Switching to MorphOS

[Fab]

Here are some screenshots to have an idea of OWB MorphOS features: http://fabportnawak.free.fr/owbshots/

More generally, it's very compatible, but it's still possible to stumble on some occasional bugs (often caused by silly cookie issues, actually).

[actung_bab]

Hi everyone!
In '90 I was using Amiga, then I switched to Windows, then to Mac OSX, then to Linux.
I'm going to try MorphOS as soon as I get some cheap G4 hardware.
I don't need wifi and I know that (some) HP printers are supported. But how about:

editing MS Office documents,
USB-MIDI devices support (in *tracker programs),
audio recording,
Flash videos in web browser,
writing to ntfs disks,
remote desktop (to login from MOS to Windows machine)

Thanks in advance for replies.
Recently I discovered  Aros and got excited but it's not stable yet and lacks drivers/software.
MorphOS on the other hand seems to be professional, mature and polished. Will you help me to make the switch?

Hi from novice point view for morphos it works great my own perosnall opion
is if you like mac os x your love morphos to me like very amiga like as well
i like amiga os 4 better but thats just my thing but wasint dispointed in morphos
its got alot cool features and and web browser is awsome and look feel very professinal and finished looking .

Ran it oun my mac mini g4 ran and booted fast had with dual boot config
with mac osx tiger very easy to set up look up dual boot pdf on the net
if wasint os 4 option whould switch over in instant to morphos

[mt12345]

GIMP-like program for MOS?
What is partition size and file size limit? (SFS)

[Iggy]

GIMP-like program for MOS?
What is partition size and file size limit? (SFS)

I don't think there's anything native that's quite as powerful as GIMP, although there are graphics manipulation programs available.
Originally I had thought that porting GIMP itself would be difficult because of the programs reliance on  the GTK-API.
But their is a wrapper that converts GTK-API calls into MUI calls http://sourceforge.net/projects/gtk-mui/
So a GIMP port may be possible, but hasn't been done yet (why don't  you do it).

 SFS? 128gb limit on partitions, but other software can create larger partitions that can be used (I've played around with this) AND there are other file systems (like IceFileSystem 2.3 - no limits on partition size).

File Size limitations? This I'm none to sure of as I've got several monstrous 720p video files on my hard drive and have never run into a size limitation issue. That said, there probably is a limit under SFS, I just haven't found it yet (and, again, there are alternative filesystems)

[mt12345]

I don't think there's anything native that's quite as powerful as GIMP, although there are graphics manipulation programs available.

Actually I dont need all the features GIMP offers. Just basic image manipulations.

GIMP port may be possible, but hasn't been done yet (why don't you do it)

I wish I could. In 2004 I got Powemac G3/233 and managed to install  OSX 10.3 but it was so sluggish so I tried linux on it. Then I got frustrated because some packages were not ported to PPC linux so I learnt  how to compile. But I was getting endless errors so I got even more frustrated and eventually I gave up. I bought Pentium4 PC to run linux and forget about compiling. But recently I was thinking about porting some stuff (I mean learning how to port) as I noticed AROS lacks software (its's MorphOS thread, I know). If you know some useful links about porting and compiling (for beginners) please share.

SFS? 128gb limit on partitions

I' m going to install in my future MOS machine 2 disks: 40gb and 160gb and install linux + morphos. How would you partition it? My plan: both systems on first disk, 20gb for each one and second disk as fat32 160gb

File Size limitations?

I read somewhere about 8GB limit just like fat32 but the thread might have been outdated.

[mt12345]

I' m going to install in my future MOS machine 2 disks: 40gb and 160gb and install linux + morphos

or maybe morphos + linux + osx?

[Iggy]

Actually I dont need all the features GIMP offers. Just basic image manipulations.

Well there are several of those. Basic viewer functions are built into MorphOS via a package called "Showgirls".

