What is Psion Community (psion.community)?

Updated

Psion Community is a resource hub for owners and developers of classic Psion palmtop computers. It gathers connectivity tools, software indexes, emulation resources, development documentation, and device manuals in one place, and it points visitors to a Discord server for discussion and to Codeberg for contributions. It is aimed at anyone who still uses, repairs, emulates, or writes software for these machines, from the original Organiser through the Series 3 and Series 5 families to the netBook.

Who it is for

The site describes itself as a resource for "all Psion users old and new." In practice that covers a few distinct groups:

  • Existing owners who need help keeping a working device usable, for example transferring files or finding a manual.
  • Retrocomputing enthusiasts who want to run Psion software without original hardware, using emulation.
  • Developers interested in EPOC16/EPOC32 software, OPL, or hardware projects that modernise these devices.
  • Researchers and tinkerers looking for service manuals, schematics, or SDKs.

What the site covers

The homepage is organised into five sections, each a curated set of links rather than original articles.

Connectivity

Tools for getting data on and off a Psion from a modern machine:

  • plptools — connectivity software for POSIX-compatible systems.
  • Reconnect — connectivity software for macOS.

Software

  • Psion Software Index — a searchable index of EPOC16 and EPOC32 software.
  • RMRSoft — listed alongside the index as a software source.

Emulation

  • Psion ROMs — a collection of Psion ROM images hosted on GitHub.
  • OpoLua — an OPL implementation for modern devices.
  • MAME — emulation covering many Psion models.

Development

  • Documentation — a collection of Psion-related documentation.
  • Codeberg — source code for the website itself and other Psion-related software.
  • SIBO C SDK — the EPOC16 SDK packaged with the TopSpeed C Compiler.
  • CTRAN — a modern SIBO object-oriented C preprocessor.
  • OPL Language Server — tooling for the OPL language.

Devices

A device-by-device reference list, with Wikipedia links and, where available, user guides, service manuals, and schematics. The models named are:

Device Notes from the listing
Organiser I (1984) Wikipedia link
Organiser II (1986–1996) Wikipedia link, Jaap's Psion II Page
Series 3, 3a, 3c, 3mx Series 3a user guide and service manual v1.0; Series 3c user guide v1.0 (English)
Series 5 (1997) Wikipedia, service manual, circuit board schematics
Series 5mx / 5mx Pro 5mx user guide v1.1 (English); 5mx Pro user manual v1.0 (German)
Revo (1999–2003) Wikipedia, handbook v1.1 (English and German), service manual
netBook (1999) Wikipedia, user guide v1.0 and v1.1 (English)
Series 7 (2000) Wikipedia, user guide v1.0 (English)

How to get involved

  • Discord — the site's stated discussion channel, linked from the homepage.
  • Codeberg — the contribution route; the site says it welcomes contributions there, and hosts its own source code in the same place.

Practical notes

The site is a link directory, so the depth of any topic depends on the external project it points to. Manuals and guides are versioned where the listing says so (for example "Series 5mx User Guide, Version 1.1"), which matters if you are matching documentation to a specific hardware revision. Some resources are language-specific: the Series 5mx Pro manual and the Revo handbook are available in German, while the Series 3c, 5mx, netBook, and Series 7 guides listed are English. The homepage does not state pricing, membership requirements, or login restrictions for the site or the linked projects.