Hi everyone!

[Caitlin]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for adding me to the forum! I'm Caitlin, and I've just purchased my first Psion Organiser II (an LZ with two 128k datapaks, both apparently empty apart from a handful of old phone numbers) and am curious to see what it can do. I remember a friend of my Dad having one of these many long years ago, which I wasn't allowed to touch and that I always imagined was a bit like Ziggy from the TV show Quantum Leap or something from Star Trek, my only other experiences of a pocket computer back in the 80s! Alas, it has taken me a while to get one for myself to try!

The LZ is not my first Psion, but only by a couple of weeks, as I'd lusted after a Series 5 when they came out (I'd just bought a desktop Pentium for uni, so couldn't afford it then) and finally got one recently when eBay randomly decided to remind me of them. This led to a googling of Psion as I got to grips with it and then me stumbling across the Organiser II and my memory of these being revived.

I'm keen to try and get some software for the LZ and am pondering using it as a daily device for calendar, notes etc inspired by a chap on Youtube who seems to be doing the same, as I like the idea of actually using 'old' tech and I'm a bit wearied by the Cloud, AI in all my apps, and having endless distractions and adverts built into the current generation of portable computers (i.e. my smartphone), plus it's a bit of a talking point! My main interest at the minute is therefore exploring how I might get programs on it, including what might be the most interesting and useful ones to go for in general: spreadsheets? Games? Something else? I also do quite a bit of research on coastal sites, so I'm curious to try out some of the programs on tides etc that I've come across whilst browsing, if I can figure out how to get them on the handheld computer. The big questions for me currently are therefore about storage -- do I need to invest in more datapaks? Which sort are best? Can you store data on them as well as programs like on the Series 5 -- and transferring/obtaining programs etc!

I'm also curious to try out coding for it -- I did BASIC at school on a BBC, but that was a LONG time ago now, but it might be a fun project to learn how to do it again. Is there a good resource out there of pre-written and copyable programs that I might try and then modify?

Best wishes to all and thanks again,

Caitlin

[Cosi]

Hey Caitlin!

The essential accessory for getting anything onto the Organiser is the Comms Link – there was a modern/homebrew version connecting to the PC over USB, but it might be hard to find nowadays (unless someone from the forum sells you a spare one). You can hunt for the "classic" version on eBay; it has an old serial (RS232) connector, but you can cheaply buy an adapter (like this one).

Once you have a Comms Link, go to Jaap's website and download some games
My favorites are (in no particular order):
- GPack+GPack Shell (4 games, including a very playable Breakout clone)
- Scroll (a maze game with baddies)
- Boulder (like Boulder Dash from 8-bit machines)
- Snowbrd (amusing snowboard simulator)
- Barbarians (like a tiny clone of Civilization; you can download it from here)
- and the games written by our Martin: Ur (a board game) and Strutsul Island (text adventure); both can be found elsewhere on this forum.

There is a (very good!) spreadsheet for the Organiser, but it's a bit trickier to get it to work. You need to either download it from Jaap's website, buy a smaller (32KB will be enough) pak and use a tool that will transfer the code to the pak, or ask thesourcerer (a.k.a. lepowerfulpierre) to sell you a pak with the spreadsheet on it.

Your two 128k paks should be more than enough (I haven't filled my 128k rampak yet), but please be mindful that this is an old technology with a quirk – when you put something on a datapak, you can delete it but you can't reclaim the space it occupied. This is quite a bummer; you need to buy this datapak eraser (also from thesourcerer) to format the pak when you run out of space.
A much more convenient medium is a rampak (which needs a small battery to power the RAM) or a flashpak (a modern storage medium, more or less similar to today's USB sticks).

As for OPL programming, there are excellent books "for the uninitiated" written by Mike Shaw (you can buy a paper copy or download a .pdf from Jaap's website). There's also a programming section on this forum

Have fun!

[amenjet]

The essential accessory for getting anything onto the Organiser is the Comms Link – there was a modern/homebrew version connecting to the PC over USB, but it might be hard to find nowadays (unless someone from the forum sells you a spare one).

Just to let you know that I have made USB adapters recently and will be making more, so they are available on ebay, or should be soon.
I've also made some flashpacks and RAM packs.

[thesourcerer]

They will be listed later tonight on eBay, or you can PM me.

