December 2003 - Oberon - mailman3.inf.ethz.ch

Re: IBM 300 GL
by Paul Reed 19 Dec '03

19 Dec '03

Aubrey, I can't tell you if Bluebottle will run on an IBM 300 GL (maybe even the ETH people can't), because in my experience unless it's been tested for real, the hardware spec alone is not a guarantee. You can never rule out the possibility that something's been "tweaked" somewhere by the manufacturer, particularly with the big names (Compaq are the worst) so that a generic chip driver won't work properly. However, I did notice that somebody's got OpenBSD working on it, which is a good sign. The startup messages (dmesg), which give a good idea of the internal hardware, have been posted here: http://open.bsdcow.net/config/machines/ibm-300gl but I would take that with a pinch of salt - the graphics card seems to be different, and it doesn't even have an IBM hard drive! :) OpenBSD is the only mainstream OS which still boots off a floppy, and I always carry around (or make) a disk from the install image (e.g. floppy32.fs) available from www.openbsd.org. Before I invite a flamefest, I am only suggesting using OpenBSD as diagnostics, not as an alternative to Bluebottle! :) You probably want a DOS boot disk as well, with a program which will tell you about the VESA video modes (Pieter has one, but I couldn't find it quickly on the site - Pieter, are you out there? :]) because as I said in a previous post, it's not sufficient to have a VESA 2.0 card - the relevant graphics mode must be supported in linear, not banked mode, and I don't think the driver checks this very well... Paul Reed

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WinAos 1.06, AosTCP/UDP running.
by Felix Friedrich 18 Dec '03

18 Dec '03

Hy everyone, Besides the Aos/Oberon stuff, I have good news for all those who still need an FTP or HTTP server (and client) running in windows: Just use this recent Aos/Oberon system and you have it for free (just as in the native Aos system): The new version 1.06 alpha of Win Aos Oberon is now available, see http://www.bluebottle.ethz.ch/WinAos . All recent bugfixes are included. - have heavily worked on the network section: AosTCP and AosUDP is running flawlessly. The VNC server, VNC client, FTP server, HTTP server and Oberon clients also do well. Have tested the (Aos native) WebDAV server and client of Edgar Schwarz, it is also running from within WinAos. See Projects.Tool. I have gone through days of cruelty for this. - some corrections to the timer in AosActive had to be done to make the timers garbage collectable, some corrections in AosKernel and AosActive to make GC not hanging in AosActive. [which also took me some days and many nerves.] - as in the native Aos distribution the sources are now also arranged in (the subdirectories) AosWin32Src AosSysSrc AosAppsSrc AosOberonSrc AosGadSrc AosOberonAppsSrc Felix. -- Felix Friedrich Institut für Biomathematik und Biometrie GSF - Forschungszentrum für Umwelt und Gesundheit, GmbH Ingolstädter Landstraße 1, D-85764 Neuherberg Tel: ++49 89 3187 2436 email: friedrich(a)gsf.de --

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BlueBottle on IBM 300 GL?
by Aubrey McIntosh 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 A local surplus shop has several IBM 300 GL machines for $25. IBM 300 GL (6282-87U) Cirrus 5436 video (CL-GD 5446) These machines have 2.5 GB disk, 64 Mb memroy, 233 MHz pentium. They come with users choice from available stock of network card. It is uncertain whether they can be expanded. It partially booted the 5/22/02 BlueBottle CD. The booting Oberon screen appeared, but the switch to the BlueBottle screen did not occur. No attempt was made to diagnose beyond this point. If anyone can give encouragement regarding the Cirrus video and Bluebottle, I am willing to obtain 2 and report. I am trying to have two identical BlueBottle machines. I assume that they would work just fine for the native Oberon, but have not tested it. If anyone else is interested, let me know. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: PGPfreeware 7.0.3 for non-commercial use <http://www.pgp.com> iQA/AwUBP+CTTQKlSw8yssF7EQJ3IACgyc1X938Z/AgEL02soX1BCWmDbKEAniEu LWy5VEaFYRFnG+Rc17x42EXY =70la -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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no.WebDAV.Tool
by edgar＠edgarschwarz.de 14 Dec '03

