Search Results for: Aemulor

High vector builds of Aemulor now available

A couple of years ago, RISC OS Open Ltd started building versions of RISC OS with “zero page relocation” – with the memory map changed such that the kernel’s workspace that started at the bottom of the addressable memory was moved to a higher location. This was an important step for security and stability, and for the future of the operating system.

However, it wasn’t ever going to happen without some casualties along the way; software that in some way tried to use or access certain information held in that workspace and which therefore found it no longer available. Aemulor, the 26-bit emulator that allows applications that are not yet fully 32-bit run on newer hardware, was one such casualty – and an important one at that. Continue reading “High vector builds of Aemulor now available”

Aemulor arrives on BeagleBoard and PandaBoard

Make your 32-bit computer do an Impression (ho-ho) of a 26-bit one!

When Castle Technology Ltd launched the IYONIX pc, back in 2002, there was a significant question users needed an answer to before upgrading to the new computer: Would their old software run on the new hardware?

The problem was that for all the previous RISC OS computers, the ARM CPUs worked in (or supported in the case of StrongARM) an addressing mode we refer to as ’26-bit’, in which the program counter and processor status flags are contained in a single register; six bits are used for the status flags, and 26 bits for the program counter – the pointer to where in memory instructions are read for execution. With instructions always being word-aligned, rather than byte-aligned, the 26-bit program counter actually provides a 28-bit address range, representing bits 2 to 27 in the actual address – the lower two bits pointing to the instruction to be read are always zero. Continue reading “Aemulor arrives on BeagleBoard and PandaBoard”

Show report: London 2018

Just in time for Wakefield!

With half of a year having passed since the London Show (and the Wakefield Show almost upon us), the RISCOSitory report is more than a little overdue – again!

The usual main excuse applies, which is that it’s always busy here in the bunker, and some things have to be put off in favour of other, more important tasks. However, it is now the turn of that task to be used to put off other less important things – so here, at long last, is your run down of what happened at the St Giles Hotel, Feltham, on Saturday, 27th October, 2018!

Continue reading “Show report: London 2018”

Prophet rises again

While in the world of Windows there is a great deal of software for businesses to choose from to look after their accounts, the choices on RISC OS are very limited in comparison. In recent years, the choices have become even more limited as the operating system (and underlying hardware) has moved on, and older software has become unsupported and is no longer updated by the original developers.

One such package, however, has been given a new lease of life – Prophet, originally written by Quentin Pain of Apricote Studios (now Accountz), is now available from Elesar Ltd in an updated form that is fully 32-bit compatible, and suitable for modern RISC OS platforms.

Continue reading “Prophet rises again”

Show report: Southwest 2018

Better late than never, but not as late as last year – so that’s something, right?

This year’s Southwest Show took place on Saturday, 24th February, at the Webbington Hotel and Spa – the same venue at which it has been held every year since its inception. This year’s show was therefore the 21st, marking twenty years since the very first one, held in February 1998. There was therefore cake – which you missed out on if you didn’t come to the show, and which everyone who was present enjoyed. And so ends this show report: That’s all you need to know, really.

Oh, you want a little more detail? Oh well, if you insist… Continue reading “Show report: Southwest 2018”

RISC OS Awards 2017 results

RISC OS Awards logoThe latest RISC OS Awards poll, covering 2017, came to a close a on Saturday, 26th May – and the results are now known.

The Awards website has been updated to show the results, and the winners (for whom I have contact details) will be notified by email later today, with direct links to the results so that they can be referred to on the their own websites.

The results have already been announced on the RISCOSitory Twitter feed, but for anyone not using Twitter they are below. Continue reading “RISC OS Awards 2017 results”

News nybble: Wolf3D and Doom Trilogy updates

A new version of the Doom Trilogy is available from R-Comp through !Store – priced at £14.99, or available in ‘My Software’ as a free update if you have already purchased. If you have an aversion to purchasing through !Store, ‘over the counter’ at Wakefield is also an option.

There  have been some small improvements to Doom, the main game in the pack, but the headline feature is the inclusion of an updated and enhanced copy of Wolfenstein 3D, thanks to work done by Jon Abbott and internal RCI staff. The game now works natively on modern hardware without any need for Aemulor, and enhancements include new sound effects, a ‘damage indicator’ (whereby the screen flashes red when you take any damage), and a default higher resolution screen mode (subject to monitor compatibility).

New edition of Doom Trilogy, with some added Wolfenstein 3D

No mention of eye of newt or toe of frog.

Doom TrilogyFans of first person shooters should have a soft spot for Doom from id Software. While it wasn’t the first game of this type, it’s certainly one of the pioneer titles that helped popularise the genre, and led to a number of follow-ups and expansions. The game  featured texture-mapped surfaces and varying room and level heights – a step up from the simpler Wolfenstein 3D, the previous game from the same company – as well as mood-setting MIDI music, and the ability to swap out the internal data files (WAD, which stands for “Where’s All the Data?”) with alternatives, featuring new levels.

The game engine was ported a number of platforms, including RISC OS, and a fully licensed commercial version was released and sold by R-Comp Interactive in 1998 – and last year the company released a new version of Final Doom, updated to work on modern RISC OS hardware, and benefiting from the option to use an MP3-based soundtrack rather than the original MIDI music. Continue reading “New edition of Doom Trilogy, with some added Wolfenstein 3D”

RISC OS Awards 2016 results

The RISC OS Awards poll for 2016 was brought to a close on 29th February. As before, the results were processed and counted on a RISC OS computer (using a home-brewed program to turn the votes into a file for each category, ready to be loaded into Fireworkz), and initially announced on the @RISCOSitory Twitter feed. Those results are now online on the RISC OS Awards website and the various winners have been notified – where possible – by email. Continue reading “RISC OS Awards 2016 results”