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What is AROS


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Free Translation

Babylon Translation

Babel fish



AROS is one of the intermediate levels between the computer hardware and the user. It is an open-source, clean-room implementation of AmigaOS 3.x that can be run on many different computer architectures. It runs primarily on x86 hardware but also on motorola 68k, x86_64bit, PowerPC and ARM. It can be installed to HD but also booted directly from CD/DVD or installed to a USB key for portability. This page will cover enough to be able to run a LiveCD or LiveDVD on your office/home PC and, ultimately, to use it.

AROS is an hobby OS and is not destined to overtake Windows(TM), MacOSX(TM), Android(TM) or Linux but to act as an alternative. AROS, like most other open source initiatives, requires people to take action like CPU used, native/hosted and repeatable steps to highlight issues rather than request features. Missing features will arrive in time and if you do not wish to develop software but wish to push AROS forward then you can optionally donate to any related bounties.

Unfortunately, Aros has few developers so upgrades and improvements can take months or even years, so some patience is required. If you require a finished product, then use your existing OS (operating system), but look into our efforts every few months.

At the moment, AROS is not recommended to be installed on a working vital data holding machine. Instead, installing to its own separate hard disk or usb stick is much better. AROS has some multimedia features and has internet access which may require manual editing to use. Most importantly, use AROS to its maximum potential as it stands now, find ways to have fun with it and share your experiences.

AROS core is now ~80% finished and is usable, so keep in mind that the software is still considered ALPHA/BETA and in development. Currently AROS is fun to play with on a curiosity level, but it is also interesting to program.


Good Sites to visit

AROS-Exec Dev community forum 800 members
Aros World User forum 200 members
Aros Archives
Overview of AROS activity, Genesi activity, Amiga Blogs, Trevor Dickinson blog
Basic How To guides
AROS Playground, Sabbate Aros uses,
Jon Robertson's AROS Experiences and FPC Free Pascal, [],


Amiga OS AOS 3.x forum 5000 members
EAB Amiga 2500 members
AmigaWorld 2000 members
English translation of German site
Polish Amiga Like News
Amiga Forum


Alternatively, the lively IRC channel setup at the IRC network Freenode. To reach it, use the following data: Channel: #aros Server: irc.freenode.net or irc://irc.freenode.net/aros - the channel is for discussing everything AROS. An alternative irc.superhosts.net - #team*amiga - port 6667 for everything amiga on Sunday Nights.


AROS is opensource so basically everyone can take part. The source is public and there are daily new commits.and so based on these commits AROS is automatically compiled daily, result are the nightly builds which you can see and download.

The nightly builds NB are only used for testing changes, they influence software and for distribution maintainers or used for your own distribution. They are very basic, miss functionality and are not suited for end users.


There are two standards ABI0 and ABI1. All end user distributions (except 68k based ones) are ABI0 but this will change in the future.

AROS is aiming to be highly Amiga OS compatible which it is but sadly it is not totally 100%. The changes being made to ABIv1 will require recompilation of software but to avoid problems and numerous recompilations ABIv0 and ABIv1 were created. Although ABIv1-on-trunk is updated, the old ABIv0 is not updated often (backports of changes to ABIv1 now and then). ABIv1 is the branch where most development is done, making it more modern than ABI0. It will need some time to finish ABI1 but the developers are now defining a stable ABI1 and will be the new versions for all distributions.


AROS is cross-platform. It supports both big-endian and little-endian platforms. Supported are X86, X64, ARM, PPC and 68k. PPC is at the moment paused. 68k integration is mainly done with UAE but some tests are done on native Amigas. You cannot use X86-64 bit software on X86 or PPC compiled software on X86 and so on.


History

The project was originally started by a small group of Amiga enthusiasts in 1995. These individuals were mainly computer-based college university students at the start, though that student trend has diminished since. An interview with Aaron Digulla here



Developers

Developers come and go with any open source effort and we would like to thank them for their efforts...

1996-2000
In DigullaA (coordinator), GripJ, TempletonI (BSD), SchulzM, RittauS, voordenDagL, HolmM, JohanssonT, VanIngelgomH, SteigerwaldM, BortasP, deJongK, AlfredssonJ, InnocentiB,
2001-2005
In ChodorowskiA, StegerG, BergerS, HeutlingS, AlemagnaF (gcc), VerhaegenS (rexx), KielH, MatheussenKS (CAMD), SzczygielskiP, ErikssonP, LeCorfecD (Zune), BauerS (Zune), FurlongW, GustafssonJ, AndrewsN, CafferkeyN, GierichM (jpeg), PattonJ, ParsonsM, DietrichJ, SeilerT, BischoffL, LorentzenNH, AdamO, BerglundH, SmithP, HolmenD, BlomM,
2006-2010
In FedinP, RusslerM, SzymczykS (owb), SmiechowiczK (openGL), WeissM, NorrisR, BrunnerO, WiszkowskiT, GreppinA, Bearsoft, ErbY, CharletF, HodgesC, HokstadV, McMullanJ (m68k), WilenT (m68k),
2011-2015
In MuijzenbergPHvanden, ALB42, JonesEM, weiju, DizzyofCRN, wawa,


Future

Future goals for AROS include expanding its underlying retargetability to support even more diverse architectures, provide memory protection features and user level file security, and many other wonderful features missing from AmigaOS — while still providing as much source level compatibility as is possible (however it is accepted that to achieve some goals code certain things may require a little recoding).



Different Versions of AROS



Distros

For end users there are the distributions, mostly created and maintained by one person.


Another overview of the distributions available:



Native

AROS Native is the term coined to AROS being run without any OS underneath it. It runs alone just like AmigaOS(TM) did.

As this version does not benefit from "Hosted" drivers, dedicated ones have to be ported/written. Hence the smaller range of supported hardware peripherals. See Compatibility section below.

AROS-Native, for intel architecture machines, is distributed on bootable ISO's for both 32bit and 64bit platforms. Mixing 32bit and 64bit items is not recommended.



Hosted

AROS was originally developed on Linux running on an Intel-based computer, but runs on many more machines and operating systems (FreeBSD, Linux and Windows). This may sound strange: an OS running on top of another OS. Basically, this is to take advantage of existing Linux or Windows drivers (audio, internet) and working environment with which people may be already familiar. A nice term for what AROS does is "Hosted".

If you use Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora or Arch Linux, it's probably best to use the gimmearos script.



Supported Hardware & Availability

AROS is designed to run on various hardware platforms, below are the currently supported systems

CPU type Native Hosted Opinion
Intel AMD 32bit Native Linux, FreeBSD,

Windows mingw, Win mingw cross GCC,

darwin MacOSX, MacOSX cross GCC,

Use the stable and well tested Icaros or AspireOS or Broadway distributions
Intel AMD 64bit Native Linux No stable distribution yet but untested nightly build version available
PowerPC PPC Efika 5200B chrp, Sam 440EP, Sam 460, Linux,

PPC MacOSX, Cross Compiler from X86 MacOSX,

Untested nightly build versions available
Motorola 68k native m68k Aranym Debian, QEmu m68k, WinUAE, or any UAE version, working native build available
ARMv6+ armel Raspberry Pi armhf nightly build experimental, Public arm build hosted on raspian, Arm Linux and Android armel hosted, Hosted version for Linux available on USA Efika MX Smartbook or Euro Efika MX Products, RPi and others

Installation media

As AROS is still beta, the recommended installation media for AROS x86 is CD-RW DVD-RW, since we can fit the whole system onto a single disk and can be reused when the next version is released. Good branded discs like Taiyo Yuden or Verbatim should be used to reduce frustration later.

Since nobody currently sells AROS on CDROM or DVD (or any other media for that matter), you will need access to a CD/DVD burner to create the installation disk yourself. After it is on a CD or DVD, then access and writing to USB pendrives becomes available, as well as using good USB manufacturers like Sandisk, Kingston, etc rather than some other no-names.

The LiveCD/LiveDVD idea was designed to try out, test drive, various operating systems without having to install them to your working system but remember that...

If you going to use a virtual emulator, then burning the iso file is not necessary.

Please read the Icaros Manual - within Extras/Manuals drawer/folder... or the Icaros Desktop website.


For ARM Pi Aros, copy the files onto a FAT32 formatted SD card.



Writing

Simply download one of the distros above and burn it to a CD-RW or DVD-RW using your favorite CD/DVD burning program (most burning software have a burn iso option). The ideal writing speed is 2x or 4x, higher speeds can give errors and problems.

Check the writing integrity of your CD or DVD if your software has an option to do so before going any further.



