Quoting Michael J Davis's message of Yesterday:

> Can anyone advise, is this serious, should I continue to use it or send for a
> repair?

If it was mine, I'd send it off for repair as soon as convenient, though
if it's working, and you can actually open and shut it, then it's not an
emergency. You might want to pick up a 5 classic or Revo as a spare
from eBay - which would be cheaper than a spare 5mx - if you rely on the
Psion for day to day activities.

--
Damian - http://psion.snigfarp.karoo.net/
For email replies, substitute "psion" for "damian" in my email address.

In article , Michael J Davis wrote:
> I encountered resistance for the final cm of the closure, - and then
> noticed that the centre of the housing above the batteries had raised,
> and two little black pieces of plastic had broken off c. 3mm x 4mm each.
>
> It now closes OK (with a slight rattle inside the case - another bit of
> plastic?) but the housing remains slightly raised and springs higher
> when the case is opened. (Presumably straining from the spring tension.)
>
That sounds like something has got inside the Psion, and is fouling
the internal hinge/slide mechanism. It could be something as simple as a
dried breadcrumb, or a bit of pocket-grit. It's worrying that it blacked
out the power.
In itself, it shouldn't be too much of a problem, but if it stays
in there, it's eventually going to jam in something more important and
then it will be a problem. If you can, open all the doors, remove
batteries (you do have a recent backup? if not, keep the 'coin' battery
in), and manipulate the Psion until it you've had all the debris drop out
from the innards. Do this over a sheet of clean paper, so that you can
catch and identify the bits.

> Can anyone advise, is this serious, should I continue to use it or send
> for a repair?
>
If this still doesn't get you to come back on (and when you do, get
that backup up-to-date!), then there's a more severe problem. I carry a
couple of spare Psions (off eBay, over a year or so) due to prior
preparation, /pour encourager les backup/ (as the French don't say), and
*I* wouldn't have any worry about opening it up, finding the errant
debris, then cannibalising as appropriate from the rest of the Psion pile.
but if you've not had to do this sort of thing before, then probably
you're safest sending it for a repair.
POS are the only people I've used for repairing Psions in the past.
I don't know if the PsionFlexi man is into dealing with this sort of
problem, or if there's anyone else.

What I'm concerned about is, if there is still debris floating
around inside, then opening and closing it repeatedly could foul and then
damage some important item such as the "flexi", or the open/close sensor.
Which renders repair much more serious.

I've run Psions for days after failing to get the battery cover
back on. This isn't a problem. Gaffer tape is your friend - makes things
that move (but shouldn't) stop.

--
Aidan Karley,
Aberdeen, Scotland
Written at Thu, 28 Feb 2008 11:12 GMT, but posted later.
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0

Aidan Karley said
>In article , Michael J Davis wrote:
>> I encountered resistance for the final cm of the closure, - and then
>> noticed that the centre of the housing above the batteries had raised,
>> and two little black pieces of plastic had broken off c. 3mm x 4mm each.
>>
>> It now closes OK (with a slight rattle inside the case - another bit of
>> plastic?) but the housing remains slightly raised and springs higher
>> when the case is opened. (Presumably straining from the spring tension.)
>>
> That sounds like something has got inside the Psion, and is fouling
>the internal hinge/slide mechanism. It could be something as simple as a
>dried breadcrumb, or a bit of pocket-grit. It's worrying that it blacked
>out the power.
> In itself, it shouldn't be too much of a problem, but if it stays
>in there, it's eventually going to jam in something more important and
>then it will be a problem. If you can, open all the doors, remove
>batteries (you do have a recent backup? if not, keep the 'coin' battery
>in), and manipulate the Psion until it you've had all the debris drop out
>from the innards. Do this over a sheet of clean paper, so that you can
>catch and identify the bits.
>
>> Can anyone advise, is this serious, should I continue to use it or send
>> for a repair?
>>
> If this still doesn't get you to come back on (and when you do, get
>that backup up-to-date!), then there's a more severe problem. I carry a
>couple of spare Psions (off eBay, over a year or so) due to prior
>preparation, /pour encourager les backup/ (as the French don't say), and
>*I* wouldn't have any worry about opening it up, finding the errant
>debris, then cannibalising as appropriate from the rest of the Psion pile.
>but if you've not had to do this sort of thing before, then probably
>you're safest sending it for a repair.
> POS are the only people I've used for repairing Psions in the past.
>I don't know if the PsionFlexi man is into dealing with this sort of
>problem, or if there's anyone else.
>
> What I'm concerned about is, if there is still debris floating
>around inside, then opening and closing it repeatedly could foul and then
>damage some important item such as the "flexi", or the open/close sensor.
>Which renders repair much more serious.
>
> I've run Psions for days after failing to get the battery cover
>back on. This isn't a problem. Gaffer tape is your friend - makes things
>that move (but shouldn't) stop.

