London Show - Saturday 27th October 2018

The RISC OS London Show

Saturday 27th October 2018 – 11am–5pm

£5 on the door, under-16s free

http://www.riscoslondonshow.co.uk/

This year’s RISC OS London Show is rapidly approaching and the initial list of exhibitors is up on the website. There should be some exciting new products and announcements at the show. Just a few of the things to look forward to are:

- R-Comp with the ARMX6, mini.m and TiMachine, emulation solutions and software updates

- CJE’s growing RapidO range of desktop systems and the new PiTopRO v2 laptop, plus more stock than you can shake a USB stick at!

- ROOL with the latest OS and documentation updates, and plans for future development

- RISCOSbits will have their range of hardware addons, including the smallest ever RISC OS machine in the si.zeRO, and will also be showing Ident Computers CE cases

- Yet another new game from AMCOG! Built using their software development kit of course

- Elesar will have the recently released Prophet, plus CloudFS, FontDirPro, and Titanium bundles

- Chris Hall with FamTree, his family tree generator, and his DIY Pi based GPS unit

- Neil Fazakerley will be demonstrating robot interfacing and control

- The Acorn and BBC User Group with amazing addons and new software for Acorn Atoms, Beebs, and Electrons

- Plus all the latest releases of Organizer, RPCemu, RiscOSM, etc

The charity stand will be raising money for Combat Stress so bring along your old Acorn hardware and software, and pick up some bargains, all for a good cause.

There will also be a full set of theatre presentations, details to be announced soon. Keep an eye on the show website for the latest news.

The venue is right next to Feltham train and bus station, with direct links to Heathrow, so is easy to reach by public transport.

Reminder that the London Show is this coming weekend!

This will be the first chance to hear from RISC OS Developments about their plans following the acquisition of Castle and the RISC OS IPR.

RISCOSitory preview articles here and here

And you can find out more about the Open Sourcing of RISC OS and what we hope it means for the future!

Only a few days to go! Don’t miss out on hearing all the exciting news first hand :-)

Barring any show-stoppers during final testing, a new version of RiscOSM will be launched at the show. The main new feature is a map style editor, allowing you to redefine how the maps are drawn. This will be developed further over the coming months: the initial style editor release will be quite capable and useful but we have a lot of ideas for improvements that will not make it by Saturday!

I will also be demonstrating a new application that interacts with RiscOSM and takes advantage of the recent work on the AcornSSL module. This will probably be released shortly after the show.

I’ll be selling fresh supplies of map data, as well as the European contour pack. If you have SD cards or USB sticks which we have supplied you with before, bring them along to the show to trade them in for a discount on new data.

RISCOSbits will again be at the RISCOS London Show on Saturday, selling the usual range of alternative hardware, as well as launching several new products. We seem to have developed a theme around “Size Matters” for this show. Which is a bit of a paradox.

NEW cases:
We will have stocks of our new RISC OS themed cases – the PiCog, PiSSDup case, Deuce case and UniqAce.

The £10 PiCog is a simple Raspberry Pi case that clips protectively around your Pi, emblazoned with a familiar cog logo. Similarly, the £13 PiSSDup case holds a Raspberry Pi and our own PiSSDup adaptor to create probably the smallest footprint RISC OS SSD computer possible. The £35 Deuce Case is a development on our Pi-Llok Ace which is designed to hold a Raspberry Pi or Wandboard Quad complete with SSD, and holds custom frontplates with cut-outs to accommodate either board. With a footprint of only 15cm x 15cm, it won’t swallow up too much desk space. The UniqAce is a larger 19cm x 19cm acrylic case with a single cutout for HDMI, RJ45, 3.5mm audio and up to 6 USB ports for £35. Other custom front plates are in development for the different boards that it holds – the IGEPv5, Wandboard Quad, and the Raspberry Pi, and will be available with other hardware, including USB hubs in the very near future. Both the Deuce case and UniqAce are available in a range of colours and materials, including matte acrylic, and wood-veneered boards. In a throwback to the RiscPC, the UniqAce can be expanded by adding extra slices!

We have exclusive stocks of Ident’s RiscCE cases for the Raspberry Pi, complete with bright colours and bright LEDs, including extra slice add-on packs so you can control a Raspbian Raspberry Pi from RISC OS, all in one case! We also have our collaborative WispyCE, built to accommodate both the Raspberry Pi and our Wispy wireless network solution!

