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Psion Organiser Datapak Repair

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Datapak repair for the original Psion Organiser (Series 1, 1984). A Series 1 Datapak is a plug-in pack holding an EPROM and an address counter. The Organiser writes records to the EPROM and cannot erase them, so a full pak is reclaimed by erasing the whole chip with ultraviolet light in a Psion Formatter.[1][2] Psion's warranty states that there are no user-serviceable parts inside a Datapak.[1] What can be done at home is cleaning and re-seating, copying records to another pak, and UV formatting.

A Series 1 8K Datapak opened: case, counter board and EPROM board with the pack connector (photograph: Jaap Scherphuis)

Series 1 packs

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Psion called the two pak slots "solid-state drives". Drive 1 is the one nearest the display window.[1][3]

Series 1 pack types
Pack Contents Notes
8K Datapak EPROM and counter Supplied in drive 1 of every new Organiser.[1] In Jaap Scherphuis's photograph the EPROM is a Hitachi HN482764G and the counter an HEF4040BT.[2]
16K Datapak EPROM and counters Made in two board issues. The issue 2 pak in Jaap Scherphuis's photograph has a Hitachi HN4827128G EPROM and two HEF4024BT counters.[2]
32K Datapak EPROM Jaap Scherphuis records that a 32K pak was also produced for the Series 1, but has not examined one.[4]
Program pack EPROM on a board marked "PROGRAM PAC" The programming voltage line is not connected, so the pack cannot be written to. The Link-Up Pack and the Software Pack used ordinary Datapaks.[2]
Dummy pak No memory Fitted in drive 2 of a new Organiser to protect the connector.[1]

The Series 1 used linear addressing, which Jaap Scherphuis notes makes access slow on larger packs; the Organiser II added a faster paged method.[4]

8K Datapak, Psion's specification[1]
Item Specification
Capacity 8 KB, 10,900 characters of packed data
Storage medium EPROM
FIND time 5 seconds maximum, with a full pak
SAVE time 4 to 8 characters per second, depending on battery age
Data retention Mean time to failure 50 years at temperatures up to 100 °C
Formatting 30 minutes in a Psion Formatter
Life Up to 100 formatting cycles

Pak access is the heaviest load on the battery. Psion gives 40 mW with the Organiser on, 500 mW during SAVE or FIND with one pak, and 800 mW with two.[1]

How the paks fail

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  • ERASE only marks a record so that the Organiser skips it, and the record still takes up space. A pak that reports DATAPAK FULL with few live records is working normally.[1][2]
  • Saving after a LOW BATTERY warning can spoil the remaining space on the pak. Existing records can still be found, but nothing more can be saved, and the pak reports DATAPAK ERROR.[1]
  • Psion gives physical damage as the usual cause of DATAPAK ERROR.[1]
  • An empty drive leaves its connector exposed. Psion fitted a dummy pak to protect it and says to keep a real or dummy pak, or a program pack, in each drive at all times.[1]
  • The white label on the underside covers the EPROM's window and protects the chip from excessive exposure to light. A pak without its label is at risk.[1]
  • Psion rates a Datapak for up to 100 formatting cycles, so a heavily reused pak may be worn out.[1]

Diagnosis

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Messages and symptoms
Message or symptom Psion's explanation Action
DATAPAK FULL The pak cannot accept the record. Erased records still occupy space.[1] Copy the live records to another pak, then format the full one.
DATAPAK ERROR The Organiser has difficulty accessing the pak: physical damage, or a SAVE attempted after LOW BATTERY.[1] Clean and re-seat the pak and try the other drive. If records can still be found, copy them to another pak and reclaim this one in a Psion Formatter.[1]
DATAPAK ERROR straight after formatting The pak has failed Psion's post-formatting check[5] Repeat the formatting process.[5]
NOT FOUND The search clue does not occur in the pak in that drive.[1] Check that the indicator shows FIND1: or FIND2: as intended. On a freshly formatted pak, NOT FOUND is the expected result.[5]
LOW BATTERY at switch-on The battery voltage is too low.[1] Fit a new battery before any SAVE.
Blank display with paks fitted Psion's checks for a blank display are the contrast wheel, the battery connection, a new battery, and finally the paks[1] Remove any Datapaks and start again.[1]
Paks read but every SAVE fails Writing needs the programming voltage (Vpp) and reading does not. Program packs, which have no Vpp connection, can be read but not written.[2] A fault on every pak points to the Organiser. See the Psion Organiser Troubleshooting Guide.
One drive works and the other does not Drive contacts, or that drive's wiring Swap a known-good pak between the drives before opening the Organiser.

Pressing ON/CLEAR clears these error messages.[1]

Checks in order

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  1. Switch the Organiser off. Psion says always to switch off before removing or fitting a pak.[1]
  2. Lay the machine face down on a flat surface, which keeps ON/CLEAR from being pressed by accident. Press down and out on the ribbed part of the pak to slide it out.[1]
  3. Inspect the pak connector and the drive contacts. Clean both with isopropyl alcohol on a foam swab and let them dry.
  4. Push the pak back in until it clicks home.[1]
  5. Fit a fresh battery so that LOW BATTERY cannot be the cause.
  6. Try FIND in both drives (press FIND again to switch between FIND1: and FIND2:).[1]
  7. Try the pak in the other drive, and a known-good pak in the suspect drive.

