Epocdigest V1 # 480

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Epoc Digest Mon, 22 Mar 2004 Volume 01 : Number 480

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Sent to: 781 subscribers

In today's Epoc Digest 16 messages:

==============================

- Re: UPS5D Archive/GPS/CF Fail/CronTab

- Re: Broadband advice

- Mbook Internet Connection Impasse

- Infrared modem

- Re: UPS5 Digest

- Re: WiFi question

- UPS5Digest

- Which GPS?

- Re: Epoc Digest V1 # 479

- Calling card woes

- Converting EPOC data file - found a workaround.

- OPL SDK for Psion 5&5MX (includes Emulator)

- RE: Which GPS?

- Html files / Web's cache

- Compact Flash "Disk not Present" solved !!!

- Re: Mako and Treo for Busted 5mx

*++++++++++&

Date: 21 Mar 2004 22:56:28 +0100

From: Keith Giles

Subject: Re: UPS5D Archive/GPS/CF Fail/CronTab

I thought the UPS5D archive was at some Dutch or German university site.

Will Green asks Which GPS?: I first used a Garmin eMap for my bicycle. Then I went to the eTrex. I found the smaller screen on the eTrex was hard to read. Recently I sold my eTrex and bought the new GPSMap 60C. It has the larger screen, is in color, has enough memory I can load

all of California onto it (detailed streets/roads), and has a USB connection instead of serial like the old models. The color is definitely easier for me to read. I still have the eMap mounted in my car and use the 60C on my bike. Actually, I don't really "use" it. I know where I am and know where I'm going, so it's an expensive toy. :-)

Since I have all the European maps from Route loaded on my Psions, I made myself a GPS/Psion cable for the eMap (works with the eTrex,

too), took it to Europe on one of my bike trips, and tried it out. Works just fine, except who wants to ride around on a bike with an

open Psion (how would you mount it on the bike?). Have never taken the GPS to Europe again. For me, something like the Michelin paper map, scale 1:200,000, mounted in the map case of my handlebar bag works the best.

So my advice is to get a unit with a display you can really see well.

Jim Watson-Gove wrote about CF failure: I don't know if I'm doing anything wrong, but I put almost everything (apps and data) on my CF cards (D drive) on my Mbook and 5mx. I, too, use an adapter with a CF in the Mbook's E drive and have an automatic backup of the C drive

each night. The CF is an old 128MB I had. The C backup uses 1% of its memory. What I'd like to do is have a nightly backup of the D drive to the E drive also. Does anyone know how to do that? Maybe write a macro to be run by CronTab (which *still* gives me trouble)? I've looked at Backup and FastBackup, but find no option to select the drive to

backup - it's only the C drive. I'm probably overly backup happy. :-)

Itamar wrote about CronTab: Wouldn't the easiest thing to do is just let CronTab run your macros every day? Be thankful they run. :-)

Happy Cycling,

Keith

Sunnyvale, CA

http://ohsix827.home.comcast.net

Thought For The Day: If you're pushing fifty, that's exercise enough.

*++++++++++&

Date: 22 Mar 2004 00:51:59 +0100

From: David Steer $Plus$

Subject: Re: Broadband advice

To Koi Hin,

>> A relatively simple solution especially for home users is to restrict

>> access by MAC addresses, an identifier that can be found on your WIFI

>> card. No encryption is involved, it simply prevents another person,

>> even if he is sitting in the same room as the router, from using the

>> connection as his WiFi card is not part of the MAC addresses accepted

>> by the router.

With WiFi, the transmission between a card and the access point or router the MAC address of the card is transmitted also. For home use, this should provide some security. However, is someone was to record your cards transmission (easy to do) then the MAC address would be there in plain text and all they would have to do is reprogram their card with that MAC address and there you have it! What I don't want is people having a false sense of security over their WiFi connection. Also, most, if not all, access points and routers broadcast that they are there, they broadcast their name and if they have WEP enabled or not - this can invite someone to give it a go just to see!

------------

To Nicole,

>> Sometimes, the signal is so bad that I can nor use my laptop at the

>> other side of my (rather small) flat. Otherwise I can use my

>> connection on my Sony Clie UX-50 from the street below and I live on

>> the top floor of a 4 storeys house. This is strange as the signal is

>> supposed to travel better horizontally than vertically.

