RISC OS Open: Forum: Softloading

Feb 13, 2023 7:10am

Has anybody else noticed that softloading R5.29 Beta IOMD and Beta Tungsten for RiscPC & Iyonix resp. load into the Resources file in !Boot as a file (no !!) not into PreDesk as before :)

Feb 13, 2023 8:09am

Steve Pampling (1551) 8170 posts

2022-11-18 first instance.
Same for the other softload instance for Iyonix

Feb 13, 2023 9:08am

Stuart Painting (5389) 714 posts

It was a deliberate change.

The change details stated:

This solves a handful of minor issues compared with having it in PreDesk

Backing up your Choices is ~4MB smaller

No longer relies on the number of prefixed ! to ensure it’s alphabetically early

Because PreDesk runs files before directories, the SetUpNet step would come first and waste time obtaining a DHCP lease, only to then reboot

Moves a read-only resource out of Choices

Feb 13, 2023 10:26am

Martin Avison (27) 1494 posts

It was the first of a number of changes which should add a simple menu selection of one or more softloadable ROMs for RPC, Iyonix & Titanium machines, as well as solving a number of other issues (eg avoiding two DHCP waits).

Feb 13, 2023 6:30pm

Chris Mahoney (1684) 2165 posts

It was a deliberate change.

Thanks. I knew I’d seen a change but when I went through the SoftLoad commit log I couldn’t find it. I thought I was going crazy… but it’s under DesktopBoot!

Feb 13, 2023 7:11pm

Martin Avison (27) 1494 posts

The softload stuff is a bit scattered around! Hence the current change awaiting Merge.

Feb 16, 2023 5:56pm

André Timmermans (100) 655 posts

I have noticed the current merge request about menu selection of SoftLoad and the help file mentions it can also be run from the desktop. It also signals that unless the !Run is modified to add the “-all” option, if the system already uses the latest ROM the program ends without doing anything.

Running SoftLoad from the desktop, should mean that the user wants to test another ROM than the current one, so I think that the “-all” option should be implied when running SoftLoad from the desktop.

Feb 17, 2023 10:01am

Martin Avison (27) 1494 posts

@Andre: One main aim of the changes was to keep Softload simple and safe for non-technical users.

So while Softload can be run from the desktop, it is potentially dangerous because (as the !Help says) all running applications, and indeed RISC OS itself, will be forcibly immediately terminated with no chance to save any data or do any tidying up.

The normal Shutdown and Restart is much safer, and only takes a moment longer.

The new ‘-all’ option is there so that experienced users can opt to be able to go back to an older version, which can cause problems.

Softloading

Reply

Search forums

Social

ROOL Store

Donate! Why?

RISC OS IPR

Description

Voices

Options

Feb 13, 2023 7:10am David Jackson (3317) 22 posts	Has anybody else noticed that softloading R5.29 Beta IOMD and Beta Tungsten for RiscPC & Iyonix resp. load into the Resources file in !Boot as a file (no !!) not into PreDesk as before :)

Feb 13, 2023 8:09am Steve Pampling (1551) 8170 posts	2022-11-18 first instance. Same for the other softload instance for Iyonix

Feb 13, 2023 9:08am Stuart Painting (5389) 714 posts	It was a deliberate change. The change details stated: This solves a handful of minor issues compared with having it in PreDesk Backing up your Choices is ~4MB smaller No longer relies on the number of prefixed ! to ensure it’s alphabetically early Because PreDesk runs files before directories, the SetUpNet step would come first and waste time obtaining a DHCP lease, only to then reboot Moves a read-only resource out of Choices

Feb 13, 2023 10:26am Martin Avison (27) 1494 posts	It was the first of a number of changes which should add a simple menu selection of one or more softloadable ROMs for RPC, Iyonix & Titanium machines, as well as solving a number of other issues (eg avoiding two DHCP waits).

Feb 13, 2023 6:30pm Chris Mahoney (1684) 2165 posts	It was a deliberate change. Thanks. I knew I’d seen a change but when I went through the SoftLoad commit log I couldn’t find it. I thought I was going crazy… but it’s under DesktopBoot!

Feb 13, 2023 7:11pm Martin Avison (27) 1494 posts	The softload stuff is a bit scattered around! Hence the current change awaiting Merge.

Feb 16, 2023 5:56pm André Timmermans (100) 655 posts	I have noticed the current merge request about menu selection of SoftLoad and the help file mentions it can also be run from the desktop. It also signals that unless the !Run is modified to add the “-all” option, if the system already uses the latest ROM the program ends without doing anything. Running SoftLoad from the desktop, should mean that the user wants to test another ROM than the current one, so I think that the “-all” option should be implied when running SoftLoad from the desktop.

Feb 17, 2023 10:01am Martin Avison (27) 1494 posts	@Andre: One main aim of the changes was to keep Softload simple and safe for non-technical users. So while Softload can be run from the desktop, it is potentially dangerous because (as the !Help says) all running applications, and indeed RISC OS itself, will be forcibly immediately terminated with no chance to save any data or do any tidying up. The normal Shutdown and Restart is much safer, and only takes a moment longer. The new ‘-all’ option is there so that experienced users can opt to be able to go back to an older version, which can cause problems.