Well following my previous post , I have figured out how to run both xkbd and DosBox from the same command ( xkbd | /home/user/dosbox --conf /home/user/psion.conf ) however , typing that command into the 'Run box' provided by Load-Applet-Run doesn't work as I expected . It fails to load the configuration file ( psion.conf ) even entering the command with no config file specified fails to load the default config file ( dosbox.conf ) despite it being stored in the same directory as the dosbox application .

After many wasted hours , I found that issuing the same command in xterm did work as expected , and I was finally able to load dosbox , and the Psion Series 3a emulator . If only that was the end of it . I could only get the emulator to load successfully one in every three launches , one attempt might fail with no catastrophe , one would fail locking the entire machine ( Nokia 770 ) leading me to need to pull the battery out to reset it , and one would work correctly .

None of this would have been too bad , but ... In order to control the Applications and the emulated Psion Series 3a itself menu shortcuts are issued by means of the Psion key ( on an original Psion machine ) or the Alt key on an emulated Series 3a , in combination with a letter . So the install command is Psion+I ( Alt+I ) , the exit command is Psion+X ( Alt+X ) . xkbd does not seem to handle this type of input correctly , whether 'Scancodes' is set to true or false ( in the DosBox config file ) . This would not be too much of a problem if xkbd was able to supply the function keys ( F1 , F2 , F3 etc. ) as it would then be possible to work through the menu system using the cursor keys , initiating the menu with F9 .

I know , I could have edited the xkbd layout file , and altered it to provide the 'F' keys ... But then I would have needed to figure out the correct command protocol to launch my layout , and it was 2.30am with me needing to be up at 6.30am for work ... So I deleted the lot , and have given up for now . Perhaps a cleverer person than I will have the inspiration to get this all working together , the Psion Series 3a emulator will run on the Nokia , it probably only needs polishing up a little , sadly I don't understand enough about Linux to do that polishing . Should anyone else have managed to figure all this out , please get in touch .