Booting

Simply insert the CD into the first CDROM/DVD drive and reboot the computer. The boot is fully automatic, and if everything works you should see a multiple choice graphic card screen after a little while (CDs can take up to a minute - DVDs can be a little longer).

Some recorded CDs or DVDs have issues with other makes of CD or DVD players, please bear this in mind.

Since there are various sources of hardware in the x86 world, it is difficult to provide complete support. If the CD/DVD should hang and appear to be doing nothing after a few minutes, you need to reboot and edit the grub boot line (multiple choice screen of video card options).

With the advent of UEFI from 2011 onwards booting get more confusing. change the BIOS specification from UEFI to CSM. disabled the Fast Boot config so it would recognize my portable DVD-drive and changed the Boot-sequence. also disabled the Secure Boot configuration.


UEFI and GPT

though this can have issues with any OS already on the hard disk. If in doubt, do nothing and seek advice.


BIOS and msdos

The easiest way to boot from the AROS installation CD or DVD is if you have a computer that supports booting from an optical drive. Most Pentium 2's and above have that BIOS option but...

Save options changed at the end.



Advice for various machines

Stages involved in a typical AROS boot start up but be aware that VESA mode gives no visual output whilst booting. Use vga (4bit mode - safe mode).


[Kernel]
[PCI] Everything OK
[AHCI]
[ACPI]
[BattClock] Got RTC century offset 0x32 from ACPI 

[ATA] detect hd & cd drives 
[ata-identity]
[Boot] choose suitable boot option 
[packet] 
[DOS] 

waiting for bootable media 

[MSS] usb setup
[drm] nouveau 
[ATI]
If boot fails, please give us some indication where the boot stops and the message(s) on screen.


Icaros 2.0

The native SATA/AHCI driver doesn't always work. If you get errors related to ahci.device, try disabling it. Press E when your chosen boot entry is highlighted in the GRUB menu, scroll down to the ahci.device entry, and delete it with Ctrl-K. Then press Ctrl-X to boot. If your disk isn't accessible at all with this change, you might need to change the SATA controller to IDE legacy mode in the BIOS: however, making this change will likely cause problems booting Windows on the same machine (if it's already installed). To disable ahci.device permanently, edit the text file "SYS:Arch/pc/grub/grub/cfg", and remove the ahci.device line from all boot entries you intend to use.

The ATA driver doesn't always work. If you get errors related to ata.device, try using the alternative, older version provided: Press E when your chosen boot entry is highlighted in the GRUB menu, scroll down to the ata.device entry, and change it to read "module /Devs/Alt/ata.device". Then press Ctrl-X to boot. To make this change permanent, edit the text file "SYS:Arch/pc/grub/grub/cfg", and change the path to ata.device in all boot entries you intend to use.

error code (-6) when ahci.device(has writing to disk problem but not reading) is enabled. change this line in your grub and reboot if that helps

#module /Devs/ahci.device      << disable
module /Devs/Alt/ata.device    << add this line instead

and sata controller can be ahci in bios

The "noacpi" boot option causes all PCI devices to be invisible to AROS. Although disk drives may still work, network, sound etc. drivers won't.

If all else fails, try a nightly and add the option sysdebug=all to the grub line as that is able to report more feedback.

Also, how is the dvd drive connected (do you use hubs ? = no-no), and what usb version is used ? usb sometimes has issues with certain devices connected to the same header, try another one in such cases. Furthermore sata dvd seems to have problems spinning up again


Icaros 1.5.x

At the grub boot prompt, position the cursor over the vga option with the up/down arrow keys and press the letter e. Using the left/right arrow keys to move and backspace/delete to edit the line where ATA= is to


if freezes/stops at [ATA--] ata_Scan Waiting for Buses to finish Initialising
if old VIA or SIS chipset motherboards with cdrom read io errors or ATA or the start up just freezes

Press Ctrl and X together to exit and boot with the new options. Just experiment with different variations until successful. Those working options will need to be reused with every reboot of AROS until you can edit the grub.cfg and make it permanent ie. install to hard disk or usb. 

Other useful grub command line options - nomonitors, noacpi, vesahack, nopoll



Pre 2000 computers which do not have USB boot options can use the floppy disk boot method (either AROS or Plop change Setup->Bootmanager->Force USB 1.1) which will continue booting from the USB afterwards.


Pre 1996 computer does not support booting directly from CDROM you can create a boot floppy (either AROS or Plop) and use it together with the CDROM. Simply insert both the boot floppy and the CD into their respective drives and reboot. AROS will start booting from the floppy, but after the most important things have been loaded (including the CDROM filesystem handler) it will continue booting from the CDROM.


Mac Intel x86 64bit


Additional solutions can be found here.



Filesystem directory and file structure overview

AROS' directory structure is mostly identical to AmigaOS directory structure, with some additions.

AROS: or SYS: also known as DH0: (i.e. the drive partition with AROS) has the following simplified list of the main drawers (directories/folders).

C: where AROS looks first for applications/games but will look at Tools, System and elsewhere afterwards
Devs: audio, network and other hardware device drivers are stored
L: where .handler files go
Libs: extra libraries needed for extra features in AROS itself and applications/games
Prefs: applications to setup and set AROS functions and capabilities
S: startup scripts (for the aros boot process not grub) are stored here
Storage: place to keep unrequired device drivers
System: applications associated with AROS operating system
Tools: extra applications

Autoupdate of files in a directory is already implemented in Wanderer, but not all file systems handle dos.library/StartNotify() in its full extend, so it appears not to be working. It seems to work correctly in Ram Disk (thanks to AmberRAM handler), and it also works on SFS formatted devices. Other file systems might not yet have it implemented correctly.

See DOS manual: Drives, Files, Assigns, Directories


SFS filesystem checks and balances

Whilst the kernel is the heart, the filesystem is the blood of the system...

Filesystem options

SFS is way more advanced and much much faster than the FFS we had. Some people were tired with random "checksum errors" on several HD blocks.


SFS Tools 

sfscheck dh0: seek purge fraglist defragment


127GB partition size limit on hard disks and DVDs current 4gig size limit using SFS are problems. Although both MOS and OS4 developers are working on SFS, we do not benefit. They have been developing their own closed source branches of SFS and never cared to participate in the LGPL branch on sourceforge. One could extending AROS SFS to support SFS2 (like OS3/OS4) so there's an official way to have big partitions and files. Or support 64bit filesystems file functions via TD64-compliant device driver.

There are no repair tools, you can't repair SFS partitions. Just copy the files to another partition, format (a few times) the one with the errors and copy the files back.

A bit error on the harddisk would give this error. Not really SFSs fault but the disk that starts to show errors. Only thing one can do for SFS when this happens is to try to never touch this part of the disk again.

SFS (Smart File System) partially defragments itself while the filesystem is in use. The defragmentation process is almost completely stateless

The PC equivalent of the Amiga's RDB is the master boot record (MBR).


App requesters about problems with blockid issues

Data corruption - corrupted partition has plenty of disk buffers (1000+) SFS randomly corrupt partitions on at least three different machines throughout the years, though on another it's run fine and continuously for probably 10 years straight. To recover files from your SFS partition you could try to find MorphOS user to try SFSDoctor for your HD. It can repair SFS volumes and its file recovery is faster. If there are two simultaneous file writes in progress and you reboot machine (or it locks up or crashes for whatever reason) you may end up with a corrupted filesystem.

SFS filesystem slows down with usage


Installing Applications

The typical means to install applications under AROS/AmigaOS involves simply copying/extracting the archive (.zip .lha .rar .tar.gz) file containing the applications files to your own desired location i.e. drawer/folder. Once extracted, launching it by double clicking on an icon (recommended) or using the shell (alternative). Generally, this is on a separate partition from your AROS system files, however in reality it can be any location - including RAM: if you don't want it staying around too long especially when you switch off.

At some time in the future it may be desirable for AROS to have a package-manager like subsystem able to retrieve information online about packages available for AROS and whether they update anything you currently have installed, however at the moment no such ability exists.


User Data files

AmigaOS has no notion of a default location to store user data files, and presently neither does AROS - though it may be desirable at some time to provide a common start location.

For most people, Having a Work: (DH1:) partition or other partitions to store data seems preferable.



User Environment configuration files

AmigaOS/AROS stores persistent system configuration data in directory assigned to ENVARC:. This, by default, points to SYS:Prefs/EnvArc.

During boot a copy is made to another assign, ENV:, which is for runtime usage. Changes to the files here will not survive a reboot.

Setting the env variables is generally done by applications themselves, or when neccessary by the user using the SetEnv command. SetEnv has a SAVE switch to force the persistent copy in ENVARC: to be written also for when you are sure the change should be permanent.

