ÿÿÿÿVOLUME6/ISSUE2/4DRACE/INDEX.HTM Volume 6, Issue 2, Racing Games CD
Racing Games CD
Matt Thompson
After last months Flight Games Collection, comes the next instalment of The Fourth Dimension game collections and, as I guessed, it is indeed a collection of racing games. There are seven games included on this CD, and they are:
The Collection comes in the standard DVD box with coloured inlays, and is very easy to install, with the disc in the drive load up the CD and you will see a window appear with the application !Install, double click on this and you will then see the following:
Select which games you want to install, by default that's all of them, then drag the yellow joystick icon to the directory on your hard-disc where you want to install it then click on 'OK' and the selected games will then be installed, you should end up seeing something similar to the following:
With the installation complete it's onto the games:
DRIFTER
"Welcome to the future" says the digital voice in the in-game music, and futuristic this game certainly is. You control a craft around a number of different tracks, and you need to finish in the top two to progress to the next track otherwise you will have to try again on the same track.
Upon loading Drifter you are presented with the main menu and from here you set up your game configurations, with options such as practice on one of the tracks, choose which of the craft you want to race around the tracks. There are a number of different craft, each of which have their own strengths and weaknesses. You can also choose whether to control the game with the mouse or keyboard. The game appears to be joystick compatible, but I couldn't say how well this works. I found the mouse control horrible and opted for the more in control keyboard option, but I guess it's each to their own. You can also select the sounds option whether you are going to have the in game music or just the sounds effects.
Onto the game itself and now the racing begins. The craft is easy to control, but it's all too easy to go flying off the track at the corners, which can take a bit of getting used to. There are a number of computer controlled craft in each race and your aim is to finish in first or second in each race. If you do then you qualify for the next track; if you don't then it's the same track again next race.
As you race round the tracks you will notice a number of special squares. If you go over one of these squares in your craft then something will happen. It may be something useful, like a boost to make you go faster, or it may be a damage square which will harm your craft. There are also mystery squares and friction squares which will cause your craft to react differently when you go over one.
Your craft is equipped with a limited number of missiles, these are very useful as they can be used to dispose of the computer craft and blow them off the track, taking you up a place in the running order!
Drifter has very good graphics which do look like a sort of futuristic racing track and I think they still look good now and haven't aged at all. The sounds in the game are OK, but I always play it with the in-game music on with the speakers turned up - it sounds really good like that! You can also view the action from various camera points around the circuit, and choose the view for racing as well. You can have in-craft or outside craft, I always go for the almost in-craft one, I find it makes it easier to race with this viewpoint.
Overall Drifter is a good game, entertaining to play. It can be a bit annoying at first, but with a bit of practice it gets easier to play. The tracks themselves are different and vary in difficultly and layout each time. My only real criticism is that they all appear to be flat, some hills and perhaps banked corners would have added a bit more to it, but apart from that, the game is hard to criticise, definitely worth playing.
The manual mentions watching out for Drifter 2, somehow I think it's a bit late in the day for that to appear now, a sequel could have been really good too.
E-TYPE
E-Type was one of the first games released back on the early RISC OS machines, in about 1989, and for it's time looked pretty good, I remember seeing an A3000 in my local Dixons running it with people watching one of the staff playing the game and everyone being quite impressed with. This was one of the rare occasions when the Acorn machines in Dixons were actually doing something other than showing a blank screen or the command line.
Taking control of an E-Type Jaguar you drive through 5 different scenarios with the aim being to reach the finish before the time limit runs out. There are a number of time bonuses to pick up on the way to increase the time limit of the level. The levels get progressively longer and increase in difficulty, the first level "The Lakes" is relatively easy to complete, but the last on "Moonlighting" is quite tricky.
Controlling the car is by the mouse and in this game it actually works really well. The mouse is not over sensitive and you have control over where you are going. The mouse buttons act as the pedals would in a real car, the left mouse button is the clutch, to go up and down the gears you need to use the up and down arrows, the middle mouse button the brake and the right mouse button is the accelerator, you can also drive the car in automatic mode, so you only use the the middle and right mouse buttons.
There are a number of obstacles in the road to hinder your cruising; roadworks, puddles, other cars, boulders. There are also policemen and traffic cones in the road but you can drive straight through them as though they weren't there, although the Policeman will scream as you run him over!
Your car can take a number of collisions before the back bumper will fall off with a convincing clang onto the road, and don't drive on the water as you will get that sinking feeling!
There is no music in the game, just the engine noises and collision noises when you hit stuff, but it works well, and you don't really miss the lack of an in-game tune. As for the graphics they are bright and colourful and still look good now, 15 years later.
I have always liked E-Type and think it's a great game, enjoyable to play. It hasn't dated really and is still worth playing now.
Also included is E-Type Extra 100 Miles, which is as the name suggests extra miles for the game. Once you have completed the supplied 5 tracks you can try these. Graphically they are the same but laid out differently and longer. Also included is the E-Type track designer so when you have completed all the tracks you can make your own, or move on to E-Type 2.
E-TYPE 2
Following on the success of the first E-Type, comes the sequel, E-Type 2. The game is similar to the original, but there are a lot of improvements and differences to make it a totally different game.
E-Type 2 installs itself on the icon bar and has a multi-tasking configuration environment, although the game itself only runs in single task mode.
There are a number of options on the E-Type2 menu which you select before you start the game. These include how you will control the car as you can now use the keyboard in addition to the mouse control. You also need to select the type of game as there are a number of new different gametypes, plus other options including the usual volume control, skill levels, which tracks you want to race on etc, plus you can view the high scores as well.
When all the options are correct, click the left hand mouse button on the game icon and the game will start. You can return to the desktop at any time during the game, and when you do you will notice the status of the game icon will have changed from 'Waiting' to 'Paused'.
The objective of the game is the same as in E-Type, each track has a time limit and you have to reach the end before the time runs out. There are 5 tracks as before, each with varying levels of difficulty. Although the objective is the same, you will encounter a number of differences which weren't present in the original game.
The control of the car using the mouse is the same as before, but you can also use the keyboard, I prefer this option as it gives better control of the car and you feel that you can zoom round corners too fast and not go flying off the road. There is also now a 'Fire' button. This is so that you can use the various new bonuses that appear along the way, things like oil slicks and laser fire, which can be used to get cars and obstacles out of the way.
Other new features include weather effects. For example in the Arctic level it will start snowing and on other levels you will encounter rain. These affect the way that the car will handle on the road. The tracks now feature tunnels and Police speed check areas, perhaps to get back at you for running them over in the previous game !!
Where as the original game was just one player driving, E-Type2 offers a number of different gametypes. In addition to the standard mode there is a two player mode and also a Pursuit mode in which there is no time limit and the object is to last longer than your opponent to win the game.
The sound effects are the same as the first game, but the graphics have been improved a lot. The vehicles and roadside obstacles all look really good, complete with adverts for Virtual Golf and the Port-a-loo from "The Time Machine" game. Also the backdrops look a lot better much more detailed than before and do not look particularly dated, when your car has had enough the bumper still falls off and you can also suffer from overheating as well and your engine will blow!
Unfortunately for some reason, the game doesn't run in the same screen mode it did originally, so it now runs in squashed letterbox mode. I think it was something to do with later machines couldn't display the custom mode it used, which is a pity. It doesn't really spoil the game but would look better with a bigger screen display.
As with the first game there is the option to create your own tracks. This is done in a different way to the first game but the end result is still the same.
I enjoyed playing E-Type2. I thought the first game was good, while this isn't a huge step forward from the original it is still worth playing as there are a lot of new features, and different gametypes and a track designer, and it is entertaining to play. Overall a decent follow up to a classic Acorn game.
POWERBAND
I remember when I first bought my copy of Powerband back in the early 1990s. I was really impressed by the sampled introduction of the then BBC Formula 1 theme tune, but after a number of goes with the game there wasn't much else that I was impressed with.
Powerband is a Formula 1 game and can be played as a proper World Championship, Single Race, or in the Fun Mode where all the rules and regulations are out the window and you can do as you please.
When the game has loaded you will see the main options screen. From here you can select which game mode you want, and can also visit the garage to make adjustments to your car and if you are not playing in a championship then you can visit the airport and from here can select one of the 16 circuits provided. These are real circuits, although most are probably different now from how they are here. If you are playing a championship the circuits are automatically picked by the computer.
You get to race against a group of controlled cars, but before you race, you have to qualify for the grid. So a quick flying lap to try to get pole position and if you qualify then it's onto the grid, wait for the lights and away the cars go.
The game objective is pretty much standard, race against the other cars try and finish as high as possible. The higher you finish the more points you score, after the race in finished, then you move onto the next circuit.
The car is controlled by the mouse only, which is a pity as I think keyboard control would be better, but never mind. You can race your car in automatic or manual modes. In the fun mode you can do whatever you like to your car and it will still work, but in the championship mode it's just like the real thing, your car can only take a certain amount of damage before it breaks, bursts into blames and generally stops.
Racing around the tracks is pretty straightforward, but I found the game wasn't really exciting enough to want to continue on to the finish line. It got boring at times, and I found the mouse control awkward with the cornering and the car seemed to slide around a lot. Maybe if I had changed the car settings in the garage I might have done better, but I didn't really have the urge to do so.
I never thought the graphics were that great back in 1991 so by today's standards they do look a bit old hat and dated, and the sound is the usual car engine noises, skidding noises etc. They do the job but nothing special.
Overall Powerband isn't an awful game really, and certainly not the worst racing game ever, just nothing special, and it didn't have that 'one more g'o feel about it that E-Type and Drifter do. A shame really as it could have been something really good. It's probably more at home here in a compilation rather than a full blown commercial release.
SALOON CARS
Saloon Cars gives you the chance to take part in a touring cars championship. It is a bit more than just an arcade game but is not too in depth to get into. Upon loading you are presented with the main menu. From here you can watch the demo mode, set up the controls for the game, select a course and load or save a new player file. Then there is the race option which leads to the game itself. You can practice a track with or without other cars and then the actual race itself. Once you have qualified on the grid then the race can begin.
Controlling the car can at times be a bit tricky. Sometimes it feels like you are totally in control and everything is fine, but then at the next corner you totally lose it and it's into the gravel. You can control the car using a number of methods; you can use the mouse, the keyboard and also a joystick. When you are in control of the car the game is enjoyable to play, but it can be annoying when you lose control.
The tracks you race around are real racing tracks, so Silverstone, and Brands Hatch are included, although since this game was released the real circuit layouts have changed. The pit lane also features in this game, as you can come in for pit stops and have your car worked on if there are any problems with it.
When you start a race you can choose which car to race in subject to the amount of money you have, and the more races you win the more money you will have to upgrade to a better car. Whichever car you buy you have the option of having either automatic or manual gearboxes, plus the option of having large wheel arches and front or rear wheel drive. You can also upgrade your car throughout races with more powerful engines and better tyres.