I wish I could. In 2004 I got Powemac G3/233 and managed to install  OSX  10.3 but it was so sluggish so I tried linux on it. Then I got  frustrated because some packages were not ported to PPC linux so I  learnt  how to compile. But I was getting endless errors so I got even  more frustrated and eventually I gave up. I bought Pentium4 PC to run  linux and forget about compiling. But recently I was thinking about  porting some stuff (I mean learning how to port) as I noticed AROS lacks  software (its's MorphOS thread, I know). If you know some useful links  about porting and compiling (for beginners) please share.

There are bounties in place for programmers guides (like I mentioned, you picked a good time to adopt),  but I don't think anything is complete yet.

I' m going to install in my future MOS machine 2 disks: 40gb and 160gb  and install linux + morphos. How would you partition it? My plan: both  systems on first disk, 20gb for each one and second disk as fat32 160gb

I'm currently using a 300GB disk for a similar group of partitions (except their on one drive).
I'd use the larger drive for the MorphOS and Linux partitions and give each 80GB. I didn't think it would happen, but I'm already finding a 128GB partition to be a little small.

I read somewhere about 8GB limit just like fat32 but the thread might have been outdated.

That would probably be correct. The largest files I have a conversions of DVDs which would only vary rarely be larger than that.

[mt12345]

I'd use the larger drive for the MorphOS and Linux partitions and give each 80GB. I didn't think it would happen, but I'm already finding a 128GB partition to be a little small.

Hm... I would like to have one big shared partition (videos+music+samples) easy accessible by any OS. When I install linux, I usually create 20gb partition for system and rest (eg. 140gb) for documents/multimedia. Anyway, is MorphOS working well with fat32 partitions? I read somewhere about some issues but I think it was from Aros camp.

[Iggy]

Hm... I would like to have one big shared partition (videos+music+samples) easy accessible by any OS. When I install linux, I usually create 20gb partition for system and rest (eg. 140gb) for documents/multimedia. Anyway, is MorphOS working well with fat32 partitions? I read somewhere about some issues but I think it was from Aros camp.

I can understand your argument about the partitioning. MorphOS and Linux are a little better about using other partitions (other than the boot partition) than OSX is (and virtually anything does this better than Windows), so your plan makes sense.

On fat32, I haven't discussed it with anyone else, but I also have seen no postings related to problems using a fat partition. So I would assume its trouble free. Someone would have posted a question on one of the forums (by now) if there was a problem.

[mt12345]

can morphos read (and write) ext3?

[Iggy]

can morphos read (and write) ext3?

Not that I know of, but MorphOS can access ext2 partitions (which would allow file sharing between Linux and MOS).

[mt12345]

...using ext2fs I suppose.

How about:

first disk - 2 partitions: 39gb mac osx, 1GB linux swap.
second disk - 3 partitions: 20gb SFS for morphos, 20gb ext3 for linux, 120gb ext2 for linux /home, accessible from all 3 systems.

BTW: does morphos need swap ??

[Iggy]

...using ext2fs I suppose.

How about:

first disk - 2 partitions: 39gb mac osx, 1GB linux swap.
second disk - 3 partitions: 20gb SFS for morphos, 20gb ext3 for linux, 120gb ext2 for linux /home, accessible from all 3 systems.

BTW: does morphos need swap ??

BTW: does morphos need swap ??

Not that I know of, but I haven't really examined MorphOS' disk structure that much (except for noting the use of an Amiga like RAM disk).

As to the partitioning scheme, I haven't tried a three OS system yet, so I'm not sure how that would work.
Although the idea of using a common ext2 partition (rather than a fat partition) is interesting.

[mt12345]

Is it safe to install MorphOS on CF card? I mean the write cycles issue.

[Iggy]

Is it safe to install MorphOS on CF card? I mean the write cycles issue.

I know people that are using CF>IDE adapters on the Efika. That works. I can't think of any other way you could boot from a CF card with currently supported hardware.

[mt12345]

Yes, I meant IDE adapter. But  I'm worried about wearing out the card.