Localisation of AROS interfaces and menus can be found here



Drivers

All drivers are placed in the Devs drawer (folder/directory). The network drivers <something.device> go in the Networks sub-drawer. Audio drivers <something.audio> are put in the AHI sub-drawer. Graphics drivers <something.hidd> are put in the Monitors sub-drawer.



Configuring


Keys

Common Keyboard Shortcuts

RAlt Right Alt Key 
LAlt Left Alt Key 
RWinKey Right Windows Key 
LWinKey Left Windows Key 
RAmiga Right Amiga Key (if one)
LAmiga Left Amiga Key (if one)
Bootup Options
Spacebar during boot, enters the bootmenu which allows a boot without startup sequence, etc
Left Click
LAmiga = LWinKey = F11
Right Click
RAmiga = RWinKey = F12
Mark
RAmiga and B
Cut
RAmiga and X
Copy
RAmiga and C
Paste
RAmiga and V
Search
RAmiga and S
Mouse Movement

LAmiga and together with arrow keys - shift as well at the same time as well to move faster

Mouse Selection

LAmiga and LAlt to select

Screen Switching

LAmiga and M or N

HELP key

Can sometimes be mapped to F11 but can be changed see FKey below


FKey

Exchange can be opened with alt, ctrl, h


In Tools/Commodities, there's an FKey commodity which allows you to make actions assigned to some combinations of keys. 

run QUIET sys:Tools/Commodities/ClickToFront >Nil: 
run QUIET sys:Tools/Commodities/DepthMenu >Nil: 
run QUIET sys:Tools/Commodities/Blanker seconds=300 >Nil:

In Icaros, Alt Ctrl F opens FKey app and show already assigned key-presses shortcuts 

Open Prefs                 = LAmiga F2
Finder                         = LAmiga F3 
Alt Tab                        = Cycle Windows
LAmiga Tab  or M       = Cycle Screens
Enlarge Window         = Alt Up arrow 
Shrink Window           = Alt Down arrow 
Toggle Window Size   = Alt Home 
Insert Text
Run Program             = LAmiga ESC 
Run Arexx Script


If not, just drag and drop sys:Tools/Commodities/Fkey into your Workbench Startup drawer, double click on it and assign some programs to the keys. You could have F1 key set up to run the command "Avail Flush", which is always a quick handy way of flushing the RAM without needing to run any extra apps or patches to do it for you. You can also just press Left-Amiga & "e" to execute a command, then you can just type in ed or ced, or cli. Or just set it up as an F-Key.

If your FKey GUI pops up when you start your Workbench up and you don't want it to, click once on the icon, go to the Icons-Information in the menu and make sure it has the tooltype set "CX_POPUP=NO".

Although there are heaps of docks, menus and other launcher programs on the Amiga, this has got to be one of the quickest and less complicated ways to launch programs, and it comes with the OS.


Now let's launch it and assign the locale switching. After you double-click on FKey icon, launch the Exchange, choose the FKey from list and click the Show button. This will invoke the FKey window. You can see the ALT TAB in list assigned to window switching. Now enter the first key combination, say, ALT Z and go to the right panel. Choose Launch the program from pulldown menu and enter SYS:Prefs/Input as an argument. Append the USE switch and english preset name to the string as shown:

SYS:Prefs/Input USE SYS:Prefs/Presets/english

Click on the New Button to add the another combination. Now set the combination for your locale as shown above, replacing english name with your preset name. Click New button again and then Save Settings. Now you can use defined combinations to switch the layouts.

Cycle Windows
Cycle Screens
Enlarge Window
Shrink Window
Toggle Window Size
Insert Text
Run Program
Run Arexx Script


Joystick/Joypad

Poseidon is the USB stack with Trident adding a GUI (graphical user interface) prefs.

How to use joystick or gamepad with AROS?

Just plug in your digital/analogue joystick or gamepad into USB port. The device will be handled by Poseidon USB stack.

the context sensitive page would come up right on pressing the help key (F12/Menu?) inside the relevant window. The manual is in this archive, just in case it isn't in SYS:Locale/Help


How to change joystick mode to analogue?

By default a connected USB joystick emulates Amiga digital joystick. To change this behaviour so that the joystick is presented as analogue you need to use Trident preferences application (System:Prefs/Trident).

Open Trident and go to Devices on the left hand side (mouse click once on it). Select your controller from the list to the right and then click on Settings button below. This will open a new window. On the "General" tab find the "Lowlevel Library Joypad Emulation" section near the bottom. Find ports which are set to "Merge with USB" or "Override with USB" and change them to "Analogue Hack".

Please note that analogue joystick support is an extension of original Amiga functionality, thus an Amiga application must be explicitly written to use it. AROS SDL library uses this functionality, thus all SDL applications that use joystick, can use the analogue joystick feature.

The HID class has several options how to handle the input data:


How to change joystick port assignment?

The low level library supports up to four ports. Port 0 is usually used by the mouse, port 1 is the standard port for joysticks/joypads. By default a connected USB joystick is present in Port 1. To change its location to Port 0 you need to use Trident preferences.

Open Trident and go to Devices window. Select your controller from the list and then click on Settings button. This will open a new window. On the "General" tab find the "Lowlevel Library Joypad Emulation" section. Port 1 should be set as either "Merge with USB" or "Override with USB". Change this setting to "Don't touch". Change Port 0 setting to "Merge with USB".

Go to "Actions" tab. In the "Reports and collection" select first entry named "Joystick". in the "Usage items" select "X axis". Go to "Performed actions" area. On the left there will be a list of triggers. Each of them should have (port1) in their params. Click on the first trigger and using buttons to the right of the list change port1 into port 0. Repeat this for all triggers and for all items on "Usage items" list.


How to make joystick simulate keyboard keys?

With Poseidon it is possible to make the joystick simulate the keyboard pressings. This might enable using joystick for playing games which only have keyboard support. This feature is configured in Trident preferences.

Open Trident and go to Devices window. Select your controller from the list and then click on Settings button. This will open a new window. Go to "Actions" tab. On the right top window select X axis. On the left bottom list select an entry "Digital Joystick, Push left(port 1)". On the panel to the right change "Digital joystick" into "Raw Key". A list of keys will be displayed. Select key you wish to send. Repeat the same procedure for "Digital Joystick, Release left (port 1)" option but this time check "Send key up even instead of key down". Open shell and move your joystick to the left - your selected letter should appear in the shell.


Analogue in Trident Prefs

And you should see some axis activity in "Usage items" when you move the analog stick


Actions

HID class item -> Settings -> HID Class Window -> Action Tab -> Action handling area

Reports and collections -> Usage Items -> Performed actions


Qualifier keys are *special*. You don't only need to create the actual keypress but also modify the qualifiers.

The correct way is:

Go to the keyboard panel and find the windows menu key by enabling key tracking and pressing the windows menu key. Then assign the right amiga key to it.

Go to the actions panel and find the right amiga key (it's called "Keyboard right GUI"). Remember the actions stored there, best write them down in exact order. Then delete them. Find the windows menu item and add the missing qualifier action. Be sure the parameters are exactly the same and the order is right.

is set them to Raw, then assign an up and down button for each character, etc. when you change the settings to RAW so you can assign keyboard strokes. it will always say, KEYDOWN or what ever on the left, it never provides and option for key release.

The problem still remains though that if I try to assign the Directional Pad (Hat) to Arrow Keys, that things will get screwed up and you either can not move with the directional PAD (HAT), or movements are assigned to the Left Analog, and do not work as they should, it's as if the right and down arrow keys are ALWAYS On, regardless of the fact that I did indeed assign a Key release command to each input.

check that by pressing analog directions and see the current values, and the thresholds configured in poseidon to bind them to left/right/up/down.

misconfigured too much stuff in the HID settings, you can always go in poseidon->config list entry and delete the config item related to your device (or the HID class setting itself), back to basics.


Rumble in Trident Prefs

Open Trident Prefs and click on the Devices option in the left hand window. Click with the mouse once on your gamepad choice on the right hand side and again on the Settings button below. In the new window, select the General TAB and half way down on the right there is an "Open Now" button in the section "HID output control window". Clicking on that button opens another window (HID Control) with sliders for the two rumble engines inside the controllers and you can test if they work. Sometimes clicking that button does nothing, other times it will open the window and say nothing is detected. The leftmost two sliders do nothing, the third one has a large rumble effect, and the fourth one has a small rumble effect.