Graphically I think Saloon Cars still looks pretty decent. The cars look realistic and there are some nice touches. If you crash into cars they will spin around and roll over, your rear view mirror displays accurately what's going on behind you, and also your windscreen can become cracked if you are involved in a crash. The sounds are as with most of these racing games, limited to engine noises and hitting things noises. You can also make your car horn beep as well.
As an added bonus the original Saloon Cars Extra Tracks release is included which includes Oulton Park, Donnington circuits and a made up Seaside track.
Overall Saloon Cars is a pretty decent car racing game. Not the greatest, but if you can keep the car on the track, which isn't impossible but just needs practice, certainly worth playing.
STUNT RACER 2000
Stunt Racer is set in the future and is a televised sporting event which has become massively popular. You race through a number of leagues each with different tracks and the aim is to be the overall winner of the contest.
Upon loading you are greeted by the main menu. This is divided into two sections, the top section has options for the type of game, Practice, Killer Mode, Qualify and Race, plus options for a serial link up games between two computers.
The Killer mode is a two player game where the object is to destroy your opponent by whatever means you can. The Practice option is self explanatory really, you can practice on the tracks to make yourself a better driver. Qualify mode is where you do the fastest possible lap to get the best place on the grid and then finally the Race option where you begin the race.
If you have access to a serial link then two people can link up their computers and play each other that way instead. The main difference with this is that the two player games are played in full screen mode rather than split screen as it would be on one machine.
The other part of the menu features a number of options which include the Garage. Shere you can improve your car, subject to the amount of money you have. The more races you win the more money you will earn to improve your car. Improvements available include better tyres, more powerful engines and a turbo boost. You can also adjust the gear ratios as well.
Also from this menu you can save and load your Player file so that you can continue from where you got to last time you played the game or you can create a new player. You can also select whether you are going to use the keyboard, the mouse or a joystick for game control, and you can view the league statistics to see how well it's all going!
From the Configure Game option there are a number of options you can select for the game setup. These include sound options, music options, the graphics detail in the game and you change which league you are going to race in. Another option from the main menu is that the video playback mode, in which you can view your previous race and then save it if you wish or just watch it. There a number of different camera angles available for watching races. This main menu will appear quite a lot as you return to it between each race.
Control of the game is via keyboard, mouse, or joystick. My preference is using the keyboard and I find this method very easy and it gives good control for the game. When racing around the tracks there are a number of features to test your driving abilities. These include banked curves, flat curves, jumps, loop the loops, ramps and on each lap you have to make sure you go through all of the checkpoints.
I found Stunt Racer a very easy to control game, which makes it very playable and easy to get into. You can view the action from your car from a number of different camera angles, ranging from the traditional in-car view, to above, behind, or in front which isn't much use, but a good angle for watching the replays.
Graphically I feel the game shows it's age a bit as a lot of the graphics do look a bit dated and blocky, but not enough to spoil the game. As for the sounds, there is a good selection of tunes both in the menu screens and the actual game itself. The in game sounds are the usual engine sounds and driving game noises. In the game you can have just the music, or just the sounds or both.
There was an extra tracks disc which was released separately, whether it is included in this compilation I am not totally sure, I don't think it is, but I could be wrong. There is also a freeware program called !SRDesign. This is a track editor program which allows you to create new tracks to race on, not sure where you can get it from now, but if anyone wants a copy I can send it on as it's freeware.
Overall I think Stunt Racer 2000 is a great game, very enjoyable and great fun to play. I used to play it a lot when I first bought it all those years ago, and is still just as good today. It is well worth playing, some classic two player battles can be had, and then it can be very entertaining to watch the replays (speaking from experience here!)
U.I.M
U.I.M (Ultra Intelligent Machine) this is included as a bonus game and I'm not really sure why this game is included as it certainly isn't a racing game. What it is, is a game which is a bit like Elite but instead of being in deep space it is set under the sea in the future. The background story is that the world has become totally flooded and now everything is now under the sea.
This is a strategic game and not one you can finish in a couple of days. There is probably months of gameplay here as the game involves carrying out a number of missions during which various tasks must be performed. When a mission is completed it can be saved so you don't have to play it again and you can continue your progress.
There is a trading part to the game where you buy and sell equipment to make your ship much more powerful and give you better weapons. The overall objective of the game is to find the U.I.M which will be able solve all the problems that are going on under the sea.
Graphically U.I.M looks OK, wire frame graphics are used for the craft, which are filled it rather than just the plain wire frames, and it works well, sound is minimal but functional.
The first time I saw this game was on the Real McCoy compilation volume 1 and I never really liked the game then, just couldn't get into it, but then it's not really my sort of game anyway, far too in-depth and long winded and just doesn't interest me. Doubtless to say there will be plenty of games players that it will appeal to, but not me.
Overall
The games should run without any problem on RISC OS 4 machines, I have tried then on a real RISC PC with RISC OS 4 and RISC OS Select 3i3 and also on Virtual Risc PC with RISC OS Select 3i3 a swell and they seem to run fine although i couldn't get Saloon Cars running on Virtual RISC PC but I'm sure this can be fixed. However there was no problem with running it on a real RISC PC. (I can't get Saloon Cars running on VirtualAcorn either, it's doing something "clever" on startup - ED).
As for Iyonix compatibility, a test using Aemulor PRO, showed that the following games worked perfectly, E Type2, Powerband, and U.I.M, but Saloon Cars, Stunt Racer 2000, E-Type and Drifter didn't work, but they may do with future versions of Aemulor Pro. Drifter may actually work but my monitor couldn't display the mode so not sure whether it was running or not.
Overall I would say this compilation is well worth having if you like car racing games. The games have all been updated with new HTML manuals and are all now RISC OS 4/StrongARM compatible, so if you had any of these games years ago which stopped working when you got a StrongARM machine, you will find they now work again without any problems and are also hard disc compliant. There is no need for the key disc each time you play, and considering these games would have cost you well over £100 originally to have them all on one CD for £15.00 is a pretty good deal.
E-Type and E-Type 2 are both excellent and my favourite games on this compilation. Even now they are still worth playing, as are Stunt Racer 2000 and Drifter, both very good games. With Saloon Cars the main drawback is the control method, I found it too easy to crash, but when the car was on the road I found it quite enjoyable, definitely worth trying out. Powerband looks dated now and never really was that good in the first place. UIM isn't that great either, but then I don't like this type of game anyway.
Unfortunately there were a few gremlins in the initial release of this CD. UIM would not run and the music had disappeared from Stunt Racer 2000. If you have encountered these problems then visit
Product details
Product:
Racing C
Supplier:
The 4th Dimension (APDL
Price:
£14.9
Address:
39 Knighton Park Road, Sydenham, London SE26 5R
Tel:
0208 778265
WWW:
E-mail:
Matt Thompson
ÿÿÿÿVOLUME6/ISSUE2/AALP/INDEX.HTM Volume 6, Issue 2, ARM Assembly language Programming
ARM Assembly language Programming
Alligata Media
Contents
Appendix B : The Floating Point Instruction Set
Appendix C : The Instruction Set
Alligata Media
ÿÿÿÿVOLUME6/ISSUE2/ADJUST/INDEX.HTM Volume 6, Issue 2, Configuring RISC OS Adjust
Configuring RISC OS Adjust
With RISC OS Adjust, the system for configuring your computer has changed somewhat. In this short series we'll explain each component in turn.
RISC OS Adjust has a comprehensive configuration system contained within the !Boot application. You will find !Boot in the root directory of your hard drive. The configuration program is run by double-clicking on !Boot, a Window will then open similar to the one shown.
The configure window that appears on your machine may differ slightly and have one or more additional icons as the system has been designed to that third party add-ons can integrate their configuration system into the main one.
Configuration problems
It is most unlikely that anything you do using this panel could damage your computer, but you could do something that would prevent it from starting up properly, make your hard drive or CD-ROM icon vanish, or scramble the display. Whatever you do with a RISC OS computer it is normally possible to get it to work, even in a restricted way, so that you can sort out the problem.
The configuration of RISC OS is stored in two places; some within the !Boot application but the more fundamental ones are stored within CMOS RAM. This is a small amount of memory that does not lose its data when the computer is switched off, because a small battery maintains its power.
If some parts of CMOS RAM become corrupted the computer may not be able to start up properly. To make sure that this can never completely cripple your machine you can reset CMOS RAM to the factory defaults. To do this switch off the computer and then switch on again while holding down the Delete key. Keep the key held for about 5 seconds before releasing it. This should ensure that the computer will at least start up and display a desktop. (On VirtualAcorn you can run the CMOS Restore program on the VirtualAcorn CD to put the CMOS back to factory settings - ED)
If you alter something that holds its settings inside !Boot then this can be more complex to sort out. One way to get things back to a working state is to switch on the computer while holding down either Shift key. This will start up RISC OS but will not run !Boot, so avoiding the error stopping the computer from running normally.
Having described how to get out of trouble if you do manage to scramble your computer's setup we will now describe briefly what each of the icons in the Configure window does.
Boot
This lets you control what applications are run or set up for use when the computer starts up. Click on the Boot icon in the Configure window and the window shown will appear.
Add to Apps is the first item. Click on this and the window shown below will open. If you have any applications on your hard drive that you want to appear in the Apps folder on the icon bar just drag the application icon to this window and their name will appear on the list.
The Settings menu allows you to specify whether the applications being added should be available to just the current user or to all users. If you have, for example, an accounts package that needs to be available to just one user then click Single otherwise click All Users.
When you have finished click on Set. The next time your computer starts up you will find that the applications are accessible from Apps.
Note that this does not move or alter the original application in any way - it just creates a shortcut to it. This is particularly useful if the application is not in one of the more easily accessible folders on your hard drive.
If you want to remove an application just select it in this window in the usual way, click the Menu button and select 'Selection', 'Remove'. This does not change the application itself, it just removes the shortcut to it in Apps.
As with the following two Boot functions it is important only to do this with programs that are on your hard drive. Don't try it with programs that are on a floppy drive or other removable media or you will get errors when the computer starts up as it won't be able to find the applications unless the removable media is in the computer at the time.
Also if you move the application on your hard drive or otherwise change its location in any way you will need to remove it from this list and then replace it.
Install is used to install updated components into !Boot. This may be necessary from time to time. Just click on the icon and follow the instructions in the window that will open.
The third item, Look at, will open a window that is almost identical to the Add to Apps window and which is used in exactly the same way. Applications placed into this window will have their own !Boot files run by the filer when the computer starts up. What this does is to set up any Run Alias for the program, that is, ensuring that if you double-click on one of the application's own files then the application will launch; and will also ensure that any files associated with the program are shown by the filer with their correct sprites and not just as a blank box.
