Reading for the beginner

Thank you nemo, I’ll try. Unfortunately, my keyboard does not have the numeric keypad. I’ll buy another one.
In general, for a while I got some food for thought.

my keyboard does not have the numeric keypad

That’s why I listed the Configures too – they achieve the same thing, but permanently (until you set them back).

I have also a keyboard without a numeric keypad. Sometimes it make problems. Thats the reason I use NumOff in predesk.

*FX 202 4 251 and *FX 118 works for my keyboard without a keypad.

Thats the reason I use NumOff in predesk

FX 202 4 251 and FX 118 works for my keyboard without a keypad

Any particular reason you don’t just type

*CONFIGURE NoNum

The tool is a little older. Why it was create exactly I do not remember. I remember that the "click “Off” in the “Num Lock” section of the keyboard configure" was lost after reboot.
Whether there was “*CONFIGURE nonum” I already do not know.
In my old RISC OS manual it not exist.
The rest is “it works and forget it”;-)

nemo wrote:

A useful bit of magic is to boot the machine holding shift
 and the numeric keypad *. (Does that work on the RasPi?)

By the way, Configure NoBoot + Configure Language 1 works insufficiently. *Status confirms then that there is ‘No Boot’ and ‘Language 1’. The start screen appears at the beginning differently, but ends by the same: the immortal desktop.
A clumsy, but reliable way to get starting into command line mode is *Unplug [some Module]. Booting is aborted due to an error… :)) I have tried Hourglass for example.

It works corrrect. RISC OS is a graphical OS. The Desktop enviroment is in ROM.
With NoBoot only the !Boot fot the settings is not run automatic on start and restart.

Sorry Raik, I did not understand the last sentence, what is ‘fot’ and in general…
May I ask to repeat in other words.

May I ask to repeat in other words.

What Raik is saying is that NoBoot does what it says:
It makes sure that the Boot sequence does not run, BUT since the Desktop is in ROM rather than the disc based boot sequence it appears.

You are thinking of the OS being a CLI and the GUI being something that is run in the boot sequence.
In RISC OS the CLI and GUI are so integrated they both come in the one ROM image.
What you are seeing with the Desktop startup is the selection of the default “Language”
https://www.riscosopen.org/wiki/documentation/show/*Configure%20Language

The boot action (or NoBoot) is:
https://www.riscosopen.org/wiki/documentation/show/*Configure%20Boot

Sorry, fot means for. My type error and second sorry, english is not my favorite language.
And thank you Steve. I can not say it better ;-)

On the Raspberry Pi

*configure noboot

Oh my! I like this adaptation :)
Obviously, in the final release all will be OK.

On the Raspberry Pi *configure noboothas no effect, the boot boots anyway.

It works fine here on a Raspberry Pi.

However, it’s worth recalling what Boot/NoBoot actually does, because the name isn’t obvious, for which you’ll need to blow the dust off your BBC Master reference manual part 1 page C.5-3:

Configure boot reverses the actions of BREAK and SHIFT+BREAK.

It’s not actually stopping it booting, just that in one situation you need to hold shift down (NoBoot) and the other you don’t (Boot).

RISC OS applies one extra check the BBC Master didn’t need to – if there’s no keyboard detected the default is just to boot anyway (ignoring the setting) since it can’t read the shift key to know whether to invert the sense or not. I suspect that if David looks at the messages whizzing past on his Raspberry Pi it’ll say “No keyboard detected, autobooting” somewhere, indicating the keyboard was too slow resetting to be found in time.

In that situation if you want to stop it booting you can just change the drive’s boot option with

*OPT 4,0

“No keyboard detected, autobooting”

I get that all the time on my Pi since the update to 5.21. Don’t remember it previous.¹ It’s funny given I then use the keyboard…

Also amused by the “Pinnacle Systems SDFS” banner. How retro is it to write text to the OS start up message? Maybe I should hack my ROM to say “Acorn DNFS”? ;-)

¹ Though previously it used to write a lot of init mod stuff; maybe this took long enough that the keyboard could get its act together?

In that situation if you want to stop it booting you can just change the drive’s boot option with
*OPT 4,0
which is detailed in the BBC Master reference manual part 1 page G.5-8.

Which probably ought to be in the FAQ, somewhere, after all how many of the NOOBS users could be expected to have access to a BBC Master reference manual? Even old lags like me would probably¹ not have one.

¹ Haven’t looked through the library shelves so I’m not saying I haven’t. Dammit, there’s at least one BBC B in that room that I can’t locate.

Any particular reason you don’t just type

*CONFIGURE NoNum

Didn’t know about it! Thanks.

click “Off” in the “Num lock” section of the keyboard configure plugin?

ISTR trying this – didn’t want to have to do it manually each time

if David looks at the messages whizzing past on his Raspberry Pi it’ll say “No keyboard detected, autobooting” somewhere, indicating the keyboard was too slow resetting to be found in time.

Thanks for the explanation, that message always appears. I tried four other USB keyboards, and none of them were detected.

*OPT4 documentation.

Where can I read the rules for making of Obey files? Besides StarCommands these contain some ‘IF THERE’, etc.

*IfThere is a star command.

*commands list.

*IfThere

Sprow said:

RISC OS applies one extra check the BBC Master didn’t need to – if there’s no keyboard detected the default is just to boot anyway (ignoring the setting)

Aha, no keyboard at all. So the complete answer to “Make RISC OS behave like a Beeb” is:

*Configure Language 1
*Configure NoBoot
*Opt 4 0

And to return it to the default behaviour:

*Configure Language 10
*Configure Boot
*Opt 4 2

PS. I’ve just noticed that RO4 doesn’t have a Language configuration option!

Just done a ‘*status Language’
(RO5.21) it returns 10
Looking at the ROMs list shouldn’t that number be 11 – for Desktop.
*config. language 17
To start up in BASIC – havn’t tried it though!