How to use the EPOC emulator

How to use the EPOC emulator

Version: 20-November-2009
netbook

1. Introduction

I used the Epoc Emulator in the last years up to now primarily for development of my psion programs like Biklog5 and Saillog. Besides the regular Epoc emulator suited for the series 5xx machines I also have installed the Revo emulator, which is essentially a package of special files installed over a separate EPOC emulator file structure.

Nowadays, since my psion machines (revo, series 5 and Netbook, are ageing and becoming more instable due to screen cable or battery problems, I am using more a more the Epoc emulator on my windows PC, while for outside home use I have bought a Asus EEEPC 901 netbook running Ubuntu. The EPOC emulator I run under the WINE environment

In the remaining of this page I will try to explain how to obtain and install the emulator on your PC or Netbook under windows or under Linux.

2. How to obtain

(A) The regular SYMBIAN OS V5 OPL emulator can be obtained from the Teklogix website:
http://www.psionteklogix.com/teknet/pdk/netpad-pdk/SDKS/opl.zip

Note that you have to registrate yourself (Free!) before you can have access to different SDK's containing the emulator. Although it is mentioned that it is meant for the Netpad, you can use it also for the Series5 or netbook machines. Choose the OPL version if you also wants to use it for writing OPL programs. It is about 26.8 Mb in size!

You can also choose the SYMBIAN OS V5 SDK for Java if you don't want to develop OPL programs but want to have the smallest download package (12 MB). The latter you can download directly from (after registry): http://www.psionteklogix.com/teknet/pdk/netpad-pdk/SDKS/java.zip

(B) You can download it directly from my website here:

Download Symbian OS V5 SDK {OPL_V5.zip} for the SYMBIAN OS V5 SDK files

and download this file {netbookemul.zip} for the customatisation of your Netbook emulator.

It also includes the WINS versions of several OPX files, courtesy of Chris Handley. Additionally it contains some alternative screen images from Damian Walker, which I found at the PDAStreet Psion Forum.

3. How to install

Installing the Psion ER5 SDK:

On a windows PC or on a netbook under windows:

extract all the files in the downloaded ZIP file in a temporarily directory

Execute the setup file, setup.exe, and if you are not interested in writing your own OPL programs, don't install the PERL files

Files will be installed to the Y:\Epoc32\ directory (Where Y is the driveletter where you have installed the ER5 emulator)

If you are not interested in writing OPL files you can delete the directories: Aiftools, Alleppo and Epoc32

You can also delete the directory SYSDOC if you don't want to have the documentation files on the emulator and the OPL programming language

On a Linux PC or netbook:

install WINE first, if WINE is not present
extract all the files in the downloaded ZIP file in a temporarily directory in the dosdevices/c:/ directory under the .wine directory
Execute the setup file, setup.exe, under WINE and if you are not interested in writing your own OPL programs, don't install the PERL files
Files will be installed to the home/user/.wine/dosdevices/c:/ directory
If you are not interested in writing OPL files you can delete the directories: Aiftools, Alleppo and Epoc32
You can also delete the directory SYSDOC if you don't want to have the documentation files on the emulator and the OPL programming language

To customize the PSION ER5 emulator to your machine please do:

Install the Netbookemul.zip ZIP file in the directory where the EPOC32 directory has been installed.
Open this file and unzip the contents into the \Epoc32\ directory, overwriting any files that are already in that directory.
Ensure that the unzip program's "Path information" or "Use folders" option is checked, so that the files get copied into the correct subdirectories.

4. How to customise

In the Epoc32/data/ directory you will find 11 different configuration files for the Emulator, each controlling their own screen configuration. They are here listed together with the details of the configuration: Together with the applicable bitmap files in this directory, they will determine the look and properties of the emulator on your monitor.

name file screen size
(W x H) (internal) window size
(WxH) Remarks click on image
for larger image

320x200.ini 320 x 200 342 x 222 From Damian Walker

480x160.ini 480 x 160 504 x 184 From Damian Walker

640x240.ini 640 x 240 666 x 266 From Damian Walker

640x320.ini 640 x 320 675 x 346 From Damian Walker

e32-sys.ini 640 x 240 794 x 408 original

series5.ini 640 x 240 800 x 475 alternative series5 design

e32-vga.ini 640 x 480 800 x 600 original

EeePC.ini 769 x 400 800 x 500 In development for EeePC 7"screen by Auda (*)

e32-lrg.ini 800 x 600 944 x 719 original, best suited for large screen monitor

custom.ini 800 x 600 944 x 719 alternative for e31-lrg, more colours,
best suited for large screen monitor