You do not need to do this with any program placed in the Apps folder or which is to be run at startup.
The final icon, Run, launches another window using a similar pattern. As you might expect anything appearing here will be Run at startup and will be installed onto the icon bar ready to use. You may want to do this with your favourite text editor or other programs that you use each time you start the computer such as !Printers.
For the options in any of these windows to take effect you must first click on Set.
Date and Time
This lets you set the system date and time. Note that on machines running Virtual RPC-Adjust you may find errors in the date and time provided by RISC OS Adjust. If you alter the default values you should find that the machine keeps up with the new settings. Click on the icon and the window shown will open.
At the top of this window is the current time. You can alter the hour value using the arrows to the left of the field, the minute value using the arrows to the right of the field. To update the Day, Month and Year values again make use of the arrows provided to the right of each corresponding field.
The Timezone field allows you to specify whereabouts you are in the world. If you are in France, for example, this could be +01:00. The DST tickbox allows you to specify that you are currently running in Daylight Savings Time.
If you click the Network button this window will open.
RISC OS Adjust allows you to pick up the network time from your currently active network connection. Given that most local broadband connections have a standard Internet time available, this will guarantee that RISC OS is giving the correct information.
In the Host field give the location of your network timeserver. To synchronise via the Internet, refer to
From the three tick-boxes below select either Use UDP, Use NTP/SNTP (to synchronise with a reliable Internet-based clock) or Get Network Time on Boot.
Again, to confirm these settings you'll need to click Set.
Discs
This lets you set the configuration for disc drives (be they floppy, optical (CD/DVD) or RAM) within RISC OS. Click on the icon and the window shown will open.
The first icon, ADFS discs, is used to configure drives physically attached to your computers motherboard. Click this icon to open the window shown.
The Floppy discs value allows you to select how many disc drives are attached to the internal ADFS interface on your computer. It's unusual to come across a RISC OS computer with more than one floppy drive, but there are always exceptions. To increase or decrease the value, use the up and down arrows to the right of the icon.
The Hard discs value is the number of drives attached to your computers built-in IDE interface. Some machines may have third-party IDE interfaces and these will have their own system for configuring the number of drives. This option should only be used for drives connected to the motherboard. If you have a second drive installed in your machine, you should increase this number.
Directly underneath these icons are two further options - ADFS Folder Cache and ADFS Buffers.
The ADFS Folder Cache is the amount of memory reserved for 'remembering' the information about a folder. This speeds up the opening of a directory viewer. Below this is ADFS Buffers, which can again speed up certain aspects of data transfer, especially when copying files to a floppy disc. Both are normally given suitable default values depending upon how much memory is fitted to your computer.
The next icon, CD-ROMs, is used to configure the number of optical drives directly plugged into your motherboard. Whether it's a DVD or CD drive, reader or writer, you configure it from here. Click on the CD-ROMs icon to open this window.
To increase the number of CD drives available to RISC OS, use the arrows next to the CD Drives field and increase the value as necessary. This should not be used for any devices plugged into third-party IDE or SCSI interfaces and you should instead use the software supplied with those devices.
The CDFS Buffers value specifies the amount of memory used as a temporary storage for data being transferred from a CD-ROM. This needs to be set to an appropriately high value as if it's set too low then loading or copying large data files from a CD-ROM will be slowed. The CDFS Buffer needs one of a series of certain values, so use the arrows to select the value most appropriate to your system setup.
The Disc Check option allows you to check the status of the hard disc after a power failure or reboot during data operations. If activated this option performs a verify of the hard drive to identify any potential issues with locations on your hard disc; then will provide a report as to any issues identified. This can be useful in some circumstances, but if you regularly reset your machine at a moment's notice will potentially be more of a hindrance.
The RAM Disc option allows you to have temporary file storage on your icon bar at all times. Being in memory, this is the fastest storage available to RISC OS but should only be used for 'work in progress' as it is all too easy to forget to save your data at the end of a session and if the computer crashed while working on your file you will lose it.
To confirm any values within this section, make sure you click the 'Set' button.
We'll continue our exploration of the RISC OS Adjust configuration system in the next issue of RISC World.
RISCWorld
ÿÿÿÿVOLUME6/ISSUE2/BUSNSS/INDEX.HTM Volume 6, Issue 2, In Business with RISC OS
In Business with RISC OS
David Bradforth brings our series of business case studies to a conclusion.
Over the last six months, this feature has focused on the ways in which different people make use of RISC OS in the course of their day job. We'll move on with the case studies next time to an alternative subject; but first we need to round up the other comments raised from companies using RISC OS daily.
Railway bits and bobs
Adrian Crafer runs two businesses dependant upon RISC OS hardware and software - Timesegment Ltd, providing mechanical railway signalling equipment to the railway industry; and Swindon Historic Castings providing cast components to Heritage Railways.
The TimeSegment website (
The applications Adrian uses daily include Prophet, EasiWriter, Publisher and DPIngScan. To originate new drawings, Adrian uses RiscCAD, ProCAD+, Paint or Draw depending upon what they are or where they originate. If the drawing is a minor change to an existing one then the original may be scanned and used as a template either in Paint or Draw; otherwise new drawings may be originated in RiscCAD or ProCAD.
The web site is maintained using various tools, but quite often the main tool used to edit text is Edit - the simplicity of the application being key. The catalogue files have previously been prepared entirely on RISC OS with help from RiScript, but unfortunately the last had to be originated on a PC from Excel because files needed sharing with others at one point.
LanMan98 is used to transfer files between RISC OS and Windows.
This highlights very aptly the problem that faces many RISC OS users. It's not a case of being able to produce something on your machine, it's the ease with which you can share files with others who may also be working on the files. Compatibility is an issue that affects Windows and Mac OS readers less and less, and slowly RISC OS is catching up.
Tim Hill
Regular c.s.a.misc contributor, and occasional contributor to the Acorn press, Tim Hill uses two RISC OS machines in his daily work; an Iyonix and a Risc PC.
On his Iyonix, he runs ArtWorks 2, Pluto, NetSurf, Oregano2, Organiser and Prophet while on the Risc PC he runs Pipedream, Caller ID and ArcFax. These are just a few of the many applications he has available for his business needs; with tools such as ChangeFSI and others coming out when ready.
When asked why he chose RISC OS over Windows the answer was simple - being fed up with Window's insistence on running his life, and deciding that a weekend needed wasting on the installation of new drivers or fighting Internet-based nasties with anti-virus or spyware removal tools.
Brian Bailey
Running RISC OS 4.02, Brian Bailey runs a setup that's as clean as possible with the minimum number of applications being launched and only the essentials being run. Filer, Larger, MouseAxes, Organizer and TempBin are launched at startup; together with his own custom icons.
Publisher and Ovation Pro are regularly used; as well as ArtWorks, Vector, TableMate, DiagramIt, DialUp, Oregano and Pluto.
We've got a lengthy article explaining the uses for RISC OS in comparison to Windows and Mac OS in terms of the GUI; and this may form the basis of a future article within RISC World.
Conclusions
It's fair to say that despite the age of many of the applications featured over time, many RISC OS users are finding that they get much greater productivity out of RISC OS than the alternative support applications available for Windows XP or Mac OS X.
Prophet, available from
The origins of Personal Accounts, as with Prophet, lie on the BBC micro. Expect an updated release of Prophet (known as Accountz for Business) later in the year.
For spreadsheets, we've got a choice of two applications - FireWorkz , an integrated word processor and spreadsheet originally published by Colton Software, and Schema 2 , a dedicated spreadsheet that includes limited support for exporting and importing Excel files from the PC or Macintosh. Investigatory work is currently being carried out with a view to preparing proper conversion tools allowing RISC OS spreadsheet files to be used natively on the PC or Mac, and APDL hope this may lead to a positive outcome. Visit the APDL website, at
Word processors are not exactly in short supply for RISC OS. With EasiWriter (from Icon Technology) offering native support for Word documents, TechWriter offering much the same but with formulae editing as standard, Ovation Pro allowing for comprehensive desktop publishing to be professionally created and Impression (due out when ready) hoping to reignite the competition between the two applications there's a word processor or design application to meet your every need. Icon Technology are at
There are multiple databases available as well. With DataPower 3 under development by R-Comp, we have a system available that supports the DTP-alike creation of databases that is fully relational. There are many companies making use of various versions of database, so it's got its foot in the door of businesses too. For home businesses, perhaps PowerBase will provide a budget-priced alternative. With Derek Haslam, the author, always on hand to listen to comments new versions regularly appear and it's a testament to the authors enthusiasm that it's been updated regularly for so long. R-Comp are at
With many RISC OS applications supporting the needs of business, it's unlikely that this situation will change soon - so we should be grateful for a market that continues to offer support to applications that may be many years old. Perhaps not through the original publishers; but alternates or the comp.sys.acorn series of Internet newsgroups.
Around 12 years ago I wrote a little utility called !Blokmaker which was designed to provide an easier way to make crossword puzzles and other such word games. It was programmed using Helix Basic which enabled the production of WIMP programs using an extended form of BASIC. For all its quirks Helix Basic did some things very well. !Blokmaker itself is quite limited in what is does but may be useful for some purposes.
Now with the emerging popularity of Sudoku I have updated it slightly to enable it to help construct the grids and given numbers for these puzzles. Because the output is a drawfile there is always the ability to modify it to one's own requirements using !Draw or !DrawWorks or one of the similar drawfile editing programs. The new version is included on this issue of RISCWorld so there is no purchase cost involved.
Basically !Blokmaker provides a 32 x 32 grid of squares which can be drawn to have an outline or be filled in, or left blank. There is the choice of doing a single "cell" at a time or a row or column. In the original version wherever you clicked to do a row it meant the whole row was made that option across the entire grid. Similarly clicking in a column, with the column choice set would cause the entire column to be that choice e.g. a column of filled squares. The newer version causes a row to be filled only from the point of origin (where clicked) to the right. Similarly a column is only filled from the origin to the bottom of the grid. This modification helps the production of a Su do ku grid as will be demonstrated later.
There are also options to enter a number or letter and menu options bring up dialogue boxes to select the number or letter.
The number option previously only put a small number in the top left corner of a square in the style of a crossword. The new version offers an option box which when unticked puts the number "full size" in the box Sudoku style. The letter option puts a similar size letter in a box. The font used is Trinity Medium but this can be amended later using !Draw if desired.
Below are examples of the kind of designs that could be made with !Blokmaker. There are some aspects of !Blokmaker that may not be initially apparent e.g. it is possible to have an outline box with a number in it (as needed for a crossword) but normally choosing an option for a box will replace anything previously there. There is a help file provided with the program which covers the basic functionality.
