Riding in Sidecar: How to get a Psion online in 2023
- Reference: 1672745406
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2023/01/03/sidecar_getting_psions_online/
- Source link:
The [1]Sidecar is an inspired homemade device which combines an assortment of bits of hardware and software, a 3D-printed case, plus considerable ingenuity, to create a pocket-sized gadget that turns a vintage mobile computer into a mobile Linux terminal – and which can also permit elderly gadgets access the internet.
You can trace the development of the Sidecar over six months on Ryan's [2]blog . Back in June, he [3]described a fairly complicated setup. This used a [4]MAX3232-based [PDF] RS232-to-TTL level converter, plus a gender-converter and a null-modem adapter to hook a Psion serial cable to a Raspberry Pi Zero. (He didn't mention it, but we think it must a Pi Zero W to provide an upstream network connection.)
[5]
That worked, but he suffered from buffer overflows with large transfers so he added a few more wires, plus [6]rpirtsrtc to enable hardware flow control, and [7]AtariSIO to manage it to get hardware RTS/CTS flow control working. It's clever, but it gives The Reg FOSS desk distressing flashbacks to 1980s serial-port troubleshooting sessions.
[8]
[9]
A subsequent [10]post in November simplified this setup by building an [11]SP3232 [PDF] transceiver and the other components into a single Pi Zero "MicroHAT" based on an existing [12]template . This is even more impressive, but it was not a smooth process. He's published the [13]design on GitHub, which uses [14]KiCAD for the layout. He told The Reg :
The sidecar isn't a difficult build: all through-hole components, and the print is straightforward. The 232 chip is no longer in production as DIP package, but is easy enough to get hold of on eBay.
The final step was building it into a case, along with some Pimoroni bits: a [15]battery pack , plus a [16]LiPo-Shim and [17]LiPo-Amigo to power the Pi Zero and charge the battery respectively. He designed his own case, for which you can download the [18]pattern from Printables, and printed it on his [19]Prusa Mini .
[20]What's in Santa's sack? New Linux Mint, EndeavourOS and postmarketOS updates
[21]Pine64 takes another shot at an open tablet after chip shortages killed first PineTab
[22]SystemRescue 9.06 is here with the shiny new Xfce 4.18
[23]Linux kernel 6.2 promises multiple filesystem improvements
His blog post describes how to set up EPOC32 to make a PPP connection via the Sidecar, and how to set up a web browser, email over both POP3 and IMAP, and how to find old HTTP-only websites that are still accessible from a nearly quarter-century-old computer.
Even so, the Sidecar is not dedicated to the Psion 5MX by any means. Ryan has also [24]described how to use the Sidecar to get online with a [25]modern CP/M computer, the RC2014 . We suspect that you could also do this with other retro tech [26]such as a Cambridge Z88 or TRS-80 Model 100 , for example, with [27]ZSock . It should also work with a [28]Psion Series 3A . It's still possible to [29]download the EPOC32 version of the Opera web browser, or Psion's own [30]PsiMail for the 3A.
It's an ingenious setup, and we particularly admire the way he's made it so compact and able to run off a battery or USB power.
[31]Don't expect a Raspberry Pi 5 in 2023, says Raspboss Eben Upton
[32]Raspberry Pi hires former spy gadget-maker who baked devices into surveillance ops
[33]Ubuntu continues expanding RISC-V support – now, the $17 Sipeed LicheeRV
[34]DisplayPort standards bods school USB standards bods with latest revision
We suspect that it wouldn't be a huge amount of work to exchange the RS232 port for Ethernet, such [35]adapters exist. That could turn the Sidecar into a Wi-Fi-to-Ethernet adapter. Several guides can walk you through setting up the Pi OS to do this, [36]with or [37]without using a GUI.
