AmigaOS 3.1.4 FAQ
Revision 3.6 (21.06.2019)
Copyright 2019 Hyperion-Entertainment
Please note: This file contains a list of frequently asked questions
along with answers, sorted by topics.
Index of topics covered in this FAQ:
1. Installation
1.1 * What are the hardware requirements for AmigaOS 3.1.4?
1.2 * Why won't AmigaOS 3.1.4 boot with 512 KB of RAM?
1.3 * Ok, I get it; 512 KB is not enough anymore, but can I get my way
with less than 2 MB of RAM?
1.4 * I get a "Please insert a volume containing workbench.library..."
during start-up. What is going on?
1.5 * Why are workbench.library and icon.library no longer in ROM?
1.6 * But why didn't you make the ROM larger then?
1.7 * I purchased the disk-based installation, and installed all the
files in the right places, but the OS does not seem to pick them
up. Instead, I just get the OS 3.1 Workbench back. What's wrong?
1.8 * Some file permissions on my installation look really weird. Is
that normal?
1.9 * Why doesn't Shell or Workbench respect the "h" protection bit
and hide the files whose "h" bit is set?
2. Hard Disks and file systems
2.1 * Can I use partitions beyond the 4 GB boundary?
2.2 * How do I setup a new drive with HDToolBox? I do not see the
drive in the selection box at all; what is wrong?
2.3 * Long filenames--I was promised long filenames! How do I use them?
2.4 * But Workbench still limits my filenames to 30 characters!
2.5 * I read something about a setting called "Max Transfer", which is
a value which I need to manually adjust according to my system.
How do I set it up?
2.6 * When mounting the CD file system on an XSurfIDE device, reading
large DVDs results in an error -3 being shown.
2.7 * My Amiga now takes about 10 minutes to boot my new 3.1.4 64 GB
partition. What is going on?
2.8 * I am trying to format and/or validate my 32 GB drive and I can't;
the system gives me an error saying that there is not enough
memory, but I have 8 MB of RAM. What is happening?
2.9 * Should I defragment my drives?
2.10 * What is a "SuperFloppy"?
2.11 * How do I mount a SuperFloppy?
2.12 * How do I properly create CrossDOS mountlists? I have no clue.
2.13 * Why is it that HDToolBox does not allow me to use my CF
(Compact Flash) card?
3. CPU Support / ROM Modules / SetPatch
3.1 * I manually installed (and now get a warning from) SetPatch on
unknown options.
3.2 * Where did the extended functionality of SetPatch go?
3.3 * Does my 68060 work out-of-the-box now or do I still have to hack
the ROM?
3.4 * When booting the system, the Startup-Sequence stops and gives me
a warning about an incomplete installation. What is missing?
3.5 * Where do I find the CPU libraries, and how do I install them?
3.6 * ...but I lost my original support disk of my turbo board!
3.7 * Where do I find a 68030.library? My board did not come with one.
3.8 * Couldn't you just package the CPU libraries with the OS?
3.9 * Couldn't you just ship the Commodore 68040.library?
3.10 * What about the dummy 68040.library? My old turbo board manual
mentions that I have to install it, and rename it.
3.11 * I get a note from the CPU command on CPU errata. What should
I do?
3.12 * Why is it that when I use the 68030.library, 68040.library or
68060.library from the MMULibs package some extra megabytes of
memory are consumed?
4. Performance and compatibility
4.1 * Pointer preferences render incorrectly on my screen.
4.2 * The Locale preferences renders incorrectly on my screen.
4.3 * Why is SetPatch so slow?
4.4 * OS 3.1.4 is terribly slow!
4.5 * But why doesn't LoadModule load the modules into FastRAM in first
place?
4.6 * The system crashes as soon as I play a stereo 8SVX audio file.
4.7 * What about all those widely-used system patches? Can I use them?
4.8 * Can I use the FBlit patch with AmigaOS 3.1.4?
4.9 * I tried to install a demo/game which uses WHDLoad and the
Installer warns me that it is outdated!
5. Intuition Library V45
5.1 * What is the V45 intuition.library?
5.2 * Why isn't the V45 intuition.library enabled by default?
5.3 * How do I install the V45 intuition.library?
5.4 * I purchased a ROM upgrade option, but I still need to reboot
twice to get the new V45 intuition library. Why is that?
5.5 * How can I load icons into Fast RAM? There's no program or
Preference setting for it.
5.6 * I have now 28K less of Chip RAM; where did the RAM go?
5.7 * But I really need the 28K back!
6. Printers
6.1 * Which printer drivers do I need, and which driver supports which
printer?
6.2 * I have a printer that is not listed, but was supported with OS
3.1. What should I do?
6.3 * My OS 3.5/OS 3.9 printer drivers refuse to work with OS 3.1.4.
Where is the problem?
6.4 * I have an unsupported printer. What can I do?
6.5 * Where is the "print to file" printer driver?
6.6 * Do I still need TurboPrint?
7. CLI/Shell and Tools
7.1 * Where is the PIPE program? I want to use pipes in my Shell.
7.2 * I cannot interrupt pipes from the Shell, or programs continue to
run if I interrupt a piped command sequence.
7.3 * The menus of the Ed editor look all white on black. Why didn't
you adapt this to the black-on-white style?
7.4 * ShowConfig is missing hardware expansion details and even then,
my MMU is not detected.
7.5 * What does the new WBLoad command located in C: actually do?
7.6 * Are there any new command line arguments I should know of?
7.7 * Where are Lacer, MEmacs, HDBackup, Bru and MagTape?
8. OS 3.1.4 and OS 3.9
8.1 * Can I mix OS 3.9 components with OS 3.1.4?
8.2 * I prefer the nice OS 3.9 ReAction GUI, but now my printer ignores
the printer graphics settings in the OS 3.9 dialog.
8.3 * WBPattern prefs does not include a "Layout" cycle gadget for
Tile, Center, Scale, and Scale Well functions.
8.4 * The new preferences editors ignore my font settings!
8.5 * I'm using the OS 3.9 ReAction GUI for preferences, but the GUI
contains unreadable strings.
8.6 * IControl preferences of OS 3.9 had a setting to render window
gadgets in 1:1 aspect. Where is it?
8.7 * The background image of my Workbench now uses dithering, even
though I'm using a True color screen mode. What's wrong?
8.8 * How do I set/change picture.datatypes settings?
8.9 * Why, when using MultiView and loading a text file, if I go to the
Navigation menu all options are greyed out, and not available?
8.10 * How can I make the Euro symbol?
8.11 * Why didn't you base your work on OS 3.9 and instead used OS 3.1
as a basis?
9. Update 3.1.4.1
9.1 * What is this 3.1.4.1 thing? I am getting dizzy with so many
numbers. Wasn't the Operating System labeled 3.1.4?
9.2 * How can I check whether I correctly Installed the 3.1.4.1 Update?
9.3 * I copied files from the 3.1.4.1 Update floppy and they appear to
be corrupt. Is my system damaged?
9.4 * What new features does the 3.1.4.1 Update bring along?
10. Miscellaneous
10.1 * Why didn't you support feature XYZ ...as in "TAB Expansion",
"Magic Menus"... you name it.
10.2 * Why is the "Find..." entry ghosted in the Window item of the
Workbench menu?
10.3 * Can I use the modules from the modules disk to build my own
custom Kickstart ROM?
10.4 * My PCMCIA network card cannot be detected. How do I fix this?
10.5 * How do I get nicely-coloured GlowIcons installed?
10.6 * How can I create a single bootable floppy disk that containts
both the kickstart 3.1.4 updates, and combined Workbench 3.1.4?
10.7 * Can I get the guru back?
10.8 * Speaking of support--where can I get any for this product?
10.9 * Will there be more updates? I'm sick of waiting almost 20 years
for OS updates!
10.10 * Are there any Easter Eggs in OS 3.1.4?
10.11 * Is there any other AmigaOS 3.1.4 documentation available?
Before trying to contact support, please read through this FAQ to
determine whether or not it answers your question(s).
1. Installation
_______________
1.1 * What are the hardware requirements for AmigaOS 3.1.4?
1. Kickstart ROM 3.1.4 (recommended), or an old 3.1 Kickstart ROM. We
recommend the former as it will boot faster, require less RAM, and
also includes fixes in the hardware configuration process, the latter
of which cannot be replaced by code loaded from disk.