The Look

Changing the background, icons, font, menus with zune prefs and shell with escape strings

AROS has several desktop usability front ends like Wanderer and DOpus Magellan (large), Scalos (medium) and Workbook (small)

File / Directory manager like Dopus4, Amistart, BoingBar

General usability decisions - Prefs/IControl,


DOpus 5 Directory Magellan

Dopus 5.x was a whole desktop replacement on the Amiga Workbench (Desktop).


Left mouse button clicked twice on the desktop background brings up the Device List window. Green strip notifies SRCE (source) and if another is open it may be red for DEST (destination). clicking on the red strip changes to green Word list of actions with a left mouse click on the DOWN Arrow and directory stuff with < button next to it


Right Mouse click and Settings - select the top option of Clock which adds a Date/Clock to the title bar

Right Win key together with 4 for the Environment (shortcut for Right Mouse Click - Settings - Environment) - Change the Backgrounds, etc

Right Win Key together with 1 for the Button Bank Editor (toolbar icons) described the icons associated with Dopus 5.


Settings - Themes i.e. D5THEMES: assign for DOPUS5:Themes

Each Dopus5 themes are stored in a separate directory, named appropriately, which contains further sub directories for


Shift and click on the icon - runs the icon

Closing shutting down the computer and restarting rebooting - F12 and E and put in reboot cold



Wanderer


Provides a way to hide the old Workbench 3.1 style of windows and screens. The default content of Prefs/Env-Archive/SYS/themes.var should be "themes:ice". When using the theme prefs, please do NOT click the Use button. Its useless. As you know, it will ask for the theme volume. Just pick the theme you want, click on Save, then reboot.

You could check if you find SYS:System/Themes or if it is missing. Than you could open startup-sequence which you can find in drawer "S". There should be a line: Assign THEMES: SYS:SYSTEM/THEMES >Nil: This does the trick. Open a shell and run: Assign THEMES: SYS:SYSTEM/THEMES Than start the Theme prefs again... this should work

ALua/Zulu script built for faster Wanderer skin management. You can modify config files, install new (wdz format/zipped skin files) and delete skins via the Theme Manager.


Global.Prefs



Scalos

Import your ToolsDaemon configs for top pull down menus for apps, etc.



DOpus 4 Directory Opus

Many users prefer the simplicity of DOpus and the following added to the bottom of the user-startup script in S: drawer/directory 

run DOPUS:DirectoryOpus -i >NIL

makes DOpus starts up in Iconified state at the top of Wanderer's screen. Left click on this to highlight and right mouse click to open.


Just click on the sides of either outer edges of DOpus windows and it will display the parent device/volume list.


DOpus saves it features in a CFG file which can be edited to suit anyones' needs by reading the Dopus Manual which is in Guide format.


AmiStart

try a right-click on AmiStart and release on Global settings. Then click on the bubbles gadget. Move the Show Bubbles slider all the way to the left.


Boing Bar

drag icons to ends of the bar and move them on the Bar using the Prefs/BoingIconBar


IControl and Windows

Magic Menu type functionality is implemented in IControl preferences editor: in the frame called Menus, switch type from Pull-Down to Pop-Up and/or iControl just tick the sticky menu option.


Windows outside screens causing a problem either uncheck "Offscreen move" for windows in IControl prefs editor. Or use FKey commodity and define two key shortcuts:

Now you can cycle windows until the one you want to rescue (you'll have to guess of course), and then "rescue" it: it will move back inside your screen.


How to save the window size on wanderer (i try snapshot all, snapshot windows, but it does not work)? Same for icon position on wanderer, i can't save the position. Icon position cannot be saved yet, but you should be able to save the window position and size. sys:prefs - wanderer icon has option to save window size on exit but just for dh0. To get saving working on (DH1: Extras:) partitions try deleting the dh1 disk.info file, then reboot. The system should create a new dh1 icon.


As for viewing all files, removing disk.info for that disk did the job

sys:Tools/Wimb scout

sys:Tools/Commodities/Exchange can remove available commodities

sys:Extras/System/Scout can kill

If you're using Icaros, go to the theme prefs and make sure that decoration is checked. Also, some themes do not use a parent button, so try another theme. You may have to restart Aros before the theme will change.

yes you can turn off the the computer if none of the drives is in progress (writing). Best to use Wanderer menu option Quit.


Icons

Icons are png pictures renamed as .info e.g. any Office app would have a Office.png renamed as Office.info or MyApp.png as MyApp.info, etc.

C:Join Image1.png Image2.png TO MyFile.info is enough to make a dual state icon from two png images. You can then use Wanderer's menu Icon/Information on it to edit its fields and tooltypes.

Is there any way in AROS to change an icon type from Project to Tool or vice versa? Either the SIT option of ProcessIcon, or the TYPE option of HandleInfo (not sure if this one works at all, please test with care).

processicon sys:pathoftheicon SIT=Project

SIT Set type of ICON. Allowed types are: "Disk", "Drawer", "Tool", "Project", "Garbage", "Device", "Kick" and "AppIcon".

Works like a charm (even with 32bit dual-state AOS4 icons)

Amiga OS 3.x AfA icons thread, Later DualPNG and OS4 icons thread and Alternative Icons sets like ClassicWB


AISS toolbar images unpack unarc them into RAM: and copy Images directory to SYS:Prefs/Presets/

AISSions are looked for in PROGDIR:, PROGDIR:Images, SYS:Prefs/Presets/Images and then in TBImages: according to Open Amiga guidelines.

there is Demos/iconscale which could be launched from S:User-Startup with two arguments, telling it the horizontal and vertical size. IE something like 

Demos/iconscale 40 40

It will shrink icons... not sure if it will be very nice though. it doesn't work for the icons on the main desktop.

there is an option to scale an icon to a bounding box afair but i dont remember exactly how to activate it in user-startup. try perhans iconsize followed by two numbers, like: iconsize 32 32


Palettes

If you want to improve the vga mode palette color on Wanderer, Scalos, etc you can use rtpalette, which is in the demo drawer. rtpalette does not load or save any changes. It just changes colors on the fly. SetPenColor does a similar thing. 


;******************************************************************************
;                            16 color palette
;* Please note: when using HEX values you need to provide colors in BGR order 
;* (meaning: Blue-Green-Red) _not_ RGB  (endianness heritage from 68K code?)    
;******************************************************************************


;PEN 0 - RGB 153-153-153 (DEC) | BGR 99-99-99 (HEX)
c:setpencolor SCREEN="Workbench" PEN=0 COLOR=$999999 >NIL:

;PEN 1 - RGB 17-17-17 (DEC) | BGR 11-11-11 (HEX)
c:setpencolor SCREEN="Workbench" PEN=1 COLOR=$111111 >NIL:

;PEN 2 - RGB 238-238-238 (DEC) | BGR EE-EE-EE (HEX)
c:setpencolor SCREEN="Workbench" PEN=2 COLOR=$EEEEEE >NIL:

;PEN 3 - RGB 68-68-204 (DEC) | BGR 44-44-CC (HEX)
c:setpencolor SCREEN="Workbench" PEN=3 COLOR=$CC4444 >NIL:

;PEN 4 - RGB 119-119-199 (DEC) | BGR 77-77-77 (HEX)
c:setpencolor SCREEN="Workbench" PEN=4 COLOR=$777777 >NIL:

;PEN 5 - RGB 187-187-187 (DEC) | BGR BB-BB-BB (HEX)
c:setpencolor SCREEN="Workbench" PEN=5 COLOR=$BBBBBB >NIL:

;PEN 6 - RGB 204-170-119 (DEC) | BGR CC-AA-77 (HEX)
c:setpencolor SCREEN="Workbench" PEN=6 COLOR=$77AACC >NIL:

;PEN 7 - RGB 221-102-153 (DEC) | BGR DD-66-99 (HEX)
c:setpencolor SCREEN="Workbench" PEN=7 COLOR=$9966DD >NIL:

;PEN 8 - RGB 34-119-51 (DEC) | BGR 22-77-33 (HEX)
c:setpencolor SCREEN="Workbench" PEN=8 COLOR=$337722 >NIL:

;PEN 9 - RGB 119-68-17 (DEC) | BGR 77-44-11 (HEX)
c:setpencolor SCREEN="Workbench" PEN=9 COLOR=$114477 >NIL:

;PEN 10 - RGB 238-204-34 (DEC) | BGR EE-CC-22 (HEX)
c:setpencolor SCREEN="Workbench" PEN=10 COLOR=$22CCEE >NIL:

;PEN 11 - RGB 68-68-68 (DEC) | BGR 44-44-44 (HEX)
c:setpencolor SCREEN="Workbench" PEN=11 COLOR=$444444 >NIL:

;PEN 12 - RGB 187-34-51 (DEC) | BGR BB-22-33 (HEX)
c:setpencolor SCREEN="Workbench" PEN=12 COLOR=$3322BB >NIL:

;PEN 13 - RGB 51-170-68 (DEC) | BGR 33-AA-44 (HEX)
c:setpencolor SCREEN="Workbench" PEN=13 COLOR=$44AA33 >NIL:

;PEN 14 - RGB 68-119-238 (DEC) | BGR 44-77-EE (HEX)
c:setpencolor SCREEN="Workbench" PEN=14 COLOR=$EE7744 >NIL:

;PEN 15 - RGB 204-119-51 (DEC) | BGR CC-77-33 (HEX)
c:setpencolor SCREEN="Workbench" PEN=15 COLOR=$3377CC >NIL:




Fonts

Install the #?.ttf files to SYS:Fonts/TrueType. Use SYS:System/FTManager to "Install Font" each #?.ttf file which will generate associated #?.otag and #?.font in SYS:Fonts. Use SYS:Prefs/Fonts to change system fonts and SYS:Prefs/Zune to change others.

