[cbm4linux-users] Seeking testers: Release candidate for upcoming cbm4linux 0.4.0

[Spiro T. <tri...@gm...>]

Hello list,

in a joined effort, cbm4win and cbm4linux will have a 0.4.0 release
shortly. The release is planned around next week.

We need some testers, especially for the cbm4linux part to make this
release a success.

What is new?

- cbm4linux and cbm4win compile from the same sources; thus, all bugs
  found while developing cbm4win are fixed.
- Support for mnib (http://www.rittwage.com/c64pp/dp.php?pg=mnib), if an
  XP1541 cable is available;
- shortened "reset" time: Instead of waiting 5 seconds (which is needed
  for a 1581 drive), only wait until the floppy signals that it is
  ready. With a 1541 or 1571, the reset time will be much less than 1
  second.
- cbmcopy and d64copy: fixed many potential "hangups" due to protocol
  races;
- cbmcopy and d64copy: unless specified otherwise, use best protocol
  (-tp, -ts2, -ts1, -w) by checking the cable and what is connected;
- cbmcopy and d64copy: If a floppy with "Rex-DOS" was used, the transfer
  worked as expected. Anyway, after the transfer, the drive behave
  erroneously. Other speeders might be affected, too. Fixed.
  (cf.
  http://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.php?func=detail&aid=1218165&group_id=122047&atid=692219)
- d64copy: If aborted with Ctrl+C, the error information block was not
  written to the disc image. Fixed.
- cbmformat, d64copy, cbmcopy crashed if they are called with unknown
  parameters. Fixed.
- cbmformat (and new cbmforng, "cbmformat next generation") format a
  1541 disc in a way that is better usable across different floppy
  drives with differing rotation speed of the motor (for details, cf.
  http://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.php?func=detail&aid=1066199&group_id=122047&atid=692219).
  For this, both use a probing formatter (which is not much slower than
  the old cbmformat).
- "cbmctrl detect" let a char in the error channel of the drive. Fixed.
- "cbmctrl change": New command, find out when a floppy disc (which must
  already reside inside of a 1541 or 1571 drive; 1581 is NOT SUPPORTED!)
  is removed and replaced by a new one. Very helpful for scripting mass
  archivals.
- "cbmctrl pcommand", "cbmctrl popen": New commands, like "cbmctrl
  command" and "cbmctrl open"; convert the parameters from ASCII to
  PETSCII before sending them to the floppy (unlike the old commands).
- "cbmctrl read", "cbmctrl write": New commands for a compatible way
  (between Linux and Windows) to read from a CBM floppy (cat /dev/cbm)
  or write to it (cat ... > /dev/cbm).
- many more small and bigger error corrections and additions.


The new version can be found at 

  http://www.trikaliotis.net/cbm4win_0_1_0_86

Don't get surprised from the name; although it states "cbm4win", the
release is for both Linux and Windows. Everything on this page is still
some "Windows-like", but this will be changed until the release.

The download itself can be found at

  http://www.trikaliotis.net/cbm4win_0_1_0_86#download

The instructions to install are "almost" identical to the current
cbm4linux 0.3.2 (http://www.lb.shuttle.de/puffin/cbm4linux/,
as given in the README), only some small changes apply:

ALL make commands MUST incldue a "-f LINUX/Makefile" option; i.e.,

  make -f LINUX/Makefile
  make -f LINUX/Makefile dev
  make -f LINUX/Makefile install

A more complete (but not complete ;)) "ChangeLog" is available at

  http://www.trikaliotis.net/cbm4win_0_1_0_86#v0_1_0_86

Don't get fooled by the version number; cbm4linux 0.3.2 is even older
than cbm4win 0.1.0.


A problem you might encounter which is not yet documented is the
following:

After installing, the shared library "opencbm.so" will not be found on
all systems. cbm4linux installs it in /usr/local/lib/, but not all
systems search there. (Why? Is this a recent change in Linux? cbm4linux
0.3.2 already put it there, and I never encountered problems back then).

You can fix it either by changing LIBDIR in LINUX/config.make to let it
point to a path which will be searched, or include /usr/local/lib in
/etc/ld.so.conf execute "ldconfig" as root.

I am thankfull for ANY feedback, positive or negative, success stories
or failure. This is true especially since I have more Windows testers
than Linux testers.

Of course, the documentation will be changed until the release.

Happy testing!

Regards,
   Spiro.

-- 
Spiro R. Trikaliotis                              http://cbm4win.sf.net/
http://www.trikaliotis.net/                     http://www.viceteam.org/