OS for RISC PC
Matt Price (2343) 71 posts |
I should have my RISC PC working this week after ordering a Mk 1 replacement MOBO. I still have the RISC OS 3.7 ROMs which I can swap in when I want to go “retro” along with swapping my StrongARM out for an ARM610 However in full “modern” mode with StrongARM 128MB RAM, network etc which would you recommend to run RISC OS 6 or 5? My limited understanding is that RISC OS 6 has nicer and more complete features and still runs 26bit code natively, but development is dead. RISC OS 5 is in active development, and give the RPi more people will be using this. |
Rick Murray (539) 13385 posts |
Stupid thing logged me out. Let’s try again…
That’s more or less it. But, with 128MiB onboard, there’s plenty to try the softload version of RISC OS 5. Give it a try, see what you think: https://www.riscosopen.org/content/downloads/riscpc |
Andrew Rawnsley (492) 1403 posts |
My advice would be to bring the ROMs up to minimum OS 4 level, since the disc format changes and other features (stability) of OS4 make it the “baseline” OS for RiscPC class hardware. I know that there are always issues with supporting software on 3.7 and earlier, which simply don’t occur on 4. Above that, you have Adjust, which added some nice extra features (esp graphics related) and six which goes further, but with more software compatibility issues (basically the further you go, the more software issues you get). OS5 means 32bit-only software and podules (hint, there are very few 32bit safe podules), so needs to be carefully considered before deployment on RiscPC. Yes, it is much newer, but since there’s no Aemulor, 26bit apps are completely off the table. You can always softload it to play on top of 4, as Rick says. Note that a lot (most) half-decent second hand machines come with OS4 or Adjust ROMs, but you’d need to check with vendor. |
Matt Price (2343) 71 posts |
I’ve got the 4.02 ROMs – annoyingly they have someone else’s name appear on POST. I’ve softloaded 6.20 on top, but also have 4.39 that I can switch to. Are there any gadgets that let you switch between physical ROMs, to avoid having to taken them out to play with 3.70? |
Jon Abbott (1421) 2597 posts |
I use 3.71 ROMs and softload every later OS version from that. You will need a boot drive in old style format and another for the new style, then softload FileCore from a newer OS in 3.71, so it sees both drives. You should also save/restore the CMOS for each OS version, otherwise you’ll run into issues with some parameter mismatches and unplugged Modules. |