Above is a sample crossword
And a 9 letter trackword; there is one nine letter word made from consecutive letters and then the aim is to find as many words as possible of 3 letters or more made from consecutive letters in any direction.
And a wordsquare. Note: that !Blokmaker does not calculate any contents it is only a utility to help draw them.
Making a Sudoku grid
This example is to make a 9 x 9 grid with 28 numbers as the base of the puzzle. To make the grid, choose the row option from the toolbox and the outline square option. Click in 9 consecutive rows at the left hand edge where you want the grid placed. Then choose the empty cell option from the toolbox and move ten columns to the right and click in 9 consecutive rows down to leave a 9 x 9 outline grid.
To enter the numbers choose "Enter number" from the menu to get the "number" dialogue box (see below) and take the "Crossword" option tick off (if it is on). Enter the number you want in the entry field and then click on the grid to enter it in the cell(s) you want. Once this is done for each number you can save the grid as a drawfile and make any amendments you want in !Draw.
Because of the "features" of Helix Basic you will need to save it to disc and then load it in to !Draw (or whatever) rather than use RAM transfer. Once in !Draw you can change the font or font size by choosing "Select all" from the menu and then Style à Font name etc. You can also add the thicker lines to make the subsections of the grid more distinct.
The example above shows a finished Sudoku puzzle with the font amended to Homerton Medium and extra lines put in to clarify the sub groups. Now all you have to do is solve it!.
If you have read my editorial this issue (and if you haven't go back at once!) you will know that we are not including a full commercial product on this issue, instead we are including a beta version of FireFox for RISC OS.
The complete DiscWorld line up
As per usual we have our collections of the latest RISC OS games and applications, as well as support files for this issues articles. So the full DiscWorld line up looks something like this:
BlokM
The BlockMaker application covered in this issue.
FireFox
FireFox beta 2 and support utilities.
Games
All the games from this issues games world column.
PD
All the latest PD, shareware and freeware releases from the PD column.
ToolBox
This contains two sets of Toolbox Modules. The Castle archive contains the latest 26/32 bit neutral system components, required if you want to run a lot of new software releases on 26bit machines (ie. anything that isn't an Iyonix). The RISCOS Ltd archive contains later and improved versions of a number of modules and is suitable for all versions of RISC OS from 3.1 onwards.
CDVDburn is the latest product from Steffen Huber, also now know as Hubersn Software. It is a development of what has become the standard CD writing software for RISC OS, the ubiquitous CDburn. Because it is still very new this can't be regarded as a 'review' in the normal sense as Steffen declares in the documentation that there is much work still to be done (see later). It would therefore be very unfair to CDVDburn to judge it as a complete product, rather I would regard is as "early beta" at this stage. Furthermore I received the program only a few days before the deadline for this article so I had very little time to experiment.
As you might expect CDVDburn is outwardly very similar to its predecessor, and for anyone familiar with CDburn the most obvious difference with the new version is the new 3D icons.
However, the real changes are "under the hood". As well as the ability to write DVD discs there's an important improvement for Iyonix users. When reading a CD or DVD disc CDVDburn now bypasses CDFS and reads data directly using ADFS. This makes extracting tracks from a CD or DVD faster, and since DVDs are many times bigger than CDs the time saved with this modification is much more significant. This was previously possible with 3rd party IDE interfaces such as those from APDL but it's the first time it's been implemented for ADFS.
Creating the ISO image
Data CD and DVD ISO images are created just as before. You can choose the 'Filer like' method where you drag the files, applications or directories into a window. When you have done this CDVDburn will create an ISO image containing all the material you have chosen. This is the best system to use for creating backups or archives of material since the original files can be anywhere on your system. The alternative method is to place all the material in a single directory and then CDVDburn will create the ISO image from the contents of that directory. This is the best method if you are creating a CD or DVD where you may wish to make changes to the material and then create more copies, such as for software distribution.
DVD ISO images can be much larger than CDs, up to 4.4Gb. This presents a problem as the maximum permitted file size on an Acorn filecore based filesystem is just 2 gigabytes. This effectively means any RISC OS computer except a VirtualAcorn, whose HostFS isn't filecore based can't create a file bigger than 2GB. CDVDburn uses a clever trick to enable it to create ISO images greater than 2 Gb. Instead of creating a single large ISO image file it instead created a directory with the name selected for the ISO image and then places a series of smaller files inside this directory. To write the DVD you drag this directory to the requisite icon in the 'Write' window and CDVDburn sorts out the pieces and joins them up at it writes the DVD.
The old method of writing 'on the fly' has now been discontinued. This is because this method doesn't work well for DVDs. However, in my opinion this is no great loss as it was only of limited use and was a source of many problems experienced by users who did not understand the shortcomings of this method. At present CDVDburn uses a modified system where it creates an ISO image and then offers the user the option of deleting it after writing to disc. This still gives the 'one step' simplicity of writing on the fly but without any of the previous problems. However, Steffen has said that true 'on the fly' may be restored in a later version.
Writing the disc
Writing a CD works exactly as before, and as someone who has written many thousands of CDs using CDBurn I can certainly attest that this is a very reliable process, assuming a suitable drive and reliable media. The one thing which has hitherto been missing is the ability to verify a CD after writing, and although this isn't included at present it is scheduled for a future version, which will be a very welcome addition and once it appears I'll be able to finally retire my old Plextor SCSI CD writer and CDScribe.
Writing a DVD proved rather more problematical. Firstly only one drive is so far known to work properly, and there would appear to be difficulties with media. Using the recommended Lite-On drive on a RiscPC I experienced quite a few difficulties. Steffen suggests that there is a problem with media compatibility, especially cheap unbranded discs. This may well be a significant factor. I certainly had no luck with a pack of cheap discs picked up at the Lidl supermarket checkout. Sony branded discs were better, and Verbatim (as Steffen suggests) were best. However, 'best' is something of a misnomer as I had very limited success writing any DVDs. The most frequent problem was that the drive would start up and then, after a short while it would stop and I'd get a 'CD writer not ready' error with nothing having been written to the disc.
One possible reason for this, bearing in mind that an identical drive and media seemed to work much more reliably on a PC, might be that the RiscPC I was using is simply too slow. With CDs it is possible to set the writing speed, but with this version of CDVDburn this is not possible with DVDs. Instead it reads the speed of the media and then writes at that speed. As the slowest speed media I was able to obtain at short notice was 8x it is possible that this could have been the problem. Using my usual setup with a Blitz interface I can normally write CDs at 12x, but that may not be significant.
Given a bit more time I would like to try the drive on the Iyonix with its much faster IDE interface, and I shall certainly do so at the earliest opportunity. It's also possible that the drive I have fitted to my RiscPC may not be quite perfect, so another test will be to swap it with the one on the PC.
However, I've simply run out of time for any more experimentation as I'm now getting irate phone calls from the editor (Who me? Irate? How dare you...etc - ED) demanding that I finish this article without any more delay!
General limitations.
Current versions of CDFS are not happy with DVDs bigger than 4 Gb, so you will have to keep below this limit if you want to be able to read them on most RISC OS computers.
Of course you will also only be able to create and use data DVDs, in effect large capacity CD ROMs. At present RISC OS can't really make use of anything other than data DVDs.
Future developments.
The first and most obvious thing at the moment is that many messages and templates refer just to 'CD' rather than 'DVD', but of course this will be corrected as development continues and is not a problem. Steffen also lists the following items as 'shortcomings of this version' which will be dealt with.
Free capacity of medium is not read correctly (DVD+RW, DVD-RW). Because of this, free space checks on the target medium for DVD media has been disabled. Please make sure that the image you want to write fits onto a standard DVD medium, which has a typical capacity of 4482 MB.
Medium information sometimes reports funny values for DVD media. Just ignore it.
You can't set the writing speed for DVD media - the writer automatically selects the speed optimal for the inserted medium. This is not properly reflected in the write dialogues.
Simulation is not supported for DVD media, but this is not properly reflected in the write dialogues.
Multisession is not supported for DVD media, but this is not properly reflected in the write dialogues.
This is a significant step forward for RISC OS. Please don't be put off by my rather poor success rate with writing DVDs. Certainly I have been able to use CDVDburn to create the master discs for the new RISCWorld compilation DVD described elsewhere in this issue and I'm sure that with a little more time to 'fiddle' I'd have been able to sort out the problems and write reliably.
It's not all that long ago that I was experiencing similar problems with my very first CD writer and it didn't take too long to get that sorted out. There was also a considerable difference in price - my first CD writer plus software cost the best part of a thousand pounds!
And finally....
Because there was a couple of days delay between writing this article and publication to enable us to include the very latest versions of Defender and Firefox I had time to obtain a slightly different model of DVD writer to try with CDVDburn. This worked perfectly on the Iyonix with a variety of media, and slightly better as a writer on the RiscPC but less well at reading DVDs on the RiscPC.
I'll keep trying, and hope to have some better news for the next issue of RISC World.
Dave Holden
ÿÿÿÿVOLUME6/ISSUE2/DWORKS/INDEX.HTM Volume 6, Issue 2, A Secret History of DrawWorks
A Secret History of DrawWorks Part 4
Aaron
Last issue I said we would continue looking at the later versions of DrawWorks and in particular DrawWorks Third Millennium.
DrawWorks Third Millennium
This version of DrawWorks was designed to be launched at the Wakefield 2001 show. By this time Wakefield was the biggest show of the year and it made sense to release a new DrawWorks there. Despite being a fairly mature package there were still plenty of silly little bugs to deal with, as well as some inconsistencies between various DrawWorks Tools.
One of the first things that needed to be done was to make sure all versions of Draw were supported. RISCOS Ltd had only recently released !DrawDA, a a version of !Draw that used dynamic areas. The DrawWorks code for getting the data out of menus wouldn't work with this version of Draw as the writable menu data was stored in a different location. In the end we got hold of every copy of !Draw we could and after a bit of fiddling re-wrote the code so that it would work with every RISC OS 3 or later version of !Draw. It would have been nice to future proof the code at this point, but it was impossible as the code had to use a look up table to see where into memory it should look for the data it needed. Unfortunately we couldn't produce a look up table for versions of !Draw that didn't yet exist.
Whilst DrawWorks Third Millennium was being written negotiations were underway with several parties about the sale of iSV Products. In the end we decided to sell iSV to APDL with the transfer happening in June or July. Since this was only just over a month after the show it was decided to make DrawWorks Third Millennium available purely as an upgrade for existing users. Once APDL took over they would then release a full stand alone version. This had the benefit of splitting the profits both ways, and gave APDL a chance to fix any bugs in the upgrade version before doing a full release.
Work on improving DrawWorks continued all the time with each beta release coming back with fewer comments from the intrepid band of beta testers. My logs for the period show at 7 major versions going out to the testers before everyone was happy. Some of the bugs were quite amusing, especially when we discovered that the new DrawWorks wouldn't work with the Penulator software, releasing an application that didn't work with one of our products didn't seem like a good idea so it was fixed before release.
