New RISC OS 5 for the IYONIX
Posted by Steve Revill Sun, 07 Dec 2008 16:47:00 GMT
ROOL have built a new version of RISC OS (5.14) and successfully programmed the image into an IYONIX. This build includes a snapshot of all the latest updates and submissions to the shared source project from the community.
The new RISC OS build was demonstrated on a Castle IYONIX pc computer at the Midlands Christmas Show in Birmingham this weekend. Feedback from visitors to the show has been overwhelmingly positive.
This is the first time in the history of RISC OS that we have been able to replace the ROM image inside a native RISC OS computer with something that has so much code contributed by the public. We fully expect this trend to continue to grow in the future.
A copy of the ROM has been passed to IYONIX Ltd for testing and once they are happy with it, they plan to distribute it to IYONIX users through the normal channels.
For those who are interested, we have uploaded a copy of the new ROM image onto our site, but this is not something you are expected to be able to program into your IYONIX – you should wait for the download from IYONIX Ltd for that!
Good news! Is there a softloader for running RISC OS ROMS on the Iyonix?
No the Iyonix rom is flashed, that is why you should wait for an official revision!
Just because you can reflash the Iyonix ROM doesn’t mean that softloading is pointless. For example, if you were adding some new functionality in such a way that meant that you couldn’t load a replacement module during the boot sequence, softloading a new ROM would be entirely preferable to potentially bricking the machine.
I don’t believe the ROM softload tool has been updated to cater for the Iyonix, however.
Great news!
I agree that some softload option would be good since with that you could test a new ROM with much less risk.
Hi guys. There is a softloader in our published sources here but that is for the RiscPC. It needs some work to make it softload on the IYONIX.
I think Adrian Lees was looking into doing this but I don’t know how far he got. Anyone with the skills to do this could probably do worse than contacting him before attempting the job.
The necessary changes to the softloader are minimal, and I think my locally-modified copy should work. More of an issue is that the RO5 HAL currently has no awareness of softloading and would require some work, even before considering the implications for hardware/device drivers.