SymbOS CPC updates and infos

[CraigsBar]

Strange issue :/ In SymbOS you can access all folders with the expection of /SYMBOS/ itself? And it is still loading the wallpaper (it's placed in the SYMBOS folder, so at least during booting this folder seems to be accessible). Maybe you can rename/remove the /SYMBOS/NETD-M4C.EXE (network daemon) so it will not autostart it at the beginning? Maybe this is causing issues after booting. You should also check the filesystem integrity again.

OK will test tomorrow.... I'm in bed now!

[Takis Kalatzis]

Hello, one quick question : I have just an 6128 (no memory expansions) with an M4 board. I copied the zip contents into root of SD card, deleted SYMBOS.INI and started SymbOS. I see the icons in the desktop and the start button, cursor appears but does not move at all. It should move with the keyboard arrows, correct?


I suspect it has something to do with "running the Control Panel from floppy to complete the configuration" : so the question is : how do I copy the Control Panel executable to a floppy drive? Whn the M4 board is active, Floppy Drive A cannot be accessed.

[anyf33]

Hello, one quick question : I have just an 6128 (no memory expansions) with an M4 board. I copied the zip contents into root of SD card, deleted SYMBOS.INI and started SymbOS. I see the icons in the desktop and the start button, cursor appears but does not move at all. It should move with the keyboard arrows, correct?


I suspect it has something to do with "running the Control Panel from floppy to complete the configuration" : so the question is : how do I copy the Control Panel executable to a floppy drive? Whn the M4 board is active, Floppy Drive A cannot be accessed.

this a normal problem of symbos cursor move only with joystick !

[anyf33]

Thank you for the symbOS m4 version
excelent work

i have a 128k machine
please make a 128k version of symbos1.ini if you can.
with normal .ini i cannot see the sd card
with 1.ini i have memory problems (because of the wallpaper of course) so i just rename the graphics folder to graphics1 and the wallpaper was not loaded saving my small memory...
and now i can load calculator for example but no cmd or wget because i have memory full

[Takis Kalatzis]

this a normal problem of symbos cursor move only with joystick !

I do not own a joystick (and never had one actually). So, is it impossible to use SymbOS without joystick?

[robcfg]

Yes, use the cursor keys while pressing the COPY key.


COPY+Space to click.

[Prodatron]

@Takis, here are some of the shortcuts used in SymbOS:

Code Select Expand

The mouse pointer

See the following table how to control the mouse pointer with one of the three supported devices. Please note, that the "Copy" key on the CPC keyboard is renamed to "Alt" in SymbOS.

Mouse           Joystick        Keyboard
-------------------------------------------------
Move Up         Joystick Up     Alt + Arrow Up
Move Down       Joystick Down   Alt + Arrow Down
Move Left       Joystick Left   Alt + Arrow Left
Move Right      Joystick Right  Alt + Arrow Right
Left button     Fire 1          Alt + Space
Right button    Fire 2          Alt + Enter

Keyboard shortcuts

The following is a list of general keyboard shortcuts, which do not depend on a special application:

ALT  + ESC          - switch to the next window
CTRL + ESC          - open the start menu
CTRL + SHIFT + ESC  - start the Task Manager
ALT  + F4           - quit the current application
ALT  + M            - open the menu of the current window

In most dialogues you can use the following keys:

RETURN              - apply changes and close dialogue
ESC                 - discard changes and close dialogue


[anyf33]

I do not own a joystick (and never had one actually). So, is it impossible to use SymbOS without joystick?

ahhh finaly i find the shortcut . it is control+esc to open the start menu. then you can use arrow keys
also with tab you can move through desktop shortcuts. (no use because of the 128k memory )
p.s.
http://members.home.nl/evanzanten/msxorg/SymbOS%203%20install%20user%20and%20install%20guide.pdf
in page 26

[Prodatron]

I will publish an alternative config for 128K systems soon. But please note, that with a 128K system you won't have much fun with network in SymbOS, as beside starting the network daemon there is not much memory left for applications. You should get a X-MEM + MotherX4 from Toto ( http://www.centpourcent.net/store/c5/CPC_Boards.html ) when you want to enjoy the full capabilities.