To achieve our goal we will use the Setup Locale, Input, Zune and Fonts, as well as The FTManager.

Begin

The first step you should do is to get the system to know that we speak and write in another language. What you need to do is to open the setup program and choose Locale country, and list "preferred languages" to put it first and then English. If you want the tab "Time Zone" and select city of residence to set the clock correctly. Of course we save our changes and continue opening the setup program Input. This sets the keyboard language as our beginning. When the language layout was created there was no option to switch to Aros keyboard (layout switching), so to write in the language you had to hold down Alt, something you encounter in other functions, such as AmigaOS 4 and MorphOS. This time working with the team of Aros to create a new keyboard layout to replace the old so we can get rid of the button Alt. For now though let only selected this layout and do not turn the switch on the keyboard.

On the occasion of the article, write in the comments below if you'd prefer to keep both layouts, the new words that are in development and this requires the Alt button pressed.

Installing fonts

In this step you need to download some fonts that can support the Greek encoding in our system. The easiest way is to run the script "Download Fonts" you'll find in the folder AROS: Utilities / OWB. This script downloads from the Internet, and unpacks some fonts for OWB, which is placed under the folder Fonts: TrueType. But as these can only be used by OWB and not the system, which unfortunately does not see. To make them available to the rest of the system, open the program FTManager, you will find the folder AROS: System /. From there select the field "Codepage" option "ISO-8859-7" and list the font "Arial" and "Regular" form in which you must double-click with the mouse. In the window that appears, select the bottom right the checkbox "Anti-aliasing" button and then "Install". Immediately folder Fonts: created files "arialregular.font" and "arialregular.otag", which are necessary in order to see the system font. Do the same steps if you wish for other fonts.

Final stages

After completing the above, open the folder AROS: Prefs / and run the program settings Fonts. In the new window, select the fields "Icons" and "Screen" as the font "ArialRegular" to the size you want. In the field "System" to give "s_courier", which, however, because it is not True Type Font support Antialising, and may seem a little broken. You can also use the CourierNew, if you have installed the above procedure. After you save the changes and open the Zune program settings. In this set the "ArialRegular" font fields in tabs "Windows" and "Groups", and save the changes. Reboot the system. To make sure that the above worked properly run NoWinED, which you will find under the folder AROS: Tools /. If that everything is working correctly you will see the menu and the settings window with Greek letters. You can also write in the language using the button Alt. Second program that you can try, which is fully localized, is WookieChat, which you will find in the folder AROS: Extras / Networking. And in this place all the menu and settings window works.



Network Connection

AROS currently only has one real choice for TCP/IP networking - AROSTCP. This is a port of the AmiTCP package from AmigaOS (TM), with a number of enhancements/fixes from AROS developers.



Wired

Please use Prefs/Network to set up wired, wireless or usb networking

The top half of the IPv4 Configuration tab on the Network Prefs deals with the network card/usb and the lower half the router part.

Aros network setup diagnostics - why does it not work?
DHCP Settings

Upper part of IPv4 tab




Manual Settings

Lower part of IPv4 tab




an alternative way is to take the settings from an OS already using the same internet connection. Another connection will have different settings.

e.g. From Windows, ipconfig /all and note down the IP, subnet mask, default gateway, and DNS servers values and put these values in "manually" into AROS Network prefs.

e.g. From Linux via dhcp router have a look at etc/dhcpc/dhcpcd-eth0.info 

Please note that all in one routers (wired+wireless) or separate routers may need different settings



Wireless

Why does it not work?
Shell commands to work out what is happening

We must first make certain you have a Atheros chip inside acting as the wireless wifi option. Open PCITool in Tools directory. Down left hand side are a series of numbers 0.00.0 etc. Click on some at the bottom and hopefully one of them will say Atheros AR5??? or AR242?.

or a RTL8187B which we use Prefs/Trident to check as this one is usb based


There are many similarities with the above Wired set up so please read the above section as well


Make sure that any extra network names (e.g. eth1 or net1) should be deleted. If net0 already st previously, change net0 so that it shows associated with the appropriate device name like atheros5000.device or realtek8180.device. Having two entries here will cause sub-net problems.

For the best chance of success, set networking to start at boot, and then reboot with the USB adapter plugged in.



USB Ethernet

Open Network Prefs and in the IPv4 Configuration tag (top table covers your usb stick)

or manual

There can be sometimes be boot failures when using usb ethernet - plug the usb device in after boot and save the network prefs to make it work again.


Lower part of IPv4 tab covers the router information

or if manual settings



PPP over RNDIS mobile broadband


Tethering via your smart phone...

Enable and configure at Android --->settings -->>more networks -->>Tethering and portable hotspot

add or name your wifi Network SSID set Security [WPA2 PSK] and password.

and save..

Goto AROS and add your NetWork SSID and password and save..

reboot AROS, make sure your tethering is enabled from android side than magic you have it running..

Same way how you set your home router but this time from your data or wifi via your smartphone or tablet


Network Preferences (Prefs) settings 

device usbrndis.device
unit 0
IP mode:DHCP
set "Start networking during system boot" to OFF

In Icaros,edit s/user-startup and add line 

addusbclasses > nil:
AROS Screenshot PPP Mobile Prefs

plug in USB cable, enable usb tethering from phone, and AFTER this start arostcp.

make sure DHCP is disabled for both DNS/gateway and for the interface. If the DHCP client is running, it will undo some PPP settings when it gives up (after a few minutes or so)

The advice is different for the new network prefs (Icaros 1.4.1). "Automatic" works for both Ethernet/Wireless and PPP, so you should choose it for PPP now

GUI1


Solving Issues


Prefs


Wired=


Wireless


Are you connecting with the Router ?

Check with protection off e.g. wps and wep to see if it makes a difference.


For USB wireless - stopping and starting may be needed...

; $VER: AROSTCP-startnet 1.0 (01/08/06)
; AROSTCP-startnet (c) The AROS Dev Team.
;
Run <NIL: >NIL: AROSTCP
WaitForPort AROSTCP
If NOT Warn
  ; echo "Stack online"
Else
  echo "Wait for Stack Failed"
EndIf

; stop and restart
execute "sys:system/network/AROSTCP/s/stopnet"

Run <NIL: >NIL: AROSTCP
WaitForPort AROSTCP
If NOT Warn
  ; echo "Stack online"
Else
  echo "Wait for Stack Failed"
EndIf

run <NIL: >NIL: wirelessmanager realtek8180.device


What IRQ number is assigned to the device? You can check with Tools/PCITool? It's possible the BIOS hasn't set the right IRQ number. If you have a Linux CD/DVD handy, could you check if it boots with the options "acpi=off noapic nolapic"?


If the following does nothing, this will help us figure out why networking doesn't start automatically at boot

open a shell and run the following commands:

echo ${AROSTCP/AutoRun}
echo ${AROSTCP/WirelessAutoRun}
echo ${AROSTCP/WirelessDevice}

Please report the output, typically it will look like this

  1. True (explanation this variable is related to the "Start networking during system boot" checkbox in network prefs)
  2. True ()
  3. Devs:networks/atheros5000.device unit 0


If there's a problem with the AROSTCP package. What's the output of this?