14 Dec '03

Hi Chris, I made a new "http://webdav.ethz.ch/nodav/src/no.WebDAV.Tool" for you with an extended versioning example. Please take a look when you have time. Cheers, Edgar -- edgar(a)edgarschwarz.de "http://www.edgarschwarz.de" "http://www.edgar-schwarz.de/forum/oberon" Running Active Oberon Make it as simple as possible, but not simpler. Albert Einstein

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Re: ODBC Support - a WebDAV project ?
by edgar＠edgarschwarz.de 11 Dec '03

11 Dec '03

Patrick.Hunziker(a)unibas.ch wrote: > The Linz V4 distribution has an ODBC interface. I have used it on the Mac > Version of V4, where it worked fine. > > I have also started to use it on PluginOberon where it worked in part, but I > did not pursue that fully when I realized that it was not the most recent ODBC > (3.0?) Version and therefore needed some more adaptation to be fitted to the > current Windows DLLs. > I am willing to send the code to those who want to use it - hopefully there > will be a feedback useful for the community. This might be a small > collaborative project to be done with WebDAV > - who is willing to take the lead ? "John Stout" <jstout(a)cusp.co.uk> wrote: > The email is slightly out of date since after a debugging session I > managed > to get the ODBC interface working under WinAOSOberon. The SQL monitor > lets me display all the > data about my ODBC databases so I'm going to wrap up some of the more > complicated procedures in a module of their own and see how I get on. > When I've tested it a > bit more thoroughly I'll post it for inclusion in the distribution if > anyone is interested. If either of you is sending me your current code I can put it on http://webdav.ethz.ch/odbc/hunziker and stout respectively. Just to give the variants tentative names :-) You can propose others. Some documentation about features and todos would be appreciated. Then we will see whether somebody is interested in improving the code. Cheers, Edgar -- edgar(a)edgarschwarz.de "http://www.edgarschwarz.de" "http://www.edgar-schwarz.de/forum/oberon" Running Active Oberon Make it as simple as possible, but not simpler. Albert Einstein

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RE: ODBC for Oberon
by John Stout 11 Dec '03

11 Dec '03

Thanks to Bob (Bob Walkden <bob(a)web-options.com>) for mentioning Component Pascal. I did use this as the system for an evening class I taught a couple of years ago but, I'm afraid, just don't like it as much as Oberon. I might have another look at. Cost will, I'm afraid, play an important factor in which language we use. Is the educational version of BlackBox still freely downloadable? I think it was on version 1.4 (1.14?) when I last looked at it. It was very nice the way the database linked in to records I seem to remember. I like the way that Oberon doesn't link in too closely to Windows the way BlackBox does. Thanks to Byron Servies (<bservies(a)pacang.com>) for the note about the book. I think I've got that one, but currently my favourite is the Hans-Peter Moessenboeck one, Object Oriented Programming in Oberon. The email is slightly out of date since after a debugging session I managed to get the ODBC interface working under WinAOSOberon. The SQL monitor lets me display all the data about my ODBC databases so I'm going to wrap up some of the more complicated procedures in a module of their own and see how I get on. When I've tested it a bit more thoroughly I'll post it for inclusion in the distribution if anyone is interested. Many thanks for the suggestions. John Stout

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ODBC Support - a WebDAV project ?
by Patrick.Hunziker＠unibas.ch 11 Dec '03

11 Dec '03

The Linz V4 distribution has an ODBC interface. I have used it on the Mac Version of V4, where it worked fine. I have also started to use it on PluginOberon where it worked in part, but I did not pursue that fully when I realized that it was not the most recent ODBC (3.0?) Version and therefore needed some more adaptation to be fitted to the current Windows DLLs. I am willing to send the code to those who want to use it - hopefully there will be a feedback useful for the community. This might be a small collaborative project to be done with WebDAV - who is willing to take the lead ? I cannot, as am currently overwhelmed with other stuff. Patrick ------------------------------------------------- This mail sent through IMP: http://horde.org/imp/

