The Icon Bar: General: Help save my old RiscPC
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Help save my old RiscPC |
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riscy (03:01 1/9/2010)
trevj (05:28 1/9/2010)
riscy (07:09 1/9/2010)
filecore (10:59 1/9/2010)
asm1 (13:39 1/9/2010)
riscy (14:21 1/9/2010)
trevj (22:23 1/9/2010)
bhtooefr (23:35 1/9/2010)
riscy (01:16 2/9/2010)
Monty (02:08 5/9/2010)
Acornut (07:55 1/9/2010)
Monty (09:42 1/9/2010)
bhtooefr (09:53 1/9/2010)
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riscy |
Message #115180, posted by riscy at 03:01, 1/9/2010 |
Member
Posts: 4
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HI all,
I have a RiscPC from the mid nineties, and not used it much over the last ten years. It is on RiscOS 3.4 (I think, I do not have access to it now), and the wife is trying to get me to throw it out 
I am reluctant to do this and was wondering if people could give me any advice on upgrading it - I see it is now RiscOS 6.2, and also how could I access information on it, as there is no USB port (I do have a PS2?>USB convertor, but nothing happens.) Or could I get a cable to hook it up to a Mac?
I have been away from the Acorn community for a long time, and so am very out of touch - but I know what a small and helpful community it is from past experience.
Thanks in advance
riscy |
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Trevor Johnson |
Message #115182, posted by trevj at 05:28, 1/9/2010, in reply to message #115180 |
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Posts: 660
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Your wife will probably come around to the idea in the end. My RiscPC progressed as follows:- "Out of sight, out of mind" loft storage
- Slightly more accessible "under the sofabed" storage
- Dedicated shelf in bookcase in guest room
Suggested plan of action:- Does it still work?
- If you still have the original CRT monitor, replace it with a (second-hand?) TFT, which is less visually intrusive*
- Safeguard any important data - you can do this without USB if you have a CD-ROM writer (probably not!) or via a network connection (hopefully)
- Attend a show and/or browse ebay to help you decide about a posible upgrade path
- Take up where you left off all those years ago!
(You might also want to be careful on the timing your upgrade purchases: my wife still jokes now that the RiscPC received more birthday/Christmas presents than she did!)
You're right that people on here generally extremely helpful, so it's a great place to start. Remember to search the archives first when you get stuck; ditto with the comp.sys.acorn newsgroups.
* And if you think you may tinker with the new Cortex-A8 port on a BeagleBoard then get a monitor which accepts both VGA and DVI-D inputs.
[Edited by trevj at 06:32, 1/9/2010] |
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riscy |
Message #115184, posted by riscy at 07:09, 1/9/2010, in reply to message #115182 |
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Posts: 4
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Thanks for the advice Trevor - yes, it works fine and I just want to keep my hand in with the OS as it is so much better to use. Good idea about the monitor, as that might help. Will have to look at what drivers are available for which monitors.
First stage will be upgrade the OS, I assume. Then I can look at backing up data.
Attending a show is not an option as I am not UK based, so I will check on ebay as you said.
Many thanks for the thoughtful and helpful response. |
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Blind Moose |
Message #115186, posted by Acornut at 07:55, 1/9/2010, in reply to message #115180 |
 No-eye-deer (No Idea)
Posts: 487
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It is on RiscOS 3.4 Cor! I bet that's worth LOADS of money 
I think RiscPC600 started with OS 3.5
Get a network card or an external floppy, if you want to move stuff off the drive.  |
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Edward Rogers |
Message #115188, posted by Monty at 09:42, 1/9/2010, in reply to message #115186 |
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Posts: 154
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Upgrade to 4.39 rather than 6.20, that's what I'd say. Especially as the latter requires the former anyway. |
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Eric Rucker |
Message #115190, posted by bhtooefr at 09:53, 1/9/2010, in reply to message #115188 |
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Posts: 337
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Well, 6.20 only requires 4.02, not 4.39. And, it must be in ROM.
If you have 3.6 or 3.7 in ROM, you can upgrade to a "softload" of 4.02, although you won't get long filename support, among other things. If you have 4.02 or newer in ROM, you can softload to any newer version.
PS/2 to USB adapters will only work for interfacing keyboards on a RiscPC - and certainly not to link computers. And even then, it depends on the adapter and the keyboard.
The best way to move files off of a RiscPC is over Ethernet. Using a program like SparkFS to compress the files, and then running an NFS server on the Mac and using Sunfish as the client, or running Moonfish on the RiscPC and connecting to it using the Mac would be the easiest and cheapest way, I think. |
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Jason Togneri |
Message #115192, posted by filecore at 10:59, 1/9/2010, in reply to message #115184 |
Posts: 3868
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First stage will be upgrade the OS, I assume. Not necessarily. This doesn't work the same way that Windows or Linux do. It also depends on what you want to do with the machine - for many uses, leaving the hardware as it is will probably be enough.
