Acorn Arcade (Atom 0.3 feed)

RO 3.5 to 3.7 upgrade procedure

This is correct. As with the previous point, you persist in your Windows-centric view of the world. PC-formatted discs were 640k and 1.44M back in the day, but floppies for RISC OS were always higher-capacity formatted (800k and 1.6M respectively). It's no wonder you can't fit the contents designed for an ADFS floppy onto a Windows-formatted one.

Can an Acorn read a Microsoft DMF format floppy?

Alternately, use an emulator to stick the file into an ADF, and then use something like OmniFlop to write the disk: http://www.shlock.co.uk/Utils/OmniFlop/OmniFlop.htm

Posted by Eric Rucker (bhtooefr) in General
11 comments in forum

RO 3.5 to 3.7 upgrade procedure

I would suggest using something like RedSquirrel/ArcEm/RPCEmu on a different platform and transferring the archives to ADFS-formatted floppies from there.

I would just split the files into two parts on the PC and then join them on the RISC PC. This is a trivial task which I'm sure you don't need us to tell you how to do it.

Posted by Jeff Doggett (jeff-doggett) in General
11 comments in forum

RO 3.5 to 3.7 upgrade procedure

I now have this OS 3.7 CD to install

No, you've already installed the OS (it was on those ROM chips that you plugged in). This is now the !Boot structure, which is basically just optional advanced configurations on top of the base OS. So, your 3.7 install will work, although you may be missing some handy modules (such as CD support). A pedantic point, maybe, but accuracy is also important.

Two of these files are larger than 1.44. For example, one (file boot2.zip) is 1426 Kb (that actually means (right click - properties) 1459897 bytes. Windows (VISTA and XP) reports error file too large for disk and cannot write file to the disk.

This is correct. As with the previous point, you persist in your Windows-centric view of the world. PC-formatted discs were 640k and 1.44M back in the day, but floppies for RISC OS were always higher-capacity formatted (800k and 1.6M respectively). It's no wonder you can't fit the contents designed for an ADFS floppy onto a Windows-formatted one.

instructions on the CD say explicitlly not to unzip in a machine different than Acorn because extracted files will lose their filetypes and become practicaly unuseable.

This is accurate. Again, Windows and clones use a three-letter period-seperated extension to define filetype (foo.doc, foo.htm, foo.txt, foo.jpg and so on). RISC OS applies hex values to the file itself rather than appending something to the name - so you could rename it to anything, without an extension, and not lose the filetype. However, due to this difference, Windows doesn't know what it's looking at, and will lose the filetype metadata.

I'm not sure if CD support is actually in the 3.7 ROM or solely in the !Boot structure. Have you tried looking at the !Config options since upgrading the ROMs to see if it's possible? Otherwise, I would suggest using something like RedSquirrel/ArcEm/RPCEmu on a different platform and transferring the archives to ADFS-formatted floppies from there.

Posted by Jason Togneri (filecore) in General
11 comments in forum

LCD Monitor Defs for Risc PC

Doh. I forgot about that when making the list. I'll move them down, and remove the 59 and 58 Hz modes (they were there solely to fit in the timings.)

Still, they're worth a shot.

If anyone can try them on an actual RiscPC, and report back, that'd be great.

[Edited by bhtooefr at 14:59, 10/3/2010]

Posted by Eric Rucker (bhtooefr) in General
5 comments in forum

RO 3.5 to 3.7 upgrade procedure

Ok, maybe in the RISC OS veterans dialect "191-1" is used for years as an equivalent way to say ROM Bank #1 but i do admit that it was not that obvious to me

Back on topic:

the link Blind Moose found helped a lot. ROMS are in place. Booting fine, with 3.7 splash screen.

But the quest is not over.

I now have this OS 3.7 CD to install. In this CD (which i read from my WIN PC, since RISC OS 3.5 does not support CD) there are some (4) files containing the OS 3.7 disk image in .zip format.

So, the idea was to copy from a common PC the zips to floppies and install to RISC PC from FDD. Failed!

Two of these files are larger than 1.44. For example, one (file boot2.zip) is 1426 Kb (that actually means (right click - properties) 1459897 bytes. Windows (VISTA and XP) reports error file too large for disk and cannot write file to the disk.

From Windows, I could extract and re-compress in order to produce zip files of smaller size, but instructions on the CD say explicitlly not to unzip in a machine different than Acorn because extracted files will lose their filetypes and become practicaly unuseable.

So, since i am out of ideas, either:
- you have some
- i do something wrong and can help me fix it
- someone offers himself to receive from me the disk image and re-zip (from his Acorn) the contents into 5 or more disks that really fits 1.44 disk.
- someone already has 3.7 spitted in true <= 1.44 files and offers to send them.

that's it.
again thank you all for your time!

Posted by Evris (35HasNoEdit) in General
11 comments in forum

RO 3.5 to 3.7 upgrade procedure

"There's nothing there to indicate 1 or 2."
Apart from the 1 and the 2 third digit from the end!

*cough*

1203, 191-01
1203, 192-01

I'd like a little help about which one goes to bank named ROM1 and which to ROM2.

Judging by what I can see above, I'd take a wild guess if I were you. There's nothing there to indicate 1 or 2.

I guess my sarcasm - as well as my carefully-edited presentation of the numbers - was a bit too subtle

Posted by Jason Togneri (filecore) in General
11 comments in forum

RO 3.5 to 3.7 upgrade procedure

"There's nothing there to indicate 1 or 2."
Apart from the 1 and the 2 third digit from the end!

[Edited by CJE at 12:46, 10/3/2010]

Posted by Chris Evans (CJE) in General
11 comments in forum

SWIV-a-like

Lego !!!!!!!

Posted by Peter Howkins (flibble) in Games
33 comments in forum

SWIV-a-like

All people interested by my project please visit :
http://groups.google.com/group/comp.sys.acorn.programmer/browse_thread/thread/0c5a66db195f4a3f#

and get in touch with me.

Thank you.

Posted by Xavier Tardy (Enzo) in Games
33 comments in forum

Experience with A9home?

USB keyboard and mouse doesn't have this issue. I use a Lenovo USB travel keyboard with built in touchpad and track point with my A9home. Works fine.

USB keyboards on the A9 have their own slight issues, though; they don't work immediately at boot, for example.

I entirely agree Rob. On more than one occasion when a file system error has struck !Boot, I have had to plug in a PS2 keyboard and Mouse, so I can bypass !Boot, reach the desktop and run Discknight.

What I meant from my comment above, is that under normal use, using a USB keyboard and Mouse, you don't have do things like unplug them and plug them back into different ports, unlike some PS2 devices.

Posted by Paul Stewart (sa110_mk) in General
40 comments in forum