Various hints and tips for your Psion Epoc.
Add Remove
If Control Panel, Add Remove has problems, check in C:\System\Install If there are any icons that are not Installer icons, they may be the problem. Try moving the odd file.
Also, the automatically created file C:\System\Apps\InstApp\InstApp.ini may be corrupted, so try removing it.
Sibo says: Enable the System folder from the System screen by selecting Preferences from the Tools menu. Navigate you way to the folder C:\ System\Install\ and you should see several Installer icons. If one of them is a different kind of file, such as a Word file, move it to another location or delete it, then try using Add/Remove again.
Whatever you do, do not delete any of the Installer files from the system folder though!
Bombs
Cheat mode reputed to be started using Zoom-, Zoom+, InfraRed, Cut, Menu Doesn't sound real likely to me, but ...
Contacts
Unless you specified that Contacts use your CF drive, the contacts data is in the file c:\system\data\contacts.cdb Remember to back it up as well as your other files.
Extras Bar
Click on Extras to open them. Click dark bar on left, dialog lets you arrange icons. Only retained until soft reset. Use Control Panel, Extras Bar, and click OK to set them permanently (this is quicker than using the Control Panel alone).
Fonts
Put the font.gdr file into c:\System\Fonts folder. Do soft reset. The new font will appear in the font list. To unistall, rename the Fonts folder. Delete from it the file your_user_font.gdr Rename the folder to Fonts, and then soft reset. See page on Epoc font design at www.geocities.com/zavorine/
Log Files
The Epoc system will maintain various log files to assist in locating problems. You usually have to establish an appropriate directory (or possibly the file also) for logging to start.
c:\LOGS\Email\receive.txt (s5 classic)
c:\LOGS\Email\send.txt (s5 classic)
c:\LOGS\Etel\ETEL.TXT (s5mx)
c:\LOGS\Etel\GSMTSY.TXT (s5mx)
c:\LOGS\Fax\FAXLOG.TXT (s5 s5mx)
c:\LOGS\Mailtext\In.txt (s5 s5mx)
c:\LOGS\Mailtext\Out.txt (s5 s5mx)
c:\LOGS\Netdial\NETDIAL.TXT (s5 classic)
c:\LOGS\Email\ImLog110.txt (s5mx pop3)
c:\LOGS\Email\ImLog25.txt (s5mx smtp)
c:\LOGS\Email\Mailtext\ (s5mx simple headers only as In.txt and Out.txt)
C:\LOGS\wap
C:\LOGS\synch or possibly C:\LOGS\synchro
You may have to create these files before a Psion will log anything to them. Files tend to be overwritten when you next use the program, so save them in another name if you want to keep them.
Recognisers
Small programs in /system/recogs/ used by EPOC to work out what sort of file has been encountered, if the file is not one known to EPOC. They check filename and content, and if identified, tell EPOC what application to use to open the file. In ER5, the application icon is shown. In ER5, the recognisers know about MIME types, and applications tell what MIME types they can handle. An application for non-EPOC files should have a recogniser in its SIS file. Sander van der Wal gives an example in C++ source at www.xs4all.nl/~svdwal for ER3 and ER5.
If file associations are lost, try renaming the application folder for a few seconds (helps with Opera). If that or a soft reset fail, check in system/recogs for an appropriate RDL file - it may have been deleted. If so, consider reinstalling from the SIS file.
If you still have problems, try installing plOpen, which allows you to control file associations (ER5 only). This helps when several applications can legitimately open a file, and one you don't wish is the default.
Some problems with programs seem to occur when your recognisers are on the D or E drives, and the drive is removed. I suggest leaving all recognisers on the C drive.
Revo backlight
Some people have used a cylaume stick with a wire cradle ... however, there is also a hardware version (not for the faint hearted) see www.kpsiug.net/plus/board.php
System Files
Epoc R5 keeps a number of files for keeping track of events. Check in c:\System\Data For example, the file Mru.dat is a list of the Most Recently Used Files. If this (or some other) file gets corrupted, you may find your Psion gives strange errors. You can just delete this file, and it will be created again as you use files.
C:\System\Libs\IRDA.PRT may be involved if you have problems connecting to a mobile phone via IR. It may be an earlier version of a file that should be on your Z: drive.
When connecting a NetBook via TCP/IP, the DHCP information about your IP address obtained is held in C:\System\Temp\DHCPLease.txt
You can set up a hosts file in C:\System\Data\hosts This maps names to IP numbers, and will let you connect if the DNS is down. The format is the same as used by Unix or Windows (search your PC for a sample hosts file).
PsiWin under Windows
Psiwin does not re-establish the connection.
Close the My Psion Window
Press Ctrl-Alt-Del once
Click on the item Psconsv
Click on End Task
This will terminate the Psion Connection Server and now try again by double-clicking the My Psion Icon on your desktop.