[Edoz(MSX)]

Yes more the 128 is not needed to boot SymbOS.. but if you want to play with Network and the applications (SymIRC need 34k or so) than memory is very nice to have!.. and cool part is that this X-MEM/MotherX4 and M4 hardware is very cheep to buy!

[Prodatron]

@Edoz(MSX) , unfortunately unzip gives a "corrupt archive header", but, i think that prodraton said that wget still didn't work on cpc... i don't have any  hurry, things will work when there is time for work on it, and we have a lot of time to wait as this is a hobbie

@Joseman and @HAL 6128, it would be nice if you could try it again after updating the M4Board firmware:
http://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/amstrad-cpc-hardware/amstrad-cpc-wifi/msg135402/#msg135402
So far I don't have any corrupt data anymore when downloading files with WGET in SymbOS. I will do some more tests as well, but it seems to be fine now.

[Scarlettkitten]

I'm new to Symbos, what does mice does it support, I've AMX or Multiplay, would any of these work?


Soph

[Joseman]

@Joseman and @HAL 6128, it would be nice if you could try it again after updating the M4Board firmware:
http://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/amstrad-cpc-hardware/amstrad-cpc-wifi/msg135402/#msg135402
So far I don't have any corrupt data anymore when downloading files with WGET in SymbOS. I will do some more tests as well, but it seems to be fine now.

EDIT: the problems were with the microsd, once formatted... all goes well!!

[HAL6128]

Hey, great. The M4 update works!
Downloading from CPC with wget and unzipping the file works sufficiently (testing ok / no CRC errors)
I was able to connect then to the IRC Chat room and could talk to myself (CPC nickname was HAL6128 and PC nickname was Guest27193).
Good job!
That's pretty cool. Amazing!!
[attach=2]

[Prodatron]

I'm new to Symbos, what does mice does it support, I've AMX or Multiplay, would any of these work?

Hi Soph, SymbOS supports keyboard (see some posts above), Joystick, AMX (joystick compatible) mouses, SYMBiFACE II mouse (PS/2) and USB mouses via the Albireo board.

Downloading from CPC with wget and unzipping the file works sufficiently (testing ok / no CRC errors)
I was able to connect then to the IRC Chat room and could talk to myself (CPC nickname was HAL6128 and PC nickname was Guest27193).
Good job!
That's pretty cool. Amazing!!

Seems, that you were even faster than me!

[Prodatron]

Thanks to Dukes last firmware update of the M4Board the network seems to be now fully stable!
So I was able to record a video, how a CPC can download software from a website (using WGET) to the M4Board SD card, uncompress it (using UNZIP) and starting/using it while playing AY music all the time (using SYMAMP with Soundtrakker 128 modules):

I was using an USB mouse connected to PulkoMandys Albireo board all the time, and everything was working just great!
I am still impressed by the new hardware for the CPC published during the last time by Duke, PulkoMandy and TotO!

[Edoz(MSX)]

Pfff. That looks so cool on the CPC! Thank you so much Prodatron and Duke! Getting the CPC connected is so crazy if you think about it

[Takis Kalatzis]

It really looks very cool!


I wonder how hard would it be to write an IRC client for AMSDOS? (for those of us who just have the plain old CPC 6128)..

[Duke]

Thanks to Dukes last firmware update of the M4Board the network seems to be now fully stable!
So I was able to record a video, how a CPC can download software from a website (using WGET) to the M4Board SD card, uncompress it (using UNZIP) and starting/using it while playing AY music all the time (using SYMAMP with Soundtrakker 128 modules):

I was using an USB mouse connected to PulkoMandys Albireo board all the time, and everything was working just great!
I am still impressed by the new hardware for the CPC published during the last time by Duke, PulkoMandy and TotO!