802.11* is a radio signal, it can be deflected and absorbed and sometimes being close to the source gives bad reception. You might want to try adjusting your aerial or moving your router/access point and see if this effects the signal - you may be surprised.

>>http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1544557,00.asp

>>ask you what you think of it. I do not understand the end i.e.:

>> Append a space to this, followed by stop wzcsvc (don't forget the

>> space before stop). If you like, repeat these steps and create another

>> shortcut to start the service; just replace stop with start.

>> If you do understand this, could you please explain?

This makes sense, I have not heard of this before but is worth a go. The Net.exe is a widows command line application that allows the user to execute network related commands. All the that is being done here is to create a call (shortcut) to the net.exe command, telling it to stop the Windows Zero Configuration (WZC) service. This is a process that runs in the background, disabling this process after your connection will stop the WiFi roaming feature (designed for when you move out of range of one access point and into the range of another) this is triggered when a signal strength drops below a certain level and the search may take some seconds causing your current connection to drop (I am doing some guessing here though). OK, the target part of the shortcut should read: "C:\WINDOWS\system32\net.exe stop wzcsvc" - include the quotes.

I hope this answers your question.

As a note of warning, I would not put this in your Start Up folder of your start menu as it is likely the process will be stopped before your wifi connection is established. Also, this will not stop another user (or hacker) from connecting to your router/access point. It only attempts to stabilise your connection from your Windows PC to the router/access point.

Regards

David

*++++++++++&

Date: 22 Mar 2004 05:47:18 +0100

From: Melvin Woody

Subject: Mbook Internet Connection Impasse

I'm still having troubles connecting my Mbook to the internet. I get the gold card connection to dial up O.K. - and I supply my password once it connects to my isp. But then I get a message that reads:

Program Closed

Program: MsvServer

Reason Code: KERN-EXEC

Reason: 3

And I can't get any furher than that.

Meanwhile, I was able to get to my home base through Opera when I tried, thought the initial opera screen didn't read properly and sort of pulsed. But when I put my home address in under Open Web Page on the "File" menu, I do get connected using the gold card. So there must be something amiss with my e-mail settings. Can anyone suggest what to do? I CAN get e-mail through the my college web page, but it's very inconvenient.

My second problem arises when I try to connect with my 2Wire wireless router supplied by SBC Yahoo to handle my DSL line. I have a lucent orinoco silver card and set the modem for "rlan" at the suggestion of one of you. But I still can't connect with the 2wire router. The SBC- 2Wire help desk can't be of much help because they've never heard of EPOC, only PC and Mac. They did say that in order to connect using my Dell laptop, I would have to install the software that came with the modem. How could I possibly get that PC/Mac software onto the Mbook? I've the impression that I shouldn't need it - but should be able to connect and run a setup program that requires encryption codes with which they supplied me. Earlier responses from this list have suggested this should all be very simple and I'm hoping I'll find it so with proper advice. I'll be grateful for any advice any of you can supply.

Melvin

*++++++++++&

Date: 22 Mar 2004 05:49:14 +0100

From: Bengt-Arne Wallden

Subject: Infrared modem

Something has happend with my 5mx. It has worked fine for several years now but suudenly for some weeks ago when I changed my mobile phone it refuses to connect with the Email application.

When I try to connect and open the mailbox I get an error window saying

"Problem connecting to Remote mailbox", "Already exists"

There is no problem when I open the mailbox using the LAN on my PC and the serial link.

The infrared connection on the 5mx works good when I use PhoneMan or connect PsiWin on my Laptop.

I hade also tried to change back to one of my older phones but they wont work either.

The new phone is Nokia 6220 and earlier I used 6510 and 8210 without problem.

Regards

Bengt-Arne

*++++++++++&

Date: 22 Mar 2004 05:54:20 +0100

From: Ing. Michael Asteriou

Subject: Re: UPS5 Digest

Answer to: Philip S. Adkins Potter

Hi, I've just checked if I have a copy of the old digest and I could serve you with the issues 533 to 986 (15.08.2000 to 30.04.2002)

Shall I zip it end send it to you?

