Using the Psion Organiser II Comms Link

Transferring information between the Organiser and PC/Mac is made possible by using the Psion Comms Link adapter. This superb device plugs into the Organiser top slot and connects to your PC or Mac via a long lead which terminates in a 25 way 'D' serial connector.

The comms software, required by the Organiser, is stored in the Comms Link ROM and is transferred automatically after inserting the Comms Link device into the Organiser top slot. It is usually necessary to press the 'ON/CLEAR' key a few of times to initialise the software transfer. The entry 'Comms' then appears in the Psion main menu.

Once the the software has loaded, all that is needed is the software for your computer to communicate with the Organiser.

The original Comms Link package is supplied with a disk containing a collection of utility programs which not only allow the user to transfer data between the PC/Mac and Organiser but also to carry out other specific functions.
An archive of the original Psion programs for the PC or Mac is available for download from the Psion FTP Archive: Download Psion PC Tools or Mac Tools

Windows & Linux users should get Psi2Win instead, it's far more comfortable....

Using the Comms Link - a walk through.

• Download and install the choosen software to a new directory on your PC.

• Plug the Comms link into the topslot of your Organiser, and the 'D' connector on the other end of the lead to a free serial connector on your PC.

• Switch your Organiser on and press the 'EXE' a couple of times you should then see (towards the bottom of the top menu) a new entry in the Organiser menu 'Comms'.

• Select 'Comms' and hit 'EXE'.

• Select 'Setup'. The menu 'Baud' setting should be already set to 9600.

• Still in the same menu, move down the list of settings until you come to 'Protocol' using the left and right arrow keys on the top of the Organiser key pad set this to 'PSION'.

• Hit 'MODE' and 'EXE' to exit. Or you could if you wish select 'Save' to save these settings, use a file name such as PC.

• On your PC go to the Window's 'Start Button' click and then select 'Run' click on 'Browse' and find the directory which you unzipped the 'PC Tools.zip' into.

• Click on 'CL.exe'. Put the cursor at the end of 'CL.exe' (in the Run box) and type 9600,2 it should then look like this 'CL.exe 9600,2' then click OK.

• You should see a DOS box appear on screen: Organiser II Comms link Server (C) Psion 1987....Blah Blah Blah.

• On your Organiser, which should still be in the Comms Menu, either select 'Transmit' or 'Receive' depending on what you want to do, you will then have to select either 'File', 'Procedure' etc. to send or receive.

• To receive a file from your PC you will either have to put the file which you want to download to your Organiser in the directory which you created for PC Tools or give the exact path from the Organiser Comms menu command line (see fig 1), after you select the file to download and have pressed 'EXE'. I find the first option easiest.

[RECEIVE (PROCEDURE) ]
[Recv A:KEYCHG       ]
[....................]
[From:C:/TEMP/KEYCHG ]

• To Transmit a file select the file which you want to upload to your PC and hit 'EXE' (see fig 2).

[TRANSMIT (PROCEDURE)]
[Send A:KEYCHG       ]
[....................]
[To:C:/TEMP/KEYCHG   ]

• Look in the PC Tools directory or the directory which you specified as in fig 2,  and your file should be there.
  

The PC package contains version 2.11 of Psion Tools:

	CL.exe	This is the main program for transferring files to & from the PC.
	S-boot.exe	Subroutine used by CL.exe.
	S_exit.exe	Subroutine used by CL.exe.
	S_file.exe	Subroutine used by CL.exe.
	S_ftran.exe	Subroutine used by CL.exe.
	S_plan.exe	Subroutine used by CL.exe.
	S_planm.exe	Subroutine used by CL.exe.
	Trans.bin	By choosing the boot option in the comms menu and typing TRANS, the contents of A: is transferred to a single file on disk.
	Recv.bin	By choosing the boot option in the comms menu and typing RECV, the contents of A: is retrieved from a file on disk previously saved using Trans.bin.
	Comm.OPL	Initialises a modem and then sends the OPL file called COMM. Like SENDALL, it is fully automatic except for a final key press.
	Dback.OPL	Send and receive diary files on the XP or CM. Since the LZ stores its diary in ordinary ODB files, Dback is not useful for this machine. Page 41 of the Comms manual contains details. Simply choose BACKUP or RESTORE, and type in the diary filenames you want to use.
	Mprint.OPL	MPRINT: Print out or send the MAIN text file (using LPRINT) in a more readable format than the Comms menu TRANSMIT option would do. It puts each field on a separate line, and a blank line between each record. It is on page 23 of the Comms manual. Simply type A, B, or C and it will print the MAIN file on that pack.
	Sendall.OPL	Backs up the entire contents of A: on the LZ down the Comms link automatically. This only works for the LZ, as it uses the DIRW instruction to look up all the filenames of all the different types (ODB, OPL, DIA, COM, PLN, PAG and NTS). It is fully automatic, all you have to do is run it, and press a key when it's done.

OPL Extension Procedures.

When the Comms Link is fitted to the Organiser, a number of OPL commands are also added. These mainly allow the opening and the reading of files on an attached PC or Mac.

	Transmit	Upload a file (.ODB), procedure (.OPL) or a Notes entry to a PC.
	Receive	Down load a file (.ODB), procedure (.OPL) or a Notes entry from a PC.
	Setup	Configure the Organiser for communication with a host computer.
	Term	Terminal emulation - used when connecting to a modem.
	Auto	Sends a line of text to a printer at various parameter configurations i.e. varying baud rates. Used to confirm the necessary setting for communicating with a printer.
	Capture	Used to enter the capture buffer editor. You can use this feature to prepare data 'off line' for subsequent transfer to a host (using transmit from the the Capture menu assessed using the 'MODE' key).
	Boot	Used for running Organiser machine code routines such as: Recv.bin or Trans.bin.

As can be seen the above software is extremely comprehensive, it will not only allow the transfer of programs between Organiser and PC/Mac with relative ease but also add a number of extra useful commands to OPL. The Comms Link is a must it you wish to download programs from the Internet and transfer them to your PC/Mac.

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