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Boot N-O/Aos on Toshiba Satellite A20 laptop
by Dan Parnete 11 Dec '03

11 Dec '03

Hello, Could anybody help me to install N-O and Aos on a Toshiba Satellite A20 laptop ? I supose it doesn't guess the video controller. The information I have from Windows XP is: Trident CyberALADDiN-P4 v6.4612.22ICD_SE_NP Mem: FC000000 - FDFFFFFF FBC00000 - FBFFFFFF F8000000 - F9FFFFFF F7FF8000 - F7FFFFFF IRQ: 11 I/O: 03B0 - 03BB 03C0 - 03DF Mem: 000A0000 - 000BFFFF I was able to boot only from a CD image of PC-Nativ 11.10.2001 which gently starts in VGA 640x480 mode, and the result of PCITool.Scan is: Bus 0, device 0, function 0: class/rev 06000000, vendor/device 10B91672, status/cmd A2100007 Class: Bridge, Sub-class: Host bridge Vendor: Acer Laboratories Inc. [ALi], Device: Unknown 128MB prefetchable 32-bit memory at E8000000 - EFFFFFFF Bus 0, device 1, function 0: class/rev 06040000, vendor/device 10B95247, status/cmd 04200007 Class: Bridge, Sub-class: PCI bridge, ProgIntfc: Normal decode Vendor: Acer Laboratories Inc. [ALi], Device: M5247 Bus 1, device 0, function 0: class/rev 03000082, vendor/device 10238820, status/cmd 02300007 Class: Display controller, Sub-class: VGA compatible controller, ProgIntfc: VGA Vendor: Trident Microsystems, Device: Unknown IRQ11, INTA 32MB 32-bit memory at FC000000 - FDFFFFFF 4MB 32-bit memory at FBC00000 - FBFFFFFF 32MB 32-bit memory at F8000000 - F9FFFFFF 32KB 32-bit memory at F7FF8000 - F7FFFFFF Bus 0, device 4, function 0: class/rev 0101F0C4, vendor/device 10B95229, status/cmd 02900005 Class: Mass storage controller, Sub-class: IDE interface Vendor: Acer Laboratories Inc. [ALi], Device: M5229 IDE IRQ255, INTA 16B I/O at 0000EFF0 - 0000EFFF Bus 0, device 6, function 0: class/rev 04010002, vendor/device 10B95451, status/cmd C2900000 Class: Multimedia controller, Sub-class: Multimedia audio controller Vendor: Acer Laboratories Inc. [ALi], Device: Unknown IRQ255, INTA 256B I/O at 00000000 - 000000FF Bus 0, device 7, function 0: class/rev 06010000, vendor/device 10B91533, status/cmd 0210000F Class: Bridge, Sub-class: ISA bridge Vendor: Acer Laboratories Inc. [ALi], Device: M1533 PCI to ISA Bridge [Aladdin IV] Bus 0, device 8, function 0: class/rev 06800000, vendor/device 10B97101, status/cmd 02000000 Class: Bridge, Sub-class: Bridge Vendor: Acer Laboratories Inc. [ALi], Device: M7101 PMU Bus 0, device 9, function 0: class/rev 07030000, vendor/device 10B95457, status/cmd 02900000 Class: Communication controller, Sub-class: Modem, ProgIntfc: Generic Vendor: Acer Laboratories Inc. [ALi], Device: Unknown IRQ255, INTA 256B I/O at 00000000 - 000000FF Bus 0, device 10, function 0: class/rev 02000010, vendor/device 10EC8139, status/cmd 02900007 Class: Network controller, Sub-class: Ethernet controller Vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd., Device: RTL-8139 IRQ11, INTA 256B I/O at 0000ED00 - 0000EDFF 256B 32-bit memory at F7EFFF00 - F7EFFFFF Bus 0, device 12, function 0: class/rev 0C031043, vendor/device 10330035, status/cmd 02100006 Class: Serial bus controller, Sub-class: USB Controller, ProgIntfc: OHCI Vendor: NEC Corporation, Device: USB IRQ11, INTA 4KB 32-bit memory at F7EFE000 - F7EFEFFF Bus 0, device 12, function 1: class/rev 0C031043, vendor/device 10330035, status/cmd 02100000 Class: Serial bus controller, Sub-class: USB Controller, ProgIntfc: OHCI Vendor: NEC Corporation, Device: USB IRQ255, INTB Bus 0, device 12, function 2: class/rev 0C032004, vendor/device 103300E0, status/cmd 02100000 Class: Serial bus controller, Sub-class: USB Controller Vendor: NEC Corporation, Device: Unknown IRQ255, INTC Bus 0, device 17, function 0: class/rev 06070033, vendor/device 11790617, status/cmd 04900007 Class: Bridge, Sub-class: CardBus bridge Vendor: Toshiba America Info Systems, Device: ToPIC95 PCI to Cardbus Bridge with ZV Support IRQ255, INTA Bus 0, device 18, function 0: class/rev 08800005, vendor/device 11790805, status/cmd 02100000 Class: Generic system peripheral, Sub-class: System peripheral Vendor: Toshiba America Info Systems, Device: Unknown IRQ255, INTA 14 devices found The strange thing is that booting from a floppy (external USB) the last version of N-O, with the same Init string, doesn't work: Init = b81200cd10bb003fb80110cd10 Not talking about booting from the Aos CD, witch reboot the system after few seconds. Thanks, Dan Parnete