I had to try this myself. It runs beautifully. Right now I have IRC + SymAmp and Video at 6 fps, crazy on a CPC, never would have thought that

[ronaldo]

@Prodatron , really nice work and amazing release. This is a huge milestone for the Amstrad community. Congratulations .

However, I cannot make it work. I have an Amstrad CPC 464, an MX4 board and 2 expansions: M4 and X-MEM (576K total RAM). I've got latest M4 firmware installed (1.1.0b3) and 2 different SD cards for testing purposes (8GB and 16GB). In both cases, I get the same result:

   
• Symbos boots, but seems unable to read anything from disk. There is no mouse on the screen and I only can open Start menu and navigate it, but options do not respond. There is no background or icons and the clock advances normally.

I tried formatting cards in different ways, uncompressing and copying symbos again, erasing everything... Same result always.
Could it be a problem on 464s? May it be related to the size of the cards (8GB and 16GB)? Is there anything else I can try?

[Prodatron]

@Prodatron , really nice work and amazing release. This is a huge milestone for the Amstrad community. Congratulations .

Hi Ronaldo, it's an honour for me to read these words from you!
Did you already try replacing SYMBOS.INI with SYMBOS1.INI? (in case your SD cards have an MBR)
TBH I didn't try SymbOS on a 464 without an FDC765 before. Not sure, if the system manager, which is responsible for mass storage access as well, could hang if the FDC isn't present. I will make some tests here by myself.

[MissionComplete]

However, I cannot make it work. I have an Amstrad CPC 464, an MX4 board and 2 expansions: M4 and X-MEM (576K total RAM). I've got latest M4 firmware installed (1.1.0b3) and 2 different SD cards for testing purposes (8GB and 16GB). In both cases, I get the same result:

   
• Symbos boots, but seems unable to read anything from disk. There is no mouse on the screen and I only can open Start menu and navigate it, but options do not respond. There is no background or icons and the clock advances normally.

I have exactly the same problem with M4 and X-MEM in my 464. However, Symbos works fine in my 6128 with the expansions. Firmware in the M4 board: 1.09.

[ronaldo]

TBH I didn't try SymbOS on a 464 without an FDC765 before. Not sure, if the system manager, which is responsible for mass storage access as well, could hang if the FDC isn't present. I will make some tests here by myself.

That was exactly the problem! I've attached the DDI clone and everything works now! Fantastic!

You may consider now checking for this posibility and letting no-FDC if you are using an M4. It could even be interesting to add cassette support in the future. That could open possibilities for application converting games from DSK to cassette or for developers in general . But that's another story...

Thank you very much for your work! It's really amazing!

[mr_lou]

I've only glanced at SymbOS so far. Tried it once on my CPCplus and didn't get far, don't remember why.
So far I haven't added any additional memory to any of my machines, because I haven't had a need. But this online IRC thing is really intriguing, and I already have the M4 card.... and Bryce's USB mouse-port.

@Bryce! I think it's time to get myself that memory expansion you made room for back then. 

Having the CPCplus, I can't help wonder if there's a cartridge version of SymbOS available. Would be awesome to have a cartridge version with the essentials, for extreme fast loading.
I have no knowledge about the technical aspects, so sorry if I'm fantasizing about the impossible.

[HAL6128]

Did you already try replacing SYMBOS.INI with SYMBOS1.INI? (in case your SD cards have an MBR)
TBH I didn't try SymbOS on a 464 without an FDC765 before. Not sure, if the system manager, which is responsible for mass storage access as well, could hang if the FDC isn't present. I will make some tests here by myself.

I realized that symbos is looking/checking during booting after something on the Discs. I have a 6128 with two Floppy drives and there MUST be a Disc inside the Drive. In theres is NO disc in the drive then the booting process hangs / stops. (The symbos.ini configuration says booting from harddrive and the system Folders is also on the harddrive.)