2. 2 MB of total memory. Total memory is calculated by adding
Chip RAM and Fast RAM.
3. 5 MB of free hard disk space.
And of course, an Amiga is needed. We cannot ensure that OS 3.1.4
operates correctly under emulation since we cannot control these
environments. We tried our best, however, to keep it as compatible as
possible.
1.2 * Why won't AmigaOS 3.1.4 boot with 512 KB of RAM?
Well, we all heard the dummy phrase "512 KB ought to be enough for
anyone", but this is 2019; not 1985.
Along with all the relevant OS core improvements we made--especially
to Workbench--it is not a reasonable expectation to run it in such a
bare bones system. In other words, more changes require more RAM. It
is the price of progress; embrace it!
1.3 * Ok, I get it; 512 KB is not enough anymore, but can I get my way
with less than 2 MB of RAM?
This is how we break down memory usage: We have rounded up the numbers
to be on the safe side; besides, this is a round update. ;)
0.6 MB just to boot + 0.5 MB for loading ROM modules + 0.9 MB for free
memory.
Of course, in a system with a physical Kickstart ROM, 3.1.4 will work
nicely with just 1.5 MB of RAM, but as said before, we needed a figure
that will work under all systems, so 2 MB is a good bet to stay on the
safe side.
The most intense, OS-memory hungry process is when you run the 3.1.4
installation; the installer script compilation itself is what
requires the most RAM.
Taking it to the extreme, a system which has been installed using UAE
can be transferred to an Amiga where it could even work with just 1 MB
of RAM, provided the Amiga has a physical Kickstart 3.1.4 ROM chip
installed.
You also need to take into account that FastFileSystem partitions
require about 1 MB of RAM for each gigabyte of space to properly
validate themselves. So the bigger the partition, the more memory it
will need.
1.4 * I get a "Please insert a volume containing workbench.library..."
during start-up. What is going on?
You installed manually, right? Just do as requested. The Install3.1.4
disk contains the requested library, so just copy that library to
LIBS:. And for next time, please use the Installer. Or at least, copy
both workbench.library and icon.library from the Install3.1.4 disk to
LIBS:, such as follows:
copy df0:libs/workbench.library to LIBS: clone
copy df0:libs/icon.library to LIBS: clone
1.5 * Why are workbench.library and icon.library no longer in ROM?
These libraries are now much larger than before, and they
simply do not fit in the physical ROM chip. So we had to find some
other place. The nice file requester you see is the ROM looking for
its missing sources.
1.6 * But why didn't you make the ROM larger then?
Not all Amiga models support larger ROMs, and even those that do may
fail to identify a larger physical ROM chip. As of this writing, we
haven't been able to find a better solution, and until one is found,
it is just too risky.
1.7 * I purchased the disk-based installation, and installed all the
files in the right places, but the OS does not seem to pick them
up. Instead, I just get the OS 3.1 Workbench back. What's wrong?
You installed manually, right? Well, in that case, chances are that
the file permissions are wrong. It is important that the files
containing the replacement ROM components have their "p" bit set,
which stands for "pure".
You can now do the following two things:
1. Copy all the files from the modules disk (specific to your Amiga
model) again, making sure that the "p" bit is set this time, for
example by using:
copy ... TO ... CLONE
instead of just "COPY", or, as a workaround,
1. Edit the Startup-Sequence of your installation and replace
C:LoadModule ROMUPDATE
with
C:LoadModule AUTO
which will ignore the "p" bit. As a side effect, it may probably pull
some modules into RAM that you wouldn't expect.
1.8 * Some file permissions on my installation look really weird. Is
that normal?
You mean, as in "p-r---"?
Yes, that is normal, and intentional for all ROM module
replacements. "p" stands for "pure" and is required for LoadModule as
it otherwise does not pick up the file. "r" means that the file is
readable, because LoadModule needs to read it.
The files are intentionally not writable, executable or deletable as
removing or altering these files will potentially damage your
installation.
1.9 * Why doesn't Shell or Workbench respect the "h" protection bit
and hide the files whose "h" bit is set?
Because "h" does not stand for "hide", but "hold". An executable file
whose "h" bit is set is automatically made resident by the Shell on
its first use. So you save all the "Resident" commands in the
Startup-Sequence. No, we did not invent this for 3.1.4, just included
a compile time option in the shell that was disabled for ROM size
limitations before.
2. Hard Disks and file systems
______________________________
2.1 * Can I use partitions beyond the 4 GB boundary?
Typically yes, but... this limitation still applies if you:
1. Did not install a physical 3.1.4 ROM, and use a disk-based upgrade
only, booting from an old ROM.
2. Or if you boot from a legacy third-party host-adapter that does not
support any 64-bit extension. Note that the file system that comes
with OS 3.1.4 is smart enough to detect multiple 64-bit extensions
and uses them if available. Hence, the limitation may already be
gone for you. In particular, NSDPatch is not required anymore to
enable such extensions.
In either case, this limitation can be worked around in multiple ways:
1. If you boot from an old ROM:
1. Consider a ROM-upgrade.
2. Or create a small (<1 GB) boot partition, for example OS 3.9,
which loads the upgraded operating system. All extended
partitions will then become available after the first reboot.
2. If none of the above is feasible, or you boot from a third-party
host-adapter that does not support any 64-bit addressing, the
following procedure will also allow you to use partitions beyond
the barrier described above:
1. Insert the "Install3.1.4" disk into any drive.
2. Double click on the disk icon.
3. Double click on "HDTools". This drawer contains a program named
"HDToolbox".
4. If you are using a third-party host-adapter, HDToolBox needs to
know the name of the host-adapter. For that,
4.1 Remove the disk again and slide the drive-protection notch
to the closed position, enabling writing to the disk.
4.2 Re-insert the disk.
4.3 Left click on the HDToolBox icon ONLY once.
4.4 Right click and select "Information" under the Workbench
Icons menu, and release the right mouse button.
4.5 In the Information window, identify the line saying
"SCSI_DEVICE_NAME=scsi.device"
4.6 Edit this line according to the host adapter you are
using. The information on the correct device name can be
found in the documentation that came with your host
adapter.
4.7 Save the changes back.
5. Double-click on HDToolBox to start the program.
6. Identify your installation drive, and click on it.
7. Click on "Partition Drive".
8. In the new window, select the first partition, then click on
the "Advanced Options" check box.
9. A new check box labeled "Direct SCSI Transfer" appears.
Ensure this check box is CHECKED. If not, enable it.
10. Repeat this procedure for all other partitions on the drive.
11. Click on "Add/Update". A list of currently-installed file
systems appears on the screen. This list may be empty.
12. If there is already a file system on the list, click on
"Update". Accept the default choice and click on "OK".
13. If not, click on "Add New File System", then accept the default
choice for the file system, and click on "OK".
13.1. A list of file system options is now shown. Ensure that the
version says "46". If not, you did not boot from an
OS 3.1.4 disk.
13.2. Accept or modify the file system type accordingly. For most
installations, the default type shown as 0x444f5303 is fine.
13.3. Click on "OK" to go back to the list of file systems.
14. Click on "OK" to go back to the partition list.
15. Click on "OK" to go back to the drive list.
16. Click on "Save changes to drive".
17. These changes will not erase any data on your drive, so do not
worry about the requester. This will reboot your machine.
18. Open a Shell window.
19. Type "version DH0:" (assuming that your boot drive is DH0:).
20. Verify that the version is 46. If not, go through the procedure
above again, carefully verifying that you followed the steps
precisely.
Please note that some SCSI interfaces like the Commodore A2090, and
some old ones from GVP (more information available in the
GVP-FAQ.readme) are not able to support Direct SCSI transfers.
2.2 * How do I setup a new drive with HDToolBox? I do not see the
drive in the selection box at all; what is wrong?
HDToolBox is a little bit old-fashioned, we know. To configure a new
drive:
1. Click on "Change Drive Type".
2. A list of known drive types appears. Click on "Define New".
3. Click on "Read Configuration".
4. Click on "Continue".
5. Click on "OK".
Now you are ready to partition the drive.
2.3 * Long filenames--I was promised long filenames! How do I use them?