Copying records off a pak

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Copy everything worth keeping before formatting a pak. Erased records are not copied, so copying also recovers the space they took.[1]

Without the Utility Pack, copy record by record. Set the indicator to FIND1: with FIND and then to SAVE2: with SAVE, so that the Organiser finds in drive 1 and saves to drive 2. Then press FIND, EXECUTE, SAVE, EXECUTE repeatedly until the first record comes round again. Note the first record before starting.[1]

The Utility Pack's COPY copies the whole contents, the records only or the procedures only, always from the pak in drive 1 to the pak in drive 2, and leaves out erased records and procedures. Remove the Utility Pack when COPY asks for the paks, put the source pak in drive 1 and an empty or newly formatted pak in drive 2, then press A, R or P.[3]

Formatting a pak

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The Series 1 style Psion Datapak Formatter, with a 30-minute timer (photograph: Jaap Scherphuis)

Formatting erases the whole EPROM. Psion's Datapak Formatter does it by shining ultraviolet light on the chip's window for 30 minutes.[1][2] Psion's procedure:[5]

  1. Copy any records worth keeping to another pak.
  2. Remove the pak from the Organiser.
  3. Peel the white label off the pak to expose the circular window.
  4. Fit the pak into the compartment in the Formatter drawer with the window facing up. The Formatter takes two paks at once.
  5. Plug the Formatter into the mains and push the drawer fully home. Formatting starts and is timed automatically; the ON lamp shows that the UV lamp is lit.
  6. Wait for the lamp to go out, then remove the pak.
  7. Fit the pak to the Organiser, select FIND1: or FIND2: and press EXECUTE. NOT FOUND means the pak is blank. DATAPAK ERROR means it needs formatting again.
  8. Fit a new label over the window. Spare labels came with the Organiser and with new Datapaks, and were sold separately.

Opening the drawer during formatting switches the lamp off and interrupts the process; closing it starts a further 30 minutes. Unplug the Formatter when it is not in use.[5]

Jaap Scherphuis notes that this Formatter, in the Series 1 styling, was also used for the Organiser II until Psion replaced it with a more compact model.[2]

Safety

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  • The Formatter runs from 220-240 V AC and is fused at 3 A in the plug.[5] Unplug it before opening the case.
  • EPROMs are erased with short-wave ultraviolet (UV-C) at 253.7 nm; Microchip's 27C64 datasheet specifies that wavelength.[6] UV-C injures the eyes (photokeratitis and photoconjunctivitis) and the skin, and the injuries reported to the European Commission's scientific committee came mainly from accidental exposure to UV-C lamps.[7] The Formatter's drawer switch turns the lamp off when the drawer opens.[5] Do not defeat it or run the lamp with the drawer out.
  • Keep the label on a pak whenever it is not being formatted.[1]

Parts

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Psion's surviving parts list, the Psion Organiser II Spare Parts List, covers Organiser II packs only. Spare Datapak labels were sold separately.[5] A program pack cannot be reused as a Datapak, because its board has no programming voltage connection.[2]

Series 1 paks in an Organiser II

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Jaap Scherphuis writes that the Psion Organiser II can use the same 8K and 16K packs as the Series 1.[4] The Organiser II's pack identification byte has a bit that marks a pack as an Organiser I (MK1) Datapak, and the Organiser II operating system converts the MK1 identification string to its own format.[8] The Organiser II's packs, error messages and formatting tools are covered in Psion Organiser II Datapak Repair.

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References

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  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.27 1.28 Psion Processors Ltd, The Organiser Manual (1984), sections 2 "Getting started", 6 "Operating framework", 13 "Notes about datapaks", 15 "Troubleshooting", 16 "Technical data", 17 "Reference section" and 18 "Warranty". Transcribed at Jaap's Psion Organiser II Page.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Jaap Scherphuis, "Psion Organiser Series 1 Image Gallery", Jaap's Psion Organiser II Page, sections "Datapaks and Program Packs" and "Psion Datapak Formatter". Chip and board markings read from the photographs of the 8K Datapak and the issue 2 16K Datapak.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Psion Processors Ltd, The Organiser Utility Pack manual (1984), "COPY: to copy datapak contents". Transcribed at Jaap's Psion Organiser II Page.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Jaap Scherphuis, "Gallery of Psion Organiser II packs", Jaap's Psion Organiser II Page, section "Datapaks".
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 Psion Processors Ltd, Datapak Formatter Instruction Leaflet (Psion Organiser Series 1), "Using the Psion Formatter". Transcribed at Jaap's Psion Organiser II Page.
  6. ↑ Microchip Technology Inc., 27C64 64K (8K x 8) CMOS EPROM datasheet DS11107L (1996), section 1.5 "Erase Mode (U.V. Windowed Versions)". Copy at Jaap's Psion Organiser II Page.
  7. ↑ European Commission Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER), Opinion on biological effects of UV-C radiation relevant to health with particular reference to UV-C lamps, adopted 2 February 2017, abstract (p. 2) and section 7.1 "Human health effects" (p. 25).
  8. ↑ Psion Organiser II Technical Manual, Psion Ltd, chapter 9 "Datapacks", section 9.4.3 "Pack ID string". Transcribed at Jaap's Psion Organiser II Page.


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