A history of personal computing in 20 objects part 1 [38]READ MORE
Another ingenious bit of kit that uses a Raspberry Pi to allow vintage computers to connect to modern devices is the [39]RetroPrinter , from Sinclair spare-parts suppliers [40]RWAP Software . This uses a Pi HAT to give the Pi a Centronics parallel port. Software on the Pi takes the data from an old computer, or other device, that can generate ESC/P2 or HP PCL output, and rasterizes it for output on a modern USB-only printer. ®
Get our [41]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.kianryan.co.uk/2022-11-28-psion-sidecar-ppp-modem-and-terminal/
[2] https://www.kianryan.co.uk/blog/
[3] https://www.kianryan.co.uk/2022-06-13-connecting-a-psion-to-a-raspberry-pi-with-serial/
[4] https://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/max3232.pdf
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Y7RfM7wy84iiv-NYjrV4IAAAAAE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[6] https://github.com/mholling/rpirtscts
[7] https://github.com/HiassofT/AtariSIO
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y7RfM7wy84iiv-NYjrV4IAAAAAE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Y7RfM7wy84iiv-NYjrV4IAAAAAE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://www.kianryan.co.uk/2022-11-25-rs232-null-modem-hat-pi-zero/
[11] https://assets.maxlinear.com/web/documents/sipex/datasheets/sp3222e_sp3232e.pdf
[12] https://github.com/mikelawrence/RPi_Zero_pHat_Template
[13] https://github.com/kianryan/PiRS232
[14] https://www.kicad.org/
[15] https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/lithium-ion-battery-pack?variant=23417820359
[16] https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/lipo-shim?variant=23979864391
[17] https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/lipo-amigo?variant=39779302539347
[18] https://www.printables.com/model/327193-sidecar-for-psion-lipo-powered-ppp-wifi-modem-and-
[19] https://www.kianryan.co.uk/2022-05-30-making-changes-to-our-little-prusa-mini/
[20] https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/21/mint_211/
[21] https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/21/pine64_announces_new_open_tablet/
[22] https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/20/system_rescue_906/
[23] https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/20/kernel_62_fs_improvements/
[24] https://www.kianryan.co.uk/2022-12-19-getting-rc2014-online/
[25] https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/15/cpm_open_source/
[26] https://www.theregister.com/2011/11/10/portable_writing_tool/
[27] https://www.rst38.org.uk/zsock/
[28] https://dqydj.com/connect-psion-series-3a-internet/
[29] https://get.geo.opera.com/pub/opera/psion/
[30] https://stevelitchfield.com/psifind.htm
[31] https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/21/no_rpi_5_2023/
[32] https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/09/rpi_maker_in_residence_police/
[33] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/28/ubuntu_riscv_sbc/
[34] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/20/displayport_revision_usb/
[35] https://www.raspberrypi-spy.co.uk/2020/05/adding-ethernet-to-a-pi-zero/
[36] https://www.instructables.com/Share-WiFi-With-Ethernet-Port-on-a-Raspberry-Pi/
[37] https://pimylifeup.com/raspberry-pi-wifi-bridge/
[38] https://www.theregister.com/2012/11/01/a_history_of_computing_in_20_objects_part_one/
[39] https://www.retroprinter.com/
[40] https://www.rwapsoftware.co.uk/
[41] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Very interesting
The plot of a 1990s Iain Banks (no M) novel involved a family secret being held on a 1980s non-standard floppy disk format. It was something like a Hong Kong knock-off of an Amstrad PCW that the protagonists father had bought on a work trip.
I won't say which novel.
Re: Very interesting
"That was the day my grandmother exploded..."
Re: Very interesting
That will run Fuzix which has internet code. Not sure if its got SIP but it shouldn't be too hard to knock one up from other versions.
Re: Very interesting
> or even, gulp, 3" Amstrad disks
I for one would be ready to pay to get stuff off my old 3" PCW disks (hundreds of pages, 6 books...).
Re: Very interesting
[Author here]
> I for one would be ready to pay to get stuff off my old 3" PCW disks (hundreds of pages, 6 books...).