Yes, indeed; you can get them, though you need to reformat your hard
disk. Select "DOS\7" as the file system. The identifier for this is
0x444f5307 in HDToolBox. Or, just select the button for "long filename
support". A similar check mark will also appear in the Format program.
This will allow you to use filenames as long as 106 characters; and
no, it will not work without re-installation.
2.4 * But Workbench still limits my filenames to 30 characters!
Please check Workbench preferences, in SYS:Prefs. You can set a
limit there. Of course, in the end, it's the file system that decides
whether a file name is shortened.
2.5 * I read something about a setting called "Max Transfer", which is
a value which I need to manually adjust according to my system.
How do I set it up?
You need to change this setting for the built-in scsi.device using
HDToolBox (select Partition -> Change), to 1FE00. This will limit
block transfers to 255 blocks.
In the case of third-party drive interface hardware, please consult
the corresponding manual to find out the recommended max transfer
setting.
That said, please have in mind, we also made publicly available two
vendor specific FAQs (GVP-FAQ.readme and PP&S-040-FAQ.readme) which
address many more issues.
2.6 * When mounting the CD file system on an XSurfIDE device, reading
large DVDs results in an error -3 being shown.
Unfortunately, the XSurfIDE neither speaks TD64 nor NSD64, and hence
cannot access files beyond the 2 GB barrier without a bit of help. For
this little help, open the MountList of the CDFS, and add the
following tool type to the CD0 icon:
SCSIDirect = 1
Then reboot the machine. This instructs the CD file system to use SCSI
commands rather than trackdisk commands to address the disk, and with
that, the XSurfIDE can access data beyond the barrier.
2.7 * My Amiga now takes about 10 minutes to boot my new 3.1.4 64 GB
partition. What is going on?
For media of this size, on a system that is slow, it is generally
advisable to use larger block sizes (i.e. not 512 bytes/block which is
the default, but at least 4096 bytes per block, i.e. one block is 8
sectors). This not only helps to speed up the process, but it also
helps flash media organize memory in larger blocks, in addition to
helping modern hard disks which may have physically larger blocks as
well, while providing only an emulation of 512 byte blocks to the
outside world to keep legacy systems happy.
With the 3.1.4.1 Update, HDToolBox now comes with the ability to
estimate block size defaults which are more adequate to the size of
the drive.
2.8 * I am trying to format and/or validate my 32 GB drive and I can't;
the system gives me an error saying that there is not enough
memory, but I have 8 MB of RAM. What is happening?
The error message says it all: Not enough memory. To validate a 32 GB
volume you need around 32 MB of memory. That's not new--it's always
been this way, with all flavours of FFS. What's new is that it gives
an actual error message instead of just sitting there with a non-
validated partition.
With an Amiga emulator (e.g. WinUAE) you can see the magic: just add
the memory. You don't even need to reformat the partition, it will
validate automatically.
After that, you can use the card in your Amiga with less memory. But
beware of invalidating the partition, in which case you will once
again get the same error message.
A permanent workaround is to reformat the partition with a larger
block size. Unfortunately, this requires copying all data from the
affected partition to some other place, tune the block size with
HDToolBox, reboot, format the partition, and copy the data back. There
is unfortunately no non-destructive mechanism.
2.9 * Should I defragment my drives?
If you are using flash media you should not defragment those volumes
at all. This applies for example, to Compact Flash cards (CF), Solid
State Drives (SSD), Secure Digital cards (SD), and MicroSD cards (TF),
etc.
This is because flash media have a limited write lifespan due to its
nature. In addition, flash storage media uses random access, and this
means that it really does not make any difference where data blocks
are physically located; they will all take the same time to be
accessed, whether they are contiguous or not.
On magnetic storage devices like traditional hard disks, defragmenting
makes sense, and provides performance improvements, but you have to be
careful that the tool you are using is both compatible with the file
system and the size of drive you are going to apply that operation.
Please carefully read the defragmentation's program manual to
understand its limitations in this regard, because otherwise you will
risk destroying your precious drive data.
In particular, many (dated) programs will not be able to work on
partitions that exceed beyond the 4GB limit.
2.10 * What is a "SuperFloppy"?
It is a removable medium like a floppy disk; just larger. Examples are
the ZIP disk, the Jaz drive and the LS-120 SuperDisk.
Like floppies, SuperFloppies do not use partitions, the entire medium
stores data. They do not make use of the Rigid Disk Block (RDB). They
may also come in variable sizes. And like floppies, the Amiga file
systems, when used with the ones we prepared, are smart enough to adapt
themselves to the size of the medium.
2.11 * How do I mount a SuperFloppy?
You need to use a MountList. In particular, the following entries
need to be set:
LowCyl = 0 ; there is no RDB
Device = <name of the exec device, e.g. scsi.device>
Unit = <unit number, e.g. the SCSI ID>
Flags = 0 ; typically, depends on the device
SuperFloppy = 1 ; This turns on SuperFloppy support
DosType = 0x444f5303 ; for FFS INTL
FileSystem = L:FastFileSystem
Mount = 1
Activate = 1
The file system will figure out all remaining parameters from the
device.
2.12 * How do I properly create CrossDOS mountlists? I have no clue.
The following entries need to be present in the mountlist:
FileSystem = L:CrossDOSFileSystem
DosType = <see below>
The DosType can be one of the following:
DosType = 0x4D534400
This is a "FAT SuperFloppy" (see also below) meaning that there is no
partition table on the device, and the entire device is used for the
file system. For those of you that use linux, this is equivalent to
mounting on top of "/dev/hda" or "/dev/sda" or the like.
DosType = 0x4D534800
This is a "FAT partition", meaning that there is a partition table on
the device CrossDOS should interpret. It also means that CrossDOS needs
some information on "which partition it should use". Here CrossDOS
follows a rather unusual convention of using the last letter of the
device name, with "C" as last letter indicating the first partition, "D"
the second and so on. So if the device has the above DosType, and is
named "DH0C", then that is the first partition on the target device.
For those of you who know linux, this DosType is equivalent to
mounting on top of "/dev/hda1" or "/dev/sda3" or the like.
DosType = 0x4D534800
SuperFloppy = 1
This is, by convention, the same as "DosType = 0x4D534400", i.e.
disabling the partition interpretation and running CrossDOS on top of
the device directly.
DosType = 0x46415401
This is a legacy DosType that should not be used, following the
(unfortunately broken) convention by FAT95. It indicates a partition
mount (same as 0x4D534800) where the last digit of the above code
indicates the partition.
Why should this not be used? Very simple: It creates 256 different
"DosTypes", and hence requires for every partition to pull another
copy of CrossDos in memory. Hence, *avoid*.
Note: CrossDOS supports long file names, the mount flags "EnableNSD",
"DirectSCSI", Fat32, Fat16, Fat12 and Fat8.
Additional hints:
*) Typical USB sticks ("thumbdrives") are usually shipped with a
partition table on it. That is, you need to use
DosType = 0x4D534800
SuperFloppy = 0
and a device name that ends with "C" (as there is usually only one
partition on it).
*) Typical floppies do not have a partition table, hence:
DosType = 0x4D534400
However, as MS-DOS floppies also use a different encoding on the
hardware level, the "trackdisk.device" will not do. Instead, use the
"mfm.device":
Device = mfm.device
Flags = 1
Surfaces = 2
SectorsPerTrack = 9
SectorSize = 512
Reserved = 1
Interleave = 0
LowCyl = 0
HighCyl = 79
2.13 * Why is it that HDToolBox does not allow me to use my CF (Compact
Flash) card?
If the HDToolBox tooltypes are properly set, then this is not a matter
of HDToolBox. It happens because the host adapter does not report the
card as a "random access device". This is the only device type that
allows RDBs.
So go and get another CF (Compact Flash) adapter that supports it.
This feature is sometimes referenced as "True IDE" by some
manufacturers.
3. CPU Support / ROM Modules / SetPatch
_______________________________________
3.1 * I manually installed (and now get a warning from) SetPatch on
unknown options.
The OS 3.9 SetPatch included additional functionality that is no
longer present in OS 3.1.4 and has been moved to other
programs. The line in the Startup-Sequence calling SetPatch should
only read as follows:
SetPatch >NIL:
You need to correct your Startup-Sequence accordingly. In particular,
NOROMUPDATES and NONSDPATCH are no longer options SetPatch supports.