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Current release Oberon support for ODBC
by John Stout 11 Dec '03

11 Dec '03

In the past Oberon came with a set of modules which allowed access to Windows ODBC drivers and hence Access, SQL Server etc databases. This support now seems to have been dropped. I am trying to get my college and the computing department interested in using Oberon as the main teaching language for A-Level Computing and the BTEC National course, but will find this difficult to do without external database support. We originally taught Pascal as our first language, then moved on to Visual Basic, but have now standardised on Visual Basic throughout the two year course. It is becoming obvious that despite our best attempts students are not understanding the basic ideas as well as they did when using Pascal, and only this week an ex-student confirmed this for us (she is now studying Computing at Oxford and tells us that next year they will study Oberon!). Has anyone managed to get the original ODBC modules working with WinAOSOberon? I have started trying to get them compiled (and then running) but it is slow progress. John Stout

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Re. BlueBottle/Oberon Internet Opportunity?
by easlab＠absamail.co.za 10 Dec '03

10 Dec '03

Douglas G. Danforth wrote: > Digital Divide to Be Big Issue at U.N. Summit on Internet > UN is a wind-bag. Any proper engineer/scientist would be very frustrated working with these types. > "The meeting will address four topics: Internet governance, the use of > excess bandwidth to help development, connecting more people to > communications networks and finding the appropriate technologies." > > Why not have ETHZ be a leader for coordinating the creation and > distribution of low cost hardware and sotware for internet access to > developing nations? > Oberon S3 with the flood of scrap (problematic to dispose of) pc's from 1st world could fill a big 'need' in the 3rd world, but it will never happen. As with life and computing, the technical/physical considerations are mostly irrelevant. Everything is determined by psychology, witchcraft and spin-doctoring. I've been on the simputer mailing list. (Indian originated, linux based handheld, ARM CPU [apparently an ETH-oberon ARM compiler is available], with softmodem etc.) It's going no-where; they don't understand the dispersed collaboration paradigm, nor even the fact that news/email threads become problematic with top-posting. BTW I must admit a fault related to promoting non-main-line computing. My repeated claim that the power of 3 button cording is easily learned seems false. An injury requires that I quickly learn to mouse with the left hand. Several hours of frustration over 3 days proves that talking is easier than doing. So M$ will continue to rule the world. == Chris Glur.

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