Wakefield RISC OS Computer Show 2015

SATA, Quad Core, Bluetooth, WiFi… Just wonder how long until all of this can be utilised by RISC OS. ;-)

Just wonder how long until all of this can be utilised by RISC OS.

The R-Comp info is a bit old – the PDF on the web site is pre-launch but does cover the SATA aspect.

A big thanks to everyone at the show, all the exhibitors were excellent!
Most managed to fleece me out of some cash, so well done for doing that.
Next year, you’ll have to try harder (I’m starting to run out of things to buy!)
Perhaps next year I’ll have a stand fleecing cash of you? Who knows!

I’ll second that Malcolm, a huge thanks to everyone who helped organise the Show, and to all the helpers who helped us unload in the morning and then load up again in the afternoon!

while Wandaboard brings up references to pictures of cakes and stuff.

There was a cake at the show, I forgot.

ROOL also released RISC OS 5.22 for Iyonix, OMAP3 (Beagleboard), Acorn Risc PC/A7000/A7000+. For the first time the stable release also included the OMAP4 port (Pandaboard).

Having been on holiday it’s great to come back and find 5.22 released, even the summary logs show a huge amount of work & improvements gone in

Did anyone film the presentations???

Yes. Vince?

In fact I only filmed the first two.

I recorded the first two (R-Comp and ROOL) as one, which I’ve yet to watch/split and upload.¹

I stopped the recording after the ROOL talk, and went back at the start of CJE’s to check the camera and start it recording again – but it I discovered at the end of the three talks that I hadn’t actually pressed record.

I have duly kicked myself several times as necessary.

¹ It’s been a very busy week, which I knew it would be – hence the closed notice posted on RISCOSitory a couple of days before the show. Unfortunately, I underestimated just how busy, and should probably have suggested a slightly later date, maybe next weekend.

(Although as the observant will notice, I broke the silence to post something this morning.)

Is vince going to put them up somewhere so that users like me down under can see them, I would love to go but the distance is a bridge to far.
Can’t wait.

The two I recorded – R-Comp and ROOL – will appear on YouTube at some point.

Although the show report might not come for another week or two, I’ll try to deal with the films ASAP.

Thanks that would be great look forward to it, by the way we even got a post on osnews

Good news and bad news.

The good news is that I’ve just pulled the camera out to deal with the recording I made – and discovered I did press record when I thought I had.

I assumed I hadn’t when I returned to the camera because it wasn’t recording, but there are two recordings on the card, the second starting with Chris Evans’ talk, which is when I thought I’d started it.

Skipping to the very end of that recording, it looks like it stopped of its own accord shortly after the last talk – so I have them all.

The bad news is that I adjusted the position of the camera for Chris’ talk, because he doesn’t use the projector – and that’s something I did forget, so I didn’t go in and adjust it back for the last two: the screen is therefore only half in shot.

The other bad news is that I now have a longer job sorting out the recordings and uploading them! :)

As long as you got the audio that the most important part we know what chris looks like it will be good.

They were all wearing microphones, so the audio should be fine (I’ve yet to actually watch them – but they sound okay at the start and end of each section).

The problem is that it’s not just Chris – I adjusted the camera for his presentation because he doesn’t use the projector, but the two that followed him may have done.

Matthew Phillips/Sine Nomine, for example, was demonstrating RiscOSM, so you’ll very likely find in his talk that he’s referring to things the audience could see on the screen – but viewers of these videos will only be able to see if they happen to be on the right half of the screen!

Anyway, Youtube is now joining the segments for me¹, so they should appear later today.

¹ The videos are split into bite-sized chunks. Well, I say ‘bite-sized’ but they’re actually just under four gigabyte-sized, which equates to a little under half an hour, so a 45 minute talk is two files.

The talks are now online

• Andrew Rawnsley
• Rob Sprowson
• Chris Evans
• Matthew Phillips
• Steve Harrison/Xavier Tardy

I’m not sure why there’s currently no thumbnail for the Chris Evans and Steve Harrison/Xavier Tardy talks – YouTube usually selects a default one taken from the video, and offers the choice of two others – but all three are appearing blank for those two videos.

Another option is to upload a custom one. I’ll grab still frames from my copies later and upload them if it’s not just a temporary glitch.