From these configurations, I recommend the last configuration, custom, for use on a large screen monitor, and the 600x480 configuration from Damian Walker for use on a netbook with a 7"or 8.9 "screen. For 10" screens the e32-vga configuration may be also suited, but I cannot test this on my 901 EeePC. At this time the EeePC configuration file from Auda looks also nice on my desktop PC under windows, but it does not work yet on my linux EeePC 901 netbook. Since this is still under development , this can change soon.

5. How to run

To run the Epoc emulator on your (windows) PC make a link to the file emul.bat that is residing in the directory where you have installed the EPOC emulator.
The general format of this batch file consists of the following lines:


 
@echo off
REM change to drive Y and then to directory of epoc.EXE
REM change Y in the drive letter where you have installed the emulator (C, D, ..)
Y:
cd \epoc32\release\wins\deb
REM replace in next line xxx by the name of the configuration file (without extension!)
REM xxx.ini in directory epoc32\data 
epoc.exe -Mxxx --

Replace Y and xxx by the applicable drive letter and configuration filename [ e.g. custom for the emulator on your PC] with a text editor in this file.
The -Mxxx -- part specifies the name of the .ini file to use in this case xxx.ini and hence xxx.bmp

Under linux make a link under WINE to the file emul.sh



#bash!
echo "start of EPOC emulator"
cd  "~/.wine/dosdevices/c:/Epoc32/Release/Wins/Deb/"
REM replace in next line xxx by the name of the configuration file (without extension!)
REM xxx.ini in directory epoc32\data 
wine start EPOC.exe -Mxxx --

Replace xxx by the applicable configuration filename [e.g. 600x480 ] with a text editor in this file.
Under linux the emulator can also be run by typing in an emulator window ./emul.sh

Don't forget to give the appropriate aministration rights to this file.

6. Tips

: ---In the emulator you can not print to the printer connected to your PC. However, you can install the WINS version of PDF-printer program from Mbrainsoftware and print your output to a PDF file. This shareware program is available at www.mbrainsoftware.com.; ---By adding the following line in the configuration file xxxx.ini in the directory Epoc32\data\ :

_EPOC_DRIVE_D"full_path_of_your_psion_backup_files\"
you can switch (using the control-Q command) to your backup files of your psion.; ---Most programs will run under the WINS emulator, unless they are using special OPX libraries not present as WINS versions in the X:\epoc\wins\c\system\opx directory. (see also section 4 above; ---If you make regular use of the EPOC emulator, install the WINS version of AlarmPlus in the emulator. this program helps you retain your system settings.; ---Additional information can be found in the SDK help files, which are in HTML format and can be found in the \sysdoc\emul folder.

7. Acknowledgements

The following persons I would like to thank for their help and/or providing their files for me to develop this page:

Alan Morris (OPL SDK zip);
Damian Walker (Alternative screen configurations);
Chris Handley (custom netbook screen configuration, WINS versions of the OPX files);
Auda (alternative screen configuration for the EEEPC 7" screen, see also his website);

Please mail if you need more information

Last modified 20-11-2009

name file	screen size (W x H) (internal)	window size (WxH)	Remarks	click on image for larger image
320x200.ini	320 x 200	342 x 222	From Damian Walker
480x160.ini	480 x 160	504 x 184	From Damian Walker
640x240.ini	640 x 240	666 x 266	From Damian Walker
640x320.ini	640 x 320	675 x 346	From Damian Walker
e32-sys.ini	640 x 240	794 x 408	original
series5.ini	640 x 240	800 x 475	alternative series5 design
e32-vga.ini	640 x 480	800 x 600	original
EeePC.ini	769 x 400	800 x 500	In development for EeePC 7"screen by Auda (*)
e32-lrg.ini	800 x 600	944 x 719	original, best suited for large screen monitor
custom.ini	800 x 600	944 x 719	alternative for e31-lrg, more colours, best suited for large screen monitor