[Martin]

Hi Chaps

There is a (very good!) spreadsheet for the Organiser, but it's a bit trickier to get it to work. You need to either download it from Jaap's website, buy a smaller (32KB will be enough) pak and use a tool that will transfer the code to the pak,

I have a couple of copies (versions) of the spreasheet program that I ran through OPK editor and they MAKE bootable packs

(a) sprdshtF.opk can be made onto a 'large' Flash pack - Needs a flash pack work-a-round
(b) sprdshtR.opk can be made onto a 'large' Rampak
(c) sprdsht.opk made onto any datapak

The issue is that it is not OPL and so cannot be run from the Prog Menu or inserted on the top level menu as OPL... It has to auto boot and as such must be MADE to be the first thing on the pack. You can put other stuff behind it as long as you don't reorder the pack.

They will be listed later tonight on eBay, or you can PM me.

Hi Peter... If there are any 256K Rampaks put my name on one.

And finally there is a copy of Mike Shaws Using and Programming the PSION ORGANISER II in the Library (here)

Sincerely
Martin

[NotFitForPurpose]

Hi Caitlin,
You will find ton's or resources at:
https://www.jaapsch.net/psion/

Books manuals etc.
https://www.jaapsch.net/psion/galbooks.htm
https://www.jaapsch.net/psion/books.htm

Using and Programming
https://www.jaapsch.net/psion/pdffiles/shaw_using.pdf

Best of all you can play games, I have been having fun with an adventure game written by Martin.
viewtopic.php?t=294&start=20

There is an Emulator if you get fed up entering code on the device, though as mentioned previously you would need a COMMS link to download code. Start with some of the links above and have fun.

[Caitlin]

The essential accessory for getting anything onto the Organiser is the Comms Link – there was a modern/homebrew version connecting to the PC over USB, but it might be hard to find nowadays (unless someone from the forum sells you a spare one).

Just to let you know that I have made USB adapters recently and will be making more, so they are available on ebay, or should be soon.
I've also made some flashpacks and RAM packs.

Oh, that sounds very useful, I'd definitely be interested in one of those and a rampack: I'll have to keep an eye on eBay!

Many thanks,

Caitlin

[Caitlin]

Once you have a Comms Link, go to Jaap's website and download some games
My favorites are (in no particular order):
- GPack+GPack Shell (4 games, including a very playable Breakout clone)
- Scroll (a maze game with baddies)
- Boulder (like Boulder Dash from 8-bit machines)
- Snowbrd (amusing snowboard simulator)
- Barbarians (like a tiny clone of Civilization; you can download it from here)
- and the games written by our Martin: Ur (a board game) and Strutsul Island (text adventure); both can be found elsewhere on this forum.
...<snip>
A much more convenient medium is a rampak (which needs a small battery to power the RAM) or a flashpak (a modern storage medium, more or less similar to today's USB sticks).
...<snip>
As for OPL programming, there are excellent books "for the uninitiated" written by Mike Shaw (you can buy a paper copy or download a .pdf from Jaap's website). There's also a programming section on this forum

Hi Cosi,

Many thanks for your kind comments and suggestions: yes, a rampak and comms link sound like essential items: definitely sounds like those will be more useful than more blank datapaks and so need to be next on the list, so to speak! I find the idea of UV formatting really quite charming, and wasn't really aware of the existence of such a thing, but it definitely adds to the complexity of the whole thing...

Many thanks for the tip on the programming book and also the suggestions for games, I do like the idea of a snowboarding sim and the Ur board game in particular, and will have to try the breakout game at some point (wasted many hours on that in my younger days!).

All best wishes,

Caitlin

[amenjet]

I find the idea of UV formatting really quite charming, and wasn't really aware of the existence of such a thing, but it definitely adds to the complexity of the whole thing...

EPROM datapacks are very secure, too. I've had datapacks with data that must have been from 30 years ago or more. They are a bit slow and a faff though, and quite power hungry.

[Caitlin]

EPROM datapacks are very secure, too. I've had datapacks with data that must have been from 30 years ago or more. They are a bit slow and a faff though, and quite power hungry.

Interesting! I was going through my old hard-disks and floppy-disks recently and did notice that they are becoming increasingly unreliable, if not in a few cases unreadable, whilst my archived USBs seem to have an even shorter lifespan, so the longevity of these EPROM is interesting.