If it's 3.5 or 3.6, then you don't have a StrongARM processor, but instead probably either an ARM610 or ARM710 - these are old and slow. The StrongARM requires a minimum ROM of RO3.7 to operate, and I very much doubt you could do well on later incarnations with an older processor.
Also, for serious use, you'll want to consider the amount of RAM. A good amount for a RiscPC is 64M, with 2M of VRAM (you can check what you have by watching the startup process, you'll see "RISC OS xxM" where "xx" is the amount of installed RAM. If it's not a straight base-2 multiple (4, 8, 16, 32, etc) then it's counting installed VRAM too - for example, 64M of RAM plus 2M of VRAM would read on startup as 66M.
Sorry for rambling. The point is, if you're loking for a modern machine analogue, then the RiscPC is fifteen years old and probably not useful for that much. If you're looking for a nostalgia box and a way to access your old files and play old games, then it's probably perfect. In either case, an OS upgrade - while potentially useful - comes second to hardware acquisitions for your machine. Here's what I'd consider buying, in order of priority:
* network card (search eBay for i-Cubed)
* StrongARM processor and a set of 4.02 or 4.39 ROMs
* RAM and VRAM upgrades, depending on what you already have - the latter being harder to find
Beyond that, it's a matter of deciding how far you want to go on the OS thing. If you can only find 3.7 or 4.02 ROMs, you can opt for ROL's "RISC OS upgrade CD" to softload to the next higher version, which costs £20. Search for it on Google. Then you need to decide exactly what it is you want to do with the machine, and purchase additional software or hardware as you see fit. If you let us know your goals, perhaps we could recommend stuff. |
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Andrew |
Message #115195, posted by asm1 at 13:39, 1/9/2010, in reply to message #115192 |
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Posts: 122
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In addition to what has already been said, visually check the CMOS battery. The machine may still work but if the battery is furry / leaking get it replaced asap. Otherwise motherboard damage may occur. |
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riscy |
Message #115196, posted by riscy at 14:21, 1/9/2010, in reply to message #115192 |
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Posts: 4
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Thanks for all the advice guys - it is a StrongARM processor, I will look at trying to get some of the hardware mentioned.
Unfortunately I will not be able to get hands on with the SA RiscPC until June next year - it is not here where I am So I cannot do anything really st the minute, but I was not counting on such fast response from you guys.
Ultimately I just want to continue using the pooter as I love the UI, (even more than the Mac I currently use) and I just thought that upgrading the OS was a good idea to see what the changes were, but if the hardware is more of an issue, then I will deal with that first.
I appreciate all the advice and will do some searching to see what I can find. |
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Trevor Johnson |
Message #115215, posted by trevj at 22:23, 1/9/2010, in reply to message #115196 |
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Posts: 660
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...Unfortunately I will not be able to get hands on with the SA RiscPC until June next year - it is not here where I am ... Wow - you're going to be doing all this with some considerable anticipation. In the mean time, you could always investigate with emulation on the Mac. |
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Eric Rucker |
Message #115218, posted by bhtooefr at 23:35, 1/9/2010, in reply to message #115196 |
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Posts: 337
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I'd get someone who has access to it to look at it to make sure the battery isn't leaking.
4.02 is what I'd consider the minimum OS for use of RISC OS software that's currently being developed.
Also, if you're softloading an OS, it may subtract 6 MiB of RAM from the RAM count - when I boot 4.02, it says I have 98 MiB (96 of RAM, 2 of VRAM,) then when it softloads 6.20, it says I have 90 (96 of RAM, minus the six megs of softload, and not counting the VRAM.) |
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riscy |
Message #115219, posted by riscy at 01:16, 2/9/2010, in reply to message #115218 |
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Posts: 4
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There is no one who has access to it, and even the people around there would not even know what a PC looks like, let alone a CMOS battery Thanks for the advice about the RAM.
I'd get someone who has access to it to look at it to make sure the battery isn't leaking.
4.02 is what I'd consider the minimum OS for use of RISC OS software that's currently being developed.
Also, if you're softloading an OS, it may subtract 6 MiB of RAM from the RAM count - when I boot 4.02, it says I have 98 MiB (96 of RAM, 2 of VRAM,) then when it softloads 6.20, it says I have 90 (96 of RAM, minus the six megs of softload, and not counting the VRAM.) |
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Edward Rogers |
Message #115253, posted by Monty at 02:08, 5/9/2010, in reply to message #115219 |
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Posts: 154
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If you're interested I think I have a 64 MiB RAM & a 2 MiB VRAM somewhere.
Give me an e-mail if you get the time to do the upgrade;
monty /at/ umpire /dot/ com |
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The Icon Bar: General: Help save my old RiscPC |
