Psion Series 7: Difference between revisions
Host Psion's build 756 patch readme and link it from Documentation |
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Psion's own 226-page user guide is hosted on this wiki. No service manual, spare parts list or exploded diagram for the Series 7 has survived in public hands — the nearest manufacturer sources for hardware limits are the [[Psion netBook Documentation|netBook datasheet and customer FAQ]], which cover the shared chassis. | Psion's own 226-page user guide is hosted on this wiki. No service manual, spare parts list or exploded diagram for the Series 7 has survived in public hands — the nearest manufacturer sources for hardware limits are the [[Psion netBook Documentation|netBook datasheet and customer FAQ]], which cover the shared chassis. | ||
Psion's readme for the '''build 756 patch''' is hosted here too: [[:File:Psion Series 7 Build 756 Patch Readme (2000).pdf|Series 7 Build 756 Patch Readme (2000)]]. It is two pages, and it is the only surviving manufacturer statement of how the Series 7 operating system was meant to be updated. | |||
== ROM builds == | == ROM builds == | ||
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Two EPOC builds are commonly seen. '''Build 754''' shipped first and suffers a documented fault in which the machine gradually slows until it is soft reset, and a touchscreen that drifts out of calibration and cannot be corrected from the control panel. '''Build 756''', from early 2000, fixes both.<ref name="faqbugs">[https://www.oocities.org/epoc_32/bugs.html "Psion Series 7 FAQ: Known issues & bugs"], oocities.org/epoc_32. Source for the build 754 slowdown, the touchscreen calibration bug and its fix in build 756, the battery-catch microswitch fault, the CompactFlash drawer play, the PC Card modem current problem and the Add/Remove control panel crash.</ref> | Two EPOC builds are commonly seen. '''Build 754''' shipped first and suffers a documented fault in which the machine gradually slows until it is soft reset, and a touchscreen that drifts out of calibration and cannot be corrected from the control panel. '''Build 756''', from early 2000, fixes both.<ref name="faqbugs">[https://www.oocities.org/epoc_32/bugs.html "Psion Series 7 FAQ: Known issues & bugs"], oocities.org/epoc_32. Source for the build 754 slowdown, the touchscreen calibration bug and its fix in build 756, the battery-catch microswitch fault, the CompactFlash drawer play, the PC Card modem current problem and the Add/Remove control panel crash.</ref> | ||
The contemporary position, repeated ever since, was that '''Series 7 owners could not fix these in software''': netBook owners simply loaded a newer OS image, while the Series 7's operating system sat in the machine and Psion was said to have made clear an update would never happen.<ref name="faqbugs" /> | |||
'''Psion did release one.''' The '''Series 7 Patch (Build version 756)''' shipped <code>UPDATE.EXE</code>, a 4 MB <code>Rom_4mb.img</code> and a readme, and reflashes the ROM in place on any machine already at build 750 or greater.<ref name="patchreadme">Psion Enterprise Computing, "Series 7 Patch (Build version 756)", readme.txt supplied with the patch, 2000. Hosted at [[:File:Psion Series 7 Build 756 Patch Readme (2000).pdf]]. Source for the existence of the patch, the three supplied files, the build 750 prerequisite and the installation procedure.</ref> | |||
'''Running it on an aged machine is dangerous.''' The updater tests the Flash programming voltage only at rest, so a supply that sags under erase load passes the test, fails the erase that follows, and leaves the ROM partly erased and the machine unbootable. Read [[Psion Series 7 Troubleshooting Guide#Step 4: the build 756 patch can destroy the machine|Step 4 of the troubleshooting guide]] before going anywhere near it. | |||
== The leather == | == The leather == | ||