Hardware that works/doesn't work; RiscOS 5.19 on a Pi

Can I please propose a new thread which is exactly as the title?

Hardware that works/sort of works/doesn’t work running RiscOS 5.19 (Castle Technology) on a Pi.

That being stuff which works out-of-the-box. It would save an awful lot of googling – I’ve done that – and would also allow those with old/ancient hardware to describe the results when it is plugged in anew – I’ve done that too.

Obviously almost anything can be made to work with enough software manipulation, but this should only be for those who just want to plug and play. And links to manufacturers rather than re-sellers. Not a lot of point giving a store in the UK for someone in NZ. There seems to be a lot of stuff categorised for the Beagleboard but nothing in one place for the Pi.

So here’s my starting post:

USB to ethernet – Plugable 2.0 adaptor – chosen because it has the ASIX AX88772 Chipset which was said to work on etherUSB’s site although I can’t access it anymore! I use it as a simple internet interface via a Macbook. Worked out of the box:

http://plugable.com/products/USB2-E100

Mouse – Dell – optical. Worked out of the loft.

Keyboard – Sejin mini keyboard – works fine except that, on boot, the Num Lock is set on. Once turned off all is OK. (Can’t do a link as the site is entirely Flash powered – ridiculous! Search Google for Sejin Mini Keyboard.)

USB powered hub – Advent – I suspect it doesn’t get its act together quickly enough. If it and the Pi are switched on together the Pi hangs. If the hub is switched on and the Pi a few seconds afterwards then everything is fine:

http://www.adventcomputers.co.uk/product/advent-hb312-seven-port-usb-20-hub

USB 3.5" floppy drive – Freecom – doesn’t work – seen as an empty drive with a message to that effect from the SCSI filer!!! Plugging it into the USB hub after RiscOS is up and running causes the whole caboodle to freeze solid:

http://shop.freecom.com/store/freecom/en_IE/pd/ThemeID.27720000/productID.220054000?resid=UKoZ-QoHAtQAABIFxA4AAAA@&rests=1359233673971

Exceedingly cheap (£1-1GBP) unbranded SD card to USB adaptors. Work perfectly – why pay more!?

Hopefully I’ll add to this when I try new things out. I still have a pair of A5000’s and boxes of bits from past decades. (Late 80’s – back in primaeval times – I was an “Independent Software Developer” for Acorn – I think that was the term.) I’m sure it would help a lot if more compatible hardware were added. But best to keep stuff about tweaking SWI’s to make things work for other posts!)

Can I please propose a new thread which is exactly as the title?

Rather than a thread in the forum, I’d suggest that adding a “Compatible hardware” page to the Documentation page links https://www.riscosopen.org/wiki/documentation/show/HomePage would be a better idea, possibly with sub-pages for specific device classes.

A wiki is an easier place for people to search than a long stream of posting s in a forum.

I’d suggest that people contributing include other boards than just the Pi.

USB 3.5" floppy drive – Freecom – doesn’t work – seen as an empty drive with a message to that effect from the SCSI filer!!!

I get the same with mine [Mitsumi D353FUE].

I reckon, however, it is a moot point as it seems these things are designed to understand and access FAT format discs (or discs with a similar topology). The native RISC OS format is sufficiently different that it is more or less guaranteed to not work.

Plugging it into the USB hub after RiscOS is up and running causes the whole caboodle to freeze solid:

I don’t recall if I did my test on a Pi or Beagle. I suspect the Beagle. It didn’t lock up…

Not so sure Rick. I’ve used the Freecom drive to transfer stuff off my A5000 to a Macbook. Discs formatted 1.44MB FAT32 on either the Acorn or the Macbook work fine, except for truncating Acorn filenames. I think it’s hardware related. The drive doesn’t even try to spin up. Not even a flash of the light. Odd.

Thank you DavidS – I’m humbled. Hedrin is apparently good for nits.

USB to ethernet – Plugable 2.0 adaptor – chosen because it has the ASIX AX88772 Chipset which was said to work on etherUSB’s site although I can’t access it anymore!

IIUC this adaptor once worked for you, but does not now. This is similar to an issue I raised in the EtherUSB thread. Although mine is a cheap device, it has the same chipset, but it only partially works.

No, sorry Steve Drain. The Plugable adaptor does work fine. Bad English on my part – it’s etherUSB’s site I can’t access anymore, not the adaptor.