3.2 * Where did the extended functionality of SetPatch go?
OS 3.9 SetPatch included a ROM-Updates functionality to install new
ROM modules on top of the old ones. This functionality is now
implemented by a separate program called "LoadModule". It is included
in the C: directory of the Modules disk, or available from Aminet:
http://aminet.net/util/boot/LoadModule.lha
You will also need this tool to load Intuition V45 (see below).
OS 3.9 SetPatch also included "NSDPatch," a feature to patch-in a
Commodore-only command set for addressing large devices, while most
third-party devices supported the earlier TD64 specification. This
extension is no longer necessary; see above.
If you want to continue using the NSDPatch approach, you'll find the
NSDPatch program in the C: directory of the Install3.1.4 disk. Copy
the program to the C: directory of your boot disk, and insert NSDPatch
into your Startup-Sequence right after SetPatch.
However, as stated above, this step is (typically) no longer
necessary.
3.3 * Does my 68060 work out-of-the-box now or do I still have to hack
the ROM?
You don't have to hack the ROM, but you still need to install a proper
CPU library. See below.
3.4 * When booting the system, the Startup-Sequence stops and gives me
a warning about an incomplete installation. What is missing?
The CPU support library is missing. In particular, 68040- and
68060-based systems need to have the 68040.library or the
68060.library in LIBS: Without them, the system cannot work reliably.
Some systems have the 68040.library or 68060.library in their
accelerator ROM. On such systems, no installation is necessary, and
you will not get any warning then either.
For 68030-based systems, we recommend a 68030.library as well, as
otherwise the system can deadlock in a couple of situations. This is
due to a hardware errata/specification change of Motorola. Installing
this library will also allow you to enable the data cache when using
bridge boards.
3.5 * Where do I find the CPU libraries, and how do I install them?
They should have come with the support disk from your accelerator card
vendor. The installation procedure is depending on the vendor, but
typically requires you to copy the CPU library from the install disk
to LIBS: with a command such as the following:
copy df0:libs/680?0.library to LIBS:
(Please note that the ? in the filename above, is not a literal value)
We also suggest checking your vendor's documentation or FAQ. In
particular, we included a FAQ for GVP boards (GVP-FAQ.readme) and
another one for the PP&S A2000 68040/28 board (PP&S-FAQ.readme) in the
distribution.
3.6 * ...but I lost my original support disk of my turbo board!
Oh well. There is a generic replacement in Aminet that works, in
general, quite well. You'll find it here:
http://aminet.net/util/libs/MMULib.lha
Simply install it via the installation script that comes with it.
3.7 * Where do I find a 68030.library? My board did not come with one.
See above for where to find one. Boards didn't usually come with one
because the errata was only found years after the introduction of the
68030. Some legacy MMU tools also inadvertently prevented the issue.
3.8 * Couldn't you just package the CPU libraries with the OS?
We would love to, but the libraries are (in general) vendor specific,
and most vendors are no longer in business. While the generic
replacement mentioned above works fine in general, it may not work for
your particular board.
Please note that we do not have CPU libraries for all vendors on file,
let alone the permission to redistribute them. However, a web search
can often help in locating missing CPU libraries, as well as notable
Amiga hardware reference websites. Also check the vendors' or
third-party FAQs.
3.9 * Couldn't you just ship the Commodore 68040.library?
See above. It may not work for your board, and we don't want to damage
your installation. However, for the boards that were originally
delivered with it, the generic replacement available from Aminet works
fine without any further tweaks.
3.10 * What about the dummy 68040.library? My old turbo board manual
mentions that I have to install it, and rename it.
Disregard this. OS 3.1.4 does not require any dummy 68040.library. It
detects the right CPU library itself and does not require a dummy.
In particular, for a 68060 processor, the 68060.library is sufficient
(plus, the mmu.library if you use a MuLib-based processor library).
3.11 * I get a note from the CPU command on CPU errata. What should
I do?
Erratas are known defects in the CPU, typically found after
introduction to market. Unfortunately, not all CPU libraries are able
to work around all errata. You did install a CPU library, didn't you?
For the 68030: Install a 68030.library. This will avoid the "CIIN
disabled on write" errata.
For the 68060: If you cannot use the generic 68060.library mentioned
above, and must use your OEM provided library, add the following
command to the Startup-Sequence:
CPU DISABLELOADSTOREBUFFERBYPASS
3.12 * Why is it that when I use the 68030.library, 68040.library or
68060.library from the MMULibs package some extra megabytes of
memory are consumed?
Whether it is 5 MB or some other number that gets used, depends on how
much main memory you have. The 5 MB are for the MMU tables the 68040
or 68060 cpu require. The "CPU Checkinstall" in the startup-sequence
should actually detect the case when the 68040.library or
68060.library are not loaded.
Less memory goes away for the 68030, though. It's MMU has a feature
called "early termination page descriptors" that can save quite a bit
of memory by avoiding duplicated table descriptors. Unfortunately,
Motorola stopped supporting them with the introduction of the 68040.
4. Performance and compatibility
________________________________
4.1 * Pointer preferences render incorrectly on my screen.
Yes, we do test programs before delivering them. What you see here is
not a bug in the Pointer preference program, but a bug in CyberGraphX
not implementing the "minterms" correctly. The same program works
nicely on a native or Picasso96 screen.
4.2 * The Locale preferences renders incorrectly on my screen.
See above. This is a known bug in CyberGraphX, so if you depend on
this RTG screen format, you'll have to live with it or request a fix
to CyberGraphX from its vendor(s). The same program works nicely on a
native or Picasso96 screen.
4.3 * Why is SetPatch so slow?
Since AmigaOS 3.1.4 SetPatch does many more jobs than ever before. Not
only does it load the corresponding CPU libraries and builds MMU
tables, but it is also in the 3.1.4.1 Update, capable of loading both
the Shell-Seg and audio.device modules.
Also, there is an IDE bus scan that is necessary for some hardware to
ensure its proper operation.
So all these factors result in a perception that the performance has
been negatively impacted, whilst in reality we are favouring both
reliability and flexibility.
4.4 * OS 3.1.4 is terribly slow!
You are using a disk-based installation, right? Well, LoadModule needs
to load the updated ROM modules into some reset-resident memory. In a
worst-case scenario, this is done via Chip RAM, and yes, access to
Chip RAM is slow.
However, you can do the following:
1. Buy a physical ROM and install it, thus eliminating the need for
replacing ROM modules by RAM modules.
Or, in case your system is equipped with an MMU:
2. Install the MMUlib archive from Aminet and add the following
command below SetPatch in the S:Startup-Sequence:
MuProtectModules ON REMAP
This will remap the ROM modules from their current location to the
fastest available RAM and give you some extra speed. Bear in mind
though, that using this option will use RAM which you won't be able to
free.
4.5 * But why doesn't LoadModule load the modules into FastRAM in first
place?
Because the available Fast RAM may not be reset-resident; i.e. the
modules would go away after a reset. LoadModule can only use what is
available to the system. What MuProtectModules does is create a mirror
of this memory via the MMU, but this mirror disappears after a reset,
unlike the original module image.
Alternatively, you can try and use the LoadModule command with the
NOMEMFKICK switch. But be warned that this only works on some systems.
4.6 * The system crashes as soon as I play a stereo 8SVX audio file.
Please check whether or not you have the svx.datatype (yes, really
"svx", not "8svx") installed. Unfortunately, this datatype is not
compatible with the way 3.1.4 and OS 3.9 sound datatypes handle stereo
data. Just remove it. 8svx will play stereo data perfectly fine now.
4.7 * What about all those widely-used system patches? Can I use them?
AmigaOS 3.1.4 is a bug-fix update, which means that we focused on
fixing the vast majority of known decades-old bugs and even some that
were hidden despite our prying eyes. :-)
So, at the time of this writing, we are proud to tell you that they are
no longer necessary!
Among these patches are: RamLibFix, PatchRAM, StackAttack, AmberRAM,
PrepareEmul, RsrvWarm, MuMove4K, SwazInfo, RomFixes, etc.
Of course, many of these programs also contained hacks to do things the
OS was not programmed to do in the first place (Like MCP, SystemPatch,
MultiCX, etc).
We did not implement most of these hacks, because they do not follow
proper Amiga coding rules and do their stuff in a "dirty" way, causing
potential harm to the system. You are welcome to try them, but don't
complain to us if they end up crashing your machine. And also be
extremely careful not to activate a patch for a fix, because most
patches don't do proper checking and will probably end up putting your
system in an unstable condition. Being cautious and conservative is
always a wise choice.
4.8 * Can I use the FBlit patch with AmigaOS 3.1.4?
Yes you can; however we don't recommend you use it because it does not
follow the Amiga development guidelines, which results in an unstable
system.
Instead, we suggest you use Picasso96 together with the "Native"
driver (both available on Aminet). This will bring the benefits that
FBlit provided, but on a clean, AmigaOS-friendly manner. And not only
that, but it will also enable you to use applications that only worked
with Retargetable Graphic Cards (RTG), despite not having one.
4.9 * I tried to install a demo/game which uses WHDLoad and the
Installer warns me that it is outdated!
The install scripts depends on new features introduced in the
Installer delivered with OS 3.5. While the version delivered with
OS 3.1.4 is 45.6, it is derived from OS 3.1 and therefore misses the
extensions of the OS 3.5 release. The version of the Installer
reported to scripts is 43.xx.
You may either ignore this warning (the installation will still work
without using the features of the OS 3.5 Installer), or you may get
the Installer from OS 3.5 which will work on the OS 3.1.4 system
too--though it still includes some bugs we were able to address in
3.1.4. The missing features of the Installer may appear in a future
release of the OS.
5. Intuition Library V45
________________________
5.1 * What is the V45 intuition.library?
It is an update to the system library responsible for the GUI that
includes a couple of new features. Among them is a feature to allow
you to drag windows out of the screen.
5.2 * Why isn't the V45 intuition.library enabled by default?
Because it is incompatible with the cybergraphics.library which
depends on the precise layout of undocumented intuition internals.
Unfortunately, we do not know the details and we did not want to break
existing CyberGraphX installations.
If you do not use CyberGraphX, or run Picasso96 instead, then no such
incompatibility exists.
5.3 * How do I install the V45 intuition.library?
1. For the ROM-based installation process, you first need to copy the
new component to your system. For that, insert any of the modules
disks into the first disk drive, then select "Execute command"
from the Workbench menu, and enter the following command:
copy df0:LIBS/intuition-v45.library to LIBS:intuition.library clone
2. In case you installed from a physical 3.1.4 ROM, LoadModule has to
be installed manually. For that, insert the "Modules" disk, and
open a CLI/Shell an type:
copy df0:c/LoadModule sys:c
If you are somehow unable to find your "Modules" disk you can
download LoadModule from http://aminet.net/util/boot/LoadModule.lha
3. The Startup-Sequence of your system requires a modification. To
perform this installation, select "Execute command" once more from
the Workbench menu, and enter the following command:
Ed S:Startup-Sequence
A window containing the Startup-Sequence of your system will open. The
first lines on the screen should read as follows:
If Exists C:LoadModule
C:Version exec.library version 46 >NIL:
If Warn
C:LoadModule ROMUPDATE
EndIf
EndIf
Replace them with the following:
If Exists C:LoadModule
C:Version exec.library version 46 >NIL:
If Warn
C:LoadModule ROMUPDATE
Else
C:LoadModule LIBS:intuition.library
EndIf
EndIf
Then save the result back to disk by pressing the Esc key, then the X
key, then press Return. Then reboot.
5.4 * I purchased a ROM upgrade option, but I still need to reboot
twice to get the new V45 intuition library. Why is that?
We decided not to include the V45 intuition.library in ROM because it
is not compatible with CyberGraphX. Please try to contact the
CyberGraphX authors for a fix so we can (hopefully) include it in ROM
in the next release.
5.5 * How can I load icons into Fast RAM? There's no program or
Preference setting for it.
Because it's not needed. In fact, please do not use WBCtrl anymore.
Workbench is smart enough to detect cases where it can put icons into
Fast RAM, and it will do so automatically whenever it is able to.
5.6 * I have now 28K less of Chip RAM; where did the RAM go?
It's reserved. Actually, the lower 32K is now reserved for Mac
emulators. The benefit of this is that you no longer need MuMove4k or
PrepareEmul. Just start Mac emulations right away.
5.7 * But I really need the 28K back!
In this case, download the following archive from Aminet:
http://aminet.net/util/boot/MoveLow.lha
This is a program that will, through a second reset, deliver the
missing RAM. It's kind of "MoMuve4k backwards".
But, seriously--what's 28K among friends?
6. Printers
___________
6.1 * Which printer drivers do I need, and which driver supports which
printer?
The following printer drivers are part of 3.1.4:
NEC_Pinwriter: NEC P5,P6,P7,P9 and P2200
EpsonX_Old: Epson EX,FX,JX,LX,MX and RX
This driver is deprecated. Use only if the regular driver does not
work. It is recommended for the old MPS 1230 made by Commodore.
EpsonX: Epson EX,FX,JX,LX,MX and RX
This is the preferred driver. Try the "old" variant only if this
one does not work.
EpsonQ: Epson LQ-800,LQ-850,LQ-1000,LQ-1050,
LQ-1500 and LQ-2500
Postscript: Any PostScript printer should work with this.
HP_LaserJet: HP LaserJet, HP LaserJet+, HP LaserJet II,
HP LaserJet 500 and HP LaserJet 2000
This printer driver supports resolutions up
300x300 dpi, in greyscale only.
HP_LaserJet_III: HP LaserJet II+ and HP LaserJet III
This printer driver also supports resolutions
up to 300x300 dpi in greyscale, but enables
compression of graphics for faster printing.
HP_LaserJet_4: HP LaserJet 4, HP LaserJet 5, HP LaserJet 6,
HP LaserJet 1100 and HP LaserJet 3100
This printer driver supports resolutions up
to 600x600 dpi in greyscale with compression
enabled.
HP_LaserJet_2100: HP LaserJet 2100, HP LaserJet 4000,
HP LaserJet 5000 and HP LaserJet 8000
This printer driver supports resolutions up to
1200x1200 dpi in greyscale with compression
enabled.
Newer HP LaserJet printers supporting PCL might work as well.
Available at the time of writing is the HP LaserJet Pro M402 series,
which prints fine using the HP_LaserJet driver and probably other
driver variants as well. You'll need a USB expansion or network card
plus lpr.device from Aminet to connect to these modern printers. Make
sure to redirect parallel.device to either usbparallel.device or
lpr.device. While the printer.device supports printing to other
devices, our current preferences program does not allow selecting
another target. The OS 3.9 Prefs program does, and the printer.device
supports it. Alternatively, use the tool "OpenDevicePatch", see
lpr-dev package on Aminet for instructions:
http://aminet.net/comm/tcp/lpr-dev.lha
HP_DeskJet: HP Deskjet, HP Deskjet+, HP DeskJet 310,
HP DeskJet 320, HP_DeskJet_500,
HP_DeskJet_510, HP_DeskJet_520
Resolutions up to 300x300 dpi greyscale
with compression.
HP_DeskJet_340: HP Deskjet 340/340CM/340CBi, HP_DeskJet_550C,
and HP_DeskJet_560C
Resolutions up to 300x300 dpi in color or
greyscale with compression. These printers
print with four types of inks (CMYK).
HP_DeskJet_400: HP_DeskJet_200C, HP_DeskJet_400,
HP_DeskJet_400L, HP_DeskJet_420C,
HP_DeskJet_500C, HP DeskJet 540C,
HP_DeskJet_550C, HP_DeskJet_560C,
HP_DeskJet_670C, HP DeskJet 672C,
HP_DeskJet_1200C
Resolutions up to 300x300 dpi in color with
compression. These printers print with three
types of ink and use color ink to mix up black.
HP_DeskJet_600: HP Deskjet 600, HP DeskJet 610C/610CL,
HP DeskJet 612C, HP_DeskJet_660C,
HP DeskJet 680C, HP DeskJet 682C,
HP DeskJet 690C, HP DeskJet 692C,
HP DeskJet 693C, HP DeskJet 694C,
HP_DeskJet_695C, HP DeskJet 697C,
HP DeskJet 810C, HP_DeskJet_812C,
HP_DeskJet_815C, HP_DeskJet_830C,
HP_DeskJet_832C, HP_DeskJet_850C,
HP_DeskJet_855C, HP_DeskJet_870C,
HP_DeskJet_880C, HP_DeskJet_882C,
HP_DeskJet_890C, HP_DeskJet_1600,
HP_DeskJet_1600C and HP_DeskJet_1600CM
Resolutions up to 600x600 dpi in greyscale and
300x300 dpi in color, with compression. These
printers use four ink types.
HP_DeskJet_895C: HP_DeskJet_895C, HP_DeskJet_970C,
HP_DeskJet_1100C and HP_DeskJet_1120C
Resolutions up to 600x600 dpi in color or
greyscale. These printers print with four ink
types.
Generic: An ASCII only, text-only printer without
graphics support you may try if everything else
fails.
6.2 * I have a printer that is not listed, but was supported with OS
3.1. What should I do?
Just copy the printer driver from OS 3.1 to DEVS:Printers, and select
it from the Preferences editor. OS 3.1 drivers will continue to work
fine with OS 3.1.4.
6.3 * My OS 3.5/OS 3.9 printer drivers refuse to work with OS 3.1.4.
Where is the problem?
The problem is a common bug in the OS 3.5/3.9 drivers that stops them
from working in OS 3.1.4. In particular, the drivers return an
incorrect result code from their initialization function, and the 3.9
printer.device never cared about whether initialization succeeded or
not. This has been fixed in 3.1.4, with the side effect of OS 3.9
drivers no longer working. Note, however, that all models supported in
3.9 are also supported by native 3.1.4 drivers, so no harm is done.
6.4 * I have an unsupported printer. What can I do?
Well. Write a printer driver, for example. (-: Or, at least, try to
get a technical description from its vendor, and forward it to us.
Unfortunately, most consumer printers today are GDI-printers that use
a closed, proprietary protocol to communicate with the operating
system of a large US company only, so good luck. And no, we do not
have better access to technical manuals either.
Note, however, that most printers nowadays fall into four categories:
PCL-based printers, mostly from HP. These should work fine with one of
the HP printer drivers.
PostScript-based printers. These work fine with the PostScript driver.
EscP-based printers. They work fine with the Epson or EpsonQ drivers.
GDI printers. They don't work on anything but Windows, and their
vendors do not care about niche products like AmigaOS anyhow.
6.5 * Where is the "print to file" printer driver?
We don't have one, but none is needed either. Just run the "CMD"
program which you can find in Sys:Utilities. It will redirect printer
output to a file. It will now also give you a file requester as soon
as you start printing.
6.6 * Do I still need TurboPrint?
No; at least not for the printers supported by 3.1.4. But, if you have
it, you can surely use it. With the exception of the bugs 3.1.4 fixed,
the printing system did not change.
7. CLI/Shell and Tools
______________________
7.1 * Where is the PIPE program? I want to use pipes in my Shell.
Nowhere. You no longer need it. Shell version 46 natively supports
pipes. The | symbol pipes the output of the left program into the
input of the right program, || merges the output of two programs
together, and ( ) group programs.
7.2 * I cannot interrupt pipes from the Shell, or programs continue to
run if I interrupt a piped command sequence.
Make sure the OS 3.1.4 Queue-Handler is in L:. Many third-party
variants do not operate correctly, or cannot interrupt pipes. The
3.1.4. Shell depends on the features of the 3.1.4 Queue-Handler.
7.3 * The menus of the Ed editor look all white on black. Why didn't
you adapt this to the black-on-white style?
Essentially, because the console the editor runs in did not set the
right flag for that, and Ed just cannot do anything about it. We
haven't had the manpower to update the console this time.
However, there are alternatives in Aminet that, among other things,
will also correct Ed's menu colors.
7.4 * ShowConfig is missing hardware expansion details and even then,
my MMU is not detected.
ShowConfig shows the basic board config information for
troubleshooting efforts. The ever-changing and expanding board and CPU
detail is outsourced to third parties like MMULib and BoardsLib.
You can get ShowConfig to display them, if you include the publicly
available boards.library in your Libs drawer. And speaking of MMU, we
did the same as we can detect it with the aid of mmu.library which is
also publicly available. Both libraries can be downloaded from Aminet:
http://aminet.net/util/libs/MMULib.lha
and
http://aminet.net/util/libs/BoardsLib.lha
7.5 * What does the new WBLoad command located in C: actually do?
It is a sort of replacement for the more known WBRun command. It loads
Workbench programs from the CLI/Shell. However, it does not require
the Workbench. Hence, it is safe to use in the Startup-Sequence before
LoadWB, and it operates synchronously, i.e. it does not return until
the started program returns. If this bothers you, place an "&" as the
last argument to the program.
7.6 * Are there any new command line arguments I should know of?
Yes, there are plenty. What follows is the list, with a brief
description of each. This list not complete though, and to some
commands, we added features without adding options.
ADDDATATYPES LIST
This will list all DataTypes descriptors currently in memory by
descriptor name.
CMD DEVICE
The user can now specify a concrete device name.
CPU CHECKINSTALL
Tests for the presence of a CPU library on affected CPU models.
CPU CPUTYPE
Prints only the CPU information for scripting purposes.
CPU FPUTYPE
Prints only the FPU information for scripting purposes.
CPU MMUTYPE
Prints only the MMU information for scripting purposes if it can. The
mmu.library is required for this to work.
CPU TO
Switch to redirect the output of the CPU command.
There are plenty of other switches of the CPU command to fiddle with
some of the internals of the CPU. You don't need them, unless we say
so. Really. They can only make your system go slower, or less stable.
And we don't want this to happen, right?
HDTOOLBOX LIMIT_4GBYTE
Which can be ON/TRUE or OFF/FALSE. Artificially recreates the 4 GB
limit.
HDTOOLBOX MIN_SECTOR_SIZE
Overrides minimum sector size. Value must be a multiple of 512 bytes,
and it must be a power of two.
HDTOOLBOX MAX_SECTOR_SIZE
Overrides maximum sector size. Value must be a multiple of 512 bytes,
and it must be a power of two.
HDTOOLBOX MASK
Overrides the default values used by the RDB settings written to disk.
They must all be in hexadecimal notation, just as you would in a mount
file.
HDTOOLBOX BUFMEMTYPE
Overrides the default values used by the RDB settings written to disk.
They must all be in hexadecimal notation, just as you would in a mount
file.
HDTOOLBOX MAXTRANSFER
Overrides the default values used by the RDB settings written to disk.
They must all be in hexadecimal notation, just as you would in a mount
file.
LOADWB LEGACY
Allows you to launch older versions of Workbench.
LOADWB SIMPLEGELS
Uses simpler shapes for dragging icons on the Workbench.
LOADWB SKIP
Skips starting programs in the WBStartup drawer.
MAKEDIR ALL
Creates directories recursively.
MAKELINK SOFT
Creates soft links.
MULTIVIEW REPEAT
Indicates whether the animation/audio should loop. It defaults to
"don't loop".
MULTIVIEW IMMEDIATE
Indicates whether the animation/audio should immediately begin playing
after calling Multiview. Default is to "don't start immediately".
MULTIVIEW PRTUNIT
Configures the printer.device unit used for printer dumps.
MULTIVIEW WINDOWLEFT
Defines the horizontal coordinate of MultiView's window.
MULTIVIEW WINDOWTOP
Defines the vertical coordinate of MultiView's window.
MULTIVIEW WINDOWWIDTH
Describes the complete width size of the window instead of the inner
dimensions (without border).
MULTIVIEW WINDOWHEIGHT
Describes the complete height size of the window instead of the inner
dimensions (without border).
MULTIVIEW AUTORESIZE
Makes MultiView resize its window when you open a new image.
REQUESTCHOICE SET
Copies the selected choice into a Shell variable.
REQUESTFILE SET
Copies the selected file (or files) to a Shell variable.
RX SCRIPT=NAME/K
Defines the script to be executed. This must be explicitly given if
the script name is enclosed in quotes; otherwise RX attempts to
interpret the enclosed string as a series of REXX commands to be
executed directly.
RX CMD
Explicitly requests a command (not a script) to be executed. For this
option, Shell quoting rules (and not Rexx quoting rules) apply, so
"rx cmd" can be used also in shell scripts where the shell
(or execute) applies its escape mechanism. That is, a quote must be
escaped with an asterisk if the CMD argument is given.
RX "..."
Defines an ARexx command or ARexx file to be executed. If in double
quotes, a direct command is assumed, otherwise a file. This is
backwards compatible to the V36 release of RX.
In addition, the RX command can also be invoked from the workbench and
then accepts the following additional ToolTypes:
CONSOLE=<pathname> or WINDOW=<pathname>
Defines a pathname where output should go to. The default is a
console.
STARTUP="cmd"
Defines an AmigaDOS command to startup the Rexx host in case it is
not running. This is by default "RexxMast".
SEARCH CASE
Case-sensitive searching. Note that this switch is INACTIVE when
searching for files.
SORT DESCENDING
Reverses the sort order.
SORT SKIPBLANKS
Ignores leading blanks.
SORT NUMERIC
Sorts numerically, not lexicographically.
WAIT FILE
Waits for the existence of a given file.
There are a couple of hidden features and improvements, such as DIR
being able to adjust its output to the size of the console, LIST
showing hard- and soft-links and COPY copying them correctly. We will
report on them later and will provide examples of use.
7.7 * Where are Lacer, MEmacs, HDBackup, Bru and MagTape?
For good reasons we decided to phase them out. Hyperion offers a free
of charge download option for registered AmigaOS 3.1.4 customers who
feel emotionally attached to these archaic components. However,
"these belong in a museum", as Indy would put it.
8. OS 3.1.4 and OS 3.9
______________________
8.1 * Can I mix OS 3.9 components with OS 3.1.4?
Typically, yes. There are a couple of caveats, though. In particular,
if you use the OS 3.9 "Printer preferences" dialog, make sure you
delete ENVARC:sys/printergfx.prefs or the printer system will use the
preferences from the OS 3.1.4 Preferences editor.
You also need to ensure that you use the OS 3.9 "prefs.catalog"
instead of the one that comes with OS 3.1.4. But please bear in
mind--and this goes for all programs within AmigaOS--3.9 catalogs are
somewhat incompatible with both 3.1 and 3.1.4. Mixing components
requires careful consideration when using languages other than English,
or you will end up with misleading translations.
Also, if you decide to use long filenames, beware that RAWBInfo does
not properly behave with them, so it's better to remove it from the
WBStartup drawer.
AmigaOS 3.9 mount files will be overwritten by 3.1.4 default
counterparts, so some of them may need to be readjusted to meet your
needs. This is clearly the case in CD0: (your CD-ROM device), as
AmigaOS 3.1.4 has its own new CD-ROM filesystem, which by the way,
won't work with the previous 3.9 CD Prefs program called CacheCDFS.
Be warned that if you customized the ToolTypes of some 3.9 programs,
when installed, AmigaOS 3.1.4 will overwrite them with its default new
settings.
Currently, there is a script on Aminet (Updateto314.lha) that attempts
to help in integrating/updating both AmigaOS 3.1/3.5/3.9 with AmigaOS
3.1.4. However, it is unofficial, so use it at your own risk.
8.2 * I prefer the nice OS 3.9 ReAction GUI, but now my printer ignores
the printer graphics settings in the OS 3.9 dialog.
OS 3.9 expects the printer settings in a different location that is
not compatible with the OS 3.1.4 location. To work around this problem,
open up a Shell and type in the following command:
DELETE ENVARC:sys/printergfx.prefs
Then, do not use the OS 3.1.4 PrinterGfx preferences anymore.
8.3 * WBPattern prefs does not include a "Layout" cycle gadget for
Tile, Center, Scale, and Scale Well functions.
This feature is not simple to implement, as it involves enhancing
IPrefs. We decided to leave it for a future update as there were more
important things to resolve first. Priorities are a must when there is
such a big to-do list and limited manpower.
In the meantime, users should just resize their desktop wallpaper to
the resolution they need using third party programs, which exist even
on AmigaOS. Between many others, we can safely recommend dtscale24 by
Thomas Rapp:
https://thomas-rapp.homepage.t-online.de/download.html
A pre-scaled background will also decrease loading time a lot and in
all cases is the fastest solution.
8.4 * The new preferences editors ignore my font settings!
The preference editors are based on the sources of OS 3.1, they use
topaz.8 as a fixed font setting. We neither have ReAction at this time,
which the OS 3.9 prefs require, nor the source code of the latter.
That's also why we had to rewrite the editors for ASL and Workbench
preferences from scratch. Font sensitivity will return to the prefs in
a later release; don't worry. Just remember that there was little
manpower, and much to do.
8.5 * I'm using the OS 3.9 ReAction GUI for preferences, but the GUI
contains unreadable strings.
Unfortunately, OS 3.9 did not simply extend the OS 3.1 catalogs, but
instead populated the catalog in an incompatible way. If you want to
continue to use OS 3.9, ensure that the following file comes from an
OS 3.9 installation:
LOCALE:Catalogs/<your language goes here>/sys/prefs.catalog
Copy the OS 3.9 catalog on top of the OS 3.1.4 catalog to get a
working OS 3.9 GUI back.
While OS 3.1.4 tries to be compatible with OS 3.1 and extended its
catalogs in a backwards-compatible way, OS 3.9 unfortunately selected
another route and picked incompatible IDs for its translation. Sorry,
but we cannot fix this.
8.6 * IControl preferences of OS 3.9 had a setting to render window
gadgets in 1:1 aspect. Where is it?
It's currently not available. The code is lost and it was a hack. We
haven't figured out how to implement this properly; there are
prototypes, but they have compatibility issues with some software.
If you have found a working solution without side effects, please
contact us!
8.7 * The background image of my Workbench now uses dithering, even
though I'm using a True color screen mode. What's wrong?
The syntax of the picture.datatype settings have changed, and if you
had custom settings there, the new picture datatype will likely
misinterpret them to enable dithering for many applications. The
easiest remedy is to simply delete the old settings of the picture
datatype--see the next point.
8.8 * How do I set/change picture.datatypes settings?
AmigaOS 3.9 came with SYS:Prefs/PictDT. With it, you could explicitly
set which application supports the V43 mode of the datatype. This mode
offers support for screens with more than 256 colors. In addition, you
could specify whether pictures should be dithered on high color
screens (65,536 colors) or not. Disabling dithering decreases image
quality on these screens, but improves the speed of the datatype
considerably.
In AmigaOS 3.1.4 the env variable "classes/datatypes/picture/ForceV43"
contains a list of all programs that should be forced to v43 mode. In
particular, this list should contain the string:
« IPrefs »
...including the double angle brackets to avoid dithering on the
Workbench. If you leave the environment variable empty, it means that
there is a list of programs to be promoted, and this list is empty. If
the environment variable does not exist however, the known
well-working OS components receive full True color images. So it is
easiest just to delete ENVARC:classes/datatypes/picture/ForceV43.
Dithering of the picture.datatype can be set or unset by the env
variable "Classes/DataTypes/picture/DitherHiColour" which can hold
either a 0 or 1 value (0 = off and 1 = on).
8.9 * Why, when using MultiView and loading a text file, if I go to the
Navigation menu all options are greyed out, and not available?
This is because the search options are available through the
text.datatype from AmigaOS 3.9, and are not available within the same
component in 3.1.4.
Instead, we fixed some race conditions and memory leaks that the 3.9
counterpart did not address.
8.10 * How can I make the Euro symbol?
Only Helvetica font sizes 13 and 15 contain the Euro sign. The Euro
symbol and other non-Latin characters will be properly addressed in a
future update.
8.11 * Why didn't you base your work on OS 3.9 and instead used OS 3.1
as a basis?
We would have loved to. However, we do not have the sources to rebuild
them, nor sufficient rights to redistribute the licensed portions of
the OS 3.9 efforts. Many components you get with 3.1.4 are
re-implementations of 3.9 components. For example, the printer.device
is "all new", but despite its version number, not based on the V44
printer.device from OS 3.9.
We did not have anything as backup for the OS 3.9 HDToolBox, so we
used the old one and fixed (at least) its most obvious bugs.