Regards

Michael Asteriou

*++++++++++&

Date: 22 Mar 2004 08:28:11 +0100

From: Ian Chapple

Subject: Re: WiFi question

Nicole wrote:

>>>>I have been using WiFi for one year now and still have not been able to find out why sometimes my signal is very strong and sometimes I probably get some type of interferences and the signal comes and goes. My connection is secured and passworded. Sometimes, the signal is so bad that I can nor use my laptop at the other side of my (rather small) flat. Otherwise I can use my connection on my Sony Clie UX-50 from the street below and I live on the top floor of a 4 storeys house. This is strange as the signal is supposed to travel better horizontally than vertically.

As you seem to be a wizard in WiFi connections, I should like to point you towards this article:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1544557,00.asp

And ask you what you think of it. I do not understand the end i.e.:

>> Append a space to this, followed by stop wzcsvc (don't forget the space before stop). If you like, repeat these steps and create another shortcut to start the service; just replace stop with start. << <<<<

What this does is to enable you to create a shortcut to

C:\WINDOWS\system32\net.exe on your desktop, which runs using the parameters (or switches, as I think they're correctly called) "stop wzcsvc", which stops the Wireless Zero Configuration Service. To restart it, use another, similar shortcut, with the parameters "start wzcsvc".

I wrote an article for FoxPop last year (see it at

http://www.foxpop.co.uk/wifi/wifi_10.htm) where I described the problems that I had had with WiFi and Windows XP, all caused by the Wireless Zero Configuration Service; XP is the only version of Windows that has this,

and it's basically terrible. Its main purpose seems to be to enable a PC to scan for nearby WiFi networks (ie. HotSpots), but for a static system, it's better to do without this "feature" (if that is what it is!?). You will probably get a much more reliable WiFi connection by disabling this Service, and configuring your WiFi adapter by hand, using the

configuration tool that should have come with it.

However, this alone does not explain strange variations in signal

strength; on our XP PC, which is two floors up, the signal strength can vary from as little as 50% all the way up to 95%. Now that the WZCS is disabled on this computer, the actual signal strength does not seem to

have a massive effect on reliability, especially when Internetting, as , even with a broadband connection, this is still a factor of 10 slower than the speed of the network.

Hope this helps, Ian.

*++++++++++&

Date: 22 Mar 2004 08:49:11 +0100

From: Roman Frotz

Subject: UPS5Digest

Hi Philip,

to download the old UPS5Digest messages please go to:

http://www-public.tu-bs.de:8080/~y0007925/epoc/ups5/index.html

You can also search the old messages via:

http://mypage.bluewin.ch/YetAnotherHomePage/ups5gb.html

Hope this helps,

Roman

*++++++++++&

Date: 22 Mar 2004 09:01:02 +0100

From: Roman Frotz

Subject: Which GPS?

Hi Will,

the newest model from Garmin the GPS Map 60C or 60CS seems to be able to cover all your mentioned activities. It has a color display and battery is expected to last up to 30 hours with a set of three AA cells. I can't comment on anything regarding connectivity to Psions because these models are simply too new on the market.

You can find a good independant introductory site with the pros and cons of various models mostly from Garmin and Magellan at:

http://gpsinformation.net/

Some essential software sites with programms for the Psion-GPS area are available under: http://www.millican.f2s.com/realmaps/index.htm

http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Orchard/5730/

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/jonathan.duff/

http://www.kudata.freeserve.co.uk/PsiTrex.html

Hope this helps,

Roman

*++++++++++&

Date: 22 Mar 2004 09:50:43 +0100

From: Charles H. Davies

Subject: Re: Epoc Digest V1 # 479

>Date: 21 Mar 2004 10:07:45 +0100

>From: Martin Maxwell

>Subject: Re:Psion 5mx/Sony Ericsson P800

>Answer to: Charles H. Davies

>Subject: RE: Psion 5mx/Sony Ericsson P800

>>>How far does the Symbian compatability extend ?<<

>All file formats that are not using Unicode text are compatible, for instance MBM. Ironically, GDR fonts from 5mx can be used in P800, but not the other way around. It is also quite easy, due to compliance with vCard, to transfer the complete Contacts database between the two machines.

>However, it almost ends with that as far as I know.