Thanks for posting the videos. Another option for video hosting is the Internet Archive (archive.org) which has a pretty nice interface for viewing them and auto-converts them into various formats for download.

Thanks Vince; it is very much appreciated. I watched them all today from the comfort of my office.
I really enjoyed the Steven Harrison & Xavier talk about their work on implementing Scanlines Events for RISC OS.

Thank again.

I exhibited a clear polycarbonate computer case at Wakefield (on Vince’s stand), unfinished as it still had sticky labels on each face detailing where the cutouts would be made. At Wakefield I bought an ARMX6 kit from R-Comp plus PiWiFi software.

At the RISC OS user group in Bristol last Wednesday I showed the finished computer:
photo1
photo2
In the space originally intended for the mains transformer I had installed a Pi model 2 running R-Comp’s PiWiFi software (the model 2 is much better) to link to the pub’s WiFi. SO easy to set up – the set up instructions were so simple:

Most wifi dongles will work. The software on the model 2 Pi is Fedora 21, running network manager and apache. It needs to be fired up before starting RISCOS (takes around 30 secs to boot), use DHCP settings for riscos. Then open a browser and go to http://pifi and select the relevant wireless station and enter the passcode. Simples.

Working out the cost?

Source	Item    	        Price	Order code
R-Comp	i.MX kit	        £390.00	
R-Comp	PiFi software	        £ 29.99	
R-Comp	PiFi adapter      	£ 14.99	
Maplin	120Gb Samsung SSD	£ 59.99	A33RR
Maplin	SATA cable      	£  4.99	A77CX
Maplin	Power plug (x2) 	£  3.98	HH60Q
Maplin	Power socket    	£  1.79	FT96E
Maplin	Power switch    	£  2.99	RD18
Maplin	Hex spacers     	£  2.79	
Maplin	Push on connectors 	£  1.00	(est.)
Maplin	Netowrk xover cable	£  1.00	(est.)
Ebay	SATA power lead 	£  1.00	(est.)
Ebay	USB hub         	£  4.00	(est.)
Ebay	Audio plugs      	£  1.00	(est.)
Ebay	Audio sockets   	£  1.00	(est.)
Ebay	CD/DVD drive     	£ 19.99	
Lindy	USB A to A female 0.25m	£  2.48	
Lindy	USB A to B 0.5m 	£  2.48	
Lindy	USB A to micro B (pwr)	£  2.48	
	Mouse & kbd MK520	£ 29.99	
Farnell	Pi model 2      	£ 31.70	
Farnell	Serial skt IDC   	£  5.31	
Farnell	Serial plug IDC 	£  4.81	
Farnell	9-way IDC cable 	£  1.00	(est.)
Farnell	Power supply    	£ 16.60	
	Plastic case    	£ 20.00	
	Bolts (34 approx.)	£  8.00	
	--------------------	-------	
	Total project cost	£665.35	
	(without PiWiFi)	£585.19

So PiWiFi is £80 all-in? Yikes.

So PiWiFi is £80 all-in? Yikes.

To be fair the purpose in PiFi was for those who bought a Pi and don’t have much use for it because they have a Beagle/Pandaboard or ARMX6 machine. I guess the adaptor is the SD card? So if you already have those two items, power and crossover cables the only cost would be for the software; £29.99.

The same goes for the Pi itself, people talk of it being a £16-£27 computer but don’t factor in all the required peripherals: Keyboard, Mouse, SD card, ethernet cable, HDMI cable, optional audio cable, optional wifi adaptor, optional case, the thing can end up adding up to £100+. But again if you already have those peripherals before buying the Pi then happy days!

So PiWiFi is £80 all-in? Yikes.

No, I made it £47 plus a Pi but if you already have a Pi (I have several) and a WiFi USB dongle (which I describe as an adaptor) then it would be £30.

Yeah, I get that it’s good for the geeks who already have a drawer-full of bits. But for the rest of us, a plug-in-and-go adapter is under £20. I just find it a strange offering!

Certainly true about the cost of a Pi in general. The low-cost board is a good headline grab though, and it gets your mind going. It’s not like £1400 for a Risc PC, which included £300 worth of disk, keyboard and mouse. :) The Pi board is relatively cheap too.