Iyonix Issues
News for Iyonix owners.
Mark Rowan, our Iyonix columnist, has been ill recently and has been unable to write a column, so instead we are having a quick run down of news for Iyonix owners.
There have been two major releases of note for Iyonix owners recently, the first was that Castle finally announced the long anticipated upgrade to USB2 for all existing Iyonix computers. To quote the Castle press release:
Castle is pleased to announce that an upgrade to USB2 is now available for all IYONIX pc users. USB2 offers an underlying bit transfer rate of 480 Megabits per second (USB1 runs at 1.2 or 12.0 Megabits per second). Overheads and other limits in the system (and in the attached USB peripheral) mean that the throughput achieved for a given USB device will not usually be as high as the full 480 Megabits per second specification. Typical improvements in speed for USB2 devices (memory devices, scanners etc) attached to an upgraded IYONIX pc will be variable depending on a number of factors.
The USB2 upgrade is a software upgrade that runs on existing USB cards as fitted to all IYONIX pcs. The upgrade can be ordered on line for just £29.95 (delivery of the upgrade is supplied from our secure server and therefore an internet connection is required). Price includes VAT.
All new IYONIX pcs ordered on or after the 1st of February 2005 will be shipped with a full implementation of USB2. For further information please see: www.iyonix.com/usb2.
!DRU-R100 released by Dave Higton
!DRU-R100 is an application to control a D-Link DRU-R100 radio. This is a small USB powered radio the plugs into the USB sockets on an Iyonix. !DRU-R100 will let you tune the radio, either in MHz or by station name, turn it on and off, and watch the stereo status.
You will have to input the station names yourself but !DRU-R100 makes it easy. If you put the app somewhere that is "seen" (booted) by RISC OS, then it should start up automatically if you have a DRU-R100 radio on your USB anywhere. It will also quit if the radio is unplugged, and start again automatically if the radio is plugged in again. The application is tested and working on an Iyonix, but should also work on any computer with a Castle USB expansion card.
You will need FilerHRun, which can be found in the Iyonix Software Directory on this issue of RISCWorld. Make sure you install FilerHRun where the author suggests.
!DRU-R100 is freeware, and is released under the GPL. This means that you are free, not only to use it, but to alter it if you wish. Please consult the file "gpl" inside the application, which details the terms of the license.
RISCWorld