NEW machines:
We will be showing off our new Qadro range of configurable small-footprint RISC OS computers, developed around the Wandboard Quad, complete with four port USB hub and 2.5in SSD. The PiHard will also be on show. Using similar configuration options to the Wandboard Quad, inlcuding the same range of small-footprint cases, the PiHard utilises the power of the Raspberry Pi, combined with a 2.5in SSD for safer storage that SD cards can usually provide. Both of these machines are based around our developments for new RISC OS themed cases – the UniqAce and the Deuce.

The PiRO is a super small, low budget machine based on the Raspberry Pi, and optionally, the PiSSDup adaptor for ultra-small, ultra cheap RISC OS computers.

We will have a few one-off PiHard With A Vengeance computers to buy on the day – these are uniquely cased PiHards and once they’re gone, they’re gone! Using similar cases to the Deuce, these unique machines integrate a special adaptor board to control the SSD and provide “all ports on one side” of the case.

The si.zeRO will be available for the first time. This is a small computer based on the Raspberry Pi Zero, complete with two USB ports and ethernet port built in. At 0.07 litres in volume, it’s the probably the smallest RISC OS computer ever, and comes supplied with a range of RISC OS SD cards from 16GB up to 128GB.

NEW mini.m docks:
We will be showing off our new docks to compliment RComp’s mini.m and other SolidRun CuBox machines. The smallest is the mini.msata – an mSATA dock to allow the mini.m to utilise the high speed storage available. At around 2.5in square, it hardly increases the footprint of the mini.m but offers a massive performance upgrade for only £25, to include necessary cables and e-SATA adaptors. The larger dock – the mini.msata plus.four incorporates the same mSATA adaptor, and adds a four port USB hub, while keeping the dock size down to around 3.75in x 2.5in. At only £35, including cables and adaptors, it turns the mini.m into amuch more capable computer. We will have a selection of formatted mSATA drives available on the day to add to your mini.m dock (or our PiSSDup Adaptor!), starting at £50 for a 120GB version.

OLDER stuff:
We will have some previously cherished and refurbished items for sale on the day, including:
Cased BeagleBoard xM (in custom Deuce case)
Pi-Top v1 with Wispy and RISC OS slice
Motorola LapDock with Pi Zero
AOC 2560×1440 monitor for use with Raspberry Pi or ARMx6
Pi-Desktop with 120GB mSATA drive

USUAL stuff:
Alongside all our new things, we will have the usual items available:
Pi-Llok Ace
PiPODs
RiscPOD
Wispy (very limited stocks due to a recent rush)
Pi Top Acrylic Slice
Case Skins

Download our indicative Show Stocklist from here

Come and have a chat, and tell us what we’ve missed from the Show Theatre!

Show announcements round-up from R-Comp and RCI…

Messenger Pro 8.01 with new “fetch mail at startup” feature, plus all the other v8 stuff like SSL, multi-SMTP, improved editing, better handling of HTML attachments and so on.

PiFi v3 released. Turn a Pi (esp. Pi3) into a wireless access point and control via native RISC OS front end. It’s as close as possible to native WiFi by integrating control into your RISC OS desktop.

ARMX6 and mini.m hardware graphics acceleration – make your computer’s desktop slick and smooth even at super-high resolutions.

New (since Wakefield) mini.m computer system. The power of an ARMX6 in a 2-inch cube!

ARM-based RISC OS laptop. Really!

Selection of high quality IPS monitors from 23" to 27" (1920×1080 to 2560×1440). Why not grab a bundle with the graphics acceleration?

We’ll have a RISCBook Go! available, at a great price thanks to a slightly battered outer cardboard box.

Special deals on ARMX6 and TiMachine computer systems, including new variants. We’ll have stock at the show, and please ask if interested – we’d be happy to chat about the options.

Don’t forget the Quake and Doom, both updated this year, both well worth playing at high resolutions on modern hardware.

Move to high quality (expensive) “Endurance Pro” and similar media for all SD/microSD based solutions.

Show announcements round-up from R-Comp and RCI…

Shock news, publicity for R-Comp offerings ;)

ARM-based RISC OS laptop. Really!

Native? Then I’m wanting to know the price and delivery lead time.

Iconbar show report is now live at https://www.iconbar.com/articles/RISC_OS_London_Show_Report_2018/index1448.html

RISC OS Developments/Richard Brown’s show talk is now available at https://youtu.be/JyFEX2vKyNA

The rest will follow tomorrow.

Leo

Thanks, Leo.

Richard Brown’s show talk is now available

Yay! He says “risk-oss” (not “risk-oh-ess”). :-)

Thanks, Leo.

