AfA OS in ROM?

[motorollin]

Is it possible to insert AfA OS either in to a ROM image to be softkicked, or preferably in to a KickFlash as a ROM update?

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moto

[motorollin]

I think I was unclear. I'm not talking about replacing the Kickstart ROM. I'm talking about pre-patching the ROM with the AfA modules so they are available from cold boot without having to have the modules on hard disk and patch them on every boot. Would that be possible?

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moto

[motorollin]

*bump*

Though I suppose I could just try it :-)


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moto

[motorollin]

jmbattle wrote:
Are the AfA_OS modules 'rom-able'

I suppose that's a more succinct way of asking my original question.

jmbattle wrote:
and more importantly, will they fit within the 512k address space?

Probably not, but I don't care - I'm using a KickFlash.

jmbattle wrote:
I guess it would be reasonably easy to test creating a custom kickstart using UAE.

Well I'll try inserting the individual AfA-OS modules in to my KickFlash to test it.

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moto

[motorollin]

Ok I have just tried this. The AfA-OS modules do insert in to the KickFlash, but unfortunately there is not enough space for all of them along with a Kickstart ROM image and the OS3.9 ROM Update :-(

As a test I tried adding afa_system_lib.exe, graphics_lib.exe and diskfont_lib.exe and removed the AFA loader from startup-sequence. I did still get TTF fonts, but then as a test I removed the modules from the KickFlash, cold booted, and I *still* got TTF fonts, without anything loading the AfA modules! No idea how this worked!

As a second test I tried adding afa_system_lib.exe, icon_lib.exe and exec_lib.exe to see if I could get PNG icons, but it didn't work. Maybe it also needs graphics_lib.exe, but it won't fit :-(

Is there any way to pack modules before inserting them in to the KickFlash to make them fit?

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moto

[motorollin]

jmbattle wrote:
I believe the TTF reading is handled by freetype2.library, however without the AfA_OS modules, there will be no anti-aliasing, essentially losing the point of using TTF fonts in the fist place.

Ahh I see, that would probably explain it.

jmbattle wrote:
Please do keep on experimenting - I'm surprised Bernd himself hasn't popped into this forum to answer your questions directly.

I will keep on playing around to try to get PNG icons working without AfA-OS loader in S-S. Any ideas whether I can pack the libraries before inserting them in to the KickFlash? Would they unpack themselves when the KickFlash accesses them?

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moto

[motorollin]

Just tried using PowerPacker to pack the AfA modules. They all went in to the KickFlash ok with no errors, so I'm assuming the KickFlash is ok with packed modules. However, it still doesn't work. I even tried adding AFA_OS_Loader as well in case that would make a difference, but it didn't work - still no PNG icons :-(

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moto

[motorollin]

Just had a lightning fast reply to an email to Jens Shoenfeld. He reckons the problem is that PowerPacker exectuables cannot be made pure (whatever that means!) which is why they don't work in the KickFlash. I think the only hope therefore is to attempt to increase the capacity of the KickFlash. Apparently it can be upgraded to 1GB. Anyone know how?

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moto

[motorollin]

I have asked Jens about the flash upgrade. I wonder how difficult it would be to make one?

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moto

[motorollin]

Thanks Piru. I will give Imploder a try. I see your point about potential problems with using them in read only memory. I suppose the question is whether the KickFlash copies the files to Fast RAM before doing anything with them, or whether it patches something to use them directly from the KickFlash itself. I'll try it anyway.

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moto

[motorollin]

According to the Imploder manual, pure programmes which are "normal" imploded (the exploding code is included in the executable, like PowerPacker), the programme is no longer pure. So that's no good.

It also says that pure programmes can be "library" imploded (the exploding code is held in exploder.library). If I library implode the AfA modules and write them, along with exploder.library, will exploder.library be resident, allowing the AfA modules to be exploded?

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moto

[motorollin]

What does that mean? There's no hope for inserting them in to the KickFlash?

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moto

[motorollin]

I see. I have fed that information in to my brain, and it has told me that this probably means that the resident tag makes the executable say "I'm here", and that exec then looks for resident tags to see who is there ready to be executed. Is my brain correct?

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moto

[motorollin]

Thanks for looking in to it. It's a real shame it won't work. Maybe in a future revision of AfA.

Cheers

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moto