>>>Does anybody know if it is possible to transfer/convert database file

>on Psion 5mx to the above mobile phone ?<<

>Unfortunately not. This is due to the database in 5mx being ASCII based and it being Unicode based in the P800. This despite the actual database application not really having changed at all from 5mx to P800. Same thing applies for all Symbian OS v6.0 and later machines. But it is possible to open a Nokia 9210 Communicator database from a P800 and vice verse. The only way you can practically get around this is to write your database into a flat text file on the 5mx and then write a similar routine to convert it back into a database on the P800, but it requires some programming.

>Kind regards

>Martin Maxwell

>Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia

Martin,

Many thanks for the input it looks as though I am going to be stuck to

manually entering some 1200 database entries !! My programming

prowess ceased with DOS Basic & Foxpro 2.6.

Unless somebody has already written such a prog and I would be happy

to pay for a copy.

Kind Regards

Charles H Davies

Presently in Lisbon, Portugal.

Charles H Davies

23 Wallace Fields

EPSOM Surrey

KT17 3AX

England

Tel:+44 (0)20 8394 0255

Fax:+44 (0)20 8393 2747

***ALWAYS REPLY TO:"chdavies

*++++++++++&

Date: 22 Mar 2004 13:43:24 +0100

From: Christopher J.Holly

Subject: Calling card woes

I got an unintended vacation from psioneering recently while on a trip. Try as I might, I could not access a long distance ISP connect number using either of two calling cards. I set up a location with the LD number and smart dialing (which seemed to work, serendipitously -- I'm no guru). Because of some rather lengthy voice cues, I changed the timing of the pauses to 64/32nds. I had plenty of commas in the rules for each dialing card. The closest I got was hearing the modem (a 56k + Fax WAN Global Gold Card WGP0MC - 001ZZP) well on its way to handshaking and then it timed out.

Terminal Detect and Carrier Detect were both enabled. I was able to connect with this card with these settings at home with a local access number without involving the calling card.

Anyone have any suggestions or know of a good tutorial covering this? I could not identify any setting that controlled the "time out" function. With just a few more seconds, I think I would have connected. --Chris Holly

*++++++++++&

Date: 22 Mar 2004 14:05:50 +0100

From: Owen H. Morgan

Subject: Converting EPOC data file - found a workaround.

Hi again!

I wrote (> ):

> I have tried altering the order the fields are displayed in

> Data, but when I export the file, I still end up with the

> Spanish word first. Any ideas?

I found a workaround.

I exported the Data file to TAB separated format and opened it in the text editor. Then I selected all the text and copied it to the clipboard and pasted it to cell A1 in a spreadsheet. I now had a spreadsheet with the Spanish words in column A and the English translations in column B. The next step was to copy column A and paste it to column C and then delete the original column A. The result was English words in column A and Spanish ones in column B.

Now, all I had to do was select column A and B from the spreadsheet, copy them to the clipboard and paste to the text file, overwriting the original text. Finally, I imported the text to TestMe, and now the English words are in the first field and the Spanish ones in the second field. A long way around, but it worked, and all done with EPOC tools! I'd still like to know if anyone knows a simpler way.

Owen

Thought for the day:

Life is wasted on the living.

- Zaphod Beeblebrox IV

Owen H. Morgan, Yacht "Naomi J.", LD-9311

28°05.31'N 17°06.53'W

San Sebastian de La Gomera, Canary Islands

Phone and SMS:

In Spain: +34 620520079

In Norway: +47 92053097

http://home.no.net/naomij

*++++++++++&

Date: 22 Mar 2004 14:24:37 +0100

From: Bill Hardman

Subject: OPL SDK for Psion 5&5MX (includes Emulator)

I know it can be difficult to find this nowadays and I had a terrible job downloading it. If anyone's really desperate, I've put it on my webspace and will leave it there for a week or so. Please email me for the address and be warned - it's a 27MB download so you really need a broadband connection or a lot of patience!

Bill

*++++++++++&

Date: 22 Mar 2004 14:58:27 +0100

From: KL

Subject: RE: Which GPS?

Will,

I'd think one of the questions you should answer yourself: do I need (GPS) built-in maps?

I live happily with the eTrex basic model (yellow) for three years now. I use the GPS as in-car navigation with the Psion and occasionally as a bicycle speedometer without Psion. But I never needed in-built maps.

If you want to use the GPS off the Psion, then a GPS without maps will be of limited use. The pre-setting of waypoints I found too troublesome and tedious to be of serious value.