I then had some agonising over the pricing of the upgrade, although there were some useful new features, including SVG export, the Distortion tool, the text exporter and the text area control tool a lot of the work done really related to fixing long term silly bugs in the main code. In the end I decided to make the upgrade as cheap as possible, and priced it at just £10. After all with thousands of DrawWorks users the hope was that those £10's would stack up quite quickly.
DrawWorks Third Millennium was announced a couple of weeks prior to Wakefield with the final published improvements as shown:
Main New Features
Compatible with future versions of RISC OS
Works on all versions of RISC OS from 3.1 onwards
Faster than any previous Millennium version of DrawWorks
Over 50% less processor load than any previous version
Autoscroll or manual scroll toolbars
Autoscroll toolbars now move much faster
DrawWorks toolbar now stays on screen whenever a Draw window is open
All features now work with !DrawDA
New microbar with commonly used features
Line width, colour, rotate and scale options always available
Font and pt size menus always available.
New Tools
Export as SVG option
Export as PDF option (using GhostScript)
Writable options for start cap and end cap menus
Nudge buttons for start and end cap triangle options
Freehand drawing mode
DWDistort tool to distort objects visually by dragging
Extract the text from text objects automatically
Export all text objects from a drawfile in one text file
Text Area control tool including font and point size
Change the number of columns in a text area easily and quickly
Set margins, line spacing and paragraph spacing for text areas.
EPS Improvements
Double click an EPS file and it loads into Draw
Unclosed objects render correctly in Adobe Illustrator
Improvements to existing features
Export GIF with NetSafe colour palette
New moulds for the path moulder
Path moulder can now handle grouped moulds
Shadow tool auto groups all soft shadow layers
Start cap and end cap menus tick to show current selection
JPEG export tool improved
Re-designed preferences window
Nudge buttons no longer "Stick" in down position.
The new DrawWorks went own very well at Wakefield, with us selling out of copies (and we did make plenty) on the first day. However a spanner was about to the thrown into the works. RISCOS Ltd were working on Select at this point. Part of the new Select was a new version of !Draw, one which wouldn't work with any version of DrawWorks. Luckily for me this would be APDL's problem, unluckily I had agreed to maintain DrawWorks...
There is a very slight change to this months RISCWorld, for the first time in ages there is no commercial product on the CD. Why is this? Well we have a budget for paying for commercial software, although many titles come from the APDL stable, work still has to be done on them, copyright boxes need updating and in some cases large printed manuals need to be OCR'd and converted into HTML. So, if we have been doing this for several years why the change this time? Simple, we have spent the money on something else. Rather than spending it on old software we have spent it on new software, Pater Naull's port of FireFox to be exact. If you pop along to the
Normal service will be resumed next issue when we have another big commercial package scheduled for cover mounting, assuming we manage to OCR the manual in time!
A quick aside
I meant to use this is as the basis for by editorial, but I forgot! Anyway much to my amusement a number of copies of VirtualA5000 have been coming up for sale on eBay over the last few weeks, here are the links:
As you can see the prices are quite surprising, I mean £60 for a VirtualA5000! You can buy a whole new VirtualRPC for not much more! So if you have an old copy of VirtualA5000 that you are no longer using it might be worth cashing in.
RISC OS SE Show 2005
Just as we were finalising the magazine it was confirmed that there will be a RISC OS South East show on October 22nd this year at Guildford College. There are few details apart from this at present, but the show website will have further information as it appears.
Editors Rant of the month
The following is about the vehicular faith, not specifically about computing.
Here's a quick joke, "What's got 6 wheel and flies?", the answer is of course a dust cart. So here's another one, "What's got 12 wheels and doesn't move?" The answer is my current fleet of vehicles. Ok, the long term project VW camper can move, but the somewhat fatal flaws of having a lack of bodywork, lights and seats, not to mention an MOT prevents it being used. So what of the Beetle and the Shogun? Well read on and I will explain.
A couple of weeks after moving to Newhall we had to journey back to Bracknell for the wedding of some friends. After being parked outside the registry office the Shogun "failed to proceed". In fact it failed to do anything at all when the key was turned. Carefull application of logical thought and swearing started the vehicle and it was fine again. So after the reception we drove home with no problems. A few days later I was driving into Burton and just got onto the main bridge when the Shogun died completely, luckily I was just able to roll into a bus stop. I tried my usual car starting tricks but nothing worked, so I called the AA. After almost an hour and a half a friendly an AA man appeared. "You are right it won't start", thanks I knew that. "Has it got petrol?" Oh yes. After a bit of fiddling he gave up and summoned a flat bed lorry. This finally tuned up almost 4 hours after I broke down. The Shogun was winched aboard and deposited outside our house. So what's wrong with it?
Well firstly the coil has no power, so there's no spark. It took a week to track down a 2nd hand coil, this didn't make any difference. I cleaned all the wiring connections, but still no joy. So I then called out an auto electrician, he couldn't get it to start either, but suggested the ECU might be faulty. So off the ECU went for testing, "It'll only take a couple of days". Of course it will, the fact that those couple of days are spread out over three weeks of increasingly frustrated phone calls are an irrelevance. Finally I got the ECU back with a clean bill of health, although after my experience I couldn't trust the people who tested it, still what else could be wrong?
In the end I made a diagnostic tool that plugged into the diagnostic socket and flashed out any stored fault codes. There was only one, crank angle sensor failure. This sensor is located inside the distributor and Mitsubishi won't sell the sensor on it's own. "It's £780 plus VAT for a new distributor, not that we have any in the UK." Brilliant. In the end after many hours of searching I found a nice man who sells just crank angle sensors from his home in Essex. He even knew about Mitsubishi distributors and was apply to supply a new sensor for next day delivery. I tentatively fitted this, but still the ECU reported a crank angle failure.
I then had a brain wave and found a distributor for sale fairly locally, and picked it up from the seller in the dead of night in a Little Chef car park. Still this must work. No, it didn't the Shogun was still dead. At least we had the beetle to use..
Well we did, but a few days ago I was driving through Burton (again) and was run off the road by an over eager road hogging HGV. Although the car suffered no bodywork damage the front suspension was bent and smashed. Once again I waited for the AA, having told them I needed a flat bed as the car was totally non driveable. In the end a recovery truck turned up, but not a flat bed. It was driven by the most morose unhelpful bugger I have ever met in my life. "It's lowered I can't lift it". Yes you can. "You should have told them it was lowered" I did. "You should have asked for a flatbed". I did. "Well lots of people ask for a flatbed when they don't need it". Well I did need it and I did ask for it, is it my fault you don't listen? At this point I actually lost my temper and told him to look at the car, see the interesting angle of the front wheel? Well that's because the car is damaged, now get your bloody van in front of it and lift the beetle up and lets get it home. "Yeah, but it's lowered and the exhaust will hit the ground". No it won't, just get on with it. Finally grumbling all the time he lifted the front of the car and we finally got it home, five hours after the accident.
So what's the moral of the story, firstly the "we fix 80% of breakdowns by the side of the road", well not my breakdowns mate. So we were now stuck with 3 vehicles that all needed to be fixed, the only sensible thing to do would be to buy a fourth....
Printing RISC World
The new look of RISC World means that you will no longer get the yellow background when printing articles from RISCWorld. However you will still get the blue border on the left unless you turn off the printing of background images. The example below shows the print dialogue box from Fresco.
As you can see the option "No Background" is ticked. If you want to print out any of the RISCWorld pages and don't want to waste ink on a blue border then make sure you have clicked a similar option in your browser.
Firefox was ported to RISC OS to fill the requirement for a comprehensive browsing solution. Based upon the original Mozilla and Netscape work, Firefox is potentially able to access almost any website, and is one of the most widely used browsers in use. Its open source nature means that anyone inside or outside RISC OS development can update it. These features made it an ideal choice for porting to RISC OS.
Firefox was ported to RISC OS by Peter Naulls under the
Firefox was only possible at all because it built upon work by the GCCSDK team with GCC and UnixLib and current work by the project such as the ChoX11 library, and of course, the many subscribers to the project who made it financially viable. Thanks for supporting the future of RISC OS.
About the Port
In order to indicate why Firefox is presently the way it is, it is important to understand that, as it stands, it is essentially a direct port of the vanilla Unix version. Very little has been customised to make it RISC OS friendly, with the focus on making it work at all. Without going through this phase, the port would have been all but impossible. Future versions will of course become more RISC OS friendly, with the integration you expect from RISC OS applications.
Current Bugs/Oddities
This is a list of things which are known to be either wrong or non-RISC OS in nature in this version.
Why is this browser called "Deer Park"? This is the name given to the current development version of Firefox. The RISC OS version is based upon the latest sources, and therefore is somewhat newer than the 1.04 version you would normally see on Windows and Linux
Icon bar icon - There is no icon bar icon at the present time. If you close the last window, the browser will exit. This reflects behaviour on many other OSes
Drop down menus - This version has drop down menus as seen on most other GUIs. The mouse buttons retain their meaning as seen on those platforms with right button opening a context sensitive menu, and middle over a link opening a new tab
Scollbars - Firefox has its own scrollbars as well as the RISC OS one. This will be properly integrated in future
Images - some types of images, notably table backgrounds are not displayed. This is to mitigate an unresolved memory handling issue
RISC OS Firefox will not respond to the HTML filetype, or any attempt to drag things to it. It employs file save dialogues to access any local files
RISC OS Fonts - whilst Firefox does indeed employ anti-aliased RISC OS fonts, characters are placed at pixel aligned positions to comply with assumptions made by the rendering engine. This means they may look slightly odd in some instances. Top-bit and UTF8 characters are displayed as question marks. It is intended in future to use the same font engine as NetSurf
Speed - Firefox is slow. This version is noticeably faster than that demonstrated at Wakefield, which reflects ongoing improvements. More improvements are planned to get as much speed as possible, with the ultimate aim for it to work smoothly on faster RISC OS machines. It will of course never be as fast as native RISC OS browsers like NetSurf
Memory Usage - Firefox uses lots. In order to avoid WimpSlot limitations, Firefox uses one or more dynamic areas for memory allocations on RiscPCs.
On 32-bit systems, it uses the WimpSlot in normal fashion. You will need around 30 MB free memory to start Firefox, and this can rise to 64 MB or more during extended usage. It will probably crash if it runs out of memory
Printing - there is no tested printing support. It's possible you may be able to print to a postscript file
Plugin support - there is no RISC OS plugin support in this version
Installing/Usage
Firefox requires SharedUnixLibrary and UnixHome. See
Firefox also requires Tinct:
The Firefox archive contains a skeleton !UnixHome application. This simply contains an empty !UnixHome.home./mozilla directory which must exist before Firefox will start. Drag this skeleton over your existing !UnixHome.
