[Oberon] Initial feedback on 31-Dec-2002 Bluebottle release

[Thomas Frey]

> AosInst.Tool
> Step 3:  OFSTools.Mount  gives error OFSTools.Obx not found
> Remedy: Build Aos.OSFTools.Mod.
>
> Step 3: ZipTool.ExtractAll  gives error ZipTool.Obx not Found.
> Remedy: Build ZipTool.Mod.
This was a bug was removed in the 3. Jan. 2003 fixup. Some zip file
was incomplete due to a build error.

> Step 4. Aos.Par
> Editing: up-arrow and down-arrow keys did not work.  Left-arrow and
> right-arrow did.
It seems Aos.Par was opened in an old editor that is there because some
people like it.
Just use Desktops.OpenAscii Aos.Par ~ instead.

> 1. Arrow keys in both TestEditor viewer and Oberon for Bluebottle
> viewer appeared to work as expected.  This is different behavior from
> the problem above in AosInst.Tool.
Seems this time it was opened in a newer editor.

> 2. As in Bluebottle released in May and August, the RTL8139 driver does
> not work for me.  In the previous releases, the driver printed a
> 'MegaError' line in the Kernel log.  This time nothing is printed in
> the Kernel log.  I traced this to the send method, where the completed
> OK bit is never set.  I have not yet determined why this doesn't occur.
Yes... I've seen this on some VAIO notebook. But since I don't have such
a machine I can not really do much about it. The problem is probably
just a bit in the initialization code that differs for some RTL8139.

> 3. Actually, nothing appears in the Kernel Log, ever.
Try. System.OpenKernelLog Usually the log contains at least 5 lines after
startup.

> 4.  Need Menu entries for Log and Reboot in the main menu.  I was able
> to find the commands in the old menus.
Yes... The current menu is just a place holder. The real menu will be back
soon.

> 5. Tried to change Main.XML to include the log and reboot entry.  Store
> this with TestEditor, but when I rebooted, no menu appeared.  I was
> able to recover using the boot disk.
Test Editor currently always saves in Oberon format. The XML parser only
reads ASCII. Please use EditTools.OpenAscii to edit XML files. (Until
TestEditor
is no longer a test example ;-) )

> 6. As in the May and August releases, the ATI Rage Display driver did
> work, although when the system first booted, a top section of the of
> the screen was full of random colors and probably was not initialized.
That is strange...

> 7.  When I resized the TestEditor viewer, making the viewer smaller,
> the test shrank in size and  became unreadable.  Closing the viewer and
> relaunching the TestEditor gave me good viewer.
:-) some default zooming behaviour that is used for windows that don't know
how to resize better.

> 8.  I launched a TestEditor.  Since I wanted to have two text's open at
> once, I tried to launch a second TestEditor, but the second viewer did
> not appear.
Currently the TestEditor only starts once. This is for development when the
editor need to be free'ed recently. On System.Free TestEditor this single
window is closed. You can just remove this check in the Open PROC.
(But keep in mind that it is just a test-module to the generic editor
component.)

> 1. Need more menus, specifically Log, Reboot and Shutdown.
Soon.

> 2. Need a Kernel Log viewer that displays the Kernel Log.  I need this
> to debug the RTL8139 driver.
Should work as described above.

> 3.  Need a description of the new mouse behavior.  It appears to be
> different from previous Oberon and Bluebottle releases.  Specifically,
> how do you move, copy and delete text, etc.
copy : CTRL-C
paste : CTRL-V
cut : CTRL-X
(in the TestEditor only)

> RTL8139 Support
Most cards work. VAIO has a problem but I can not solve this remotely.


> USB support for Wacom Tablet and Mouse.
USB-Support is available for most Intel UHCI controllers.
See Aos.Par
For Wacom we need the specs. (and the time ;-) )

> PC Card support
We have some card-bus support. It is not in the release but if you like to
get your hand dirty... just ask for it.

> 803.11 ethernet PC Card support.  I have an Apple Airport base station
> running here for my Mac's.

> SmartMedia PC Card support.
No plans

> Power Management support so the laptop can run on the batteries.
No plans

> FireWire Support
Current work going on... stay tuned.

> FireWire Support for Disks and CD-RW.
Disk planned. CD-RW no plans

> Very long term wish list:
>
> Bluebottle running native on Power PC and Power4 systems from Apple or
> Pegasus.  OK IBM too.
Needs a person willing to spend ~3 months intensive coding.
(definitely not me ;-) )

> I've not written any device drivers in my 30 years of programming
> computers, but I'm willing to try.  I'll start on the RTL8139.
The changes should be minimal. So it might be a good place to
start. I guess it is in the init code.

--Thomas