Thank you Damian & Aidan for those helpful comments.

Firstly, after the initial shock of the plastic bits coming off - the
Psion did continue to work, albeit with a distortion of the case
increasing as it was opened.

I did have a backup(!) and was able to dig out my older ('back-up') 5mx
and have now loaded the contents of the later onto the older. That meant
that the computer recognised an 'empty' Psion and asked if I wanted it
restored. Which was completed in 15 minutes. Even the time came up
correctly! (Which I don't understand!!... but it could be because I
started the restore at 11:45am, thus starting the clock at 12:00-ish)

So I now have a reserve Psion with two screen lines (nothing to do with
the above incident) and some form of broken catch or guide. I'll e-mail
the nice flexi-man. (Paul Wright).

Note: If you run your finger along the join where the closed kb slides
into the housing, you will feel a slight rise in the centre. It is this
that snapped free and is now about 1.5mm higher on the broken one.
However as the keyboard is opened the housing opened to about 4mm - it
looks as though what has failed is the spring retainer. My suspicion is
that the continued use of this machine will stress some other part.

Mike









--
Michael J Davis
Personal email replies may be made to mjd2008@trustsof.co.uk
<><
`If you're not part of the solution...
you're part of the precipitate.' [JW Burton]
<><

In article , Michael J Davis wrote:
> Even the time came up
> correctly! (Which I don't understand!!... but it could be because I
> started the restore at 11:45am, thus starting the clock at 12:00-ish)
>
It's been a long time since I bothered to use the backup. The Psion is a
pretty stand-alone device for me - but I can move things to and fro using
the CF card if necessary. But I do recall that the Psion had the software
internally to do "NTP", or Network Time Protocol. As you can guess, that
manages keeping time organised between various machines.

> Note: If you run your finger along the join where the closed kb slides
> into the housing, you will feel a slight rise in the centre. It is this
> that snapped free and is now about 1.5mm higher on the broken one.
>
There's a "machine closed" sensor on the mother board that is activated by
a lug behind this lip passing between an LED and an optical pickup. If the
lug doesn't pass between the LED and the pickup, the machine doesn't know
that it's been closed. This might affect your battery life, depending on
your configuration.
Big deal, maybe. Little deal, maybe.

> However as the keyboard is opened the housing opened to about 4mm - it
> looks as though what has failed is the spring retainer.
One of the pins come out?

> My suspicion is
> that the continued use of this machine will stress some other part.
>
That's a racing certainty.

You're backed up ; get it fixed, one way or another.
If you're confident of your screwdriver skills, get a "spares or repairs"
one off eBay. Otherwise, it's POS or the flexi-man. It's not rocket
science, but it is fairly fiddly work.

--
Aidan Karley,
Aberdeen, Scotland
Written at Wed, 05 Mar 2008 11:44 GMT, but posted later.
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0

Aidan Karley said
>In article , Michael J Davis wrote:
>> Even the time came up
>> correctly! (Which I don't understand!!... but it could be because I
>> started the restore at 11:45am, thus starting the clock at 12:00-ish)
>>
>It's been a long time since I bothered to use the backup. The Psion is a
>pretty stand-alone device for me - but I can move things to and fro using
>the CF card if necessary. But I do recall that the Psion had the software
>internally to do "NTP", or Network Time Protocol. As you can guess, that
>manages keeping time organised between various machines.

I didn't think it came into play when the Psion was connected to the PC,
but I can always learn! ;-)
>
>> Note: If you run your finger along the join where the closed kb slides
>> into the housing, you will feel a slight rise in the centre. It is this
>> that snapped free and is now about 1.5mm higher on the broken one.
>>
>There's a "machine closed" sensor on the mother board that is activated by
>a lug behind this lip passing between an LED and an optical pickup. If the
>lug doesn't pass between the LED and the pickup, the machine doesn't know
>that it's been closed. This might affect your battery life, depending on
>your configuration.
>Big deal, maybe. Little deal, maybe.

Ah! I fear I wasn't specific enough. The keyboard switch is at the front
lip of the keyboard, I think. I am talking about distortion above the
battery housing. Sorry if I wasn't clear.

>> However as the keyboard is opened the housing opened to about 4mm - it
>> looks as though what has failed is the spring retainer.
>One of the pins come out?

No, the spring is OK, the plastic bits look like retaining lugs.
>
>> My suspicion is
>> that the continued use of this machine will stress some other part.
>>
>That's a racing certainty.
>
>You're backed up ; get it fixed, one way or another.
>If you're confident of your screwdriver skills, get a "spares or repairs"
>one off eBay. Otherwise, it's POS or the flexi-man. It's not rocket
>science, but it is fairly fiddly work.

Yes, thanks for the comments.

Mike

--
Michael J Davis
Personal email replies may be made to mjd2008@trustsof.co.uk
<><
`If you're not part of the solution...
you're part of the precipitate.' [JW Burton]
<><