Drag the !Firefox application to a location of your choice. Firefox requires long filenames and more than 77 files per directory.
On a StrongARM RiscPC, Firefox can take up to 40 seconds to start up. It will take longer on the first run, as profile files are copied. There is no hourglass presently to indicate when it is done, so be patient. .
Unfortunately on some systems and setups Firefox will refuse to load.
This is due to a memory handling problem, and its appearance is somewhat random in nature. This is being worked upon as a priority.
However, also ensure:
You don't have an old !RiscXLib on your system. This sets the HOME variable which conflicts with !UnixHome. The latest RiscXLib is available from
Firefox may have problems starting if you move it. In this case, delete all the files under !UnixHome.home./mozilla.
There's also been a great deal of speculation about what Firefox might and might not be doing. Much of it has been inaccurate. Unless you've looked at relevant code, please refrain.
Getting Help
I can only offer help to Unix Porting Project subscribers. For the moment, do not contact me if you have problems starting Firefox. I already have more than enough information about the issue.
If you'd like to subscribe to the project, please visit
I must insist on no feature requests at this time. This will avoid me becoming inundated with mail.
Bug Reporting
For the same reason, I must insist upon very stringent requirements for reporting bugs. Remember, for the most part, I'm very much aware of all the present issues, and am working hard to try and improve them. Responding to reports of misfeatures or thing you'd like changed is not a good use of my time. Please refer to the earlier list for present issues.
At the present, I am only interested in repeatable crashes once Firefox has started. That is, a crash you can make happen at least twice, with a specific set of instructions for causing it to occur. If !Firefox.stderr is not blank, then it is important you include that too, and finally, the version of RISC OS you are using. If I require further information, I will ask, and please no "life stories". I am not interested in stdout; don't send it to me.
Only if your bug falls into this category and you have all this information, then send your bug to
Conclusion
Thanks again to all who contributed to this project. I hope some people may be encouraged to help fix some of the issues still present. Happy browsing
Release History
Beta 1 - Initial RISC OS Release.
Beta 2 - Noticeable speed improvements. Update to latest CVS.
Peter Naulls
ÿÿÿÿVOLUME6/ISSUE2/FSTEPS/INDEX.HTM Volume 6, Issue 2, First Steps with RISC OS 4
Contains material taken from !Help by David Eccles. We are grateful to David Eccles for his help.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, or stored in any retrieval system of any nature, without the prior written permission of Alligata Media.
All information given in this guide was been obtained, and is offered, in good faith. However, Alligata Media cannot accept any liability, consequential or otherwise, for any loss or damage arising from the use of any information in this guide.
All trademarks are acknowledged. We have referred to a variety of products in this guide. The mention of these products does not necessarily imply endorsement by the author or publisher.
This guide was produced using Ovation Pro on a StrongARM Risc PC running RISC OS 4.02; with a little help from Photoshop CS and Illustrator CS on a G4 iMac.
Published by Alligata Media.
Project Editor
David Bradforth
Tel:07946 405555
Email:david.bradforth@alligatagroup.co.uk
Distributed by:
APDL
39 Knighton Park Road,
Sydenham
London SE26 5RN
Email: info@apdl.co.uk
Web: www.apdl.co.uk
4. The floppy disc drive
Types of disc
Formatting a disc
Choice of formats
Verifying a disc
Making a backup copy of a disc.
5. Disc Structure
The Filing System
Directories
Files
Applications
Opening an application directory
Examining your hard disc structure
Alligata Media
ÿÿÿÿVOLUME6/ISSUE2/GAMES/INDEX.HTM Volume 6, Issue 2, Games World
Games World
Paul Brett with the latest gaming news.
You may well remember that in the last issue of RISCWorld I covered the !A10 flight simulator, which was based on a compiled version of the
"I was just looking through the latest RISCWorld (vol 6 no. 1
when I was pleasantly surprised to come across the !A10 flight si
in the games section. I even got a name check as the maintainer o
the RISC OS version of the the flight sim engine in FST, Fly. I a
not the author of the program: that was written by Simis (now Kuj
Entertainment). They released the source code of Fly into th
Public Domain about three years ago and I have been working on i
on and off since then. I wanted a decent flight sim for RISC O
and Fly looked as though it was the best one around that had
chance of running under RISC OS. Others I saw were written in C+
and/or used floating point numbers wall-to-wall. I am sure tha
the more technically literate readers are aware that RISC O
machines are not exactly noted for their floating point arithmeti
performance. Anyway, I ported Fly from DOS back to RISC OS an
set about fixing bugs and improving the game. Three years later
still have plenty to do. Progress on the program is not very fas
as I do not spend huge amounts of time on it but I do what I can
The program will never be in the same league as any of the P
flight sims as I just do not have the knowledge or maths to d
this. I do not think it is too bad as it stands, though."
"I would like to point out that !A10 includes an ancient version o
Fly, version 3.09. I am currently working on 3.18. Fly 3.09 lacke
sound and joystick support but that has been remedied. A joystic
turns Fly into a completely different game: it is a trial using th
keyboard or mouse but fabulous with a joystick. It has also gaine
things like clouds which I think add a lot to the, err, atmospher
of the game. The look and feel of the program is basically th
same. The somewhat chronic-looking menu system has long gone
Something else mentioned was the lack of multiplayer support: th
PC version of Fly does not have this either. It looks to me lik
a planned extension that was never written."
The new version of !Fly
"FST stands for 'Flight Sim Toolkit': the purpose was to allo
you to create your own flight sims, albeit mainly militar
ones. There was nothing to stop you setting up a simulation of
say, an airfield with general aviation aircraft such as Cessna
and Beechcraft and just flying around for fun. You can do a lo
with it but it is very time consuming. The program came with a se
of tools to let you create objects, define aircraft models an
place everything in a world. The RISC OS versions of these ar
quite primitive compared to the Windows versions. The files the
create are not compatible either so the old RISC OS sims (such a
some of those on the APDL 'Flight Simulator Collection' CD
cannot be used with the newer version of Fly. It would be a bi
of work but I could probably could do something about this.
would like to update the tools and port them to RISC OS but tha
is a long term aim. I only have the source for a couple of th
tools so it would be a case of rewriting most of them fro
scratch."
"Paul mentioned the 'Flightsimtoolkit.co.uk' web site. This i
run by a FST enthusiast, Adrian Brown. His is the main web sit
for the program. There is still a small FST community out there
Some very good sims have been written using FST and they are wel
worth looking at. The only thing is, the site only has the Window
version of Fly on it. I really should do something about puttin
the RISC OS version on a web site. The RISC OS version is aime
at a RiscPC or later machine but it will run under VA5000 if yo
don't mind the screen colours being a bit psychedelic. It is slo
on an A7000 but runs well on a StrongARM RiscPC or an Iyonix."
(Now I know why the letters page is short! - ED)
Anyway as Dave said he has been working on version 3.18 of !Fly and has made a number of improvements. As a special treat for RISCWorld readers he has produced a new version of !A10 and has also produced a new game !Defender, which RISCWorld readers can play first. Dave sent us a second e-mail telling us about these new versions.
"Here, as promised, is the updated version of the !A10 flight si
originally on the RISCWorld vol 6 issue 1 CD and a new sim t
show off other aspects of Fly. The new sim is called !Defende
and the idea is that you are defending your home airbase fro
enemy bombers. It is somewhat more complete than !A10."
!Defender
"The program, Fly, is a 32-bit application and so needs Castle'
32-bit Shared C Library. I have not included a copy of this. I d
not know if it is possible for you to include one. (It's on the CD - ED). The sims wil
otherwise run 'out of the box'. I have tested them on a RiscPC
an Iyonix and using VA RPC and they work fine for me. The progra
should run on VA5000 but the colours will be a bit psychedeli
because it does not handle the palette properly (the game, no
VA5000)."
"Fly is under constant development. I have a long list of things
want to do to the program, like a couple of year's worth. My vie
is totally biased, but I think it is the best RISC OS flight si
as it stands now. It will never, ever come anywhere close to wha
is available for PCs but I am happy with it."
"Thanks for putting the sim on the CD."
At RISCWorld we totally agree that !Fly is the best flight sim for RISC OS, indeed graphically it's one of the best games for RISC OS full stop! Before running either !A10 or !Defender you will need to read the supplied instructions, which include a set of simply instructions for getting airborne for the first time. I hope you enjoy these simulators as much as I do and have hours of fun with them.
Paul Brett
ÿÿÿÿVOLUME6/ISSUE2/HUGHJ/INDEX.HTM Volume 6, Issue 2, The Hugh Jampton Experience
The Hugh Jampton Experience
Fresh from his stint as MicroDigital's PR manager...it's...Hugh Jampton
Welcome back to the most popular column in RISCWorld (self reporting survey of 1 RISCWorld author), so without further ado lets kick off with our every popular caption competition...
The caption competition
Last time I reproduced this picture and asked our highly motivated readers to come up with a caption...
Our eager readers came up with following captions...
"Quick nurse, the screens!"
John McCartney
"I dont want to be castrated."
Kev Wells
"No, the vet said incarcerated!"
Steven Morton
So there you have it, I really can't pick a winner from these three, no please don't make me...so instead let's see if anyone can come up with a suitable caption for this.
Send your entries to hughj@riscworld.co.uk, one lucky winner will win absolutely nothing compete with hand engraved non existent presentation case.
Hugh's picture gallery
So lets see what I have been sent this month...
Firstly some sound religious advice for the 21st century.
And now some sound non religious advice...
Looks like someone's having a special summer sale...
What on earth could this possibly mean?
Street light attacks cyclist?
And finally the cute animal based picture...
That's all we have time for.
Hugh Jampton
ÿÿÿÿVOLUME6/ISSUE2/HWARE/INDEX.HTM Volume 6, Issue 2, Hardware World
Hardware World: WiMAX
Fancy investing in some new kit for your computer? David Bradforth takes a look at some options.
