X-Amiga

[mintfresh]

Boot_WB wrote:

mintfresh wrote:
what's this all about then?

Can't get any info of the website

From X-Amiga FAQ:

This site doesn't display properly on my browser...

Tested on Firefox, Opera, Safari, Konqueror; known not to work on Internet Explorer (no support for transparent png). Use a standards-compliant browser!

Yes I think it was Pocket IE causing the problems. The funny thing is you can't actually get to this message without a browser that displays the site!

Not wanting to start an argument about browsers and things(working as a web developer myself I personally get annoyed with having to support old versions of IE) but I think I you should always try and make it so your site degrades nicely in browsers that arn't upto date or standards compliant.

I wasn't showing off with the phone browser thing! Honest. I tend to browser alot of websites on my phone, during the day at work!

[guru-666]

this is very cool, I think!

[Belial6]

This sounds like a very cool project.

There are two features that I would submit for future, post 1.0 release.  I realize that 1.0 hasn't been released yet, but I know I like to think about where I am going at least one version ahead when I write software.  So, my suggestions are:

1)  Support for the CatWeasal.  This would pretty much make the system into a real Amiga, as even real Amiga floppies would work.

2)  A way to reconfigure the system as different Amiga models on boot up.  I don't like the idea of a menu at the beginning, as that would spoil the fantasy.  It would also force user intervention for boot up.  That would be a bad thing.  Some non-intrusive bootup options could be:

a) Look on a SD card for a config file.  This would allow model switching by just pulling out one SD card and inserting another.  SD is cheap, and even throw away 8 meg SD cards would be plenty big for holding the Kickstart and config file.  If no SD is found, boot to the default configuration on the hard drive.

b) Allow F-keys during the 15 second boot, to change the configuration.  This could work similar to the way you can press an F-Key to change boot up drive on most BIOSes.  This would be cleaner than a menu, but it would still require user intervention during the boot.

c)  Have an Amiga application that will change the config so that on next reboot, the system is a different model.  This would require that the application be available to all installations, so it could be quite a headache.


Actually as I type this, a third feature request comes to mind for even later in the development cycle.  How about an Amiga application that could change the ADF that is loaded.  It could work much like Alchohol 120%, or DeamoneTools works for CDs.

[EDanaII]

@ dammy:

With EUAE it does.  Yes, there is an integration bounty open to make it seemless.

You know, I've always wondered why AROS never took an approach similar to Amithlon. I.e. Kernal, Emulation, Apps. Yes, I know that was not there initial goal, but if they had, they could have, just like Amithlon, rewritten every piece of code over time while still supporting users. Not a complaint, merely an observation.

I've even attempted a setup that would allow booting into AROS DOS and launching EUAE, instead of Wanderer, but have been hampered by my inability to install AROS to my hard drive. I've only just recently accomplished this, but have been too busy get to trying EUAE as a "Wanderer Replacement."

Oh well, one of these daze...

Ed.

[mihcael]

The Amithlon kernal was recently updated, but amithlon itself is DEAD, it was deemed illegal by A inc or whoever!!

Illegallly downloading illegal software!!
Do 2 wrongs make a right??  :-D

[Amigamia]

Looks like Amir did it!!!!!! he was having some problems with the alsa drivers if I recall.

Keep up the good work Amir!!

 :-D  :-)  :-)

[AndrewBell]

Belial6 wrote:
2)  ...  I don't like the idea of a menu at the beginning, as that would spoil the fantasy.  ...

You don't think the PC BIOS screen would ruin the illusion then?
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[downix]

LinuxBIOS my friend, LinuxBIOS....

[dammy]

And how easy is it to install AROS directly to the hard drive? Is there a simple installer?

AROS will have a new Installer out shortly. I'm expecting to see a beta release of the new installer any day now.

Dammy
TeamAROS

[dammy]

LinuxBIOS my friend, LinuxBIOS....

Rather see AROSBIOS. :-)

Dammy

[downix]

dammy wrote:

LinuxBIOS my friend, LinuxBIOS....

Rather see AROSBIOS. :-)

Dammy

Working on it my friend....

[Belial6]

AndrewBell wrote:

Belial6 wrote:
2)  ...  I don't like the idea of a menu at the beginning, as that would spoil the fantasy.  ...

You don't think the PC BIOS screen would ruin the illusion then?

With menu, I meant a menu that stops the boot process and waits for input.  Although now that you mention it, I would be MUCH happier if the bios screen at the beginning could be removed as well.  I assume that that is what the "Linux bios" suggest was about.

The less non Amiga crap that we see during a normal boot up, the better.

[Fraccy]

It looks quite straightforward to include CatWeasel drivers... However, the floppy driver is read-only (http://www.soundtracker.org/raw/cwfloppy/).

I also don't like the idea of a startup menu (just personal preference). It'd be possible to implement one, but some programming is required (= more delay). At the moment the system boots straight into Amiga OS.

LinuxBIOS is still experimental and only works on limited hardware. Current BIOS chips don't enough memory to contain a kernel for a desktop system (embedded kernels are much smaller), so although it's a great idea, there's still a way to go.

As for detecting the presence of config files on SD cards (or other flash devices) - yes, shouldn't be too hard to do!

Amir

[AndrewBell]

There are no download links on the X-Amiga site, not even for a beta version. Is it possible to get this anywhere?
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[Belial6]

"It looks quite straightforward to include CatWeasel drivers..."

"As for detecting the presence of config files on SD cards (or other flash devices) - yes, shouldn't be too hard to do!"

That is great news!

While getting rid of the PC BIOS screen would be cool, jumping through a ton of hoops to do it by loading LinuxBIOS probably isn't worth it in the short run.  Maybe not at all.

Unless I am wrong though, there have been motherboards in the past that would let you install your own boot screen to the BIOS.  This boot screen hid all of the BIOS messages.  We see this implemented by manufacturers all the time in laptops.  While this would still leave the short delay, it could be used to improve the Amiga illusion by putting an Amiga boot screen instead of a PC one.

Does anyone know if any current motherboards support this?

[AndrewBell]

My motherboard supports adding an image to the BIOS. It's made by Gigabyte, and uses a tool called FaceWizard to add the image. Try googling for that to find a mobo that is still sold.

The images must be 640x480x8 bit format, and it doesn't hide all bios text, mainly the POST and drive scan. The SATA BIOS info still shows though.
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