SymbOS CPC updates and infos

[Prodatron]

Here is a new package of SymbOS CPC (release candidate 1) with working widget support and increased booting speed.

http://www.symbos.org/download/preview-cpc161114.zip

The changes are described in the #readme.txt, which I am pasting here as well:


SYMBOS 3.0 CPC - RC1 16/11/14
===============================================================================
This package contains
- SymbOS 3.0 release candidate 1 - CPC edition
- a pre-installation for the M4Board and SYMBiFACE II compatible IDE interfaces

Changes since the last update (see section below):
- fixed bug in the widget management of the extended desktop; the widget
  feature can now fully used as well
- no FDC access during the startup phase; increased booting speed

The package is arranged like the previous ones (see last section in this file).

Some details about the changes:
- WIDGET SUPPORT (EXTENDED DESKTOP)
  This feature of the extended desktop finally has been debug and can be fully
  used now. Widgets are little apps, which can be placed directly inside the
  desktop area beside the icons and the background graphic. Like widgets for
  modern smartphones the may show the actual time and date, the actual weather
  conditions or whatever. They are not realized as forms (windows) but as
  elements of the desktop itself. They can be resized and freely placed
  anywhere on the screen. Currently there is a clock and a cpu meter available
  as desktop widget (see \SYMBOS\WIDGETS\*.WDG) and a preview of a weather
  widget for machines with network connection. To add a new widget you have to
  right-click the desktop, choose "New" -> "Widget" and select a widget file
  and a size.
- INCREASED BOOTING SPEED
  During the device initialisation SymbOS won't access mass storage devices
  anymore, which are "removeable". This is increasing the booting speed, as
  there is no delay anymore caused by the floppy drives.


The clock and cpu meter widget running on the real machine:

Resizing a widget:

[Jungsi]

Thats a great new release! I like it. It's starting much faster and the widgets are really cool :-)


With the MX4 Board (and X-MEM) the CPC RTC is working for me with SYMBOS (CPCRTC set to INT)


X-MASS
Like you said I've set the CPC RTC to "Int".


With the X-MASS this is not working in my setup (X-MASS, CPCRTC, XMEM)
CPCRTC Manual:
In parallel with a MegaFlash or X-Mem on a MX4: set the 3 jumpers to “Ext”
For a correct working X-Mass you need the rom slot for ACMEDOS and the CPCRTC.


Strange ;-) I don't know how the others have done it :-)

[dragon]

One think i don't try it. (i waiting for x-mem and x4). But is necesary the  rtc motherboard clone to view the hour and date obligatory?.

Symbos can't access to  a ntp server with m4?

[Prodatron]

@Jungsi , thanks for trying the new version! TBH I have no idea why the RTC is working or not working with a different hardware setup :/ SymbOS is just searching for the RTC ROM, and if it could be found it is using the clock. My RTC seems to have an empty batterie. If it is switched off for a longer periode, it forgets the last time/date and has to be reconfigured, but that problem isn't SymbOS related.

@dragon: Yes, I am planning to provide an NTP client for SymbOS. Another idea is to use the time/date of the M4Board itself, as it is doing NTP anyway. This would be a quick solution, but as SymbOS needs a general NTP client anyway (due to the other platforms) I guess I will implement such a client directly.

[HAL 6128]

Would it be possible to set time via internet instead of the rtc?

[Prodatron]

Yes, with an NTP client!
That's on my Todo list after the 3.0 release...

[remax]

If i remember well i have to remove the rtc rom in order to have correct time and no crash when trying to access time settings

Envoyé de mon Nexus 5 en utilisant Tapatalk

[HAL 6128]

Just a short testing feedback: Yesterday I tried the new preview. I put the SD out of the M4 and into the PC. I copied the files over the old files existing on the SD Card and put it back into the M4. After booting SymbOS the CPC crashed. After resetting the SD wasn't accessible anymore. So I put it out again into the PC. Windows offered me formatting the card. I took a deeper dive with Winhex and have seen that the MBR was vanished and overwritten by SymbOS. It seemed that symbos.ini was directly stored in sector 0. I was able to restore most files and data into the PC.

I have no clue about the root cause, maybe I did something wrong?

So I formatted the SD and copied the preview again onto the card. Booting works fine now, but the IRC client freezes the whole CPC if I want to start connection.

[Edoz(MSX)]

Was the network daemon started and active before you started SyMIRC?
Was it hanging after starting or after you pressed the connect button?

[Takis Kalatzis]

Just a short testing feedback: Yesterday I tried the new preview. I put the SD out of the M4 and into the PC. I copied the files over the old files existing on the SD Card and put it back into the M4. After booting SymbOS the CPC crashed. After resetting the SD wasn't accessible anymore. So I put it out again into the PC. Windows offered me formatting the card. I took a deeper dive with Winhex and have seen that the MBR was vanished and overwritten by SymbOS. It seemed that symbos.ini was directly stored in sector 0. I was able to restore most files and data into the PC.

I have no clue about the root cause, maybe I did something wrong?

So I formatted the SD and copied the preview again onto the card. Booting works fine now, but the IRC client freezes the whole CPC if I want to start connection.

Similar thing happened to me with the previous 128k preview version. Actually SymbOS did not crash but my M4 SD card was not accessible. When I rebooted, SD card was completely unaccessible.  I had to format the SD and re-configure M4 from the beginning. Conclusion : always keep a backup of the M4 SD card before playing around with SymbOS.
Did not try yet the alternative MBR solution, though.