Media Pilot
Supplier: Belkin
Price: TBC
Web:
Perhaps best known to RISC OS users for their work in the Internet accessory market, Belkin have recently been expanding their range with a number of keyboards. This, the Media Pilot, is a fully functional multimedia keyboard doubling as a universal remote control for your TV, DVD, Video and CD player
As a keyboard, it works well and feels good. You'll find yourself drawn to the tap-tap response of the keys, and the response on the screen cannot be questioned. There's an integrated mouse with the keyboard, which feels a tad awkward to make use of - the left/right/scroll components are on the left of the keyboard, movement on the right more akin to a game in the arcade
It's a wireless offering which is nice, but at the end of the day the question you must ask is simply how much demand there can be for a universal remote control six times the size of the normal one
SPJ-06
Supplier: KYE Europe Ltd
Price: £12.99
Web:
Designed to compliment laptops, flat screen PCs and portable CD/MP3 players, the SPJ-06 is a slim speaker set that looks very nice. Aesthetically, you can see it being quite at home if ten times the size in the midst of a passionate music lover. Okay, perhaps we're overstating the point here - but they are very nice looking speakers and given the size no worse than any you may have received with your PC
Sound quality is reasonable, the ease with which you can control the volume useful, but the fact it requires a fixed power supply for what is actively pushed as a device for use with CD players and Laptops a big disappointment
5-in-1
Supplier: Verbatim
Price: £59.99
Web:
With the 5-in-1, Verbatim have brought to market a device the size of a keyring offering combined functionality of digital camera, camcorder, web cam, dictaphone and removable hard drive. Given its size this device offers an astonishing amount for the money
The picture quality for photography or videos is passable but nothing to write home about; as a web cam it's easily up to the standards of its competition; as a dictaphone it's useful for little more than quick voice notes but as a removable means of large-file storage it's to be recommended
As a standard USB device, you should have no troubles using the 5-in-1 with a RISC OS USB podule; and at the right price it certainly offers more than the competition. Worth a look if you need such a thing, or even if you simply just like gadgets
A9home
Supplier: CJE Micros
Price: £499 + VAT
Web: www.cjemicros.co.uk
Since its first announcement the A9home has been the cause of much speculation within the RISC OS market. Running a native version of RISC OS Adjust 32, the A9home case is barely the size of the Mac Mini making it very easy to pick up and walk away with. This may, in fact, be the reason why recent show pictures of the RISC OS Expo have the RISC OS Ltd A9home smothered in 'property of RISCOS Ltd' stickers
The specification of the machine is as follows
400MHz Samsung ARM9 processo
Graphics processo
Power Management Uni
128M SDRA
8M VRA
40GB hard dis
2-3W average internal power usag
Located on Front Pane
2 x US
Microphone i
Headphone ou
Power/Reset butto
Status LED
Located on Rear Pane
2 x US
2 x PS/
10/100MBit networ
Serial por
Video Ou
Power I
Externa
Colour: Cobalt Blu
Enclosure: Rugged Aluminium chassi
Size: 168 x 103 x 53 mm (6.6" x 4.1" x 2.1" approx.
Weight: 550g (approx. 1lb 3oz
Power: 20W power supply unit (plenty of overhead for external devices
Softwar
RISC OS Adjust 32 (flash ROM
Popular Simtec USB stac
Many applications run unaltere
If you're prepared to experiment with a pre-production machine, the A9home is available to developers now for £449+VAT directly from Advantage 6. Visit their website at
It's thinner than Posh Spice, yes it's the RISCWorld letters page...
Dear Aaron,
I'm thinking of releasing some of my software as free, so I was wonderin
whether, if I do, you'd like to include it in RISCWorld and review i
as well.
Marc Warne
Well this is a simple one, it's a yes please! (Which is exactly the repl
I sent to Marc, his response was)...
Dear Aaron,
Right, here is CocoGnut 1.21. It'll probably be publicly released i
the next few days, but please don't distribute it until it is released
It's RISC OS's only peer-to-peer filesharing application. Information i
available at http://www.alpha-programming.co.uk/software/cocognut
All the best,
Marc Warne
Thanks, I have included Cocognut in the software directory of this issue. Due to time constraints I haven't had a chance to get it reviewed but I will try to do so for the next issue. For anyone that hasn't tried Cocognut it is, as Marc says, the only peer to peer filesharing solution for RISC OS. it connects via the Gnutella network and allows users to share millions of files. I should of course point out that you should only ever upload or download files with the permission of the copyright holder.
Dear Aaron,
I need to install all my Fonts to an ADFS drive in VRPC. The IDE disc created though, is rather small at only 50M in size. How can I change the size of the drive? My fonts are over 100Mb in size, so I'd like to create an ADFS drive image of at least 200Mb.
Bob Standing
This is a question I have been asked a few times recently, so I have written an article about how to alter the size of the ADFS harddisc partition on VirtualAcorn and it's in this very issue of RISCWorld. It's quite easy to do, once you understand how, and can easily be done in under 10 minutes.
Anyway moving on that seems to be nearly it for this letters page...
Dear Aaron,
Why is this issues letters page so short?
Hugh Jampton
The simple answer is that we aren't getting as many letters as we used to. The number of e-mails have dropped dramatically over the last 12 months. I am sure that it isn't a co-incidence but in the same period the number of postings to the comp.sys.acorn newsgroups have also fallen by a large volume. So why not pop us quick e-mail to editor@riscworld.co.uk so that we can have more comment on the letters page. As I have said many times before RISCWorld is your magazine, so lets hear your views.
(P.S. And if you are a RISCWorld author nicking stuff from the letters page for your own articles then Paul Brett better stand up now!)
Aaron Timbrell
ÿÿÿÿVOLUME6/ISSUE2/PD/INDEX.HTM Volume 6, Issue 2, PD World
PD World
Paul Brett with the latest freeware and PD releases for RISC OS.
Welcome back to PD World, where I cover the latest software releases for RISC OS, so without any further delay let us see what new applications the keen RISC OS developers have been working on recently.
NurseW - Graeme Wall
NurseW is a helper application for the Dr Wimp program. It is a macr
inserter designed to take the drudgery out of writing out the various librar
commands. It also helps in eliminating spelling mistakes which can be a nuisanc
when trying to trace faults.
NurseW
To start the program, simply double-click on the NurseW icon and it wil
install itself on the iconbar. Clicking Select on the iconbar icon will ope
the main menubar. You can then click on any of the menubar options to open a window givin
access to the appropriate wimp functions. Click on the Menubar icon to shut the window again.
Clicking Select on the appropriate function will insert that function a
the cursor, complete with brackets to remind you to fill in the appropriat
parameters. Clicking Adjust on the function will open a window at the to
of the screen showing which parameters that function takes.
Click Adjust on the iconbar icon opens a small menu at the bottom of th
screen giving access to a few of the most common BASIC functions used in D
Wimp.
Three menu windows, those for Window, Icon and Menu functions, have writabl
icons at the bottom. You can type in the appropriate handle or icon number in th
boxes and the contents will be inserted at the relevant place in the functio
string. If you omit the % character from a window, icon or menu name, Nurse
will automatically add it for you. In fact, to get the best results, it is advisable not to add the % character. The contents of these icons are automatically deleted when the parent window is closed.
Icon numbers and item numbers can be increased/decreased using the bumpe
icons. This saves losing the cursor in the BASIC window when enterin
successive icons/items.
I have also included the full DrWimp package version 4.20 in this issues software directory.
PrintPDF - Steve Fryatt
PrintPDF provides a front-end to the "*ps2pdf" command in GhostScript
allowing PDF documents to be produced more easily. Normally, the proces
requires a document to be 'printed' to a postscript file, before that fil
is passed through GhostScript and converted into a PDF. This two stag
process is complicated by the fact that the RISC OS printer drivers ca
only 'print' to a file in a single location, so care has to be taken not t
overwrite an existing postscript file before it has been converted.
PrintPDF
By setting up a dedicated postscript driver in Printers, which prints to
specific location, PrintPDF can watch out for new documents being printe
and add them to a queue. These are processed in turn, with the resultin
PDF files being saved using drag-and-drop from a dialogue box. To th
user, printing from an application while this printer driver is selecte
will result in a Create PDF dialogue box opening; the PDF is save
directly, and no postscript files need be seen.
As the process behind the scenes still involves creating a postscript fil
and then converting that to a PDF, PrintPDF also provides a quick way t
convert any of these files which already exist by dragging them to it
icon.
In addition to the manual, interactive help is also fully supported. As PrintPDF relies on GhostScript, which is quite a large download, I have also included a full copy of GhostScript in the software directory.
Tau - Tim Birks & Peter Killworth
!Tau generates publication-quality graphs in the form of Draw files, ready to import into your favourite word-processor, computer presentation, or DTP. A data worksheet (16 columns by 4096 rows) can be filled by keying-in, importing from a file or files, and/or calculation. You determine line patterns and thicknesses, colours, text positioning and font sizes, etc. The data worksheet can be redimensioned, if you would prefer more rows of data for example.
Note that Tau does not (usually) draw graphs on the screen (Acorn's excellent Draw or similar applications will do that).
Tau
Double clicking on the !Tau icon in a filer window, or double clicking on the icon of a file of type 082 (TauFile) or 083 (TauStyle), loads !Tau. The Tau icon is installed on the icon bar, and the application's main window opens, showing the data worksheet (dark blue background) with labelling (grey background) along the top and left edges. If starting by a double click on a TauFile or TauStyle, that file is loaded into Tau. If starting by a double click on the !Tau icon itself, Tau looks for a TauFile or TauStyle called "Default" within the !Tau directory and loads that. If there is no such file, Tau starts with its worksheet empty and with minimal appearance data.
I strongly recommend that users read the comprehensive manual supplied so that can get to grips with !Tau's many features.
RISCSearch - Patrick Mortara
Finally it's been bought to my attention that a new version of RISCSearch is now available at
A feature to highlight the keywords in the html output file
Fixed a 'Too many nested structures' bug
A new added link checker
Program version is now part of !RiscSearch's user agent string
Online update now gives information about recent development version of !RiscSearch available
Link-check statistics to HTML output file
Added possibility to use Acorn URl fetcher modules instead of !RiscSearchs own socket code
Fixed possible bugs that occurred when SysLog logging was enabled but SysLog was not available
Updated !ResFind to it's most recent version
Added a new line to the small status window, telling how many pages have been found so far and how many of them have been checke
RISCSearch
!RiscSearch is meant to be a meta search engines and queries 18 different internet search engines for your keywords. It collects all results, sorts out duplicates and presents the result in a browser window. !RiscSearch works on all versions of RISCOS from 3.5 and above. I have included version 0.96 in the software directory.
That's all for this time, I wonder what new software we will have for the next issue.
Paul Brett
ÿÿÿÿVOLUME6/ISSUE2/RWDVD/INDEX.HTM Volume 6, Issue 2, RISCWorld DVD
RISCWorld DVD
RISCWorld
RISCWorld compilations
We have often been asked if we could produce a RISCWorld compilation, but as most subscribers will appreciate Issue 6 of each volume nearly fills a CD so it wouldn't really have been possible.
However, now that many more RISC OS users are fitting DVD drives we have decided to produce a RISCWorld DVD. This contains all the articles and all the software from the first five years of RISC World. The complete contents of Volume 1 to Volume 5.
Since that's a lot of magazines, to make it easy to find that elusive article you remember reading but can't recall when we've included a special HTML search program that will let you scan the entire magazine for keywords.