ENV:sys/packages/AROSTCP

should return a string = Sys:System/Network/AROSTCP


By the way, a quicker way to check networking is working would be to run some shell commands such as:


ping www.google.com
ifconfig net0


The best way to list the available networks and diagnose / troubleshoot problems with connecting to a wireless network is to run WirelessManager manually. First uncheck the "Start networking during system boot" box in the Network prefs app, then save and reboot. Then run this in a shell:

C:wirelessmanager atheros5000.device verbose

or 

C:wirelessmanager realtek8180.device verbose

and capture the output


If the above does not help, could you edit the file SYS:System/Network/AROSTCP/S/Package-Startup, and change ">NIL:" to ">T:wifi.log" on the WirelessManager line and add this as well Wait 5?

if ${AROSTCP/WirelessAutoRun} eq "True"
Run QUIET "C:WirelessManager ${AROSTCP/WirelessDevice} >T:wifi.log"
wait 5
EndIf

Then save, reboot and post the log file (T:wifi.log) here.


c:wirelessmanager atheros5000.device verbose
Initializing interface 'atheros5000.device:0' conf 'ENV:Wireless.prefs' driver 'default' ctrl_interface 'N/A' bridge 'N/A'
Configuration file 'ENV:Wireless.prefs' -> 'ENV:Wireless.prefs'
Reading configuration file 'ENV:Wireless.prefs'
Line: 1 - start of a new network block
ssid - hexdump_ascii(len=7)
65 63 68 65 6c 6f 6e echelon
PSK (ASCII passphrase) - hexdump_ascii(len=14): [REMOVED]
key_mgmt: 0x2
PSK (from passphrase) - hexdump(len=32): [REMOVED]
Priority group 0
id=0 ssid='echelon'


Then it just sits there. Not sure what a normal dump looks like, I don't see anything that looks wrong in the configuration.

looks like the driver isn't working with that card. Has anyone else successfully used that exact model number (AR2413)?


Initializing interface 'atheros5000.device:0' conf 'ENV:Wireless.prefs' driver 'default' ctrl_interface 'N/A' bridge 'N/A'
Configuration file 'ENV:Wireless.prefs' -> 'ENV:Wireless.prefs'
Line: 1 - start of a new network block
ssid - hexdump_ascii(len=7):
65 63 68 65 6c 6f 6e echelon
PSK (ASCII passphrase) - hexdump_ascii(len=14): [REMOVED]
key_mgmt: 0x2
PSK (from passphrase) - hexdump(len=32): [REMOVED]
Priority group 0
id=0 ssid='echelon'
*** [wpa_sm_init] sm->pmksa=02c66fd4 ***
Own MAC adress: 00:01:36:15:ae:0c
RSN: flushing PMKID list in the driver
Setting scan request: 0 sec 100000 usec
EAPOL: SUPP_PAE entering state DISCONNECTED
EAPOL: Supplicant port status: Unauthorized
EAPOL: KEY_RX entering state NO_KEY_RECEIVE
EAPOL: SUPP_BE entering state INITIALIZE
EAP: EAP entering state DISABLED
EAPOL: Supplicant port status: Unauthorized
EAPOL: Supplicant port status: Unauthorized
Added interface atheros5000.device:0
State: DISCONNECTED -> SCANNING
Started AP scan for wildcard SSID
MLME: starting scan
MLME: scan channel 1 (2412 MHz)
sana2: sending MLME frame


Then it stops. Does this mean the router is not authorizing this NIC?

IRQ 4 (A)

apparently locking up when the first frame is sent (a scan request).


Devs/Networks/atheros5000.device:0
Initializing interface 'Devs/Networks/atheros5000.device:0' conf 'ENV:Wireless.prefs' driver 'default' ctrl_interface 'N/A' bridge 'N/A'
Configuration file 'ENV:Wireless.prefs' -> 'ENV:Wireless.prefs'
Reading configuration file 'ENV:Wireless.prefs'
Line: 1 - start of a new network block
ssid - hexdump_ascii(len=12):
41 69 72 4c 69 6e 6b 35 39 33 30 30 AirLink59300
PSK (ASCII passphrase) - hexdump_ascii(len=8): [REMOVED]
key_mgmt: 0x2
PSK (from passphrase) - hexdump(len=32): [REMOVED]
Priority group 0
id=0 ssid='AirLink59300'
*** [wpa_sm_init] sm->pmksa=0224e444 ***
Own MAC address: 00:1f:e1:42:e3:7a
RSN: flushing PMKID list in the driver
Setting scan request: 0 sec 100000 usec
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686594.160000
EAPOL: SUPP_PAE entering state DISCONNECTED
EAPOL: Supplicant port status: Unauthorized
EAPOL: KEY_RX entering state NO_KEY_RECEIVE
EAPOL: SUPP_BE entering state INITIALIZE
EAP: EAP entering state DISABLED
EAPOL: Supplicant port status: Unauthorized
EAPOL: Supplicant port status: Unauthorized
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686595.060000
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686604.060000
Added interface Devs/Networks/atheros5000.device:0
[eloop_run] Starting
State: DISCONNECTED -> SCANNING
Starting AP scan for wildcard SSID
MLME: starting scan
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686594.160001
MLME: scan channel 1 (2412 MHz)
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686594.193000
sana2: sending MLME frame
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686594.233000
MLME: scan channel 2 (2417 MHz)
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686594.253000
sana2: sending MLME frame
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686594.293000
MLME: scan channel 3 (2422 MHz)
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686594.333000
sana2: sending MLME frame
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686594.373000
MLME: scan channel 4 (2427 MHz)
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686594.393000
sana2: sending MLME frame
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686594.433000
MLME: scan channel 5 (2432 MHz)
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686594.473000
sana2: sending MLME frame
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686594.513000
MLME: scan channel 6 (2437 MHz)
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686594.553000
sana2: sending MLME frame
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686594.573000
MLME: scan channel 7 (2442 MHz)
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686594.613000
sana2: sending MLME frame
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686594.653000
MLME: scan channel 8 (2447 MHz)
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686594.693000
sana2: sending MLME frame
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686594.713000
MLME: scan channel 9 (2452 MHz)
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686594.753000
sana2: sending MLME frame
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686594.793000
MLME: scan channel 10 (2457 MHz)
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686594.833000
sana2: sending MLME frame
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686594.853000
MLME: scan channel 11 (2462 MHz)
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686594.893000
sana2: sending MLME frame
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686594.933000
MLME: scan channel 12 (2467 MHz)
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686594.973000
sana2: sending MLME frame
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686595.013000
MLME: scan channel 13 (2472 MHz)
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686595.033000
sana2: sending MLME frame
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686595.073000
EAPOL: disable timer tick
EAPOL: Supplicant port status: Unauthorized
MLME: scan channel 14 (2484 MHz)
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686595.113000
sana2: sending MLME frame
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686595.153000
MLME: scan channel 1 (2412 MHz)
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686595.193000
sana2: sending MLME frame
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686595.213000
MLME: scan channel 2 (2417 MHz)
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686595.253000
sana2: sending MLME frame
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686595.293000
MLME: scan channel 3 (2422 MHz)
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686595.333000
sana2: sending MLME frame
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686595.353000
MLME: scan channel 4 (2427 MHz)
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686595.393000
sana2: sending MLME frame
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686595.433000
MLME: scan channel 5 (2432 MHz)
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686595.473000
sana2: sending MLME frame
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686595.493000
MLME: scan channel 6 (2437 MHz)
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686595.533000
sana2: sending MLME frame
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686595.573000
MLME: scan channel 7 (2442 MHz)
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686595.613000
sana2: sending MLME frame
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686595.653000
MLME: scan channel 8 (2447 MHz)
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686595.673000
sana2: sending MLME frame
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686595.713000
MLME: scan channel 9 (2452 MHz)
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686595.753000
sana2: sending MLME frame
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686595.793000
MLME: scan channel 10 (2457 MHz)
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686595.833000
sana2: sending MLME frame
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686595.853000
MLME: scan channel 11 (2462 MHz)
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686595.893000
sana2: sending MLME frame
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686595.933000
MLME: scan channel 12 (2467 MHz)
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686595.973000
sana2: sending MLME frame
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686595.993000
MLME: scan channel 13 (2472 MHz)
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686596.033000
sana2: sending MLME frame
[eloop_reg_timeout] Timeout is at 1317686596.073000
MLME: scan completed

Is your network hidden? If so, did you enable the 'Hidden' checkbox in the network prefs? What distro version are you using? 