+1

Yay! He says “risk-oss” (not “risk-oh-ess”). :-)

Pretty sure he used both

All the theatre talks are now available at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdbtoCQ_z-HHAB1-l1nqPVNZnRMi-sRuM

There were a few technical issues this year (Audio mixer getting confused just before CJEs’ talk, ROOL laptop not connecting directly to the projector), but everything is watchable!

Nice one, Leo – good job against adversity. We’ve made a note to buy a DisplayPort → HDMI adaptor for next time. And apologies for my increasingly desperate presenting style, which was due to a very sore throat and me forgetting my customary bottle of water. And cor, don’t I say “err” a lot…

If I realised the ROOL laptop had a display port output I’d have brought along an adaptor myself!

VGA + DisplayPort didn’t seem an obvious pairing of ports!

I still think we’d have run afoul of Windows 10 insisting to output 1080P, regardless of what the resolution had been set to… Will need to find a solution for that before the next show!

And cor, don’t I say “err” a lot…

I think many uh normal people um say these nonsense um filler words in like normal speech. It’s just um a normal uh way that people um collect their thoughts uh and work out like what they should say uh next.

It doesn’t help to have it played back. You know what you said so suddenly you’ll get stuck on all the things you didn’t realise you said.

The one that bugs me are those who use “you know” as the filler. Yeah, you know, if I knew then you know I wouldn’t be listening, you know…

VGA + DisplayPort didn’t seem an obvious pairing of ports!

No, stupid Lenovo. It’s the bane of my life – what’s wrong with HDMI anyway?

No, stupid Lenovo. It’s the bane of my life – what’s wrong with HDMI anyway?

There is a lot wrong with HDMI, like not supporting sensible resolutions/refresh rates for a long time (i.e. up to HDMI 2.0). DisplayPort did a lot better a lot earlier.

And a word of warning: DP-to-HDMI adapters are really a difficult topic. Try to get one that works reliably with 4K@60Hz with more than one output device…

And don’t get me started on HDMI outputs on “modern PCs”. A lot of them just end at 1080p@60Hz despite the graphics chip being capable of a lot more. And try to find ut those limits before buying one…and that includes the docking stations. Yes, I am looking at you, Dell and Lenovo!

He, he. I hear you, but I’d be happy with 720p for a presentation… :)

And cor, don’t I say “err” a lot…

I don’t know whether I dare watch my talk. I think it will be obvious that I was suffering from having been up at 4.45 a.m. to get to the show after only 4 hours’ sleep!

He, he. I hear you, but I’d be happy with 720p for a presentation… :)

It really pains me to say, but you may be better off with a VGA-to-HDMI converter then…because “obviously” converting an analogue signal to digital seems to be a lot more reliable than digital-to-digital…erm…sounds strange, but is exactly my experience.

Actually, there are good VGA-to-HDMI converters out there with good quality and reliability if you stay strictly with VESA modes. They are fine with everything a PC usually produces, but not with something like an IYONIX or Risc PC or MIST where any old screenmode can be produced. Now guess what my usage scenario was…yes, all three of them.

We did try a VGA→HDMI adaptor, which worked, but Windows insisted on outputting in 1080P regardless of what we set the resolution too. Whilst the adaptor supports 1080P the projector doesn’t, resulting in a lack of video output.

Having done a bit of hunting around since the show it seems that Windows 10 treats the ‘desktop’ and ‘adaptor’ resolutions separately, happily scaling the ‘720P’ desktop to a 1080P output.

I’ll try overriding the adaptor resolution when I next use the ROUGOL projector, would be good to get this sorted before next year :D

Details on the above I found at https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/4910-change-screen-resolution-display-windows-10-a.html

We did try a VGA→HDMI adaptor, which worked, but Windows insisted on outputting in 1080P regardless of what we set the resolution too. Whilst the adaptor supports 1080P the projector doesn’t, resulting in a lack of video output.

Ah well, I did write “good VGA-to-HDMI”, not “a VGA-to-HDMI”, “good” means it includes a completely working HDMI-to-DDC conversion, either by explicitly configuring it or by automatically detecting it. Or else Windows (or the graphics drivers or the graphics chipset or one of the thousand layers in between) will have the problem you describe. Too much semi-intelligent automatisms at work.

Probably easier to just buy a new projector which accepts 576p, 720p, 1080p and 4K via VGA, HDMI and DP. And be thankful that nobody turned up with one of those MacBooks-with-fancy-graphics-adapter-cables.