New user here -- how to use Access+?

So, I’m having an issue with Access+. I’m very new with RISC OS. I’m running RISC OS 5 on two machines, one Raspberry Pi 1B and one Raspberry Pi 2. On the 1B, I am running Raspberry Pi’s distro. On the other, I am running ROOL.

I’m trying to share a directory from the Pi 2 to the Pi 1B. I’ve done what I imagine is the right things to do — I have “Access+” on for both systems, they are connected to the same router, etc.

When I share a whole drive, RAM, in my case, it works fine! The other Pi sees it in its “Discs” → “Show discs” window, and I can copy files back and forth between the two systems. Neat!

But, If I try to share a directory on the main SSD of the Pi 2, I can’t get it to work. Maybe it can’t even do this? Or I’m doing it wrong. Of all the things I’ve tried, the one in which I most suspect I’m doing the right thing is this:

Load up “Access” from the “Utilities” directory. It appears to load. Click on it, I get “Directory” and “Password” and “[]Share protected”. To keep things as simple as possible for testing, I don’t bother with a password.

I drag the directory I want to share to “Directory”, which populates just fine. Then, I do not click “[]Share protected”, but instead, just click Okay. It then appears in Access+’s lists of “Show” and “Remove”. So far so good, maybe.

On the other machine though, no luck. Discs→Access→Logon (from memory, not sure if I got the names exactly right), does appear to let me log into “Share@Forest” (it’s called Forest, after its wallpaper, this is the name it gave me in “Show” and “Remove” lists on the server). This will make a window pop up, very promising. But the window is empty. Copying files into the folder I shared (Called “Share”) on the Pi 2 does nothing. Copying stuff into the empty window on the 1B just gives me a “read-only” error. Keep in mind with RISC OS I’m very new and don’t even know if it’s possible what I’m trying to do, and if is, I don’t know if I’m doing it the right way. I did search on this, but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of information on the Access+ system of RISC OS online. Only pages noting where to find it (Utilities) and a very bland description of what it does.

Can someone help?

Hi Erik,

Welcome to RISC OS land.

Firstly when you set up the shares via Access+ are you saving that share?

Mouse pointer over the Acceess+ icon on the iconbar and click the menu button on your mouse and then click Save in the menu.

Also it is worth checking the access state of the directory(ies) you are sharing to make sure they are accessible over the network.

So on the machine you created the directory to share , click the on the directory you created with the select mouse button , so it is highlighted, and then the Menu button and from the Filer display select the subdirectory off Dir. .

From the now displayed Directory window take the sub menu off “Access” and then it’s sub menu “Access Details”.

Then make sure that you click on the No button for Locked, and Yes buttons for Owner read, Owner write, Public read and Public write and then click on the OK button.

One other thing is that ShareFs 3.61 does have issues displaying updates.

So press F12 on the keyboard of each machine and then type

Help ShareFS.

This will show you details of the ShareFS on each system.

If it is ShareFS 3.61 then there are known issues with updating share windows and ShareFS 3.62 cures this and is included in the Beta ROM’s.

Hope this helps.

Okay, I did all of that. I noticed that after I set the options on the directory to No for Locked and Yes for the Owner and Public read and write settings (and Recurse was checked), if I went back, these options did not appear to stay “set”. Is that normal? Are they more like action buttons than settings?

These changes didn’t affect the behavior I was seeing. Given that it is POSSIBLE to share (RAM proved it), I don’t suspect my network. I guess I’m ready to take the next RISC OS step — is it possible to build your own kernel (I guess, “ROMs”) in RISC OS? Can I choose versions of things individually, apply patches and etc.? Mix-and-match the ROM version with the distribution version? What does the build environment look like, does it need the purchased C IDE environment? I did buy the ePic SD card which seems to include it so here we go, but I’m waiting for it to arrive here. Any pages anyone can direct me to would be very helpful. I note that although the documentation seems quite good for RISC OS overall, there are quite a few situations that aren’t well covered, and there seems to be a general assumption that the reader basically already knows mostly everything about RISC OS, or, maybe better said as “thinks in a RISC OS way”, if that makes any sense.

there seems to be a general assumption that the reader basically already knows mostly everything about RISC OS, or, maybe better said as “thinks in a RISC OS way”, if that makes any sense.

I’d say that’s a pretty solid “Yes”
It’s a problem that everyone here should recognise, we already know too much to be good assessors of the content of the User Guide and the PRM.

If you have the time, Erik, please make notes as you go. Record your first understanding derived from the reading and compare that with how you would phrase it, once you have raised questions here, or simply read the current slightly unclear explanations. Perhaps others can benefit from your learning process and critique of the guides.

if I went back, these options did not appear to stay “set”.

It seems this behaviour is normal on SDFS/SCSI drives so nothing to worry about.

These changes didn’t affect the behavior I was seeing

I’ve tried it here as I have Access+ set up for sharing more securely and I can see individual directories etc so I know it works.

is it possible to build your own kernel

Right before you jump in with both feet and more I would suggest at least updating both systems and hard disc images to the latest ROOL beta ones.

Firstly I would go to the Downloads>Miscellaneous section on this site and download “Stable Release candidate” which is at RC4.

Read the Readme file contained within for information on what to do.

Most hard disc elements within the HardDisc4 directory , apart from the !Boot update, can be copied over the older versions by drag and dropping on them.

The !Boot should be copied seperately out of the archib=ve along with InSituBootUpdate and then you double click on the InSituUpdate for it to upgrade it.

Once it is finished reboot your system.

Next go back to Downloads>RaspberryPi and download the BetaRPi 5.29 ROM.

Shift/Mouse Select on !Boot on your disc image and then open the Loader directory.

Now copy the riscos/img file in the 5.29 beta zip archive in to the Loader directory , making sure the name and case are the same.

Reboot you system and you are running the latest ROM now which will have the latest ShareFS and you will also have the latest Access+ from the disc image updates as well.

On this site the Documents link also provides help including “RISC OS Upgrade” including from 5.24 or later.

Hope it helps

One other thing is that ShareFs 3.61 does have issues displaying updates.

[later]

Firstly I would go to the Downloads>Miscellaneous section on this site and download “Stable Release candidate” which is at RC4.
Now copy the riscos/img file in the 5.29 beta zip archive in to the Loader directory , making sure the name and case are the same.

I think that’s probably a red herring, since Erik mentions using either the usual ROOL distribution (from Raspberry Pi Imager?) or ePic, both of which would have RISC OS 5.28, which had ShareFS 3.60 in, which isn’t the one with messed up broadcasts which were done during the course of unstable development.

I’d probably start simple and use normal Access (from the menu on the drive iconbar menu) first. Once that’s working, then work on Access+.

You may wish to see the RISC OS Direct series of youtube videos, though concentrating on a slightly different distro of RISC OS, which provide a good intro on how to use it and other things.

RISC OS direct Youtube

I’d probably start simple and use normal Access (from the menu on the drive iconbar menu) first. Once that’s working, then work on Access+.

Yep good advice.

Okay, tried your advice (thank you!) and read the manual more carefully. I found that if I stuck to Access and not Access+ (the difference was not clear to me at first), and I shared the Share using the command line (star command) “*Share” from the “Task Window” (terminal! shell! hah! Linux naming habits…) everything worked just fine.

The manual even directly mentioned that you needed to use the *Share command to do the sharing, not the GUI (which was Access+) which would not show the share if done that way.

This brings up a lot of questions about the Star Commands and what the differences are between AmigaOS and Linux and RISC OS when it comes to command lines.

But I’ll start another thread with those questions. Thank you for all your advice.