"ENV:sys/wireless.prefs" looks like this:
network={
ssid="testadhoc"
key_mgmt=NONE
wep_key0="12345"
wep_tx_keyidx=0
}


If your router doesn't broadcast its SSID (hidden), you need to add this option to the network block of the wpa_supplicant.conf on your aros machine and make changes after # Example blocks: 

scan_ssid=1

Here's a full description of all the config file options. 

ap_scan=1

network={
ssid="YOURESSID"
scan_ssid=1
proto=RSN
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
pairwise=CCMP
group=CCMP
psk=YOURPASSWORD
}

filter_ssids=1
ap_scan=2

network={
ssid="REMOVED"
scan_ssid=1
bssid=REMOVED
priority=100
mode=0
proto=RSN
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
auth_alg=OPEN
pairwise=CCMP
group=CCMP
psk=REMOVED
}


Error 6: Couldn't resolve host name.

Check Scout -> Devices and look at the device that you are using, in the OCnt column it should state 2 which means AROSTCP and Wirelessmanager are both accessing this driver. If 0 or 1, then uncheck the checkbox in Network prefs for starting networking at boot, save and reboot. Then run this is the shell:

C:WirelessManager realtek8180.device unit 0


some quirks setting up the wireless network as well

1) it's far better setting up either the wired OR the wireless network adapter as net0:, or weird things happen

2) it's better using fixed IP on the local network instead of DHCP

3) network setting must be placed in network setting panel in /prefs, using the wirelessmanager helped me finding available SSIDs, but not actually connecting to them

once done, reboot.


If previous setup is proving problematic 

SYS:Prefs/Env-Archive/Wireless.prefs
SYS:Prefs/Env-Archive/Zune/OWB.config
SYS:Prefs/Env-Archive/Zune/global.config
SYS:Prefs/Env-Archive/AROSTCP/WirelessDevice
SYS:Prefs/Env-Archive/AROSTCP/db/Interfaces
</pre > 

Make a copy of these files and restore in case of problems. 



Please try this test to check if you can connect to your router, ie established that the WiFi layer is working 

̊̊̊̊Boot with networking disabled, by make sure that "Start networking at boot" in Network Prefs is unchecked (no tick).  
̊ Run this in a shell: C:WirelessManager atheros5000.device VERBOSE
̊If the output of that command is too long to summarise here, you can redirect it to a file by adding >RAM:wifi.log to the end, then attach or paste that file here.


try running "status" in the shell and check that AROSTCP is listed/running
If AROStcp is not showing, then AROSTCP is not running. attempted to start it by clicking Use or Save in network prefs, or checking the "start networking at boot" box or typing into a shell. 

 Execute SYS:System/Network/AROSTCP/s/startnet

(run Status again afterwards).



The "cannot resolve hostname" will appear if you are blocked on the wifi network by the router as well as aros not being able to assign correct network address.

One way of testing this might be to disable the firewall in the router. you might also check the router how it sees the attemts aros do to speak to it. The easiest way to do that would be to manually give aros an IP number in the routers accepted range. and see if it shows up at all withing the router.


Tests that can be undertaken to determine correct settings and functions 

<pre >
 ping <router-address> e.g 192.168.0.1 (aka inet) or 80.237.146.33 (www.amiganews.de) 
 ifconfig net0
 ifconfig net0 up
 extras:networking/utils/sanautil/sanautil -d atheros5000.device status
 WirelessManager atheros5000.device verbose >RAM:wifi.log
 ;to send the log to RAM disk to be read easier or if detected, 
 Run WirelessManager atheros5000.device >NIL:
 Run WirelessManager atheros5000.device ssid="mynet1" >NIL: 
 C:WirelessManager realtek8180.device unit 0 
</pre > 

Please look at the task list in Scout, and check if WirelessManager and AROSTCP are running. Also look at the device list in Scout to check if realtek8180.device is open. 


start tools/debug/sashimi, maybe it shows some debug messages when disconnection happens.



==== Network Basics ====

Firstly, let's take a look at what your setup most likely looks like, assuming you use a router. See diagram below: 

<pre>
Internet <---------> home router <---------> computer 
-----------external IP------------------internal IP-------------

Okay, so what am I trying to show you with that diagram. A few things. Firstly, the IP address that connects you to the Internet is not the same one that connects you to your router. What happens is that your computer doesn't have a direct connection to the Internet, instead your router connects to the Internet, and your computer connects to the router.

You can see the external and internal IP addresses in these example settings...

As you can see, there are two internal IP addresses and two external IP addresses. This is because there is a client/server relationship, effectively one address is for the service (server) and one address is for the device trying to access that service (client).

The server addresses in your case are 76.91.64.1 (your ISP's address, serving the Internet), and 192.168.0.1 (your home router's address, serving your home network). The term gateway applies here, they are your gateway to those services.

Subnet masks are used along with IP addresses to determine which IP addresses are allowed access to a network. I did learn the more in-depth rules about subnet masks once (watched a CCNA vid), but I've forgotten about it. The basic level of understanding you'll need is easy to remember though. A subnet mask value of 255 means that portion of the IP address must stay constant, whereas a subnet value of 0 means any unassigned value up to 255 is allowed in the IP address.

By far the most common subnet value is 255.255.255.0. What this means is that the first three parts of the IP address you use to connect to a service must stay the same as the server/gateway address, and only the last section can change.

So if your router's internal IP address is 192.168.0.1, and the subnet mask is 255.255.255.0, the only addresses that will be allowed to be used on that network are between 192.168.0.2 to 192.168.0.255 (I think 192.168.0.0 is reserved for other uses).

Final point to make is about DHCP (a.k.a. dynamic IP) vs static IP. A server/router using DHCP gives a device that connects to it an address within the acceptable range. It usually starts with the lowest numbered free address, so with your router it'll give the first device that connects to it 192.168.0.2, the next device 192.168.0.3, and so on. Static IP addresses are where you set the IP address you want to connect with in advance.

When using static IP addresses on a router where DHCP is active, it's good to use a high number to avoid conflicts with other devices that are connected to your network, to reduce the risk that both devices will try using the same IP. That's why your current choice of 192.168.0.161 is good, unless you have over 159 devices connected on your current network!


Okay, so what's the next step. Well, if you can use ping, I'd suggest pinging 192.168.0.1. If you get a positive response it means you're connected to your router, if you don't get a response it means the connection between your router and your computer is at fault.

Documentation on configuring the AROSTCP environment further can be found here



Printing


print from my AROS box!

1. I installed printfile ( http://www.lerup.com/printfile/ ) on my Windows XP computer
2. I've set up the print spooler option, and used ghoscript filter for ps files
3. I've made the spool folder accessible from ftp (setting up ftp server on Windows)
4. send the ps file from my AROS box to the ftp server using curl (curl -T filename ftp://windows.box.adress --user username:password)

It's a bit complicated but it works!


Postscript

Best to set Printer Prefs in the Prefs drawer to print-to-file or parallel/usb port


Save document in postscript or convert picture/text to postscript

Print using compatible Ghostscript printer or Postscript printer


GutenPrint

Some work has been done in this aros-exec thread

IPP Printer support


There are no individual drivers yet for HP's Photosmart, EPSON's EPL, CANON's, Lexmark, CUPS PPD, etc



Files

File endings and datatypes

For instance, to open PDFs with arospdf not localised in the default drawer of Icaros (Work:Extras/Applications/arospdf) but localised in a custom drawer in AROS. The default tools are defined in the icons in sys:prefs/env-archive/sys e.g. def_PDF.


File type identification is done by datatype descriptors which you can find in Devs/Datatypes. The AROS build system has a tool which creates such datatype descriptors.


Changing of default tools of existing icons is easy as shown above. Adding of new file types is not hard, but needs knowledge of the AROS build system.

Read more here


The enduser way would be to download the attached file, which contained two executables: 1) createdtdesc, to make a new datatype description 2) examinedtdesc, to read/show existing datatype descriptions

use 2 to get an idea on how it things are currenty done in aros by providing this executable a file from the drawer sys:devs/datatypes/ (alternatively you can find the original .dtd files here).

use 1 to make your new datatype. Use the accompanied FORMAT file (also here) to read how to make your own datatype descriptor. use 2 to get hints from other datatype descriptors.

Note: When creating a new descriptor would advise against using the pattern property, but instead use the default pattern of #? and create a Mask that matches your filetype. This requires some research in order to discover how your filetype can be recognized properly. Of course with making something like a descriptor for an ascii textfile, you would fallback to using the pattern (e.g. #?.text as the filetype cannot be determined easily otherwise). 

