the XPs, but that's a while away yet.

Any views on cutting the case to get access to the USB? It might be possible to model the case and get the plastic 3D printed, but the metal surround probably not.I think there are some units that have a stick-on label, that could be re-made in vinyl but I'm not sure what that would look like.

[Martin]

Hi Andrew (and others watching)

Count me in.. White LED for me, the version one I tried a while back had one - very smart. And I'm with you about not messing with the case... What about using one of the datapak spaces, with some slot cover sized 'USB plug' glued into place.

Sincerely
Martin

Datapak slot thoughts
When MAKEing packs with Psion's Developer... it looks for (and will only work with) Slot C: so keeping this slot free for Datapak MAKEing and file transfer to the intenal flash might be a good idea and then use slot B: for any USB Socket module.

[PaulK]

Hi Andrew,

This is all sounding great!!

Very happy to contribute, but I'd need a cased one ready to go. I'm no maker, but would love to play with a ready to go machine if that's possible? Thanks.

Thanks again for all your efforts on this. Great to see your amazing skills being used to breath life back into this brilliant little machine. I wouldn't have a clue where to start!

Kind regards
Paul

[Zzoom]

Andrew are you goimg to make a parts list available or even better a kit, I would be very interesting to be involved

Regards Nigel

[amenjet]

Andrew are you goimg to make a parts list available or even better a kit, I would be very interesting to be involved

Regards Nigel

The repositories are here:

The emulator based code:
https://github.com/blackjetrock/psion-org2-recreate

and the C rewrite:
https://github.com/blackjetrock/psion-o ... recreate-c

PCBs:
https://github.com/blackjetrock/psion-org2-main

There should be parts lists in there. The pcb_using_pico is the one you want. I don't think I'll do kits as it's more work than building a PCB.

[1333david]

Hi Andrew,
I too would be happy to contribute and take a pre-prod cased re-creation if you have a spare. The future of the Organiser II continues to shine thanks to your efforts.

All the best,
Dave

[amenjet]

I've changed the way USB works in the code. Previously I had a USB CLI which was used for debug and operating the machine through USB. The new scheme uses TinyUSB and allows the code to have many USB interfaces simultaneously. I currently have the serial debug connection, plus a mass storage device (like a memory stick) and a USB keyboard interface. The mass storage device could be used to transfer data to and from the organiser, with some (non-trivial, I suspect) code. The USB keyboard interface allows the organiser to send keypresses to a host computer.

It's not all good news, however, as TinyUSB has messed up my ability to use the second core somehow, so I'm running everything off one core for now, which has affected the keyboard scanning. Hopefully I can fix it or get it working to my liking.

There's a video here of the organiser sending keystrokes to the host:

https://youtu.be/A-xy12UkV24

and a video of the mass storage device, which in this case has just a README file in the root directory.

https://youtu.be/Z9FnrTfdf8s

This code should also be usable on just a bare Pico with no other hardware. the display can be seen on a terminal and keys can be pressed in one of the USB CLI menu options. No hardware is needed to program either, as you can use the mass storage Pico feature to program a .uf2 file. It would be handy if someone with Windows on their machine could try this and check that the USB CLI works, the mass storage appears and keys can be sent to the host. It should all work, but it'd be good to test that.