RISC OS 5.22 stable is now available
Posted by Steve Revill Sat, 25 Apr 2015 12:14:00 GMT
RISC OS Open Limited (ROOL) are pleased to announce the much anticipated latest stable RISC OS release, it incorporates a massive 454 changes for the Tungsten platform (used in the IYONIX pc from Castle Technology), 484 changes for the OMAP3 platform (used in the ARMini from RComp), and 423 changes for the IOMD platform used in the Acorn Risc PC/A7000/A7000+.
For the first time the stable release includes the OMAP4 port, a Cortex-A9 processor used in the PandaRO from CJE Micros and ARMiniX from RComp.
This software is subject to continual improvement and work has already commenced on RISC OS 5.23! Using the convention of even numbers for stable editions and odd numbers for development editions, users can feedback any issues seen to make it into the next version.
Show your support
Putting together this latest release takes considerable time and effort, not just on the coding, but the testing, co-ordination, documentation and other administration that nobody ever sees. Downloads also use the bandwidth allocation for the server that this website runs on.
Please consider making a small donation to show your appreciation:
Before you start
RISC OS is more than just a ROM image! The disc based components have also seen some 496 changes. Provided you already have RISC OS 5.20 installed, then a simple installer script is provided to update the operating system !Boot application in situ (backing up any changes it makes).
The rest of the supplied applications can simply be copied out of the ZIP archive to wherever you prefer to keep them on your drive.
If you’re on an earlier version of RISC OS 5 then you must perform the more longwinded complete replacement of !Boot as earlier versions contained a number of longstanding defects that can’t be automatically cleaned up.
Known incompatibilities
There are no known incompatibilities compared with RISC OS 5.20, consult the following notes for your specific hardware.
For reference, RISC OS 5.22 includes fixes for a number of user reported tickets, specifically numbers 404, 402, 244, 279, 313, 339, 347, 356, 372, 375, 376, 383, 386, 387, 390, 395, 398, 283, 346, 350, 364, 367 and 369.
Notes for the IYONIX pc
The new ROM image should be able to upgrade all versions of RISC OS from version 5.07 or later and is provided with a flash programming tool (which also takes a backup of the previous version just incase you wish to go back).
As the ROM now includes extra modules, some of the module location numbers have changed. Because the *UNPLUG settings only remember the module location numbers you may need to review any unplugged modules after the upgrade to ensure the desired ones are unplugged, and that crucial modules are not left unplugged by mistake.
A softloading version allows compatibility testing prior to reflashing the onboard memory chip.
Notes for users of Beagleboard and derivatives
Simply replace the file called “riscos” on the SD memory card, or rerun !SDCreate which is included in the download with the development editions.
As the ROM now includes extra modules, some of the module location numbers have changed. Because the *UNPLUG settings only remember the module location numbers you may need to review any unplugged modules after the upgrade to ensure the desired ones are unplugged, and that crucial modules are not left unplugged by mistake.
Notes for the Pandaboard and derivatives
Some brands of SD card will fail to respond to the mask ROM bootloader (before RISC OS is loaded) with the correct CRC value when the machine is rebooted by pressing the reset button on the PCB. As the mask ROM cannot power cycle the SD card (there are no components to do so) it will be stuck in a loop trying to reset. To avoid this:
- Either power cycle the machine as a whole
- Don’t use the reset button on the PCB, use a software reset (pressing Ctrl-Break), or
- Add a powered reset device purchased separately
In high pixel rate screen modes occasional wrong colour pixels will be shown on some brands of monitors and cables in conjunction with some Pandaboards. This isn’t the fault of any one component, it is slight tolerance differences on all 3 of the parts which together flip some pixels. To avoid this:
- Try using a shorter video cable
- Use screen modes which have lower pixel rates, or
- Modify the skew setting on the Pandaboard using a soldering iron
Notes for the ARMini, ARMiniX, and PandaRO
Contact your supplier for details of how to upgrade if you are a member of their support scheme. They will have details to guide them through installing the new version which may vary slightly from these notes.
Notes for the Risc PC, A7000, A7000+
A new set of RISC OS 5.22 ROM and accompanying install CD-ROM are available from the ROOL store. The CD-ROM includes an installation video and the disc based software.
I think the button labelled ‘Download’ should be labelled ‘Donate’
fantastic work by everyone involved.
The sheer number of fixes and improvements are huge.
And some of them look like real big pieces of work too.
is it too early to say that I’m alrady looking forward to RISC OS 5.24? ;-)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RISC_OS#Supported_hardware shows RISC OS Pi being up to version 5.23, is this correct, as there’s no mention of the Pi above? (I don’t currently have access to my Pi to check the latest RC14 download)
Sort of. The nightlies are up to 5.23 but the latest RC is still 5.21.