# name - choose wisely and informative. also used for icon's name.
# version - choose as you like as long as it complies with version rules
# basename - the 'root' datatype class. be aware that e.g. it can influence behaviour. for example when choosing binary and using tool multiview in project icon, the file will be viewed as binary file (choosing sound would tell mulitview to view the file as a soundfile). So this can influence the underlying tool being used. Could become messy if users started to modify the tool manually. 
# pattern - This is the file pattern match e.g. #?.text
# Mask - A mask to identify the file. Requires knowledge of the actual file structure. For example 'M' 'Z' for an msdos executable.
# GroupdID - not supported (AROS native) files - use syst as that would be the least intrusive in case an AROS tool/program tries to load such datatyped file.
# ID - In your case, the first four characters of the name at subchapter 1 (in lower case) (or less if name is shorter).
# flags - How the mask needs to be interpreted. In your case would be mostly DTF_BINARY in combination with (wanted or not) DTF_CASE (to tell if mask used letters are case sensitive or not)
# priority - the priority of how the type is handled so that on datatype could have precedence over another? In any case, document tells it to be mostly 0. 
</pre > 

Now that you know each field and what it does (more or less), you write this fields in a text file for your own invented datatype, save it and create the actual dt with the tool in 1. in the end the created dt must reside in sys:devs/datatypes/ drawer.

Then you would create a default icon in sys:prefs/Env-archive/SYS drawer. Don't forget to reboot or copy .info file to ram:env/sys in order to test. also don't forget to set which tool to start f.e. c:lx or dh4:emulators/mycoolemulator

To test, open Wanderer then show all files and doubleclick on a file of type you just created. Alternatively you could use the 'open' command from shell (with file of datatype you just created as parameter).

And as a last note. it would perhaps be welcome to have a program like xicon and/or runprglist for AROS (unfortunately both without source, but something similar could be created for AROS).

Sounds complicated ?

Perhaps... but OS like windows needs a complete registry to be able to do things like this. And yes, i am aware windows has gui tools that does it (more or less) for you (by manipulating the registry). Same could be done for AROS (without integrating a registry in AROS that is ).

Would that suffice ?

red1+2: typos, reformatting.

disclaimer: please note that using these tools can screw up your currently installed support for datatypes when used incorrectly. Do not use if you do not understand what you are doing. Use at own risk.






====File Sharing====

As AROS knows only a few filesystems (FFS, OFS, SFS, PFS (amiga only), FAT12, 16, 32, Microsoft NTFS (windows), UDF (bluray)). The remaining ones in regular use like MacOSX hfs+, Linux ext2/ext3 and ext4, Haiku BeFS provide a problem in transferring files between each other. 

Linux can access SFS partitions but it needs to be compiled. The latest full source are [http://home.elka.pw.edu.pl/~mszyprow/programy/asfs/ here]. It compiled fine with a 2.6.30 kernel in Puppy Linux 4.31. 

An alternative, is to use a FAT32 partition. AROS could be installed on to a 4GB USB-key, with 512MB FAT32 partition for sharing, and the rest SFS. It works very well. 

An hosted Linux or Windows install relieves some of the problems. 

Files could be transferred [http://aros-exec.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?start=0&topic_id=2915&viewmode=flat&order=ASC Sending] via TCP network. 




=====SMBFS=====

e.g. to connect to a NAS share such as \\NASBOX\Shared use -:

SMBFS WORKGROUP=<YOUR WORKGROUP NAME> VOLUME=<AROS volume name to use>: SERVICE=<UNC Path to connect to>

SMBFS WORKGROUP=MYNET VOLUME=Shared: SERVICE=//NASBOX/Shared

And you will then have an icon appear on your desktop for the volume name you have chosen. 



You can put the above script into wbstartup or  

give it an icon, change it to a 'project' and give it the default tool c:iconx 

Open a shell and type copy sys:script.info "sys:wbstartup/YOURSCRIPTNAME.info"

This should create an icon for your script file.

Now right-click on your script and select 'information'.

Change 'tool' to 'project', put 'c:iconx' into the 'default tool' box, click save 

The reason being that scripts need to be opened with 'execute SCRIPTNAME' (or 'iconx') whereas the programs started from wbstartup are opened using 'run PROGRAMNAME'. It's the same as trying to start a command-line tool from the workbench by double-clicking it.





====Setup ISO images within AROS====

Use [http://archives.aros-exec.org/index.php?function=browse&cat=driver/storage DiskImage] which supports many cd image formats ISO, CCD, MDF/MDS, CUE/BIN, NRG and UIF. To mount CD or DVD images use below....

<pre >
# Rename your iso 'Unit0' (note no extension).
# Do 'View/All files' on you Aros partition. You should now see a folder called 'Diskimages'. Copy your renamed iso to there. 
(Alternatively, you could type at the shell 'assign FDSK: xxx', where xxx is the location of your iso.) 
# From the shell, type 'mount CD0:' and the iso should appear on the Wanderer desktop. You can now access it like a real disk.
</pre > 

If you are using an IcAros install, the startup scripts are set up to wipe the Diskimages directory on boot, so its worth keeping a second copy of the iso somewhere else. Alternatively, you could set up extra mountlists for additional iso images. I've made a file called iso1 in the Aros:devs directory that contains the following text:

<pre>
/* Entry for ISO image */

ISO1:
FileSystem = cdrom.handler
Device = fdsk.device
Unit = 1
LowCyl = 0
HighCyl = 0
Surfaces = 1
BlocksPerTrack = 1
DOSType = 0x41434400
Activate = 1
#

Then I just need an iso called 'Unit1' (corresponding to the 'Unit = 1' entry in the mountlist) in Diskimages (or wherever I assign FDSK: to) and to mount I type in at the shell:

Mount iso1: from devs:iso1

Of course, if you create mountlists for ISO2, ISO3:, etc. (with the corresponding change to the 'Unit = ' line) you can have as many isos mounted as you wish. I just call mine ISO1: etc. to distinguish them from the real CD drives.



What to do if you are having problems

If you are just having difficulties getting certain things working in or with AROS, the first port of call should be one of the community forums Aros Exec or ArosWorld, or IRC channels.

Channel: #aros Server: irc.freenode.net or irc://irc.freenode.net/aros or using a web-based javascript option like WebChat or IRC2Go. Channel is #aros and type in a Name.

However, if you feel you have found a genuine bug/fault in AROS that needs attention, please use the bug submission form to record as much information about what happened, why, and what hardware etc. you have so that people may try to assist you.

If your competent enough at programming, we would prefer if you could attempt to identify the problem and possibly correct it yourself, and all contributions to the AROS codebase are warmly received.



Bounties

To help inspire developers with both ideas and monetary incentives, rewards are offered for the successful completion of "bounties" (requests for missing/new functionality) chosen by the community and handled by power2people (formerly done by TeamAROS). A monthly option is here.



Video Guides


Video demonstrations and tutorials covering:

00. Introduction
Why an Amiga OS in 2011, AROS on an Atom?, Gource view of AROS,
01. Installation
Broadway AROS Install, iMica Silent Pt3, Wipe whole drive and Install - warning loss of data on drive, Modify Grub boot,
VirtualBox install, [ VMware install],
HDAudio install, [ driver install],
02. Amiga Basics
Screens tutorial,
[ Dos Scripts tutorial], OS 1.2, OS 1.3,
03. Customisation demos
[ Prefs tutorial], [ Decoration tutorial], Scalos,
04. Setting up internet access and surfing the web, FTP, IRC and Mail apps
[ Network Prefs], [ AirCOS tutorial], [ jabberwocky tutorial],
05. Native bundled Games and Applications
Oct 2010, 3D Games, Latest Games, PrBoom GL, Assault Cubes, Cube 2, DosBox on Aros,
Apps Pt 1, Apps Pt 2, Apps Pt 3,
pt 1, jan. 2008, pt 2, feb. 2009, pt 3, feb. 2010,
Milkytracker Laying Down Base Tracks,
Audio Evolution 4 in action, Quick Videos,
ScreenRecorder, TV out Tests,
AmiFIG, ZuneFIG,
POVray Tutorial 1,
DOpus 4,
DirOpus 5 Magellan, Downloads, discussions, src code,
06. Commercial software available
AntiryadGX 3D Game Editor,
BOH indie Game,
07. Running classic amiga apps and games
Intro Amibridge, Old Amiga Apps, Why Janus UAE is good,
Play Amiga Games, ,
Pagestream Introduction, Pagestream Tutorial 1, Pagestream Tutorial 2,
Catweasel Mk4 PCI Part 1 and Part 2,
08. Misc and History
Look forward to 2010, Look back at 2010, Looking forward to 2012
Mum uses old AmigaOS Workbench 1.1 (1986), Why an Amiga 500 (1987), an Amiga 2000 (1987),
09. Misc Shows and Events
VCF 2010, BBC Click, BBC Click again, Amiga VCF,


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