RISC OS Beginners FAQ (Rev #2)

If you are new to RISC OS you should first read Introduction to RISC OS.

Here you will find some of the most frequently asked questions and the respective answers.

Network, Internet and Email

Q: How can I change the network setup?
A: Open !Configure from the PinBoard (Desktop). Look for the ‘Network’ settings and click them once with the left mouse button. You are now presented three options (AUN, Access and Internet). Click ‘Internet’. Here you can set up the TCP/IP networking and enable/disable it.

Q: How do I browse the web?
A: Start up !NetSurf, RISC OS’s default browser by double clicking on its icon on the PinBoard (Desktop) or in the Apps drawer. If it was launched you will have the blue NetSurf icon in the IconBar at the bottom right of your screen. Click it to open a new window.

Q: How do erase the current URL in a NetSurf window?
A: Click into the URL bar. Press CTRL+U to erase the current URL. – CTRL+U works in many text boxes, not just the URL bar.

Q: Which protocols does NetSurf support?
A: Currently HTTP and HTTPS are supported.

Q: The website XYZ does not work in NetSurf.
A: NetSurf currently has limited CSS3 and JavaScript support. Flash is completely unsupported. If website XZY uses one of these technologies it is very likely it won’t display correctly in NetSurf.

Q: How do I send email from RISC OS?
A1: The easiest way is to use the web interface of your email provider (GMail, GMX, …) and NetSurf. Be aware that NetSurf does not completely support JavaScript, so some web mailers won’t display / work correctly.
A2: There is a commercial email program called !Messenger which allows sending and receiving POP3/IMAP Email from within RISC OS.

Q: How do I connect to my [Windows/MAC/Linux] computer?
(Omni / Samba / FTPc / Sunfish)
A1: For command line access, !Nettle (available from the !Packman package manager) allows SSH or telnet connectivity. OpenSSH is also available.
A2: For file sharing, !OmniClient will connect to a Samba share to allow access to remote filesystems.

Look and Feel

Q: How do I change the Screen Resolution?
A1: Look for the Display icon in the IconBar at the bottom right of the screen. Click it once with the left mouse button. Now select your desired resolution. See A2 if it is not contained in this menu.
A2: Open !Configure from the PinBoard (Desktop). Look for the ‘Screen’ settings and click them once with the left mouse button. From there select your monitor type, color depth and resolution and press Set. You will be given a 15 second delay to confirm your settings, or they will be reset to the previous values.

Q: How do I set up a screen saver?
A2: Open !Configure from the PinBoard (Desktop). Look for the ‘Screen’ settings and click them once with the left mouse button. From there select your desired screen saver and press Set or Try to try it first.

Q: How do I change the desktop wallpaper?
A: Open !Configure from the PinBoard (Desktop). Search for the ‘PinBoard’ icon and click it once. If you want a texture or a single color background you can set this right now. If you want some other background image (JPWG) then open the folder that contains that image and drop it into the box right to ‘Custom Image’. You will see your new wallpaper (backdrop) there.

Q: How do I change the Icon theme?

Q: How do I change the window theme?

Q: How do I change / disable the window textures?
A: To disable the window textures, open !Configure from the PinBoard (Desktop). Search for the ‘Windows’ icon and click it once. Un-tick the option ‘Textured window backgrounds’. There are some more handy options you can play with.

Q: Can I change the mouse cursor?

Hardware support

Q: Which file systems does RISC OS support
(FAT32, …?)

Q: How do I remove my thumb drive safely?

Q: How can I format my thumb drive, so that RISC OS is able to read it from within RISC OS?

Q: I have a spare USB hard disk. How do I use this on the RISC OS box?

Hardware support

Q: What is SparkFS? Why read only? And how to use it?

Q: How do I make screenshots?

Q: How do I convert Image Format X to [JPEG/TIFF/PNG/etc]

Q: What are Sprites? / What is the native RISC OS image Format?

Q: I want program !XYZ to execute on startup! (Eg. !WinSnap, !Alarm)

Q: How do I get a clock down the icon bar and how do I set this to run every time I boot the RISC OS box?

General Questions

Q: How do I compress something?

Q: How do I uncompress something?

Programming – BASIC

Q: I want to program! How do I get started?
(Point us to the two good example books provided with the RPI distro.)