Multiple companies will do that for you.
Here's Google's first hit:
https://disktransfer.co.uk/floppy/amstrad-3-inch-floppy-disk-pcw-cpc-word-file-conversions.php
Re: Very interesting
Thanks!
Re: Very interesting
I've used Greaseweazle which is an inexpensive board with a USB connector to recover Amiga content from floppy disk. I had to have a 3.5 floppy disk drive and I jury rigged a power connector for it but after that it was a doddle.
The project says it supports Amstrad so in theory if you can lay your hands on a drive and hook it up with the right cable / power supply you can extract the data straight to a PC.
I'm not sure any of this would be applicable to a Psion organizer though. Some of them did have external solid state storage so you'd either have have to hook an RS232 up to the actual device, or deep dive into how the storage cards worked and hope someone already has a solution or lash together something using arduinos.
Re: Very interesting
[Author here]
> applicable to a Psion organizer though
Again: it's not for data recovery. It's for getting online.
If you have a working Psion, then plug it into a modern PC with a serial cable, going to a £5 USB-to-RS232 interface, and run PsiWin.
You can get PsiWin from the Internet Archive:
https://archive.org/details/psiwin-2-3-3-english
(Note who uploaded the final release, some years ago.)
Re: Very interesting
[Author here]
The snag is that this talks to a serial port. The Amstrad PCW series don't have serial ports, and finding the hardware to add them today, such as the official one:
http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/31831/Amstrad%20Centronics/Parallel%20RS232%20Serial%20Interface%20for%20PCW%208256/
... today would be considerably harder than just reading the disks on another computer.
Secondly, while the Psion 5 is a 32-bit Arm machine with a TCP/IP stack, the PCW is an 8-bit CP/M machine without one.
So, no.
This is not for data extraction or recovery. A simple serial lead to a PC would do that fine.
This is for getting a vintage computing device online via a wireless connection.
Re: Very interesting
Once you've got a serial port set up somehow... KA9Q had TCP/IP and started out on CP/M. It could probably be persuaded to FTP files from floppy disk to an FTP server on the LAN from what I vaguely remember. Looks like it can be downloaded from the links [1]here .
[1] http://www.gaby.de/ecpmlink.htm
Psion Series 3A
I have one of those, somewhere, but the screen is shot, I think. Nice to see someone thinking of the very legacy equipment that is still out there. Not sure I'll be trying to us it instead of my iMac just yet though.
Re: Psion Series 3A
Maybe another tinkerer will develop a way of using the Psion as a keyboard for a smartphone!
Re: Psion Series 3A
Looks at my Cosmo.
Re: Psion Series 3A
[Author here]
> the screen is shot,
PsionEx will fix that for you. They fixed my 3C for me.
No other connection.
https://psionex.co.uk/repairs/pda
Re: Psion Series 3A
Their website seems to have been overloaded by the sheer number of commentards following that link!
https://psionex.co.uk/ Error 503: The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to maintenance downtime or capacity problems. Please try again later.
Good news
Great! I still have a fully functional Psion 5 somewhere in a box.
Deja Vu all over again
A friend of mine was involved in writing the TCP/IP stack for the 5MX back beyond the mists of time, and still has one of the prototypes (painted flourescent green) in his desk drawer.
As an aside...
When I were but a lad, if you wanted anything beyond the stuff that came in the box, particular for the single board computers popular in the late seventies, you reached for the spec sheets with one hand, the yellow Texas Instruments book with another, and the soldering iron with the third...
While you can still build stuff that way if you're into vintage tech, it's difficult to get a video output because these days everything is on HDMI or similar. It feels *wrong* to use a Raspberry Pi as a video co-processor for a 6502...
Re: As an aside...
[Author here]
> It feels *wrong* to use a Raspberry Pi as a video co-processor for a 6502...
I know what you mean and I agree.
OTOH, the £3 Pi Pico doesn't seem quite so crazy... although it does need external circuitry to do that.