This decision would split the pack of GPS in two.

As for connectivity, I have not heard about incompatibilities or communication problems. So, you would have to select by price. The best solution would be the lowest price for GPS AND cable.

I have the eTrex to serial cable that I connect to the Psion link cable. Long, but works.

In the car I have a power connection to the Psion bought separately as cheap standard car accessories. Another one to the eTrex would be nice. I would have needed it once or twice when the eTrex batteries were down and I needed it. For most cases though, the eTrex batteries (rechargeable) are good enough for me. I drive a new route may be once a month. If I travel on known ground I might take the eTrex but keep it off. If on new routes, I switch the eTrex off if the Psion tells me: follow street xxx for 150 km. In the worst case I would take the Psion batteries and put them into the eTrex or buy them at the next gas station.

I also find this an excellent use for the PDA that I have already anyway. $155 for a navigation system is a good deal ($120 for the ETrex + $35 cable in 2000).

Karsten.

*++++++++++&

Date: 22 Mar 2004 19:23:36 +0100

From: Astrid Stappenbeck

Subject: Html files / Web's cache

Hi,

I just discovered that it isn't just nConvert that gets confused when there are a couple of empty lines at the start of a html file. When I downloaded a couple of newspaper articles in that format the files only showed as ? on the screen. They could be loaded without problem into web but would not start the app when tapped. When I wanted to edit the file and therefore renamed it as text it wouldn't start the Editor as usual but be displayed as readonly in the inbuilt viewer. I had to load it manually in the editor to remove the empty lines at the start. After that the file were well-behaving again. Weird!

Another thing: I can't make web delete the cache on exit - has there ever been a version where this setting worked?

Astrid

*++++++++++&

Date: 22 Mar 2004 20:16:41 +0100

From: Gabriela & Radek

Subject: Compact Flash "Disk not Present" solved !!!

Hello,

you might remember me from before. I was asking for help with my compact flash card. I was not able to format or whatever do with it in my 5mx. All I got was "Disk not Present" message. The card was originally used in Apple Newton MessagePad 2100 which created big mess in partition table. I was trying to partition it on Windows2000 and XP with no luck as Win2000 and up do not ship with fdisk and Storage Manager is useless in this case. I had only pcmcia compact flash adapter so I was bothering my friends at work with laptops.

Two weeks later I finally talked myself into buying an USB Compact Flash reader. Again SuSE Linux came to rescue me. It found the reader and card immediately and gave a device name to use. After that I just wiped out the card with linux fdisk command and created one dos fat16 primary partition. When I inserted the card into Psion it gave me "Corrupted" message which sounded much better than "Disk not Present" to me. I formatted my compact flash on Psion and everything seems to be fine. Now I just have to figure out how to move already installed software on it. If anyone has a similar problem with his/her card I can probably fit it. Just drop it into bubble wrap envelope and sent it me or I find a buddy that is a bit linux savvy and can fix it for you.

I believe that root of the problem was that Psion can not read card that has more than one primary partition on it at least in my case. Regards,

Radek

Radovan Biciste

Walnut Creek, CA

the U.S.

*++++++++++&

Date: 22 Mar 2004 20:38:10 +0100

From: Renee Ford

Subject: Re: Mako and Treo for Busted 5mx

Antony Booth who " Posts EPOC computer relevant information ONLY!" asked:

Why not save yourself some money and keep your other toys by buying a fully working 5mx from eBay? I would have thought the repair & shipping cost via Europe would exceed the purchase and shipping cost of an eBay 5mx from the U.S.?

I think he's probably shipping to Shiva "Miracle Worker" Naipaul (a distant relative of the literary family) at Palmtop Support in Toronto. I was highly appreciative of his Shiva's) initiative to scour various users' groups on my behalf to find a modem dongle to replace my gnarled one. He also managed to repair my Series 7 (and at a price that *had* to be less than what Psion would have charged that was the miracle) -since parts had been required I was supposed to have sent it to France; but the very act of getting in contact with them from the US when my stand alone Psion was busted was next to impossible... Much easier to call Toronto; and the rest is history. Next on the docket: cleaning up the 5mx my ex roommate cat peed on. It's thoroughly dry, and wonder of wonders, it now works but very, um "crunchy" but obviously in need of a serious deLillying. And no, it has no scent, thank goodness.