The RISC World compilation DVD costs just £29.20 plus £1.50 carriage outside the UK. However current subscribers can purchase a copy for the incredible bargain price of just £19.90 inclusive. The software alone on this DVD is surely worth at least ten time the price. We must be mad!
For people who don't yet have a DVD drive we can also supply the complete five volumes of RISC World without the software on CD. This costs only £14.90 plus £1 carriage outside the UK or for subscribers just £8.90 inclusive.
RISCWorld
ÿÿÿÿVOLUME6/ISSUE2/UPDATES/INDEX.HTM Volume 6, Issue 2, RISC World updates
RISC World updates
Matt Thompson updates his articles from earlier issues of RISCWorld
Since some of my reviews were published in RISCWorld there have been a number of changes to the applications concerned, these are detailed below.
Flight Simulator Compilation CD
There was a problem with the game Spitfire Fury on some of the original CDs that were produced, if your version of Spitfire Fury does not work, then go to
!6502em
Since the release of Version 4.00 of !6502em the author has released a number of updates, the current version is V4.03 and a number of fixes have been implemented, and also the number of games which run has increased since V4.00. Unfortunately Firetrack doesn't work yet, but here's hoping it will eventually, for the latest version see Michael Borcherds website at
!Z80em
No updates on this one as there really is no need, this emulator seems to run almost every Spectrum game I've tried on it, although there is one exception, there are a number of Jet Set Willy remakes which require 128K mode for some reason these won't work, this problem only occurs on the Iyonix, RISC OS 4 seems to be fine.
Anyway the point of this was to mention a ZX Spectrum games compilation I bought, it costs only £4.99 and is available from
VICE
In my VICE article I omitted to mention how to get T64(tape) and D64(disc) images to run using !Vice64, it can be a bit tricky but once you know what you are doing it's easy, to run a D64image you do the following:
Hold down Shift whilst dragging the gamefile into Vice, you need to drag the file onto the panel on the left hand side of the emulator window, where the number 8 is, now release your finger off the mouse button, but keep shift held down, and a window should now appear, looking something like this :
What you need to do now is double click on the program file which in the case is "Bone-Main" you can tell a program file because it has PRG next to it, there are other PRG files but they are intros and they didn't seem to work, but the Bone-Main file goes straight to the game. The other files are just headers and sometimes if they don't work the game won't run, but, by bypassing the headers you can get to the game which then should run ok. There maybe other ways of getting the D64 images to run but this seems to be an effective way of doing so.
And all being well you should end up with something like this :
It is worth creating a Vice snapshot of the game when it has loaded, so you don't have to load the game again, in future you can just drag the snapshot into the main emulator screen. This is done by clicking the mouse menu button over the main emulator screen and selecting snapshot then drag the file to the required destination.
As for the T64 tape images, the process is almost the same, but with tape images you will need to first open the tape player window. Do this by clicking the menu button on the mouse and then select configure>tape, you will then see the following window :
Now you can drag the tape file to the tape player window with the Shift key held down in exactly the same way that you would load a disc image. A window will appear and then you can select the 'PRG' file, double click on it and the game will now automatically load. As with the disc images when you have got the game loaded it is best to create a snapshot so next time you can just drag and drop the snapshot into the emulator and it will run first time. Snapshots do not need PRG or any file extension on the end of the filename it should run as is.
One other thing in my VICE article I said that the game filename needs to have a 'PRG' extension to run, this doesn't seem to apply to Commodore 64 games as the T64/D64 images don't have the PRG file extension and don't seem to need it, the PRG extension mainly seems to apply to VIC 20 and Commodore 16 and Commodore Plus 4 games. These games are usually in a datafile format and have a filename eg GAME/PRG so if you download a game for one these machines and it doesn't work try it with /PRG on the end of the filename. PRG files should automatically run by dragging and dropping them into the emulator main screen.
Hopefully this all makes sense, if anyone has problems running games on any of the Vice emulators, or Z80em or 6502em them feel free to email me at
Matt Thompson
ÿÿÿÿVOLUME6/ISSUE2/VA/INDEX.HTM Volume 6, Issue 2, VirtualAcorn Tech Support
VirtualAcorn Tech Support
More from Aaron's tech support notebook
There has been one particular niggle experienced by VirtualAcorn customers over the last few weeks, this concerns the installation of !FontDirPro, from LookSystems. !FontDirPro needs to be installed on a filecore filing system, unfortunately HostFS, the file system used by VirtualAcorn, isn't a file core filing system so !FontDirPro won't work if it's been installed on HostFS. Luckily we were aware of this problem as there are a few other applications (including Sibelius) that suffer the same problem. So VirtualRPC is supplied with a 200Mb ADFS partition that can be used to install problem software.
The ADFS partition
I call the ADFS disc a partition, but it isn't really. It's simply a big file that Windows sees just as a file, but that RISC OS sees as an ADFS harddisc. If you want to set up the ADFS disc then you need to make sure that your VirtualAcorn installation is up to date. Take a note of your VitualAcorn CD serial number (that's the serial number printed on the CD) and then pop along to
Setting up the ADFS partition
This is very easy. Restart VirtualRPC and then click on HardDisc4, double click on !Boot, and go to the Discs option. Then set the number of IDEDiscs to 1 and click on the Set button. You may well get a warning from RISC OS that "Changing the number of discs is potentially dangerous" but don't worry and carry on. After a few seconds a new drive icon called IDEDisc4 will appear on the RISC OS icon bar. If you open this new disc you will see a readme file and two applications called !BootADFS and !BootHostFS.
These two applications control which filing system RISC OS boots from, double clicking on !BootADFS will copy your entire !Boot sequence onto the ADFS drive and re-configure VirtualAcorn to boot from there. !BootHostFS will simply set VirtualRPC to boot from your existing !Boot sequence on the HostFS harddisc and will not copy any files. So far so good, so in order to install programs that need a file core filing system in theory all you need to do is run !Boot ADFS and go and boil the kettle. Once you come back and the !Boot sequence has been copied you can simply re-start VRPC and install programs to the ADFS partition.
However there is a potential problem waiting to bite users (and me) in the backside. If you were to go down to the IDEDisc4 icon on the iconbar and click menu and then click on free you will see that the drive is a fixed size, and a small size as well. Indeed on some early VirtualRPC-SE installations the drive can be as small as 50Mb. So what happens if either your !Boot sequence, or your copy of !FontDirPro is bigger then the size of the ADFS partition? Obviously you can't install FontDirPro, or can you? Well actually you can make a bigger ADFS partition quite easily, if you know how....
Making a bigger ADFS partition
The first thing to do is to take a backup of the !BootADFS, !BootHostFS and Readme files on the existing IDEDisc4 disc. The best idea is to open the HostFS::HardDisc4.$.Filing directory and then create a new directory called ADFS, now copy the three items over. This needs to be done now as in order to make a new ADFS disc the old one will have to be deleted. Having copied the three items you can shut down VirtualRPC, as the next steps need to be performed under Windows.
Firstly we need to get rid of the existing ADFS partition.
Go to My Computer, then DriveC then to Program Files then into the VirtualAcorn folder. Now open your particular VirtualRPC and then go into Models folder and the into the Arm7 RISC OS folder. You will see a file called HardDisc4.hdf this is the RISC OS ADFS harddisc. You need to delete this file, if you are feeling sensibly paranoid you might want to take a backup first. Having deleted the file you then need to open the Model.cfg file in the same folder. Simply double click on the file, hopefully it will open into Notepad, if not choose to open it using a program chosen from a list, and choose NotePad. You will now see a human readable text configuration file. Find the section for the IDEDisc, which should look something like this:
[IdeDisc
Shape = "384 16 63 512
Filename = "HardDisc4.hdf
The section we are interested in is the Shape section, this defines the size of the ADFS disc. In the example above the disc has 384 cylinders,16 heads and 63 sectors per track. So we can quite obviously increase the size of the drive by altering the numbers. However we need to be slightly careful. Firstly since we are making an IDEDisc for use with ADFS we cannot increase the number if heads beyond 16. So to make things simple lets look at the current size of the drive. We can work out the drives approximate formatted capacity in K simply by dividing the number of cylinders by 2, this gives us a current drive size of 192Mb, which is close enough for our purposes. So if the value of 384 is doubled to 768 the drive size will be doubled to just under 400Mb. So the new [IDEDisc] section of the model.cfg file should read:
[IdeDisc
Shape = "768 16 63 512
Filename = "HardDisc4.hdf
Save the file and re-start VirtualRPC. There will be a slight pause while the new HardDisc.hdf file is created and then VRPC will start up normally. The IDEDisc4 icon will be replaced with an icon that just says 4, this is because the drive isn't currently formatted. Just like a real ADFS disc !Hform needs to be used to format the drive for RISC OS. !Hform is located in the HostFS::Harddisc4.$.Utilities directory. To format the new dive just double click on !HForm in the normal way.
Formatting the ADFS partition
The single tasking !Hform window will open with the current drive number (4) selected, so press Return. Now select the make of disc, which is number 9 (for other).So enter 9 and press return. Next the sectors per track will be shown, the correct value of 63 will already be entered so press return again. The number of heads (16) will then be shown, again press return. Now the number of cylinders will be shown, this again will be already entered as the correct figure of 768 so press return again. Next the Drive parameter init flag of 1 is shown, again press return. The parking cylinder is then shown, this will also have the correct value of 768 so once again press return.
Next !HForm will ask about the defect list, just type A (no more changes) and press return once more. !Hform will then ask if you want to format or just initilaise the drive. Type I (for initialise) and press return. Soak testing isn't required so on the next option type N and then press return. Next !Hform will ask if you want to make this disc bootable, type Y and press return. !HForm then asks if you want long files names on the disc, press Y and then return. Finally !Hform will confirm that you want to format the disc, again press Y and then return. Finally you need to type in the large file allocation unit, the default value of 256 will be shown on screen. This needs to be changed, so type 512 and once more press return
!HForm will now pause as it writes the disc map, the hard drive light on your PC will come on at this point. After a few seconds !Hform will finish and will report the formatted size of the drive, press Space to return to the RISC OS desktop. Now there is one final step. The newly formatted drive is still called 4, press MENU over it and go up to name disc. You will see that in fact the disc is called HardDisc4. However the HostFS harddisc is also called HardDisc4 and so we need to rename the new ADFS drive, delete the current name and type IDEDisc4 and press return.
Using the ADFS partition
That's almost it. All that has to be done now is to copy back the !BootADFS and !BootHostFS applications from the ADFS directory created earlier inside the filing directory. The new ADFS partition is now ready to be used. Of course if you wanted a bigger disc you could simply double the number of cylinders again. Altering the shape in the models file to:
Shape = "1536 16 63 512"
would give you an ADFS drive of 755MB, which should be big enough for almost any !FontDirPro installation.