TBH this is how modern phones and laptops work. It's easier to implement various networking stacks in software on an embedded Arm core than it is to design *and debug* hardware to do it.
So, an iPhone has something like a dozen+ Arm cores, some running Bluetooth, some running Wifi, some controlling the screen, some controlling the storage. Even a cheap tiny SD card contains an Arm core running the actual storage, and multiplexing the data over the card's few I/O lines. As an exercise, people have installed Linux onto the Arm in SD cards, as well as onto the Arm on SATA hard disk controllers.
Your phone doesn't contain an Arm processor. It contains a cluster of clusters of Arm cores, all talking over different interlinks of different speeds.
It does in fact contain an internet: a network of networks, working together to let you connect to the planetary internet.
Re: As an aside...
Oh yes, couldn't agree more. The move to using cheap processors to replace dedicated hardware is an obvious one that's been going on for decades: you can get an ARM chip for a cent and a half in bulk.
And I've just designed an EEPROM programmer so I can program a 6502 SBC using, er, an STM Nucleo dev board, cost about a tenner[0]. It's fast enough on its own to replace the ROM and RAM in the 6502 system, and in some versions fast enough to replace the processor as well... but where's the fun in that?
[0] About the same price as I paid for my first memory expansion chips, 4 bit by 256...
Re: As an aside...
> Your phone doesn't contain an Arm processor. It contains a cluster of clusters of Arm cores, all talking over different interlinks of different speeds
If you make anything complex enough it begins to resemble biology
Re: As an aside...
The yellow Texas Instruments book I remember as The TTL Data Book.
I’m off to the web to see if I can find one from the 80s. Thanks for the reminder of such lovely times.
Re: As an aside...
I've got both volumes, and no, you can't have them!
Oh memories
I remember using my Psion Revo connected to my Nokia 5210 by infrared while I was at school. All those WAP pages that could be loaded and were far easier to use than on the phone itself.
Re: Oh memories
I once needed my Psion IR to Nokia GSM connection during the holidays in the woods in Sweden to work with a terminal link, then VPN, on a UNIX system of a client to manage some Samba connection in their office in the Netherlands. Cost a pretty sum working over that low baud rate telephone connection, but it did the job. The happy customer payed gladly... :)
Yeah, memories...
Re: Oh memories
I had the docking cradle for my 5mx which cleverly used infrared-transparent plastic so I could still communicate with my Nokia while docked with my PC. Writing SMS messages on the 5mx was so much easier than on the phone.
Like most Psions, the screen went faulty due to the flexi circuit splitting (design fault by Psion - they put a tooling hole in the wrong place) but I bought a replacement from some enterprising chap who had a batch made and all was well again. It was eventially replaced by a Sharp Zaurus and was put away in its box somewhere with all the manuals and disks. Mabe I should put it on eBay now that there will be such a huge demand from this project..! (/s)
https://m.xkcd.com/2699/
"Feature Comparison"
Randall compares the features of vatlrious social network protocols against the Cybiko, a wireless PDA designed for teenagers and sold in 2000. Cybiko, I thought, what was that again?
So I naturally googled said gadget, and read a guide on how to make the thing useful today. Spoiler alert: it involves bypassing the gizmo's proprietary data port by soldering wires onto the circuit board. I reminded of this guide by this article about the Psion.
( In the year 2000 I was still using Zip Disks, minidisks and a Nokia 3310... Sony digital cameras used floppy disks and camcorders used tape. The Cybiko passed me by, but I was aware of Palm Pilots and their modular descendants, Handspring Visors and Sony Clies)
Very interesting
This could be useful for Archives. It's not unknown for people to deposit granddad's "papers" with a local Record Office, said papers often containing a load of old floppies or even, gulp, 3" Amstrad disks. How to retrieve the content? Getting a working Amstrad PCW may be possible, but how to link it to more modern machines to transfer the data? Both of these solutions could be quite helpful.