Advanced Access Q & A

This document answers specific technical questions regarding the Advanced Access version of the Preview Release, which was released to registered Be developers in May.

This page was last updated on June 3, 1997.

General

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Q: When did you send out the Advanced Access version of the Preview Release?

A: If you did not attend our Developer's Conference in May, and you are an updated and registered Be developer or owner of a BeBox, you were sent a copy of the Advanced Access Preview Release CD-ROM on the following schedule:

Current Be Developers (CD only):

Domestic (US) -- shipped via US postal mail between 5/13 and 5/16
International -- shipped via US postal mail between 5/13 and 5/16

BeBox Owners (CD and boot ROM floppy):

Domestic -- shipped US mail between 5/13 and 5/16
International -- shipped FedEx between 5/13 and 5/16
Multiple 'Box owners (all) -- shipped FedEx between 5/13 and 5/16

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Q: Why was my Advanced Access Preview Release shipment delayed, or not received?

A: First of all, please keep in mind that US postal mail takes time to be delivered, especially internationally. Even Federal Express takes a few days to ship internationally.

Second, the number one cause of delivery problems (including "missing" boot ROM floppies) was either out-of-date address information, or not being in our database at all.

If you are a registered Be developer and you want to make sure your copy of the Preview Release makes its way to your mailbox in a timely fashion -- especially if there were delivery problems with AA:PR -- be sure to give your developer record a look in the next couple weeks, to make sure it really is up-to-date.

If you are a BeBox owner and you experienced delivery problems, including a missing boot ROM floppy, make sure your developer record is up-to-date (if you have one), and send custservice@be.com your current shipping address and BeBox serial number, so we can make sure our ownership records are accurate.

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Q: OK, that's cool. What do I do now about a missing boot ROM floppy?

A: First of all, make sure you send custservice@be.com your current shipping address and BeBox serial number, so we can make sure our ownership records are accurate.

You can at the same time request a boot ROM floppy be sent to you. But, if you're hot to go right now, you can use the boot ROM image that is a part of the Advanced Access Update, available on the Be web site:

http://www.be.com/developers/advanced_access/index.html

Be sure you update your boot ROM first, then install AA:PR from the CD-ROM, and then install the Update. Contact custsupport@be.com if you need more detailed instructions.

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Q: How can I get the Be Book for the Preview Release? When will it be available?

A: The Be Book will be available electronically from Be, and in print from O'Reilly and Associates. The electronic version, which will continue to be free, will be available on the Be web site:

http://www.be.com/documentation/

As for timing, we're still working hard on the revisions to the Be Book necessary to document the changes in the BeOS which come in the Preview Release. Only portions of the Preview Release Be Book are currently available.

We do understand that developers need documentation to port their software over to the new release. We expect that we will be making more of the Be Book available on our web site over the coming weeks to get developers up to speed on the newest parts of the BeOS.

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Q: I installed Advanced Access, and I can't find BeMail anywhere. Is BeMail included with Advanced Access?

A: No, BeMail for the Preview Release isn't finished yet. It will be in the customer release of the Preview Release, but it hasn't made it to Advanced Access (yet).

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Q: I have a lot of software I downloaded to use with BeOS DR8, but it doesn't seem to work under Advanced Access. Why doesn't my old software run under Advanced Access?

A: Many of the internals of the BeOS changed in the Preview Release, and we also added considerable new functionality. As a result, there are new libraries and APIs, and applications must make use of the new interfaces.

Software which was compiled for previous versions of the BeOS will not run under Advanced Access, and may crash your computer.

To be compatible with the Advanced Access version of the Preview Release, all software needs to be recompiled and most need to be partially rewritten. For some applications this is relatively trivial (the work of a couple hours), for others it is not trivial (the work of days or weeks).

Note that applications recompiled for the Preview Release will not run under previous versions of the BeOS, notably DR8.

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Q: What BeOS software is available for Advanced Access?

A: Software that is compatible with the Advanced Access version of the Preview Release can be found in the BeWare section of the Be web site:

http://www.be.com/beware/

Files with "AA" or "DR9" in their names have been rewritten and recompiled to be compatible with the Preview Release, and will run under Advanced Access.

Note that these applications will not run under previous versions of the BeOS, notably DR8.

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Usage & Interface

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Q: I checked the "Display chat when connecting" option for my PPP connection, and I can see the mini terminal window where the session is displayed, but I need to enter something manually. Can I type into the mini terminal window?

A: This is a known problem. You will be able to type into the miniature terminal window once we fix the bug that prevents it.

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Q: I have an IMS TwinTurbo graphics card, and whenever I move a window on the screen, it gets drawn in a random or corrupted mishmash. What's wrong?

A: Some of the newer TwinTurbo cards have slightly different chips on them, and one of the changes caused windows to get redrawn incorrectly whenever you moved them down vertically on the screen (but not up or sideways -- go figure!).

This bug surfaced in the initial Advanced Access release, and is fixed by updated graphics drivers for the IMS cards. You can get the latest updates to the Advanced Access release of the Preview Release on our web site:

http://www.be.com/developers/advanced_access/index.html

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Q: In the Be menu of the Deskbar, I see an item named "Empty Folder." I assume this is someplace I can put things to add them to the menu. How do I put stuff in the "Empty Folder" in the Be menu of the Deskbar?

A: Items in the "Be" folder on your boot disk (/boot/be)will appear in this menu. You can put objects themselves (folders, files, etc.), or you can put links to them. Generally speaking, links are the way to go.

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Q: Every time I make changes to my modem settings, for an internal modem on a BeBox, the Network preferences application pretends to save the changes, but doesn't really. What's wrong?

A: This was a known problem with the version of the Preview Release on the Advanced Access CD. This was fixed in an update to Advanced Access. You can get the latest updates to the Advanced Access release of the Preview Release on our web site:

http://www.be.com/developers/advanced_access/index.html