Hello all, I'm back once again from wherever I seem to go... Lovely new AmiBay by the way.
What's a PSION Series 7 (or NetBook)?
Pretty well the most perfect portable computer ever made.., unless you wanted something a little more compact, then a PSION 5MX would be the most perfect portable ever made.
Lot's of people still use these things even though they came out in the mid-late 90's. I happen to own a functioning Series 7 that's been upgraded to NetBook spec. (do some googling if you're at all interested)
Now, anyone who knows me knows my main retro-love is all things RiscOS. (I admit to regular and wide infidelities) I would love a portable RiscOS machine but Acorn A4's are going for stupid money these days. Also given my love of hacking things, and the march of technology, I'm pretty sure I can do better than Acorn did.
Hmm: Series 7 + hacks = a 'new' portable RiscOS machine. A modern OS plus functionality wouldn't go amiss for times when I'm trying to be 'normal'.
So there you have it. It's been ages since I did some proper hacking/modding. Who knows if I'll get it done, does anybody care? Well I shall inflict a blow-by-blow account on you all anyway!
PS
Bear and Porridge may make a guest appearance, but Bear is a very busy mammal and there's the eating children (again) charges he's currently facing.
- - - Updated - - -
Initial thoughts / requirements:
A PSION 7/NetBook
Yep, got one. Mine works fine and I've umm'd and arr'd about killing a working one for some time. If anyone had a dead one in good physical condition do let me know.
New Hardware
It's got to be small enough to fit inside the Series 7 shell, be powerful/modern enough to be worth the effort, and support a decent screen that will fit nicely...
Gutting a modern Android tablet would be an absolute no-brainer, especially as I really like Android. This is absolutely the way I want to go but it's not going to happen as there are no such devices that RiscOS runs on natively and no RiscOS emulators for Android...
I'll have to do it the hard way. For now that's likely to be a Raspberry Pi with the larger components desoldered, an after-market LCD, and I will have to give some thought to a pointing device...
...as the primary goal is RiscOS it's got to behave like a mouse. My current thoughts are to track down a touch panel that thinks it's a mouse, so not requiring drivers, or hacking an IBM-alike pointing-nipple in to the keyboard. I don't think the former exist, and the latter will be a lot of work to do properly. There's no room in the shell for a track pad and whoever heard of a portable device that needed a mouse to be usable? (*cough* A4)
I'm open to suggestions. I have the Pi, the panel is on it's way... but better ideas would be most welcome.
Software
If I'm running hardware designed for Android I'm laughing on the functionality front, but no RiscOS.
What's a PSION Series 7 (or NetBook)?
Pretty well the most perfect portable computer ever made.., unless you wanted something a little more compact, then a PSION 5MX would be the most perfect portable ever made.
Lot's of people still use these things even though they came out in the mid-late 90's. I happen to own a functioning Series 7 that's been upgraded to NetBook spec. (do some googling if you're at all interested)
Now, anyone who knows me knows my main retro-love is all things RiscOS. (I admit to regular and wide infidelities) I would love a portable RiscOS machine but Acorn A4's are going for stupid money these days. Also given my love of hacking things, and the march of technology, I'm pretty sure I can do better than Acorn did.
Hmm: Series 7 + hacks = a 'new' portable RiscOS machine. A modern OS plus functionality wouldn't go amiss for times when I'm trying to be 'normal'.
So there you have it. It's been ages since I did some proper hacking/modding. Who knows if I'll get it done, does anybody care? Well I shall inflict a blow-by-blow account on you all anyway!
PS
Bear and Porridge may make a guest appearance, but Bear is a very busy mammal and there's the eating children (again) charges he's currently facing.
- - - Updated - - -
Initial thoughts / requirements:
A PSION 7/NetBook
Yep, got one. Mine works fine and I've umm'd and arr'd about killing a working one for some time. If anyone had a dead one in good physical condition do let me know.
New Hardware
It's got to be small enough to fit inside the Series 7 shell, be powerful/modern enough to be worth the effort, and support a decent screen that will fit nicely...
Gutting a modern Android tablet would be an absolute no-brainer, especially as I really like Android. This is absolutely the way I want to go but it's not going to happen as there are no such devices that RiscOS runs on natively and no RiscOS emulators for Android...
Ohhh developers Pleeeeaaaasssee hear my plea!
I guess I could get a tablet that also supports Linux for the emulation option. But as I'd rather suck the droppings from my cat's posterior than sully myself with that nonsense again. So that's not going to happen.
(It's a personal thing, you don't have to agree with me)
I'll have to do it the hard way. For now that's likely to be a Raspberry Pi with the larger components desoldered, an after-market LCD, and I will have to give some thought to a pointing device...
...as the primary goal is RiscOS it's got to behave like a mouse. My current thoughts are to track down a touch panel that thinks it's a mouse, so not requiring drivers, or hacking an IBM-alike pointing-nipple in to the keyboard. I don't think the former exist, and the latter will be a lot of work to do properly. There's no room in the shell for a track pad and whoever heard of a portable device that needed a mouse to be usable? (*cough* A4)
I'm open to suggestions. I have the Pi, the panel is on it's way... but better ideas would be most welcome.
Software
If I'm running hardware designed for Android I'm laughing on the functionality front, but no RiscOS.
Ohhh developers Pleeeeaaaasssee hear my plea!
If I'm basing this on a Raspberry Pi then RiscOS is easy, but there are no other useful OS's for this device. Android is on the way but given the Pi's low specs that may never be a good option.
Attachments
Last edited: