Trying out RISC OS

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1

So you have your Beagleboard XM and have tried Linux. Why not try out
RISC OS?

It is very simple to do. You need to put two files onto the primary
partition of the micro SD card which will cayse RISC OS to be started
rather than Linux and you need to put three files onto a pendrive
(which is no more than 2Gbytes in size).

Plug the pendrive into one of the four USB sockets and make sure a
keyboard and mouse are also plugged in. Then reset the Beagleboard XM.
At the prompt type 'Exec RunMe' and RISC OS will start.

The two files you need to put onto the SD card are:
'boot.scr' at http://www.svrsig.org/software/boot.scr
'riscos' from http://www.riscosopen.org/content/downloads/other-zipfiles
(you may want to rename your existing 'boot.scr' so that it can be
recovered later)

The three files you need to put into the root directory of the
pendrive are:
'RunMe' at http://www.svrsig.org/software/RunMe
'EtherUSB' in the directory EtherUSB in the archive at http://effarig.org/riscos/
'HardDisc4.util from http://www.riscosopen.org/content/downloads/other-zipfiles

The network is set up with an IP address of 10.0.0.68 and a gateway of
10.0.0.2 but those parameters can easily be change (in the file
RunMe).

You should then see the screen shot here: http://www.svrsig.org/images/screen.gif

2

Minor correction ..
EtherUSB is at http://effarig.co.uk/riscos/

3

Does this work on xM rev C? Maybe I should feature this project on the homepage?

4

This does work on revision C (there has been a ROM update to cope with
XM revision C).

5

The new MLO/U-boot.bin combination on the SD card now provided uses
files UIMAGE and uEnv.txt rather than boot.scr and user.scr. The RISC
OS rom has not yet been packaged into a uImage and it is not clear
meanwhile where the commands 'fatload ...' and 'go' (which load and
execute RISC OS) now need to go. For the present the older MLO and u-
boot.bin need still to be used. The issue is not related to the
revision C board (which did need a minor tweak to the RISC OS rom) but
to the new SD card image now being provided.

6

The RISC OS community has answered this one already:
https://www.riscosopen.org/forum/forums/5/topics/711

Both methods - the syntax for the uEnv.txt file and the method for
making a uImage file for RISC OS.

7

As stated above, yes it does (not solved by me, I hasten to add). Also
works on AI's Touch Book, of course.

Thanks very much for the Tweet :slight_smile:
http://twitter.com/#!/beagleboardorg/status/95533157847273472

Featuring the project
http://beagleboard.org/project/riscos/
on the homepage under 'Top Projects' would be most welcome too. It's
gaining increased momentum already but a bit more exposure certainly
wouldn't hurt.

And if someone is please able to spread awareness of the forthcoming
London show (Sat 29 Oct, Feltham, TW14 9AD) within TI's UK Northampton
office that'd be wonderful!
http://riscoslondonshow.co.uk/
http://www.ti.com/europe/docs/sites/uk.htm

Thanks

Trevor