9. Update 3.1.4.1
_________________
9.1 * What is this 3.1.4.1 thing? I am getting dizzy with so many
numbers. Wasn't the Operating System labeled 3.1.4?
A bug-fix update named "AmigaOS 3.1.4.1" (note the appended ".1" in
the version number) has been published for AmigaOS 3.1.4. It just
polishes 3.1.4 a little bit, and maybe makes it a bit rounder... ;-)
It comes on a single disk and requires that you have AmigaOS 3.1.4
already installed.
9.2 * How can I check whether I correctly Installed the 3.1.4.1 Update?
To check if you are running the updated AmigaOS 3.1.4.1, just open a
CLI/Shell and type:
version shell
If the result is 46.11, it means that the 3.1.4.1 Update has NOT been
correctly deployed.
Another quick and simple method to confirm the update has been
deployed, is to see that Workbench titlebar displays the copyright
message with the year 2019, instead of 2018, when the Amiga boots.
9.3 * I copied files from the 3.1.4.1 Update floppy and they appear to
be corrupt. Is my system damaged?
To be able to fit the amount of files we needed to implement in
this update, we have resorted to the use of the built-in compression
feature the Installer program provides. So please take this into
consideration if you intend to manually copy the Update3.1.4.1 disk
floppy contents by using other methods than the one we provide there.
All compressed files have the appendix ".Z", and the install script
checks for this appendix and then decompresses the file and removes
the .Z.
The compression algorithm is a standard POSIX compliant "compress".
This is a variant of LZW, in case you wonder - the Unisys patent on
LZW run out years ago, so no worries about IPs.
Source code and an executable Amiga version can be found at:
http://aminet.net/util/pack/compress-4.0.lzh
9.4 * What new features does the 3.1.4.1 Update bring along?
This is a minor bugfix update, however a few small features managed to
slip-in:
1. Danish (dansk) and swedish (svenska) AmigaOS catalogs.
2. Setpatch now has the ability to load both an audio.device
and a Shell-Seg update by itself.
3. Audio.device can now deal with some bad programming
practices many third party developers incurred.
4. HDToolBox now suggests more adequate block sizes for large
drives.
5. CrossDOS is now more tolerant to wrongly configured
mountlists and foreign character sets.
10. Miscellaneous
_________________
10.1 * Why didn't you support feature XYZ ...as in "TAB Expansion",
"Magic Menus"... you name it.
Note the revision number. This is a clean-up and bug-fix release of
OS 3.1. We had more than enough to do to get all its bugs fixed (and
possibly added a couple of new ones, for your entertainment and our
embarrassment).
10.2 * Why is the "Find..." entry ghosted in the Window item of the
Workbench menu?
This is intentional, and only occurs if Workbench doesn't detect a
"Find" program in the System folder. So if you put one there, and name
it appropriately, that menu item will automatically be enabled.
10.3 * Can I use the modules from the modules disk to build my own
custom Kickstart ROM?
At this point in time we are only able to support a limited number of
Kickstart ROMs (only the ones that are advertised), and this due to
the unlimited amount of combinations that custom ROMs may lead to. So
yes, sure go ahead, but don't ask us for support if you follow this
route.
10.4 * My PCMCIA network card cannot be detected. How do I fix this?
Due to a hardware design flaw that specifically affects the Amiga 1200,
if you insert a PCMCIA network card, and then boot the machine, there
is a chance it might not get detected. There are currently two ways to
overcome this:
On one hand, you can try to obtain a PCMCIA hardware reset fix some
dealers offer.
On the other hand, you can get CardReset.lha from Aminet and just add
it to your Startup-Sequence, just after the SetPatch line.
10.5 * How do I get nicely-coloured GlowIcons installed?
It is a secret. Don't tell anyone! ;-)
First, insert your Storage3.1.4 floppy in one of your drives.
Then, open a CLI/Shell and type:
Copy Storage3.1.4:glowicons/#? SYS: clone buf 10 all
After the operation is finished, remove the floppy and reboot your
machine.
Finally adjust the number of colors using the Screen Mode Prefs
program to 16 or more.
If you also want borderless icons you can toggle this option by using
the Workbench Prefs program.
10.6 * How can I create a single bootable floppy disk that containts
both the kickstart 3.1.4 updates, and combined Workbench 3.1.4?
The next procedure will help you build a disk that gives the user the
basic template to create a bootable and portable double density floppy
setting for a particular purpose, such as running scene demos, playing
small games, creating pro-tracker style music disks, running diagnostic
software, executing benchmarks, facilitating system recovery, aiding in
antivirus operations, etc.
1. Make a backup copy of your "Modules" disk, and only modify that
backup. Keep the original unaltered, and as a safety precaution,
write protect it by sliding the plastic floppy write protection tab,
leaving the hole uncovered.
2. Boot from the Amiga that has your AmigaOS 3.1.4 installation
deployed, and insert this new unprotected special copy of the Modules
disk.
3. Remember to relabel that disk so that you prevent any confusions.
4. Open a CLI/Shell and enter the following lines, one by one,
pressing the enter key at the end of each one:
Install DF0:
copy c:addbuffers df0:c
copy c:assign df0:c
copy c:binddrivers df0:c
copy c:copy df0:c
copy c:cpu df0:c
copy c:delete df0:c
copy c:execute df0:c
copy c:iprefs df0:c
copy c:list df0:c
copy c:loadwb df0:c
copy c:makedir df0:c
copy c:mount df0:c
copy c:setpatch df0:c
copy c:version df0:c
copy LIBS:version.library df0:libs
copy devs:system-configuration df0:devs
makedir df0:s
5. From a CLI/Shell enter the following line to edit a text file:
ed sys:s/Startup-Sequence
6. With that file opened in the ED text editor, just scroll down to
the first character of the line that says:
C:AddDataTypes REFRESH QUIET
And insert an ";" character (without quotes) as the first character in
that line. Do the exact same thing with the nearby line that says:
C:ConClip
If you have added other lines to the Startup-Sequence follow the exact
same procedure with each one of them.
Then, right mouse click to select from the pull down menu, Project,
Save As..., and enter:
df0:s/Startup-Sequence
After pressing the OK button you can now quit the text editor by
simply closing its window.
7. Now the disk is ready to be tested and used. You will have about
170 KB of free space to put your own programs and other data you might
need. You can get about 270 KB free if you remove the optional
df0:libs/intution-V45.library
Usefull Tips:
A) The floppy contents can be further trimmed down depending on your
specific needs. This will leave more room for programs and data you
wish to store there.
B) Further space can be achieved by applying compression techniques.
C) Floppies are not swappable between different machine types (e.g. an
A600 generated disk will not work in an A4000T and vice versa). This
is because many rom modules are Amiga model dependant, and support
that specific set of hardware peculiarities.
D) If you have updated to 3.1.4.1 also remember to update the files
inside this new floppy to accomodate the fixes it includes.
E) Please allways keep in mind that the contents of this disk contains
copyrighted material.
10.7 * Can I get the guru back?
Sure; crash a program. We're certain we left a couple of bugs for you
to find.
Oh, you mean, instead of "Software Failure"? No, you cannot. See the
next point.
10.8 * Speaking of support--where can I get any for this product?
Official support will be provided on the forums at:
http://forum.hyperion-entertainment.biz
10.9 * Will there be more updates? I'm sick of waiting almost 20 years
for OS updates!
We hope we have already squashed all bugs found for this release. If
however, that ends up not being the case, we will do our best to
address whatever it is left.
And after that? Tell us about your wishes and preferences concerning
an even further updated classic AmigaOS.
10.10 * Are there any Easter Eggs in OS 3.1.4?
No, there are no traces of humour in us that we're aware of. No,
seriously; no Easter Eggs this time. It's not Easter anyway.
10.11 * Is there any other AmigaOS 3.1.4 documentation available?
Yes, you can find the following documentation in Aminet:
1. A compilation of many AmigaOS 3.1.4 notes sorted by OS component
(Bugfixes&Changes.readme).
2. A FAQ that covers GVP Accelerators, Disk, and I/O Interfaces with
AmigaOS 3.1.4 (GVP-FAQ.readme).
3. A comprehensive AmigaOS 3.1.4 installation guide
(Installation.readme).
4. A FAQ that covers PP&S A2000 68040/28 accelerator board
(PP&S-040-FAQ.readme).